66 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
the utmost importance to record pictorially the use of the robe. This is 
the reason for publishing here a series of photographs taken by the 
author when cruising in Alaskan waters in early days when aboriginal 
customs still prevailed. 
To-day all has changed, the influx of white settlers, the establish- 
ment of missions and schools, and the opportunity to earn a considerable 
wage in the fisheries and mines have divorced the natives from aboriginal 
customs, and the rich ceremonial that characterized the life of this 
region and suggested the use of this robe has disappeared, a truth to 
which the great empty communal houses that once resounded to the 
beat of drum and the rhythmic chant of hundreds of voices bear silent 
witness, in their moss-covered timbers fast falling to decay. So those 
who have not seen the old life, and those who follow and never can see it, 
must know of the robe only as a museum specimen hung on the wall or 
draped over a lay figure. 
The primary use of the robe was as a blanket, worn over the shoul- 
ders upon dance or ceremonial occasions by both sexes. It was the 
dress of the Chief, as distinctive of the Northwest Coast as was the 
eagle feather war bonnet of the Plains. Draped over the shoulders, 
only the middle of the blanket showed to advantage across the broad of 
the back, and for this reason the principal figure occupied the central 
field, and that it might be the more fully displayed, the dancer often 
entered the house of entertainment backwards and so danced to his 
place among the performers. With the accumulation of property and 
the increased number of blankets, almost every household possessed one 
or more, which were in the keeping of the head of the family and were 
carefully preserved with the other totemic emblems in great cedar chests. 
The sleeveless shirt, which was similar in material, weave and char- 
acter to the blanket, was worn by the men only, and was rare. While 
some show an extremely conventionalized design in which the character- 
istic features of the animal are accentuated, and the minor parts are 
represented more as ornaments, placed at the fancy of the artist and 
difficult of recognition, the majority are distinguished by their realism, 
in which the figure is outlined with its members occupying relatively 
natural positions, although the more prominent features are often ex- 
aggerated. ‘The front of this dress being the ornamental part, the 
wearer always faces the audience. 
When death approaches and the spirits of those who have gone before 
