82 



Tin: .iMKiifc.ix Mrsi:r.]/ .lornx.n. 



r 



House post from 

 Comox, British 

 Columbia, now in 

 the American Mu- 

 seum. Speaker 

 represented as 

 standing on the 

 head of a slave i 



ari' scMoiii if cxcf owned hy ;iii iii(li\ idiial hiit ratlicr 

 liv ;i family or <ii-()up and it is as diflicull to clo^c a ileal 

 with tliein all as to fi'et a quit elaini deed from all the 

 lieirs of an estate. 'J'lie second i-ea>on foi' I he dilliculty 

 in ficttinj:; po.sscs.sion of totem poles is that the Indians 

 who still retaiti their ref^ard tor old customs and institu- 

 tions will not think of partinj; with one of these sxinhols 

 of aristocracy, which is also interwo\"en with their religious 

 i<leas. If, on the other hand, 

 the Museum representative 

 i^oes to the Indians who 

 lia\(J)een under the iuHuence 

 of mis.sionaries and Govern- 

 ment teachers, he finds that 

 they have no totem poles, 

 for ahnost as fast as the 

 Indian loses his regard for 

 the totem pf)les lie is willinu 

 to chop them up and hui'u 

 them. He is often urged to 

 do so by the missionaries who 

 desire to remo\e every re- 

 minder of the old life, believ- 

 ing that the Indian will then 

 quickly adjust himself to the 

 new ways taught by tin' 

 white men. 



Notwithstanding the dif- 

 ficulty in getting possession 

 of totem poles, the American 

 Museum is relatively rich in 

 these primitive carvings, the 

 Haida and Kwakiutl being 

 best represente<l, the Tlingit 

 anfl Tsimpshian least sati.sfac- 

 torily. Altogether there are 

 some fifty specimens in the 

 Museum'scollection which for 

 the most part is on exhibition 

 in the North Pacific Hall. (arv.d iiouse post, Bella Bella 



