ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 801 



Columbia is in some respects remarkably similar to that which prevailed 

 in New Zealand. If the inquiries which have been instituted by the 

 Association sliall have the effect of averting a very possible conflict of 

 races, their utility will be very great — one might almost say incalculable. 

 It may be well, therefore, to draw particular attention to some noteworthy 

 facts set forth in Dr. Boas's report. We learn that the land occupied by 

 certain tribes is held, not by the tribe, nor by individuals, but by the clan, 

 or f/ens, which is consequently the only authority able to dispose of it ; 

 and, further, that when the land is sold the original owners are still con- 

 sidered by the native law to retain ' the right of fishing, huntinfr, and 

 gathering berries in their old home.' It is easy to see how, when" these 

 native laws and usages are not understood, collisions might at any time 

 arise, in which each party would naturally claim to be in the right. It 

 should, further, be borne in mind that as there are eight distinct stocks in 

 the Province there may possibly be as many distinct systems of land 

 tenure. At all events, it is certain that the tenure among the tribes in 

 which the clan system exists must differ in one important respect from 

 that of the tribes in which it is unknown. 



It is evident that, as Dr. Boas suggests, this branch of inquiry is one 

 which deserves to be carefully prosecuted, both for its scientific interest 

 and for the great practical benefit which may result from it. 



First Oeneral Report on the Indians of British Columbia. 

 By Dr. Franz Boas. 



Introductory Note. 



The following report on the Indians of British Columbia embodies 

 the general results of a reconnaissance made by the writer in the summer 

 of 1888, under the auspices of the Committee of the British Association 

 appointed for the purpose of collecting information respecting the North- 

 western Tribes of the Dominion of Canada, supplemented by observations 

 made by the author on a previous trip in the winter of 1886-87. A 

 preliminary report was published in the Fourth Report of the Committee. 

 The present report contains the principal results of the author's investi- 

 gations on the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and Kutonaqa (Kootanie). 

 His limited time and the preparations for a new journey to British 

 Columbia, undertaken under the auspices of the Comn\ittee, did not 

 permit him to study exhaustively the extensive osteological material 

 collected on the previous journeys. For the same reason the linguistic 

 material collected among the Nootka and Kwakiutl is kept back. Besides 

 this it seemed desirable to await the publication of the grammar of the 

 latter language by the Rev. A. J. Hall in the 'Tran.sactions of the Royal 

 Society of Canada ' before publishing the linguistic notes on the same 

 stock, which are necessarily fragmentary when compared to a grammar 

 drawn up by a student who has lived many years among the Indians 

 speaking that language. The chapters on social organisation, customs, 

 art, and knowledge are also necessarily incomplete. The diCaculty of 

 observing or even acquiring information on such points during a flying 

 visit of a fortnight — the maximum time spent among any single tribe — 

 is so overwhelming that no thorough report is possible, and it is almost 

 impossible to guard against serious errors. On account of this 

 diriiculty the author has paid great attention to the collection of reports 

 1889. 3 y 



