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No. ^ 
 

 -OF- 
 
 W^t dfanadtan ^nixMt. 
 
 No. 7.] 
 
 TMIKRCH, 1S94. [Vol. IV. Part 1. 
 
 Toronto: 
 
 The Copp, Clark Company, Limited 
 1894. 
 
 PRICE 
 
 $ l.OO, 
 
 '•^^ii^'^ 
 
 5 i 1004 
 
 m 
 
 €ll 
 
I HiWi™i.<in|f 'SW^l MH 
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 NOTES 
 ARCHAEOLOGICAL, INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL, 
 
 OK THK 
 
 WESTERN DflNflS. 
 
 REV. A. G. MORICE, O.M.I. 
 
 ERKATtJM. 
 Volaine III., psfp 284, lines 12 from top and 2 from boW^:::, for Cfibbs read Oippa. 
 

 TRANSACTIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE, 
 
 SESSION 1892-93. 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ARCHAEOLOGICAL, INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 WESTERN DENES 
 
 WITH AN ETHNOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE SAME 
 
 BY THE REV. FATHER A. G. MORICE, O.M.I. 
 
 Read 4ih November, i8gj. 
 
 .1 
 
 1 
 
 ^' 
 
 .^^ 
 
H 
 
 T.co) 
 
 '> 
 
 = 
 
 i 
 
 K 
 
1892-y3] 
 
 MOTES ON THf WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 m 
 
 ] 
 
 i 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 ii* :.duction , 5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 £thnologicaI Sketch 8 
 
 The Name " DiR6" 8 
 
 Distribution of the D^n^s 10 
 
 Main Characteristics of the Ddn^ Race 17 
 
 Distribution of the Western D6n6s 22 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Preliminaries 32 
 
 Philological 32 
 
 ■Works and Implements Unknown Among the Western Denes 35 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Stone Implements 39 
 
 Industrial Stone Implements 43 
 
 Stone Weapons of War and of the Chase 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Bone and Horn Implemer ;s 66 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Traps and Snares 84 
 
 Fish Traps 84 
 
 Land Animal Traps 93 
 
 Snares 98 
 
 Observances of the Hunter and Trapper ro6 
 
 • 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Wooden Implements in 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Bark Implements 120 
 
 Esculent and Medicinal Plants 127 
 
 Other Bark Implements 132 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
w 
 
 > 
 
 4 TRAN8A0TIOMS 01' THB CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VOL. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Copper and Iron Implements '3^ 
 
 Copper Implements '■ • • • '3^ 
 
 Iron Implements '4° 
 
 CHAPTER IX.' 
 
 Skin Objects, and Twined and Textile Fabrics MS 
 
 Skin Objects ^^5 
 
 Objects of Mixed Material ' j'^ 
 
 Textile and Twined Fabrics '5^ 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Dress and Personal Adornment '62 
 
 Common Dress '62 
 
 Ceremonial Costume '7* 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Habitatiqns '84 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Monuments and Pictography "9^ 
 
 Carved Monuments '99 
 
 Pictography 206 
 
 Index 213 
 
 Works quoted or referred to 219 
 
 Addenda et Corrigenda ^21 
 
 ' f\ I 
 
1892-93] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DEN^S. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i^\ 
 
 " ArchcBological " is rather inappropriate in connection with the 
 present monograph, whose scope embraces nothing archasan or really 
 ancient. The prehistoric D^n^s are the D^-n^s of but yesterday. For,, 
 what are the one hundred years which have elapsed since the discovery 
 of their country compared with the twenty or more centuries which 
 separate us from the famous civilizations of ancient Egypt and Assyria ? 
 Yet, to check possibly too sanguine expectations from such archaeologists 
 as may happen to read these lines, I hasten to declare that it is perhaps 
 more easy to present the lover of technological lore with graphic illustra- 
 tions of the arts and industries which flourished among the subjects of 
 the Pharaohs and the Assyrian monarchs, than to thoroughly illustrate 
 from actual specimens the ensemble of the arms, working implements,, 
 household utensils and ceremonial paraphernalia, which should concur in 
 reconstructing the peculiar mode of life pursued by the primitive D^n^s. 
 The original Egyptians and Assyrians have left us, besides authentic 
 records of their own doings on imperishable material what promises io 
 prove well nigh unlimited stores of practical illustrations of their past 
 sociology in their tombs, their temples and other public monuments. 
 So that the antiquarian's task is greatly facilitated by the abundance of 
 the material at his command. Furthermore, where the hieroglyphic and 
 cuneiform chronicles fail to clear up difficulties of interpretation or to 
 enlighten him on the particular use of ancient implements, he has only 
 to delve into Herodotus and other historians for the desired light. 
 
 Not so, however, with regard to the prehistoric D^nds. As I have 
 elsewhere demonstrated,* that family of Amer'can aborigines, and more 
 especially the Carrier tribe to which prominence will be given in the 
 following pages, is characterized by ■\ wonderful power of imitation and 
 self-adaptation which prompted it, upon the advent of the whites, to dis- 
 card most of its native customs, indigenous weapons and working 
 implements. As a natural consequence, many of the latter are now in 
 a fair way towards complete obliteration. Moreover, the nation's 
 historians, I mean the old men who witnessed the manufacture and use 
 of some archaeological articles the duplicates of which have caused 
 speculations from more than one antiquarian, are fast disappearing from 
 
 * Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology Indigenous or Exotic?" 
 Canada, Section II. 1892. 
 
 Traas. Roy. Soc- 
 
« 
 
 TKAN8ACTI0N8 OF THB CANADrAN ISSTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 the scene of this world. So that the sooner the D^n6 technology is 
 brought to light, the better it will be in the interest of science. 
 
 Indeed, should any value whatever be attached to the present 
 monograph, I feel quite certain that it will be entirely on account of its 
 •opportuneness. Undertaken twenty five yea'-s ago, it could probably have 
 been made more exhaustive. After the lapse of an equal space of time, 
 its usefulness as a contribution to archaiological knowledge would be 
 problematical. I am at present the possessor of the only remaining 
 specimens of some objects illustrative of the past Carrier sociology, and 
 my familiarity with the language and original customs of the Indians to 
 whose spiritual wants I minister, might not be enjoyed by a successor 
 among them until time and circumstances deprive its use of much of its 
 value. 
 
 These considerations, corroborated by the requests of scientists whose 
 advice I have not the right to disregard, have emboldened me to attempt 
 a description of such technological objects as can be illustrated from 
 specimens in my possession or which are still in common use among the 
 Western D^n^s. The number of these, as will soon appear, is somewhat 
 limited, and therefore my task cannot be very arduous. I only regret 
 that my mineralogical shortcomings render an exact description of the 
 material used in the fabrication of stone implements in a few cases impos- 
 sible. For the identification of such rocks as are adequately described, 
 I am under obligation to Dr. G. M. Dawson, Assistant Director of the 
 Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa. 
 
 As technology is the prime object of this monograph, the industries of 
 the Western D^nds will be mentioned in so far only as may be necessary 
 for the clear understanding of the nature and use of the objects therein 
 described. Which statement should not convey the idea that I intend to 
 make light of their claims to importance in an ethnological contribution. 
 With a little reflection, it will become apparent that all human industries 
 need material aids or means to manifest themselves, and their results 
 must also take a concrete form. Now, these pal;>able data, be they the 
 products of human ingenuity or the instruments employed in thei. 
 development, are per se technological items, and by reviewing the latter, 
 one cannot help treating of the former. Therefore I simply mean to 
 say that the archaeological, rather than the industrial, plan will be 
 adopted in the following pages. In other words, our divisions shall be 
 based, not on the industries of the Western D6n6s, but, as far as practical, 
 on the material of the weapons, tools, utensils, fishing devices and other 
 implements under consideration. 
 
 . 
 
 X 
 
1892-93] 
 
 NOTKB ON THB WKBTERN Dl^N^S. 
 
 As for the third, or sociological scope of this paper, I think that our 
 title will be justified not only by numerous transient mentions of native 
 customs and practices, but more especially by extended descriptions of 
 the Aborigines' usages and superstitions in connection with fishing and 
 trapping, their domestic economy as regards diet and remedies, their 
 ceremonial dress, their habitations, etc. However, for more systematic 
 information concerning the D^n6 sc'>'3gy, the reader must be referred 
 to another paper published some ye. t ago under the title of "The 
 Western D^n^s ; their Manners and Customs,"* 
 
 Mythology may be regarded h a mi'Tor wherem the psychological 
 ideas and the particular social institutions and mode of life of a people 
 are faithfully reflected. Therefore T \<pve not deemed it inconsistent 
 with the nature of my subject to inlerscct the following pages with a few 
 short legends or traditions, especially when these may prove a help' 
 towards the formation of a more correct idea of the objects hereafter 
 described. 
 
 •Proceedings Can. Injt., vol. vii., p. 109, et se</. 
 
 R-,' 
 
ji 
 
 « 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF TUK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Ethnological Sketch.— The Name "D^nI" 
 
 For the benefit of such of my readers as may not have seen my former 
 essays, I must repeat that by Ddn^s I mean that large family of Ameri- 
 can Aborigines commonly known under the names of Tinn^, Tinneh, 
 Tenni (Bompas), Tenne (Kennicot) and Athapaskans. As I have already 
 pointed out elsewhere, all of these appellations are inappropriate. For 
 more reasons than one, they should, in my estimation, be discarded in 
 favour of " D^n^." Neither Tinnd nor Tinneh have any meaning in the 
 dialect of the many tribes into which that extensive stock is divided. 
 The ethnologists who are responsible for these nicknames gathered them 
 from the desinence of several tribal names probably badly pronounced, 
 and certainly misspelt, by the earliest voyageurs or traders who made 
 mention of these Aborigines. The verbal -suffix 'Tinne, or 'Tenne, is 
 evidently the term they aimed at rendering. Now to the native ear the 
 difference between T and 'T is infinitely greater liian is with us that 
 which exists between such letters as W and G, since these are commut- 
 able in the Aryan languages,* while the former are not in the D^n^ 
 dialects. Thus, in Carrier, ta means " lip," and 'ta " feather ; " to means 
 " up," and 'io " nest ; " tis stands for " younger sister," and 'tis for 
 "coals;" ia;s is the root for "heavy," and 'fas signifies "backward;" 
 nastaih is equivalent to " I dance," while 'nas'taih means " I ripen." 
 These contrasts could be multiplied almost ad infinitum. 
 
 Furthermore, 'Tinne, being a suffix, cannot stand without its verbal 
 support. Thie would-be noun is composed of the root of the verb 
 hwos'ten (or kwos'tin, etc., according to the dialect) which means •' I 
 inhabit," and the personal plural particle ne (or ni) resulting in the 
 verbal noun hwo' tenne (or kwotinni, etc.) " inhabitants," which when 
 suffixed to a name of river is contracted into 'tenne, etc., as in Naz-Koh- 
 "* tenne, Tsij-Koh-tinni. Thus this pretended word corresponds in every 
 particular — save that in Den6 it is a verbal not substantive, affix — to the 
 final -enses of Lugdunenses, Massilienses, Carthaginienses, Colossenses, 
 etc. Now who ever dreamt of denominating by that final the la*'n 
 speaking peoples ? Who would, for instance, call Ens the French nation 
 
 • As is evident from the conversion of William into Gulielmus, GuKlielmo, Guillermo, Guil- 
 herme and Guillaume ; of War into Guerre and Guerra, etc. ; of Warrant into Ganintir, etc. 
 
 
18U2-93.1 
 
 KOTES CN THE WESTERN DEN^S. 
 
 because it designates as Parisi^»f the inhabitants of Paris ; as 
 Londoni^«y those of London, etc. ? Yet the identity of the two cases 
 is so evident that I need only translate the above, and say London- 
 hwo'tenne, Palt-hwo'tenne, to bring it home to the dullest intellect. As 
 with the -enses and the -ens of the Italic tongues, so it is with the 'tenne 
 of the D^n6 idioms ; it never applies but to nam.es of places or at least 
 of ethnographic divisions. Another point of similarity is that it varies 
 with the dialects, being 'tenne in Carrier, Hinni in TsiiKoh'tin, 'qenne 
 in Ts^'k^hne, etc. 
 
 Lastly the correct pronunciation of these word-endings requires a 
 lingual explosion which cannot be obtained except by those already ini- 
 tiated into the mysteries of the D^n^ phonetics. Hence the absurdity of 
 designating a whole nation by an accidental suffix, impossible of pro- 
 nunciation to the great majority of the readers, which is no word of itself 
 and changes according to the dialect of some twenty or more different 
 tribes. 
 
 Another name no less widely used to denominate the Den6 stock, and 
 for which Gallatin is said to be responsible, is " Athapaskan." Now fancy 
 the propriety of calling the whole British, not merely English, race, say 
 Bristolians or Manchesterians ! The Bureau of Ethnology of the Smith- 
 sonian Institution which has adopted this name in its official publications 
 has to confess that " it has been objected toby a number of missionaries — 
 students of various dialects of this family in the North-West — but," it is 
 added, " priority demanded that Gallatin's name should be retained."* 
 Methinks, however, that time cannot of itself convert a wrong into a 
 right. 
 
 Rev. E. Petitot replaces either vocable by Den(5-Dindji6, thereby 
 " uniting in one compound word the southermost tribe, the Chippewayan 
 or D^nd, with the northermost, the Loucheux which calls itself Dindjid"t 
 This name, which is undoubtedly a vast improvement on any of the 
 above mentioned, and has the merit of containing two genuine Indian 
 words, correctly spelt, has perhaps the disadvantage of unwitti:-«gly con- 
 tracting in the mind of the reader the area covered by the nation thereby 
 designated. The Chippewayans are not the most southerly branch of 
 the family not only on the North American continent, but even within 
 British America. The TsijKoh'tin and the Carriers inhabit a stretch of 
 land several degrees of latitude more to the south and are nevertheless 
 territorially connected, without any intervening gap, with all the North- 
 
 •Bibliography of the Athapaskan Languages, by J. C. Pilling, p. v. ; Washington, 1892. 
 ^ Monographic des DMi-DinJjii, p. xix. ; Paris, Leroux, 1876. 
 
 2 
 
 ■''i1 
 
10 
 
 TUANSACT10S8 OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 ern D6n6 tribes. Therefore, on his own basis of word formation, the 
 abb^ Petitot should call the whole race Tani-Dindji^,* not D6n^- 
 Dindji^. 
 
 But we should not overlook i>.c numerous offshoots it has spread out 
 through the Western and Southern States of the American Union, and 
 whose term for " man," and consequently for themselves considered as 
 aborigines, is practically identical with " D^n^."+ Why then should we 
 not call the whole stock D^n^, after the native name of the most central — 
 taking into conside.-ation the southern scattered tribes — and one of the 
 most populous branches thereof ?J We could perhaps find a precedent 
 for this in the names of such European peoples as the Italian, the 
 French and even the English, which came to be given the entire nation 
 after they had long represented one of the most imports nt of its original 
 tribes, the Itali, the Franks and the Angles or Angli. 
 
 Despite their minuteness, the foregoing remarks have been deemed 
 necessary since their substance, as embodied in a foot-note to a former 
 paper bj '.he writer does not appear to have received the attention he 
 cannot help thinking it deserved at the hands of Ethnologists. Even the 
 few who have notic d it now seem to labour under the impression that 
 the D6n6s are a branch of the Athapaskan family lately made known 
 to the scientific world !§ Such is the force of habit! Others suppose that 
 Tinne and D^n^ are the same word under two different dialectical forms.! 
 
 DiSTKIBUTION OF THE D^N^S. 
 
 No other aboriginal stock in North America, perhaps not even 
 excepting the Algonquian, covers so great an extent of territory as the 
 Ddn^. The British Isles, France and Spain, Italy and any tv/o or three 
 of the minor European coKimonwealths taken together would hardly 
 represent the area of the region occupied by that large family. And yet 
 it is no exaggeration to say that few American races are less known than 
 the Northern D^nds who, in point of territory, constitute the main bulk 
 
 • Tiiii is the TsiiKoh'tin word (or " man." 
 
 + It should be remembered in thi.s connection that in all the Den^ dialects the vowels have 
 almost no linguistic importance whatever, ihe quintessence of the words being condensed in the 
 initial consonants of each syllable. Also, it may be worth noting here that T and D, P and B, 
 G and K, ttc, are commutable even within eacli .separate dialect. 
 
 } The aboriginal race of the Alaskan littoral is called Tlingit after the word it uses to say 
 "man." Why should this not also be the case with the Dene family? 
 
 8 The Athapaskan Bibliography, /a^i'm, 1892, 
 
 II Language as a test of Mental Capacity, by H. Hale. Transact, R. S. C, p. 81, 1891. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN Dl^N^S. 
 
 11 
 
 of the whole nation. West of the Rocky Mountains, they are to be 
 found from 51° 30' of latitude to the borders of the Eskimo tribes, while 
 on the east side of the same range they people the immense plains and 
 forests which extend from the Northern Saskatchewan down almost to 
 the delta of the Mackenzie River. From West to East they roam, 
 undisputed masters of the soil, over the almost entire breadth of the 
 American Continent, though a narrow strip of sea shore country separates 
 their ancestral domain from the waters of the Pacific and those of the 
 Atlantic. With that unimportant restriction, they might be said to 
 occupy the immense stretch of land intervening between the two oceans! 
 
 In the words of Horatio Hale, this is, east of the Rocky Mountains 
 " a dreary region of rocks and marshes, of shallow lakes and treacherous 
 rivers, oftering no attractions except such as the hunter finds in the 
 numerous fur-bearing animals which roam over it and afford the native 
 tribes a precarious subsistence. When this resource fails, they live on 
 lichens which they gather from the rocks."* West of the Rockies, the 
 country inhabited by them is rugged and heavily timbered, dotted with 
 numerous deep lakes, and intersected by swift, torrential rivers. Their 
 staple food is venison and salmon, according to the geographical position 
 of their tribal [grounds. 
 
 I have already given, in a volume of the " Proceedings of the Canadian 
 Institute, "t the names and habitat of the northern tribes together with 
 their approximative population. Let me only remark that in that list 
 I classed the Beaver Indians as a separate tribe merely to conform to 
 the long established custom of the traders and missionaries. But as in 
 America, Ethnography is based chiefly, if not entirely, on Philology, I must 
 explain that, from a philological standpoint, the Beavers {Tsa'tenne in 
 Carrier) are genuine Ts^'k^hne. The idiomatic differences noticeable in 
 the speech of these two artificial divisions are not any more pronounced 
 than those which exist between the dialects of the Lower and the Upper 
 Carriers. The reason the Beavers go by a distinctive name even among 
 their congeners is that, being citizens of the plains, they cannot with 
 propriety be called Ts(^'k«^hne or " Inhabitants of the Rocks" viz. : the 
 Rocky Mountains. 
 
 For the perfect completeness of our aboriginal census, we should add 
 to the above the Sarcees, a band of Ts^'k^hne who, upon a difference 
 
 
 * Language as a test of Mental Capacity, p. 81 ; Transact. K. S. C. Vol. IX., Sec. il, 1891. 
 + 'rhe Western Denes, etc., I'roc. Can. Inst. Vol. vii., p. 113, 
 
12 
 
 TRAJfBAOTIONS OF THE CANADIAN IN8TITUTB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 
 arising from a trivial offense,* separated, not very long ago from the 
 main body of the D6n6 nation and were adopted by the Blackfeet, an 
 Algonquian tribe, among whom they have since lived, while keeping 
 their linguistic autonomy. They do not number more than loo souls. 
 
 An ethnologic problem which is not yet, and will perhaps never be 
 solved, is the question, How did it come to pass that large portions of 
 the D^nd nation detached themselves from the main stock and migrated 
 south ? When did this exodus occur ? What was the route followed by 
 the adventurous bands ? The man is probably yet unborn who will 
 satisfactorily answer these questions. It may be that the interested 
 tribes have some legends or traditions which might throw some light on 
 the subject ; but I think this is hardly the case.f As far as the northern 
 D^n^s are concerned, they do not even suspect the existence of any 
 kinsmen south of the TsiiKoh'tins' territory. Two facts only seem pretty 
 safely est blished, namely : the separation of the southern from the 
 northern tribes happened centuries ago ; and, moreover, the national 
 movement resulting in the division of the nation into two different 
 camps was from north to south. The first assertion is proven by the 
 fact that " when the Spaniards first met them [the Navajos] in 1541, they 
 were tillers of the soil, erected large granaries for their crops, irrigated 
 their fields by artificial wa' r-courses or acequtas, and lived in substantial 
 dwellings, partly underground." J In support of the second staterrient, 
 I need only refer to a tradition current among some western tribes 
 according to which " days were formerly exceedingly short ; so short 
 indeed that sewing the edge of a muskrat skin was all that one woman 
 could do between sunrise and sunset." This unmistakably points to the 
 arctic regions as places of previous residence. 
 
 Unknown to themselves, important branches of the great D^n^ crte 
 thrive thousands of miles away from the parental stem. As far as I can 
 ascertain from the latest and most reliable source § available, they are, 
 or were until recently ; — 
 
 * According to Mr. W. E. Traill, an H. B. C'o's officer who has passed many years in close 
 proximity to the Sar.ees, this separation was caused by the following circumstances : A party of 
 Tse'kehne were target shooting when a dog happened to take on the arrow planted in the ground 
 as a target one of tiic;,e liberties of which the canine gent is so fond. Thereupon the dog was 
 shot by the possessor of the arrow, upon which that of the shooter was killetl by the master of 
 the original offender. Then followed numerous reprisals which could only be stopped by the 
 voluntary departure of one band of related families which became the Sarcees. 
 
 t The above had been written for some time, when I read in Dr. Hrinton's American Rae( 
 that "the Navajo-i have no reminiscence of their ancestral home in the North." 
 
 X Hrinton's American Race, p. 72, citing A. A, Bandelicr " Indians of the Southwestern U. S." 
 
 §6oth Annual Report Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1891. 
 
1892-93.] NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. ' IS 
 
 1. The Kwalhiokwas *, the Umkwas and the Totunies in Oregon. 
 The Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for 1891 (Vol. II . 
 p. 82), gives 78 as the number of the Umkwa population in the Grande 
 Ronde Agency, with additional, though undetermined, numbers in the 
 Siletz Agency. According to the same authority, the Totunies on 
 Rogue River aggregate 47, while their congeners on the Siletz reserve 
 cannot be numbered owing to their intermarriages with alien tribes. 
 
 2. The bands respectively called Hoousolton, Miscolt, Hostler, Matil- 
 den, Kentuck, Tishtangatang and Siaws in Californiaf, but better known 
 under the collective name of Hupa, from that of their common reserva- 
 tion in the Hupa Valley. They aggregate 492. 
 
 3. The Waildki, likewise on the Pacific (Gatschet), numbers unknown. 
 
 4. The Navajos, in Arizona, the most populous and flourishing of all 
 the D^n^ tribes, since they number, according to the latest and most 
 accurate accounts, no less than 16,102 souls. J 
 
 5. The various tribes of Apaches of which the following is a list 
 showing their habitat and present population : — 
 
 (a) The Oklahoma Apaches, in Oklahoma Territory .... 325 
 
 (d) The Jicariila Apaches, in Colorado 824 
 
 (c) The Mescalero Apaches, in New Mexico 531 
 
 (d) The White Mountain Apaches, in Arizona 130 
 
 (e) The Coyotero Apaches, in Arizona 423 
 
 (/) The San Carlos Apaches, in Arizona 831 
 
 (g-) The Tento§ Apaches, in Arizona 760 
 
 (/i) The Apaches of Camp Apache, in Arizona 1,878 
 
 1 
 
 * Contradictory statements and apparently misapprehension as to the names and present status 
 of the -Southern Pacific Coast I)6nes render an exact classification of them difficult. Thus Mr. 
 Horatio Hale {Language as a Test of Mmtal Capacity, p. 85, 1891) speaks of the Kwalhiokwas 
 as still lingering in one of the Pacific States, while Dr. A. S. Gatschet, in his work on "The 
 Klamath Indians of Southern Oregon, Vol. I. p. 45," published one year earlier, states that they 
 have disapjieared together with the Tlatskanai, another Dene tribe. The same ethnographer 
 mentions side by side (op. cit.) with the Hupas the Waildki, reference to whom I find in no other 
 author. The Totunies are called Totutunies by H. Hale (op. cit. ), Tututenas by Dr. Brinton 
 (op. cit.), Tootoonas by Mr. Morgan (60th Ann. Rep.), Tutatamy by P. de Lucy-Fossarien 
 (Extrait du Compte Rendu sthiographique du Congrh international des sciences ethnographiquts 
 ... .Etude de philologie ethnographique par At. P. de Lucy-Fossarien, Paris, r88i). 
 
 t After Prof. O. Mason (The Ray Collection from Hupa Reservation, pp. 206, 207). 
 
 ♦ According to Horatio Hale ( Language as a Test, t^c, p. 90), that tribe was erroneously 
 thought to number in 1889 as many as 2i,(xxi members. 
 
 § These are not all pure Denes, many being mixed with the neighboring tribes, or even alto- 
 gether aliens as to the race to which they belong. 
 
 St M 
 
14 
 
 TRANHACTI0N8 OF THE CANADIAN IN8TIT0TK, 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 In Mexico, the number of Apaches is doubtful, since, according to 
 Dr. D. G. Brinton, "although the Mexican census of 1880 puts the 
 Mexican Apaches at 10,000, no such numbers can be located."* The 
 same author then goes on to state on the strength of information 
 emanating from Mr. Henshaw, of the Smithsonian Institution, that " the 
 only Apache band now known to be in Mexico are the Janos or Janeros 
 in Chihuahua, made up of Lipans and Mescaleros.f 
 
 6. The Lipans, in New Mexico, who have dwiiiidled down to forty 
 individuals. Their original home appears to ha\ie been on the Rio 
 Grande.J 
 
 It would not be pleasant to be represented as playing the role of the 
 carping critic. Yet even the fear of appearing to n erit this uncompli- 
 mentary epithet, cannot deter me from pointing out how utterly meagre 
 and unreliable are the data possessed, even at the present time, by the 
 best ethnographers relatively to the D^n6 stock. Despite the correct list 
 of the Northern tribes given by the writer in the last volume of the 
 " Proceedings Canadian Institute," I find that Dr. D. G. Brinton in his 
 recent book " The American Race," published at Washington two years 
 after the aforesaid classification had been printed in Toronto, omits no 
 less than six D^n^ tribes of the great northern division. To sho v how 
 utterly mixed ethnography appears to be when it is a question of locating 
 the various D6n^ tribes, and thereby to excuse the details into which I 
 find myself obliged to enter, I take the liberty of quoting the following 
 sentences from the above mentioned work : — 
 
 " These [the D^n^s] extend interruptedly from the Arctic Sea to the 
 borders of Durango, in Mexico, and from Hudson Bay to the Pacific. . . 
 The Loucheux have reached '.he moath of the Mackenzie River, the 
 Kuchin are along the Yukon the Kenai on the Ocean about the penin- 
 sula that bears their name, v hile the Nehaunies, Sekanies and Takullies 
 are among the mountains to the south. The Sarcees lived about the 
 southern head waters of the Saskatchewan." § 
 
 Now, with all the deference due to such a veteran ethnographer as 
 Dr. Brinton, truth bids me state that : — First, It is almost absolutely cer- 
 tain that no branch of the D(5n6 family is stationed on the Arctic Sea, 
 the whole toast of which is occupied by Eskimo tribes. Second, There 
 
 * "The American Race," p. 69, Washington, 1891. 
 
 + Ibid. 
 
 X The Karankawa Indians, etc., by A. S, Gatschot ; Cambridge, Mass., 1891. 
 
 gThe American Race, pp. 68, 69, 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 MOTKS ON THR WESTERN D^Nl^S. 
 
 15 
 
 are no D^nds on the Hudson Bay any more than on the Pacific. The 
 former is peopled on the north by the Eskimos and on the south by 
 tribes of Algonquian parentage, while several alien races cover the whole 
 northern coast of the latter, with, perhaps, a single insignificant excep- 
 tion.* Third, The Loucheux and the Kuchin are one and the same 
 tribe under different names, the first being that originally applied to it 
 by the French-Canadian voyageurs, while the second (which should read 
 Ku-tchin or Ku-t'qin, the last syllable being exploded with the tongue 
 and teeth) is more in honour among English-speaking ethnographers. 
 The latter vocable is the exact equivalent of the Carrier " hwo'ten ", the 
 Ts^'k^hne "hwot'qen", the TsiiKoh'tin " kwo'tin ", all of which, as we 
 have already seen, signify " Inhabitants." Fourth, The Kenai spoken 
 of by Dr. Brinton are probably the K'naia-Kho-tana of Dr. Powell and 
 both authors may be right in placing their habitat on the Pacific Ocean. 
 Yet it must be admitted that this would be more evident, were not Dr. 
 Brinton to transport it. ten pages further on, among the immense plains 
 ■claimed by the Blackfeet as their ancestral home.f 5th, The would-be 
 Nehaunees, Sekaunies and TakuUies call themselves Nah'ane, Ts^'kehne 
 and TaKe[ne respectively. 6th, The Sarcees now live about the southern 
 head waters of the Saskatchewan, but formerly lived some degrees further 
 north among the Beaver Indians with whom they are congenerous, 
 even as a subdivision of the Ts^'k^hne tribe. 
 
 I'ti 
 
 Nothing but a desire of serving the interests of ethnological science 
 has prompted the above remarks. That I can prove all I advance will 
 not be doubted by those who are cognizant of the opportunities I enjoy 
 of ascertaining the real ethnologic status of the tribes by which I am 
 surrounded or of those which are so closely related by blood and language 
 with that among which I now live. The inaccuracies which they are 
 aimed at correcting must also be my excuse for venturing to present 
 below the list, as complete as I can make it, of all the D^n^ tribes. A 
 very few of the southern tribes may be unwittingly omitted; but I would 
 rather sin by omission than by exaggeration. All the northern tribes 
 
 • This is the fCnaia-Kho-tana who are now snid to reach the coast on Cook's Inlet (Dr. 
 Powell's " Indian Linguistic KamiUes," 7th .\nn. Rep. Hi:r. Ethnol.). But the fact that this 
 learned ethnographer associates thereto the " Ahthena " of Copper River renders the identifica- 
 tion of that tribe somewhat doubtful, inasmuch as the ".^hiena," unless they are misnamed _ 
 must be exogenous to the Dene stock, since that very name means in Dene " foreigners," and is 
 used by our aborigines to designate all Indians of non-Dene stock. K'naia-Kho-tana, however, 
 seems to have the right linguistic ring about it, and apparently refers to the "people of the river 
 K'naia," whatever this last noun may rriean, 
 
 t "Their [the Blackfeet] bands include the Bloot! .-- A't-wd/ and the Piegan Indians" p. 79. 
 The italics are mine. 
 
 \ 'I' pi 
 
 I 
 
'< I 
 
 'ill 
 
 » I 
 
 II ! 
 
 16 TRANSACIiONS OP THE CANADIAN 1K8TITUTK. [VoL. IV. 
 
 are given without an exception, though I do not detail the ramifications 
 or subdivisions of the Loucheux, and therefore omit any mention of the 
 Kenai or K'naia-Kho-tana. The figures represent the population of 
 each tribal division. In the case of the southern tribes they are com- 
 piled from the latest official accounts available. For the north-eastern 
 divisions they are those of Rev. E. Petitot corrected down to date by 
 Mr. Rod. Macfarlane, an H. B. Go's officer who has passed over 40 years 
 of his life among the Indians he enumerates. I am my.self responsible 
 for the figures representing the numbers of the north-western tribes. 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF THK D6n6 TRIBES. 
 Northern D]£n6s. 
 
 About 
 
 Loucheux : Lower Mackenzie River and Alaska 4,400 
 
 Hares : Mackenzie, Andersen and MacFarlane Rivers 600 
 
 Bad-People : Old Fort Halkett 200 
 
 Slaves : west of Great Slave Lake and McKenzie Rivei 1,000 
 
 Dog-Ribs : between Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake. . . . 1,000 
 
 Yellow-Knives : north-east of Great Slave Lake 500 
 
 Cariboo- Eaters : east of Lake Athabaska 1,200 
 
 Chippewayans : Lake Athabaska, etc 3,000 
 
 Tse'k^hne : both sides of Rocky Mountains 500 
 
 Beavers : south side of Peace River 700 
 
 Sarcees : east of Rocky Mountains, 51° lat. north and south. lOO 
 
 Nahane : Stickeen River and east 700 
 
 Carriers : Stuart's Lake, north and south 1, 60c 
 
 TsijKoh'tin : Chilcotin River 46a 
 
 Southern D^n^s. 
 
 Umkwas, Totunies and (?) Kwalhiokwas : Oregon 150' 
 
 Hupas : Hupa Valley, California 492 
 
 Wail&kis : Northern California (?) I30 
 
 Navajos : Arizona 16,102 
 
 Apaches : Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona 5,702 
 
 Lipans : New Mexico 40' 
 
 Total of the Northern Tribes 1 5,96a 
 
 Total of the Southern Tribes* 22,616 
 
 Total of the whole nation* 38,576 
 
 • Exclusive of the probleinatic Kwalhiokwas, the Unikv/as of the Sileti Agency, the Mexican 
 Apaches, or any such bands as are not controlled, even remotely, by the office of the U. S.. 
 Commissioner Indian Affairs. 
 
18'J2-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DEN^S. 
 
 IT 
 
 A tribe of Atnas, Adenas, Atnahs or Ahthenas, whose habitat would 
 be the extreme north-west of this continent, is occasionally mentioned in 
 ethnographic literature as belonging to the great D^n^ family. Pilling 
 gives it a place in his " Bibliography of the Athapaskan Languages.'^ 
 There must be here a mistake either of name or of identification. 
 " Atna," etc., is a Den6 word which means " foreigner, heterogener," and 
 is used to qualify all aboriginal races which are not Ddn6. Either then 
 the Atnas of the travellers and ethnographers are not Dtin^, or if they 
 belong to that race they must be misnamed. 
 
 Main Characteristics of the Di^n^ Race. 
 
 If there is in the broad world a family of human beings which, though 
 a mere subdivision of a larger group of the genus homo, plainly demon- 
 strAtes, through the diversity of its many branches, the fallibility as 
 ethnic criteria of all but one of the various sciences which go to make 
 up Ethnology, this is most certainly the Dene family. Savants now-a- 
 days seem too prone to study man as they would a mere animal. Per- 
 haps they overlook too easily the fact that he is a rational being. If 
 a part of the animal kingdom, he is there a king without peer ; and to 
 judge him after the same standard as we do the brutes of creation should 
 he considered unscientific. We hear constantly of bodily measure- 
 ments, of anthropometry and craniology. Now, without entering into^ 
 the technicalities of these sciences, let us apply their test, I do not say 
 to those portions of the Dt^n(§ people which live thousands of miles apart, 
 but to a few coterminous tribes of that nation. 
 
 On the Western slope of the Rocky Mountains live side by side three 
 tribes, the Ts^-'kdhne, the Carriers and the Tsi[-Koh-'tin, which may 
 furnish us with convenient material to experiment upon. 
 
 The Tse'kt^hnc are slender and bony, in stature rather below the 
 average, with a narrow forehead, hollow cheeks, prominent cheek bones^ 
 small eyes deeply sunk in their orbit, the upper lip very thin, and the 
 lower somewhat protruding, the chin very small and the nose straights 
 Go and inspect them, and perhaps out of every ten men, five who have 
 long been fathers will appear to you like mere children. I have never 
 seen but one fat person among them and none that was bald. 
 
 Now the Carriers are tall and stout without, as a rule, being too corpu- 
 lent. The men, especially, average i"', 660""" in height. Their forehead 
 is much broader than that of the Ts^'kt^hne, and less receding than is 
 usual with American aborigines. Their face is full, with a nose generally 
 aquiline and in every case better formed than that of their heterogeneous, 
 neighbours ; their lips are thicker and their chin more prominent than 
 
 
 \ 
 
 >l ' 
 
If 
 
 18 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 those of the Ts^'kdhne. Their eyes are also much larger and of a very 
 deep black. Baldness, though rare, is sometimes noticed among them, 
 while a few are literally obese. I am very much mistaken if two crania, 
 one of an individual of each of these tribes, would not be pronounced 
 by a craniologist as belonging to representatives of diametrically dififcrent 
 races. 
 
 The TsiiKoh'tin, on the other hand, are short in stature, broad faced 
 and broad shouldered, with prominent cheek bones, heavy jaws and a 
 nose which is not uncommonly thick and flattish. They may be said to 
 have some physical resemblance to the Chinese. This description 
 applies also to the Babines, who might be considered as a branch of the 
 Carriers. 
 
 The only points in common Ketween the three tribes are the dark 
 eyes, the black, coarse and straight hair and the small hands and feet. 
 Large h^nds and feet, however, are occasionally met with among Carrier 
 men.* I do not spe«!. of the complexion, because it varies even in the 
 same tribe according to the occupation and food of the natives. A 
 hunter will never return from a tour of two or three months in the 
 woods without being considerably bronzed, while his fellow tribesman 
 who has remained at home, without being as white as a European, will 
 yet be fairer complexioned than most individuals of the Salish race of 
 the South. Even in the matter of beard, a notable difference is observ- 
 able, inasmuch as full beards, dark and coarse, heavy with hardly any 
 shaving, are by no means rare among the Babine sub-tribe, while the rest 
 of the Western D^nes are remarkable for the scarcity, or sometimes the 
 total absence, of facial hair. 
 
 If we now consider the D^iie nation from a psychological standpoint, 
 the contrast between its divers branches will be still more startling. 
 The Northern D^n^s are generally pusillanimous, timid and cowardly. 
 Now, can this be said of the Apaches ? The Northern D^nes are more- 
 over lazy, without skill or any artistic disposition. Is it so with the 
 Navajos? Even among our Carriers, the proudest and most progressive 
 of all the Western tribes, hardly any summer passes off but some party 
 runs home panic stricken, and why } They have heard, at some little 
 distance, some " men of the woods " evidently animated by murderous 
 designs, and have barely escaped with their lives. Thereupon great 
 commotion and tumult in the camp. Immediately everybody is charitably 
 warned not to venture alone in the forest, and after sunset every door is 
 
 •I have also seen several really fair-haired Carriers, a peculiarity which is so .'■uch tlie more 
 remarkable as it certainly can not he ascribed to blood mixture with persons of Caucasian descent. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 K0TK8 ON THK WESTERN DI^N^S. 
 
 19 
 
 carefully locked against any possible intruder. Compare these puerile 
 fears of the Carriers with the indomitable spirit, the warlike disposition 
 of the "terrible Apache." Compare also the rude, unartistic implements, 
 the primitive industries of the same tribes with the products of the Navajo 
 ingenuity, their celebrated blankets and exquisite silverwork cspecially- 
 and tell me if in this case psychology is a safe criterion of ethnologic 
 certitude. 
 
 A noteworthy quality of the Northern Den^s, especially of such as 
 have remained untouched by modern civiIiz:ition is their great honesty. 
 Among the Ts^'k^hne, a trader will sometimes go on a trapping ex- 
 pedition leavinf his store unlocked, without fear of any of its contents 
 going amiss. Meanwhile a native may call in his absence, help himself 
 to as much powder and shot or anj- other item as he may need ; but he 
 will never fail to leave there an exact equivalent in furs. Now compare 
 this naive honesty with the moral code in vogue among the Apaches. 
 Read also what is said of the Lipans, another offshoot of the D(^n^ stock : 
 they " live in the Santa Rosa mountains from which they stroll about 
 making inroads in the vicinity to steal horses and cattle."* 
 
 With regard to mental attainments and force of character, I have 
 shown in a paper read before the Royal Society of Canada.f that all the 
 north-western tribes, Nah'ane Carriers and Tsi[Koh'tin, which have come 
 into contact with alien races have adopted the most prominent practices 
 and customs of the latter. Such i.-?, to a grr-«- extent, the case even as 
 regards mythology. Nay more : they have gone as far as to borrow the 
 language of their neighbours in connection with their traditional songs 
 and ceremonies. On the other hand, many TsijKoh'tin and not a few 
 Babines speak Shushwap or Kitiksop, while not one full blood individual 
 of the two latter stocks has acquired enough of the D^n^ languages to 
 decently hold conversation through them. The D^nes think it a mark of 
 enlightenment to imitate the alien races with which they have intercourse, 
 while these show the little esteem they profess for them by calling them 
 " stick savages." 
 
 Now hear what a competent authority says of the D^n^s of North 
 California: "xNext after the Karoks, they are the finest race in all that 
 region, and they even excel them in their statecraft, and in the singular 
 influence, or perhaps brnte force, which they exercise over the vicinal 
 tribes. They are the Romans of North California in their valour and in 
 their far-reaching dominions. They are the French in the extended 
 
 •The Karaukwa Indians, by A. S. Gatschet, p. 41 ; 1891. 
 
 + Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology Indigenous, etc? Trans. R. S. C. Sec. n, 1893. 
 
 i <L1 
 
ao 
 
 TKANSACTlOMtl OF THE CANADIAN IN8TITUTK. [VoL. IV. 
 
 diflTusion of their language. They hold in a st.itc of setni-vassalage most 
 of the tribes around them, exacting from them annual tribute in the 
 shape of shell-money ; and they compel all their tributaries to speak 
 Hup& in communication with them. Although most of these tribu- 
 taries had their own tongues originally, so vigorously were they put to 
 school in the language of their masters, that most of their vocabularies 
 were sapped and reduced to bald categories of names."* 
 
 The Northern Ddnds, who arc eminently gentle in disposition, have 
 generally shown a remarkable receptiveness. And this explains how it 
 is that, with few exceptions, they are all to-day practical Christians, and 
 conform to the customs of the whites as much as their social status will 
 permit. In opposition to this, we find that the Navajos and the Apaches 
 still hold to their superstitious beliefs and ceremonies, and keep them- 
 selves aloof of any civilizing influence. This is so true that when, some 
 years ago, an effort was made by the U. S. Commissioner of Indian 
 Affairs to secure a tract of land close by the Chcrokees' territory for the 
 location of the Navajos, the former who, as is well known, have made 
 great strides towards civilization, refused to entertain the proposition, 
 " asserting that the Navajos were not civilized Indians."f I have never 
 noticed any mention of real improvement in their midst since that time. 
 
 As for the Hupas, their agent stated ten years ago that they " are not 
 to-day any more enlightened, advanced, progressive, industrious or better 
 off in any way than they were when the Reservation was established, 
 about twenty years ago."j That time has brought no change in their 
 dispositions is made clear by the following words of their agent in his 
 latest Report (1891) : "They all cling to their own customs and laws as 
 being far better than any others, and seem to look upon many of them 
 as sacred. . . . Many of the Indians seem to look upon the attend- 
 ance of their children [at school] as a favour to the teacher or the agent, 
 and expect some reward for it."§ In strong contrast to the indifference for 
 intellectual attainments manifested by the 'Tupas, let me refer the reader 
 to what I said in a former essay || of the craving for knowledge evidenced 
 by our Carriers, and the remarkable results it has produced even under 
 the most untoward circumstances. 
 
 * Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. iii,, p. 72. 
 
 + The Cherokee Nation of Indians, by Ch. C. Koyce, Fifth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethno- 
 logy, Washington, 1883-84. j 
 
 t Indian Affairs Report, 1881, 6 ; apttJ O. E. Mason's The Ray Collection, p. 207. 
 
 § Sixtieth Annua' Report Commissioner Indian Affairs, 1891, vol. k, p. 220. 
 
 II The Western Denes; Proc. Can. Inst., vol. vii., p. 165. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 HOTK8 ON TilK WK8TKRN Di^.N^S. 
 
 31 
 
 Again, the folk-lore of the North-Western D<inds greatly differs from 
 that of their immediate Flastern neighbours and congeners, while there is 
 no point of affinity between that of either divisions and the mythology 
 of the Navajos. 
 
 How is it then that tribes of aborigines occupying so widely separated 
 territories and so utterly dissimilar from a psychological, technological, 
 sociological and mythological standpoint can be classed under one single 
 denomination as D^n^s ? The answer is in every mouth : this is owing 
 to linguistic analogy. Language, therefore, is the trait-d' union which 
 unites into one homogeneous body such apparently heterogeneous ele- 
 ments. Through it we are certain that th; same blood flows in their 
 veins, and that they are the children of a common father, whoever ho 
 may have been. If any stronger ai^ jment can be adduced in support of 
 the paramount importance of Philolog/ as an ethnological criterion, I am 
 at a loss to discover what it can be. 
 
 Hence it will be seen that my initial remarks concerning that class of 
 modern scientists who lay so much stress on the physical structure of 
 man to the detriment of his special characteristic as a distinct genus, 
 thinking and speaking, were not unwarranted. If even the ^«j^;;//^/f of 
 the peculiarities which differentiate him into a rational, social being 
 cannot lawfully claim the first place in the ethnologist's estima<^ion, a 
 ybr/wr/ this cannot be granted to those features which he possesses in 
 common with non-human animals. In the words of Horatio Hale, "the 
 grand characteristic which distinguishes man from all mundane beings 
 is articulate speech. It is language alone which entitles anthropology to 
 its claim to be deemed a distinct department of science." * One needs 
 not be a scientist to see the correctness of this view, and it is a long time 
 since Quintilian said: "When the Creator distinguished us from the 
 animals it was especially by the gift of language. . . . Reason is our 
 portion, and scsms to associate us with the immortals ; but how weak 
 would reason be without the faculty to express our thoughts by words, 
 which faithfully interpret them 1 This the animals want, and this is 
 worth more than the intelligence of which, we must say, they are abso- 
 lutely def rived." f 
 
 I have r )t so far been fortunate enough to come across any vocabu- 
 lary of a jouthern Dene dialect, and the only continuous Navajo texts I 
 have ever seen are those of the '• Mountam Chant" published by Dr. W. 
 
 - 
 
 •Language as a Test of Mental Capacity, by H. Ilale; Transact. K..S.C., Vol. ix., p. 77, 
 1891. 
 
 t Quintilian, translated by La Harpe, Dijon, 1820. 
 
 'Its 
 
 m 
 
 '< (M 
 
 m 
 
22 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OK THK OANAniAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 Matthew.s.* Now, clothing these texts 'Aith the orthography denotive of 
 the peculiarly exploding and sibilant sounds, which I think they must 
 receive to become correct renderings, I find side by side, with some terms 
 proper to the tribe or borrowed from adjacent stocks, no less than 
 seventy-two words \.hich are easily recognizable here, at a distance of 
 perliaps 2,cxx) miles from the nearest Navajo. To form a just idea of 
 the proportion of genuine D6n6 with local or foreign words, it should be 
 borne in mind that these texts are composed merely of a few words very 
 often repeated. 
 
 DLSTRIBUTION Oi^ THE WESTERN D]£N]fiS. 
 
 Now that we have made some acquaintance with the divisions and 
 main traits of the Den^ nation in general, we may particularize and 
 fi-.rnish the reader with more precise ethnologic data concerning the tribes 
 whose technology and industries we are about to review. These we have 
 already named : they are the TsiiKoh'tin, The Carriers and the Ts^'k^hne. 
 As some savants have done me the honour of asking for more detailed 
 information on their ethn-^graphic status than were contained in a former 
 paper on the same, I shall now proceed to give their tribal subdivisions 
 or septs, together with their aboriginal names, the habitat of the natives 
 thereby determined and, as far as practicable, their present population, 
 and the number of their villages. 
 
 West of the Rocky Mountains we have from south to north : — 
 
 The Tsi/Ko/i(iti, who actually inhabit the Chilcotin valley and roam 
 over the bunch grass covered plateaus that skirt it on either side, from 
 the 50^ to the 52° 30' of latitude north. Their territory is bordered in 
 the east by the Fraser River, and in the west by the Cascade Range of 
 mountains. But not unfrequently a few bands manage to cross over and 
 make inroads for hunting purposes into the territory of the Sishaj and 
 other coast tribes. Of course the latter resent thes;- encroachments upon 
 their ancestral domains ; but as hunting for peltries is not extensively 
 practised by them, the harm done by the poachers is not very great. 
 
 It is perhaps worth remarking in this connection that the "Linguistic 
 Map of British Columbia" prefixed to Dr. F. Boas' Report o:. *^He B. C. 
 tribes for 1890+ is somewhat inaccurate in that it gives the TsiiKoh'tin 
 quite a tract of land on the east side of the Fraser which, as a matter of 
 fact, is now and has been occupied from time immemorial by three 
 villages of Shushwap Indians, viz.: Soda-Creek, Sugar-Cane and Alkali- 
 
 • Fifth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Etliiiolofjy, 1883-84. 
 
 + Sixth Report on tl»e N. W. Tribes j( Canada, London, 1890. 
 
 Bl 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTK8 ON THB WRSTGRN D^N^S. 
 
 2.'^ 
 
 Lake. Nay more, until recently the TsijKoh'tin did not even extend as 
 far as the Eraser. Some 25 years ago the bulk of the tribe inhabited 
 Na'k(int'|On, a village on the lake of that name (52° 40' lat. by 
 125° 5' long.) close by the HilquUis' territory, whence they migrated 
 almost in a body to the more fertile lands they now occupy.* 
 
 From a sociological standpoint they might be divided into the quasi- 
 sedfntary and the nomadic Tsi[Koh'tin. The former dwell on the north 
 banks of the TsijKoh, called by the whites Chilcotin River. They are 
 divided into two groups, viz.: the Tps-Koh-titt (people of the Splint River) 
 with one village on that creek close by the Fraser, population about 
 75 ; and the VjA-theil-Y^o'-tin (people of the river that trails through 
 the grass) who have two villages near the Chilcotin 35 and 45 miles 
 respectively west of the Fraser. Total population 190. An independent 
 band of some 35 individuals, an offshoot of the same sub-division, has 
 established itself near the Fraser facing Fort Alexander. 
 
 All of these TsiiKoh'tin have aba.idoned their original .seini-sub- 
 terranean huts to dwell in log houses covered with mud according to the 
 fashion prevailing among the neighbouring whites. They also cultivate 
 wheat and other cereals, peas and potatoes with moderate succe.^s. 
 
 The nomadic TsiiKoh'tin are called by the whites "Stone TsijKoh'tin'^ 
 by allusion to their fovourite haunts, the rocky spurs of the Lillooet 
 mountains and of th^ Cascade range where they live, largely on marmots. 
 They have no fixed abode and except during the winter, they are 
 constantly shifting from their southern to their northern borders, that is 
 from the aforesaid mountains to the Chilcotin River, wiiere they generally 
 pass a few weeks of the fair season. I know of no more primitive 
 people throughout the whole of liritish Columbia. 
 
 Apart from the above regular subdivisions their slil! remain at 
 Na'kClnt'iiln, or in the proximity of that lake, a few straggling members 
 of the same tribe. 
 
 In his late paper on "the Shushwap people of Briti.sh Columbia," Dr. G. 
 M. Dawson gives f after Mr. J. W. Mackay, Indian agent, an interesting 
 account of a hostile excursion of TsijKoh'tin warriors into the country of 
 
 * Were native te.stinioiiy regarded as an insufficient proof of this, philology might still furnish 
 us with corroborative evidence of unquestionable character. Thus the most remarkable feature 
 of the present territory of the TsiiKoh'tin tribe is its magnificent bunch grass ( Agropynim 
 [Tri/icttm] repem L.). Now they call it CEnna-t^id, or "grass of the foreigners," i.e., the 
 Shushw.'ii). This particular species o( grass is not met with north of the valley and bordering 
 tablelands of the Chilcotin River. 
 
 m 
 
 ■ m 
 
 i m 
 
 i ! 
 
 r £.1 'I 
 
 t Notes on the Shushw.ip people of U. C. ; Transact. R. S. C L.c. 11, p. 24, 1891. 
 
34 
 
 TKANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 [V'OL. IV. 
 
 the Shushwap. On the authority of that narrative, the would-be invaders 
 were pushed back by superior numbers into the Semiikameen valley 
 where, by their prowess, they compelled their pursuers to come to terms 
 and make a treaty of peace from which intermarriages soon t-csuited. 
 " These strangers, who are said to have come from the Chilcotin country, 
 are thus the earliest inhabitants of the Semiikameen valley of whom any 
 account has been obtained." * Seven, out of thirteen words given by 
 Mr. Mackay, as remnants of the original language of the invaders, are 
 undoubtedly TsijKoh'tin, and make it certain that the Semiikameen 
 Shushwap are partly of D^n6 parentage. 
 
 Immediately north of the TsiiKoh'tin we find the Carriers or Tak/ie/ne, 
 the most important in numbers, most widespread and progressive of all 
 the north-western D6n6 tribes. They extend as far north as the 56° of 
 latitude and are coterminous with the coast tribes on the west and the 
 Crees and Ts^'k^hne on the east. The Coast Range on the one side and 
 the Rocky Mountains as far as 53° lat. on the other, separate them 
 from their heterogeneous neighbours. North of the 53°, they are in 
 immediate contact with the Ts^'k^hne. 
 
 The Carriers are semi-sedentary Indians. They have fixed homes in 
 regularly organized villages from which they periodically scatter away in 
 search of the fish and fur-bearing animals on which they subsist. From 
 south to north, their tribal subdivisions are : — 
 
 1. The qthau'tenne (a contraction of itha-koh-'tenne, people of the 
 Fraser River). They now have but one tillage, Stella (the Cape) 
 contiguous to the old Fort Alexander, formerly one of the most important 
 of the H. B. Co' s. posts in British Columbia, now abandoned. They were 
 originally several hundreds : they are now almost extinct as a sept. 
 Whiskey and loose morals owing to the vicinit}^ of the whites are 
 responsible for th>s result. They are co-terminons with the Shushwap 
 in the south and the TsijKoh'tin in the immediate west. I do not think 
 that fifteen individuals of that sept now remain 
 
 2. The Nazkutenne (people of the river Naz). They are likewise 
 greatly reduced in numbers, there not being actually more than 90 
 members of that sub-tribe, though they still inhabit two villages Quesnel 
 and Black-Watcr.f The same causes, especially the former, as played 
 havoc among the ^thau'tenne, are slowly but surely working out the 
 
 A\ 
 
 * Ibid. p. 25. 
 
 tT.ie iUack -Water or West River follo\vl"(l' up b> 3ir. A^ "'>vkef^i€ to r-ach the Pacific 
 
 Coac* 
 

 1892-03.] 
 
 Notes OY. THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 25 
 
 ultimate destruction of the Nazku'tenne. 
 them are on the Fraser River. 
 
 Both villages inhabited by 
 
 3. Due west of tho Black-Water village and ascending the river of that 
 name to its source, we meet with a third subdivision of the Carriers, the 
 Nu-ica- tenne (probably corrupted from Nti-tcah-*enne, people down 
 against the island). These people dwell in four small villages, Trout 
 Lake, qus'kaz,* Pe-i'ka-tc^k,-f- and q'ka-tco.J The latter is composed 
 of a mixed population of D^n6 and Belqula descent whose first white 
 visitor was the writer, ten years ago. The Nu-cha-'tenne formerly had 
 several other villages (Tsitsi, qrak, etc.), the sites of which are jtill dis- 
 cernible through small clearings in the forest. Their present total 
 number may be a little over 135. 
 
 4. Immediately north of the Black-Water village, at the confluence of 
 the NutcaKoh with the Fraser River, we have one village, Fort George or 
 'jeitH,\ the population of which forms one separate sept, the Tano- 
 ^ic fine {people a little to the north). It numbers actually 130 persons. 
 The Fort George Indians have on the east side of the Fraser very large 
 and productive hunting grounds as far as, and comprising, the Rocky 
 and Caribou mountains and spurs thereof. A village of the same sept, 
 Tcinlak at the junction of the Na'kralKoh or Stuart's Lake River with 
 the NuchaKoh had formerly a flourishing population which was, not very 
 long ago, practically annihilated in one night by the Tsi|Koh'tin. 
 
 5. Two villages on Fraser Lake- furnish us with our fifth tribal sub- 
 division of the Carriers. Their population goes under the common name 
 of Naty tenne (contracted from Naileh-lnvo' tenne or people of Natleh.||) 
 About 135 persons form the population of their two villages Natleh and 
 Stella, ** one at each end of the lake. 
 
 The aggregate of the above enumerated septs constitutes what I 
 generally designate under the collective name of Lower Carriers. 
 Though slight linguistic peculiarities give to each of them a real individu- 
 ality, yet the dialect of all contains very important characteristics com- 
 mon to the whole aggregate which differentiate it from that of any of the 
 septs or subtribes which remain to review. 
 
 * " Half-qus," the name of a oarp-like fish. 
 
 t " Wherewith one catches fat." 
 
 t "The Big-fattening." 
 
 §" The Junction." 
 
 II " It (i.e., the salmon) comes back again." 
 
 **The Cap«, 
 3 
 
 
 
 iii 
 
26 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THR CANADIAN INBTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 Under the name of Upper Carriers I include :- 
 
 6. The Na-kra-ztli-tenne or people of Na'kraztli* Stuart's Lake 
 They inhabit two villages, Na'kraztli and Pintcei* on the southern end^ 
 and on the middle of Stuart's Lake. They number i8o souls, and they 
 are of all the Carriers those who have made the greatest strides towards 
 civilization. 
 
