Southeastern Alaskan Indian Research— Garfield 31 



and a few myths in text from the Tlingit and Haida, but noth- 

 ing from the Alaska Tsimshian. Tlingit is known to differ 

 dialectically but the extent of these differences and their geo- 

 graphic boundaries are not known. Nothing is being done on 

 the influence of Russian and English on the native languages. 



Myth and folktale collections are adequate, but by no means 

 exhaustive. The comparative analysis of Northwest Coast oral 

 literature, done by Dr. Boas, is now over thirty-five years old 

 and many collections have been made in the meantime. Other 

 comparative studies have been of single stories or of a small 

 collection of plots, themes or motives. These reveal relation- 

 ships between Northwest Coast oral literature and that of their 

 neighbors or with Asia. The close relationship between pride 

 in lineage ancestors and the process of myth making has been 

 barely touched. 



Excepting the pioneer effort of Rev. Jones, no work has been 

 done on culture change. The theory of other-area, particularly 

 Asiatic, origin of Northwest Coast cultures has perhaps impeded 

 work on cultural growth within the area. Since archaeological 

 work is both difficult and unrewarding in an area of high rain- 

 fall and extensive use of wood, students have turned to other 

 methods of accounting for cultural traits and complexes. Com- 

 parisons between elements of Northwest Coast cultures and 

 those of other areas reveal similarities that are interpreted as 

 evidences of diffusion into Northwest Coast and culture history 

 then becomes a problem of determining dates and sources of 

 introduction. Culture change occurs when new elements are 

 introduced. No attention has been directed to the cultural 

 dynamisms existing in the area, nor to the economic, social, 

 political and religious factors that influence cultural stability, 

 change and direction of change. 



The field of personality types and personality development 

 has been entirely neglected. Dr. Benedict's characterization of 

 the Kwakiutl (Patterns of Culture, Boston, 1934) has been 

 widely used and frequently quoted as a description of North- 

 west Coast Indians. However, her interpretation has not been 

 checked in the field. We lack documentation on adult per- 



