NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 
33 
PROTECTION, 
The mountain goat has probably a better chance of survival in a 
wild state than any other American game animal, except possibly 
the Virginia deer. It is protected even from man by the extreme 
ruggedness of its mountain habitat and although it will prob- 
ably be exterminated in certain localities, if given a moderate 
amount of protection it can hold its own throughout most of its 
range. Its history will probably be like that of the chamois in 
Europe, as the country grows more populated. 
In some localities it is in great need of protection. In southern 
British Columbia, the Indians, who are not amenable to the laws 
governing the white man, but are protected by treaty rights 
secured by the Dominion government, kill right and left with 
impunity. In Canada, even more than in the United States, 
solicitude for the noble red man works great injury to all our 
game animals. In the early days, from motives of self-interest, 
the Indian may have been moderate in his killing, but, having 
abandoned his archaic weapons in favor of modern fire-arms, he 
is now an unmitigated butcher. 
The Kootenays on the upper Columbia and the Stoneys on the 
east face of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, are game mur- 
derers and it is the boast of the latter that no game can live 
where they hunt. In the interest of game protection in British 
Columbia, it is greatly to be regretted that the enforcement of 
stringent laws cannot be extended to the Indians. Curiously 
enough, many persons, who would ordinarily be friendly to game 
protection, have become so interested in the natives, that they 
advocate hunting privileges for Indians which they deny to the 
white man, under the mistaken impression that the Indian kills 
only what he needs. The strange delusion has recently led to 
an attempt by a benevolent United States Senator to repeal the 
game laws for Alaska and leave that great game region to the 
fiiercv of the native and meat hunter. 
SALE OF GAME HEADS. 
The hunting of the Stoney Indians has been somewhat discour- 
aged by a wise law recently enacted in the Northwest Provinces, 
prohibiting the sale of game heads. This law is especially bene- 
ficial to sheep, since the demand for heads of large rams has been 
steadily increasing. Oreamnos has not suffered greatly from 
head hunting, as its horns do not offer much of a trophy except 
