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