85 
The second pole (Plate XV, figure 3), Grizzly-of-the-Sun (Medeegcm- 
gyamk ), comprises two Owls, one at the top and the other at the bottom;^ 
the Grizzly-bear, with the Sun around his neck; and five small human 
figures which were termed “People-around” (Hrpee-geeget) between the 
Bear and the lower Owl. The figures on this pole were painted, partly 
white and partly black. 
ORIGIN 
The Sun and the Owl are individual illustrations of the myths outlined 
above.^ Other Fireweed families in Kispayaks and at large, as we shall 
see, share with Gitludahl the privilege of using the Grizzly-bear, though 
not coupled with the Sun. The origin of this emblem in its present form 
is said to go back to the time when Kispayaks, or more precisely Sindzihl, 
was established. The ancestors of Gitludahl were camping at Salmon- 
creek ( Shegunya ), opposite the present-day Kispayaks, and fishing salmon. 
A maiden in seclusion saw coming down Salmon-creek the Bear with a 
“sun collar” around its neck (Medeegem-gyanik ), which her parents killed 
and gave her for her posterity to use as an emblem. 
Wawsemlarhae, of Kispayaks, also owns the Mountain-fern as a 
crest. Its origin will be described later. ^ 
The People-around (Hrpeegeeget or Tsem-rhpeegeegeif Inside-half-per- 
son) belong more properly to Kwahamawn, of the Wolf phratry at Qaldo, 
to Neekyap, of Kisgagas, and their relatives elsewhere. Four small beings 
formerly represented this crest on a totem pole of Neekyap at Kisgagas. 
It is as a gift through marriage, so it is believed, that Gitludahl acquired 
the right to use it from a Qaldo family. 
FUNCTION 
The White Owl pole was among the oldest in Kispayaks ; it was erected 
about seventy years ago. The object of its commemoration for this reason is 
not clearly remembered, though a reliable informant (Kweeyaihl, John 
Brown) stated that it stood in memory of a former Gitludahl. 
The pole of the Grizzly-bear of the Sun was erected about thirty 
years ago as a memorial to another Gitludahl, or as otherwise stated, to a 
man of the same family whose name was Tailk (presumably two names of 
the same chief). 
CARVERS 
The Grizzly-bear of the Sun pole is the work of Tsugyet (of the house- 
hold of Amagyet, Kispayaks), James Green, now an old man, belonging 
to the Wolf phratry. The identity of the other carver could not be dis- 
covered, owing to the age of the pole. His work in the White Owl pole 
is of remarkable and mature quality. The device of carving the upper 
figures inverted on the lower end of a large cedar tree, of removing the 
uncarved back and the core of the log and of replanting it upside down, 
was also resorted to in some of the oldest and best poles in other villages, 
particularly in Gitwinlkul. The carver is likely to have belonged either 
to Gitwinlkul or a village of the Nass. 
>An informant, Jimmy WilliamB, termed these "Black Owls." They were formerly used on the corner posts 
of the interior of the house. 
*The Poles of ^ urksan, of p. 79. 
•TAe poles of Wawsemlarhce, of Kispayaks, p. 86. 
