THE ALKATCHO CARRIER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 383

ligious practices associated with the obtaining of economic suc-
cess was offered by one Indian. According to him, in the old days
when hunting and trapping were difficult and success uncertain
because of their poorly developed technology, the people needed
the assistance of the supernatural. Now that they have guns, and
steel traps, hunting and trapping are rather easy, and supernat-
ural assistance is no longer required. From this theory it would
appear that the campaign of the Church against heathen religious
practices was directed against a straw man. On the other hand,
shamanistic practices and beliefs still flourish. If the Indian’s
theory is valid, it would necessarily follow that as long as the
Carrier had no access to modern medical practice they would still
require shamans. In fact all the Indians invariably try store
medicines such as Pain Killer or Absorbine Jr. before appealing
to the shaman. Of course a financial consideration is involved
here; the shaman’s fee is ten dollars. It is not at all unlikely that
were medical facilities made available to the Carrier they would
forego the services of the shaman entirely. The aboriginal the-
ories of illness are still prevalent.

THE MODERN INDIVIDUAL—APPROVED PERSONALITY TYPES

In stories about great nobles in the old days, the Carrier con-
sistently stressed their industriousness. The great chiefs were up
early, hunted and trapped all the time, or organized trading ex-
peditions to distant places. If one were asked to name the one
personality trait most valued by the Carrier there would be no
difficulty in identifying it as industriousness. Everyone, from the
youngest toddler to the old men and women, was expected to
work. To say even today that a child is playful is to express a
grave criticism of his character. Fathers constantly enjoined their
children to be up early, to sleep lightly, not to while away their
time in play. The story is told of one father who, while his sons
were asleep, left the house and then rushed into it again with a
sudden whoop. When his sons awoke with alarm he emphasized
the lesson. They should have slept lightly. Suppose it were a real
enemy. No one was allowed to play string figure games in the
quiet winter months because that would induce laziness. The