1892-93.] 



NOTES ON THE WESTERN DENES. 



1;)1 



with a double object in view : that of helping in holding the instrunnent 

 and of tightening or loosening the bottom strings at will and thus 

 regulating the sound of the drum. 



That portion of the Carrier — and possibly the whole of the Tsi[Koh'tin 

 — tribes which is adjacent to the Bilqula Indians formerly used square 

 drums. But this circumstance should be regarded merely as a further 

 evidence of the Western Denes' innate power of imitation. The drums 

 are called tJidfirdle in Carrier. 



Any stick at hand, padded or otherwise, served to beat the drum. 



It seems almost incredible that in a country, where for at least five full 

 months every year snow covers the ground, snow-shoes should have been 

 practically unknown .until a comparatively recent date. Yet, if we are 

 to credit the natives, this was formerly the case with the Carriers, the 

 most populous, and, actuall\-, the most progressive of the four Western 

 Den6 tribes. The Tse'kehne used snow-shoes from time immemorial ; 

 but \ve are told that not more than lOO years ago, only the most 

 prominent among the Carriers possessed that indispensable adjunct to 

 winter travelling. Therefore with that tribe winter hunting was formerly 

 well nigh impossible. The natives still relate how their ancestors pain- 

 fully trudged on trunks of trees chopped down so as to form a continuous 

 line or trail over the snow whenever necessity constrained them to 

 wander any little distance from their winter quarters. I fully expect 

 that their story will task the credulity of my readers, and I give it only for 

 what it may be worth. I am simply repeating here what I have been 

 told many a time. 



Be this as it may, the Carriers are to-day as well provided with winter 

 walking implements as they profess to have been originally destitute of 