 7. Immediately to the north-west, on the same lake and its tributaries,. 
 Lakes Tremblay, That'jah, t and Connolly, a second subdivision of the 
 Upper Carriers, the seventh of the whole tribe, occupies four smal 
 villages, two only of which are regularly organized with a chief and the 
 us jal native officers. These are Tha-tce, || and Sas-th(it§ respectively at 
 the confluence of Thatce river on Stuart's Lake and near Fort Connolly 
 on the lake of that name. The others are 'Kaztce ** formerly an 
 important locality on Thatce river and Ya-Ku-tce -f"!- at the north-western 
 extremity of Stuart's Lake. The original home of all these bands was 
 at the end of that lake, as is manifest from their common name as a sept: 
 Tjaz-tenne, people of the bottom or end of the lake. Their total 
 population is not over 90. 
 
 Some nine or ten years ago, Drs. Tolmie and Dawson published 
 conjointly a valuable ethnological map of this province, J+ which does not 
 tally in every respect with my description of the northern limits of the 
 Carriers' territory. The line of demarcation between the Carriers and the 
 Ts^'k^lines' hunting grounds passes, on that map, through the middle of 
 Thatlah lake, giving the latter a large strip of land wkich I grant to the 
 former. I must explain that the authors of that map thereby point to the 
 de jure or original territory of the Carriers, while I sketch above the 
 de facto or actual limits thereof By right Bear's or Connolly lake and 
 adjacent country belong to the Ts^'kehne tribe ; but", as a matter of fact> 
 the village which is situated close to the H. B. Co's. fort is now the 
 
 * For the etymology of this name, see "The Den^ Languages," Trans. Can. Ip'a. 1889-90, 
 p. 188. 
 
 t Confluence of the Pin river. 
 
 X " Bottom of the vVaar," dve'<»'}m«alent of the French "Fond du Lac." The real native- 
 name of this lake is R<A»v-/'/», tit^ " ^ftrden-near-laie," 
 
 II " The tail," (i.e., confluence in the lake) of the water. 
 
 § " Black Bear bathing place." 
 
 *• Confluence of the 'A>3 river. 
 
 i\ The confluence of the river V»Kuzi/i, (the outlet of YaKo lake). 
 
 tt Appended to " Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian tribes of B. C. ; Montreal, 1884.. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^NliS. 
 
 27 
 
 
 rendezvous of representatives of three different tribes, namely : the 
 Ts^'k^hne who periodically congregate there for trading purposes and 
 have no permanent residence ; the Carriers, a band of whom now 
 inhabit the village and hunt in the vicinity of the lake with the consent 
 of the former ; and the gtnas or Kitiksons from the Skeena river who 
 are considered as mere intruders and as such live there only on sufferance. 
 
 Both the Na'kraztli'tenne and the T'jaz'tenne receive from the Babines 
 the name of 'Kutsne. 
 
 The following subdivisions might be depignated under the collective 
 name of Babines, since in language they are practically one, and the 
 custom of wearing labrets which gave its distinctive name to one of them 
 was common to both. They are : — 
 
 8. The Nttu'tinni (in Upper Carrier Nato'tenne) or Babines who 
 inhabit the northern half of Babine lake in three villages and number 
 actually some 310 souls. 
 
 9 The Hwotsu'tinni (in Upper Carrier Hwotso' tenne) or people of the 
 river Hwotsutsan.* They are called Akwilg^t, " well dressed," by the 
 Kiliktons, their immediate neighbours of Tsimpsian _«arentage, and after 
 them by the whites. They inhabit two villages, Ts^-tcah,+ KeyaR- 
 hwotqat,:}: and two smaller places now organizing, Tsei-'kaz-Kwoh,§ and 
 Moricetown on the HwotsotsanKwoh or Buckley river and what is 
 known in the country as the telegraph trail. All of these localities are 
 within the northernmost extremity of these Indians' hunting grounds 
 which extend from Fran^ais Lake up to the Skeena River. Several 
 members of that sept are allied by blood with their alien neighbours, the 
 Kitiksons. They number about 300. 
 
 Tl'e language of these different branches of the Carrier tribe, while 
 remaining essentially the same, undergoes however marked variations 
 corresponding to its ethnographical subdivisions. Upon that ground 1 
 have even sometimes asked myself whether distinct individuality as a 
 tribe should not be granted to the Babines whose linguistic or even 
 psychological peculiarities are so glaring that they cannot escape 
 detection even by the most careless observer. Much of their dialect 
 would indeed be " greek " to an qthau'ten visitor, 
 
 It is al.so but right to warn the reader that the three main divisions 
 of the tribe into Lower Carriers, Upper Carriers and Babines, although 
 
 • Almost equivalent to "Spider." 
 
 + Down against the Rock. 
 
 + 01d Village. 
 
 $ River of the axe edge. 
 
 '' \ 
 
 ■; J I 
 
 m 
 
 , ti'i 
 
28 
 
 TRAMflACTIOKS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 founded on language and geographical distribution, are not recognized 
 by the Carriers themselves, who know of no other than the above 
 enumerated minor subdivisions. 
 
 The 1 siiKoh'tin and Carriers have a well organized society composed 
 of the hereditary " noblemen " who own the land, and the common 
 people who hunt with and for them. They formerly had no local head- 
 chiefs. Moreover, irrespective of the ethnographic divisions based on 
 language and habitat, they are divided into several genres the members 
 of which believe themselves bound by ties of the strictest relationship. 
 They were originally exogamous, and throughout the entire Carrier tribe 
 matriarchate or mother-right is the law governing succession to titles 
 and property. 
 
 Among the Ts^-y/t-ne, or "People-on-the-Rocks" a simpler and more 
 primitive social organization obtains. That tribe, through necessity a.s 
 much as from natural inclination, is entirely nomadic. As salmon is 
 unknown throughout their territory, these aborigines have to be almost 
 constantly on fhe move after the moose, cariboo and other large animals 
 on whose flesh they mainly subsist. Father-right is their national 
 fundamental law, and the whole tribe is composed of bands slightly 
 differing in language, and with no regular chiefs. In fact, their society, 
 such as it is, might almost be termed a perfect anarchy, were it not that 
 the advice of the oldest or most influential of each band is generally 
 followed as far at least as regards hunting, traveling and camping. 
 
 Though each band has traditional hunting grounds, the limits of these 
 are but vaguely defined, which is not the case with those of the Carriers. 
 Furthermore, several members of one band will not unfrequently be 
 found hunting unmolested on the land of another. Therefore no very 
 strict boundaries can be assigned to the following tribal subdivisions 
 which comprise all the Ts^'k^hne population within the political borders 
 of British Columbia : — 
 
 1. The YA-tsA-fqenne, or "people down over there" {i.e., in the 
 direction of an expanse of water) are the band vvl ich from time 
 immemorial bartered out to the Carriers the axes and other primitive 
 implements of whi..h due mention shall be made further on. They are 
 so called by the rest of the tribe by allusion to their commercial relations 
 with the Carriers of Stuart's Lake. Their hunting grounds lie from 
 Salmon River* to MacLeod's Lake and thence to the Fraser, by 53° 30'. 
 
 2. The Tsi-k^h-ne-az, or " little-people-on-the-rocks" roam over the 
 
 • There are so many Snlmon rivers in the north of British Columbia that it may be necessary 
 to explain that the one here mentioned empties itself into the Fraser a little above Fort George. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTRS ON THB WERTKHN D^N^S. 
 
 2» 
 
 land which extends between the latter lake and the summit of the Rocky 
 Mountains. They are often to be found hunting on the western slope of 
 that range. 
 
 3. The To-ta-fqenne (" people-a-little-down-thc-river ") inhabit the 
 eastern slope and adjacent plains of the Rocky Mountains within British 
 Columbia. 
 
 4. The Tsa-f qenne (who call themselves Tsa-hiih) or Beaver-people, 
 roam over the large prairies contiguous to the Peace River, on the south 
 side of that stream and east of the Rockies. 
 
 5. The Tsif-ta-ufqe. (the people against the Rocks) as hinted by 
 their name, have their habitat chiefly at the base of the Rocky Mountains 
 on the north side of the Peace River. 
 
 6. This is perhaps the proper place to mention the Sarcees* who have 
 been adopted by the Blackfeet Confederation, and actually live east of 
 the Rocky Mountains by about 5 1 ° lat. north. 
 
 7. To the north of all the above sub-divisions, from the 56° to the north, 
 we find the Sas-chAt-'qenne or "people of the Black Bear" whose trading 
 post was until last year Fort Connolly on the lake of that name. 
 
 8. Anothei band called Otzsn-ne (people between or intermediary) 
 claims the land which intervenes between the territory of the Saschut- 
 'qenne and that of the Ts^lohne on the west side of the Rocky 
 Mountains. 
 
 9. Those Tsd-loh-ne (people of the end of the Rocks) live immediately 
 north of the latter and their chief trading post is now B. L. O. (Bear-Lake- 
 Outpost) on the Finlay River by 57° of latitude north. Their name is 
 due to the fact that their habitat is an immense plain which is said to 
 intersect the whole of the Rocky Mountains which are popularly believed 
 not to extend any further. 
 
 The aggregate population of all these bands does not exceed 1,300. 
 
 The T'^'k^hne are known to the Carriers under the name of j'tat-tenne 
 or " people of the beaver-dams," while the latter are responsible for the 
 distinctive name of the Carriers— 4 /v/«^, "packers." The nickname 
 Ta-Kej-ne by which this tribe sometimes calls itself f is of recent origin 
 It has no meaning in its language to which it is exotic, and I cannot 
 
 • Their aboriginal name as a sept is unknown to me. A century ago they had 35 tents with a 
 population of 120. (History of Manitoba, p. 85), 
 t Indeed they even call thus all the races of Indians by opposition to the whites. 
 
 H 
 
30 
 
 TRANSACTIOKS OP THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 It is the would-be Tacullies or Takullies 
 
 imagine whence it originated 
 of the ethnographers. * 
 
 The foregoing information will be found recapitulated in the following 
 list showing the tribal subdivisions from south to north of the Tsilkoh'tin^ 
 the Carriers and the Ts^'kdhne. 
 
 Tsilkoh'tin Tribe. 
 
 Stone Tst^Koh'tin ; immediately south of Chilcotin River. 
 TpsKoh'tin ; ten miles north of the mouth of Chilcotin River. 
 Tjotheil'f^oJitin ; north bank of Chilcotin River, 45 miles from its mouth. 
 Independent septs ; Fort Alexander and Nakflntrfln. 
 
 Carrier Tribe. 
 
 jthaiitenne ; Fort Alexander. 
 
 Naskti' tenne ; Quesnelle and mouth of Black Water River. 
 
 Nutca'tenne ; on Black Water and throughout its basin. 
 
 '^ no tenne ; Fort George. 
 
 Natlo' tenne ; Frastr I.,ake. 
 
 Na' kraztli" tenne ; Stuart's Lake. 
 
 V^az' tenne ; upper end of Stuart's Lake and tributaries. 
 
 Babine Subtribe, 
 N^tu'tinni ; Babine Lake. 
 Hwots''tinni ; Buckley River and Fran^ais Lake. 
 
 Ts^'k^hne Tribe. 
 
 YiltsMqenne ; from Salmon River to McLeod's Lake. 
 Tsd' ktfhneas ; from McLeod's Lakes to the Rocky Mountains. 
 Totat'qenne ; immediately east of Rocky Mountains. 
 Tsat'qenne (the Beavers) ; south side of Peace River. 
 Tsk'taufqenne ; bao2 of Rocky Mountains close by preceding. 
 
 * The number of different orthographical readings of the names of the north-western D^n^ 
 tribes is truly wonderful. Thus the Carrlirs (TaKe;ne, the " Porteurs" of the French Canadians) 
 are called Tahkaii and Tahcully by Anderson, Teheili, by Dawson and Takully, Tacully, 
 Takulli by others. The Tse'kehne are Thi-kka-ni to Petitot, Thekentuh to Kennicott, and 
 Sicany, Siccani, or Sikani to others. I am ashamed to own that I have myself countenanced in 
 former papers the wrong reading "Sikanais" of my predecessors here. 
 
 ! ( 
 
 ^. 
 
1 892-93. 1 
 
 MOTES ON THB WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 31 
 
 Sarcees ; immediately east of Rod./ Mountains, 51" lat. north. 
 SaschMqenne ; Connolly Lake and north. West side Rocky Mountains. 
 Ots^nne ; north of preceding, same side of mountains. 
 TsHohne ; north of preceding, same side of mountains. 
 
 To the above I should add the Nahane* whose hunting grounds 
 lie to the north of those of the Ts^'kdhnc.^ But I am not familiar enough 
 with their tribal divisions to state them with any degree of certainty, nor 
 •do I sufficiently possess their technology to speak authoritatively of it. 
 It may however be broadly stated that from an archaeological standpoint 
 the Western Nah'ane may be classed as Carriers, while the Eastern 
 Nah'ane are to all practical purposes regular Ts^'k^hne. 
 
 * The so-called Nehawni of Pilling, the Na"ane of Petitot, the Nahiwncy of Kennicott, the 
 Nehawney of Ross and the Nahaiuntes of others. 
 
83 
 
 TKAM8ACT10M8 OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 i ; 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Preliminaries— Phi lological. 
 
 Even Philology is not without bearing on Archaiology. More than 
 once the former will prove a great help towards elucidating such problems 
 as the relative age or history of the human products whose aggregate 
 constitutes the raison d' etre of the latter. Thus the necessaries of native 
 life, those objects which are the most indispensable to savage man and 
 whose appearance as technological items must therefore have been the 
 earliest are, as a rule, expressed in D^n6 by monosyllabic roots as thA,. 
 water ; Kzv9n, fire ; /o, fish ; isa, beaver ; 'kra, arrow ; ///, snare ; ku/i, 
 trap ; etc. Other objects or implements of more complex nature or less 
 general import, or the use of which supposes higher steps in the industrial 
 ladder, are rendered by polysyllabic words. In the language of the 
 D^nes, the more primitive an object, philologically also the simpler its 
 name. Implements of complicated structure or of recent introduction 
 among the aborigines have almost invariably names of similarly composite 
 fabric. 
 
 These considerations have led me to give, either in the text or through 
 foot-notes, the aboriginal name of each item of native technology men- 
 tioned in the present monograph. As we shall presently see, some of 
 these names admit of no literal translation ; but when such translation is 
 possible, it shall accompany the Indian word. Unless otherwise noted, 
 those names will be in the Carrier dialect. 
 
 That the reader may the more easily re ognize the category to which, 
 such words etymologically belong, and thereby judge of the place the 
 objects they represent occupy in the D^n^ technology, I deem it not 
 irrelevant to reproduce here the following paragraphs from a former paper 
 on the D6n6 languages. 
 
 " Considered in their material structure and etymology, the D^n6 
 nouns may be divided into four classes. These are the primary roots 
 which are all monosyllabic as in Chinese. Such are_>'a, sky ; i/iii, water ;, 
 ts^, stone ; s^s, black bear ; etc. Theyarc essentially nominative : they 
 neither define nor describe the object they designate ; they merely 
 differentiate it from another. I consider them as the remnants of the 
 primitive D6n6 language, inasmuch as they are to be found with little or 
 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WE8TEHN DEN^H. 
 
 33 
 
 no alteration in all the dialects of the family, whatever may be the dis- 
 tance intervening between the aborigines who speak them.*" 
 
 No etymology or other explanation than that of the text v/ill be given 
 of words belonging to this category, because they admit of none. Thus 
 the context will indicate for instance that R^/ is a war club, that rve is a 
 kind of fish trap, etc., without any attempt being made at explaining the 
 origin of either word, or at giving a more literal sen.se of them than that 
 -4il£iiished by the translation, which would be impossible. They have no 
 derivMioij, but on the contrary may serve as the compounding elements of 
 other words of secondary import. 
 
 " The second category comprises roots of simple import which are 
 genuine un.synthetical substantives though polysyllabic, generally dissyll- 
 abic, in form. To this category belong words as tsne, man ; isbkhk, 
 woman ; psnrdn, lake ; etc. They possess, to a limited extent, the 
 properties of the monosyllabic roots, being likewise merely determinative 
 and oftentimes varying but little with the change of dialect."-!- 
 
 Here it may be added that even in these nouns there is generally one 
 syllable which is more important and contains, as it were, the quintessence 
 of the word. Thus it is with the ne of tdne ; the t'sb of fstkhi, 
 the/^« o{ p9flrin. In composite words, such syllables only are retained. 
 So the Carriers will more commonly say ne-dran murderer, than tdtie-^ran, 
 while in such compounds as ji-t's^, she-dog, and pdn-tco, big lake, the 
 weak or secondary syllable has also disappeared. 
 
 " The third class contains composite nouns formed, as a rule, by com- 
 pounding, though sometimes by agglutinating, monosyllabic or dissylla- 
 bic roots. Such are ne-na-pa-ra (literally : man-eyes-edge-hair) eye 
 lashes ; tdpe-ti, wild sheep horns ; viai-ri\ vegetable oil instead of ntai-v.^, 
 literally, fruit-oil. These nouns being mere compounds of roots belong- 
 ing to the two former categories have the same degree of relative 
 immutableness with regard to the various dialects as the radicals which 
 enter into their composition."^ 
 
 In like manner, implements designated by names of this category 
 may be of as ancient origin as t.'iose denominated by words of the first. 
 
 Thus, tsa-m-pij, beaver snare, contains two ideas of simple import — 
 the medial ;« being merely euphonical and demanded by the following 
 /. That words of this class may not be confounded with terms of the 
 preceding, their compounding roots will be separated by a hyphen. 
 
 •The Dene Languages, etc. Transact Can. Inst. vol. i, 1889-90, p. i8r. 
 
 \Ihid. 
 
 Xlbid, p. 182. 
 
 *i 
 
 m 
 
 i. ■ -IS 
 
 11 
 
Zi 
 
 TRANSACTIONS Of TlIK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 " The fourth and last class is made up of verbal nouns which, as their 
 name indicates, are nothing else than verbs in the impersonal or personal 
 moods employed to qualify objects of secondary import with the help 
 sometimes of a radical noun, sometimes of a pronoun, and always of a 
 prepositive particle prefixed to, or incorporated in, the verbal substantive. 
 Of this description are the words /^->'.?«-^/'^^/ (lit. with-earth-one cleaves), 
 plough; ti- k%v9t- sazta (lit. it-on-onc sits), seat; y'ten-pa-yni. (lit. work- 
 for-house) work-shop."* 
 
 Very few of the objects or implements designated by words of that 
 class can be regarded as of really ancient origin. 
 
 As for the orthography followed in the present monograph for render- 
 ing aboriginal words, it is as follows : — 
 
 The vowels have the continental sounds. When accentuated, they 
 undergo the same phonetic changes as French letters do when affected 
 by similar accents. Thus d, t, 6, have the same sound as in French ; 
 e and « as in Italian ; d is sounded as the e of " mets ", b as that of the 
 English " ten ", while » corresponds to the so-called French e muet in 
 such words as je, te, le. W is always a consonant. 
 
 Subject to the following remarks, the consonants have also the con- 
 tinental sounds. H is strongly aspirated ; fl represents a nasal n followed 
 by a common or sounding »; / is a lingualo-sibilant which is obtained by 
 the emission of a hissing sound on both sid2s of the tongue curved up- 
 wards previous to its striking-; "ihe lingual letter ; r is the result of 
 uvular vibrations, and when tnime lately following a guttural {£, k, kh, 
 'k, or K) it is almost impreceptiblc to the ear ; K, and R, are respectively 
 k and r pronounced with a very r;uttural inflection ; q nearly resembles ty, 
 both letters being simultaneously sounded; f represents the English double 
 consonant sh. The apostrophe (') prefixed to k, /, ij, adds to the regular 
 pronunciation of those letters the exploding sound peculiar to most 
 Indian languages. J is intermediate between s and c. 
 
 Th, kh, are equivalent to t-|-h and k-|-h and are produced by a 
 single emission of voice. T's and t'[ are " exploded " and their exact 
 value cannot be realized otherwise than by hearing therh pronounced by 
 a competent person. 
 
 The hiatus is represented by a period in the upper part of the line (•). 
 
 * IbiJ., ibid. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THK WBf<TBHK uiiHisS. 
 
 S5 
 
 Works and Implements unknown among the Western D^n^s. 
 
 Before attempting to detail what our aborigines have or had of 
 archaeological ware, it may not be amiss to enumerate what they do not 
 have and apparently never had. 
 
 Throughout the whole extent of their territory, no mounds, enclosures, 
 fortifications of a permanent character or any earthen works suggesting 
 human agency are to be found, nor is their existence, past or present, 
 even as much as suspected by any Carrier, Tsd'kdhne or Tsiikoh'tin. In 
 the same manner, pottery, clay implements, perforated stones, mortars, 
 •cei ; nonial gorgets, gouges, stone sledges and articles of shell either plain, 
 carved or engraved, have to this day remained unknown among them. 
 They did formerly, and do still occasionally, use stone pestles. But for the 
 mortars common among natives of most heterogeneous stocks, they 
 substitute a dressed skin spread on the ground whereon they pound dried 
 salmon, salmon vertebra;, bones, etc. 
 
 Such sweeping assertions may astonish those readers who have alreidy 
 been informed by Dr. D. G. Brinton that among the D^n^s " utensils 
 ■were of wood, horn or stone, though the Takully women manufactured 
 a coarse pottery and also spun and wove yarn from the hair of the 
 mountain goat."* This statement is quite a surprise to me, inasmuch as 
 I supposed it was a fact well known co Americanists that no pottery of 
 any description existed among such north-western stocks of aborigines 
 as the D^n6, the Tsimpsian, the Haida, the Kwakwintl, the Tlinget and 
 the Eskimo. As for the spinning of the hair of the mountain goat Dr. 
 Brinton probably confounds the Carriers (his Takully) with the Pacific 
 Coast tribes which did and occasionally do make good blankets out of 
 that material.^ 
 
 I have also mentioned the mortars among articles unknown to the 
 •original D^n^s. Therefore I must call attention to a statement of A. 
 Niblack in his valuable monograph on " The Coast Indians of Southern 
 Alaska " wherein he says : " These [mortars] were by some people 
 supposed to indicate that in early days these Indians ground maize as 
 ■did and do the Imnting Indians of the tnterior."l The italics are mine. 
 
 •The American Race, p. 71. 
 
 •^ A gentleman speaking dt visu states that "yam is spun from the wool of the mountain goat 
 •(not the mountain sheep or big-horn) and is woven into excellent blankets which are highly 
 coloured and ornamented." (Notes by Mr. J. C. Callbreath in G. M. Dawson's " Notes on the 
 Indian tribes of the Yukon District" etc., reprint, p. 6). Hut this statement applies to the 
 Tha|than division of the Nah'ane, not the Carrier tribe. 
 
 *The Coast Indians, etc., in Ann. Rep. of the U. S. National Mu'-.eum, p. 281 ; 1890. 
 
36 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 These words, coming from an author who is generally so well informed, 
 are at best perplexing. To whom does he allude in this reference to the 
 maize growing huntsmen of the interior ? Most people will answer that 
 it must be to the D6n6 Indians who, in the latitude within which the 
 subjects of his sketch are stationed, people the American Continent 
 practically in its whole breadth. Of course, he cannot thereby refer to 
 the Iroquois and the Hurons whose habitat is close to the Atlantic, not 
 the Pacific coast. Now it is so well known that the Dj^nt^s were but 
 recently innocent of the least attempt at cultivation that I cannot regard 
 th's extraordinary assertion as anything else than a slip of the pen. 
 
 A natural apathy, lack of artistic ambition or want of skill caused the 
 Western D6n^s to be practical, rather than aesthetic craftsmen. Where 
 extra exertion was not absolutely necessary, it was very seldom bestowed 
 upon any kind of work. Therefore most of the implements which we 
 shall examine in the iollowing chapters are exceedingly simple and 
 sometimes even rude in appearance. For instance, the Deri^, knowing by 
 experience that a p*jre lashed, while in its natural state, to his fishing- 
 net was doing as good service as the most elaborate sinkr-, never 
 attempted to fashion it into any of the artistic shapes given similar 
 implement's by it. any other families of Aborigines. For this reason carved 
 or even merely grooved sinkers are also to be classed among the indus- 
 trial implements unknown to the Western D^nds. 
 
 A fact which will perhaps elicit incredulous comment is that not only 
 our Aborigines' earliest acquaintance with tobacco, native or Nicotian, 
 dates only from 1792 for the Ts^'k^hne and 1793 for the Carriers, but 
 even the very act of smoking was unknown to them prior to those dates. 
 As a consequence, pipes of any Tiaterial or form are an adventitious 
 
 item amongst them. Fig. i represents the earliest known model of pipes 
 of Ddne manufacture. It consists of a stone bow! with a serrated base 
 wherein a wooden stem has been inserted. Bowl and stem are connected 
 
1892-tf3.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DEN^S. 
 
 87 
 
 by means o'( a chain of dentalium shells alternating with coloured glass 
 beads. A pipe strikingly similar in form, but minus the string of shells 
 and beads, was also in use among the Shushwap Indians, the southern 
 neighbours of the Western D6n4s, as appears from a sketch in Dawson's 
 " Notes on the Shushwap People of British Columbia." * 
 
 Against the above assertion as to the absence of smoking pipes among 
 the primitive Ddn^s, it might be contended that the Tsi[Koh'tin, who 
 were more venturesome than the two other tribes, must have known 
 through the Coast and Shushwap Indians, the species of wild tobacco 
 which is said to have been cultivated by the natives of Queen Charlotte 
 Islands, or gathered in its wild state by the Shushwap.f But to any 
 person who is aware of the irresistible attraction all races of Aborigines 
 feel towards the use of the soothing weed, whether genuine or counter- 
 ff^'t this hypothesis will appear altogether gratuitous. Albeit the tribal 
 intercourse between the Tsijkoh'tin and the Carriers was formerly a 
 rather rare occurrence and not always of the most friendly description, 
 had smoking been in vogue among the former, the latter could not well 
 have failed to notice in their neighbours a practice which is claimed to 
 have appepicd so strange to them at the time of their first meeting with 
 the whites. Now both the Ts^'kehne and the Carriers are positive that 
 it was unknown to their ancestors previous to their encounter with 
 Md-tsi-ra-n3tion \ or Sir Alex. McKenzie : and they stil! recount, with 
 no lack of amusing details, fir-,t their stupefaction at beholding smoke 
 issuing from men's mouths, and then their scorn for tobacco when they 
 ascertained that it was not edible. § 
 
 •T'liisact, R. S. C. p. 12, fig. 3; 1891. 
 
 t Vidt : "On the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands," by G. M. Dawson, p. 114b, 
 1 15 b, Montreal, 1880 ; " Notes on the Shushwap People of B.C.," by i\. M. Dawson, Trans. 
 R.S.C. Stct. II., p. 23, 1891 ; "Descriptive Notes on Certain Implements," etc., by Al. Mac- 
 kenzie, Tr!>-... R.S.C. Sect. II., p. 55, 1891 ; " Th»! Coast Indians of .Southern Alaska," otc, 
 by A f, Niblack, p. 333, 1890. 
 
 tin Tse'kehne : "his hair is plentiful," perhaps by allusion to the wig or queue worn by Sir 
 Alex. Mackenzie. 
 
 § The derivation of the word }te'ka, by which the Carriers designate tobacco, has long 
 puzzled me. it must l)e either a borrowed word or a word formed liy ajjglutination, as the name 
 of the horse (yc:ih-/i, "elk-dog" or domestic elk). Now 1 have studied tliat word in the 
 vocabulary of over twenty tribes, all contiguous, mediately or immediately, without iiting able 
 »o discover anything like an homonymous equivalent. On the other hand, the two parts of which 
 it is composed, 3te and 'ka. are genuine Carrier pr.rticles which, taken separately, are not with- 
 out meaning, but to which no rational signification can be ascribed when joined together. Vet 
 the names of all new objects in the '>cne langu.iges are either borrowed from foreign dialects, or 
 more generally formed by compounding, that is by the juxtaposition of two or more names of 
 objects already known. Thus, in TsiiKoh'tin the name of the tobacco is tsaj-yu, which means 
 " .moke-medicine." Altogethei, the Carrier (and Tse'kehne) A'ord designating that imported 
 plant has the appearance of an old root of the second category, which is to me inexplicable. 
 
 It y\ 
 
 
 ' I'll 
 
 I m 
 
 m 
 
 I 'Pi 
 
 -■.j^ 
 
38 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. VI. 
 
 Pipe Fig. 2 is of recent manufacture, and bears testimony to the 
 TsiiKoh'tin's faculty of imitation. It has been wrought out of an impure 
 steatite or soap stone. Its stem is a wooden tube connected with the 
 base of the bowl by a double string or chain of black beads. The stem 
 of such pipes is more generally lengthened through the insertion of a 
 perforated brass cartridge shell between the base and the mouthpiece. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Specimens of pipes identical in form, and sometimes in material, 
 though many are of serpentine, are ako found among the Ts^'k^hne. 
 But now-a-days the poorest Carrier scorns them as utterly unsuited to 
 his oresent state of civilization. 
 
1892-03.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Stone Implements. 
 
 Some scientists seem to have an innate fondness for the mysterious and 
 the insolvable. Upon th? =''^htest pretext they delight in creating difficul- 
 ties or propounding problems. They long for novelties and must soar 
 above the concepts of such weak-minded mortals as are naive enough to 
 pay any attention to the " Hebrew myths " of the creation of man and his 
 comparatively recent appearance on the scene of this world. Whereas in 
 modern times we have no authentically recorded instance of mound 
 building by American Aborigines,* and because some of those artificial 
 works are of considerable magnitude, they jump to the conclusion that 
 the so-called mound-builders must have been a very ancient race, more 
 advanced in civilization than the Indians of our days and altogether 
 different from them.f In like manner, b.icause in Europe, and in some 
 parts of America stone implements have been discovered which are of a 
 particularly rude pattern, they infer that these remains being found in 
 river beds or, in Europe, imbedded in geological strata supposed to have 
 been formed at a very remote epoch prove the existence, not only of 
 prehistoric, but even of pre-Adamite man. Students who prefer to rely 
 on tbp authority of such an unerring guide as the Bible to following 
 modern savants through their ever shifting, if not conflicting, theories, 
 cannot but remark, I fancy, ihat, in the same way as the latest researches 
 tend to confirm the opinion of those unprejudiced antiquarians who from 
 the beginning doubted the great antiquity of the American mounds and 
 the extra- ;>L.3 nationality of iheir builders,^ even so it must ultimately 
 
 • As wUI appear fior>' ;>ote J the Chero tees did erect mounds, though unobserved by the whites, 
 within the present century. 
 
 t " So strong in fact is the hold which this theory . . . has taken of the minds of both 
 American and European archasoiogists, that it not only biases their CDnclusions b'>t also moulds 
 and modifies their nomenclature, and is thrust into their speculations and e^en into their descrip- 
 tions as though no longer a simple llieory, but a conceded fact," Burial AfoiinJs of the Northern 
 Section of the U. S. hy Prof Cyrus Thomas ; Fijth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol. p. 80. 
 
 J Evidence corroborative of this assumption would fill many pages. Scientists in every way 
 qualified to speak on this subject and to whom nobody can refuse a hearing have clearly shown 
 the futility of the theory which ascribes the erection of the mounds to non-Indian races. Prof 
 Cyrus Thomas, than whom I think there is no more reliable authority on the subject, lays down 
 as one of the conclusions derivetl from the mound explorations under the auspices of the Smith" 
 sonian Institution that " nolh'ng trustworthy has been discovered to justify the theory that the 
 mound builders belonged to highly civilized race, or that they were a people who had attained a 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 I l-;fi! 
 
40 
 
 TIIANSAOTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 189-2 
 
 prove to be the case with regard to the fabulous age ascribed to what are 
 called palzeolithic implements. By the end of the last century Voltaire and 
 his school were wont to adduce the pretended enormous antiquity of the 
 Egyptian monuments as an irrefutable evidence of the inaccuracy of the 
 Mosaical chronology. Time went on, and the days came when Cham- 
 pollion and Sir. H. Rawlinson deciphered the Egyptian and Assyrian 
 inscriptions. Then the very same works which fifty years before were 
 instan. ' as an excuse for the encyclopedists' sneers at the Scriptures 
 were co..\ into the be.st extrinsical proof of the accuracy of the 
 
 Mosaical a». t 
 
 I am not an archjEologist, much less a geologist. Yet, upon entering into 
 a question in connection wherewith so many strange and, to me, evidently 
 
 higher culture status than the Indians. It is true that works and papers on American Archaeology 
 are full of statements to the contrary which are generally b.ised on the theory that the mound- 
 builders belonged to a race of much higher culture than the Indians. Yet, when the facts on 
 which this opinion is based are examined with sober scientihc tare, the splendid fabric which has 
 been built upon them by that great workman, imagination, fades from sight. . . The links 
 discovered directly connecting the Indians and the mound-builders are so numerous and so well 
 established that there should be no longer any hesitancy in accepting the theory that the two are 
 one and the same people. . . The testimony of the mounds is very decidedly against the 
 theory that the mound builders were Mayas or Mexicans " /ForX' in Mound Exploration of the 
 Bur, Ethiwl., Washington, /SSj, p. ii-ij. To corroborate by actual facts my position on this 
 question, I glean from the same paper the following extracts : — "In another Wisconsin mound 
 . . . was found lying at .! e bottom on the original surface of the ground, near the center, a 
 genuine, regularly-formed gunflint. In another Tenneisee mound some 6 feet high and which 
 showed no signs of disturbance, an old fashioned horn handled case-knife was discovered near the 
 bottom. . . From a group in Northern Mississippi in the locality formerly occupied by the 
 Chickas-.aw were obtainwl a silver plate with the Spanish coat of arms stamped upon it, and the 
 iron portions of a saddle. At the bottom of a North Carolina mound, part of an iron blade 
 and an iron awl were discovered in t'e hands oi the principal personage buried therein. . . 
 At the bottom of an undisturbed Pennsylvania mound, accompanying the original interment 
 . was a joint of a large cane wrapped in pieces of thin and evenly wrought silver foil, 
 smoothly cut in fancy figures." Ibid. p. g and jo. I have underlined the names of the states 
 mentioned to show that mound-building in post-Columbian timts was by no means local or 
 exceptional. To the above should be adde<l the still more significant fact that in a small undis- 
 turbed mound in east Tennessee a stone with letters of the Cherokee alphabet rudely carved 
 upon it was lately discovered by a party of American explorators. 1 he problem of the Ohio 
 J lunds, p. 37, note I. Dr. D. G. Hrinton in his latest work, The American Race, p. 87-88, 
 aamits that "there is, to say the least, a strong probability that they [the modern Muskokis] are 
 the descendants of the constructors of those ancient works " [namely, the mounds in their 
 vicinity]. Over and alxjve the authorities already quotal, here is how Dr. J. W. Powell, the 
 learned head of the Bureau of Ethnology, .Smithsonian Insiitution, ends a review of an import- 
 ant paper by Mr. \V. II. Holmes : — "This eliminates one more source of error cherished by 
 lovers of the mysterious to establish and exalt a suppo.sed race of Mound-Builders." Third 
 Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. Ixiii. ; Washington, 1884. Nobody will deny that that 
 gentleman, owing to his ofiicial position, enjoys opportunities of judging of the merits or demerits 
 of a cause of which few indeed can boast. Lastly, it must be added that unlimited evidence goes 
 to prove that in almost every case the modern Indians occupy the exact territory where their 
 forefathers lived when they first came in contact with the whites. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 41 
 
 false theories have been I/uilt, I feel the necessity as a Christian and an 
 observer of my own surroundings to put on record my utter disbelief in 
 any proposition which may run courcer to the natural deductions from 
 the Book of Genesis. True, even Christian anthropologists are far from 
 agreed as to the probable age of man, since such a learned orientalist as 
 the Abbe Vigouroux suggests* and Father Thein inclines to believe + 
 that creation dates from over 8000 years as against the 6000 which it 
 was custpmary to reckon as the maximum distance which sep .rates us 
 from Adam. Yet methinks that there are limits beyond which modern 
 interpretation of the sacred text cannot safely go. I suppose that no 
 person who has any regard for the authority of the Bible — I am tempted 
 to add, and for sober, common sense;]: — will believe in the hundreds of 
 thousands of years attributed by some to pal.neolithic stone implements 
 and consequently to man. To show that there are valid reasons to 
 doubt the correctness of such chronological computations, let me adduce 
 here a few facts derived from the very source to which they are wont to 
 poin*- ir confirmation of their extravagant theories, I mean Geology. 
 
 The greit antiquity attributed in Europe to stone implements is based 
 generally on the age of the geological strata wherein they are found. 
 For the sake of briefness, let us choose those the formation of which is 
 the most easily accounted for, say the alluvial strata. Pieces of pottery 
 found at a depth of thirty-nine feet in the mud of the Nile delta were 
 pronounced by antiquarians of repute to be 13,000 years old. Such 
 authorities as Sir John Lubbock and Sir Charles Lyell asserted !.i various 
 papers that those Egyptian relics must date back from 12,000 to 60,000 
 years. Now, Sir R. Stephenson found at a. greater depth in the delta, 
 near Damietta, a brick bearing on its surface the stamp of Mohammed 
 Ali ! § The discoverer of the pieces of pottery " rated the growth of the 
 mud deposit in a given spot at only three and a lialf inches in a century ; 
 
 * Les JJvres Saints, etc.. Vol. III., p. 238, ' 
 
 + Christian Anthropology, p. 245, New Vo'lv, 1892. 
 
 X For my own justification and to illustrate the vagaries of some modern scientists, kt me 
 recall the fact that from tiie supposed vestiges of man discovered in the strata of the tertiary 
 period, some geologists assign a date of at least 3cx},ooo years before the beginning of the historic 
 epoch. Now a clever Italian writer who has m.ade an arithmelical computation of the lumiber of 
 men whn must have been existing on the earth at the time commonly assigned to the creation of 
 Adam according to thai hypothesis, finds that this number cannot be expressed without 434 
 figures ! Suppose the habitable part of the earth extended in a series of stories each one meter 
 in height and filled with men in the ratio of 10 to each square meter as far up as 400 times the 
 radius of the moon's orbit and the limits ol the earth's orbit will be reached and yet the number 
 of these men will be represented only by the figure 2 followed by 26 ciphers. 
 
 § Christian Anthropology, p. 267, New York, 1892. 
 
 4 
 
 
 ^m 
 
42 
 
 THANSACTI0N8 OF THK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV.. 
 
 but a description of the same spot by a Mohammedan writer only six 
 centuries ago shows that tlie mud is deposited at the rate of over eigh- 
 teen inches in a hundred years."* 
 
 An English resident in India recounts that the foundation of a house 
 he had himself built was carried away and strewed along the bottom of 
 a river at a depth of thirty or foriy feet below the level of the country. 
 " Since then the river has passed on," he says, " and a new village now 
 stands on the spot where my bungalow stood, but forty feet above I'lC 
 ruins ; and any one who chooses to dig on the spot may find my re- 
 liqtiice there, and form what theory he likes as to their antiquity or my 
 
 age."t 
 
 Again, antiquarians of a geological turn of mind .should remember, it 
 seems, that in most cases the agents which now produce alluvial deposits 
 were formerly many times more powerful and that therefore strata con- 
 taining archaeological relics were formed at a proportionately grtatcr 
 rate. Take, for instance, the valley of the Somme in France. No region 
 has probably become so famous in the Annals of Archaiology. The 
 Somme is to-day a modest river with very quiet waters. Now, accord- 
 ing to M. de 'vlercey, who has made a careful study of its history, its 
 waters at the Roman epoch were fifty times more abundant than in our 
 days.J Moreover, it is a well established fact that the sea at that time 
 must have extended to Amiens, since belo.v a mariner deposit nine feet 
 thick coins have been found, the most recent of which bears the efifigy of 
 a prince who died A.D. 267.§ In the neighbourhood of Lille, a medal of 
 Marcus Aurelius was found at a depth of twenty-five feet under a triple 
 bed of reddish clay, muddy slime and pe?.t mixed with sand. || 
 
 Thus Geology refutes itself the theories of the partizans of the great 
 age of the primitive stone implements, theories which they claim to base 
 on geological grounds. Let us now see what History has to say on the 
 same subject. 
 
 The contention of the majority of antiquarians is that the stone age 
 long antedated the historic period. In opposition to this, O. Fraas states 
 that " arrows with sharp flint heads, and especially stone axes, stone 
 chisels and stone hammers are found among the Germans, even down to 
 the time of the Franks. . . . According to Herodotus, Ethiopians 
 
 * Soulhnll, Recent Oiijjiii of Man, p. 474. 
 
 + Quarterly Journal of the (ieological Society, p. 327, .Aug. 1863. 
 
 X Bulletin tie la SocUti CSologique, 1876-77, p. 347. 
 
 § Christian Anthropology, p. 260, New York, 1892. 
 
 WMatJriaux pour T/iisloire de riwniine, p. 136, 1878. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WE8TICKN blilNJ^S. 
 
 48 
 
 accompanied the army of Xerxes, who wei^ so savage that they possessed 
 only weapons of stone and bone . . . ; they had long bows made of 
 the ribs of palm leaves and reed arrows with pebble points ; their javelins 
 were pointed with the horns of gazelles," * Five hundred years later, 
 Tacitus says of the Fenni : "They have no (iron) weapons. Thoir only 
 means of attack are arrows to which, b?viug no iron, they give a bone 
 point. "f Caesar tells us in his De Bella Gallico J that the Gauls, while 
 besieging Alesia (52 B.C.), made use of stones and pebbles. An epic 
 poem of the fifth century describes two warriors battling with stone 
 axes.§ St. Ouen, bishop of Rouen in the seventh century, speaks of flint 
 hatchets in his " Life of St. Eligius." As far down as 1066, projectiles of 
 stone were in use in Europe according to William of Poitiers. It even 
 appears that more than a century later the Scots of Wallace made use of 
 stone arms. || 
 
 History records many other similiar examples. I am well aware that 
 the advocates of the great antiquity of man and human implements base 
 their views on divers other reasons. But I think that all of these can 
 be as easily disposed of 
 
 Industrial Implements. 
 
 The facts above recited are necessary to establish the really modern 
 origin of many stone implements which some regard as absurdly ancient, 
 and therefore if, in the course of the present monograph and more 
 particularly of this Chapter, D^n^ impkinents or weapons are occasionally 
 assimilated to objects, even palaeolithic, of the same description found in 
 the alluvial strata of Europe, my comparisons, instead of appearing 
 preposterous, should be construed as additional evidence of the relatively 
 recent origin of the European "finds." For, I cannot help thinking that 
 some spear heads, f r instance, which were in use here but one hundred 
 years ago are identical in form and finish with weapons of the Solutrian 
 period of the unpolished stone age. As for the industrial implements,, 
 and especially the axes of the prehistoric D<5n^s, though they might not 
 perhaps be classed with strict propriety among pala;olithic implements,. 
 I think they could not properly be styled neolithic, since they were 
 mostly unpolished, except at the cutting edge. 
 
 • Dit alteii Hiihlenhewohmi; p. 30. 
 t>4/»/(/ Christian Anthropology, p. 320. 
 iBooic VII.,81. 
 
 § Amfh^re, Hist aire lilU'raire. 
 
 II Christian Anthropol()i,'y, f<assiiii. 
 
44 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OP THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 ii 
 
 Thus in fig. 3 we have a celt of a dark coloured, very close-grained rock 
 which shows absolutely no sign of polish except at the cutting edge 
 and, if I am to credit the Indian from whom it was obtained and who 
 used it for some time as a skin scraper, even this faintly polished edge 
 was wanting when the instrument was found on the surface of the 
 ground. It would seem that these rude, unpolished axes were, at least 
 among the Carriers, much more common than those entirely or even 
 partially polished. 
 
 I'ig' .V 'A size. Fig. 4. j4 size. 
 
 Fig. 4 hardly exhibits any trace of improvement on that primitive 
 pattern. Indeed the specimen it represents has even cost the maker a 
 smaller amount of exertion, since one of its flat surfaces is merely the 
 original surface of a blackish siliceous stone in its natural water-worn 
 state, wiiile the reverse is evidently the result of the splitting of the 
 pebble out of which the implement has been made. Were it not for the 
 unmistakable attempt at obtaining by friction a finer edge than is usual 
 in scrapers, one would almost suppose that it has been designed for 
 dressing skins rather than cutting wood. 
 
 The specimen illustrated by fig. 5, though unpolished except at its 
 broadest end, is more axe-like in shape. It is of a shaly rock externally 
 rusty-looking, but internally of a reddish gray transversely striated with 
 fine parallel lines. 
 
 The implement represented by fig. 6 again differs both in form and 
 material from all the preceding specimens of stone axes. It might be 
 described as gouge-shaped, were itnot that no concavity corresponds to 
 the convex exterior. No attempt at diminishing bv friction the bulging 
 surface of the stone has been made; its main a? . nties only have been 
 
1892-93] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DEN^S. 
 
 polished off. It is of a gray basaltic rock, regularly wood-veined and 
 very hard. 
 
 Fii; 
 
 5. }4 size. Fig. 6. ^ size. 
 
 Here (fig. 7) we witness a sort of transition between what might perhaps 
 be called the medio-palaeolithic and the neolithic types, in that this adze- 
 blade has been treated to a partial polish elsewhere than at its edge. 
 
 Fig. 7. Vi s'«- J"'!?' *• '/i ''''^^■ 
 
 It is of a fine-grained volcanic rock which has been rendered rather hard 
 by pressure subsequent to its original cooling. It is disproportionately 
 thick and fully 8}4 inches long. 
 
 m 
 
 13* 
 
 I'M 
 
 \ 
 
 lii 
 
 1 
 
 '} 
 
 
 *« 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 »l 
 
 ^ i 
 
 a 
 
 r 
 
 4 
 1 
 
 HI 
 
 hi 
 
 \i 
 
 1' 
 'I 
 
 V 
 
 Ti 
 
 ^f 
 
46 
 
 TUANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 All these differences in type and material are suggestive of what 
 appears to be a well established fact, namely that the Western Din^s 
 had no fixed standard in view when engaged in the manufacture of their 
 adze-blades. Any stone of sufficient hardness and consistency was 
 probably picked up, and after a rough blocking off, was given as sharp 
 an edge as the material was susceptible of acquiring by means of the 
 least possible exertion. No attention whatever seems to have been 
 paid to the details and no regard manifested for the elegance of the 
 implement. 
 
 This remark applies to adze-blades of genuine D<5n6 origin. But the 
 Carriers, especially the more prominent members of the tribe, possessed 
 much finer axes of which fig. 8 is a fair example. This is a thoroughly 
 polished stone axe. In shape and material it is typical of all the 
 polished implements of that class. They are, as a rule, of a greenish 
 ^..^^^gray rock identified by Dr. G. M. Dawson as fine felspathic slate 
 c>p-falsite. Although they were .°xtensively used among the Western 
 D^n^s, it would hardly be consistent with truth to credit the latter with 
 their manufacture. Indeed I am rather inclined to believe — and this is 
 borne out by the declarations of living aborigines — that, in ..7 far at 
 least as the Carrier tribe is concerned, most of them were imported from 
 among the neighbouring tribes. The Carriers of the old stock were 
 exceedingly poor workmen, and their old men are unanimous in 
 asserting that their best axes were bartered from the Ts^'k^hne and 
 the sea-coast Indians. It is therefore quite possible that the implement 
 above figured had an extraneous origin. 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 All these various types of axes were hafted to a handle generally of 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTKS ON TUB WE8TKKN U^JN^S. 
 
 47 
 
 black thorn,* Prunus spinosa, as is shown through fig. 9. The adzes thus 
 obtained never had a cutting edge fine or hard enough to serve crosswise 
 against wood, and the axeman's strokes had always to be directed 
 obliquely.f 
 
 It must be noted also that, among the Carriers, such instruments were 
 possessed by thef notables- and a Jew \vefil thy heads of families only. 
 The common people had recourse to fire to cut their provision of wood. 
 After having freed the main roots of a tree of the earth adhermg* thereto 
 by means of slight excavations undcrneatli, they would light there a 
 small fire with vegetable matter with the result that the tree would 
 inevitably topple over at 'the latest on the morrow thereafter. Then the 
 smaller limbs were trimmed off cither with a hard stick, with a stone club 
 if any was at hand, or, among the Babiiies, with a bone or horn implement 
 specially fashioned for the purpose. Smaller trees were next crossed 
 over the trunk at the proper intervals to give the desired length to the 
 pieces of wood, after which a fire was started at each point of intersection 
 and maintained by the children or the women until both the larger and 
 the smaller trunks were burnt asunder. 
 
 If too bulky to easily burn in the fire-place, the wood was then split 
 with the help of wedges and a roughly formed wooden maul. Except 
 among the TsijKoh'tin, the stone hammers and sledges .so common 
 among the coast Indians were unknown. For peculiarly heavy work 
 such as sinking down the stakes on the solidity of which depends the 
 firmness of the salmon weirs, they .sometimes did, and even now do, use 
 such elongated stones as bear the greatest resemblance to their hwofsdz 
 or wooden maul ; but these are r.ever pecked or fashioned into regular 
 sledges. 
 
 % 
 
 'A\ 
 
 I: 
 
 I 
 
 Jl 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 fy 
 
 11 
 
 I'iu. 10. 
 
 The Carriers' wedgesj were either of hard wood, of the part of the 
 
 * In Carrier v^vus-tco, " Wg tliorn." 
 
 + The axe i< called Istj in 'I i|Koli'tin, toy in Tse'keiine and tsi; in Babine ; whilst, curiously 
 enough, the Carriers now call it, and seem to have done so as loni; as any old man can remember, 
 tsMsii, or stone-axe. Nevertheless, the Dene name of this piiniiti> ■ implement is evidently tsei 
 or Isii, a primary root. 
 
 J Yil, pr. root. 
 
48 
 
 TKAN8ACTION8 OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol.. IV. 
 
 cariboo horns next to the skull of the animal, or, in some cases, of stone 
 (Fig. lo). 
 
 Kit;. II. 
 
 r'«- >^. 
 
 The implement illustrated above (Vv^. ll) is a pestle* of a coarse 
 variety of quartzite, of which F'v^. 12 gives a side view. The lower 
 half of the instrument has been left undisturbed by the aitist, the handle 
 only being pecked and smoothened to a fine enough finish. This pestle 
 did service among the Habine Indians. 
 
 Fijj 
 
 Kig. 14. }i size. 
 
 Kig. 15. yi size. 
 
 A very difttrent model is shown in Fig. 13, wherein we have an 
 implement of TsiiKoh'tin origin. It served a double purpo.se, beiny at 
 
 * Pe-itsil, " wheiewitli one pouinlN," V. n. 
 
 I Hi 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 49 
 
 the same time a pestle and a hammer.* But the mode of using it was 
 identical in both cases ; the contact between the matter pounded or 
 hammered was only at the bottom of the larger end, tne hand grasping 
 the instrument in the middle. I have witnessed old men working with 
 such stone hammers among the Skwahomishf with whom the TsijKoh'tin 
 have occasional intercourse. 
 
 All races of American Aborigines are proverbially improvident, and 
 our Western Ddn^s cannot be said to form an exception to the rule. Yet 
 the.se very implements, when used as pounders or pestles, testify to the 
 fact that the Carriers at least had at times a thought for the morrow. 
 In times of plenty, they pounded therewith dried salmon previously well 
 grilled by the fireside, and kept the mash in a tca]yaj, one of their bark 
 ve.ssels which shall be described further on. When this had been 
 sprinkled over with salmon oil, tlic vessel was hermetically closed and 
 the whole laid aside for use when, owing to the failure of the fishing 
 season or any other cause, the natives were hard pressed by famine. 
 Under similarly strained circumstances, salmon bones, or indeed the bones 
 of any animal, were, and arc, also likewise treated, and made to obviate 
 similar needs. 
 
 Fig. 1 6. 
 
 Here(figs. 14 and 1 5) are slickstones or stone scrapers,^ which serve in the 
 process of tanning hides. As may be seen, they are of a very primitive pat- 
 
 • Pe-tWitz, "wherewith one pounds or hammers," a verbal noun. 
 
 + The Sk'qo'mic of Dr. Boas. 
 
 tPe-sltz^h "wherewith one scr.ipes" in Carrier; tst'-tq/l, "stone-broad" in Tse'k^hne. 
 
 '-■m 
 
 1^ 
 "11 
 
50 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADiVN INSTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 tern, and neither of t. .e two evidences any regard for elegance. And yet 
 they are fair represe ttatives of their class, even of those which are still in 
 Use among the modern Carriers. They generally consist of flat halves of 
 oblong pebbles one end of which has been slightly trimmed by chipping 
 with a hard stone. The object of such implements being to soften by 
 repeated pressure the hide which has already been stripped of its hair and 
 adherent blood and fat, these scrapers receive no polish whatever. This 
 is why I rather hesitate in classing among the skin scrapers the 
 instrument represented b) fig. 1 6, which is a "find," and was not, like 
 those above figured, in actual use among the natives when handed to me. 
 It is of a very fine grained black volcaiiic rock polished at the broadest 
 end a, and as it is drawn natural size, it is, if any, the smallest skin 
 scraper I have ever seen. 
 
 T 
 
 Most of these tools have received very little artificial treatment in their 
 manufacture. In fact, they are almost invariably made as follows : ary 
 flat pebble which is likely to split as desired and thus yield easily suit- 
 
 Fig. J 8. 
 
 able material for the intended t-craper is secured up between two .stones 
 on the ground and then split asunder by vigorously throwing a large 
 stone on its upper end. The half which best answers the purpose in 
 

 
 1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 61 
 
 view is then trimmed to the proper shape by chipping off any too 
 prominent asperities, or blun*^'ng the edges, should these prove too sharp. 
 
 The scraper is finally hafted, as shown herewith, by inserting it in the 
 cleft end of any stick at hand ^ver which a rope or buck line is secunjly 
 lashed. This hafting is but temporary, as the stone part only ot the 
 implement is usually kept aniong the family chattels. 
 
 To the unthinking reader unmindful of the straits to which man may 
 be reduced in the absf^nre of the proper material and while too hard 
 pressed by more urgent needs to look for it, the above (Fig. i8) might 
 not be more than a useless piece of quartzite. But an experienced 
 architologist will not fail to detect therein uiiipistakable signs of human 
 handiwork, and its fine, if somewhat serrated edge will at once suggest 
 that it did formerly duty as a cutting tool. It is a salmon knife, which 
 served first to rip the fish open, and then to cut longitudinal furrows 
 through its i1«s1j previous to exposing it to the action of the air. 
 The large flaking noticPible near its blunt end is not accidental, but 
 served as a grip for the ti. amb, while the index and medius fin-jjcrs rested 
 respectively on the back or thick side and on the reverse sur ace of the 
 implement. 
 
 if'I 
 
 •H 
 
 '\i^ 
 
 !'.r 
 
 Fig. 19. Fig. 20. 
 
 Figs, ig and 20 represent stone knive;,* of different pattern and 
 use. They are skinning knives and their material is augite-porphyrite. 
 
 ■I 
 
 •The t^airier «onl for "knife" is the same as tiiat for " iron," viz,, pzthih in Upper Carrier 
 and >lhh in Lower Carrier. 
 
52 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN 1M8TITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 Both are drawn n/jtural size and their cutting edge is at the fore-end. 
 Knive fig. 19 was used without handle, but fig. 20 was hafted to a short 
 stick as is manifest from the side notches discernible therein. The 
 identity of these instruments is beyond the possibility of a doubt, as it 
 has been established by the testimony of an old Indian who used him- 
 self similar knives in his youth when no better ones were obtainable. 
 
 The most serviceable and therefore most highly priced working or 
 carving knives in use among the prehistoric D^n^s were nothing more 
 or less than beaver teeth sharpened when necessary, by friction on a 
 hard stone. But owing to the perishable nature of the material, none 
 is now available for illustration. The only stone carving knife which has 
 ever fallen under my observation is that herewith figured (fig. 21). I be- 
 lieve it to be of genuine black flint. The cutting edge is at a and it is still 
 very keen. Notches at d and c, though slight enough, appear neverthe- 
 less to be quite intentional, and were it not for the symmetrical rounding 
 ofif of the broadest end, they would suggest a double handle as the 
 original means of facilitating work therewith. The Indians neither 
 account for these notches, nor satisfactorily explain the mode of handling 
 the knife. 
 
 }4 size. 
 
 yi size. 
 
 Fig. 22, represents a picece of broken object the original use of which 
 is likewise problematic. It is of a variety of green marble variegated 
 with yellow and rusty red. The broadest end has been thinned to a dull 
 edge and, except where it shows signs of accidental breakage, it has 
 received an exceedingly fine polish. Indeed, though ii has been found 
 here, at Stuart's Lake, I believe it far too skillfully finished to be of 
 D^n^ manufacture. It must have been imported from the Coast. But 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON TIIK WESIERN D^Nfe. 
 
