II. DESCRIPTION OF TIIE TSIMSHIAN, BASED ON THEIR 

 MYTHOLOGY 



Intkodttctory 



In the following chapter I give a description of the mode of life, 

 customs, and ideas of the Tsimshian, so far as these are expressed 

 in the myths contained in the first part of this work, and in the 

 Nass River tales collected by me (Boas 7). 1 It is obvious that in 

 the tales of a people those incidents of the everyday life that are 

 of importance to them will appear either incidentally or as the basis 

 of a plot. Most of the references to the mode of life of the people 

 will be an accurate reflection of their habits. The development of 

 the plot of the story, furthermore, will, on the whole, exhibit clearly 

 what is considered right and what wrong. 



From these points of view it seemed worth while to review con- 

 nectedly those ideas which are either implied or described in detail. 

 Material of this kind does not represent a systematic description of 

 the ethnology of the people, but it has the merit of bringing out 

 those points which are of interest to the people themselves. They 

 present in a way an autobiography of the tribe. 



In order to preserve this intact, I have not added to the descrip- 

 tions given in this chapter any of the data that are known from other 

 sources. I have, however, placed in footnotes those incidental 

 remarks which the narrator considered important for the puq^ose of 

 illustrating the meaning of a tale, and which were obviously not 

 mentioned when the tale was related in olden times among the people 

 themselves. I have added hi the same form a few notes on Tsimshian 

 games. It seems likely that there is a distinction between the way 

 in which the stories were told to the older generation, that followed 

 the old way of living, and the manner in which they are related to 

 white people or to the younger generation that has forgotten many of 

 the old ways. It is not unlikely that some explanatory matter has 

 been included in the tales that in olden times would not have been 

 present. On the whole, however, my impression is that only a slight 

 amount of descriptive material has been introduced in this way. 



Since many of these tales deal with the supernatural or with 

 unusual events, it might be considered that some of the actions men- 

 tioned do not conform to what is customary. However, in aim 0-4 all 

 cases our knowledge of the people will indicate clearly whether a 



i The tales published in the present work are indicated by page number: those published in Boas 13, 

 by 1: those from Boas 4, by 5; those from Boas 7, by N— each followed by the page number referred to 

 (see p. 566). 



