i 4 4 



GRINNELL 



TLINKIT CARVING REPRESENTING 

 BEAVER. 



well known, beautifully ornamented, and they carve elab- 

 orately in wood and stone. 



Like other Indians more to the southward, those in 



Alaska are great respecters of 

 wealth. The rank of any fam- 

 ily depends rather on the ac- 

 cumulation of riches and the 

 subsequent giving them away 

 by its head, than on bravery 

 or success in war or in hunting. 

 The highest ambition of these 

 Indians is to acquire property 

 in order that they may give it 

 away again, and wealth so evi- 

 denced seems to form among 

 them the standard of rank. He 

 who gives away most is the 

 greatest chief, and at subse- 

 quent i potlatches,' or occasions for presenting gifts, he 

 receives a present proportionate to the amount of his own 

 gift. Therefore, when an In- 

 dian has accumulated more 

 or less money or other prop- 

 erty, he is likely to pur- 

 chase great quantities of 

 food, calico, and blankets, 

 and then to invite all his 

 friends up and down the 

 coast to a potlatch. In old 

 times, the feast consisted of 

 boiled deer meat and salmon, with unlimited crackers, tea, 

 sugar, and molasses. Each guest has all the food he can 

 eat, and each one is given so many yards of calico. The im- 

 portant visitors receive blankets, and part of the blankets 

 are tossed from the housetop into a crowd of young men, 



PART OF HOUSE FRAME, ALERT BAY, 

 BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



