boas] TSIMSHIAN SOCIETY 525 



tematic way in which all the Raven families have been brought into 

 one genealogical series. The Haida Eagles, on the other hand, show 

 much more obscure relationships, and there are many cases among 

 them that refer to an influx of foreign elements. From this Swanton 

 concludes that the Eagles may be by origin a foreign tribe that 

 became an exogamic unit. In support of this view he points out that 

 most of the supernatural beings are considered as Ravens, although 

 supernatural beings of the Eagle side occur near all Eagle villages, 

 and also that most of the important ancient villages of the Haida are 

 Raven villages. 



For the Tlingit, Swanton finds a preponderance of tales accounting 

 for the origin of all their families in the south. This decides him to 

 place the ancient habitat of the Tlingit east of Queen Charlotte 

 Islands, at the mouth of Skeena River. 



If we treat the traditions of the Tsimshian in the same manner, .we 

 have to conclude that the main body of the G'ispawadwE'da are by 

 origin an inland people, that the Eagles came from Queen Charlotte 

 Islands and Alaska, the Wolves from the Tahltan, the Ravens from 

 the Tlingit, and part of the GispawadwE'da from the islands north 

 of Bellabella. 



Excepting the inland origin of the G'ispawadwE'da, these data 

 contradict the conclusions drawn from the Haida and Tlingit evidence. 

 The Tsimshian view of the inland origin of some of the ancestors is to 

 a certain extent supported by the internal evidence of their my- 

 thology. In fact, many years before I knew that the Tsimshian held 

 any such belief , I had expressed the conclusion that the Tsimshian 

 must have been an inland tribe. 1 



Most of the Tsimshian subgroups derive their origin from Tlingit 

 subgroups and from the Tahltan. They place these tribes in the 

 north. Therefore we should have to conclude that the Tlingit 

 occupied the whole northern coast at the time when these subgroups 

 were established among the Tsimshian. The Eagles, who, according 

 to Swanton's data, were foreigners among the Haida, would also be 

 foreigners among the Tsimshian; and the Raven side (viz, their 

 Tsimshian equivalent), that represents the ancient Haida, would also 

 represent the ancient Tsimshian. 



The only definite conclusion that can be drawn is that the exo- 

 gamic groups have grown up by accessions, and that perhaps one or 

 another may have been added to the ancient Tsimshian groups. For 

 linguistic reasons this seems plausible for theGanha'da of the Tsim- 

 shian, because the name of the group itself is not of Tsimshian origin. 



The tales relating to the origin of these divisions impress me as a 

 projection into the past of modern experiences regarding the accession 



'Boas 4, p. 347. 



