Douglas Island news., 1904-02-17

| CnlS carrleu .JuaG IHe IdInerS IdIully arc i not regarded even as relatives. A King
 at inherits not from bis father, but from
 his mothers brother, and, conversely,
 his heir is not his own son, but his sis
 ter's offspring. Should young man commit murder or other crime his
 father is in no way responsible, his
 interest not going beyond that of
 near friend, but the mothers brothers and family must pay the blood money
 or make restitution.
 Tho above condition and regulation of affairs is due to the division of the
 people into families or clans irrespec
 tive of tribal or national relations. These clans are designated according to the titular deity and founder of the respective families. Of these K'hoots, the Grizzly Bear, is the highest caste, among the more important being the
 Raven, Eagle, Salmon, Frog and Shark.
 Before the Flood, of which they have circumstautial accounts autedating by many year the visits of the first mis- sionaries, Ararat, giving place to Nasa- tashog Mount St. Elias), all men lived in one place, land of plenty, beauty and peace.
 Scattered widely by the Flood, they nevertheless each held to their caste and to the symbolic device represent ing their family genie, and have con tinued to do so ever since. The various animals reyerenced as being the origin of the different families are also looked upon as being or having been gods, or, rather, as the visible representatives of the several members of the Alaskan mythology.
 All members of a family, or caste, are regarded as blood relatives, however different or widely separated may be their tribes, languages or habitation, persisting in the face of marriage, war or habits, and constituting the most sacred and cherished of ties.
 Intermarriage between man and woman of the same family is absolutely prohibited. Thus, a "Bear' may not marry Bear" or "Raven" Raven" but "Bear" marries "Frog" or "Raven" salmon" and so on. In all cases the children belong to the family of the mother and trace their descent through her; her mother, her mothers mother, SC.
 The crests, carved figures of the family god and founder, form the coat of arms of the clan, and are carved or painted on all the personal property of representative Indians, both as mark of ownership and for the same reason that influences the placing of coats of arms in other countries.
 The totem pole, which is a combina- ton of these crests, is thus a heraldic device ofa semi-religious character and a genealogical record as we'll. To trace a mans ancestral record you have but to read his totem pole. This will start with the crest of the family to which the oldest foremother of whom he has record belonged, who, for instance, may have been Bear. Her son may have married a Raven, the Ravens's son a Salmon, and so on until the present generation is reached, and in order each crest appears upon the totem.
 Much time, labor and artistic ability are expended upon the carving and coloring of these totems, made from single tree and many times measuring fifty or more feet in height by three or four feet in diameter Some years ago one of these poles, of very elaborate was stolen and set up in one of the principal streets of Seattle, Wash. So incensed were the rightful owners that they threatened war and reprisal on every white man who came within their reach. They were placated only after much diplomacy and the payment of over S10,000.
 The family and crest also answer the purposes of societies and insignia anal ogous to our Masons, Odd Fellows, &c. A stranger visiting village, however distant, is never at loss for shelter and food. He has but to enter the house before which stands the totem of his family, sure of finding a warm well come and of being looked upon and received as blood brother.
 AS with clans all over the world, there is keen rivalry, often leading to ntertribal combats, over matters af-