SAHAK
326
SAHAPTIN
he rested not for a day "teaching civihzation and good
customs, reading, writing, grammar, music, and other
things in the servnce of God and the state". In ad-
dition to his unequalled masterj- of the Mexican lan-
guage, it was said of him that he excelled in all the
sciences.
Bancboft, Natite Races of the Pacific States: III, Myths and Languages (S&xiFTSincisco, ISSG); Beristain t Souza, Biblioteca Hispano Americana Seientrional, 111 (Amecameca, 1883) ; Pres- COTT. Conquest of 3/fxtco, I (New York, 1843) ; Vetancurt, Me- nologio Franciscano (Mexico, 1871).
James Moonet.
Sahak the Great. See Isaac of Armenia.
Sahaptin Indians, a prominent tribe formerly holding a considerable territory in Western Idaho and adjacent portions of Oregon and Washington, in- cluding the lower Snake River, ^\-ith its tributaries the Salmon, Clearwater, and Grande Ronde, from about 45° down nearly to the entrance of the Palouse, and from the Blue Mountains of Oregon on the west to the main di\nde of the Bitter-root ^Iountains on the east. They are of the Shahaptian linguistic stock, to which belong also the Palouse, Umatilla, Tenino (Warm- springs), YakimS and others farther to the west, with whom they maintained close friendly relations, while frequently at variance with the Salishan tribes on their northern border — the Flatheads, Coeur d'Alene and Spokan — and in chronic warfare with the Black- feet, Crows, and Shoshoni on the east and south. They call themselves Numipu, meaning simply "people". The name Sahaptin or Saptin comes through the Sali- shan tribes. By Lewis and Clark (1805) they were called Chopunnish, possibly another form of Saptin. Their popular and official name of Nez Percys, "Pierced Noses", originally bestowed by the French trappers, refers to a former custom of wearing a den- tahum shell through a hole bored in the septum of the nose. When first known (1805) they numbered, ac- cording to the most reliable estimates, probably over 6000, but have greatly decreased since the advent of the whites, and are still steadily on the decline. Con- tributing causes are incessant wars with the more pow- erful Blackfeet in earlier years; a wasting fever, and mea^tles epidemic (1847) from contact with immi- grants; smallpox and other diseases following the oc- cupation of the country by miners after 1860; losses in the war of 1877 and subsequent removals; and wholesale spread of consumption due to their changed condition of living under civilization. In 1848 they were officially estimated at 3000; in 1862 they were reported at 2800; in 1893 the census showed 2035; in 1910 they were officially reported at 1530, including all mixed bloods, all upon the Fort Lapwai (allotted) reservation in northern Idaho, excepting the remnant of Joseph's band, numbering then only 97, upon Col- \nlle reservation in north-eastern Washington. Of their numerous former bands, this one, formerly cen- tring in Wallowa (or Willewah) valley, Oregon, was perhaps the most important, numbering originally about 500. In their primitive condition the Nez Percys, although semi-sedentary, were without agricul- ture, depending on hunting, fishing, and the gathering of wild roots and berries. Their permanent houses were communal structures, sometimes circular, but more oft«n oblong, about twenty f(!et in width and sixty to ninety fec;t in length, with framework of poles cxjvered by rush mats, with floor sunk below the ground level, and earth banked up around the sides, and with an open space along the centre of the roof, for the es- cape of the smoke. On the inside were ranged fires along the centre at a distance of ten or twelve feet apart, each fire serving two families on opposite sides of the house, the family sections being sometimes sej)arated by mat curtains. One house might thus shelter more than one hundred persons. I^'wis and Clark nu-ntion one large enough to m;commodate nearly fifty families. On temporary exjxiditirinK they used the ordinary buffalo-ekin tipi or brush shelter. They had also
sweat-houses and menstrual lodges. The permanent
sweat-house was a shallow subterranean excavation,
roofed with poles and earth and bedded with grass, in
which the young and unmarried men slept during the
winter season, and occasionally sweated themselves
by means of steam produced by pouring water upon
hot stones placed in the centre. The temporary
sweat-house used by both sexes was a framework of
willow rods, covered with blankets, with the heated
stones placed inside. The menstrual lodge, for the
seclusion of women during the menstrual period and
for a short period before and after childbirth, was a
subterranean structure, considerably larger than the
sweatr-house, and entered by means of a ladder from
above. The occupants thus secluded cooked their
meals alone and were not allowed even to touch any
articles used by outsiders. Furniture consisted chiefly
of bed platforms, baskets and bags woven of rushes or
grass, wooden mortars for pounding roots and spoons
of horn. The woman had also her digging stick for
gathering roots; the man his bow, lance, shield, and
fishing equipment. The Nez Perce bow of mountain-
sheep horn backed with sinew was the finest in the
West. The ordinary dress was of skins, with the ad-
dition of a fez-shaped basket hat for the woman and a
protective skin helmet for the warrior. Aside from
fish and game, chiefly salmon and deer, their prin-
cipal foods were the roots of the camas {Ca7nassia
esculenta) and kouse {Lomatium kous, etc.), the first
being roasted in pits by a peculiar process, while the
other was ground in mortars and molded into cakes
for future use. The gathering and preparing devolved
upon the women. Marriage occurred at about the
age of fourteen and was accompanied by feasting and
giving of presents. Polygamy was general, but kin-
ship prohibition was enforced even to the third degree.
Inheritance was in the male fine. "The standard of
moraUty, both before and after marriage seems to have
been conspicuously high " (Spinden). Interment was
in the ground, the personal belongings of the de-
ceased being deposited with the body, and the house
torn down or removed to another spot. The new
house was ceremonially purified and the ghost exor-
cised, and the mourning period was terminated with
a funeral feast. Sickness and death, especially of
children, were frequently ascribed to the work of
ghosts. The religion was animistic, with a marked
absence of elaborate myth or ritual. The principal
religious event in the life of the boy or girl was the
dream vigil, when, after solitary fasting for several
days, the fevered child had vision of the spirit animal
which was to be his or her tutelary through life.
Dreams were the great source of spiritual instruction.
The principal ceremonial was the dance to the tutelary
spirit, next to which in importance was the scalp
dance. The clan system was unknown. Chiefs were
elective rather than hereditary, governing by assist-
ance of the council, and there was no supreme tribal
chief. They were considerably under the influence of
the so-called "Dreamer religion" of the upper Colum-
bia tribes, but had no part in the later "ghost dance".
Previous to th<; visit of the American explorers, Lewis
and Clark (1K()5), the Nez Percys had had no direct
acquaintance with wiiitc; men, although aware of their
pr{!sence beyond th(! mountains and on the Pacific
coast. They alrea<ly had horses from the South. A
few years later trading posts were established in the
upper Columbia region, and from the Catholic Cana-
dian and Iroquois employees of the Hudson's Bay
Company traders they first learned of Christianity
and as early as 1820 both they and the Flatheads had
voluntarily adopted many of the Catholic forms. Of
the Nez Perc/;H it has been said: "They seemed to
realize the paucity of their religious traditions and
from the first eagerly s(!con<led the efforts of the mis-
sionaries to instruct them in th(^ C'hristian faith."
As a result of urgent a[)peals from the Flathead In-
