TOTEMISM AND SUPERSTITIONS
Those who have read of the wonderful totemic carvings of the Haidas
will no doubt take an interest in the peculiar laws and customs, and
the strange moral and esthetical standards of those remarkable people
of the North. If judged by the highest standard of nineteenth century
civilization, these people would not hold a very high position. But
if they were compared to surrounding tribes when they first came in
contact with whites, the thing that would be noticed most is the great
progress they had themselves made in morals. When first visited by
the early explorers these Indians, like all the other Indians on the
coast, were bold shameless thieves. With them it was not dishonorable
to steal, and, if caught, restitution settled the matter. On the other
hand they discriminated between a friend and an enemy and seldom or
never, stole from a guest and never robbed one of their own totem or
clan. And to this day an unwatched camp or an unlocked house is, with
them, sacredly respected, and the most valuable property that is hid in
the woods is just as safe from other Indians as if guarded night and
day. Unfortunately the white men have set some very bad examples in this
respect and the Indians have not so often sinned as they have been sinned
against.
In many of their race characteristics social customs, moral standards
and traditions, they bear a striking resemblance to the inhabitants of
Japan, and Tartary. Like them, they have great respect for the aged,
whose advice in most matters has great weight. Some of the older women,
even bondwomen in former times, attain great influence in the tribe as
soothsayers, due as much to their venerable appearance as to any pretense
they may make of working medicine charms. They are remarkably fond of
and indulgent to their children, rarely chastising them. Between the
sexes the rights of women are respected and the terms of equality on
which the men and women live are very striking to most visitors of the
region. Although marriage is essentially by purchase, and the question of
morality of the wife solely one of sanction by the husband, yet even this
restriction is centuries in advance of their Northern neighbors where
promiscuity and the most bestial practices prevail. The early voyagers
invariably mentioned Haidas as modest and reserved in bearing. The moral
virtues of these people have faded considerably in the presence of the
new civilization with its artificial needs of finery and luxuries.
The vices of civilization have had a most demoralizing effect on the
inhabitants of Queen Charlotte and the Prince of Wales islands. Like
most savages they are inveterate gamblers and have a strong craving for
tobacco and alcohol. In their disregard for the lives of slaves and in
their practice of acquitting murderers or other criminals by exacting
the payment of indemnity to the relatives of the injured, is seen simply
the customs, the operations of which, with them, has the force of law.
Murder, seduction, the refusal to marry a widow according to law, causes
general war, but any wrong may be righted by the paying of an indemnity
of the region. In writing of this subject Sir James Douglas, governor of
British Columbia, during the administration of the Hudsons Bay company,
says: “If unmarried women prove frail, the partner of their guilt is
bound to make reparation to the parents, soothing their wounded honor
with handsome presents. A failure to do this would cause the friends
of the offending fair one to use force to back up their demands and to
revenge the insult. It must not, however, be supposed they would be
induced to act this part from any sense of reflected shame, or from any
desire of discouraging vice by making a severe example of the vicious,
or deem the girl the worse for the accident, or her character in any
way blemished. Such are not their feelings, for the offender is simply
regarded as a robber who has committed depredations on their merchandise,
their only anxiety being to make the damages exacted as heavy as
possible.”
[Illustration: HAIDA THUNDER-MASK]
To such an extent was this question of indemnity carried, that when the
Russians tried to interfere with the killing of slaves on ceremonial
occasions, they were only successful in preventing it by ransoming the
proposed victim. And many were the exactions of the Indians for damages
on account of the accidental deaths in the employ of whites.
Along with the other artistic characteristics of these people, they are
exceedingly fond of singing and dancing. Some of them have rich voices.
Their rude, savage songs are not without melody and many of their weird
dances, by the music of various shaped and boistrous drums, exhibit
considerable art, especially of imitation. Their imitations of various
birds and wild animals, darting in all directions, screaming like
seagulls, howling like wolves and screeching like wild geese, imitating
the fierce, harsh music of the brown bear, the cries of great eagles
and ravens, are all worthy of special mention. They bathe frequently
in the sea, but on the other hand, continually daub their faces,
bodies and heads with grease and paint. However, this latter custom is
largely disappearing except on ceremonial occasions. They were formerly
indifferent to the stench of decaying animal matter, but have improved
wonderfully in recent years. They are still indifferent to the sanitary
laws of ventilation and betray a great fondness for putrid salmon and
herring noses, and rancid fish and seal grease. A visit to many of the
Haida houses where they have not come to using stoves is still quite a
trying ordeal to the uninitiated.
