2 
of the Rocky inoiuitains between the headwaters of the Saskatchewan 
and Athabaska rivers. A c}uarter of a million ])eople cannot effect- 
ively occupy an area of nearly four million square miles, and there 
were doubtless many districts seldom or never trodden by the foot of 
man, just as there are to-day. But it is important to remember that 
almost eveiy part of the country was claimed by one or other of the 
numerous tribes of Indians, and that the Ihiro})eans who came to 
colonize it were nsurpei’s in the eyes of the aborigines, except so far 
as they received rights to their land from the aborigines themselves. 
The name Indian which we use to designate the aborigines of 
America owes its origin to Columbus, who believerl that his voyage 
had brought liim by a new route to Asiatic India. Since Columbus' 
day it has been applied to all the aborigines of the New World, except 
the Eskimo in the far north, who received a special designation 
owing to their singular appearance and unusual mode of life. Yet in 
Canada alone there existed over fifty tribes, each of which spoke a 
separate language or dialect and possessed its own ])eculiar manners 
and customs. There was no common designation for the whole 
country, no single name for all its inhabitants. Is there any justifica- 
tion, then, other than a purely geographical one, for entitling all the 
aborigines Indians, with the implication that they belong to one 
common stock? 
Disregarding the Eskimo for tlie moment, let us consider what 
are the physical characteristics of the Indians of Canada. We notice, 
first, some remarkable uniformities throughout the entire country. 
Everywhere tlie colour of the skin is some shade of brown, varying 
from a yellowish to a reddish tinge; it is never a distinct red, however, 
so that the term “Red” Indian is really a misnomer. The hair of 
the head is lank, l)lack, and faiidy abundant; but hair is generally 
sparse on other parts of the person. The eyes, which range in colour 
from medium to dark brown, are often somewhat oblique, and the 
so-called “ mongolian fold ” occurs fairly fi’eciuently, especially in 
children. The face is wider and rather more ]^rognathic than among 
Europeans, and the chest is somewhat full; but the body and limbs 
are well-proportioned, even if the hands and feet are often not as 
large as in the white race. 
Underlying these general uniformities, however, we notice a 
considerable diversity in appearance as we pass from east to west, 
