2€4 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



wealth wear them only on extraordinary occasions. They are com- 

 monly called Chilkat blankets, and form heir- looms in every wealthy 

 family. One of these is pictured in Plate x. Fig. 33. To-day they are 

 worth from 125 to $40 each. Dawson states that the Haida obtain 

 them from the Tsimshian. The warp consists of twine of finely 

 shredded cedar bark spun into a thread or cord. The woof is of yarn 

 spun from the wool of the mountain goat. (The details of the weaving 

 are shown in Plate x, Fig. 33a.) Much confusion exists on this point- 

 The mountain goat resembles our domestic animal in external appear- 

 ance, but has beneath the hair an inner coat of white, soft, silky 

 wool, while the mountain sheep (big-horn) has a thick covering of hair 

 like a deer. The fringe on the side is shorter than on the bottom. Tbe 

 wool is woven into a pattern representing the totem of the owner, dif- 

 ferent dyes being used in the wool, the conventional colors being black, 

 yellow, white, and sometimes brown. The black is obtained from char- 

 coal and the yellow dye from a moss called seklione (Tlingit). The 

 blanket is woven in different designs skilfully blended into a complete 

 pattern, as in tapestry. Fig. 33. A ceremonial coat or gown similar 

 in design is also woven in this way. A specimen is figured in Plate x, 

 Fig. 34. The details of the method of weaving both these garments 

 are shown in Fig. 33a, same plate. 



Chief ^s ceremonial head dress. — In connection with this blanket and 

 coat or gown, a conventional head dress is worn by the chiefs in this 

 northern region. These are shown in Plate x, Fig. 35, and consist of a 

 cylindrical wooden frame about 10 inches high, with an elaborately carved 

 front of hard wood, beautifully polished, painted, and inlaid with aba- 

 lone shell and copper. Pendent behind is a long cloth, on which are 

 closely sewn the skins of ermine, which form an important item in a 

 chief's outfit. Around the upper periphery of the head-dress is an 

 elaborate fringe of seal- whiskers. In ceremonial dances the space within 

 this fringe and the top jof the head-dress is filled with eagle or other 

 bird's down, which falls like snow in the motions of the dance. This 

 costume is completed by leggins of deer's hide, ornamented with the 

 beaks of puffins, which rattle with the movements of the wearer. 

 These are shown in Fig. 36, Plate x. The costume complete as worn 

 by a chief is figured in Plate ix. 



Amongst northern tribes these ceremonial blankets are worn by the 

 chiefs. Amongst the Haida, women of rank also wear them in the 

 dances. In all its details, the costume shown in Plate ix well illus- 

 trates the height to which the native arts of weaving, inlaying, carving, 

 and dyeing had risen on this coast before being influenced by the ad- 

 vent of the whites. 



The dress of a Chilkat chief, encountered by Vancouver at Lynn 

 Canal in 1794 is thus described by him : 



His external robe was a very fine large garment that reached from his neck down 

 to his heels, made of wool from the mountain sheep, neatly variegated with several 



