ON THE NOKTH-WESTEKN TRIBES OF CANADA. 807 



tribes appear to bo decreasing in numbers, while the coast tribes appear 

 to be almost stationary. The above list gives a total of about 27,900. 

 To these muBt be added 1,500 Tinneh and 8,522 ' bands not visited,' 

 whoever these may be. 



The Indians of the interior have almost entirely given up their ancient 

 customs. They are mostly Roman Catholics, but there are a few Pro- 

 testants. Of course a considerable amount of paganism is still lurking 

 under the Christianism of these natives. They are good stock- raisers, and 

 endeavour to irrigate their lands ; but it seems that the majority are poor. 

 The lower Kutona'qa still adhere, to a great extent, to their ancient cus- 

 toms. They are principally fishermen. All the Salish tribes catch a 

 considerable amount of fish, while the upper Kutona'qa were originally 

 hunters. 



The coast Indians are well off up to this day. While the efforts of 

 mi.^sionaries among the Haida have so far not been very successful, the 

 Tsimshian proper have become Christianised. They have given up all 

 their old customs except those referring to their social organi.sation. The 

 gentes are still acknowledged, and the laws referring to the mutual sup- 

 port among members of one gens and to the work to be done by the 

 father's gens at certain occasions (see p. 837) are still in force. The final 

 giving up of customs seems to be done by the council, not by the indi- 

 viduals. The Heiltsuk- have been Protestants for many years, while 

 the Bilqula are still uninfluenced by contact with missionaries. The 

 same is true, to a large extent, among the Kwakintl, only a few individuals 

 of the Nimkic tribe adhering to the Episcopalian Church. The Coast 

 Salish belong in part to the Roman Catholic Church ; but notwithstanding 

 their allegations paganism still prevails to a great extent. In the 

 report of the Department of Indian Affairs almost all of them are 

 enumerated as Roman Catholics, even the pagan tribes of Comox, Victoria, 

 and Nanaimo, where their old customs are still rigidly adhered to. 

 Among the Nootka the Roman Catholics have gained considerable 

 influence. 



In my preliminary report I have dwelt upon the present state of these 

 Indians, the causes of their discontent, and the incapacity of white 

 settlers to nnder.st;ind the peculiar culture of the Indian. The establish- 

 ment of industrial schools, which is now taken up energetically, is a 

 great step forward, and will help the Indians to reach independence and 

 to retain or regain self-esteem, one of the foundations of progress. T will 

 not repeat the statements made and the views expressed last year. It is 

 to bo hoped that by a considerate land policy, by the encouragement of 

 industrii's rather tlian of agriculture, and b}- an attempt to develop existing 

 institutions instead of destroying them the Indians will in course of time 

 become useful men and good citizens. 



Physical Character. 



Tiie physical characteristics of the coast tribes are very uniform. This 

 is undoubtedly due to the frequent intermarriages between the various 

 tribes, which have had also a distinct effect upon the various languages, 

 some of which have borrowed great numbers of words from the languages 

 spoken by neighbouring tribes. I shall refer to this fact later on. 

 The habitus of the northern tribes of this region is similar to that of 

 East Asiatic tribes — a fact which was observed by R. Virchow, who 



