Chapter 13

FOOTNOTES:[88]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 522-3.[89]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 497.[90]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 526.[91]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 521-2.[92]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 527-8.[93]Id. vol. iv. p. 528.[94]See pp.55-60.[95]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 496.[96]Captain Hall's Voyage to the Great Loo-choo Island, p. 71.—Prichard, vol. iv.[97]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 451.[98]Transactions of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1846.[99]Kami=Godin Japanese.[100]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 455-6.[101]Von Matiushkin.[102]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 449-50.[103]Apud hanc gentem agarici cujusdam succus potui, inter convivia inservit. Ebrietatem inducit; quodque magis mirum est, urina ebriorum, quæ ipsa ab aliis potatur, idem pollet. Neque vim amittit per tertiam vel quartam vesicam transmissa.

[88]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 522-3.

[89]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 497.

[90]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 526.

[91]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 521-2.

[92]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 527-8.

[93]Id. vol. iv. p. 528.

[94]See pp.55-60.

[95]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 496.

[96]Captain Hall's Voyage to the Great Loo-choo Island, p. 71.—Prichard, vol. iv.

[97]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 451.

[98]Transactions of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1846.

[99]Kami=Godin Japanese.

[100]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 455-6.

[101]Von Matiushkin.

[102]Prichard, vol. iv. p. 449-50.

[103]Apud hanc gentem agarici cujusdam succus potui, inter convivia inservit. Ebrietatem inducit; quodque magis mirum est, urina ebriorum, quæ ipsa ab aliis potatur, idem pollet. Neque vim amittit per tertiam vel quartam vesicam transmissa.

The phænomena which occur in Asiatic ethnology, in Caucasus and High Asia, prepare us for those of the ethnology of America. In Asia we found, on one side, the Turk tribes spread over a space nearly as large as Europe, and that with but little variation—a typical instance of what constitutes a large ethnological area. Then, on the other hand, were the fastnesses of Caucasus, where we found, packed up within a very limited area, a multiplicity of mutually unintelligible languages, languages that were counted by the dozen and the score—the Circassian, Georgian, Lesgian, Mizjeji, and their subordinate dialects. So that within a small geographical range we had, in juxtaposition with each other, themaximumof extension and themaximumof limitation.

Now this is what we shall find in America—large areas, like the Turk, in contact with small ones, like the Ossetic.

But, in America, there are two points of difference—

1st. The multiplicity of languages within a limited area is the rule rather than the exception.

2nd. There is not always so peculiar a class of physical conditions as is to be found in the mountain fastnesses of Caucasus to account for it; since in America we find steppes and prairies, like those of Turkestan and Mongolia, inhabited by tribes as different from each other as those of the most isolated and isolating mountain-valleys.

Furthermore—when the American languages differ fromone another, they differ in a manner to which Asia has supplied no parallel.

Also—when the American languages agree with one another, they agree in a manner to which Asia has furnished no parallel. This, however, is at present only indicated. Its explanation will find place when we have treated of the Eskimo, Kolúch, and certain other families.

Unimportant as are the Eskimo in a political and historical view, their peculiar geographical position gives them an importance in all questions of ethnology: since one of the highest problems turns upon the affinities of this family.

It has long been known that the nation which inhabits Greenland and Labrador is the nation which inhabits the North-western parts of Russian America as well. It is found on the American side of Behring's Straits, and it is found on the Asiatic side also. So that theEskimo is the only family common to the Old and New World; an important fact in itself, and one made more important still by the Eskimo localities being the only localities where the two continents come into proximity.

Now, if these facts had stood alone, unmodified by any phænomena that detracted from their significance, the peopling of America would have been no more a mystery than the peopling of Europe. Such, however, is not the case. They neither stand alone, nor stand unmodified.

The reasons that lie against what is, at the first blush, the common sense answer to the question,how was America peopled?are, chiefly, as follows—

1. The distance of the north-eastern parts of Asia from any probable centre of population—cradle of the human race—so-called. For these parts to have been the passage, Kamskatka must have been full to overflowing before thethe Mississippi had been trodden by the foot of a human being.

