80 



Till-: .iMi:i!fc.].\ MrsFjM jorn.x.n. 



Hcfore the 

 Chiefs house. 

 Wrangel 



Looking out 

 to sea at Old 

 "Wrangel 



l);irt (tf tlic wcitilit of the tr;iiiic luc phiccd 

 afi;aiii,st tliciii. Af^aiii if one ptislics tliroujili 

 the nettles and sahnon-lx'rn' hushes to the 

 ^n-a\cyar(h he will lind t lier-e many ear\-ed posts 

 whieli may he mistaken for little totem jjoJes. 



There is another ohjeet which when remoxcd 

 from its })roper position resenihles the totem 

 pole: this is the carved "jfrease trough." It 

 is supported like the ridiicpole of a house in 

 >ueh a ])osition that it han<is al)o\e the fii-e, a 

 ma^iiihcent chandelier, and the f>rease with 

 which it is filled runs out of the fjiant carxcd 

 mouth and falliiiu n])on the lire causes it to 

 hiaze up and illuminate the surrounding's — 

 prohahly at tlie festi\ities of some ureat han- 

 (|uet to the honor of the host and his family. 



Tlie style of the totem pole and of other 

 car\ed posts \aries more or less from trihe to 

 tribe. Grave posts and house posts amonj^ 

 the Salish tribes of Pufj;et Sound are rather 

 flat bas-reliefs and there are few, if any, tall 

 totem poles. Ainon<i' the Ihiida the totem 

 j)oles are tall, ma.ssive, (ar\cd in the round 

 and of cNcellent workmanship. Totem poles 

 are rare amoni; the Nootka and though this 

 tribe makes many small figures of wood, these 

 are not of excellent workmanship. \t \'ictoria 

 I found a Xootka Indian carxinii' a large 

 totem pole and learned that he was copying 

 to order from a photograpli a Ilaida i)ole for 

 a curio dealer. The curio dealer informed 

 me that he intended to j)ut this on the roof 

 until it was weathered enough to reseml)le an 

 old ])ole. Sepulchres arc made in some totem 

 poles, notably among the Haida and Tlingit. 

 There are several poles of this type at Wrangel. 

 "*"' Such totem poles have at the l)ack .some di.s- 

 tance from the ground a nicjie in which the 

 body is placed. 



The complete significance of a totem pole 



