The Word Carrier of Santee Normal Training School (Santee, Nebraska), 1926-05 - 1926-06

              - mm
The Word Carrier
OF
SANTEE NORMAL TRAINING SCHOOL.
VOLUME   LV
HELPING THE- RIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG
NUMBER 3
SANTEE,  NEBRASKA.
May-June, 1926
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR
INDIAN    CULTURE    OF   CANADA'S    PACIFIC    COAST
By    II A R I. A N     I .    S M I  I  II
'I' 0 T E M     POLE     A  C     II A G - W I L - G E T
The entire Pacific Coast of America—from
the Eskimo area on the north to California
on the south—was the home of many aboriginal tribes of Indians. They were of no less
than five great linguistic stocks, each differing from the other as much perhaps as do
the Romance languages from the Slavic, and
each embracing numerous distinct languages.
Their culture however, generally speaking,
was the same. The Haida who inhabited the
islands of northern British Columbia and the
southern coast of Alaska, the Tlihgit who
dwelt in southern Alaska, and the Tsimshan
who lived on the Nass and Skeena Rivers and
the adjacent coast, represented the height of
this culture. The Bella Coola, who inhabited
the Bella Coola Valley and vicinity, and the
Kwakintl tribes of the. Wakashan stock, who
lived on the coast as far south as the mk.dle
of Vancouver Island, represented it fairly
well. The Nootka, also of the Wakashan
stock, who inhabited southwestern Vancouver Island mid the Cape Flattery area in Washington, and the Const Salish tribes, who lived
in the area near Victoria and Vancouver and
near Seattle, began to show divergence from
this culture, which fades out gradually to the
south.
The culture was characterized by tlie following features: an extensive use of cedar
roducts; a dependence on the sea as the
principal means of transport and for staple
foods, such as salmon and clams: an overwhelming desire for rights and privileges of
various sorts, to be known as rich and important and as belonging to several societies ;
and an intricate art found only in this area.
The principal vehicles of this art were weaving, tattooing, painting, and carving. There
were, as elsewhere, inferior and superior artists. The best of this art is appreciated b.v
our own greatest artists : it has already contributed to our industrial arts and will do so to
an even greater extent in the future. For this
reason it has become of economic importance;
In the finer examples of the art of these
people the lines are usually shaded and flow
from one element into another at a tange.it.
The figures are not apt to lie circles or ovals
but one side usually runs in a different direc
tion from the opposite and each curve generally differs from its neighbor as the result of a
delinitc purpose. Stencils and patterns were
employed to guide the painter and weaver. The
inferior Indian artist often failed in all this
technique, as do most of us who attempt to
copy his work and as does the modern Indian,
no longer supported b.y a growing culture but
disheartened by a dying one.
THE TOTKM POLES
The most widely known objects of this art
and culture are the totem poles which were
formerly very numerous in this area. Many
of them have decayed; some have been taken to
museums where they may be seen, studied,
photographed, painted, or sculptured; too
many have been destroyed, due to the misguided teachings of persons who mistook
them for gods. These carved red-cedar poles
were erected by the Indians along the whole
north Pacific coast of Canada from Vancouver
Island to Alaska, and among the Tlinget of
Alaska.
Among the Haida tribes they are of three
principal varieties : (1) the outside and (2) the
inside house poles and (3) the memorial columns. Besides the house poles the four main
supporting posts and the two outside front
corner posts of the house were sometimes carved. The outside house pole, standing in front
of the house midway between the corners, was
three feet or more wide at the base and sometimes more than fifty feet high, being hollowed out along the back for easier handling.
Close to the base it was pierced with a round
or  oval   aperture which  served   as a  door,
A     GRAVE-!0 S T
II A Z E I. TO X
though some of the later poles \\<^iv left solid, \
a door of European pattern being made at one \
side. Inside house poles were erected only by i
the very wealthy. They stood in the middle of j
tlie ho use directly behind the fire and marked ;
the   seat   of   honor.     Grave,   or   memorial,   I
TOTOJI     I'Ol.K    AT    K I TS KG l.T K I. A
posts were of many different shapes. Sometimes they consisted of a very thick post surmounted b.y a large carved box which contained smaller boxes holding the bones of the deceased ; sometimes the box was longer and supported b.y two posts. Often, however, the
body was placed in a mortuary house, and the
pole, usually a tall, slender shaft, was erected
elsewhere. The carvings on grave-posts and
grave boxes were almost always crests owned
by the family of the deceased, while those on
house poles might be crests or they might
illustrate stories, and occasionally a figure of
some person whom they wished to ridicule.
These totem poles were erected during
the great business gatherings and feasts
commonly called potlatches, when an immense amount of property was invested, some
was given away, and great quantities of food
were consumed.•• The red-cedar trunks out
of which the poles were to be carved were
cut down, rolled into the water, and towed to
the village with songs and dancing. One or
more regular artists who were carvers were
employed to put on the designs and they were-
paid handsomely. In modern times numbers-
of models of these poles have been made by
native carvers to sell to white visitors. These-
are sometimes of wood, sometimes of a peculiar black slate found at one place not far from
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands. They are
not to be confuse I with the numerous souvenir totem poles poorly carved and hideously painted that are made by white people
or by Indians who are not artists, and that are
commonly sold in curio stores.
Some eastern tribes, such as the Creeks,
Delawares, Shawnces, and Iroquois, set up
small poles that are analogous to these totem
poles, although the outward semblance is
slight. Those of the Delawares and Shaw-
nees were erected in the four corners of their
medicine-lodges, while those of the Iroquois
were similarly placed in the houses of shamans and were adorned with representations
of the shamans' tutelary spirits.
WHERE TO SEE TOTEM POLES
At least thirty-three of a total of thirty-
five totem poles may  be seen from the windows   of   the   Canadian   National   Railway
Continued on Next Page, Third Colnmn
*A11 rights reserved b.v the author.