A singular custom prevails, not merely among the Chinooks, but among
most of the tribes about this part of the coast, which is the flattening
of the forehead. The process by which this deformity is effected
commences immediately after birth. The infant is laid in a wooden
trough, by way of cradle. The end on which the head reposes is higher
than the rest. A padding is placed on the forehead of the infant, with a
piece of bark above it, and is pressed down by cords, which pass through
holes on each side of the trough. As the tightening of the padding and
the pressing of the head to the board is gradual, the process is
said not to be attended with much pain. The appearance of the infant,
however, while in this state of compression, is whimsically hideous, and
"its little black eyes," we are told, "being forced out by the tightness
of the bandages, resemble those of a mouse choked in a trap."
About a year's pressure is sufficient to produce the desired effect,
at the end of which time the child emerges from its bandages a complete
flathead, and continues so through life. It must be noted that
this flattening of the head has something in it of aristocratical
significancy, like the crippling of the feet among the Chinese ladies of
quality. At any rate, it is a sign of freedom.
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