ON THE NORTU-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 819 



towards the front. There is also a platform running along the walls of 

 the houses ; but while in the houses of the Kwakiutl it is made of earth, 

 here it is carefully built of wood. All along the rear wall of the house, 

 which is somewhat higher than the opposite, runs a loft, which is about 

 five feet wide. It is used as a storeroom. There are no sheds serving 

 for bedrooms, but the beds are arranged on the platforms.' 



The houses here described are found in stationary villages. In 

 travelling small sheds made of bark, of wood, or of branches are used. 



The Salish of the interior used to live in subterranean houses, access 

 to which was obtained from above. These were used in winter, and afforded 

 a good shelter from the severe cold. In summer tents were used. 



The Kootenay live in large lodges, the framework of which consists of 

 converging poles. They used to be covered with buffalo hides, but now 

 canvas is mostly used. 



Social Organi3Ation. 



J. G. Frazer, in his comprehensive review of totemism, defines the 

 totem as ' a class of material objects which a savage regards with supersti- 

 tious respect, believing that there exists between himself and every mem- 

 ber of the class an intimate and altogether special relation. As dis- 

 tinguished from a fetish, a totem is never an isolated individual, but 

 always a class of objects.' Accepting this definition, I will try to outline 

 the peculiar kind of totemism as observed in British Columbia. Among 

 the Kootenay and Salish of the interior I did not find the slightest trace 

 of the existence of totems. 



The Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and Heiltsnk' have animal totems. 

 The first of these have two phratries — the raven and eagle (or wolf) ; 

 the Tsimshian have four totems — raven, eagle, wolf, and bear ; the 

 Heiltsuk' three — raven, eagle, and killer (I)dphinus orca). Animal 

 totems in the proper sense of this term are confined to these four peoples. 

 They are not found among the Kwakiutl, although they belong to the 

 same linguistic stock to which the Heiltsuk" belong. The clans of the 

 four peoples mentioned above bear the names of their respective totems. 

 These phratries or clans are exogamous. It must be clearly understood 

 that the natives do not consider themselves descendants of the totem. 

 The Tlingit, for instance, who believe in a transmigration of souls, state 

 clearly and plainly that a man will be born again as a man, a wolf as a 

 wolf, a raven as a raven, notwithstanding the fact that the animal and a 

 member of its clan are considered relations. Thus the wolf gens will pray 

 to the wolves, ' We are your relations ; pray don't hurt us ! ' But not- 

 withstanding this fact they will hunt wolves without hesitation. So 

 far as I am aware, this is true of all tribes, although the opposite view 

 has frequently been expressed. All my endeavours to obtain information 

 regarding the supposed origin of this relation between man and animal 

 have invariably led to the telling of a myth, in which it is stated how a cer- 

 tain ancestor of the clan in question obtained his totem. The character 

 of these legends is uniform among all the peoples of this region ; even 

 further south, among the Kwakiutl and the northern tribes of the Coast 

 Salish, who have no animal totem in the restricted sense of this term. As 

 these legends reveal the fundamental views the natives hold in regard to 



' See ' Tlie Houses of the Kwakiutl Indians, British Columbia,' Proc. U.S. National 

 Mvicum, 1888, pp. 197-213. 



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