THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 



VOL. XXXII. 



DECEMBER, 1918. 



No. 6. 



THE McGILL TOTEM POLE. 



By C. F. Newcombe, M.D., Victoria, B.C. 



This pole has been in the possession of McGlll 

 University for a great number of years, and it seems 

 that the data which must have accompanied it have 

 disappeared. The writer, about ten years ago, ob- 

 tained, through the kind assistance of Dr. Adams, 

 then in charge of the Rcdpath Museum, the nega- 

 tive from which the full length plate has been en- 

 graved. It was his hope that he might be able to 

 iearn, from Indians whose villages he was about to 

 visit, something of the original owner, and the 

 meaning of the various carvings. In this hope, how- 

 ever, he was disappointed. No one could recall the 

 sale of such a pole, but at Masset it was agreed that 

 it bore a close resemblance to a figure in Dr. J. R. 

 Swanton's "The Haida" (Jesup N. Pac. Exped., 



V, pt. I, '05, p. 127, PI. V. f. 1). 



The two parallel columns will bring out more 

 clearly than a mere description the closeness of this 

 resemblance as regards the carvings: 



In each case there are certain small additional 

 figures, which are shown on otherwise unoccupied 

 surfaces of the large carvings. These are not 

 identical, but as they are mainly ornamental and of 

 no significance as crests, this disparity is of no 

 moment. 



There is nothing at all like the McGill pole in 

 the large series of photographs of Haida and 

 Tsimshian villages, which represent literally hun- 

 dreds of totem poles. 



MEANING OF FIGURES. 



Dr. Swanton's explanation of the model from 

 which the plate quoted was made is as follows, 

 given verbatim: 



"The original of Plate V, Fig. I, belonged to 

 Qogis, Chief of the Point Town People (R. 14), 

 and stood in front of his house, Fort-House (Taodji 

 Naas), on a hill close to Masset. At the bottom, 

 above the doorway of this house, are a frog and a 

 raven. The frog is introduced because ravens were 

 said to eat frogs. All the other figures on this pole 

 illustrate the story of the man who married a grizzly 

 bear. The principal figure of this group, clasping in 

 both hands what has the appearance of a tongue, but 

 what was explained as a long labret, and wearing a 

 dance-hat, is the Grizzly-Bear- Woman; below, and 

 held in her embrace, are her two cubs; while still 

 lower down is the full-length figure of another 

 bear, representing her husband. Sitting on top of 

 the dance-hat is still another cub." 



There are several versions of the story to which 

 Dr. Swanton refers. That one quoted by him, 

 which was obtained from a Masset source by Dr. F. 

 Boas, is as follows: 



In this version the hunter belonged to the Eagle 

 clan and was named Gats. Unsuccessful in his 

 hunting he was one day seized by a bear which 

 carried him to his den. The she-bear hides him 

 between her legs. The bear goes hunting, and on 

 his return asks his wife what became of the man. 

 She says that he only brought his belt. She marries 

 the man. The dogs (the man has two) return 

 to the village. The people follow them, discover 

 the he-bear, and kill him. The man and the she- 

 bear have a child. Finally he is homesick, and 

 his wife allows him to return. 



The she-bear forbids him to look at his former 

 wife. One day he goes hunting with his two 

 human sons. He meets the bear and gives her food. 



