184 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTK. [VOL. IV. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Habitations. 



It has already been stated that of the three tribes under consideration 

 two, the Carrier and the Tsi[Koh'tin, were semi-sedentary, while the 

 other, the Tsekehne, was entirely nomadic. Consequent upon this 

 different social status was, of course, the nature and style of the 

 habitations proper to each. Thus the Carriers, whose social system was 

 very elaborate and whose staple food was salmon, had formerly no less 

 than five distinct kinds of dwellings, the ceremonial lodge, the summer 

 lodge, the fishing lodge, the winter lodge, and, among the southern half 

 of the tribe, the subterranean hut. 



In common with the coast tribes whose social organization they had 

 largely copied, the Carriers had formerly, as well as now, regular villages 

 which the}' inhabited but part of the year. But while the former chose 

 the winter months to enjoy the sweets of home life, the latter were never 

 to be seen in their permanent dwellings except during the fair season. 

 This ma\' easily be accounted for when we remember the differences of 

 climate. The coast owes to its proximity to the ocean the comparatively 

 mild, if damp, weather it constantly enjoys, while east of the coast range 

 of mountains, the winters are usually very severe. Now, as among the 

 inland tribes, nobody, however wealthy, sleeps in more than one blanket, 

 a large fire is kept in the lodge day and night, and so the amount of dry 

 wood available in one place is soon exhausted. Since they are possessed 

 of carrying conveniences unknown in olden times, this necessity of shifting 

 one's abode from place to place is not so much felt. But formerly with 

 their limited facilities for felling trees and bringing the wood home, they 

 had to change every year their winter quarters. 



The permanent village was thus inhabited only during the fair season, 

 that is from the first week in May, when the grebes arrive, until the 

 second week of September, after the family supply of salmon has been 

 secured. The villages are generally situated at the confluence of rivers, 

 or on the northern banks of lakes, so as to have the benefit of the sun's 

 rays from the opposite side. In any case, the location is chosen in such 

 spots as seem to promise the greatest fishing facilities. They were 

 formerly composed of the ceremonial and the common summer lodges. 

 As these differ in plan and material from those illustrated or described 

 by writers on the coast Indians, I feel justified in giving herewith plans 

 and explicative details of both. 



