121 
powerful ill so far as he is eloquent; and, even if he kills himself 
talking and liaranguing, he will not be obeyed unless he pleases the 
savages.”! The same loose organization characterized the larger 
communities created when some of the bands amalgamated, as the 
Montagnais usually did during the season for catching eels, the 
Dogrib at the spring migration of tlie caribou, and the Eskimo during 
the season for sealing; for the leaders of the various bands were all 
of equal standing except in so far as one man might possess for tlie 
moment greater prestige. 
An amalgamation of all the bands of a tribe, even for a few days 
only, was exceedingly rare, owing to the distances between their 
hunting-grounds and the difficulty of securing enough fish and game 
in one locality to support a large, if transient, ])opulation.- Outlying 
bands usually had contact only with their neighbours, who often 
belonged to a different tribe. Separation from their kindred then 
weakened the sense of unity; foreign infiuences brought in new 
customs and new ideas; anrl isolation facilitated the evolution of 
distinct dialects. Foreign marriages, disturbances of population 
caused by wars and famines, and many other factors aided the centri- 
fugal movement. There was no chief for the entire tribe, no central 
organization, no sacred shrine or holy city recognized by all that could 
serve as a common rallying point. When the differences in language 
l)etween two adjacent tribes were small, no greater, for example, 
than between Spanish and Italian, tlie border bands of each tended 
to merge into one another, so that it was imjiossible to decide where 
one tribe ended and the other began. By what means then can we 
distinguish them? 
We may admit at the outset that the term tribe, strictly speak- 
ing, is hardly applicable to tlie eastern and northern peoples of 
Canada; for the word inqilies a body of peojile who occupy a con- 
tinuous territory, who possess the same customs, speak the same 
language, and act as a unit in matters of offence and defence. It 
implies, further, a clear political separation from neighbouring 
peoples, usually associaterl in turn with differences in customs and 
in language. Doubtless there were real tribes of this character in 
the regions we are considering — the Beothuk of Newfoundland, the 
1 “Jesnit Relations,” vi, p. 243. 
“ ('/• 11, p. 201. 
86959— 9 i 
