128 Flathead Flathead ETHNONYMS: Salish, Selish The Flathead are an American Indian group numbering about four thousand who live with members of the Kalispel and Kutenai American Indian groups on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana. The Flathead are a Salishan-speaking group who in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries numbered between three thousand and six thousand and inhabited the region of western Montana and Wyoming north of the Gallatin River between the Rocky Mountains and the Little Belt range. Aboriginally, the Flathead hunted bison on the plains and other large game in the mountains; fishing and gathering supplemented their diet. Bison hunting increased in impor- tance after horses were acquired in 1700, and fur trading be- came an important part of the economy beginning in the early nineteenth century. The Flathead were loosely organ- ized into bands composed of several related families and led by a chief. Tribal government on the reservation today consists of a ten-member elected tribal council, which is responsible for selecting a tribal chairman and vice chairman. Forest indus- tries are the main source of income on the reservation. Religious life centered around guardian spirits obtained in dreams or visions induced by fasting and prayer. The Flat- head believed that after death good souls journey to an upper world inhabited by the deity, Amo'tken, while bad souls go to live in an underworld inhabited by the evil deity, Amte'p. Bibliography Bigart, Robert J. (1971). "Patterns of Cultural Change in a Salish Flathead Community." Human Organization 30:229- 237. Old Person, Earl (1984). "Problems, Prospects, and Aspira- tions of the 'Real People' in America." In Pathways to Self- Determination, edited by Leroy Little Bear et al., 148-151. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Turney-High, Harry H. (1937). The Flathead Indians of Mon- tana. American Anthropological Association, Memoir 48. Menasha, Wis. Fox ETHNONYMS: Mesquakie, Outagami Orientation Identification. The Fox were a hunting and agricultural society whose name for themselves was 'Meskwahli-haki," meaning "Red earths" or "People of the red earth." Their identity is often confused with the Sauk. But even after the development of a close alliance between the two groups in the eighteenth century, the Fox have remained a single, clearly defined group. Location. In aboriginal times the Fox were located in pres- ent-day southern Michigan or northwestern Ohio. Prior to European contact they were driven by the Iroquois into Wis- consin, where they were located at the time of first direct con- tact with Europeans in the mid-seventeenth century. Their territory at that time centered on the Wolf River and spread from Lake Superior south to the Chicago River and from Lake Michigan west to the Mississippi River. Demography. In 1650 the Fox numbered approximately 2,500, and in the early nineteenth century, between 1,600 and 2,000. By 1867 the Fox population had declined to but 264 persons. In 1932 they numbered 403, and in 1955, 653. In the 1980s the Fox numbered about 1,000, with some 500 on the Sac and Fox Reservation in Tama County, Iowa. inguistic Affiliation. The Fox spoke an Algonkian lan- guage, which those in Iowa still speak. History and Cultural Relations In the mid to late seventeenth century the establishment of a French trading post at Green Bay drew the Fox to the Wolf River area. Almost from the start, tension and conflict char- acterized Fox-French relations. This stemmed in part from Fox opposition to the French extending the fur trade to their traditional enemies, the Dakota. In 1712, twenty-five years of continuous warfare were initiated when the Fox who had moved to Detroit and were presumed by the French post there to be planning an assault were attacked by a coalition of tribes organized and incited by the French commander. Dur- ing this period the Fox were nearly wiped out by warfare and disease. In 1733 they took refuge with the Sauk at Green Bay and soon thereafter both tribes fled to Iowa. Shortly after the cessation of hostilities in 1737 the Fox returned to Wiscon- sin, but by the late eighteenth century they were living on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River. Between 1832 and 1842, Fox and Sauk ceded their lands to the United States and moved to a reservation in Kansas. On the Kansas reservation, relations between the two groups were marked by tension, and between 1856 and 1859 the Fox returned to Iowa and settled near Tama. The federal govern- ment opposed this move, but was unsuccessful in returning them to Kansas. The descendants of the Fox have maintained many ele- ments of the traditional culture, including their language and clan-organized ritual activities. An important factor in this process has been tribal ownership of land and resistance to land allotment. Settlements In the early nineteenth century, the Fox settlement pattern alternated between large semipermanent villages occupied during the summer planting and fall harvesting seasons and small dispersed camps used during the winter and early spring hunting seasons. The semipermanent villages were located in river bottoms near agricultural fields and moved periodically as firewood resources were depleted. Generally, fewer than twenty dwellings or lodges made up a village, with the lodges Fox 129 aligned in parallel rows along an east-west axis. A typical summer lodge consisted of an elm-bark-covered pole scaf- folding measuring forty to sixty feet long and twenty feet wide. Winter camps varied in size from one to a few extended families, with dwellings consisting of dome-shaped, pole- framed structures covered with cattail mats. On the 3,476- acre reservation, the Fox now live in scattered modem housing. Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The Fox were hunter-farmers whose subsistence focused on deer, bison, maize, squash, beans, and pumpkins. Trapping and hunting for the fur trade became an important part of the economic pattern very soon after European contact. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the seasonal pattern of economic ac- tivities included planting crops in May and June and harvest- ing in the early autumn, after which the summer villages dis- persed and the people journeyed to their hunting grounds. Hunts were also carried out during the summer growing sea- son. Midwinter was spent in temporary camps in sheltered river bottoms where the people remained until hunting activi- ties were renewed in the early spring. In April the dispersed families returned to their summer village and initiated a new cycle of agricultural activities. Since the 1950s, commuting to work in nearby cities has been an important part of the economic pattern of Fox living near Tama, Iowa. Tribal income is derived from renting tribal lands to local farmers. Industrial Arts. The Fox displayed a typical Woodland pat- tern, relying on the bow and arrow for hunting and warfare. Clothes were made from deerskin. Aboriginal manufactures were quickly replaced with items obtained from Europeans. Trade. Apart from furs taken to obtain European trade goods, hides and tallow, a by-product of deer hunting, and lead ore obtained through surface mining were important trade items for the Fox during the historic period. Division of Labor. Traditionally men hunted, and women were responsible for growing crops and gathering roots, nuts, berries, and animal by-products such as honey and beeswax. Land Tenure. When they settled near Tama, Iowa, in 1857, the Fox purchased 80 acres of land; since that time ad- ditional land purchases have brought tribal holdings to 3,476 acres. Kinship Kin Groups and Descent. Fox kin groupings consisted of numerous exogamous patrilineal clans, the corporate features of which focused on ritual activities and rights to clan names. In theory, each clan was descended from a vision seeker who had been blessed by a spirit. Lineages composing the clans were the primary means for the inheritance of rights to ritual positions and political offices and also served to regulate sec- ondary marriages. Descent was patrilineal. Kinship Terminology. Kinship terminology followed the Omaha system. Marriage and Family Marriage. Marriage within one's clan was forbidden. Whether arranged by the couple, a go-between, or through negotiations between families, marriage was validated by an exchange of gifts between families. Polygyny was permitted; however, its frequency is unclear. After marriage, the couple resided with the wife's parents for one year or until the birth of their first child; thereafter they might live in their own lodge or with the husband's parents. Widows and widowers were expected to replace their deceased spouse with a mem- ber of the spouse's lineage; failure to do so brought retribu- tion from the women of the offended lineage in the form of the destruction of the offender's property. Domestic Unit. Each household consisted of an extended family of between five and thirty persons. Each extended fam- ily constituted an economic unit whose members cooperated in hunting and agricultural activities. Inheritance. Ritual positions and political offices were controlled by lineages and inherited patrilineally. Socialization. Corporal punishment of children was rare, the preferred method being forced fasting to instill correct be- havior. During her first menstruation, a girl was isolated in a separate lodge for ten days as a precaution against endanger- ing others and herself; during subsequent menstrual periods she was similarly isolated but for shorter periods of time. For boys, puberty was marked by a vision quest, undertaken in isolation, with the object of gaining spiritual power. Girls also sought visions, but not in isolation nor as part of menstrual seclusion. