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INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. B1

Remarkable among the words in the table upon page 49 is that for “chief,” hé’mes of ©
_ the Wik’é’nok’, which we find as hé’wus in the Pe’ntlatc dialect, while the Bilqula have

the word stalto’mh, which is of doubtful origin.

I believe I have shown by these examples that philological researches will prove a
very powerful means of solving the questions regarding the history of the Northwest
American tribes. Particular attention ought to be paid to the extensive borrowing of

: _ words, which I have shown to exist among the southern tribes, and which may also be

observed among the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian.

In the study of the evolution of the culture of these tribes, the question, what origin-
ally belongs to each tribe, and what has been borrowed from foreign sources, must con-
stantly be born in mind. Philological researches will largely help us in solving the
problem. But one of the fundamental questions to be answered before any definite
results can be obtained is : What tribes and peoples have been influenced or have exerted
an influence upon Northwest American culture ? The answer to this question will define
the area of our studies. The coast tribes must first be compared with their neighbors,
the Eskimo, Tinné, Sahaptin, Chinook, Kutonagqa.

As regards the Eskimo of Alaska, the following points are worth mentioning. We
observe an extensive use of masks, the peculiar wooden hat of the southern tribes, the
use of the labret, the festivals in which property is given away, the houses built on the
same plan as Indian houses, the sweat-bath, the existence of slavery, and the high devel-
opment of the art of carving. The existence of so many similar or identical phenomena in
two neighboring peoples cannot be fortuitous. Besides this, the folklore of the tribes of
British Columbia refers to the Eskimo country and to the Eskimo as plainly as possible.
Here is an abstract from a legend which it would be unreasonable to doubt refers to the
Kiskimo. I heard the tradition at Rivers Inlet from a Wik’é@’nok:.

There was a man whose name was Apotl. One day he was invited to a feast, and
after dinner he requested a boy to take a dish with food to his wife. The boy obeyed.
And when Apotl’s sons saw the large dish full of meat and berries, they rose from their
beds where they were sleeping, and wanted to participate inthe meal. Their mother,
however, said, “‘ This is not for you, Apot] sent the food for me. If you want to have any
thing, go to K-eéhtsumskyana and find something there.” K-éhtsumskyana, however, was
a cannibal who lived in a country far, far away. Then the boys were sorry, they lay down
sullenly, and remained in bed for four days without taking food or drink. On the fourth
day the inhabitants of the village saw a swan swimming near the houses. The children
tried to catch it, but they were unable to get hold of it. When Apotl’s sons heard this,
they arose, took their bows and arrows, and launched their boat. They approached the
bird and shot an arrow at it. The arrow hit the bird, but did not kill it. It swam away,
and the boys pursued it. Whenever they came near it, they shot it, but although they
hit it again and again, they were unable to kill it. Thus they continued to pursue it
farther and farther, and eventually caught it. Then they intended to return home, but, lo!
there were no village and no mountain, nothing but water and sky. The boys did not

know where to go. After they had drifted to and fro, for a number of days, an icy

wind began to blow, and now they knew that they had killed the master of the wind.
The sea began to freeze, and with the greatest difficulty they succeeded in pushing their
boat through heavy masses of ice. When they had drifted for many days without know-