Part 14

In fig. 182 three berry spoons are shown which, according to Charles Edensaw, represent the bear. Fig. 182 _a_ is quite clear. At the end of the spoon is shown the head with an enormous ear (1), the size of which is determined by the form of the spoon. Two teeth are indicated by red curves (2). Under the mouth is a broad black curve, the foreleg (3), and to the right of it (4) the fore-paw. The lowest part represents the hindlegs. Fig. 182 _b_ is not so clear. The face in the middle is the hip joint, under it, to the right, the thigh, to the left the paw with long claws. Edensaw considered the design over the hip joint as the tail, the end as the head, but I doubt the correctness of this interpretation. The end of the spoon looks more like the head of a sea-monster and the design over the hip joint like the fin. Fig. 182 _c_ was also called a bear by the same informant, while 182 _d_ was called a killer-whale. I place these side by side, because the formal agreement of the lower part is striking. The right half of the base of 182 _c_ has the characteristic form of the dorsal fin of the killer-whale and corresponds to an analagous design in fig. 182 _d_. In both cases the inverted eye above the “fin” would be the joint. The rest of the design consists of eye and flipper elements that are not readily recognized. In 182 _d_ the flat curves in the middle may be the body; in front to the left the fin, and over it eye and mouth. In 182 _c_ the elements are still less clear. According to Edensaw there is no head, only a tail at the upper end of the spoon.

There are quite a number of representations of the sea-monster, the form of which is partly that of a bear and partly that of a killer-whale. In a number of cases the monster has a bear’s head (fig. 183) and body, but fins are attached to the elbows. In other cases the head is that of a killer-whale and the body that of a bear. In this form it appears on many horn spoon handles (fig. 184). In still other cases the characteristics of bear and killer-whale are intermingled in other ways.

The frog is characterized by a wide toothless mouth, a flat nose, and lack of a tail.

The following series (figs. 185-188) are representations of the dogfish or shark. When the whole body of this animal is represented, it is characterized by a heterocerc tail, a large mouth, the corners of which are drawn downward, a series of curved lines on each cheek which represent the gills, and a high tapering forehead imitating the inferior position of the mouth. It is often decorated with two circles (the nostrils), and a series of curved lines (wrinkles) similar to the gill lines on the cheeks.

Fig. 185 represents a shark devouring a halibut, from the upper part of a totem pole. The head has the characteristic symbols, to which are added here the numerous sharp teeth that are found often, but not regularly, as symbols of the shark. The greater part of the body has been omitted, since the animal is sufficiently identified by the symbols found on the head; but under the chin will be noticed the two pectoral fins which identify it as a fish.

Fig. 186 is the handle of a copper dagger on which the mouth with depressed corners, the curved lines on the cheeks, and the ornament rising over the forehead, characterize the shark.

A small pipe (fig. 187) has the form of a shark. The square end at the right hand side is the face of the animal (fig. 187). Eyes and mouth are inlaid with abalone shell. On account of the narrowness of the face, the three curved lines generally found on the cheeks are placed under the mouth. The forehead has the characteristic high form described before. The opposite end of the pipe shows the tail turned upward. On the sides are carved the pectoral fins, which extend over the body of the pipe.

Fig. 188 is a copy of a tattooing on the back of a Haida woman. Here we have only the outline of the head of a shark, again characterized by the peculiar, high forehead, the depressed corners of the mouth, and curved lines on each cheek.

The shark[109] (or dogfish) is found frequently on Haida carvings and paintings. It is rare among the southern tribes.

[109] See also figs. 213, 214, 217, 232, 233, 261.

The ts’um’os, the personified snag, is represented in a form similar to the bear. According to Edensaw the form of the head is analogous to that of the bear but the corners of the mouth are drawn down like those of the dog-fish (fig. 189). This is contradicted by the representation of a third snag monster, in which the mouth is square like that of the bear. The region behind the mouth has, however, the characteristic curvature demanded by Edensaw. The fins of this being correspond to the concept of the sea-monster.

In fig. 190 are represented two spoon handles, representing, according to Edensaw, the snail. The characteristic feature seems to be the long snout with its sudden, angular turn. The conventional concept of the animal form with eye and nose is strikingly brought out in this instance.

