The evidence was unrefuted, and in summary it shows the following. Athabascan culture is highly individualized. From a complex belief system individual selection is tolerated and is the norm. Yet, there is a distinct belief system recognizable in Athabascan villages many miles apart. These beliefs have blended comfortably with Christianity which was introduced in the 19th century.
Death is the life crisis receiving the greatest attention in current Athabascan culture.
While it may be awaited with equanimity, it is an event of predominant significance, whose repercussions are long felt in the village. The funeral potlatch is the most important institution in Athabascan life. It is mandatory. Peter John, seventy-six, a former tribal chief in Minto, could not remember a death that was not followed by a funeral potlatch. It is apparently an obscenity to suggest that possibility.