Section II, 1888. 47 Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada. V.- The Indians of British Columbia By Franz Boas, Ph. D. (Presented by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, May 30,1888.) For a long time the remarkable culture of the Indians of Northwest America has attracted the attention of ethnologists ; but, so far, no progress has been made in solving the difficult problem of the origin of this culture. Attention has been called to the favor- able circumstances under which these people live, the abundance of food, and the mildness of climate which favor a steady progress of civilization ; but anthropogeographical consid- erations cannot be considered a sufficient basis for these studies, as their influence is only secondary in determining, to a certain extent, the direction in which the culture develops. A study of the origin of any culture must begin with that of the people, with the study of its ethnological and physical character. The fact which impresses itself most strongly upon our minds is the great diversity of peoples inhabiting the north-west coast of our continent. Their general distribution is admirably shown on the Ethnological Map of British Columbia by Drs. Tolmie and Dawson. We notice the following divisions on the latter : the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Bilqula, Kwakiutl,1 Nutka, Cowitchin, Niskwalli, Salish, Sahaptin, and Tinne. Among these the Bilqula, Cowitchin, Niskwalli, and Salish belong to one linguistic stock-the Salish. The Nutka are probably an independent stock, while the Tlingit and Haida are related to one another. Among these stocks the Salish are by far the most important, occupying as they do an enormous territory. The observer of the tribes of this race will be struck by the diversity of dialects of their language. These dialects, according to their affinities, may be grouped as follows. First, there are the dialects of the interior, of which the Salish proper may serve as a specimen. In British Columbia two dialects of this group are spoken : the Okanagan and the Ntlakyapamuq or Sucshwapmuq. The second group is that of the Coast Salish, which is spoken on the coasts of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia. I studied the division of the latter into dialects in the winter of 1886-87, and found that, in British Columbia alone, not less than six or seven dialects exist, each spoken by a few tribes. The southern of these dialects have almost throughout the same radicals ; but the meaning of each word undergoes material changes in the various dialects. Besides this, words occurring in one language in a very simple form, are in the others reduplicated or even triplicated ; transpositions of consonants, elimination of vowels, and transformations of consonants making it sometimes hardly recognizable. 1 [The same word is written by Dr. G. M. Dawson Kwakiool, Trans. Roy. Soc. Can., V. ii. 6, and by Rev. Alfred Hall Kimgiutl, Trans. Roy. Soc. Can. VI. ii. 6.-Ed. Note.] 48 FEANZ BOAS ON THE Here is an example : lam is " house " in the dialect of the Sk'qo'mic; the same word is found as tlem in the dialect of the Qatlo'ltq and Pentlatc. The former call " house " also ay a, a word of doubtful origin. The Snanaimuq use the reduplicated form la'lem; the Lk'ungen change m into n,-as is the case throughout in their dialect-and have the word a'len. A comparison of a few such words is given in the following list which is the first complete enumeration of the Canadian dialects of the Coast Salish :-1 English. Lk'ungen. Snanaimuq. Sk-qo'mic. Si'ClATL. Pe'ntlatc. Qatlo'ltq. Angry ta'teyak- t'a'yek" ta'tayak* t'a'yak- (qa'qadjam) Basket, strap for carrying sifiga'teil tse'meten tci'm'atem ik-'atla) (k-'a'tla) (k-'atla'a) Blanket e'ts'em fc'ts'em ets'ame'n e'ts'am Boat sne'quitl sne'quitl sne'quitl ne'quitl ne'quitl ne'quitl Bone sts'&m etgam ca'o cia'o qau'cin Breast tsfigatl s'e'les s'e'lenes ale'nas sek-ena's aie'nas " female sk-'ma sk-'ma stelkoe'm k-emo'o sk-emft'o (tsu'mten) Brother, elder caitl setla'etcen setla'aten, (tle'wet) (no'utl) (no'utl) " younger (sa'itcen) sk'a'ek- sk -ak# k-e'eq k'e'eq k-e'eq Call, to k'A'it k'a'it k'ela'tan k-'a'letem k-'e'iatem Cedar qpa'i qpa'i qa'paiai sqpa'e t'a'camai qepa'e Chief sia'm sia'm sia'm (he'wus) (he'wus) (he'gyus) Copper plate sk-oe'les sk'oe'les sk-oe'ls k-o'koes Crow sk'koata k'ela'k'a k'ela'k'a k-ela'k-a kyekya'kya kyekya'ka Cry, to qoa'am qam qam qa'qawum qa'wan (tlo'quit) Drink, to k'oa'k'oa k-a'k-a (tak't) k-d'k'oa k-6'ok-oa k-o'ok'o Eat, to e'tlen a'tlten e'tlten e'tlten e'tlten e'tlten Eyebrow sA'figen cd'man tso'man Qo'mete §o'man §o'man Full