522 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [Vol, VII. 



subject condition by the Tsimpsians, among whom they had unwittingly 

 tumbled.^ 



Be this as it may, the language of the Ts'Ets'aut such as recorded 

 by Dr. Boas himself, while it shows here and there undeniable traces of 

 a Dene origin, has become so corrupt by the admixture of foreign terms 

 and the alteration of its original lexicon, that the propriety of their being 

 classified as Nah'ane is now quite problematical. 



The population of the whole Nah'ane tribe must remain little more 

 than a matter of guess. From the Iskoot, close to the Pacific, to the 

 Mackenzie, across the Rocky Mountains, is indeed a broad stretch of 

 land, and the very fact that it is so sparsely peopled renders it so much 

 the more difficult to obtain anything like an exact computation of the 

 tribesmen. I myself took some years ago a census of the Thalhthan 

 village, and my figures were in the close vicinity of 190 souls. The 

 population has since decreased, so let us call it 175. 



From native sources I ascertained that the " Kaska were more 

 numerous, perhaps 200. Petitot puts at 600 the number of the trans- 

 montane Nah'ane and allied subtribes. Allowing for the probable 

 decrease and possible exaggeration, let us say 500, There remain the 

 Taku, of whom I have no means of ascertaining the exact numbers. 

 Probably 150 would be a conservative figure. 



We thus obtain a total of 1,025, or in round numbers, 1,000 souls 

 for the whole tribe, and I believe this is as fair an estimate of its 

 population as could possibly be had at the present time. 



As already stated, the eastern Nah'ane somewhat differ in physique 

 from their western congeners, the only portion of the tribe with which I 

 am familiar enough to describe it de visu. Their stature would be 

 rather below than above the average, the maximum height being five 

 feet eight inches. Their feet and hands are small and well shaped, and 

 their head is round and not so large as that of the neighbouring 



I In the course of his account of that adventure and the circumstances which le.id to his getting 

 acquainted therewith, Mr. McKay takes occasion to speak ot an invasion liy the Tsimpsian of the 

 territory which is now the Tsimpsian peninsula, whereupon Dr. Boas remarks that "there is no traditional 

 evidence of the invasion of the Tsimshian tribe to which Mr. McKay refers," adding that "it is probable 

 that the Tsimshian were originally an inland people," two statements which, apparently difficult to recon- 

 cile as they at first appear, nevertheless are in no way conflicting. There may be no tradition of such an 

 invasion among the Tsimpsian, but their very name betrays their origin. The Skeena River is known to 

 them as the Ksihi, and they call themselves Tscem-sihi^ people from the Skeena, or the river. To this day, 

 anybody can see, two miles from Hazelton, on the Upper Skeena, a prairie or ancient townsite, where one 

 can distinguish the cavities over which were built their winter subterranean houses. Now the name of the 

 locality is Tamlarh-am, the beautiful place, in Tsimpsian, and those two words are still used in that con- 

 nection by the inland Kitkson to the exclusion of any name in their own dialect. 