2. The physical differences between the Eskimo and the American Indian.

3. The difficulties presented by the Eskimo language.

It is only these two last reasons to which I attribute much validity. The first of the three I put low in the way of an objection;i. e., not much higher than I put the systems founded upon the Icelandic and Welsh traditions, the drifting of Japanese junks, and the effects of winds and currents upon Polynesian canoes. Without, at present, doubting whether the occurrences here alluded to have happenedsinceAmerica was peopled by the present race, I limit myself to an expression of dissent from the doctrine that by any such unsatisfactory processes theoriginalpopulation found its way: in other words, I believe that our only choice lies between the doctrine that makes the American nations to have originated from one or more separate pairs of progenitors, and the doctrine that either Behring's Straits or the line of Islands between Kamskatka and the Peninsula of Aliaska, was the highway between the two worlds—from Asia to America, orvice versâ. I sayvice versâ, since it by no means follows that, because Asia and America shall have been peopled by the same race, the original of that race must,necessarily, have arisen in Asia; inasmuch as the statement thatthe descendants of the same pair peopled two continents, taken alone, proves nothing as to the particular continent in which that pair first appeared. Against America, and in favour of Asia being the birthplace of the Human Race—its unity being assumed—I know many valid reasons; reasons valid enough and numerous enough to have made the notion ofNewWorld being the oldestof two a paradox. Nevertheless, I know no absolutely conclusive ones.

Omitting, however, this question, the chiefprimâ facieobjections to the view that America was peopled from North-eastern Asia, lie in the—

1.Physical differences between the Eskimo and the American Indian.—Stunted as he is in stature, the Eskimo is essentially a Mongol in physiognomy. His nose is flattened, his cheek-bones project, his eyes are often oblique, and his skin is more yellow and brown than red or copper-coloured. On the other hand, in his most typical form, the American Indian isnotMongol in physiognomy. With the same black straight hair, he has an aquiline nose, a prominent profile, and a skin more red or copper-coloured than either yellow or brown. Putting this along with other marked characteristics, moral as well as physical, it is not surprising that the American should have been taken as the type and sample of a variety in contrast with the Mongolian.

2.Philological arguments.—Few languages, equally destitute of literature, have been better or longer known than the Eskimo. For this we have to thank the Danish missionaries of Greenland—Egede, most especially. From the grammar of Fabricius, the Eskimo was soon known to be a language of long compound words, and of regular, though remarkable, inflections. It was known, too, to be very unlike the better-known languages of Europe and Asia. Finally, it has been admitted to be, inrespect to its grammatical structure at least, American.

So much for the ethnographical philology of the Eskimo language as determined by its grammatical structure; upon which we may notice the remarkable antagonism of the two tests. Physically, the Eskimo is aMongol and Asiatic. Philologically, he is American—at least in respect to the principles upon which his speech is constructed.

And now we may examine the details of the geographical area occupied by the Eskimo. Its direction isdouble.

From east to west (orvice versâ) it runs along the shores of the Arctic Sea, in a line of irregular breadth; a line which is either wholly continuous or else broken at one point only—a point which will be noticed in the sequel. On the coast of the Atlantic the line widens, and in Greenland it attains its maximum breadth.

From north to south it equally keeps the line of coast, extending to irregular distances inland, but rarely very far.

However, between the direction in latitude, and the direction in longitude, as this distribution of the Eskimo area may be called, there is a difference which is a very important one. The Eskimos of the Atlantic are not only easily distinguished from the tribes of American aborigines which lie to the south or west of them, and with which they come in contact, but they stand in strong contrast and opposition to them—a contrast and opposition exhibited equally in appearance, manners, language, and one which has had full justice done to it by those who have written on the subject.

It is not so with the Eskimos of Russian America, and the parts that look upon the Pacific.Theseare so far from being separated by any broad and trenchant line of demarcation from the proper Indians or the so-called Red Race, that they pass gradually into it; and that in respect to their habits, manner, and appearance, equally. So far is this the case that he would be a bold man whoshould venture, in speaking of the southern tribes of Russian America, to sayhere the Eskimo area ends, and here a different area begins.

Whenever this has been done, it has been done on the strength of an undue extension of the phenomena of the Eskimo area on the Atlantic; it being supposed that as the Eskimo and Indians differ unequivocally on one side of the continent, they must needs do so on the other also—a natural, but a hasty and incorrect assumption.

