Folktales collected in the same winter had already been published under the title "Myths of the Carrier Indians of British Columbia." (See Jenness, 1934.). Anthrop.Pap.no.25] INDIAN CARRIERS — JENNESS 479 was a blind man staggering toward his grave, throws an interesting light on the habits of the Indians of that time.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION PHRATRIES
Through its chief (who was always the head of one of his clans), it controlled the division of hunting grounds among its members and acted as a unit to resist aggression from other phratries. The chief of the leading clan was the recognized head of the phratry, and the chiefs (? the various phratries were aligned in rank, although the one with the most followers may have more power and influence.^ The main settlements, Moricetown and Hagwilgate, contained representatives of all the phratries , usually of all clans as well.
TITLES OF NOBLES
At the feast, the heads of the clan sat together, the chief of the clan of the second order to the right of the chief of the phratry (i.e., the head of the third clan, if there were more than two, to the left of the chief of the fraternity.
GILSERHYU PHRATRY
An Anklo' title, belongs to the clan family among many, but its position is unknown.
LAKSILYU PHRATRY
494 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll.133 and use by the present chiefs of the tribal hunting and fishing territories to which, as foreigners from another sub-tribe, they had no legal right.
COMBINED LAKSAMSHU AND BEAVER PHRATRIE
It appears that only about a third of the Bulkley carriers understood and spoke the Tsimshian language, so that the bearer of the title often knew little or nothing of its origin and true meaning. This does not mean, however, that the Bulkley natives slavishly copied and borrowed from their Tsimshian neighbors.
CRESTS, CLAN AND PERSONAL CLAN CRESTS
Tradition says that the Hagwilgate members of the clan house of the Middle of Many once contributed very generously to a potlatch given by Nelli, a chief of the Gitamtanyuphratrien among the Nichaotinor Alkatcho subtribe to the south. Weasel. - This coat of arms was represented on the ceremonial headdress worn by the chief of the Anskaskiclan, perhaps also by the chief of the other clan house.
GILSERHYU PHRATRY Dark House
Raven (Dettsan).—This ridge was represented in Bulkley Canyon by a sculptured image of a raven above the great dwelling of the clan house in the midst of many, and by two images, one above the other, on the temple in front of this house. Three Stars (no particular constellation).—This coat of arms was represented on the old clan house in Hagwilgate Canyon, with three holes in the front wall.
LAKSILYU PHRATRY House of Many Eyes
The Indians classified it as a clan crest, although it could also be classified as a chief's personal crest. Antheop.Pap.no.25] THE BEARER INDIANS - JENNESS 499 The chief of the clan also imitated him at potlatches, when he put on a mask of wood with a long nose, stomped into the potlatch house with bent knees, and stared at the audience.
LAKSAMSHU PHRATRY Sun House and Twisted House
Mountain Man (gyedamskani-sh).—This crest appears on the stotem pole of the clan, near the middle, as a human being wearing a collar of twisted cedar wood. Its origin is attributed to a well-known legend (Jenness, 1934, p. 229). Otter {nilzik^^).—This crest is represented on the temple of the clan, near its summit, by the figure of an otter.
BEAVER PHRATRY
500 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull.133 Whale (nehl).—The chief of the House of the Sun, Smogitkyemk, personifies this crest at pot latches. The head of the phratry sometimes imitated the beaver at potlatches, then considered it his personal weapon.
PERSONAL CRESTS
A typical example was the career of Dikyannulat (European name, Denis), in the House of Many Eyes, Laksilyu phratry, in 1924 a blind man or perhaps70. As darkness closes in and the people have gathered in the potlatch house, Guxlet dramatizes his main weapon.
GITAMTANYU PHRATRY Grizzly House
Wolverine (mistletoe).—Belongs to the bearer of the title Wolverine, at present the niece of the chief. Heartless (axgot).—Belongs to the chieftain, Widak'kwats, who .. beat the house with a big stick when he gave a potlatch.
LAKSAMSHU PHRATRY Sun or Moon House
The swan. - Belonged to Negupte, but no one has taken either the title or the coat of arms since the last deceased. Water-grizzly {te'ben). - Belonged to the same chief who dramatized it. by wearing a grizzly robe and roaring. Legend has it that the Indians once heard a water grizzly roaring in a small lake on top of a mountain near Smithers and saw the animal rise to the surface.
During an evening performance at the Potlatch house, Klo'mkan wore an owl mask and danced. Keep an eye on the water and the other huts as iknock walks over them.' Ashe pushed the hut over the "beaver" who ran out, and, after being pursued by two or three men armed with spears and guns, retreated behind a curtain. Drunk man. - Also belonged to the main Kwis, who imitated the drunken man and sang: 'Give me that whiskey.' with Sor Bini.
About 1913, the Hagwilgate Indians, encouraged by their missionaries, collected most of the stage material they used to dramatize their personal crests—wooden masks and.
CHIEFS
On the other hand, if there was only one candidate and there was general agreement as to his succession, he often assumed at this pot the title and personal coat of arms of the deceased chief, and encouraged some of his clansmen to also take up the coat of arms . The candidate and his phratry celebrated the entire assembly, paid the phratry which had just erected a burial house over the cremation ground of the deceased chief, and distributed elk skins, beaver skins, and other valuable gifts among all the guests. The first of the three, his fourth potlatch, was called ni'habaataltai, 'Place the corpse at the back of the house'; and the next, Tsar Yinhatata'ai.
The rest of the people lingered and danced for a while, then quietly departed for their homes around midnight. On the opening day of the Potlatch, the chief once again sent the young nobleman to call the people together. Even after he was firmly established in his seat, he had to keep an open house for all members of his phratry to relieve the needs of the poor and support his people in their relations with other phratries.