sela'tsetl seli'ts sie'tc letci'et lite yitc Good ai ai ha'atl ai aieto ai Grandson e'engas e'mag e'mats e'ma? e'mav e'maQ Herring stla/iiget sla'wat sla'wut (sk-apts) (sk-o'lk-am) tla'agat House a'len la'lem lam tlem, e'luwem tlems tlems, (a'ya) Hungry k-'oa'k'oe k-oa'k'oe quid's k'oa'k'oae k-oa'k'oae k-a'k-'ats Island tltcas skga s'a'ek's skue'ktsaas ck§a'as Jay cqui'ts'es kca'os kya'ckyac kua'ckuac Kelp k-oa'an k-'am 1 k-'om sko'met k-sa'am ko'met Large tcek- Si he'ie te'ie ti ti Mountain snga'nit smant sma'net smant I sma'nit (ta'k-'at) Mouth sa'sen eftgen | tso'tsen Qo'sin Otter sk-'atl k'a'k-atl k-'a'k-'atl k-'atl Relations tc-a'dja ya'yits sia'i ya'ya dja'dja Rib lu'kwaq lauzaq lo'uaq lo'uq lo'aq (yiqt) Scar sk'e'itl sk-'ak'e'itl sk-e'iyetl k-a'yetl k'a'djetl Snake, a fabulous se'ntlk'e s'e'etlk'e se'noatlk'oi (a'lhos) (ai'hos) (ai'hos) Snow figa/k'e ma'k'a ma'k-a (sk-o'mae) (aq) (k'o'mai) Tongue te'qsetl te'qgatl mek'a'lqsatl te'qQuatl te'qQuatl te'qguatl Water k'oa'a k'a (stak-) (s'e'wu?) (s'e'wus) k'a'ea Wave (sk-tle'lak'en ha'yelak- yo'yaek" id'lak- io'lak- djd'uak- A study of the vocabulary of the Qatloltq shows that they borrowed a great number of words from their northern neighbors, the Kwakiutl. It shows also the peculiarity of 1 Words derived from separate roots are placed in parentheses. INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 49 an extensive use of auxiliary verbs in the inflexion of the verb. The enormous number of dialects of the Coast Salish is particularly remarkable when compared with the uniformity of the language of the Nutka, and with that of the Kwakiutl. The last group of the Salish are the Bilqula, who are widely separated from the rest. Accordingly their language differs much, comparatively, from that of the Salish proper and Coast Salish. It seems that a considerable number of foreign words, particularly such of Kwakiutl origin, have been embodied in the language, while its grammar bears all the characteristic features of the Salish grammar. The elimination of vowels has reached a very great extent in this case, numerous words consisting exclusively of consonants. The comparison upon page 50 shows that there can be no doubt as to the Salish origin of the Bilqula. The fact that a number of expressions bearing upon the sea are the same in both groups, leads me to the conclusion that they separated from the other tribes after having lived for some time on the coast. The following list shows that the Wik'e'nok*, a tribe of Kwakiutl lineage, inhabiting Rivers Inlet, borrowed many words from the Bilqula, and vice versa. The borrowed words are marked with an asterisk :- English. Bilqula. Wik'e/nok'. Bear, black nan* nan " grizzly tl'a tl'a* Beaver kolozn kolo'n* Blanket, to take off k'oe'qom* k,'6/qtlsut Bracelet yuzyuq* gy'dzkula Chief he'mes* Dog waztse* wa'tse Elk titles* tlols Finger, first tszem ts'e'mala* Hook k'atlai'yu k'atlaizyu* Kettle qanisa/'tls ha/ni/itlano* Lake tsatl tsa/latl* Rattle ye'ten ye'ten* Sea Lion tl,e,qen* tle'qen Shaman atlk'oazla* tlok-oa'la Starfish k'atsq* k'atsk- Thumb k'o'na* k'o'ma Tobacco tl'a'uk-* tla'ok-* Sec. II, 1888. 7. FRANZ BOAS ON THE 50 English-Bilqula Vocabulary with reference to other Salish Dialects. English. Bilqula. Lk uzngen. Snanaimuq. Sk-q6zmic. S1ZCIATL, Pezntlatc. Qati.6zltq. Apron tsizop §ezip slzap Bad sq sqaza Beard sk-ozbots . . k-6zpo§en Beaver k616zn sk-elazo sk-elazo sk'elazd k*ozlut Belly nuk/itla k'oazla k'ul k'ulaz koazoa Berry sk-aizlot sk/ola/m Blanket itsazmi ezts'em e'ts'amen Boil, to slomezm ............ lemtlazlem (to cook) Bone tsap stsam ctgam caz6 ciaz6 Boy tsaasteztq stazuquatl Breast sk-'ma sk-'ma (fe- sk-'ma sk-'ma sk-'ma male breast) (same) (same) (same) Breast-bone skavazlos sk'oa'wenas Brother (younger) azqe sk-azek- skak- k-ezeq Child mezna men mezman me'na mazana Damp 1/ik- ............ tlok- tlelk- Dead atezma tezmen Eat, to atltp aztlten k-elozm Eye tlk'loks Face mozsa meozs moozs Father man man Fire-drill yule'nita cezletcup ce'ltsep sezsek- Fly, to si'h sek- Full atlikh lite Good ia ai ai Grandfather k'ozk-pi kopaza 1 Gull k-litk- k'ule'tak* Hair mezl/ikoa mazk-en Hook k-atlai'yil k-atlazyu k-atlazyu k'atla/yu katlazyu House sdtl door su£ztl door ciaztl road cuaztl door ciazotl Killer (Delphinus siuzt yozyous Orca) Lake tsatl qazak 'in tslatl sela/tl sa/eatl Martin qe'qe Moon tl'6k/i tlkaltc Mother ctan tan Mountain smt sma/net smant Mouth tsuztsa siizsen 9<ziz§en tsoztsen Night entl nat snet nat Nose mazqse mezk-sen Paddle, to acazsitl ez9el hezutcis Quick tl'i tleze tle'e Seal asq asq asq asq asq Sing, to sin zt siu'n Sit, to amt azmat Slave snazaq snatq nazanik- Sleep, to tsito zma eztut tla/tsit Stone tqt tazk-'at mountain Sweep, to k'6zts 'in ezqoset Thick pltl tizqsetl ptliit ptl'otl petit petit Tongue ti/itsa tezq£uatl Uncle sizsi SezSe ... ........ Water kqla k-oa'a k*a k'azea 1 Shushwap ko'kpi, chief. INDIANS OF BRITISH COLCMBIA. 51 Remarkable among the words in the table upon page 49 is that for "chief," he'mes of the Wik'e'nok", which we find as he'ivus in the Pe'ntlatc dialect, while the Bilqula have the word stalto'mh, which is of doubtful origin. I believe I have shown by these examples that philological researches will prove a very powerful means of solving the questions regarding the history of the Northwest American tribes. Particular attention ought to be paid to the extensive borrowing of words, which I have shown to exist among the southern tribes, and which may also be observed among the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. In the study of the evolution of the culture of these tribes, the question, what origin- ally belongs to each tribe, and what has been borrowed from foreign sources, must con- stantly be born in mind. Philological researches will largely help us in solving the problem. But one of the fundamental questions to be answered before any definite results can be obtained is : What tribes and peoples have been influenced or have exerted an influence upon Northwest American culture ? The answer to this question will define the area of our studies. The coast tribes must first be compared with their neighbors, the Eskimo, Tinne, Sahaptin, Chinook, Kutonaqa. As regards the Eskimo of Alaska, the following points are worth mentioning. We observe an extensive use of masks, the peculiar wooden hat of the southern tribes, the use of the labret, the festivals in which property is given away, the houses built on the same plan as Indian houses, the sweat-bath, the existence of slavery, and the high devel- opment of the art of carving. The existence of so many similar or identical phenomena in two neighboring peoples cannot be fortuitous. Besides this, the folklore of the tribes of British Columbia refers to the Eskimo country and to the Eskimo as plainly as possible. Here is an abstract from a legend which it would be unreasonable to doubt refers to the Eskimo. I heard the tradition at Rivers Inlet from a Wik'e'nok-. There was a man whose name was Apotl. One day he was invited to a feast, and after dinner he requested a boy to take a dish with food to his wife. The boy obeyed. And when Apotl's sons saw the large dish full of meat and berries, they rose from their beds where they were sleeping, and wanted to participate in the meal. Their mother, however, said, " This is not for you, Apotl sent the food for me. If you want to have any thing, go to K'e/ttsumskyana and find something there." K'e/ttsumskyana, however, was a cannibal who lived in a country far, far away. Then the boys were sorry, they lay down sullenly, and remained in bed for four days without taking food or drink. On the fourth day the inhabitants of the village saw a swan swimming near the houses. The children tried to catch it, but they were unable to get hold of it. When Apotl's sons heard this, they arose, took their bows and arrows, and launched their boat. They approached the bird and shot an arrow at it. The arrow hit the bird, but did not kill it. It swam away, and the boys pursued it. Whenever they came near it, they shot it, but although they hit it again and again, they were unable to kill it. Thus they continued to pursue it farther and farther, and eventually caught it. Then they intended to return home, but, lo ! there were no village and no mountain, nothing but water and sky. The boys did not know where to go. After they had drifted to and fro, for a number of days, an icy wind began to blow, and now they knew that they had killed the master of the wind. The sea began to freeze, and with the greatest difficulty they succeeded in pushing their boat through heavy masses of ice. When they had drifted for many days without know- 52 FRANZ BOAS ON THE ing where to go, the paddle of the youngest of the boys broke. He was tired, fell asleep, and at last perished of cold and hunger. After a short while, the paddle of the next broke and he also perished. Then the two surviving brothers wrapped their blankets around themselves, and after a w7hile the third one died also. Now only the eldest remained. He fell asleep, but after a short wThile he felt that the canoe had struck the shore, etc. Evidently the masses of ice referred to here, and the boat of sea-lion skin, which the boy later on receives as a present from the inhabitants of that