210 HOUSES OF KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 



Sentlae, and the same figure is on the body of Fig IS. These plates 

 ar°e highly valued, mid every tribe has another tradition referring to 

 their fabulous origin. One of these traditions has been told above. The 

 plates are made of native copper, which is found by the Tlingit on the 

 UDDer Yukon. Each plate has its own name. It is kept in a separate 

 l 1( >„se into which women are not allowed to enter. They are clothed 

 and fed regularly. The value of a plate becomes the larger the more 

 frequently it has been given away as a present. The T-shaped stronger 

 part is considered the more valuable. If a chief has been offended he 

 breaks a, copper and gives the parts away. Then his adversary has to 

 do the same, or else a stain of dishonor would rest upon him. Most ot 

 the coppers are graved and painted so as to show one of the numerous 

 emblems of these tribes. The lower field of the uppermost copper on 

 Sentlae's post (Fig. 10) shows four starfish; the upper one the head of 

 the wolf. In the upper field of the second copper is the bear, while in 

 the lower one there are four starfish. In the lower ones nothing but an 

 eye and mouth can be distinguished; but it is evident that they are 

 intended to represent the same thing as the second copper. 



Fig. 15. House front in Qumta'spe. 



Another figure that is of frequent occurrence is the TsonG'^oa. It is 

 the lowest figure in the post (Figs. 13, 14). Beside this the Tsouo'.y.a 

 appears in the form of masks, rattles, etc., in numerous carvings. This 

 being is known to the Catloltq, who evidently borrowed the tradition 

 from the Kwakiutl, to all tribes of Kwakiutl lineage and to the Bilqula. 

 The latter call it Snene'i^. One of the principal legends of the Tson- 

 o'jioa is that she— for it is generally a woman— came with a basket on 

 her back into the villages and put all the children into it. Then a little 



