364 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



mote ancestor, real or legendary, implies that the honours that he 

 makes use of belong not so much to him individually as to his glorious 

 ancestry, and there is no doubt that the shame of falling behind, in 

 splendour and liberality, the standard set by a predecessor, does much 

 to spur him on to ever greater efforts to increase his prestige and gain 

 for himself new privileges. There is one interesting fact which clearly 

 shows the importance of the family patrimony or of the standing of a 

 particular line of descent as such, as distinct from the individual who 

 happens to be its most honoured representative. This is the merging 

 of various persons belonging to three or four generations into a single 

 unit that need not be further differentiated. Among the Nootka 

 Indians, for instance, an old man, his oldest son say, the oldest son of 

 the son, and, finally, the infant child of the latter, say a daughter, 

 form, to all intents and purposes, a single sociological personality. 

 Titularly the highest rank is accorded, among the Nootka, to the little 

 child, for it is always the last generation that in theory bears the highest 

 honours. In practice, of course, the oldest members of the group get the 

 real credit and do the business, as it were, of the inherited patrimony ; but 

 it would be difficult in such a case to say where the great-grandfather's 

 privileges and standing are marked off against those of his son, or 

 grandson, or great-granddaughter. In some cases even a younger 

 son, who would ordinarily be considered as definitely lower in rank 

 than his elder brother, might represent the standing of his father by 

 the exercise of a privilege, say the singing of a particular song in a 

 feast, that belongs to the patrimony of the family. "For men may 

 come and men may go," says the line of descent with its distinctive 

 privileges, "but I go on for ever." This is the Indian theory as implied 

 in their general attitude, though there is no doubt that trem.endous 

 changes have in many instances gradually evolved by the dying out 

 of particular lines of descent and the taking over of their privileges 

 by other groups only remotely perhaps connected with them by kin, 

 by the introduction of a new privilege gained say as a dowry, and by 

 numerous other factors. The best way to gain a concrete idea of such 

 a structure of society is to think of the titled portion of the tribe as 

 holding up a definite number, say 15 or more, honoured names, or 

 occupying that number of seats, that have descended from the remote 

 past. The classification of the tribe according to kin intercrosses with 

 that based on rank, as by it individuals are brought together who, 

 from the latter point of view, would have to be kept apart. It is clear 

 that not all the members of a large family group can inherit the stand- 

 ing and all the privileges that belong to it. There must be a large 

 number, particularly the younger sons and daughters and those de- 

 scended from them, who are less favoured than their elders and who 



