202 HOUSES OF KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 



belong to the greatest chiefs have a number of steps or platforms, num- 

 bering from li to 4, instead of a single platform of the house described 

 here. These steps either run all around the house, giving it somewhat 

 the appearance of an amphitheater, or are confined to the rear side. In 

 traditions houses are mentioned with ten steps. Each house has its 

 name, as will be seen from the view of the village of Qumta'spe, on 

 Plate \\\\ in, in which the names of four houses are given. In front 

 of the village the Okuiua'tle bight is seen, bounded by the narrow point 

 Tla'sota, on which the natives grow some potatoes on a small inclosure. 

 Behind this point the hills of (Jaliano Island, KaqaqthV and We'qocoa 

 are seen which are frequently mentioned iu the legends of these tribes- 

 The island is divided from Hope Island by the Strait of OqstV. 



The houses generally face the beach and are built iu a row. (See 

 Plate XXXVIII.) In front of the town there is a street, which is carefully 

 leveled, the lower side being supported by an embankmeut of heavy 

 logs. From here steps lead down to the beach, where the canoes are 

 lying. Opposite to the houses, ou the sea side of the street, there are 

 platforms, on which the Indians pass most of their time, gambling and 

 conversing. The platform rests on a frame-work of poles aud on the 

 embankment of the street, as shown in Fig. a, Plate xxxviii. 



Among the tribes speaking the Ileiltsuk dialect and among the Bil- 

 qula the same kind of house is iu use,, with slight deviations. The house 

 rests on piles in the same way as the platform of the Kwakiutl does,. 

 only the rear part resting on the ground. It may be, however, that the 

 character of the ground accounts for this method of buildiug wherever 

 it is applied, as it is difficult to level a slope of steep grade, and in such 

 cases it will be more convenient to support the house by piles. The 

 same style of house is used from Comox, on Vancouver Island, to Dean 

 Inlet. Farther north the Haida house, which, although similar, has 

 some peculiarities of its own, is found, while farther south the immense 

 long houses of the Salisb coast tribes are used. But to return to the 

 Kwakiutl house: The uprights are always carved according to thecrest 

 of the gens of the house-owner. Iu the model they represeut men 

 standing on the heads of animals (Figs. 7, 8, 9). Before discussing 

 these carved posts a few remarks of a general character will be made. 

 The tribes of the northwest coast of America are all divided iutogeutes. 

 But while among the northern peoples, the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, 

 and Ileiltsuk, the child belongs to the mother's gens, it belongs to that 

 of the father among the Kwakiutl and Salisb". All these tribes claim 

 to be autochthonous. According to their traditions the ancestor of each 

 -ens descended from heaven, in most cases in shape of a bird, and be- 

 came a man. The crest he adopted hints at certain exploits that he has 

 made. 



1 shall give a few characteristic traditions that show the connection 

 bet we mi the carvings in the house, the masks, etc., with the legends 

 referring to the ancestors of the gentes. 



