PRIMITIVE ART 13 
Cases O, 12 AND P 
Coast TRIBES OF WASHINGTON AND TRIBES OF THE INTERIOR 
oF British Co_umBia.—The general character of the decorative 
art of this region is entirely different from that of the coast tribes 
of Alaska described before. The ornamentation applied by the 
tribes of the interior to their garments and to objects of every-day 
use is throughout pictographic ; that is to say, it consists of realistic 
representations of natural objects, which are connected, and tell 
a complete story. We notice, for instance, on a painted blanket 
in Case 127, a number of animal and human figures. A mountain- 
range rising on the earth is shown above the fringe. On the 
upper part of the blanket, two suns are shown, outside of which 
are two beetles. In the center is a stag pursued by two Indians. 
The figures near the right and left margins are grizzly bears. On 
the lower part of the blanket two loons are shown. These are 
painted on a large scale because they are the guardian spirits of 
the wearer. Between them there is a lake with trees around one 
side, and a canoe anda man in thecenter. Trail-lines between the 
loons indicate that they belong to the lake. The owner's pipe 
is painted on the lower right-hand corner. The idea expressed 
by these figures is a prayer for success in hunting on mountain 
and lake. The hunters and the canoe-man represent the wearer 
of the blanket ; the suns, beetles and loons are his guardian spirits. 
