The record-union., 1897-08-16

l
wet shingle leading up to the doors of
their huts.
The dwellings are not unlike the rude
company houses still to be seen in the
coke regions of Pennsylvania or the
coal districts of Eastern Ohio. Rough
boards are stood on edge in a grooved
/ scantling, and over them plankS are
| thrown for roofing. There is no Chin
ney, and a plank is loosened to allow
the smoke of the fire to escape. A mar
row street runs before the houses, and
| on the side of it next to the sea are
platforms, where the braves sit IN
pleasant weather. Their oomiaks are
hauled upon the beach below, where the
refuse of shellfish is allowed to heap
up into glistening piles.
Quaint figures upon the door posts af
ford glimpse at the native supersti-
tions. One may be a representative of
the thunder bird squatting over the
lentel. Or there is a painting of the
spirit of the sea which makes the we'll
fare of one family his particular
charge. The myth of the bogie man
persists even here and in this instance
is a fabulous being living in the woods
and carrying a basket on his back into
which he snatches children. All of
which is duly pictured.
Some kinship of the vampire legend is
discerned in the carved wood figure of a
monstrous bird now in the Museum 1t
has wings half a score of feet in sweep.
and a long sharp bill in which a ridfc-
ulous resemblance to the mosquito may
be noted. With this bill it cracks the
skulls of men and sucks their brains
a vigorous fancy. Perhaps it is due to
an experience which happens to every
savage people, but the tale of the wolf
is preserved in the custom of the Moot
kaS of Vancouver Islands. The story
is that a wolf abducted the son of an
Indian chief, and after teaching him
the dance of the wolves, sent him back
| TO his people. The dance is still prac-
ticed, and he who leads it wears a hor-
rible mask, in which he personates the
chief of the wolves
Legends similar to those found among
the Chinese and in the stories in the
Arabian Nights" in which the guard
ian spirit Of the waters appeared to a
certain family, abound among these
! peoples. The geni who sought ven-
geance on the fisherman who hauled
him from the sea in his casket could
| nnd lodgment in the queer Chinese
looking boxes product of the Tlingit ar
tificers A popularity Of all these coast
tribes is that they have no pottery.
For their vessels they use shells, slate,
sometimes beautifully carved, and wick
er baskets so closely woven that soup
can be boiled in them. Spoons are
! fashioned out of the bone of the noun
tain goat.
Nearly all the utensils of the coast
tribes are fashioned after creatures Of
the land or sea. Their art, as is ex-
| planned at the museum, is conventional
lied, is never entirely naturalistic The
designer emphasizes the characteristic
| features of a bird, beast or fish. and let's
the rest go. A huge dorsal fin is sup
posed to stand for the killer whale: a
quadruped with two large incisors and
a scaly tail for the beaver; sucking cups
! for the devil fish, and head with a.
curved beak turning back into the
mouth of the hawk. The plague of
mosquitoes, of which the Klondike min
! ers complain, is attested to by variety
| of native spoons where the handle takes
| the shape of long bill-universal con-
vermion for the mosquito. In the vari-
Gus animal masks used in the dances,
| the creature is indicated by the shape
of the nose.
In considering the origin of these peo-
pies it is interesting to remember that
the explorer who made Alaska known
to the world did not sail west. He sail
ed eastward from the Siberian domains
of the White Tsar, and August 1st was
the anniversary of the day when Vitus
IT,
territory of North America. That event
took place in 1741. When the United
States flag went up in that region a
! little over a century later there were
| living in Alaska close to 1900 people
of mixed Russian and native blood so
nearly white as to receive in some quar-
| ters the designation of Creoles. Since
| the Seward purchase more than that
many Chinese have emigrated thither.
Until the discovery of gold the constant
trend of migration had been from Asia
| eastward. The inference has been
! drawn that this circumstance merely
continues into the light of history a
movement that had gone on before even
the sails of civilization appeared upon
/ the frozen seas.
! Shortly before the ice forms on the
upper Yukon and the long northern
| winter sets in, the American Museum
of Natural History will send out an
other expedition. But this will be
headed for the sub-tropicS and will con-
Germ itself with the battling problems
! presented by the ancient civilizations
of Mexico. It will be conducted by
Marshall H. Saville, the Assistant Gu
rator of the Anthropological Depart
ment, who will have in his party civil
engineer and a general assistant as
we'll as a representative of the Mexican
Government, which has granted con-
cession. His destination will be the
deserted cities of Southeastern Mexico,
and it will be a weary months progress
! by river steamer, canoe and pack mule
| in an urinhabfted wilderness before the
| tenantless abodeS of a vanished race
! lie around him.
The different cultures of half a dozen
semi civilized tribes will be studied up
/ on this expedition. Explorations will
be made of the tombs and molds will be
| taken of the facadeS of the great tenn
| pies of Xachicalco and Tepoztlan, in
| the State of Morelos; at Palenqui and
Menche in the Territory OF the Maya,
State Of Chiapas, and among the Ia
polecas and Mixtecas, in the State of