108 
CARVERS 
The Snag pole was carved by Hsesem-hliyawn/ of the Larhsail phratry 
at Gitwinlkul, one of the best native carvers of his time. The fine quality 
of his work may be appreciated in the features, the facial expressions, and 
the interesting contortions of the small figures, rather than in the larger 
ones, which were disfigured when the pole fell. 
The Ladder pole and the Grizzly-bear are credited to Negutsrael or 
Warap’op,^ of the Larhsail phratry at Kitwanga. This pole was partly 
decorated with paint. The feathers of the Weneel were not engraved in 
the wood, as on the earlier pole, but their outlines were painted black. 
POLES OF THE WOLF PHRATRY 
(31) Poles of Malee, at Gitwinlkul 
OWNERS 
Malee belongs to the Prairie (Larhwiyip) clan of the Wolf phratry. 
He is the present head of the family at Gitwinlkul which was established 
long ago among the People-of-the-foothill-trail ( Kaksparhskeet j by a 
member of Ka-ugwait’s household as a sequel to a family feud. His 
foremost relatives abroad, as w'e will see (page 113), are Spawrh of 
Gitenmaks, Skateen of Gitlarhdamks on the Nass; and Khleem-larhse 
and other subsidiary households of Kispayaks. 
He owns, conjointly with his brother Nees-laranows, three totem poles, 
which still stand in the village of Gitwinlkul. 
DESCRIPTION 
The oldest of these totem poles, tilting forwards, is called Sitting- 
grizzly (Lepeda’thum-legyen’su) (Plate XX, figure 2). Its figures are: 
at the top, presumably the Cormorant (Ha-o^ts); The Sitting-grizzly; the 
two Grizzly Bear cubs, one facing upwards and the other transversally; 
a small human figure, possibly that of the ancestress, mother of the cubs, 
whose name was Disappeared (Temdee-mawks ); at the bottom, the large 
Grizzly, called White-bear ( Mas’ol ), with the same cubs in his ears, here 
with human faces, and another between his knees. 
The taller of the three poles, now leaning sideways (Plate XXII, 
figure 1) is called the Ribs-of-the-bear C Anptceltu-kuhl-smaih ). Its figures 
are: a human being or a bear in human form, at the top; slanting marks in 
two rows, erroneously identified by some informants as the claw marks of 
the Bear, these marks stand for the ribs of the Grizzly,® after which the 
pole is named; the two Bear cubs climbing the pole, one of them with his 
head protruding and turned sideways; the marks representing the ribs of 
the Grizzly; another Bear cub, head downwards; and the large Grizzly or 
the White-bear, whose paws stand out of the main shaft of the pole. 
lOf the family of Wutarhaysets. 
20f the family of Taku (Benson). Charles Mark gave his name as Sekelmuks, of the same house. All these 
three names presumably were used by the carver at various periods of life. 
•The mythical Grizzly was killed and skinned by the relatives of Disappeared (Temdee-mawks). 
