Siwash [pp. 501-506]

1892.]
If I drink whisky,
Whisky will drink my money.
"Muckamuck" is a very expressive
term, and seems to mean anything fill ing to the stomach. When the Siwash
says," Muckamuck," to his klootchman,
it may mean, "Is dinner ready?" or
"What are you going to have for sup per?" or more likely it will mean,
"Hurry up, I'm hungry "; and if there
does not happen to be any "mucka muck" handy, it may mean that she is
to go clam-digging and get something.
The word "tumtums" is also compre hensive, meaning mind, soul, or heart, in
the Chinook jargon.
Many of the older white settlers
around Puget Sound can talk Chinook
as well as their own language. In early
days the Siwash formed a more important item in the affairs of the Puget
Sound country than they do at present.
The first settlers of Seattle had more
than one brush with the natives before
they were left unmolested.
The most interesting and historic figure to be seen in Seattle at the present
time is Princess Angeline, who at one
time saved the embryo city from destruction by a timely warning to the inhabitants. She is a daughter of Chief Seattle, for whom the city is named. Seattle
himself was always friendly toward the
whites; but when he heard they were
going to name the new town after him
he objected very strongly, even going
himself to Olympia, the seat of government, to protest against it. His objection was founded on the Siwash superstition that a dead person's name should
never be mentioned, for every time it is
spoken the dead will turn in his grave.
Chief Seattle had a longing to rest well
in his tomb; hence his very natural objection to having the town named after
him. His wishes were not heeded, however, and the poor old Chief's bones
must be about worn out by this time, as
he has been dead a number of years.
His daughter, Princess Angeline,
VOL. xx-44.
would hardly be called handsome even
in Siwash society; but she is exceeding ly interesting, and her picture may be
seen in all probable and improbable
places in Seattle. She may be said to
have the "freedom of the city"; the
places of business she chooses to patro nize looking to the civic government for
their pay. As her monthly bills all told
amount to only about eight dollars, but
little notice is taken of the fact that she
occasionally treats her friends to a box
of cigars.
Princess Angeline at home presents
a striking contrast to her white sister in
a similar position. The following ac count of a visit to her palace appeared
in one of Seattle's leading dailies. The
Princess was found in a hut on the
shore of the Sound not far from the city.
The hut was built of such material as had been
picked up on the shore, and presented the appearance of having been thrown together rather than
built. It was about six by seven feet square and
five feet high, and at one corner a bottomless box
served as a stovepipe and chimney, and opened directly into the room. There was no window, and
the only light that reached the inside of the hut came
through cracks in the walls and roof, and hrough
the improvised chimney. An aperture in one corner
four feet high and two feet wide, covered by a coarse
piece of dirty canvas, indicated the entrance to the
palace of Princess Angeline.
The aged klootchman was preparing her evening
meal by the side of a little fire fed by chips and
pieces of driftwood. She was seated on the floor
beside the fire, chuckling and mumbling to herself,
and giving her whole attention to the preparation of
her supper. Her dress was of faded calico, and was
ill-fitting and greasy, and only partially covered her
dark-skinned feet, which had no covering. The
meal that the royal lady was to partake of was even
more primitive than the hut itself. It consisted of a
few crackers, a little dried bread, a piece of salmon,
and an unpalatable stew, which simmered in a pot
half buried in the coals. The salmon was cooking
at the end of a stick, one end of which was stuck in
the ground. With one hand Angeline stirred the
stew, and with the other she dropped pieces of
cracker into it.
Strange surroundings and strange occupation for a princess one might think.
But the surroundings and occupation
are better suited to the habits and taste
505
Siwasli.