406 REPORT— 1902. 



present Kwa'ntlF.n are converts to the Roman faith, few, if any, of them 

 holding the old beliefs or practising the old customs of the tribe, which 

 are now practically traditions only among the present members. Conse- 

 quently I was unable to get such full or detailed accounts of the past 

 among them as among some of those who came later under white or 

 missionary influence. 



Ethnography. 



The Kwa'ntlEn were formerly one of the most powerful and extensive 

 of the river Halkome'lEm tribes. Their territories extended from the 

 mouth of the south arm of the Fraser up to the present settlement of 

 Hatzic, which is about sixty miles from salt water. They consequently 

 occupied or controlled more than half of the HalkOme'lEm lands of the 

 mainland. They touched the QmuskV Evi of the north arm, and the 

 SEivd'cEn on the sound on their west ; the Kc'tsl on Pitt River, a tribu- 

 tary of the Fraser, which enters the river a little above New Westminster : 

 the Snonkwc'aniEtl, of the Indian village of Sna'kinamEtl, a tribe now 

 wliolly extinct and well-nigh forgotten ; the Jfar'qul, whom they drove 

 back from the river front, in their centre ; and the NEkd'mEn on their 

 east. Their occvipation of the upper part of this territory dates only from 

 the founding of Fort Langley by the Hudson's Bay Company. Prior to 

 this they were mainly settled at or near what is now the city of New 

 Westminster. Adjacent to this old settlement was the limited territory 

 of the Kwl'kwitlEm tribe, who are said to have formerly occupied these 

 lands. They were a subject tribe held in servitude by the Kwa'ntlEn, 

 who treated them as their slaves and servants. According to one 

 Kwa'ntlEn tradition, they were brought into being for this purpose. 

 Historically considered, they are probably a non-Halkome'lEm people and 

 the predecessors of the Kwa'ntlEn in that portion of the delta. They 

 number but a few souls now, and their long association and later inter- 

 marriages with the Kwa'ntlEn have apparently effectually effaced any 

 ethnic differences they might once have exhibited, Archaeological investi^ 

 gations show occupation and settlement of the old centre of the Kwa'ntlEn 

 people centuries, or perliaps millenniums, before the Halkomr'lEn tribes 

 could have arrived on the river. 



The present village settlements of the Tvwa'ntlEn, as enumerated by 

 my informants, are as follows, the oj'der being from east to west down the 

 river : — 



Sqai'Ets, on Stave River, 



Ho'nak, a division a few miles below the mouth of the Stave River, 

 which has given the name ' Whonnooh ' to the white settlement and rail- 

 way station of that vicinity. 



Kwa'ntlEn, at Fort Langley. 



Saai'mnEtl, at New Westminster. 



Klkait, at Brownsville, on the opposite side of the river. 



The Kwa'ntlEn have always regarded themselves as the head of the 

 tribe, the s\a'm of this division being always tlie supreme chief of the 

 whole tribe. I could not obtain the original signification of the term 

 Kwa'ntlEn. Formerly they used to call themselves <E slci'm-Kioa'ntlEn, 

 ' the royal Kwa'ntlEn,' or ' the Kwa'ntlnn-royal.' They were undoubtedly 

 once a numerous and powerful tribe, and are known to have kept undisr 



