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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 \ THIRD SERIES. VOL. VII. PASOIOULUS No. 1 PROCEEDINGS % !■ ov ; THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. TORONTO r^ ' Being a Continuation of the •< Canadian Jouf^al " of Science, Litei^ature and History. > A OOTOB^UR.. 1889. .r>: Whole No. Vol. XXV.3 [No. 152. n :.' 'i CONTENTS •• ~ I'AOK. ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINOS. MRKTINO 1—24 I FORTIETH ANNUAL MEKTINO - *'.i ANNUAL REPORT • 44 REPORTS OF SECTIONS - • 62 ELECTION OF OFFICERS - M SOCIOLOGICAL CIRCULAR •'>1» THE CENTRAL BASIN OF TENNESSEE. By WiliJam Kkxskdy -...-«« ■ THE WESTERN DENES. Hv Rf.v. A. «• Moricr, O. M. I. ItW) LETTER FROM A. B. PERRY, Insprctor N. W. Mocntkd Polick - - • ITf. < RITICAL NOTE ON MAMMALIA OF CANADA. Bv K. E. TiroMi'soN - - - 17S .ji ^ V. TORONTO : THE COW, CLARK COMPANY LLMirKD. 1881). pf^ieE, $1.00. OFFICERS OF The Canadian Institute, 1 889 -1 890 |)rr«ibent : C, CAIIPMAEL, M.A., F.B.S.C. T. B, BROWNING, M.A. (BWov IJibrarian - - Curator - - ALAN MACDOUGAL, M. Inst. C.E., F.R.S.E. ^ JAMES BAIN, Jt N. Esq. , GEORGE KENNEDY, M.A., LL.D, - A. F, CHAMBERLAIN, M.A. „ DAVID BOYLE. Pii. B. dttembcrs of Connrilv ' W, H. ELLIS. M.A„ M B. ALEX. MARLING, LL.B. G, E. SHAW, B.A. J, H, PEARCB, Chairman qf the Biological Section. W, E. MIDDLETON, Secretary ¥ the Biological Section. ROBERT DAWSON, Chairman of tlut Architectural Section, W. HAMILTON MERRITT, Chairman of the Geological and Mining Section, P, R, KEYS, B.A, Chairman qf the Philological Section^ ^9»i»tm\t v^t' THE WESTERN DENES— THEIB MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. By the Rev. Father A. G. Morice, OJI.L, Stuart's Lake, B.C. y M So far, very little and, to my knowledge, no reliable information has ever been ])ublished concerning the ethnology and sociology of the Indian tribes inhabiting that northern part of British Columbia originally known as New Caledonia. It is not because they have been altogether ignored by English-si)eaking ethnographers; but for one reason or another, whenever they are attended to in scientific papers, it has never been witli satisfactory accuracy. No later than four years ago the Smithsonian Report contained a paper on Anthroj)ology by Otis T. Mason, wherein I found' th(^ following, purporting to be a classification of the " Tinneh or Athal>askan "'- tribes, including the Western Denes. Western Tinneh. Kai'-yuh-kho-ta'na. Ko-yu'kiikh-o-ta'-na. XJn'-a kho-ta'-na. Kul-chin Tribes. Ten'-an-kii t-ch in'. Tennuth-ktit-chin'. Tat-sah'-kub-chin'. Kut-cha-kut-chin'. Nahsit'-kfib-chin'. Vunta'-kab-chin'. Hai&n-kub-chin'. I!» iFirst part of the Report, etc., for 188r>, pajjfe 832. *At the risk of appearing unnecessarily fastidious may I be allowea to remark here that either term, Tinneh or Ath.ibaskan, seems ill chosen to designate that vast family of abori- gines they are made to represent ? Athabascan is local and consequently should not be applied to the whole stock, whilst Tinneh, if anything, does not mean what it is intended for. Indian languages, especially that of the tribes in question, are exceedingly delicate, and a very light phonetic shade, which the uninitiated will often fail to perceive, always changes the sense of the word. Tinneh, which evidently stands here for Dene, " men " (the name most of the tribes call themselves by) would rather remind a Western Dene of the berry of what is vulgarly called " kinnikinik " (Aretostaphylos uv%-urgi) than of the genus homo ! Others gi'-e them the name ,lling tiiem thereby " Four " per.sons.\ Archi\/BS Of Bkltlsh Columbia] NEWCOMBE COLLECTION 0860 110 PUOCEIiDINCJS OF TIIK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. Eastern 'linneh. K'nai-a-klio-tana. Ali-tt'iia'. Nehanuees. Abba-to-tcnah. Aclieto-tiuiieh. Kliilii uiii-ali.' Carriers. "Takulli." Tsilkotiuneh. Now, I daresay the learned Professor has been misinformed, inas- much as Dr. W. H. Ball's list, which he quotes and seems to adopt is incorrect and incomplete. It is incorrect because, among other things, it puts down the Tsilkotiuneh (oi- more correctly Chilh;)^otins) as belonging to the ^Cariier.s (Ta;^elh, not " Takulli ") from whom they are di.stinct. Moreover, those tribes noted under the title of " Western Tinueh '"' have no existence but on paper. As for the Ne- haiaxees, I suppose Dr. Dall means :he Nah-anes ; but I strongly sus- pect that the seven " Kut-chin " tribes, which he gives as specifically dillerent, are otily so many sub-divisions qf the same tribe, all of whoiii s])('ak the same dialect i)robably with local idiomatic peculiarities. Indeed, their very name, not to S])eak of reliable authorities, would lead me to foi'ui this opinion. " Kut-chin "^ is a verbal suffix which, when in connection with a denominative name is expressive not of ethnological variety, but of topographical location. Its appearance ».t the end of certain words tlenotes that the aborigines who designate themselves thereby are philologically, and thereby ethnographically, so homogeneous as to [)reclude the possibility of their being classed as different tribes of the same stock." iThe " toh " pronounced with a peculiar smacking of the tongue. To prevent tyjjographical difficulties I shall avoid as much as possible the giving of aboriginal names in the course of this mono^'raph. I am not aciiuainted with the system of Indian orthography suggested in a volume of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, and even should I have it ready for refer ence I doubt whether it would i>rove adequate to the accurate rendering of the multifarious sounds of the Dene languages. 'This suffix varies with the different tribes Its equivalents on this (west) side of the Rocky Mountains are tingkwotin in Chilhxotin, ten and kwoten in Carrier, t-chene a,nd kwo-tchene in Sekenais. , THE WESTEKN DENES. Ill Oil tho other hand, Dv. Dall's classification is incomplete, since it omits the Tsekenne, a tribe whose habitat is on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, whilst, of eight cloarly distinct eastern tribes, he notes only two and that under aboiiginal mimes, the genuineness of which is to me of more than doubtful character. Some ethnographers, for reasons, known to themselves, regard the T'simpsians, who lately migrated from this (North Pacific) coast to an Alaskan Island, as an offshoot of the Dene or Atliabaskan stock. But even a slight knowledge of their language and physical charac- teristics ou .ht to convince any one of the fact that they are altogether heterogeneous thet'eto. This V)eing admitted, it remains with me to state which tribes are to the subject of this paper, and conforniably with the Canadian In- stitut(Vs Sociological Circular to give some account of their social con- dition, customs', ceremonies, etc. The subject is rather comi)rehen- sive, and (iven without attempting to ti-eat it exhaustively I fear I will have to give its exposition perhaps unexpected extension. I. Let me, however, premise that I shall content myself with speaking of the Western Denes, excluding from my subject those tribes which have their fishing grounds on the north coast of British Columbia and which form by themselves a group apart. Our Dends l)elong to a race of aborigines occupying a vast territory. Without mentioning the Navajoes who, advanced sentinels of a delayed army, wait in New Mexico for their kinsmen of the north to rejoin them under more favored climes, one can hardly travel from Fort Mac])herson within the Arctic Circle to the plains of the South Saskatchewan without meeting with rei)resentatives of that great family. On our (west) side of the Rockies they are divided into four tribes speaking as many dialects. They are : 1st. The Chilhxotinsi actually ab^it 460 in number, occui)ying the valley of the river called after them, and the bunch-grass covered plateaus that skirt it on either side between 51° 10' and 52° 40' north latitude, and from the western banks of the Fraser to the Coast Range of mountains. • Inhabitants of Young Man's River." II I I ■ini|iiitif~nrliii,fg ""^^ 112 PROCEKDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. •Jiiil. The Ciiniers or Tii;(('lli,' nmnljering 1,G00 and wliose teiritoiy l)onl(!i'.s on thiit of the Cliill);^otins in the south, ami extends as far up as 5(r nortli latitude, leaving to a hand of Sekunais part of the forest land intervening l)etween said latitude and nhout 57° north where we lind 3rd. The Nahanes,-' who may numbei- 700 and liunt over a terri- tory, the northern limits of which (about G5°) are the .southern fron- tiers of the Loucheux'' hunting grounds in the exti-eme North-we.st Territories. I^tistly we iiavo in our district a number of 4th. Tsekenne', more commonly called Sekanais who loam over the Kocky ^lountains on either slope and the adjacent forests and jilains from about 54° to 60°, north latitude. At present there are not more than 250 of them in British Columbia. To these might be added tlie Beaver or Tsutens who trade at Hud- son's Hope and Fort 8t. John's, Hudson's Bay Company's ])osts on Peace River, wliich, politically speaking, belong to our Province though east of the Rockies. But as (save a few individuals of that tiibe) I have seen very little of the tribe, and to adhere to my resolution to speak only of what I have knowledge derived from pei'sonal inter- course, I .shall refrain from alluding to them. Nevertheless, most of what shall be said of the S(5kanais in the course of this monograph, may also be understood as largely applici.vble to that tribe. All these tribes, especially the Chilh;(Otins and Carriers, were originally quite numerous. In fact, if we are to credit the old men among them, and even the Hudson's Bay Co.'s employees who were early in this country, it would be necessary to almost decuple the ex- isting numbers in order to obtain an idea of the population as it stood at the time of the discovery of the country by Sir Alexander Mac- kenzie in 1793. Repeated domestic and foreign wars and contagious diseases, which have several times in this century played havoc among them, have greatly re luced their numbers, iThis word Taxelli is exotic to the Carriers' langua^^e, and, although verj' often used by them, they contend it was unknown among them before the advent of the traders. It is untrans- latable. S" People of the Setting Sun or West," as named by the Eastern Denes. The Carriers and Sekanais call them Tselone— " People of the end of the Rocks," bejause the band which is best known to them inhabits a plain north of a spur of the Rocky Mountains, which our Indians be- lieve to be the extremity of the whole range. «The so-called " Tukudh " or " Kut-chins." *" Inhabitants of the Rocks." THE WESTEKN DENES. 113 Before proceetliug further, would it be i)ri\suun)tuous ou my part to sujjf'est as u ptirtiiil corolliiry of tlie foregoing the following chi.ssifica- tiou of iill the Dene or Teu«j* triljes based on personal observation and the knowledge of two of their dialects, and, in so far as tlie Eastern tribes are concerned, on the works of Rev. E. Piititot, a learned ethno- "ra]»her and philologist, who has passed twenty (1802-1882) years of assiduous studv among them ? CLA.SSIFICJATIOX UF THE DENE TKIHES. THKrK Namk. Chilh,totins (tiuui) Carriers (bi'iie). . . Nah-anes (telle). . . Their Haiutat. SirrosKD Poi'UI..VTION. Wcxfern Den^n. St'kanais toen6 . . . . Chipcwayans ((l(5ii6) Cai ibf)o-eatei's((lt;n6) Beavers (dane) .... Yellow knivcs(dene) Dog-Kibs (duu^).. Slaves (dene) ... Bad People (dine). Hares (di5ne; adone) Chilcotin River Stuart's bake, North and South Stiekeeu Pviver and East Inkrtnediate D(m'i, Kooky Mountains Eastern Dm4s. Louuheux (dindjy^). Lake Athal>.isca, etc East of Lake Athabasca Peace River Nortli-east of (ireat Slave Lake Between (Ireat Slave and (Ireat Bear Lakes. West of (ireat Slave Lake & Mackenzie Riv. Old Fort Halkett . . . . Mackenzie, Anderson & Mac Farlane Rivers. Northern D4nen. Mackenzie River, 07° northwards Alaska 160 1,()0<) 700 500 .S,0()() 1,'20(> 800 i,oo;» 1,000 200 600 400 4,000 'CE in these and other Dene words corresponds to the French o of jc, me, te, eti,-. U has the sound of the Italian « (oo). The words within parentheses are the respective expressions used by the difterent tribes to say " Men," and thereby designate them- selves when not referring to the country tliey inhabit. Tlie reniark- fibley^homophouy of these terms (which is easily explained by the fact that they are root words) is, however, somewhat misleading, inasmuch as it conveys an idea of philological similarity which is far from existing between the various dialects. Their lexical differ- iD and t are interconvertible. 