Beginning with the Eskimo of the parts between Asia and America, the first we meet with are—

The Aleutians.—The inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands, properly so-called (i.e., of Behring's and Copper Islands), of the Rat-Islands, of the Andreanowsky Islands, of the Prebülowüni-Islands, of Unalashka, and of Kadiak, are all Eskimo; a fact which numerous vocabularies give us full means of ascertaining. In respect to the difference of speech between particular islands, there is external evidence that it is considerable. The people of Atcha have a difficulty in understanding the Unalashkans, andvice versâ. Again, the Kadiak vocabulary, as found in Lisiansky, differs very notably from the Unalashkan of the same author; indeed, I doubt whether the two languages are mutually intelligible.

The Namollos.—These are the Asiatic Eskimo of the Continent. The distribution is along the coast from Tshuktshi-Noss to the mouth of the Anadyr; from each of which we have vocabularies in Klaproth's Asia Polyglotta. In respect to their position in Asia, two views may be taken.

1. That they are the aborigines of the country which they inhabit, and, consequently, that they are anolderstock than those of America.—This is favoured by thefact, that habitations of a Namollo character have been found in the country of Tshuktshi, and even in that of the Yukahiri.

2. That they are of comparatively recent date as Asiatics, and, as such, but offsets from the parent stock in America.—This is favoured by the similarity of language; since the differences between the Namollo and the American Eskimo are not such as indicate a very long separation.

The Konægi.—Occupants of the Island of Kadiak, and of the Peninsula of Aliaska.

The Tshugatsi.—These are the natives of Prince William's Sound, closely allied to the Kadiaks. According to tradition, they came from the North.

This is the proper place for noticing an element in the traditions, or rather in the mythology, of the Eskimo of these parts. All or most of them agree in deriving their origin from one or two animals—theravenordog. Now the Tshugatsi take their descent from thedog.

The nameTshugatsiis so like that of the northern Koriaks (Tshuktshi) that it is unlikely that both are native. In which quarter it is applied correctly, is a point that some future investigator must decide.

The Kuskokwim.—Locality from Cape Rodney to the Peninsula of Aliaska. Numbers, according to Baer, about 7,000.

Such is the direction of the Eskimos of the Asiatic side of America. It is, however, inconvenient to say that they form theeasternbranch of the stock, because, when we begin with the Atlantic side of America, we find that they becomewestern; indeed, they are either one or the other, according to the point from which we begin to describe them.

We now take the other extremity of the Eskimo area, which is the southernmost point of Greenland, Cape Farewell, within a few days' sail of the European island of Iceland. Doing this, we move from east to west, and determine where the two divisions meet.

Greenlanders.—The language of the natives of Greenland, and those of the coast of Labrador, is mutually intelligible; the similarity in physical appearances and in manners being equally close.

Proper Eskimo.—These are the inhabitants of the shores of Hudson's Bay, and the coast of Labrador. Their dialect is understood at least as far as the Mackenzie-river, in 137° W. L.; where Captain Franklin's interpreter, who came from Hudson's Bay, found no difficulty in being understood by the natives of the parts last mentioned. About three degrees westward, however, the Eskimo of Greenland and Labrador comesto be understood with difficulty at first. Here, then, it is, where the two divisions of the Eskimo dialects meet.

I adopt this term in deference to the usage of ethnologists, without professing to give a value to it in the way of classification, since I think it much more likely that the so-called Kolúch languages form a sub-division of the Eskimo than a separate substantive class of their own.Geographically, however, the term means the languages spoken along the coast of the North-Pacific from Cook's Inlet to the parts immediately north of Queen Charlotte's Islands; languages which are distinguished from the Eskimo to the north, the Athabascan to the east, and the Nas and Haidah to the south, and languages whichpoliticallybelong to Russian America; since the Tungaas, which is the southernmost (so-called) Kolúch dialect, is the most northern with which the traders of the Hudson-Bay Company come in contact. The extension towards the interior seems limited. The particular Kolúch dialect best known is that of Sitka, which, in Lisiansky's Voyage, is compared with the Kenay, Kadiak, and Unalashkan. Now it is a fact upon which the present author lays considerable stress, that the affinities between the Sitka and Kenay, which arebothconsidered as Kolúch, are but little more numerous than those between the Sitka and Kadiak, the Kenay and Unalashkan, &c., where onlyoneis considered as Kolúch. The chief Kolúch dialects are as follows:—

The Kenay of Cook's Inlet.—These are about 460 families strong. They assert that they are derived from the hills of the interior, whence they moved coastwards. In the way of mythology, they are descended from theraven.