 53 
 
 what renders this relic particularly remarkable is the presence of the 
 very fine grooves noticeable on each of its three unthinned edges, two 
 only of which appear in the cut above, the third being on the reverse 
 of the implement. This peculiarity, while rendering the identification of 
 the find more difficult, suggests a similarity of form though certainly not 
 of use, with an implement formerly common among the Carriers under 
 the name of azih, " it grinds through." It consisted of two stone tablets 
 can-f^iUy polished at least on one side so is to permit of dieir being 
 closely joined together. In the middle of their polished surfaces was a 
 groove obtained probably by pecking, not friction, which when both 
 tablets were superposed formed a cylindrical hole through which gam- 
 bling sticks, arrow shafts, etc., were repeatedly passed and thereby g'ven 
 an exquisite finish. None of these implements is now extant. 'I'hey 
 were the equivalent of the wooden wrenches used by the Hupas under 
 similar circumstances. 
 
 :-E? 
 
 Weapons of War and of the Chase. 
 
 Prominent among these were, of ;i)urse the arrow,* and its correlative 
 the bow.f 
 
 The arrow heads J of the m D<^nes were either of stone, of bone 
 
 or horn, or of wood. The forrii, no less than the material, of tlv stone 
 arrow points greatly differed. In fiy. 2"? ill be t(_)und si)eciii: ii> repres- 
 entative of the most common patterns. Many of them are quite 
 diminutive in proportions, and would seem iw partake ni re of the nature 
 of play-things than of that of the deadly weapons they undoubtedly were. 
 As regards shape, those marked a and b may be described a tlu typical 
 arrow-points of the Western Denes. In common witn specimen c, whose 
 main peculiarity is the absence of one of the usual side notches, they are 
 of a blackish resonant rock which I long mistook for a variety of flint, 
 but which Dr. G. M. Dawson declares to be a very fine -ained augite- 
 porphyrlie. The Carriers call this stone pts, anc' one of the i6 
 
 varieties of rocks known to their vocabulary. They used it in the making 
 of the largest number of their missile weapons, arrows, spears, etc. It is 
 but right to remark here that the point a is so much larger than most 
 genuine Ddne arrow heads, that some Indians claim it was a bow, not an 
 arrow point. Of the bow points further mention will soon be made. 
 
 *'A'f(J, prim. root. 
 
 + y/////. Sinj;ul.Tily enougli llie Cirricrs have .i olleclive ni\me for bow and arrow t'.Ken to- 
 gether. This is ' Kia-zxa. 
 X l^^nlai, secoiul. root. 
 
64 TIIANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN IN8T1TUTR. [VoL. IV. 
 
 A less common and more valued material, called n^/re in Carrier, is 
 the obsidian of which the arrow-poinL marked d h formed. Such points 
 are generally very small, e represents the most beautiful of all the arrow 
 heads in my possession. It has been ingeniously chipped of a hard 
 crystalline rock identified by Dr. Dawson as smoky quartz. Its form and 
 
 finish display evidences of exceptionally good workmanship, too good in 
 fact to be Ddne ; and I cannot 1 'Ip supposing that it must be some relic 
 left among the Carriers by somi ast warrior after one of those many 
 conflicts recorded in the traditions of the old men. Other points, such 
 as those labelled /, /i, are of a species of translucent vitreous rock which 
 probably does not essentially diflfer from that of specimen e. 
 
 That marked /i is remarkable for the absence of both notches. It is 
 long, narrow, and so thick that but for its intentionally thinned edges it 
 might be taken for a drill point. A few arrow heads as that marked g- 
 are of chalcedony, fsi'-lkrai (stone-whitish) They are as a rule of a 
 rather rude description. 
 
 All the above are drawn full size. Specimens d and /', when seen 
 otherwise than on paper, appear very sinall and tiny indeed. Yet it 
 would be erroneous to suppose them to be mere anomalies or exceptions. 
 Judging from the number of D^n^ arrow heads in my collection, such 
 diminutive implements form at least one quarter of all the arrow heads 
 now extant. 
 
Hi92-93.] 
 
 NOTES UN THE WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 65 
 
 Lastly, a few points are of a black, very hard and fine-grained stone, 
 differing from the material of all the arrow heads already described. 
 Such is that marked j. It is the only one of that description which I 
 have ever seen. It is blunt-tipped, and \ ith hardly any edge or sign of 
 flaking. It has the exact appearance of an implement very much the 
 worse for wear. 
 
 There are to-day no well-authenticated Western D^n6 arrow-heads of 
 bone or ivory in existence. Their tip was not pointed like that of the 
 stone weapons. They were mere beaver teeth in their natural state 
 secured co a shaft. Some of these were also of the root part of the cari- 
 boo's antlers, and both bone and liorn arrow-tips were considered 
 exceptiona'ly effective. 
 
 I n, 
 
 ^ 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 !«■ 25- 
 
 In Figs. 24 and 25 I have .. ed to illustrate the modes of v,onnecting 
 the stone points with the shaft, as formerly practised by our aborigines- 
 Sometimes the shaft was simply cleft open to receive the point (Fig. 24), 
 and sometimes it was slit at the end as in Fig. 25. In either case, point 
 and shank were firmly fastened together with sinew and pitch. The forc- 
 shalts used along with the arrows of some American races were unknown 
 here. 
 
 The shaft* of the Western D^ne arrows was invariably of seasoned 
 amelanchier (A. alnifolia) wood. As partially visible in Fig. 25, delicate 
 grooves, one on ^ach opposite side, ran through the shank of the weapon 
 and were inteni.ctl to facilitate the detection of the game when it had 
 been only v, ounded. The blood issuing from the wound, by wowing 
 
 Kas, a immary root. 
 
C6 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OP THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 freely through these grooves, dropped on the snow or bare ground in a 
 less-scatterc^ condition, thus aiding the hunter in tracking the animal 
 ere it was fii ai y dispatched. 
 
 Fig. 26. 
 
 Fig. 26 gives a fair idea of a Carrier arrow ready for use. As may be 
 seen, the feathering is triple. The tips only of the feather quills are fast- 
 ened to the shaft. Sinew and pitch were res|oi-ed to in order to secure 
 the part of the quills adhering to the shaft end, while sinew alone generally 
 sufficed to fasten the lar.^jer or root end of the feathers. 
 
 A variety of arrow* which was entirely of amelanchier wood with- 
 out stone or bone point or shaft grooves did service in connection with 
 tarj^et practice or one of the games which shall be described further on. 
 (Chap. VI.) 
 
 The Ts^'k^hne, who to this day live almost entirely on the spoils of 
 the chase, formerly far excelled the Carriers in the manufacture and 
 use of hunting weapons. Some of these, which were indeed in actual 
 use among the Carriers, were nevertheless of undisputed Ts^'k^hne 
 origin. Such were the " cut arrow," the triple headed arrow and the 
 blunt arrow. 
 
 I'ly. 27. 
 
 The "cut-arrow " {^kra-tc3n-kwJi, lit. " arrow-stick-cut off") was so called 
 on account of its peculiar shape (fig. 27). Its point was made of a 
 cariboo horn and " was awl-like in i^rva. Its broader extremity was 
 hollowed out to receive a wooden shaft which served to dart it off from the 
 bow as a common arrow, with this difference however that, when in 
 motion, the horn point detached itself from the shaft. This projectile 
 was deadly, and intended only for use against a human enemy or for 
 killing large gamc."t 
 
 Fi{j. 28. 
 To shoot smaller game they had recourse either to the triple headed 
 
 *'kc-squh, verb, noun, meaning as far as it can be ^ranslate(l : "it shoots in as far as the 
 feathering. " 
 + The Western DenAi, etc. Proo. Can. Inst., Vol. vii., p. 140. 
 
18!)2-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WKSTEKN D^N^S. 
 
 57 
 
 arrow shown in fig. 28, or to a wooden blunt arrow (fig. 29). The former* 
 consisted of three flat pieces of bone, or more generally horn, cut trans- 
 versely at their broadest extremity and fastened to the shaft through 
 their smaller end and sides by strong sinew threads. It did good service 
 even against large animals, and it is not more than 40 years since it has 
 entirely fallen into disuse. 
 
 Fig. 29. . 
 
 The latterf has been drawn from a specimen obtained from a Ts(^-'k^hne 
 who, in common with the majority of his fellow huntsmen, to this day 
 finds this simple and primitive looking projectile invaluable against 
 grouse, rabbits, etc. 
 
 Even such an apparently insigni'icant act as that of releasing the 
 arrow while shooting has been analy; ed so as to yield modern scientists 
 material for ethnic divisions. Professor Mor.se thus clas.ses the different 
 methods in vogue among American, European or Asiatic archers : — 
 
 (i) Primary. — The notch of the arrow is grasped between the end of 
 the straightened thumb and the first and second joints of the bent fore- 
 finger. It is practised by children generally, and by the Ainos, Dema- 
 raras, Utes, Micmacs, etc. 
 
 (2) Secoftdary. — The notch of the arrow is grasped with the straight- 
 ened thumb and bent fore-finger ; while the ends of the second and 
 third 'ingers are brought to bear on the string to assist in drawing. 
 Practised by the Zunis, Ottawas, etc. 
 
 (3) Tertiary- Tn this release the forefinger, instead of being bent, is 
 nearly str light with its tip as well as the tips of the second and third 
 fingers, pressing or pulling on the string, the thumb, as in the primary 
 and secondary release, active in assisting in pinching the arrow and pull- 
 ing it back. It is practised by Siou.x, Arapahos, Cheyennes, Assini- 
 boins, Comanches, Crows, Blackfeet, Navajos, Siamese, Great 
 Andamanese. 
 
 (4) Mediterranean. — The string is drawn back with the tips of the first, 
 second and third fingers, the balls of the fingers clinging to the string 
 with the terminal joints of the lingers slightly flexed. The arrow is 
 lightly held between the first and .second fingf^rs, the thumb straight and 
 incictive. Practised by nations around the Mediterrarvean, by modern 
 
 • Ta'BLWH, second, root. 
 + This., prim. root. 
 
 5 
 
 
fid 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 IVOL. IV, 
 
 archers, Flemisli (using first and second fingers only), Eskimos, Little 
 Andamese. 
 
 (S) Mongolian. — In this release the string is drawn by the flexed 
 thumb bent over the string, the end of the forefinger assisting in holding 
 the thumb in position. The thumb is protected by a guard of some 
 kind. It is practised by Manchus, Chinese, Coreans, Japanese, '1 urks 
 and Persians* 
 
 Our Carriers followed the first or primary method of arrow release, 
 while the Ts^'kdhne conformed to the fourth or Meditterrancan. I am 
 not acquainted with that in vogue among the prehistoric Tsi[Koh'tiii. 
 The above details are given to show to what advantage even the slight- 
 est difierences in the performance of an act common to all primitive 
 peoples can be turned by the acute observer and reflecting scientist. 
 
 Although the scope of this paper, to be consistent with its heading,^ 
 should be restricted to stone implements, I feel that I cannot well separ- 
 ate bows from arrows in my treatment of the weapons of the chase. As 
 far as my information goes, three varieties of bows, exclusive of cross- 
 bows, obtained among the Western D6n^s. Of these two were proper to- 
 the Ts^'k^hne, and the third to the Carriers and probably the TsiiKoh'tin 
 as well. 
 
 fig. 30. 
 
 The regular hunting or war bow of the Ts^'k^hne was of mountain 
 maple {Acer g/nbrum, Tow.) and five feet and a half or more in length. 
 The edges, both inner and outer, were smoothened over so as to permit 
 of strips of unplaited sinew being twisted around to ensure therefor the 
 necessary strength. These pieces of sinew were fastened on with a glue 
 obtained from the sturgeon sound, which also did service for all kinds of 
 gluing purposes among each of the three tribes, while still in their pre- 
 historic period. The central part of the bow, which was so thick a^ to 
 appear almost rectangular, was finally covered with a tissue of differently- 
 tinged porcupine quills. 
 
 Great care was taken to obtain a bow-string impermeable to snow and 
 rain. With this object in view, delicate threads of sinew were twisted 
 together and afterwards rubbed over with sturgeon glue. This first 
 string was then gradually strengthened by additional sinew threads 
 twisted round the first and main cord, each pverlaying of sinew being 
 
 ' ."See AiUhroi>oUnjy in 1886, by C. T. Mason, p. 538. 
 
1892-y3,] 
 
 N0TK8 ON THE WESTKKN D^NlilS. 
 
 59 
 
 thoroughly saturated with glue. Finally when the string had attained a 
 sufficient thickness for efficient service, it was repeatedly rubbed over 
 with the gum of the black pine {Abies balsamea). 
 
 F'B- 3«- 
 
 A less elaborate bow (Fig. 31) is still to this very day in use among 
 the Ts^'k^hne in connection with the blunt arrow already mentioned. It 
 is of seasoned willow {Sa/ix loitgi/olia), and being devoid of any sinew 
 backing or other strengthening device, its edges are more angular than 
 those of Fig. 30. Its string consists merely of a double line of cariboo 
 skin slightly twisted together. The specimen figured above measures 
 four feet ten inches. 
 
 Fig. 32- 
 The Carrier bow was never much more than four feet in length, and 
 the wooden part of it was invariably juniper (/. occidentalis). Instead 
 of being twisted around as in the Ts^'kehne bow, the shreds of sinew 
 were glued on the back after the fashion of the Eskimo bow, with this 
 difference, however, that in the Carrier weapon the sinew was not plaited. 
 When a layer of thin sinew strips had been fastened lengthwise on the 
 entire back of the bow, it was allowed to dry, after which others were 
 successively added until the desired strength had been obtained. A 
 process analogous to that whereby the Ts^'k^hne bow-string was made 
 was followed in cording the string of the Carrier bow. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to remark that both of the aforesaid war and 
 hunting bows disappeared almost simultaneously with the establishment 
 of the North- West Company's posts throughout Western Den^ territory. 
 However, it may be said that as late as 60 years ago fire-arms were still 
 desiderata among the poorest class of Aborigines. 
 
 ■ Here is a Ts^'k^hne crossbow* of modern manufacture. It does duty 
 against small game or for target practice, and is also used by children as a 
 plaything. Although the old men assure me that they have always seen 
 such weapons among their fellow huntsmen, I cannot believe that cross- 
 bows were known to the original T.s^'k^hne. It is much more probable 
 that they have been derived from the bs^nd of Iroquois established in 
 close proximity to the territory of the Beaver Indians. My purpose in 
 
 m 
 
 '•I'i 
 
 1 
 
 
 * TVkii t, "tliat which ilarls off," in Tsc'kehne. 
 
60 
 
 TRANHACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN IN8TITIITK. 
 
 [Vo. IV. 
 
 mentioning them here is to show that the faculty of self appropriation 
 and adaptiveness which more particularly characterizes the Carrier mind, 
 
 Fig- 33- 
 is, to some extent, shared in even by the Ts^'k^hne tribe which to this 
 day has little reason to boast of its material progress. 
 
 A detail which it may also be worth noting is the mode of holding tin: 
 bow while shooting. The Carriers, who almost invariably knelt while 
 shooting, held it in a horizontal position, while the Ts^'k^hne used it 
 perpendicularly, one end of the weapon resting on the ground. 
 
 To return to stone implements. Besides the arms already described 
 the Western Ddnes had recourse, when on the offensive, to five other 
 varieties of weapons; the spear, the dagger, the war club, the temple- 
 lancet or skull- cracker, and what might be termed the counterpart of the 
 modern bayonet. 
 
 This latter arm was called dithi'-la-dtnai* which may be freely 
 translated " fixed at the end of the bow." Its name explains its nature. 
 It was brought into requisition by the warrior or the hunter when too 
 closely pressed by the enemy to shoot, and was used as a spear. Such 
 points were of identical material with that of arrow-heads, a, h and c, fig. 
 23, and were chipped to the shape of figs. 34 and 35. The latter point 
 is rather ruder in appearance than the average bow-points. Indeed from 
 
 •Lit. " bow-end-appended to ; " plural. ?/Mi-/a-<//'«/o, a verbal noun. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON Tlie WESTERN Dl':Nli;8. 
 
 61 
 
 the cut giving a side view of it, it would seem that it had been left un- 
 finished. These weapons were inserted in a slit at one end of the bow 
 
 Fig. 34- fig- 35- 
 
 (fig. 32) and securely fastened therein with pitch inside and pitch and 
 sinew outside. 
 
 Fig. 36, J she. 
 
 ! ,'.'-i 
 
 Fig. 37. size. 
 
62 
 
 TRAXSAOTIOKH or THB CAVADlAN INSTITUTB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 The spear heads * in nowise differed from tlie bow-points, save perhaps 
 that they were generally larger in proportions and narrower at the base. 
 Herewith arc shown representative specimens. Fig. 37 is, by exception, 
 of felspathic slate. Its shape and make would suggest to the archa:clogist 
 a comparison with the laurel leaf points of the so-called Solutrian epoch. 
 It is drawn full size. One of its surfaces shows hardly any trace of 
 flaking and almo.st perfectly flat. 
 
 In fig. 38 we have a type of a very different description. It lacks the 
 exquisite finish of the preceding and is double-pointed, so that the base 
 is not easily distinguished from the tip. As may be seen from the out- 
 lines of its side, its shape is far from elegant. 
 
 Kig. 38- 
 
 Vk- 39- 
 
 If 
 
 All of these spear heads were hafted to a pole five or six feet lon;^ 
 pretty much after the mode of connecting the arrow heads with their 
 shaft. 
 
 *The heais of these and all missile weapons are called luUttaV, The spear, shall and point, 
 is named in Carrier s»n-(A»z, or " hook -staff." 
 
 ii 
 
1892-9:i.] 
 
 NOTBS OS THB WESTKRN DI^NKM. 
 
 68 
 
 To all appearances, the stf)nc daggers* of llic prehistoric Doiitl's were 
 distinguished from their spuMs by two peculiarities : the shortness of the 
 handle and the greater dimensions of the blade. I would call the 
 attention of antiquarians to the size, shape and fiiiisl- of the above 
 illustrated dagger blade (fig. 39). Although evidently broken off at 
 the tip end, it is still fully Xj^ inches in length and 3 inches in width. 
 Yet it is not more than 'jj of an inch in its greatest thickness. It has 
 been chipped off to an almost perfectly flat surface, the flakes being as in 
 the Solutrian implements remarkably large and shaving-like. Neverthe- 
 less this exquisite relic of prehistoric workmanship has been found, not in 
 the cavern of Solutrti, but scarcely two hundred yards from where these 
 lines are written. I may add that it was found on the surface of the 
 groundf and is of exactly the same material as the great majority of 
 D6n6 arrow heads. 
 
 The Dend dagger was carried about hanging from the belt through a 
 a leather thong, as is now done with its modern substitute, the steel 
 poniard. 
 
 kt 
 
 n 
 
 ;f 
 
 
 ( 
 
 F'il- 40. '4 size. 
 
 * Metyal, seconil cat. 
 
 t'l'lie fort!{;oiii}j liad been written for some time when I came across the foUowinfj |a-;siLje of 
 Mr. IJ. lioyle's Archwoiogical Report for 1891 (p. 10) wiiicli I liad overloolietl in the ha .;e of the 
 first reading : " While many specimens (especially flaked ones) found in different parts of the 
 province, may lie classed as palieoliths, they have, up to the present lime always been lound 
 associated in such a way wi'h neoliihs iliat it is impossible to desiijnato them as po'icoliths nith 
 any degree of certainty. 1-eaf-shaped "flints" have been picked up that are quite as nulely 
 formed as any from the deepest stalagmite deposits of Kurope, but never in sitcritions to suggest 
 that they are other than rough-hewn tools or weapons, which, as such liad a purpose in the 
 economy of people who are capable of producing better things. Until wj find specimens o( this 
 kino, as Dr. Ablxit found them in the Trenton gravels, or in some siiuations isolated from all 
 others, or distinct as to materi.d or coating from specimens of a superior quality in the same 
 neighbourhootl, we shall not be warranted in making any distinction relative to time of possible 
 protluction." It is gratifying to hear of would-be palseoliths being found even in Kasteni Canada 
 alongside with neoliihs, for this coincidence appears to me a confirmation of the opinion that, in 
 America at least, these divergences of type are suggestive less of distinct epochs than of unequal 
 skill in the craftsmen, or possibly ethnic dilTerence in the- race, that produced them. I am 
 persuade<l that had Sir. A. Mackenzie e.xamiued with the care of an antiquarian the arms of the 
 Western Denes whom he met one hundred years ago, he would have found both styles co-existing 
 among them. 
 
a 
 
 TKAN8ACTION8 OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 Apart from the above mis.sile and cutting arms, the Carriers ani! 
 Babines possessed two other offensive weapons of stone, which they 
 called respectively, 10/ and th^l't3\^. 
 
 The first is the war club of which at lea.st two differeiit /pes existed. 
 
 Fig. 40 is a club of a grayish basaltic rock which has 
 .^een treated to a partial polish only, as its surface '\% 
 naturally smooth, A variety of tlie same was of bone, 
 or more generally of cariboo horn. Its shape and use 
 \\(iyQ identical, but its length was about double that of 
 the stone weapon. Fig. 41 represents a club of a different 
 and perhaps more common pattern. It is of carefully 
 pecked granite, and though the specimen ilhi.strated is 
 imperfect, the base and knob being wanting, I have had 
 no difficulty in reconstituting it to its original form after 
 other similar weapons I have seen in several parts of 
 our district. To the knob at the small end was 
 fastened a buckskin line ivhich, being firmly wound 
 around the wrist and hand of the warrior, ensured the 
 safe keeping of the weapon amidst the excitement of 
 the fray. 
 
 V 
 
 Kig. 41. 
 
 The skull-crackers," vulgarly called "tommy-sticks," of the plain In- 
 dians of the North- West Territories, are well-knovvn even to otiieis than 
 archa.'ologists. I have never suspected their presence among the ances- 
 tors of our present Dent.^ population west of the Rockies until last year, 
 when the example (fig. 42) was found in Hwotsu'tin territory. It came ;is 
 a revelation upon the Carriers, none of whom was found who could do 
 more than guess its use. It is somewhat peculiar in appearance, and it.-i 
 groove is but rudely and irregularly formed. 
 
 
 
 
 ^ >b'- 4.V Yi '■iJie- 
 
 The innocent-looking little piece of jwrtly pOished stone designed in 
 fig. 43 was, in the hands of a Habine Indian, a rather treacherous 
 weapon. It is the temple-lancet or skull-cracker '* referred to above. 
 After it had been secureh' hafted to a wcoden handle three or four feet 
 
 * Tii^rinu 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTEKN DENlilS. 
 
 65 
 
 long, stone lancet and handle forming, when connected, a scythe-like 
 implement, the waiTior — or indeed assassin, as the case may have been — 
 struck therewith his victim on the temp ?, oftentimes thus causing instant 
 death. 
 
 Before bringing' to a close this chapter devoted to stone implements, it 
 may not be amiss to say a word concerning the art of stone chipping as 
 practised by the prehistoric Dt^ncs. I remember having read in a publi- 
 cation emanating from a learned society, m elaborate dissertation on 
 this subject wherein the author took great pains to elucidate difficulties 
 ivhich to me appeared to be mainly of his own making. It may bt* that 
 the rules of the craft varied with the localities and the material em- 
 ployed ; but here, among the Wl ^tern Denies, there was no great mystery 
 about the operation. 
 
 The material chosen in preference to fashion arrow or spear heads with 
 was loose, broken pieces of the rock such as were found on the surface. 
 Of course these were confirmed to a few localities only, wherein were 
 situated sorts of quarries which were very jealously guarded against any 
 person, even of the same tribe, whose right to a share in their contents 
 was not fully established. A violation of this traditional law was often 
 considered a casus belli between tlie co-clansmen of the trespasser and 
 those of the proprietors of the quarry. 
 
 The first operation consisted in roughly blocking off wit^h a hard stone 
 the pieces of the flint, the removal of which was necessary to obtain 
 
 a vague resemblance to the intended 
 weapon. Then grasping the flint length- 
 wise with the closed fingers of the left 
 hand (fig. 44), the arrow-smith carefully 
 pressed ofl" the flakes with an elongated 
 stone held in his riyht hand, until the 
 desired form and finish were obtained. 
 V'k- 44- A piece of buckskin served as a pad 
 
 to protect the hand against the asperities of the point. 
 
 I owe the.se details to an old chief who has been an eye-witness to the 
 operation. I should add that in not a few cases a moose molar tooth 
 replaced the long chipping .stone. I know also of a very few points the 
 sharp edges of which have been polished off by friction. 
 
 ;i 
 
 
I - 
 
 
 «6 
 
 TRA»8.\CTI0SS OF THB CANADIAN ISSTrTlJTR. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Bone and IIorx Implemlnts. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 Several bone or horn objects formerly in use amon^ the Western 
 Den^s have already been mentioned in connection with stone implements 
 of congenerous nature. As they were tnostly weapons or working tools 
 which have long been replaced by iron or steel substitutes, few of them 
 could be illustrated from e.visting specimens. Such as will 
 be found described in the present chapter are, however, 
 still largely used by the natives, even of the Carrier 
 tribe. 
 
 They are, with few exceptions, industrial implements. 
 Among those which serve in connection with hunting or 
 trapping, one of the most conspicuous is the tsa u-thej 
 (beaver-medicine-recipient, or castoreuin bottle). As will 
 be seen further on, this same vessel is of birch bark 
 riijong the Carriers. But the Ts6'k(!;hne, who are essen- 
 tially huntsmen and whose country abounds in large game, 
 make it out of a cariboo horn, and adurn (?) it with such 
 BVi \a primitive designs as may be noticed in fig. 45. Therein 
 the trapper keeps the castoreum which he dilutes either 
 on the steel trap, or in the mud contiguous thereto, in order 
 tig. 45- to decoy the beaver into its ultimate capture. 
 
 Of course this mode of trapping is practicable only during the spring 
 or summer months. In the winter, beaver is sought after with nets set 
 in holes cut in the ice a short distance from the rodent's habitation and 
 store. I have elsewhere given an account of this winter trapping which 
 will, perhaps, bear reproduction here. "Once they have found his [the 
 beaver's] lodge, an indispensable preliminary to secure his capture is to 
 discover the exact location of hi;} path or trail under ice. It appears 
 that he follows well marked routes when swimming from, or returning to 
 his winter quarters. These our D^n^s easily find out by sounding the 
 ice in different directions with cariboo horn.s. Their well exercised ears 
 readily discover by a peculiar resonance of the ice where the rodent's 
 usual path lies. So, at a given point, they cut a hole wherein thej' set 
 their babiche beaver net,"* taking care to plant at a short distance a 
 
 •"The Weslerii Dene»," etc, Proc. Can. InM. vol. vii., p. 131. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WK9TKKN D^;Nfe. 
 
 67 
 
 Stick the upper end of which is provided with little bells— the counter- 
 part of the beaver nails and pebbles which did duty in prehistoric years. 
 To this upright stick the side ropes of the net are attached in such a 
 way as to be ready for use when the <,'ame is to be ensnared. " 'J'hen 
 the hunter (should I not say fisher?) proceeds to demolish the beaver'.s 
 lodge, in order to drive him off. Should the game not be found there 
 the same operation is repeated at his adjoining provision store. When 
 the undulations of the water tell of his presence therein, he is fright- 
 ened away to where the net is .set. Supposing that the beaver is .swifter 
 than his hunter and reaches the net before the latter, the efforts he will 
 make to extricate himself therefrom will agitate the small bells before 
 mentioned, and the hunter will immediately make for the hole and draw 
 him out before he has time to cut himself clear of the net."* 
 
 
 Fig. 40. 
 
 Fig. 46 represents the t/tas, a bone device indispensable to the efficiency 
 of the beaver net. It is attached to the end of the net which is laid out 
 at the opening in the ice wherein it float? on the water. The side strings 
 of the net are passed through the centre hole of the bone piece (mas) 
 and thence connected with the little bells at the top of the outstanding 
 stick, so that by pulling them up, the farthest end of the net, which is 
 under ice, will be drawn back to where the mas is secured, and thereby 
 the game will be bagged, as it were, and speedily killed on the ice. 
 These bone pieces affect divers forms, several of which are symbolical. 
 Thus the mas shown above, is intended to represent ;. beaver. It will 
 be remarked that the design is highly conventionahzed. Yet, even a 
 child (of Ditn6 parentage, of course) will recognize at once its significance- 
 Barbed harpoons t such as those shown in the accompanying figures 
 are resorted to when the Dtin^ is out beaver hunting — not trapping or 
 snaring, — that is in such cases as when the beaver is met with free of any 
 trap or net. Until a short time ago those beaver harpoons were made 
 of cariboo horn ; but to-day implements of identical shape wrought out 
 of steel files or pieces of iron have almost entirely superseded the 
 
 */6id, p. 132. 
 
 f^/at't»n, "lip or l)arb-bone." 
 
 
 4if 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 
il 
 
 68 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THS CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 original horn weapon. To-day, as formerly, they are securely fastened 
 to a handle three or four feet long, wherewith they are launched at the 
 
 ^■'K- 47- }i size. 
 
 game much as would be done with a regular lance. The shaft is 
 intended to secure greater impetus and efficiency to the weapon. The 
 specimen illustrated by fig. 47 is a find, and is therefore more ancient 
 
 - n 
 
 Fig. 48. yi size. 
 
 than that shown in fig. 48 which is quite modern. A comparison 
 between these implements and those of similar intent in use among 
 widely different races of Indians all over North America cannot fail to 
 elicit the remark that the same needs create the same means. * 
 
 In the act of dressing hides several bone or horn implements are still 
 used among the Western D^ntis. These are the fai-scraper, the hair- 
 scraper, the bone-awl, and the skin-scraper. 
 
 ^\ 49- 
 
 The firstf is made of a split cariboo horn (fig. 49) and, as its name 
 indicates, it serves to scrape off the fat adhering to the fresh skin. This 
 fat is received in the concave part of the implement and thence t»-ans- 
 ferred to a bark vessel clo.se by. In the form above delineated, it is more 
 of a Ts^'kchne than of a Carrier tool, and as such it docs service more 
 particularly in the treatment of marmot {Arctomys mounx and caligatus) 
 and wild goat {Aploceriis montaiuis) skins. 
 
 The Carrier equivalent therefor generally consists of the socket end 
 of the shoulder blade of the cariboo, left almost in its natural state. 
 
 * See fi.v.a. Rep. Cnnad. Inst. i888, \>. 58, figs. 100, loi. 
 
 i Pe-tfia-)lzo, "wherewith the Hcsh-side Is scraped " (of a liquid or fat substance): fourth 
 category ot nouns. 
 
18D2-93.1 
 
 NOTES CN TIIK WKSTKHN DiilN^S. 
 
 61) 
 
 This implement is used in connection with grease or fat scraping of any 
 description. 
 
 Once the hide has been freed of most of its fat and blood, it is soaked 
 in cold, and then in warm, watei, after which one of its extremities is 
 lashed up around the smaller end of a stout pole leaning on any kind of 
 support, a wall, a fence, etc The hair is then removed by energetic 
 action on the skin hanging down over the pole with a scraper * formed 
 of the tibia of a cariboo (fig. 50). Hy reason of the peculiar tenacity of 
 the hair, moose skins arc now operated on with a short curved steel knife. 
 But the bone instrument shown above is still very extensively employed 
 in connection with any other kind of hair scraping. 
 
 After having been thoroughly rubbed with the brain of the animal, its 
 skin is next extended within a wooden frame as is practised by most 
 tribes of Aborigines. The holes near the edges through which the line 
 
 Fi;,'. 51. 
 
 which fastens it to the frame is passed, were formerly and arc still in some 
 localities, pierced with bone awls "f* identical in form and material with 
 those occasionally found in mounds. They are of the fibula bone of the 
 cariboo, or, as in fig. 52, of the black bear. The latter are more common 
 among the Tsi[Koh'tin. In times past such awls were resorted to when- 
 ever any skin or bark perforations, such as are incident to the art of 
 canoe building or sewing bark vessels, were found necessary. They are 
 now obsolete, steel having almost entirely repKiccd bone in the fabrica- 
 tion of any such tools. Yet the specimens illustrated above were in u.se 
 among the Carriers and the TsilKoh'tin immediately prior to their being 
 given me. 
 
 II 
 
 • /'e-na-f/t/t', " wlierewilh one scrapes off" {i.f., hnir) ; fourth category. 
 •^Shift-ts^l, " kiiee-bone awl " j third category. 
 
70 
 
 THANSACriOSS OF TIIK CANADIAN IXSTITUI'E. 
 
 i:: 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 The object in view while spreading the skin in its wooden frame is to 
 remove its " mack " or inner cutic' ?. This is accomplished by means of 
 bone scrapers * which are every where essentially the same, but whose 
 form or even material varies accordinij to the tribe by which they are used. 
 
 •"'«■ 53- Vi size. 
 
 Thus the TsijKoh'tin scraper (Fig. 5.3) is of bear bone and wedge-like 
 in form. The skin wrapping shown in the cut is quite often wanting. 
 
 t'g- 54- /4 size. 
 
 The Carrier scraper (Fig. 54) is of cariboo bone and shaped somewhat 
 like a chisel. Its main peculiarity consists in the teeth cut in its edge to 
 prevent its slipping too easily over the skin and ensure better gripping 
 power. Identical implements are at times found as relics ol extinct 
 races in many parts of the northern American continent, and I still 
 remember how the perplexity as to their probable destination evi- 
 denced through the lines of an antiquarian, who some years ago was 
 describing one of them, brought home to me the advantages enjoyed, 
 even Irom an archaeological standpoint, by persons actually passing their 
 life among the aborigines. 
 
 ••"'e- 5S- }i size. 
 
 Amonjj the Tsii'kdhne the skin scrapers arc of cariboo horn, thinned 
 and reduced to the form of that delineated in fig. 55. A piece of buck- 
 skin wrapped around the end held in the hand facilitates the handling f>f 
 that rather awkward implem Mit. The serrated edge of the Carrier 
 scraper is also reproduced by the Ts^'kt^hne. Or indeed it is quite as 
 likely that the Cairiers have Ic-irncd this peculiarity from the Tsti'kehne, 
 who in their turn have borrowed it from the Crecs and other Algonquian 
 
 * 3tha-iihto3t, "it scrapes (by pecking) tlic fle.h siiie." 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTK8 OS THK WESTKRN DENIES. 
 
 71 
 
 tribes of the East, all of which observe it in making their skins crapers^ 
 while the Tsi[Koh'tin, who are the most distantly situated from theni» 
 seem to be ignorant of it. 
 
 All of these scrapers also do service in the process of skinning animals 
 as means of separating the hide from the flesh. 
 
 If we now pass from bone implements connected with hunting to such 
 as are laid under contribution as means of furthering the fishing 
 industry, we m;,iy note in tlic first place the ta-kn't* or fish harpoon (fig. 
 
 56), The cut renders a detailed description of it unnecessary. The only 
 wooden parts are the shaft and the socket, round which is wound the 
 skin line which fastens the two side-hooks of the harpoon, while it secures 
 in its proper place the middle prong. The hook pieces are fastened with 
 sinew. An archaeologist fond of comparisons cannot fail to notice the 
 resemblance of this weapon to its Eskimo equivalent such as illustrated 
 in fig. 453 of Dr. F. iioas' " The Central Eskimo, "f The ta-kr^t serves 
 to dart a large species of whitc-flcshed salmon (Oncorrynchiis c/iouic/ta, 
 VValbaum), calleJ kes by the Carriers and qes by the TsiiKoh'tin. Now- 
 adays these implements are mostly of iron or steel ; but their shape has 
 remained unaltered. 
 
 Kij;. 57. f size. 
 
 The TsijKoh'tin spear salmon with a harpoon of a totally different pat- 
 tern (fig. 57). It is double darted, and .so made that upon fastening in 
 the flesh of the fish, both darts detach themselves from the forked shaft to 
 
 ' n 
 
 • " l.ip-ilait," hy allusion to its mouth-like appearance. 
 + Sixth Ann. Kep. Hure.iu of Kthnology, 1884-85. 
 

 
 72 
 
 TKAMSACIIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 which they are secured by means of a plated raw-hide line. The whole 
 detachable points of this implement were originally of mountain sheep 
 horn ; but in modern specimens the tip is generally of iron and occasion- 
 ally of copper, the barbs only being of horn. 
 
 Both the Carrier and the TsiiKoh'tin harpoons are hafted to shafts 
 sometimes as much as 1 2 or 15 feet long, so as to render them serviceable 
 from the top of rocks or precipitous river banks emerging from the 
 rapids where that species of fish is wont to congregate. 
 
 Implements of that size are designed exclusively for salmon fishing. 
 For smaller fish, besides the nets, which will be described in their proper 
 place, the Carriers have recourse to a bone or steel harpoon of analogous 
 model with that of fig. 56, but reduced in dimensions and hafted to a 
 short handle. If in the winter time, bait is used as a means of attracting 
 the fish. Having cut in the ice a hole of sufficient diameter to ob.serve 
 the movements of the trout underneath, the Carrier drops and gently 
 
 Fij;. 58. 
 
 oscillates in the water bone imitations of Coregone fry (fig. 58), hanging 
 through a sinew line from a wood or bene piece held in the left hand. Upon 
 biting the bait, the fish is speedily speared with the above mentioned 
 harpoon. 
 
 Here (fig. 59) we have a fishing implement which, though of a rather 
 primitive style, yet requires but little explanation. The lancet or pin-like 
 part of the hook* only is of bone, while the shank is of wood. This 
 implement is drawn natural size. In remote localities, during hunting 
 expeditions away in the woods, it is found to this day very serviceable. 
 
 A fishing device less modern in appearance is shown in fig. 60. It is 
 called by the Carriers th^-sateil a word which cannot be better translated 
 than by "lying on the bottom," though the actual equivalent of that phrase 
 would be t/u'K-9sihaH. A very small fish is used as bait and fastened in 
 
 • Qfs ; prim. root. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 hOTES ON THE WESTERN DEN^M. 
 
 this wise to the implement ; the whole of the bone pin including the sinew 
 line to which it is attached is passed through the anal part of the fish 
 
 H),'. 60. 
 
 Fig- 59- 
 
 and then one-half of it is inserted lengthwise through the body of the 
 fish commencing from the point of initial insertion of the sinew line to 
 the head, after which the whole is dropped in the water and held as in 
 the case of the bone coregone bait. The larger fish, generally the loche 
 or turbot (^Lota maculosa) which is very voracious, overlooks the other 
 half of the implement left bare, and by gulping down the small fish 
 gives warning to the fisherman, who instantly pulls up the whole, thereby 
 sinking the bone pin in the gills of the large fish which is thus easily 
 secured. 
 
 As a rule, the small end bones of the loon's wings, or occasionally 
 even young beaver ribs, are the material chosen to make the two last 
 mentioned implements. The same probably served also to fabricate the 
 needles of the prehistoric D^n^s. But none of them is now extant, and 
 this may be a mere conjecture. 
 
 Before proceeding further, a word about the species of fishes more 
 extensively sought after by the Carriers and the TsijKoh'tin may not be 
 out of place. They are of course very numerous, but king among them 
 all is the salmon, and of the five species which are now known to ascend 
 their rivers, the suck-eye {Oncorhynchus nerka, Walbaum) or tha-llo* is 
 by far the most important either on account of its economic value or of 
 the prodigious numbers of its annual run. Next in abundance and 
 
 •"Water-fish." 
 
 6 
 
 m 
 
74 
 
 TKANRACTIONS OF THK CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol.. IV 
 
 I ; I I 
 
 1, ; :l 
 
 gliil 
 
 ll I' 
 
 r 
 
 hill 
 
 iiii 
 
 I'll 
 
 Importance as an article of diet is the large white flesh salmon or /■<.» 
 which has ahcady been mentioned. These two species are common to 
 most of the streams within Carrier, Babine and TsiiKoh'tin lerritor)-, 
 thouijh the latter avoids not a few minor tributaries of the large rivers. 
 One is particular to Habine lake and outlet — it is the hump-back salmon* 
 {O. gorhuscha, Walb.) It is not of much value. The two other species 
 thestli!\ and ta-tzd^X in Carrier are quite plentiful in such streams ;;.s. 
 discharge their waters through the Skeena river ; but according to local 
 observations they make their appearance in Stuart's Lake and immediate 
 outlet only when the ne.\t run of the tha-llo is to be extraordinarily large. 
 As far as I can judge the thestW is the O. keta of VValbaum, such as 
 described by Jordan and Gilbert ; § but I can find no specific name for 
 the ta-tz3R, whose native name is an exact translation of the scientific 
 word for all the Pacific Salmons : •V't"?, hook ; /^"rX''^t snout ; Carrier : 
 ta, snout (and lip) ; ts^R, hook. 
 
 To the above should be added the ^<W|| or land-locked salmon 
 {O. Kennerlyi), which is much appreciated by the native palate and 
 captured mainly with the help of fish traps or 'kuntzai. It is however 
 inferior in point of economic importance to the great lake trout {Salveli- 
 nus nainaycushf Walb.) called//^ by the Indians and which is extensively 
 sought after either during the autumn months or the cold season. In 
 the former case it is quite frequently dried and cured as the red salmon 
 or thai o. The other trouts to be found in D^n^ lakes or rivers are the 
 common trout {Salmo purpuratus, Pallas) and the bull trout {Salvelinits 
 inalina, Walb.) There are also two species of whitefish, the Coregonus 
 dupetformis (Mitch.) and the Coregonus quadrilateralis of Richardson, 
 which in some localities are caught in such large quantities that man> 
 housands are usually kept frozen lor use during the winter. 
 
 The above are, of course, the best fish available here. But as the child 
 of I he forest has not always the choice of his diet, he must more often 
 than once content himself with such carps or carpiodes, such suckers 
 or catastomidae as may chance to venture too near his drag-net. These 
 seldom fail him. Their name is legion, and I will not be so ra.sh as to 
 attempt a nomenclature of them. 
 
 * SDiiroil, a word which to a Den^ ear ap|)ears quite foreign. 
 t A noun of the second category. 
 t " Lip (and snout)-hook." 
 
 § Synopsis of the Fishes of North America by 1). S, Jordan and Ch. H. (iiibert, Washingion, 
 1882. 
 II Almost equivalent to "small kes" or white flesh salmon. 
 
 '!ii:| 
 
T 802-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WKHTERN DKNIilB. 
 
 76 
 
 I did not mention the sturgeon (Arcipenser transmontanus, IJichard- 
 son), because, although it is a welcome visitor to our lakes, its visits are 
 too rare and far between to entitle it to serious consideration in this 
 connection. It is caught in large meshed nets.* 
 
 To join the two extremes, I will add to the sturgeon, the largest of 
 our fresh water fishes, the thi'/m.fk,\ a very small fish which I think is not 
 known to Ichthyology. It frequents a few little lakes only, and is 
 taken with scoop-nets during the few mild days which usually interrupt 
 the severity of our winters. The quantity of that fish brought home 
 after one single afternoon's absence from the village is sometimes really 
 enormous. 
 
 To be < iinplete I should have noticed among bone implements serving 
 fishing or trapping purposes, the ^/e, J or ice-breaker. This is, however, 
 a mere pointed cariboo horn, which tends to disappear as a working tool, 
 being gradually replaced by a piece of iron or steel, whenever this can 
 be obtained. 
 
 There is a horn wedge which, even at the presetit day, serves to split 
 the slender rods of which are made the 'kuntsai or fish baskets, which 
 shall be described in the chapter devoted to wood implements. As in 
 most implements requiring hard material, cariboo horn is chosen tc 
 make these wedges. 
 
 Fig. 62. }( size. 
 
 The above figure requires no explanation. A glance at the horn ladle 
 
 • The Carrier name of the sturjjeon is le-tco, "big-fish." 
 
 t A root of the second citegory, the first syllable of which refers to the lake bottoms from 
 which these fishes seem to suddenly emerge. 
 
 X^U means " horn," and is used to designate even steel ice-breakers. The ancient name for 
 them is Izofltzii in Carrier which is evicL-iitly identical with the present tsoroltttii of the 
 Tsi|Koh'tin. 
 
 m 
 
 ' i^'i 
 
76 
 
 TRAN8A0T1ON8 OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. VI. 
 
 and spoon therein represented will show that our Western Dtfn^s' handi- 
 work is of a very poor grade indeed conriparcd with that of the elabor- 
 ately carved Haida, Tsimsian or Tlingit spoons. The only attempt at 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 ii i 
 
 H 
 
 III 
 
 F'g- 63. V size. 
 
 design or ornamentation of any kind appears in the Tsc'kehne spoon or 
 ladle (fig. 63). Genuine Carrier uten.sils of this class, which are either of 
 wood or of horn, are even plainer than those above illustrated. Evi- 
 dently our D^n^s have no eye for the beautiful. In all cases of horn 
 spoons the material is mountain sheep horn. 
 
 The manufacture of such household implements necessitates the pos- 
 session of no extraordinary amount of skill. After the horn has been 
 split in two equal halves, a spherical, smooth-surfaced stone is heated, 
 and to expand the too contracted sides of the horn they are applied 
 thereon and gently pressed out, a layer of pitch having previously been 
 spread over the stone so as to give consistency to the material of the 
 spoon and prevent its artificially distended parts from returning, when 
 cooled, to their original shape. TLe finishing touches are then given 
 with the carving knife. 
 
 Keeping within the same class of industrial bone implements, we come 
 on the bark peelers * and .he cambium scrapers.-f- Both of these are 
 in great demand every recurring spring for the purpose of extracting for 
 food the cambium layer of the shrub pine {Finns contorta). Their name 
 sufficiently describes their use. Below is the Carrier type of both 
 peeler and scraper, which, it should be remarked, are oftentimes much 
 larger than those after which fig. 64 has been drawn. In fig. 65 we have 
 a double-edged scraper, which, though known among and sometimes used 
 by the Carriers, is more frequently seen among the Ts<5'kehne. The 
 various styles of these useful implements are all of cariboo horn. The 
 
 • Enit'qii, " it penetrates by tearing," a verbal noun. 
 + Eltto, " that wliich scrapes," verb. noun. 
 
 lit: 
 
1892-93.'! NOTB8 ON THK WEHTKRN D^N^S. 77 
 
 shavings- like cambium thereby obtained is much relished by the natives, 
 
 Vi^. 64. yi "''c. 
 
 who even collect it at times for the purpose of drying and keeping for 
 use during the winter months. 
 
 Ki(j. 65. }4 size. 
 
 If from the indispensable or useful we pass to the agreeable, the 
 gambling sticks formerly used among our aborigines may claim our 
 attention. Here, again, we find the elegantly-carved gambling sticks of 
 the West Coast tribes replaced by simple polished pieces of Ij'nx or 
 other animal's bones without any particular design, and with the mere 
 addition to one of the pair of the sinew wrapping necessary to determine 
 
 the winning stick. The Babine specimens 
 (fig. 66) are rather large and must prove 
 awkward in the hand of the gambler. But 
 they have the reputation of being preven- 
 tive of dishonesty, if distinctions between 
 the honest and the dishonest can be estab- 
 lished in connection with such a pastime as 
 gambling. Such of these trinkets as are 
 Fig. 66. >i size. hoUow have generally both ends shut with 
 
 a piece of wood, and contain minute pebbles and'gravel which produce 
 a gentle rattling sound in the hand of Se native, much to his own satis- 
 faction. 
 
!K 
 
 
 H 
 
 78 
 
 TUAX8Ai;riUN8 OK THB CANADIAS INSTITUTE. 
 
 I Vol. VI. 
 
 Fig. 67 represent.s the T^sijKoh'tin and fit/,. 68 the Tse'k^hne equivalent 
 of the Babine gambling sticks, it will be seen from the latter that the 
 Tscl-'kchne, who are the most primitive and uncultured of the three tribes 
 whose technology is under review, are again the only people who in this 
 connection, a.s with regard to their spoons, havcj|made the merest attempt 
 at bone carving. 
 
 ^1 
 
 )•%'. 67. 
 
 li I 
 
 I I 
 
 pi 'i! 
 
 
 
 Fig. 68. ;4 size. 
 
 The game played with these bone pieces i.s, Tthink, too well known to 
 demand a description. The jerking movements and pas.ses of hands of 
 the party operating therewith, as well as the drum beating and the sing- 
 ing of the .spectators or partners, are practised among most of the Indian 
 races, especially of the Paciric Coast, which have occupied the attention 
 of American ethnologist.-*. The AbbtJ Petitot says in one of his latest 
 publications* that this game is adventitious among the Eastern Denes 
 who ha\e borrowed ic from the Crees. This remark is no less apposite 
 with regard to their kinsmen west of the Rocky Mountains. Although 
 no other chance game possesse.'- to-da\' so many charm.'; for the frivolous 
 VV'e.stern D(!'nds, tlie old men assure me 'hat it was formerly unknown 
 anioii^ ilieir fellow countrymen. That tlieir te.stimony i? based on fact, 
 the very name of that game would seem to indicate, since it is a mere 
 verb in the impersonal mood: //.'/' jvv/, " one keeps m the hand while 
 moving," and is therefore of the fourth category of Dt^nt!' nouns. The 
 word for "gambling sticks," such as used in connection with not'.sa'a, is 
 ffyia, which is the same veib undei- the potential form and means " that 
 which can be held in the hand." Any of the surrounding races, 
 Tsimpsian, Saiishan or Algonquin, may be held responsible for its intro- 
 duction among the Western I)i!:nes, for they are all exceedingly fond 
 of it. 
 
 The original counterpart of the modern nat'so'a was the at/t/c.f which 
 
 •f. think It t« in his IkidU /;'« ri>H/e (Hinr la Mn- Glacialt, Paris, |883. 
 t May be l«riHlatc<J. by "(iambliiig" iu n );''.ieral iwii.'ie. 
 
>02-'j3.) 
 
 NOTKS ON THE WE8TKHN 1>En£s. 
 
 -9 
 
 iu times past was passionately played by the Carriers, but is now 
 altogether forgotten except by a few elder men. It necessitated the use 
 of a quantity of finely-polished bonesticks, i)erh;ips (our or five inches 
 long, of which a correct idea may be gathered from fig. 336, illustrating 
 Niblack's "The Indians of Southern Alaska."* These bones were 
 called alti', a root word of the second category, impl>'ing much greater 
 antiquity than that of th ,iVta 
 
 Speaking of atlih, a tradition which has some bearing thereon comes 
 up for a share in the reader's consideration. If of no interest to the 
 arch;eologist, it will serve a sociological purpose and may have the 
 advantage of furnishing us with a pcinture de inceurs, as the French have 
 it. Here it is. f 
 
 " A young man was so fond of playing atlih that, after he had lost 
 every part of his wearing apparel, he went .so far as to gamble away his 
 very wife and children. Disgusted at his conduct, his fellow villagers 
 turned away from him and migrated to another spot of the forest, taking 
 along all their belongings, and carefully extinguishing the fire of every 
 lodge so that he might perish. 
 
 " Now this happened in winter time. Reduced to this sad fate, and in 
 a state of complete nakedness, the young man searched every fireplace 
 in the hope of finding some bits of burning cinders, but to no purpose. 
 He then took the dry grass on which his fellow villagers had been resting 
 every night and ruughl) wcaved it into .somn sort of a garment to cover 
 his iiakedness. 
 
 " Yet without fire or food he could not live. So he went off in despair 
 without snow-shoes, expecting tleath in the midst of his wandering.s. 
 
 " After journeying some time, as he was half frozen and dying of 
 hunger, he suddenly caught sight in the top of the tall spruces of a 
 glimmer as that of a far-off fire. Groping his way thither, he soon 
 perceived sparks flying out of two columns of smoke, and cautiously 
 approaching he came upon a large lodge covered with branches of 
 conifers. He peeped through a chink and saw nobody but an olil man 
 sitting by one of two large fires burning in the lodge. 
 
 " Immediately the old man cried out: 'Come in, my son-in-law!' The 
 \oung man was much astonished, inasmuch as he could see nobody 
 outside but himself ' Come in, my son-in-law ; what are you doing out 
 
 i 
 
 • Rep. U. .S. Museum, 1888, plate Ixiii. 
 
 + It must l>e remarkeil (hat in the version tlie mixl In vo^iie anioiii; llie fairierii, the lK-{{iniiing 
 ■of this legend is very ilifferetit from that a<lo|)led \\-:t<: after Julian gUtsii-iiiya (he walks ahead) 
 ■of this place, .Stuart's Lake. 
 
80 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. VI. 
 
 ! 'ill! 
 
 It! 
 
 in the cold?' came again from the lodge. Whereupon the gambler 
 ascertained that it was himself who was thus addressed. Therefore he 
 timidly entered, and, following his host's suggestion, he set to warm him- 
 self by one of the fires. 
 
 " The old man was called Nd-yd\<-hivolltis * because, being no otlier 
 than Yihta.f he nightly carries his house about in the course of his 
 travellings. ' You seem very miserable, my son-in-law ; take this up,' he 
 said to his guest while putting mantlewise on the young man's shoulders 
 a robe of sewn marmot skins. He next handed him a pair of tanned 
 skin mocassins and ornamented leggings of the same material. He then 
 called out : ' My daughter, roast by the fireside something to eat for your 
 husband — he must be hungry.' Hearing which, the gambler, who had 
 thought himself alone with Na-yaR-hwolluz, was much surpri.sed to see a 
 beautiful virgin \ emerge fron'i one of the corner provision and goods- 
 stores § and proceed to prepare a repast for him. 
 
 " Meanwhile, the old man was digging a hole in the ashes, whence he 
 brought out a whole black bear cooked under the fire with skin and hair 
 on. Pressing with his fingers the brim of the hole made by the arrow, he 
 took the bear up to nis guest's lips, .saying : ' Suck out the grease, my son- 
 in-law.' The latter was so exhausted by fatigue that he could drink 
 but a little of the warm liquid, which caused his host to exclaim : ' How 
 small-bellied my son-in-law is ! ' Then the old man went to the second 
 fireplace, likewise dug out therefrom a whole bear and made his guest 
 drink in the same way with the same result accompanied by a similar 
 remark. 
 
 " After they had eaten, NayoRhwolluz showed the gambler to his 
 resting place and cautioned him not to go out during the night. As for 
 him.scif, he was soon noticed to leave the lodge that and every other 
 night ; and, as he came back in the morning, he invariably seemed to be 
 quite heated and looked as one who has travelled a very great distance. 
 
 "The gambler lived there happily with hi:, new wife for some months. 
 Hut iiis former passion soon revived. As spring came back, he would 
 take .some alte in an absent-minded way and set out to play therewith 
 all alone. Which seeing, his father-in-law said to him : ' If you feel 
 
 • l.i[. " he-cnrries (as with n sleigh )-a-liouse." The final hwollus is propev to the dialect of the 
 lx)wer C.irriers, though the tale is narrated by an I 'pper Carrier, which circumstance would sei-iii 
 to indicate that the le|;end is uut, asi so many others, burrowed fiuni a 'i'simpsiaii tribe. 
 
 + Una major, 
 
 t Sai-Afa, " She sits apart." 
 
 I See the Chapter on the Dene habitutionn. 
 
Itt92-93.1 
 
 NOTES OM THK WESTERN D^.N^S. 
 
 81 
 
 lonesome here, my son-in-law, return for a while to your own folks and 
 gamble with them.' Then handing him a set of alte and four Wquh* 
 he added : ' When you have won all that is worth winning, throw your 
 tatquh up over the roof of the house, and come back immediately. 
 Also remember not to speak to your former wife.' 
 
 " The gambler then made his departure, and was soon again among 
 the people who had abandoned him. He was now a handsome and well- 
 dressed young man, and soon finding partners for his game he stripped 
 them of all their belongings, after which he threw his t;»tquh over the 
 roof of the iiKigc. He also met his former wife as she was coming from 
 drawing water, and, though she entreated him to take her back to wife 
 again, he hardened his heart and did not know her.f 
 
 " Yet, instead of returning immediately after he had thrown his tatquh 
 over the roof, as he had been directed to do, his passion for atlih betrayed 
 him into playing again, when he lost all he had won. He was thus 
 reduced to his first state of wretched nakedness. Me then thought of 
 NoyoRhwolluz, of his new wife and his new home, and attempted to 
 return to them, but he could never find them." 
 
 A third chance game was proper to the women and was 
 played with button-like pieces of bone. It was based on the 
 same principle as dice, and, in common with atlih, it has long 
 fallen into disuse. Its name is atiyili. 
 
 The three bone implements which remain to be described have 
 likewise disappeared from among the Carriers to whom they 
 were proper. Thus fig. 69 shows a tclni or ceremonial whistle, 
 which could not at present be identified by one-twentieth of the 
 living Carrier population. It is made of the larger wing bone of 
 the swan, notched near, and slit at, one end exactly as shown 
 in the above figure and without the insertion of any mouth- 
 piece. On gieat ceremonial occasions, the notable or native 
 nobleman, who was privileged to accompany his dance there- 
 with, kept it con.stantly in his mouth unsupported b^ the hand, 
 
 and from time to time extracted therefrom loud, shrill notes, which 
 
 added not a little to the liveliness of the scene. 
 
 The object represented by fig. 70 differs but little from the preceding, 
 the material being identical and the form almost so. But its use and 
 destination are widely different. It is a fsan-kiiz or "bone-tube" 
 
 Kig. 69. 
 % size-. 
 
 • A long throwing ro<l which serves to play another game. It will lie I'lguretl am) explaineti 
 further on. 
 + In the liililica) sen»e of Cognoi'it. 
 
