27 
those of various people around the edges of the Pacific ocean. An instance 
will suffice here. The early navigators noticed, about 1780-1790, the 
striking resemblance between the fortresses of the Haidas, the Kwakiutl, 
and other coast natives, and the hippah of the New Zealand natives.^ 
The totem poles, as fairly recently carved and erected on both sides of the 
Pacific, offer the same compelling resemblance {See Plate XXX, figures 
2-5; Plate XXXI, figures 1,2; Plate XXXIII, figures 1,2). The technique 
for their erection was also identical {See Plate XXXI, figures 1,2). 
TECHNIQUE 
The Gitksan poles were made from the trunks of red cedars, and their 
length varied from 15 to 60 feet. A suitable tree was first selected and 
felled, then hauled to its intended destination, sometimes many miles away. 
The “fathers” — or paternal relatives, of the opposite phratry — rendered 
ceremonial services and benefited by liberal compensation. They took 
charge of the work, were fed and entertained during the progress of the 
work, and w'ere paid at the conclusion. The total expense of the first 
operations exhausted the resources which a family or a clan could muster 
at one time. So the log was left lying uncarved in the village for a year 
or more. 
A carver was then hired, the best available from among the “fathers.” 
When he lacked the required ability, he appointed a substitute, whose 
work it was to carve the pole while he “stood over him.” The carving 
was done under shelter, as secretly as possible; and the figures were selected 
by the owners from among their several crests. The greater their wealth 
and the higher their rank, the taller the pole and the more elaborately 
decorated. The carver was usually paid in guns, blankets, or skins, and 
the price for his services seldom exceeded in all the equivalent of 8600. 
Far more costly was the erection of the carved pole, which as a rule 
was postponed another year. When sufficient w'ealth and food were 
accumulated, invitations for a festival were dispatched far and wide. 
Several tribes gathered for the event. And the totem pole was raised in 
the midst of celebrations that were one of the outstanding features of 
Indian life. 
Raising a large pole by means of primitive devices required great 
ingenuity and the co-operation of several tribes. A hole was first dug 
in the ground, at least 6 feet deep. The butt was sunk in a trench leading 
to the hole, and the smaller end was raised gradually on wooden props. 
Stout ropes of twisted cedar bark attached to the top of the shaft and 
thrown over a high supporting frame were hauled by numerous hands, 
until finally the pole was hoisted into place. 
The technique of raising a pole from the ground is illustrated in Plate 
XXXI, figure 2, which was drawn from information obtained from Hleng- 
w’ah (or Jim Laralmitz) and Arhkawt (Alfred Sinclair), at Kitwanga, 
in 1923. Its resemblance to the Polynesian process, of the South Seas, 
may be appreciated upon its comparison with that illustrated in Plate 
XXXI, figure 1, from a picture in The Pa Maori. . . .^hy Elsdon Bestj 
1927. 
A typical instance of the exact proceedings in the erection of a totem 
pole is given on pages 53, 54. 
Appendix 
84628— 3J 
