794 



TOTEM POLES 



Lb. a. i:. 



acquire a personal guardian spirit, that 

 this is undertaken only after reaching 

 manhood, and that not all those who 

 make the attempt succeed. The attempt 

 is made in the usual manner, by fasting 

 and retreating to some secluded spot. 

 The man killed the animal thus found, 

 apparently for the purpose of obtaining 

 parts of it for an emblem; afterward he 

 would not kill or eat that kind of animal. 

 A few women acquired guardian sjairits, 

 not while in. retreat to some mountain, 

 but only during absence from the camp. 



Like that of the Yuchi, one of the cardi- 

 nal doctrines of the Iroquoian and Algon- 

 quian mythic philosoi^hy is that every 

 kind of animal being has an elder brother, 

 a primal being, wonderfully large and 

 potent, which is, so to speak, the source 

 of all the individuals of its own kind. 

 These primal beings are the younger 

 brothers of Teharonhiawagon of the Iro- 

 quois and of Nanabozho of the Algonquian 

 tribes, respectively the impersonations of 

 all the thousand forms of faunal and Horal 

 life on earth. He who sees one of these 

 elder brothers of any kind of animal being 

 will be successful in the succeeding hunt of 

 that animal; forjt is by the favor of these 

 elder brothers of the game animals that 

 the hunter obtains any measure of success 

 in killing the younger brothers of the 

 primal beings (Hewitt, Iroq. CosmoL, 

 21st Rep. B. A. E., 1903). For in fulfil- 

 ment of engagements with Teharonhia- 

 wagon and Nanabozho in the second cos- 

 mic period, these elder brothers are in 

 duty bound to provide man not only with 

 protection but also with animal food by 

 means of the sacrifice of their younger 

 brothers who are enjoined to permit them- 

 selves to be taken by man, so long as the 

 hunter makes himself ritualistically pure 

 for the purpose and is solicitous not to 

 kill his victims except with the least pos- 

 sible cruelty. For this reason prayers for 

 successful hunting and fishing were ad- 

 dressed to the game it is desired to kill, 

 a procedure naturally assumed to be 

 pleasing to the ruling elder brother. 



Long has declared that the favorite 

 spirit must not be killed or eaten, but the 

 Omaha must kill his personal tutelary 

 before its tutelaryship is established. 

 Conversely, there were some Iroquois 

 who feared the death of the animal or 

 bird which he regarded as his personal 

 tutelary, lest he himself should also die. 

 The ground that is common in these two 

 methods is the manner of ascertaining or 

 discovering the tutelary (through the rite 

 of dreaming or seeing in vision) and in 

 the motive for acquiring it, namely, the 

 effort to obtain the favor of the imaginary 

 bodies on which it was supposed human 

 welfare largely depended. In the last 

 analysis human welfare is the rriotive for 

 acquiring a guardian or tutelary power or 



being. There are, of course, many ways 

 of ijroviding the means of entering into 

 close relation witli these supposed control- 

 ling powers of the sources of human well- 

 being, and consequentl}' there are many 

 methods of establishing this interrelation 

 between a person and some assumed i^ro- 

 tecting power, or between an organized 

 body of persons and a guardian or patron 

 being or power, for a specific or a general 

 aid and auxiliary to the promotion and 

 preservation of the well-being of the per- 

 son or persons guarded. (j. n. b. h. ) 



Totem Poles. Carved cedar poles erected 

 by Indians ali ing the n. Pacific coast from 

 Vancouver id. to Alaska. Among the 

 Haidatheyareof three jirincipal varieties: 

 the outside and inside house poles, and 

 memorial columns. Besides the house 

 poles the four main supporting posts and 

 the two outside front corner posts were 

 sometimes carved. The outside house 

 pole, standing in front of the house mid- 

 way between the corners, was .3 ft or more 

 wide at the base and sitme- 

 times more than 50 ft liigh, 

 being hollowed along the 

 back for easier handling. 

 Close to the base it was 

 pierced with a round aper- 

 ture which served as a door, 

 though some of the later 

 poles were left solid, a door 

 of European jjattern being 

 made at one side. Inside 

 house poles were erected 

 only by the very wealthy. 

 They stood in the middle of 

 the house, directly behind 

 the fire, and marked the seat 

 of honor. ( Jrave i)Osts were 

 of many different shapes. 

 Sometimes thej' consisted of 

 a very thick post surmount- 

 ed by a large carved box, 

 which contained smaller 

 boxes holding the bones of the deceased; 

 sometimes the box was longer and was 

 sujjported by two posts. Oftentimes, how- 

 ever, the body of the deceased was placed 

 in a mortuary house, and the pole, usually 

 a tall, slender shaft, was erected elsewhere. 

 The carvings on grave posts and grave 

 boxes were almost always crests owned by 

 the family of the deceased, while those on 

 house poles might be crests or they might 

 illustrate stories, and occasionally a figure 

 of the house-owner himself was added, or 

 the figure of some one whom he wished to 

 ridicule. These posts were erected during 

 the great feasts commonly known as pot- 

 latches, whezi an immense amount of prop- 

 erty Avas given away and quantities of food 

 were consumed. The trunks out of which 

 they were to be carved were cut down, 

 rolled into the water, and towed to the vil- 

 lage amid songs and dancing. One or 

 more regular carvers were employed to put 



TOTEM POLE 



