The west shore., August 01, 1884, Page 255, Image 29

THE WEST SHORE.
255
recorded by these picturegraphs. Some are grotesque,
some disgusting and some instructive, but whether they
are orally related around the lodge fire, in the family
circle or depicted in their carvings or rude paintings, the
dramatis personm are true transcripts of Indian life;
they never rise above it, or express a Bentimont or
opinion which is not true to Indian society, nor do they
employ words which are not known to their vocabulary.
It is in these legends that we obtain their true views' of
life and death, their religion, their theory of the state of
the dead, their mythology, their cosmogony, their notions
of astrology, and often of their biography and history,
for the boundaries between history and fiction are vaguely
defined. Some of the ancient legends of the Haidas are
prophetic, and told by these ancient skngas, or medicine
men, to the Indians, then dressed in robes of furs. They
were told of the strangers with white faces who would
come and buy their furs and give them in exchange other
articles of clothing and other kinds of food to eat, and
they were warned to treat the strangers well when they
came, as they would bring with them many things new
and strange which would be of great benefit if they
would learn and adopt what was good of the white men's
ways. Schoolcraft says in, his "Myth of Hiawatha:"
These stories are often told, in seasons of great severity
in the depth of the winter, to an eagerly listening group,
to while away the hour and divert attention from the
pressing claims of hunger. Under such circumstances
to dole away time, which has no value to him, and to
cheat hunger and want, is esteemed a trait of philosophy.
If there is a morBel to eat in the lodge it is given to the
children. The women imitate this Btoicism and devotion
of the men. Not a tone of the narrative tells of dismay
in their domestic circumstances, not an eye acknowledges
the influence of grief. The dignity of this position is
worthy of remembrance. The man, it may be, shall pass
away from the earth, but these tributes to the best feel
ings of the heart will remain, while these simple biles
and legendary creations constitute a now point of charac
ter by which he should be judged They are at least
calculated to modify our views of the man, who is not
always a savage, not always a fiend.
The Haidas seem to be advanced in their works of art
in carvings in wood and stone, in silver, gold, copier and
iron, and their carvings in the soft argillaceous slate
stone, which is found among the coal measures of Skido
gate, and worked by them into various shapes, such as
caskets, placques and miniature columns. Their brace
lets, rings and ear ornaments of gold and silver, their
copper shields and emblematic daggers, bows and arrows,
and their iron daggers and war knives all richly carved
and their wooden and horn dishes, spions, masks and
toys are all eagerly Bought after by tourists; and when
properly explained and understood are of great value,
for every carving has a meaning, and each illustrates a
story or a legend, read and understood by the Indian as
easily as the white man understands the printed Ixiok.
Marchand, a French navigator who visited Queen
Charlotte Ialande in 1791, Myi of themt " The taste
for ornament prevails in all tho works of their hands;
their canoos, their chests and different little articles of
furniture in uso among thorn are covered with figures
which might bo taken for a sjocioa of hieroglyphics;
fishes and other animals, heads of men, ami various
whimsical designs, are mingled and confounded in order
to compose n subject It undoubtedly will not Iki ex
pected that those figures should bo perfectly regular and
tho proportions in thorn exactly observed, for here every
man is a painter and sculptor, yet they are not deficient
in a sort of ologunco ami iorfoetioii." This tasto for tho
lino arts Booms to owo its origin to Homo ancient state of
society which is lout to us in tho obscurity of antiquity.
Marchand, who hod recently soon the Mexican sculpture
and paintings, was of tho opinion that tho Hnidn works
of art could be distinctly traceable to Aztec origin, an
opinion with which my own observation has induced me
me to fully coincido.
Tho few illustrations I have given of tho curving and
drawings of these interesting people may bo of hoiiio
future value in enabling tho student and man of 'science
to ascertain something of tho truth concerning the origin
of tho Indians of the Northwest coast; and tho Queen
Charlotte Islands present a rich and hitherto but partially
explored region, whero tho man of science may find much
to add to our knowledge of tho North American Indian,
who in a comparatively brief priod of time will wholly
disapjKiar as a distinctive raco. James 0. HwAN.
AN EARLY WAITINO PAPER
IITANY centuries Itefore Christ, Nuina left writings
111 uon tho papyrus, whenco our name, paor, is
derived This plant, which was revered as sacred by tho
old Egyptians, grows abundantly in shallow streams and
marshes in upper Egypt and Syria, Hruco found it
growing in tho Iliver Jordan, and noticed a curious fact,
that it always presented tho sharp, angular side of its
pear-shaied stem to tho swift current Tim stem is
oight or ten feet high, two inches in diameter, nud
crowned with a fringe of hair-liko leaves, which circle a
blossom of slender spikolot. Donoath tho brown sheath
which envelops tho root-stalk of this dark-green plant lie
other sheaths which ore very transparent Those, when
split into thin leaves and dried in the sun, were glued
together, and formed the roll of papyrus on which many
of the ancient writings have come down to us. This
paper was loth flexible and durable. HH!imD from
Pompeii can lie sc-n in the museum nt Naples. In the
fifth century papyrus paor, of which tunny varieties
existed, was largely manufactured at Alexandria, nud
ranked high in tho commerce of nations. Its use con
tinued until alstut seven or eight centuries ago, .S7.
XichoUu.
m m
A sgi'AW refused to marry a Canadian Indian, and ho
took her scalp a lock of her hair, as it were. She then
married him, and it wasn't long before ho hadn't hair
enough for a scalp lock.