The Atna of the Copper River.—Here the reader must be cautioned against being misled by the name; as it will appear again, applied to another division of Indians, the Atnas or Shushwap, who are a distinct people from the Atnas of the Copper River. These last occupy the river last-named; where they work in iron, as well as in copper, burn their dead, and derive their descent from theraven.

The Koltshani.—These are the Kolúches of the interior, falling into two divisions; the language of one of which is intelligible to the Atnas, and the Kenays equally. The more distant one is savage and inhospitable, with the credit of indulging in cannibalism. The name seems to belong to the Atna language; whereKoltshani=stranger. It also seems the word on which the scientific term, Kolúch, has been founded.

The Ugalents, or Ugalyakhmutsi.—About thirty-eight families. Locality, King William's Sound, and the parts around Mount Elias.—The Ugalyakhmutsi are conterminous with the Tshugatsi Eskimo, and as (on the sea-coast at least) the Kenays lie to the north of these last, there is a partial discontinuity of the Eskimo area. The difference between the Ugalyakhmutsi, and the Eskimo tongues is exhibited in the Mithridates. The present writer considers that it is exceedingly over-rated. Indeed, from the first investigations which he made upon the subject, where he compared the Ugalyakhmutsi of the Mithridates with the Sitka, Kenay, Kadiak, and Unalashkan of Lisiansky, he was inclined to place the Ugalents in the Eskimo class at once—and that in its more limited extent. Nevertheless, the tables of Baer's Beyträge sufficiently show that it has a closer resemblance to the Atnah and Kolooch. At all events, its transitional character is undoubted. In manners and appearance the Ugalentses are Kolúch, and in their manner of life, migratory nomades and fishers.

The Sitkans.—Of the Sitka dialect we have numerous vocabularies; one by Cook, under the name of the Norfolk Sound language. The number who speak this, is put by Mr. Green, an American missionary, at 6500.

The Tungaas.—Of this we have only a short vocabulary of Mr. Tolmic, which is stated by Dr. Scouler, to exhibit affinities with the Sitkan. This is the case. Whether, however, these affinities with the languages to the north of the Tungaas localities, are so much greater than those with the tongues spoken southwards, as to justify us in drawing a line between the true Kolúch dialects and those that will soon be enumerated, has yet to be ascertained. Assuming, however, that this is the case,and, again, insisting upon the conventional character of the present class, and the transitional nature of the Kolúch languages, I consider that the undoubted Kolúch dialects end in the neighbourhood of Queen Charlotte's Islands.

Still there are tribes to the back of those on the coast which have yet to be noticed:—

The Inkhuluklait.—Dwelling on the river Chulitna, and allied to the—

Magimut.—who are allied to the—

Inkalit.—These, in one village alone, are 700 strong; their language has been said to be a mixture of the Kenay,Unalashkan, and Atna. The Inkalit are neighbours of the Kuskokwim, with whom they are continually at war.

It is highly probable that the Inkalit language, when better known, will present the same phenomenon of transition with the Ugalyakhmutsi.

Synonym.—Loucheux.Locality.—The Peel River, a feeder of the M'Kenzie.

Synonym.—Loucheux.

Locality.—The Peel River, a feeder of the M'Kenzie.

The ethnological position of theDígothi,Loucheux, orSquinters, is uncertain. Mr. Isbister, who in 1847 laid before the British Association for the Advancement of Science a short notice of them, stated that their language was soon learned by the Eskimo, andvice versâ. It was also soon learned by the Chippewyans, andvice versâ. This wasprimâ facieevidence of its intermediate or transitional character. More important, however, is the following short vocabulary; which is Mr. Isbister's also. Here the closest affinities are with theKenay, itself a language of so doubtful a position, that although the present writer considers it to be Kolúch, most others isolate it.

In physical appearance the Dígothi are athletic fine-looking men, considerably above the average stature, most of them above six feet high, and well-proportioned. They have black hair, fine sparkling eyes, moderately high cheek-bones, regular teeth, and a fair complexion. Their countenances are handsome and expressive.