Let us briefly recapitulate what we have thus far tried to show. Animals are characterized by their symbols, and the following series of symbols has been described in the preceding remarks:

1. Of the _beaver_: large incisors; large, round nose; scaly tail; and a stick held in the fore paws.

2. Of the _sculpin_: two spines rising over the mouth, and a continuous dorsal fin.

3. Of the _hawk_: large, curved beak the point of which is turned backward so that it touches the face.

4. Of the _eagle_: large, curved beak, the point of which is turned downward.

5. Of the _killer-whale_: large, long head; elongated large nostrils; round eye; large mouth set with teeth; blow-hole; and large dorsal fin.

6. Of the _shark_ or _dogfish_: an elongated rounded cone rising over the forehead; mouth with depressed corners; a series of curved lines on the cheeks representing gills; two circles and curved lines on the ornament rising over the forehead representing nostrils and wrinkles; round eyes; numerous sharp teeth; and heterocerc tail.

7. Of the _bear_: large paws; and large mouth set with teeth; protruding tongue; large, round nose; and sudden turn from snout to forehead.

8. Of the _sea-monster_: bear’s head; bear’s paws with flippers attached; and gills and body of the killer-whale, with several dorsal fins; or other mixtures of bear and killer-whale type.

9. Of the _dragon-fly_: large head; segmented, slender body; and wings.

10. Of the _frog_: wide, toothless mouth; flat nose; and lack of tail.

11. Of the personified _snag_: like a bear with mouth depressed at the corners like that of the dogfish.

12. Of the _snail_: long snout with sudden downward turn.[110]

[110] See also characterization of wolf, p. 207.

I have had occasion to examine the Kwakiutl in greater detail in regard to the symbols used in designating certain animals. One artist gave me a series of eye patterns together with the adjoining parts of the face and explained in what way each is characteristic of the animal in question. These are shown in figs. 191 and 192.

The grizzly bear of the sea (_a_) has a large eye, the form of which is not definitely determined, a very large, round nostril, large teeth and a large ear. The grizzly bear (_b_) has a round eye with white rim, smaller than that of the grizzly bear of the sea. The nose is not round, but high, the teeth large but smaller than those of the grizzly bear of the sea. The ear is small and pointed. The beaver (_c_) has, besides the large incisors, a high, round nose and a very small ear. The wolf (_d_) has a slanting, long eye; the ear is laid down backward; he has many teeth. The eye of the eagle (_e_) has a white crescent behind the eyeball, the nostril is slanting and placed high up on the beak. The eye of the raven (_f_) is white in the center. The killer-whale (_g_) has a very large eyebrow, a long eye and face, long nose and a long mouth with many teeth. The whale (fig. 192 _a_) has a round eye and nose. The sea lion (_b_) has a round nose, large teeth, the eye near to the nose and a small ear. The frog (_c_) has an elongated eye, flat mouth and flat nose. The fabulous double-headed serpent (_d_) has a small eye like that of the wolf, a spiral nose and a spiral plume. The eyes of a man, of the woodman, and of the seaspirit who gives wealth, are shown in _e_, _f_, and _g_.

The Kwakiutl also claim as the standard for the bird’s tail, a joint with a single eye, although sometimes there may be two eyeballs enclosed in one eye. The rounded feathers (fig. 193) are also characteristics of the bird’s tail. The tail of the whale, killer-whale, and porpoise, on the other hand, has two joints and the flukes have double curvatures on the inner side.

The Kwakiutl also claim a definite distinction between the designs representing wing feathers and those representing fins, (fig. 194). The wing feathers should be pointed; the fin, on the other hand, has no point and is cut off square.

In figs. 195 and 196 are represented the characteristic elements of the halibut and of the wolf. These elements are supposed to be used by the Kwakiutl in the representation of these animals, selected according to the requirements of the decorative field. In the figures here reproduced they are given without any reference to the decorative field. Fig. 195 represents the halibut; (1) the mouth and over it the nose, (2) the eyes, (3) the bone of the top of the head and (4) the side of the head. In (5) are shown the gills; (6) and (8) represent the intestinal tract, and (7) is the part of the intestinal tract just under the neck; (9) is the collar bone, (10) the lateral fin, the bones of which are shown in (11). (12) is the clotted blood that is found in the dead halibut under the vertebral column; (13) represents the joint of the tail, (14) part of the bone in the tail, and (15) the tip of the tail.

Fig. 196 represents, in the same way, the wolf. The head with the elevated nose is easily recognized. (1) represents the throat. (2) The humerus connected with the forearm is shown in the lower left hand side of the pattern; (3) represents the collarbone, the four circles (4) the backbone, (5) the back with hair. The three thin slanting lines (6) are the ribs, (7) the sternum and the hooks over it the intestinal tract, (9) is the hind leg, corresponding to (2), (10) the toes, (11) the foot, (12) connects the backbone with the tail. The thin lines (13) represent the hair of the tail, (14) is supposed to be a second joint in the tail, (15) the hairy tail, and (16) the ears.

