651' REPORT — 1898. 



Kwakiutl. Since the characteristic features of the traditions explaining 

 the acquisition of these crests are also the same among the Tlingit, Haida, 

 Tsimshian, and Kwakiutl, it is likely that they may have had the same 

 orlc'in. I have tried to show at another place (' Report United States 

 National Museum for 1895/ p. 336) that among the Kwakiutl the crest is 

 the hereditary manitou, and I am inclined to consider the isolated totems 

 of the Haida and of the other northern tribes of similar origin. It is 

 very doubtful if this theory holds good for the more frequent totems 

 which evidently form the bond between the members of each group. It 

 seems more likely that they represent the oldest totemic organisation of 

 the tribe which may have antedated their settlement in their present 

 locations. It is, however, worth remarking that one of the totems of 

 secondary frequency, the ts'Em a's, is evidently of Tsimshian origin. The 

 name is clearly a corrupted form of ts'Em'a'ks=in the water, a fabulous 

 monster, probably the personified snag. The four primary totems, eagle 

 and beaver, and killer whale and bear, certainly represent the two oldest 

 divisions of the tribe which split up in village communities that later on 

 combined again in more complex groups. 



IV. Linguistics. By Franz Boas. 

 The Ntlaliya'pamuQ. 



The material for the following sketch was obtained in part directly from Mr. 

 James Teit, in part from Indians whose statements were interpreted by Mr. Teit. 

 The writer is, however, alone responsible for the systematic presentation of the 

 material. 



Grammatical Notes. 



THE ARTICLE. 



The Ntlakya'pamuQ has an article which is similar in character to the one found 

 in the dialects of the Coast Salish. In the Sixth Report of the Committee I briefly 

 described the use of this article in the Bella Coola (p. 128). Its forms in other 

 coast dialects are given in the following list : 



The Calispelm has the article tlu, which is used in the same manner. It is 

 described by Mengarini in his ' Grammatica Lingufe Selicae,' 1861, p. 80. 



The Ntlakya'pamuQ has a number of articles. 

 ta is used for connecting adjectives and nouns : 



stE'ptEp (1) ta (2) spEzu'zo (3), a (2) llach (1) Urd (3). 



aqa (1) kEs (2) ta (3) tloska'yuQ (4) kaq (5) pul'stEmos (6), [^it is] that (1) had 

 i^) Indian (4) who (5) hilled Mm (6). 



ha and a seem to precede nouns that are not accompanied by attributes : 



ha (T) chai'tkEnEmuq (2) kaQ(3) tla'k-atEm (4), the (1) Indians (2) mho (3) have 



killed them (4). 

 ha(l) Kkamtcl'nEmuQ(2) ta chai'tkEiiEmuQ (.") kaq (4) tla'k-atEm (5), ?7«; (1) 



A'hamtol'iiKinva (2) Jndia?is{3) [n-ho (4)] hilled them (5). 



