ENTOMOLOGY AMONG THE BELLACOOLA

AND CARRIER INDIANS

BY HARLAN I. SMITH

HE Bellacoola Indians live in the Norway of Canada, about midway of the Pacific Coast, where Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the first white man to cross Canada, reached the sea; that is, about half way between Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Their country is around the head of the inlets about sixty miles in from or east of Ocean Falls and the usual route of the steamers up and down the coast. This inland passage is with few exceptions protected by the outer fringe of islands. The Bellacoola language is one of the Salish linguistic stock. The people are of the typical North Pacific Coast culture, characterized by the extensive use of red cedar and sea products, especially salmon, huge houses of split cedar planks with carved house posts, and totem poles, and immense seagoing canoes dug out of cedar. They were expert carpenters and had a peculiar art, especially in painting and carving, largely of conventionalized animal forms-a valuable contribution to the art of the world. This art may become of great financial value to the manufacturers of this country as well as a magnet capable of exploitation to bring in tourists with money from foreign lands. These Indians had a very highly developed social organization, many dramas and rituals, and a complex financial system popularly known as the potlatch.

The Carrier Indians of Ulkatcho, on the other hand, live in the high plateau of the semi-arid region, perhaps 75 miles northeast of the Bellacoola. They differ from the Bellacoola in language, appearance, and culture perhaps as much as do the Turks from the English. They had a less realistic art, which was largely geometric and pictographic, highly conventionalized and symbolic. Their social organization and financial system also were less highly developed.

From time to time during 1920-1923 inclusive, I have secured from both these peoples data about their use of materials. Part

of these data refer to insects, and may be of interest to entomologists, although my spelling of Indian words is very problematical, because some of the sounds I can neither hear nor make, and I am unable to record adequately many of those that I can hear. The data here given are preliminary to a complete working over of my notes, but are believed to be nearly complete.

Insects apparently were not so well observed by the Bellacoola as were useful mammals and plants, the stinger of the bumble-bee, for instance, being supposed to be in its mouth. Few insects had names, that is, mainly those which were used or which troubled the Indians. Insects were not used for food, and honey was unknown until after the coming of the white man. The head of the gad-fly was used as a pattern in painting designs, the nest of the yellow-jacket in sympathetic magic or witchcraft, and "fly spit" was said to be good for sores. They had a story about the bumblebee.

Among the Ulkatcho also observation of insects was weaker than that of mammals and plants, and they apparently had names for only a few insects, those which troubled them. Ant lyon pits and its method of taking prey were known. Insects were of no use to the Ulkatcho whatever. An instance was observed of an Indian amusing himself with a buzzing fly held in his mouth. They employed smudges, fish oil, gum of the cottonwood, and blossoms of cow parsnip with oil to protect themselves from mosquitoes, black flies and no-see-ums, and smoke to protect foods from flies.

The Ant lyon, among the Ulkatcho, is called Kinnelkats. It is said to be numerous at Ulkatcho, but that it was useless and that there was no story about it. My informant voluntarily showed me the pits made by the larvae of this insect and, catching ants for the purpose, demonstrated its well-known method of taking its prey.

The grasshopper (Orthoptera), that makes a noise by rubbing its wings together when it flies, was called Telcus, among the Ulkatcho.

"Fly spit," that is the material surrounding a nymph of a spittle insect, also known as a frog hopper (Cercopidae), is said

by some old Bellacoola men to be good for sores, but my informant did not believe it.

Among the Ulkatcho it is numerous, but was not used, not even as a medicine.

A bumble-bee, identified as Bombus appositus Cresson, by Dr. H. J. Franklin, among the Bellacoola, was called Tikquanats or the large Skotl, Skotl being the name of three kinds of insects, a bumble-bee, a yellow jacket, and a hornet. It was not taken nor used, and was said to do no harm to people. My informant did not know whether it had a house or not. Neither did he know that it made honey until told so by white men. They say the bee took one of the prickers of the swamp gooseberry for a stinger, but my informant said he did not believe this. He thought it had a sting in its mouth, not in its tail, until I showed him. The Bellacoola have a story that a being considered by a little girl to be a man, but by an elder sister to be a bumble-bee, was once seen coming from the noonday sun. The little girl became blind, but her eyes appeared to be all right. Many thought she was made blind by too much sunlight when she looked at the man who was a bumble-bee.

