362 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



future by the latter. The ranking orders thus arrived at by seating, 

 distribution of gifts, invitations to feasts, and in various other ways 

 that it is not necessary to enter upon here, might be expected to coin- 

 cide. To a certain extent they do tend to approximate, and the 

 highest in rank in a community will nearly always be found to head 

 any such list that might be constructed. In practice, however, one 

 finds that the various orders do not necessarily strictly correspond, in 

 other words, that a person might individually be of lesser rank than 

 another from the point of view of seating, but would have a prior claim 

 to be invited, say. This curious state of affairs shows clearly enough 

 that at last analysis rank is not a permanent status which is expressed 

 in a number of absolutely fixed ways, but is rather the resultant stand- 

 ing attained by the inheritance of a considerable number of theoreti- 

 cally independent privileges which do, indeed, tend in most cases to be 

 associated in certain ways, but may nevertheless be independently 

 transmitted from generation to generation. 



Nowhere in America is the idea of the grading of individuals 

 carried to such an extent as among the West Coast Indians. It applies 

 however, only to the nobility, the commoners and the slaves not being 

 differentiated among themselves with regard to rank. It has already 

 been indicated how the ceremonial seating, for instance, of the nobility 

 is expressive of their higher or lower status relatively to each other. 

 In those tribes, like the Haida and Tlingit, that are subdivided into 

 phratries and clans, a matter that we shall take up presently, this 

 grading of chiefs represents something of a political or administrative 

 basis, inasmuch as subsidiary to the town chief we have a number of 

 clan heads. Subordinate to these, in turn, are the heads of the various 

 house groups. Here again, however, it is important to notice that the 

 town chief is always at the same time the chief of the particular clan 

 that is dominant in that village and that the clan chief is at the same 

 time the head of the particular house group that forms the nucleus 

 of, or is the highest in rank in, the clan. In other words, ranking is not 

 so much of a political or administrative character as it is determined 

 by the handing down of status and privilege from holder to heir. It 

 follows that the political organization, such as it is, impresses one as 

 superimposed on the house group or family organization by inner 

 growth of the latter. So strong a hold has the idea of ranking taken 

 upon the Indians that we find it operative even in cases where it would 

 naturally not be expected to find application. Thus, it is often 

 customary for a number of invited tribes as such, as represented of 

 course by certain chiefs, to be assigned definite ceremonial seats and 

 thereby by implication to be ranked relatively to each other — at times 

 a somewhat risky proceeding. Furthermore, in somic tribes it is even 