8 i 114 PKO('i:i.ItIN(iS OF TMK C'A' AI>IAN INSTI'IT li:. eiifcs on tliH fontiHiv arc so wide I lint tlic Ciinieis .iiiil tlic St'kfmai.s. tli()ii;,'li yt'ogi'ujdiii'allv iifitflilioiiis, ciiii si-nict'lv uiulci'stand a Wdiil of cacli (itlM'!'.>' laii:i;iiai{(r unless rhcy Imvc |»if\ iously Icarncil it hy personal inti'icuui'sc. Manv of the I'cni.iiks I am 'Miu"' to oHi'i" on the social status of the western tiihcs hIiouUI Im' iindristooil as ujiplyini,' to their oiii,'inal conilition wju^n no missioiuiries hail as yet (20 yeafs ai^o) endeav fed to civili/e and inoi'ady coei'ce them into giving u|» the nii>st olmoxions ot their enstonis. It woidd Hcai'cMtiy lie to the [loim to s|.e k of them as tliey aie at present, sinre, being geiiei'ally progressive in ilis- position, they are s'>v'ially speaking pretty niiieh uh we have nuide tiiem. However, the Sekanais and Nah'aiies, owing to theii- noinadie mode ot living and the eonso(pient dilHoulty to pi'odne,- permanent eH'eets upon ihein, may lie said to liav(f to this ihiy almost preserveti tliei»' original social sl;itiis. II. The American alioriginal type is too wtdl known on this continent to recpiire a descri|)tion from nie. (Mir Dentis, in spite of the char- acteristics which particul-trib(! of the Carriers did not con;-''!' r these ''jtiwels" sutheient. Among them, to attain the ^;/m» ultra oi I ;uiinine lieauty and he reputed something in society circles, woiaen added to the tattooing, ear-rings, nasal pendants and hvv ^ ets, a blunt wooden peg or tabret passed through the lower lip, thereby j/i-ev^^nting its contact with the teeth so as to give it the utmoVo pos-sihle promin- ence, somcwliat after the fashion of the Papuans of New Guinea. This circumstance led to their being called " Babines," or " Lippy " in corrupted French, by the early French-Canadians in the North West Company's employ, which name they have retained to this day. In counnon with the Nazarenes of old, men and women ))arted their hair in the middle and wore it at full length (exce[>t when in mourning), the nien letting it fall on their back tied together in a knot when in repose, and rolled up like that of the (Jhinese when travelling, while women had it resting on the forepart of their shoulders in two skilfully plaited tresses adorned with a species of small, elongated shed, {Dentalium Indkvnorum) which was higidy prized among the natives, and which they obtained from the coast Indians^ On grand festival occasions, persons of rank anil influence wore wigs made of i)laited human hair in its natural length, iuter- 'Thf Xestorian Bishop of Saniiii'kaiul, wi-itiiijj; to the Catholics of Baffdad, says of the Tartai' Keraites : " They do not wash ttieir faces, iioi- cut tiieir hair ; hut i>lait and tie it to- i^ether at the top of their heads." — I'A/c, Aboutfarai/e Clirna: Siir. in A.-^wiiiani. Volume III. i)art "2, chapter ix, pas,'e 4SS. 1 110 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. laced witli quantities of Dentaliuni or Hyaqua shells. Sometimes; the.se ceremonial wigs were ornamented with stout bristles taken from the sea lion's whiskers, trimmed so as to look like horns worn on the forehead. As for thfir wearing appai'el, without being strictly uniform, it may be said that in no ca^e was it of a very complicated pattern. Besides the ' pagne " or l)reech cloth which was seldom removed, they wore a soi-t of tunic or loose vestment of beaver, lynx or niaj'mot skin, with the fur next to the body. The outside was painted in variegated designs in vermilion and adorned with numerous fringes to conceal the seams and bands of dentaliuni or dyed porcupine quills. A pair of leggings reaching to the thigh, together with mocass ns, which, in the Ciise of the ])Oor were of salmon skin, completed their costume. Unlike their kinsmen of the Great Mackenzie Basin, they had no hood attached to theii- coat or tunic ; but instead, wore a liead-dress made of a small gi'ound-hog skin and fashioned somewhat like a Scotch bonnet. The women's wearing apparel differed only from that ot the men by the length of their tunic, which was ordinarily covered with a skin cloak or a woven rabbit skin robe falling to their feet. Washing may be said to be a European custom introduced among them. They clean their hands only, which tl'iey wash by tilling their mouths with water and then squirting it over them in intermittent streams'. III. Considered in their social condition and daily i)ursuits, a ])ortioii of the Western Denes are nomadic and part uuiy be described as semi-sedentary. To the first class belong the Sekanais and Kastein Nah'anes, the Chilh;^otins, Carriers and Western Nah'anes fonnnig the second. Thus, whilst their mode of living prevents the Sekanais from dwelling in houses and congiegating together in villages, our Cai-riers pass the winter in lodges accommodating several families, and 1 This reminds the conipanitivc Sociologist of a similar custom prevailiiitf amomr the Tartars or Moguls of the Middle Ajres. William of Kul)ruck, (St. Louis' envoy to the nivat Khan, r2.'J3) says that "They ni'ver wash their clothes. Cleanline.ss is in no more favor with " tlie men than with their ladies, and their mode of washing their faces and hands is by filliny' "their mouths with water and s(|uirtin(r it over them."— yiVia'('o/i iIch Vuijagen en Tnrtiin'i',. Beri/en>ii. THE WESTERN DENES. 117 Sometimes- taken from orn on the nifonii, it il pattern. removed, lynx or tside WRH. nod with Galium or he tJiia88age in my pai)er which refers to the Es stark naked." — 17(. S. Cm. T 118 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. coujiles live togetlier under the same roof and without piu.itions 'u- tlie house. Should I have to sketch rapidly our Denes' uiond features, I vi^nk I could, by ignoring some necessary exceptions, give them credit for relative morality, gieat honesty, intense fondness of their offsjuing and a general gentleness of dis])osition, not excluding, however, occasional freaks of ii'ascilnlity. But to quidify these lines and give their true poi-trait, I should immediately add that they are ]>rone to lying, addicted to gambling', naturally selfish, coAvardly, and at times very lazy, especially the stronger sex. Besides were I I'equired to particularize in two words the ethic peculiarities of each tribe, I would state that the Chilh;!(Otins are the most violent and manly of the whole grouj , the Carriers, the proudest and most accessible to progressive ideas ; the Sekanais, the most suj)e)'stitious and naive. As for the Nah'anes, though s))eaking a language different trom, but allied to, that of the Sekanai.':, they are considered by our Carriers so clo^^ely similar to the latter in their physical and moral characteristics, as to receive in common with them the name of Lhtaten (Inhabitants of Beaver dams.) by allusion to their chief occnuation, trapi)ing and hunting. I IV. With the view of having the family and tribal organization ol)- taining among the Western Denes properly understood, 1 must refer at once to the clans or gentes into which, like the Iroqucis and most of tlie American Aborigines, nearly all of them are divided. These to the numlier of five, form -i kind of very^trict relationship? to which, to the present time, they have held very tenaciously. Kach of these cliius has one or several particular heraldic emblems or totems, the toad, grouse, crow, beaver, salmon, etc. ; the image of which formerly received special consideration. This oi-ganisation outsteps the village limits, and membeis of the same clan are to be found in localities very wide apart. But however remote their respective places, they still claim mutual kinship. Now, from time immemorial, a fundamental law in their social constitiition has been for individuals of the same clan never to inter- •This of course, must be understood of those who are still out of the reach of missionary influence. > THK WESVKRN DENES. 119 'It lliev i marry. So it is thnt eiidogiiiny is looked npon witli lioiTor uinong tliein. Indeed, T tliiiik T am warranted in atHrming that marriage witli a consanguine, unless a very close one, ".vas pretV>i-red to matri- monial union with a co-clansman. As it is, agnation and consanguin- ity in the direct or collateral line on the paternal side were considered powerful barriers to sexual relations, males and females descended from the same stock beinji always i^eyarded as brothers and sisters. But at what particular |)oint the offspring of a common or colliiteral ' bi-anch would be deemed sufficiently distant to admit of matrimonial union is more than I can say, none among the natives themselves being able to s itisfactorily solve that question. All I can say is that as long as the common ancestors of two individuals were remembered, the latter were easily dissuaded from contracting marriage together, even to the f(mrth and perhaps the fifth degree of consanguinity, especially if in the direct line. I tlo not mean to say that there never weie tacitly allowed deviations from this law, nor absolutely any intermarriage in the same clan. But the repugnance which such unions inspired only goes to show that in this ease, as in others, the exception confirms or pi'oves the I'ule. Such w-is not the case, however, with consanguinity in collateral lines by the mother's side, cousins of that class, even as near as the first degree, being by a time honored custom, almost bound to inter- marry. And here it is as well to state at once that, in common with nearly all the ])rimitive people, mother-right is the sui)reme law re- Ljulating succession among nearly all of the Western Denes, and I may add that here'" it admits of no exception whatever. On the othei* hand, another ordinance of their social code forbids titles as well as I landed })roperty to i)ass by lieredity into a different clan. Therefore I chiMren of a notable among them belonging to their mother's clan, could never inherit from their father. But if the latter had nephews by a sister, one of them was i/e jure his successor, this nephew belonging through his mother to his uncle's clan. Xow, bv wav of compensation, and to permit the notable's children who cuuld not othersvise inherit from him, to enjoy at least, as much as was lawful of their father's succession, one of his daughters would be united in marriajje with her inheriting maternal first cousin. ' On the father's side. 2 At, Stuart's Lake.— CA. S. Cm. 120 PRCCEKDINOS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. As foi- affinity consequent upon eitlier lawful or unlawful sexual relations, it was simply ignored. Nay, I shouM say that it was rather considered a jiowei-ful incentive to niarriagcN except when the regula- tions of the clan organization interfei-ed so as to make the two relatives fellow clansmen. Thus it was, that in the case of a deceased brother's wife, the Pones treated her conformabl}' with the directions of the Jewish law, and the nephew considered himself iu duty bound to espouse hei-. It would be difficult to give here a complete table of agnates and cognates as named and ranked by the four Tribes under review, some of whom receivti different names according as they are called by a male oi female, or relatively to their conjparative age. I shall, how- ever, contine myself to a few remarks embodying the moi'e character- istic peculiarities in their mode of reckoning kindred relationsliip, 1° A large proportioTi of our Denes never go beyond the second degree in computing their progenitors or offspring, whether in a direct or collateral line, and in no instance do they go beyond the third degree^ — more distant relatives in either line being then called respec- tively grand-fathei' and grand-mother if ascendants, or grand-children if descendants. ( . I- 2"^ Griind-unqles and grand-aunts both maternal and paternal are also called grand-fiither and grand-mother. 