'rori.M roi.i'.s 



<si 



is not ;il\vays clear to-day cxcii to the Indians 

 thcnisi'htvs hc'caiisc the oriuinal incaninu' of 

 tlu' (•ar\iiiji;.s and paintiiiiis has in many cases 

 iH-rii forsiottcn. Also, although sonic of tlic 

 most competent American anthr()])()l()gists 

 ha\c' seen and descfihed thesi- jioles of the 

 Xorth Pacific Coast, the interpivtations tlie> 

 ha\(' iii\cn of them have only too often i)een 

 avowedly incomplete. Prol)al)ly on some of 

 the i)oles the carved figures illustrate a legend- 

 ary dream or ex])loit of the ancestor of a 

 family or clan. This legend is. then, the 

 property of tlu" family and together with the 

 family dance and song is often heliexcd to 

 ha\e been ohtained hy the ancestor from the 

 toteiu animal. Thus the totem animal has 

 come to l)e regarded as the "hadge" of the 

 family or elan, somewhat as the eagle is the 

 .symbol of the United States. .Vlthough 

 the totem animal does fictitiently figure as 

 the guardian of the family or clan, these 

 animals must he sharply ditferentiated from 

 the guardian spirits of th(> eastern Indians, 

 in so far as the totem animals have come 

 into relation to the family through the an- 

 cestors of the grouj)s and not through any 

 living indi\i(liials l)elonging to the group. 

 Property sentiment has become strongly as- 

 sociated with the poles and the ideas the 

 poles stand for so that no two families can be 

 found claiming identical totem poles. Often 

 the meaning of any given pole has become 

 very complex because marriages and impor- 

 tant family events, such as great potlatches 

 or the killing of slaves in order to show the 

 great wealth of their owner may ha\"e been 

 inserted on the pole in car\ings additional to 

 those representing the traditional legend. 



It has been found difficult to get totem 

 poles for the Museum. In the first place they 



Overthrown 

 Willi grasses 

 and vines, Old 

 WranKcl 



Primitive 

 art at Old 

 Wrangol 



