134 
GitsemraRlem ; among the Nisrce — Trhalarhaet, of Gitrhatin, and Mensesk, 
of Gitlarhdamks, both of whom claim as their direct progenitor the Gitsem- 
rielem ancestor. 
There is besides, at Gitlarhdamks, on the Nass, a family — that of 
Qawq^ — which is obviously a fairly recent subdivision of that of Qawq 
of the Skeena. The circums^^anccs of the split of Qawq's family into two 
parts on the Skeena are still the object of several narratives. The separa- 
tion took place at the ancient village of Gitanraet; a part of the family 
migrated upstream to Larhantgees, opposite the present village of Kit- 
wanga, and the other northwards to the Nass, where it settled with the 
Gisransnat tribe, now Gitlarhdamks. Both the heads of these related 
households bear the name of Qawq. 
We have seen elsewhere^ how the ancestry of Weegyet, the head-chief 
of Gitsegyukla, now of the Fire weed phratry, also goes back to the same 
Eagle clan. The severance of Wcegyet’s ancestors from the parent-stock 
was the result of an illicit marriage within the Eagle phratry and the exile 
of the guilty couple. 
The three Eagle households at Kitwanga, those of Qawq, Sqayaen, 
and Tewalasu, descend from the same maternal ancestor — Qawq or Legee' 
naihle; of Gitanrajt. They share in the same inherited privileges and 
traditions, although their crests have become slightly differentiated in 
the course of time. 
Qawq owns two totem poles, still standing at Kitwanga. Semedeek, 
the present Qawq, claims that he formerly owned more poles, at least two 
of which have fallen and disappeared; a decaying fragment of one of them — 
the pole of Geelawaw — -was seen on the ground in 1924. 
DESCRIPTION 
The first (Plate I, figure 1; Plate XXVIII, figure 2) is called The- 
Bear's-den ( Rhpe-soemih ). It stood until recently at the upper end of 
the row at the river’s edge.® It contains the following figures (from the 
top down): Person-with-drum (Gycedem^anuhl); Split-person, or Half-man 
(Rhslagyet); The-Bear’s-den (Rhpe-soBmih), a human-like being supposedly 
with a circular hole in the centre of his stomach— which would represent 
the entrance to the bear’s den;^ the Halibut (Trhoih) crest, or two halibuts, 
one hanging from each hand; Split-eagle ( Palrhum-rhskycek ); and again, 
presumably, Person-with-drum (Gyoedem'anuhl), holding a crest or a mask 
in his hands. The identity of this emblem is not remembered; it is prob- 
ably one of the three family crests. Bear-headdress (Kaidem’ol), Weasel- 
headdress (Kaidem~7neksihl) or White-marten (’ Masha’ t); or it may re- 
present, according to a different opinion, the mask of Indakawt (To-nurse 
a child), owned as a personal name in this family. 
The second and newer pole (Plate XXVIII, figure 3) stands at the 
upper end of the rear row, in front of Semedeek’s house. Its name is 
Drum-hangs-on (Hanee’amihl), and its figures are: the Eagle (Rhsycek); 
‘Present English name, Dennis Woods. 
*Cf. Poles of Weegyet, <Htse^yukla, page 104. 
*It fell in 1925 and, in 1927, was lying along Qawq's smokehouse. It haa 8in?o been restored. 
*0n the other pole of Qawq and that of Sqayoen the hole is actually represented. 
