10 
Coast. In other words, they are like a federation of clans, arrived at 
only in stages and without a preconceived plan. Their attributes and 
contents, as a result, are not uniform, especially in parts mutually far 
removed. A crest may characterize a clan in one nation while it is the 
appanage of another elsewhere. For instance, the Grizzly-bear is the 
outstanding crest of many clans of the Wolf phratry among the Gitksan, 
but it belongs to the Finback-whale phratry among the Tsimsyan. The 
Gitksan clans are all integral parts of the four phratries of the Larhsail 
(Frog-Raven), the Fireweed, the Wolf, and the Eagle. The Eagle is 
represented only by a part of one clan in one of its seven tribes — Kitwanga. 
The only owners of totem poles, among these social units, are the 
families, whose deceased leaders they commemorate. The need never 
arose for the clan, the tribe, or the phratry as such to erect memorials, 
which were primarily concerned with the transfer of family patrimonies 
within the tribe. 
As the crests vary with the clans, and are vestiges of the past, they 
inevitably reflect historical events. Their utilization on the totem poles 
is a pledge of their preservation in tribal memory. It naturally accentuates 
the social differences between the clans and commemorates their traditions 
in permanent symbols. A list of the clans and an indication of their origins 
are given in a later section.^ 
In brief, there are six clans in the Frog-Raven phratry of the Gitksan, 
most of which are remotely related to each other. The clans of Frog- 
woman and Tongue-licked claim the lower Nass as their ancient home; 
and their Haida aflSliations are the object of some of their outstanding 
emblems. The war adventures of one of their ancestors, Naeqt, are com- 
memorated on several poles. The Wild-rice clan traces its origin to the 
Tsetsaut — an Athapascan people to the north. The Water-lily clan is of 
similar extraction. Hlengwah, a head-chief of Kitwanga, and his Tsim- 
syan relatives, once were Tlingit, on the northern Alaskan coast. Only 
two or three elements in this phratry seem native to the Skeena and they 
are of small numerical importance. 
The clans of the Fireweed phratry are more typically Gitksan than the 
others. Two of the Sky clans claim Temlaham, on the Skeena, as their 
original home. Yet, the second^ Sky clan — that of Gitkeemilse is from 
the Nass. The Wild-rice clan of the Fireweed phratry, belongs as much 
to the Athapascans of the interior as it does to the Gitksan, And the 
clan under the leadership of Weegyet, at Gitsegyukla, goes back to the 
Eagle phratry by way of transmutation. 
The Wolf phratry here consists of five clans, all of which are genetically 
related: the Prairie clan, the Gitrandakl clan, the Wild-rice clan, the second 
Wild-rice clan, and the Hrain-Island clan. It is almost wholly, if not 
wholly, of Tahltan extraction — the Tahltans being a northern Athapascan 
people of the Yukon frontier. 
The Eagles — barely represented among the Gitksan — trace back their 
origin to Na'a, among the Tlingit of the Alaskan coast to the north. 
The gradual drift of these people from the far north southwards is 
at the core of their recent history. It undoubtedly forms part of the 
migratory movement from Asia that is likely in the course of millennia 
to have furnished to the American continent most of its native population. 
‘Pages 152, 163, The Clans of the Gitksan, 
