190 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
son was one of Canada’s foremost contributors to ethnology, and one of 
that handful of original observers whose work affords the foundation 
for scientific knowledge of the North American natives. 
Dawson’s most notable contribution to ethnology was undoubtedly 
his memoir on the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands, but 
he also published “ Notes on the Indian Tribes of the Yukon District 
and Adjacent Northern Portion of British Columbia,” a valuable 
memoir entitled “ Notes and Observations on the Kwakiool People of 
Vancouver Island,” “ Notes on the Shuswap People of British Colum- 
bia,” and other papers. 
When in 1884, the British Association appointed a committee to 
study the physical characters, languages and social conditions of the 
Northwestern tribes of Canada, Dr. Dawson was made a member, and 
it devolved upon him to organize and administer the work of the com- 
mittee. The work was carried on for years with much success and 
small money expenditure, and when, in 1896, an Ethnological Survey 
of Canada was instituted, Dawson was chosen as the head of the survey 
committee. 
Not the least of his services to his country were those in connec- 
tion with the Behring Sea Arbitration. He was one of the commission- 
ers, and was sent by the British Government to the North Pacific Ocean 
to enquire into the conditions of seal life there. Subsequently, his evi- 
dence and forcible arguments undoubtedly secured for the British side 
of the case a much more favourable finding than would otherwise have 
been obtained. Lord Alverstone (now Lord Chief Justice of England) 
writing of him in this connection says: “It is not possible to overrate 
the services which Dr. Dawson rendered us in the Behring Sea Arbitra- 
tion. I consulted him throughout on many questions of difficulty and 
never found his judgment to fail, and he was one of the most unselfish 
and charming characters that I ever met. I consider it a great pleasure 
to have known him.” In recognition of his services on the Arbitration 
Dr. Dawson was made a C. M. G. 
He received the degree of D. Sc., from Princeton in 1887, and that 
of LL.D. from Queen’s University in 1890, from McGill University in 
1891, and from Toronto University some years later. In 1891 he was 
awarded the Bigsby Gold Medal by the Geological Society for his ser- 
vices in the cause of geology, and was also elected a Fellow of the Roval 
Society. In 1893, he was elected President of the Royal Society of 
Canada, and in 1897 was President of the Geological Section of the 
British Association for the Advancement of Science at the Toronto 
meeting. In 1897 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geo- 
