4
THE
CHEMAWA AMERICAN
the salmon. This was of course augmented by dried roots and dried as
well as fresh berries. The roots consisted of pea hay and were made
edible by boiling into a jelly. It was quite bitter but was considered very
nutritious. “ Ntoothla,” an Indian luxury made from a wild bulb, was
ground into a flour by means of a native mortar and pestle, and baked
in hard cakes, which were considered very wholesome; mam uni and su-
ky-wa were made into bitter cakes; camas was much sought by the In
dians and the women were delegated to gather the harvest of this sweet
bulb, growing in marshy places. Calz, a wild sunflower; kouse root, dug
in April and May, was another delicacy dug from the earth. Camas
was dug in June and July and has a blue blossom. The Indians also
gathered fresh water clams or mussels. In most cases the roots were
dried and then pulverized. These contained a great deal of nutrition.
In the lower Columbia river, at Wapato island and its marshes, were
found the wild potato or Wa-pa-to. This root is about the size of small
potatoes and was usually dug by the women. This was considered a
very staple and desirable product.
FATHER DUNCAN
H O N O R ED HY A L L , R E V IL E D BV N O N E
W men have the satisfaction in such large measure of
feeling that life has been well spent as has Father
Duncan of Metlakatla, Alaska. The following editori
al on this splendid man is from the Oregon Journal:
It is reported that William Duncan, head of the
Simpshean Indian colony, Metlakatla, in Southern
Alaska, is to retire from the active management of the
colony’s affairs on account of age.
In all the history of missionary endeavor in the world there is no
greater achievement than that of “ Father” Duncan, who brought an
Indian community out of the darkness of savagery into the light of civ
ilization under trials that would have wrecked lesser accomplishments.
Not only did he have to struggle against barbaric customs but he also
had to contend against the “ hellish” practices of depraved whites.
W hat he did could only have been done by a man with an iron will, rare
executive capacity and complete consecration to a religious ideal.
It is not the purpose at this time to attempt a panegyric of “ Father"
Duncan but only to point out the romance and the lesson taught in the
story of the circumstances under which he undertook his life work.
A chaplain on a British man of war which visited the British Colum