Extract from Mr. Isbister.—These range the country between the Russian settlements on the Stikine River and the Rocky Mountains, where they areconterminous with the Carriers of New Caledonia on the south, and the Daho-dinnies of M'Kenzie's River on the west. They are a brave and warlike race; the scourge and terror of the country round. It is a curious circumstance, and not the less remarkable from the contrast to the general rule in such cases, that this turbulent and ungovernable horde were under the direction of awoman, who ruled them, too, with a rod of iron, and was obeyed with a readiness and unanimity truly marvellous. She was certainly a remarkable character, and possessed of no ordinary share of intelligence. From the fairness of her complexion and hair, and the general cast of her features, she was believed to have some European blood. Whether through her influence or not, the condition of the females among the Nehannies stands much higher than among the American Indians generally. The proper locality of the Nehanni tribe is the vicinity of the sea-coast, where they generally pass the summer. In the winter they range the country in the interior for the purpose of bartering, or plundering, furs from the inland tribes; acting as middlemen between them and the Russian traders. They agree in general character with the Koloochians, having light complexions, long and lank hair, fine eyes and teeth, and many of them strong beards and moustaches. They are not generally tall, but active and vigorous, bold and treacherous in disposition; fond of music and dancing, and ingenious and tasteful in their habits and decorations. They subsist principally on salmon, and evince a predilection for a fish diet, which indicates their maritime origin. Like all the north-west tribes, they possess numerous slaves; inhabitants, it is understood, of some of the numerous islands which stud the coast, and either taken in war or bought of the neighbouring tribes.[106]

The languages which now follow are known but imperfectly; so that the classes which they form are all provisional, and of uncertain value. It is certainly not safe to call them Kolúch, although they all contain a notable per-centage of Kolúch words; nor yet is it advisable to throw them all together as members of a separate division—equivalent to, but distinct from, the Kolúch. For this, they are hardly sufficiently like each other, and hardly sufficiently unlike those spoken to the north of them. In other words we are now in one of those difficult ethnological areas, where we have no broad and trenchant lines of demarcation, but the phenomena of intermixture instead. This is the coast and a little beyond the coast of the Pacific, where the common climatologic conditions presented by a deeply-indentedsea-board, make this arrangement natural as well as convenient.

Locality.—Queen Charlotte's Islands, and the southern extremity of the Prince of Wales's Archipelago.Spoken by.—a, the Skittegats;b, Massets;c, Kumshahas;d, Kyganie.

Locality.—Queen Charlotte's Islands, and the southern extremity of the Prince of Wales's Archipelago.

Spoken by.—a, the Skittegats;b, Massets;c, Kumshahas;d, Kyganie.

Locality.—N.L. 55°, sea-coast and islands.Divisions.—1. Naaskok, inhabiting Observatory Inlet; 2. Chemmesyan, in Dundas's Island, and Stephenson's Island; 3, 4, Kitshatlah and Kethumish, in Princess Royal Islands.

Locality.—N.L. 55°, sea-coast and islands.

Divisions.—1. Naaskok, inhabiting Observatory Inlet; 2. Chemmesyan, in Dundas's Island, and Stephenson's Island; 3, 4, Kitshatlah and Kethumish, in Princess Royal Islands.

Locality.—The mouth of the Salmon River.In M'Kenzie's Travels we find a few words from a tribe on the Salmon River. Their locality is called by M'Kenzie theFriendly Village. By the aid of Mr. Tolmie's vocabularies we can now place this hitherto unfixed dialect. It belongs to the Billechoola tongue.ENGLISH.FRIENDLY VILLAGE.BILLECHOOLA.Salmonzimilkshimilk.Dogwattswatz.Housezlaachleshmool.Bark matyemnez"Cedar-bark blanket"tzummi.Beavercoulouncouloun.Stoneaichtsquilstolomick.Waterulkankullah.Matgitscomstuchom.Bonnetilcaettekayeete.

Locality.—The mouth of the Salmon River.

In M'Kenzie's Travels we find a few words from a tribe on the Salmon River. Their locality is called by M'Kenzie theFriendly Village. By the aid of Mr. Tolmie's vocabularies we can now place this hitherto unfixed dialect. It belongs to the Billechoola tongue.

