﻿120 SMITilSUiXlAN MlSCELLA.\i:()L'S COLLECTIONS VOL. 74 



animal crests. To the Indian of this region, the most important thing 

 in life is his animal crest or " totem." All his ideas and ambitions 

 center about this hereditary animal progenitor and protector, the 

 similitude of which he carves on all his utensils, paints on his house- 

 front, tattoos on his arms and chest, paints on his face, and repre- 

 sents on his memorial column. Curiously enough (from our particu- 

 lar point of view) these people reckon kinship through the mother 

 only. This has some curious consequences. A man (to mention one 

 consequence) sets up a memorial column, not for his father, but for 

 his mother's relatives, particularly her brother. Conversely, if a col- 

 lector wishes to buy a pole for preservation, he ought logically to 

 arrange matters, not with a dead chief's son, but with the dead chief's 

 nephews; for a son has (according to the native idea) no connection 

 with his father. It is to a maternal uncle that a boy or young man 

 looks for guidance and counsel, and it to his maternal uncles mem- 

 ory that he owes respect and veneration. It is from this uncle only 

 that he inherits property. A boy's whole position in society, his rank, 

 his outlook, his standing, and his prospect for a wife, all hinge upon 

 the animal crest which he inherits from his mother's brother. It is 

 clear, therefore, that a " totem-pole " will display to the public view 

 all the animal crests which the Indian possesses, and all those with 

 which his family ( /. c, his maternal relatives) have been associated 

 in the past. 



The importance of these animal crests to the Indian, may 1)e illus- 

 trated in an interesting way by the matter of personal names. Many 

 of the names used within a group of kindred, refer to the qualities, 

 or traits, or tricks of behavior, of those animals to which the group 

 looks. Sometimes the names are highly figurative. Sometimes they 

 are so pitilessly literal and Homeric in their directness that they 

 almost disconcert us. Some very famous names, which have been 

 used in certain families for generations, a])])ear in the following list: 



NAMES IN THE RAVEN CLAN 



"Kazrn's child." 



" Waddling^ This refers to the raven's gait when he walks on 

 the ground. 



" Ti'cating-eacli-()tlur-as-d()(js." This alludes to the fact that when 

 a raven dies, the other ravens ])ull the body al)()ut. dragging it here 

 and there. 



