122 FA THEE MOEICB ON 



map prefixed to this paper. I would rather be inclined to believe that, even in this respect, 

 our Carriers have shovrn their faculty of self-appropriation, as may be inferred from the 

 following little incident of recent occurrence : 



In his report on the Shushwap Dr. Boas says ' that " wherever they find human 

 bones they clean them and hmj them ; " and, a little further on, he speaks of the " report 

 that the bones of the dead were w^ashed regularly " by the vShushwap. Now, four years 

 ago, the writer had the misfortune of losing one of his boatmen, who was of good social 

 standing in his own tribe. He was drowned while attempting to "jump " the Fort G-eorge 

 rapid, and his remains could not be found until some months ago, when a Fort 

 G-eorge Indian discovered them lying on the beach of the Fraser Eiver. Next to identifying 

 the remains, his first move was to carefully tvash them." 



Might I not ask here : From whom did this young man learn to treat thus the bones 

 of his fellow-villager ? Certainly not from his ancestors, who practised cremation and 

 left no bones to be washed after the funeral ceremony was over. Not from his cougenious 

 neighbours, the Tsé'kèune, who, as Petitot very appropriately remarks, " éprouvent la 

 plus grande répugnance à manipuler les cadavres ou les ossements des morts." ^ Nor 

 from the few whites with whom he had occasional intercourse, since that custom is 

 equally foreign to them. He — and indeed all the southern Carriers dwelling on the banks 

 of the Fraser — must have borrowed that practice from the Shushwap, who, from time 

 immemorial, interred their dead and — occasionally at least — washed their bones. 



CARRIER MYTHOLOGY MOSTLY EXOTIC. 



But what about Carrier mythology ? I must confess that it cannot be described as 

 wholly imported. The East has furnished its quota of legends as well as the "West, 

 though in unequal proportion. Such myths as our aborigines possess as Denes are rather 

 few compared with those which can be traced to western folk-lore. Of course, to present 

 the reader with evidence fully corroborative of this assertion would lead us too far. We 

 would have to reproduce very long stories such as they are narrated here, together with their 

 Tliugit, Tsimshian, Haida or Kwakwiutl versions. This may be done when time and 

 better opportunities than are at present available Avill allow. Just now, though, I am 

 acquainted with a number of Carrier legends, I hardly possess the full text of any of 

 their equivalents among the Coast Indians ; yet, such general outlines of many and vague 

 allusions to others as have come to my notice warrant me to state, as in the case of Carrier 

 sociology, that any such myth as is unknown among the eastern Denes, but obtain among 

 both the Carriers and their western neighbours, has been borrowed from the latter. The 

 reason for this is obvious, and this is a natural corollary to what has been said about the 

 Carrier social institutions. 



Among imported or extraneous myths, I will mention that concerning the state of 



1 Sixth Report, p. 91. 



■ SMio Ihmas3sk»z as he said. That this is not an isolated case is shown by that Indian's remark in answer 

 to words expressive of my surprise at his taking such liberties with human bones : — Hwèni Takpe} t'sînli, 

 nd9t's3'ten, " we Indians act in that way," thereby hinting at a well-recognized custom as his excuse for his conduct 

 in the case. 



^ Monographie des Déné-Dindjié, p. xxv. 



