TRIBAL SOCIETY 



253 



animals. 3 -' 5 The two dominant tendencies seem to be to 

 represent the entire animal, or to single out some charac- 

 teristic feature of the animal which serves as an unmis- 

 takable mark of identification. Although many of these 

 carvings are most realistic, some have been so far con- 

 ventionalized that identification is difficult. Besides 



78. 



tote 



Poles. 



these carved masks there are the familiar totem poles 

 which stand before the houses of the Indians. 34 These 

 generally represent the history of the clan or f amliy. * * In 

 the prolific development of art realistic in part and in 

 part highly conventionalized we must see the . . . dyna- 

 mic element of the totemism of British Columbia. 

 Deeply saturated with totemic associations, that art has 



33 See figure 77. 34 See figure 78. 



