208 



TRANSACTIONS OF THB CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



[Vol. IV. 



emblems of the beaver ; but the meaning of the whole figure is not very- 

 clear. Such is the case with fig. 193, wherein some say we have a crane, 

 while others profess to see therein some large species of beetle. 



Fig. 191. 



Fig. 192. 



So far we have dealt with signs or pictures such as seen in stone 

 inscriptions only. But it is chiefly through the tattoo markings or the 

 signs occasionally executed in charcoal while trav.elling that the Carriers 

 have shown their departure from the earliest or pictorial stage of the 

 graphic art. Even within such classes of totemic representations the 

 gradual alteration from the pictorial or life-like forms to the mere con- 

 ventional outlines is easily discerned. I need adduce no better illustration 



t i 



a 



Fig. 194. 



of this than the three styles of representing the beaver shown in fig. 194. 

 A is the original pictorial form, and is adopted whenever the beaver is 

 tattooed on the breast; ^ is a middle, altered form, with a strong tendency 

 to simplification, and is used in connection with face tattooing, whilst c is 

 the conventionalized form of the same, and is the common mode of 

 representing the beaver in those rude, ephemeral drawings in the woods, 

 though it is occasionally found even in ancient rock inscriptions. 



I have already stated that tattooing on the breast was rare among the 

 Western Denes. This is so true that I know of no other totemic marks 

 there situated than the few exhibited herewith. We have just seen that 

 a stands for the beaver, b represents a toad, e and d are the fore and hind 

 paws of the grizzly bear, while e is the figure of the moon. 



