The dissertation is in two parts. The first part develops a largely conjectural reconstruction of the social history of the Carrier Indians of north-central B.C. in three stages. The history commences with the Carrier in what is believed to be their original setting amid fellow Athapaskan-speakers of the Yukon-Mackenzie woodlands. A hypothetical system of composite bands is ascribed to the Carrier at this stage, as the underlying social form out of which more recent forms have arisen. Following their move to their present location in the salmon-spawning headwaters of the Skeena and Fraser systems, a salmon-promoted segmentary elaboration of the bands (termed the sept system) is envisioned. The sept stage is then succeeded by a system involving the overlaying of the sept structure, to a considerable extent under the impetus of the burgeoning fur-trade at the turn of the 18th Century, by a system of coast-derived, territory-claiming, matrilineal crest-divisions, classes, ranks, and a potlatch cycle which ceremonially articulate these various categories of social structure. This last stage, designated the sept/phratry stage, represents the Carrier social structure described by a number of research scholars who have worked among the Carrier from the turn of the 19th Century (the Oblate missionary-scholar Father A.G. Morice) to the present (notably Jenness, Goldman, Hackler and myself). The second part of the essay is a close analysis of the seating and prestation-distribution orders of the protocols of the Carrier potlatch. The central thesis of Part II is that the ceremonial seating and distribution arrangement of the major parameters of Carrier society (chiefs, nobles, commons, clans, phratries, septs) is motivated in consideration of the epi-ceremonial connotations of these categories; especially by connotations proper to the diachronic perspective, i.e., by both ideologies of continuity, and folk-historic aspects of social structure. The spatial/temporal arrangements of the potlatch are treated, following the linguistic model, as "surface" structures which manifest meanings out of principles of motivated syntax operating at "deep" (i.e., unconscious) levels of structure. The "deep" level principles of space/time syntax are expressed as simple analogies, and it is suggested that the motivation behind these patterns may derive from certain givens of perceptual experience. Thus, inasmuch as seating and prestation distribution s render a symbolic expression of both historic and synchronic aspects of epi-ceremonial social structure, Part I of the essay provides a foundation for Part II by representing current Carrier social structure in light of its reconstructed historic sources. The conclusion discusses some of the mechanisms, elucidated by the dissertation, which contribute to the cybernetic relations between ritual and social structure. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Very little is known about the relationship between locus of control (LOC) orientation and mild or temporary hearing losses associated with chronic otitis media. Furthermore, it seems this relationship may never have been studied in the unique cultural context of Northern Canadian Native Indian societies. The present study investigated the relationship between LOC orientation and hearing status category among Carrier-Sekani children from Northern British Columbia. The relationship between LOC orientation, chronologic age, and academic achievement was also explored. Demographic data collected for a larger study, provided an opportunity to conduct some post hoc analyses on LOC orientation, place in the family, number of parents in the home and family income. Ninety Carrier-Sekani students from grades four to twelve, received a modified Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Students were divided into two broad categories, normally hearing and those having a history of a hearing loss. The latter category was further divided into students with a pure tone loss, students with a history of chronic otitis media and those with observed otitis media at the time of testing. Students could be members of more than one sub-group. Correlation coefficients and Analyses of Variance were computed to explore the relationship between LOC orientation and the independent variables. No significant relationship was discovered between LOC orientation and category of hearing loss. An internal LOC orientation was positively associated with chronologic age, medium family income, two parents in the home and partially associated with academic achievement. This study indicates that for Carrier-Sekani students, a mild or temporary hearing loss is not significantly associated with an external LOC orientation. It seems that school related variables and demographic variables commonly associated with LOC orientation in the samples described in the literature are also present in the sample studied in this project.

Very little is known about the relationship between locus of control (LOC) orientation and mild or temporary hearing losses associated with chronic otitis media. Furthermore, it seems this relationship may never have been studied in the unique cultural context of Northern Canadian Native Indian societies. The present study investigated the relationship between LOC orientation and hearing status category among Carrier-Sekani children from Northern British Columbia. The relationship between LOC orientation, chronologic age, and academic achievement was also explored. Demographic data collected for a larger study, provided an opportunity to conduct some post hoc analyses on LOC orientation, place in the family, number of parents in the home and family income. Ninety Carrier-Sekani students from grades four to twelve, received a modified Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Students were divided into two broad categories, normally hearing and those having a history of a hearing loss. The latter category was further divided into students with a pure tone loss, students with a history of chronic otitis media and those with observed otitis media at the time of testing. Students could be members of more than one sub-group. Correlation coefficients and Analyses of Variance were computed to explore the relationship between LOC orientation and the independent variables. No significant relationship was discovered between LOC orientation and category of hearing loss. An internal LOC orientation was positively associated with chronologic age, medium family income, two parents in the home and partially associated with academic achievement. This study indicates that for Carrier-Sekani students, a mild or temporary hearing loss is not significantly associated with an external LOC orientation. It seems that school related variables and demographic variables commonly associated with LOC orientation in the samples described in the literature are also present in the sample studied in this project. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate