CUSTOMS AND ARTS OF THE KWAKIOOL. 345 



atheistic "? The historians of the present time would be astonished 

 at such an objection. But it is of the same kind as that which is 

 made when physiological psychology is reproached with not speak- 

 ing of the soul, of freedom, and of personality, and with only 

 recognizing the physical conditions of phenomena, although that 

 is the only problem which it pretends to resolve. 



As a rule, all the sciences that study the conditions necessary 

 to a higher development can be called, in a qualified way, materi- 

 alistic with reference to the higher sciences. They are certainly 

 so in the sense conceived by Aristotle, to whom matter was only 

 the basis on which was built and to which was added a new form ; 

 and it is still a question in metaphysics whether there is any other 

 matter than that. In the Aristotelian sense, chemistry is material- 

 istic in relation to physiology ; physiology in relation to psychol- 

 ogy ; political economy in relation to morality ; geography in 

 relation to history , and history in relation to theodicy. Psycho- 

 physiology thus appears to be in the same condition as the other 

 sciences. In itself it is less materialistic than physiology proper, 

 because it adds an element, consciousness, which physiology does 

 not recognize ; but it is more materialistic than psychology prop- 

 er, which studies consciousness itself and in itself. — Translated 

 for the Popular Science Monthly from the Revue des Deux Mondes. 



CUSTOMS AND ARTS OF THE KWAKIOOL.* 



By GEOEGE M. DAWSON, D. S., F. G. S. 



DURING the summer of 1885, the writer was engaged in the 

 geological examination of the northern part of Vancouver 

 Island and its vicinity, the territory of the Kwakiool people. In 

 connection with the prosecution of his work, he was in constant 

 and intimate association with this people, and enjoyed many ex- 

 cellent opportunities of obtaining facts respecting them, of hear- 

 ing their traditions and stories, and of becoming familiar with 

 their mode of life and habits of thought. The notes, made at the 

 time, are here presented in a systematized form. As thus set 

 down in order, they are intended to be merely a record of facts 

 and observations, and are offered as a contribution toward our 

 knowledge of the Indians of the west coast. Notwithstanding 

 diversity of language and dialect, these coast people form a single 

 group in respect to arts, and to a less extent in regard to customs 

 and traditions. The useful arts and modes of construction have 



* Abridged from a paper entitled " Notes and Observations on the Kwakiool People of 

 Vancouver Island," presented to the Royal Society of Canada, May 25, 1887. ' 



