Book
The Bella Coola Indians: volume one
University of Toronto Press • Toronto • Published In 1948 • Pages:
By: McIlwraith, T. F. (Thomas Forsyth).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source, vol. 1 of two volumes, is a 'classic' in the field of ethnographic writing, and was compiled by the author, a well-known ethnologist, from extensive notes taken in the field during his two visits to the Bellacoola from March to August 1922, and from September 1923 to February 1924. The source attempts to record as far as possible the sum total of the Bellacoola culture complex and interwoven social life before the complete breakdown of the society had taken place, a definite factor to be considered in any data collected after 1924. After a short section on the location of the Bellacoola and their natural environment, the author strikes off on rather lengthy discussions of religion, social organization, rank (including much detailed information on the potlatch system), and additional chapters on other aspects and features of the potlatch, Bellacoola mythology as revealed in their origin myths, the life cycle from birth to marriage, death, relations with the supernatural and various stories illustrating the same, and a final chapter on medicine, magic and taboo, which includes among other things 'cures' for anything from baldness to whooping cough. This chapter also includes valuable data on sorcery. Despite the well rounded and highly detailed presentation of Bellacoola social organization, religion, etc., as outlined above, the source lacks information on the material culture of the people. Appendices and an index will be found in the second volume of this work, appearing as 2: McIlwraith in this collection.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Settlement patterns
- Spirits and gods
- Ethnozoology
- Clans
- Accumulation of wealth
- Community heads
- Mythology
- Literary texts
- Death
- Sickness
- Revelation and divination
- Development and maturation
- Magic
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Nuxalk
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Northwest Coast and California
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1963: John Beierle; 2010
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1922-1924
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1840s-1924
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Bella Coola Reserve, Bella Coola Valley, British Columbia, Canada
- NotesAdditional notes
- by T. F. McIlwraith
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Bella Coola Indians