Locality.—Sea-coast from Hawkesbury Island to Broughton's Archipelago; the northern part of Quadra's and Vancouver's Island(?).Tribes.—Hyshalla, Hyhysh, Esleytuk, Weekenoch, Nalatsenoch, Quagheuil, Tlatla-Shequilla, Lequeeltoch.

Locality.—Sea-coast from Hawkesbury Island to Broughton's Archipelago; the northern part of Quadra's and Vancouver's Island(?).

Tribes.—Hyshalla, Hyhysh, Esleytuk, Weekenoch, Nalatsenoch, Quagheuil, Tlatla-Shequilla, Lequeeltoch.

The language of Fitz-Hugh Sound, of which we find the numerals in the Mithridates, seems to be Hailtsa. On the other hand, the termination,-scum, reappears in the Blackfoot numerals.

By Mr. Hales, the Hailtsa, of which he gives a vocabulary, differing in some several points from the Haeltzuk (although the two words are most likely the same), is placed, along with the Chemmesyan and Billechúla in a single section, called theNasclass of languages, and probably this is the right view. The difficulty, however, in these parts is not to connect one tongue with another, but todisconnect it from others. The Hailtsa has certainly affinities with the Chemmesyan, &c., but whether these are greater than those with the Atna, Skittegat, or Wakash tongue is doubtful. Probably, however, it is as Mr. Hales' tables make it.

Localities.—a.The greater portion of Quadra and Vancouver's Island;b.The parts about Cape Flattery, on the continent.Divisions.—a.Insular.1. The Naspatle; 2. Proper Nutkans; 3. Tlaoquatsh; 4. Nittenat.b.Continental.—1. Klasset; 2. Klallems.General name for the language.—Wakash.

Localities.—a.The greater portion of Quadra and Vancouver's Island;b.The parts about Cape Flattery, on the continent.

Divisions.—a.Insular.1. The Naspatle; 2. Proper Nutkans; 3. Tlaoquatsh; 4. Nittenat.b.Continental.—1. Klasset; 2. Klallems.General name for the language.—Wakash.

Such is the line of languages from Behring's Straits to the parts opposite Quadra and Vancouver's Island, as they are spoken along the sea-coast as far south as Frazer's River; concerning which it may also be predicated that they are spoken along the sea-coast almost exclusively—i.e.that none of them extends far inland.

Of those spoken inland, the distribution is very different. It is, at first, over large areas.

The geographical distribution of the Athabaskans should be studied along with that of the Eskimo; since, like this last, it has an east-and-west, or (if the expression may be allowed) a horizontal extension. It has, however, an extension from north to south, or what may be called averticalone as well. As a general rule, the southern limit of the Eskimo is the northern limit of the Athabaskan area.

Area.—Discontinuous.Divisions.—Northern and southern.

Area.—Discontinuous.

Divisions.—Northern and southern.

Conterminouswith the Algonkins on the south-east, the Shushwap on the south-west, the Kolúches and Hailtsa west, and the Eskimos north.Area.—From Hudson's Bay to about 100 miles from the Pacific in 50° 30´ N.L.; on the Misinissi (Churchill) Peace, Fish, and M'Kenzie's Rivers; on theAthabaska, Slave and Bear Lakes; on the northern portion of the Rocky Mountains, and on each side of them.Political Relations.—Hudson's Bay Company—Russia(?).Divisions (according to Mr. Isbister).—1. The Chippewyans Proper. 2. The Beaver Indians. 3. The Daho-dinnis. 4. The Strong Bows. 5. The Hare Indians. 6. The Dog-ribs. 7. The Yellow Knives. 8. The Carriers.

Conterminouswith the Algonkins on the south-east, the Shushwap on the south-west, the Kolúches and Hailtsa west, and the Eskimos north.

Area.—From Hudson's Bay to about 100 miles from the Pacific in 50° 30´ N.L.; on the Misinissi (Churchill) Peace, Fish, and M'Kenzie's Rivers; on theAthabaska, Slave and Bear Lakes; on the northern portion of the Rocky Mountains, and on each side of them.

Political Relations.—Hudson's Bay Company—Russia(?).

Divisions (according to Mr. Isbister).—1. The Chippewyans Proper. 2. The Beaver Indians. 3. The Daho-dinnis. 4. The Strong Bows. 5. The Hare Indians. 6. The Dog-ribs. 7. The Yellow Knives. 8. The Carriers.

