254 THE GREAT DENE RACE.

of wedding her first cousin on her father’s side. We will see later on the
reason of this ordinance. In fact, with people recognizing the same law,
parentage through the paternal line was hardly regarded as a relationship at
all. In virtue of the law of exogamy which strictly forbade all unions between
members of the same clan, the father, himself belonging to a clan different
from that of his wife, was almost a stranger to his own offspring1; and when
it was a question of marriage, the children of his sister, for instance, were
reputed perfectly eligible as wives for his own, because they belonged to a
different clan.

As to affinity consequent on lawful or unlawful sexual intercourse, it
was simply ignored. On the other hand, that which results from matrimonial
alliances, such as that existing with a brother-in-law or a sister-in-law, is
regarded as absolutely preventive of carnal relations with either, such kindred
being viewed exactly as brothers and sisters, as among the Jews ?.

It were scarcely advisable to give here a complete list of agnates and
cognates, as named and ranked by even the principal Déné tribes. I shall
content myself with a few short remarks on the more characteristic peculiarities
of the Carriers’ mode of reckoning the same.

1¢ They do not go beyond the second degree in computing, or at least
in naming, their progenitors or offspring, whether in a direct or in a collateral
line, and in no instance does any tribe that I know of have a name for any
more distant degree than the third. Other relatives in either line are called
respectively grandfather and grandmother if ascendants, or grandchildren if
descendants.

2° Grand-uncles and grand-aunts, both maternal and paternal, are also
called grandfather and grandmother.

3° Although they possess, and sometimes use, words meaning brother
or sister without any reference to seniority, they more generally designate
them as elder brother and elder sister, or younger brother and younger sister,
as the case may be.

4° A son is syé to the father and syaz to the mother, while for “my
daughter” the former will say stsé- and the latter sya?’sé.

5° Both nephews and nieces are known as stsé by their maternal uncle
and skwaz by their maternal aunt; but either paternal uncle or aunt will call
their nephew younger brother and their niece younger sister.

6° Sthai stands for both paternal uncle and step-father, and spizyan is
the name of the paternal aunt; while s@zé means my maternal uncle and
sake my maternal aunt.

‘In fact, an Indian is on record who, on being told of the death of his father, contented
himself with remarking: “Let his own people mourn him”, and went about his business without
further concern.

? Levit., XVIII, 16.