3° Although they possess and sometimes use words meaning bi'other or sister without any reference to their relative age, they more generally designate them elder brother and elder sister, or youngei' brother and younger sister. 4° A son is called si/e by his father and syaz by his mother who also calls her daughter syatsi, while her father when referring to her^ always uses stse. 5° Both nephews and nieces are called stsA by their maternal uncle and skwnz by their maternal aunt, while either paternal uncle or aunt will call their nephew younger brother and their niece younger sister, 1 These and the following Aboriginal terms are in the Carrier dialect. This not lieinjj a philoloffical paper, I have deemed it superfluous to have them accompanied with their Chilhxotin and Sekanai$< etc., equivalents. THE WESTEtt.f DENES. 121 6° Sthi' stands for paternal uncle and sphyan tor paternal aunt ; S(ez^i meaning my maternal uncle and sake, u)y maternal aunt. 7° Maternal cousins of both sexes are 8zit to their co-relative male cousin and snnU if male oi" szit if female to their co-relative female cousin, whilst paternal cousins are always called hrothei- or sister in the indefinite mood. 8° Schr does duty for grand-children of any sex and also for the other offspring alluded to in the first remark. In the same way, brother-in-law and sister-in-law receive the common appellation of sre. The clan organisation obtains also among the Western Nah'anes, who have frequent intercourse with the Coast Indians from whom it is derived; but it is unknown among the ir't^kanais and Eastern Nah'- anes, who owing to the geogra])hical position of their territory, have adheied to their primitive usages and kept aloof from foreign practices. As a consequence father-right is the only law which regulates succession among them. V. Marriage in the Christian sense of the term, is rather a misnomer when intended to designate native unions such as were contracted before the advent of the Missionaries in the (.-ountry. Co-habitation woidd better answer the purpose. In fact, it is the corresponding expression they employ themselves when referring to a man married to such and such a woman. They say t/envsfa, "he stays with her." For as there was no valid contract and no intention on either side to consider their union as a permanent connection, divorce resulted as a matter of course whenever one of the partners was tired of the.other. In that case, the ci-devant husband would take back anything he had bestowed upon his so-called wife, and both of them would try life with a new partner. Naturally the man, especially if in easy cir- cumstances, would have a better chance of success than his former wife. Supposing children had been born to them, divorce was .nore difficult, but by no means impossible. In that event, the father would ordinarily take possession of the offspring. For among the Indians, as among many of their civilized brethren " might is right," and as they are exceedingly fond of their children, the late husijand A' I 1 •)•> I'ROCKICDISGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. would ratlior see tliern teinporarilv in a .stranger's hands tlian entrust tlieni to tlieir own mother's custody. Excej)t ainoui,' the Oai'rier.s, early marriages are in favor among the DeiK's, oitcntinies th(i female being barely puliescent when mated. Among the Sekanais nothing was simpler or more expeditious than the contraction of mari'iage. Whene\'er a young hunter had nuide up liis mind on mating a fair child of the forest, with scaicely any previous courting, he would in the day time simply ask the girl of his choice : " Will ijoi', pack ou/ beaver snares for me ?" To wliioh, if she refused him, she would make answer : " No, there are plenty of women, ask anotlier one." But if agreeable to the nuiid, she would at once answer without any conventional blushes : " Perhaps, ask my mother." Upon which the lad would not ask her mother, but the girl would immediately tell her about it. Then, following her ])arent's advice, she would hasten to erect a branch lodge alongside their own primitive hal)itation,' and in the evening, the affianced youth (s;"h was he after the proposee's answer) would on entering it hand hei- his '* beaver .snare»s." Without further ceremony, they were man and wife. Supposing the woman proposed to was the fornu'r wife of the man's deceased brother, there was no d(!clining his oft'ei-, she was bound to accept his " beaver snares." The prfOiminaries, if not more complicated, wen; at least more difficult and tedious among the Carriers. According to theii- etiquette, the intended wife had absolutely nothing to say for or against the projected union. Whenever a youth of a ditfej-ent clan liad singled her out to be his futui-e wife, he would not exchange a word with her, even when proposing, but installing liimself at her fathoi''s home, he would .begin to woik for him, not failing to present him or the girl's most influential relative with anything of value which might come into his possession, either by hunting or otherwise. Meantime he would never tell them the reason of such unwonted liberality, neither would they ask him, but they easily guessed it. When after one or two years wooing to his intended wife's parents, lie thought a well deserved " Yes " was likely to reward his efforts ; he would demand her from her father or guardian through the instru- mentality of an obliging friend. If agreeable, the suitor was thereby ' A Sekanais will never dwell under the same roof as his married children ! i I % i -- — 1 1 i mn> i a > ii(>iiL j»i »«»*■"< THE WKSTKKN DENES. ^^2•^ married. If not, tlien tlie recipient of his favoi'S was bound to return !in e(|uivalent in kind. Naturally enough, after liaving won liis wife at sucli a cost, the yo ing Inisbiuid was not ready to reject lu^r without Hufficient pro- vocation, and it may easily be conjectured that the prospect of having to recoiumeuce •mew a protracted courtship, must have tended not a little to render the matrimonial tie, if not sacred, at least more dur- al)le among the Carriers than it was among the Sekanais. However, it must be said that in case the wooing j^arty was well connected, the procedures previovis to acceptance was .souiewhat curtailed, and fre- (]uently almost entirely dispensfxl with. Polvgamv flourished to a gi-eat extent ainony all of the tribes. The more exalted the man's rank, the more ntunerous would be his wiv<'s. The father of the i)resent chief of this ))lace(Foi't St, James, Htuart's Lake) had as many as six wives at one time. Nevertheless, there was alw lys one, not necessarily the first in jn-iority of co-haljitatiou. who was regi'rded as superior to the others whom she then called her youuger .sisteis, receiving in return the title of elder sister from them. Even ])olyandrv was in honour conjointly with polygamy amovig the Sekanais; but remained unknown to the Carriers. A ])eculiarity perhaps worthy of notice is that an radian woman will never say " my husband" when referring to her mate ; but will invariably say "he" or "tliis child's father." Even men are tpiitf as prudish and will seldom be caught saying "' my wife" in speaking of their partner. Jjikewise both men and women feel a great reluctance to tell their names and will generally rather use a rouiul about -v 124 I'ROCEEDINOS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. was generally taken good care of, well fed and well clothed, so as to command a higher price in the bachelor's market. Now that her fate is sealed, she must be the real factotum of the household. And well might she consider herself enjoying a holiday life, even though very busy, when at her new home ; but it is chiefly when travelling that life must become rather burdensome to her. Then her lot is to pack all tlie family impedimenta, while her husband, gun in hand, gaily precedes heron the way trying to have an occasion- al shot at game to diversify the menu of the evening meal. However, let us not ])ity her beyond measure, for as she nevei- knew or even dreamt of a l)ettei' fate she does not murmur herself, neither does she ever complain of hei- husband's ungallaiit conduct. Besides, her ability for this kind of lalwr ha.s been develo})ed from childhood, since among the natives even the little ones are trained to carry some of the I'amily goods and chattels. Her capacity for carrying heavy burdens lies in her ability to pre- serve an accurate balancing of the load rather than in any great muscular strength. The ])ack rests on the back, between the shonldeis, su]>poi-ted by a leather line which passes in a Vn-oad band an-oss the forehejid and is secured by the ends of the line being tied across the chest. It would however, be wrong to conclude that her daily toil is over ■when at dusk the couple stop for the purpose of camping. Then all the work in the way of gathering firewood, erecting the temporary lodge, cooking, etc., must be attended to by her, the man's duties an. I attributes among the D«^n^s, when in their primitive state, being re- stricted to hunting, eating and slee])ing One must not howevei-, infer from this that her lot was such that she had absolutely no influence either in the family or the village circles. Oftentimes the woman did exercise much influence, but then it was not owing to her position as wife or mother, but generally on account of her birth and her father's rank. Her marriage conferred no right or privileges upon her, nor did it give her any claim to her husband's personal or landed property. Man and wife were never regarded as a moral unit, as customary among lis ; but just in the THE WESTERN DENES. 125 ilf-. to her even vJien iiul, |s i Oli- ve !•, \en •slie Iier iiice e of same way as during their union, they continued to have their respec- tive names, even so did the property of each ever remain distinctly personal. This, among the Denes, is twofold : private and personal, as clothes, canoes, dogs, etc., and real or permanent as are the hereditary estates. For to tlie rank of Tujuezoi or notable are attached hunting grotmds, the limits of which are very clearly defined. These' sire, by riglit, lield in proprietorship by the titular only ; but l)y a sort of tacit concession, other heads of faiuilie.s of the same clan as the legitimate pi'oprietor share the usufruct thereof during his good |)leasure. In fact, they may be said to be, though of inferior rank, his co-asaociates, hunting with and for him and receiving of the spoils only what he is pleased to let them retain. As already stated, a woman by the tact of her marriage, obtains no claim whatever to these lands, since they could not be alienated or made over to a different clan, but, upon, their owner's death, they pass regularly into his nei)hew's po.ssession, failing whom, then to one of the ])revious titular's brothers, or, if there is none living, to his sister or any fellow clansman before de- signated by him. As for the private [jroperty of the deceased notable, until quite recently his widow could not inherit even the least fraction thereof, nor could slie hold her own personal chattels, dress or working implements ; they would be ruthlessly snatched away from her, nolens volens, by her late husband's relatives, who would also claim and divide among themselves all of the deceased's goods, even though his orphan- ed children might thereby suffer. To be exact, however, I must add that in case the deceased was the wife, her foi'mer husband, unhiss he were a notable, would hardly be better treated. Even in these ex- ceptional cases, the survivor would be expected, if only for decency's sake, to make presents to his former wife's relatives. Adoption is practised among the Denes ; but without any ceremon- ial formalities, and does not involve the riglit to succession and heredity thereby usual among most civilized people. Supposing the dead notable to have left no brother or nephew, any other acceptaVile member of his clan, even his sister would succeed him i-athei' than his adopted son, and then owing to the latter being regai'ded as l)elong- 12G Pll lOKKDINdS OK THE CANADIAN INSTITUTB. iiii,' tt) his adopting iuoIIkm's clfiii. In iiis case however, he oonld cliiiin th(i riglit to j(Miit use of the hnnting grounds together with the heir who hud inlierited their real proprietoisliip. Landed property is unknown among the Sekanais an> him, he speedily spears his ti.sh with the bone hai'poon already spoken of, which in this case is onlv four times lander than tiiat of tii'iirc 2, and fixed in ;i short handle. i 9.) V A more interesting mode of fishing is when, during the cool spring nights, the Cari-iers lazily glide over their country lakes carrying in their canoes tlaniing }une torches which have the effect of attracting fi.sh of every descrii)tion, and by dazzling and, as it were, cliarming them, render tiiem an easy prey to the har])oon. The St'kanais disdai.i fish of any kind and regard fishing as a de- grading occupation unworthy of a hunter. They live almost (>ntii'ely on nioosf, cariboo, bear, marmot or beaver meat with lynx and i-abbits in their season. IX. Before the Nortlt West Company's advent in the country, there was very little fur-hunting done save what was indispensable to the family's subsistence and clothing, and even then among tlie two 1 Formerly this was done by lutaiis of heated stones. THE WESTERN DENES. 