142 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



rence. Mora commonly (and I should say quite often), the brothers 

 and near relatives of a man whose death was attributed to the secret 

 machinations of a Toeyen or medicine-man of a different village, 

 would go armed cap-a-])ie and kill the supposed autlior of their 

 relative's death. As a natural consequence, his co-clansmen would 

 come en masse to avenge his murder and then a regular battle would 

 take place, inasmuch as both sides would be prepared for the occasion. 

 The logical result of this was that security was rather precarious and 

 friendly intercourse, even between neighbouring villages, was not as 

 frequent as the short distance separating some of them would lead 

 one to expect. 



In no case was a whole tribe found united and, a fortiori two allied 

 tribes confederated, against a common enemy. And this leads me to 

 enter upon the subject of the Denes' social institutions. 



I may as well state at once that no form of government, in the 

 strict sense of the term, nor any ])olitical organisation of any kind 

 ever existed among them. Not only were the various tribes of the 

 same stock entirely independent of one another, biit even no tie of 

 any sort ever connected the different villages of the Carriers, Chilh;^- 

 otins and Western Nah'anes. The clans or gentes outstepped indeed 

 the village limits ; but they were social rather than political. For, 

 though a member of anyone of them could claim recognition from any 

 person of the same clan, however distant his village, he owed 

 allegiance to no constituted head thereof. 



Authority was represented in each locality by the college of 

 Tcenezas or notables which, mutatis mutandis, may be compared to 

 the nobility of European nations. Their rank was strictly hereditary 

 and was shared in by their children who were called aizkezas. The 

 possible successor to the position however, was only the toeneza's eldest 

 maternal nephew, whom he would generally bring up and educate 

 himself in view of his future position. Should he have no such 

 nephew, a younger brother, or failing him, even a maternal niece would 

 regularly succeed him. 



The notables were the sole pi'oprietors of the tribe's hunting 

 grounds, and as their name indicates ("the only men" is the nearest 



