[Footnote 8: These northern Indians are described by Hearne as having
very low foreheads, small eyes, high cheekbones, Roman noses, broad
cheeks, and long, broad chins. Their skins were soft, smooth and
polished, somewhat copper-coloured, and inclining towards a dingy
brown. The hair of the head was black, strong, and straight. They were
not in general above middle size, though well proportioned.]
_West_ of the Rocky Mountains, in British Columbia and Vancouver
Island (besides southern Alaska), the Amerindian tribes form the
N[-u]tka-Columbian group, which is markedly distinct from the
Amerindians _east_ of the Rocky Mountains, from whom they differ
_widely_ in language, type, and culture. They are divided into quite a
large number of small separate groups--the Wakashan or _N[-u]tkas_ of
Vancouver Island and south-western British Columbia, the Shahaptian or
"Nez perces" Indians of the Columbia basin, and the Chin[-u]ks of
the lower Columbia River, the _Salishan_ or "Flathead" group
(including the Atn[-a]s) of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers and central
British Columbia; and the _Haida_ Indians of Queen Charlotte's Islands
and the north-west coast of British Columbia. It must be remembered
that these different groups are only based on the relationships of
their component tribes in language or dialect, and do not always imply
that the tribes belonging to them had the same customs and
dispositions; but they were generally able to communicate with one
another in speech, whereas if they met the Indians of another group
the language might be so totally different that they could only
communicate by means of signs.
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