257 
system forced upon them from without. One by one they ceded 
their territories to the invaders, and wherever European colonization 
was proceeding, submitted to confinement on narrow reserves. The 
needs of the colonists then became their needs also, and in place 
of their former self-sufficiency, they were reduced to purchasing most 
of the necessities of life at European trading stores. 
60670 
A typical fur-trading- jiost. -with its Indian cabins and clinrcli. Macleod Lake, B.C., 
in the territory of the tSekani. (Photo hi/ D. Jennesti.) 
Parallel to this revolution in the economic conditions was a 
complete breaking down of the old social order, of the systems of 
law, government, and religion on which their societies rested. Trap- 
ping, which compelled the dispersal of the individual families during 
three-fourths of the year, weakened the strong community spirit 
engendered by common settlements and co-operative action in war- 
fare, fishing, and hunting. The fur traders, with one or two notable 
exceptions, thought only of multiplying skins, and regarded with 
more or less veiled contempt the institutions and customs of the 
natives who furnished their annual turnover. They ap])raised the 
Indian not by his character or tribal standing, but by the number 
of skins he could bring in each spring, and they bestowed their favour 
only where it seemed most likely to enhance their profits. “ Post ” 
natives disregarded or undermined the prestige of the chiefs and 
elders, who could not enforce their authority without incurring the 
