CAREIER SOCIOLOGY. 119 



And bear in mind, that neither nobles, nor consequently potlaches, 'Isak or traditional 

 chants are known to the main body of the Déné nation. Yet it may not be amiss to 

 mention here as an additional illustration of that race's remarkable power of assimilation 

 that, some years ago, even the Tsé'kèune tried to adopt the potlach and its concomitants, but 

 were obliged to desist, owing to the precarious life they lead, having constantly to roam 

 over forests and mountains in search of food, as there is no salmon stream in their country. 

 This abortive attempt was witnessed by my informant, an old and intelligent Tsé'kèune 

 who died last year, and I quote it as corroborating by suggestion the thetsis I am 

 endeavouring to establish. It should not be forgotten also that such Nah'ane as have 

 no intercourse with the Tlingit tribes have remained in all sociological particulars pure, 

 unsophisticated Denes, while those subdivisions of the tribe which inhabit the Stickeen 

 River and immediate tributaries have assimilated the social institutions of the alien races 

 wherewith they are in contact. 



To return to the question ol' the noblemen and their origin : As a personal emblem 

 of their rank, they wear among the Tsimshian tribes ear-rings of a particular shape. 

 Identical ornaments are to this day worn by Hwotso'tin and Babine ' notables, but their 

 use had not penetrated into the other septs of the Carriers Avhen the arrival of the 

 missionaries prevented any further development of that custom. Everybody will see that 

 if such a practice had been introduced from inland, the geographical circumscription 

 within which it was prevailing would be to-day in an inverse direction. 



This last remark holds good also with regard to the commemorative columns so well 

 known through all the writers on the North- West coast. The Hwotso'tin, who pass part 

 of the year in almost daily contact with the Kitikson, had already adopted them, as may 

 be seen from the ruins of their old village ; but they had remained practically unknown 

 further inland. Yet — and this is another evidence of the extraneous origin of that social 

 class — even amongst the Carriers proper, notables were often called "khéySR hwo-techan" 

 that is, "stick, or post, of the village" — which circumstance would seem to indicate 

 that the Tsimshian practice of erecting such monuments had already been noticed by the 

 islanders, who were, perhaps, unconsciously drifting towards its adoption, when they 

 were dissuaded from going further in their assimilating process by the apparition of a 

 new and more perfect civilization. 



As a rule, it shoi^ld be said that such customs as were borrowed by the Carriers 

 had their complete expansion among the originators. Several details, it would seem, had 

 not had time to reach the interior of the country, or, for some other reason, had not as yet 

 been accepted. Thus, for instance, on the occasion of potlaches, destruction or burning of 

 goods was not practised by the Carriers, nor even by the Hwotso'tin and the Babines ; but 

 the women of the two latter siib-tribes had already conformed to the custom of wearing 

 labrets, which is so prevalent all along the North Pacific coast, though it never obtained 

 among the Carriers proper. So far as I am aware, the phratries M'ere still unknown 

 among them ; the traditional origin of the gentes received no definite explanation, and 

 the secret societies common to most maritime tribes had hardly passed beyond their first or 



1.55) that the wortLs of tlio.se songs were claimeil to be remnattii of the Carriers' original language, which circum- 

 stance snows that relying upon the words of Indians, oven when you cannot misunderstand them, will not always 

 ensure to you exemption from errors. 



' The Hwotso'tin subtribe of the Carriers immediately border on the Kitikson, and the Babines come next. 



