71 
There is some doubt as to the more remote antecedents of Mawlarhen’s 
ancestors. Some say that they once lived in Kunradal, one of the two 
mythical villages of Temlaham on the upper Skeena; that, after the deluge, 
they resorted to the plateaus of Larhweeyip, in the interior (presumably 
among the Athapascan tribes) ; but it is more creditably believed that his 
earliest known ancestors were of the family of Qawm, of Kitsalas^ — the 
Canyon tribe of the Tsimsyan, on the Skeena. If this were true, then 
he would be a relative of the present Qawm, at Kitsalas, of .Hlengwah, at 
Kitwanga, and Nees-yaranaet, of the Gitsees tribe of the seacoast Tsimsyan. 
He owns a single totem pole, which stands third in the row, from above, 
in the lower village of Gitsegyukla, on the river bank. 
DESCRIPTION 
This pole (Plate XII, figure 1)* is known under the name of Raven- 
war-club (Haralarem-qaq ). Its figures are: the Raven (Qaq), perched 
at the top; about half of the pole, under the Raven, is left uncarved; 
Large-eagle (’Wee-mawdzeks ), in the usual conventional attitude, with 
wings folded on its body; the Frog, in a sitting posture (variously called: 
Tam-ranaa’o, Sitting-frog, GyawT07n-ranaa*o, Moving-frog, and Ranaa’om- 
larh-Kunradal, Frog-of-Kunradal) ; Frog-hanging (Spwrem-ranad'o ), with 
head down; Man-of-comb (GycBdem-aptscB^ ), whose hands, raised with 
palms forwards, are like native combs. 
ORIGIN 
The Raven crest is the same as used by Hlengwah, of Kitwanga, and 
Qawm, of Kitsalas — Mawlarhen’s presumed relatives. It is placed on top 
of the totem pole, in all three instances, and its special name is On-sleeps-the- 
Raven ( Hanilcehl-qaq ). Its origin is the same.^ 
The Frog is one of the most nearly universal crests among the Larhsail 
clans of the upper Skeena.® Its mythic origin, therefore, is usually lost 
sight of, except with the ’Neegyamks or Frog- woman clan. Mawlarhen, 
however, explained that his Frog crest was not the same as the others, but 
that it was the Frog-of-Kunradal. After the deluge, the ancestors of this 
family drifted on their raft to Kunradal, in the midst of Temlaham. They 
overcame a monster Frog in the neighbourhood, which had destroyed 
many people. They made a wood carving to represent it; and since, they 
have incorporated it on their totem poles. 
The Eagle ( Mawdzeks j, an emblem almost as widely used among the 
upper Skeena Larhsails, also belongs to Mawlarhen — but not to his pre- 
sumed relatives down the Skeena — Hlengwah, Qawm, and Nees-yaranset. 
It seems to have been recently acquired from other Larhsail families in the 
neighbourhood. The present Mawlarhen claims that it was “seen” by 
the ancestors while they lived at On-the-prairie or plateau (Larh-weeyip ), 
in the interior, and then assumed as a crest. 
'According to Gamayaem (Charlee Mark). 
*Cf. The poles of Hlengwah, p. 48. 
•Many of the natives even reinterpret the name Larhsait, for the phratry, so as to make it mean Frog, instead 
of Raven — which latter meaning is implied among the Tsimsyan proper. 