131 i «Kih most southei'u tribes, it was done only in summer time. For. strange as it may aj)j)ear, before Sir Alexander MacKenzie's discovery of New Calevlonia in 1793, snow shoes were unknown except among the Sekanais and >^ali'an('S. Locomotion among the Western Denes is ordinarily by walking in very narrow jiaths though the C'iiil]i;(otins and .Southern Carriers now travel not unfretiuently on liorseback. ^lore conimoidy howevei-, the (Carriers utilize as public high- ways tin; numerous lakes whicli dot their countiy, wliether it be summer or winter time. Thev use "dug-out" canoes made of the hollowed out trunk of a larg(> cotton wood tiee [Ahies siihalp'ma). There is no artistic merit in their design, which is of a rather rough description, for we must not forget that "dug-outs" are among them a recent im- portation from the East.' In tlie beginning of this century they used only birch liai'k canoes. Another mode of travelling, pioper to the cold season, is by moans of light toboggans or sleds drawn bv three or four dogs tiottini; alone not devoid of merit as works of art. I liave none of tl /^se in my possession, and will simply refer the Sociologist to the specimens ilrawn in Plates vi. and ix. illustrating Mr. G. M. Dawson's mono- graph of the Kaidah Indians.' The masks of our Dt'nes, minus the ears, were identical in shape with those of the aforesaid Plates, whilst their rattles were only somewhat plainer in design than those used by the Kaitlahs. The Dene knives were ordinarily made of the common arrow-head flint, but those made of beaver teeth were more esteemed. As already hinted, axes were not home-made, at least among the (Jari'iers, and the ftiw cutting tools then in use among them were in the possession of the notables alone. The comnnuie vidgns had re- course to fire in order to cut their firewood and the few slender poles or logs required for the ei'ection of their lotlges. With the exception of the Chilh;(0tins, they tlid not even know of the elongated stone hammer, fornierlv so common among other .\merican aboriifines. As' for copper tlcy obtained it by barter with Indians from the coast ; but its use among them was restricted to the manufacture of trinkets, bi-acelets and liaii'-))incers. Apropos of copper, the Carriers of some localities have the following legend respecting its discovery and introduction among them. They contend that in times not veiy -t- remote, all the Indians (themselves among the rest) congregateil at a certain })oint of the sea coast around a tower-like copi)er mountain, emerging from the midst of the water. Tlieir object was to decide which tribe should become the possessor thereof. When all had united in shouting, the mo\intain, after a time, began gradually to totter and the Kaidahs who are blessed with big heads and strong voices, caused it to fall on their side. "Thus it was," they add, " that those Indians won or .secured the co])per mountain, and we have ever since been obliged to have recourse to them for what we require of that metal to make bracelets for our wives and daughters." 1 Geological Survey of ('anada, Reports for 1878-79. Aiipeiidix A. { ■ I tup: westkkn denks. 139 I XII. The only pursuit for wliicli our Dene may be said (o have been amply provided with home-made implements was war and its allied occupation, hunting. The offensive weapons in use among them were arrows, spears, lances and caftse-tetes. Their arrows were of two kinds : bono and flint. The iirst wore made of the front teeth of the beaver reduce»' by scraping to the required shiipe. They were reputed the most effective. Fiirure 10 represents flint arrow heads of different sizes, forms and material. They are produced here for the sake of comparison with those u.sed by the mound-builders of Illinois and other States of the American Union with which they will be found identical in sliai)e and luaterial, though u distance of at least two thousand miles separates the aborigines who made them. These arrow points are all drawn to the natural size and they are therefore somewhat smaller than those of the mound-builders. TIk; two mai-ked A and P. m;iy ha descril)ed as the typical arrow-heads of the Western Denes and are of the blackish resonant flint generally used in the fabrication of aboriginal weapons. C and D are composed of a semi-translucent bluish variety of sil- iceous stone nut so common and coiiserized than the ordinary arrow flint. E rci)resents the most beautiful of all the Dene arrow-heails in my possession. It has been ingeniously chipped from a hard crystalline species of flint, and its foru\ and finish disi)Iay evidences of, I should say, exceptionally good workmanshii>. Some arc also formed of a whitish siliceous pebble; but the points made therewith are, as a rule, of a rather rough description. The Denes likewise used another .sort of offensive weapon which they called Lhthiladinla, that is, " fixed at the end of the bow." Its name exi)lains its nature. It was of common flint chipped to the shape of figure 11 and sometimes of figure 12. They brought it into requisition when too closely pressed by the enemy to shoot, and used it as a spear. Besides, they possessetl also the regular s[)ear or lance of which figure 12 is a reduced representation. All these weapons were obtained by chipping the flint with a moose molar tooth without any previous blocking. As a rule, these abori- •140 PROCKKDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. gines used only loose pieces of the Hint, which were collected for or by the notal)les, iiiul thou handed to the village arrow-smith for reduction to the roquii'od size and shape, and, as a finishing process, the edges wcsre generally sharpened by friction on a hard stone. However, the only really polished stone implement of Dene manu- facture was the enlh or " msse (etn "' of which figui-e 13 will give an idea. The specimen thereby illustrated is of a hartl granite stone, A variety of that wea[)on, similar in form, but more elongated (being at least twice as long) was usually made of cariboo horn. Apart from the conmion arrows, the Carriers made use of two other varieties of missiles of Sekanais origin. Both kinds were made from Oaiiboo horns, Tlie first of these called kachcenkwfdh (cut arrow) by the Carriers, was awl-like in form and not less than six inches in length. The broader extremity thereof was hollowed out to receive a wooden shaft which served to dart it off from the bow like a common arrow, with this difference however that, when in motion, the horn point detached itself from tlie shaft. This projectile was deadly and intended only for use against an enemy or for killing large game. To shoot smaller game such as grouse, rabbits, etc., they had i-ecourse to a curiously wrought triple arrow fastened to the shaft similar to that delineated in figure 14. As defensive weai)ons they used two kinds of armours and a shield, The latter was oval in form like the Roman clypeus and generally made of closely interwoven branches of Amelauchier alni/olia. They gave it the name of kelathcen (that which is held with the hand). While on the war-i)ath, they also wore a kind of armour or cuirass consisting of dried sticks of the same kind of wood, arranged in pai'allel order and kept together with babiche lines interlaced in several places. This was common to the Kaidahs and other coast Indians. Another sort of armour, indigenous to the D^nd nation, was the peoista (wherein one sits). This had the form of a sleeveless tunic falling to the knees so that it afforded protection to the whole body save the head : — in hard fights the D^nds invariably shot kneel- ing. The armour or cuirass was of moose skin which, when sewn according to the pi'oper pattern, was soaked in water, then repeatedly ■*• / k THE WF.STKRN DKXKS. in rubbed on the sandy shores of a streain or lake and dried with the sand and small pel)bles adherinii; thereto, after'which it was thoroughly coated with a s|)ecies of very tenacious glue, the principal ingredient of which was boiled isinglass obtained from the sturgeon. Being again before drying subjected to a thorough rubbing over sand, it received a new coating of the aforesaid glue. When this process had been repeated three or four times, it formed an armour perfectly in- vulnerable to arrows over the j)arts which were thus protected. All these weapons and armours were in use among the Western Dt^n^s, immediately [trior, and e\'en for some time subseipient, to the •discovery of their country by Sir Alexander MacKenzie's |)arty.' xnr. It would scarcely be proper to speak of war as an institution obtaining among the j)ro-historic Western Denes. Although the var- ious tribes despised and mistrusted each other, general fights were rare enough, and as surprises constituted the main part of their system of warfare, it followed that success was, as a rule, on the side of the assailants. Sometimes the whole population of a village would be massacred in a single night. In that event, the victors would chant their hymn of victory, generally improvised on the spot and composed of the last words uttered by their victims. After their return from the fray, they would also repeat it dancing for several nights in succession. In no instance was scalping resorted to, at least, on this side of the Rockies. Such general massacres, however, were not of very frequent occur- lAbbe E. Petitot in his " Appendice relatif aux armes depierre den Indiens arctiquen" pre- sented in 1875 to the Paris Geoi^raphical Society states that the Denes of the Great MacKenzie Basin know only by tradition some of the above described war weapons, as well as the wooden masks spoken of in the previous paragra])h. The two most northern tribes of the whole nation, the Loucheux or Kut-chins and the Hares contend, he says, that they formerly dwelt among a powerful nation which oppressed them and whose warriors wore the pe«pj«(a which he graphically desoribep without knowing that it was used here but a comparatively short time ago. Would not this be evidence tending to prove that the aforesaid Dene's migrations might have been North-Eastwards instead of Southward as, I think, is commonly believed? The learned Abbe is evidently mistaken when he affirms that none of these defensive weapons were used by the D6n(!'8 since their probable arrival on this continent. Because Samuel Hearne and MacKenzie who travelled in time of peace did not actually observe any of these weapons and cuirasses among the natives they visited, it does not follow that they were not used by them when on the war path. Indeed, many of the present older inhabitants of this i!