145 
(48) Pole of Anklawrh, at Hagwelget 
Information is still lacking as to whether Anklawrh or 'Nlaw,^ the 
chief of the Grizzly-bear (Gitemdanyu) clan of Hagwelget (a Carrier 
village on Bulkley river), considers himself related to any of the families 
of the neighbouring Gitksans. The personal name of Saedzan, one of the 
most important in this household, may serve as a clue, as it is also that of 
two important chiefs abroad: Ssedzan, of Kitsalas, and Ssedzan, of the 
Geenarhdawks tribe of the Tsimsyan on the Skeena. Indeed, we find 
that the origin of Saedzan and Gabelran, of Kitsalas, is traced back to 
Hagw'elget, and that their myth of crests refers to their relations long ago 
with the people of the Raven-frog phratry of Kispayaks. Stedzan, of 
Kitsalas, belongs to the Raven phratry, and his principal crest is House- 
front-pain ting-of-Raven. The Tetsan bird crest on the totem pole of 
Anklawrh, of Hagwelget, also represents the Raven. The other Saedzan 
(of the Ginahdawks tribe), however, belongs to the Wolf phratry, and 
owns both the Bear and the Raven crests, the Raven appearing quite 
exceptionally here, in the Wolf phratry, under the form of Where-Raven- 
has-a-human-face. These three households probably were related in the 
past, if they did not actually grow out of each other. 
The totem pole owned by Anklawrh stands at .the foot of Hagwelget 
canyon — the third from the mouth of the canyon. 
DESCRIPTION 
The figures on this totem pole (Plate XXIX, figure 5) — which is named 
’Esrihl, Back-pack^ — -are: two Ravens, called Tetsan, one above the other, 
with their beaks bent down; a human being, at the basis of the pole, on 
whose back was the ’Esrihl or Back-pack, a family crest. In the grave- 
box formerly affixed to the top of the pole were the charred bones of 
Saetsan, the daughter of Anklawrh^, after her body had been cremated on 
a pyre. 
ORIGIN 
The origin of the Back-pack or fungus (’Esrihl ) emblem is not ac- 
counted for in the usual way, in a myth. This crest is simply described 
as having been obtained from Nelli, a Kitcaoten man of the Gitemdanyu 
clan, by the Hagwelget Gitemdanyu, in acknowledgement of their co- 
operation in a potlatch, in the Kitcaoten country. Nelli had granted to 
his helpers the right to use his crest (7ieUse) the Fungus.® 
There is no explanation available for the Raven coat-of-arms, unless 
w'e accept the presumption that this family was formerly related to those 
of the two Sa^dzans among the Tsimsyan, that is, of the Kitsalas and the 
Geenarhdawks tribes. The Kitsalas^ family belongs to the Raven (Kan- 
hade) phratry and is said to have descended from the Kispayaks Ravens 
of the upper Skeena. 
‘The first spelling is that of D. Jenness; the second, of William Beynon. 
*Thc information about the grave of Seedsan was obtained by Mr. Jenness. 
*Information recorded by D. Jenness. 
K)f the Gitrhtsserh subdivision. 
