﻿494 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  northwest 
  coast 
  art 
  became 
  rapid. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  still 
  extant 
  

   is 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  large 
  museums 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  

   Europe, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  private 
  collectors. 
  Very 
  few 
  objects 
  of 
  

   native 
  art 
  are 
  now 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  or 
  purchased 
  in 
  southeast 
  Alaska. 
  A 
  

   few 
  family 
  heirlooms 
  remain 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  natives, 
  but 
  that 
  

   is 
  all. 
  Rotting 
  poles 
  and 
  houses 
  at 
  the 
  various 
  abandoned 
  native 
  

   towns 
  scattered 
  throughout 
  the 
  archipelago 
  are 
  the 
  sole 
  remainders 
  

   of 
  the 
  past 
  glory 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  highly 
  developed 
  cultures 
  of 
  

   native 
  America 
  within 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  its 
  peculiar 
  form 
  of 
  achievement. 
  

  

  