202 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



extends from latitude 52 30', where it borders on the country of the 

 Shoushaps, to latitude 56, including Simpson's River.* On the east 

 are the Rocky Mountains, separating them from the Sicani, and on 

 the west the rugged chain which runs parallel with the coast. The 

 country is well watered with numerous streams and lakes, most of 

 which discharge themselves into Frazer's River. Our information 

 with respect to this people is derived from a gentleman connected 

 with the Hudson's Bay Company, who resided several years among 

 them in charge of a fort; it will be found to agree generally with 

 the account given by Harmon, who occupied the same situation 

 between the years 1809 and 1819. 



The Tahkali are divided into eleven clans, or minor tribes, whose 

 names are beginning at the south as follows : ( 1 ) the Tautin or 

 Talkdtin ; (2) the Tsilkdtin or Chilcotin ; (3) the Naskdtin ; (4) the 

 Thetlidtin ; (5) the Tsatsndtin ; (6) the Nuladutin; (7) the Ntshaau- 

 tin ; (8) the Natliautin ; (9) the Nikozliautin ; (10) the Tatshidutin ; 

 and (11) the Babine Indians. The number of persons in these clans 

 varies from fifty to three hundred. All speak the same language, 

 with some slight dialectical variations. The Sikani (or Secunnie) 

 nation has a language radically the same, but with greater difference 

 of dialect, passing gradually into that of the Beaver and Chippewyan 

 Indians. 



The Tahkali, though a branch of the great Chippewyan (or Atha- 

 pascan )f stock, have several peculiarities in their customs and cha- 

 racter which distinguish them from other members of this family. 

 In personal appearance they resemble the tribes on the Upper 

 Columbia, though, on the -whole, a better-looking race. They are 

 rather tall, with a tendency to grossness in their features and figures, 

 particularly among the women. They are somewhat lighter in com- 

 plexion than the tribes of the south. 



Like all Indians who live principally upon fish, and who do not 



* For the exact limits of the territories occupied by the different tribes, the reader is 

 referred to the accompanying Ethnographical Map, which has been constructed, with 

 much care and labor, from information derived, in most cases, from the natives them- 

 selves, and confirmed by missionaries, hunters, officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, 

 and others who had had good opportunities for acquiring knowledge on this subject. 

 The boundaries are usually determined by the physical conformation of the country, and 

 are well understood among the natives, a circumstance which has enabled us to lay 

 them down, for the most part, with minuteness and precision. 



f See Mr. Gallatin's " Synopsis of the Indian Tribes," p. 16. 



