178 Inasmuch 



&quot;In the carving of a totem pole very often a 

 legend or tradition in which the ancestors of the 

 chief and his crest were the chief actors is selected, 

 and thus the totem is but an illustration of the 

 legend. In some villages may be seen totems 

 surmounted by figures resembling men wearing 

 tall hats. This indicates that the owner s ances 

 tors first saw the white men who are here repre 

 sented. Standing by a skilled carver on one 

 occasion who had been engaged in carving a very 

 elaborate totem. I was surprised at the apparently 

 reckless manner in which he cut and hewed away 

 with a large axe as though regardless of con 

 sequence. &quot;Where is your plan?&quot; I enquired. 

 &quot;Are you not afraid to spoil your tree?&quot; &quot;No,&quot; 

 he replied; &quot;the white man, when about to make 

 anything, first traces it on paper, but the Indian 

 has all his plans here,&quot; as he significantly pointed 

 to his forehead. 



Tattooing &quot;But there were yet other customs amongst 



the Haidas connected with the potlatch. One 

 of these was tattooing. I had occasion to enter 

 a lodge one morning shortly before a potlatch 

 took place, and was not a little surprised to see 

 all around the lodge men in every attitude under 

 going this painful operation, some on the chest, 

 some on the back, and others on the arms, all 

 being tattooed with the figures peculiar to their 

 own crest, which in this instance was the eagle 

 and the beaver, as they belonged to the eagle 

 crest. 



&quot;Not a few of the Haidas had their faces tat- 