\ke, have seen in actual use ■all of the arms, offensive or defensive which I have endeavoured to describe. i^i ; i 1»: I'K )('KKl)IN(iS OK THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK. rencc. Moro coiiiinonly Miml I slioiild say (\niu^ often), tlin In-otlicrH and near rclativt-s of a man whom! doath was attiiliutcil to tli»' Kccrct niacliinatioiis of a Tai/ni oi- iiuulicinc-nian of a dinorcnf villaijf(\ would go aiiiiod ca|»-a-|tU! and kil! tlio supposed autljor of tlicii' relative's df^atli. As a natural consecpuMioe, his co-elansnicn would I'ouic en iiinssr to axcngc ids murder and thiui a regular UatLh^ would take place, in isnuich as hoth sides wouhl Ix' jtrcpared for the occasion. The logical result of this was tliat security was rather precarious and friendly intercourse, (;ven lietween nei^dd»ouring villages, was not as fre(pient as the short distanci^ s(!parating some of them would h-ad one to expect. in no casf! was a wliole tribe found united and, a fortiori two allied trihes confederated, against a common enemy. And this leads me to eiitcn- upon the subject of the l)('nes' social institutions. I may as well state at once that no form of gDvernment, in the strict sense of the term, nor any political organisation of any kind ever existinl among them. Not oidy were the various ti-ibes of the .same stock entirely iudei)en(Umt of one another, but even no tie of any sort ever connected the different villages of the Carriers, Chilh;)^- otins and Western Nah'anes. The clans or gentes outstepped indeed the village limits ; but they were .social rather than political. For, thougli a member of anyone of them could claim recognition from any person of the same clan, however distant his village, he owed allegiance to no constituted head thereof. Authority was i-epre.sented in (uich locality by the college of l\enezas or notables which, mutalis riutandis, may be compared to the nobility of European nations. Their rank was strictly hereditary and was shareil in V)y their children who were called mzkezdH. The possiltle successor to the [)ositicn however, was only the /.''uiiiza's eldest maternal ne[)hew, whom he would generally bring uji nod educate himself in view of his future position. 8hould he h-ve no such nephew, a younger brother, or failing him, even a materii.ii niece would regularly succeed him. The notables were the .sole proprietors of the tribe's hunting grounds, and tus thcsir name indicates (" the only men" is the nearest THK WKSTKItX DKN'KS. 143 in e(|uival»'iit tiKU'cfor), tlicy wcvc ic.i^iirded iis tli(! only mon ciitith'il to he lifiiid upon liny lo\m; of iiittncst to tlic trilic, 'I'licirs was tlio |)iiviI('<,Mi to uso 11 hcif'ditaiy iiaiuc, to wliioli was attacla'd a particidar Hoii^' liandod down fVoiii yciiciation to i^^'inTatioii ; to dance first to tlio tuno of said chant; and tin- [>i'ivilt'i;c also of wearing insi;,'nla distinetivo of tlieir lank ; to he assigned an lioiionihle plaei; in tlio ceivnionial " pot-latches;" an comprised in the word " purgative." They [assessed also valued astringents in the castorum pods of the beaver and in the roots of heracleum, etc. When these remedies, joined to the incantations of the " medicine- man " failed and death seenjed imminent, the moribund's relatives were hastily summoned around his death bed. Sui)posing he was a tameza the above mentioned hereditary family song was struck up by some person outside of liis clan and was continued by exo-clansmen till he expired, while his r Jatives would then rend the air with many doleful wailings. As soon as he had passed away, two young men also of a different clan, were deputed to announce the news to the neighbouring villages. All of the people of these places that were fellow-clansmen of the departed notable were then ex[)ected to make j)resents to the messengers as a compensation for their troul)le, after Avhicli the whole population wouhl turn o'J*" I'.i a body and come for- ward to mourn the defunct Uvne::a around the remains and at the same time 'jonsolo his relatives. To this end, while the deceased co- clansmen were huueuting their loss, a man of jinother clan would rise from the crowd and commence to dance to the tune of an improvised song. This was intended as a diversion to the mourners' feelings, iind, as the strictest point of the Carriers' moral law is '* nothing for nothing," the latter would immediately throw at the dancer any object he might intentionally mention in his chant and which thus became his pro|>erty. This dance and giving away being repeated several times on several coiisecutive nights, the strangers would, if in winter- time (or even during the summer, if the mourners were not prepared for the occsision) return to their respeciivo villages,^and the remains would be provisionally i)laced at some distance from the habitations under a bark roof-like "shelter" by the .side of which the widow jl THE WKSTERN DENES. 145 if i would erect for lierself ami children a small hut of similiir form and material. Thencefortii liei-s was a miserable lot indeed. From the very moment of her husbana's decease to the tinu^ (two or tl;ree years later) of the final giving avay of |)ro{)erty in his honor, .she vas the slave of her brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, one of whom would at once cut her hair to the roots and take care to renew the operation whenever needed as a badge of the abject condition of her widowhood She was also obliged to wear ragged clothes, and in case she was young and likely to re-mar y when the period of mourning cea.sed, decency constrained her to puUute her face with jf'um lest her guardians (so they were called) should suspect her of desires nnsuited to her condition. iNleantiuie, she would be her master's leal factotum and the women especially would endeavour to render her life as unbearable as possible, leaving her no other " j>rivilege " (?) than that of nightly l)ewailing in as loud tones as .she could for her de])arted husband. Men who had lost their wives were obliged to underjio the same ordeal, though treated somewhat more humanely than the weaker sex. When the futui-e successor of the dead notable had succeeded in gathering a goodly amount of dressed moose and other skins and pvovisioiis, the inhabitants of all the .surrounding villages were in- vittnl to witness the cremation of the corpse (such was the way the Carriers and Western Nah'anes dispo.sed of thrnrdead). The funeral pile Iteing kindled in the outskir-t of the village by men not belonging to the deceased's clan (who were j)aid on the spot by the; hitter's relatives) the widow was obliged by custom to embrace the remains of her late husbar.d even though suri'ounded by the Hauies, amidst the ijowHngs and wailings of his fellow -clansmen. WJieii momentar- ily withdrawri by the bystanders, etiquette demanded from her lepeated endeavours to burn herself along with the remains. Supposing .slio had not been a good wife, siie was in many cases jo.stled by the mourners, and sometimes horribly disfigured with the view to diminish her chances of re-marriage. The cremation over, a bark hut was built on the spot and evervbody woidd retire except the widow who had to dwell there du'Ing the period of her bondage. Tn the evening following the cremation, as a rule, would take place the " pot-latch " according to the rites which shall be ilescribed in the next paragraph. 10 146 I'ROCEEDIXG.S OF TIIF r.v.^ THE CANADIAN JXSTITUTE. 4 ""^i II VIE. f'«- l,e,. ,vi,|ow's bo,„u:e „^T° "' ''" "'« ""'« ofl.er li|„,„H„„ «"ci,ol. Hence tl,e „.,;e;cvi:,C, ■''",* "'■ ''"y "'-' in a " eouM „ev,., ,.e„,„i„ f„,, ,„,„,, *™'"'8 f'™!. .supplies of meat ce, tarn to „oo,„. i„ t,„ „^ . » «<^k -..e.nber of tl,e banj „„, - much ,„,vi.,i„,, „, „,^,. „ ; —3' -"Wy place., e,o.e to hi w . cl, was co„.,i<,e,.eJ o„,i„„,„ ^ "f'"'""; "'«"■ l'»th fro,,, |,is ,„„. ° '- '■"te. Sho,,,., he .lie 1,1 , ZuT^' ""^ "•""'' "b""'!"- iC - «""'« -oee-sit f THE WESTERN DENES. U7 XV.i r TJie most inveterate lunong all the ceremonial cus^^onis of the Carriers, one which in some localities has remained proof against prolul)itions from both the civil and religious authorities, — is their practice of giving extravagant re|)asts or •' [)ot-latches " (Chinook word, meaning " giving away ") in honor of their dead. When intend- ed to commemorate an untitled [)erson, one banquet suffices, and is the implicitly ol)serve.l signal for the termination of the mourning and the liberation of the widow from bondage. But when given in honor of a deceased notable and as a visible signal of his nephew or brother's succession to his title and prerogatives, there are no less than six well defined courses successively given by lag successor conjointly with liis co-clansmen. Owing to the importance attached to these festivals by the natives, and despite the apparent jjuerility of some of their details, I feel I shall have to speak at some length of each of the six. 1. Su|»[)osing that a T(eufza has passed away, the tirst in the .series of V)anquets given in his honor will take place three or four days after the arrival of the invited or e.xpected strangers and may be re()eated for several nights in succession. It is only of secondary importance and is called Lhiz tham hauafstfiva'lhthih (" ov the taking away from the ashes ") which means that the mortal remains are thereby removed from the " fire-j)lace " where they had been lying since t'le notal»le's decease. It is given by the hitter's future successor according to the following ceremonial which is strictly adhered to in the case of all subsequent or any banquets. I A8 lu'efatory to this paraifraiili, I wouM W'if leave to reuiind the coin|iai'ati\ e SocidloifiRt of thf ftciitatioiis haiHiccts in \o^iie aiiioii!,' u.ost of tlie ancieiiv iieoiile, Assyrians, I'ersiaiis, F.i;;\i)rii."is, (ireekfi of tie lieroio nerioil, etr., as evincf.'d hy llie saered ISoolts, (ieiiesis xlii ; i.idHii -u; Esther i ; Daniel \ ; Iloniei's Iliad and Uiiyssey (passim), etu. The student of fli.;ni-jitv V. ill also remenibek- that in such re|iast8 it was ciiston..iry to j^ive each 1,'uest his se|)ar- M- ■■..(■ -i: .11. d to show O'le's regard for any person hy helpiiiir liini to a lartrer share tlian the otiu" 'M'Sts In this niiinier .Joseph trealdi his youn^fer brother lienjaniin, ((ietiesis \liii). So ilid A^- II' ..lion act towards Aja.x and EuinoMis to L'lysses, (Iliad, 1 ook \ii and Odyssey, xi\.) In nioie recent times, we see the same • 'it'ini prevailing amon;,' he Mon^'ols who havi- many traits of rescmlilance both moral and • \4;;il with our Denes. Thus when the princes and (Tcncrals of their vast emiiire a.sseiiihled m »_ t i elect a successor to Oirotiii Khan, eatini; and drinkin'j: to excess formed a comsiiIcu iiis part of ihe | '•oceedinffs. Then also "every day they p\tt on garments of a different ci)loiir ilrarilmted by the so, ;r. ig^n," says I'i.iiio ( 'arpini, an eye witnes.s. Ajfain, "Thin ceremony (that of eiithronisation) was followed by an enormous bamiuet . . . This feast was renewed e\ery day for seven days in sucei.'suion." In Hue's Christianity in China, Tariur.\ etc." Voluir.e I, paife 14G and 118. 148 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. Everything being ready in one of the largest houses, the aspirant notable's maternal nephew (that is, his own presumptive heir) pro- ceeds to call in every member of any but his uncle's clan, which he accomplishes by striking the ground with a ceremonial staff at the feet of the person thus invited without uttering a word. The future notable's fellow clansmen being reputed co-invitators with him go in of themselves. The commune vulyus being assembled in the lodge (before the notables who though the first invited are the last to come), the latter are introduced by the master of ceremonies who, pointing with his staff to their respective places (which is strictly defined by traditional usage), calls them individually by their hereditary names ^ repeating in loud tones for instance " Qi ! qi ! Rahul, qi ! qi ! " The interjections accompanying the proper name (Rahul) are of ancient origin and never used in common parlance. Then begins the repast or rather distribution of victuals, double or treble portions being allowed the notables present, the vliole accompanied with copious libations of liquid bear's grease for c -^tribution of which ladles and spoons manufactured from the ii is of the mountain goat, similar to those represented by figure 16, are brought into requisition. At the termination of this banquet, the aspirant notable tears a few dressed skins of leather in long strips of the width necessary to make mocassins, which he ilistributes to the assistants, taking care to give double size to those intended for the notables. This last distribution is in the Carrier's estimation the most important part of the whole proceedings, inasmuch as it is regai'ded as paramount to the atoning for the notable's death, and is practised whenever one wants to wipe out shame or remove grief - 2. The second "potlatch " is given when a new supply of eatables and skins has been collected, and is in every respect but its aim identical with the first. It is intended as a celebration in honor of the deposition of the remains of the late Tojneza in the appointed place of respect in the house, even though said remains may have been previously cremated. So far, his successor is considered merely as an aspirant to his late uncle's title. I This is never done except on spi'cial occusions, every notuble liavini; besutes, at least, one other name. 2. Sometimes whole HuitH uf dress are thu - puliliuly gi\'en away. THE WESTERN DENES. 