Fig. 197 represents the wolf, a painting from the bow of a canoe. Here again the elevated nose of the wolf will be recognized. The hachure (1) represents the pelvis, (2) and (3) the intestinal tract, (4) the humerus, (5) the cheek, (6) the facial bones, and (7) the ear.

An examination of carved and painted specimens shows clearly that this description of symbols is theoretical rather than rigidly normative, for in many cases considerable freedom in their use may be observed. An example of this kind is presented by the wolf masks used by the Kwakiutl in the dance “Brought-Down-From-Above”[111] (fig. 198). Most of these have the slanting eye and pointed ears. In one specimen, however, the ear is pointed forward. The snout slants backward, the nose is high. The identity of treatment of the specimen shown in figs. _d_ and _f_ is interesting. The former was collected by Captain Adrian Jacobsen, 1884, and the latter by Captain Cook more than a hundred years earlier. The double mask, fig. _a_, resembles them in general shape, but the eye is treated quite differently and the ear, while narrow, is not pointed and the backward slant of the snout is not sufficiently pronounced. The double-headed wolf dish (_e_), has small reclining ears and long eyes. The ears of figs. _c_, _d_, _e_, are small and recline, but the eye of _c_ and _d_ is rounded.

[111] See Social Organization and Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, Annual Report of the United States National Museum, 1895, p. 477, illustrations p. 493, Plate 37.

The forms of animals used by the northern tribes vary considerably also. It is not safe to base our arguments on models or on objects made for the trade. I shall use, therefore, exclusively, older specimens which have been in use.

Swanton[112] gives two interpretations of the Haida house post fig. 199. He had two informants; both explained the top figure as an eagle but they differed as to the meaning of the rest. The one claimed that the lower part of the pole represented the story of a woman being carried away by a killer-whale. The woman’s face shows just below the eagle’s beak, and the whale’s blow-hole is represented by a small face above the face of the killer-whale. The second informant, however, explained the large face at the bottom as that of a grizzly bear, presumably meaning thereby, the sea grizzly bear; and the small figure over it as the “sea ghost” which usually rides upon its back. The woman’s face he left unexplained. From an objective point of view, the face at the base of the pole appears as a grizzly bear’s face. Attached to it on each side are the ears and above these, the flippers. Just under the talons of the eagle is found the inverted tail of a fish or aquatic mammal, which presumably belongs to the figure at the bottom, although it seems rather small. It seems doubtful whether the upper face, to which belong the two hands just under it and the legs, in squatting position below the tail, is that of a woman because there ought to be a large labret in the lower lip. Furthermore, the face has animal ears so that it does not seem likely that the intention of the artist was to represent a woman.

[112] John R. Swanton, The Haida, Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. V, p. 128.

It is true that in some other cases in which this same story is represented,[113] the person sitting on the back of the killer-whale has no labret, while in other cases it is shown. Obviously in this case the symbolism is not clear enough to enable an Indian who does not know the artist or who does not know the meaning of the carving, to interpret it correctly.

[113] See Swanton, The Haida, pl. 15, fig. 1, where the woman is shown without labret while in the specimen pl. 14, fig. 5, she wears a large labret.

The uncertainty of interpretation becomes the greater the more fragmentary the figure. A set of gambling sticks which in 1897 I submitted to the best carver and painter (Charles Edensaw) among the Haida, could not be satisfactorily interpreted by him (figs. 200, 201). For example: Number 35 he recognized as a series of three dorsal fins without being able to tell to what animal they belonged. Number 36 he explained as a shoulder on the right, and a tail on the left, but he was unable to identify the particular animal. Number 37 he explained, hesitatingly, as a mosquito. For the following group he felt quite unable to give any satisfactory explanation.

The uncertainty of explanation appears particularly clearly in the interpretation of Chilkat blankets. I give here a few examples according to Lieutenant George T. Emmons.[114]

[114] George T. Emmons, The Chilkat Blanket, Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 3. Part 4, N. Y. 1907, pp. 352, 369, 372, 377, and 387.