land, refer to the Eskimo country. In several other legends, which I collected in the northern part of Vancouver Island, similar passages occur. In one of these, two brothers go adrift, and after a while reach a land where skin boats are used, and where the nights are very long. Considering the great uniformity of Eskimo life all over Arctic America, I cannot but conclude that in Alaska, the Northwest Americans exercised immediate influence upon the Eskimo, and that west of the Mackenzie we do not find the latter in their primitive state of culture. It is not impossible, that, in consequence of this influence, inventions and customs which wTere originally Eskimo became more neglected than they were in other regions where foreign influences are not so strong. But we have to consider several other points. The use of masks representing mythi- cal beings, which is peculiar to Northwest American tribes, is not entirely wanting among the Eastern Eskimo. The giving awTay of property at certain festivals, and the use of the singing-house, with a central fire and places for the people all around the wall, may be traced as far as Davis Strait. It may even be that the plan of the snow or stone house of the Eskimo, with elevated platforms on three sides of a central floor, must be traced back to a square house similar to that of the western tribes. I shall not enter into a discussion of the similarity between Eskimo and Indian folk- lore, as our knowledge of Alaska legends is too deficient. The few traces that are common to both are so widespread that they cannot be considered proof of an early connection between these peoples. The story of the dog who was the ancestor of certain tribes, the transformation of chips of wood into salmon, the idea that animals are men clothed in the skins of animals, stories of children who were deserted by their relatives and became rich and powerful by the help of spirits, and of a log that was the husband and provider of a number of women, are common to the folklore of Northwest America and to that of the Eskimo. So far we have referred only to the influence of the Northwest Americans upon the Eskimo. Was there no influence in the opposite direction ? We find this influence to exist, first, in the traditions which were mentioned above, further, in the use of certain implements. The peculiar Eskimo throwing-board is used by the Tlingit of Sitka, although fashioned according to their style of art. The Eskimo harpoon and the Northwest American harpoon must undoubtedly be referred to the same origin. The peculiar style of carving of the Northwest Americans has been developed by the Eskimo in such a manner, that whole figures are attached to masks and implements, the figures themselves being not conventional. Thus wTe may see a kayak on one wing of a mask, and seals that the hunter in the kayak pursues on another. This style has influenced the carvings of the Tlingit, and particularly those of the Yakutat. If we try to compare the ethnological phenomena of the other neighbors of the North- west Americans with the customs and habits of the latter, we must unfortunately confess INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 53 that we know hardly any thing abont these tribes. Dr. Gr. M. Dawson noticed on his recent journeys, that the raven myths of the Tlingit are also known to the Tinne ; but this is only one isolated fact. Thus we find that we are unable to pursue our study sys- tematically, for lack of information. It is of the greatest importance that the latter should be collected as soon as possible, as the remains of ancient customs and usages as well as the tribes themselves are fast vanishing. In the territory of the Dominion of Canada the study of the Tsimshian of the interior, of the Tinne near Babine Lake, of the Kootenay, and of the Salish of the interior, is of prime importance for solving the problems under dis- cussion. Having thus in vain attempted to define the scope of the necessary preliminary studies, we will consider the culture of the coast tribes somewhat more closely. The general impression is, that it is uniform ; but the traveller finds many customs peculiar to one tribe, and not practiced by another. These slight variations are one of the best clews for historical investigations. Among the Kwakiutl, for instance, we find a very elaborate system of secret societies, of which only faint traces exist among the Coast Salish and among the Tlingit. Therefore we must suppose that the general culture can be traced back to various sources. We will try to follow up some of these indications. First, we will consider the raven legend. The raven plays a