INDIANS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST 



17 



Haida Canoe 



Totem Poles 



The most striking object is the great Haida Canoe 

 in the center of the hall with its party of Chilkat Indians 

 celebrating the rite of the " potlatch." The 

 potlatch is the great "giving ceremony," 

 common to all the coast tribes, when individuals and 

 families gladly impoverish themselves that the dead 

 may be honored, the emblem of the clan exalted and 

 social standing recognized or increased, while under- 

 lying the potlatch as a social function is a deep reli- 

 gious fervor in the worship of ancestry and communion 

 with the dead. At the stern of the canoe, which is 

 represented as approaching the beach, stands the chief 

 or "medicine man," who directs the ceremony. The 

 canoe is a huge dugout made from a single tree, is 64 

 feet long and 8 feet wide and capable of carrying 40 men. 

 Against the pillars and walls of the hall are many 

 house posts and totem poles with their 

 grotesque carvings; the latter may repre- 

 sent either the coat of arms or family tree, or they 

 may illustrate some story or legend connected with the 

 family. The Haida Indians together with the Tlingit 

 are recognized as superior to the other Indian tribes 

 along the Northwest Coast of North America. They 

 are divided into a number of families with various 

 crests for each family and grouped into two main divi- 

 sions, the Ravens and the Eagles. The 

 Blankets Tlingit are makers of the famous Chilkat 



blankets, of which the Museum possesses 

 an exceptionally fine collection. Among some of the 

 other tribes there is little wool weaving, the clothing 

 consisting of shredded and softened inner tree bark 

 braided and matted together. The Indians of this 

 region are preeminently a woodworking people, as is 

 manifest in the exhibit. Religious ceremonies and the 

 wearing of masks generally supposed to 



Religious 

 Ceremonies 



aid the shaman or priest in curing dis- 

 ease, were customary among most of the 

 tribes. The masks represented guardian spirits and by 

 wearing them the shaman impersonated these spirits. 



The north end of the hall is devoted to Eskimo col- 

 lections. The cases on the right show the manner of 

 dress, method of transportation, etc., also cooking 



& 



Modern totem pole 

 at Wr angel, Alaska. 

 Many totem poles 

 are huge cedar car- 

 vings so old that the 

 Indians themselves 

 have forgotten their 

 meaning 