The blanket shown in fig. 202 represents a bear with young. The large central figure represents the male bear; the two inverted eyes in the middle of the lower border, with the adjoining elongated designs with round tips, the hind quarters of the bear and the legs; the three heads in the middle of the upper margin, the female and the young bears. The central head in the middle of the upper margin was also explained as the forehead of the bear. The lateral panels represent each a young bear. The design along the lower border of the lateral panel is the freshwater stream on which the bear lives. According to John R. Swanton the blanket represents the sea grizzly bear. The explanation of the principal parts is the same as that given by Lieutenant Emmons, except that the three heads in the middle along the upper border were explained, the middle one as the top of the head, the lateral ones as ears. The wing designs which extend sideways from the border, cutting into the middle parts of the lateral panels, were explained as part of the forelegs, representing, probably, the fins which are believed to be attached to the arms of the sea grizzly bear. The two inverted eyes in the lower border, with the ornaments attached to the right and left of the eyes, were said to represent the hind legs.

The blanket shown in figure 203 represents, according to Emmons, a female wolf and young. The body of the wolf is given the form of a hawk; the two eyes and the wing designs between them, near the lower border of the blanket, being the face of the hawk. The double feather design over these eyes represents the hawk’s ears. The face in the center of the lower border of the blanket represents the body, the wing feather designs extending downward under the corners of the jaws of the wolf, the wings of the hawk. In the lateral panels the young wolf is shown sitting up. These designs represent probably at the same time, the sides and back of the wolf’s body. According to Swanton the blanket represents a young raven. The body of the raven is occupied by two profiles of ravens, represented by the two large eyes near the lower border of the blanket. The face in the centre of the lower border is the raven’s tail. The lateral wing designs extending downward from under the corners of the jaws of the large head, are the wings of the raven. The lateral panels represent two young ravens in profile.

The blanket shown in fig. 204 shows, according to Emmons, on top, a brown bear sitting up. On the body of the bear is a raven’s head. The hind-quarters are treated like a whale’s head. The eyes being at the same time the hip joints, the mouth the feet of the bear. He was given another explanation: the principal figure being explained as a whale, the head of which is below. The body, which is turned up, is treated as a raven’s head, and the tail as a bear’s head. The side panels are the sides and the back of these animals, but represent at the same time, an eagle in profile on top, and a raven in profile below. According to Swanton the design represents a halibut. The head is below. The whole large middle face represents the body; and the large face nearer the upper border, the tail. The wing designs in the lateral panels, next to the lowest head, are the small pectoral fins and the rest of the lateral fields, the continuous border fin.

The blanket in Fig. 103 (p. 108) represents, according to Emmons, a diving whale and the lateral fields a raven sitting. The head, with nostrils and mouth, is shown below. The central face represents the body. The eyes near the upper border are the flukes of the tail. The face designs at the sides of the body represent the fins. In the lateral panels is shown a raven sitting. According to Swanton the same blanket represents a wolf with young. The head is shown below. The hind legs and hip joints are represented by two large eyes and the adjoining ornaments along the upper border, the two dark segments just over the eye, being the feet. The face in the middle of the design represents, as usual, the body of the animal. The small eye design, with adjoining ear and wing feather designs, in the middle on each side of the body, are interpreted as foreleg and foot. The lateral panels are explained as representing each a young wolf sitting.

There are also considerable discrepancies in the explanation of the blanket shown in fig. 205. According to Emmons it represents a killer-whale. In each lower corner is one half of the head with teeth; right in front of the teeth, the nostril; between the two halves of the head, in the lower border of the blanket, the tail. The inverted face in the middle of the upper border, represents the body. The large square designs containing the goggle design, on each side, are interpreted as water blown out from the blow-hole. One half of the dorsal fin is indicated by a small round wing feather design in each upper corner, the human face in profile under it, representing one half of the blow-hole. According to Swanton a spirit of the sea is represented. One half of the head is shown in each lower corner, the eye design in front of the tongue being interpreted as chin. The two faces in the middle of the lower border are explained as the young ones of this sea spirit; the flicker-feather designs over them, as the inner part of the body of the old animal; the inverted large face in the middle of the upper border, as its hat; the large square designs on each side of this face, containing the goggle designs, as the dorsal fin; the two human faces in profile near the upper corners, the young ones whose bodies are shown by the round feather design over the face. Still another explanation of the same pattern was given to me. In each lower corner is shown one half of the head of a killer-whale. Its food is represented by the eye design in front of the mouth. The tail is below in the middle; the two halves of the dorsal fin are just over the tail; the inverted face in the middle of the upper border is the chest; the adjoining square designs and the attached round feather design are the flippers. Accordingly the profile faces near the upper, outer corners should be the blow-holes.