149 3. Ts1AN IN.STFTUTK. i < \ ! (for which service he receives iimuediiitely a whole skin) whicli is taken up by the entire assembly exocjit the hitter's relatives who conuiieiice at once a strain of deafening lamentations. The new dignitary being now fairly laden with multiple mantles, they are then taken from his shoulders. This is the signal for tiit; cessation of the singing. After this, all the dutiful teai-s are dried n[) as if by enchantment, whereupon the master of ceremonies blows swan's down on his head by means of repeated insufflations, thereby producing white undulating clouds significative of his new dignity ; then he helps the notable to tear and distribute the whole pile of smoke dressed skins, not forgetting to set aside double sized strips for any absent notables. Henceforth, he is a real and accepted tceneza ; but to enjoy all the prerogatives of his rank, he will have to make three more distiibutions. 4. NaWiadita (" he sits down"). This is equivalent to the notable's enthroning. It is a distribution of clothes or skins, intended as a fee for the privilege of sitting at the traditional place of his i)re- decessor, and is made on the occasion of his assistance at the next banquet given by a notable of a ditferont clan. When entering the festival lodge the new Tieneza is followed by his wife packing the skins he is about to distribute. These are extended in a line by young men so that they may be duly counted by the crowd. " These he will give away on the occasion of his Enthronisation," will shout one of them, io which the crowd will answer in loud acclamations : Swrnotijet ! Sonnotyet ! words of ancient origin indicative of admir- ation and used only in this connection. After the distribution, the notable sits on his appointed seat of honor. .'-. Now, should it become known that the following summer would witness the giving of the last of the series of banquets com- memorative of his predecessor's death, on a certain arranged winter evening, while the new notable is sitting together with a band of young men in his house with closed doors, all his fellow notables and villagers congregate outside, and, at a given signal, the whole crowd breaks into vociferous applause upon which a song is struck up within (accompanied by a tambourine) by the aforesaid band of young men as singers. Then a toeneza wearing the insignia of his rank, the wig and ceremonial apron, will dance while keeping profoundly bowing THE WESTERN DENES. ir>i ti) tlin liost and singers, and without interrujiting liis dance he will proceed to his place near the master of the lodge. All the notables jiresent will then follow in their turn o\)serving the same ceremonial. Should there be a female notable among them she will have pre- cedence over any untitled member of the crowd. Instead of a wig, slie wears a lofty crown-like head-dress,' adorned with strips of her totem-animal's skin and other ornaments. Her ceremonial apron is also much shorter than that of the male notables which falls to the feet and has the lower edge fringed with hanginf' beaver claws or small i)ebbles which during his dance produce a continual rattling sound.'- She does not dance however, on entering the liouse ; but bowing low keeps time with her head-dress to all the sounds of the tambourine. When all the assistants are gathered around the notable thus honored, he serves them a frugal suprer after which they disperse to their respective homes. 6. This is the last and most important of all the festivals intended to commemorate the late notable's death. Previous to its celebration, people of the surrounding villages are invited to construct a new lodge for his successor, while the notaljles carve in the woods, away from the eyes of the curious, two wooden masks representing respec- tively the face of a man and of a woman. ^Meantime the most skill- ed workmen of the \illage carve out of a large cotton-wood tree two huge toads or grouse according to the clan to which the new Tteneza belongs. These different works have to be comi)leted on the eve of the great banquet when the population of distant villages have con- gregated for the occasion. In the night when all are assembled in the wQVf house, the notables who made the masks, concealed behind a screen formed by skin curtains, adjust them to the face of two young men whose pei-sons are carefully concealed by blankets. After this th curtain is lifted \\\> and the notables proceed to the centre of the assembly and commence — attired in their insignia — to dance in a group whilst the masked jesters make with their heads all sorts of comical movements. The chant used on this occasion has a ])eculiar ISo did the Mon^'ol women of tlie Middle Ases, awordiiij; to William of Il>;bruck : "The oostiime of the women," he siivs, "does not differ jfi'eiitly from that of the. men, except that they wear a \ery lofty ' head-dress.' " delation dt's VdtiwjcK cii Turtarie, Beiyeroii,. 2 This peculiarity reminds us of the iimpil of the Jewish hijfh priest, the most noticeable part of which was its fringe composed of little bells of goldalternatiuir witli coloured pomgranates. Exodus xxviii, ;n and 34. 152 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. rhythm and time. The dunce over, the notables retreat beliind the curtain wliich falls and hides them from view. A new mask is added on the occasion of eveiy subsecjuent funeral ban(]uet given by the same notable, so that the number of jesters present at these festivities indicates the number of banquets given by him since he succeeded liis late uncle. Next day, in the morning, takes place the grand banquet, which sometimes lasts a whole day. On this occasion, tlie late td'ucza's personal goods which to this day have remained untouched, are exhibited one after the other in full view of the crowd and amidst the lamentations of his relatives, care being taken not to name the deceased. Then also his charred bones, which so far have been daily packed by his widow, are susi)ended within the satchel to the rafters of the new house, after which, in the course of distributing eatables, his successor rubs his greasy hands on the widow's hair and covering her with a new blanket which he presents to her, says : " I hereby liberate thee ; so thou mayest return to thy kindred and marry if thou pleasest." On the morrow, prior to the general distribution of clothes and skins, not to let the medicine-men pass unnoticed ami«lst such solemnities, and to ensure their good will against any malady or ill which may befall the assembly, they are recpiested to make their ]nv- ventive " medicine." With this end ii\ view, four or five of the most famous capture (t) while dancing the soul or shade of each assistant and restore it to his head with solemn insufHations. A peculiarity of the final distribution is that the totem, toad or grouse, having be 'n placed at either side of the door, each new comer belonging to another clan than that of the host is bound by custom to present snid totem with clothes and hunting imi)lements which thereby become the now notable's pro})erty. Part of these he will, after the ceremony, divide among his fellow clansmen, keei)ing for himself only what he thinks he will be able to re-fund by ofiering to the totem of his present guests an exact equivalent on the occasion of the next banquet given by them. This will be observed by all the partakers of these so-called presents, which are really nothing but an exchange of property from clan to clan. ) ' i THE WKSTKRN DENES. 153 Then will follow the grand distribution of skins and clothes, after which the host will divide among his j)redecessor's relatives, all the hitter's personal property and even pj-esent them with his own wear- ing apparel, reducing himself to a state of almost perfect nakedness. Then as a linale, the deceased's remains will be deposited in a box suspended on a carved wood column such as (though generally more ornameiiled than) those delineated in figure 15.' XVI. The above mentioned and any other dances were usually performed by a single i)erson — generally a man. He would usually dance in a kind of jumping v.-.iy, making with hands and head occasional gestures 'The (iovoniiiieiit Heports on Indian Affairs do not .C, a )>ot-iatch was held wliii-h lasted a week and at which more than 2000 Indians and lialf-breeds were present. The entertainini; tribe's savinjjs of several years are said to have been ^fiven away, one yoiinjf man contribiitin^' ),'oo>f*40(i, (Report, 1SS4, p. !l"). A Chief named Lohah in 1 we read of ir^LijOOO worth beinir distributed in presents, chiefly lilankets which amon^r the Indiums west of the Rockies was then the standard of value (Reiiort, 187(i, p. 86). In another case the (fifts consisted mainly of i;i4 sacks of tlour, 140 pairs of blankets, ai>ples and iirovisions=.S700. For some years the j^overnment has been tryinir to put down the pot-latch. The reasons assiffiied are : flixt, that it is wasteful in the extreme and 'mpoverishes the ^fiver.i ; second, that by collecting tojrether a large number of ptisons who are imder no rule and are given to excess, it forms a danger to the public i)eace. At length an act was passed and was brought into force by proclamation of the 1st of .lanuury, 188'i. It abolishes the panied with lacerations. The mi)re distant tribes of British Columbia preserve their ancient customs, and the older chiefs in ))laces where civilization has penetrated defend their practices by arguments such as these : — " We have labcjured for the goods, they are ours ; why may we not give them to our friends? The white man has his feasts, his theatres, his churches. He is not hindered. We have only the itot-latch ami dances for seasons of joy and sorrow, for entertainment and anmsement. The pot-latch is long established, it relieves the agony of the deceased's surviving kindred and calls forth the symi)athy of friends and neigh- bours. The presents ensure us a hearty welcome wherever we travel and are tliemselves but a return in kind for others which we received at other times. Is it not unjust to prohibit so ancient and so beneficial a custom '? " Nevertheless, the pot-latch seems in a fair way towards extinction. I should mention that Mr. Lomas of the Cowichan Agency has been trying to con- vert the pot-latch into an Annual Industrial Exhibition, and has met with considerable success. Cm S. Com. f 154 I'llOCKKDIXO.S OK TIIK CANADIAN INSTITL'TK. meant iis an ilhistnition of tlie chant executed by the crowd who kept Jieating time by clapping their hands one against the other. Besides, on grand occasions Indian taudiourines were also used as an acconij)aniuH'nt to the singing. Keligions dances were iniknown. The nearest ai)proaeh thereto was the dance performed on the occasion of an eclipse. The Denes believed this phenomenon to be due to the presence of gale or seal) on the sun or moon. To pres(!rve themselves from that dread malady and hasten the luminary's re-apj)earance (or cure), they would cautiously go out of their habitations, avoiding noise and loud talk, and then, ranging thenuselves one behind the other, they would start a kind of i)ropitiatory dance to this effect : bending under an iuuiginary weight though carrjing only an empty bark vessel, they would strike in cadence their right thigh, repeating at the same time in piteous tones '' Hanintih ; gef" "Come back therefrom." On such occasions the Chillip^otins neither danced nor sang ; but among them men and women having their clothes tucked up as when they travel and leaning on a staff as if heavily laden, they walke*' in a circle till the end of the eclip.se. Another observance formei'ly in vogue among the Carriers was the the'tsoelrwws (precipitate exit). This was analogous in character to, if not identical with, a practice of which we read as having existed among certain European and Asiatic nations, the Li/canthropia of the ancients, the Lonpyarou of France, the Persian Ghoule the Teutonic WeJir-ii'ol/; all probably the result of a simulated ecstacy of super- stitious origin. In the case in question and on the occasion of a large gathering of aborigines, a band of men would suddenly ru :i out of a lodge and, simulating madness, would, amidst wild yells and in- coherent songs, make frantic efforts to bite the |)assers-by or, failing in this, they would seize upon a dog and devour him on the spot. Ordinary amusements consisted of the ncezaz, or throwing of long p)lished sticks on the snow, the distance reached determining the winner ; and gambling which is of two kinds : meta and alte. The first game which greatly resembles the tsi-mei of the Chinese ' is jdayed by a group of natives one of whom concealing in his hands I 1 L" Empire Chinois, jmr 1' abbe Hue. TIIK WKSTKKN DKNKS. 