skookum nd note about the above there's situations again with somena mentioned elsewhere where the people and government are somewhat indeterminate and well as indistinguishable in the somena's case because they're not a legal government but one of the ancient social divisions of the peoples of the cowichan valley what we might call a chieftaincy but that's an imposed concept if you read the somena page you'll see what i mean i think bottom line is frankly we're imposing a rational order based on our concepts separate concepts of ethnicity language and government in some first nations culture that's a lot harder to do so the somena are not a first nations government in the white man's way of thinking or even in the thinking of the union of bc indian chiefs which is an organization of whiteman system band governments and tribal councils created by the indian act the reserve system and government agents et al but it would be touchy to exclude the somena from equal status in a template say with their neighbours kin the quamichan all too confusing for a cultus whiteman at this hour of the night so i'm going to bed now