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Show THE TAHLTAN'S RITES PIERCE CUSTOMS OF THE nniT-ISH nniT-ISH INDIANS. Every Ttma a Jltmbrr of Tkalr Trtba Dies a, .Natural Ilaath, Another Man bar la Mada In Pay Ilia I ilrama fan-ally fan-ally Ulltkrrafl Itona Itlot. Witchcraft did not perish from American soil with tho tail witch burning of Salem Away up In Brit-Ish Brit-Ish Columbia, whero the Stlklne river flows too shallow to float the flatboats of IHt miners of Olcnora and Telegraph Tele-graph Creek, a witch boy It killed with tcrrlblo torture for ccry man or woman who dies a natural death. And this Is among Indians whom civilization civiliza-tion has marked for Its own Whero a hello has risen to silk thlrt walttt, and parasols, and whero tho braves wear patent-leather shoes and Jewelry. For civilisation Is of tho outward appearance, and It docs not reach tho deep, black suporttltlons ot tho To-hltnn To-hltnn people. While tho coming ot tho wblto man tbo miner of tho Klon-dlko, Klon-dlko, with bla freight to bo packed-hat packed-hat brought tho comforts of comparative compara-tive wealth and n realisation ot th advantages ad-vantages of dvlllied dreaa, food and horses. It has not been extended to tho point that Includes morals and religion. re-ligion. Along thcso patha they havo made no progrcta. They buy and acll tholr wlvca nnd children; they practlco their heathenish rctlgtoue rites, their modlclno and witch dances; tbey bo-llovo bo-llovo In nnd practlco a very rude method of cremating the dead, and, worst ot all, they beltovo In witchcraft, Every natural nat-ural death la accredited accred-ited to witchcraft, and for every "bowltched" Indian that dies somo poor Indian boy Is barbarously murdered To tbelr open-air llto and tho healthful ell-mato ell-mato of tho Caaalar district It due tho low death rato ot tbo trlbo and tho correspondingly corresponding-ly low'"murdcr" rate In the winter of 183C on Indian, woman lay near unto death In her homo at Tahltan village, vil-lage, nnd the wlso men of tbo trlbo decided that the had been bowltched. bo-wltched. Sho belonged belong-ed to tho faction of tho Tahltan j Vnown aa tho "Wolvct;" so a "Wolf" witch doctor was called upon to drive out tbo witch that bad crtpt Into tho mortal body ot Kloocbman. The doctor doc-tor on.drBaad In wolfskins and made up trj resemblo as nearly as possible a wolf, and for two hours he danced about the couch ot tbo dying woman, uttering horrible cries and making threatening getturet calculated to drive the witch out of the woman. Tho witch did not appear, and at tho woman wat apparently worso than beforo the medicine man's performance. It, ot course, became Immediately Im-mediately apparent to the Indian mind that tbo dying woman was possessed. The responsibility must bo fixed, ao, with a howl nnd a leap, the "Wolf doctor seized upon the 12-year-old aon ot a widow of tho trlbo and dragged him to tho. couch of tbo dying woman, Jr-n r.i'.llttM that aha bewitched! that tho boy was responsible lor ike bewitchment and thus sho died. The mother wept nnd pleaded for boy's life. Tho lad declared that he would not know bow to go to work to bewitch any one, but wbat could tho mother and child do against tho death- HUNO UP AND WHIPPED. 6ed confession and accusation of tho bewitched KloochmanT The deceased ahould certainly know whether she was bewitched or not, and to whom the rcaponelblllty belonged. From such a court there was no appeal. A bravo ot the tribe (his name was Desculta)bero took charge ot the proceedings. pro-ceedings. The boy was tied up by the thumbs and beaten with switches as punishment for tho wltchea. A big hunt was organized and set for a date two montha ahead, and while waiting for the final act In the tragedy tho boy waa frequently tied up and whipped to bring him to a realising sense ot bis condition. Tho mother of the doomed lad doubted the wisdom of the eldert of th tribe and the Justice of the boy's sentence, so aho Journoyed to Telegraph Tele-graph Creek and laid the matter before be-fore John Highland, a white merchant, who It still In business there. Mr. Highland Imrnxliately communtcittd with Superintendent of latin Affairs Vowell, at Victoria, ft c-ko tent a detective to Tahltan vlllotiioitop tho murdor and secure tho "wiiloner. In those days means of retonnleatlon between Victoria and ton, north. ern Caaalar wore not up to their proa-ent proa-ent mark.and tho detectlr, arrived too late. The hunt occurred, ua tl n ,. vcnlent tpot on the bail, 0f tho Stlklne Stl-klne Deaculla't hunting hit, doxtor-oualy doxtor-oualy wielded, dlscmbo ln0 p,,,,. Illtto Slwnah and the Wj u slipped under tho Ice of the JtMne a river that scldoraa gives up hi dead The day following Ui murder tho detectlvo arrived on the ireno. A friend of Desculla's elired to help him find tho murderer ud they started start-ed off on their wlldrw. ) The treachcrout guide led kirn by ono tpot where, twenty feel iy, an Indian womnn wnt scraping lie bloody mow from the spot when the murder was committed; led hlo by (he tepee whero Dcsculta watrttbcrlng his possessions pos-sessions together irertratory to going Into an enforced retirement led him n day's march In Ui wrong direction, and then ndnutted that Dcsculta must have escaped For two years Dneulta hat been a wanderer on tho fiet of the tarth, living liv-ing on what bo cm kill and the roots ho can dig. Ho re not mlngto with tho other Indians, for they would betray be-tray him to the authorities Ho dare not trust himself with tho membert of bit own trIU. Thero have been other executions among tho Tahltmi for the crime ot witchcraft, even within a few months. In Augutt, lilt, an Indian girl died 1 puS HH te- -Sk Mil- F'fT THIS WITCH DOCTOn AT WOIUC. at Tahltan village. Ileforo her death the confetaod that sho had Ices bewitched, be-witched, and doclarcd tbat llttlo Jao Culllhan, a 12-year-old orphan, who waa purchased years ago by tho Coast Indians, was the boy that bewitched her. Of course, Joo denied the accusation, accu-sation, but tho girl died, and that pravod hor story, according to tho Indian- belief. An Indian named IolII took upon himself the right to meet out fate to llttlo Joe, and tied the boy up by his thumbs, according to tho beat, methods of tho tribe. As snow would not nrrlvo for at least elsty nays una us 11 wuuld in tCll'll'aV to all precedent to order a big hunt until un-til thero was snow on the ground and lectin tho river, tho victim nnd a considerable con-siderable length of time to attend to bit sore thumbs and acquire a better understanding of tbo disadvantages of being an up-to-date witch, unknown to oncaelt and frlonda. Dut thla little boy bad a better chanco for hit life than had bit prede-cossors prede-cossors In witchcraft, for tho sudden rush ot gold seekers toward the Canadian Can-adian Klondike landed within twenty miles of little Joe's homo fully 4.000 Civilized gold seekers, 200 Canadian soldiers, and a flno body ot provincial pollco under tho command of W. II. Bullock Wobater, nnd, the matter coming com-ing to tho knowlcdgo of the latter, murder was prove-itcd, Mr. Webster sent after the parties concerned In tho I sffalr. Tho officers brought back lit- I tie Joe, but not his self appointed executioner, exe-cutioner, but an Indian runner for a monetary consideration found Lolll and brought him Into camp, accompanied accompa-nied by leading Tyrees of tho trlbo. I-olll was arraigned beforo Magistrate Webster at Telegraph Creok Aug. 18, 1888. The services of an Interpreter wai secured and under the Influence of proper questioning Lolll deposed as follows; "My name Is Loll!; am Tahltan In-aln; In-aln; have declared for hunt nt which Joe Culllhan Is to be disemboweled by roe and bis body sunk In Stlklne, tor having bewitched a girl In our tribe. I believe tn,wltchcraft. Mytrlbo haa always believed In wltchcraffnnd executed exe-cuted witches. I do not know It Is rong. I bollovo It Is right" 'faglatrato Wobater of Vancouver.D, c; gave Lolll a lecture on tho enormity enorm-ity of the crime bo was about to com-Bit. com-Bit. Ho also gave blm ninety days In Jail at Telegraph Creek In which to consider the main points ot the lecture. lec-ture. Joe, the witch, dressed In his first i lit of American clothes, and first pair of shoes, la absorbing knowledge and aTovernraent food at tho Indian school nt Metlakaua, II. a Lolll, the witch executioner of this day and age, will be out of Jail thla month, unrepentant, f "WPjBBaWHaHHs but resolved to move hereafter In moro myaterloua ways hla executions to perform |