Totemism governs the whole tribal organization of the Indians on Queen
Charlotte and the Prince of Wales islands. The ceremonies at birth,
initiation, naming, matrimony, feasting, dancing, funerals and all other
social occasions, have for their object, in some way, the identity of the
phratery, more than of the totem or the carved image of the animal chosen
to represent him.
Birth-rights, such as property, rank wealth, etc., are received from
the mother. The question as to who is the father of a child is of but
little importance. The household is not the unit of the totem or of the
phratery, as more than one totem is represented in each, the father
belonging to one totem and the mother to another. Besides this, a brother
and his wife may belong to the household, or a sister and her husband;
thus numerous totems may be represented under one roof.
In the ordinary sense there is no absolute chieftainship. The family
is the political unit. The richest head of a household or the one who
has the greatest number of influential relations predominates over the
rest and is nominally the chief of the village. His authority is shadowy
and is dependent largely, aside from wealth and family influence, on
personal prowess in time of war, or on an aggressive personality. In
short the prominence of the chief is all that he can make it by the arts
of assertion, bargain, intrigue, wealth, display and personal prowess.
There are also petty chiefs who represent the principal clan totems or
households. For each household is with them a subordinate government. The
head chief merely overshadows in the extent of his influence, the petty
chiefs. Often reverses of fortune turns the tables so that some decline
in influence, while others rise in importance. Often the medicine men or
shamens unite with the chiefs to strengthen each other in the fear and
respect of the people. And bitter are many of the feuds arising from the
rivalries of households struggling for power in the tribe.
As a rule a chief is not treated with any marked deference except upon
ceremonial occasions when many marks of respect are shown him. When
engaged in treaty-making it is common to see him carried on the shoulders
of his attendants, as well as being made the central figure of many
pompous ceremonies. Slavery was common among them up to the acquisition
of Alaska by the United States government in 1867. The slaves did all
the drudgery, fished and hunted for their master; and strengthened his
forces in time of war. When they were too old to work they were for
the most part killed and many of them were sacrificed on ceremonial
occasions. They were never allowed to marry or hold property.
Councils were usually called only on occasions or necessity, there being
no stated period for them. Women usually had as much to say in these
meetings as men, especially on questions of trade, when their advice was
always given whether it was sought or not. However, they usually kept
mum on ceremonial occasions. In these deliberative bodies they sit in a
squatting position with legs crossed and deliver formal speeches in turn
which are heard with wrapt attention and approved by grunts and various
other signs.
In the division of labor men and women are quite nearly equal among the
Haidas. The men are the warriors and hunters although a women of rank
generally steers the war canoe. The different kinds of work are usually
divided among the people according to their skill. Some are exclusively
implement makers, others are wood carvers, and many of the women follow
basket making as a trade. Every chief keeps a man employed constantly
as a canoe maker. A visitor to a Haida camp will be struck with the
apparent equality of the sexes. The woman is always free with advice, and
a distinguished traveler has said cases of “hen-pecked” husbands are not
rare.
Very peculiar laws of inheritance and relationship exist among the Haida
people. First cousins may marry, but totally unrelated persons of the
same phratery cannot. In wars between households a groom may be called
upon to bear arms against his father-in-law on account of some feud of
trifling importance. Poligamy is tolerated but seldom practiced.
Property is inherited by the brother of the deceased, a brother’s son,
a sister’s son, or the mother in the order named in the absence of the
preceding one. As a rule the wife gets nothing but her own dowry. Whoever
inherits the property, if he be a brother or a brother’s or sister’s
son, must either marry the widow or pay an indemnity to her relatives.
