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Show 56 MISNAMl~G-'SINGULAR C1TSTOrtr, are the Flathead Indians, and we believe the only Tribe that prnc1 tice this singular custom, upo't1 the Continent of America, or upon. the surface of the globe. How it has happened that the nam.~ has been given to u Tribe inhabiting the country upon the upper part of that bmnch of the Columbia, commonly known in the States by the name of Cladce's River, and separated, hy several hund1·ed miles, from the only people whoat·e known to have ev·er practiced this: custom, we D re unable to imagine. Some ignoraoc·e and mis-take; howevcrf have thus widely misplaced the name: aod instead o1 qav" ing given it to those· whose most unnatuml fancy would hate rendered it highly appropriate, they have wrongly designated by it, a peopl~ whose heaJs are as round as: ou1· own. The same error has like ... wise bmm committed, in givi·flg. to a Tribe inhabiting a country 011 the North side of Snake Riv'er, the name of Nez Pierce, to whom the custom of pie!'cing the nose is not at all p12culiar; but which is pt·acticcd extensively by the Tribes along the coast; .all of \vhom, ar'c separated fwm these, who· bear the n1ame, by a distance' of two or thr~e hundred miles·; a11d between whom the lofty rainge' of the Cascade· Mountains,. (which intervenes,) admits but t:i1ttl·a intercout·se. The custom of piercing the nose, for the purpose o( wearing in it, shells, quills, rings, o/c., is practiced somewhat, by all the a:borig·inal inhabitants of America. But with the Tribes; inhabiting these shores of the Pacific, it has been almost universal,. and is still s·o with some. \Vith those, however, who have had~ much intercourse with the whites, this, together with the custom of' flattening the head, is beginning to be less obse1'ved. The custom of flattening, the head, originated, probably, in the· idea, that it was unbecoming the dignity of a· master, to wear the' same appearance as the slave; a:nd as gat•bs· and insi·O'-nia were· perishable, or subject to be· wre~ted from the·m, it seems~ that they d~termined to pu.t on diffet·ent, and·, of course·,· as they were- supe ... r10r• more beautiful heads. And perhaps the circurnsta'nce that their slaves were to accompany them, and serve them in a~other world-the land of spirits'-'was considered by them an·additional· ~·eason, why th~y should imprint indelibly, even on their very e:x ... 1stence, a sure mdication, and record of their ow'n, superiority: le.st,· perchance the muster mi'ght be mistaken for the slave and to the· slave might be awarded the privileges of the maste;.: Jest th~ proud .master, ~ho, .i.n th'is world, was accustomed to grant his· servant hfe,. or btd htm cite~, might, by mistake,. in Heaven be compelled, himself, to suffi~r and to· se·rve; might be compelled· to dig " 11'~ PRO:SA13LE OHlGIN. 57 the spirit-roots, and gather spirit-berries, from the bogs and briers 1 of heaven; and to bare around the Portages 01· paddle along the .Rive~·s, the .ghost of his own, nobleman's canoe, for a vile slave : lest, in the fair h)nd of spirits, his fl·ee-bot·n shade might be~ through mistake, compelled to bare such like. ignoble spirit burthens, and toil, and sweat, and tl'emble, at the will of a vile creature of the Great H!gh Ghief of Spirits, whom he befot·e had been accustomed to command : Lest such misfortunes might come upon him, by the too great natural resernblance, between himself and his slave, it is probable that he was more strongly induced to lay aside ~1:1~ servile-looking head, which silly nature gave him. and put on · ~ mo1;e beautiful . one of his own wise fashioning. If this be not correct, it is at least s.u rely very much in the characte1· of man; and if it be, it is not confined to the F 'latheads , alone, nor is it pecu· liar to the ignorant and uncultivated barbarian. The actions of ·civilized and enlightened barbarians, speak with the same import. This operation of flattening the head, is performed when the child is very young: while the cranium is yet soft, and somewhat pliable. It nevertheless requires a long time to complete it. It must be effected very gradually, and the pressure must be continued upon the skull, until it has acquired a degree of hardness, sufficient to retain the shape which has been given . The object is to press back the forehead; which, when the operation is completed, is generally about parallel with the no3ei In effecting this, the back part of the head is also somewhat compressed. This object is accomplished by binding a small boaru, or any other hard plano substance, closely upon the forehead i so as to press in the required direction. T he child itself is lashed to a board, in such a manner, as to favor the securing of the flattening plane, in the necessary position, and to prevent the child from strangling. This operation, although so unnaturil, so confining, and affecting an organ so delicate as the brain; and though performed upon such tender years, does not, howeve r, appeat• to produce pain. Mortality does not appear to be greater among the Flathead children than among the adults, in comparison with that of ot he 1· Indian Tribes. Neither does the flattening of the head appear, in the least degree, to affect the mind. Slaves, born among them, w?ose heads are not tlat~ened, are the same, in every respect, per· taming to the mind, as far as it is possible to determine. In disposi. J ion, .passion, intellect, and in their whole chal'Uctet· ' as fat· as d1fferent individuals are alike, they are alike But it is proba· 8 |