The Chippewyans Proper.—From Hudson's Bay to the Lake Athabaska; speaking a harsh and meagre dialect, and calling themselvesSee-eessaw-dinneh=Rising Sun Men. These were the first Athabaskans known to Europeans. The nameChippewyanis probably misapplied; at any rate, theSee-eessaw-dinnehare a different people from the Chippeways or Ojibbways. In even the early Chippewyan vocabularies of Dobbs and M'Kenzie there is a sufficiency of Eskimo words to throw suspicion over the current doctrine as to the great breadth of the line of demarcation between the Athabaskans and Eskimos.

The Beaver Indians.—The valley of the Peace River, from the Lake Athabaska to the Rocky Mountains. Their dialect is the softest and most copious of the Athabaskan tongues. It is also most mixed with words from the Cree dialect of the Algonkin.

The Daho-dinnis.—Called from their warlike disposition the Mauvais Monde, and inhabiting the head-water of the Rivière-aux-liards.

The Strong Bows.—Mountaineers of their upper part of the Rocky Mountains; slightly differing in dialect from the Daho-dinnis, and still more slightly from the—

Hare, orSlave Indians.—Occupants of the valley of the River M'Kenzie, from Slave Lake to Great Bear Lake. These extend to the Arctic Circle, and consequently, along with the Dog-ribs, are the most northern of the Athabaskans. "Their condition is the most wretched and deplorable that can be imagined. Cannibalism, almost justified by the extreme necessity of the case, exists to a frightful extent. It is but just, however, to say, that this practice is looked upon with horror by the tribe generally; and many, rather than resort to this dreadful expedient, put an end to their own lives. Instances have been known of parents destroying their own families, and afterwards themselves, to avoid this fatal alternative.

"They are almost entirely clothed in the skins of rabbits, tagged together after the rudest fashion with the ends of sinew; hence the name ofHare Indiansapplied to the tribe. They have neither tents nor huts of any kind, living all the year round in the open air. As might be expected, they are a puny and stunted race, and are rapidly decreasing in numbers, and must soon disappear altogether."

The Dog-ribs.—Due-east of the Hare Indians.—"They live upon the rein-deer, which frequent their lands in great numbers, following the migrations of these animals as closely as if they formed part and parcel of the herd. They are almost entirely independent of the whites, and present a marked contrast with their neighbours of the Hare Tribe. They are well-clothed in the skins of the rein-deer, and have all the elements of comfort and Indian prosperity within their reach. They are a healthy, vigorous, but not very active race, of a mild and peaceful disposition, but very low in the mental scale, and apparently of very inferior capacity. There is no reason to think that they are decreasing in numbers. They receive the name of the Dog-ribs, from a tradition that they are descended from the dog."

The Yellow Knives.—Called also the Copper Indians, from occupying, like the Dog-ribs, a portion of the river so called.

The Carriers, Tahkali, or Taculli.—These occupy the greater portion of New Caledonia, and, of all the Athabaskans, they are those that are best known. They are divided into "eleven clans, or minor tribes, whose names are, beginning at the south, as follows:—(1) theTaūtin, orTalkótin; (2) theTsilkótin, orChiltokin; (3) theNaskótin; (4) theThetliótin; (5) theTsatsnótin; (6) theNulaáutin; (7) theNtshaáutin; (8) theNatliáutin; (9) theNikozliáutin; (10) theTatshiáutin; and (11) theBabineIndians. The number of persons in these clans varies from fifty to three hundred. All speak the same language, with some slight dialectical variations. TheSikani(orSecunnie) nation has a language radically the same, but with greater difference of dialect, passing gradually into that of theBeaverandChippewyanIndians.

"TheTahkali, though a branch of the greatChippewyan(orAthabascan) stock, have several peculiarities in theircustoms and character which distinguish them from other members of that family. In personal appearance they resemble the tribes on the Upper Columbia, though, on the whole, a better-looking race. They are rather tall, with a tendency to grossness in their features and figures, particularly among the women. They are somewhat lighter in complexion than the tribes of the south.