very remarkable part in the myths of the Tlingit. He is the benefactor of man-against his will and intent. He is considered the deiiy, and yet in the course of events, he is always tricked and fooled. He is sometimes called " the old one," thereby recalling " the old one " of the Algonkin. As much has been written regarding these legends, I hasten to consider their distribution along the coast. The Kwakiutl have a great number of legends referring to the raven. One of these, an abstract of which I shall give presently, is particularly interesting. It refers to his origin. This legend originated among the Tsimshian and was later borrowed by the Kwakiutl. It is said that a chief's wife had a child who used to play with another boy of the village. One day the chief's son said to his playfellow, " Let us take the skins of birds and fly to heaven." They did so, and arrived at AikyatsaiensnaTaq. There they found a small pond, near which the house of the deity stood. They were caught by the daughters of the latter, whom they eventually married. The deity, who is called Kants- 6'ump ("our father"), tried to kill his* sons-in-law. They, however, escaped unhurt. They lived in heaven for a long while, and eventually the deity's daughter gave birth to a child. The latter slipped out of her hands, and fell into the sea, where it was found by a chief, the father of the young man who had ascended to heaven. At first the child would not take any food; but when, according to the advice of an old man, the stomachs of fish were given to him, he began to eat greedily. He devoured all the provisions that were stored up in the village, and then said, " Don't you know me ? I am Omeatl " (the raven). Then the legend continues, and describes innumerable adventures that the raven encounters in his wanderings all over the world. Evidently this legend is an attempt to reconcile the ideas of the Tsimshian and other southern tribes, who worship the sun, with those of the Tlingit, who consider the raven the deity : therefore he is made the son of the deity in heaven. Among the adventures of the raven we find also the story of how the raven stole the sun. It is important to state that the chief who kept the sun from man in a box had the sun, the moon, and the day- 54 FRANZ BOAS ON THE light in his possession, and that it is considered the exploit of the raven to have obtained the daylight. Far less important is the raven in the mythology of the Bilqula. They have also the tradition referring to the origin of the sun ; and, the raven is said to have made the salmon. But, besides this, only trifling adventures, in which he appears as extremely greedy, are recorded. Similar traditions are told by the Catloltq. They say that the raven accompanied the son of the deity in his migrations all over the world ; but, besides this, he has no connec- tion whatever with their religious ideas, and he is not considered the creator of the sun or of the water. From these facts it appears that the raven myths have their origin among the northern tribes. The next series of traditions we have to consider are those referring to the sun ; and among these a certain class, in which the mink is considered the son of the sun, is parti- cularly remarkable. These legends are recorded only among the Bilqula and Kwakiutl. The resemblance of this legend to that of the Greek Phaeton is quite remarkable. The Wik'e'nok- tell it in the following form :-Once upon a time mink played grace-hoops, with the ducks and mink won. They next shot with arrows at a stick, and mink proved to be the best marksman. Then all the ducks abused him and maltreated him, and finally broke his bow ; and the ducks said, " We do not care to play any longer with you. You do not even know where your father is." Mink became very sorry. He cried and ran to his mother, whom he asked where his father was. She said, "Now, stop your crying. Your father is in the sky. His name is Toatusela'kilis and he carries the sun every day." Then mink resolved to visit him. He went to his uncle, Hanatlinaqto'o, and asked him to make a new bow. When he had got the latter, he took his arrows and shot one to the sky. The arrow stuck in the sky. The second arrow hit the notch of the first. And so he continued until a chain was formed reaching from the sky to the earth. Then mink climbed up and arrived in the sky. There he met his father's second wife. When she recognized mink, she said, " Your father will be glad to see you. You may carry the sun in his stead." When it grew dark the father returned home His wife said, " Your son has come. He will stay with you. Now, let him carry the sun in your