392 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



Fig. 27. 



FOOD TRAT. 



Haida. 



Cat. No. 88862, U. S. N. M. Collecte.l by Ja 



p. 372). That shown in the next figure on the left of the same plate 

 represents a man and a snake. 



From the fact that so many carvings have reference to the clan totem 

 we must not conclude that each and every animal or human figure found 



on any implement has the same 

 meaning. It seems to me that the 

 strong impulse which the art of 

 these people received from the devel- 

 opment of totemistic ideas must 

 have resulted in the general appli- 

 cation of animal designs for decora- 

 tive purposes. That this is the case 

 may be seen particularly in the case 

 of dishes. The most favorite designs 

 for dishes all over the cultural area 

 to which the Kwakiutl belong are 

 the seal and the canoe. The seal is not a totem animal, but merely the 

 symbol of plenty, as no animal of its size furnishes a larger amount of 

 meat and fat. Therefore the seal feast is also reserved for the highest 

 tribes of the Kwakiutl. The seal 

 design is used by each and every 

 tribe and by each and every clan. 

 The same is often the case with 

 the sea-lion design. I have 

 selected a number of the most 

 characteristic seal dishes (figs. 28, 

 29, 30), and also a sea-lion dish 



(fig. 31). The dish represented y\<j,.28 



in fig. 30 shows the very character- seal dish. 



istic change of style which takes Hauia. 



place in the extreme north, begin- "'■ ' ''"''™^' ""^"■"'- ' ""^""' "■ '"'""^ "■ '"""• 



ning at Yakutat. The deep, round forms become flatter and wider 

 and the carving is less elaborate. The idea underlying the canoe dish 

 is evidently that a great abundance of food, a canoe load, is to be given 



to the guests (figs. 32, 33, 34). The 

 canoe dish develops into a number 

 of animal forms, mainly through the 

 influence of canoe decorations. 

 The canoe is often painted so as to 

 represent a whole animal. This 

 ornamentation was transferred to 

 the dish and has inflnenced its form 

 (ionsiderably, as may be seen in fig. 

 34. I merely adduce these examples 

 in order, to show that not all ani- 

 mal forms have necessarily a totemistic origin. I think, however, that 

 in the course of the develoi)ment of this culture the preponderance of 

 animal designs which were originally founded on totemism must have by 



Fig. 29. 

 SEAL DISH. 



Haida. 



Cat. No. 89157, U. S. N. M. Collected by James G. S« 



