Author: Walter Cline

Publisher:

Published: 2015-08-05

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9781332196098

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Excerpt from The Sinkaietk or Southern Okanagon of Washington The Okanagon are a Salish speaking people of north central Washington and adjacent British Columbia. Their territory comprised the drainage system of the Okanogan River and the upper Methow River, both northern tributaries of the Columbia River, from Okanogan Lake and the Similkameen valley in British Columbia southward to the mouth of the Methow. The subject of the present paper is the culture of those Okanagon bands which occupied the southern half of this territory, from the Methow northward to Osoyoos Lake immediately north of the Canadian boundary. Two tribal units may be distinguished among these bands: the Sinkaietk or Southern Okanagon, occupying the lower Okanogan River valley, and the southern bands of Okanagon proper or, as we prefer to call them, the Northern Okanagon, situated above and below the international boundary. There are other Northern Okanagon bands wholly on the Canadian side with whom we had no contact. The data we obtained relate in the first instance to the Sinkaietk or Southern Okanagon, but include much on the southerly bands of the Northern Okanagon, that is, those located about the boundary. In addition there are incidental notes on the Colville, Wenatchi, Methow, and other neighboring tribes. The culture is that of a southern Plateau people, with moderate influences from the Northwest Coast. The Southern Okanagon bands differ culturally from those of British Columbia, and further possess appreciable individuality among themselves. The local differences seem in part due to Northwest Coast influences entering the area by three routes: through the Thompson tribe in the north, from the south by way of the Columbia River through Wenatchi and Chelan, and again through the Chelan from the Skagit on the western side of the Cascade range. This means that the central bands are culturally undistinguished in contrast to those north and south. The language of the Okanagon is a dialect of Interior Salish identical with that of the Sanpoil, Nespelem, Colville, and Lakes (Senajextee) adjacent to the east. It is said to differ only slightly from the forms spoken by Wenatchi and Chelan to the south, the Kalispel, Pend d'Oreille, Spokan, Coeur d'Aleine, and Flathead to the east, and the Thompson, Lillooet, and Shuswap to the north. This ethnographic study was made during July and August, 1930, by a group of graduate students participating in a field training course of the Laboratory of Anthropology (Santa Fe, New Mexico) under my direction. The party comprised Miss Rachel S. Commons (of the University of Chicago), Miss May Mandelbaum (Columbia University). Emanuel Gonick (University of California), Walter Cline and Richard H. Post (Harvard University), who were Joined by Miss L. V. W. Walters, financed by the University of Washington. A collection was made for the Washington State Museum (University of Washington), which has been used as the source of illustrations for this paper. As a field for investigation for the group I hit on the Southern Okanagon. The cultures of the southern Plateau in eastern Washington, Idaho, and western Montana have been neglected. It was, and is, my contention that the more typical forms of Plateau culture are to be found in the southern part of that area rather than in the north. Further, the solitary general ethnographic report published at the time, J. H. Spinden's "The Nez Perce Indians," tends to over-empha-size Plains elements, although these are demonstrably recent and superficial. After a choice of tribe to be studied had been made, I received through the kindness of Dr. Franz Boas, a proof copy of James A. Teit's "The Sallshan Tribes of the Western Plateaus," which contains an account of the Okanagon. Since it appeared, however, that Teit's account was brief and that he had not obtained information from the Okanagon bands in Washington, it s"

Download or read book The Sinkaietk Or Southern Okanagon of Washington (Classic Reprint) written by Walter Cline and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Sinkaietk or Southern Okanagon of Washington The Okanagon are a Salish speaking people of north central Washington and adjacent British Columbia. Their territory comprised the drainage system of the Okanogan River and the upper Methow River, both northern tributaries of the Columbia River, from Okanogan Lake and the Similkameen valley in British Columbia southward to the mouth of the Methow. The subject of the present paper is the culture of those Okanagon bands which occupied the southern half of this territory, from the Methow northward to Osoyoos Lake immediately north of the Canadian boundary. Two tribal units may be distinguished among these bands: the Sinkaietk or Southern Okanagon, occupying the lower Okanogan River valley, and the southern bands of Okanagon proper or, as we prefer to call them, the Northern Okanagon, situated above and below the international boundary. There are other Northern Okanagon bands wholly on the Canadian side with whom we had no contact. The data we obtained relate in the first instance to the Sinkaietk or Southern Okanagon, but include much on the southerly bands of the Northern Okanagon, that is, those located about the boundary. In addition there are incidental notes on the Colville, Wenatchi, Methow, and other neighboring tribes. The culture is that of a southern Plateau people, with moderate influences from the Northwest Coast. The Southern Okanagon bands differ culturally from those of British Columbia, and further possess appreciable individuality among themselves. The local differences seem in part due to Northwest Coast influences entering the area by three routes: through the Thompson tribe in the north, from the south by way of the Columbia River through Wenatchi and Chelan, and again through the Chelan from the Skagit on the western side of the Cascade range. This means that the central bands are culturally undistinguished in contrast to those north and south. The language of the Okanagon is a dialect of Interior Salish identical with that of the Sanpoil, Nespelem, Colville, and Lakes (Senajextee) adjacent to the east. It is said to differ only slightly from the forms spoken by Wenatchi and Chelan to the south, the Kalispel, Pend d'Oreille, Spokan, Coeur d'Aleine, and Flathead to the east, and the Thompson, Lillooet, and Shuswap to the north. This ethnographic study was made during July and August, 1930, by a group of graduate students participating in a field training course of the Laboratory of Anthropology (Santa Fe, New Mexico) under my direction. The party comprised Miss Rachel S. Commons (of the University of Chicago), Miss May Mandelbaum (Columbia University). Emanuel Gonick (University of California), Walter Cline and Richard H. Post (Harvard University), who were Joined by Miss L. V. W. Walters, financed by the University of Washington. A collection was made for the Washington State Museum (University of Washington), which has been used as the source of illustrations for this paper. As a field for investigation for the group I hit on the Southern Okanagon. The cultures of the southern Plateau in eastern Washington, Idaho, and western Montana have been neglected. It was, and is, my contention that the more typical forms of Plateau culture are to be found in the southern part of that area rather than in the north. Further, the solitary general ethnographic report published at the time, J. H. Spinden's "The Nez Perce Indians," tends to over-empha-size Plains elements, although these are demonstrably recent and superficial. After a choice of tribe to be studied had been made, I received through the kindness of Dr. Franz Boas, a proof copy of James A. Teit's "The Sallshan Tribes of the Western Plateaus," which contains an account of the Okanagon. Since it appeared, however, that Teit's account was brief and that he had not obtained information from the Okanagon bands in Washington, it s"