82 
 
 TKANHACTIOMS OF THB CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 1 
 
 through which Carrier and Babine girls attaining the age of puberty had 
 to drink under pain, it was said, of contracting dreadful throat diseases 
 should they attempt to quench their thirst by helping themselves im- 
 
 Fig. 70. yi size. 
 
 mediately from the water vessel as was done by common folks. This 
 trinket was constantly carried about, hantjing from the sinew and down 
 necklace usually encircling the neck of such pubescent maidens, also as a 
 specific against malign influences. 
 
 *'lil 
 
 
 ■ .,1 ) 
 
 m 
 mi 
 
 \%> 
 I* 
 
 il 
 
 Kig. 71. % sire. 
 
 Closely connected therewith was the double-pronged comb shown in 
 fig. 71. It was worn in the ha r and Iikewi.se connected with the 
 medicinal (.') necklace throu^;h a long, loo.sely-hangii!_j string adorned 
 witn beads, or, in pnmordial times, ilentalium shells 01 other small articles 
 of native ornament. Its use was not restricted ti> pubescent girls, but 
 this comb or tsi-lts3t* as it was called, was also common to young men 
 attaining maturity. It should perhaps be ret^iarko,' that in this latter 
 case the instrument was n' wood, not of bone. <ouib" is rather a 
 misnomer when applied to such an object which scrv^v: merely to scratch 
 one's head with, as immerilMte contact betweer. tbf finders and the head 
 was then reputed protluctive of fatal discR^ips. 
 
 Apropos of diseases it may be nicntKWw^d tb*t bleeding as a surgical 
 operation was, and still is, frequently r«>a -cd \o by our Western L>cncs. 
 So far as my information goes, there *t«is in pristine times no surgicaj 
 instrument such a- an equivalent of our lancet rmplo)ed in this oo»- 
 
 * " Heml-scMtclies, ■' vcrl). lumii. 
 
 i.:t 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 MOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 8S 
 
 nectlon. It would seem that the operation was formerly performed either 
 with a bone needle or awl, or more commonly with a sharp-edged stone 
 arrow head. 
 
 Ki},'. 72. 
 
 Fig. 72 illustrates the change brought in the native huntsman's economy 
 by modern civilization. It is a little piece of bone carved to the shape 
 of a fantastic being, half animal (viz. coyote), half fish, on the back of 
 which little excrescences have been left, the object of which is to hold as 
 many metallic caps for use with a shot gun. This little trinket is 
 fastened to the string of the powder-horn or to that of the shot pouch. 
 It is more commonly cut out of a piece of thick leather without any 
 attempt at design. 
 
84 
 
 TRAN9AUTION8 OF TUR CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 I 
 
 !! 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Traps and Snares. 
 
 FISH traps. 
 
 Judged by their staple food, the Carriers and the Tsi|Koh'tin are mari- 
 time or coast tribes, since they mostly rely upon the annur.l run of 
 salmon for their sustenance during the whole year. But, owing to the 
 topography of their country and their peculiar environments, their mode 
 of securing their supply of the fish materially differs from that adopted 
 by the coast Indians. Nay more, even among themselves the process 
 varies according to the localities and the nature of the fish stream. It 
 may be broadly stated that at least seven different devices are resorted 
 to, which I shall presently endeavour to e.xplain. 
 
 In the first place one should not forget that the salmon almost ex- 
 clusively referred to in the present paragraph, that on which the two 
 tribes named above mainly subsist, is the so-called Fraser River salmon 
 {On(,or/iyni/tus nerka, Walbaum). It is exceedingly gregarious in habits 
 and usually plentiful. As will soon be seen, these two peculiarities are 
 taken occasion of by the natives to facilitate its capture. 
 
 Where it is practicable the Kamstkadals' method of salmon-fishing is 
 followed. This consists in staking across the river in its whole width 
 and leaving for the fish only narrow passages ending in long, funnel- 
 shaped baskets from which escape is impossible. Owing to the import- 
 ance of this industry, some detailed ex|)lanation of tlie whole process 
 will not be out of place. 
 
 At intervals of forty or fift)' leet heavy posts are driven as solidly as 
 possible in the bed of the stream from shore to shore, and on these will 
 depend the strength of the whole structure. As an additional guarantee 
 against the action of the current, as many props or braces are sunk 
 slanting down stream and secured against the upright posts close to the 
 water line. In this and all similar cases the fastening material consists 
 of willow, high cranberry bush or spruce sapling wattle. Finally, heavy 
 poles, as long as can be found, are laid transversely on the forks formed 
 by the intersection of the piles with their props, and the result consti- 
 tutes what may be called the skeleton of the weir. The intervals be- 
 tween the upright posts are afterwards filled in by poles driven down in 
 the bed of the river, and as these are placed on the upstream side of the 
 
 ■t \ 
 
 111 
 
W92-93.] 
 
 NOTB8 ON THR WR8TKRN DKtlis. 
 
 86 
 
 long railing already mentioned, no artificial fastening therewith is required. 
 The weir is then ready to receive the fishing apparatus, which consists of 
 the hurdles,* the bottle-like baskets n.isrwytf and the narrow terminal 
 baskets, Kw.J 
 
 The hurdles are made of ditterent sizes, according to the place they 
 are to occupy. They are simply barkiess spruce switches, held slightly 
 apart by a few transversal sticks laid against, not entwined with, the 
 trellis work, and there secured by being wattled with wattup or spruce 
 root. The larger number of these hurdles serve to line the upstream 
 side of the weir, thereby closing every possible issue through it, while 
 with the rest are constructed corral-like enclosures guarding the mouth 
 of the baskets, as shown in the accompanying diagram (fig. 73). The 
 
 Fig- 73- 
 
 entrance to these corrals, and therefore to the trip, is at a, and is gener- 
 ally half a foot wide. A stand for parts of the barrier or weir. The 
 salmon upon stealing in finds its way up blocked at d, and by a sidewise 
 evolution comes in sight of the long conduit prepared for it in the shape 
 of the nazrwyt or main basket c, together with the narrow terminal 
 cylinders/^. With a view of liberating itself from the hurdle enclosure, 
 it swims down as far as the terminal cylinders, which, being too narrow 
 to permit of its turning back, thus determine its capture. Others 
 following will soon pack even the broader end of the nazrwat to such an 
 extent that oftentimes no moving room is left. 1 he dotted outlines in 
 
 * 7cf-st'/u, a contraction of icm-st'jii, "stick -twined." 
 
 + A contraction of miuhnvPt, "cyliiulric.il M the nioulli (and long in Ixxly)." 
 i Prim. root. Means any long, slender am! snioolli-siirfiice<l appendage, as a handle, a stem. 
 So named because il is considered as tlie handle of the f '...nel-like basket or )M:nvit, 
 
86 
 
 TKAN8AUTION8 OK THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 ■Jill: 
 M 
 
 if 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 the above diagram represent the end of each basket which, it is useless 
 to add, is left opened so as to afford a free passage for the fish. Such 
 traps are generally constructed in pairs as is shown above. 
 
 Instead of shutting with trellis work the furthest end of the last Kss 
 
 or narrow cylinder, some add thereto a 
 large rectangular box-like reservoir pro- 
 vided with a conical conduit or entrance 
 (fig. 74) tapering into the box so as to pre- 
 clude the possibility of the fish escaping 
 once it has entered and found the liberty of movements it lacked while in 
 the narrow baskets. Therein the salmon crowd in such numbers that they 
 soon get packed as sardines in a box and finally squeeze themselves to 
 death.* 
 
 This trap is efficient at night only, and when the large ter- 
 minal basket just mentioned is wanting, the nazrwst has to 
 be watched lest the fish remaining at its mouth eventually 
 make good their escape. At least two Indians go every 
 morning and lift up with wooden hooks (fig. 75) such 
 parts of the trap as cannot easily be reached by the hand 
 and carefully empty its contents into their canoe. The Kss^ 
 are but temporarily connected, being detachable at will 
 Two or three, or in extreme cases as many as four, are 
 ordinarily added to the nazrwat. 
 
 
 The nazrwat measures at least 15 feet in length and as 
 much as 6 or 8 feet in its greatest width.f while its narrow 
 end is not more than 6 inches wide. Uniform with the 
 latter is the Kas, which is of variable length, 10 feet being 
 probably the minimum and 16 the maximum. 
 Clear pieces of Douglas fir (Pinus murrayana) are the material chosen 
 in the preparation of these fi«h traps and of all those which 
 remain to describe. Once a suitable fir trunk has been split 
 into portable sizes the wood is allowed to remain a few days 
 in the water, after which it is converted with the help of the 
 bone wedge (fig. 75 bis) into long and very slender rods which 
 F AI'B ^"^^ ^\\^\\ shaved smooth with the knife and assigned to their 
 \J\ lH respective places in the structure. The encircling pieces are 
 of spruce (Adt'es nigra) and arc wattled to the longitudinal 
 KIj^Tts his. rods with the usual wattup or spruce root. 
 
 • These reservoirs are ca,\\ci\ yuta-sK.ai,i\ coMvsiCXxon oi yutat-fsKiti, " it (recii)iem) lies ilowii 
 •tre.iin." 
 
 + This, of course, varies with the depth of the stream. 
 
 
 II' 
 
l8y2-93] 
 
 NOTtH ON TIIK WK8TBIIN U^NI^IH. 
 
 a: 
 
 The nazrwat and its correlative, the K^s, are exclusively designed for 
 the capture of the salmon. A second fishing device, less restricted in its 
 use, is the 'k/in-isai.* It works on the same principle as the yutasKai or 
 terminal fish-box. It is a large cylindrical basket about 15 feet long and 
 at least four in diameter. Its bottom end is made of sticks radiating 
 from the centre, while its entrance is provided with the tapering conduit 
 or "heart," as it is called by the natives, which we have already noticed 
 in the j>utasKat. Only in this case it is much longer, since the apex or 
 inside end of tl)e truncated cone-like aperture reaches Imost to the 
 middle of the whole basket. To make the safe keeping of the fish doubly 
 sure, the converging sticks of this inner conduit are made to project inside 
 beyond the small hoop to which they are fastened. These pin- like stick- 
 ends easily dissuade the fish from trying to escape. 
 
 The 'kflntzai was formerly used in connection with beaver trapping, 
 and to-day it does duty in several localities against the musk-rat. In 
 such a case the lattice work is made of sticks so broad as to resemble 
 laths more than rods, while the interstices between its component paits 
 are so small that they leave no room for the rodent's snout should it 
 attempt to gnaw off pieces of it. As an additional measure of safety for 
 the trap, stones are also scattered on its bottom, upon which the game is 
 said to direct its attention in the hope of effecting its escape. When 
 used as a trapping implement these baskets are laid in the bed of sluggish 
 rivers or creeks previously jammed with branches and boughs of conifer- 
 ous trees. 
 
 But what we are presently concerned with is fish trapping. The 
 'kAntzai are u.sed here (Stuart's Lake) in conjunction with the nazrwot. 
 They are likewise deposited in the bed of the stream, but with their 
 mouth or entrance end in inverse positions relatively to the direction of 
 the current. I think that no words of mine can butter explain their use 
 and respective positions than the accompanying diagram showing both 
 nazrwst and 'kOntzai weirs with their hurdle corrals and baskets. A is 
 the 'kikntzai weir which is semicircular and extends to the middle of the 
 stream only. For this reason, though it is built on the same principle of 
 piles and braces as that of the nazrwat, the necessary'strength is more 
 easily obtained. Its shape precludes the possibility of being latticed as 
 the former, yet every issue is carefully stuffed with spruce boughs B 
 and C alone are regular hurdles similar to those forming the corrals of 
 the main or up stream barrier. D represents a partial trellis left open at 
 the proper intervals to receive the mouth of the 'kuntzai e, which are laid 
 
 im 
 
 • Apparently .1 contraction o( yjtlin-'stzin, " fish-ova are lying down," which etymology is hard 
 to explain, since tliose tishinjj implements h.ive (iww at least) no relation to fish ova. 
 
88 
 
 TRANSACTIONS Of TUB OANAOIAN INBTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. VI. 
 
 down in parallel order to the number sometimes of ten or twelve. 
 Immediately facing the row of basket entrances a large beam /", hewn 
 on the upper side only, partly floats on the water and is partly 
 supported on the forks of piles driven in the bed of the river. 
 
 Fig. 76. 
 
 So much for the apparatus. Now as to its working. The fish, which 
 is constantly following its way up stream finding any further progress 
 impeded by the staking across the river G, remains there almost station- 
 ary during the day feeling shy of the nazrwat traps prepared for its 
 capture at night. So it frequently happens that within the space inter- 
 vening between the complete and the partial weirs large numbers of the 
 fish have congregated ere the sun .sets. Therefore natives, manning as 
 many canoes as are available, drive it by dint of noise and by well 
 directed strokes in the water, first into the corral A, D, F, and then to the 
 cylindrical baskets wherewith it is .secured. Then, at a given signal, one 
 man from each canoe jumps on the beam F, and lifts up the entrance end 
 of the baskets as a precaution against the possible egress of a few fish, 
 while his partner returns by canoe to the opposite end of the trap to 
 empty it of its contents. A lid or door a there prepared on the top side 
 of the trap facilitates that operation. The lifting up of the 'kQntzai at 
 the entrance extremity is the work of but a moment, inasmuch as it 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 N0TR8 O.N THE WESTKRN Dt^Nlts, 
 
 M 
 
 chiefly results from the dropping in the water of the large stone b, which 
 keeps it sunk to the proper depth. 
 
 Both the nazrvvst and the 'kOntzai are serviceable in such places only 
 as the outlet of lakes or shallow streams where the current is slow 
 enough to permit of the erection of the necessary weir. Where this is 
 impossible, a third and even more ingenious device — since once it is 
 placed in position, it does all the work of itself— is resorted to. Lattice 
 work projecting a few feet only from the shore is erected in the water, 
 connected wherewith is laid on the bottom a tobogan-likc basket with an 
 opening near its curved end. The fish passes through this into an un- 
 covered canal-like conduit leading into a large latticed reservoir where it 
 is caught. The apparatus becomes more intelligible by a glance at fig. 
 76 wherein we have a sectional view of the whole. The lines marked 
 
 I 
 
 Fig. 76. 
 
 a, and b show respectively the bottom and the 'surface of the water. 
 The upper part of the entrance basket c is flat and serves at the same 
 time as a bed for the canal d which is formed by the addition of two long 
 hurdles e on either side of the main or lower basket top. The salmon 
 having entered at c soon finds its way upstream blocked at f, where the 
 basket is rather narrow. But, as its instinct is decidedly against the 
 wisdom of a backward course, as soon as it becomes aware of the free 
 passage prepared at g, therein it runs and thence to the trap h laid out 
 for its capture. * stands for one of the stakes which hold up the trap or 
 reservoir while they secure the whole structure against the action of the 
 c jrrent 
 
 Tliis ish-trap is called w, and it does also good service against the 
 la.'iiiloc <ed salmon and other minor fish, such as trout, ling, etc., in such 
 str^^ams as are favored with a strong current. 
 
 Where the river is of a more sluggish character, a fourth device, called 
 we, is resorted to. Though differently constructed, it works on the same 
 principle as the preceding. Its use requires the building of a regular 
 weir or staking across the entire width of the stream, and several such 
 traps are laid out, side by side, pretty much as is done with the nazrwat. 
 7 
 
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 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
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 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, NY. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
Ltf 
 
 
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30 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THB CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. I\r. 
 
 TThe diagram fig. "jj gives a longitudinal section of this fishing con- 
 trivance, which, after the details furnished above, hardly needs a word of 
 explanation. It suffices to follow the smaller arrows of the figure to 
 understand the movements and account for the capture of the fish. Let 
 me simply add that all the component parts of this trap are originally 
 distinct and separate. They are merely kept in their proper place by 
 means of willow bark wattlings.* 
 
 Fig. 77. 
 
 Less complicated than any of the preceding fish-traps is the tk^-sKai 
 (laid down on the bottom), which is also of latticed work and whose 
 general appearance cannot be better described than by comparing it ^o a 
 coffin (fig. 78). Its catching device consists of a sort of trap-door 
 attached on the inside to the top of one end and slanting down until it 
 almost touches the bottom of the box-like apparatus. This door is so 
 arranged that it slightly yields up to pressure from the fish and shuts 
 down on it once it has entered. The th^s-Kai is used in shallow streams 
 only. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Fig. 78. 
 
 A sixth method of salmon fishing which is likewise practicable in a few 
 localities only is that wherewith a ti-syiai,^ or pot hanger basket has to 
 be employed. " In some places where the stream contracts to an 
 insignificant width and, in escaping from its rocky embankment, produces 
 a fall deep enough to temporarily impede the salmon's course upwards, 
 
 • In the accompanying diagrams, the smaller or inner arrows show the course of the fish, while 
 tho larger ones point to the direction of the current. 
 
 t A contraction for lo-isKai, " it (a recipient) stands up." 
 
 i' 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THB WESTERN Dl^N^S. 
 
 91 
 
 the Carriers simply bridge the fall over and with bark ropes suspend 
 therefrom a sort of lattice, seven or eight feet wide, the lower extremity 
 
 of which is curved up like a pot hanger 
 (fis- 79)- When the fish attempts to jump 
 over the fall, he strikes the latticed barrier 
 and drops bad. into the basket-like bottom/'* 
 
 Lastly, where none of the above described 
 modes of capturing the salmon are available, 
 the Carrier or TsijKoh'tin has still a seventh 
 expedient, more inconvenient and less profit- 
 able it is true, left at his disposal. This is 
 fishing with the bag-net (fig. 152). Unless 
 the run of salmon be exceptionally large, 
 this method is rather tedious, and either dire 
 necessity or the passion of a sportsman only 
 can be adduced as an excuse for this kind of 
 fishing, inasmuch as it is impracticable except 
 at night. I still remember coming up some 
 '^' ''■ ten years ago, the mighty Fraser then swollen 
 
 up to the brim by the July freshets. As we were making very poor 
 time painfully poling up stream, I had resolved to profit by a beauti- 
 ful moonlight to compensate by night boating what we necessarily lost 
 on account of the slowness of our progress during the day. As we 
 neared the Indian village we were making for, we frequently sighted 
 from a distance human forms standing motionless on every available 
 rocky promontory projecting into the river. Upon approaching them,, 
 we would perceive that they were intently gazing on one spot in the 
 water, and when questioned as to their success, their almost invariable 
 answer would be : Sukrak I thallo huhv. ! " Not a bit ; there is no 
 salmon.!" They were bag-net fishing. 
 
 Where the natural rocky projections are not pronounced enough 
 wharf-like scaffoldings are erected for the convenience of the fishermen. 
 Some such are to be seen on the HwotsotssnKwah which evidence no 
 mean engineering capabilities. 
 
 In describing the D^n6 fishing contrivances, I have occasionally used 
 the foot measure as the best, because the most common, means of deter- 
 mining their dimensions. Useless to say that this is not the recognized 
 standard c*" length measure among the natives. Before proceeding 
 further, it may not be irrelevant to enumerate their various measures. 
 
 •The Western Denes, p. 129. 
 
 
 iH 
 
 ''vm 
 
 ^>i\Wk 
 
 i^ 
 
 Klllg^ 
 
 
 m3w 
 
 -^H 
 
 v^ii»{fl 
 
 \ : . {(»» j^ 
 
 'sJiMk 
 
 
 
 +' 
 
 
 ,i 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 ^fls 
 
 ( ■ 
 
 'if 
 
 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 
r 
 
 r , 
 
 !! 
 
 l! 
 
 m 
 
 92 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 They are : — 
 
 1. Horw9-thisni,* the fathom, measured from end to end of the arms 
 extended. 
 
 2. Ne-tayo,\ the half-fathom ; from the middle of the chest to the tip 
 of the fingers. 
 
 3. Ne-i'sA-kdt, X the small' half-fathom ; from the breast to the 
 extremity of the hand. 
 
 4. Ne-kran-kdz, \ the yard ; from the shoulder to the end of the fingers. 
 
 5. Ne-t'silla^ the cubit ; extremity of the hand to the elbow. 
 
 6. Ne-lla-tc3n-k3K** the hand-lengf.h ; the hand up to the wrist. 
 
 7. 7y//^^R,"H* is the width of the fourfing ers slightly stretched out. It 
 is a net-mesh measure. 
 
 8. U-kw3-sthan,Xi the finger-width. It is obtained by laying on the 
 object measured as many fingers pressed together as may be necessary. 
 It is the smallest Y)€n€ measure, and is resorted to in connection with 
 pieces of tobacco, of bread, of costly cloth, etc. 
 
 The largest and most commonly employed is the first named, horws- 
 thisni, which serves to measure houses, fish-traps, nets, logs, etc. 
 
 Another measure of length of a more complex nature is obtained by 
 pressing one hand over the breast and reckoning from the tip of the 
 other hand to the elbow of the folded arm. It is therefore equivalent to 
 three-quarters of a fathom. 
 
 To preserve their salmon the Carriers and TsijKoh'tin have recourse to 
 the well known method of drying. After the head has been cut off, they 
 open and clean the fish, after which they expose it for one day or two to 
 the rays of the sun. The spine and vertebrae are then extracted, together 
 with the flesh adhering thereto, which is destined for the dogs' larder or 
 used as bait when trapping. The fish is next furrowed inside with a 
 sharp knife as a precaution against putrefaction, and, two wooden 
 splinters having been driven through the flesh so as to keep its inside 
 constantly opened, it is dried beneath rough sheds by the action of the 
 sun and air aid":d by the fire and smoke underneath. 
 
 As for the heads, which are considered by many as the morceau dilicat 
 of the salmon, they are cut open and smoked or their oil is extracted in 
 this wise : After long willow twigs have been spitted through them, they 
 
 • Lit. " along it it is embraced ; " verb, noun, § " Man-elbow end." 
 
 + " Man-chest." ** " Man-hands-stick («rrist)-after." 
 
 + " Man-breast-on." ++" It straddles," fourth category of nouns. 
 
 II " Man-arms-half." 
 
 rffl 
 
 I ii i 
 
 m I 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^. 
 
 93 
 
 are deposited in the water on the sandy shore of ths lake or stream till 
 they reach an advanced stage of decay. The stench they then exhale 
 is simply asphyxiating. But not so with the natives, it would seem, 
 since they do not recoil from collecting them and, after having slightly 
 exposed them to the action of the sun as a means of evaporating the 
 water they have absorbed, they submit them to a thorough boiling in 
 large bark vessels and gather their oil in bags made of salmon skin. 
 This they greatly relish, and have recourse to whenever they wish to 
 enhance the natural succulency of their service berries and other fruit. 
 To a civilized palate it is simply an abomination. 
 
 LAND ANIMAL TRAPS. 
 
 While the fauna of Northern British Columbia could be more varied, 
 it is nevertheless abundant enough to relieve the more pressing needs of 
 the Indian tribes stationed within its borders. With one single ex- 
 ception all the larger mammals on whose meat the prehistoric Delias 
 subsisted are still to be found there. By this exception I refer to the 
 elk (Cervus canad cists, Erxl.) which the Carriers assert to have been 
 indigenous to their present territory, but which has long disappeared 
 from among them. Philologically speaking its successor is the horse, 
 which both Carriers and TsiiKch'tin call a domestic elk (yi'sih, elk, ji dog 
 or domestic animal), while the Ts^'k^hne see in the noble animal nothing 
 but a " big dog " ji-tco. From an economic standpoint however, it is 
 now replaced by the moose (Alee americanus, Jardine) and the cariboo 
 (Rangifer caribou, Linn.)* The deer (Cariacus virginianiis leucurus) 
 which is unknown to the Ts^'k^hne and rare among the Carriers is 
 exceedingly plentiful among the Tsi[Koh'tin. But Providence has given 
 the former two valuable mammals which are practically wanting among 
 the latter, I mean the mountain sheep (Ovis inontana, Cuv.) and the 
 mountain goat (Capra americana, Rich.) whose native names are t?pe and 
 9spai respectively. Other animals which are sought more for their meat 
 than their fur are the hoary marmot (Arctomys caligatus), the ground-hog 
 (A. tnonax, Linn.) and last but not least the hare (Lepus americcnus). 
 The porcupine (Erethtzon dorsatus epixanthus) was formerly huw.ed 
 for the sake of its quills which were greatly prized as an article of 
 ornamentation. t 
 
 Most of the other mammals hunted by our D6n^s are valued chiefly 
 for their fur, though the meat of almost all is appreciated as an addition 
 
 * The moose is called ttni, and the caribou, hwotzih, by the Carriers. 
 
 tThe marmot is called t)tin; the grounp hog, ^kani; the hare, kfR. and the porcupine, 
 ttfquk. 
 
Ji; 
 
 I 
 
 hi 
 
 94 
 
 TBANSACTIONH OP THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 to their provision store. Prominent among them is of course the beaver 
 {Castor fiber, Linn.), which is called tsa by all the Western D6n6 tribes. 
 Its small congener, the muskrat {Fiber zibethicus, Linn.), is the beaver of 
 the children and the poor, to whom it is known as the tsfki't. However 
 a much more precious game even than the beaver is the black bear 
 {Ursus americanus, Pallas), called sas by both the Tsd'kdhne and the 
 Tsi;Koh'tin and Ids by the Carriers. Our Western D^n^s, who usually 
 prove so cowardly against a human enemy, are so courageous when 
 matched with almost any wild beast, that among them he would not be 
 considered a man who would be afraid of a bear. Personal encoun- 
 ters wherein bruin comes out second best are by no means a rare 
 occurrence here, and not a few Carriers still bear the marks of the bear's 
 teeth and claws. Even the grizzly (C/^ horribilis) is no terror to them. I 
 have here at my side an Indian who has killed one with a revolver, while 
 I am well acquainted with another, a most reliable man, who by his fear- 
 lessness and sangfroid put to flight a bear of that species with which he 
 had been sitting face to face for perhaps a quarter of an hour without 
 receiving as much as a scratch from the monster, and without having 
 used the shotgun which he had not had time to load. The main point 
 in such awkward circumstances is not to betray the least fear and to look 
 one's adversary riglt in the eyes. Show any degree of hesitation and 
 you are lost. Although lio two species of the grizzly bear are known to 
 science, it might be, however, that the shyas, the bear of which I am 
 speaking, is but a variety of Ursus horr'bitis, imsnvich as the Indians 
 pretend to know another and much more formidable one •. h;ch they call 
 tsa-rana or " he busies himself with the beaver," by allusion to its favcrite 
 occupation, beaver hunting. This animal they fear, and so far they pro- 
 fess never to have killed any adult of the species, but to have occasionally 
 seen a few. It is, they say, much larger than the shyas or common 
 grizzly ; its heel is proportionately narrower and the fore end of its paw 
 much broader. It is worthless as an economic item, as it emits a most 
 offensive smell. 
 
 The other fur bearing animals sought after by the Western D^nes are 
 the marten (Mustela martes. Rich.), the fmher (M»ste/a cafiadeusts, Linn.), 
 which the Carriers call a " big marten, " tcdnnih-tco, the otter (Lutra 
 canadensis, Turton), the wolverine (Gulo liiscus, Linn.), the lynx (Feiis 
 canadensis, Rich), the fox (Viilpes vulgaris), the wolf (Canis lupus 
 occidentalis ), the coyote (Canis latrans), and the two small carnivores, 
 the ermine (Putorius vulgaris, Linn.), and the mink (P. vison, Brisson^. 
 In addition to washi, its regular name, the lynx, whose ancestors are 
 believed to have had intercourse with women, is often half jocosely 
 called sAnti', " my first cousin " by the Carriers. As to the different 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^Nl^S. 
 
 95 
 
 varieties of foxes and wolves, they are recognized and differentiated by 
 adjectives, not distinct names, in the native tongues, as they are founded 
 merely on colour, not, as with the dog, on anatomical peculiar- 
 ities. It is ?. well known fact among our aborigines that, for instance, 
 red, cross and black foxes are found in one and the same litter, so that it 
 seems naturalists should not see more difference between a red and a 
 black fox than they do between a gray and a white bull-dog.* 
 
 When not chased or killed by chance as happens in the course of one's 
 travellings, the above named fur bearing animals are procured either with 
 
 Fig. 80. 
 
 traps or snares. At least three varieties of the former contrivances, all 
 of genuine D^n^ origin, are still in general use, and a fourth, the bear 
 
 •It should be mentioned he- that al)original usage prevents tlie hunter from kiUing for him- 
 self any of the largest animals, especially such as are chased for their meat. Alter his game has 
 been brought down, he will invariably give it to one of his companions, or if he happens to have 
 none, he will cache it up against wolverines or any carnivorous animals and return to the villaije. 
 Then he will say to any one whom he chooses to favour with his spoils : " In such and such a 
 spot in the forest I have siiot a cariboo for you. Go and fetch it." To act otherwise would be 
 equivalent to courti'-.g the scorn of every hunter of any standing in one's place. 
 
9(t 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 trap, though now a thing of the past, is still remembered by old men. 
 Its main or fall part consisted of trunks of small trees united into a sort 
 of lattice work by means of muskeg pine saplings interlaced through 
 them. To ensure additional sufficiency for the structure, large stones were 
 laid over it, heaps of which are still to be seen in several places, generally 
 close by the banks of salmon streams. I can find no native in a position 
 to satisfactorily explain the mechanism of this trap. All I can gather is 
 that it was very effective, not only against black bears, but even against 
 grizzlies. 
 
 Fig. 8i. 
 
 To secure martens and other small land game, the Carriers never use 
 but the trap shown in fig. 80, which is very simple in construction. It is 
 merely composed of a fall stick a, one end of which is thrust in the 
 ground in an oblique direction, and which springs down on the transversal 
 or ground stick d, through the falling off of the pole c, resting upright on 
 the bait stick d. To prevent the game from getting at the bait otherwise 
 than through the trap, a rect.ngular enclosure is erected with small 
 pickets generally against, or close to, the bole of a spruce or pine tree. 
 Should the fall stick not exactly correspond in position with that lying 
 on the ground, the marten might survive the springing of the trap and 
 
1892.93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DEN^S. 
 
 97 
 
 eventually effect its escape. To guard against such an accident, two 
 stakes e are driven in the ground on each side of the falling apparatus. 
 The use and working of the weight pole / need no explanation. 
 
 Much more complicated, as may be seen from fig. Si, is the action of 
 the lynx trap. The device causing the capture, if not the death, of the 
 game, is identical with that of the preceding, save that two weight poles 
 instead of one are used. But the principle of the apparatus itself is 
 altogether different, and might be pointed out as an evidence of no mean 
 ingenuity. Although I have faithfully outlined in dots the working of 
 th2 trap v'hile in the act of springing, some further explanation of it 
 may be necessary. 
 
 The general principle governing its action is the balance principle. 
 The fall stick being pressed down by the weight sticks, thereby forces up 
 the furthest end of the lever a, which is balanced on the post b, acting 
 as fulcrum. As an immediate consequence, the string button c (fig 82) 
 is started up and at once arrested in its flight by the 
 horizontal sticks d engaged between the button and the 
 perpendicular pole e. The reason of the springing of 
 the trap is now easy to understand. The lynx, or fox> 
 upon trying to get at the bait laid on the ground a little 
 distance off within a picket enclosure, is bound to tread 
 on the trip stick e which is thereby disengaged from the 
 pressure of the button, which immediately whirls up 
 yielding to the action of the weight poles on the Ic^er, as shown in the 
 dotted outlines. Both the post and the perpendicular pole e are stuck 
 in the ground, and the latter, as well as the weight sticks, are set up 
 through the branches of the tree under which the trap is prepared. 
 
 Fig. 82. 
 
 filll 
 
 
 Fig. 83. 
 
 A somewhat different setting of the same trap is obtained by engaging 
 the trip stick above, instead of beloiv, the middle of the button piece. In 
 this case no bait is provided for the game, but the trip stick is thorough- 
 ly rubbed over with castoreum, by licking which the animal springs off 
 the lever, whereby the fall stick slips down on the base. 
 
11 
 
 II 
 
 ii: 
 
 n 
 
 Tl^ANSACTlONS OP THE CANAOIAM IN8TITI TB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 A modification of this trap is occasionally used by a few to capture 
 the beaver. But as the Crees are credited with its invention, no further 
 mention of it is necessary. 
 
 Fig. 83 represents a kind of trap differing in every particular from the 
 three already described. It is proper to the Ts^'k^hne and does service 
 against marmots. As shown in the cut, it is usually set in front of '.he 
 animal's den, and its action or working apparatus has some resemblance 
 to the common figure four trap. Its trip stick a is laid across the entrance 
 of the marmot's den and is disposed so as to form a right angle with the 
 left side of the spring stick k Of course this is concealed from view with 
 dry grass, leaves, moss or any other available vegetable material. In 
 order to give even a clearer idea of the mechanism of the trap, its com- 
 
 Kig. 85. 
 
 Fig. 84. 
 
 ponent parts will be found separately drawn in fig. 84, Let it suffice ot 
 add that, while the fall stick is looped to the springing piece i, the small 
 end of the latter is at the same time notched in the trip stick a and con- 
 nected with the post c through the double string d, which presses in the 
 extremity of both trip and spring pieces. 
 
 These traps are not hastily constructed on the spur of the momen; 
 with any chance material taken at random from the immediate vicinity 
 of the spot where they are set. They require some little care in their 
 preparation, and they are therefore made at home, and carried about 
 with their different parts tied together as shown in fig. 85. 
 
 SNARES. . 
 
 Whilst we are occupied with the divers contrivances invented by native 
 ingenuity to capture land animals, it may be well to give some idea of 
 the Western Danes' methods of snaring the same. To such as may be 
 tempted to call in question the appositeness of such minute details, I 
 would beg to point out that the aborigines, whose technology we are 
 studying, are pre-eminently huntsmen no less than fishermen ; and to 
 call complete a review of their industrial implements, which does not 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 MOTES ON THK WE8TEKN D^Ni:8. 
 
 99 
 
 embrace their various fishing and hunting contrivances, would be equiva- 
 lent to supposing well constitr.ted a body lacking nerve or bone. Besides 
 giving us some idea of their proficiency as craftsmen, they enable us 
 to witness, as it were, the workings of their mind as applied to their 
 means of providing for the necessaries of life. So that those very details 
 which may appear unimportant to the superficial reader, add in the 
 estimation of the scientist, a psychological interest to a study which is 
 primarily technological. What has already been said of the Western 
 D^nds' fish or animal t.aps has led us to the conclusion that, if those 
 aborigines are wanting in the appreciation of the beautiful, they are by 
 no means devoid of the faculty of judging and selecting that which is 
 best suited to the attainment of their ends. A review of their snaring 
 devices cannot fail to confirm this impression. 
 
 At least eight different methods of snare setting, generally varying 
 according to the nature of the game, obtain among the single Carrier 
 tribe. I leave it to the following figures to explain the details, and shall 
 <;ontent myself with noting en passant that which they cannot tell. 
 
 Fig. 86. 
 
 Figs. 86 and 87 represent bear-snares * whereby the game is either 
 choked down on the ground (fig. 86) or flung up in the air (fig. 87). The 
 action of the former is exceedingly simple, though it cannot fail to prove 
 very effective. Of course it is clear that the bear upon getting engaged 
 in the noose, which is in all cases held in the proper position through 
 
 ' The root for snare in general is ///, and this word is suffixed to the name of the game for 
 which each snare is intended. Euphony demands that it be preceded by an m ; therefore bear- 
 snare is 'iis-mpij ; lynx-snare, w.tshi-mpij, etc., in Carrier. 
 
 :::!i 
 
 m 
 
100 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADrAN IN8TSTUTE. 
 
 [Vol. it. 
 
 small strings lashed to the bushes near by, will, to free himself therefrom^ 
 pull forward or backward. Either movement must result in the fall of 
 the post a and thereby of the beam b. 
 
 Fig. 87. 
 
 As to the second mode of setting the bear-snare, it may be necessary 
 to explain that as soon as the game is noosed up by the falling of the 
 crossed poles, he will naturally, in his efforts to disentangle himself^ 
 struggle for a support for his paws so as to annul the action of the noose. 
 This is provided for hi.ii in the shape of the wooden piece noticeable 
 under the small end of the lever. But as the role of the hunter is not 
 one of mercy, he has taken care, prior to setting his snare, to bore through 
 that piece of wood a hole large enough to ensure its slipping down with 
 the contraction of the noose. So that by pressing down on it, the animal 
 only hastens its own death. The manner of lashing the lever or balancing 
 pole to the post is shown in Fig. 88. It is reputed the safest and is 
 adopted with regard to all other snares requiring a similai appliance. 
 
 The setting of the cariboo snare cannot be simpler. As showr* 
 herewith, it merely consists in a noose attached to a stout stake (fig. 89) 
 with which the game scampers away, and becoming engaged among 
 fallen or standing trees chokes himself to death. 
 
 Until a few years ago, the Ts^'k^hne were wont to use these snares 
 extensively and with no mean results. As many as forty or fifty were 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DliNis. 
 
 101 
 
 set in a line through such defiles or passes of their mountains as were 
 the most frequented by the roaming bands of cariboo. After two of 
 their most active hunters had been deputed to watch at either end of the 
 line, the others, numbering fifteen or more, would, by loud shouting and 
 firmg of guns, drive the reluctant game to the snares where it was 
 captured. 
 
 Fig. 88 
 
 Fig. 90. 
 
 Fig. 89. 
 
 In figs. 90 and 91 we have snares very differently set, though they are 
 intended for the same kind of game, viz. : the lynx. The working of 
 the apparatus is in the first model identical with that of the cariboo snare. 
 The little stick planted in the ground is destined to no other purpose 
 than that of holding the noose in position with the help of the two side 
 strings. 
 
 Fig. 91 though more comph'cated in appearance is no less easy of 
 understanding. It is compose^ of two levers balanced on their posts, 
 the end of the main or snare pole being engaged under that of the 
 other, which is prevented from yielding to the weight of its larger end 
 by the temporary stick a set thereunder. The struggling of the lynx 
 when caught in the noose will cause this to drop off on the ground, 
 
 
102 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN IN8TITUTB. [VOL. IV. 
 
 whereby the small end of both levers will ■ spring up, leaving no possible 
 chance of escape to the game. 
 
 Fig. 91. 
 
 The fox snare (fig. 92) is likewise based on the balance principle, and 
 needs no further explanation than this : The snare string above the noose 
 
 Fif;. 92. 
 
 is wound round a stake solidly driven in the fjround and a detachable 
 transversal piece of wood in such a way that it unrols itself by the 
 
 ;| 
 
1892 93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^Nfis. 
 
 103 
 
 slightest movement on the part of the noosed animal. This connection 
 between the transversal and the horizontal sticks I have tried to illustrate 
 
 f'g- 93- 
 by fig- 93 ; but I think that its working requires to be seen to be fully 
 understood. This snare does also good service against marmots. 
 
 Fig. 94. 
 
 Fig. 94 represents a mode of snare setting usual in connection with 
 the latter game only. It needs no explanation, since the lever of fig. 92 
 is simply replaced here by a bent down switch. 
 
 V'^S- 95- 
 Lastly fig. 95 gives us an idea of the rabbit snare as it is commonly 
 
 1' t 
 
 m 
 
 
 
104 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 set by our Carriers. The method is identical with the preceding, save 
 that a switch forming a semi-circle is substituted for the stake to 
 which the movable cross-piece is temporarily fastened. Of course this 
 necessitates a change in the position of the latter which in this case is 
 laid horizontally over the apex of the ..cop. 
 
 The strings of the cariboo and bear snares are made of moose or 
 cariboo skin strands, generally four in number. As a protection against 
 moisture or any other deteriorating agent, they are ir most cases wrapped 
 with thin strips of willow bark. Hempen twine such as is for sale at 
 any H. B. Co. fort nowaday:< serves against any species of minor game. 
 
 Before leaving this subject, it may not be amiss to mention that even 
 waterfowl were formerly sought after by means of snaring devices. 
 Ducks and g'-ebes were then the coveted game. The snares cor sisted in 
 a noose cord of vegetable fibre attached to a stick firmly driven in the 
 bottom of the piece of water, more generally in such shallow places as 
 the fowl ordinarily frequent when feeding. 
 
 Waterfowl of r .y larger species such as geese and swans, especially 
 the latter, are said to have been secured in olden times, by an ingenious 
 stratagem which cannot be ')etter described than by relating the follow- 
 ing fragment of the Carriers' national legend wherein the famous hero 
 gstas plays such a wonderful role. 
 
 " In the course of his travellings, gstas came upon a family consisting 
 of the father, two sons and a daughter. One day, the old man sent his 
 sons to try their chances at catching swans in his hereditary fishing- 
 place. The young men, who had already heard of gstas' wonderful 
 deeds, said to him : ' Cousin, we always lose our time in our attempts at 
 catching swans. Our fathei wants some to make for himself a head- 
 dress and a breast blanket * for the winter. People say that you 
 generally succeed in any enterprise you undertake. Come then, and 
 help us.' gstas readily consented, and went out with them. 
 
 " When they had reached the family fishing grounds, they perceived 
 eight swans lazily gliding on the water. ' Have not you taken a rope 
 aiong with you?' asked gstas. Upon which they pointed to a long rope 
 which had been left there for future use in a similar emergency. 
 
 " Presently gstas donned a head-dress made of the head and neck of 
 a swan, and, taking the rope with him, swam slowly towards the swans 
 imi*;ating in every point their movements. Then he deftly tied the feet 
 
 * See the chapter on Dress and Personal adornment. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN U^N^IS. 
 
 105 
 
 of five of them to his long rope without as much as awakening their 
 suspicions, and swam back to the stake driven in the bed of the river to 
 which he secured the end of his rope. Being now sure of his game, he 
 took off his head-dress when the swans perceiving their mistake took to 
 their wings, but were soon arrested in their flight by the retaining rope 
 and stake. They were then taken by the wily stranger. 
 
 " The young men who had on previous occasions tried the same trick 
 without avail, were delighted at the success of their guest, so much the 
 more that nobody before him had been able to get by this method more 
 than four swans at one time. They therefore invited him on another 
 day to give them a further proof of his ability, and even to outdo himself 
 if that was possible. Much flattered at their encomiums, gstas this 
 time tied the legs of no less than eight swans. But as he was swimming 
 back to attach the rope to the stake, he unwittingly lifted off his head- 
 dress, upon which all the fowl flew off taking up with them gstas who 
 was thus carried very far away into the countries beyond the horizon." 
 
 The story then proceeds to relate how, new Vulcan, having let go the 
 rope, he fell down upon a rock wherein he sank and was buried alive. 
 
 Whether this or any analogous mode of securing waterfowl was really 
 practised by the prehistoric Carriers cannot, of course, be now positively 
 stated. Strange as it appears, some such stratagem may have been 
 resorted to, since we read that in China waterfowl are caught by wading 
 in the water up to the neck with one's head hidden in a gourd 
 and then seizing the bird's legs to finally draw it down in the water with- 
 out ever revealing one's personality.* Be that as it may, the modern 
 Carriers know it only by tradition. They now prefer to build small 
 circular huts of coniferous boughs or even walls or cairns of stone in the 
 favorite haunts of the fowl behind which they hide and by imitating 
 their call, prevail upon them to approach within shooting range when 
 they are easily dispatched. 
 
 I have enumerated the fishes and land animals trapped or otherwise 
 hunted by our Western D^n^s, and described the various devices made 
 use of to secure them. I leave it to the following list of the names of 
 the lunar months in two dialects to furnish the reader with some hints as 
 to the time when they are generally sought after. 
 
 • See Six I^gendes AmMcaines identifies <) thistoire de Moise, etc., par le R. P. Petitot, 
 Missions de la Congregation O.M.I., Paris, 1877, p. 741. 
 
 8 
 
 V\-'A 
 
 n 
 
106 
 
 TKANSACTIONS OP THE CANADIAM INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vou IV- 
 
 Names of the Twelve Lunar Months. 
 
 In Carrier. 
 Sa-tco, the big moon. 
 Tcaz-sdl* 
 Tc9z-tco.* 
 
 Ctn-usa, moon of the spring. 
 Takus-uza, moon of the carp. 
 Tailr-uza, moon of the summer. 
 Khdl-uza, moon of the land-locked 
 
 salmon. 
 Thallo-za, moon of the red salmon. 
 Pit-uza, moon of the bull-trout. 
 joh-uza, moon of the vvhit3-fish. 
 PanrBn n9t's9Kei. " during its half 
 
 one navigates."! 
 Sa-tco-dhvai, "next to the big 
 
 moon." 
 
 In Tsfi'K^HNE. 
 
 Infsih-sa, moon of the wind. 
 
 VastBse-sa, moon of the snow- 
 storms. • 
 
 Ahta-tnza, moon of the golden 
 eagle. 
 
 RatqMnza, moon of the wild goose. 
 
 Sas-inza, moon of the black bear 
 
 Mdndh-tcMh'oie, moon when they % 
 
 take to the water. 
 Ha'ke-ta, " the buffalo ruts." 
 ^tsiz-tnza, moulting moon. 
 Sa-ts3tle, little moon. 
 Sa-tct, great moon. 
 3'ka-t, "the fat (of the animals) 
 
 disappears." 
 Md-tlmi-tlmi-tsatle, " what freezes is 
 
 covered with bare ice." 
 
 The first of these months corresponds nearly to January. 
 
 The size of the page prevents me from giving side by side with the 
 above the names of the TsiiKoh'tin months. Their main peculiarities 
 may be thus resumed : March is the " moon when one comes out of the 
 subterranean huts " ; April is the moon of the sucker ; July, that of the 
 Kes, or white-fleshed salmon ; August, that of the red-fleshed salmon ; 
 November is called " this month we all enter the subterranean huts," 
 and December is the moon of the ice. It will thus be seen that different 
 social habits and occupations have left their impress even on the names 
 of the months such as recognized by the three D^n^ tribes under study. 
 
 Observances of the Hunter and the Trapper. 
 
 Prior to their embracing Christianity, the Western D^nes had recourse 
 to various other means of ensuring success while engaged in hunting. 
 Several superstitious practices were observed, the neglect of which was 
 
 *The root Tcfz is now meaningless. The finals s^l and /co mean "small" and "big" re- 
 spectively. 
 
 + 1, e. Lake Stuart is opened to navigation during the half of this month. 
 ♦ I. e. The goslings. 
 
 l!" 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THB WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 lor 
 
 regarded as entailing unavoidable failure. Most of these were based on 
 their regard for continence and their excessive repugnance for, and dread 
 of, menstruating women. 
 
 As soon as a Carrier had made up his mind to try his chances at bear- 
 snaring, he separated a thoro for a full month previous to the setting of 
 his snares. During all that time, he could not drink from the same 
 vessel as his wife, but had to use a special birch bark drinking cup. The 
 second half of the penitential month was employed in preparing his 
 snares. The omission of these observances was believed to cause the 
 escape of the game after it had been snared. To further allure it 
 into the snares he was making, the hunter used to eat the root of a 
 species of heracleum {tsd'^p in Carrier) of which the black bear is said to 
 be especially fond. Sometimes he would chew and squirt it up with 
 water exclaiming at the same time : NyAstluh ! may I snare you ! 
 
 Once a bear, or indeed any animal, had been secured, it was never 
 allowed to pass a night in its entirety, but must have some limb, hind or 
 fore paws, cut off, as a means of pacifying its fellows irritated by its 
 killing. 
 
 Speaking of the meat of snared animals, I cannot help remarking that 
 young women having their menses could not eat of their head, heart or 
 hind part without exposing themselves to a premature death through a 
 kind of rabies which was sure to attack them in after years. This infir- 
 mity led them to keep tearing off the flesh of their arms with their teeth. 
 If perchance they were favored with a lucid moment, they improved it 
 by making their confession to the shaman. " When young, I ate of the 
 head, etc., of an animal " they would say. Thereupon the medicine man 
 would suck from the body of the patient what was represented as the 
 tabooed morsel unlawfully swallowed, and forsooth the woman was 
 cured ! 
 
 The heart even of water-fowls was forbidden to similarly circumstanced 
 young women, who had also to abstain from cutting up the grebes which, 
 among the Carriers, are caught each spring in such large numbers. These 
 fowl are full of blood, and their being manipulated by such persons 
 would communicate to the latter either haemorrhage or unnaturally pro- 
 longed menses. 
 
 If in the woods with his wife, the hunter would also prefer to see her 
 tear herself up in the bush and thorns, to let her pass in the narrow trail 
 wherein he may have deposited his snares preparatory to setting them. 
 Should she as much as step over without touching them, her mate would 
 certainly consider any further attempt at capturing game as futile and 
 useless. 
 
 •1 
 
108 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THR CANADIAN INSTITUTB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 I" 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 
 i , 
 
 The skulls of the bears whose flesh has been eaten up are even to-day 
 invariably stuck up a stick or the broken branch of a tree. But the 
 aborigines fail to give any reason for this practice. 
 
 If the Carrier was to use traps instead of snares, the observances pre- 
 paratory to setting them varied somewhat. When martens were the 
 intended game, the period of abstinence from sexual intercourse was 
 shortened to ten days or thereabouts, during which the trapper slept by 
 the fireside pressing down a little stick over his neck. This, of course, 
 could not fail to cause the fall-stick of his traps to drop on the neck of 
 the coveted game ! The chewing and squirting up of the heracleum root 
 were observed in this as in the former case. The deprecatory formula 
 was merely changed into NyAskuh ! may I entrap you I 
 
 When successful, the trapper had to be very careful that no dog touches 
 his prey, which, to avert such a misfortune, he had to hang up a peg in 
 the lodge as soon as this was practicable. Contact with a dog would 
 certainly indispose the game's fellow martens against the traps of the 
 hunter responsible for such a slight. 
 
 No superstitious practice appears to have been followed as a prepara- 
 tion to beaver hunting, save that to ensure a larger catch, one-half of each 
 trap was daubed with red ochre. But nobody who does not care to con- 
 demn himself to useless efforts at securing any further supply of the game 
 must be unguarded enough to swallow the little patella bone of the 
 beaver. In like manner, if after having captured a beaver, a Carrier has 
 the carelessness to let one of his dogs get at that bone, he may as well 
 resign himself to return home empty handed. During the whole beaver- 
 trapping .season, his first capture will infallibly be his last. 
 
 Lynx not only was not eaten by the women, but even when once 
 snared, it could not be brought in the lodge through the doorway. 
 Women as well as men daily enter through that passage, and the former 
 must have no intercourse, however indirect, with the feline. So it was 
 introduced by men into the lodge through the smoke hole in the roof 
 It was touched by men only, its flesh boiled by men and eaten by men. 
 The reason of the aversion of the women for the lyn.K will appear from 
 the following legend : — 
 
 " A young couple of Indians was living in the woods. One morning, 
 as the husband w"s absent chasing large animals, a stranger of surprising 
 beauty and apparently endowed with superhuman powers came upon the 
 young woman. " Follow me : you shall be my wife," he .said to her. 
 But as she was very much attached to her husband, she strove hard not to 
 hearken to him. Yet such were the stranger's charms and hidden powers 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON TBK WBSTKRN D^INiSs. 
 
 109 
 
 that her mind was as if paralyzed in his presence. As she pretended that 
 she had no provisions for the journey, he told her that the distance was 
 short, and that he had plenty in his own place. Whereupon he seized 
 her and she had to follow him. Now the stranger was no other than the 
 lynx. She managed however to snatch from her lodge in leaving a 
 grouse {Dendragaptis frankltnii, Dougl.) which her husband had shot a 
 while before. As she walked behind her seducer, she would pluck a few 
 of the grouse's feathers and down and drop them along thereby marking 
 her trail on the ground. By the time that she reached her new home, the 
 bird was entirely stripped of its feathers and down. 
 
 " The lynx's lodge was full of pieces of the fat of cariboo and moose 
 hanging up to dry. Before dark, he went out to do a little hunting a 
 short distance off. 
 
 " Meanwhile the young woman's lawful husband who had experienced 
 no difficulty in tracking her, thanks to the fallen feathers and the 
 trampled herbage — for it was summer time — came upon her as she was 
 * sitting lonely in the lynx's lodge. She at once told him the story of her 
 abduction by the stranger. At the same time she insisted that the latter 
 was uncommonly powerful, and cautioned her husband against using 
 violence in this case. " We had better try and take him by stratagem, 
 for both of us together are nothing to him," she said. 
 
 " She had barely uttered these words, when the lynx came home after 
 a successful hunt. The woman went out to him and said presenting the 
 new comer: " Husband, here is your brother-in-law, for he is indeed my 
 own younger brother." Upon which the lynx asked : " Have I then a 
 brother-in-law V — " Yes indeed, and a very good one," answered the 
 woman. Then her own lawful^husband told the lynx how very pleased 
 he was to see his sister married to so good a hunter and thereby delivered 
 from her first husband who had been living with her against the wishes of 
 all her relations. To confirm the sincerity of his declarations, he pre- 
 sented the lynx with his own quiver full of arrows, keeping only his bow 
 for himself. " I will hereafter see you more than once," he added " and 
 each time I shall make you similar presents." 
 
 "The lynx was so pleased that le insisted upon preparing himself his 
 guest's supper. 
 
 " Now prior to his return home, the young womm had related to her 
 real husband how the lynx had asked her whether she was having her 
 menses. Lest she may have been tempted to prove unfaithful, she had 
 answered affirmatively, though that was not the case. Hearing this, the 
 lynx had manifested a great dread of her and left her untouched. They 
 
 
 ■Ui 
 
no 
 
 TRAMSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vou IV. 
 
 had then, her husband and herself, agreed as to the plan to follow to 
 effect her deliverance. 
 
 "Therefore, after they had eaten to their content, she purposely 
 attempted to play with the lynx, while her husband, who was lying on 
 the opposite side of the fireplace, feigned sleep. But each time that she 
 tried to touch the lynx she was sharply rebuked : ' Skrant/tahoflkr^s* 
 you will throw a spell over my arms,' he would say. Yet she would not 
 desist in her endeavors to keep him awake so as to render his sleep more 
 profound once he would fall asleep. 
 
 " At length after he had been a while soundly sleeping, she motioned 
 her husband with a stick that now was the time to act. Therefore he 
 cautiously seized his bow which was double pointed, as one end of it was 
 provided with a longr horn dart while the other had a stone spear head. 
 With all his might, he sank the horn dart into the lynx's breast, while 
 his wife chopped off his head with a stone adze she had kept concealed 
 in her bosom. 
 
 " After he had transpierced him with the horn dart, he and his wife • 
 turned him over and he repeated the same operation on his back with 
 the stone spear head of h's bow. They did not leave him till he had 
 been reduced to a shapeless mass of bone and flesh. 
 
 " Ever since, our women have been afraid of the lynx, for he is indeed 
 a ravisher." 
 
 In the estimation of the Carriers of the generations gone by, fishing 
 was not fraught with the same perils as hunting, and therefore few, if 
 any, superstitious precautions accompanied it. Indeed the only vain 
 observance which can be mentioned in this connection was that which 
 forbade women having their monthly flow to cut or carve salmon, 
 inasmuch as this was reputed to seriously endanger the health and 
 especially enfeeble for life the arms of the transgressor. 
 
 When no shaman was at hand to consult about the quantity of the 
 salmon coming up, either the elements or some peculiarities in the 
 vegetable kingdom afforded them a means of prognosticating the nature 
 of the forthcoming run of fish. Thus a continually rumbling thunder or 
 the early fall of the service-berries portended to them an abundant 
 harvest. I would not affirm that these ideas have no longer any hold 
 on the mind of a few modern Cariiers. Those persons who are au fail 
 with the popular notions current among the lower classes of the Old 
 World will, I think, hesitate before tasking my Indians with uncommon 
 credulity. 
 
 * Thahohkris is hard to translate in English. The lynx means that her tou>.h 
 unclean state will incapacitate him for the chase. 
 
 awhile in her 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTKil ON THB WE8TEKN D^N^S. 
 
 Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Wooden Implements. 
 
 I may mention as having some relation to one of the objects of the pre- 
 ceding Chapter, namely fishing, the Invot's^z* and the talbi.\ The former 
 
 Fig. 96. 
 is the wooden maul which serves to drive home the piles of the salmon 
 weirs used by the Carriers. It is bottle-shaped, and of the hardest wood 
 obtainable, generally birch {Bitula papyracea). 
 
 Fig. 97. 
 
 The latter is the wooden float attached to their nets. Here we cannot 
 fail to remark that the Western D^n^s had in this connection an oppor- 
 tunity of exhibiting at least a minimum of artistic taste, and, as in most 
 cases, did not improve it. The cut (fig. 97) shows the working of the 
 float when in actual use. 
 
 Such entirely wooden implements as are unconnected with either 
 fishing or hunting are relatively few and unimportant. Therefore we 
 need not ';arry long in their description. Commencing with those which 
 serve recreative purposes, we may refer in the first place to the t9tquh 
 (fig. 98) of which mention has already been made in the course of a 
 
 % 
 
 ' ' 'i 
 
 
 
 S! 
 
 Fig. 98. 
 
 • Second category of nouns. 
 
 't A verbal noun almost equivalent to "it floats up." 
 
