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YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM^ MILWAUKEE 



[Vol. II. 



waters about 1741. The knowledge of iron soon spread all along the 

 coast and the round pole, with its more realistic carvings, was soon 

 supplanting the shorter flat one. The extent to which such poles were 

 used may be seen in figure 1 14. 



Totem poles were of three general types, the house totem, erected 

 in front of the dwelling of its owner, the carved house posts, used in- 

 side the building, and the grave or monumental totem, erected in honor 

 of the deceased. 



Whatever their use, these poles were decorated with the hereditary 



Fig. 114. — A group of Haida totem poles on the Queen Charlotte Islands. 



crests and totemic symbols of the owner. Among some, at least, of the 

 Northwest Coast tribes, such a pole was always carved by a special 

 carver who had inherited his right to practice this art. Anyone could 

 carve a paddle or other common object, but any object bearing these 

 heraldic symbols must be made by an hereditary carver. 



These crests are symbolic of the clan ancestry and connections of 

 the owner, and the right to use them was hereditary. Among the 

 Haida, each family had the right to use a certain number of crests, i. e., 

 figures of certain animals and other objects, during a potlatch; or they 



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