SEKANI

a nearly extinct Athabascan-speaking Indian tribe that lived mostly in river valleys on both the western and the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in what is now British Columbia and Alberta. They were often harassed and driven off by neighbouring Cree, Beaver, Carrier, and Shuswap and, finally, by white trappers and miners. Disease and malnutrition resulting from the depletion of game added to their toll. The Sekani were divided into several independent bands, loosely organized and with only nominal leaders. (The name Sekani, meaning Dwellers on the Rocks, originally denoted only one particular band, there being no name for the tribe as a whole.) Nomadic, they lived in crude temporary huts or lean-tos framed by poles and covered with spruce bark or brush; and they hunted moose, caribou, bear, mountain goats, beaver, and other game, using chiefly snares but also bows and arrows, spears, and clubs. They scorned fish and usually ate it only when faced by dire food shortage; in fact, their derisive name for their neighbours, the Carrier, was Fisheaters. The Sekani believed in animism, finding spirits or powers among animals, winds, and thunder. Each male had one or more guardian spirits associated with birds or beasts, from which he might elicit power on occasions of great need. There were also shamans considered able to cause and cure illness.