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. Fox society was split into two divi- sions whose lines crosscut clan and lineage divisions. The two divisions were represented by the colors white and black and organized the people for games, ceremonies, dances, and war- fare. The firstborn child of a couple was assigned to the divi- sion to which the father did not belong, and subsequent chil- dren were assigned to alternate divisions according to their order of birth. Numerous permanent and temporary volun- tary associations existed for raiding, ritual, and other pur- poses. Political Organization. Politically, Fox society was di- vided into peace and war organizations, each with its own chief and subordinate officeholders. The peace chief had lit- tle authority and functioned primarily as a moderator; he was selected for the position from a specific lineage which con- trolled rights to the office by a tribal council. During times of war and other threatening periods, the war chief and the war organization held considerable power. For the war chief, this stemmed from his control over the camp police, an organiza- tion of warriors that enforced decisions made by the tribal council. In the early nineteenth century, the war chief ac- quired office through successful leadership in warfare. At an earlier time, however, clan affiliation may have been an im- portant factor in access to the office. Membership in the tri- bal council was controlled by a specific lineage and its respon- sibilities included issues such as peace and war, relations with other tribes, and the selection of winter hunting grounds. 130 Fox. Today, an elected tribal council of seven members meets monthly to manage tribal affairs. Social Control and Conflict. In addition to enforcing the decisions of the tribal council, the camp police regulated tri- bal movements and patrolled the campgrounds during bison hunts. Their unquestioned right to destroy the property of anyone who disobeyed them enabled the camp police to func- tion effectively as a mechanism of social control. Currently, tension exists between the traditional and progressive fac- tions who disagree about the extent to which the tribe should follow White economic and political practices. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs. Fox cosmology included a belief in an upper world in the sky, associated with good, and a lower world beneath the earth, associated with evil. The Fox be- lieved themselves to be the grandchildren of the earth and all that grew on it. Fox supernatural beings included Great or Gentle Manitou, who ruled the upper world. Other important supernatural beings included spirits associated with the four cardinal directions and the earth. Religious Practitioners. Certain prescribed actions could be undertaken to gain the attention and favor of the spirits and place them under obligation. These actions included blackening one's face, fasting, wailing, and smoking or offer- ing tobacco, which was believed to be greatly desired by the spirits, but accessible to them only through human beings. Successful vision questers were believed to be able to draw on supernatural powers contained in sacred packs they assem- bled following their vision experience. In some instances, in- dividuals experienced multiple intense visions; the sacred packs associated with these visions were believed to be ex- tremely powerful, with benefits extending to the clan and lineage of the vision quester. Ceremonies. Two ceremonies were held annually in order to maintain the powers of the sacred packs of clans and line- ages. One of these, a winter ceremony, was small and lacked elaborate ritual and social activities. The second, held in the summer, was rich in such activities, including prayers, songs, the telling of the histories of the sacred packs, dancing, and feasting. Arts. Body ornamentation was important to the Fox. They were highly skilled in ribbon applique and silverwork and the production of beaded ornaments. Medicine. The Fox developed a rich pharmacopoeia, and curers used over two hundred plant materials in curing, most of which were used for intestinal disorders. Most were taken internally, some applied externally, and a few burned for the therapeutic value of the smoke. Death and Afterlife. Death was announced by a village crier and followed by an all-night mourning ceremony at the deceased's lodge by the deceased's clan members. The corpse was dressed in the finest clothing and wrapped in bark or reed mats prior to burial. Interment was usually- in the ground, with the corpse extended and oriented along an east-west axis, the feet to the west. Noted warriors were commonly bur- ied in a seated position. The burial ceremony included an ad- dress by a funeral director and tobacco offerings by the direc- tor and mourners; the earth-filled grave was covered over by a small wooden shed and marked with a post at the head that indicated the deceased's clan affiliation. Grave goods were few, and the deceased's property was divided by burial attend- ants and the deceased's surviving relatives. Within four years of an individual's death, an adoption ceremony was held that served to release mourners from their obligations and bring into the deceased's lineage a friend or other person chosen by the surviving relatives. Usually the adoptee was a person of the same sex and age of the deceased, and the ceremony of adoption included feasts, games, danc- ing, and the exchange of gifts. Bibliography Callender, Charles (1978). "Fox." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15, Northeast, edited by Bruce G. Trig- ger, 636-647. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Hagan, William T. (1950). The Sac and Fox Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Jones, William (1939). Ethnography of the Fox Indians. U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 125. Washing- ton, D.C. GERALD F. REID French Canadians ETHNONYMS: Francophones (outside of Quebec), Quibecois Orientation Identification. French Canadian is a generic term applied to all descendants of French settlers in Canada. They form two groups: Quibecois in the province of Quebec, and Fran- cophones outside of Quebec. The former identify themselves as a distinct society and culture. The latter form a diaspora having a minority status, namely, Acadians in the Maritime Provinces and French Canadian communities in Ontario and the western provinces. Location. Quebec Province is bounded by Hudson Bay and Ontario on the west, New Brunswick on the east, Labra- dor and the Arctic Ocean on the north, and New York on the south. Its area is 1,540,680 square kilometers. Geographi- cally, the St. Lawrence lowlands separate the Canadian Pla- teau from the Appalachians. An Arctic climate, vegetation, and fauna are found in the north; subarctic climate in the center, and continental humid with mixed forest and a grow- ing season of 60 to 160 days in the south. Demography. The total population is about 6.4 million persons in Quebec and 500,000 outside Quebec. Franco- phones form 90 percent and Anglophones 10 percent of the population of Quebec. The Francophone population is now French Canadians 131 mainly urban, living in Montreal and Quebec City metropoli- tan areas. The remainder of the population of Quebec is sparsely distributed in regional cities of less than 10,000 per- sons and in rural areas. Francophones outside Quebec live in small localities and rural areas, but some have migrated re- cently to cities. inguistic Affiliation. French has been the official lan- guage of Quebec Province since 1974. In the 1970s the status of the French language became an important political issue: Quebec governments adopted linguistic laws. In other prov- inces, French Canadian communities must struggle to have their own institutions in order to preserve their language and culture and avoid assimilation. In New Brunswick and On- tario they now have access to French-language governmental services, education, and radio and television. The language spoken in Quebec differs from that in France in its vocabulary and pronunciation. The Quebec government decided in 1979 to translate English technical terms and promote Frenchification of all enterprises in Quebec so that French would be predominant. A special effort was also made to in- troduce immigrants to the language in order to protect the French character of the province. History and Cultural Relations In 1534, a French navigator took possession of the eastern part of Quebec in the name of France. Because of France's in- volvement in wars, it was not until 1608 that Samuel de Champlain, following the St. Lawrence River, founded Que- bec City, the first settlement of the colony named New France. From 1608 to 1760, only ten thousand persons mi- grated from France to the colony, and present-day French