G72 REPORT— 1898. 



But it is not the geographical location alone which influences the dis- 

 tribution of tales. In some cases, numerous tales which are common to 

 a certain territory stop short at a certain point, and are found beyond it 

 in slight fragments only. These limits do not by any means coincide 

 with the linguistic divisions. An example of this kind is the raven 

 legend, to which reference has been made. It is found in substantially 

 the same form from Alaska to northern Vancouver Island ; then it sud- 

 denly disappears almost entirely, and is not found among the .southern 

 tribes of Kwakiutl lineage, nor on the west coast of Vancouver Island, 

 although the northern tribes, who speak the Kwakiutl language, have it. 

 Only fragments of these legends have strayed farther south, and their 

 number diminishes witli increasing distance. There must be a cause for 

 such a remarkable break. A statistical inquiry shows that the northern 

 traditions are in close accord with the tales of the tribes as far south as 

 the central part of Vancouver Island, where a tribe of Salish lineage is 

 found ; but farther they do not go. The closely allied tribes immediately 

 south do not possess them. Only one explanation of this fact is possible, 

 viz., lack of assimilation, which may be due to a difference of character, 

 to continued hostilities, or to recent changes in the location of the tribes, 

 which has not allowed the slow process of assimilation to exert its deep- 

 aCting influence. The last may be considered the most probable cause. 

 The reason for this opinion is, that the Bilqula, another Salish tribe, who 

 have become separated from the people speaking related languages, and 

 who live in the far north, still show in their mythologies close relations 

 to the southern Salish tribes, with whom they have many more traits in 

 common than their neighbours to the north and to tlie south. If their 

 removal had taken place very long ago, this similarity in mythologies would 

 probably not have persisted, but they would have been quite amalgamated 

 with their new neighbours. 



We may also extend our comparisons beyond the immediate neighbours 

 of the tribes under consideration by comparing tlie mythologies of the 

 tribes of the plateaus in the interioi-, and even of those farther to the 

 east, with those of the coast. Unfortunately, the available material from 

 these regions is very scanty. Fairly good collections exist from the 

 Athapaskan tribes, from tlie tribes of Columbia River, and — east of the 

 mountains —from the Omaha, and from some Algonkin tribes. When 

 comparing the mythologies and traditions which belong to far-distant 

 regions, we find that the number of incidents wliich they have in common 

 is greater than might liave been expected ; but some of those incidents 

 are so general that we may assume that they liave no connection, and 

 may have arisen independently. There is, however, one very chai'acter- 

 istic feature which proves beyond cavil that tliis is not the sole cause of 

 the similarity of tales and incidents. We know that in the region under 

 discussion two important trade routes reached tlie Pacific coast — one 

 along the Columbia River, which connected the region inhabited by 

 Shoshonean tribes with the coast, and indirectly led to territories occupied 

 by Siouan and Algonkin tribes ; another one which led from Athapaskan 

 territory to the country of tlie Bilqula. A route of minor importance led 

 down Fraser River. A study of the traditions shows that along these 

 routes the points of contact of mythologies are strongest, and rapidly 

 diminisli with increasing distances from these routes. On Columbia 

 River the points of contact are with the Algonkin and Sioux ; among 

 the Bilqula they are with the Athapaskan. This phenomenon can haixily 