In case the heir is already married, the next in succession takes her;
for instance, the brother may inherit the property and the nephew get the
widow. It will be observed that by the laws and customs of the Haidas,
they not only prevent the accumulation of wealth and power in one branch
of a family and allow it to grow opulent, corrupt and rotten, but provide
for the widows as well. It is the duty of the heir within a year after
the cremation or burial of the deceased to erect a commemorative column
at the grave or elsewhere in honor of him. It usually contains his crest
or sub-totem at the top and recites some of the leading incidents of his
life. Among the Haidas conjugal virtues have only a commercial value.
They are something to be bought and sold. One Haida thinks nothing of
selling his wife to another provided he can get his price. And cases of
one Indian renting his wife to another are very common.
Mr. McLeod tells the story of a case of this kind shortly after the
establishment of a justice court at Houkan. It was, by the way, the first
case that was called for trial in said court. One Indian was quite deeply
indebted to the other, so in order to satisfy the debt he rented his wife
to his creditor for a couple of weeks. At the expiration of the appointed
time the Indian refused to return the wife to her rightful owner, and the
injured husband appealed to the strong arm of American law to recover his
property.
Tatooing on the breast and arms of Haidas is quite general. They
are usually representations of some totem and commemorate deeds and
adventures of their lives. The women usually wear earrings and bracelets,
and rings are often worn through the noses of chiefs.
Although the methods of sepulture have changed in recent years, the
ceremonies remain much as they formerly were. On the demise of an
important personage it is customary to array the body in ceremonial
apparel and surround it with the tokens of his or her wealth. Thus laid
out in state the relatives and friends view the remains. In case that it
is a great chief who is well-known, Indians come from other villages, and
the body is thus displayed until in an advanced stage of decomposition,
when the final rites take place. In former times many of the slaves of
the deceased were dispatched at the funeral. During the first day’s
ceremonies the body was borne to the pyre, which had been constructed in
the rear of some house formerly owned by the deceased, and reduced to
ashes. In the meantime the mourners gathered themselves around the pyre
and with painted faces, their hair cut short, and their heads sprinkled
with eagles’ down they bewailed in the most dismal manner, the loss of
their kinsman. The service usually closes with a feast. The ashes were
preserved and deposited in a box near the top of the commemorative column
erected in honor of the deceased. In recent times the burial custom has
taken the place of cremation.
The houses of the Haidas are remarkable for their strength and comfort.
Their frame consists of huge logs, often two or more feet in diameter,
as posts planted securely in the ground, and large log plates of equal
proportions resting on them. The remainder of the frame is heavy and
strong in proportion. The posts are so beveled in the sides that they
hold the hewn planks in position, that compose the wall, while those
that constitute the roof are held in place by the weight of rocks. The
smoke holes are so arranged that protection can readily be shifted from
one side to the other so that the wind won’t blow down through it. The
dimensions of these houses are often 18×20 feet, and 12 or 15 feet high.
The various timbers are placed in position by the aid of rope guys. The
work of building a house often extends over a period of several years,
as most of the timbers are very heavy to handle by hand and must be
carved before being placed in position. Great crowds are employed in
building these houses and great festivities are indulged in on the days
occupied in the raising of the huge timber into position, corresponding
to our lifting-bees, so common in the rural districts. The houses are
generally made of Sitka spruce and yellow cedar wood.
[Illustration: SKAMSON THE THUNDERER—HAIDA TATOOING]
The great totem columns in front of the houses are usually upwards of
two feet in diameter and vary considerably in height. They are for the
most part carved out of yellow cedar wood by the native artist employed
for the occasion to commemorate the great achievements of the wealthy
house-holder, to celebrate the glory of his ancestors and record the more
interesting traditions of his totem.
These columns are never taken down or removed, but are allowed to stand
until, in many places, only the decayed stump remains. In Houkan large
numbers of totem columns are standing where the houses have long since
fallen down and many of them will be found in dense thickets. There
is one in front of the residence of Rev. J. L. Gould that has quite a
spruce tree growing in the top of it. The tall columns shown in the
illustration, in front of the houses, record the adventures, genealogy
and legends of the owner, and his totem. The shorter ones at the corners
of the houses, and in grave yards, are commemorative columns erected in
honor of a former occupant of the house.
No one is allowed to execute these carvings among the Haidas until he has
first had the medicine inoculated into his fingers by the shamens.
[Illustration: CORNER OF THE VILLAGE OF HOUKAN]