556 BEPOBT— 1892. 



Kal tldaa' tletl Etltsin, a horse half white, half black (Pinto). 



K'ha'sEno'stldm „ a roan horse. 



Ka'nokdyu' kaQo „ a ' buckskin ' horse. 



Ka'notstld'aJca't' „ a ' blue ' horse. 



Kd'makts'k'o'wdt „ a sorrel horse (ht. ' yellow hair '), 



I'ntcuk k'd'wdt „ a mouse-coloured horse (lit. 'mouse 



hair ') . 



Social Organisation. 



The social system of the Kootenays seems a simple one. As far as- 

 could be learnt totems and secret societies, so characteristic of some other 

 British Columbian peoples, do not exist, and probably have not existed,, 

 amongst them. 



The head of each tribal or local community was the chief (ndsu'kwen, 

 'the good one '), whose office originally was hereditary. Women were 

 not allowed to become chiefs, and it is probable that the age of thirty had 

 to be reached before the chiefship could be held. One method of selecting 

 the chief appears to have been this : All the men, women, and children 

 gathered together around a large fire. The medicine men then conferred 

 with the spirits, and in some mysterious way the chief was named. In 

 the time of the great buffalo hunts a ' buffalo chief ' was elected, who 

 had authority overall daring the expeditions. The selection of the chiefs 

 by direct election has been of late years introduced by the authorities of 

 the Roman Catholic Church, whose influence is now greater than that of 

 the old chiefs, and whose power is much more feared by the Indians than 

 theirs. When the chief wished to consult with his people he called them 

 in a loud voice to come to his large tepee. It is probable that from early 

 times a sort of advisory council existed. Each of the divisions 

 (Columbia Lakes, Fort Steele, Kootenay Lake, Tobacco Plains) has its 

 own chief ; in the case of the Kootenay Lake tribe there is a deputy-chief 

 also, and the Tobacco Plains Indians possess two chiefs. 



Isidore, the Fort Steele chief, inherits his dignity from bis father 

 Joseph. The chief (by right) of the Lower Kootenays is said to have 

 refused the position, giving as a reason for his action that wars were now 

 all over, the buffaloes were dead, and there was now nothing left for a chief 

 to do. 



Slavery {g-dlnaad'ka, 'a war-party,' tci'kuotE'mdtl, 'a slave') was 

 customary in the old days, and the Kootenays had amongst them many 

 Blackfeet women and children, who were captured in their wars with 

 that nation. A curious custom, which has existed from time immemorial 

 amongst the Kootenays, is the payment by the relatives of the debts of a 

 deceased person. Debts outstanding for ten years have been known to 

 be paid in this way. 



Teems op Relationship. 



As far as ascertained, the Kootenay ^terms of relationship are as 

 follows : — 



-p ft, C ii^o'Mfflm (said by male). r^i^e'Mam(saidbymale) 



^ ' \ sD'fiam ( „ „' female). Grandmother, < papa' nam (said by male- 

 Mother, md'Eiiam. \_ or female). 



Grandfather, ^a/)(Z'?/aH(. Great-grandfather, d'tsemttl. 



