254 REPOET— 1888. 



Peace River, and a southern, who dwell about the head-waters of the 

 North Saskatchewan, towards the Rocky Mountains. The latter, he says, 

 are the Sards, who have separated themselves from tlie northern band. 

 The tribal name of Sotenna, which Mr. Wilson obtained from the Sarcees, 

 is evidently a dialectical variation of M. Petitot's Tsa-ttinne. 



It has been supposed that the separation of the Sarcees from their 

 Tinneh kindred, followed by their union with the Blackfeet, was the 

 result of dissensions among the Tinneh tribes. But the information 

 obtained by Mr. Wilson shows that this idea was not well founded. The 

 separation is now ascribed by the Sarcees to a superstitious panic, but 

 very probably resulted merely from the natural desire of their forefathers 

 to find a better country and climate. Their southward advance brought 

 them in contact with the Blackfeet, with whom they confederated, not 

 against their Tinneh kindred, as had been supposed, but against the Crees, 

 •who have from time immemorial been the common enemies of the Tinneh. 

 and Blackfoot tribes. 



The legend of the deluge, which Mr. Wilson obtained, is given by 

 M. Petitot in a slightly different form, which on some accounts is worthy 

 of notice. In early times, we are told, there was a ' deluge of snow ' in 

 September. This was changed to a flood of water by the act of ' the 

 mouse,' an important character in the mythology of some of the Tinneh 

 tribes, being regarded as ' the symbol or genius of death.' He pierced 

 the skin-bag in which ' the heat ' was contained, and the snow was forth- 

 with melted. The flood quickly rose above the mountains and drowned 

 the whole human race except one old man, who had foreseen the 

 catastrophe and had vainly warned his neighbours. He had made for 

 himself a large canoe, in which he floated, gathering on it all the animals 

 he met. After a time he ordered several of these animals to dive and 

 seek for earth. These were the beaver, the otter, the musk-rat, and the 

 arctic duck. According to this version of the story, it was neither the 

 beaver nor the musk-rat that brought up the earth, but the duck. This 

 morsel of earth was extended by the breath of the old man, who blew 

 upon it until it became an immense island, on which he placed succes- 

 sively, during six days, all the animals, and finally disembarked himself. 



This story is evidently made up from various sources. The skin-bag 

 of heat bitten through by the mouse seems to be a genuine Tinneh 

 invention. The diving of the animals, with the formation of the new 

 earth, is a well-known creation myth of the Algonkin and Iroquois tribes ; 

 and the ' six days ' are probably a late addition derived from the 

 missionary teachings. An inquirer among the Indian tribes is constantly 

 coming across such composite myths, which require careful study and 

 analysis. 



Other observers agree with Mr. Wilson in regarding the Northern 

 Tinneh ti-ibes as inferior in intelligence to the neighbouring Indians of 

 other stocks. This is doubtless a just view. The inferiority, however, 

 would seem to be not from any natural deficiency, but rather the result 

 of the very unfavourable conditions under which the former are con- 

 demned to live. Not much can be expected from bands of widely 

 scattered nomads, often famine-stricken, wandering over a barren region, 

 nnder inclement skies. In better surroundings their good natural 

 endowments become apparent. The Hoopas of California display much 

 intelligence and energy, Mr. Stephen Powers, in his account of the 

 ' Tribes of California,' published by the American Bureau of Ethnology, 



