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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



the brains out of the smaller ones, and for 

 some unknown reason he wound the intes- 

 tines of the animals around his head. Then 

 they loaded the canoe with the carcasses and 

 returned home and everyone knew that 

 Duck-toolh was strength and he became a 

 very powerful and wealthy man. 



The carved post on the right of the 

 ornamental screen was named "Yehlh- 

 Gars" or Raven Post, and told the story 

 of the capture of "Ta," the king salmon. 



The main figure shows the Raven in human 

 form holding a head with a projecting blade- 

 like tongue, which is known as "Tsu-hootar," 

 jade adze. At the bottom is the head of a 

 fish which should have been that of the king 

 salmon, but through a mistake of the carver 

 it resembles more nearly that of the sculpin. 

 Coming out of the mouth of the Raven is a 

 bird form called "Tu-kwut-lah-Yehlh," or 

 Telling-lies-Raven, which symboUzes the lies 

 the Raven told to the little birds mentioned 

 in the story. 



Many of the myths relative to the wander- 

 ings of the Raven, represent him as always 

 hungry, unscrupulous, and deceptive. One 

 day Yehlh happened to be on the seashore 

 near Dry Bay and very hungry. He saw a 

 king salmon jumping, but he had neither 

 canoe, spear nor Mne. He accordingly dis- 

 guised himself with an old hat, mat, and eagle 

 skin, found near by, and, taking in his hand 

 a jade adze, "tsu-hootar," he sat down near 

 the water and said to the salmon, "Tsu- 

 hootar is calling you bad names, and says that 

 you are afraid to come up to the shore." 

 The salmon, enraged, came to the shore and 

 was killed by Yehlh, who then kindled a fire 

 and prepared the fish for cooking. Many 

 small birds came around, hoping for a share 

 of the feast; Yehlh sent them off to gather 

 cabbage leaves to wrap the fish in, and while 

 they were away he cooked and ate all the fish, 

 covered the bones with the fire, and told the 

 birds on their return that the fire had eaten 

 the flesh. 



Then all of the birds felt very bad, the 

 little chickadee cried bitterly and, continually 

 wiping its eyes with its feet, wore away the 

 feathers, which ever after showed a white 

 stripe from the corners down. The blue jay 

 was so angry that he tied up the feathers on 

 top of his head which have ever since formed 

 a"crest, for when the Tlingit are angry they 



tie the front hair up in a knot; wliile the robin 

 in his grief sat too close to the fire and burned 

 his breast red. 



The carved post on the left of the 

 ornamental screen was named "Thluke- 

 ass-a-Gars" or Woodworm Post. 



The large upper figure represents Ka- 

 kutch-an, the girl who fondled the wood- 

 worm, which was afterward killed by her 

 family and which she died mourning. Over 

 her head are two woodworms whose heads 

 form her ears. Beneath is shown a frog in 

 the bill of a crane. The whole post sym- 

 bohzes the tree in which the woodworm lives, 

 the crane hghts on the outer surface and the 

 frog lives underneath among the roots. 



Members of the Tlow-on-we-ga-dee family 

 display the taU of the worm on their dance 

 dress and pipes, as they attacked that part of 

 it, while the Kon-nuh-ta-di display the whole 

 worm figure, as they killed the head which 

 was the most important part. 



In 1899, this house and " Yehlh-hit," or 

 Raven House, adjoining were torn down 

 and preparations for the erection of new 

 buildings were gotten under way, and 

 in the winter of 1901, after the walls were 

 up and the roof on, a great potlatch was 

 given by the Kon-nuh-ta-di, to the three 

 Wolf families of the opposite phratry in 

 the tribe, and the Ka-gwan-tan of Sitka, 

 in which over ten thousand dollars in 

 property, food, and money were distrib- 

 uted. The head chief of the family, mas- 

 ter of the Whale House, " Yehlh-gu ou," 

 or Raven's slave, welcomed his guests 

 upon landing, wearing the Raven hat. 

 The new house, although modern in 

 form and of two stories, took the old 

 name, and it stands today windowless 

 and doorless, the interior grown up in 

 weeds, a monument of the last great pot- 

 latch of the Chilkat, as the chief died 

 soon afterward and his successor has 

 neither the means to finish it nor the 

 desire to live in it, and the elaborate 

 carvings have never been placed but are 

 stored and will probably so remain. 