In addition to handing over a huge amount of skins, blankets, stone axes and other goods, the men of the murderers' skins almost always handed over a fishing or hunting ground, usually also a marriageable girl, who could henceforth not claim protection from her clan or phratry, but became the unqualified property of the clan to which it was surrendered.
THE CYCLE OF LIFE
Nobles called all their neighbors to the house of the head of their mother's phratry, where the head, taking the child in his arms, publicly bestowed the said name. Then the old man resumed his story, emphasizing the punishment inflicted by Sa, the sky god, or by the animals, for a similar violation of morality or of custom. Very often they followed a story with direct instructions about the habits of the game animals, the proper methods of hunting and fishing, then numerous rituals and taboos, and the etiquette that governed relations between nobles and commoners, and between elders and children.
Antheop.Pap.No.25] THE TREATMENT INDIANS -^JENNESS 523 was instructed to abstain from many foods which were thought to diminish his speed in running, impair his sight, or otherwise hinder his success in the chase. For about 2 years she lived in a small hut out of sight of the village or camp and avoided the hunters' paths as best she could. Sometimes the Indians use the mysterious forces that act upon the adolescent girl to prevent the constant death of infants in a family, which they attribute to the transgression of certain taboos by one of the parents during his or her youth.
After about 2 years, boys and girls emerged from the adolescent stage and were ready to take their places among the adults of the community.
TERMS OF KINSHIP AND RELATIONSHIP
Domestic life varied considerably with the seasons of the year, periods of isolation alternating with periods of intense social activity. The tops of the juniper, the root of the elder with red fruits, and the bark of the balsam and devil's club provided them with purgatives; After the death of the body, the shadow, or, as it then became, the shadow (bizul), traveled to a City of the Dead somewhere in the direction of the rising sun.
My cousin Gudzan one day lay dead for an hour, and during that time his shadow moved forward along the path that leads to the city of the dead. Two persons, and two only, the Indians relate, ever reached the place of the dead and came back to life again to describe their experiences. The black houses were the homes of the dead, and the red houses were the homes of robins, who live on earth during the day and go to the underworld in the evening.
This, too, he gave to the old woman, and when the meal was over, he brought his wife back to the village of the robins.
RELIGION
1^If Theowl continued to fly, night after night, after this sacrifice, the Carrier of the Stony Creek district, further east, would sometimes throw moccasins into the fire, exclaiming, "I will swallow this old moccasin and die." I think I'm going today." Half an hour later he complained of pain in the elbow joint. Hence the Fraser Lake Indians gave the Europeans the name naunil, meaning "ghosts of the dead."
Moreover, since there are three gods, three men must serve them: myself, Male (a man of the Gitamtanyu phratry), whom I baptized Samali, and Gyedamskanish (of the Laksilyu phratry), whom I baptized Teluza. But I never saw this sign myself, although I remember there were three commandments: Go outside.' However, the woman stood her ground and said loudly, “Why should I go out. Only to save you the trouble, I let you carry me.' Scarcely had he set foot on the opposite shore when a terrible thunderstorm burst over us, although the sky had previously been cloudless.
You have sinned and used rattles." He took some of my powder in his hand, poured pure water on it from his mouth, and rubbed it on my neck.
MEDICINE MEN
We saw how the practitioner of the first school worked; he pretended to bring back the shadow from the home of the animal or fish he had imprisoned. The revelation of the drowned dream produced a song that escaped the patient's mouth like a bang. The boy was lying in the middle of the room next to the fire, the medicines sitting in a row facing him. and a large audience lined the walls.
Anthrop.Pap.no.25]THE CARRIER INDIANS JENNESS 563. The practitioner of the third school began like the others; he sipped a mouthful of water, blew out, and sang one of his medicine songs to the shaking of his rattle. Nevertheless, I will try." He rubbed his hands in the water, and the end of the wake. The patient's relatives turn to the members of the kalullim community and ask for their help, which is promised for the next feast.
But an hour or so later, the members of the association gather again in the cauldron for a private party, from which they go their separate ways.
HUNTING TERRITORIES GITAMTANYU PHRATRY
An area from Hagwilget Canyon to Moricetown, about 35 miles long and 28 miles wide, known as dizkle, "dead trees all facing one way in the water." An area about 40 square miles on either side of -^fLake Frangois, known as t'sekouakaz, "the one-eyed woman," because there is a small lake in the middle of a wide plain. An area about 15 miles long and 20 wide on each side of the River Bulkley around Moricetown, known as the "water way".
LAKSAMSHU PHRATRY Sun or Moon House, and Twisted House
A stretch about 8 miles long and 2.2 miles wide along the Morice River just east of Barret Station, known as neltsikyet, "source of neltsi or Bulkley River."
TSAYU PHRATRY Beaver House
PHRATRIC ORGANIZATIONS OF OTHER CARRIER SUBTRIBES The phratry-clan system of organization seems to have extended no
About the end of the century, Naseltial, one of the three heads in the Yiselyu phratry, assumed the personal coat of arms, Frog, and around the same time the head of the Tsayu phratry, whose title was not stated, assumed the personal coat of arms , Wolverine. About 1900, Kles'al, the head of the Tsu'yaztotenne phratry, took part in a potlatch at Stellaco, on the west side of Fraser Lake, and took the opportunity to dramatize his personal weapon lullim. However, it may be that the hunting grounds around these lakes were divided between two phratries, with the Tatchik Lake District going to the Gilserhyu and Nulki Lake going to the Yesilyu.
LITERATURE CITED
GRAVE OF BINI AT HAGWILGATE