Canadians are almost all descended from these first settlers. New France differed from New England in significant ways. France was a feudal society, which transplanted the seigneu- rial system, French law, and the Roman Catholic church to New France. The territory was divided between seigneuries headed by a seignor collecting seigneurial dues for granting land to censitaires, or peasant setters. The New France econ- omy rested on subsistence agriculture and the fur trade, all furs being exported to France. The territory was then much larger than now, covering the Maritime Provinces, the Great Lakes region, the central part of the United States along the Mississippi River, and Louisiana. In 1760, New France became an English colony. Since French Canadians formed a distinct society and culture, they resisted assimilation, and in 1774 the English compromised, with the Act of Quebec recognizing French Canadian dis- tinctiveness and affording them the right to live by theirlaws, religion, and language. From 1774 to 1854, the seigneurial system and the Catholic church dominated the social and economic life of French Canadians. The church allied itself with the seignors and English rulers. This situation was re- sented by the professional and merchant class, leading to the 1837-1838 revolt, which was put down by the English army. The leaders were killed or jailed and the peasant population demoralized and subordinated to the Catholic church. From 1840 to 1867 the colony had two governments: Upper Can- ada with Anglophone settlers, and Lower Canada, the French Canadian territory. Each had its own somewhat au- tonomous parliament to manage its internal affairs. In 1867, a federation of five provinces was founded. Lower Canada then became the province of Quebec. From 1867 to 1949, five other provinces joined Canada. In the federation, Que- bec Province maintained its cultural distinctiveness. A strong nationalist movement seeking more political autonomy for Quebec has developed since 1945. The Dup- lessis government (1945-1959) obtained its own provincial taxation system. In 1960, a Liberal party government decided to modernize the economic, educational, and health systems, marking the end of the social and political power of the Cath- olic church and the beginning of a secular society in which the state plays the dominant role. Nationalist aspirations reached their high point in the 1970s. The Parti Quibecois was elected in 1976 on a nationalist platform. It lost a refe. rendum to negotiate the independence of Quebec in 1980 but remained in power until 1984. In 1982, the province was excluded from the new constitution of Canada. The Liberal party government was elected in 1984 with the mission to reintegrate Quebec into the Constitutional Act. Isolated for one hundred years from France, franco- quibecois cultural, economic, and political relations have ex- isted since the 1960s and have been extended to all Franco- phone countries in Europe and elsewhere through the regular participation by the Quebec government in the Francophone Summit for the past twenty years. Quibecois have been influ- enced almost equally by France and the United States, and their intellectual and organizational life is a synthesis of the two. Relations with English Canada have been more limited because of cultural and linguistic differences but also because of strained relations. Settlements Two settlement patterns have shaped the Quebec landscape. Since the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries were once the only means of transportation, all farms fronted the river in a pattern called rangs. Social life took place in these rangs and small villages. Settlements spread from the river to interior lands. From 1608 to 1850, the French Canadians lived in the rangs of seigneuries on each shore of the St. Lawrence River between Quebec and Montreal. In the 1840s, Scottish and Irish settlers colonized the eastern townships outside the seig- neuries according to the English pattern. In the 1860s, pe- riphetal regions of Quebec were colonized from the seigneu- ries. During this same period, thousands of French Canadi- ans migrated to work in New England factories where they formed the Franco-American diaspora Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Quebec has been industrialized since the 1920s. Before 1939, more than 20 percent of the population worked in agriculture, industry being mostly textile- and local-market-oriented. World War II accelerated industrialization. Today, Quebec is an industri- ally advanced society. Since 1960, Quebec governments have encouraged a diversified industrial base of Quibecois-owned enterprises through a social-democratic policy (social assist- ance, free health services, Health and Security Commission) and an interventionist economic policy (statist financial in- stitutions; direct subventions to industries; nationalization of electricity, automobile insurance, and asbestos companies; construction of dams). Agriculture has been modernized and only 2 percent of the population is now engaged in farm work. 132 French Canadians The main products are milk, pork, beef, fruits, and vegetables, grains, and greenhouse crops. Forests have attracted pulp and paper companies. Industrial Arts. French Canadians make traditional and modem crafts. The traditional crafts focus on re-creations of folk objects. The modem is creative and functional. Craft- work is taught in technical schools and organized in associa- tions holding annual expositions. Trade. Cities and suburbs have shopping centers and American-style stores. There are also open-air markets during the summer for fruits and vegetables, but most people buy their food in supermarket chains. A recent trend, however, is to buy fruits, vegetables, and meat directly from the farm. Division of Labor. Traditionally, women working on the farm performed a great variety of tasks. Many handled all the farm responsibilities while their husbands lumbered in the forests for months. They also received more education than men and managed the family money. Outside of agriculture, they could work only as teachers, nurses, or industrial work- ers. This rigid division of labor was challenged by a strong feminist movement during the 1970s. Since 1975, steps have been taken to give women equal access to university educa- tion, professions, and traditionally male jobs. The Quebec government has followed affirmative action guidelines for women since 1981, and the feminist movement has been in- stitutionalized through the formation of a Consultative Council on the status of women in 1977, and a Feminine Condition Ministry in 1979. Important changes have re- sulted in the division of labor between the sexes in the work- place and in the family, with the younger generation now tak- ing sexual equality for granted. Land Tenure. Quebec is a capitalist society. Private own- ership is the rule for agricultural, industrial, and commercial property. Family farms are predominant with a single farm owner or a partnership between spouses or among relatives. Kinship, Marriage and Family Kinship. French Canadians reckon descent bilaterally. Kinship terminology distinguishes the paternal from the ma- ternal line by adding the term paternel and maternel to terms like uncle, aunt, or cousin. First, second, and third cousins are recognized. Genealogical knowledge is an important so- cial asset in which women excel. In rural areas, women can easily state every kinship tie they have with hundreds of per- sons for five or six generations. Residence was traditionally patrilocal for the son inheriting the paternal farm but neo- local for other sons and daughters. Now it is neolocal for all. Marriage. Traditionally, men and women had to either marry or remain celibate, taking care of their elderly parents or entering religious communities. Marriage was religious and divorce prohibited by the church. Sexuality was severely re- pressed and only allowed as a means to produce children. Married couples felt obligated to have a great number of chil- dren to ensure the survival of the French Canadian nation. A radical change has taken place since 1960, with fewer men and women entering religious communities and civil mar- riage, birth control, and divorce now the norm. The typical family now has only two children, and 50 percent of new mar- riages end in divorce. Sexuality has been liberalized, and a woman's economic status in marriage has been recognized by civil law in marriage contracts and in divorce settlements. Domestic Unit. Famille-souche, consisting of a married couple, their numerous children, grandparents, and unmar- ried brothers or sisters on the paternal farm, was the tradi- tional pattern. For sons and daughters leaving the famille- souche, the nuclear family was the rule. The nuclear family with five persons or less is now prevalent, with a growing pro- portion of single-parent families as a consequence of the large number of divorces. Agricultural families have followed the urban pattern. Inheritance. Patrilineal land transmission was the rule, with only one son (usually one of the younger ones) inherit- ing the paternal farm, the other sons having been given land earlier by their father. Women were not allowed to inherit land, though they now can. For inheritance of other goods, English practices have been followed since the nineteenth century. Socialization. Traditionally, children in rural areas re- ceived only a minimal formal education for three to six years. They worked on the farm from the age of twelve to the time of their marriage. Emphasis was placed on capacity to work hard and on respect for adults and church authority. Only a minor- ity had an opportunity to attend the colleges and universities controlled by the clergy. Since 1960, religious educational in- stitutions have been nationalized, and universal access to for- mal education has been promoted. Familial education is more liberal and permissive since families are now smaller. With the changing roles of men and women, a greater empha- sis has been put on the socialization of boys and girls free of sexual stereotypes in families and at school. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. The class structure of modem Que- bec is complex and consists of several strata: (1) an Anglo- phone bourgeoisie; (2) a French Canadian middle bourgeoi- sie having interests in financial institutions, middle-sized industries, and controlling statist economic institutions, which supports the federalist political position with minimal nationalist claims; and (3) a petty bourgeoisie including public-sector managers and employees, professionals, and small entrepreneurs in industry and commerce, which sup- ports the nationalist party. The working class is numerically important and is divided into two groups: workers organized in strong assertive unions that have won acceptable salaries and working conditions, and poorly paid nonunionized work- ers. In agriculture, family farms are the majority. Farmers are organized and control the sale of agricultural products through quotas. Quebec has more unemployed persons than other provinces; almost 15 percent of the population collects unemployment insurance or social security payments. Political Organization. Quebec is a province with its own parliament within a federation. According to the Canadian Constitution, the provincial parliament has jurisdiction over educational, health, agricultural, economic, and social policy in the province. Quebec governments have sought additional autonomy from the federal government since the 1940s. The political system is bipartisan with two major political parties and a third and fourth of marginal influence. The dominant political party has been the Liberal party (1960-1976; 1984- French Canadians 133 1990). A conservative party in power in the 1950s disap- peared in the 1970s, replaced by the Parti Quebecois, which governed from 1976 to 1984. The Quebec government makes decisions concerning education, health, and economic matters. Municipalities have power over local matters. All decisions regarding zoning, the environment, transportation, and economic development are centralized at the government level. Municipalities receive a part of their budget from the central government and are grouped into regional units to coordinate decision making. Deputies are important intermediaries between the people and the government. Ministries have delegated some of their power to semi-autonomous commissions like the Health and Security Commission, the Right of Persons Commission, the Agricultural Markets and Agricultural Credit Commission, the French Language Commission, and the Zoning Com- mission. Social Control. Quebec operates under two legal systems: French civil law and English criminal law. The provincial court system has three levels: the Ordinary Court, the Provin- cial Court, and the Superior Court. Since 1981, a provincial Charter of Person's Right predominates over all laws. Quebec citizens can obtain a Supreme Federal Court judgment when they have passed through the three levels of provincial courts. A national police corps has jurisdiction over all of Quebec. Conflict. Armed conflict has been rare in Quebec history with the exception of the 1837 revolt. In 1970, when a terror- ist group kidnapped two politicians, war powers were enacted by the federal government, leading to the arrest of hundreds of persons and the military occupation of Quebec. The main conflicts in Quebec are not ethnic, but protracted conflicts involving unions are a consequence of the unions' aggressive- ness in defending their interests. Racism and any kind of dis- crimination are overtly condemned and they occur only rarely. Quibecois are on the whole tolerant and pacific peo- ple who will fight for respect but who generally live in peace with other groups. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs. The Catholic religion occupied a cen- tral place in French Canadian life from the beginnings of New France until 1960. The authority of the Catholic church was not only religious but also social through the religious community's monopolization of educational and health insti- tutions; economic through the wealth of the clergy; political through the partisan position and alliance of the clergy with English rulers and seignors in the nineteenth century and with the conservative federal and provincial governments in the 1940s and 1950s; and ideological because of the church's strong opposition to liberal and democratic ideas, helping those with conservative and elitist ideas to remain in control. With the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s, the Catholic church lost its social and political influence. Quebecois abandoned religious practices and beliefs en masse and rapidly accepted a pluralistic value system. But schools remained confessional, and the governments have lost the battle for the complete secularization of the school system. Arts. Quebecois culture has been flourishing during the last thirty years in literature, poetry, popular songs, theater, cinema, painting, sculpture, and music. The Quebec govern- ment encourages arts with subsidies and aid for travel abroad. Cultural relations with France have helped artists to become known in Europe and to build an international reputation. Quebec culture is now celebrated internationally for its diver- sity and creativity. Canadian Francophones outside Quebec followed the same path. Acadians have developed their own literature, theater, and popular song, as is the case with Franco-Ontarians and Franco-Manitobans. Medicine. The Quebec health system was nationalized in 1960, and in 1969 the Health Insurance Commission was created by law to provide free health services for the people. Physicians are paid for their services by the commission. With the aging of the population, a debate has now begun because the costs are constantly increasing. Alternative medical prac- tices are developing, but most are still illegal. Death and Afterlife. Traditionally, the deceased was dis- played at home or later in funeral homes for two days for viewing by kin and friends. A religious funeral ceremony was performed on the third day and a banquet organized after the ceremony. Catholic funerals have been the norm for many years. Recently, cremation was introduced as an alternative with the religious ceremony retained. Beliefs regarding life after death followed the teachings of the Catholic church, which insisted in the 1960s that those who did not conform were condemned to eternal fire. This view was rejected as a manipulative attempt by the church to maintain its waning power. See also Acadians Bibliography Anthropologie et soci&t&s. Quebec: Presses de l'Universit6 Laval. Hamilton, Roberta (1988). Feudal Society and Colonization: The Historiography of New France. Gananoque, Ontario: Langdale Press. Moniere, Denis (1981). Ideologies in Quebec: The Historical Development. Translated by Richard Howard. Toronto: Uni- versity of Toronto Press. Recherches sociographiques. Quebec: Presses de l'Universit6 Laval. Revue d'histoire de l'Amerique francaise. Montreal: Institut de l'Amerique francais. Ryan, William F. (1966). The Clergy and the Economic Growth of Quebec, 1896-1914. Quebec: Presses de l'Univer- site Laval. Sociologie et soci&t&s. Montreal: Presses de l'Universit6 de Montreal. Wade, Mason (1968). The French Canadians, 1760-1967. 2 vols. Toronto: Macmillan. LISE PILON 134 Gosiute Gosiute The Gosiute (Goshute) live in the area around the Great Salt Lake and to the west in Utah and Nevada. They speak a Sho- shonean language. About 450 of them now survive in Utah and Nevada on the Goshute and Skull Valley Indian Reserva- tions and in nearby communities. See Western Shoshone Bibliography Thomas, David Hurst, Lorann S. A. Pendleton, and Stephen C. Cappanari (1986). 'Western Shoshone." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 11, Great Basin, edited by War- ren L d'Azevedo, 262-283. