This book contains a listing of approximately 2,650 roots from the various North Waskashan lanugages, namely Heiltsuk (Bella Bella and Klemtu), Oowekyala (Rivers Inlet), Haisla (Kitimat) and Kwakwala (Alert Bay, Port Hardy, etc.). Each root is illustrated with lexical words from the language where it is represented, cognate words being brought together under a single entry and cross-referenced to each other as they occur at different points in the alphabetical order. The root list is preceded by concise phonologies of each language and an exposition of the techniques used to isolate roots in North Wakashan.

Lists some 2650 roots from the various North Wakashan languages of British Columbia.

This work outlines the grammatical categories and inflections, both nominal and verbal, of the Montagnais dialect of North-West River, Labrador. The phonological system of the dialect is briefly sketched and, although the present work does not treat the derivational aspects of Montagnais morphology, certain very common derivational forms are included. A survey of the chief sentence types of the North-West River Montagnais is provided.

Orientation Systems of the North Pacific Rim is an extension of the author's earlier volume Eskimo Orientation Systems (also published in the series Monographs on Greenland - Meddelelser om Gronland, Man & Society, 1988). This time it covers all the contiguous languages ? and cultures ? across the northern Pacific rim from Vancouver Island in Canada to Hokkaido in northern Japan, plus the adjacent Arctic coasts of Alaska and Chukotka. These form a testing ground for recent theories concerning the nature and classification of orientation systems and their shared ?frames of reference?, in particular the many varieties of ?landmark? systems typifying the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Despite the wide variety of languages spoken here (all of them endangered), there is much in common as regards their overlapping geographical settings and the ways in which terms for orientation within the microcosm (the house) and within the macrocosm (the surrounding environment) mesh throughout the region. This is illustrated with numerous maps and diagrams, from both coastal and inland sites. Attention is paid to ambiguities and anomalies within the systems revealed by the data, as these may be clues to pre-historic movements of the populations concerned ? from a riverine setting to the coast, from the coast to inland, or more complex successive displacements. Cultural factors over and beyond environmental determinism are discussed within this broad context."

Once an integral feature of the culture and economy of the St. Francis Abenaki at Odanak, splint basketry has become an activity of the elderly. This volume examines the reasons for this change as indicated by alterations to basketry style and construction between 1880 and the present and the influence of historical events.

A study of narratives told by female members of the Tagish and Tutchone of central and southern Yukon with particular emphasis on their cultural continuity, function during a period of significant change, and the insights they offer into traditional gender roles. Most important is the author’s revelation of the importance of context in understanding such stories.

This paper describes the ethnographic context and analyses the structural characteristics of Bella Coola songs. Seventy-three original transcriptions which encompass a broad spectrum of Bella Coola ceremonial and non-ceremonial repertoires are included.

The papers in this volume were prepared for Consciousness and Inquiry, a conference jointly sponsored by the National Museum of Man and the Canadian Ethnology Society, and held in London, Ontario in 1981. The papers focus on interests and concerns which characterize contemporary Canadian ethnology.

This Ojibwa lexicon provides data on the geographical distribution and historical development of a variety of Ojibwa dialects. As many features of Ojibwa words are indicated by their endings, a reverse version, sorted right-to-left, is included.

This study defines the traditional styles and genres of Netsilik Inuit music and examines the extent of change which this music has undergone especially as a result of contact with European and North American music. Volume two consists of song transcriptions and commentaries.