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Wasco Indian History
Wasco (from the Wasco word wacq!ó,
'cup or small bowl of horn,' the reference being to a cup-shaped
rock a short distance from the main village of the tribe: from the
tribal name Galasq!ó,
'Those that belong to Wasco,' or 'Those that have the cup,' are
derived many of the forms of the name that follow in the synonymy.
The derivation of the name from the Shahaptian wacq!ú,
'grass,' lacks probability). A Chinookan tribe formerly living on
the south side of Columbia river, in the neighborhood of The Dalles,
in Wasco County, Oregon. This tribe, with the Wishram (also known as
Tlakluit and Echeloot), on the north side of the river, were the
easternmost branches of the Chinookan
family. These two tribes were practically identical in language and
culture, though they have been removed to different reservations. On
the north east, and south they bordered on
Shahaptian tribes, on the
west on closely related Chinookan tribes (White
Salmon and Hood River Indians, Mooney' a Chiluktkwa and Kwikwnlit).
Morse, in 1822, estimated the number of the Wasco at 900. They
joined in the treaty of 1855, and removed to the
Warm
Springs Reservation, Oregon, where about 200 now reside. The
Wasco occupied a number of village, some of these being used only
for wintering during the salmon runs. The names of these villages
and fishing stations from east to west are: Hlgaliacha, Igiskhis,
Wasko (a few miles above the present town of The Dales), Wogupan,
Natialalaik, Gawobumat, Hliekala-imadik, Wikatk, Watsokus, Winkwot
(at The Dalles) Hlilwaihldik, Hliapkenun, Kabala, Gayahisitik,
Itkumahlemkt, Hlgaktahlk, Tgahu, Hliluktik, Gahlentlich, Gechgechak,
Skhlalalis.
The Wasco were a sedentary people, depending for their
subsistence mainly upon fish (several varieties of salmon, suckers,
sturgeon, eels), to a less extent upon edible root berries, and,
least important of all, game. Salmon were caught in the spring and
fall, partly with dip-nets, partly by spearing; smaller fish were
obtained with hook and line or by means of basket traps. Definitely
located fishing stations were a well-recognized form of personal
property; the capture of the first salmon of the season was
accompanied with a ceremony intended to give that particular fishing
station a good season's catch. Pounded salmon flesh was often stored
away for winter use; it also formed an important article of trade
with neighboring tribes, the chief rendezvous for barter being the
falls a few miles above The Dalles. Also berries were dried and
preserved for winter use. The most notable of their industries were
work in wood (bowls, spoons), horn (spoons, cups), and twined
basketry bags, various fortes of stiff baskets). Coiled basketry has
been learned since closer contact with the
Klikitat; the chief materials
used in twining are cedar roots and various grasses, of late also
trader's cord and yarn. Realistic figures are carved in wood and
horn; while the basket designs are partly geometrical, recalling the
basketry art of north California, and, as in that area, hearing
conventional pattern names, partly realistic, though crudely so
(angular figures of men, eagles, and deer are characteristic of the
basketry art of the lower Columbia). The latter designs may be
plausibly explained as an adaptation of forms familiar from
woodcarving to twined basketry with its straight line and angular
patterns. The original Wasco costume consisted of blanket robes (the
pelts of bear, deer, wolf, coyote, raccoon, and mountain goat in
summer), sleeveless shirts of raccoon or coyote skin, breechcloths
of raccoon skin, and moccasins of deerskin; bats and gloves were
made of coyote skin. Two types of house were in use-the partly
underground winter house, roofed with cedar hark and having board
platforms about the walls for beds, and the summer house with frame
of fir poles and covering of tules or cedar bark; the latter type
might have several fireplaces, accommodating three or four families.
Sweat-houses were frequently used and were of quasi-supernatural
significance.
In childhood the bead was flattened by pressure on the
forehead, and the ears were punctured with five holes in each ear;
adults whose heads were not flattened were derided as no better than
slaves. As regards naming, the most interesting fact is perhaps the
absolute impossibility of translating a single Wasco name, the
Chinookan dialects differing in this respect from the vast majority
of American languages. Puberty ceremonies were observed in the case
of both girls and boys; the former were subject to the usual taboos,
after the fulfillment of which a menstrual dance was held, while the
latter "trained" for the acquirement of strength and one or several
guardian spirits. Burial was on boards put away in "dead people's
houses"; slaves were sometimes buried alive to accompany a chief to
the next world. Three classes of society were recognized: chiefs
(the chieftainship was hereditary), common folk, and slaves
(obtained by capture). There was no clan or totem organization, the
guardian spirits referred to being strictly personal in character;
the village was the main social unit. Religious ideas centered in
the acquirement and manifestation of supernatural power obtained
from one or more guardian spirits. The main social dances were the
menstrual dance, the guardian spirit dance, in which each
participant sang the song revealed to him by his protector, and the
scalp dance. The most striking fact in the mythology of the tribe is
the great role that Coyote plays as culture-hero and transformer.
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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