The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, May 5, 1928, Page 9

HUOANEOAUOAPUUALEEAUUONAO i _ UY UT TTT RACAL TROUT VT VOUUEDDEEUUDEAU ETAT IETT Tee OMUTANUDNNTUTUTAUUETAANN MBM TANNA eae arte MALL LULL TT Preserving the Secrets of a Vanishing Race } That Built Totem Poles to Honor the Dead A chief of the Skeena River Indians, in the totem pole country, with a headdress and costume representing stars. This chief is one of the few surviving totem pole builders and readers. VERY totem pole tells an Indian legend—the story k of a war, the history of a family, the romance of an Indian princess, the record of a great hunt. Once British Columbia and Alaska had many of these wooden histories, but in recent years, as the Indians have become civilized and the weather has destroyed the poles built a generation or two ago, the number of poles has been steadily decreasing and the race that built the poles is dying out. With them are going many of the old Indian fairy stories and all tribal history. Just recently, Canada has set out to preserve all of the poles now standing, and to have trans- lated by the surviving totem pole builders all the barbaric legends the tall cedar monuments reveal. When the totem pole builders flourished, every prominent Indian was honored in death by the erection of a totem pole on which his deeds and family traditions were duly recorded through more or less fantastic carvings. These poles decayed in from 50 to 60 years but new poles, erected for other members of the family, maintained the family tradition and the ancestral chain remained unbroken. \WO years azo steps were taken to begin the restoration and conservation of poles in the vicinity of Hazelton, British Co- lumbia. A scheme was worked out whereby several of the branches of the Canadian government worked together in the repair and erection of the poles. Eight poles were repaired - and set on firm foundations. The success of the work prompted @ continuance and an extension and during the past year poles to the number of ten were restored. The work will be under- taken again next year under the same auspices. The poles are usually from 30 to 40 feet high and made of a single piece of cedar, generally about three feet in diameter. The base of the pole is sunk into the ground to a depth of about six feet. Carvings are made on the front of the poles, while in some cases appendages are made of wood and fastened to the pole. The carvings are conventionalized figures of animals, men or certain objects such as money tokens. (hependases generally represent exaggerated beaks, tails and the like. The first part of the operation of reconstruction consists of cnet [M0 APAN has welcomed mod- J ern business methods, mod- ern vehicles, and modern government, but the appearance of the modern girl has suddenly locsed a storm of protest. “Modern girl’ —written in Japanese characters as “modan gahru”—has become a part of the language and is the equiva- lent of the western term “flap- So great has been the increase of the “modern girl” in Tokyo that the Metropolitan police , board, which keeps a paternal eye on the welfare of Tokyo citizens, has been called upon to do something. * Ten “modern girls” were recently dismiseed from the Tokyo railway bureau because of their leanings toward flapper- ism, and the newspapers are now filled with interviews from educational authorities who are voluble in explaining the reasons for the “modern girl” but rather hesitant in saying what is to be done about her: : It_ might added that the I a A, ii ci AN GAHRU’-MODERN GIRL OF A chief of the “Wol ad a beautiful daughter named Hpeesunt and Q_sons, one named Akteeih. Hpeesunt mocked at the bears. Bears in’hu- man form pursued her, but a grizzly bear pro- tected her and took her to his den on the moun- tain side. : She changed into a | bear and bore him twin sons, half human and half bear. , Meanwhile her broth- hang eer for her. The bear proph- esied that = ea Z would come kill him, and he taught her two songs, saying that |” the hunters oughtalways [/ to be respectful to the bears they kill and sing these songs. aad At last she saw Ak- 1 teelh searching for her [2 on the mountain far be- low. She made a ball and threw it down. He picked it up and ob- served the impression of her fingers. He then looked for her, and found her in the bear’s den. He killed the bear, and took his sister and her bear children home. The children behaved like bears part of the time, and they helpéd their uncle_ in“hunting by directing them to bears. f = An ornately _ — = ~ 4 ) 4 carved pole of the © ) yy Haida Indians. 