155 II two .siimll sticks or hones difierently carved keeps jerkin;,' liis arms and body to the tune of a particular son«,', so tliat he may give an little indication as possilde to the rival players as to which hand con- tains the winning stick. A tambourine or some appro|»riate substitute, suih as a tin-pan, is continually beaten us an accompaniment to the gam(\ This is not the case witii aUi which is played (or rather was played, for it has fallen into desuetude) sihnitly Ijy only two partners with a multitude of small sticks and which is too complicated to be described liere. A few other games were also played formerly, but not so commonly as those just referred to, so that I deem it unnecessary to do more than simply mention the fact. The chants accompanying these games and dances were, musically speaking, of the poorest descrii)tion,— aboriginal music being of a very primitive chiiracter. They are generally composed either of a single musical i)hra.so re|)eated ad infinitum or of a few musical phrases with- out co-relation or cohesion undergoing the same sempiternal repetitions. These chants n)ay be classified under two heads : those with ancient words and those with modern oi- no words. The first are those traditional songs which, among the Carriers, are the exclusive apj)an- age of the notables and are transmitted from generation to generation. They claim that the words thereof are renniants of their primitive language. They are at present (piite unintelligible. Although each of their component sounds is familiar with the Denes' vocaVxilary, yet a close comparison with the actual Carrier, Chilhxotin, Sekanais and three Eastern dialects of which I have complete dictionaries before me, fails to give a clue as to their original meanin- ~P yi!h^! he! yi ! he! he! ye! yi ! yt^ ! yi ! h^ ! hel Following are two other exiimples of native music, the tirst of which is the " melody " used in playing nwfn, and the second, one of the l)(''n('s' pastime songs wliich, as will be seen, are little more tlian 2)olished yells, both are without words. In tine, I give below for the sake of comparison the great ^'barcarolle" or boating song of the Carriers. It is of modern though Dene origin, and this circumstance will explain the fact that in soite of the irreffular- ity of the iinale, both rhythm and melody are more consonant with our musical ideas and evince intercourse with white sinirers. II m- of of 111 r- TUE WESTERN DENES. 157 lEgz^^s^j^^lMiis^si;^ A! ti hii tiz - tie? elm - la - i ! ti ha tiz ■ tit'? 4..M19 I^L^T^ lil^^ Hetii iid(£ ta chu !. lia I tiz- up: v — x-i 1 — / lz*=^?l^^^yife[2^^^i^li=g cha - la • i ! ueni iidw XVII. - ta cha ! , (1). Apart from the superstitions dances of whicli mention has been made in tlie preceding }iaragraph, the Western Denes observed no religious ceremonies. They made no sacrifices, worshipped no Deity and liad no definite cultns, unless we dignify with that name the shamanism of tlie Northern Asiatic races which obtained amonir them True, they vaguely believed in a kind of impersonal and undefined Divinity, not quite pantheistic; but rather moi< so than individual, almost lO-eSsential with the celestial forces, the cause efficient of rain and snow, winds and other (irmamental phenomena. They called it YuWere ("that which is on high") in Carrier. But they did not worship this power — they rather feared it and endeavoured to get out of its reach, or, when this was impossible, to propitiate it and the spirits who wei-e supposed to oliey it, with the help and through the incantations of the nelhyhi or conjuror. This shaman was credited, when exercising his mysterious art, with the power of controlling the coming or departing of evil spirits. Even when not actually con- juring, he was believed to be able to kill by his mere will any objectionable person. His services were called into requisition in time of famine, to prevent tempests, procure favorable winds, hasten the arrival of salmon and ensure its abundance ; but more generally in case of sickness which they believed to be concrete (not unlike the microbes of n.odern chemists) and always due to the presence or ill will of spirits. 1 " A I how is it that she jjoes like a flsh, ehalai I my luind is sick, cha, etc., etc." 158 proc;ekdixos of thk canaoian institutk. ! * When worked into a state of tniiice by peisonal exertions, the singin;^ ot liis own maund immetliately revived. To the pi'oper understanding of the foregoing, I must say a word concerning aboriginal psychology. The Denes believed man to be vivihed l)y a soul which to them was nothing else than his natural warmth (iieziel) and which as such died with the body. B\it besides this, they credited every liiimau being — indeed many still hold to that belief — with the jiossession of another self or shade (netsin) which was invisible as long as he enjoyed good health, but appeared wan- dering about in one form or another whenever disease or death was imminent. In order therefore to prevent eitiier the one or the I 1 n ' THE WRST.KHN DKXKS, 151) other, their ondeavotirs would he directed towards catching it l)ack. With tliis eiul in view, they would liang up in the evening the patient's mocassins previously stuH'eil with feather down, and next morning, shcuid the down be warm, thf^y would with great care and silence put them back on his feet with his supposed shade therein. When- ever the moribund lay unconscious they 'nelieved his double to have departed for the land of the shades or spirits, tiiough after death it received another name (He.-:iil) and was then supjiosed to l>e the im[)alp- able form of tlie niiin's previous self. We thus see that the immortality of the soul, tiiough in an imperfect manner, was admitted bv these people. Concerning the state of these shades and the regions they inhabit after death, their notions were rather vague and contradictory. Though all of them seemed to agree that their condition was misei-able, since their only food was dried toads (which among tlie J )en»'s are the iincleanest of animals) yet they do not seem to have known or imagined mucli regarding the regions in (luestion. Tlie foHowing myth may howevei- give a fair idea of tiie Ijelief entertained by tlie Carriers on this subject. " A long time ago two young men luiving got lost in the woods, readied in the course of their w.Muh'rings a certain spot where the trunk of a tree entirely hollow<'d out by age and decay was lying on the f'»"ouiitl. Out of curiositv they crawled in to see where it led to as only one end was visible. Aftei- some hard walking on all fours through a dark .sui>terranean passage, they reached a place full of snakes, toads and, HzjikIs. Much iVightened they endeavoured to go buck ; but could not- it was an awful place. Yet, summoning up their courage they hurriedly ran through it and after more uiulei- grouud jo'ariieying, the road widened and darkness ceased. Then they suddenly found themselves to be on the .op of a hill command- ing the view of a broad river on the other side of which stood ii. village. This consisted of innumeral>!e board houses, some of wliicli were l)lack, others red — it was the abo this new grandfather, he finally went up above and it is he that we now see standinjf on the moon." 8uch is the Dene myth, or rathei' part of myth or legend, for what they narrate of this couple is far too long to be repeated here. Now is it not strange that we shoul.i find here among hyperborean Indians, the belief in this very Tartarean river which plays such a role in the mythologies of ancient Home and Athens? Is there any noticeable diffei-ence between this broad river of the Denes and the Styx-atra of Virgil ( And does not their hero's experience in the infernal regions offer remarkable analogies with those ascribed liy the Greeks and Latins to The.seus and Hercules, Orpheus and ^^neas ] It is also woithy of notice that this belief of the Denes, as evinced by the 1 To understand tliis i)articular circumstaiice of the Doncs' Icjfend, one must know that the nation repud yawning as ominous, and believe it to he a calling baelt of the departed jchosts to earth. ■) THE WESTERN I»ENES. 161 f iibove leg(>n(l, tliat entrance to the aboile of tlie sluides is denied to those who have not received the lionors of sepulture (typitied among them by cremation) was common to most ancient nations, and is still to be found among several modern barbarous i)eople. But I perceive that I am becoming didactic when I intended to content myself with tl)e mere exposition of facts. Let us be brief. Metempsychosis was believed in by the Carriers and the S^kanais and very likely by the two other tribes also, though I could not positively affirm this. It amounted in theii* estimation, to the regen- eration of persons who had led a virtuous life and were supposed to be rewarded tlierefor by a new biith. Transformations into beings of a lower order however, than that of their former condition, were repugnant to their jisychological ideas. They also attached to dreams the same importance as did most people of a]iti(|uity. It was while dreaming that the}' jtretended to communicate with the supernatural world, that their shamans were invested "with their wonderful power over nature, and that every individual was assigned his particular nayiral or tutelary animal- genius. Oftentimes they painted this genius with vermilion on pro- minent rocks in the most fretpiented places, and these rough inscrip- tions are aViout the oidy monuments the immediate ancestors of tho present Denes have left us. \ UP # .1 XVJII. Closely related to a people's religious l)elief8 iu< ihc'w superstitious observances, and, Jis a rub', the more the former have Ur viatc^d fiom original truths, the more will the latter be found to have developed both in number and relative consideration. This is strictly true of the Western Denes who, lacking even the primordial notion of a Supreme Being, were encumltered with a multitude of vain ob.sei vances to \> «ich they attached the greatest imj)ortance. I have already in the coui-se of this monograph incidentally hinted at some of them. Yet, before bringing it to a close, 1 feel that I shall hav. to add a few words on this subj(*ct. To avoid the tediousness necessarily resulting from a long nomenclature of apparent trivialities, 11 / 230860 162 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. I will niiike a clioice and coufine my remarks to a few of those ceremonial rites which inav he of interest to the .socioloflfist. Prominent among these are the observances peculiar to the fair sex, and many of them are remarkably analogous to those practised by the Hebrew women, so much so that, were it not savouring of profanity, the ordinances of the Dent; ritual code might be termed a new edition " revised and considerably augmented " of the Mosaic cei-emonial law. Among the Cari-iers, as soon as a girl had experi- enced the tiist flow oi the men.ses which in the female constitution are a natural discharge, her father believed himself under the obliga- tion of atoning for her supposedly sinful condition by a small im- promptu distribution of clothes ' among the natives. This periodical state of women was considered as one of legal impurity fateful both to the man who happened to have any intercourse, however indirect, with her. and to the woman herself who failed in scrupulously observing all the rites prescribed by ancient usag'^ for persons in her condition. Upon entering into that stage of her life, the niiiiden was immedi- ately sequestered from company, even that of her parents, and com- pelled to dwell in a small branch hut by herself away from beaten paths and the gaze of passers-by. As she was supi)osed to exercise maletic influence on any man who might inadvertently glance at her, she had to wear a sort of head-diess combining in itself the purposes of a veil, a bonnet and a mantlet. It was maile of tanned skin, its forepart was shaped like a long fringe com|)letely hiding from view the face and breasts ; then it formed on the heail a close fltting cap or bonnet, and tinally fell in a broad band almost to the heels. This hea,'f "f the niiinml offiTint.''