THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 



393 



a process of euhemerism contributed to the prolific gTowtli of the totem. 

 We Lave seen that the tendency to decorate objects with animal designs 

 was fostered by an art whi(;h was applied almost exclusively to represen. 

 tationsof thetotem. Thus the animal became the dominatiug decorative 

 element. Theforceof analogy mnst 

 then have induced the people to in- 

 terpret certain animal figures which 

 were originally only decotative on 

 the principle of totemism. 



Other objects, such as drums (fig. 

 35, p. 305), boxes, house posts, etc., 



seem to be exclusively decorated rig.so. 



with designs representing the 

 totem. 



SEAL DISH. 



Alaska. 



U. S. National Musi 



VI. The Spirits Presiding over the Keligioits Ceremonial 



AND THEIR GlPTS. 



It is a common feature of all the legends referred to heretofore that 

 the supernatural powers which were obtained by the ancestors became 

 the crest of a clan, and that there is no mention of an immediate rela- 

 tion between the descendants of the ancestor and his crest. We have 

 1o deal only with legends commemorating the early history of the clan. 

 They do not indicate that the being which helped the ancestor con- 

 tinues to protect his descendants. 



We have now to deal with another class of legends which relate 

 entirely to spirits that are still in constant contact with the Indians, 

 whom they endow with supernatural powers. In order to gain their 

 help, the youth must prepare himself by fasting and washing, because 

 only the pure find favor with them, while they kill the impure. 

 Every young man endeavors to find a protector of this kind. It is 



clear that this idea corresponds 

 exactly to the manitou of the 

 Algonquin Indians, and that we 

 have to deal here with the ele- 

 mentary idea of the acquisition 

 of a guardian spirit, which has 

 attained its strongest develop- 

 ment in America. Its specific 

 character on the North Pacific 

 Coast lies in the fact that the 

 guardian spirit has become he- 

 reditary. This is the case 

 among the northern tribes of British Columbia. It is also the case 

 among the Kwakiutl and among the Chinook. When the youth pre- 

 pares to meet a guardian spirit, he does not expect to find any but those 

 of his clan. This is i)r()bably the reason for the relatively small number 



Fig. 31. 



DETAIL OF SEA-LION DISH. 



r. S. National Museum. 



