The chief had several articles, such
as scarlet and blue cloth, a sword, a jacket, and a hat, which must
have been procured from the whites, and on one side of the room were
two wide, split boards, placed together so as to make space for a rude
figure of a man cut and painted on them. On pointing to this, and asking
him what it meant, he said something, of which all that we understood
was 'good,' and then stepped up to the painting, and took out his bow
and quiver, which, with some other warlike instruments, were kept behind
it.
"He then directed his wife to hand him his medicine-bag, from which he
drew out fourteen forefingers, which he told us had belonged to the same
number of his enemies, whom he had killed in fighting with the nations
to the southeast, in which direction he pointed; alluding, no doubt, to
the Snake Indians, the common enemy of the tribes on the Columbia. This
bag is usually about two feet in length, and contains roots, pounded
dirt, etc., which only the Indians know how to appreciate. It is
suspended in the middle of the lodge; and it is considered as a species
of sacrilege for any one but the owner to touch it. It is an object of
religious fear; and, from its supposed sanctity, is the chief place for
depositing their medals and more valuable articles. They have likewise
small bags, which they preserve in their great medicine-bag, from
whence they are taken, and worn around their waists and necks as amulets
against any real or imaginary evils.
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