THE WHALE HOUSE OF THE CHILKAT 



457 



whereupon the bather entered and the 

 opening was covered o\er. 



The first phitforni, extending around 

 the main floor at an elevation of two 

 and three-fourths feet, comparatively 

 narrow, with a width of two and one-half 

 feet along the sides, and slightly more 

 at the ends, served both as a step, and as 

 a lounging place in the daytime, and 

 that part of it in front, broken by the 

 steps descending from the doorway, was 

 utilized for firewood, fresh game, fish, 

 water baskets, and such larger household 

 articles and implements as were in gen- 

 eral use. The retaining walls of this 

 platform consisted of four heavy hewn 

 spruce timbers approximately twenty- 

 seven feet long, three feet wide, and five 

 inches thick, and so fitted with mortise 

 and tenon at opposite ends that they 

 supported one another without artificial 



Sukheen'RainWall" 

 Back Partition 



TlukeassaGars ^ Yehlh Gars 



Ducktoolh Gars c 



HZ] 



Gonakatate Gars 



Door 



Ground plan of Whale House. In size it was forty-nine feet, ten inches in 

 front, by fifty-three feet deep. At a is shown how the retaining timbers 

 forming the walls of both platforms are grooved and fitted at the corners to 

 support one another. From a plan drawn by the author 



fastenings. The faces of these timbers 

 were beautifully finished in the finest 

 adze work, and those on either side and 

 at the back were carved in low relief to 

 represent a remarkable extended figure, 

 neither wholly human nor animal, with 

 widely outstretched arms and legs, 

 painted in red. 



The upper and broader platform, rising 

 two feet above that below, was at the 

 ground level, and was floored with heavy 

 planks. This platform constituted the 

 sleeping place of the inmates. Each 

 family occupied a certain space accord- 

 ing to number and relative importance, 

 the poorer members being nearer the 

 door. The spaces were separated from 

 one another by walls of chests, baskets, 

 and bundles, containing the family 

 wealth in skins, blankets, clothing, cere- 

 monial paraphernalia, and food products. 

 On the walls hung weap- 

 ons, traps, snares, and 

 hunting gear. Cedar- 

 bark mats covered 

 the floor, over which 

 was laid the bedding 

 consisting of pelts of 

 the caribou, mountain 

 sheep, goat, or bear, 

 and blankets of lynx, 

 fox, and squirrel, which 

 in the daytime were 

 ordinarily rolled up for 

 economy of space. 

 Sometimes these cham- 

 bers were partly en- 

 closed by skins or old 

 canoe sails. The back 

 compartment occupy- 

 ing the space between 

 the two near interior 

 posts was partitioned 

 off by a carved wood 

 screen. This was the 

 chamber of the chief and 

 his immediate family. 