 If 
 
112 
 
 TRAN8ACTIOM8 OF THE CANADIAN IKBTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 native legend. It is a rod five or six feet long which is thrown through 
 the air so as to fall as far as possible from the initial point of launching, 
 the distance reached determining the measure of success attained. This 
 game was formerly much in vogue among the Carriers. It is now 
 obsolescent. » 
 
 Fig. 99- 
 
 A great rival is naz?::, which is played with sticks ot almost the same 
 shape, (fig. 99) though much stouter near their fore-end. As [they do 
 duty on the frozen surface of the snow, the finest polish possible is 
 aimed at in their preparation. These sticks vary in length from three to 
 six or seven feet, according to the strength, possessed or assumed, of tlie 
 player. The Carriers are to-day passionately fond of this game, which 
 is played, as a ru'r by adverse bands, the stake going over to the party 
 which first attains the fixed number of points. 
 
 Fig. 100. 
 
 T2>'ko' is another pastime which is somewhat childish in character. In 
 most cases it is played by the fireside in the camp lodge during the long 
 winter evenings. Its necessary accompaniments are a blunt-headed stick 
 (fig. 100) and two small, thin and springy boards firmly driven in the 
 ground, one close by each player. The two opposite parties sit facing 
 each other and throw the ta'ko' against the little board on the other side, 
 upon hitting which it rebounds to the knees of the successful player, who 
 is then entitled to recommence and continue as long as luck favors him. 
 Failing to get at the mark, the ta'ko' is handed to the other partner. The 
 number of points obtained indicates the winner. The old men profess 
 to be ignorant of that game, which is probably adventitious among our 
 Indians. 
 
 While we are treating of the games in connection wherewith success 
 depends on the skill of the performer, not on mere hazard as with nat'saa, 
 atlih and atiy^h, we may men\\on ' ket-la-p^s ("encircling willow") or 
 arrow target shooting, though the implement required for its performance 
 
1892-93] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DEN^S. 
 
 lift 
 
 and from which the name of the game is derived would, considered in 
 itself, be classed among the objects which shall form the subject matter 
 of our next chapter. 
 
 This is a sort of open work disk or wheel made principally of willow 
 bark strings, though the frame of the hoop is composed of three or four 
 switches very closely fitting each other and kept in position by a strong 
 lacing of strips of bark. Radiating from the axis, or heart as it is called,, 
 are four cords of similar material stretched so as tc form a cross (fig. loi). 
 
 As this was formerly the great national game of the Carriers, I may 
 be pardoned for giving its rules somewhat in full. 
 
 A team of five or six men was matched against another of presumed 
 equal force, and after each player had been pr Jed with a given number 
 of pointless arrows, the disk was set wheeling away by one team to the 
 cry of tldp 1 th'p ! This was the signal for the other to shoot at it while 
 it was in motion. Should they fail to hit it, it was returned rolling to 
 the first team so as to give them an equal chance of making at it with 
 their arrows. As soon as the disk had been shot, the real competitive 
 game commenced. The arrows which had hit it, two, three or more, 
 became the stake for the rival team to win over. For this purpose the 
 disk was hung up a short stick planted in the ground near the team who^ 
 had succeeded in sending home the arrows, and it was aimed at succes- 
 sively by each member of the opposite party. Should any one be lucky 
 enough to shoot it with his first arrow, the stake played for became his 
 irrevocable property. When the target was hit, but on a subsequent 
 attempt of the marksman, the stake was thereby won over, subject to its 
 being redeemed by any member of the opposing team performing the 
 same feat. In this ca.se the g^me became a draw ; the wheel was set 
 rolling anew, and the nature of the stake was determined as in the first 
 instance. 
 
 i| 
 
 :Si 
 
114 
 
 TKAN8AOTION8 OF THE CANADIAM IVHTITUTR. 
 
 Ill 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 
 
 I have never seen 'keilapas played by others than children and young 
 men. But in times past it had a sort of national importance, inasmurli as 
 teams from distant villages were wont to assemble in certain localities 
 more favorable to its performance in good style. Indeed, until a few 
 years ago the sporting field of some was literally dotted with small 
 cavities resulting from the fall of the arrows. 
 
 Fig. I02 represents the device doing duty among the TsiiKoh'tin as a 
 spindle. Prior to the introduction of European textile 
 fabrics, its uses were doubtless of a much wider des- 
 cription than to-day. As a matter of fact, I have never 
 seen it in actual use except to spin or twist the rabbit 
 skin lines entering into the manufacture of blankets. 
 The discoidal attachment is wanting in the implement 
 such as known among the Carriers. 
 
 There can be imagined no simpler or more primitive 
 method of lighting fire than that originally obtaining 
 Fig. 102. among the Western Dtiniis. Instead of the somewhat 
 elaborate fire-drill in use amongst the northernmost congenerous tribes, 
 such as the Loucheux and the Hares, our aborigines' apparatus was 
 reduced to a short stick, generally of resinous scrub pine (P. contorta) set 
 revolving on touchwood by immediate contact with the hands as is 
 practised by Ihe Wataweita of eastern equatorial Africa.* 
 
 Shall I speak of the Western D(5nes' canoes .' They certainly possess 
 no peculiarity to render them worthy of any mention, unless it be their 
 very rudeness of form and finish. Of course I do not here refer to the 
 birch bark canoes, which among the Carriers and the TsiiKoh'tin, have 
 gone out of ui>e since the last fifty years or so. Of these I have seen but 
 very few examples, and they were not representatives of their class. 
 
 Fig. 103: 
 
 West of the Rocky Mountains, the present Ddn^ canoe is dug out of bal- 
 sam poplar trees {Populus balsatnifera), and either because the material 
 will not admit of a similar treatment, or because our Indians have not yet 
 learned the method of expanding the sides by the action of fire under- 
 neath, as is done by the Coast Tribes with regard to their cedar canoes, 
 they are left almost as narrow at the centre as the tree was while in its 
 
 •See "Fire making app.iratus in the U.S. Museum," by Walter Hough, p. 5S3. 
 
 I 
 
;iH 
 
 ^! 
 
 $\l 
 
 1892-03.1 
 
 NOTBH ON TIIK WRRI'KR* DI^NI^.S. 
 
 US 
 
 i.:r 
 
 original state. A few cross sticks only prevent the sides from shrinking in 
 too much. This want of width, added to the fact that the prow is always 
 made of the broader end of the tree, renders these canoes very awkward 
 in stormy weather on our lakes, inasmuch as they generally compensate 
 in length what they lack in breadth. 
 
 Another fact worthy of remark is that the Carriers, who owe to their 
 frequent intercourse with the Coa.st Indians, much of their technolo<,'y 
 and all such of their customs as are unknown to the rest of the D6n6 
 nation,* .should have failed to take the hint from their maritime com- 
 mercial visitors and build wooden canoes, until they appropriated, some 
 seventy years ago. two rough "dug-outs" manned by a party of Iroquois 
 hailing from the East. 
 
 Their paddles offer hardly any not'ceable peculiarities, save perhaps the 
 absence of the cross-like appenda^ , at the end of the handle which is 
 common among maritime tribes. Ihis is explained by the different 
 manner of handling the implement. While the Coast Indian when 
 paddling seems to divide his strength between propelling forward with the 
 left hand and pulling backward with the right, the edge of the wooden 
 canoe being made to serve as a partial fulcrum for the lever in his hands, 
 the Carrier, who unconsciously labours under the illusion that he is still 
 manning a frail birch bark canoe, does all his paddling away from his 
 dug-out without ever touching its sides. This exercise necessitates the 
 peculiarly long shaft of Ijis paddle and renders useless the cross-end of 
 the maritime implement. The aforesaid illusion is so patent 
 that even while at the helm, he scarcely ever uses his paddle 
 as a rudder to stert- his craft. He prefers to paddle out alter- 
 nately to the right and to the left, thereby communicating to 
 the canoe a kind of zig-zag course. 
 
 To return to the description of technological items. In fig. 
 104 we have an industrial implement whose destination cannot 
 be guessed, inasmuch as its form is rather misleading. It is 
 Moi an oar, but a •ah-tcis. ' This compound word, when under- 
 stood, prevents the possibility of any misconception as to the 
 use of the object thereby determined. 'Ah is the Carrier word 
 for a species of fern whose bulbous root our aborigines greatly 
 t ish, and tea's means "paddle," and by extension any paddle- 
 .=' aped object. Hence this implement is designed to dig out 
 the esculent root of the fern -ah. Yet, in spite of its name, it 
 
 ,W 
 
 Fig. 104. 
 
 * See my paper in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Sect. II. 1892, p. 109- 
 
 
 V: 
 
 ' t 
 
 136. 
 
 
116 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 does frequent; service as a mere pe-yss-Zuzhwozo* or snow .shovel, as 
 it is also used to clear of snow the doorway of habitations and space 
 adjacent thereto. It should be remarked, however, that the prehistoric 
 'ahtcss, was much ruder in form and finish than that herewith illustrated. 
 
 The bulb of this fern is eaten while fresh and baked a Vetouffh in this 
 wise : " The natives dig out a hole about three feet in diameter in the 
 ground, pave its bottom with heated stones over which they strew chips 
 of alder {Alnus rubra) bark, and then fill it up with the roots. The 
 whole is then covered with earth and the roots will be ready for the table 
 ten or twelve hours later, that is when entirely cooled down."-f- 
 
 As far as I can ascertain, no such esculent root as "ah grows in the 
 TsiiKoh'tin's country. But its absence is more than compensated by the 
 presence there of two very useful tubers, dsroilli and sflntt, which resemble 
 respectively diminutive oblong and spheroidal potatoes. When these 
 
 Fig. 105. Fig. 106. Yi size. 
 
 have reached maturity, they are dug out with the T-shaped tool shown 
 in fig. 105. As may be seen, there is nothing complicated in the nature 
 of this implement, since it is nothing else than a birch branch cut off 
 with its shoot. To ensure greater toughness to the material, its point is 
 generally treated to a slight calcination. Imiu*..:'-'' numbers of the 
 root are annually gathered. They are either boiled as potatoes or 
 smoked in the house. For the latter purpose a sinew or buckskin line is 
 passed through each of them, and while thus forming strings of vegetable 
 beads, they are hung up near the chimney or the fire hole. The smoking 
 process is rather long, and at its close, the tubers are eaten without 2.x\y 
 further prepiiration. I have also seen this method practised among the 
 TsiiKoh'tin with regard to the smallest of their potatoes. 
 
 From the culinary peculiarities of the TsijKoh'tin we may pass to their 
 faculty of imitation and adaptiveness as evidenced by the herewith 
 
 * Lit. " wiierewilh-snow-is shaved off." 
 + The Western Ueiies, p. 135. 
 
■;'ii;. 
 
 1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WGaTGRN Dl^N^S. 
 
 117 
 
 figured toilet article which had been made and was used by one of I'iem 
 immediately before it was handed to me. If this comb stamps them as 
 good imitators, it must be confessed that it entitles them to no particular 
 claim to be ranked as artists. An examination of the cut will reveal the 
 extreme simplicity of the process of fabrication of this article. A set of 
 small holes have first been drilled with the hole-borer (fig. 130), after 
 which the portions of the wood whose veins had thus been cut asunder 
 have been extracted with the knife leaving out what becomes the tines 
 or prongs of the ccimb.* 
 
 The original comb of the Western Denes was remarkable for the length 
 of its prongs rendered necessary by their peculiar way of wearing the 
 hair prior to their first encounter with European civilization. 
 In all probability, it was made in about the same style as the 
 above Carrier comb (fig. 107) which is not a toilet article, but 
 served the purpose of ritual observances. To secure success 
 in his trapping or snaring iperations, the Carrier had, besides 
 lying down by the fireside, dreaming, etc., to make use of this 
 three-pronged comb, which consists m the juxtaposition of as 
 many wooden pins bound together with sinew lines. 
 
 
 Fig. 107. 
 
 J4 size. 
 
 That our Western D^nds are indeed a self appropriating 
 race is further evidenced by the tani or wooden cuirass which 
 the Car-'ier warriors used to don as a protection against the 
 enemy's arrows. This was composed, as a rule, of dried rods of A ftie/an- 
 chier alnifolia (or Canadensis) disposed in parallel order and held together 
 by means of cariboo skin lines interlaced through the middle and near 
 both edges. It was identical with the wooden armour formerly in use 
 ,imo ig the coast tribes from wl.ich it was undoubtedly borrowed. I have 
 never seen any; but fig. 53, plate xv. in Niblack's "The Coast Indians 
 of Southern Alaska "f will give some idea of its general appearance. 
 
 Composed of the same material was the 'kei-tla-ilanX or shield, which 
 was oval in form as the Roman clypeus. The mode of manufacture only 
 differed somewhat, as the branches or twigs of amelanchier were very 
 closely interwoven. No specimen is now available for illustration. 
 
 Another wooden implement which, though I have seen in actual use, 
 I cannot figure herewith for the lack of a specimen to draw from, is 
 
 * The Carrier name of the comb is Isi-ltzii, " llie iiead is curried," a verbal noun. 
 
 •tAnn. Rep. U. S. Nation.il Museum, 1888. 
 
 J Lit. " willow (or birch)-the hand-hold " ; 3rd categ. of nouns. 
 
118 
 
 TKANSACTIONS OF THK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 le 
 
 ! 
 
 the tC9n-ds(ju (sticks-interwoven) of the Babines. Its name indicates 
 its mode of fabrication, but leaves us in the dark as to its shape or 
 destination. Imagine a rough arm chair without legs and made of stout, 
 split sticks of willow (Salix longifolia) or other wood secured by skin 
 strings, and you have a perfect idea of its form. As for its use, it may 
 be properly pointed out by a simple reference to the plate xx illustrating 
 Ancient Mexican Carriers, in Cyrus Thomas' paper on the Manuscrit 
 Troano.* The packing devices seem to be identical in both cases, while 
 the modes of handling the implement appear to have been different. 
 Our Western D^n^ women — useless to remark that among primitive 
 peoples heavy work alwaj's falls to the lot of the woman — pack from the 
 forehead with a skin line broadening in the middle, and, if the load is 
 unusually weighty, the ends of this line are made to pass around the 
 chest so as to render the burden more manageable. Among the 
 Hwotso'tin, a fraction of the Babine sub-tribe, I have seen a woman thus 
 packing, apparently with the greatest ease, her invalid husband, a man 
 of more than average size and weight. 
 
 I shall purposely avoid speaking of t'^'e board boxes likewise used as 
 carrying mediums by some of our Cai .ers, because they are imported 
 from the coast, not indigenous to the Western D^n^s. 
 
 These other objects which, hs sociological items, are also due to the 
 influence of the maritime tribes, but had become naturalized among, and 
 were made by, the Carriers, were the ntirivss, the han9'taih,'\ and the 
 t'sak. The first two are respectively the ceremonial rattle and mask, 
 none of which can now be illustrated from existing specimens. These 
 were almost the only objects of art of genuine D^ne manufacture to 
 which I can point, and yet I do not think I unduly depreciate my 
 Indians' artistic capabilities by adding that they were rather below than 
 above the average of similar aboriginal carvings. The masks were used 
 only by mimics accompanying by grotesque g;estures and jerking of the 
 licdd the dance of a privileged few. But the rattles served a double 
 purpose: they did service in connection with a notable's dance, being then 
 held in the hand by the dancing personage himself, and also as an 
 accompaniment to the incantations of the n{]q3n,\ or shaman. Both 
 implements are, even at the present day, so common among North 
 Pacific Coast tribes that no description of either is needed by readers 
 ever so little au fait with American aboriginal paraphernalia It may 
 
 'Contributions to North American Kthnology, vol. v., p. 20. 
 
 +Lit. "that (round obj.) which is talten off;" the verb ha-nts'aih in the potential moo<l. 
 J Lit. "he makes people sing. " Not to forget 'hat among; most alioripinal races, song and 
 magic are convertible terms. 
 
 Si: 
 
 N 
 
 
1892-5)3.] 
 
 XOTKS ON THE WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 119 
 
 liiii;) 
 
 
 suffice to refer less informed readers to the plates or figures illustrating 
 Niblack's "The Coast Indians of Southern Alaska";* G. M. Dawson's 
 "Notes on the IIaida;t" W. H. Dall's " Masks and Labrets.J" etc. 
 
 Fig. io8 illustrates an implement which, for the lack of another term 
 we must call a rattle, though in shape, use and native name § it 
 widely differs from the above mentioned ceremonial rattle. It 
 is campanulate in form and is composed of a rounded piece of 
 wood, hollowed out in its larger or bottom end and split asunder 
 as far up as that part of it which serves as a handle. It was 
 used by the participants in that aboriginal ceremony, tne th^t- 
 SBlrwds, II which I have described in a former paper.** By slap- 
 ping against one another, its two halves produced a very sharp 
 rattling sound which could be he£-d at a great distance. 
 
 This is perhaps the proper plac z to mention another piece of 
 D^n6 carving, the gentile totem, toad, grouse, beaver, etc., which 
 Fig. io8. on great festival occasions was exhibited as a means of abstracting 
 Vt size, offerings, apparently to the said totem image, which were in 
 reality presents, voluntary or due, to the givers of the feast. Of course 
 no specimens of these carvings now exist among the natives. 
 
 The fsak, the third borrowed sociological item mentioned above, was 
 a canoe or trough-shaped vessel, sometimes elaborately carved to the 
 arms of its possessor, I mean the totem animal of the notable to whom 
 it belonged, and wherein food was served to the invited guests. This 
 large vessel was brought into requisition on the occasion of extraordinary 
 festivals only. Identical specimens are shown in plate xxxviii. of 
 Niblack's book. 
 
 Another kind of wooden utensil called fsai or dish, which was often- 
 times inlaid with haliotis shells as an attempt at ornamentation^ is also 
 known to have been possessed by a few Carrier families. But 1 greatly 
 suspect that the vessel, no less than its ornaments, had been bartered 
 from among the coast Indians during the fairs wnich were periodically 
 held on the borders of the Kitiksons' territory. 
 
 This brings us to the consideration of the Western Denes' household 
 utensils. • 
 
 •Rep. U.S. Museum, i888. 
 
 t Kejiort on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Canada, 1878-79, 
 
 t Third Ann. Rep. Bureau Elhnol ; Washington, 1884. 
 
 ^jjaihUa', "from which there comes a slapping sound." 
 
 II "One runs out." 
 
 ••The Western Denes, etc.. Pro. Can. Inst. Vol. VII, 1888 89, p. 154. 
 
 i 
 
 
 WM 
 
 %r^S 
 
 j't*-M-it 
 
 %^- 
 
120 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 k J. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 [Vol, IV. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Bark Implements. 
 
 In no branch of aboriginal industry is the Western D^n^s' and especi- 
 ally the Carriers' inferiority as workmen more apparent than with regard 
 to their household utensils. Most certainly no more primitive ware 
 could be imagined, both as regards material and workmanship. It has 
 already been pointed out that no pottery or clay objects of any description 
 ever existed among them. With reference to the Carriers and the 
 Ts^'k(Jhne, the list of unknown technological items must be extended so 
 as to comprise even the twined basket-work vessels so common among 
 the majority of American indigenous races. These are replaced among 
 the aforesaid tribes by corresponding vessels made of either birth 
 (Bttula papyracea) or spruce (Abies nigra) bark. Only the coarser 
 variety of vessels, thoes the object of which is bi't temporary, are made 
 of the latter material, the remainder, those which are properly household 
 utensils, being invariably of birch-bark. 
 
 Fig. no. 
 
 Fig. 109. 
 
 The most popular vessels among the Carriers are the two herewith 
 illustrated. Both are of a single piece of birch bark, and this must in- 
 deed be understood of all birch orjspruce bark utensils. The shape and 
 cut of the material previous to sewing are represented in figs. 1 1 1 and 
 112. In the former figure, besides these, the seams and stitches will be 
 
 18 
 
 fo 
 th 
 01 
 
 s< 
 
 %\ 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTKS ON THK WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 121 
 
 found faithfully delineated. The curved bold lines in the cut indicate 
 the places of cutting preparatory to folding up the bark, and the dotted 
 outlines stand for what becomes the outside edge corresponding to, and 
 
 
 VlWv 
 
 \:}r^'Jj^U 
 
 Fig. III. 
 
 sewed with, the tapering piece of bark noticeable in the lower part of the 
 finished vessel. Such portions of the material as are comprised between 
 the bold and the dotted lines — a, b, c, d — are cut off once the adjacent 
 
 
 ll ,, I ' 
 
 I 
 
 ., ' I J I !( 'I 
 
 Fig. 112. 
 
 Fig- ««3- 
 
 parts have been sewed. To give the necessary consistency to the rim, a 
 rod is made to encircle it on the inside. Furthermore, to still add to the 
 
 
 ¥k 
 
 ,1: V 
 
 m 
 1 1 
 
122 
 
 TBANSACTlUNS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 I Vol. IV. 
 
 
 solidity of the vessel and ensure greater neatness of appearance, wattup, 
 or split spruce root, is made to pass through t.ie bark and wrapped very 
 tightly around the rod and rim. In order to avoid striking successively 
 the same grain of the bark with the awl, the holes are pierced each re- 
 ceding backward till four or five have been stitched in, after which the 
 first of a new series is made closer to the brim. To break the monotony 
 of the wattup wrapping, small pieces of tc9n-na-{ qdj* or bird cherry 
 {Piunus pensylvanica, Linn.) bark are inserted, generally in the middle 
 of each of the four sides of the vessel, enough of their shining surface 
 being left uncovered to be easily visible. 
 
 J The largest of the bark vessels above illustrated is called a tcajyaj. It 
 has, as a rule, a capacity of from three or four to ten gallons. As regards 
 the uses to which it is put, they are manifold. While the worrcin are 
 gathering berries, it serves to bring home the fruit which has beerv 
 immediately collected in the smaller or tliej vessel (fig. I lo)., In the lodge 
 the tca]yaj is also the recipient of clothes, the sewing implements of the 
 women, the family heirlooms, the trinkets of the children, etc. More- 
 over, it serves frequently to cache up close by the houses any household 
 chattels which it is thought expedient to protect against mice. When 
 thus employed it is suspended, carefully covered with birch bark, from- 
 the lower limb of a branchy evergreen. 
 
 Seme tcaiya[, while remaining identical in form, materially differ in their 
 style of cutting and sewing. Of these fig. 1 13 affords a fair example. 
 
 None of the bark vessels of the Carriers is provided with a lid. 
 
 The second vessel, the thej, "receptacle," {figs, no, 112) somewhat 
 resembles the first in form and hardly differs in make, save of course, the 
 altered cutting of the bark. But while all the tcajyaj are very deep and 
 as nearly quadrilateral in shape as the material will allow, the orifice of 
 the thej is oval and the vessel is proportionately more shallow. More- 
 over, all such specimens as e.xhibit a pretension to elegance have the 
 middle of their length rims somewhat elliptical. Inserted between the 
 bark and the encircling rod on both narrow sides are two buckskin 
 thongs forming loops to which is attached the neat yarr Iring — generally 
 adorned with multicoloured yarn tufts — which se»-ves to suspend the 
 vessel from the neck. The thej is carried on the breast, while the tca|yai 
 is packed, sometimes two at a time, on the back and the occiput. Some- 
 times, as is the case v/ith the more stylish patterns, the cherry bark orna- 
 ments are replaced by dyed horse hair arranged so as to produce 
 geometrical designs. 
 
 • " Stick which one tears around," by allusion to the mode of treating its bark. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN O^N^S. 
 
 12S 
 
 The thei is above all a berry basket, but it does also frequent service 
 as a drinking cup. Its size is subject to great variations, as it may con- 
 tain from one pint to two gallons. Both tcajyaj and thei are to be seen 
 in every Carrier household, and the latter especially is used so extensively 
 that there is hardly any girl, however so poor, who does not posse.ss her 
 berry basket. 
 
 liiii^ii,. 
 
 |Fig. 114. 
 
 Fig. 115. 
 
 The vessel delineated in fig. 1 14 differs from the preceding in every 
 particular except material and the setting of its rim. It is shallow, and 
 almost rectangular in form, and the seams, instead of tapering from the- 
 corners to th> centre of the ends as in the above described, remain' 
 confined to the corners. Fig. 115 will make it clear that its manufacture 
 offers no serious difficulty. Here again the dotted outlines point to 
 those portions of the bark which are cut off after the vessel has been 
 sewed. As its main destination is to hold liquid, though but for a short 
 time, whether this be water, grease, or berry juice, it is made perfectly 
 water tight. Its native name is t'sai, a D6n^ root, which means tray, 
 dish, or plate. The t'sai greatly vary in size, though they average a. 
 capacity of five gallons. 
 
 Fig. m6. 
 
 Very much resembling this vessel is the fps-t'sai or fish tray (fig. i t6),. 
 which however differs not a little as regards both make and finish. It is 
 withouL a single seam, the corners of the bark being merely folded up. 
 
 Vf\: 
 
 I ', 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
124 
 
 TRAMSACTIOKa OP THE CANADIAN INSTITUTB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 and the switch which encircles its rim is laid on the outside, instead of 
 the inside, surface of the bark edges. This also lacks the thorough 
 wattup wrapping of the rim, for which is substituted a spiral lacing of a 
 coarser kind of spruce root. To prevent the thin birch bark from yielding 
 too much to the pressure of the rim switch, a double lining consisting of 
 two narrow strips of bark is applied against the vessel's edge both on the 
 inside and on the outside. 
 
 It should be added that a few fish trays are also made with seams 
 exactly as the common dish or tray (fig. 1 14). 
 
 The length of this vessel is generally double its width, which, in 
 extreme cases, may reach as much as one foot and a half. It does 
 service principally in connection with the daily net-fishing. The net, 
 which has been left to dry during the day, is at dusk prepared for use at 
 home, the floats and sinkers being there attached in their proper places. 
 The whole is then carefully folded and deposited in this tray, after which 
 the fisherman — or rather fisherwoman, since net fishing invariably 
 devolves on the woman — proceeds to the spot in the lake chosen to set 
 it. When it is withdrawn in the morning, two such vessels may generally 
 be seen in the canoe, one destined to hold the fish, the other reserved for 
 the net, which is folded therein as soon as drawn out of the water. 
 
 Fig. 117. 
 
 Fig. 118 
 
 No vessels of European or American manufacture have so far replaced 
 any of the above described utensils. This is not the case with figs. 1 17 
 and 118, tor which tin or copper vessels have long been substituted. 
 The former, however, was still to be seen in actual use some ten or fifteen 
 yea;s ago. It was intended to keep water in ; hence its Carrier name 
 
i 
 
 1892-93.] 
 
 MOTES ON THK WG8TEKN D^Nl^S. 
 
 125 
 
 thA-thef, "water-receptacle." This circumstance accounts also for its 
 peculiar form — I mean the contraction of its upper part in faint imitation 
 of the neck of a jar. Of course this vessel was made water-tight, the 
 wattup used as thread being, after sewing, carefully pressed in with the 
 finger previously coated with the balsam of the spruce {Abies balsamea). 
 
 The latter is the original Carrier kettle or boiler,* which is now alto- 
 gether antiquated. It is seamless ; the bark of which it is made has simply 
 been folded up at its four corners and is so retained by means of a few 
 stitches and of an encircling rod on the outside of the rim. Therein 
 were boiled the roots, fish or meat of the family repast, and the aborigines 
 are still loud in their praise of its excellence as a rapid boiler. Naturally 
 enough, the frailty of its material required that care be taken lest it come 
 in immediate contact with the flames. These primitive kettles were not 
 only serviceable, but even much more durable than might be expected. 
 In fact, their only part which was at all liable to get burnt was the 
 wooden rim hoop, which had to be renewed from time to time. 
 
 On grand occasions, such as the famous "potlaches" or ceremonial 
 banquets! so much in vogue among almost all the British Columbian 
 tribes, large square boxes imported from the sea coast, were called into 
 requisition. When filled with water and meat or fish, heated stones were 
 repeatedly cast in until their contents were boiled. 
 
 The contrivance illustrated by fig. 1 19 consists of two parts, both of 
 which are of spruce bark. Its object cannot well be understood without 
 some details on one of the Carriers' most important industries, berry 
 collecting and preserving. 
 
 Conspicuous among the various species of wild fruit which yearly ripens 
 in profusion throughout their territory is the service berry ( Amelanchier 
 alnifolia). So important is it in their estimation that they generally cal' 
 it merely the fruit, mai. At the end of every summer, the women gather 
 immense quantities of it, first in their thej and then in their tcajyaj 
 wherein it is brought home. When not eaten fresh, seasoned, as a rule, 
 with bear grease or salmon oil, the berries are kept for future use under 
 the form of large, thin cakes resembling plugs of tobacco. They are 
 then prepared by a process which, if primitive, is not the less complicated 
 
 As soon as the desired quantity of the fruit has been secured, the 
 Carriers build on the ground, in a sandy spot, if possible, the below 
 
 ill 
 
 m 
 
 ■ K » - 
 
 \ki * 
 
 ■ ll 
 
 ■ J:! 
 
 * Nusai, sec. root. The name of the modern kettle is usa\ 
 
 i Uorwimta, "the going near" a verbal noun, which confirms what I have written else- 
 where, namely that such feasts, no less than several other practices, are of recent origin among 
 the Western Denes. 
 
126 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THR CANADIAN INHTITUTE. 
 
 [Vou IV. 
 
 I 
 
 delineated boiler and tray. They commence by digging a shallow 
 excavation in the sand into which they lay one end of a rough bark tray, 
 thereby obtaining an oblique inclination for the whole vessel, the lower 
 end of which is alone folded up. Inside the upper half of the tray, a 
 boiler of corresponding width and made of a large piece of spruce bark 
 is erected and secured in position by three sticks driven in the ground on 
 the outside of both boiler and tray. This boiler has no other bottom 
 than that of the tray wherein it stands upright and wherewith it forms an 
 obtuse angle. As a consequence of this last circumstance an aperture is 
 left between the bottom of the tray arid ihe lower edge of the front side 
 of the boiler, that facing the projecting part of the shallow vessel. A few 
 twigs are there deposited which will act as a strainer with regard to the 
 escaping juice of the berries. Once the boiler has been filled up with the 
 fruit, heated stones are cast in which have the double effect of pressing 
 down and boiling its contents. The juice escaping in the outer part of 
 the tray is transferred when necessary to another vessel. The berries in the 
 
 
 boiler having considerably sunk down and the stones beginning to cool, 
 a new supply of both is thrown on top of the mash, which operation is 
 repeated as long as the size of the boiler will allow. After all the juice 
 has thus been extracted, the residue of the berries is thoroughly kneaded, 
 after which it is spread out in thin layers on willow hurdles previously 
 covered with heraeleum leaves, and then exposed to the action of the 
 sun and air. By frequently sprinkling the mash with the juice of the 
 berries and letting it dry until it attains the proper degree of consistency, 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 N0TK8 ON THE WK^TKIIN D^N^S. 
 
 127 
 
 at finally coagulates into cakes of uniform thickness which arc then 
 stored away for future use. When properly prepared, these will keep for 
 years and if sprinkled over with a little su^ar, they are of tempting 
 succulcncy even to others than Indians. 
 
 KSCULF.NT AND'MKDICINAL PLANTS. 
 
 Before proceeding further in our description of native utensils, it may 
 not be irrelevant to complete our knowledge of the means of subsistence 
 of the Western U^n^s by a brief nomenclature of the other esculent 
 berries, roots or plants they use as food, as well as of the chief medicinal 
 herbs which they have, or had formerly, recourse to in case of bodily 
 ailment. Their flora, such as represented in their vocabulary, is some- 
 what limited, inasmuch as, with very few exceptions, only such plants as 
 have a place in their domestic economy are deemed worthy of a name. 
 'Question, for instance, a TsijKoh'tin about the native name of a beautiful 
 flower which may strike your fancy, and if it is not that of an edible or 
 medicinal plant, he will look at you wondering if your mind is not 
 getting unbalanced and ask you scornfully : " Do you think that we eat 
 such a thing, that we should have a name for it ? " A great many berries 
 they do eat, and therefore honour with a distinctive name These, added 
 to those already mentioned in the course of the present monograph, are : 
 
 The small, low-growing blue berry ( Vaainium myrtillus) which is 
 common in dry, stony places, such, generally, as are wooded with the 
 scrub pine. These are gathered in the autumn and cither eaten fresh, 
 when they are very succulent, or dried and kept until needed for use. In 
 this latter case, they are first boiled in a common tin kettle, then thor- 
 oughly kneaded, and spread, without extracting the juice, over small 
 , trellis, much as is done with the mash of the service berries. Their Car- 
 rier name vi y}n-th3-mav or ground berries. 
 
 A larger species of blue berries ( V. myrtiloides) is also much sought 
 after and treated, as a rule, as the small ground blue berries. Such is 
 also the case with the swamp cranberry {Oxicoccus palustris) which, 
 though rather scarc9 here, is none the less appreciated by the natives. 
 The Carrier name of the former is yajtsil, a secondary root ; that of the 
 latter 9y^ -ks-mai' , or marsh berry, a noun of the third category. 
 
 T3tqe is a large, dark-colored berry, (Empetnim nigrum) somewhat 
 acid and very juicy. When not eaten fresh, or seasoned with bear 
 grease, whole basketsful of it are deposited in long trough-like vessels of 
 spruce bark, tucked up at both ends so as to form provisional receptacles 
 therefor. After they have undergone the usual kneading process, heated 
 
us 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 stones are thrown over the mash until it has boiled long enough to pre- 
 vent its deteriorating with age, after which cakes are obtained by drying 
 on hurdles, as practised with regard to the service berry. 
 
 A species of high bush cranberry ( Viburnutn paneifloriim), in spite of 
 its pungency, is also much appreciated by the native palate. It comes to 
 perfect maturity late in September, and is generally eaten with bear 
 grease. But when it ripens early enough, and when the service berries 
 are not kept in dried cake«, it is mixed with them to render them more 
 digestible. The service berry, when eaten alone, is rather heavy on the 
 stomach, and the addition of the cranberries is intended to correct this 
 drawback. The Carriers call the high bush cranberry tsajtst'. 
 
 The soap berry (Shepperdia canadensis), which is so unpalatable to a 
 white man, is not the least esteemed of esculent berries among the 
 Western D^n^s. It is either eaten raw or dried for future use. In both 
 cases, it requires some preparation to become edible. After it has been 
 mashed in a tin or bark vessel and sprinkled with a little sugar to soften 
 down its bitter taste, it is vigorously stirred with the hand until it 
 springs up into a beautiful rosy foam — whence its name — which is highly 
 appreciated, especially on a hot summer day. If not needed at the 
 time the berries are collected, their mash is put in a spruce bark vesse' 
 and boiled by means of heated stones until nothing remains but the 
 roasted residue of the fruit. This is now given the form of the usual 
 plug-like cakes by spreading and drying on hurdles and finally stowed 
 away. When these are required for consu.nption, they are put in a 
 kettle, dissolved in a little \-.a'er, and stirred with the hand as in the case 
 of the fresh berries anri wilh si lilar results. 
 
 Two other specie.s of sir.-!) berried fruit called respectively tcitc^stetcd* 
 and noilt"n are generally eaten fresh. As far as I can guess, they 
 belong to the genus Viburnum. The first, which grows only on* 
 mountainous soil, is black and resembles the service berry, but the 
 natives claim that it is unknown to the whites. The second is a blue 
 berry ripening on very tall bushes. 
 
 Nor should we omit in our nomenclature even the berry of the 
 kinnikinik {Arctostaphylos nva-ursi), which is prepared for eating 
 by roasting in a frying pan and mixed with salmon oil or the grease 
 of any animal. Its native name is i9ni/i in all the western dialects. 
 
 The natives also relish any species of edible — and sometimes to us 
 non-edible — berries, such as the raspberry {Rubus strigosus), the straw- 
 
 * Tliis name, thougli used among the Carriers, is of undoubted Tse'kehne origin. 
 
1 
 
 1892-93.] 
 
 MOTRB OK THE WK8TKRN O^N^. 
 
 !»» 
 
 berry {Frngaria canadensis), the black currant (Ribes nigrum), which the 
 Carriers call "toad berry," etc. Hut none of these has the economic 
 importance of those above enumerated. 
 
 Besides these and the bulbous roots -ah, sdntt and dsroilh which have 
 been mentioned elsewhere, the Western Ut5n«is find in their immediate 
 vicinity several indigenous plants to diversify their daily menu of fish or 
 meat. Chief among these may be quoted the red lily {Lilium Colum- 
 bianum), the bulb of which is used as an article of food by most 
 British Columbian and other American, or even Asiatic tribes. It is 
 cooked by boiling pretty much as is done with potatoes. The natives 
 harvest it almost as soon as it has sprouted out, a short time after the 
 enti ■ disappearance of snow. The Carrier and Tsi[Koh'tin name is 
 tsa-tcdn or "beaVer-stick." ♦ 
 
 Another plant of a different botanical family whose root is likewise 
 much appreciated as an article of food is the sds or sweet flag {Acorns 
 Calamus). This root is eaten without any other preparation than 
 cleaning and washing in cold water. 
 
 The wild onion (Allicum cernuuni) is also eaten, root and leaves,, 
 either raw or slightlj' roasted in the ashes. The Carriers call it t]o-Ud'n, 
 " stinking grass." So is the root of the dog-tooth violet {Erythronitim 
 giganteum), which is reputed excellent by the natives. Its Carrier 
 name is tcilkhe-res, a compound word which is unfit for translation. 
 
 In the cow-parsnip ^ Heracleum lanatum), and a variety of the same 
 {kras, in Carrier) it is the inner part of the growing stalks which is 
 preferred. It is often used while fresh and unprepared save Ijj' the 
 stripping of its fibrous envelope. But if fire is at hand, a Carrier will 
 generally treat it to a slight roasting through the flames previously to 
 peeling off the stalk. The H. lanatum is the kus of the Western 
 D6n6s, a primary root, indicative of its importance in the estimation of 
 the natives. 
 
 The marrow of the willow herb {Epilobium angusttfolium) is also 
 much esteemed, as is manifest from the nature of its Carrier name, Mas- 
 It is eaten before the plant reaches maturity. 
 
 Nor do the Carriers disdain the leaves of the Oregon grape (Berberis 
 aquifolium), which are simmered in a little water until no liquid lemains. 
 This plant, however, was formerly more sought after than is done by 
 the modern Carriers, who call it a'tan-tcis, " simmered-leaf." 
 
 Another article of food, cheap because very common, but not the 
 least prized by the aborigines is the hair-like lichen (Alectoria jubata)* 
 
130 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OP THE CANADIAN IN8T'T"''K. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 ■which grows hanging from most coniferous tiees, especially the Douglas 
 pint- — hence its Carrier name tsh-ra, " above-hair." The natives submit 
 it, atter gathering, to a thorough washing, till it loses its outer colouring 
 matter. They next mix it with dough as one would do with raisins, and 
 bake the whole. The lichen has then on the cake the same effect as 
 would a copious application of yeast powder on a loaf of bread. The 
 Carriers assure me that, thus prepared, it is very sweet and savory. 
 Prior to the introduction of flour, they cooked it with grease. 
 
 Although the shaman's influence was great and his services frequently 
 resorted to among the prehistoric Western D^n(5s, especially the Carriers, 
 natural remedies such as provided by the vegetable kingdom were by no 
 means despised by them. Nay more, their medical flora was rather 
 extensive, and it may be said to their credit, that several of nature's 
 most valuable secrets were no mysteiies to them. Among the herbs or 
 vegetable growths esteemed aniong them for their medicinal properties, I 
 may mention tbe following : — 
 
 Tatlis (Polyponis officinalis), a fungoid growth from the Douglas pine. 
 It was ground down into a fine powder and taken internally in a little 
 water as a j)anacea against biliousness. According to the dose, it was a 
 purgative or an emetic. It was very efi"cctive ; so effective indeed as to 
 be really dangerous. For that reason it has been altogether discarded 
 in favour of milder laxatives such as the bark of the elder (Sambuats 
 racemosus), which is pounded while frejh and taken in cold water. 
 
 The young shoots of two species of spruce Abies nigra and A. 
 baisamea, \\cr&, And are still frequently, used as a febrifuge or against 
 any kind of complaint resulting in cutaneous inflammation or eruptions. 
 The shoots are thoroughly boiled and the decoction drank while warm. 
 
 A decoction of the boughs of the juniper bush (Juniperiis occidentalis) 
 is also considered efTective against such maladies as fever or measles. 
 
 In cases of such cutaneous eruptions as particularly affect young 
 children, the diseased part is thoroughly smeared w'th the mash of the 
 swamp cranberry (Oxicoccns palustris), and it ;s claini?d that beneficial 
 results never fail to follow within an astonishingly short space of time. 
 
 The root of the aspen ( Populus treinuloid(s) thoroui^lily chewed and 
 applied on cuts and bruises, is very extensively resorted to as a sure 
 means of stopping bleeding. Excellent and well authenticated results 
 have more than o.ice attested its efficacy. In urgent cast.^, the b. rk of 
 the tree is used instead of the root. 
 
 The root of two other plants 'ji-bz-reh* a liliaceous plant, and the 
 
 * Lit. " L)og — urine— root.' 
 
Tii 
 
 18>J2-93.] 
 
 KOTES ON THB WESTEKN DI^N^. 
 
 131 
 
 heracleum, hough of slower action, is nevertheless reputed effective 
 against ha;n orrhage from cuts. It is mashed fine, and a poultice of it is 
 applied on tne wound. 
 
 Infusions of the bark or leaves of the raspberry bush {Rubiis stri^osus) 
 served as an emnienagogue, while the same parts — or more often still 
 the wood with the bark — of the Viburnum opulus, a species of high cran- 
 berry, and of the bird cherry {Prunus pensy/vanica), similarly treated, 
 yielded a fairly good remedy against blood spitting. 
 
 They had also several tonics or astringents, among which figured : the 
 wild cher-y (Prunus virgininna), cold infusions of the inner baflc of 
 Avhich were taken as a stimulant ; the yarrow {Achillea millefoliu?n) and 
 the American sarsaparilla {Aralia uudicaulis), decoctions of which are 
 siill quite valued ; the spearmint {Mentha viridis), which was used as a 
 tonic against many ills, and last, not least, the Labrador tea {Ledum 
 J>alustre), which, added to its medicinal properties, was often put to the 
 same uses as to-day the tea of commerce. 
 
 In cases of swellings and nor.-running sores the Carriers use fomenta- 
 tions of the red willow {Cornus stoloniferd) bark. For lunning sores and 
 ulcers of any description they profess to have an excellent salve in the 
 •deoocJon of the bark of the osier-willow {Salit: longifolia) and of the 
 Aspen mixed in equal quantities. The mixture forms a milky liquor 
 wherewith the ulcers ::re first bathed and then rubbed over with tlie 
 hand, th'is causing the extraction of the humors. 
 
 Two species of horse tails, Equisetiim hyemale and E. pratense, are 
 valued as powerful helps against retention of uripp Decoctions of che 
 herbs are drank freely until the desired effect is obtained. The leaves of 
 the uva-ursi are also used as diuretics, but their properties may have 
 become known among the natives through their intercourse with the 
 •whites. 
 
 One of the most effective of the native remedies is the hwollak {Arte- 
 misia Jrigidal) a sage-like plnnt whitii is used against local pains and 
 nervous shooting. The leaves are laid over the htated stones of the 
 sudatory, while the patient sits in a reclining position over the steam 
 emanating from them. In extreme cases the leaves are applied while 
 fre-^ii directly to the ailing part of the body, but such are their caustic 
 properties that they cannot be borne more than a few moments. 
 
 When no other remedy i^ available, the stalks of the black currant 
 {P.ibes rubnnn) are cut in small pieces, boiled for some time and the 
 decor'.ion taken as a cough .nedicine. 
 
 To alleviate violent pains, they formerly had recourse to the bulb of 
 
 
132 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OP THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 1 
 
 
 the hemlock (Conium maculatum) which they roasted over the ashes> 
 and, after crushing with the hand, they applied to the ailing spot. But 
 owing to the poisonous nature of -this root, they now refrain from using 
 it for any purpose. 
 
 Of special value to the women as a help after parturition was the 
 hwujrd], a plant commonly known, I think, under the name of Devil's 
 bush (Fatsia horrida). The bark was mashed while fresh and taken 
 internally with a few drops of water by women just delivered of a child, 
 but whose after -birth had not been, or could not otherwise bs. «\pelled. 
 It did also frequent service as a purgative for persons of bo;"^ si ■'■. 
 
 Even such delicate diseases as sore-eyes had in the Carriti ei-ti v . ion 
 a valued antidote in the vegetable kingdom. This consisted in a 
 mixture of the root of the soap berry bush and of the wild rose (Rosa 
 blanda) tree. After they had been stripped of their oulside bark, the 
 carrhiium like layer next to the wood was carefully scraped off, mixed 
 with a few drops of clean water and delicately crushed with a flint or a 
 knife till a sort of ointment was formed which was then appl'ed to the 
 eyes. Though sore eyes are by no means rare among the Western 
 D6n6s, no application of this sedative ever fell under my observation. 
 
 A few niher plants or herbs are also used, the medical properties of 
 which have been revealed to the natives by the H. B. Co. people or, later 
 on, by the missionaries. Jiut all those above enumerated are strictly 
 aboriginal medicines. 
 
 Other Bark Implements. 
 
 We now revert to the bark implements. Two models of bail: utens ■> 
 differing slightly in form and much in use from those illustrated in the 
 first part of this chapter are, or were, common among the Carriers. 
 One is the trough-shaped vessel already mentioned as serving to bail 
 in the fruits of the high cranberry. It is of spruce bark, of rude and 
 temporary make, and resembles the t'ps-fsai or fisii-basket in every 
 particular save that it is deeper. Though it occasionally serves as a 
 boiler with regard to edible berries, it is more often used to cook for 
 their oil the heads of salmon or other large fish. 
 
 The last vessel of Carrier rvi.i.e 
 which remains to describe is no'v :.' 
 thing of the past. It was of bir^u 
 bark, flattish and rectangular, and 
 ha! bv; 'Mc narow side (^H'T. i-'o). 
 Its bri:n was, ut u-^ual, strengrhr.ned 
 by the apposition of a willow switch 
 
 jb ig. 1 20. 
 running along its three sides. 
 
 It served as a bathing tub for the infants 
 
"W 
 
 WP! 
 
 1892-U3.] NOTES O.N THE WK8TK11N D^NKS. 133 
 
 and, owing to its chief peculiarity, it had to be kept in a slanting position 
 while in use. 
 
 The Carrier women originally carried their babes in regular cradles 
 made of birch bark curved up at the narrow end as the basket-tray of 
 our last illustration, save that this part was sewed, not merely stitched 
 in one place as was the case with fig. 120. The bottom of the cradle 
 was prolonged at the broad or open end to serve as a support for the 
 head of the infant. S^arl■inDr from both sides a hoop of willow half en- 
 circled at the proper distance the head of the child, and was intended 
 to allow sufficient breathing room when it was deemed desirable to cover 
 it. The necessary lacings were passed through a band of buckskin 
 bordering the cradle on the outside. 
 
 With the advent of the whites these primitive cradles disappeared, to 
 be replaced by the systematic swaddling clothes disposed as in fig. 121, 
 which still obtain among the Carriers. Now, as in olden times, the 
 lacing is done with one string passed through bands of cariboo skin 
 ornamented according to the fancy of the mother. This string is so 
 arranged that by pulling both ends the (^waddling envelope is drawn up 
 over the feet of the babe. Progressive mothers — and they form the 
 majority — nowadays substitute for this tightening device strips of cariboo 
 string buttoned at either en J over each side of the swaddling clothes. 
 
 Fig. 121. 
 
 The TsiiKoh'tin have preserved to this day their traditional baby- 
 baskets or cradles, of which fig. 122 will give a fair idea. They are 
 made of the twigs of u species of willow, and their bottom is generally 
 
mmmm 
 
 
 
 ll 
 
 
 lU 
 
 TKAN8ACTION8 OF THK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 strengthened by the addition of a board. The framework when com- 
 pleted is thoroughly concealed beneath a closely-fitting covering of deer 
 hide sewed on the sides of the basket. As in the original Carrier cradle^ 
 breathing room is afforded by means of an osier hoop from which 
 toys or playthings, beaver teeth or nails, etc., hang in sight of the child. 
 
 One peculiarity which I think is proper to the TsijKoh'tin baby baskets 
 is the hark conduit which may be noticed in our illustration and whose 
 end is ■>'-c.'Sprve the infant against moisture, and rLo to reduce to a 
 minimu.r ouble consequent upon bringing up such small children. 
 
 As the st> . i of baby cradles differ according to the tribe, even so it is- 
 with the mode of carrying them. A Carrier mother carries her child 
 hanging perf>endicularly on her back by a strap running across her 
 shoulders and breast, while the Tsi[Koh'tin women carry their baby 
 horizontally on their back and suspended in its cradle by a tump line 
 passed athwart their forehead. In this they simply conform to the 
 custom of their southeastern neighbours, the Shushwap. 
 
 The Ts^'k^hne vessels do not materially differ from those of the 
 Carriers, and their mode of treating and carrying the Ts^'k(Jhne babies 
 
 tallies also with that of the latter. But the house- 
 hold vessels of the TsiiKoh'tin have no point 
 of resemblance with any of those I have thus 
 far described. No bark vcs.>^els are seen among 
 them, as they replace bark by regular basket- 
 work. I regret my inability to present the reader 
 with an accurate description of their root weav- 
 ing process. Yet, if memory serves me right, I 
 think that they coil, not twine, the root according 
 to the method illustrated by Prof. O. T. Mason 
 in the Smithsonian Report for i8vS4* and else- 
 where. However, all the household utensils I 
 have seen among the TsijKoh'tin are broad - 
 mouthed and wallet-like, none of them tapering 
 up as some of the specimens quoted by the 
 learned professor. 
 
 Their water vessel, the form of which I remem- 
 ber will, is similar to that illustrated on page i8 of 
 Dr. G. M. Dawson's "Notes on the Shushwap 
 people of B. C," f save perhaps that it is not 
 quite so narrow at the bottom. Many of them arc elaborately orna- 
 
 Fif- '23- 'A size. 
 
 * Ann. Rep. Part ir., |i. 294, pl.ite v. 
 
 t Trans. Roy. Soc, Canada, Sect. II., 1891, 
 
» ffml 
 
 NOTES ON THK WESTERN D^SjilS. 
 
 13& 
 
 1892-93.] 
 
 merited with geometrical or animal designs. They are generally of 
 about seven or eight gallons capacity. 
 
 A second vessel {fjasqaz in TsijKoh'tin) much smaller and pan-shaped, 
 does duty as a washing dish and receptacle for cooked food principally 
 the starchy bulbs simtt and asroflli. 
 
 A third is elliptical and of about the same diameter across its breadth. 
 
 It is used as a washing-tub wherein the babies are made to stand 
 naked to be washed every evening by their mothers. 
 
 Before we close this chapter, we should not forget to mention the 
 birch bark tsa-yu-the] ox castoreum bottle (fig. 123) such as it is used 
 among the Carriers. The object of that implement has already beeiv 
 explained.* 
 
 X In the chapter on Bone Implements. 
 
 M 
 
 'wm\ ''■' 
 
136 
 
 TKANHACl'IONS OF TUB CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER VIH. 
 Copper and Iron Implements. 
 
 COPPER implements. 
 
 Rev. E. Petitot, arguing in favor of the contemporaneity in the same 
 part of America of the bronze and the iron ages with the palaeolithic and 
 the neolithic epochs, has the following to say : — 
 
 " Avant I'arriv^e des Europeans dans la valine du Mac-Kenzie, Its 
 Couteaux-Jaunes et les Flancs-de-Chien connaissaient I'usage du cuivre 
 natif qu'ils trouverent sur les bords de la riviere Copper-mine. lis s'en 
 fabriquaient des couteaux, d'ou Icur est venu leur nom. lis faisaient en 
 meme temps usage de la pierre polie. Done nous avons ici contempor- 
 aneity de la pierre polie et du bronze. De leur c6t(i, les Peaux-de-Lievre, 
 qui ignoraient le cuivre et qui ne se dounaient pas la peine de polir leurs 
 instruments de pierre, avaient d^couvert le long du Mac-Kenzie, k 
 I'embouchu''^ de la riviere L'^-ota-la-deiin, du ferologiste, et ils en fabri- 
 quaient des aiguillettes et des alines de quatre pouces de long qu'ils 
 troquaient avec les Thekkane et autres tribus m^ridionales des Mon- 
 tagnes Rocheuses contre des peaux d'^Ian k raison de dix pour une 
 al^ne." • 
 
 It is likely that most archaeologists will refuse to concede that the use 
 of copper knives by a savage people entitles the makers to be regarded 
 as having reached that stage of industrirtl advancement commonly called 
 the bronze age. The use of conpc-r is in this case too limited they will 
 probably say. This reason, plausible as it certainly appears at first, is 
 after reflection ratlier more specious than convincing. For was not this 
 the case even in the old world ? Were not stone weapons largely u.sed 
 there contemporaneously with copper or iron implements ? No, answers 
 the antiquarian ; each epoch or age was very distinct and strictly 
 consecutive. 
 
 Let us see. 
 
 In Italy, C. Geikie found early uncoined money (ees rude) along with 
 polished stone weapons; and a number of flint knives have been obtained 
 from Etruscan graves. Indeed a piece of coined copper money marking 
 
 * Rapport suaiticl sur la Geologic des vaVhs tie t Atluihaskaw— Mackenzie et de P Anderion ; 
 Paris, A. Ilennuyer, 1875. 
 
-TTTIT 
 
 w\ 
 
 i«92-y;j.] 
 
 NOTES 0*; THK WE8TEKN D^.VES. 
 
 137 
 
 a still later period has been found in an Etruscan tomb alongside with a 
 stone knife. At Hibrac'e, tiie most important town of the iEdui in 
 ancient Gaul, scientific exploration has brought to light work on metal 
 and coins mingled with flint arrow heads, polished stone axes and a 
 flint knife. Similar discoveries have been made in many places through- 
 out France.* In ancient Egypt, stone and metal implements were also 
 used contemporaneously .+ In the centic and south of modern Africa, 
 the negroes, according to Lenormant " have never known bronze, and 
 work hardly any copper. Instead of this, they manufacture iron wares 
 in large quantities and for this purpose make use of a process which was 
 not communicated to them from the outside. Hence they themselves 
 discovered the method of manufacturing iron, and when they gave up 
 the use of stone implements, they passed to the manufacture of this 
 metal."t 
 
 These few instances chosen among many others will, I hope, suffice 
 to prove that the sharp and almost instantaneous change from one age 
 to another and the strictly successive order generally believed to have 
 been followed in these transitions are, in many cases, more fancied than 
 real. Metal objects were apparently the property of the leaders and the 
 higher classes generally while the lower classes must have contented 
 themselves with the stone equivalents, just as in the Middle Ages only 
 the knights wore steel armour. 
 
 That copper and iron were to be found among the Carriers long before 
 these abori|[ines even suspected the existence of the whites there can be 
 no doubt. But the use of these metals was, of course, restricted to a 
 few fancy objects or working tools. Moreover, in so far at least as that 
 tribe is concerned, neither copper nor iron was indigenous and the former 
 metal only was wrought by its members. Concerning its introduction 
 among the Carriers, I take the liberty of reproducing here a short native 
 legend which I have already quoted elsewhere.§ 
 
 " In times not very remote, all the Indians (themselves among the 
 rest) congregated at a certain point of the sea coast, around a tower-like 
 copper mountain emerging from the midst of the water. Their object was 
 to decide which tribe should become the possessor thereof. When all 
 had united in shouting, the mountain began gradually to totter, and the 
 Haidahs who are blessed with big heads and strong voices caused it 
 
 *See "Christian Anthropology," New York, 1892, p. 324. 
 
 tlbid. 
 
 t " Die Anfiinge der Cultur," vol. I. p. 57. 
 
 8 "The Western Denes," Proc. Canadian Institute, 1888-89. 
 
 10 
 
 
I' 
 
 138 
 
 TKANSACriONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV- 
 
 I I 
 
 to fall on their side. ' Thus it was,' they add, 'that those Indians secured 
 the copper 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.' " 
 
 The reference to this wonderful towering mountain of copper, fantastic 
 as it may appear, might perhaps be explained by the existence of the 
 monumental P liar Rock on the shore of Graham Island, a sketch of 
 which will be found in G. M. Dawson's Report on the Queen Charlotte 
 Islands.* Even in prehistoric times, some Carriers had evidently visited 
 the Pacific Coast, as may be inferred from a few of their legends where- 
 in some peculiarities proper to that region are introduced with a tolerable 
 amount of accuracy. On the other hand, as most of their copper was 
 imported from the coast, it was but natural that, according to the custom 
 of primitive peoples of assigning a fabulous origin to extraordinary 
 objects, they should associate in their narrative the wonderful pillar-rock 
 with the no less wonderful yellow metal. 
 
 I might point here to the adventures of a mythic Carrier, a sort of 
 wandering Jew, who underwent many a stirring experience on the Pacific 
 Coast while in quest of a stolen wife, and who is the first personage 
 mentioned as possessing copper. The fact that the possibly historical 
 data hidden amidst the details of that legend are interwoven with many 
 miraculous circumstances, would lead us to suppose that the knowledge 
 of that metal among the Western D^n^s dates back from a rather re- 
 mote epoch. , 
 
 Be this as it may, I have never met with more than five kinds of 
 copper objects of genuine Carrier or TsijKoh'tin manufacture. These 
 
 Fig. 124, 
 
 Fig. 125. 
 
 are the hair tweezers, the bracelets, the finger rings, the harpoon tips and 
 the dog collars. The hair tweezers f were originally of cariboo horn. 
 
