entitled to the assumption of highly valued family prerogatives.
Every social grade participated, even women and children; only
Slaves were excluded. Thus though affording openings for gross
extravagance, nevertheless these potlatches encouraged thrift in
the accumulation of the material for distribution; "gifts" en-
hanced prestige and through the obligation of repayment with in-
terest they worked for the donor's future Support and, in the
case of his death before repayment of obligations were completed,
for that of his heirs.

Brief reference must be included to the crests intimately
associated with the intricacies of tribal rank and social stand-
ing. They might be inherited and explained by a myth or
commemorate some ancestral legend. They might have been obtained
by conquest or even acquired from the original owners as compensa-
tion for a crime or for services rendered or even in trade. They
might represent personal "spirit" names as well as mystical spiritual
experiences. They might portray birds, fish, animals, insects,
plants, the heavenly bodies or natural phenomena, mythical monsters,
semi-—historical ancestors or even objects, though this last form
is very rare. They were highly valued and guarded; often their
acquisition involved severe personal tests or conformity to com-
plicated marital customs.

Thus in the deeply ingrained customs of these tribes lay the
stimulus to the highest forms of their skill; and the rapid dis-
appearance of this exercise of their remarkable gifts is largely
due to the ignorance of early traders who ridiculed and despised
what they did not understand. The degeneration of these skills
was also hastened by well-intentioned though ignorant and ill
informed efforts and methods of authorities unaware of the re-
sultant and enduring serious shock to the morale of those they
desired to benefit when so abruptly deprived of a forceful cul-
ture. It is imperfectly realized even to-day that to build up a
new personality out of no cultural heritage is an impossibility.

The perception that these innately gifted people could and
should be encouraged to contribute to the cultural, economic and
commercial prosperity of the country originally theirs is slow
in developing. Nevertheless in his preface to a recent publication
on the subject of the position in American life of small groups
of alien peoples, the sympathetic Commissioner of United States
Indian Affairs, Mr. John Collier, wrote as follows: "I believe
that the Indian Service experience indicates that the preservation,
enrichment and stimulation of native cultures holds great promise
of enriching our own entire cultural heritage," an opinion shared
by members of the Society for the Furtherance of B. C. Indian Arts
Crafts at Victoria.

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