﻿482 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  were 
  made 
  after 
  the 
  fashion 
  of 
  the 
  suits 
  of 
  armor 
  characteristic 
  of 
  

   northeast 
  Asia. 
  

  

  A 
  complication 
  regarding 
  tlie 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  highly 
  specialized 
  art 
  

   and 
  material 
  culture 
  of 
  the 
  northwest 
  coast 
  Indians 
  may 
  be 
  noted 
  

   in 
  their 
  former 
  practice 
  of 
  wearing 
  armor 
  consisting 
  of 
  slats 
  and 
  

   rods 
  of 
  wood 
  or 
  bone. 
  This 
  custom 
  was 
  clearlj?^ 
  borrowed 
  from 
  the 
  

   peoples 
  of 
  Asia, 
  many 
  of 
  whom 
  wear 
  similar 
  coats 
  of 
  mail. 
  To 
  offset 
  

   the 
  significance 
  of 
  such 
  proved 
  contact 
  with 
  Asia 
  in 
  comparatively 
  

   recent 
  times 
  is 
  the 
  absence 
  among 
  them 
  of 
  certain 
  other 
  Asiatic 
  

   traits, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  making 
  of 
  coiled 
  baskets, 
  a 
  trait 
  which 
  has 
  spread 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  tribes 
  of 
  western 
  America 
  as 
  far 
  south 
  as 
  Mexico 
  and 
  

   eastward 
  to 
  the 
  Great 
  Plains, 
  including 
  the 
  tribes 
  immediately 
  sur- 
  

   rounding 
  the 
  northwest 
  coast 
  area. 
  These 
  neighboring 
  tribes 
  have 
  

   also 
  borrowed 
  another 
  trait 
  from 
  Asia, 
  namely, 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  

   semisubmerged 
  earth-covered 
  houses. 
  Such 
  dwellings 
  are 
  typical 
  

   of 
  northern 
  Asia 
  over 
  an 
  area 
  extending 
  as 
  far 
  east 
  as 
  Europe, 
  but 
  

   are 
  not 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  northwest 
  coast 
  Indians. 
  

  

  Native 
  American 
  culture 
  traits. 
  — 
  ^When 
  one 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  civiliza- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  native 
  America, 
  one 
  thinks 
  immediately 
  of 
  those 
  traits 
  which 
  

   reached 
  their 
  highest 
  development 
  in 
  I\Iexico 
  and 
  Peru 
  just 
  before 
  

   the 
  days 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  conquest 
  — 
  the 
  practice 
  of 
  agriculture, 
  to- 
  

   gether 
  with 
  irrigation, 
  and 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  hoe; 
  the 
  domestication 
  of 
  

   certain 
  animals 
  ; 
  the 
  building 
  of 
  smoothed 
  stone 
  structures 
  and 
  tem- 
  

   ple 
  pyramids. 
  The 
  growing 
  of 
  cotton, 
  thread 
  spinning, 
  and 
  the 
  use 
  

   of 
  the 
  loom 
  ; 
  the 
  making 
  of 
  pottery 
  ; 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  tobacco 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  wear- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  sandals 
  or 
  moccasins, 
  are 
  the 
  essential 
  traits 
  of 
  native 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  civilization. 
  Not 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  traits 
  was 
  knov/n 
  or 
  practiced 
  by 
  

   tlie 
  northwest 
  coast 
  Indian. 
  But 
  in 
  his 
  ov/n 
  specialties 
  — 
  in 
  wood 
  

   carving, 
  in 
  the 
  artistic 
  representation 
  of 
  realistic 
  animal 
  figures, 
  

   in 
  low-relief 
  carving 
  on 
  wood, 
  stone, 
  and 
  horn, 
  in 
  painting 
  of 
  realis- 
  

   tic 
  or 
  mythical 
  animal 
  figures, 
  and 
  in 
  textiles 
  and 
  in 
  basket 
  designs 
  — 
  • 
  

   the 
  northwest 
  coast 
  Indian 
  has 
  no 
  equal. 
  

  

  Phratries 
  and 
  cojisanguineal 
  hands. 
  — 
  The 
  social 
  organization 
  of 
  

   the 
  Tlingit 
  and 
  Haida 
  is 
  such 
  as 
  to 
  divide 
  iho, 
  entire 
  tribe 
  irrespec- 
  

   tive 
  of 
  villages 
  into 
  two 
  totemic 
  classes 
  or 
  phratries, 
  each 
  exogamic 
  

   and 
  tracing 
  descent 
  through 
  the 
  mother. 
  One 
  phratry 
  is 
  known 
  as 
  

   the 
  Eagle 
  (or 
  Wolf 
  among 
  the 
  southern 
  Tlingit) 
  ; 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  the 
  

   Raven. 
  The 
  Tsimshian 
  have 
  four 
  phratries 
  and 
  the 
  Gitksan 
  have 
  

   but 
  three. 
  Each 
  phratr}^ 
  is 
  made 
  up 
  of 
  several 
  consanguineous 
  bands, 
  

   popularly 
  referred 
  to 
  as 
  clans. 
  Families 
  belonging 
  to 
  these 
  con- 
  

   sanguineal 
  bands 
  may 
  be 
  scattered 
  in 
  several 
  villages, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  

   social 
  organization 
  of 
  each 
  village 
  community 
  is 
  quite 
  complex 
  — 
  more 
  

   especially 
  so 
  as 
  each 
  clan 
  has 
  a 
  chief 
  living 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  villages 
  

   where 
  the 
  clan 
  is 
  represented. 
  The 
  organization 
  of 
  a 
  consanguineal 
  

  

  