INDIANS OF BEITISH COLUMBIA. 51 



Remarkable among the words in the table upon page 49 is that for " chief," hl'mes of 

 the Wik'ê'nok', which we find as hr'ious in the Pe'ntlatc dialect, while the Bilqula have 

 the word stalto'mh, which is of doubtful origin. 



I believe I liaA'e shown by these examples that i^hilological 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 inflixence 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, Tinné, 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'ê'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 Math 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 w^auted 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"ê/itsumskyana and find something there." KêMsumskyana, 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 aw^ay, 

 and the boys pursiied 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. Th-i 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- 



