CHAPTER II.

WHENCE DID THEY COME AND WHENP
WHO WERE THEYP

It is an accepted fact that the New World drew its first occupants from the
Old, but opinions are not unanimous as to the number of thousands of years
which have elapsed since the first adventurers from North-eastern Siberia crossed
the Bering Strait into Alaska, being followed for many succeeding centuries by
wave after wave of diverse peoples. “Though the order of their flow or the exact
route they pursued after arrival in this unknown land are not yet definitely ascer-
tained, it is probable that long intervals of time elapsed between these migrations;
that some human currents forced their way through and ahead of the earlier
streams; waves of greater volume submerged those ahead by conquest, inter-
marriage, or slavery; an occasional backwash possibly brought about a further
mingling of racial and tribal characteristics as these hordes of Mongolian origin
dispersed themselves over both North and South America. “This much is, how-
ever, confirmed by adequate evidence—namely, that for some cause as yet undeter-
mined, these migrations ceased after a period covering about eight thousand years.

PROOFS OF PREHISTORIC MIGRATIONS FROM SIBERIA.

And this evidence, combined with certain other facts, is of peculiar interest in
connection with these Notes, for it supports the opinion that the first relatively
settled occupants of the northern coast of British Columbia were among the last
of the successive waves of migrants from North-eastern Asia, not far removed in
time from the Athapaskan tribe which subsequently populated a large area on the
mainland. It was one or other of these two peoples which were the last to push
their way through an instalment of the Eskimo, who had established themselves
on the Alaska side of Bering Strait.

THESE MIGRANTS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION.

This handful of people were not the first to pass this way. In consequence
of its geographical position, west of the great barrier of the Rocky Mountains,
what is now British Columbia had been for countless years a channel for the
passage of many streams of migrants, before it became more or less a harbour for
its permanent occupants. Scanty traces survive of these passing people, of whom
the larger proportion pressed forward to the far south. But, as will appear
when describing the location of the many tribes found in possession of this huge
area in the eighteenth century, some of those who had passed on subsequently
returned, either as a result of pressure by a stronger people or because these more
or less sheltered coast districts appealed to their needs in respect of food and living
requirements.
THE STUDY OF RACIAL ORIGINS.

‘To trace racial origins is a highly intricate subject, to be undertaken only by
an expert. But it seems fair to assume that most, if not all, the inhabitants of
the known world are the product of much racial admixture. “The subject is
usually studied along the following lines :—

(1.) The evidence gleaned from prehistoric remains.
(2.) The study of certain anatomical and physical characteristics.
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