488 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. a.nn. .'.1 



The people of one town are called ts.'ap ("a tribe"): ada txan!i'° 

 nE-ksEm-ts!a'psga SEm'a'g'itga ("then all the tribeswomen of the 

 chief") 1.220.21. 



The term "town" is derived from this: qal-ts!ap (perhaps "where 

 the tribe is located"). The prefix qal- designates here primarily the 

 houses as opposed to the people living in them, although the com- 

 pound term is also used quite often to designate the people them- 

 selves: Tc'.E'rEltga w^qal-ts.'a'pga ("there was a town") 1.242.1; in 

 the same way 1.192.1. On the other hand, we have IcstEma'sa 

 qal-ts.'Epts.'a'p ("there are nine tribes [or towns]") 1.222.23; ada 

 wd'°nta txan'.l' gu'°p.>Eldaqal-ts!Epts!a'pga° ("then the [people of the] 

 two towns obeyed") 1.196.14; ada'wult sagait-qa'wuntga SEm'a'g'itga 

 nE-wi-ts!a'pfga° ("then the chief called [the people of] his great town 

 together") 1.198.7. 



The villages are also called wul-dzox ("camping-places") without 

 special reference to the social relationships of the inhabitants: 

 ada'wult l\>ul-q!a~dd'ult asga txan.'l' wul-dzExdzo' gat ("then they went 

 about among all the camps") 1.216.18; amet la-7te"'ldE na-g'a'dEsgat 

 Ix'.E'rEltga vid-dzo'xfga" ("if the people of a village [camp] refused") 

 1.216.20. 



Any kind of a group of people is called vnd-na-t.'a'l ("a company, 

 society"). The exogamic groups (1.216.33), the secret societies, the 

 families (207.26; 234.7), are designated by this term. 



Collectively the exogamic group is designated by the term ptax: . . . 

 Jia-dzExdzd'gatdzE da lEp-ha'lsgEsga n-lEp-pfa'°xtga° (". . . they arc 

 ashamed to marry in then own exogamic group") 1.218.19; fop-didd' 

 ll'°mi mEla-k.'E'rElda ptd'°xfga, ("every exogamic group has its own 

 songs") ; nin!l'° wul Jii-SE-t!d'tgE wul-na-t.'Elt.'d'la, pta'xdat G'ispawar 

 dwE'da.. . . ("this w r as the beginning of the companies, the exogamic 

 group G"ispawadwE'da" . . . ) 1.214.18. 



The members of the exogamic group are relatives, and as such term 

 one another wula'isTc ("relatives"), plural iruhriila'i.slc: Nin'.l'gan- 

 ■sEmg'iddd'ixsga widald'm wulwula'isgEm . . . ("therefore the law of 

 relationship is very sacred") 1.218.28. 



In the translation of the tales I have throughout used the term 

 "clan" to translate the Tsimshian term ptd°x. In the present dis- 

 cussion of the social organization, in which it seems important to 

 avoid all ambiguity, I have used the term "exogamic group" in its 

 place. The organization of the Tsimshian as here described docs 

 not seem to me to make it advisable to use the term "phratry" for 

 these divisions. Neither are the subdmsions sufficiently well 

 marked to be called "clans" hi contrast to the larger exogamic divis- 

 ions. In the present discussion I have employed the term "clan" 

 only in those cases where the members of a particular family group, 

 in their characteristic quality as a part of the exogamic division, 

 are referred to (see p. 500, footnote). 



