| Show TALES of orte the TRIBES by EDITHA L WATSON the they smoked willow bark for tobacco they worshiped the sun and they called their friends bad people these were a few of the peculiarities of the Ku tenal they lived in northern montana and idalio idaho and north in canada their tradition states that formerly formell y they were located east of the but the pushed of them westward with considerable loss of life as th the 9 unwilling slowly and resist angly gave way the Black teet having accomplished this drive the two tribes became friends and it was not a mutter matter tor for war if a blackfoot married a Ku tenal or vice versa but one reminder of the old days of enmity remained their name tor for the Blaik feet bad people the tribes joined in buffalo hunts bunts part of the meat thus obtained going to each this matter of tae the division of meat has caused the dissolution of many another tribal alliance but tor for some reason the and the never found it a cause for quarreling and continued to carry on a custom which had proved dangerous to other nations without harm tp to themselves the costume and the customs of the plains indians were too firmly emplane ed in the to be entirely displaced when they moved across the mountains to the take lake country buffalo meat was still a staple of their diet but to it they now cow added fish cleverly trapped or adroitly speared horses and firearms which replaced the bows and arrows of other days became necessities and yet stone hammers relics of a former age might be found in use in the late years ears of the last century who claim an asiatic origin for the red race find the ku tenal bark baik canoe of interest it was monitor shaped pointed at both ends under the water and resembled those used in certain parts of asia the also had dugouts dug outs the commod hollow log boat which was used by so BO many indian tribes the greatest amusement of these people was gambling and they might often be found noil sely enga engaged ged in their favorite form of this pastime this was a guessing game in which a bundle b U adle of sticks was divided and an odd 0 dd one or 0 r a marked one was concealed cent e of among a in ong them hem I 1 the object was to gnessin guess in which bundle of sticks the odd one was hidden possessions changed hands with considerable frequency in the excitement of tills this game as the inveterate gamblers g wagered wage reil their valuables amid the loud cries of the tile players the liked to dance also although they were not especially rich in noise milking making or musical instruments there was a great deal to be admired in the character th they y were a hospitable and moral people e with good mental ability the vices of the whites which have caused so some me tribes to dwindle and finally van vanish ish gained little hold on these energetic and industrious folk some of them could draw with considerable ability and even understand the principles of map making the primitive religion was adorm a form of sun ban worship the land of departed souls was located in that glowing orb and some day it was thought the travelers would return from the sun and meet their living friends once more mori everything was credited with a soul and reincarnation carna was one of their strong beliefs the medicine man was a great influence in those early days his words being heeded with solemn reverence ence and it took arny anny years to change their beliefs to those more nearly approaching pro aching christianity with such ideas it Is not surprising to find that these people enjoyed and appreciated the beauties of nature and delighted in the scent bud and color of flowers the many practical uses of plants also as food medicine and in other ways had been discovered and utilized by the Ku tenal their folklore included many animal stores in which beasts birds fish insects and such cold blooded creatures as frogs bogs find and turtles played interesting parts the coyote was the hero of many of these lively stories ills adventures were full of amusement and suspense he played the most hilariously larlou sly funny tricks on innocent folk ond and was far away on ills his travels before they realized who their deceiver was As shown by their cultivation of tho the arts of pence the were never famous as a fighting tribe it was no doubt due to their knowledge of this that a band of called the came into the territory in british columbia and settled down to stay efforts to dislodge them were frustrated by an alliance between the interlopers Interlope rs and the As who helped them to hold their position this they managed so successfully that when the white men witti with their treaties of pence peace came into the country they were wee still there 6 A 1931 costern ne oltron union there are 68 58 distinct linguistic divisions among the indians many could not understand each others language nit although bough they lived near end each other sign language was in use between the missouri river and the and from fraser river british columbia to the rio grande rew pew outside this aren area used language star arri |
