ABSTRACT
In discussing northern Athapaskan social institutions, a greater degree of generalization is possible than in the treatment of subsistence activities. It is necessary to devote some attention to those circumstances under which the social relations of certain Athapaskan groups have been influenced, and even to some extent determined, by their proximity to other cultures. Observation of band organization suggests that in aboriginal times relations between the smaller local hunting bands within the regional band involved many ties of both blood and marriage. Sib affiliations also played an important part in warfare, marriages, funerals, and potlatches. A number of families would place themselves under the leadership of a skilled hunter and his suggestions would be followed as to the direction of movement or the subsistence activity that could best be practiced at a particular time and in a particular location.