Among the Ulkatcho, this bumble-bee was called Whultocho, Whulto being the name of a yellow jacket, and cho meaning large. Whus or Whis means pricker. The bumble-bee was not used as fish bait.

An insect, probably the hornet, is called Slow lowstl, by the Bellacoola, who say it has a little white on the tail and makes a small nest in a tree in July.

The yellow jacket among the Bellacoola was called Quolalaits (Clolaclaylaits) (Clolaclaylaits skotl) while all three kinds of insects, the bumble-bee, the yellow jacket and the hornet, were called Skotl. The yellow jacket was known to make a nest. The nest was used in sympathetic magic or witchcraft as follows: When one wished to cause the child of one's enemy to grow up to be a quarrelsome person, the nest of the yellow-jacket was burned and the ashes rubbed on the child. When the child grew up he or she would fight with everyone.

A fly which does not bite, perhaps the house fly among the Bellacoola, was called Mammish, and was said to lay its eggs on fish and fish eggs. The place called Numammish was so named because the people thought they saw flies and they said mammish, but when the supposed flies fell they were seen to be toads.

Among the Ulkatcho, this fly was called Asthuz, and was said to lay its eggs on salmon. To keep off flies of all kinds and mosquitoes the blossoms of the cow parsnip, Heracleum lanatum Michx, called Goosss in Ulkatcho, were put in oil of the eulachon fish or any kind of oil and the mixture was put on the body. Every food that was smoked was smoked so that flies would keep away from it. Flies were not used as fish bait.

The Gad-fly, Tabanus sp.? probably sonomensis O. G. of the family Tabanidae, which is commonly called horsefly, is numerous when the horses come down to Bella Coola from the interior. Among the Bellacoola it is called Silt lay estl. It is said to lay its eggs in the backs of the caribou in July, and these hatch into "worms." The face and eyes, being pretty, were used long ago as a pattern for a picture which was painted on fine boxes. There was no story of this fly.

Among the Ulkatcho, this gad-fly is called Clez co, and a smaller one is called Clez cho yaz, yaz signifying small. Once I was told that no medicine was used to keep off the gad-fly, but on another occasion that cottonwood gum with oil was used. Apparently for his own amusement, my Ulkatcho Indian informant held one of these flies by the abdomen inside his mouth and made it buzz.

Two kinds of little black biting fly, horse fly (Symphoromyia sp.?) apparently considered as one, are called Skikpie est in Bellacoola. They are called Clez cho yaz in Ulkatcho yaz signifying small.

The Black fly, Simuliidae, among the Bellacoola is called Ticos cosee and Alk co ok hotl.

Among the Ulkatcho it is called Whuchu, while Tsih is the name of black flies, mosquitoes, and no-see-ums. All these were kept off with a smoke smudge made with a fire of any kind of wood on which were put such things as green, wet, or rotten wood,

or grass. Black flies were sometimes kept off by putting oil of either salmon or trout on the face and hands. Cottonwood gum with oil was also used for this purpose.

The No-see-um among the Bellacoola is called Sleigh et el ke. Among the Ulkatcho the no-see-um is called Whetlcatl and it is said that the bite of this little fly causes swelling and sickness. It was kept off in the same manner as the black fly.

Mosquitoes, Culicidae, among the Bellacoola, were called

Pikim.

Among the Ulkatcho they were kept off with smoke in the same manner as the black fly, and with blossoms of the cow parsnip in oil in the same manner as flies. It is not clear if the gum of the cottonwood was or was not used for this purpose, as it was to keep off no-see-ums.

Among the Ulkatcho "worms" were not used as fish bait. VICTORIA MEMORIAL MUSEUM,

OTTAWA, CANADA.