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Gros Ventre ETHNONYmS: Atsina, Fall Indians, Gros Ventre of the Prairie, Hitunena, Minnetarees of Fort de Prairie, Rapid Indi- ans, White Clay People The Gros Ventre (Aaninena, Haaninin) are an Algon- kian-speaking American Indian group closely related to the Arapaho. In the eighteenth century they lived on the Cana- dian plains in the forks of the Saskatchewan River region. Late in the century, weakened by the smallpox epidemic of 1780, they moved south to the Milk River region in north- central Montana and have remained there ever since. From 1818 to 1823 some moved further south and lived with the Arapaho, but later rejoined the group. Their long alliance with the Blackfoot effectively ended when they aligned them- selves with the Crow, and both groups were defeated by the Blackfoot in 1867. The U.S. government established the Fort Belknap Res- ervation for them and the Assiniboin in Montana Territory in 1888, and they have mostly remained on the reservation since then. Estimates place the 1950 Gros Ventre reservation pop- ulation at 1,100 and the combined Gros Ventre-Assiniboin population at 1,870 in 1980. On the reservation, the Fort Belknap Community Council is the governing body. It has twelve members from four districts with the Gros Ventre and Assiniboin having equal representation. Tribal income de- rives mainly from land leases. There are some small Indian- owned stores and a tribally owned utility commission. There are large deposits of gravel, bentonite, gas, and oil on the res- ervation, with only gravel extracted and sold. The Labor Day Celebration and the Mid-Winter Fair are the two major reser- vationwide festivals. Aboriginally, the Gros Ventre were divided into twelve autonomous bands. Each band was led by a chief who usually made decisions in consultation with other male members of the band. Each band also had other chiefs, afforded that sta- tus because of their prowess in war. In winter, the bands camped separately, usually in wooded areas along waterways as protection from the harsh weather. In the warmer months they coalesced for the spring and fall bison hunts, and for var- ious ceremonies, including the Sun Dance. At these times, they camped in a circle, with an opening facing to the east, and with each band having its own place in the circle. Sub- sistence was based on the bison, every part of the animal being used in some way-the meat was roasted, boiled, or dried, the hides used for clothing, tipi covers, and trade with Whites. The tipi covers could also be converted into round boats for crossing large rivers. Deer, elk, and antelope were also hunted, and berries, fruits, and roots were collected by women. There was once a tradition of pottery making, but al- most none has been made in the last two centuries. Men en- gaged in hunting and warfare, while women did most of the work around the camp. All girls were given in marriage before puberty to older men, but men usually delayed marriage until they were twenty years old. Polygyny was common, as was divorce, which was usually initiated by the husband. Most women married three or four times during their lifetime. The sororate and levirate were customary. Each child belonged to the band of his or her father. There was strict mother-in-law avoidance, with moth- er-in-law and son-in-law forbidden to speak, look, or be in the same tipi with each other. Father-in-law avoidance was less restrictive. At adolescence, boys entered one of the age- graded societies and also became a member of either the Star Society or the Wolf Society, each of which had peacekeeping and social functions. At death, the individual had a scaffold burial, in a tree or in a cave, with some personal possessions. The Flat Pipe and Feathered Pipe Rites were important cere- monies, with personal supernatural powers and visions also significant. Today, the Gros Ventre are predominatly Roman Catholic. Bibliography Cooper, John M. (1956). The Gros Ventre of Montana. Pt. 2, Religion and Ritual. Catholic University of America, Anthro- pological Series, no. 16. Washington, D.C. Flannery, Regina (1953). The Gros Ventre of Montana. Pt. 1, Social Life. Catholic University of America, Anthropological Series, no. 15. Washington, D.C. Fowler, Loretta (1987). Shared Symbols, Contested Meanings: Gros Ventre Culture and History. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Uni- versity Press. Kroeber, Alfred L. (1907). Ethnology of the Gros Ventre. American Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Pa- pers 1, 145-281. New York. . with a mem- ber of the spouse's lineage; failure to do so brought retribu- tion from the women of the offended lineage in the form of the destruction of the offender's property. Domestic Unit. Each household consisted of an extended family of between five and thirty persons. Each extended fam- ily constituted an economic unit whose members cooperated in hunting and agricultural activities. Inheritance. Ritual positions and political offices were controlled by lineages and inherited patrilineally. Socialization. Corporal punishment of children was rare, the preferred method being forced fasting to instill correct be- havior. During her first menstruation, a girl was isolated in a separate lodge for ten days as a precaution against endanger- ing others and herself; during subsequent menstrual periods she was similarly isolated but for shorter periods of time. For boys, puberty was marked by a vision quest, undertaken in isolation, with the object of gaining spiritual power. Girls also sought visions, but not in isolation nor as part of menstrual seclusion. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. Fox society was split into two divi- sions whose lines crosscut clan and lineage divisions. The two divisions were represented by the colors white and black and organized the people for games, ceremonies, dances, and war- fare. The firstborn child of a couple was assigned to the divi- sion to which the father did not belong, and subsequent chil- dren were assigned to alternate divisions according to their order of birth. Numerous permanent and temporary volun- tary associations existed for raiding, ritual, and other pur- poses. Political Organization. Politically, Fox society was di- vided into peace and war organizations, each with its own chief and subordinate officeholders. The peace chief had lit- tle authority and functioned primarily as a moderator; he was selected for the position from a specific lineage which con- trolled rights to the office by a tribal council. During times of war and other threatening periods, the war chief and the war organization held considerable power. For the war chief, this stemmed from his control over the camp police, an organiza- tion of warriors that enforced decisions made by the tribal council. In the early nineteenth century, the war chief ac- quired office through successful leadership in warfare. At an earlier time, however, clan affiliation may have been an im- portant factor in access to the office. Membership in the tri- bal council was controlled by a specific lineage and its respon- sibilities included issues such as peace and war, relations with other tribes, and the selection of winter hunting grounds. 130 Fox. Today, an elected tribal council of seven members meets monthly to manage tribal affairs. Social Control and Conflict. In addition to enforcing the decisions of the tribal council, the camp police regulated tri- bal movements and patrolled the campgrounds during bison hunts. Their unquestioned right to destroy the property of anyone who disobeyed them enabled the camp police to func- tion effectively as a mechanism of social control. Currently, tension exists between the traditional and progressive fac- tions who disagree about the extent to which the tribe should follow White economic and political practices. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs. Fox cosmology included a belief in an upper world in the sky, associated with good, and a lower world beneath the earth, associated with evil. The Fox be- lieved themselves to be the grandchildren of the earth and all that grew on it. Fox supernatural beings included Great or Gentle Manitou, who ruled the upper world. Other important supernatural beings included spirits associated with the four cardinal directions and the earth. Religious Practitioners. Certain prescribed actions could be undertaken to gain the attention and favor of the spirits and place them under obligation. These actions included blackening one's face, fasting, wailing, and smoking or offer- ing tobacco, which was believed to be greatly desired by the spirits, but accessible to them only through human beings. Successful vision questers were believed to be able to draw on supernatural powers contained in sacred packs they assem- bled following their vision experience. In some instances, in- dividuals experienced multiple intense visions; the sacred packs associated with these visions were believed to be ex- tremely powerful, with benefits extending to the clan and lineage of the vision quester. Ceremonies. Two ceremonies were held annually in order to maintain the powers of the sacred packs of clans and line- ages. One of these, a winter ceremony, was small and lacked elaborate ritual and social activities. The second, held in the summer, was rich in such activities, including prayers, songs, the telling of the histories of the sacred packs, dancing, and feasting. Arts. Body ornamentation was important to the Fox. They were highly skilled in ribbon applique and silverwork and the production of beaded ornaments. Medicine. The Fox developed a rich pharmacopoeia, and curers used over two hundred plant materials in curing, most of which were used for intestinal disorders. Most were taken internally, some applied externally, and a few burned for the therapeutic value of the smoke. Death and Afterlife. Death was announced by a village crier and followed by an all-night mourning ceremony at the deceased's lodge by the deceased's clan members. The corpse was dressed in the finest clothing and wrapped in bark or reed mats prior to burial. Interment was usually- in the ground, with the corpse extended and oriented along an east-west axis, the feet to the west. Noted warriors were commonly bur- ied in a seated position. The burial ceremony included an ad- dress by a funeral director and tobacco offerings by the direc- tor and mourners; the earth-filled grave was covered over by a small wooden shed and marked with a post at the head that indicated the deceased's clan affiliation. Grave goods were few, and the deceased's property was divided by burial attend- ants and the deceased's surviving relatives. Within four years of an individual's death, an adoption ceremony was held that served to release mourners from their obligations and bring into the deceased's lineage a friend or other person chosen by the surviving relatives. Usually the adoptee was a person of the same sex and age of the deceased, and the ceremony of adoption included feasts, games, danc- ing, and the exchange of gifts. Bibliography Callender, Charles (1978). "Fox." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15, Northeast, edited by Bruce G. Trig- ger, 63 6-6 47. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Hagan, William T. (1950). The Sac and Fox Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Jones, William (1939). Ethnography of the Fox Indians. U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 125. Washing- ton, D.C. GERALD F. REID French Canadians ETHNONYMS: Francophones (outside of Quebec), Quibecois Orientation Identification. French Canadian is a generic term applied to all descendants of French settlers in Canada. They form two groups: Quibecois in the province of Quebec, and Fran- cophones outside of Quebec. The former identify themselves as a distinct society and culture. The latter form a diaspora having a minority status, namely, Acadians in the Maritime Provinces and French Canadian communities in Ontario and the western provinces. Location. Quebec Province is bounded by Hudson Bay and Ontario on the west, New Brunswick on the east, Labra- dor and the Arctic Ocean on the north, and New York on the south. Its area is 1,540,680 square kilometers. Geographi- cally, the St. Lawrence lowlands separate the Canadian Pla- teau from the Appalachians. An Arctic climate, vegetation, and fauna are found in the north; subarctic climate in the center, and continental humid with mixed forest and a grow- ing season of 60 to 160 days in the south. Demography. The total population is about 6.4 million persons in Quebec and 500,000 outside Quebec. Franco- phones form 90 percent and Anglophones 10 percent of the population of Quebec. The Francophone population is now French Canadians 131 mainly urban, living in Montreal and Quebec City metropoli- tan areas. The remainder of the population of Quebec is sparsely distributed in regional cities of less than 10,000 per- sons and in rural areas. Francophones outside Quebec live in small localities and rural areas, but some have migrated re- cently to cities. inguistic Affiliation. French has been the official lan- guage of Quebec Province since 1974. In the 1970s the status of the French language became an important political issue: Quebec governments adopted linguistic laws. In other prov- inces, French Canadian communities must struggle to have their own institutions in order to preserve their language and culture and avoid assimilation. In New Brunswick and On- tario they now have access to French-language governmental services, education, and radio and television. The language spoken in Quebec differs from that in France in its vocabulary and pronunciation. The Quebec government decided in 1979 to translate English technical terms and promote Frenchification of all enterprises in Quebec so that French would be predominant. A special effort was also made to in- troduce immigrants to the language in order to protect the French character of the province. History and Cultural Relations In 1534, a French navigator took possession of the eastern part of Quebec in the name of France. Because of France's in- volvement in wars, it was not until 1608 that Samuel de Champlain, following the St. Lawrence River, founded Que- bec City, the first settlement of the colony named New France. From 1608 to 1760, only ten thousand persons mi- grated from France to the colony, and present-day French Canadians are almost all descended from these first settlers. New France differed from New England in significant ways. France was a feudal society, which transplanted the seigneu- rial system, French law, and the Roman Catholic church to New France. The territory was divided between seigneuries headed by a seignor collecting seigneurial dues for granting land to censitaires, or peasant setters. The New France econ- omy rested on subsistence agriculture and the fur trade, all furs being exported to France. The territory was then much larger than now, covering the Maritime Provinces, the Great Lakes region, the central part of the United States along the Mississippi River, and Louisiana. In. 1760, New France became an English colony. Since French Canadians formed a distinct society and culture, they resisted assimilation, and in 1774 the English compromised, with the Act of Quebec recognizing French Canadian dis- tinctiveness and affording them the right to live by theirlaws, religion, and language. From 1774 to 1854, the seigneurial system and the Catholic church dominated the social and economic life of French Canadians. The church allied itself with the seignors and English rulers. This situation was re- sented by the professional and merchant class, leading to the 183 7-1 838 revolt, which was put down by the English army. The leaders were killed or jailed and the peasant population demoralized and subordinated to the Catholic church. From 1840 to 1867 the colony had two governments: Upper Can- ada with Anglophone settlers, and Lower Canada, the French Canadian territory. Each had its own somewhat au- tonomous parliament to manage its internal affairs. In 1867, a federation of five provinces was founded. Lower Canada then became the province of Quebec. From 1867 to 1949, five other provinces joined Canada. In the federation, Que- bec Province maintained its cultural distinctiveness. A strong nationalist movement seeking more political autonomy for Quebec has developed since 1945. The Dup- lessis government (194 5-1 959) obtained its own provincial taxation system. In 1960, a Liberal party government decided to modernize the economic, educational, and health systems, marking the end of the social and political power of the Cath- olic church and the beginning of a secular society in which the state plays the dominant role. Nationalist aspirations reached their high point in the 1970s. The Parti Quibecois was elected in 1976 on a nationalist platform. It lost a refe. rendum to negotiate the independence of Quebec in 1980 but remained in power until 1984. In 1982, the province was excluded from the new constitution of Canada. The Liberal party government was elected in 1984 with the mission to reintegrate Quebec into the Constitutional Act. Isolated for one hundred years from France, franco- quibecois cultural, economic, and political relations have ex- isted since the 1960s and have been extended to all Franco- phone countries in Europe and elsewhere through the regular participation by the Quebec government in the Francophone Summit for the past twenty years. Quibecois have been influ- enced almost equally by France and the United States, and their intellectual and organizational life is a synthesis of the two. Relations with English Canada have been more limited because of cultural and linguistic differences but also because of strained relations. Settlements Two settlement patterns have shaped the Quebec landscape. Since the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries were once the only means of transportation, all farms fronted the river in a pattern called rangs. Social life took place in these rangs and small villages. Settlements spread from the river to interior lands. From 1608 to 1850, the French Canadians lived in the rangs of seigneuries on each shore of the St. Lawrence River between Quebec and Montreal. In the 1840s, Scottish and Irish settlers colonized the eastern townships outside the seig- neuries according to the English pattern. In the 1860s, pe- riphetal regions of Quebec were colonized from the seigneu- ries. During this same period, thousands of French Canadi- ans migrated to work in New England factories where they formed the Franco-American diaspora Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Quebec has been industrialized since the 1920s. Before 1939, more than 20 percent of the population worked in agriculture, industry being mostly textile- and local-market-oriented. World War II accelerated industrialization. Today, Quebec is an industri- ally advanced society. Since 1960, Quebec governments have encouraged a diversified industrial base of Quibecois-owned enterprises through a social-democratic policy (social assist- ance, free health services, Health and Security Commission) and an interventionist economic policy (statist financial in- stitutions; direct