"Like all Indians, who live principally upon fish, and who do not acquire the habits of activity proper to the hunting tribes, they are excessively indolent and filthy, and, as a natural concomitant, base and depraved in character. They are fond of unctuous substances, and drink immense quantities of oil, which they obtain from fish and wild animals. They also besmear their bodies with grease and coloured earths. They like their meat putrid, and often leave it until the stench is, to any but themselves, insupportable. Salmon roes are sometimes buried in the earth and left for two or three months to putrefy, in which state they are esteemed a delicacy.

"The natives are prone to sensuality, and chastity among the women is unknown. At the same time, they seem to be almost devoid of natural affection. Children are considered by them a burden, and they often use means to destroy them before birth. Their religious ideas are very gross and confused. It is not known that they have any distinct ideas of a God, or of the existence of the soul. They have priests, or doctors, whose art consists in certain mummeries, intended for incantations. When a corpse is burned, which is the ordinary mode of disposing of the dead, the priest, with many gesticulations and contortions, pretends to receive in his closed hands something, perhaps the life of the deceased, which he communicates to some living person, by throwing his hands towards him, and at thesame time blowing upon him. This person then takes the rank of the deceased, and assumes his name in addition to his own. Of course the priest always understands to whom this succession is properly due.

"If the deceased had a wife, she is all but burned alive with the corpse, being compelled to lie upon it while the fire is lighted, and remain thus till the heat becomes beyond endurance. In former times, when she attempted to break away, she was pushed back into the flames by the relations of her husband, and thus often severely injured. When the corpse is consumed, she collects the ashes and deposits them in a little basket, which she always carries about with her. At the same time she becomes the servant and drudge of the relations of her late husband, who exact of her the severest labour, and treat her with every indignity. This lasts for two or three years, at the end of which time a feast is made by all the kindred; and a broad post, fifteen or twenty feet high, is set up, and covered on the sides with rude daubs, representing figures of men and animals of various kinds. On the top is a box in which the ashes of the dead are placed, and allowed to remain until the post decays. After this ceremony the widow is released from her state of servitude, and allowed to marry again. The Carriers are not a warlike people, though they sometimes have quarrels with their neighbours, particularly the tribes of the coast. But these are usually appeased without much difficulty."[107]

The Tsikanni, orSikani.—The evidence that these are Athabaskan is taken exclusively from their language. In the United States Exploring Expedition, the same sentence which speaks to the similarity of tongue, speaks also to the difference of manners and customs.—

"TheSikani, though speaking a language of the same family, differ widely from theTahkaliin their character and customs. They live a wandering life, and subsist by the chase. They are a brave, hardy, and active people, cleanly in their persons and habits, and in general agreeing nearly with the usual idea of an American Indian. They bury their dead, and have none of the customs of theTahkaliwith respect to them."

A tabulated vocabulary of Mr. Howse, publishing by the Philological Society, is further evidence to the Athabaskan character of the Tsikanni language.

The Sussees, orSarsees.—On the head-waters of the Saskatchewan.

It is not certain that the previous list is exhaustive of the northern Athabaskans. In Gallatin's enumeration we have, besides those enumerated—

1. The Northern Indians on Hudson's Bay.—As these are mentioned in addition to the Chippewyans Proper, it is fair to suppose that they constitute a variety under that division.

2. The Birch-rind Indians, living near the Slave Lake, and probably most closely akin to the Hare Indians.

3. The Thickwood Hunters.

4. The Sheep Indians.

5. The Brushwood Indians.

6. The Nauscud-dennies of M'Kenzie's River.

7. The Slaoucud-dennies of M'Kenzie's River.

8. The Naotetains to the west of Tacullis.

9. The Nagail, or Chin Indians; are probably Tacullis under another name.

In the Athabaskan language,dinne=man; so that we now understand the prevalence of that termination.

TheChippewyans Properare called Saweesaw-dinneh.

TheBirch-rindIndians are called Tan-tsawhot-dinneh.

TheDog-ribsare called Thlingeha-dinneh.

On the other hand, the Thickwood, Sheep, and Brushwood Indians are called Edch-tawoot, Ambah-tawoot, and Tsillaw-awdoot, respectively; whilst the Hare Indians are calledKancho.

Lastly, it should be added that, although Mr. Isbister makes the Nehannies Kolúch, Gallatin places them amongst the Athabaskans. A vocabulary of their language would probably settle the point. Such, however, is yet wanting.

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