Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-08-31

sensations of demons, men, monsters and
birds, beasts, and fish is the pronounced
taste for a conventional image. These
Northwest Indians are perfectly capable
of initiating creatures exactly with the
means at their command, wood or various
colOrs, bark grasses, scawecd, furs, and
feathers, but from this they carefully abb
stain in their carved work.
The earliest travellers who describe their
dances mention the exaCtness with which
they mention birds and beasts having
dressed for the part. Thus they appear
.as crows and initiate the gait and other
movements of the bird exactly, and so of
wolves and bears. But when it comes to
carvings for permanent embellishments Of
the house, like the totem posts, or for oc-
casional use in dances and other rites like
the complicated masks representing dci-
tics of the air, earth, and ocean, only the
strongest characteristic of each Is seized.
The long bills of raven and heron, the
eagle and owl. with their curved heaks,
are recognizable at once. But the bear is
changed from its natural look. the VOLTS
jaws are tremendously heightened, while
creatures like the thrasher srake or kill
cr whale" and giant squid still greater
liberties taken with them. The same trait
in the animal cfligies discovered in the
mounds of Ohio msled the first explorers
into all sorts of conjcctures as to the de-
built the mounds. Thus certain shapes
i'm the mounds themselves and certain
carvings of pipes led them to believe that
elephants and parrots were intended,
while the evidence collected since Is con-
elusive that the artists intended 20 repre-
sent beasts and birds which belong to
that part of America where the mounds
are formed.
The Nwakiutls have q great fear of i'm
ages as cmbodiments of what they repre-
sent. Thus q chief will have post cary
cd to represent rival and submit the
cfligy 10 some ignominous treatment in
the Lclicr that the pride and rank of
the enemy will suffer. This is the Kwa
kiult way of turning the portrait to the
wall" Eoas speaks Of one instance where
man avoids for several years the duty
incumbent on him to turn his house and
possessions over to his daughters hus-
band. thus passing them on, according
to the marriage contract, to his grand
son. The son-in-law carved an image of
his wife, asked a company to a feast,
placed rope about the neck of the i'm
age and sunk it in the sea. The idea
was that the iGnominy visited on the wife
would react on her father and destroy all
respect for him, so that he could be
chief no longer.
HOUSE AND BOAT BUILDING.
In former times the Indians of the
Northwest coast lived in underground
houses called kickulie houses. which
an,orrod onl,. like a ,uound from, tho sur
fnco of rho ground follovine = fashion
tbat existed in Croat pritinn and Ireland
down "a Tho tonth century and is llnown
ia have obtnincd II, Northern t,uropo ard
Susria such dwellings, arc doscrihed hv
ucrodotue and ,yora found I'm tho carly
nam Of tho nrosent century, WITHIN what
;s nov Russian Tertiary Tboro are old
kickuIios noar Snonco's Fridge British
Columhiu rho hough barl, ana turr COW
n,i,,o Of tho roof has fa1len awa, in
ulnccs sbov.in, tha rart:rs with CROSS
nioccs tied to tbcm Sometimes all the
,nets within . boueo arc decorated in
his Substantial fashion If can hardly
I've mentioned that tribes which arc so
clever at boar building mask carving. and
,I,o ,-ol,,,,io,, or ,n,o,,, oo1os .ro dcvoid