University of Virginia Library

[Clark:]

Wednesday March 19th 1806 Inds. Descd.

It continued to rain and hail in such a manner that nothing
could be done to the canoes. a party were sent out early after
the Elk which was killed last evening, with which they returned
in the course of a fiew hours, we gave Commorwool alias
Cania, a certificate of his good conduct and the friendly intercourse
which he has maintained with us dureing our residence
at this place: we also gave him a list of our names &c. The
Kilamox, Clatsops, Chinnooks, Cathlahmahs, Waukiacum and Chiltz
I.[ndians] resemble each other as well in their persons and
Dress as in their habits and manners. their complexion is not
remarkable, being the usial copper brown of the tribes of North
America. they are low in statue reather diminutive, and illy
shaped, possessing thick broad flat feet, thick ankles, crooked
legs, wide mouths, thick lips, noses stuck out and reather wide
at the base, with black eyes and black coarse hair. I have observed
some high acqualine noses among them but they are
extreemly reare. the most remarkable trate in their physiognamy
is the peculiar flatness and width of the forehead which
they artificially obtain by compressing the head between two
boards while in a state of infancy, and from which it never
afterwards perfectly recovers. This is a custom among all the
nations, we have met with West of the Rocky Mountains. I
have observed the head of maney infants after this singular
bandage had been dismissed, or about the age of 11 or 12
months, that were not more than two inches thick about the
upper part of the forehead and reather thiner still higher.
from the top of the head to the extremity of the nose is one
streight line. this is done in order to give a greater width to
the forehead, which they much admire. This process seams

to be continued longer with their female than their male children,
and neither appear to suffer any pain from the opperation.
it is from this peculiar form of the head that the nations
East of the Rocky Mountains, call all the nations on this side,
except Aliahtans, So-so-ne, or Snake Indians by the General
name of Flat Heads. I think myself that the provalence of
this custom is a strong proof of those nations haveing originally
proceeded from the same stock. The Nations of this
neighbourhood or those rec[a]pitulated above, ware their hair
loosly flowing on their back and sholders; both men and
women divide it on the center of the crown in front and throw
it back behind the ear on each side. they are fond of combs
and use them when they can obtain them; and even without
the aid of combs keep their [hair] in better order, than maney
nations who are in other respects much more civilized than
themselves.

The large or apparently sweled legs particularly observable
in the women are obtained in a great measure by tying a cord
tight around the leg above the ancle bone. their method of
squating or resting themselves on their hams which they seam
from habit to prefer to sitting, no doubt contributes much to
this deformity of the legs by preventing free circulation of the
blood. This is also the custom of the nations above.

The dress of the men like those above on the Columbia
river consists of a small robe, which reaches about as low as
the middle of the thye and is attatched with a string across the
breast and is at pleasure turned from side to side as they may
have an occasion to disincumber the right or left arm from
the robe entirely, or when they have occasion for both hands,
the fixture of the robe is in front with it's corner loosly hanging
over their arms. they sometimes wear a hat which have
already been discribed (see 29th Jany.) Their robes are made
most commonly of the skins of a small animal which I have
supposed was the brown Mungo tho' they have also a number
of the skins of the tiger cat, some of those of the Elk which
are used principally on their war excursions, others of the skins
of Deer, panthor, Bear, and the Speckled Loon, and blankets
wove with the fingers of the wool of the native sheep. and

