THE INDIANS OF THE NOETHWEST COAST. 



247 



is assigned to the tradition of the two mythical beings or heroes, Tetl 

 and KanuJc, whose struggles, valor, and beneficence endowed the 

 Tlingit with the good things of life. In his frequent transformations 

 Tetl often adopted the form of the raven, giving to the Eaven phratry 

 the apparent right to claim descent from the great Tetl. Some authori- 

 ties claim to identify Kanuk, the other godlike personage with the 

 progenitor of the Wolf phratry ; but Dr. Franz Boas claims through his 

 interpretations of the Tlingit legends that " this Eanuh is identical 

 with the eagle,"* and also that the Tlingit use the title Eagle and Wolf 

 without discrimination in designating the so-called Wolf phratry. 

 May not this be due to a possible amalgamation of the Wolf and the 

 Eagle totem at a remote period antedating the growth of the totem 

 into a phratry. This amalgamation takes place in the course of time 

 in all Indian communities having a totemic organization. The partial 

 list of Tlingit totems as verified by the writer is as follows : 



The above totems are divided into sub-totems with special names 

 denoting locality and collateral relationship. The vocabulary of titles, 

 sub-titles, etc., is a large one, and needs in itself special study. Tlie 

 data has not yet been collected to enable us to give an adequate idea 

 of the complexity and ramifications of the Tlingit totemic organization. 



Kaigani. — The principal totems are the Crow, Eaven, Brown Bear, 

 Beaver, Eagle, Wolf, and Whale. In addition are also found the Seal, 

 Orca (Killer), Gull, Crane, Frog, Shark, and others. Boas adds the 

 Sparrow-hawk, Codfish, and Skate. The two exogamous groups or 

 phratries amongst the Kaigani are the Wolf and the Eagle, according to 

 Boas, designated as the Is'atVa^nas and TakHl a'nas. The division of 



* Notes on Ethnology of British Cohimbia, before Am. Philoa. Society, November 

 18, 1887, p. 422. 



tAt Fort Wrangell several households of the Orca and Bear totems have been amal- 

 gamated into one called by a different name from either, viz, NanaWri. 