subventions to industries; nationalization of electricity, automobile insurance, and asbestos companies; construction of dams). Agriculture has been modernized and only 2 percent of the population is now engaged in farm work. 132 French Canadians The main products are milk, pork, beef, fruits, and vegetables, grains, and greenhouse crops. Forests have attracted pulp and paper companies. Industrial Arts. French Canadians make traditional and modem crafts. The traditional crafts focus on re-creations of folk objects. The modem is creative and functional. Craft- work is taught in technical schools and organized in associa- tions holding annual expositions. Trade. Cities and suburbs have shopping centers and American-style stores. There are also open-air markets during the summer for fruits and vegetables, but most people buy their food in supermarket chains. A recent trend, however, is to buy fruits, vegetables, and meat directly from the farm. Division of Labor. Traditionally, women working on the farm performed a great variety of tasks. Many handled all the farm responsibilities while their husbands lumbered in the forests for months. They also received more education than men and managed the family money. Outside of agriculture, they could work only as teachers, nurses, or industrial work- ers. This rigid division of labor was challenged by a strong feminist movement during the 1970s. Since 1975, steps have been taken to give women equal access to university educa- tion, professions, and traditionally male jobs. The Quebec government has followed affirmative action guidelines for women since 1981, and the feminist movement has been in- stitutionalized through the formation of a Consultative Council on the status of women in 1977, and a Feminine Condition Ministry in 1979. Important changes have re- sulted in the division of labor between the sexes in the work- place and in the family, with the younger generation now tak- ing sexual equality for granted. Land Tenure. Quebec is a capitalist society. Private own- ership is the rule for agricultural, industrial, and commercial property. Family farms are predominant with a single farm owner or a partnership between spouses or among relatives. Kinship, Marriage and Family Kinship. French Canadians reckon descent bilaterally. Kinship terminology distinguishes the paternal from the ma- ternal line by adding the term paternel and maternel to terms like uncle, aunt, or cousin. First, second, and third cousins are recognized. Genealogical knowledge is an important so- cial asset in which women excel. In rural areas, women can easily state every kinship tie they have with hundreds of per- sons for five or six generations. Residence was traditionally patrilocal for the son inheriting the paternal farm but neo- local for other sons and daughters. Now it is neolocal for all. Marriage. Traditionally, men and women had to either marry or remain celibate, taking care of their elderly parents or entering religious communities. Marriage was religious and divorce prohibited by the church. Sexuality was severely re- pressed and only allowed as a means to produce children. Married couples felt obligated to have a great number of chil- dren to ensure the survival of the French Canadian nation. A radical change has taken place since 1960, with fewer men and women entering religious communities and civil mar- riage, birth control, and divorce now the norm. The typical family now has only two children, and 50 percent of new mar- riages end in divorce. Sexuality has been liberalized, and a woman's economic status in marriage has been recognized by civil law in marriage contracts and in divorce settlements. Domestic Unit. Famille-souche, consisting of a married couple, their numerous children, grandparents, and unmar- ried brothers or sisters on the paternal farm, was the tradi- tional pattern. For sons and daughters leaving the famille- souche, the nuclear family was the rule. The nuclear family with five persons or less is now prevalent, with a growing pro- portion of single-parent families as a consequence of the large number of divorces. Agricultural families have followed the urban pattern. Inheritance. Patrilineal land transmission was the rule, with only one son (usually one of the younger ones) inherit- ing the paternal farm, the other sons having been given land earlier by their father. Women were not allowed to inherit land, though they now can. For inheritance of other goods, English practices have been followed since the nineteenth century. Socialization. Traditionally, children in rural areas re- ceived only a minimal formal education for three to six years. They worked on the farm from the age of twelve to the time of their marriage. Emphasis was placed on capacity to work hard and on respect for adults and church authority. Only a minor- ity had an opportunity to attend the colleges and universities controlled by the clergy. Since 1960, religious educational in- stitutions have been nationalized, and universal access to for- mal education has been promoted. Familial education is more liberal and permissive since families are now smaller. With the changing roles of men and women, a greater empha- sis has been put on the socialization of boys and girls free of sexual stereotypes in families and at school. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. The class structure of modem Que- bec is complex and consists of several strata: (1) an Anglo- phone bourgeoisie; (2) a French Canadian middle bourgeoi- sie having interests in financial institutions, middle-sized industries, and controlling statist economic institutions, which supports the federalist political position with minimal nationalist claims; and (3) a petty bourgeoisie including public-sector managers and employees, professionals, and small entrepreneurs in industry and commerce, which sup- ports the nationalist party. The working class is numerically important and is divided into two groups: workers organized in strong assertive unions that have won acceptable salaries and working conditions, and poorly paid nonunionized work- ers. In agriculture, family farms are the majority. Farmers are organized and control the sale of agricultural products through quotas. Quebec has more unemployed persons than other provinces; almost 15 percent of the population collects unemployment insurance or social security payments. Political Organization. Quebec is a province with its own parliament within a federation. According to the Canadian Constitution, the provincial parliament has jurisdiction over educational, health, agricultural, economic, and social policy in the province. Quebec governments have sought additional autonomy from the federal government since the 1940s. The political system is bipartisan with two major political parties and a third and fourth of marginal influence. The dominant political party has been the Liberal party (196 0-1 976; 198 4- French Canadians 133 1990). A conservative party in power in the 1950s disap- peared in the 1970s, replaced by the Parti Quebecois, which governed from 1976 to 1984. The Quebec government makes decisions concerning education, health, and economic matters. Municipalities have power over local matters. All decisions regarding zoning, the environment, transportation, and economic development are centralized at the government level. Municipalities receive a part of their budget from the central government and are grouped into regional units to coordinate decision making. Deputies are important intermediaries between the people and the government. Ministries have delegated some of their power to semi-autonomous commissions like the Health and Security Commission, the Right of Persons Commission, the Agricultural Markets and Agricultural Credit Commission, the French Language Commission, and the Zoning Com- mission. Social Control. Quebec operates under two legal systems: French civil law and English criminal law. The provincial court system has three levels: the Ordinary Court, the Provin- cial Court, and the Superior Court with a mem- ber of the spouse's lineage; failure to do so brought retribu- tion from the women of the offended lineage in the form of the destruction of the offender's property. Domestic Unit. Each household consisted of an extended family of between five and thirty persons. Each extended fam- ily constituted an economic unit whose members cooperated in hunting and agricultural activities. Inheritance. Ritual positions and political offices were controlled by lineages and inherited patrilineally. Socialization. Corporal punishment of children was rare, the preferred method being forced fasting to instill correct be- havior. During her first menstruation, a girl was isolated in a separate lodge for ten days as a precaution against endanger- ing others and herself; during subsequent menstrual periods she was similarly isolated but for shorter periods of time. For boys, puberty was marked by a vision quest, undertaken in isolation, with the object of gaining spiritual power. Girls also sought visions, but not in isolation nor as part of menstrual seclusion. Sociopolitical Organization Social Organization. Fox society was split into two divi- sions whose lines crosscut clan and lineage divisions. The two divisions were represented by the colors white and black