82 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. VI. 
rank of chief or first magistrate of a village was of modern origin,* but 
we must not confound the notable or zexeza, of whom there are several 
in one locality, and the chief or single leader or head man of a place. I 
was quite emphatic on that point. 
I have stated that among the reasons that prompted the pre- 
sent communication was the fact that old misstatements about the 
ethnological status of our Indians have but lately been reprinted. No 
later than 1893, in such an otherwise accurate and complete work as the 
“Standard Dictionary,” + there appeared under the word American, 
the following list of all the Déné tribes, which is, I think, from the pen 
of Prof. O. T. Mason. 
Athabascan. 
Apache. 
Chepewyan. 
Hupa. 
Jicarilla. 
Kutchin. 
Lipan. 
Loucheux. 
Mescalero. 
Montagnais. 
Navajo. 
Slave. 
Tinné. 
Here, indeed, we have a list compared with which Dall’s and Powell's 
are completeness itself. For it must be remarked that, brief as it 
appears, it is in reality even much shorter, since several tribes are 
therein twice mentioned under different names. To begin with, the first 
and the last terms, Athapascan and Tinné are synonymous. So are 
Chepewyan and Montagnais, Kutchin and Loucheux. In fact, of the 
twenty well authenticated Déné tribes, the author of the list gives but 
nine. Yet, while he omits such important tribes as the Carriers, the 
Tsij Koh’tin, the Tsé’Kéhne, the Nah’ane, the Hares, etc., he mentions 
that remnant of a tribe, the Lipans, who, according to Powell, may 
number fifteen individuals in the United States, while they are not 
much more than twice as many in Mexico. Besides, if I mistake not, 
the Jicarilla are but one of the eight subdivisions of the Apache tribe 
that live north of Mexico. At least that is what one is led to infer from 
the Reports of the U.S. Commissioner for Indian affairs. If that 
official is correct, Major Powell is wrong on that and cognate points. 
Finally, I must repeat that, in my opinion, the only accurate list of 
* “Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology Indigenous or Exotic?” Trans. R.S.C., 1892, p. 118. 
+ Funk & Wagnalls Co., New York. 