* pivscriluMl In ihc Itook of Leviticus, cluiptor v., fortlifiviiiiitioiiof siiin (includinjr Ifffiil uni'lcaniU'ss)'.' (dii' slioiilil not fni-jri't tin- vfivutlv iilti-ivd I'irciiiii-'taiurs in tlii' iiiid^t of wliicli tlif Iti'iii' now IIms nor tlic fad dial tlicir only domestic animal, the doyr, is to tliein as to the JcWH, an unclean animal. On the other hand, having lost the kno«ledne ..;' .-lii only (iod throuirh prohahle pecenfinations amonir, aniK)8e Compare with the prewriptions of Lt-viticus xv., 1!». «Cf. I^viticuH xii., 2. I Ibid xii., 4, 5. ♦ Il.Klxii.. 0. *<.'f. Leviticiiu xi. • 11ml. panHi'in. TCf. Dfdteronoiny xxv., 2. ,, 'I THE WESTERN DENES. 165 Various other oliservaiices— wliose mime is legion and frequently of a imerile nature— were formerly in vogue amoni,' the Dene hunters, but as they are of no pai-ticuhir interest to the sociologist, I will re- frain frorn ynumej'ating them. 4 1 XIX. Such as T have -r A< >r(^ V^< A^D A"C D> 3a tsidaiu" ; t-t liowa (I'tga ukliwa liwoztii. Hohta tiiTu's tsi-pa Ihiz thurh naltsii't, ot howa utiiz Ihiz, za sn'Ui. " The aspen in a tiglit with the black s[)ruce knocked it down in the tire whereby it got roasted.' But at the same time, the aspen fell on the ashes of the fireside, and that is why it is ash coloured." And, I believe, I may now close this monograi»h, not that tlie subject is exhausted, far from it. There are even several points con- nected therewith which for the sake of brevity I have left untouched. Moreover, much rtMnains to be said anent the question of the West- ern Denes, probable oiigin and quite a volume might be written con cerning their wonderfidly rich language. One could, for instance, propose to the admiration of the philologist the [)rodigious multiplic- ity of its verbs which, when under all their forms, aggregate to the incredible number of about 150,000 I — the astonishing quantity of their varieties which comprise verbs athrmative and negative, active and passive, reflective and mutual, impersonal and unipersonal, potential and generalizing, objective and subjective, veri)S of rest, 1 In allusion to the i)archeVHte I THE WEHTEHN DENES. 169 i*. Fm. 5.— HOUN DAKT ; I SIZE. r Fig. 0. — Bark bottle ; }, size. 170 PHOCEEniNOS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. Fig. 7. — Bark peeler and cambium scraper; .', size. Fig. *^. — EoNE Chisel or scraper; ^ size. Fig. 9. — Bone scraper ; J size. THE WESTERN DENES. 171 " / Fig. IO.-Dene flint AnRow-HEADs; nat. size Fro. H.-Bow-point; nat. size. | F,o. I^.-Spear-.iead; J size, mmm '^^Bfmmmmmmm 172 I'noCEElJlXCiS OF TIIK CANADIAN INSTITUTK. Fig. 13.--STONK ♦'Casbe-trtc;" 'size. Fifj. 11-— lloNK TnirvK Aitiiow; A mzi "'*:V*«n'*»«»iffii»*i :bB«iltii»i»>.i TKK WKSTKRN DENES. 173 m. (I Fio. 15.— Funeral Posts. i' 174 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE, if! Fh;. 16, — IfoUN LADLE AND Sl'OON ; | SIZE. HKIKK SUMMARY. IiitiVKlucliiiii III l'ii|>fv "II tlu' Wi'sUTii Di'iivc. ( 'lawsilicalioii of Tritifs, |Hi|>ulati<>ii ftlit mari'iayc i>n |irii|HTty ami wicceHHioii. VII. IJii'lli anil can.' nf iliililri'ii— vital Mtatiiiticis, .MiMJe 1 of huiitiiiy:. Fisliiinf. rri'Mt'iviiii: licnirs. Art.-! am) liiiliiHtiiiH. \\l\Y iln|>lrllll'lll«. War and sorial oriranization. Mixlt's of ili-i|io.^iii;:' of ilic ilcail. SoU'nniilii'M. .Xniiisiint'iilM - >|>ciiin('iis of Diiic liiiiiiic. Kfli^jions lielii'fs -iiifi'i>ititiinm oliM'nanrt'X. Conclusiion with H-nloncoN in the hiiir lanK'nifu written «itli ncwl.\ inM niid ilianii-lii>. I. 11. III. I\. V. VIII. I.\. .\. .\l. Ml. .Mil. .\IV. XV XVI. XVII. I KI{I!ATA. Tau'i' III', Lini' 17 Iioni iIh' 110, liotliMn lini' II:.', Lini' (l from tin- \>|i-7«/' .Nalianis I. rlii'nr NalianrM Txkfnni' TsatiMiH, Naliancx '• .Sikanais irad NiiiraiH-N. t-oluMM-. Nali'-aiH". T'sfki'Mii" . T'ltaten-*. Nali'-aiicf. .Si'karniis. I from lilt' lu>ltiiin /nr limlalinni liKlialioniiii ccrKf (Iciilalinin inilianonim. 1 " io|i " lU'iitaliiini " lU'iilaliiiiii. " ll>ai|iia " li.\ai|iia. r. " Tii'iu'Zoi " Td'iii'za. •J •' •' liolloin " liwoiiu.'lh'a " liwi>iiii.>liru. :J!^1 ^VL«JI A LETTKK FKOM A. B. PEBRV. 175 [Ttw following letter diiteil liDtli .rime, li^8S, w;is receivoil from A. Bowcii Perry Ksij. Fiispector, North- \V«'st Mounted Police, Prince Albert, Notth-Wcst T»'iiit..iy. -('ii. S. Com.] Sir :~ I have to iicknowled;^*; your Sociologiciil Circuhir of June '88. I fully agree with you a.s to the iuiport.ince of the work with which your circular deals. Sueh information as you retjuire must he obtained «Me«'dily for the state of the Indians is changing most rapidly. Old customs are passing away ; their cer»'monies are almost of the past, certainly with many trihos ; their fainily customs are assinulating to those of tlu'ir white hrethien ; and in fact in almost every .section nani«'il in your circidar the infoiination to he ()l>tained will hi; of a heai-say ciiaracter. I speak moie particularly of this district of Sa.skatchewan. The Iiidians are all Crees with one exception, a small l)aiid i)f renegade Sioux from Minnesota. Missionaries have for many vciux labored among the (Jree In- dians and with no little succe.ss. TIh; C'rees have for some time devoted themselves to farming and altandoned their nomadic life. Schools have lieen maintained. Tliese inHutMices eond)ined with the strong and .>iuccessful ittempt of the government to break up old habits and customs havi* etfectctl a complete change in the fndian. character and habits. Not always for the best it must be admitted. With civilization, di.sease has been introduced, immorality has in- c reasetl and physical degeneration ei'sued. It .seems that physical degeneration universally follows the semi-civili/atiun of the Indian The causes are nuiny. Change of food, from tVesh butialo meat and tish to a diet of badly baked Itreud and liacoii. The bread is un- leavened ; the Hour being simply mi.vetl in water and half bak«'d in a frying pan or in ashes. Conse(|uently the bannock as the bread thus nnide is called, is very indigestil)le and unlit for food. Again in their ohl life th*y wandered about from [lace to place, lived in lodges which afforded plenty »)f ventilation. Now they live the year around, nv the greater part of it, foj' some ()f them take to their lodges in th<5 summer, 17G PKOCEEDINGS OF THE C^ANADIAN INSIITI'TE. in .small log huts, ill lighted, unventilated, half tilleil with sinoko and crowded together. Dirty and careless in their habits, it is not long before the hut becomes filthy and the ground arouml saturated. Remember that the huts are clumped together and the unhealthv state of the present Indian habitation on a (jrovernment Reserve is apparent. The agents and employees of the Indian department «lo what they are able to encouragt^ the Indians to build larger houses and keep more cleanly habits, but as far as I know with little success. DLsease marks them for her own ; if of a contagious or infectious i;ature it runs its course ; for the last two or three yeai-s measles have prevailed amongst th«^ Northern Indians, and with a deadly result. Preventiblc diseases are most teri'il)le. A mongst the Southern tribes of the Territories tispecially it is the exception to seo a healthy neli developed Indian child. The Northern triljes have not sutlered to thv same extent but still have not e.scapeoint out briefly the wrong princijdes on which it is ba.sed and will give a few examples of the matter that chiefly is reprelu^nsible in the catalogue. The only value that a scientific paper in this field can have, nnist come either from its new facts or froui its carefully compiled and collated facts, and of course in both cas«'s absolute precision and correctness are essential. In the case of compiled facts, it is, not merely a rule of courtesy, but an inflexible law of scientific writing that all quotation and assistance must be acknowledged with due credit to its proper author- ity. It is hartlly credible that any one will deny what is so fully accept«Ml by all ex|M'rienced writers, and yet it ap]»eai's as though Mr. Tyri"oll had set out with the expn'ss intention of ruiniing counter to these principles throughout his pa)>er. Pjissing over without comment the general vagueness ii; all matters relating to geogmphy, and the annoying omission of dates in nearly all references to time, I will briefly tiirect attut without y taking refuge in vaguene.ss and never giving credit for quotation (^xce])ting in the case of .some of the Seals_ The whole of his i)aragraph on IffspcronvfS leucoynster is taken verbatim or nearly so from the present writ«M''s paper on the Mammals of Manitoba, but no hint is given that it is a (pu)tation. A similar re- mark applies in the case of Syna/ilomi/s v.onperi. It is ditiicult to uiiderstantl how the writer justifies such jtlagiarism. The Wood Hare (Lepns ni/lvatirtis) is given jis, " Becoming quite common throiighout Ontirio," whereas in the Northern nine-tenths at least of the Province this species is unknown. The rcunark on the Pouched (^Jopher ((r'eomi/H Imrsurins) is one of the most flagrantly ignorant of any ; ho sjtys, " originally described from a specimen brought from Eastern (Janada." This Ciopher was descrilted by Shaw from a skin "supiKjsed to have been brought from somewhere in the interior of Canada." The (ieoviys bursar his is an animal of the Mississip))i valley — it was observed in Southern Manitoba by Kennicott l)Ut it is very certain that it was never taken within many hundreds of miles of the i-egion that Mr. Tyi '-ell .seems usually to mean by " Eastern Canada." He giv»!S the Black Squirrel ('Sdnrns carol inensis) as langing " as far west as the iu)rth shores of Lakes Huron and Sup«frior." It would be *>xceedingly interesting and valuable, if he would give substantial proofs "f this surprising statement, etc., etc. The avowed pur|)OBe of this article is tj put on lecord, my objections 5S!ISB!anWBHi 180 PROCEEDINOS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITl'TB. to Mr. TyiTell's paper mid the above examples have been given as representative of nine-tentlis of the matter it is compoaeil of ; Init it is only fair to conclude by indicating snch passages and endeavors as are worthy of commendation. Its chief value is as a philologiciil contribution, his records of the Indian names cannot fail to be of xne, though even here his besetting sin greatly detracts from the value of the work, for he adopts no special alphabet and uses no diacritical marks, so that the ])ronunciation is left pretty much in the same state of uncriticisable uncertainity that is characteristic of the paj)er. In one or two instances however our author has given us notes that are suggestive of the real observei", and whenever he has done so we get a glimpse of capabilities for doing work of considerable value. I niight instance his remarks on the Wapiti, Buftalo, Hoary Marmot, Blue Fox, — though by the way he has apparently not read Mr. Nelson's article on the subject — and on several of the Seals — with quotations here projjerly acknowledged. It is always a pleasure to welcome a V)eginner in any field, and it is to be hoiked that Mr. Tyrrell will not misundersttmd what is meant for quite friendly criticism, but will recognize the absolute necessity of reproof when so many vital principles of scientific work are violated ; and further we cannot but hope that in the near future we may be favoured with something from Mr. Tyrrell's pen that shall be more worthy of one whose travels have Ixjen so extensive and whose opjx)rtunities and capabilities are so much beyond the average. rKI.NTED RV rilK I'OPP, CLARK COMI'A.SV, LIMITED, TORONTO.