 They then consisted of two thin pieces of horn given the required shape 
 by means of heating, and tied together at one end with sinew threads 
 (fig. 1 24). The copper tweezers were of one piece and affected the form 
 represented in fig. 125. The object of both was to remove any super- 
 
 • Montreal, 1880 ; pkle ii. 
 
 ■*• Tifj-aiita, "grebe-bill," a noun of the third category. 
 
w\ 
 
 w^ 
 
 ]8y2-93.] 
 
 NOTKS ON THE WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 139 
 
 I 
 
 fluoua facial hair. " Superfluous " should be understood here as synony- 
 mous with " any " hair growing on the lips, the chin or the cheeks, since 
 the Western Ddn^s kept themselves beardless. The prehistoric 
 Ts^'k^hne, if they are to be judged by their immediate successors, the 
 eldest among the modern Ts^'kdhne, indulged in the possession of a 
 queer looking partial moustache, which was obtained by leaving un- 
 touched the hair growing on the upper lip below, and exactly corres- 
 ponding in width with the septum, while on both sides the lip was other- 
 wise free of hair. The tweezers were worn on the breast, hanging from 
 the neck. They are still to be seen among the TsiiKoh'tin and the 
 Tsd'k^hne. 
 
 The Carrier na-lthaft* or metallic bracelets (fig. 126) were of an ex- 
 ceedingly simple pattern. 
 As the hair tweezers, they 
 were originally of cariboo 
 horn ; but as commercial 
 relations became more ex. 
 tended, copper was soon 
 manufacture. In later 
 times pewter was even adopted and l^eaten to 
 the desired shape out of the spoons of com- 
 merce. I speak in the past time, because among 
 the Carriers especially, such trinkets are now 
 practically unknown. 
 
 When bartered from the Coast Indians, the 
 copper was generally in sticks or slender bars, 
 which were then wrought by hammering by the 
 Carrier.s. These bars remain almost unaltered 
 when used to give consistency to the collars of 
 their dog-harnesses, f When not ornamented, 
 these harnesses are probably similar to those in 
 use among the eastern Indians, and as such '^' "''■ 
 
 would hardly deserve any mention. But the Carriers' fondness of parade 
 has long prompted them to add to the original pieces the blanket and 
 collar ornaments which I have thought worth the while to show in fig. 
 127. Of course these two additions are detachable paraphernalia, which 
 are not generally used, except when reaching or leaving a village. The 
 frame of the upper parts is of copper. 
 
 Fi(j. 126. 
 preferred in their 
 
 * Lit. ' ' it (of a heavy material) is arounil." 
 t 'ji-f;ui, dog-ropes, 3nl cat. nouns. 
 
 ■1 
 
 I' '■ ; 
 
 m 
 
140 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK 
 
 [Vou IV. 
 
 Fig. 128 can be adduced as a further evidence of that power of imita- 
 tion which I have more than once quoted as one of the 
 characteristics of the tribes under study, especially the 
 Carriers. Finger-rings,* it is hardly necessary to say, 
 were unknown among the primitive Dt^nc's ; but they 
 no sooner became aware of their existence among the 
 whites than they .set upon fabricating them with what- 
 ever material at their command. One of the results 
 Fig. 128. ^y^g ^i^g j.jpjg sketched above which has been found 
 
 here, Fort .Saint James. 
 
 IRON IMPLEMFNTS. 
 
 Whether hematite was known to the Western D^n^s prior to their 
 contart with European civilization cannot well be ascertained at the 
 present time. It would seem highly probable that it was among all the 
 tribes but the Carrier, which to-day has no other word for " iron " or iron 
 ore than that used for " knife." Even among the Ts^'k<5hne, who call a 
 knife p^s and iron tsa-tsofle (beaver-dung), it is very doubtful if they ever 
 subjected hematite to any treatment calculated to reduce it to the shape 
 of a working tool. Yet I think I am warranted in as.sertiii^ that iron 
 implements have been known and used even among the Carriers for at 
 least two centuries, that is one hundred years before they had heard of 
 the whites. The memory of the appearance of the first iron axe at this 
 place (Stuart's Lake Mission) has been kept vivid to this day by the 
 descendants of its original possessor. Their narrative, when shorn of a 
 few excrescences, I believe to be historically true, inasmuch as names of 
 persons and of localities, together with minute particulars connected 
 therewith, are freely mentioned. Their veracity is made still more 
 apparent by the genuine and unbroken genealogy of the present chief of 
 this village up to the first possessor of the marvellous implement. A full 
 account of the deeds of the various personages introduced in the 
 chronicle might prove not uninteresting even to the general reader. For 
 the present I shall content myself with its initial chapter. The chief of 
 Stuart's Lake will be our narrator. 
 
 " The first man {i.e. Carrier) who ever possessed an iron axe was my 
 grandfather (/>. one of my ancestors). His name was Na'kwal, and, 
 owing to his rank as one of the most influential notables, but more par- 
 ticularly on account of the great age he attained, he has remained famous 
 among us. He was so old when he died that his hair had turned yellow, 
 after having long been snow-white. He was a most irascible man and 
 
 * La-lh>l't), "passed round the finger." 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTEH ON Tnii WESTERN O^N^S. 
 
 Ul 
 
 therefore much feared. What hi.s age was when he got the iron axe I 
 cannot say. He must have been a grown-up man and full-fledged 
 " nobleman," since tradition tells us that upon receiving it, he convoked a 
 large crowd of Indians of clans differing from his to a grand ceremonial 
 banquet. Now this can be done only by a taneza" or nobleman. On 
 that occasion, the iron adze-blade was suspended from a rafter over the 
 heads of the invited guests so that they might have an opportunity of 
 contemplating it at ease. The implement was considered exceedingly 
 precious. It had come from some unknown place in the direction of 
 Tse'tcah.* It was thereafter taken great care of, and its possession was 
 the means of considerably enhancing my grandfather's prestige among 
 his fellow Carriers. 
 
 "Yet it was lost one day under the following circumstances. Some 
 men of Na'kwol's family were in the woods cutting spruce branches to 
 cover up the doorway of the winter lodge they were erecting, when the 
 skin line which fastened it to its handle as an adze getting loosened, the 
 blade suddenly dashed off and fell among the branches already cut. By 
 searching among these the implement must have dropped down in the 
 snow, for it could never be found by natural means that winter." 
 
 The story then proceeds to relate how it was subsequently found 
 through the incantations of a medicine man who was richly paid for his 
 trouble, and concludes thus : " This happened a very long time ago, long 
 before my forefathers had heard of the whites." 
 
 That this is a fact is shown by a few words attributed to Na'kwal 
 which, though still intelligible, ere nevertheless quite archaic, and also 
 by the following genealogy of Na'kwol's posterity. 
 
 1. N(ikw3l must have lived at least two or three scores of years after 
 the acquisition of the iron axe, when he dice ,.nd was succeeded in a 
 genealogical point of view by 
 
 2. Tcitcanit, his youngest son, who had two wives and being of a jealous 
 disposition, was secretly drowned by them when in declining years. 
 
 3. Tcitcanit was succeeded as tdneza' or nobleman by a maternal 
 nephew named Tsaleku/yi'. This personage killed a man with an iron 
 pointed lance, and was himself killed when he was getting much advanced 
 in years. 
 
 • Near the Skeena river. See the map accompanying my paper, "Are the Carrier Sociology 
 and Mythology Indigenous," etc.? Trans. R. S. C, Sec. II., 1892. 
 
 
 w 
 
 1 
 
 
 !:,/'> 
 
 1 
 
 
 lij 
 
 * 
 
 %u 
 

 142 
 
 TBANSACTI0N8 OF THR CANADIAN IN8TITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV 
 
 
 4. His successor was Kivah, who made war and slaughtered hosts of 
 Lower Carriers. By a second wife he had 
 
 5. Atsuf, a second son, who died five years ago, over one hundred 
 years old, since he remembered the arrival of Sir Al. Mackenzie's party 
 in the country. He left three generatio'is of descendants. 
 
 Reference has been made to a prehistoric iron pointed spear. Tradition 
 furthermore records the killing, in ante-European times, of 
 a cariboo with an iron or steel knife or dagger. This 
 happened on this lake, some 1 5 miles from here. Below, 
 the reader will also find figured a .steel dagger which came 
 into the possession of the Carriers some 1 10 or 120 years 
 ago — their country was discovered in 1793. It was instru- 
 mental in killing several men and was originally much 
 larger. The handle was also of a different descrip' , the 
 knife being one of a class of steel daggers call the 
 
 dialect of the Babines t'jak-nanisfs3r,ox "rouniie'' ^c the 
 end" (of the handle). It probably resembled the instru- 
 ment represented by fig. 108 ^ of Niblack's "The Indians 
 of Southern Alaska."* 
 
 The presence of steel implements, even so early and 
 so far away in the interior of British Columbia, is not 
 calculated to disconcert the archaeologist, considering the 
 frequent intercourse the inland tribes had from time im- 
 memorial with the Coast Indians. Both Cook and Dixon ascribe the 
 introduction of such tools among the Coast tribes to the Russians whose 
 first recorded expedition on the Northern Pacific Ocean dates from 1740. 
 But Na'kwal's iron axe cannot evidently be attributed to the influence 
 of the Russians, since it had apparently reached this place long before 
 I. I. Behring's expedition was fitted out. Coast Indians must naturally 
 have been slow in parting with such valuable implements. Moreover it 
 should not be forgotten that not more than fifteen years before the 
 advent of the whites among the Carriers, iron tools were still so rare 
 among the Coast tribes that in 1779 a Captain Gray master of one of 
 the Boston trading vessels, is reported to have got at Nootka, on Van- 
 couver Island, two-hundred otter skins worth about $8,000 for an old 
 iron chisel If 
 
 Fig. 129. 
 
 * Ann. Report. National Museum, 1888. 
 
 + Christmas No. of th.-> Victoria "Colonist," 1891. 
 
Tn 
 
 1892-93] 
 
 NOTKH ON THE WE8TEKN uisf.H. 
 
 143 
 
 Among the steel implements distinctly D6ni in manufacture and 
 actually in use among the Carriers, are the hole-borer or drill, 
 the moose skin scraper and the crooked knife or spoke- 
 shave. 
 
 The first is made with a nail or any available piece of iron 
 securely lashed on the side of a stick or fastened in a slit 
 at its extremity. Occasional holes are obtained by rubbing 
 the drill between the hands while strenuously pressing down 
 the implement. But when a set of fine holes, such as those 
 f'K- '3° of the snow-shoes, is desired, the Carriers have recourse, in 
 
 f 
 
 it 
 
 F'K- >3>- 
 
 addition to the borer, to a small bow and a hard piece of wood which 
 they manage as shown in fig. 131. 
 
 F'B- '32- ^ size. 
 
 The name of the tool shown in fig. 132, t/int/?/* or moose skin scraper, 
 explains its raison d'etre. It has been patiently ground down to its 
 present shape from an old file. 
 
 • Second category of nouns. 
 
 \m 
 
 s fe \ 
 
 '%■ 
 

 144 
 
 Tl ANSACTIONS OF THE OANADIAr INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 Identical mateii'.l and mode of manufacture have likewise resulted in 
 the accompanying spokeshave or sras, the "drawknife." It is of the 
 greatest usefulness to the modern Indian, so much so that there is not a 
 house among the Carriers wherein it is not to be seen. They employ it 
 to finish the inside of their canoes, to shave off the rods used in the 
 construction of their fish-traps, to fashion the side and transversal sticks 
 
 
 of their snow-shoes, and to do almost any kind of manual work in con- 
 nection wherewith a white man would use a draw-knife or even a common 
 pocket knife. The lower grade of ?ras is made of the blade of a tabl*- 
 knife. The handle of the specimen abovi illustrated is of cariboo bone, 
 secured to the blade first by copper wire and then by rawhide lines 
 wrapped around. The whole tool is of native manufactuie. 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 3kin Objects and Twined and Textile. Fabrics. 
 
 Ill" 
 
 n 
 
 1892-U3.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN DENES. 
 
 145 
 
 11 
 
 SKIN OBJECTS. 
 
 Under this head we will consider any native items wherein dressed or 
 undressed skin enters as the chief component part. 
 
 Passing references to the treatment of hides have already .ippeared in 
 the course of the descriptions of the implements used by the Western 
 D^n^s to free them of haii, fat or blood. It now merely remains with 
 me to adci that after the skin in preparation has been rubbed over with 
 the brains of the animal, it is allowed to pass a whole night steeping in 
 cold water. It is thei> subjected to several rinsings in hot water, alter- 
 nating with thorough scrapings, until, being quite dry, soft and pliable, 
 it is given the form of a bag and placed over the smoke of decayed wood 
 or other vegetaole matter. Once it has been thi-.s smoked on both sides, 
 it is ready for use. 
 
 Among the Tsi[Koh'tin skin dressing is practically confined to the 
 hide of the deer, while among the Ts(^'k^hne moose and cariboo skins 
 
 ': f •] 
 
146 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 only are tanned for use. Moose is rare within the Carriers' territory, 
 and still more so is the deer. Therefore, with that tribe, mocassins, 
 mittens and gloves, bags, etc., are almost exclusively of cariboo skin. 
 We will here pass over skin articles, which belong to the native accoutre- 
 ment or wearing apparel, as these shall be treated of in the next chapter. 
 
 Confining ourselves to household or non-personal objects, we ma/ 
 mention no less than seven varieties of leather bags or pouches in use 
 among the primitive Carriers. Fig. 134 represents the household bag or 
 eztjai. This is generally the property of women and serves to contain 
 the family chattels, but more particularly such as are proper to the 
 ■women, clothes, pieces of tanned skins, working tools, articles of orna- 
 mentation, etc. This bag needs no description ; the cut cannot but give 
 an exact idea of its form. The bead work in some is much more elabor- 
 ate than in the specimen herewith figured. Before the introduction of 
 glass beads, dyed porcupine quills served to ornament this and all other 
 kinds of skin receptacle. The cover piece of this eztjai is also, I am 
 told, a modern innovation. This bag is never used as a packing con- 
 trivance. 
 
 A variety of the same, but much reduced in dimensions, was formerly 
 the regular badge of widowhood among Carrier women, so much so that 
 the custom which required its use has given the Carriers their distinctive 
 name. Among them cremation was the national mode of disposing of 
 the dead. As a rule, on the morning following the funeral ceremony, the 
 relatives of the deceased, accompanied by his widow, were wont to pick 
 up from among the ashes of the pyre the few remaining charred bones 
 which, if too large for the purpose in view, they did not scruple to 
 reduce by breaking to the desired size. These were then handed to the 
 widow to daily pack till her liberation from the bondage consequent on 
 her new condition. This gruesome task devolved on her for the space of 
 at least two or three years, and in extreme cases was prolonged to a 
 period of some five years. Upon the final giving away of property 
 which was the signal for the cessation of mourning, these bones were 
 deposited with the satchet containing them in a box laid on the top of a 
 funeral column near the village. 
 
 Some of these .satchets were still in existence a few years ago. Their 
 cover, instead of fitting over the whole bag as in the household eztjai, 
 reached only half way down. Its sides were also sewn with those of the 
 satchet itself, so as to preclude the possibility of its contents being acci- 
 dentally thrown out. Of course, a string was attached to the satchet 
 and passed across the neck or or breast of the packer. A lining of birch 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 147 
 
 bark also gave the receptacle a ce: cain degree of consistency, and served 
 moreover as an additional protection for the bones. 
 
 The regular packing wallet * herewith figured is still very generally 
 used for carrying provisions during long journeys and might be termed 
 the native buffet. It is of two different materials ; its main parts are of 
 undressed moose hide with the hair out, while its .sides, top and bottom 
 are of tanned cariboo skin. The skin of the upper part of the legs of 
 the animal is chosen in preference and sewn together, as may appear 
 from a glance at the illustration below. The packing band is 'also of 
 untanned moose skin. On either side of the bag, ears of tanned skin are 
 pierced each with two holes, the lower one of which is intended to 
 receive the strap when the walllet is no^ full. The broad or middle part 
 of this line passes athwart the forehead of the packer, and, after sliding 
 through one of the holes at either side of the bag, its loose ends are 
 drawn forward and tied over the breast, so that the position of the burden 
 can be changed at will. 
 
 !•' 
 
 g I w 
 
 'Vi 
 
 •lu'kir, sec. root. 
 

 I 
 
 148 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 Not uncommonly these wallets or knap-sacks are made entirely of 
 dried salmon skins sewn togethe.. Once the flesh of the fish has reached 
 the proper degree of stiffness, it is carefully torn off and one of the skins 
 is shredded into fine filaments which serve as thread. 
 
 The lu'k^z generally does duty in connection with heavy burdens, 
 which means for anybody au fait with native sociology that it is the 
 appanage of the women. The men have also a packing bag of their 
 own intended as a receptacle of such light burdens as arp; inctJent Xx. SaGxt 
 trips, and which shall be described further on. 
 
 The fourth variety of leather bags is the dog-bag, which is so much 
 
 like a common saddle-bag that I refrain from 
 figuring it here. No harnessing device is con- 
 nected with it, it is simply lashed on the sides of 
 the canine with a separate line. 
 
 Fig. 136 a." so represents a double-bag; but 
 this is proper to the huntsman. In one end of it 
 he keeps his provision of powder, and in the 
 other that of shot or balls. Both halves of the 
 bag are shut by tying around the strings attached 
 immediately below the common or middle open- 
 ing. Out of this ammunition pouch the hunts- 
 man fills up as often as necessary his powder horn, and his ornamented 
 shot pouch which are parts of his accoutrement. 
 
 Fig. 136. 
 
 Fig- '37- 
 
 Here we have a Yjwdn-zdz or firt bag. Its use has ceased with the 
 introduction of matches, and its name is now given to a small pouch of 
 different pattern, though somewhat similar in intent. The former served 
 to carry about or keep at home the tinders and parched hay originally 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THK WKSTERN D^Nl^S. 
 
 149 
 
 required to start a fire with the fire drill or more recently with the fire 
 
 steel. Its elliptical form was probably intended 
 as a help in guarding its contents against rain or 
 moisture. As an additional measure of precau- 
 tion, the pouch was generally carried under the 
 arm pit suspended from the neck. 
 
 Its modern substitute is of common cloth in 
 the form of a flour sack and with two strings 
 so arranged at its mouth that the pouch can be 
 shut by drawing them apart. Matches and 
 tobacco with a pocket knife are generally the 
 only things kept in this Kvvanzaz. 
 
 Fig. 1 38 represents a needle and thread pouch. 
 Although origir]ally of tanned skin it is now 
 Fig. 138. almost exclusively of black or blue cloth trim- 
 
 med with ribbons or coloured tape. 
 
 To complete our list of skin objects of D^nd manufacture, we should 
 add to the above the pe-sia (wherein one sits), a sort of cuirass in use in 
 prehistoric times especially among the Carriers. It had the form of a 
 sleeveless tunic falling to the knees, so that it protected the whole 
 body, since those aborigines generally shot kneeling. Its material 
 was moose skin which, when sewn according to the proper pattern, 
 was soaked in water, then repeatedly rubbed on the sandy shores 
 of a stream or lake and dried with the sand and small pebbles adhering 
 theretr., after which it was thoroughly coated with sturgeon glue. Being 
 again subjected before dning to another rubbing," over sand, it received 
 a new coating of glue, and aft. • this process had been reneated three or 
 four times, it formed an armour perfectly arrow proof* 
 
 • In his Apptndice rtiUif aux amies de pi;rre des Int/iens arctiques published in 1875, the 
 Abl)i E. Petilot, speaking of the Denes of the Mackenzie Hasin, says that "ces Indiens 
 arctiques pretendent qu'ils n' ont pas toujours habite sur le sol oil nous les avous trouves, inais 
 <iu'ils ont vtcu, a une cpoque fort eloignt'e, dans una patrie plus belle que la presente. . . . 
 Dans cette terre . . . bien tour dans I'occident, un peuple puissant opprimait les Loucheux 
 et les Peaux-de-lievre. Ce peuple se rasait la tele, portait de faux cheveux et se coifTait de 
 casques. . . . Ses guerriers se couvraitnt la poitrine d' une tunique de peau d' elan revetue 
 d'une foule de petits cailloux coagult's en maniere d' ec.iilles (cuirasse) ; ce qui les lendait comme 
 invulnerables i leurs traits. ... A celte epoque les Dene- Dindjies faisaient, disaient-ils, 
 usage de lances, qu' il*; m' ont d6peintes comme des couteaux fix^s par une ligature au bout d' 
 une perche ; d'epieux 'rte de comes munies d' un crochet et cgalement enimanchees : ''.' 
 arbaletes ; de daj, les, >'t enfin de boucliers." Then the learned missionary adds that " aw iiie dc 
 <fs annes offeinives et difensives. . . . n'a siitvi les Dhii-Dindjth en Amei't-rc" The 
 italics are mine, and it is hardly necessary to remark (hat the line thus pointed c^; would never 
 have been written had its author been acquainted witn tne original Carrier sociology. For, as 
 
 r n 
 
 ^i- 1 !J 
 
160 
 
 TKAN8ACTIOS8 OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 OBJECTS OF MIXED MATERIAL. 
 
 As may !>■ seen by figs. 139 and 140, the D^n6 drums, though poss- 
 essing minor characteristics of their own, do not essentially differ from 
 the tambourines in universal use among the North American Indians. 
 In every case we have merely a dressed skin — which is here of cariboo — 
 stretched ove a narrow hoop. The Carrier drum (fig. 139) not only had 
 no bottom strings, but its makers even dispensed with any cord as a 
 means of holding the instrument. The same piece of skin in which 
 almost consisted the whole drum was cut on the reverse or back side 
 into four strips tapering to the centre into regular strings which were 
 knotted as shown above, b, and which served as a means of grasping the 
 instrument. 
 
 Fig. 139" 
 
 FiR. 139*. 
 
 The Ts^'k^hne drum (fig. 140) though apparently a very simple piece 
 of workmanship, evidences much greater ingenuity on the part of its 
 contriver-s. Not only does it pos.sess the bottom strings designed to 
 enhance its sonorousness, but these very strings are so disposed that they 
 help not a little in using the instrument. After passing beneath the 
 frame of the drum they are drawn up over it under the encircling skin, 
 and again introduced through the middle of the hoop from which they 
 protrude inside in the shape of a loop through which the thumb is piissed 
 
 a matter of lact, all the arms and defensive weapons above enumerated had their counterparts on 
 this side of the Rockies but a short time .igo. In that "skin tunic coveretl with small coagulated 
 pebbles," we recognize, of course, ihe/c-iAi just described ; the lances regardeti by Petitot, after 
 his informants, as so very ancient weie the WR///': spoken of on p.ige 62 ; ihe epieux or spears 
 are not materially difTereiit : I'etitot describes them as "hafted hooks" and it so happens that 
 the Carrier name of these weapons means "hook-sticks." The cross-l)ows we have likewise 
 seen in use among the Tse'kehne, while the di.ggers and the shields were no less common among 
 the Carriers. Nay more, even the "false hair," or wigs were in vogue here as late as thirty 
 years ago. These will be found described in our Chapter on Dress and I'ersonal Adornment. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WICSTEBN D^.Nl^S. 
 
 I.M 
 
 with a double object in view . that of helping in holding the instrument 
 and of tightening or loosening the bottom strings at will and thus, 
 regulating the sound of the drum. 
 
 Fig. . 40. 
 
 That portion of the Carrier — and possibly the whole of the Tai[Koh'tin' 
 — tribes whish is adjacent to the Bilqula Indians for.Tierly used square 
 drums. But this circumstance should be regarded merely as a further 
 evidence of the Western Dongs' innate power of imitation. The drum"; 
 are called thdilrale in Carrier. 
 
 Any stick at hand, padded or otherwise, served to beat the drum. 
 
 It seems almost incredible that in a country, where for at least five fi */.' 
 months every year snow covers tlu ^^round, snow-shoes should have been 
 practically unknown until a comparatively recent date. Yet, if we are 
 to credit the natives, this was formerly the case with the Carriers, the 
 most populous, and, actually, the most progressive of the four Western 
 D<5n^ tribe?. The Tst^'kehne used snow-shoes from time immemorial ; 
 but we are told that not more than 100 years ago. only the most 
 prominent among the Carriers possessed that indispensable adjunct to 
 winter travelling. Therefore with that tribe winter hunting was formerly 
 well nigh impossible. The natives still relate how their ancestor-- pain- 
 fully trudged on trunks of trees chopped down so as to form a continuous 
 line or trail over the snow whenever necessity constrained them to 
 wander any little distance from their winter quarters. I fully expect 
 that their story will task the credulify of my readers, and I give it only for 
 what it may be worth. I am simply repeating here what I have been 
 told many a time. 
 
 Be this as it may, the Carriers are to-day as well provided with winter 
 walking implements as they profess to h,we been originally destitute of 
 
 i ?!!?; 
 
 'f . li^ 
 
H 
 
 153 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 them. Apart from the snow walking stick, they now have no less than 
 four very distinct varieties of snow-shoes (•aih) each of which is known 
 under a different name. These are the k/i^-la-pas, the pfju, the •ath-sa 
 and the sss-klu. 
 
 
 \ 
 II 
 
 il 
 
 Fig. 141. 
 
 The kM-la-pas* was the first model of snow-shoes known to our 
 aborigines. It is still used in cases of urgency, when better or more 
 fashionable snow-shoes cannot conveniently be made or, under all cir- 
 cumstances, by poor or unskilled people. Nevertheless this form is now 
 obsolete, and is generally laughed at by the possessors of more elegant 
 implements. The ground stick of this snow-shoe is of one piece from 
 fore-end to tail, and the whole is left flat, as is the case, I think, with 
 most of the snow-shoes in use in Eastern Canada. Fig. 141 represents 
 a kh^-la-pas. 
 
 The finer netting or filling of every Carrier snow-shoe is of delicate 
 cariboo skin lines, and the coarse or middle one is of moose rawhide 
 line. As these implements are said to be adventitious here, I will refrain 
 from going into the details of the netting process which our Indians are 
 not likely to have materially altered since the introduction among them 
 of these winter commodities. Suffice it to say that a whole independent 
 filling in is made out of a continuous string. The ground or side sticks 
 are generally made of young saplings of black spruce or of Douglas 
 pine (P. murrayana) ; but those of mountain maple {Acer glabnim) or 
 of mountain ash (Pyrus Americana) are more esteemed, though heavier. 
 In all cases the cross-sticks are, as a rule, either of willow or of birch. 
 
 In fig. 142 we have the most recent type of Carrier snow-shoe. It 
 will be seen at a glance that it is not inelegant. It is the /^/'/« or 
 " stitched together " by allusion to the peculiar form of its head. To 
 
 • " Mocassin (or rAn«w<r<r)-end-rountled ; " by allusion to its form. 
 
wm 
 
 1892-93,] 
 
 NOTE8 ON THB WESTERN DJ'^N^a. 
 
 IBS 
 
 facilitate walking, this is curved up and so retained by means of two or 
 three lines twisted in one solid cord. To add to the gracefulness of the 
 fore-end and prevent it from shrinking in, an additional bar is inserted 
 some distance therefrom, and the resulting tension is also corrected by a 
 transversal cord binding fast the extremities of the two sticks. The 
 ground netting passes under both bar and cord. The name of this 
 variety of snow-shoes indicates that the side sticks were originally" united 
 at both ends by means of stitches of skin lines ; but to-day small nails 
 or screws are more commonly used. Little tufts of coloured yarn 
 issuing from each side of the frame are intended to add to the elegance 
 of the implement. Such ornaments at the hind part of the snow-shoes 
 distinguish the women's from the men's snow-shoes. 
 
 i 
 
 Fig. 142. 
 
 The artificial bending of the side sticks is obtained by two different 
 methods. In the first case, such parts of the wood as are to be worked 
 upon, are carefully wrapped with strips of willow bark and thoroughly 
 heated by close application to the fire. They are next gradually pressed 
 up with the hand or by forcing against the ground, when their ends are 
 solidly tied so as to prevent the wood from returning to its original 
 shape. However, this is more commonly steamed or rather " cooked ' in 
 boiling water, such parts of the sticks as cannot be introduced in the 
 kettle or boiler being operated on by pouring thereon spoonfuls of hot 
 water until they have become sufficiently pliable. 
 
 A third model of snow-shoes quite as cf)mmon, if not more so, is the 
 •aih-sa ("snow-shoe only," or ordinary snow-shoe). In this, as in the 
 preceding, two sticks are employed to form the frame, but instead of 
 terminating in a sharp front end, their fore-ends are thinned and joined 
 together with a strong lashing of rawhide lines thereby forming a rounded 
 instead of an angular head. In other words, this snow-shoe is a long 
 kh^-la-pas made out of two side sticks at.d curved up in front as the 
 lat'ju. Therefore the additional cross-stick and string noticed in the 
 latter are wanting in this unpretentious style of snow-shoe. 
 11 
 
 
154 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF TUK CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 The Ts^'kdhne snow-shoes are remarkable for the number of their 
 cross-sticks. They generally have six of them, three in front, and three 
 back of the middle or coarse netting. They thus gain in solidity what 
 they lose in lightness.* 
 
 ii 
 
 Fig- «43- 
 
 The last variety of Carrier snow-shoes is herewith figured. Its form 
 will no doubt explain its native name, sds-khi^ 
 "black bear foot." It is proper to little children 
 before they are sufficiently grown up to use the 
 common snow-shoes. Not unfrequently, women, 
 especially those who are poorly circumstanced or 
 unprepared for a heavy fall of snow, will be seen 
 wearing similar, though of course much larger, 
 snow-shoes. Naturally the frame of such primitive 
 implements is composed of only one stick whose 
 ends are rudely lashed together. Instead of having 
 the cross-stick notched in as in the above figure, it 
 is more generally forced in a shallow hole mortised 
 at either side of the frame. 
 
 As these implements are essentially temporary, 
 they are often of a rude description. Such is not 
 the case with the }d(]u and the •aih-sa. Not only 
 are the wooden parts of these carefully shaved and 
 Fig. '144. scraped over, but they are generally daubed with 
 
 red ochre, and in not a few cases covered with a coat of red or blue 
 paint. 
 
 * The reason of this is tlieir great length wiiich is intended to deaden the creaking of the 
 frozen snow cause<l by the short snow-shoe, and thereby not to betray the approach of the 
 hunter. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^NlfeB, 
 
 16S 
 
 Here we have the winter walking-stick * already alluded to. It 
 renders to the hand of the traveller over snow fields the same service 
 as the snow-shoe does his feet, since its circular appendage (fig. 144) 
 
 Fig. 145. 
 
 prevents the stick from sinking too much in deep snow. It has 
 moreover another very valuable advantage which I have tried to illustrate 
 through fig. 145. The hand of the hunter, warm and trembling from the 
 excitement of the chase, if passed through the leather loop which oftea 
 
 Fig. 146. 
 
 Fig. 147. 
 
 accompanies the upper part of the staff, can thereby be steadied and' 
 find a reliable support for the barrel of his gun while in the act of 
 
 • Thiz-mas, " walkiiij-stick rounded" by allusion to the circular appendage. 
 
 ''! 
 
 % 
 
 ■r ^-i( 
 
I 
 
 V, 
 
 166 
 
 TRANSACTIOMd OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 firinpf. Despite these undoubted advantages, this walking-stick tends to 
 become obsolete in several localities. 
 
 But one implement now remains on our list of undescribed wood-and- 
 skln items. This is the ice-scoop or /upas of which an idea may be 
 gathered from fig. 146. It is brought into requisition to scoop out of 
 the hole one is making in the ice the broken pieces driven in with the 
 9/1' or ice-breaker. The frame is usually of mountain maple. Fig. 147 
 will explain the connection between the strings and the frame. 
 
 TEXTILE AND TWINED FABRICS. 
 
 We now come to the twined and textile fabrics of the Western D^nds. 
 The latter are very few ; indeed the weaving industry might almost be 
 described as null among those tribes, since the rabbit skin blankets were 
 originally the only genuine textile fabric manufactured among either the 
 Carriers, the Tsd'k^hne or the TsiiKoh'tin. 
 
 The weaving of these could hardly be more primitive. The first step 
 is of course to spin, or rather to twist on the naked thigh, the strips of 
 ihe rabbit skins. These are previously steeped in water to facilitate the 
 cutting and spinning operations. Each skin is made to yield one single 
 band, and each band is knotted end to end so as to form a continuous 
 cord. 
 
 A frame or loom is first erected with poles of the proper dimensions 
 and secured either by planting the two side pieces in the ground, or, more 
 commonly, by leaning them against each wall of any corner in the house. 
 Over the two cloth-beams, the skin cord is wound so as to form the 
 warp. As for the woof, a separate strip is knotted in its middle part to 
 the last left hand thread of the warp in such a way that two threads 
 result which are then twisted together, then entwined with the next warp 
 thread, again twisted together, again entwined with the next perpendicular 
 thread; and so on until the last thread of the warp is reached, when the 
 operation is resumed from the right to the left. Each successive woof 
 thread is added immediately under the preceding one so that the weaving, 
 if weaving there be, is always in a downward direction. Whenever the 
 web becomes too low for the convenience of the 
 weaver, web and warp are made to revolve on the 
 loom beams up to the suitable height. The web is 
 W then momentarily steadied by means of a string 
 
 attached on either side to the perpendicular poles of the loom. No 
 batten or any similar device is used. Fig. 148 will give some idea of the 
 whole process. The cut a represents a cross-section of the web. 
 
m 
 
 1892-93.] 
 
 N0TK8 ON THE WESTeKN DI^N^S. 
 
 187 
 
 The Tsi[Koh'tin and Carrier women now weave fairly good belts or 
 girths out of the yarn t'l; y get at their trading posts. But this is a new 
 industry among them and we need not tarry in its description. .Suffice 
 it to say that they use wooden healds as those of ;"ie Zuni Indians. 
 Indeed, I think that the whole method of girth weaving is practically 
 identical with these two heterogeneous stocks. 
 
 Fig. 148. 
 
 The TsiiKoh'tin women also weave or plait mats commonly used to 
 spread on the floor or ground instead of a table cloth, the menu of the 
 family repast round which each person squats while partaking thereof. 
 The material is a sort of rush or juncaceous plant, the exact species of 
 which I could not determine. Matting is an unknown industry among 
 the Carriers and the Tse'k^hne. 
 
 j< It: ■> 
 
 PI 
 
wm 
 
 168 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [You IV. 
 
 ! 
 
 With regard to the mode of netting, the drag-nets of the Western 
 D^nt^s are of two kinds : one is intended for service against any species 
 of fish, with the exception of the sturgeon, and (he o*her is of use to 
 capture the latter fish exclusivel>. Fig. 149 will explain the manner of 
 
 Fig. 149. Fig. ISO. 
 
 knotting the sturgeon net, while all the other kinds of netting, whether 
 drag, scoop, or dip-nets, or even, the packing bags which shall soon be 
 described, are knotted, as .shown in fig. 150, 
 
 No mesh-stick is used while the Carrier is working at the smaller 
 varieties of nets. It is replaced by the middle finger of the left hand. 
 In this case, the nettting-needle also consists merely in a narrow piece of 
 board scalloped at either end to receive the twine which is wound around. 
 But when at work upon large-meshed nets, our aborigines have recourse 
 to the picture frame-like wootlen implement herewith figured. This is 
 
 Fig. 151. Yi sizB. 
 
 carved out of one piece and serves as a mesh-stick. It has replaced the 
 original wooden horse-shoe made of a beat twi^j. In this case a regular 
 netting shuttle is also resorted to. As this is in every particular identical 
 v.ith that common among white fishermen, it is but natural to infer that 
 it is here a borrowed article. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^NJrlS. 
 
 159 
 
 The meshes of the sturgeon net are about ten inches square, while 
 those of the beaver nets are based oi the distance between the tip ot the 
 thumb and that of the index finger when both are outstretched. The 
 width of any kind of fish-net of the larger variety corresponds with that 
 of seventeen meshes of the same net. The nets intended for smaller fish 
 have their meshes from ^ of an inch to one inch and a half square. 
 About twenty of the former dimensions form the width of the net. All 
 kinds of drag-nets measure at least one hundred feet in length. 
 
 Among the Ts^'kcihne both hands outstretched with the thun-bs tip to 
 tip are the standard measure for the width of the beaver net. Large 
 nets require twelve such units, while the smaller ones have only nine, or 
 thereabouts. Such nets never exceed twenty-five feet in length. 
 
 Fig. 152, 
 
 Identical in netting are the two kinds of dip-nets * in use among the 
 Carriers. The first (fig. 152) serves either to catch salmon or to scoop 
 out the smaller fish which period'cally swarm up certain shallow streams. 
 When doing service against salmon, it is dipped in the water and then 
 left until a capture is effected. But if used to catch small fish, it is 
 managed as a ladle. Its make will be easily understood by a glance at 
 the above figure. It is from five to six feet deep. 
 
 Fig. 153 represents a smaller varitty of the dip-net. It serves in a 
 few places only, and, as a rule, its penod of usefulness does not exceed 
 four or five days in one year. During the first warm days of each 
 recurring spring, immense numbers of the tlu'jmyk, the very small fish 
 which we have already mentioned in another chapter, ascend to the 
 .surface of the water in a few lakes and become an easy prey to the 
 Indian women who, armed with this net, scoop out canoe loads of it in 
 
 * Pf-th*Kaih, " wherewith one scoops," a verbal noun. 
 
 
 iJIVIi. 
 
 V.'^ 
 
 
180 
 
 TKANSACTIONS 0¥ THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 one .single day. Less than a week thereafter, not a fish will be 
 seen of the myriads that were ba.skiiig in the sun. Of course, the meshes 
 
 Fig. '53- 
 
 ot the dip-net resorted to as a means of securing them are proportionallj- 
 small. They are scarcely a quarter of an inch square. 
 
 FiK. 154- 
 
 The nets of our aborigines were originally of the fibre ol either the 
 nettle {Urtica Lyallii), the willow {SalLv iongifolia) bark, or a species of 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 161 
 
 wild hemp called hwotuj a in Carrier. The plants were carefully dried 
 in the house, crushed with the hands, and their fibres extracted by 
 pulling up with the right from the left hand, pressing the stalks down 
 on the ground. The shreds were then spun by twisting on the thigh. 
 Naturally this was the work of the women. Nowadays fine Holland 
 twine is used instead. 
 
 Though the skin of the beaver is occasionally used to make beaver-nets 
 — as is the case when the animal is found so decomposed that its fur has 
 lost its value — yet such nets are generally of cariboo skin cut in fine 
 strips called " babiche " in the parlance of such Indians as parade an 
 acquaintance with the dialect of the H. B. Go's, employees. 
 
 Such is also the material of the t'juj-stikez ^ or packing bag of fig. 1 54. 
 This is to the r'.en what the moose skin wallet (fig. 135) is to the women. 
 It serves to carry to short d^Jtances light burdens such as a lunch, peltries 
 to the trading post, provisions for an unimportant journey, etc. It is also 
 very commonly used as a game-bag. The above figure represents the 
 t'pii-an'kez' such as is still made among the Ts^'k^hne, and as it was 
 originally among the Carriers. But of late years the latter, having 
 learned from their missionaries to have a greater regard for the physical 
 weakness of the gentler sex and to do themselves at least a part of the 
 packing, use it for heavier burdens than those for which it was originally 
 intended. This has rendered the rounded cord through which it is 
 carried uncomfortable. It is now replaced by a regular leather thong, 
 which also runs round the rim of the bag. 
 
 *T'/«/ means "rope," ami the desinence of the compound word 'kez, which implies "direction,, 
 tendency " towards a place, is common to all packing devices. 
 
 if 
 
 I it- \ 
 
 rn 
 
162 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 S^ 
 
 i 
 
 Dress and Personal Adornment, 
 common dress. 
 
 r 
 
 It would be difficult at the present time to reconstruct in all its details 
 the national dress of the prehistoric Western D^n^s, if indeed there ever 
 existed any national or uniform costume for each and all of the 
 different tribes and sub-tribes under study. Sir A. Mackenzie, in his 
 account of the voyage of discovery he made in 1793 through part of 
 their territory, might perhaps enlighten on this subject the reader who 
 ■can have access to his narrative.* Not enjoyirtg this advantage, I must 
 content myself with what I have learnt from daily intercourse with the 
 most reliable among the older Carriers. 
 
 Speaking of the dress of the Eastern Dent's, the Rev. E. Petitot has 
 the following to say : — 
 
 " Outre la blouse de peau blanche i queues d^cor^es de franges et dc 
 breloques metalliques, qui fut le costume primitif des D^ne-Dindji^ et 
 que portent encore les Loucheux, ceux-ci, ainsi que les Peaux-de-Li6vre 
 y joignent un pantalon de meme matifere et aussi richement orn^, qui est 
 cousu avec la chaussure. II est port^ par les femmes comme par les 
 hommes. Les tribus plus m^ridionales remplacent le pantalon par les 
 cuissards ou mitasscs que des jarreti^res retiennent aux jambes, et par un 
 pagne oblong d'une etoffe quelconque. 
 
 " La robe des femmes est trds courte et orne^ d'une profusion de 
 frangfes, de houppes de laine, de verroteries ct de breloques sonores. 
 La chaussure g^n^rale est le mocassin, ou Soulier de peau molle qui 
 emprisonne et dessine le pied comme un gant le fait de la main. Durant 
 I'hiver le renne, le castor et le litJvre arctique sont mis a contribution pour 
 fournir k I'habitant du desert des vetements aussi chauds que lagers et 
 commodes.f 
 
 That the dress of the Western Ddn^s considerably differed from that 
 of their Eastern congeners such as above described is beyond the 
 possibility of a doubt. And no wonder. Being of an imitative turn of 
 
 * Voyages from Montreal, on the river St. Lawrence, through the continent of North America, 
 .to the Frozen and Pacific oceans ; in the years 1789 and 1793, etc., London, 1801. 
 t Monographic des Den^-Dindjie, p. xxiv ; Paris, 1876. 
 

 1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 163 
 
 mind, and living, most of them, in close proximity and with frequent 
 intercourse with the Coast Indians on the one hand and the Shushwap 
 on the other, they could not fail to accommodate themselves to their 
 environments. It may be taken for certain that their wearing apparel 
 was, as a whole, rather meagre and scanty. This remark does not apply 
 to the ceremonial costume of the Carriers, which, as v/ill soon be seen, 
 was quite elaborate and complicated. 
 
 The summer dress of the men consisted mainly, if not entirely, of a 
 tunic, the breech piece, the leggings and the mocassins. The tunic was 
 a loose vestment which the Indians now compare to a shirt. Its material 
 -was tanned cariboo skin, and it descended to the thigh or thereabouts. 
 It had no tail-like appendage as that of the Eastern D^n^s. This tunic 
 was uniform neither in cut, nor in material, as poor people made it of 
 almost any available skin with the fur on, and gave it the form best suited 
 to their means. Well-to-do Carriers decorated this garment with a 
 multitude of fringes to conceal the seams. The strands of these were 
 sometimes further embellished by means of porcupine quills dyed yellow 
 or green. 
 
 Vhe breech-piece and the leggings were also of the same material, 
 cariboo skin. The latter covered the legs in their whole length, and were 
 kept in position by a string tied to the leather belt on each opposite side. 
 They were furthermore secured below the knee by means of ornamented 
 garters (see fig. 145). These breech cloth and leggings without trousers 
 were still worn here by a few men not more than twelve years ago. 
 Leggings of identical style are still in common use among the men, but 
 during the winter months only, and they are now worn over the pants. 
 
 The national foot gear is, and has always been, the mocassin. This was 
 originally of the dressed skin of the elk (Cervus Canadensis). But the 
 poorer classes frequently made it of untanned marmot .skin, or even of 
 the skin of the salmon. The mocassins are now uniformly of dre.ssed 
 cariboo or moose skin among the Carriers and Tsd'kiJhne and of deer 
 skin among the TsilKoh'tin. An idea of their present form may be 
 gathered from fig. 142. 
 
 Owing to the nature of the material of the.se mocassins, our aborigines 
 generally went i)arefooted in rainy weather, and to-day the women and 
 the children at least still adhere to this custom. It must be added that, 
 progressive as the Carriers arc, there is not among them a single man 
 who would undertake a journey of any importance, nay even a short 
 trip, without the traditional mocassins. Even the most advanced young 
 men profess to be unable to walk any considerable distance with our 
 comm >n leather shoes. 
 
 li 
 
 I 
 
 •IP 
 
 'if 
 
 Hi! 
 
 m 
 
164 
 
 TRAMSAOTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 All the Western D^n^s wear mittens, which are made of the same 
 material as their mocassins. Even during the fair season, they will 
 never do any kind of man- al work without having them on. They are 
 suspended to a cord of plaited yarn passing behind the neck and over 
 the shoulders, so that, even when they are not in actual use, there is very 
 little risk of losing them. The wrist-band is invariably ornamented with 
 stripes of ')lue and red cloth, together with colored ribbons, according to 
 the fancy oi the wearer. 
 
 Gloves are now used, but were unknown in prehistoric times. 
 
 Instead of the hood common among their kinsmen of the Mackenzie 
 Basin, the Carriers formerly wore a dainty cap of marmot skin made in 
 this wise: — A band, some three inches broad, was cut from the skin with 
 the hair on and secured at either end so as to form a crown-like head- 
 dress. Over this was sewed a circular piece of similar material leaving 
 out a brim of the same width as that of the band. This projecting part 
 of the skin was then slit into a fringe which rested gracefully on the 
 original head-band. 
 
 This description applies to the summer cap. The winter head-gear 
 consisted of a hemispherical bowl of woven rabbit s'vin strips without 
 fringes. Both summer and winter, men and women wore the same style 
 of cap. 
 
 The summer dress of the women did not materially differ from that 
 of the men. The tunic was simply longer and oftentimes ornamented 
 round the shoulders and back with a row of pendent cariboo and beaver 
 claws or teeth. For the sake of convenience a girdle also secured the 
 folds of that robe over the waist. They wore, and among the Carriers 
 continue to wear, leggings like the men. 
 
 During the cold season both sexes, but more especially the women on 
 account of the outdoor work to which they were subjected, added to the 
 foregoing a sort of small blanket of undressed skin of any small fur- 
 bearing animal which covered their breast from the neck to Ihe waist. 
 This pectoral blanket was attached with strings behind the neck and 
 also secured by the outer girdle round the waist. We have already seen 
 that in olden times a swan's skin sometimes served an identical purpose. 
 
 The body was further protected against the inclemency of the season 
 by means of a large cloak of lynx skins sewed together and worn with 
 the hair outside. The moie conservative half of theTsi(Koh'tin tribe have 
 retained to this day the use of this fur cloak. But it is worn among 
 them with the hair next to the body, and the material is, as with the 
 poorer Carriers, marmot instead of lynx skin.s. The TsijKoh'tin women 
 
!?ri* 
 
 1892-93.J 
 
 NOTES ON THG WE8TKRN DENf 
 
 165 
 
 transform it into a sort of gown by tying it round the waist with a girdle 
 of leather, from which hang beaver nails or teeth, old thimbles or shells 
 of exploded brass cartridges which produce during their walk a jingling 
 sound much appreciated by the native ear. 
 
 Winter and summer, the members of the three tribes under consider- 
 ation wrap their feet with square pieces of blanket, kfu'-thal* which are 
 to them the counterpart of our stockings. 
 
 With the advent of the whites the dress of the Western D^n^s 
 gradually changed, until it became, what it is now, practically that of the 
 H. B. Co.'s people, with the few additions necessitated by the nature 
 of the former's avocation. However, skin coats identical with that 
 illustrated through fig. 145 are still occasionally met with, especially 
 among the Ts^'k^hne and Babine tribes. 
 
 The foregoing remarks, as I believe, will give a fair idea of the 
 aboriginal costume such as it obtained among the Western D^n^s, with- 
 out reference to rank or age. But, when treating of the natives' wearing 
 apparel, one should not forget that even their psychological ideas are not 
 without'jnfluence on its nature. We should remember that most dreaded 
 creature, the pubescent girl. She was considered among the Carriers so 
 much of an itre d part, that she must constantly wear some badge to 
 remind people of her terrible infirmity, and thereby guard them against 
 the baleful influences which she was believed to possess. This consisted 
 in " a sort of head-dress combining in itself the purposes of a veil, a 
 bonnet and a mantlet. It was made of tanned skin, its forepart was 
 shaped like a long fringe, completely hiding from view the face and 
 breasts ; then it formed on the head a close fitting cap or bonnet, and 
 finally fell in a broad band almost to the h°els. This head-dress was 
 made and publicly placed on her head by a paternal aunt, who received 
 at once some present from the girl's father. When, three or four years 
 later, the period sequestration ceased, only this same aunt had the right 
 to take oflT her niece's ceremonial head-dress."f 
 
 The latter sentence applies to the daughter of untitled parents. In 
 case the maiden was of noble birth, the first anniversary of her entering; 
 
 • " Foot-platform." The native names of the different parts of the wearing apparel are here- 
 with given, as they may afford a clue, when considered from an etymological standpoint, to the 
 relative degree of importance or antiquity of the articles thereby denominated. Head-gear of 
 any description, t's>R ; coat or tunic, tiiit ; breech-piece, tsan ; girdle, sJ ; cloak (and blanket), 
 tsit ; leggings, kki-tsih (wherein-the-foot-is-passed) ; mocassin, khi-skw>t, or in composition khe 
 (synonymous with "foot"); pectoral blanket, /^/.riifAttJ (that — being a soft stuff— which covers), 
 a verbal noun. 
 
 tThe Western D^nds ; Proc. Can. Inst., 1888-89, P- >62. 
 
166 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF TUB CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 upon her matuilty witnessed the imposition, with befitting ceremonies 
 and the usual banquet, of a sort of diadem such as herewith figured. 
 
 The ground part of this was a band of 
 tanned skin which was fringed from about 
 one inch and a half above the bottom up 
 to the top. Each strand of that fringe was 
 passed through a dentalium shell and then 
 ^* ^S5' sewed up at the top to an encircling strip 
 
 of skin. As this crown was lower on the back than in front, shells of 
 different lengths were chosen according to the place they were to occupy, 
 A lining of skin, with or without the fur on, was then added, and the 
 lower corners of the ends stitched together, as shjwn in the cut. Upon 
 crowning the maiden with this shell diadem, th; paternal aunt became 
 heir to the discarded bonnet with fringe and mantlet. 
 
 Both diadem and bonnet were articles of every day wear, and genuine 
 ceremonial head-dresses. 
 
 Not only pubescent girls, but even such boys as were reaching the 
 same stage of life had their fingers, wrists and legs encircled with rings 
 or bracelets made of sinew entwined with down. Neglecting these pre- 
 cautions would have exposed the careless party to premature infirmities 
 and incapacitated the young man for the fatiguing exercise of the chase. 
 
 The Western D^n^s of the old stock, and especially the Carriers and 
 the Babines, were not wanting in articles of personal adornment. Among 
 head ornaments, they had the ear-pendants, the nose ring or crescent, 
 the ni-K9-dttfa, the hair pendant and, among the Babines, the labret. 
 
 Two very distinct varieties of ear-pendants* obtained among the 
 Carriers. The first consisted in a bunch of four buckskin strings passed 
 through pairs of dentalium shells and hanging from the ear, as shown 
 in fig. 156. As soon as glass beads became known, some were inserted 
 between each of the two shells suspended from each hole in the ear. A 
 small beaver claw furthermore prevented the pendent shells and bead 
 from slipping off. Several Indians still bear the marks of this now 
 antiquated pendant. 
 
 A different kind, which was still in honour but a few years ugo, but 
 is now likewise obsolete, is the haliotis pendant (fig. 157). The specimen 
 from which I have drawn fig. 157 was in actual use when obtained for 
 my collection. Pendants of this material probably affected various forms. 
 Yet I fear that no other specimen could now be found among our 
 
 • Tzokv»l. 2nd. cat. 
 
i 
 
 1892-93.J 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^MJ&S. 
 
 167 
 
 aborigines. Considering that fine shreds of sinew were formerly, as they 
 are to-day, common in every native household, it would appear, judging 
 by the coarse line of buck skin appended to this "jewel" thai very little 
 regard was entertained in olden times for the sensibility of the humaa 
 ear. 
 
 Fig. 156. Fig. 157. 
 
 The dentalium pendant was proper to men, while the latter or haliotis 
 ornament belonged to the fair sex. With insignificant exceptions, neither 
 the men nor the women now wear any ear pendant or ring, except 
 among the Babines, whose tmeza' or noblemen have adopted the silver 
 ear-ring,* proper to persons of similar rank among their alien neighbours,^ 
 the Kitiksons. 
 
 As among the majority of savage or barbarous peoples, in contra- 
 distinction with civilized nations, the Western D^nds were formerly fond 
 of perforating their septum to introduce therein what they considered 
 wondrous ornaments. These might be divided into three different, 
 categories : the crescent, the discoidal or cruciform pendant and the 
 silver ring.f 
 
 The two first ornaments are figured above, and were of haliotis shell. 
 The crescent was, of course, inserted to the middle through the hole of 
 
 * .See Niblack's The Indians of the Northwest Coast, plate vi. fig. 13. 
 
 + A11 the nose-pendants are called ni-spas, tit, a contraction of tii'A, "nostrils ;" sfas, the root 
 oi nanispas, "ring-like" 
 
168 
 
 TRANSACTIONS Or THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. VI. 
 
 the septum, the cusps hanging down. Others were contracted enough to 
 permit of being worn ring fashion with the cusps grasping the septum as 
 those of the ancient Peruvians.* I have seen Babine women wearing 
 through the septum a silver crescent of identical size with that figured 
 above. 
 
 Fig. 158. 
 
 Fig. 159. 
 
 The circular nose-pendant (fig. 1 59) was placed in position by pressing 
 the fore part of the .septum through the cusps formed by the deep 
 indentations carved out in the shell until the septum hole was reached. 
 The proximity of the points or cusps then prevented its falling off. 
 
 As for the third variety of nose ornaments, it consisted in a silver ring 
 which was more than once of ridiculously generous proportions. Indeed, 
 if I am to cr'dit my informants, this was, among the Babincs, of such a 
 size that one could easily eat through it. I have never seen any. 
 
 All the above nose ornaments were used indifferently by men or by 
 women. A fourth, which it was the privilege of the women of rank to 
 wear was the ni-Vi^-dtrfa, or "passed through the septum." Fig. 160 will 
 
 ->P»S2JSp^ 
 
 Fig. 160. 
 
 explain its form, without doing justice to the material of which it was 
 composed. Two pairs of dentalium shells., the small end of the one 
 
 •.See "A Study of the Textile Art," by W. H. Holmes, vi. Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol., 
 Washington, 1888, p. 237, fig. 343. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES O.N THK WBSTKRN D^N^a. 
 
 169 
 
 uiscrtcd in the large end of t!ie other, were kept springing out, as it 
 were, from the septum by means of a .sinew thread lunning fiom -^ind to 
 end of the shells and throuj^h ihe perforated nasal partition. The ex- 
 tremities of the " ornament " were adorned by a .imall tuft of the red 
 down of the head of the wood-pecker (CcophUus pileatns). This orna- 
 ment was rarely exhibited outside of ceremonial gatherings. 
 
 It ^an already be inferred from the foregoinij that the Western Ddn^s 
 prized as much the dentalium ( D. Indianortim) shells as their kinsmen 
 who now inhabit the Hupa valley, in California. That the esteem of the 
 former for the red scalp of the wood-pecker is not confined to them may 
 be gathered from a perusal of Prof O. T. Mason's " The Ray Collection 
 from Hupa Reservation."* 
 
 Fig. i6i. 
 
 Lastly, with a view to enhance their natural attractiveness by means 
 of extrinsical ornaments, the young men and young women attached 
 on either side of their hair, a little above the ears, bunches of strings 
 decorated with dyed porcupine quills and beaver claws •]• or, more 
 recently, holding gla.ss beads of various colours sometimes ending in 
 copper buttons, as is the case with fig. i6l. Until a few years ago, these 
 
 •P. 231. 
 
 \ Ntmpa-stla, "they lie on the face-edge," a verbal noun. 
 
 12 
 
 'n$ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
170 
 
 TKA.S8ACTI0.NS OF THK CANADIAN IN8TITUTK. 
 
 [Vou Vf. 
 
 were to be seen occasionally in a few remote places. As all other 
 articles of native adornment, they have now completely disappeared. 
 
 In the course of his paper "On the Masks, Labrets," etc., W. H. Dall 
 qives the followint; defiiiition of the labret. "The labret, among American 
 aborifjines, is well known to be a plug, .stud, or variously-shaped button, 
 made from various materials, which is inserted at or about the age ot" 
 puberty through a hole or holes pierced in the thinner portions of the 
 fac'd' about the mouth. Usually after the first operation has been per- 
 formed, and the original slender pin in.serted, the latter is replaced from 
 time to time by a larger one, and the perforation thus mechanically 
 stretched, and in course of time permanently enlarged."* As regards 
 the nature, mode and time of insertion, these words arc in every way 
 applicable to the labretsf of the Babine sub-tribe. When these had 
 reached the ma.ximum size which they were to retain for life, they were a 
 flat button, oval in circumference, at least one and a quarter inch long by 
 three-quarters inch wide, of a bard wood, commonly mountain maple 
 (Acer glabrum). The insertion of the tentative bone pin was the 
 occasion of special rejoicing and feasting. The women only were entitled 
 to this piece of ornamentation, and, as a rule, the higher the rank of the 
 wearer the larger the labret was to be. 
 
