6 
especially as seen at Gitwinlkul, he reached into the sphere of higher art 
where a creator obeys his own instinct and freely expresses himself in 
terms that belong to humanity as a whole. 
Hlamee (otherwise named Alexander) was a prolihc carver. When 
his work is compared at close range with that of Haesem-hliyawn, his elder, 
he seems to have been indebted to him for his equipment and training. 
The earlier was by far the greater artist. The art, instead of improving 
at large during his lifetime, had reached a stage of decadence. Hlamee, 
for one thing, introduced the White Man’s paint, to enhance the features 
of his carvings. Although he did it with discretion and good effect, paint 
immediately lessened the sculptural quality of the work. The figures 
under his chisel and paint brush are smoother than formerly they were; 
their style is more conventional and less sincere. Their relief is thinner 
and the arrangement of figures more static. The composition often 
becomes stilted. The black and white paint with which, in his later 
period, he decorated his poles according to the new fashion, do not com- 
pensate for the evident loss of native inspiration and artistry.^ 
FUNCTION OF THE POLES 
The fanciful figures on totem poles were not pagan gods or demons, 
as is often supposed. They consisted of symbols that can be compared 
with European heraldry, and as a rule illustrated familiar myths or tribal 
recollections. They were not worshipped — indeed, the West Coast natives 
hardly knew of any form of worship. For their implications alone were 
they held sacred. 
The carved poles of the Gitksan were monuments erected by the 
leading families in every tribe in memory of their chiefs who had died. 
For that reason they are sometimes termed “the grave of” whoever they 
commemorate and whose remains were buried in the neighbourhood; in 
which instance they bear close resemblance to our tombstones.^ 
The only exceptions consist of house-posts and house-front or entrance 
poles — altogether less than twelve of these carvings are still to be observed.^ 
A particular object of these monuments was to publish the owners’ 
claims to established patrimonies and rights that had descended to them 
mostly from the immemorial past. The assistance of other families and 
neighbouring villages in their erection served as a pledge of universal 
recognition. 
Some time after the death of a household chief, his family would appoint 
his eldest nephew to his high post, if he were worthy of their confidence. 
The induction of the new dignitary took place in the course of elaborate 
ceremonials. The traditional name of his predecessor in office was conferred 
upon him; and a totem pole was erected as a memorial to the departed, 
thus ensuring the transfer of his title to his successor. The whole family 
and even their distant relatives in other tribes would muster all resources 
‘For the names of the carvers and the list of the poles ascribed to them, see page 178, Carvers of totem poles. 
*Many of the marble tombstones in the graveyards of Ha^lton, Kispayaks, and other raodeni Indian places, 
contain totem-pole-like figures executed at Port Simpson or Vancouver by white sculptors at the request of the 
natives from small wooden models provided for the purposes. (See as illustrations of this Plate XlX, figure 4A; 
Plate XXX, figure 1; Plate XXVI, figure 3.) 
•See Plate VII, figure 1; Plate VIII, figures 4-7; Plate XI, figure 3; Plate XXI, figure 2; Plate XX, figure 2; 
Plate XXII, figure 6; Plate XXVII, figure 1, Plate XXXIII, figure 1. 
