El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-03-10

that had taken place. The last illus
trated legends and other stories Il
was a record Of history. and the story
was told by combinations OF figures or
carvings sort Of picture writing. as
! Il were
The Haidas were divided into three
classes: the rich. the middle class and
the slaves. The slaves were never al
! lowed to erect poles in front OF their
dwellings and the higher the pole, as
q general rule. the richer and more
| aristocratic the owner.
The Totem Poles.
The totem poles about the dwellings
| Of the Indians range in height from
that OF a man to that Of four story
| house. They are carved out Of solid
| tree trunks. and some OF the larger
ones are valued at several thousand
| dollars apiece Many of them are beau
. tifully carved and their ugliness is
! that of design. rather than execution.
! Most Of the carvings are those of ami
mails and birds. and each figure means
something.
The house poles indicate TO which OF
the two great families Of the Indians
the inmates belong These families
, cover southeastern Alaska They are
| known as the Eagle and the Crow.
Each has its subdivisions. which are
! shown by subtoters- To the Eagle
! family OelOuE Lut SQDQlN SONS OF the
| Bear. Wolf. Shark. Whale and others:
| and to the Crow family belong the
Seals. Frogs. Salmons and Beavers.
| There are numerous other subdivisions
but they all belong to the Eagles and
| Crows
| According to the unwritten Law Of
these Indians. a husband and wife can
7 not be of the same tribal family. This
| prevents the intermarriage OF relatives
and does much for the health of the
/ tribes
\ I am told there is p certain este. or
| rank. in the families so subdivided.
| Some branches are much more ariSto-
| cratic than others. and woman who
1 marries beneath her is considered a dis
\ grace 70 her family She Is more de-
sp.sed than an English duchess who
Inarries beneath her is considered q dis
tives viii not chip in for as costly a
ner own class. A daughter Of one OF
the Brown Bear divisions would be dis
graced by marriage with a son OF
the Mouse or the Snail and the Crows
ard Eagles at the top OF the gene logi- (
cal tree can only marry one another.
Woman Holds High Position.
Another curious thing in these davs /
OF the new woman and woman suffrage,
is the high position that woman has
always held among these Indians She !
rules the family No bargain is made,
no journey undertaken nor anv i'm I
the woman The emblem Of the wife is 1
al the very top OF the genealogical !
pole. and the totem OF the husband /
comes lower down. Any Indian. on see
ing totem pole. can tell the family
Of the mother and knows that ir rules I
the house. II he belongs TO the same |
family he Is sure to be welcome. but |
otherwise he thinks a while before he
risks stopping
am told that most o. these Indian
families were founded by women. The !
Bear family started with a chiefs
who was out one dav with
some other squaws picking straw ber-
RES \ great bear came uD and all OF {
the girls but the chiefs daughter ran
away. but she put her hands or her
hips and laughed at him Thereupon |
the bear ran after the other women I
and killed them He fell in love with ;
the girl who had scorned him and made
her his wife The fruit OF the union
was girl who was half girl and half 1
bear. and she became the maternal an
sestor Of all the natives who now be- d
long TO the Bear totem. Another storv
els how family originated in a fe- :
male grizzly bear. and third of how
woman founded the tribe OF Wood
worms.
The ThlinEets have legends which /
1--WE the origin Of man and tell how
ne sun. moon ana stars came 10 be /
hey have a story Of the flood. during
Fhlch they say all thes men and
-nimals were destroyed. with the ex-
option OF raven. This raven. accord
ng TO the Haida tradition. was a sort
4 witch bird He could change him
elf at viii. and put his feathers off
T on like A garment When the flood :
.ad gone down. he looked about for ! :
mate OF his own kind. but could
ind none. At last he took a cookie !
hell from the beach and called il his
wife. BY and by in the shell he heard
faint cry. like that Of a baby. The 4,
oise grew louder and louder, and at
asst little female child came out OF U
ne shell This child married the raven
nd from the two came all Of the +,
ncians of this part OF the world. and | .
the country was peopled. f
Raven Held To BE Sacred.
The raven is held sacred among the n
hlingets and in the past he was con- J h
dered a god He was known as Yehl. n
IL creator Of the world. He was the q
enefactor or mankind and enjoyed the
reatest respect. His power was I'M
mited- He put the sun. moon and / "
-ars in their places, and from him II
anne man. animals and plants. When ! m
e was born the world was dark and n
18th him came light All this was be- Al
eyed before the Christian missionaries n,
cyan to work in Alaska Today the -
idians are almost all Christians. Most 80
them are church goers and many Of ~.
lem have high ideals Of the Christian ~
re- There are some preachers among .,
lem and religion is generally taught -
the schools ne
Few people realize the change that al
as been brought q bout among these T.
dians through the work OF the mis- 4,
onaries and the bringing in Of our hi
Father Duncan. who Chris Z ~
aniZed the MetlakahtIans. tells me ~,
at cannibalism was common among ~
e Indians along the coast OF British ~
,lumbia. and ne describes certain can ~
bal feasts which he saw Cu
Slavery existed among the Thlingets ~
the time We took possession Of the
rritory. and Ivan PetrOff. who in 1850
ade report for the government as
AT the abIe bodied sfa,-es 80 vi,
aughtered on festive occasions. and hu
at IT was not uncommon for a rich pr
An or chief 10 have slaves killed 81
d buried with him AZ the time Of de
5 death. in order that he might have an
rvants in the spirit land. There are 10y
dians living i'm Alaska today who Of
re slaves in their youth. and II is