MENTAL AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS. 105

He had lately lost by drowning a nephew of his, and on that account he
was supposed to be lurking about, in order to get satisfaction for his misfor-
tune by doing away with any strange Indian he might meet. Hence the fears
of my people, and their contention that he was hiding somewhere in the
outskirts of the village. As nobody could be found, I naively imagined they
must be satisfied that fear had had the better of their judgment. But no.
As | started home, they set upon making a speech, turned in the direction
of the supposed hiding place of the would-be murderer, imploring him to
spare them, begging him to state what he wanted of them, promising him
all kinds of gifts if he would let them alone, etc. All the while the object of
their dread was perhaps 200 miles away! Such are the northern Dénés.

The Chief characteristics of the Nation.

How are we to account for so diametrically different psychic constitutions
in tribes otherwise so closely related? Of course, we must not overlook the
alterations resulting from admixture of blood in the southern Dénés. Their
captives generally married in the ranks of the captors, and a more manly
race was the consequence of such unions, just in the same way as, from a
physiological standpoint, we have seen commiscegenation improving the stock
in the north. But this would be begging the question: in order to be able
to make captives they must already have been possessed of some degree
of valour.

I think that the main reason for these remarkable differences between
southern and northern Dénés, apart from the immense superiority of the
material conditions of the former over the latter, lies in the chief charac-
teristic of the whole nation, a characteristic which, common to all the tribes,
is nevertheless the main source of their very psychic diversity. I wish to
impress on my reader this all important fact: at whatever age he may be
and under whatever climes he may live, the Déné is nothing but a child.
His mind never outgrows that stage of culture. All the Dénés, men or
women, are and remain simply grown up children. Their physical constitution
undergoes a normal development, but their minds’ activities are only on the
lines of childhood.

Being a child all his life long, the Déné is, as a matter of course, restless.
Being restless, he is nomadic, and cannot bear the restraints of authority.
As a nomad, he must have new land, which he will never stoop to cultivate:
hence his inroads on the preserves of his neighbours and the consequent
conflicts. Because he ignores authority, he becomes when opposed a regular
anarchist, to whom all means are good that help secure his ends. And as
he still remains a child, though a nomad and an anarchist, he will shrink
from attacking you openly. He will rather strike at you in the back, unless
despair or the very requirements of life-preservation force him to act more