Frontispiece.

SOUTH AMERICAN "MANAKINS."

From the Bulletin of the Museum, Volume XXIV, Plate XXV.

# The American Museum Journal

VOL. VIII

MAY, 1908

No. 5

## SOUTH AMERICAN "MANAKINS."

THE illustration used as a frontispiece this month is a colored plate from the current volume of the Museum *Bulletin* (Volume XXIV, Plate XXV) used in the description of a new species of bird, *Chiroxiphia napensis*, by Mr. W. Dewitt Miller of the Department of Ornithology. The new form is the lower one on the plate, the upper one being *Chiroxiphia boliviana*, a species described some years ago by Dr. J. A. Allen, Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology. These birds are natives of South America, where they are known as "Manakins," a loose term applied to several quite different genera. Specimens of the Manakin are on exhibition in the general collection of ornithology in the north hall on the second floor (Hall No. 208).

## THE MALARIA MOSQUITO LEAFLET.

THE Museum issued during the past month a Guide Leaflet on the Malaria Mosquito, with numerous illustrations most of which were made from the series of enlarged models that were recently installed in the Synoptic Hall (No. 107 of the Ground floor) or from drawings made from life and other sources in the preparation of the models. The Guide Leaflet is No. 27 in the Museum series and may be obtained at the Museum.

## THE USE OF THE CHILCAT BLANKET.

THE Chilcat blanket, many fine examples of which are to be seen in the collections of the Museum, is fast disappearing from among the Tlingit Indians, and of the older specimens, so beautiful in technique, coloring and design, few or none remain, hence it is of,

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the utmost importance to record pictorially the use of the robe. This is
the reason for publishing here a series of photographs taken by the
author when cruising in Alaskan waters in early days when aboriginal
customs still prevailed.

To-day all has changed, the influx of white settlers, the establishment of missions and schools, and the opportunity to earn a considerable wage in the fisheries and mines have divorced the natives from aboriginal customs, and the rich ceremonial that characterized the life of this region and suggested the use of this robe has disappeared, a truth to which the great empty communal houses that once resounded to the beat of drum and the rhythmic chant of hundreds of voices bear silent witness, in their moss-covered timbers fast falling to decay. So those who have not seen the old life, and those who follow and never can see it, must know of the robe only as a museum specimen hung on the wall or draped over a lay figure.

The primary use of the robe was as a blanket, worn over the shoulders upon dance or ceremonial occasions by both sexes. It was the dress of the Chief, as distinctive of the Northwest Coast as was the eagle feather war bonnet of the Plains. Draped over the shoulders, only the middle of the blanket showed to advantage across the broad of the back, and for this reason the principal figure occupied the central field, and that it might be the more fully displayed, the dancer often entered the house of entertainment backwards and so danced to his place among the performers. With the accumulation of property and the increased number of blankets, almost every household possessed one or more, which were in the keeping of the head of the family and were carefully preserved with the other totemic emblems in great cedar chests.

The sleeveless shirt, which was similar in material, weave and character to the blanket, was worn by the men only, and was rare. While some show an extremely conventionalized design in which the characteristic features of the animal are accentuated, and the minor parts are represented more as ornaments, placed at the fancy of the artist and difficult of recognition, the majority are distinguished by their realism, in which the figure is outlined with its members occupying relatively natural positions, although the more prominent features are often exaggerated. The front of this dress being the ornamental part, the wearer always faces the audience.

When death approaches and the spirits of those who have gone before

Emmons, Photo.

DAUGHTER OF CHARTRICH

Emmons, Photo.

YEHLH GOU-OU.

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return to whisper words of comfort and assurance to the sick, he is carefully dressed for the final journey, and occupies the place of honor opposite to the doorway, while around him are laid the family head-dresses, robes and totemic emblems and nearby the blankets.

After death, during the four-day period of mourning, when the corpse is seated in state, the blanket serves the purpose of a shroud. When cremation has been accomplished and the ashes have been collected and deposited in the grave house, the blanket may be hung on the outside as a token of honor to his memory; and here, the sport of the elements, it finally disintegrates and disappears.

The photographs used in illustrating this brief note require more explanation than can be placed beneath the figures. All were taken by the author in the early eighties, while the blankets and shirts were still in common use among the Chilcat. The figure at the left on page 67 is of Yehlh Gou-ou, chief of the Kon-nah-ta-tee family, in his family blanket which bears a totemic design. The weaver having no knowledge of perspective, the representation of the emblematic animal is much conventionalized. All the parts of the animal are represented, though the members have been separated from their fellows and so distorted in order to meet the demands of the pattern that they are recognizable only by an expert. The right hand figure shows the daughter of Char-trich, the chief of the Kar-qwan-ton family of the Chilcat tribe, dressed in the family robe bearing the brown bear as its emblem. She wears a hat made of spruce root and has around her shoulders the rope girdle made of the inner bark of the red cedar which is often used to keep the blanket in place.

