131 
The Ensnared-bear and the Bear-cubs, together with the mythic 
ancestress Hrpeesunt, on the contrary, are the object of one of the longest 
and best-known traditional narratives of the Gitksan. At the time when 
the people of this family all lived at the headwaters of Kalem river, long ago, 
a beautiful maiden named Hrpeesunt, the sister of Tenemgyet and Hrpeel- 
arhsB, once made abusive remarks about the bears, as she slipped in bear’s 
dung on the trail. Two bears in human form overtook her and, for her 
punishm.ent, led her to the feast house of their chief, where she was taken 
to wife by his son. She imperceptibly changed to a bear herself and, 
when living with the Bear in a cavern on the mountain side, she gave 
birth to twins, which were half human and half bear. Her brothers mean- 
while searched for her. She saw them, as they stood at the bottom of a 
rock slide, squeezed a handful of snow in her hand and let the tiny ball roll 
down the slide. The brothers, thus made aware of her presence, climbed the 
rock slide and slew the Bear, saving her semi-human children. Before 
djdng, the Bear husband taught his wife two ritual songs, which the hunters 
should use over his dead body, to ensure good luck. Hrpeesunt’s children 
behaved like bears part of the tim.e; they guided their uncles to the dens 
of bears in the mountains, and helped them to set their snares. With their 
assistance and through the use of the dirge songs, which they always sang 
over dead bears, the families of Tenemgyet, Hrpeelarho?, and Arhteeh 
becam.e prosperous bear hunters. And they adopted the Ensnared-bear 
as their crest. 
This crest must have belonged to these families in a general way for 
a prolonged period. Yet, it seems that at least one of its forms, the Bear- 
with-offspring (Trhahkilkum-smaih ), or the Ensnared-bear (Tsiphum- 
smaih ) as used on the poles, was acquired from Tseelseren, of the Wolf 
phratry at Kisgagas, as compensation for the murder of a member of 
Arhteeh’s family at some time in the fairly distant past.^ 
The origin of the Mountain-lion^ crest (Havmao) is more recent. 
When the members of these families lived at Kwunekstset,^ on the Skeena, 
they learnt that a m.onster — the Hawaao — from the seacoast, was coming 
up the river, destroying the people on his. way. An old woman named 
Eye-brow ( Lark' aw' e ) , one day, went with her bucket to the river’s edge 
and was heard crying. Only her ankles were found on the shore. The 
monster had devoured her. Her relatives suceeded in overtaking it, 
and drove it into the river. There they killed it with arrows, from their 
canoes, while they sang the following song — now a sacred dirge and a pad- 
dling song — “The Lion draws back into the river. As fierce as a Grizzly, 
he is not frightened of his pursuers in the war canoe.” After the monster 
w'as dead, the people cut its carcass open and found within its body haliotis 
pearl labrets, which they kept as charms. And they adopted the Lion as 
one of their emblems.^ 
FUNCTION 
The pole with the Mountain-lion at the top (Plate XXVII, figure 1) 
was erected about seventy years ago, in memory of Hlawts or Wee-hlawts.® 
'According to Stephen Morgan and hia wife, the present Tenemgyet. 
•Or puma. 
•A mile above the present Cedarvale. 
‘The Hawaao is well-known ns a mythic monster at Bellabelln, on the coast. 
‘Mrs. Morgan (Tenemgyet) was probably mistaken when she said that it had been erected by Weehlawta in 
commemoration of Arhteeh. 