 So much for the head ornaments. Other pieces of aboriginal jewelry 
 of every-day wear were the tsi-ne/than, the tsi-vesdtlya and, in later years^ 
 the na-jthan and the la-tc^n. With the exception of the last, which is a 
 compound noun of the third category, all these words are verbal nouns 
 descriptive of the trinket thereby differentiated. 
 
 The two first mentioned were the D^n6 necklaces. The isine/t/tan 
 was obtained by boiling and splitting off a thin band of a cariboo horn, 
 which was given, while .still pliable, the desired form. As an attempt 
 at ornamentation, geometrical designs were scratched with the stone 
 knife, over which a pinch of diluted red ochre was rubbed with the hand. 
 The colouring matter passed over the smooth surface of the horn, but 
 remained in the light furrowings which were thus brought into greater 
 prominence. This primitive method is still common among the Western 
 D6n6s. Charcoal, instead of vermilion, is .sometimes used. 
 
 The tsinesdilya, \ was a necklace of dentalium shells which wa» 
 liable to affect difTerent forms, as the shells were threaded in such a way 
 as to fall over the neck or to encircle it lengthwise. A similar necklace, 
 
 * Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1884, p. 76. 
 
 f"Ni-ta-'kh, man (i>. human)-!ip-over." 
 
 t "That (a composite object) which is put around the head," i.e. the neck. 
 
1892-03.] 
 
 NOTKB ON TnB WEhTRRN DIIn^S. 
 
 ITl 
 
 SM-n 
 
 but larger and worn resting over the shoulders and breast, was a badge 
 of the possession of shamanistic powers on the part of the wf.'arer. 
 
 The tsinejthan was of so primitive material that its adoption as a 
 means of personal adornment must have been rather early. Though the 
 material of the tsinezdilya was an imported article, this necklace could, 
 according to the following Carrier narrative, boast of an at least as great 
 antiquity, unless we assign a recent origin to the actual plumage of the 
 loon.* 
 
 " Once upon a time, there was an old man who was blind. He had a 
 wife who used to help him in this way to keep alive : whenever she 
 sighted game, she would hand him his arrow to moisten the stone point 
 thereof with his saliva — for this old man was possessed of magic powers. 
 Then pointing the arrow in the direction of the game, she would let him 
 release it himself, which he usually did with good effect. One day, both 
 came upon a very fat cariboo — " Moisten the arrow-head with your saliva," 
 said the woman to her husband, which after he had done, he shot dead 
 the animal. But his wife, who coveted the fat of the cariboo and was 
 tired of living with a blind old man, pushed him aside, thereby throwing 
 him to the ground, saying : " That old fellovv,f what a bad shot he is!" 
 — ' But I think I have killed it,' insisted the old man. Yet as he was 
 blind, he could not get the game, and while searching for it, he strayed a 
 long distance from his wife who now abandoned him. 
 
 " As soon as the old man was out of sight, she set to cut up the 
 animal, helping herself at the same time to large fried slices of its meat> 
 What she did not eat on the spot she cut into thin pieces and hung out 
 to dry. 
 
 " Meanwhile the old man was bewailing his fate. In the course of his 
 aimless wanderings he had reached the shore of a lake, when a loon 
 hearing his cries swam towards him as his kins are wont to do even now 
 whenever they hear anybody talking in the forest. — "What ails you"? 
 he said to the man. — ' Poor wretch that I am, my wife has left me, and 
 I am blind,' answered the latter. — ' I will cure you,' said the loon; 'come 
 over to me and hide your eyes in the down of the back of my neck. The 
 old man did as he was bid, and both the loon and himself plunged in 
 the water. When they reappeared on the surface, they found themselves 
 at the opposite end of the lake. — ' Now can you see'? quivered the loon. 
 ' Look at yonder mountain,' he added. The old man complied with the 
 request and answered : ' I see a little, as if through a mist. Repeat the 
 
 
 i 
 
 * This t.ile is also cuirent among the Tsi|Koh'tin. 
 
 + T)nethi-q)L The desinence of tliis word is expressive of spite and scorn. 
 
172 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV, 
 
 operation,' Again did the loon dive with him, emerging this time at the 
 original point of departure. 'Now can you .see'? asked the loon. — 'I 
 now see very well,' replied the old man wading ashore. Then to show 
 his gratitude to his beneractor he presented him with his own dentalium 
 shell necklace, and taking some more dentalium shells from his quiver, 
 lie threw them * at him 
 
 " Ever since, the loon wears a white necklace, and the shells which hit 
 him also produced the white spot.-, we now .see on his wings. f" 
 
 Now that we are satisfied as to the great antiquity of the dentalium 
 necklace, we will leave the old man of the story to settle with his 
 unfaithful spouse, and return to the description of the other articles of 
 adornment obtaining among the Western D^n^s. 
 
 The na-jthan \ is the liorn or metal wristlet which has already been 
 
 described and figured (see fig. 126). 
 
 As for the la-tcsn |; it is of modern origin, 
 and is an imitation of the ruffles of the 
 whites. As such, it is worn in winter time 
 as a protection against cold. But many 
 Carrier or Ts^'k^hne girls nowadays wear a 
 variety of it merely as an ornamental 
 addition to their costume. To that class 
 belongs the la-tcsn herewith figured. It is 
 of glass bead.') of several colours mounted 
 on sinen' threads. The rosette in front is 
 made of narrow ribbons and a common mother-of-pearl button, 
 
 Ceremonia'. Costumh. 
 
 It has already been hinted that the ceremonial costume of the Carriers, 
 was very elaborate. When one keeps in mind their proximity to the 
 coast Indians who are so fond of parade and display, this statement can- 
 not surpri.se. What v/ould rather astcnish those wiio have read a former 
 paper by the writer wliercin the wonderful faculty of imitation 
 characteristic of the Carriers is chiefly brought into relief is the fact that 
 though the sociological peculiarities which gave rise to this costume were 
 evidently borrowed, yet the latter was, in the main, original, it was 
 proper to the tine&a' and the t'stklima- or noble men and women. 
 
 * " Tlirew t.bi;m " and " |ifesente<l ilii-m" are remiercd by the .same worij in Ui-nc. 
 f The '.w.Mi of this story is the Urinitor pm ./iciis of the naturalist*. 
 X " That (l)<;inj{ of a iialurally hitiu niiiterul) which is around." 
 JiLit. "hands-stick," sr.me word a.i thut for "wrist." 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES OS THE WESTERN D^NliS. 
 
 173 
 
 Ceremonial banquetting, distribution of clothes or victuals, dances, 
 incineration of the dead, etc., were the most common pretexts for its 
 exhibition. 
 
 It will be noticed that the nature of its adc ning material was rather 
 monotonous and littlf . rxried. This consisted principally in the dcntalium 
 shells* interspersed with beaver clavv;-- and cariboo hoofs, pelts of small 
 animals, the feathers and down of a few species of birds and porcupine 
 quills. 
 
 The latter were invariably dyed, and here it may be explained that the 
 Carriers, at least, knew but two varieties of dyes : yellow and green. 
 The yellow colour was obtained by boiling the quills with a species of 
 hair-like lichen apparently akin to the Alcctoria jubata, but botanically 
 different {Evcriiia vidpina). The green dye was no other than the 
 decayed wood found almo.-it everywhere in the forest. The colouring 
 matter was likewise extracted by boiling. An analogous method is now 
 followed, to dye in red or blue the plumes with which the young men are 
 fond of ornamenting their hats and the horse hair which serves to 
 embellish the instep piece of their mocassins : the original dye of the 
 cloth or stuff procured at the trading posts is simply extracted and 
 transferred by boiling. 
 
 The distinctive pieces of the noble man or woman's ceremonial attire 
 were : the wig, the coronet or 'tast'/u, the breast-plate or yosldthij, and 
 the Raz. With the exception of the third, of which I know but one 
 specimen, none of them can now be seen outside of my collection. 
 Each one was formerly so prized that it was the appanage of the full 
 fledged taneza" only. All the other parts of the costume, such as the 
 leggings and the mocassins, were of course proportionately rich and 
 ornamented. 
 
 I possess two specimens of the ceremonial wig or tsi-kd-stzai\ and 
 both differ in make and style of ornamentation. Fig. 163 represents 
 what is perhaps the most elaborate in design. A^ no cut can do full 
 justice to its details, I may be pardoned the following description. It is 
 composed of three distinct parts : the horn-like appendage, the cap or 
 head covering proper and the pendent train. The horns are made of the 
 stout bristles of the sea-lion's whiskers, two lengthr. of which are used 
 and united in front by means of buckskin and sinew threads. A rough 
 network of the latter material fills up the space between the horn and 
 the cap, and is arranged so as to determine the concavity of the latter. 
 
 Hwai 
 
 II 
 
 M '1 
 
 'm 1 
 
 • Tpai in Carrier, ti^pai in T.silKoh'tin. 
 
 + l-it. "head-on (minute objects— ».«. the shells) are-lying." 
 
174 
 
 TRANSACrriONS or THR CANADIAN INaTITUTB. 
 
 [Vou IV. 
 
IS92-93.1 
 
 N0TJ5S ON TIIK WE8TEUN D^lNltS. 
 
 175 
 
 The cap is formed of two rows of dentalium shells attached to a strip of 
 ■cariboo skin otherwise se :ured to the above mentioned netting. A 
 uurrow band of leather separates the two rows and serves to retain in 
 juxtaposition the shells whose threads are also passed through it at the 
 proper intervals. The train is of human hair and measures three feet in 
 length. Each strand is formed of about a dozen hairs twisted into a 
 two-ply cord. About one foot from the bottom, bunches of perhaps 
 filty hairs in their natural condition are added to the end of each strand 
 by means of finely shredded sinew. Moreover, on the outside of the 
 upper part of the train, and forming continuation with the two rows of 
 dentalia of the cap are bunches of four shells of the same description 
 from the united small ends of which hang flaps of artificially curled 
 human hair which add not a little to the general effect of the whole. 
 Altogether, this wig must have produced a striking effect. 
 
 The second (fig. 164) is of less complicated design, but of perhaps 
 more costly material. The front horn-like appendage is replaced by fine 
 strips of ermine skin, and the head-covering part is likewise of dentalium 
 shells, of which there are three rows. These are gathered in bunches of 
 three, which are tied at the small end over heavy three-ply cords of 
 human hair terminating on the outside in flaps of curled hair, as in the 
 previous case. The train is composed of fine three-ply strands of human 
 hair adorned, every three inches or so, with two dentalium shells in 
 successive order. To retain these at the proper intervals, little pieces of 
 wood are inserted between the shell and the strand, or the latter is 
 wrapped over with sinew thread. 'I his train is not so abundant in 
 strands, nor quite so long as that of the preceding wig. 
 
 These wigs were u.sed in festal dances during which they were decked 
 •with swan's down which, o^ving to the movements of the dancer, produced 
 white undulating clouds intended to add to the picturesqueness of the 
 scene. 
 
 They were held in such high estimation, that no consideration what- 
 ever could have induced their owner to part with them. The reason of 
 this will be readily understood when it is known that they formed an 
 integral part of the hcrcditar)' title of the nobleman. This is so true 
 that they shared with him the traditional name which they were intended 
 to honour. Thus wig, fig. l63,is called Ka/iu/ ahcv its last possessor, who 
 had himself inherited this name from a long line of ancestors. There- 
 fore parting with them was equivalent to forfeiting one's rank and title. 
 They were handed down from generation to generation, and this explains 
 the air of antiquity and quasi dilapidated condition of those in my 
 possession. 
 
 Slip 
 
 
176 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VOL. VI. 
 
18U2-93.] 
 
 NOTSa ON THE WESTERN DENIES. 
 
 \7T 
 
 Hg. 165. 
 
 The staple material was the hair of notable women. It was clipprd 
 after death only, and arranged into the desired style on the occasion of 
 the grand final banquet commemorative of their death and cremation, 
 The hair of two women was required to make one wig. 
 
 Even women could aspire to the rank of noble or t'siWuba; among the 
 Carriers. On ilic occasion of ceremonial dances they wore a head-dress 
 even more graceful and pretty in form, if not so imposinjj and weird in 
 material. This was caWed 'iast'/u or " wovcn-feathers." It was crown - 
 shaped, and its principal component parts were stiff laps of fur skin, 
 
 generally of the weasel, and feathers. The 
 specimen herewith figured may be described as 
 follows : — A strip of tanned skin about one inch 
 in width and overlaid with three rows of dentalia 
 serves as the foundation or head oand of the 
 crown. From this rise brrad wci.-.tl skin strips 
 with edges folded leiigthuise and sewed up in- 
 side. These are stiffened by means of large 
 fCvUher quills or slender pieces of wood inserted 
 therein. To further enhance tin ^ractfulness of 
 the head-dress, each skin is kept folded down at the top, thereby convert- 
 ing its tail into a flap. The skin laps are again retained in their upright 
 
 position by a strip of dressed skin running, 
 on tijo inside, around the upper periphery of 
 the crown. Scalps of the red-headed wood- 
 pecker {CeopJkleus ptlcatus) are secured i>c the 
 folded p>art of each lap, while the tail feathers 
 of another variety of wotxi pecker ( Sp^yrupicus 
 ztirtuj are sewn, painting upwards, on the 
 bottom and the m^idcie of each upright piece 
 of fur skin. 
 
 This head-dress was filled up, \ hen in use, 
 with down, which the wearer caused to escape 
 around through tatc: jerKinp of the he;id ueca- 
 liar to the feminine style of dancing. 
 
 The above had been writter and fig. 165 
 drawn for some time when I r»*-:'jived spec^Kn 
 pages of a most important Bible DictiJBtay* 
 ncnv in course of publication n 1*"' nder 
 
 '''K- '66. the supervision of that learned on- ;.i i.si, the 
 
 Abbii Viiijouroux. wherein I found the sketch of a Chaldaean king 
 
 * Dicti-mttairt di la Hihit, tu., par F. Vi^ 
 
 iuzey et Ane, I'ariH. 
 
178 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THR CANADIAN IN8TITUTK. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 •<fig. 1 66) wearing a headdress so much resembling the 'tast'iu that I 
 could not resist the temptation of reproducing it here with the author's 
 permission. This illustration being copied from a contemporaneous 
 monument, offers a very suggestive base of comparison with the cere- 
 monial pa/aphernalia of our aborigines. Though the crown therein 
 represented must have been of some precious metal, it would seem that 
 the feathers or 'ta which have given its name to its American counter- 
 part occupy an even more prominent place therein than in the D6n6 
 'tast'ju. 
 
 The next important piece of the nobleman's ceremonial i.ostume was 
 the vo-stdth9}* or dentalium breast-plate (fig. 167). It had the form of a 
 
 Fig. 167. \ site. 
 
 rounded crescent, and this particularity, no less than the costliness of the 
 material, was no doubt intended to indicate the dignity of the wearer. The 
 fitness of the dentalium as a means of ornamentation receives through 
 this breast-plate its best illustration. These shells, as is well known, are 
 larger at one end than at the other, and moreover are also slightly 
 arched. The former peculiarity causes of itself the curve of the two 
 broader rows of dentalia, while the latter likewise renders those of the 
 middle and of the rim well adapted to the shape of the plate. The 
 whole is of course mounted on a ground of dressed cariboo skin. Its 
 two cusp- like extremities were clasped or knotted with rawhide strings 
 behind the neck. 
 
 This article of personal adornment was valued at four dressed moose 
 .skins or forty beaver skins, which, if estimated at their present price, 
 would represent the sum of $2(X). 
 
 'Disposed dowinv.irds and in parallel ovder," a verb. noun. 
 
1893 93.] 
 
 KOTE8 ON THB WKRTKRN OtstlS. 
 
 IT9 
 
 Such was also the commercial valuation of the Raz. This is the 
 •ceremonial robe which I have elsewhere compared to the tMe/tt/ of the 
 Jewish high piiest. It was originally of tanned cariboo skin, but the 
 specimen in my possession (fig. i68) is of an old-fashioned printed stuf. 
 Yet the fact of its main fringe being ornamented with porcupine quills 
 ■and here and there with hoofs of yearling cariboo is evidence of respect- 
 able antiquity, considering the progressive tendency of the race to which 
 belonged its maker. Exclusive of the lower fringe it measures 2 feet 2}4 
 inches in length, and in its narrowest breadth it is 3 feet 4^ inches. 
 The upper fringe is of red iyarn, while that at the edge of the garment 
 
 Kijj. 168, 
 
 fig. 169. 
 
 '(fig. 169) is composed as follows :— Firstly, small rounds of red cloth 
 sewn on the printed calico, then two fillets respectively blue and red 
 running along the edge. A narrow strip of tanned skin is then sewed 
 ■on, from which hangs the fringe proper. The upper part of the strands 
 is wrapped with yellow or green porcupine quills, below which they are 
 left naked until they are connected together at hanging intervals by a 
 slender cord of sinew thread. After an equal length left uncovered, each 
 strand is passed through adentalium shell, ending in a sewing thimble or 
 a cariboo hoof scalloped at the edge. 
 
 The lapels or side extensions at the top of the Raz are intended to 
 button or attach it behind with strings ; for though the garment 
 resembled a robe while in actual use, it was put on and worn as an apron 
 from the waist down. Needless to add that the metallic ornaments of 
 
180 
 
 TRANSACTIONS Or THE CANADIAN IN8T1TUTR. 
 
 fVoL. IV. 
 
 the lower fringe were well calculated to impress the bystanders by the 
 jingling sound they yielded with the importance of the dancer. 
 
 The noblewomen wore no Kaz, but substituted therefor the cincture- 
 like piece of apparel shown in fig. 170. Though it resembles a girdle, it 
 was considered a breech-cloth. Of course, being merely ornamental, it 
 was worn over the dress. It will be seen that it was almost entirely of 
 dentalium shells without any leather lining. 
 
 Fig. 171. 
 
 As a complement to his costume, the tsneza* had his ceremonial 
 Kzv9m9s or fire-bag and ornamented quiver. I have never seen any 
 specimen of the latter ; but from what we know of the other pieces of 
 festal attire, we may well imagine it glowing as the rest with the 
 ubiquitous dentalium shells and fringes The fire-bag shown above (fig. 
 171) is mainly of cariboo skin with glass beads stitched on the edges and 
 red and blue trimmings. It belonged to the original possessor of the- 
 Raz already described and is therefore contemporaneous therewith. This 
 old man died five or six years ago at the age of 105 years or thereabouts. 
 
 The mocassins and leggings were also similarly ornamented on festival 
 "occasions. Truly, the Carrier " nobleman," standing in the midst of an 
 admiring assemblage, crowned with the weird head-dress of his ancestors, 
 resplendent in the glory of his moon-like breast-plate, clothed i-i the 
 folds of his sonorously fringed robe, with his shining fire-bag hanging on 
 the left and his jewelled quiver on tfie right, and bedecked from head to 
 toot with snow white shells, must have been a sight worth beholding. 
 
 This is perhaps the proper place to mention another variety of head- 
 dress which, thou gh ceremonial in intent, was not the appanage of titled 
 
189-.'.U3.] 
 
 N0TK8 ON TUB WESrKKN Ditiis, 
 
 181 
 
 personages. I mcanthes/ijfas-kei(sr\zz\y-bea.r-c\a.ws). Its name denotes 
 the nature of its material. Tlicse claws arc secured to a band of cariboo 
 akin by means of sinew threads passed in a hole bored through their root 
 part. A double row of dentalium shells two lengths between each claw, 
 runs through their upper or slender half, ensuring by means of the sinew 
 thread on which they are mounted solidity for the crown and unity for its 
 component parts. 
 
 Fig. 172. 
 
 The grizzly bear is the lion of our mountains, and those who presume 
 to wear its spoils thereby lay claim either to supernatural power or to 
 uncommon courage. Such are the medicine men or shamans and a few 
 untitled hunters too proud of their deeds and supposed prowess not to 
 parade them on every available occasion. Such then were the natural 
 possessors of this curious head-dress. I must add that the shamans did 
 not confine their extravagance to the wearing of this crown ; the spoils, 
 generally the head, of any other wild beast, the wolf, the coyote (cam's la- 
 trans) the black bear, etc., were also laid under contribution to help 
 to impress the bystanders with the awfulness of the powers they were 
 supposed to be endowed with. Hut this v/as only while in the act of 
 practising their occult art. 
 
 One peculiarity of the preceding cut cannot fail to strike the reader. 
 It is the mode of wearing the hair therein illustrated. This style was 
 common among the Carriers. When at home, or anywhere when in 
 repose, they had it plaited in a queue resting on the back ; but when 
 tra%'elling they found it more convenient to tie it up in a knot behind the 
 neck. Both men and women — except when widowed or in mourning 
 
 ;M: 
 
 » 
 
 n 
 
 
182 
 
 THAMBACTIO.NS Or THE CANADIAN INSTII'UTB. 
 
 [Vol, IV. 
 
 : 
 
 from some other cause — wore it full Icn^'th and parted in the middle. 
 Clipping the hair was a token of extreme grief or the badge of forced 
 servitude. 
 
 Small tattoo marks will also be observed in the above figure, and not 
 
 without reason. For tattooing was formerly 
 very prevalent among the Western D«5n^s. This 
 was not, as among the neighbouring hetero- 
 geneous tribes, confined to the chest or the arms 
 and legs, but it extended in every case to the 
 face as well. Various designs were thus indelibly 
 stamped ; but the face tattooing consisted more 
 generally of lines, single or parallel, radiating 
 from the mouth corners, on the chin, the cheeks, 
 the forehead and occasionally, the temples. Fig. 
 '73 represents an extreme case. Two women of 
 ''^' this place— Stuart's Lake — are thus tattooed. 
 
 Face tattooing had nothing to do with the totem crest, personal or 
 
 gentile, of the bearer. 
 
 When figures were attempted, they consisted of crosses, fishes, birds, fern 
 root diggers, etc., in conventional outlines, all of which will be delineated 
 when I come to treat of the D6n^ pictography. 
 
 The breast was also tattooed, but not so commonly as among the 
 Coast tribes. The figures marked thereon had generally a totemic 
 significance. A much coveted tattoo was the symbol of the grizzly bear 
 (fig- '95) the marking of which cost many a ceremonial banquet and 
 entitled the person thus honoured to exceptional regard. 
 
 The forearms, inwardly and outwardly, were more often the seat of 
 tattoo marks. When there situated, these referred as a rule to a personal 
 totemic animal revealed in dream, and the bearing of whose symbol was 
 supposed to create a reciprocal sympathy and a sort of kinship between 
 the totem and the tattooed individual. Sometimes these marks on the 
 arms and legs were intended as a specific against premature weakness, of 
 these limbs. In this case, they simply consisted of one or two transversal 
 lines on the forearms or immediately above the ankles which were 
 tattooed on the young man by a pubescent girl. These had about the 
 same significance as the sinrw and down wristlets of which mention has 
 already been made. 
 
 Tattooing was performed, as among other American tribes, by 
 puncturing the skin with fine bone (or later steel) needles, and by passing 
 underneath a sinew thread coated with crushed charcoal or soot. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 N0TIC8 ON THK WKSTKIIN D^N^S. 
 
 18S- 
 
 The face" was also either painted with broad lines of red ochre 
 alternating with black, or the cheeks only were made to receive a coating 
 of rouge. Personal taste and fancy were the only rules followed. Young 
 persons were also fond of trimming their eye-brows to a diminutive width, 
 after which they blackened them with charcoal. 
 
 M 
 
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 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
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 - 6' 
 
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 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, NY. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 
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184 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OP THE CANADIAN IS8TITUTK. 
 
 LVOL. IV. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Habitations. 
 
 It has already been stated that of the three tribes under consideration 
 two. the Carrier and the TsijKoh'tin, were semi-sedentary, while the 
 other, the Ts^'k^hne, was entirely nomadic. Consequent upon this 
 diflerent social status was, of course, the niiture and style of the 
 habitations proper to each. Thus the Carriers, whose social system was 
 very elaborate and whose staple food was salmon, had formerly no less 
 than five distinct kinds of dwellings, the ceremonial lodge, the summer 
 lodge, the fishing lodge, the winter lodge, and, among the southern half 
 of the tribe, the subterranean hut. 
 
 In common with the coast tribes whose social organization they had 
 largely copied, the Carriers had formerly, as well as now, regular villages 
 which they innabited but part of the year. But while the former chose 
 the winter months to enjoy the sweets of home life, the latter were never 
 to be seen in their permanent dwellings except during the fair season. 
 This ma)' easily be accounted for when we remember the diflTerences of 
 climate. The coast owes to its proximity to the ocean the comparatively 
 mild, if damp, weather it constantly enjoys, while east of tiie coast range 
 of mountains, the winters are usually very severe. Now, as among the 
 inland tribes, nobody, however wealthy, sleeps in more than one blanket, 
 a large fire is kept in the lodge day and night, and so the amount of dry 
 wood available in one place is soon exhausted. Since they are possessed 
 of carrying conveniences unknown in olden times, this necessity of shifting 
 one's abode from place to place is not so much felt. But formerly with 
 their limited facilities for felling trees and bringing the wood home, they 
 had to change every year their winter quarters. 
 
 The permanent village was thus inhabited only during the fair season, 
 that is from the first week in May, when the grebes arrive, until the 
 second week of September, after the family supply of salm n has been 
 secured. The villages are generally situated at the confluence of rivers, 
 or on the northern banks of lakes, so as to have the benefit of the sun's 
 rays from the opposite side. In any case, the location is chosen in such 
 spots as seem to promise the greatest fishing facilities. They were 
 formerly composed of the ceremonial and the common summer lodges. 
 As these diflTer in plan ai)d material from those illustrated or described 
 by writers on the coast Indians, I feel justified in giving herewith plans 
 and explicative details of both. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 MOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 185 
 
 And first as to the ceremonial lodge (fig. 174). It is so called from its 
 being the seat of all large native gatherings, such as festival banquets, 
 distributions, dances, etc. It serves at the same time as the dwelling 
 
 Fig. 174. 
 
 house of the nobleman to whom it belongs and of such co-gentile 
 families as it can contain. Its erection was the occasion of great 
 festivities|and necessitated the accumulation by the future proprietor of 
 
 a a 
 
 Fig. 175. 
 
 large quantities of eatables and dressed skins. Following step by step 
 the progress of its building, which was diversified, as on the coast, by 
 intervals of merry-making and feasting, we will proceed to a brief 
 13 
 
 
 il 
 
 if « 
 
 i 
 
 i> 
 
186 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN IN8TIT. TE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 description of the lodge, the ground plan and front end of which will be- 
 found in figs. 175 and 176. 
 
 The main timbers of the building consist of the posts a and the beams 
 b, placed so as to form a parallelogram. The former are of spruce of as 
 large dimensions as can be found. After they have been cut to the- 
 required length, they are hauled on skids to the place of construction. 
 Let me say here that as these posts — four in number — are the mainstay 
 of the house, they are regarded by the natives with feelings akin to- 
 reverence which are furthermore excused by the circumstance of the 
 totem animal of the proprietor being generally carved in relief not far 
 from their upper end k. For this reason, the place of honour is at their 
 base and, in ceremonial gatherings, the noblemen were invariably seated 
 against them, surrounded by their co-gentile suite. 
 
 After the logs had been stripped of their bark, they were rendered as- 
 smooth-surfaced as possible by means of repeated scrapings. When 
 standing in position, their longitudinal half was made to jut out of the 
 plank wall. Not uncommonly, they were also painted with red ochre, 
 when a mash of carp roe served as oil and was smeared over the posts, 
 so as to prepare a sticking surface for the colouring matter. As a pre- 
 caution against too early decay, the butt end of each was wrapped 
 around with birch bark prior to its being covered up with earth. 
 
 The head of these four posts or pillars is hollowed to receive two large- 
 cylindrical beams or plates, b, which are cut a little longer than the length 
 of the future lodge, so as to let their ends project in front. Four 
 secondary posts of smaller size, <r, are next erected on the outside of the 
 parallelogram at equal distance from the first and form the corners of 
 the house. They likewise support on hollowed ends two smaller plates,. 
 /, over which the eaves of the roof are to rest. The ends of two trans- 
 versal beams of moderate dimensions, g, the object of which is to further 
 solidify the structure anv2 especially the gable walls, are then laid in a 
 notch cut out on these minor plates. The foregoing pieces constitute 
 the frame of the building. 
 
 Once they are in place, the erecti n of the roof is proceeded with 
 As this is even to-day constructed on the same pi'incipie as formerly, it 
 deserves special mention. The rafters, h, are secured together at the top. 
 of the roof by means of 'k^n or wattle of high cranberry bush ( Viburnum 
 pauciflorum) passed through holes pierced in the proper places. Over 
 these are tied with willow bark, at intervals of one or two feet purlines 
 which are then covered with spruce bark. This is secured in place 
 principally by means of additional rafters laid over it and pressed dowrk 
 
1892-93.) 
 
 NOTBS ON THE WESTERN DEN^. 
 
 187 
 
 
 own 
 
 by a long beam to which their lowe- extremities are attached (see fig. 
 174). As a further guarantee of solidity, slender poles are finally inserted 
 between the bark roofing and the outside rafters. Of course an aperture 
 is left open in the top of the roof for the smoke to escape. 
 
 There now remain the walls to construct. They consist of hewn slabs 
 of spruce which were formerly shaved on the outside as smooth as the 
 working tools then available permitted. The lower end of these rude 
 planks was introduced in a channelling prepared therefor in the large 
 beams, d, lying on the ground, while their upper end was engaged between 
 additional poles running under the eaves or along each side of the 
 gable. 
 
 Large lodges had generally two entrances, one at each gable end of 
 the building. Their lintel was formed by the transversal, beams, /, and 
 they were shut by regular board doors as is practised o-day. However, 
 I have seen a ceremonial lodge whose doorways were simply cut in the 
 end walls some distance above the ground, and were elliptical, as marked 
 in outline in fig. 176. Such lodges were called horw9-ltaz-y3V,, or "house 
 with cuts through." 
 
 There never were any windows in the old style lodges. Full 
 ventilation was however established through the doors, the smoke hole 
 and the numerous wall chinks consequent on the sinking in of the- 
 boards. 
 
 The fire-place was in the centre of the building, and fire was made 
 immediately on the floorless ground. Only two or three stones served 
 as andirons for the wood to lie upon. The family meat or fish was, and 
 is still, commonly either roasted by means of a wooden spit passed 
 therein and stuck in the ground near the nre, or boiled in a kettle 
 supported over the flames through a long stick likewise driven in the 
 ground at a distance from the fire. 
 
 No shutter was used in connection with the smoke-hole as is done 
 among the Haida, nor was the floor covered with any boards. 
 
 The sleeping places only were strewn with spruce branches and 
 undressed skins, over which everyone stretched himself in his blanket 
 with most of his clothes on. All had their feet next to the fireplace, 
 instead of each married person having them at the head of his or her 
 partner, as is common among the Blackfeet,* and the Eskimo. f 
 
 • Leg.1l, Les Indieiis dans les plaines de I' Amirique du Nora, Petites Annates O.M.I., Paris, 
 1891. 
 
 + After Rod. MacFarlaiie, Esq., who lias passed several years among those aborigines, v 
 
 
188 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 There was in the lodge no partition whatever. 
 
 Sometimes related families found themselves too numerous to dwell 
 all under one roof. Rather than cohabit with people of a different gens, 
 they would then build for themselves the smaller summer lodge (fig. 177). 
 Quite a number of these old fashioned buildings are still extant. They 
 differ considerably from the large ceremonial lodge: instead of four tny9s- 
 tan or principal upright posts, they have only two, one in the middle of 
 each gable end. To facilitate the semi-circular hollowing of their upper 
 
 / 
 
 ends, these are previously thinned on each opposite side into a tapering 
 edge (fig. \T7 b\ Four tnyds-sBl or secondary uprights, f, stand in the 
 corners of the lodge. As the walls are to be superimposed poles, minor 
 posts or stakes, d, are planted in the ground in pairs on each side of the 
 wall whenever this is necessary to prevent the latter from tumbling down. 
 After the posts of the walls have been inserted between the two opposite 
 posts they are furthermore secured thereto, three or four together, by 
 means of willow bark ropes. Such unimportant habitations have 
 indifferently one or two entrances, generally without any door. Their 
 apex is formed as in the preceding case by the transversal piece, e, which 
 rests on each end of the eaves-plate. When two doorways exist, one will 
 be on the right, the other on the left, of the main upright post in the 
 middle. 
 
 The roof is in every respect similar to that of the ceremonial lodge. 
 Speaking of the latter, I failed to mention that the eaves project a 
 considerable distance from the walls. 
 
 A few ceremonial lodges were also built on the same plan as the minor 
 dwelling houses. Their material was identical, save that instead of poles 
 hewn planks formed the walls. In that case the totem crest was carved 
 out of the protruding end of the top plate (fig. 188). A few even had 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WEaTERN D^N^S. 
 
 189 
 
 only one door. The place of honour was then just opposite the door, so 
 among the Blackfeet* 
 
 Another variety of Carrier dwelling which is inhabited only during 
 thal-lo-flrm^ or the salmon season, is the fishing lodge. In general 
 appearance it resembles the summer dwelling lodge just described, but 
 is, if possible, more rudely constructed. Its ground plan is identical, 
 but it wants the gable end walls above the transversal beams. The large 
 openings consequent thereupon leave free access to the wind and air 
 and thus accelerate the drying of the fish which are suspended on cross 
 poles resting transversely on the top sticks of the side walls. By 
 exception, a few of these lodges have the apex of their front adorned 
 with the carved totem crest of the proprietor. It may be remarked that 
 these fishing lodges are not mere sheds for the exclusive destination of 
 smoking and curing fish ; they sei-ve also as dwellings for the fishermen 
 duri» g the whole space of time that they are used. 
 
 We now come to the winter lodge of the Carriers. We have already 
 seen that, at least among the upper Carriers, new winter quarters were 
 chosen every year in such spots of the forest as promised to yield the 
 best supply of firewood. These habitations were therefore of a merely 
 temporary nature. Yet they were carefully built, the greatest attention 
 being always paid to the comforts of those about to winter therein. 
 They were original in construction, and deserve a full description. 
 
 lig. 179. 
 
 Fig. 178. 
 
 Four tny3stc9n or posts of moderate size with hollowed upper ends 
 were planted in the ground and supported the usual longitudinal plates. 
 
 ' Legal, uti suprh. 
 
190 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THB CANADIAN IN8TITUTB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 On these parallel plates split poles of spruce or cotton wood were made 
 to recline in a slanting position so as to form a roof without walls, the 
 split side resting immediately on the beams. To ensure additional 
 solidity, the lower end of each stick was slightly driven in the ground, or 
 covered up with earth. The middle ones were purposely shorter, so as 
 to form a smoke hole in the top. A covering of spruce bark was then 
 added, each piece of which was steadied by means of independent sticks 
 resting thereon. 
 
 There now remained the gable ends. As with the other styles of native 
 buildings, a thapa-sd'a or transversal beam [c of fig. 179) was laid on the 
 side plate, b. Slender posts or stakes were next planted on the same 
 plan in an upright position to fill in the end of the lodge opposite to the 
 front. Fascines of spruce boughs or saplings were moreover laid against 
 this wall on the outside, and all possible interstices were carefully chinked 
 up by forcing in shoots of conifers. 
 
 The front end was more complicated. As comfort and warmth were 
 the chief aims of the builders, the structure had but one entrance. This 
 was obtained by introducing immediately under the apex of the gable 
 down to the transversal plate a broad slab of spruce securely wedged 
 between the wall posts or stakes driven in the ground. The aperture left 
 free underneath constituted the doorway. This was shut by an in- 
 dependent board just a shade narrower, so as to move easily. It was 
 suspended by means of a stout rope, and to go in or come out you need 
 only push it ahead of you ; its own weight would cause it to return to its 
 original perpendicular position, and thus only a minimum of cold air 
 would steal in the building. As a further precaution against the in- 
 clemency of the season, the front end of the lodge was provided with 
 a semi-circular door-yard with an additional door. This sort of native 
 atrium resulted from a number of heavy poles or posts being made to 
 rest at their small end on the gable wall, while their lower extremity 
 described a half circle on the ground. The whole was then covered with 
 brush. The outer doorway was shut with some worthless skin with the 
 hair on, while the ground within the enclosure was strewn over with 
 small branches of conifers, generally spruce. This enclosure, besides 
 contributing to render the hut warmer, served also as a kennel for the 
 dogs and as a bathroom for the old men. Its native name was p9n-tsij 
 (a word of the third category of nouns). 
 
 In the ground plan, fig, 178, the space between the uprights and the 
 corners of the lodge is purposely partitioned off. It forms what was 
 known as the 'kAnt'jat tsatcdn or corner store, the sides of which con- 
 sisted mainly of roughly hewn boards set up to the height of three or 
 
1893-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THB WESTERN U^N^S. 
 
 191 
 
 four feet. Therein the family impedimenta were stowed away, and the 
 number of such depositories generally corresponded to that of the 
 •cohabiting families. 
 
 A totally different style of winter dwellings obtained among the 
 Tsi[Koh'tin and, through them, among the Lower Carriers. This was 
 the tjizKgn or semi-subterranean hut. It had been borrowed from the 
 two tribes' neighbours in the south and southeast, the Shushwap. Dr. F- 
 Boas has already given * the plan and description of one which is 
 probably of a representative character, while more lately Dr. G. M. 
 Dawson has furnished us f with an example of a different style observed 
 by himself among the Shushwap. None of these however tallies in point 
 of construction with the t}iz\idn of the Lower Carriers such as it existed 
 among them some forty years ago. From information gathered from an 
 eye-witness, I am enabled to give the following account of those con- 
 structed at Fraser Lake and Stony-Creek. 
 
 Fig. i8i. 
 
 After an excavation some three feet deep and about 20 feet in diameter 
 had been made, the butt ends of four large beams were made to rest a 
 
 * Sixth Report on the N.W. Tribes of Canada, figs. 20 and 21, Leeds Meeting B.A. A.S. 1890. 
 + Notes on the Shushwap People of B.C.; Trans. R.S.C. Sect. 11., fig. I, 1891. 
 
192 
 
 TRAITBAOTIONS OF THB CANADIAN IMSTITUTG. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 little distance from the brim, on the original surface of the ground, while 
 the beams converged with their small ends raised five feet or thereabouts 
 to a point above the excavation, which was to become the door and 
 smoke hole of the hut. These timbers were held up ty means of four 
 short pieces of wood, the end corners of which were wedged or locked in 
 those of the larger beams, as shown in fig. i8o. The aerial square orifice 
 resulting from this combination was the doorway of the building. No 
 other timbers were added to this frame-work, save that to further 
 jolidify the structure, two, or in larger huts, three, stout posts, <:, forming a 
 right angle with the main beams were planted in the floor with their 
 upper ends notched in the beams, over which split poles were laid 
 horizontally up to the top or rather the door.* This roof was then 
 covered with earth. An Indian ladder — that is, a log notched at the 
 proper stepping intervals — was the means of communication with the 
 outside. 
 
 These huts were very comfortable, and but little fire was needed to 
 keep them warm. From the TsijKoh'tin names of the months we learn 
 that they were occupied from October-November, but how long cannot 
 be ascertained from that source. If we are to judge from a myth current 
 among the same tribe, it would seem that these subterranean dwellings 
 were, in olden times, spring as well as winter homes, since they are 
 mentioned therein as being inhabited as long as the root digging seasoij 
 
 The habitations of the Ts^'k^hne, whether in winter or in summer, are 
 built after the eastern or conical model. Four long poles with forking 
 extremities are set up one against another, the lower ends of which form 
 on the ground a square on the dimensions of which will depend the size" 
 of the lodge. A score or so of other poles are then set up in a circle, 
 the top of each resting on the point of intersection of the first four. In 
 winter, small fascines of spruce are laid horizontally all around the lower 
 perimeter of this frame, so as to leave as few points of access as possible 
 for the cold air from underneath the outer covering, which is then wrapped 
 around the cone resulting from the converging poles. This covering 
 consists of dressed moose skins .sewn together, and its perpendicular 
 edges correspond to the entrance of the lodge. They are either buttoned 
 or clasped together from four or five feet above the ground up to the top. 
 On one side of the opening thereby produced is sewn a smaller skin, 
 which forms the door. Two sticks attached transversely thereto on the 
 inside give it the requisite consistency, while the upper one, which slightly 
 projects beyond the edge of the skin door, serves as a latch, its projecting 
 
 * As shown in the accompanying cuts, minor logs were however added to the main timbers, so 
 as to facilitate the roofing of the hut. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN Dl^Ni^S. 
 
 193 
 
 end being, when necessary, fastened with a string to the adjoining part 
 of the lodge covering. The smoke escapes through the interstices 
 between the converging poles left uncovered at the top. To guard 
 against snow, rain or adverse winds, an additional piece of skin is sewn 
 on the outside from the apex of the conical covering down to some 
 distance, while its free side is secured to a long pole planted in the ground 
 close by. This appendage is utilized as ?. shutter wherewith the top 
 opening of the lodge is partially or entirely covered, as the state of the 
 weather may suggest. 
 
 The summer lodge of the Tsd'kehne has sometimes two entrances, and 
 in this case the outward covering generally consist? simply of two 
 blankets or skins stretched over the frame poles, one between each door. 
 The upper half of the cone is thus left uncovered. 
 
 Summer and winter, the fire is started right in the centre and, instead 
 of the wooden tripod used among the Blackfcet to suspend their kettles,* 
 the Ts^'k^hne prefer a stick reaching horizontally at the proper distance 
 above the fire to two opposite poles of the frame to which it is fastened. 
 
 Carriers, Tsi[Koh'tin and Ts^'kcJhne, nowadays more generally use, 
 during their summer travellings, either cotton tents, or shelters composed 
 of three or four sticks thrust slantingly in the ground, over which a sheet 
 of cotton or canvas is spread. The latter style of .shelter was probably 
 the only one known among them prior to the introduction of European 
 textile fabrics, save that, of course, a moose skin replaced the canvas or 
 cotton sheet. 
 
 Of course the child of the forest, when in his primitive state, can boast 
 the possession of no artificial means of reckoning time or measuring long 
 distances. But Dame Naiuic provides him with a seldom failing standard 
 measure in the shape of the sun, the course of which is familiar to him, 
 no matter how far he may have swerved from beaten paths. Long distances 
 are determined by the number of camps, and shorter ones by the position 
 of the sun in the heavens. The sun serves also as his watch by daytime, 
 and its bearings are easily taken in by the native mind. After it has left 
 his pine-clad mountains to illuminate unknown worlds, the aborigine 
 again looks up above to ascertain how long he will be deprived of its 
 beneficent rays. The Great Bear then becomes to him the hands of a 
 God given clock, and the distance it has travelled around its axis, the 
 polar star, over the dial which we call the heavens, is very seldom, if ever, 
 misreckoned. The Western D^n^s are familiar with a .'"ew constellations 
 which are, as among us, called after mythic personages ; but none is 
 
 
 •Rev. E. Legal, loco citato. 
 
194 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN IM8TITUTB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 so widely known as Yihta, the Great Bear. We have already seen the 
 role it plays in the story of the Gambler ; I must be pardoned for 
 reproducing here another legend wherein it is to be recognized under a 
 different garb, but playing a no less important part. As will soon appear, 
 if fable it is, sociologically speaking, it is a fable with a moral. 
 
 " There was a young man who was impatiently awating the return 
 of daylight to set out on a hunting expedition. Again and again he 
 would look up at Yihta, and in his impatience he exclaimed : ' That old 
 Yihta,* how slowly he walks ! ' Very soon after having uttered these 
 words, he left for the chase. 
 
 " He had not gone far before ho became aware by the barking of his 
 dogs that they had scented game. After what appeared to him as a run 
 of but a few moments, he ovctook his dogs, and lo ! sitting on a log 
 was a man of beautiful countewance, carefully painted in red stripes over 
 the cheeks, and holding a walking stick in his hands. He had a malicious 
 smile on his face, so that the young man felt abashed in his presence 
 and afraid to approach him. ' Come on,' said the stranger who was no 
 other than Yihta, 'come on, young man. So you laugh at me and say 
 that I walk too slow ? Now learn that to reach me you have travelled 
 a very long distance, since to help you I have contracted the surface of 
 the earth. Go back then to your home, and take this staff to aid you on 
 your long journey. Whenever you want food, hold it perpendicularly 
 on the ground, then drop it and observe the direction in which it falls : 
 if it falls in the direction of the northern wind, do not go that way, for 
 there famine is awaiting you. If it falls towards the setting sun or 
 towards the rising sun, go either way and you will find bears to kill, both 
 male and female. Do likewise when you feel uncertain as to the direction 
 of your house ; and when you get home, hang tli*; staff up in the 
 branches of a tree. Above all, beware lest a woman having her menses 
 catch sight of it.' 
 
 " At these words, the young man took the walking stick without how- 
 ever giving much credence to the stranger, for he believed his home was 
 but a short distance from where he stood. Yet these words were literally 
 fulfilled, and during his long peregrinations, amidst incessant fatigues 
 and ever recurring privations, the young man owed his life to his careful 
 observance of the stranger's directions. Many were the years he 
 travelled, and he seemed to get a glimpse of his lodge several days 
 before he really reached it. When he finally got home, he was an old 
 man with hair white as snow, and his lodge was crumbling down through 
 age and decay." 
 
 * Ntfn Yihta'qpll Expre>sive of scorn. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NCTR8 ON THK WESTKRN D^NI^S. 
 
 190 
 
 From this short Carrier myth, the sociologist will learn that : — Firstly, 
 the observation of the Great Bear as a means of reckoning time was a 
 national custom among Carriers. Secondly, the heavenly bodies were 
 regarded as quasi divine powers which it is wrong to speak lightly of, a 
 deduction which might easily be proven to be legitimate by other points 
 of Carrier psychology. Thirdly, to look handsome, a Crirrier of the old 
 stock must paint his face. Fourthly, the Carriers had a ( rrect idea of 
 the immensity of the universe. Fifthly, the injunction not to travel in 
 a northern direction might perhaps be interpreted 'i'^ a reminiscence of 
 the tribe's migrations southwards. Sixthly, a worn having her menses 
 is legally 'mfi.ire, and must be deprived even of the sight ^f any object 
 endowed witn magic powers. Lastly, more than one if tiu^se writers 
 w'l ) are so fond of parallelisms between American mythologies and the 
 Biblical narrative will no doubt be tempted to compaie the beneficial, 
 food-giving and road-finding staff of the young traveller with the 
 marvellous miracle working wand of Moses which, during similarly life- 
 long peregrinations, opened the way and found water where none was to 
 be seen. This suggestion, however, is given for what it may be worth, 
 and I must leave it to others to decide whether it is not too far fetched.* 
 
 Now that we have extracted morals enough from our fable, we revert 
 to the description of the few items which still claim our attention. 
 
 If my information is reliable, there were formerly no fortified villages 
 among the Western D^ntSs. One should not however infer from this that 
 there was no warring among them ; on the contrary, I think I am 
 warranted in stating that atonement by compensation for losses of life, 
 even involuntary or accidental, was much less practised here than on the 
 Coast. But hostilities were seldom of so general a character as to involve 
 whole villages, though some such cases are recorded in the traditions of 
 the tribes. More commonly they were restricted to two different gentes, 
 and their cause may have been the killing of a man openly or, as was 
 supposed, through the black art of the shamans. In the latter case, the 
 dying person usually reveiied the name of the magician to whom he 
 attributed his death, and nobody dreamt of questioning the truth of his 
 would-be revelation. Naturally, more than once personal grievances 
 must have been thus avenged. The cognate families of the real or 
 fancied murderer would then expect reprisals at the hands of the co- 
 gentile families of the deceased, and they would erect, generally in 
 secluded spots of the forest, what was called psK-pa-ya^ or " a house for 
 
 • The TsiiKoh'tin possess a different tradition, the principle hero of which works innumerable 
 marvels with the help of a magic wand which they call 'toK, a word not employed to designate 
 any other kind of wand or staff. 
 
 mi 
 
 J: : 
 
 :U1 
 
 «f 
 
I9A 
 
 TKANSACTIONS OF Tbe CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol,. IV. 
 
 the war." This primitive fort consisted of a log-house as solid as possible 
 under the circumstances, with a strong log roofing, over which a square 
 breastwork of small diameter was built with the same material. If not 
 taken by surprise, the besieged shot at their assailants through loop-holes 
 pierced in this rude stronghold, the existence of which was concealed by- 
 fascines of coniferous branches piled on the roof up to the top of its 
 walls. Similar portholes were also cut in the walls of the house itself 
 for service in case of a sudden attack. As a further protection against 
 such a contingenc)'^, an addition with a second door was always made ta 
 the front end of the house. Frequently a building similar in appearance, 
 but really of no strength whatever, was erected in close proximity so as 
 to deceive the enemy and give time during an attack on the wrong work 
 to the besieged to prepare for the defence. The only D^ind " fort " I 
 have ever seen was constructed just as described, but wanted the roof 
 breastwork. 
 
 An indispensable adjunct to the native dwelling house is the tsa-tcin* 
 or provision store. There is stowed away the dried salmon, which is the 
 daily bread of both Carrier and Tsi[Koh'tin. But while both tribes 
 practically live on the same diet, their store houses very materially differ 
 
 in construction. Fig. 182 is the Carrier 
 tsa-tcan which, as may be seen, is an 
 aerial building. The distinctive charac- 
 teristics of all these provision stores are 
 faithfully reproduced in the cut ; but 
 their minor details nowadays vary not a 
 little. I have chosen for illustration 
 that which approaches nearer to the 
 traditional type. It consists of two 
 parallel frames planted upright in the 
 ground, the component parts of which 
 are furnished in the middle with transversal beams upon which rests the 
 floor of the tsa-tcan proper. With the exception of the front end, the 
 whole is made of heavy poles superposed one upon another or laid in 
 close juxtaposition, as the case may be, and fastened to the frame of the 
 building by means of 'kan or high cranberry bush wattle. The front end 
 is entirely of boards. All the wall poles being laid with their larger ends 
 in the same direction, a slight inclination results at the top, which con- 
 stitutes the roof of the building. This is furthermore covered with 
 spruce bark. 
 
 Fijj. 182. 
 
 'laterally: "beaver-stick." I can see no reason fur this etymology. 
 
 >i 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^NES. 
 
 197 
 
 The tsa-tcan of the TsijKoh'tin are not so elaborate, since they are 
 
 nothing else than small and very rude, though 
 solid, log huts built right on the ground (fig. 
 183) and, as a rule, quite a distance from the 
 regular village, while their Carrier counter- 
 parts are generally very close to the habita- 
 Fig. .83. tions. 
 
 The Tsd'Whne have nothing to do with salmon, and consequently 
 the need of provision stores is not so urgent among them. Yet when 
 they happen to be blessed with an abundance of dried meat and wish 
 to preserve it for future use they erect sorts of scaffoldings immediately 
 against the trunk of a tall tree which are to them the equivalent of the 
 Carrier tsa-tcan. These consist of two long, heavy sticks crossed and 
 firmly bound to the trunk of the tree at their point of intersection, while 
 their ends are secured to some stout overhanging brarich by means of 
 strong ropes. Rough boards or split sticks are then laid across this frame 
 which form a floor over which the meat or any other eatable is deposited, 
 carefully wrapped over with skins or spruce bark. Even the bear cannot 
 get at those caches without previously demolishing their floor, which is 
 practically impossible. 
 
 The careful observer who would take a fancy to travelling along our 
 chief salmon streams could not fail to notice, in some spots immediately 
 over the banks, numerous excavations or pits which betray an artificial 
 origin. These are all that remain to-day of the salmon cellars of the 
 prehistoric Carriers. Aerial stores were then as now the regular family 
 larders ; but not unfrequently the natives of the old stock preferred to 
 cache down their fish in temporary cellars which had the advantage of 
 keeping it fresher than the common store-house. A matter of taste as 
 regards the salmon itself, this caching down in the ground became a 
 necessity relatively to its roe, which was buried, wrapped in spruce bark, 
 until it had reached an advanced stage of putrefaction, when it was 
 relished by the native palate as the ne plus ultra of delicacy. 
 
 The last item r ore or less connected with aboriginal habitations is the 
 sweat-house or sweating-booth.* According to Dr. G. M. Dawson, this 
 usually consists, among the Shushwap, " of about a dozen thin willow 
 wands, planted in the ground at both ends. Half of them run at right 
 angles to the other half, and they are tied together at each intersection. 
 Over these a blanket or skin is usually spread, but I have also seen them 
 covered with earth. A small heap of hot stones is piled in the centre. 
 
 • T^i-ttl, "stone-hot,"' a word of the t'-ird category. 
 
198 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THB CANADIAN INSTITDTR. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 and upon these, after carefully closing the apertures, the occupant porsu 
 some water. The sweat-house is always situated on the banks of a 
 stream or lake, so that on issuing therefrom the bather may at once 
 plunge in the cold water."* One single point — ai.d that a very 
 unimportant one — differentiates the sudatories of the Carriers from those 
 of the Shushwap : I mean the covering, which among the former is of 
 spruce bark. Here, as further south, these sweat-houses are invariably to 
 be found near a stream or lake ; but the reason of this is merely that ou;- 
 Indians never dwell away from the water, fcr I have never heard of a 
 Carrier taking a cold bath immediately after his steam bath. It may 
 also be worth mentioning that, more often than otherwise, steam-bathing 
 was originally practised for quite other than sanitary motives. It was 
 quite commonly prompted by a desire on the part of the " patient " to 
 ensure success during a forthcoming hunting or trapping tour, or to atone 
 through this penitential act, for any transgression, wilful or involuntary,, 
 against the traditional laws and customs of the tribe. 
 
 * Notes on the Shushwap People of British Columbia; Trans. R.S.C. Sect. 11., if^i, P. 9. 
 
 !i 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 iy» 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Monuments and Pictography. 
 
 A search for " monuments " among such a primitive people as the 
 D^n^ cannot be but unproductive of satisfactory results. Indeed^ 
 throughout the whole territory of both the TsijKoh'tin and the Ts^'k^hne^ 
 not a single work is now extant which could, with any degree of 
 appropriateness, be classed under that head. Even such as may now be 
 seen among the Carriers are — barring funeral monuments — exceedingly 
 scarce. All of them may be reduced to two distinct categories : wooden,, 
 carved monuments, and painted or drawn monumer^ts. Hence the two- 
 divisions of this chapter : carved monuments and pictography. 
 
 Carved Monuments. 
 
 Genuine carved monuments are to-day very few, and seem to have 
 always been so among the Carriers. Indeed so scarce are they that every 
 one of those now extant will easily be illustrated herewith. I shall pass 
 over thetotemic columns of the Hwotso'ten which are still in a good state 
 of preservation, for the reason that their carving and erection were the work 
 of their exogenous neighbours, the Kitikson, whose nearer village stands 
 hardly three miles off. Those monuments are merely witnesses to the- 
 influence exercised by outsiders over a very unartistic race, and the 
 custom of erecting them had not been adopted by the main bulk of the 
 Carrier tribe. This cannot be said of the famous commemorative 
 mortuary columns so common all over the North Pacific Coast, and 
 which had been appropriated as far inland as the boundaries of the 
 Ts^'k^hne territory. All of these have long disappeared, with the 
 exception of the two herewith represented, which I sketched ten years 
 ago at Irak, a village site among the Nutca'tenne, the population of which 
 is now extinct. These columns are a further corroborative evidence of 
 my thesis, viz., that the D^nti race has no eye for the beautiful. 
 Compared with those of the Coast Indians, they stand in the relation of 
 an undeveloped embryo to the matured being. As is well known among 
 Americanists, such works served as depositories for the few remaining 
 charred bones of the deceased, and were erected in close proximity to the 
 village. The two specimens figured below are rather plainer than the 
 average mortuary column of the Carriers since, according to my 
 informants, - -e totem crest of the deceased was generally carved in 
 
200 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 .[Vol.. 
 
 TV 
 
 relief thereon. These monuments were, as a rule, grouped according to 
 the different clans obtaining amon^ the tribe. This arrangement has 
 survived in the column fig. 185, which now stands at Fort Babine in the 
 
 
 H>i. 
 
 Fig. 184. 
 
 midst of the graves of Tsa-yu-ne, one of the native gentes, the chief 
 totem of which is the beaver. It was, of course, erected in pre-Christian 
 times. Such is also the case with regard to the grave shown in fig. i«6. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 201 
 
 •whose occupant was likewise a fellow of the Beaver clan. His grave is to 
 be found at Ts^-tcah, on the confines of the Hwo-to'tin territory.* 
 
 Fig. i86. 
 
 In fig. 187 the totem crest of the old days has been replaced by the 
 Christian symbol which now appears over all the native D^nd graves. 
 These monuments affect a multitude of forms and designs, though by 
 
 Fig. 187. 
 
 far the greatest number of them resemble, in a general way, that here- 
 with illustrated. It is over a late grave, and is painted in several gaudy 
 
 * See the map affixed to my paper ; Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology indigenous 
 etc.? Trani. R.S.C. Sect. II., 1892. 
 
