PRIMITIVE ART 



II 









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the long dorsal fin; D 4, representations of the bear, which 

 is characterized by its large mouth, often represented with pro- 

 truding tongue, and its large paws ; D 5, those of the raven ; D 6, 

 those of the thunder-bird or hawk and the eagle, the thunder-bird 

 being characterized by the 

 hooked beak, which turns 

 back into the mouth. 



One of the peculiar char- 

 acteristics of the decorative 

 art of the North Pacific 

 coast is the frequent occur- 

 rence of the " eye." A form 

 similar to an eye, consisting 

 of an inner and an outer cir- 

 cle, is applied to indicate all 

 joints, evidently to signify 

 the socket and the head 

 moving in the socket. Of- 

 ten this eye is elaborated as a who e face, which then makes 

 the interpretation of the animal form very difficult. 



The essential features of the decorative art of the coast 

 Indians of Alaska and British Columbia may thus be charac- 

 terized as a representation of animal forms by means of distor- 

 tion and omission, the decorative 

 forms being somewhat realistic rep- 

 resentations of parts of the body, 

 preference being g'ven to those 

 parts which are symbolic of each 

 animal. 



Purely geometrical decoration is 

 found in only one place on the 

 North Pacific coast. It is applied 

 to the basketry of the Tlingit In- 

 dians (Case E 3-8), who, however, 

 in their painting and carving, use 

 the style of art described before. This geometrical style 

 was probably developed in imitation of the porcupine - em- 



