104 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 377. 



Several plates of tattooings representing crests 

 are also discussed in this chapter, which is 

 the most extensive explanation given, up to 

 this time, of carvings and paintings from any 

 one tribe of the North Pacific coast. 



The description of the secret societies and 

 potlatches of the Haida is not as complete as 

 we should like to see it; but it is impossible 

 at the present time to obtain full information 

 on this point, because the old customs have 

 become obsolete, and, owing to the great re- 

 duction in numbers of the tribe, the informa- 

 tion which can be obtained now is fragment- 

 ary and contradictory. It is interesting, 

 however, to note that the secret societies are 

 also owned by various families, and that the 

 conclusion previously reached of the introduc- 

 tion of the more important societies from the 

 south i^ corroborated by information fur- 

 nished by the Haida. 



The last chapter of the book contains ab- 

 stracts of Haida traditions. These consist of 

 two series, one collected in Skidegate, another 

 in Masset, and written in these two dialects 

 of the Haida language. The Masset texts will 

 be published in another volume of the publi- 

 cations of the Jesup Expedition. The Skide- 

 gate texts were written out by the author for 

 publication by the Smithsonian Institution. 

 A few texts and the translations of other 

 traditions have just been issued as a Bulletin 

 of the Bureau of American Ethnology. We 

 may perhaps express the wish that a way may 

 be found for publishing the full texts, which 

 are required for a thorough study of the 

 ethnology of the tribe. The abstracts of the 

 traditions are accompanied by notes, giving 

 parallel traditions from the North Pacific 

 coast. 



The volume closes with lists of the families, 

 villages and houses of the Haida. This part 

 of the book is accompanied by a number of 

 interesting maps, compiled by Dr. Charles F. 

 Newcombe, on which the native names of 

 places and the locations of towns are recorded. 

 These maps also contain many improvements 

 on the last issue of the British Admiralty 

 Maps. 

 Vol. VI., Part I., The Koryak. By Waldemar 



JOCHELSON. "' 



Mr. Jochelson's description of the Koryak 

 is based on his studies carried on in 1900-1 

 for the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. The 

 subjects treated are the religion and the myth- 

 ology of the tribe. The reason why the author 

 began the publication of his studies with this 

 subject was the necessity of coordinating his 

 publication with that of Mr. Bogoras, who 

 was at the same time publishing his studies 

 of the material culture of the Chukchee. We 

 obtain here for the first time an insight into 

 the peculiar beliefs of the tribes of the Ok- 

 hotsk Sea and of Kamchatka, which were first 

 described by Steller. 



The first chapter is taken up with historical 

 remarks relating to previous information on 

 the subject. In the second chapter a detailed 

 description of supernatural beings is given. 

 The principal of these is Big-Eaven. He is 

 looked upon by the Koryak as the founder of 

 the world. He is also called Creator. In 

 this respect, the Koryak belief differs from 

 that of the Chukchee, who consider the Crea- 

 tor and Big-Eaven as separate beings. Al- 

 though Eaven is the trickster of Koryak 

 mythology, he is at the same time the great 

 transformer, who has given the world its pres- 

 ent shape. He is the first man, father and 

 protector of the Koryak. Prayers are ad- 

 dressed to him, and he is appealed to in 

 incantations. Sacrifices are also made to him. 

 Almost all the Koryak myths, with very few 

 exceptions, deal with the life, travels, adven- 

 tures, and tricks of Big-Eaven and his family. 



Besides Big-Eaven, the Koryak believe in a 

 supreme being, the conception of whom, how- 

 ever, is vague. He sent Big-Eaven down to 

 our earth to establish order, and he seems to 

 be the personification of the vital principle 

 in nature taken in its entirety. He is de- 

 scribed as an old man, living in a village in 

 heaven, and having wife and children. Offer- 

 ings are made to him to secure future pros- 

 perity, or as an atonement for the transgres- 

 sion of taboos. It is their belief, that, so 

 long as the supreme being looks down upon 

 earth, there is abundance and health, while, 

 as soon as he turns away, disorder reigns. 

 The supreme being does not seem to interfere 

 in detail with the affairs of man. 



