82 DANIEL WILSON ON THE ARTISTIC 



among savage tribes is not diminished by the fact that in nearly all other respects they are 

 devoid of culture. Notwithstanding the absence in most of them of the very rudiments 

 of civilization, experience proves that among the tribes to the west of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains distinguished by artistic capacity, there is an aptitude for industrious and settled 

 habits, the want of which is so noticeable in the nomad tribes of the prairies. Their linear 

 patterns are often singularly graceful ; and they employ colour lavishl)^ and with some 

 degree of taste, in decorating their masks, boats and dwellings. This is specially notice- 

 able among the Haidas, in the dilterent dialects of whose language we find not only 

 names for nearly all the primary coloirrs, but also the word kigunyago, " a picture." The 

 symbolical and mythological significance of many of their carvings is indisputable; while 

 the affinities, traceable at times to the ornamentation most characteristic of the architectural 

 remains in the principal seats of native American civilization in Central America, confer 

 on them a peculiar interest and value. 



The curiously conventional style of ornamentation of the Haidas of Queen Charlotte 

 Islands is lavishly expended on their idols, or manitous, carved in black argillaceous stone, 

 and on their council-houses and lodges. In front cf each Haida dwelling stands an orna- 

 mented column, formed of the trunk of a tree, large enough, in many cases, to admit of the 

 doorway being cut through it. These columns, or " totem-poles " as they have been called, 

 are, in some cases, sixty or seA'enty feet high, elaborately carved with the symbols or 

 totems of their owners. The height of the pole indicates the rank of the inmate, and any 

 attempt at undue assumption in this respect is jealously resented by rival chiefs. The 

 symbols of their four clans — the eagle, beaver, dog-fish, and black duck, — are represented 

 in conventional style on the carved house-pole, along with their individual or family 

 totems. In some cases boxes are attached to the poles containing the remains of their 

 dead. Dr. Hoffman, whose previous studies in native symbolism and ideography specially 

 prepared him for the intelligent observation of such monuments, has fixrnished an inter- 

 pretation of their most familiar devices. "When the posts are the property of some indi- 

 vidual, the personal totemic sign is carved at the top. Other animate and grotesque figures 

 follow in rapid succession, down to the base, so that unless one is familiar with the myth- 

 ology and folklore of the tribe, the subject woirld be utterly unintelligible. A drawing 

 was made of one post with only seven pronounced carvings, but which related to three 

 distinct myths. The bear, in the act of devouring a hunter or tearing oiit his heart, is met 

 with on many of the posts, and appears to form an interesting theme for the native artists. 

 The story connected with this is as follows : — Toivats, an Indian, had occasion to visit the 

 lodge of the King of the Bears, btit found him out. The latter's wife, however, was 

 at home, and Toivats made love to her. Upon the return of the Bear, everything seemed 

 to be in confusion. He charged his wife with infidelity, which she denied. The Bear pre- 

 tended to be satisfied, but his suspicions caused him to watch his wife very closely, and 

 he soon found that her visits away from the lodge for wood and water occurred each day 

 at precisely the same hour. Then the Bear tied a magic thread to her dress, and when his 

 wife again left the lodge, he followed the magic thread, and soon came upon his wife, find- 

 ing her in the arms of Toivats. The Bear was so enraged at this that he tore out the heart 

 of the destroyer of his happiness." ' Dr. Hoffman found this myth, with the corresponding 



' Eemarks on Aboriginal Art in California and Queen Charlotte Islands, p. 118. 



