power of making dried skins pass for meats, and withered twigs look like fruits; by craft he gains the victory over cannibals, and is able to acquire a magical staff used by the latter. But while he thus appears as the adversary of evil powers, yet he also figures as lustful, cruel, selfish, and deceitful. In spite of his skill in magic, he is described as often overreached, and as coming out second best in contests for supremacy.
The inconsistencies of such character, answering to the usual description of the culture hero, have given rise to controversies in respect to interpretation. Dr. Boas, giving attention to the subject in his Introduction to the present collection, is of opinion that the actions of such personages are originally conceived as performed from personal and not altruistic motives, the resulting advantage being secondary and incidental. This doctrine he maintains by examples taken from the northwest coast and other regions, and concludes that these transformers did not represent the conception usually given by the term "culture hero," who is commonly understood to be a benevolent person who has made it an object to advance the interests of humanity, but rather powerful personages who, from selfish reasons, were instrumental in conferring on the world its present conditions. Taking this view, it is easy to comprehend the combination in one nature of the benefactor and the trickster, the transformer acting with an eye to the advancement of his own interests, whether by the use of fair means or foul, just as an Indian would treat his enemy.
There can, however, be no question that in aboriginal lore is encountered also a higher conception, which ascribes to the transformer a conscious intent to benefit friends. In the Thompson River mythology such action is attributed to the Old Man. The Algonkin myths relate of Manibozhoo that he instituted secret societies for the sake of mankind, while at the same time they relate concerning him absurd stories. In such more advanced representation, Dr. Boas considers that we have a result of the interpolation of altruistic ideas into a material originally unaffected by such notions. A transitional point may be indicated by the tradition of the Kwakiutl that the changes were made for the advantage of a particular friend. The higher rises the ethical conception, the greater must appear the contrast between the two classes of incidents; the result is that, in cases where such evolution has taken place, the arts of the trickster may be ascribed to a separate being, the personality of the transformer being split into two parts, as has been done in the mythology of the Micmacs and the Penobscot, where Glooscap has retained almost exclusively the features proper to a benefactor. Dr. Boas is of opinion that the correctness of his view would appear