stead." Toatu- sela'kilis was very glad, and early in the morning he roused his son. He gave him his blanket and his nose-ornament, and bade him ascend slowly behind the mountains. He warned him not to go too fast, else the earth would begin to burn. Mink took his father's clothing and slowly ascended. When it was almost noon, he got impatient. He began to run and to kick the clouds which obstructed his way, and thus he set fire to the earth. Man, in order to escape the flames, jumped into the ocean ; and part of them were transformed into animals, part into real man (before they had been half animal, half man). Toatusela'kilis's wife in heaven, however, called her husband, and bade him throw mink from heaven to the earth. He seized mink, tore off his blanket and his nose-ornament, and flung him into the sea, crying, " If you had gone slowly, as I ordered you, you might have stayed here." Mink fell into the sea between some drifting logs. There, a man found him, and carried him home. Similar traditions are found among the Coast Salish tribes. They all refer to the sun, but the mink does not ascend to heaven, some other animals or two brothers taking his place. INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 55 Among the Coast Salish and the northern tribes of Kwakiutl lineage, a great number of fables and tales refer to the mink, but these are similar in character to those told by the Tlingit and their neighbors referring to the raven. It is only among the Snanaimuq that the mink is of some importance, as he obtained the fire. The legend says the ghosts were in the sole possession of the fire. Mink wanted to have it, and for this purpose stole the infant child of the chief of the ghosts. The ghosts pursued him, but did not dare to attack him, and offered in exchange for the child, furs, mountain-goat blankets, and deer-skins, and finally the fire-drill. Mink accepted the latter, and thus obtained the fire. From all we know about the traditions of the Northwest American Indians, it seems that the series of legends treating of mink as the son of the sun are confined to the Bilqula and Kwakiutl, and that they have spread to some extent among their northern and southern neighbors. As the mink occupies a position of similar importance to that of the raven, many of the adventures and exploits of the latter are also told of the former. We have shown above that the Bilqula are closely related to the Coast Salish. As the latter have no legends referring to the mink as the son of the sun, we conclude that the Bilqula adopted them from the Kwakiutl. Thus we have found a second centre from which the folklore of Northwest America has spread. We have frequent occasion to mention the important part played by the sun in the legends of these Indians. The farther south we proceed, the more important becomes the sun as a mythological figure. Among the Coast Salish we observe that he is worshipped, although no offerings are made to him, while it is said that the Salish of the interior burn food, blankets, and other property as an offering to the sun. The most important of the legends referring to the sun, which are known only in the southern parts of the coast, are those referring to his murder, and the origin of the new sun and of the moon. Lin- guistic research has shown that, among a great number of tribes of this region, sun and moon have the same name ; and a study of the legends shows that they are really consi- dered one and the same person, or at least as two brothers. These facts are so important that I shall give one of the traditions belonging to this group. I heard it told by a Qatloltq at Comox. A long time ago the gum was a man named Momhana'tc, who was blind. As he was unable to endure the heat of the sun, he went, during the night, fishing. When the day began to dawn, his wife came down to the beach and called him, saying, " Hasten to come home. The sun is going to rise." Thus he returned before it grew warm. One day, however, his wife slept too long, and when she awoke she saw that it was daylight. She ran to the beach and called her husband to come home as quick as possible. He hastened as fast as he could, but it was too late. The sun was so hot that he melted before he reached the shore. Then his sons spoke unto one another : " What shall we do ? We will avenge father." And they made a chain of arrows reaching from heaven to earth, and climbed up. They killed the sun with their arrows. And they thought, " What shall we do next ? " The older one said, " Let us be the sun." And he asked his brother where he wanted to go. The latter answered, " I will go to the night: you go to the day." And