120 
according to Kweenu, it was raised instead in commemoration of Kameh- 
melmuk (Gitwinlkul Jim), who was shot down by the police in 1888d 
The pole of Split-person or Double-headed-person, to the right, is the 
oldest of the three. It was erected in front of Weerhse’s house, possibly 
sixty or seventy years ago,^ in his memory. The carver may have been 
a Nass River artist.^ 
The fourth pole, of the Mountain-eagle, was erected about twenty-five 
years ago,^ in commemoration of Wawralae, one of the leading members 
of Weerhae’s family. 
The tallest of the four poles, which leans backwards, was carved and 
erected over forty years ago. It seems somewhat more recent than the 
two other poles behind it. The object of its commemoration could not 
be remembered by Kweenu. 
CARVERS 
The three oklest poles of this family are among the most remarkable 
in existence. As a group, belonging to one household and standing close 
together, they are certainly unsurpassed among the Gitksan and the 
Tsimsyan, and perhaps, among the other North West Coast nations 
as well. 
The oldest was possibly carved by a Nass River artist; the two larger 
and more elaborate ones, by Ilaesem-hliyawn, of the Larhsail in the same 
village;® and the more recent, near the river, by the prolific carver, Hlamee 
(Alexander), of the Larhsail at Gitwinlkul. The Standing-bears in Weer- 
hac's house, which have disappeared, were also his work. 
The diameter of the two older poles is greater at the top than at the 
base. The device of thus planting the tree upside down, to give wider 
scope for the carving at the top, is resorted to in only three other instances 
on the Skeena. 
Although Hlamee’s pole is one of the best from his hand, and he him- 
self was perhaps the foremost Gitksan carver of his generation, it is none- 
theless inferior in inspiration and originality to the three older poles by 
other artists. The art, instead of improving after 1880, had reached a 
stage of decadence. Hlamee, for one thing, introduced the white’s man's 
paint to enhance the features of his figures. He did it with discretion 
and to good effect; yet paint immediately lessened the sculptural quality 
of the work, which was bound to remain its principal, we should say its 
only important, asset. The figures under Hlamee's chisel and paint brush 
are smoother than they were formerly; they are on the whole more stylized, 
their relief is thinner, and the arrangement of the figures more static, 
not so freely handled. Yet the head and face of the ancestress Tsiwiladaw 
are possibly his most remarkable achievement. They certainly bear the 
mark of a creative talent. 
>Kweenu added: ‘‘It was erected by Kameh-melmuk’s relatives. Even the children helped to pay for it." 
’LeU, of Kitwanga, now an old man, believed that it had been raised before his time. 
•According to Kweenu (Mrs, John Larahnitz). 
•That is, when Kweenu (Mrs. John Larahnitz) was old enough to help and dig the hole. She is now about 
forty-five (7). 
‘Of the household of Yarhyaq, 
