QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 119 B 



in former times. It was never, however, the absolute and despotic 



authority which is sometimes attributed to Indian chiefs. The chief 



is merely the head or president of the various family combinations, 



and unless his decisions carry with them the assent of the other lecders 



they have not much weight. He has no power of compelling work Power of chiefi 



from other members of the tribe. Should he require a new house he lim 



must pay for its erection by making a distribution of property, just as 



any other man of the tribe would do; and indeed it is expected of the 



chief that he shall be particularly liberal in these givings away, as well 



as in providing feasts for the people. He is also srrpposed to do the 



honours to distinguished visitors. In Captain Dixon's narrative, the 



following statements concerning the position of the chiefs at the time 



of his visit are found : — " Though every tribe met with at these islands 



is governed by its respective chief, yet they are divided into families, 



each of which appears to have regulations and a kind of subordinate 



government of its own : the chief usually trades for the whole tribe; 



but I have sometimes observed that when this method of barter has 



been disapproved of, each separate family has claimed a right to 



dispose of their own furs, and the chief always complied with this 



recmest." 



The chieftaincy is hereditary, and on the death of a chief devolves Succession to 



it it i • chieftaincy. 



upon his next eldest brother, or should he have no brother, on nis 

 nephew, or lacking both of these his sister or niece may in rare cases 

 inherit the chieftaincy, though when this occurs it is probably only 

 nominal. It is possible — as occasionally happens in the matter of 

 succession to property — that a distant male relative may, in want of 

 near kinsmen, be adopted by the mother of the deceased as a new son, 

 and may inherit the chieftaincy. I have not, however, heard of cases 

 of this kind. Should all these means of filling the succession fail, a 

 new chief is then either elevated by the consensus of public opinion, or 

 the most opulent and ambitious native attains the position by making 

 a potlatch, or giving away of property greater than any of the rest can 

 afford. Should one man distribute ten blankets, the next may dispose 

 of twenty, the first tries to cap this by a second distribution, and so on 

 till the means of all but one have been exhausted. This form may in 

 reality become a species of election, for should there be a strong feeling 

 in favour of any particular man, his friends may secretly reinforce his 

 means till he carries his point. In no case, however, does the chief- 

 taincy pass from the royal clan to any of the lesser men of the tribe. 

 On being elevated to the chieftaincy the chief assumes a hereditary 

 name, which is also colloquially used as that of the tribe he rules. 

 Thus there is always a Cumshewa, Skedan, Skidegate, &c. ; and since 

 the islands have been frequented by vessels, the word ' captain ' is 



