ART OF THE INDIANS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20958, 22 August 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

ART OF THE INDIANS.

PRESERVING TOTEM POLES. BRITISH COLUMBIA'S POLICY. SKILFULLY CARVED RELICS. The Government of British Columbia has decided to prohibit totem poles being sent out of. tho province, in order to conservo Indian art that is no longer being produced m that part of Canada. These skilfully-carved, weird and wonderful products of tho Indians" prechristian era are now becoming scarce. In a fit of religious fervour, twenty years ago, some of the Finest examples along the Pacific north-west coast were cut down and burned. Many have gone abroad, to museums and private art collections. When their export became commercialised the Government stepped in and halted it. The art of carving totem —pronounced " tottem"—poles is of fairly recent origin, having evolved during the nineteenth century from crude drawings, and depended on the white man's tools—axe, adze and curved knife. It was first introduced in Northern British Columbia, probably 011 the Naas River, aud is possibly a development of tho earlier custom of the use of carved house poles, produced by stone tools, with tlie beaver tooth for the Finer work. These poles decorated tho coast Indians' community homes in much the same fashion as tho Maoris constructed and decorated the pa. They arc now practically extinct. In early spring, when the oolachan,'or candle Fish, entered tho Naas from the

sea in large schools, the Indians were wont to gather upstream to garner a rich harvest, as the fish oil was highly prized. They came from Alaska, the . Skeena and the Queen Charlottes —from the lastnamed, the Haidas, sailors, boat-builders, warriors, the fiercest denizens of the North-west. The Haidas traded new canoes for the fruits of the barter, together with an old canoe, to carry them back to their island homo. From this market place sprang the cult of tho totem pole, gradually extending down the coast, to Washington and Oregon. Most of the poles were taken from the tallest cedars at the head of Portland Canal, near the Alaska Panhandle. It was a long, weary tow. The carver, trained from youth, was imported from a different phratry, or clan, though, as a rule, connected by marriage. He was told in detail the history of the family, of the bravery of its menfolk, of various crests, remote ancestors, strange encounters with animals or fish, possibly of a beautiful girl of tho family charmed and carried off by some monster of river or sea. Setting up the pole was the occasion for feasting. No member of the family could assist, but all were called on to contribute to the cost. Labour must be hired. In the recess at the base of the totem were buried guns, furs and other valuable objects. Most of the existing totem poles have been standing 50 years. The Indians do nothing to protect them. A fallen pole is never re-erected, because of the entertainment expense in-

volved. Here the Government is inking a hand, painting and restoring them. Both the railway companies do likewise. A concerted effort is under way to sustain, in their natural surroundings, some oj these 80H. giants, which symbolise a brief phase ol the history of indigenous peoples of Western Canada,