322 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Photo by D. C. A. Galarneau. 



SUPPLIES FOR A POTLACH. 



ON THE LEFT ARE DOZENS OF BOXES OF SEA BISCUIT AND ON THE RIGHT SCORES OF BAGS OF FLOUR. THESE WERE ALL 

 DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE INDIANS AT A POTLACH GIVEN AT ALERT BAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



barter, and the various ramifications of 

 the potlach. 



The gifts at these "potlachs" consist 

 of money, blankets, dishes, calicos and 

 other articles and the amount of ma- 

 terial given away at some of these carni- 

 vals is enormous. According to the 

 lettered sign of Chief John Clark of 

 Tiawsis a feast occurred at which 1,130 

 sacks of flour costing $2,260 were used. 

 Naturally the Indians will travel long 

 distances to attend a potlach, and enjoy 

 the dancing and singing as well as the 

 gifts. The Kwawkewlth tribes probably 

 rank first in the frequency and the ex- 

 tent of these festivals. 



The "potlach" houses, which are 

 large, barnlike structures built of cedar, 

 may best be described as community 

 affairs where the Indians trade, feast, 

 frolic and entertain their friends. The 

 houses are usually occupied between the 

 ceremonies by poor Indian families who 

 appropriate space wherever they can 

 find it, making them free hotels in which 

 they build open fires for warmth and 

 for cooking, and to which they bring 

 their food, blankets and fleas. The 

 latter are permanent inhabitants of all 

 these places. 



The principal art of the Indians is 

 wood working, and a high degree of 

 imaginative skill is shown in their totem 

 poles. These poles are emblems or 

 tokens of clans or of families and have 

 no particular religious significance. 

 While the Indians are proud of them 

 it is the same sort of pride and rever- 

 ence a family might have for its coat 

 of arms, or family crest. 



The poles are colored and often very 

 cleverly, the predominant colors being 

 red, yellow, green and black. Their 

 size and form depend entirely upon the 

 caprice of the man who makes them. 



The native boats are really works of 

 art, and from the war canoes 30 feet 

 or more long, to the delicately carved 

 lighter canoes, which seat only two or 

 three, a balance and symmetry unattain- 

 able by white men is the rule. All 

 these boats are dugouts that are carved 

 from a single cedar log, but so well is 

 it done that many of the canoes are 

 light and fast, and beautifully embel- 

 lished at bow and stern. 



The burial customs are unique, the 

 chiefs and leading men being buried 

 usually on little islands with quaintly 

 carved totems and headboards ; while 



