Totem poles in the almost deserted village of Kitwinskole ' 



SOME KITKSAN TOTEM POLES 



By George T. Emmons 



Lieutenant, United States Navy, Retired 



UNDER the general name of Tsimshian, are included the three dia- 

 lectic divisions of that linguistic stock which occupies the extreme 

 northwestern coast of British Columbia and the valleys of the 

 rivers that reach the sea thereabouts. 



Note. — The Museum has on exhibition a large number of totem poles from various 

 parts of the North Pacific Coast, and many of the most valuable collections made by Lieute- 

 nant Emmons are the property of the institution. 



1 A wealth of elaborately carved heraldic columns is to be found in the old and almost 

 deserted village of Kitwinskole on the Kitwinskole River some twenty miles inland from 

 Kitwingach, on the old trail to the Nass River. These columns are fast going to decay, but 

 are still treasured by the owners who return here for their potlatches and burial ceremonies. 

 The photograph shows the northern portion of the village from in front of the house of the 

 head chief of the Lakyebo clan. 

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