THE WESTERN DENES. Ill 



On the otliei hand, Dr. Dall's classification is incomplete, since it 

 omits the Tsekenne, a tribe whose habitat is on both sides of the 

 Rocky Mountains, whilst, of eight clearly distinct eastern tribes, he 

 notes only two and that under aboriginal names, the genuineness of 

 which is to me of more than doubtful character. 



Some ethnographers, for reasons known to themselves, regard the 

 T'simpsians, who lately migrated from this (North Pacific) coast to 

 an Alaskan Island, as an offshoot of the Dene or Athabaskan stock. 

 But even a slight knowledge of their language and physical chai'ac- 

 teristics ou ^ht to convince any one of the fact that they are altogether 

 heterogeneous thereto. 



This being admitted, it remains with me to state which tribes, are 

 to the subject of this paper, and conformably with the Canadian In- 

 stitute's Sociological Circular to give some account of their social con- 

 dition, customs, ceremonies, etc. The subject is rather comprehen- 

 sive, and even without attempting to treat it exhaustively I fear I 

 will have to give its ex])Osition ])erhaps unexpected extension. 



I. 



Let me, however, pi'emise that I shall content myself with s])eakina' 

 of the Western Denes, excluding from my subject those tribes which 

 have their fishing grounds on the north coast of British Columbia and 

 which form by themselves a group apart. Our Dends belong to a race 

 of aborigines occupying a vast territory. Without mentioning the 

 Navajoes who, advanced sentinels of a delayed army, wait in New 

 Mexico for their kinsmen of the north to rejoin them under more 

 favored climes, one can hardly travel from Fort Mac])herson within 

 the Arctic Circle to the plains of the South Saskatchewan without 

 meeting with representatives of that great family. On our (west) 

 side of the Rockies they are divided into four tribes sjjeaking as many 

 dialects. They are : 



1st. The Chilh;!(otins^ actually about 460 in numbei-, occu])ying the 

 valley of the river called after them, and the bunch-grass covered 

 plateaus that skirt it on either side between 51° 10' and 52° 40' north 

 latitude, and from the western banks of the Fraser to the Coast 

 Range of mountains. 



'■' Inhabitants of Young Man's River." 



