Yehlh-Gars.
The carved post on the right of the ornamental screen was named Yehlh-Gars "Raven Post," and told the story of the capture of Ta "the king salmon." The main figure shows the Raven in human form holding a head with a projecting blade-like tongue, which is known as Tsu-hootar "jade adze." At the bottom is the head of a fish which should have been that of the king salmon, but through a mistake of the carver it resembles more nearly that of the sculpin. Coming out of the mouth of the Raven is a bird form called Tu-kwut-lah-Yehlh, "telling lies raven," which symbolizes the lies the Raven told to the little birds mentioned in the story. (Plate 4a.)
Many of the myths relative to the later wanderings of the Raven after the release of the elements necessary to life on the earth, and particularly those in connection with animals, represent him as always hungry, unscrupulous and deceptive, and friendly only for selfish purposes. In the early spring before the salmon had come into the rivers, or the berries had ripened on the mountain sides, the season of little food, Yehlh happened to be on the seashore near Dry Bay and very hungry. He saw a king salmon jumping in the ocean and he commenced to plan how he could take it, for he had neither canoe, spear, nor line. Going back from the shore he found in a deserted camp a piece of an old cedarbark mat, an old woven spruce root hat, an eagle skin, and a jade adze "tsu-hootar." Putting on the hat, folding the mat about his body, and dressing his hair with eagle down, he took the jade and seating himself on a big boulder at the edge of the water said to the salmon, "Tsu-hootar is calling you bad names, he says that you have an ugly black mouth and that you are afraid to come up to the shore." This so enraged the salmon that he came towards the shore, when Tehlh said, "Wait a little, I have to go to the woods" for he had no club and the salmon must always be killed by striking it on the head with a club. When he returned, he again reviled the salmon and when it came and jumped in shallow water he killed it. He then kindled a fire with his rubbing sticks and prepared the fish for cooking. In the meantime many small birds came around hoping to get something to eat, and the Raven sent them off to gather skunk cabbage leaves to wrap the fish in, but those that they brought he condemned as too small or smelling bad, and told them to go to the far mountain where the proper kind grew. As soon as they had disappeared he wrapped the fish in the discarded leaves, scraped away the fire and the gravel beneath, buried the fish, and covered it with the hot stones and the fire. When the fish was cooked, he ate all of it and collecting the bones, carefully wrapped them in the old leaves and covered them with the fire and when the little birds returned with the mountain leaves he showed them the bones, saying that the fire had eaten the flesh. Then all of the birds felt very badly, the little chickadee cried bitterly and continually wiping its eyes with its feet wore away the feathers which ever after showed a white stripe from the corners down. The blue jay was so angry that he tied up the feathers on top of his head which have ever since formed a crest, for when the Tlingit are angry they tie the front hair up in a knot; while the robin in his grief sat too close to the fire and burned his breast red.
Tluke-ass-a-Gars.
The carved post on the left of the ornamental screen was named Tluke-ass-a-Gars "Wood-worm Post" and illustrated a very important happening in the early life of the family that is believed to have caused the separation of the body that first migrated northward. The large upper figure represents Ka-kutch-an, "the girl who fondled the wood-worm," which she holds in front of her body with both hands. Over her head are two wood-worms whose heads form her ears. Beneath is shown a frog in the bill of a crane. The whole post symbolizes the tree in which the wood-worm lives, the crane lights on the outer surface and the frog lives underneath among the roots.
It is said that in early days in a village that would seem to have been near Klawak, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, there was a chief of the Tlow-on-we-ga-dee family whose wife was of the Kon-nuh-ta-di. They had a daughter just reaching womanhood. One day after the members of the household had returned from gathering firewood, the daughter, picking up a piece of bark found a wood-worm which she wrapped up in her blanket and carried in the house. After the evening meal she took it into the back compartment and offered it some food, but it would not eat, and then she gave it her breast and it grew very rapidly and she became very fond of it, as if it were her child, and as time went on her whole life seemed to be absorbed by her pet which she kept secreted. Her constant abstraction and absences grew so noticeable that the mother's suspicions were aroused and one day she detected her fondling the worm that had now grown as large as a person. She called the chief and they wondered greatly for no one had ever seen anything like it. As she played with the worm she sang to it all the time:—
The father told the uncle and he sent for his niece and set food before her, and while she ate he stole away to see the worm, which she had hidden behind the food chests in the back apartment. That evening the uncle called the people together and told them that his niece had a great "living creature" Kutze-ce-te-ut that might in time kill them all and they decided to kill the worm. Another reason given for the destruction of the creature was that it was held accountable for the loss of much food that had been mysteriously disappearing from the grease boxes for some time past.
The following day the aunt invited her to come and sew her martin skin robe, and in her absence the men sharpened their long wooden spears and going to the house killed the worm. Upon her return she cried bitterly and said they had killed her child and she sang her song night and day until she died. Then her family left this place and migrated north. In commemoration of this event the Tlow-on-we-ga-du family display the tail of the worm on their dance dress, pipes, etc., as they attacked that part, while the Kon-nuh-ta-di display the whole worm figure as they killed the head which was the most important part.
OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HOUSE.
Closely associated with the "Whale House," and in the keeping of the chief, were many ceremonial objects in crest form, that were never exhibited except upon such important occasions as when the whole family was assembled and much property was distributed to those of the opposite phratry who had assisted at house and grave building, cremation, etc. Most prominent among these was a great wood feast dish, and an exceptionally large basket. The former was known as Thluke-hotsick "wood-worm dish," and as a crest object it told the same story as the carved interior post previously described. It was hollowed out of a tree trunk 14 feet 6 inches long, 2 feet 6 inches wide and 1 foot high. It was shaped and ornamentally carved and painted to represent a wood-worm and inlaid along the rounded upper edge with opercula. In 1885 it had so far decayed that its usefulness was past although it was still displayed upon ceremonial occasions (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6. Wood-worm Dish, as seen in the House.
Fig. 6. Wood-worm Dish, as seen in the House.
The basket although at least two generations old, has been carefully cared for so that it is in an excellent state of preservation. It is named Kuhk-claw "basket mother" on account of its great size, measuring 33 inches in both height and diameter. It was woven of split spruce root in cylindrical form, by a woman of the family, in the characteristic weave of the Chilkat, where alternate spirals of woof are in the double twining and plaiting, giving a rough and irregular appearance to the wall surface. The only variation on the outside are four short darker colored lines of weave which mark its capacity at different heights as we mark a commercial measure. It is fitted with twisted root handle for carriage. Both of these receptacles were used at feasts, filled with native food, and are generally known throughout southeastern Alaska.
THE PRESENT WHALE HOUSE.
In 1899 this house and Yehlh-hit (Raven) House adjoining were torn down and preparations for the erection of new buildings were gotten under way, and in the winter of 1901, after the walls were up and the roof on, a great potlach was given by the Kon-nuh-ta-di, to the three Wolf families of the opposite phratry in the tribe and the Ka-gwan-tan of Sitka, in which over ten thousand dollars in property, food, and money were distributed. The head chief of the family the master of the whale house Yehlh-guou "Raven's slave," welcomed his guest upon landing, wearing the Raven hat. The new house although modern in form and of two stories took the old name, and it stands today windowless and doorless, the interior grown up in weeds, a monument of the last great potlatch of the Chilkat, as the chief died soon afterwards and his successor has neither the means to finish it nor the desire to live in it and the elaborate carvings have never been placed but are stored and will probably so remain.
PLATE 1.
Decorative figures carved in bas-relief on the face of the retaining timbers supporting the two interior superimposed platforms. For their positions in the house see Fig. 6. The three upper figures represent the native hammered copper plate, "Tinneh," which was an important feature in the ceremonial life of the Northwest Coast and was the most valued of possessions, while that below was said to symbolize "Kee-war-kow," the highest heaven. (See p. 22.)
Plate 1.
Plate 1.
PLATE 2.
Carved and painted screen at the back of the house partitioning off the chief's apartment. It is called Su-kheen, or "rain wall." The central figure with outstretched arms represents the Rain Spirit, while the small crouching figures in the border are called Su-cou-nutchee, "raindrops splash up," or the splash of falling drops after striking the ground.
A portion of the screen has been broken off and the otherwise unsymmetrical form of the drawing is due to photographic distortion. Its position in the house is indicated by Fig. 6. The hole through the body of the symbolic figure is the door or entrance to the apartment behind. (See p. 23.)
Plate 2.
Plate 2.
PLATE 3.
aCarved interior post to the right of the entrance, Gonakatate-Gars, representing the mythical sea monster that brings good fortune to one who sees it and illustrates a story in the early wanderings of Yehlh, the Raven. At the top is "Gonakatate's child" who holds a hawk in its paws. Next is the head of "Gonakatate," the principal figure whose body extends to the bottom of the post. He holds in front of him a whale, peeping from whose blow hole is the head of the Raven. On the back of the whale is the figure of a woman. (See p. 25.)
bCarved interior post to the left of the entrance, Duck-Toolh-Gars representing the legendary hero, "Black-Skins" rending the sealion. The large human figure is Duck-Toolh, who holds a sealion by the hind flippers. The head at the base of the post represents the island upon which he stood while tearing the sealion asunder. (See p. 26.)
Plate 3.
Plate 3.
PLATE 4.
aCarved interior post to the right of the decorative screen in the rear of the house, Yehlh-Gars, Raven Post, telling the story of the Raven capturing the king salmon. The main figure with head at the top represents the Raven, holding the head of Tsu-hootar, or "jade adze," and standing upon the head of a fish. From the mouth of Raven is issuing a bird representing lies. (See p. 28.)
bCarved interior post to the left of the decorative screen in the rear of the house, Tluke-ass-a-Gars, illustrating the story of the girl and the wood-worm. The human figure above is that of Ka-kutch-an, "the girl who fondled the wood-worm." She holds the wood-worm in front in her hands. Two worms are peeping around her head. The lower figure represents a crane holding a frog in its bill. (See p. 29.)
Plate 4.
Plate 4.
American Museum of Natural History.
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