Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/225

 Various Ethnographic Notes. 213

information than of the Yamhill (properly Yamel), the Santiam, the Pineifu or Marysville Kalapuyas, the Lakmiuk or Eugene City In- dians, the Ahantchuyuk or Pudding River and other Kalapuya tribes. Their language is sonorous and vocalic, the verb excessively rich in forms, prefixes not frequent, and most words end in conso- nants. There is a wealth of folk-lore among them, but it awaits the scientific collector. The only " divine being " they have is Ayuthl- me-i, which is an abstraction only, tantamount to our term " miracu- lous " and to the Chinook " itamdnuish."

As far as known, the earliest habitat of the Atfalati were the plains of the same name, the hills around Forest Grove and the sur- roundings of Wapatu Lake. Of their former village no trace has remained, and their customs and dress has wholly assimilated to that of the "white brother." But we know that they once were fond of attire and personal adornment ; they wore red feathers on their heads, long beads on the neck, and bright dentalium-shells were sus- pended from their pierced noses. The women as well as the men cut holes into their ear-rims to hang beads on, and thus tried to en- circle the whole face with this sort of attire. But they did not tattoo their skins, and even in the hottest of summer never divested themselves entirely of their garments, as was done by the California Indians.

As to their ideal of feminine beauty, the Atfalati thought that the shortest women were the prettiest, and to wear the hair long in braids was considered in good taste. To look pretty, the women had to wear their beads on the side of the head down to the waist, which were heard to tinkle, even at a distance. Their heads were flattened, and the forehead heightened thereby ; the more beads were seen to encircle the face, the more pleasant was the onlook. Even the boys wore beads. The females thought they improved the appearance of their eyes by passing their hands frequently over them. Their braids were made like those of the white women, two hanging from the backhead. Low foreheads were thought to be in better shape than high ones. Women were unacquainted with the habit of tight-lacing, but liked a full development of the waist, and wore the breast open, though some of them covered themselves up to the neck with a deer- skin chemise. With women, little feet were liked ; large feet with men, who also showed preference for moustaches but removed their beards by means of tin tweezers.

To "buy a woman," or to "purchase a wife," is a phrase incorrectly worded to express a transfer of values to parents or relatives for obtaining from them a marriageable female for the matrimonial state. To the white people of the West who see this transfer made, even now, before their eyes, by Indians, this seems to be the right expres-

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