and organized the people for games, ceremonies, dances, and war- fare. The firstborn child of a couple was assigned to the divi- sion to which the father did not belong, and subsequent chil- dren were assigned to alternate divisions according to their order of birth. Numerous permanent and temporary volun- tary associations existed for raiding, ritual, and other pur- poses. Political Organization. Politically, Fox society was di- vided into peace and war organizations, each with its own chief and subordinate officeholders. The peace chief had lit- tle authority and functioned primarily as a moderator; he was selected for the position from a specific lineage which con- trolled rights to the office by a tribal council. During times of war and other threatening periods, the war chief and the war organization held considerable power. For the war chief, this stemmed from his control over the camp police, an organiza- tion of warriors that enforced decisions made by the tribal council. In the early nineteenth century, the war chief ac- quired office through successful leadership in warfare. At an earlier time, however, clan affiliation may have been an im- portant factor in access to the office. Membership in the tri- bal council was controlled by a specific lineage and its respon- sibilities included issues such as peace and war, relations with other tribes, and the selection of winter hunting grounds. 130 Fox. Today, an elected tribal council of seven members meets monthly to manage tribal affairs. Social Control and Conflict. In addition to enforcing the decisions of the tribal council, the camp police regulated tri- bal movements and patrolled the campgrounds during bison hunts. Their unquestioned right to destroy the property of anyone who disobeyed them enabled the camp police to func- tion effectively as a mechanism of social control. Currently, tension exists between the traditional and progressive fac- tions who disagree about the extent to which the tribe should follow White economic and political practices. Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs. Fox cosmology included a belief in an upper world in the sky, associated with good, and a lower world beneath the earth, associated with evil. The Fox be- lieved themselves to be the grandchildren of the earth and all that grew on it. Fox supernatural beings included Great or Gentle Manitou, who ruled the upper world. Other important supernatural beings included spirits associated with the four cardinal directions and the earth. Religious Practitioners. Certain prescribed actions could be undertaken to gain the attention and favor of the spirits and place them under obligation. These actions included blackening one's face, fasting, wailing, and smoking or offer- ing tobacco, which was believed to be greatly desired by the spirits, but accessible to them only through human beings. Successful vision questers were believed to be able to draw on supernatural powers contained in sacred packs they assem- bled following their vision experience. In some instances, in- dividuals experienced multiple intense visions; the sacred packs associated with these visions were believed to be ex- tremely powerful, with benefits extending to the clan and lineage of the vision quester. Ceremonies. Two ceremonies were held annually in order to maintain the powers of the sacred packs of clans and line- ages. One of these, a winter ceremony, was small and lacked elaborate ritual and social activities. The second, held in the summer, was rich in such activities, including prayers, songs, the telling of the histories of the sacred packs, dancing, and feasting. Arts. Body ornamentation was important to the Fox. They were highly skilled in ribbon applique and silverwork and the production of beaded ornaments. Medicine. The Fox developed a rich pharmacopoeia, and curers used over two hundred plant materials in curing, most of which were used for intestinal disorders. Most were taken internally, some applied externally, and a few burned for the therapeutic value of the smoke. Death and Afterlife. Death was announced by a village crier and followed by an all-night mourning ceremony at the deceased's lodge by the deceased's clan members. The corpse was dressed in the finest clothing and wrapped in bark or reed mats prior to burial. Interment was usually- in the ground, with the corpse extended and oriented along an east-west axis, the feet to the west. Noted warriors were commonly bur- ied in a seated position. The burial ceremony included an ad- dress by a funeral director and tobacco offerings by the direc- tor and mourners; the earth-filled grave was covered over by a small wooden shed and marked with a post at the head that indicated the deceased's clan affiliation. Grave goods were few, and the deceased's property was divided by burial attend- ants and the deceased's surviving relatives. Within four years of an individual's death, an adoption ceremony was held that served to release mourners from their obligations and bring into the deceased's lineage a friend or other person chosen by the surviving relatives. Usually the adoptee was a person of the same sex and age of the deceased, and the ceremony of adoption included feasts, games, danc- ing, and the exchange of gifts. Bibliography Callender, Charles (1978). "Fox." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15, Northeast, edited by Bruce G. Trig- ger, 63 6-6 47. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Hagan, William T. (1950). The Sac and Fox Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Jones, William (1939). Ethnography of the Fox Indians. U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin no. 125. Washing- ton, D.C. GERALD F. REID French Canadians ETHNONYMS: Francophones (outside of Quebec), Quibecois Orientation Identification. French Canadian is a generic term applied to all descendants of French settlers in Canada. They form two groups: Quibecois in the province of Quebec, and Fran- cophones outside of Quebec. The former identify themselves as a distinct society and culture. The latter form a diaspora having a minority status, namely, Acadians in the Maritime Provinces and French Canadian communities in Ontario and the western provinces. Location. Quebec Province is bounded by Hudson Bay and Ontario on the west, New Brunswick on the east, Labra- dor and the Arctic Ocean on the north, and New York on the south. Its area is 1,540,680 square kilometers. Geographi- cally, the St. Lawrence lowlands separate the Canadian Pla- teau from the Appalachians. An Arctic climate, vegetation, and fauna are found in the north; subarctic climate in the center, and continental humid with mixed forest and a grow- ing season of 60 to 160 days in the south. Demography. The total population is about 6.4 million persons in Quebec and 500,000 outside Quebec. Franco- phones form 90 percent and Anglophones 10 percent of the population of Quebec. The Francophone population is now French Canadians 131 mainly urban, living in Montreal and Quebec City metropoli- tan areas. The remainder of the population of Quebec is sparsely distributed in regional cities of less than 10,000 per- sons and in rural areas. Francophones outside Quebec live in small localities and rural areas, but some have migrated re- cently to cities. inguistic Affiliation. French has been the official lan- guage of Quebec Province since 1974. In the 1970s the status of the French language became an important political issue: Quebec governments adopted linguistic laws. In other prov- inces, French Canadian communities must struggle to have their own institutions in order to preserve their language and culture and avoid assimilation. In New Brunswick and On- tario they now have access to French-language governmental services, education, and radio and television. The language spoken in Quebec differs from that in France in its vocabulary and pronunciation. The Quebec government decided in 1979 to translate English technical terms and promote Frenchification of all enterprises in Quebec so that French would be predominant. A special effort was also made to in- troduce immigrants to the language in order to protect the French character of the province. History and Cultural Relations In 1534, a French navigator took possession of the eastern part of Quebec in the name of France. Because of France's in- volvement in wars, it was not until 1608 that Samuel de Champlain, following the St. Lawrence River, founded Que- bec City, the first settlement of the colony named New France. From 1608 to 1760, only ten thousand persons mi- grated from France to the colony, and present-day French Canadians are almost all descended from these first settlers. New France differed from New England in significant ways. France was a feudal society, which transplanted the seigneu- rial system, French law, and the Roman Catholic church to New France. The territory was divided between seigneuries headed by a seignor collecting seigneurial dues for granting land to censitaires, or peasant setters. The New France econ- omy rested on subsistence agriculture and the fur trade, all furs being exported to France. The territory was then much larger than now, covering the Maritime Provinces, the Great Lakes region, the central part of the United States along the Mississippi River, and Louisiana. In