148 b 



GEOLOGICAL, SURVEY OF CANADA. 



Carved posts. 



This description is substantially accurate, and so detailed that it is 

 scarcely likely to be erroneous in regard to the division by a floor of 

 the excavated portion of the interior of the house from that above the 

 level of the ground. I have not seen this arrangement, however, in 

 any of the houses now existing on the islands. 



The peculiar carved pillars which have been generally referred to as 

 carved posts are broadly divided into two classes, known as kexen and 

 %at. One of the former stands at the front of every house, and through 

 the base, in most instances, the oval hole serving as a door passes. 

 The latter are posts erected in memory of the dead. 

 Doorway posts. The kexen are generally from 30 to 50 feet in height, with a width 

 of three feet or more at the base, and tapering slightly upwards. 

 They are hollowed behind in the manner of a trough, to make them 

 light enough to be set and maintained in place without much difficulty. 

 These posts are generally covered with grotesque figures, closely 

 grouped together, from base to summit. They include the totem of 

 the owner, and a striking similarity is often apparent between the 

 posts of a single village. I am unable to give the precise signification 

 of the carving of the posts, if indeed it has any such, and the 

 forms are illustrated better by the plates than by any description. 

 Human figures, wearing hats of which the crowns run up in a cylin- 

 drical form, and are marked round with constrictions at intervals, 

 almost always occur, and either one such figure, or two or three fre- 

 quently surmount the end of the post. Comparatively little variation 

 from the general type is allowed in the kexen, while in those posts 

 erected in memory of the dead, and all I believe called xat, much 

 greater diversity of design obtains. These posts are generally in the 

 villages, standing on the narrow border of land between the houses and 

 the beach, but in no determinate relation to the buildings. A common 

 form consists of a stout, plain, upright post, round in section, and 

 generally tapering slightly downwards, with one side of the top flat- 

 tened and a broad sign-board-like square of hewn cedar planks affixed 

 to it. This may be painted, decorated with some raised design, or to 

 it may be affixed one of the much prized ' coppers ' which has belonged 

 to the deceased. In other cases the upright post is carved more or less 

 elaborately. Another form consists of a round, upright post with a 

 carved eagle at the summit. Still others, carved only at the base, run 

 up into a long round post with incised rings at regular intervals. Two 

 round posts are occasionally planted near together, with a large hori- 

 zontal painted slab between them, or a massive beam, which appears 

 in some instances to be excavated to hold the body. These memorial 

 posts are generally less in height than the door posts. 

 Stone models The carved stone models of posts made by the Skidegate Haidas 



•of posts. ) 



Monumental 

 posts. 



