1892-93] NOTES ON THE WESTERN DENES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



"Archaeological" is rather inappropriate in connection with the 

 present monograph, whose scope embraces nothing archaean or really 

 ancient. The prehistoric Denes are the Denes of but yesterday. For^ 

 what are the one hundred years which have elapsed since the discovery 

 of their country compared with the twenty or more centuries which 

 separate us from the famous civilizations of ancient Egypt and Assyria > 

 Yet, to check possibly too sanguine expectations from such archaeologists 

 as may happen to read these lines, I hasten to declare that it is perhaps 

 more easy to present the lover of technological lore with graphic illustra- 

 tions of the arts and industries which flourished among the subjects of 

 the Pharaohs and the Assyrian monarchs, than to thoroughly illustrate 

 from actual specimens the ensejnble of the arms, working implements, 

 household utensils and ceremonial paraphernalia, which should concur in 

 reconstructing the peculiar mode of life pursued by the primitive Denes. 

 The original Egyptians and Assyrians have left us, besides authentic 

 records of their own doings on imperishable material what promises to- 

 prove well nigh unlimited stores of practical illustrations of their past 

 sociology in their tombs, their temples and other public monuments. 

 So that the antiquarian's task is greatly facilitated by the abundance of 

 the materi,al at his command. Furthermore, where the hieroglyphic and 

 cuneiform chronicles fail to clear up difficulties of interpretation or to 

 enlighten him on the particular use of ancient implements, he has only 

 to delve into Herodotus and other historians for the desired light. 



Not so, however, with regard to the prehistoric Denes. As I have 

 elsewhere demonstrated,* that family of American aborigines, and more 

 especially the Carrier tribe to which prominence will be given in the 

 following pages, is characterized by a wonderful power of imitation and 

 self-adaptation which prompted it, upon the advent of the whites, to dis- 

 card most of its native customs, indigenous weapons and working 

 implements. As a natural consequence, many of the latter are now in 

 a fair way towards complete obliteration. Moreover, the nation's 

 historians, I mean the old men who witnessed the manufacture and use 

 of some archaeological articles the duplicates of which have caused 

 speculations from more than one antiquarian, are fast disappearing from 



* Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology Indigenous or Exotic?" Trans. Roy. Sec. 

 Canada, Section II. 1892. 



