The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1888-04-07
rorEM poLEs OF AnAsmA,
How the Indians Preserve Theip F,An.-
lily History in Carvings, Mostly
OF Wood.

lave said that the family histories
are regulated by tho female side Of the
| house, and this assertion would seem to
| indicate that they have means i0f pro-
| serving histories, q rare culture among
the North American Indiana. This
assertion Is true, limited though the his
torical information may be; and tho
means Of preserving these seant family
facts is in carvings, mostly Of wood, liz
which art, it might be mentioned here.
these Alaskan and British Columbia
Indians probably excel all others on the
continent.
In front Of their wooden houses are
often seen tall poles, sometimes tower
! ing two or three times as high as their
little one-stOry huts, and carved OH the
outer face from bottom to top. These
are called totem" poles, and are moth
Ing but long sections Of the tall trees Of
| the country, which, after being carved
on one side, are placed in front of their
houses. From great distance these
| make the village, always just above
high water mark on the seashore, look
as If it had q large fleet Of vessels, with
great thick masts, in its front.
The carvings, while we'll done as q
matter Of workmanship, are Of tile most
uiabolical character, and each totem
pole looks like o sculptured representa-
ton OF SO many linear yards Of night
mare. Grotesque and hideous beasts,
birds and fishes, with abnormal limbs,
wings and fins, staring eyes and grimm
ing teeth, are arranged one above the
other, from bottom to top, likeso many
lmps of Satan trying to reach the sky
by climbing on top Of each other.
Those knowing the subject best say
these totem poles are genealogical rec
orls Of family trees. Generally two
lre in front OF each house, one for The
man and one for tho woman; but where
there is only ono it belongs, as limited,
to the woman, or the woman's family
history
These Indians are divided, socially,
into clans, Of moro or less aristocratic
pretensions, and each clan is named
after some beast, bird, fish or reptile,
which the carvings are supposed TO rep
resent. Thus, to take the totem pole Of
the woman, the carving at the top rep
resents the clan to which she belongs,
as the raven, wolf or Whale clan. and
by a stretch Of the imagination the
beast, or what not, can be made out of
the sculpture, in most hideous carica-
ture, however. Phe next below is that
OF her mother, and so on down on the
woman's side until the grass Is reached
in some ancient female ancestor, each
one changing with the clan to which
they belonged; and sometimes they are
repeated consecutively many times, as
one wolf or dogfish following another
like pack of wolves Or Il string OF
lish.
The mans totem begins with himself
similar to that OF his spouse, but here
the similarity ceases; for instead OF con-
tinuing backwards on his father's side,
to keep up the resemblance, eaci, recur-
ring totem is on his mothers side, and
representing the clans to which she and
her female ancestors belonged, making
botk Of the totem. poles. and Their
numerous carvings represent only tho
many clans to which the woman be-
longed, with the single exception of the
one noted. which stands for the 'slord
Of .creation'' in the household before
whose door the totem poles rears it's
quaint and curious carved column.