"With the publication of the present work, American anthropology is put in possession of a 'lost work' of major importance. Kwakiutl Ethnography is the final summary of its subject which Franz Boas left behind at his death. The unfinished manuscript was edited by Helen Codere in such a way as to make it possible to present a nearly complete account, in Boas's own words, of his findings and conclusions on the [Kwakwaka'wakw]. Included in this carefully edited and annotated volume are Boas's descriptions of [Kwakwaka'wakw] economic organization; property rights; industries; family relationships; the potlatch; religion; the winter ceremonial; arts; life cycle with its attendant ceremonies; medicine and games. In her Introduction, Professor Codere acquaints the reader with the aims and methods of the great anthropologist who was his own severest critic and who rejected much of his own earlier work as he became more involved with his subject. 'If it is our serious purpose to understand the thoughts of a people,' Boas wrote, 'the whole analysis of experience must be based on their concepts, not ours.'"--Back cover.