some of those on the sea coast have robes of Beaver and the
sea otter. a mat is sometimes tempera[ri]ly thrown over the
sholders to protect them from rain. they have no other article
of cloathing whatever neither winter nor summer, and every
part except the sholders and back is exposed to view. they
are very fond of the dress of the whites, which they ware in
a similar manner when they can obtain them, except the shoe
or mockerson which I have never seen worn by any of them.
They call us pâh-shish-e-ooks or cloath men. The dress of the
women consists of a roab, tissue, and sometimes when the
weather is uncommonly cold, a vest. their robe is much
smaller than that of the men, never reaching lower than the
waist nor extending in front sufficiently far to cover the body.
it is like that of the men confined across the breast with a
string and hangs loosely over the sholders and back. the
most esteemed and valuable of those robes are made of strips
of the skin of the sea otter net together with the bark of the
white cedar or silk grass, these fish [strips] are first twisted and
laid parallel with each other a little distance asunder, and then
net or wove together in such a manner that the fur appears
equally on both sides, and united between the strands, it
makes a worm and soft covering. other robes are formed in
a similar manner of the skins of the rackoon, beaver &c. at
other times the skins is dressed in the hair and worn without
any further preparation. in this way one beaver skin or two
of the rackoon or one of the tiger cat forms a vest and covers
the body from the armpits to the waist, and is confined behind,
and destitute of straps over the sholder to keep it up.
when this vest is worn the breast of the woman in consealed,
but without it which is almost always the case, they are exposed,
and from the habit of remaining loose and unsuspended
grow to great length particularly in aged women, on many of
whom I have seen the bubby reach as low as the waist. The
petticoat or tissue which occupies the waiste has been already
described (see 7th. Novr. 1805) formd. of the Bark of white cedar,
silk grass, flags & rushes. The women as well as the men
sometimes cover themselves from the rain by a mat worn over
the sholders. They also cover their heads from the rain sometimes
with a common water cup or basket made of cedar bark
and bear grass.

Those people sometimes mark themselves by punctureing
and introducing a colouring matter. Such of them as do mark
themselves in this manner prefur the legs and arms on which
they imprint parallel lines of dots either longitudinally or circularly,
the women more frequently than the men mark themselves
in this manner. The favorite orniments of both sexes
are the common coarse blue and white beads as before discribed
of the Chinnooks. those beads the men wear tightly
wound around their wrists and ankles maney times untill they
obtain the width of three or four inches. they also wear them
in large rolls loosly around the neck, or pendulous from the
cartelage of the nose or rims of the ears which are purforated
in different places round the extremities for the purpose. the
women wear them in a similar manner except in the nose which
they never purforate. they are also fond of a species of wompum,
which is furnished by a trader whome they call Swipton.
it seams to be the nativ form of the shell without any preparation.
this shell is of a conic form somewhat curved about the
size of a ravens quill at the base, and tapering to a point which
is sufficiently large to permit a hollow through which a small
thread passes; it is from 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length, white,
smooth, hard and thin these are worn in the same manner
in which the beeds are; and furnish the men with their favorite
orniment for the nose, one of these shells is passed horizontally
through [the] cartilage of the nose and serves frequently
as a kind of ring which prevents the string which suspends
other orniments at the same part from chafing and freting the
flesh. The men sometimes wear collars of Bears Claws, and
the women and children the tusks of the Elk variously arranged
on their necks arms &c. both male and female wear bracelets
on their wrists of copper, Brass or Iron in various forms. The
women sometimes wash their faces & hands but seldom. I
think the most disgusting sight I have ever beheld is those
dirty naked wenches.

The men of those nations partake of much more of the
domestic drudgery than I had at first supposed, they collect

and prepare all the fuel, make the fires, cook for the strangers
who visit them, and assist in cleaning and prepareing the fish.
they also build their houses, construct their canoes, and make
all their wooden utensils. the peculiar province of the woman
seams to be to collect roots and manufacture various articles
which are prepared of rushes, flags, cedar bark, bear grass or
way tape, also dress and manufacture the Hats & robes for
common use. the management of the canoe for various purposes
seams to be a duty common to both sexes, as are many
other occupations which with most Indian nations devolve exclusively
on the womin. their feasts of which they are very
fond are always prepared and served by the men.

it continued to rain so constantly dureing the day that Sergt.
Pryor could not Pay his canoes. The Clatsop chief Commo-wool
and the two Cath-lah-mahs left us this evening and returned
to their village.