344 ACCULTURATION IN SEVEN AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBES

veloped only after the establishment of trading-posts by the Rus-
sians. The Tlingit became the middlemen for trade between the
Indians of the interior and the White fur traders. The Tahltan
traded almost exclusively with the Tlingit and with the Kaska.™*

Bella Coola-Carrier intermarriages were not very common, and
for good reasons. Not only did the Bella Coola endogamic tend-
encies restrict such alliances, but the economic strain upon any
Carrier family entering into a series of affinal potlatch exchanges
and the necessity of participating in the rivalrous potlatches more
or less upon Bella Coola terms was more than most Carrier families
could sustain. Therefore, only a few Carrier individuals, the suc-
cessful hunters, the shrewd and energetic traders, the lucky gam-
blers, were able to acquire enough wealth to participate upon a
basis of relative equality in Bella Coola potlatches. These indi-
viduals, having acquired “big names” from the coast, apparently
formed the first Carrier aristocracy.

Unfortunately, detailed accounts of marriages and the conse-
quences therefrom are lacking both from the Carrier and the Bella
Coola data. But a knowledge of marriage practices of these groups
makes possible at least a hypothetical reconstruction of the inter-
marriage process. For the Bella Coola no marriage was socially
sanctioned unless it had been validated by a series of property ex-
changes. At the engagement “‘secret gifts” were given to the bride’s
parents. Then food and presents were distributed by the family of
the groom to the village of the bride. To “open the door” for the
bride, the groom’s family and friends were required to give pres-
ents to the bride’s family and to perform a number of menial tasks
for them. At the wedding ceremony, after a recitation of the fam-
ily myths, a name from the lineage of the bride was bestowed upon
the groom, to be used by his children. Subsequently, relations be-
tween the two families were further cemented by mutual assistance
in ceremonies. At intervals after the marriage the bride’s family
made payments to the groom to “repurchase” the woman, the lat-
ter rising in social status with each “repurchase.” It is obvious
how, once such a marriage had been consummated, the Carrier
family would be completely enmeshed in the total fabric of Bella
Coola culture. In fact, one individual at present at Alkatcho whose

14 James Teit. Incomplete manuscripts on Tahltan.