Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-03-21
THE HAlDA INDIANS.
the Most Interesting Aborisines Dwellin,
In the Northwest Coast Country

Vhe Most interesting Aborigines Dwelling
IN the Northwest Coast Country.
NOT little interest and romance at
;aches itself to the Haida Indians of
queen Charlotte Islands, from tradi-
lion which exists, that their ancestors
came, originally, in canoes from a
country far to the southwark. It is
said that they were many moons on
The voyage. that they landed at many
points on the way-like Eneas and his
iroJans OF classic story-and that thew
we're always repeled by savage natives,
DR. evil omens, till, finally, they reached
these outlying islands where they
established themselves, built villages
and fashioned new canoes from the
huge yellow cedar-trees which here
reach their greatest size.
1t is supposed by some travellers that
these exiles, seeking a home and a
country, were a remnant of the mighty
Aztec people of Mexico, conquered by
Cortez and his Spanish cavaliers, and
that after the tragic fall of Tenochtit-
IAN, the Aztec capital of Mexico, a band
Of fugitives made its way down to the
west coast and came northward.
Certain 1t is that the Haidas excel the
other Indian tribes of the Northwest
coast. in warlike spirit, physique and
ingenuity. They are now often seen
at Sltka. Victoria and Puget Sound
ports, but still claim the Queen Char
lotte Islands as their home.
What gives the legend of their origin
some degree of probability is the art
they possess in carving and engraving
In stone, wood. silver, copper and gold.
AS nearly as can be ascertained. the
practice of carving the huge totem
posts, which form so odd and striking
feature of the Indian villages along
this coast, originated with the Haidas
There is something in the grotesque
sculpture, and imagery on these totems
suggestive of Aztec art, as seen in the
museum at the City of Mexico Not
even civilized art exceeds the skill dis
played by the Hiadas in carving plates.
platterS. tureens, miniature totems and
animal groups of statuary from solid,
fine-grained black slate; for it is done
with such skill, finish and good taste
in design that single platter or group
often commands forty or fifty dollars.
More remarkable yet is tho skill ex-
hibited by these people in the model
ing and construction Of large canoes
from the trunks of the gigantic yellow
cedars, which. on the Queen Char
lotte Islands, attain diameter of seven
and even ten or twelve feet-fOI
Queen Charlotte's is the Lebanon OF
the Northwest coast. From single
cedar log the Haidas fashion canoe,
sometimes seventy-five feet long, with
a breadth of seven or eight feet, &
craft capable of carrying fifty persons,
a good sailor, seawOrthy and safe fol
a voyage of hundreds of miles on the
open sea- The prows of these huge
canoes are often curved upward in a
formidable war beak, and decorated
like the galieys of classic times.
1t will, indeed. be an interesting dis
cOvery in ethnology if the arts of these
west coast Haidas can be traced tc
their source in that peculiar Aztec civ.
ilization of early Mexico, which Cor
tez and the conquistadores crushed sc
ruthlessly three hundred and seventy
years ago.-Youth's Companion.