118 B GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



up to define the limits of the various properties, and woe to the dishon- 

 est Indian who appropriates anything of value — as for instance a 

 stranded shark, or seal or sea-otter which has died from its wounds — 

 that conies ashore on the stretch of coast belonging to another. Along 

 the shores the principal berry-gathering grounds arc found, and thus 

 divided. The larger salmon streams are often the property jointly of a 

 number of families ; and at these autumn fishing grounds temporary 

 houses, small and roughly constructed, are generally to be found. The 

 split cedar planks of the permanent houses are not usually carried by 

 the Haidas to these less substantial houses, though this custom prevails 

 Temporary elsewhere on the coast. The construction of the houses thus tempora- 

 rily occupied is generally so slight and rough as to necessitate no 

 particular description. Poles or cedar planks are built or piled together 

 in whatever manner seems best suited to keep out the rain. ;In some 

 cases where the}^ are more substantial they resemble on a reduced scale 

 those of the permanent villages. The mode of construction of the 

 latter is described further on. In these temporary shelters, or in even 

 less commodious camps among the trees, the natives live during a 

 considerable part of the year, engaged in salmon fishing, the cutting 

 down of trees and rough hewing of canoes, the gathering and prepara- 

 tion of cedar bark for mats, and other occupations, which, each at its 

 appropriate season, fill out the annual round of duties. 



Gatherings for The actual construction of the permanent houses devolves entirely 



construction of Jr _ , 



houses. ori the men, but is not effected by individual effort. Indeed, the very 



size of the beams and planks used necessitates the cooperation of many 

 hands. The erection of a house, therefore, in all its stages, from the 

 cutting and hewing out of the beams in the forest, the launching of 

 these and towing them to the village, their erection and fitting, forms 

 the occasion of a ■' bee ' or gathering of natives, which generally includes 

 detachments from neighbouring villages, and is the occasion of a pot- 

 latch or giving away of property by the person for whom the labour 

 is undertaken. Several such gatherings are usually required for the 

 completion of a house, which may he some years in course of construc- 

 tion, as the man for whom the work is done generally exhausts his 

 available resources on each occasion, and requires again to accumulate 

 property, and especially blankets, for a new effort. Dancing and 

 gaming relieve the monotony of the work, which generally occupies 

 but a small portion of each day, and is conducted with much talk and 

 noise, and the shouting of many diverse orders as the great beams are 

 handled. 

 Chieftaincy. Among the Haidas each permanent village constitutes a chieftaincy, 



and has a recognized head chief. The chiefs still possess considerable 

 influence, but it is becoming less, and was doubtless veiy much greater 



