ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 235' 



consequent difficulty of finding full-blood Indians. The once abundant 

 material of old native crania and skeletons lying scattered all over the 

 province is becoming more and more scarce as it decays and the country 

 is being reclaimed. 



' It is nowhere sufficient to study languages alone in order to solve 

 ethnological problems ; but in this province the study of a large amount 

 of anthropological material is an absolute necessity on account of the 

 diversity of languages and the great dialectic diiferences in some of them. 

 The Salish stock in British Columbia, for instance, is spoken in eleven dia- 

 lects, which are each unintelligible to the speakers of the others. It would 

 be of great importance to study the anthropological featui'es of this race, 

 the northern tribes of which are physically very much like the Kwakiutl. 



' Last of all I mention the antiquities of the province. Valuable relics 

 are destroyed every day. They are turned up by the plough and thrown^ 

 away : graves and mounds are levelled, shell heaps are used for manuring 

 purposes, cairns are removed. The destruction will be very thorough, as 

 those parts in which relics are found are at the same time those which are 

 the earliest to be reclaimed. 



' For all these reasons an early study of the ethnology of the province 

 must be considered a necessity. In the course of a few years much might 

 be done to preserve the most important facts. The languages might be 

 reduced to writing, the interesting poems and songs that are still afloat 

 might be preserved, we might obtain a complete account of the mythology, 

 and sufficient material for anthropological researches. A few years hence it 

 will be impossible to obtain a great part of the information that may now 

 be gathered at a comparatively slight expense. 



'I cannot close these remarks without adding a few words on the 

 present state of the Coast Indians. It is well known that they have been 

 greatly reduced in numbers since the advent of the whites, and that they 

 are still diminishing. It is also well known that, with few exceptions, 

 they have made no progress whatever. The reasons for these facts are 

 easily understood : the natives become accustomed to products of our 

 manufacture, and in order to purchase them become servants where they 

 have been masters before. At the same time their native industries 

 decay. This process is hastened by the influence of missionaries, who 

 discourage all native arts, as connected with their heathenish customs, 

 without being able to supply anything in their stead. Thus the psychical 

 life of the natives is impoverished, and this, I think, accounts principally 

 for their rapid degradation after their first contact with the whites. The only 

 way to civilise these tribes is clearly shown by Mr. W. Duncan's success at 

 Metlakahtla. He made the Indians of Metlakahtla a self-sustaining, in- 

 dependent community. Similar results are gradually being obtained in 

 other places, and these results show that the establishment of independent 

 industries on co-operative principles will educate the Indians and make 

 them capable of becoming useful members of the State. The easiest and 

 soundest way to do this is to encourage native industries and arts — fish- 

 ing and working in wood. At the same time the natives ought to be 

 educated to a more sanitary way of living. This can be attained only by 

 putting energetic medical men in charge of Indian districts. There can 

 be no doubt that an intelligent man, capable of adjusting his argument to 

 the mind of the Indian, would easily induce them to a thorough sani- 

 tation. The Indians do not individually give up their old customs, but 

 invariably do so in coi^ncil. By gaining their confidence, the council. 



