THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 



381 



Fig. 22. 



posts in the house of the clan q'e'xsem, 



naqA'mgilisala. 



liad obtained from the G-i'g-ilqam of the La'Lasiqoala, who liave inheri- 

 ted it from Kue'xag-ila. Post No. 2, of the same figure, shows K-'eto- 

 qa/lis on top. The heads underneath represent two slaves which were 

 sold for the post (O'ma'yu), its price. The figure underneath is a 



bear (nan), which belongs to the clan 

 La'lauiLEla of the same tribe. Figure 

 23 shows the only preserved rear post in 

 the same house. On top the figure of 

 of BebekumlisI'la is seen. The bear 

 underneath was obtained from the 

 clan Kwa'kok'UL of the Na'q'oaqtoq. 

 The broken copper which it holds is 

 the price paid for the post. 



Plate 17 shows a wood carving which 

 stands on the street of Fort Kupert. 

 It represents the killer whale, a crest 

 of the clan La'alaxsEnt'aio. 



A very characteristic tradition is that 

 of the clan NfmEraas- 

 Eqalis of the Lau'itsis : 

 In the beginning 

 From a sketch. NOuiasE'iixelis llvcd 



at A'g-iwa'laa, in front of Tsa'xis. He had a house 

 there. His son was L'a'qoag-IlaqEmae. ISTomasE'n- 

 xelis came up with his copper. It is said that in the 

 beginning he lay on it with his knees drawn up, and 

 therefore his child was called L'a/qoag'ilaqEmae. Then 

 Yix-a/qEmae, NomasE'nxelis's uncle, asked him to get 

 a wife for him. Yix*a'qEmae lived at LiXsi'wae. He 

 induced NomasE'nxelis to come there and live with 

 him. His son was to marry the daughter of Sa/g*iye. 

 Yix'a/qEmae desired to have Sa'g'iye's house and 

 carvings, therefore he wanted to .marry his daughtei-. 

 A killer whale was the painting of the house front. 

 Gulls were sitting on its roof. Various kinds of carv- 

 ings were in the house. Then aSTdmasE'nxelis went 

 out of the canoe to speak. He took his staff' (fig. 24); 

 therefore his staff has a hand on top of it, because he 

 carried there on his hands the chief's daughters of 

 all the tribes. Then he got the daughter of Sa'g-iye. 

 Only NumasE'nxelis and Yix-a'qEmae lived in that 

 house. Now, when it was time to go to Ts'a'wate,i 

 they made themselves ready. NOmasE'nxelis wanted 

 to give a feast from the sale of his copper. They paddled and stopped 

 at L'a/qoaxstElis. There he wanted to take a stone and put it into his 

 house. They tried to take the stone into the canoe when they were 



Fig. 23. 



POST IN HOUSE OF THE 

 CLAN G'E'XSEM, NA 

 Qd'MG-ILISALA. 

 From .1 skflch. 



' Namely, to lisb for oulacliou. 