0 ee Right, a British Co- ie =lumbian pole with = = Be an unusual spread “== of wings and gaudy painting. They frequently pointed to a column of smoke in the mountains and said, “That is grand- father’s house.” Akteeih would then go to the UF place, where he always found a bear’s den. Wy This help is what en- ff abled the family of Ak- teelh to be prosperous in snaring bears. / : ——s The story told by one totem pole. The pole at a right tells, to the Canadian Indians, the story in type at =="*-_") —~— the left. Alll the old Indian legends are remembered by ia soos aid of poles, ie \ supporting the pole by means of a small portable derrick, while it is cut off about the level of the ground. The pole is then lowered and the work of repair begins. The decayed part of the wood near the base of the pole is first cut away and a deep groove is cut in the back of the pole for almost its whole length. The new surface exposed in this groove is then thoroughly treated with creosote to prevent later decay. A new seasoned pole sufficiently large to support the totem pole to be repaired and to project six feet or more from its base is provided and place. v pole is fitted into the groove in the back of the ‘The two units are fastened with about six coun- The Tokyo railway dismissed ten of its women employes for ultra modem (Copyright, 1927, NEA Magazine) ET TU ta oN be incongruous, tersunk bolts, the heads of which are con- cealed by wooden ph The plugs so closely resemble knots that i spicuous. The seams are chinked with cedar strips calked with oakum and cow cred with plastic gum. The gum seldom if ever runs and yet does not get very hard. The restoration of the original color. ings of the pole is often a difficult matter, None but the older Indians know what colors were used on the 4 be ee surfaces nes was poe ae “An ol an was et to sel at apply the colors and was often helped by some other Indians. Occasionally he found himself unable to decide what color should be used on a particular figure. He would then be told to go among some of the older men and women and from their answers decide his problem. The predom- inant colors used are black, red and white. paint is used in the work. A specialist who was consulted duri the first year of the work advised that ach paint would be more durable than any that could be provided by the Indians. The Indian painters have no ideas of using ane to give the appearance of having n long applied. One of the whites in charge of the work managed to give the Paint an appearance of age, but the In- dians promptly went back to freshen up the painting. Possibly after longer acquaintance and a better understanding of the work they can be made to see the idea of restoring the pole to appear as a real preserved an- tique, but as the poles are part of their heritage, at present the work must be done as they wish. | FOWEVER, the effects of weathering rapidly remove the air of modernity given by the new paint and if at a later time the consent of the Indians is obtained, the ageing of the painting of a pole will be little effort for one man who will require no expensive staging but can climb the pole with the aid of a rope and apply the paint as required. Further afta palat: ing cere eo and mer lelays the party eng in repair ai for. this reason can better be done after the main party has gone. When work on the pole is finished and it is ready to be set in position, it is hoisted into place on a concrete base prepared near the original site, on such a level that the base of the old pole comes just below the ground pet s Concrete is then filled into the hole up to the base of the old The old pole is covered with plastic gum from the surface of concrete to a height of about an inch above ground level. The concrete is then covered with sand and gravel so that none of it shows. In an area like Mexico or the desert regions of southwestern United States, cement or con- crete would not jf chief medium of construction, the concrete would be out of but here where wood is the ‘When restoration is completed, the secrets of the totem pole builders will be preserved forever. ny JAPAN--HAS TOKYO POLICE WORRIED long-suffering American movie is getting most of the blame. The Japanese flapper, like her American cousin, has bobbed hair, short skirts, painted lips, a shade of blue around the eyes, and eyebrows plucked. But the flapper idea hasn't stopped at dress and makeup. If it had, older Japanese might exhibit less concern. In the cafes and restaurants these “modern girls” are seen at the coffee tables, cigaret be- tween their manicured fingers, ~UMTLANNVULUAUU LUE AE A good quality of commercial . cAMUAELADUN AH AMT SENHA SEL TN