they did so. The younger brother became the moon, the elder the sun. Connected with the sun myths we find the legend of the wanderer. He is considered the son of the deity, and called by the Coast Salish Qdls, and by the Kwakiutl Kanikila He instituted the laws and customs which are rigidly observed, and he transformed man 56 FRANZ BOAS ON THE into animals, and killed malignant beings which infested the country. I mentioned above that the ancient beings, who were neither men nor animals but similar to both, were transformed into real men and animals at the time of the great flood. This myth is found from southern Alaska to the northern parts of Vancouver Island, while farther south the transformation by the wanderer takes its place. I am not quite sure whether the wanderer legend is known to the northern tribes of the Kwakiutl. It seems, however, to be less important than it is farther south. The Kwakiutl proper consider the wanderer as identical with the raven, but I believe that this idea also originated in consequence of a mixture of northern and southern mythology, and that these two all-important mytho- logical persons, who originally belonged to two distinct mythologies, are combined in one person here. Unfortunately I do not know whether the legends of the great transformer are known to the Bilqula; but, even if they exist, they cannot be of great importance as I did not hear him mentioned once, when collecting a considerable number of myths. This comparison of the myths of the various tribes shows that they spread from three centres. This conclusion is corroborated by a comparison of customs. We may consider the Tlingit the representatives of the northern centre. The raven is the chief being of their mythology. We find here the origin of the remarkable copper plates which are used as far south as Fraser River. These tribes are divided into clans or gentes, the child belonging to the mother's gens. The dead are not buried but burned. A comparison of the carvings shows that those of the Tlingit are far less conventional than those of the southern tribes. The most southern people belonging to this group is the Tsimshian. The mythology of the tribes belonging to the central group is characterized by a mixture of the raven myths, the sun myths, and those of the wanderer and the mink. Here the child belongs to the father's gens. One of the most remarkable customs of these tribes is the cannibalism which is connected with their winter dances. Only members of certain gentes can become cannibals, but each of these must be properly initiated. The Kwakiutl believe a certain spirit to live in the mountains, and that by encountering it the member of a certain family will become cannibal. The latter has certain prerogatives during the season of the winter dances, and during two months is entitled to bite who- ever displeases him. These customs are also practised by the Bilqula ; but they have evidently been adopted from the Kwakiutl, as the allied tribes farther south do not prac- tice them. The same ceremonies are in use among the Tsimshian, who borrowed them from the Kwakiutl. The characteristics of the southern group are sun-worship, the less extensive use of carvings, and the small degree of art displayed in their manufacture. While the houses of the northern tribes are square, and beautifully carved and finished, the tribes of the southern group live in wooden houses which are about five or six tirfies longer than they are wide. Common to all these groups are a considerable degree of skill, a comparatively high state of art, the general mode of life, the great winter festivals, and the donation feasts, the so-called potlatches. We conclude our brief review, which is presented more to call attention to the impor- tant problems which the ethnology of the Northwest Coast offers than as a contribution INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 57 to their actual solution. Our investigations are everywhere hampered by a lack of accu- rate knowledge, sometimes even by that of any knowledge. The only conclusions at which we have arrived are these : that the ethnography of the inland tribes and of those inhabiting the northern and southern parts of the coast must be studied before we can solve the question as to the origin of Northwest American culture, and that the latter has had its origin in three different regions and among three different peoples. Note.-In explanation of .some of the above phonetic equivalents:- e (ital.) =■= e in " answer." k' = a deep guttural. q = German ell in " Bach." /t (ital.) = German cli in " ich." tl - exploded 1. 9 = til in " thin." Sec. II, 1888. 8.