Page 68 presents at the left a group of three Chilcat chiefs of the Kar-qwan-ton family who were met at Kluck-wan village. All wear the cedar-bark girdles around their shoulders and have on their heads hats of ceremonial significance. The other figure on page 68 is of Joe-Kennel-Ku, chief of the Da-she-ton family of the Hootz-ah-tar tribe, dressed in the rare sleeveless shirt of blanket work which was worn only by men. The emblem is the beaver. The chief's totemic hat is particularly noteworthy.

Page 71 is devoted to pictures of Kitch-Kook and Cou-de-nah-haw. Kitch-Kook is the chief of the Kuse-ka-dee or more properly the Kharse-ka-dee or Kharse-hit-ton family of the Sitka tribe. He is shown in his family sleeveless shirt of elaborate blanket work bearing the family

Emmons, Photo.

JOE-KENNEL-KU

Emmons, Photo.

THREE CHILCAT CHIEFS.

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emblem, the bison. The traditions of this family go back to a home in the interior where the bison was found in abundance. In their ceremonial designs the animal is represented as standing. The head is placed at the top, with the body below. The forefeet are on either side of the jaw, the hind feet in the lower corners, the "eyes" just above the hind feet represent the hip-joints. The man wears on his head an elaborate shaman's, or chief's, head-dress and has a shaman's rattle in his right hand. Cou-de-nah-haw, a chief of the Kar-qwan-ton family, is standing beside one of the old native houses made of hewn logs. His sleeveless shirt shows his family emblem to be the brown bear.

The illustration on page 72 shows the final use of the blanket in the ancient Chilcat culture. The most precious article in the wardrobe of the chief, it was placed on the front of his grave house after his death, as is represented in this view in 1885 upon the banks of the Chilcat River.

GEORGE T. EMMONS.

## NEW MATERIAL FROM THE CONGO FREE STATE.

THE Museum has recently received an additional assortment of material from the Congo Free State. The new shipment contains a considerable number of specimens not found in the old collections. To the representative series of Congo musical instruments there are now added a large xylophone with gourd resonators, a zither, some marimbas (native pianos) with bamboo keys, and a beautifully polished ivory horn with incised ornamentation. There is a fine set of fetich figures, some of phallic character, and a valuable shaman's mask with upturned proboscis. The industrial arts are represented by decorated earthenware, masterly specimens of Bakuba woodwork and baskets and feather-caps of an astonishingly complex manner of weaving. Bark boxes from the northern section of the State have original lids of carved human heads. The military equipment of the natives is illustrated by three cuirasses of pachyderm hide and a series of shields representing various types of manufacture. Some highly ornamental adzes were used as insignia of native royalty, and there are also some carved sticks which served as badges of distinction.

Emmons, Photo.

COU-DE-NAH-HAW

Emmons, Photo.

KITCH-KOOK

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Emmons, Photo.
GRAVE HOUSE OF A CHILCAT CHIEF.

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## Scientific Staff.

### DIRECTOR.

HERMON C. BUMPUS, Ph.D., Sc. D.

### DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.

Prof. ALBERT S. BICKMORE, B. S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus.

GEORGE H. SHERWOOD, A.B., A.M., Curator.

### DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALÆONTOLOGY.

Prof. R. P. WHITFIELD, A.M., Curator.

EDMUND OTIS HOVEY, A.B., Ph.D., Associate Curator.

### DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY.

Prof. J. A. ALLEN, Ph.D., Curator.

FRANK M. CHAPMAN, Curator of Ornithology.

### DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALÆONTOLOGY.

Prof. HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN, A.B., Sc.D., LL.D., D.Sc., Curator.

W. D. MATTHEW, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator.

WALTER GRANGER, Assistant.

BARNUM BROWN, A.B., Assistant.

Prof. BASHFORD DEAN, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fossil Fishes.

LOUIS HUSSAKOP, B. S., Ph. D., Assistant.

### DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY.

CLARK WISSLER, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator.

HARLAN I. SMITH, Assistant Curator.

GEORGE H. PEPPER, Assistant.

CHARLES W. MEAD, Assistant.

Prof. MARSHALL H. SAVILLE, Honorary Curator of Mexican Archaeology.

### DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY.

WILLIAM BEUTENMÜLLER, Curator.

### DEPARTMENTS OF MINERALOGY AND CONCHOLOGY.

L. P. GRATACAP, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator.

GEORGE F. KUNZ, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems.

### DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Prof. RALPH W. TOWER, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator.

### DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY.

Prof. WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER, Ph.D., Curator.

ROY W. MINER, A.B., Assistant Curator.

B. E. DAHLGREN, D.M.D., Assistant Curator.

### DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY.

### DEPARTMENT OF MAPS AND CHARTS.

A. WOODWARD, Ph.D., Curator.