258 EBPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



now.* The women tattoo the same as the men, excepting that the de- 

 signs on the upper part of the leg are said to be omitted. The designs 

 on their fore-arms invariably extend down over the back of the hands 

 and knuckles, and this alone serves to distinguish the Haida women 

 from those of other tribes on the coast. Plate iv shows the tattooing on 

 Kitkim, Chief of Laskeek, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. 

 Plate V shows the details of tattooing, which subject will be found more 

 thoroughly treated in a paper by Judge J. G. Swan, in the Fourth 

 Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 66-73. Fig. 2, Plate v, 

 is the design on back of KitMn. Frequently the tattooing on the hands 

 represents finger- rings and bracelets. A Haida woman who had on her 

 person a figure of a halibut laid open, with the face of the chief of her 

 tribe shown on the tail, told Poole that it would protect her and her 

 kin from drowning at sea.t * * * Judge Swan says: 



It should be borne iu mind that, during these festivals and masquerade perform- 

 ances, the men are entirely naked, and the women have only a short skirt reaching 

 from the waist to the knee; the rest of their persons are exposed, and it is at such 

 times that the tattoo marks show with the best effect, and the rank and family connec- 

 tion are known by the variety of designs. Like all the other coast tribes, the Haidas 

 are careful not to permit the intrusion of white persons or strangers to their Tomana- 

 wos ceremonies, and as a consequence but few white people, and certainly none of 

 those who have ever written about these Indians, have been present at their opening 

 ceremonies when the tattoo marks are shown. *" * * As this tattooing is a mark of 

 honor, it is generally done just prior to a Tomanawos performance, and at the time 

 of raising the heraldic columns in front of the chief's houses. The tattooing is done 

 in open lodge and is witnessed by the company assembled.. Sometimes it takes sev- 

 eral years before all the tattooing is done, but when completed and the body is well 

 ornamented, then they are happy and can take their seats amojig the elders. 



The design is carefully drawn in charcoal or lignite (ground in water) 

 on the body and then pricked in with needles. It takes some time to 

 finish a design, but once completed the status of the individual is fixed 

 for life. 



Painting the body. — From the Yakutat, throughout the region south, 

 the custom obtains, on ceremonial occasions, of painting the face and 

 body a variety of colors, and daubing the hair with red, black, or brown 

 pigments. This custom is now becoming rare. On ceremonial occa- 

 sions of importance the white down of eagles or other birds is pow- 

 dered over the paint on the body and head, giving a polite coat of tar 

 and feathers. In war various hideous and grotesque patterns were 

 formerly adopted for the face, such as a circle of black with a red chin, 

 giving to the wearer the appearance of having on a mask. The colors 

 on the body are removed in lines by brushes or sticks in order to trace 

 the pattern of the totem of the wearer, similar to the tatooing on the 

 body. Amongst the Tlingit this in effect takes the place of tattooing; 



*Seen by the writer at Kasa-an village (Kaigani) 1885. The practice of tattooing 

 is dying out and only found among the older people, 

 t Poole, Queen Charlotte Islands, p. 311 [1864]. 



