NATIVE TRIBES. 23

spring-time in his little garden, where the seed grew and flourished. From the
good deed of this benefactor the joy of tobacco came even to the Coast, where it
was a prized commodity, distributed at potlatches and other feasts. Here, where
pipes were unknown, the plant was pounded in a mortar and small quantities were
put in the mouth, followed by a pinch of moistened quicklime made from calcined
abalone-shell, and applied with a stick.

(9.) The LILLOOET were the westernmost of the Interior Salish tribes,
living in a rather restricted area in the Coast Ranges to the west of the Fraser
River. ‘They are a finer, taller people than their Coast kin, with aquiline noses.
Presumably their appearance has been influenced by intermarriage with non-
Salish tribes, also by hunting and other land exercises; whereas the semi-aquatic
lives of Coast dwellers, constantly squatting in canoes, was undoubtedly pre-
judicial to symmetrical physical development.

(10.) The SHUSWAP controlled the Fraser River Valley from Lillooet
to Alexandria and all the country eastward to the Rockies, being surrounded by
or in close contact with the people of the Okanagan Lake and River (whose
principal centre in early days was south of the International Boundary), and also
with the occupants of the Upper Columbia River Valley and the Arrow Lakes.
With all these peoples the obtaining of their food-supply, their annual visits to
certain seasonal fishing centres, and the necessity for making provision against
winter cold largely influenced their lives and customs.

(11.) (6.) The KOOTENAY resembled the Plains Indians in their dress,
customs, and religion, for their first home was in Montana, U.S.A., whence they
moved into Southern Alberta some centuries ago, and later on into British
Columbia. “They are accomplished horsemen, an advantage they brought with
them when they were driven across the Rockies by the “ Blackfoot” to the dis-
trict they now occupy. (Horses were introduced into South America by the
Spaniards in the sixteenth century. )

A tall, adaptable, intelligent people, essentially restless and migratory, they
took possession of the country between the Rockies and the Selkirks. The
northern section of the tribe, skilled hunters, differed from that of the south, not
alone in dialect but in disposition and diet, for the latter subsist largely on fish
instead of game. ‘The tribe as a whole is described as hospitable and kindly;
inquisitive and of quick perceptions; reliable and possessed of a keen sense of

humour.
(iii.) TRIBES OF ATHAPASKAN ORIGIN.

(12.) The CHILCOTIN are the southernmost of these Athapaskan-speaking
people. They spread themselves over the country from the Cascade Mountains
to near the Fraser River and were formerly somewhat isolated, being usually at
enmity with the Carriers to the north and rarely in touch with the Lillooets to
the south. Bold and restless, they were reckoned a turbulent tribe, deriving such
culture as they possessed by absorption from their neighbours. ‘Their territory
was rich in game and berries; fish they bought from the Shuswaps, and they
journeyed annually across the mountains to trade with the Bella Coola, a habit
said still to persist.

(13.) The CARRIER, often described as the “ Western Déné,” were
remote kinsmen of the Chilcotin, and roamed over the country of the Upper
Fraser, Blackwater, Nechako, and Bulkley Rivers as far north as Bear Lake.
Tall, stout, with somewhat aquiline features, they were a hardy and cruel folk;
fairly progressive when afforded opportunities of contact with the North-west
Coast tribes, whose customs with many modifications influenced their social life.