6

north, and dentalia shells in the Yukon. So highly did the
Yukon natives prize these dentalia shells (which reached them
in trade from Vancouver Island) that they used them not only
for ornament but as a currency, like the ““wampum’’ currency
of the Iroquoian tribes in eastern Canada.

Pirate III

26628

A rush tent of southern British Columbia.

DWELLINGS

There was an unusual variety of dwellings in the Cordillera
region. ~The Kootenay Indians retained the large conical tipi
they had used on the plains, but in many cases covered it with
rushes instead of with buffalo hides. Their neighbours, the
Interior Salish, adopted these conical rush tents for the summer
months, but for winter preferred a one-roomed, half-under-
ground cabin entered through a hole in the roof. Farther north
the Indians built rectangular log cabins above ground, covering
the gabled roof, and sometimes the walls, with spruce bark.