 14 
 
 |l 
 
 i 
 
m 
 
 TItAN8A0TIO\S OP TH^f OA^HAPIAI' I^AtJITUTE. 
 
 [Ywh IV. 
 
 colours, the severity of th? bl^cl^ %njd white of tljie rul?r«jC? lining 
 repugnapt to the native tas^ wl^ich s^e^ in sych work;a ap mpiuiments 
 of grief or sorrow, but rather affectionate tributes to the memory of the 
 dead which it behooves one to make as showy as possibly T^i-* explains 
 why some of them are so absurdly large, sometimes graves, even of 
 children, being covered with "monuments" affecting |he shape, and 
 almost the dimensions, of rectangular cart-sheds. 
 
 To the above let us add the wooden totem crest oi;namenting twO' 
 native houses and we will have the sum total of all the carvings now to 
 be seen throughout the whole territory of the TsijKoh'tin, the Carriers, 
 and the Ts^'k^hne. Of these sculptures, the first only (fig. i88) caa 
 
 Fig. 1 88. 
 
 boast a few scores of years. It represents a raven standing over the 
 head of some marine animal — possibly the orca. The reason of this in- 
 congruous coupling may probably be seen in the fact that the inhabitants 
 of the place wherein the totems are to be found are of mixed parentage^ 
 as they have considerably intermarried with their western neighbours, the 
 Bilqula. The last carving (fig. 189) is quite modern. The owl thereby 
 represented has been carved out of a balsam poplar tree {Populus^ 
 balsamiferd) and adorns the front gable end of a fishing shanty at the 
 outlet of Lake Stuart. . 
 
 References to the totems and gentes of the Western D^n^s have been 
 frequent in the course of this monograph, and, especially in view of what 
 remains to be said in the latter part of this chapter, some more detailed 
 information concerning them may be found acceptable. 
 
1898-98;J 
 
 N0TC8 OR TRV WBraKitK WttfiM. 
 
 20» 
 
 F. G. Frazer, the principal authority on Totemistn, says : ** Considered 
 in relation to men, totems ure of at least three kinds: (l) The elan 
 totem, common to a whole dan, ami passing by inheritance from gener- 
 ation to generation ; (2) the sex totem . . . ; (3) the individual totem> 
 belonging to a single individual and not passing to his descendants."*' 
 
 Fig. 189. 
 
 Of the sex totem I know practically nothing, as it does not obtaira 
 among our Indians ; but to these three varieties of totem I can add a 
 fourth, which I shall call the honorific totem, and of which a full ex- 
 planation will be found further on. The individual or personal totem is. 
 well known as being some material object or being, most generally some 
 animal, ordinarily revealed in dreams to a person who is bound thereafter" 
 to look upon it as sacred and to be especially revered and protected., 
 in return for this reverence on the part of the person, the totem is 
 believed to particularly help and powerfully protect its human relatiT"^, 
 as the individual is supposed to be. As for the dan totem, any reader 
 of Americana is too familiar with it to be in need of any definition or 
 explanation. One totem generally — though not always — corresponds to 
 one clan or gens, so that the former and the latter are very often in equal 
 numbers. Four gentes obtain among the Carriers, of all which I herewitb 
 submit the native names together with those of their respective totems.. 
 
 Gentes. Totems. 
 
 '](sdmdc-yu. The Grouse. 
 
 Tsd-yu. The Beaver. 
 
 YssU-yu. The Toad. 
 
 Tmtten-yu. The Grizzly Bear.f 
 
 •Totemism, Edinburgh, 1887, p. I. 
 
 tjudgiug from fig. 188, it would seem that the crow or raven is regarded as the totem of some 
 clan among the Lower Carriers. It is not known here in that capacity. 
 
 ■ 
 
204 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE OANADIAK INSTITTTrX. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 With the exception of Tsa-yu, which means " Beaver-n»edicine," those 
 words are untranslatable and are probably imported from among the 
 heterogeneous tribes from which the whole system is undoubtedly derived. 
 The first gens, qt'samac-yu, is by all odds the most powerful among the 
 Carriers, while the two last named are considered as having a sort of 
 affinity which entitles the members of each to mutual consideration and 
 protection. The name of the latter, Tam'ten-yu in Babine, is changed 
 to Kw^n-pa-hwo'tenne • among the Carriers proper. 
 
 In great native festivals, the totem of the celebrating clan was carved 
 and exposed at the door of the lodge so that every exogentile incomer 
 may have an opportunity of presenting it with anything of value which 
 he may intend for the givers of the feas* with the tacit, but well-known, 
 understanding that it be subsequently paid for by a donation of at least 
 equal worth. Even the public naming of one's gentile totem by a 
 member of a different clan demanded the gift of a blanket, a piece of 
 dressed skin, or iny article of wearing apparel, so that the crest may not 
 remain ignored and the whole gens thereby dishonoured. 
 
 An important sociological peculiarity which I have nowhere else noted 
 claims attention in this connection. The clan totem is called mtsi in 
 Carrier. But beside the nstsi there existed here another kind of totem 
 w!uch I have named thfe "honorific totem." It was personal and did not 
 pass to one's descendants, though it differed from that revealed in dreams. 
 Its native name was sh9n-koh, a compound word which may be freely 
 translated by "rite." It was voluntarily assumed with an accompaniment 
 of befitting ceremonies by any titled or untitled individual who wished 
 to advance in social standing. It entitled the owner to special con- 
 sideration, though the latter could on that account lay claim to the 
 possession of no hunting grounds nor to the exalted rank which was the 
 strict property of the " noblemen " or tmeza'. In a word, those honorific 
 totems created a sort of middle class, the bourgeoisie of the Carriers. 
 They were many and varied, and, with the exception of one, they 
 followed the clan in such a way that those proper to one could not be 
 assumed by a member of another. Here are those now remembered by 
 the natives ; — 
 
 To the qt'samac-yu belonged the Owl, the Moose, the Full Moon, the 
 Weasel, the Wind, the Crane, the Wolf, the " Darding Knife," the " Rain 
 of Stones," and the Brook Trout. 
 
 Of those pertaining to the Tsayu or Beaver gens, only the Mountain 
 Goat is now remembered. 
 
 * " Inhabitants of the fireside. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTBS ON THE WESTERN D^S^. 
 
 205 
 
 
 The Yasilyu had the Sturfcon, the Arrow, the Porcupine, t..c 
 Wolverine, the Red-headed Woodpecker, the Cattle and the Tiltsd, a 
 kind of fabulou s animal resembling a gigantic toad, with large, bulging 
 eyes. 
 
 My informants know of only the Goose as belonging to the Tam'tenyu 
 clan. 
 
 Another honorific totem or crest was called Sdnnaj, a word of 
 extraneous origin. The exact nature of this cannot now be defined, as 
 the mimicking accompanying its exhibition is but vaguely remembered. 
 All that is known for certain is that it was very highly appreciated and, 
 as a rule, it was the appanage of the notables exclusively. For here I 
 must remark that even the notables or noblemen were not debarred from 
 assuming one or more of the different honour crests proper to their 
 gens. 
 
 Lujem is another word of forigin origin which designated the Bear as 
 an honorific totem.* It could be assumed by anybody, irrespective of 
 clannish differences. 
 
 The connection f1 the individual with his crest appeared more 
 especially during ceremonial dances, when the former, attired, if possible, 
 with the spoils of the latter, was wont to personate it in the gaze of an 
 admiring assemblage. On all such occasions, man and totem were also 
 called by the same name. The adoption of any such " rite " or crest, was 
 usually accompanied by initiatory ceremonies or observances correspond- 
 ing to the nature of the crest, followed in all cases by a distribution of 
 clothes to all present. Thus whenever anybody resolved upon getting 
 received as Luiem or Bear, he would, regardless of the season, divest him- 
 self of all his wearing apparel and don a bear skin, whereupon he would 
 dash into the woods there to remain for the space of three or four days 
 and nights in deference to the wonts of his intended totem animal. 
 Every night a party of his fellow-villagers would sally out in search of 
 the missing "bear," To their loud calls; Yi ! Kdlujeml^ he would 
 answer by angry growls in imitation of the bear. The searching party 
 making for the spot where he ha J been heard, would find by a second 
 call followed by a similar answer that he had dexterously shifted to some 
 opposite quarter in the forest. As a rule, he could not be found, but had 
 to come back of himself when he was speedily apprehended and con- 
 ducted to the ceremonial lodge, where he would commence his first bear- 
 
 * The D^ne word for Black Bear is s»s or 'sas according to the dialect. 
 
 + Words of Tsimpsian parentage meaning apparently : Come on, Bear ! The nature of those 
 words plainly denotes the origin of the whole institution. 
 
1D6 
 
 TRAIT8i«n«9l3 OT TKC OAirADIATT ItMTITtrrB. 
 
 (V«L. IV. 
 
 dance m conjunction with all the other totetn-people, each of whom 
 MTOuld then personute his own particular tote.n. Finally would take 
 place the potlatch of the newly initiated " bear," who would not forget to 
 present his captor with at least a whole dressed skin. 
 
 The mitiation to the "Darding- Knife" was quite a theatrical perform- 
 ance. A lance was prepared which had a very sharp point so arranged 
 that the slightest pressure on its tip would cause the steel to gradually 
 sink into the shaft. In the sight of the multitude crowding the lodge, 
 this lance was pressed on the bare chest of the candidate and apparently 
 sunk in his body to the shaft, when he would tumble down simulating 
 death. At the same time a quantity of blood — previously kept in the 
 .mouth — would issue from the would-be corpse, making it quite clear to 
 the uninitiated gazers on that the terrible knife had had its effect, when 
 lo I upon one of the actors striking up one of the chants specially made 
 for the circumstance and richly paid for, the candidate would gradually 
 rise up a new man, the particular proUgi of the " Darding Knife." 
 
 Pictography. 
 
 " All the known graphic systems originate in a picture-writing as rude 
 as that of the American Indian or of the South African Bushman. All 
 have advanced from the picture to the conventionalized hieroglyphic 
 representing an idea or a word ; while from the hieroglyph has sprung 
 the syllabary represented by rougher sketches of the monumental 
 emblems, and requiring a smaller number of necessaiy symbols. Finally 
 among the more civilized of ancient races the alphabet was gradually in- 
 troduced as a simplification of the syllabary which reduced the necessary 
 emblems to about a fifth of their previous number."* Gauged after this 
 criterion, the Western D^n^s may be said to have been in a state of 
 transition between the first and the second stage of graphic culture ; 
 or perhaps, it would be as correct to say that they were already in 
 the second while retaining lingering reminiscences of the first. Their 
 petroglyphs were in a large measure pictures with some admixture of 
 conventionalized forms ; but their usual means of communication while 
 travelling and their tattoo marks had, to a great extent, become the 
 mere shadows of the original pictographs. 
 
 Of their rock inscriptions I cannot find any better specimen than that 
 reproduced in fig. 190. Its most conspicuous character represents a 
 grizzly bear, the tracks of which may be seen some distance behind. 
 The waving lines at the .bottom stand for water, wherefrom a sturgeon 
 
 *Froin an article in the "Edinburgh Review," reproduced in Little's Living Age, Aug, 23, 
 1890, p. 451. 
 
1892-98.] 
 
 IrOtlU Otr T^R WRSTkHN D^lf^S. 
 
 207 
 
 is sefcn emerging. The natives are not agreed as to the meaning of the 
 large spider-like figure to the left, but the probability is that it is intended 
 to represent Yihta, the Great Bear. Immediately above is a toad in a 
 somewhat conventionalized shape, while below, and to the left, are two 
 figures of birds, the lower one of which is a grouse. The other signs are 
 the emblems of fishes, figures of men or symbols of objects which cannot 
 now be identified. There is no ensemble or unity in the whole. It is 
 •only an aggregate of pictures or signs painted in red ochre by different 
 individuals and at different times. Most of them are very old. 
 
 xi\ 
 
 
 Fig. 190. 
 
 The various objects represented are personal totems, and the object in 
 view in depicting them on rockis will be better understood by a reference 
 to the locality of the inscription reproduced above. It is to be seen 
 about half way between this place, Stuart's Lake or Na'kraztli and 
 Pintce, the nearest village by water. By painting in such a conspicuous 
 place the totem which had been the object of his dream, the Pintce 
 Indian meant to protect himself against any inhabitant of Na'kraztli, as 
 the intimate connection between himself and his totem could not fail, he 
 believed, to reveal by an infallible presentiment the coming of any person 
 who had passed along the rock adorned with the image of his totem. 
 Thus it will be seen that clairvoyance had adepts even in such an out of 
 the way place as Stuart's Lake. 
 
 Fig. 19! IS, of course, a niere picture. The oval circle wherein the cari- 
 boo stands is intended to represent a mountain. A shield is instinctively 
 called to mind by fig. 192 ; but the natives are positive that this is a 
 false ittipfe)ssidn, as the ihner circle stahds for a den within or upon & 
 mountain. Th^ four figut'es between the two circles are the known 
 
208 
 
 TIUNaAOTIONS OF THR CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 emblems of the beaver ; but the meaning of the whole figure is not very 
 clear. Such is the case with fig. 193, wherein some say we have a crane, 
 while others profess to see therein some large species of beetle. 
 
 Fig. 191. 
 
 Fig. 192. 
 
 F'B. >93- 
 
 So far we have dealt with signs or pictures such as seen in stone 
 inscriptions only. But it is chiefly through the tattoo markings or the 
 signs occasionally executed in charcoal while travelling that the Carriers 
 have shown their departure from the earliest or pictorial stage of the 
 graphic art. Even within such classes of totemic representations the 
 gradual alteration from the pictorial or life-like forms to the mere con- 
 ventional outlines is easily discernfiW. I need adduce no better illustration 
 
 i 1 
 
 / 
 
 a 
 
 Fig. 194. 
 
 of this than the three styles of representing the beaver shown in fig. 194. 
 A is the original pictorial form, and is adopted whenever the beaver is 
 tattooed on the breast ; ^ is a middle, altered form, with a strong tendency 
 to simplification, and is used in connection with face tattooing, whilst - 's 
 the conventionalized form of the same, and is the common mode of 
 representing the beaver in those rude, ephemeral drawings in the woods> 
 though it is occasionally found even in ancient rock inscriptions. 
 
 I have already stated that tattooing on the breast was rare among the 
 Western D6n6s. This is so true that I know of no other totemic marks 
 there situated than the few exhibited herewith. We have just seen that 
 a stands for the beaver, ^ represents a toad, c and d are the fore and hind 
 paws of the grizzly bear, while e is the figure of the moon. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 H0TE8 ON THB WRSTKRN XiivtB. 
 
 20» 
 
 All the face tattqo marks which can now be seen or remembered 
 among the Carriers are found in fig. 196. They may be briefly described 
 
 Q n 
 
 >fe^ 
 
 . e 
 
 Fig. 195. 
 thus :—a is the emblem of the otter ; d that of any fish ; c that of a bird ; 
 // IS a beaver ; e is the silhouette sign of a stick in the wa;er ; / that of a 
 
 \i 
 
 i 
 
 yf^ 
 
 -h 
 
 J 
 
 Fig. 196. 
 
 mountain ; ^ is a fern root digger; h is the symbol of the marten ; i that 
 of the lizard, and /, that of the cariboo. 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 tTTTr \ 
 
 ni 
 
 Fig. 197. 
 
 Fig. 19; presents us with the graphic signs used as means of com- 
 munication between different hunting parties. They alone might be 
 
 : 
 
240 
 
 TBANSACTfONB OF THC OANANAK IHflTlTUTE. 
 
 [VCh. IT. 
 
 pointed to^s the elements of native "writing." The two last are taken 
 from rock inscriptions. They are now tininteUigible to the Carriers, 
 Here is the meaning of the others : — a, bird ; d, lizard ; c, beaver ; d, 
 bear ; e, lynx ; /, cariboo ; ^, marten ; /i, canoe ; /, woman ; j, man ; k, 
 snake. 
 
 These are generally drawn in charcoal on trees or, by exception, on 
 stones, and as such it must be confessed that they afford but a very 
 restricted medium of expression to the native mind. It has therefore to 
 call into requisition any other material means which may be at hand, 
 and it must be said that the use made of them is sometimes wonderful. 
 I wais lately travelling in the forest at a time when tiic yearly re- 
 appearance of the salmon was eagerly looked for. At a certain spot not 
 very far from a stream we came upon one of those aboriginal drawings 
 made by an old man who had no knowledge of the syllabic signs now 
 used to write the D6n^ languages. The drawing represented a man with 
 a woman, a horse with a burden, the emblem of a bear with three marks 
 underneath, and a cariboo. Above the whole and hanging from a broken 
 branch were four pieces of young bark cut out in the conventional form 
 of the fish. Now the message was instantly read by my companions, 
 and it ran thus : " Such a one (whom they named)* has passed here with 
 his wife, and a good load of furs, after having killed three bears and one 
 <:ariboo ; ;\nd furthermore he captured four salmon two days ago. He is 
 now gone in the direction that we follow ourselves." This date could 
 evidently not have been told had the Indian marked with charcoal the 
 sign of the salmon. He was so well aware of this and was so much 
 intent upon fixing the time of the first appearance of the fish that he 
 had had recourse to the pieces of bark, the relative degree of freshness 
 of which he knew could easily be determined by the experienced eye of 
 his fellow Carrier. 
 
 This leads me to detail the various non-graphic means of commuiiicp.ticp 
 between the different bands of huntsmen. Does the traveller intend to 
 mark his passage in the forest ? He cuts a switch or rod and plants it 
 in his trail pointing to the direction he is following. Is he in distress, 
 and does he beg for succour at the hands of those who he knows shall 
 pass by the Same trail } Forthwith he breaks or bends the top of as 
 many shrubs as possible all along his path. No native party will profess 
 ignorance of his meaning rtor, as a rule, leave unheeded his appeal. 
 Other significant combinations will be found sketched in our last figure. 
 Thus b, a stick broken by the middle, means : " we are going to camp a 
 
 ^ They ideirtified him by the very cii-camstahce that tie travelled ^rhh a hone, at he was the 
 ' jfily dttt likely to pass there who possessed such an ammM. 
 
 ^^ \. 
 
 .♦>'■'•■- . .', 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTCS ON THB VTESTERN D^is. 
 
 211 
 
 short distance off. You need not be in a hurry". C has the opposite 
 meaning : " we are going to camp a long distance from here ; hurry up!" 
 By disposing the stick as shown in d, the natives are understood to say : 
 « we have turned back awhile, but finally gone on." E is intended to 
 rq>resent a piece of burnt rag hanging from a bent down rod ; it is the 
 signal of famine and an appeal for help, the direction of the stick always 
 
 Fig. 198. 
 
 pointing to the trail of the distressed party. If in ;ead of parched rags, 
 an abundance of cariboo or moose hair is to be seen on the stick, the 
 reading must be just the reverse. It is then a notification that the party 
 has killed plenty of cariboo or of moose, and, at the same time, an in- 
 vitation to go and help dispose of them. /?" is a small bunch of dry 
 grass wherein a small rod has been driven as an indication that a member 
 of the band has been shot. Lastly, when a short stick is found hanging 
 across the trail, as shown in g, everybody will understand that a person 
 in the prece(.llng party has come to his death from natural causes. 
 
 i 
 
 wssxm 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTERN D^N^S. 
 
 213 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 N. B. — When the same subject is treated in several con /Hjutive pages, only the first is given. 
 
 A. 
 
 Ages (the prehistoric) not strictly successive, 
 »37- 
 
 Ahtena, not Dini, 15. 
 
 Alluvial strata, their age exaggerated, 42, 
 
 Animals hunted by the Western Denes, 93 — 
 large ones never killed for oneself, 95. 
 
 Antiquity of archaeological objects exagger- 
 ated, 39. 
 
 Antiiropology, an uncertain criterion of ethno- 
 logical differences, 17. 
 
 Apaches, their habitat, subdivisions and popu- 
 lation, 13. 
 
 Archaeological remains, their age exaggerated, 
 41. 
 
 Archaeology of the Egyptians and the As- 
 syrians easy to fully describe, 5. 
 
 Armour, wooden, 117 — skin, 149. 
 
 Arrow-heads, 53 — bone, 55 — how connected 
 with the shaft, 55. 
 
 Arrows, $6 — their varieties, 56 — how released, 
 57- 
 
 Arrow-shafts, 55. 
 
 Aspen, its root used against bleeding, 130. 
 
 Astringents, native, 131. 
 
 Athapaskan, inappropriate as a generic name, 9. 
 
 Atiyih, a Carrier game, 81. 
 
 Atlih, a Carrier game, 78. 
 
 Atnas, Adanas, etc., not Difn^, 17. 
 
 Atrium of winter lodges, 190. 
 
 Awls, bone, 69. 
 
 Axes, of unpolished stone, 43 — partially 
 polished, 44 — polished, 46 — how used, 47 
 — of iron, 140. 
 
 3. 
 
 Babies, how earned, 134. 
 
 Babines, their physical peculiarities, 18 — 
 habitat, 27— subdivisions, 27 — their gam- 
 bling sticks, 78. 
 
 Bad- People, a Dene tribe, its habitat and 
 population, 16, 
 
 Bag-net fishing, 91. 
 
 Bags, their varieties, 146. 
 
 Bait of bone, 72. 
 
 Bandelier on the early Navajos, 12. 
 
 Bark peelers, 76— bottles, 135. 
 
 Bark vessels, 120. 
 
 Bear, what part of it not eaten, 107 — how its 
 skull is treated, 108 — as a totem, 205. 
 
 Bear traps, 95 — snares, 99. 
 
 Beard, not rare among the Babines, t8 — how 
 trimmed among the Tse'kehne, 139 
 
 Beaver, what part of it not eaten, ia3. 
 
 Beaver Indians; a branch of the Tse'kehne, 
 II— their habitat, 29, 
 
 Beaver snaring, 66 — nets, their working, 67 
 —trapping, 87. 
 
 Belts, weaving of, 157. 
 
 Berries, how treated, 127. 
 
 Berry baskets, 122 — boilers, 126. 
 
 Bible, its authority undiminished by archaeo- 
 logical discoveries, 40. 
 
 Black-feet, their usual position while sleeping, 
 187. 
 
 bleeding, how practised, 82. 
 
 Blue berries, how prepared, 127. 
 
 Blunt arrows, 57. 
 
 Boas' map incorrect in one particular, 23. 
 
 Boilers, 125. 
 
 Bone baits, 72. 
 
 Bone implements in use among historical 
 nations, 43. 
 
 Bones of animals, how eaten, 49. 
 
 Bones of the dead, how treated after crema- 
 tion, 146. 
 
 Bottles, for the castoreum, 66, 135. 
 
 Bow-points, 60. 
 
 Bows, of the Tse'kehne, 58- of the Carriers, 
 
 59 — how held while shooting, 60 
 Bowstrings, how made, 58. 
 Boyle on palaeoliths, 63. 
 Bracelets, 139, 172. 
 Breast-blankets, 164. 
 Breast-plates, ceremonial, 167. 
 Breech-duth, ceremonial, 180. 
 Brinton on the distribution uf :hc D6n4s, 14 
 
 — on the Kepai, 15 — on Dene technology, 
 
 3S- 
 Bronze age, contemporaneous vith stone age, 
 
 >37. 
 Bulbous root diggers, 1 15. 
 
 o. 
 
 Callbreath on the Tahl-tan Indians, 35, 
 Cambium scrapers, 76. 
 
 \: 
 
mmsmmm 
 
 »« 
 
 TRANSAflmOMS Or TH» CAMADIAV KMSITUTE. 
 
 [YoifclT. 
 
 Canoes, 114. 
 
 Cap-holders, 83. 
 
 Caps of the Carriers, the, 164. 
 
 Cariboo-eaters, their habitat and population, 16. 
 
 Cariboo skina, how treated, 68. 
 
 Cariboo snares, 100, 
 
 Carrier Indians, (the), progressive, 5 — their 
 population, 16- -physical characteristics, 17 
 — timid, iS-'habitat, 24 — subdivisions, 24 
 — sociologically considered, 28^their bows, 
 59 — their bow-poir.ts, 60 — their bone scra- 
 pers» 7(^r-their utensils. lao— how tbcy> 
 carry their babies, 134— rusin)^ copper and 
 iron before contact with the whites, 137 — 
 their dnims, 150 — formerly practically unac- 
 quainted with snow-shoes, 151 -ttheir weav-« 
 ing method, 156 — their ordinary head-dress, 
 164— their ceremonial costume, 173 — their 
 houses, 184 — their store-houses, 196— their 
 mortuary columns, 199. — their graphic sys- 
 tem, 200. 
 
 Carvings, 199. 
 Castoreum bottles, 66, 135. 
 Categories of Dene nouns, 32. 
 Ceremonial dress of the Carriers original, 172. 
 Chaldean head-dress compared with that of 
 the Carrier noblewomen, 177. 
 
 Charcoal, as a means of ornamentation, 170. 
 
 Cherokees, monnd-builders, 39. 
 
 Chirkasaw, mound-builders, 40. 
 
 Chippewayans, not the southernmost of the 
 D6a6 tribes, 9 — their habitat ^nd popu- 
 lation, 16. 
 
 Chipping, how done, 65. 
 
 Clans of the Carriers, 203. 
 
 Cloaks, 164. 
 
 Clubs, war, 641 
 
 Columns, mortuary, 199. 
 
 Comin, 117. 
 
 Confession to the shaman, 107. 
 
 Continence, regard for, 107, 
 
 Copper, in use in prehistoric times in the Mac- 
 kenzie valley, 136 — in use contemporane- 
 ously with stone implements, 137— in use 
 among the prehistoric Carriers, 137 — how 
 procured formerly, 137 — its use probably 
 ancient, 138. 
 
 Copper tower, the, 137. 
 
 Cow-parsnip, how eaten, 129, 
 
 Cradles, 133. 
 
 Cranberry, swamp and highbush, eaten, 127. 
 
 Cranio ..letry, an uncertain criterion uf ethno- 
 logic certitude, 17. 
 
 Crescents in the septum, 167. 
 
 Crossbows, 59. 
 
 Cuirass, of wood, 1 17 — of skin, 149. 
 
 " Cut arrows," 56. 
 
 Cuticle (inner) of skins, how removed, 70. 
 
 Daggers, of stone, 63— of steel in pre-Euro~ 
 
 pean times, 142. 
 Dalt on labretB, 170. 
 " Darding Knife," the, 206. 
 
 Dini (tlie), progTtBsive, 5-<-th«ir nunck 8 — 
 the nature of their territory, II — divided 
 lon^ ago in two camps, 12 — their distri- 
 bution, 13 — misconception as to their ethno- 
 graphical 4Utu«, 14 -^ classification and. 
 population of all the tribes, 16 — points 
 of "physical similarities, 18— psycholo^cally 
 dtnering among themselves, 18 — phuolog- 
 ically homogeneous, 2J. 
 
 D^ne Dindjie, improper as a collective name, 9. 
 
 Dentalium, its fitness as an article of orna- 
 mentation, 178. 
 
 Dentalium nose-ornaments, 168, 
 
 Devil's bush, its medical properties, 132. 
 
 Dip-nets, 159. 
 
 Dishes, 1 19. 
 
 Diuretics, native, 131. 
 
 Dog collars, 139. i ' 
 
 Dog- Ribs, a D^n^ tribe, its habitat and popu- 
 lation, 16 — knew copper before contact with 
 the whites, 136. 
 
 Dress of the Western Denes, 162— of pubes' 
 
 cent girls, 165. 
 Drills, 143. 
 Prinking tubes, 82. 
 Drums, 150. 
 
 Dug-outs, formerly unknown, 115. 
 Dyes, 173. 
 
 Ear pendants, 166. 
 
 F.astem Dines : knew of copper before con- 
 tact with the whites, 136 — their dress, 162. 
 Elk, now disappeared from among the Carriers, 
 
 93- 
 Emmenagogue, native, 131. 
 ^s, A fish-trap, 89. 
 ^sroflh, how cooked, 1 16, 
 gstas and the swans, 104. 
 Ethiopians, using stone and bone weapons, 42. 
 Siik, S3- 
 
 F. 
 
 Fat scrapers, 68. 
 
 Feathering of the arrows, how made, 56. 
 
 Febrifuge, native, 130, 
 
 Fenni, (the), using bone arrows, 43. 
 
 Fern root, how cooked, 1 16. 
 
 Fern root diggers, 1 1 5. 
 
 Finger rings, {40. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 MOTBS ON TUB WB8TBRN Oisis. 
 
 21» 
 
 Fire, pri:nitive mode of starting a, 1 14. 
 Fire-bags, common, 148 — ceremonial, 180. 
 Fire-place, where situated, 187. 
 Fire-wood, how procured by the poorer classes, 
 
 Fishes, species of, 73. 
 
 Fish-hooks, 72, 
 
 Fishing, 71 — with bait, 72 — with traps, 84. 
 
 — with bag nets, 91. 
 Fish traps, 84. 
 Fish trays, 123. 
 Flaking, how done, 65. 
 Floats, III. 
 
 Folk-lore, differs according to the tribe, 2it 
 Forts, 195. 
 
 Foxes, different varieties in the same litter, 95. 
 Fox snares, 102. 
 Fraas on ancient weapons, 42. 
 Frazer on the varieties of totems, 203. 
 
 G and W commutable in the Aryan languages, 
 
 8. 
 Oambler and the Great Bear, the, 79. 
 Gambling-sticks, 77. 
 
 Game sought after by the Western 1 )ends, 93, 
 Games of the Western Denes : nft'sfa, 78 — 
 
 atlih, jS—atiyM, Si—MguA, iii—O'io; 
 
 112 — Mzaz, 112 — 'keilapas, 1 12, 
 
 Gentes, their number, 203. 
 Geology against the great age attributed to 
 archaeological remains, 42. ■ 
 
 Gorgets, unknown, 35. 
 
 Gouges, unknown. 35. 
 
 Graphic systems, their origin, 206 — that of the 
 Carriers, 208. 
 
 Graves, monuments on, 2CX). 
 
 Great Lear and the Gambler, the, 79. 
 
 Great IJear and the Hunter, the, 194 — deduc- 
 tions from that legend, 195. 
 
 Grizzlj' Bear, are there two varieties of it ? 94. 
 
 Hair, sometimes fair among the Carriers, 18 
 — mode of wearing it, 181. 
 
 Hr.ir scrape.-s, hone 69 — steel, 143. 
 
 Hair tweezers, 138. 
 
 Hale on the country of the Eastern Denes, 11. 
 
 Hammers, stone, 47. 
 
 Hares, a Dene tribe; its habitat and popu- 
 lation, 16. 
 
 Head-dress of the Carriers, 164— of the pubes- 
 cen' girl, 165 — of the same when of noble 
 paiintage, 166— of the noblemen, 173 — of 
 the noblewomen, 177 — the same compared 
 
 with that of the Chaldean Kings, 177— of 
 the shamans, 181. 
 
 Head-scratchers, 82. 
 
 Heart of animals, not eaten, and by whom^ 
 
 107. 
 Hemlock, its medical properties, 13a, 
 Hiemorrhage, how stopped, 131. 
 Hides, how dressed, 49, 69, 145. 
 
 History against the great age attributed .tO: 
 
 archaeological remains, 42. 
 Hole-borers, 143, 
 
 Horse-tails, their medical properties, 131, 
 Houses, see Lodges. 
 Hupa, their habitat and numbers, 13, 16 — their 
 
 influence over neighljouring tribes, 19 — 
 
 their conservatism, 20. 
 Hurdles for the salmon weirs, 85. 
 Huts, subterranean, 191. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ice-breakers. 75. 
 
 Ice-scoops, 156. 
 
 Indians, mound builders, 40. 
 
 Industries, why and how treated of, 6. 
 
 Iron, in use among the negroes of Africa, 137' 
 
 — m use among the pre-historic Carriers, 140. 
 Iron, axes, when first introduced, 140— how 
 
 iron tools were prized on the Coast, 142. 
 
 J. 
 
 Juniper, its wood used to make bows with, $9' 
 — its boughs used as a febrifuge, 1 30. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kekule houses, 190. 
 
 'Km, 85, 186, 196. 
 
 Kenai, their ethnographical status, 15. 
 
 K3S, their use, 87. 
 
 Kettles, prehistoric bark, 125. 
 
 Kinnikinik, its berry eaten, 128. 
 
 ICnaia-kho-tana, their ethnographical status, 
 
 15- 
 Knap-sacks of the Carriers, 148. 
 Knives, salmon, 51 — skinning, 51 — carving or 
 
 woiking, 52. 
 'A'iinizai, their make and working, 87 . 
 kutchin, ideiUicnl with Loucheux, ;s. 
 
 Labrets, 1 70. 
 
 Ladles, 75— how made, 76. 
 
 Lances, known to prehistoric Carriers, 149. 
 
 L<ind-locked salmon, how captured, 74. 
 
 Language, the chief characteristic of man, 21. 
 
 — of the Carrier subdivisions a little different, 
 
 27. 
 
216 
 
 TBANHAOTIONS OP THE CANADIAN IN8T1TUTB. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 Length measures, 92. 
 
 Lenormant on iron in Africa, 137. 
 
 Lichen, how eaten, 130. 
 
 Lily, its bulb eaten, 129. 
 
 Lipans, habitat and present population, 14, 16 
 — a dishonest tribe, 19. 
 
 Lodges, ceremonial, 185 — common, 188 — fish- 
 ing, 189— winter, 189— of the Tse'kehne, 
 192. 
 
 Looms of the Carriers, the, 156. 
 
 Loon and the Old Man, the, 171. 
 
 Loucheux, identical with Kutchin, 15— their 
 
 habitat and population, 16 — their dress, 162. 
 Lubbock (Sir John), mistaken as to the age of 
 
 archaeological finds, 41. 
 Luiem, or Bear totem, how assumed, 205. 
 Lyell (Sir Charles), mistaken as to the age of 
 
 archaeological finds, 41. 
 Lynx, feared by the women, 108, 
 Lynx and the Woman, the, 108. 
 Lynx traps, 97 — snares, loi. 
 
 M. 
 
 Maize, not grown by the I>4ni, 36. 
 
 Man, his age absurdly exaggerated, 41. 
 
 Marmot skins, how treated, 68. 
 
 Marmot traps, 98 — snares, 103. 
 
 Mas, 67. 
 
 Masks, 118. 
 
 Material of the arrow and spear heads, 53 — 
 zealously guarded, 65. 
 
 Mats of the TsiiKoh'tin, the, 157. 
 
 Maul, wooden, ill. 
 
 Means of communication while travelling, 210. 
 
 Measures of length, 92. 
 
 Medicinal herbs, 130. 
 
 Menses, observances relative to the, 107. 
 
 Mesh-sticks, 158. 
 
 Middle class of the Carriers, 204. 
 
 Mittens, 164. 
 
 Mocassins, their material, 163 — not used in 
 rainy weather, 163. 
 
 Months, their native names, 106. 
 
 Monuments, rare, 199. 
 
 Moose skin scrapers, 143. 
 
 Morice on the varieties of Din6 nouns, 32 — 
 on the "cut-arrows," 56 — on beaver sr-'r- 
 ing, 66— on fern root cooking, 116— on the 
 introduction of copper among the Carriers, 
 137 — on the head-dress of pubescent girls, 
 165. 
 
 Morse on arrow release, 57. 
 
 Mortars, unknown, 35. 
 
 Mortuary columns, 199. 
 
 Mosaical chronology, its accuracy not weakened 
 by modem discoveries, 40. 
 
 Mounds unknown among D^nt, 35- -the work 
 of Indians, 40. 
 
 Muskokis, probably mound-builders, 40. 
 Mnskrat trapping, 87. 
 
 Mythology, why occasionally referred to in 
 the monograph, 7. 
 
 N. 
 Nah'ane, different spellings of their name, 31. 
 Na'kwsl's descendants, 141. 
 Navajos, long established in the south of the 
 
 United States, 12 — their habitat, 13 — still old 
 
 fashioned, 20 — philoloeically congenerous 
 
 with the Northern Denes, 22. 
 Nazrwit, a fish trap, 85. 
 Necklaces, 170. 
 Needle pouches, 149. 
 Nets, their material, 159 — beaver, 67. 
 Nt^a-a, a game, 78. 
 Netting, 158. 
 
 N»y>v.hwolluz and the Gambler, 79. 
 Nitaz, a game, 112. 
 Niblack on maize growing Indians, 35. 
 NiVi>dtnai, i68. 
 Northern .'^^end, timid and not industrious, 18 
 
 — of assimilative dispositions, 19. 
 Nose-pendants, 167. 
 Nose- rings, 168. 
 Nouns, the four categories of Ddne, 32. 
 
 o. 
 
 Observances of the hunters and women, 106, 
 
 165. 
 Ochre (red) as a means of cmamentalion, 170. 
 Old man and the Loon, the, 171. 
 Oregon grape, how eaten, 129. 
 Orthography of Indian words, 34 — of the 
 
 names of Indian tribes, mixed, 30. 
 Osier-willow, its medical properties, 131. 
 
 Packing, how done, 118. 
 
 Packing bags, of the women, 147 — of the men, 
 
 161. 
 Packing chairs, 118. 
 Paddles, how used, 115. 
 Palaeolitha, their age exaggerated, 40 — found 
 
 along with neoliths, 63. 
 Peelers, 76. 
 Pendants, 166. 
 Pestles, stone, 48. 
 Petiiot on the name "Den^-Dlndjie," 9— -on 
 
 copper and iron among Eastern Den^, 136 
 
 -—on prehistoric weapons, 149 — on the dress 
 
 of the Eastern Denes, 162, 
 Petroglyphs, 2o6. 
 

 1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THE WESTEKN D^N^S. 
 
 217 
 
 the 
 
 Philology, its importance as an ethnographical 
 criterion, 21 — Us bearing on archasology, 32. 
 
 Pictographs, 2o6. 
 
 Filling on the word " Athapaskan," 9. 
 
 Pipes, stone, 36. 
 
 Plan of the monograph, 6, 
 
 Plants, those the economic value of which 
 is not appreciated unnamed, 127 — which are 
 eaten by the Western Denes? 128. 
 
 Potlatch, of comparatively recent origin, 125. 
 
 Pottery, unknown among the Western Denes, 
 
 35- 
 Powder pouches, 148. 
 
 Powers on the Hupa, 20. 
 
 Prehistoric ages not strictly successive, 1 37- 
 
 Prognostications common among the Carriers, 
 no. 
 
 Pubescent girls, their dress, 165 — their drink- 
 ing tubes, 81 — their head scraichers, 82 — 
 their peculiar observances, I07. 
 
 Purgatives, native, 130. 
 
 Q- 
 
 Quintilian on Language, 21. 
 
 B. 
 
 Rabbit snares, 103 — skins, how utilized, 156, 
 
 164. 
 Rattle?, 118. 
 Red willow, used as wattle, 84— its uedical 
 
 properties, 131. 
 Rings, 140, 166. 
 Rol)e, ceremonial, 179. 
 Rock inscriptions, 206. 
 Rose, its medical properties, 1 32. 
 
 s. 
 
 Salmon, species of, 7r— how caught, 84 — how 
 cured, 92— how kep;, 49, 196. 
 
 Salmon fishing, 84. 
 
 Salmon oil, how obtained, 92. 
 
 Salmon pits or cellai-s, 197. 
 
 Salmon roe, how prepared, 197. 
 
 Salmoii weirs, 85, 
 
 Sarcees, how they separated from the Beavers, 
 n — their present habitat, 15 — their popu- 
 ition one hundred years ago, 29. 
 
 Satchets, 146. 
 
 Scaffoldings, on the banks of river?, 91 — of 
 
 the TseTcehne, 197. 
 Scoops, 156. 
 Scrapers, stone, 49— how made, 50— bone, 
 
 for the fat, 68— horn, for the same, 70 — 
 
 hair, 69— cambium, 76. 
 Sedatives, native, 131. 
 Semilkameen Indians partly descended from 
 
 the TsiiKoh'tin, 24. 
 
 15 
 
 Service-berry, how preserved, 125. 
 Shamans, their head gear, 181. 
 Shields, 117. 
 
 Shushwap Indians, their former relations with 
 the TsiiKoh'tin, 23. 
 
 Signalling in the woods, 2 10. 
 
 Sinkers, rude and uncarved, 36, 
 
 Skin tanning, 49, 69, 145. 
 
 Skull-crackers, stone, 64. 
 
 Slaves, their habitat and numbers, 16. 
 
 Sleeping place in the lodge, 187. 
 
 Slickstones, 49. 
 
 Smoking, originally unknown, 36. 
 
 ires, bear, 99— cariboo, loo— fox, 102 — 
 marmot, 103— rabbit, 103— waterfowl, 104 
 — how prepared, 107. 
 
 Snaring devices, their details useful, 99. 
 
 Snow-shoes, formerly practically unknown 
 among the Carriers, 151 — earliest mo<lel, 152 
 —modern types, 152 — how made, 153 — of 
 the children, 154, 
 
 Snow shovels, 116. 
 
 Show walking sticks, 155. 
 
 Soap-berrv, how prepared for eating, 1 28. 
 
 Solutrian-Iike implements, 63. 
 
 Sore eyes, native remedy against, 132. 
 
 Southern Denes, long separated from the 
 Northern Den6, 12 — confused ideas as to 
 their ethnographical divisions, 13. 
 
 Spear-heads, 62. 
 
 Spindles, 114. 
 
 Spokeshaves, 144. 
 
 Spoons, 76. 
 
 Spruce, its shoots used as febrifuge, 130. 
 
 Spruce root-wenving, 134. 
 
 Steel daggers in prehistoric times, 142. 
 
 Stockings, native counterpart of, 165. 
 
 Stone implements, in use among historical 
 
 nations, 42 — contemporaneous with copper 
 
 implements, 137. 
 
 Store- liouses, 196. 
 
 Strings, of the bows, how made, 58 — of the 
 snares, how made, 104. 
 
 Sturgeon, how caught, 75. 
 
 Sttntf, how cooked, 1 16. 
 
 Superstitious observances of the hunters and 
 
 the women, lo6, 165. 
 Swaddling clothes of liie Carrier babes, 133. 
 Sweat-houses, 197. 
 Sweet-flag, how eaten, 129. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tacitus on the arms of the Fenni, 43. 
 Takhepie, wrong readings of their name, 30. 
 Tanning, how done, 49, 69, 145. 
 
 1 
 
218 
 
 TRANaACTIONS OF TBB CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 [Vou IV. 
 
 Target disc or wheel, 112 — shooting, 11 3. 
 
 Tattooing, 182. 
 
 Tattoo marks, 208. 
 
 Tca/yai, a bark vessel, 122. 
 
 Tf'ko', a Carrie, game, 112. 
 
 7»sK.ai, a fishing device, 90. 
 
 Thajlkan I'ldians, weavers of mountain goat 
 
 wool, •55. 
 Th^m»l, how caught, 159. 
 ThhKai a fishing device, 90, 
 Thhsaten, a fishing implement, 72. 
 Thomas on mounds, 39. 
 Throwing-rods or Mquh, III. 
 Time, means of reckoning, 106. 
 Tinne, Tinneh, inappropriate as a generic 
 
 name, 8, 
 
 Tlingit, why so named, 10. 
 
 Tobacco, originally unknown, 36. 
 
 Tolmie & Dawson's map, differing from the 
 
 actual limits of the Carriers' territory, 26. 
 Tommy-sticks, 64, 
 Totems, carved on house posts, 186, 199 — their 
 
 different kinds, 203 — how honored, 204 — 
 
 honorific, 204 — how assumed, 205 — painted 
 
 on rocks, 207 — tattooed on the person, 208. 
 Totunies, the contradictory readings of their 
 
 name, 13. 
 Trapping devices, their details useful to the 
 
 ethnologist, 98. 
 Traps, fish, 84 — bear, 94 — small animal, 96 — 
 
 lynx, 97 — marmot, 98 — how prepared, 108. 
 Travelling, formerly difficult in winter, 151. 
 Travelling marks or signals, 210. 
 
 Trays, bark, 123. 
 
 Trough-like vessels, 119. 
 
 Tse'kehne, population, 16 — physical character- 
 istics, 17 — 'tionest, 19 — sociologically con- 
 sidered, 28 — subd' visions, 28 — bows, 58 
 — bone scrapers, 70— spoons, 76— gamb- 
 ling sticks, 78 — how they hunted cariboo 
 in olden times, too — their names of the 
 months, 106 — their utensils, 120 — how they 
 trim their beard, 139 — their drums, 1 50 — 
 their snow shoes, 154 — their lodges, 192 — 
 their provision stores, 197. 
 
 Tsi|Koh'tin, population 16 — physical character- 
 istics, t8 — habitat and subdivisions, 22 — 
 sociologically considered, 28 — bone scra- 
 pers, 70 — fish harpoons, 7l — gamblir^-sticks, 
 78 — cradles, 133— how they carr^ their 
 babies, 134 — their vessels, 134 — their drums, 
 151 — their methotl of weaving, 156— their 
 dress, 164 — their store-houses, 197. 
 
 Tunics, of the Carriers, 163. 
 Tweezers, 138. 
 
 Umkwa Indians, their habitat, 16. 
 Unknown technological objects, 35. 
 Utensils, of primitive material, 120 — descrip- 
 tion and mode of fabrication, 121. 
 
 V. 
 
 Villages, 184. 
 
 Vowels, unimportant in D^ne, 10. 
 
 w. 
 
 Wailaki Indians, their habitat, 16. 
 
 Walking sticks, for the winter, 155. 
 
 War, how started, 195. 
 
 Wash-tubs, bark, 132. 
 
 Waterfowl, how caught formerly, 104— new 
 105 — in China, 105. 
 
 Water vessels, 124. 
 
 Wattle, 84, 186, 196. 
 
 We, a lish-trap, 89. 
 
 Weasel, what use made of its skin,|i77. 
 
 Weaving, 156 — of the spnice roots, 134. 
 
 Wedges, stone, 47 — bone, 75. 
 
 Weirs, how constructed, 84. 
 
 Western Denes, the nature of their territoiy, 
 II— misconception as to their ethnograph- 
 ical status, 14 — classification of the, 30 — 
 not maize growing, 36 — unaesthetic, 36 — 
 brave against wild animals, 94 — their dress,. 
 163. 
 
 Whistles, ceremonial, 81. 
 
 Widow satchels, 146. 
 
 Wigs, ceremonial, 173. 
 
 Wild goat skins, how treated, 68. 
 
 Willow-herb, how eaten, 129. 
 
 Windows, none in ancient lodges, 187, . 
 
 Winter dress, 164. 
 
 Winter travelling, difficult, 151. 
 
 Woman and the Lynx, the, ro8. 
 
 Women, their dress not much differing front 
 that of the men, 164. 
 
 Wood-peckers, what use made of their feathersr 
 177- 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yellow-knives, a Dene tribe ; its habitat and 
 population, 16 — acauainted with cop]'>er irv 
 prehitoric times, 136. 
 Ytita-iViai, a fish trap, 86. 
 
1892-1)3.] 
 
 KOTE8 ON THE WESTERN 0£N'£s. 
 
 219 
 
 WORKS QUOTED OR REFERRED TO. 
 
 Bandklier, a. a. — Indians of the Southwestirn United States. 
 
 BlANCONi, J. A. — Materiaux pour 1' Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de 1' homme ; Toulouse, 
 1876. 
 
 Boas, F. — Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Reports on the Northwestern Tribes of Canada ; B. A. A.S. 
 1889, 1890, 1891. 
 
 The Central Eskimo ; Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology ; Washington, 
 1888. 
 
 Boyle, D. — Archaeological Report lor 1891, Toronto. 
 
 Brinton, D. G. — The American Race ; New York, N. D. C. Hodges, 1891. 
 
 •Cali.breath, T. C. — Notes on the Tahltan Indians ; in Notes on the Indian Tribes of the 
 Yukon District, reprinted from Annual Report Geological Survey of Canada ; Ottawa, 
 1887. 
 
 Dawson, G. M. — Notes on the Shushwap People of British Columbia ; Transactions of the 
 Royal Society of Canada, Section II., 1891. 
 
 On the Haida Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands ; Montreal, 1880. 
 
 Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands; Montreal, Dawson Bros., 1880. 
 
 Dawson anu Tolmie. — Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia)- 
 Montreal, 1884. '**"- 
 
 Fraas, O. —Die alten Hohlenbewohner. 
 
 Eraser, J. G. — Totemism ; Edinburgh, 1887. 
 
 'Gatschet, a. S — The Karankawa Indians ; Cambridge, Mass., 1891. 
 
 The Klamath Indians of Southwestern Oregon ; Contributions to North American 
 Ethnology ; Washington, 1890. 
 'Gunn, D. — History of Manitoba from the earliest settlement to 1835 ; Ottawa, 1880. 
 
 Hale, H. — Language as a Test of Mental Capacity ; Transactions Royal Society of Canada, 
 Seot. II., 1891. 
 
 Holmes, W. H.— A Study of the Textile Art ; Sixth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology ; 
 Washington, 1888. 
 
 Hough, W.— Fire Making Apparatus in the U.S. Museum ; Report U.S. Museum, Washington, 
 1890. 
 
 Jordan, D. S. and Gilbert, Ch. H.— Synopsis of the Fishes of North Amenca ; Washing- 
 ton, 1882. 
 
 Legal, E. — Lea Indiens daas lee plaines de I'Amerique du Nord ; Petites Annales, O. M. I., 
 Paris, 1891. 
 
 Lenormant, F. — D-e Anfange Der Cultur, Vol. I. 
 
 AIackenzie, Sir A.— Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent 
 of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the years 1789 and 1793; 
 London, 1801. 
 
S20 
 
 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 IvoL. rv. 
 
 Mackenzie, A. — Descriptive Notes on certain Implements and Weapons, etc., from Grahanv 
 Island ; Transact. Roy. Soc. Can., Sect. II. 1891. 
 
 Mason, O. T. — The Ray Collection from Hupa Reservation, Washington. 
 Anthropology in 1886 ; Washington. 
 
 Matthews, W.— The Mountain Chant ; Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology ; 
 Washington, 1S87. 
 
 Morgan, T. J. — Sixtieth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs ; Washington, 
 1891. 
 
 MoRiCB, A. G. — The Western Denes, their Manners and Customs ; Proceedings of the Canadian 
 
 Institute, Vol. VII. ; Toronto, 1890. 
 
 The D^n6 Languages considered in themselves and inciiiont.Jly in their relations to- 
 non-American Idioms ; Transactions Canadinn Institute, Vol. I., Toronto, 1891. 
 
 Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology Indigenous or Exotic ; Transactions Roy. 
 Soc. Can., Sect. II., 1892. 
 
 Murdoch, J. — Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition, Ninth Ann. Rep. Bur. 
 Ethnology, Washington, 1892. 
 
 Niblack, a. p. — The Coast Indians of Southern Alask.t and Northern British Columbia;. 
 Report U. S. National Museum, 1890. 
 
 Petitot, E. — Monographie des Ddne-Dindjie ; Paris, I^eroux, 1876. 
 En route pour la Mer Glaciale ; Paris, 1888. 
 
 Six Legendes Americaines, identifiees k I'Histoire de Moise ; Paris, A. Hennuyer, 1877. 
 Rapport .Succinct sur la Geologie des Vallees et de I' Athabaskaw- Mackenzie et 
 
 de r Anderson ; Paris, A. Hennuyer, 1875. 
 Appendice relatif aux armes de pierre des Indiens Arctiques ; Paris, A. Hennuyer,. 
 1875. 
 Pilling, J. C. — Bibliography of the Alhapaskan languages ; Washington, 1892. 
 
 Powell, J. W. — Indian Linguistic families ; Seventh Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology,. 
 Washington, 1892. 
 
 Third Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology ; Washington, 1884. 
 
 Powers, S. — Contributions to North American Ethnology ; Vol. II., Washington. 
 
 QuiNTli.lAN — De Instilutione oratoria, translated by Iji Harpe ; Dijon, 1820. 
 
 RoYCE, C. C. — The Cherokee Nation of Indians ; Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of 
 Ethnology, Washington, 1887. 
 
 SouTHALL- Recent Origin of Man. 
 
 Thein, J. — Christian Anthroiwlogy ; New York, Benziger Bros., 1892. 
 
 Thomas, C. — Manuscipt Troano ; Coni^butions to North American Ethnology, Vol. V.,. 
 Washington. ^ 
 
 Burial Mounds of the Northern Section of the U. S. ; Fifth Annual Report Bureau oi 
 Ethnology, Washington, 1887. 
 
 Work in Mound Exploration of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, 1887. 
 
 The Problem of the Ohio Mounds, Washington, 1889. 
 
 VlGOUROUX, F.— Les Livres Sainu vengds, Vol. III. 
 
 Dictionnaire de la Btble ; Letouzey et Ane ; Paris (still in course of publication). 
 
 And a few others with which I am not personally acquainted. 
 
1892-93.] 
 
 NOTES ON THB WE8TBRN D^nAb. 
 
 281 
 
 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Page 25— After paragraph 4 add the following as an additional subdivision : — Hwozahne, two 
 villages, namely, Stony Creek (Sai'ksz), population 88, and Laketown or Nujkre, population 
 65, both of which are situated a little south of Fraser Lake. 
 
 Page 30 — After " Fort George " insert : — Hwozahne, south of Fraser Lake 
 
 P*Ke 35— Strike out " the Eskimo " and add :— to which might almost be added the Eskimo, 
 were it not that J. Murdoch ( Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition, Ninth Ann. 
 Rep. Bur. Ethnology, Washington, 1892) slates that he obtained from a Point Barrow tribe 
 three fragments of a sort of pottery, the material of which " was said to be earth (nu'na) bear's 
 blood and feathers, and appears to have been baked " (p. 91). 
 
 Fig. 199. 
 
 Page 118 — Dele the whole paragraph beginning "These other objects" and substitute: — 
 Three other objects, which as sociological items were also due to »''e influence of the maritime 
 tribes, but had become naturalized among, and were made by, the CJarriers, were the nt;rw»s or 
 medicine-rattle, the Aans'taiA, or ceremonial mask, and the i'aak, or long, festival dish. These 
 were almost the only objects of art of genuine Den6 manufacture to which I can point, and yet I 
 do not think I unduly depreciate my Indians' artistic capabilities by adding that they were rather 
 below than above the average of similar aboriginal carvings. The appositeness of this remark 
 will become evident by a comparison of fig. . 199, wherein we have a representative Carrier 
 medicine-rattle, with illustrations of similar implements so frequently met with in modem essays 
 on the Northwest Coast Indians. As may be seen by the cut i, the Den^ rattle is made of two 
 hollowed halves bearing some resemblance to wooden dippers. Its material is birch, ai.d its only 
 ornamentation is in paint, not carving. The figure explains the mode of connection of the two 
 parts of the rattle. 
 
222 
 
 TnANSACTIONS Or THK CANADIAN INBTITUTR. 
 
 [Vol. IV. 
 
 The masks Vere used only by mimics accompanying by grotesque gestures and jerkings of the 
 head the dance of a privileged few ; l>ut the rattles served a double purpose : they did service in 
 connection with a notable's dance, being then held in the hand by the dancing personage himsell, 
 and also as an accompaniment to the incantations of the ttytn or shaman. No ceremonial masks 
 of genuinely Y>ini make are now available for illustration : but such objects are, even at the 
 present day, so common among the natives of the Pacific Coast that they hardly need any descrip- 
 tion. It may suffice to refer the reader unacquainted with North American aboriginal parapher- 
 nalia to the plates or figures illustrating. . . . 
 
 Page i8i — After "their occult art" insert : — Let me add that some of these head-dresses, 
 while retaining the name of cyas-krei, were composed of beaver-teeth, sometimes daubed with 
 red ochre. Une such specimen recently came into my possession which lacks the double row of 
 dentalium shells usual with crowns made of real bear's claws. 
 
 I ! 
 
 4..V 
 

 V-- 
 
 
 OFFICERS, 1893-9' 
 
 PROF. R. RAMSAY WRIGHT, M.A., B.80. 
 
 1st ^««-|}rt(KtJ»tnt : 
 
 I. C. HAMILTON, M.A., LL.B. 
 «• K. WALKER, E»<». 
 
 (^ccrttars = 
 
 IXii MAOPOUGALL, M. Iiw,, C.B. 
 .1AME8 BAIM, J*., Rg,. 
 
 Sibraristt ; 
 
 )). B. KEYS, M A. 
 
 CttrntOT : 
 DAVID BO VLB, Gk). 
 
 (SbUar ; 
 
 GEORGE KENNEDY. M.A, LL.D. 
 
 ,^cmb(r« of tttouncii .- 
 
 O. A. HOWLAND, V^. 
 
 h. J. CLARK, EtUi. 
 
 AKTHdR H*RVKY, Kmq. 
 
 JOHN MAl,'aHAN. K,,., Chairman «U,loi,(mt S,c. 
 
 W. CANNIKF. M.n., Chair-man Himrieal Stc 
 
 .••«>F. A. ... OOLKMAN, M.n.. aha(nn«n Q^U^icaX * mni„„ S^. 
 
 3l»«i«tant i*nrc;ar)i iinb iJtlintriHn : 
 
 H. W. YOCNO, M.A.