The heavy stone club used to kill large fish before hauling
them into a frail canoe would be not merely carved to resemble a
sea lion or killer whale which fed on these fish, but the very
shape adopted for the club contributed to the fisherman's success
inshise Joby

Though these tribes shared in a common technique and style
of design, each was distinguished in its details by individual
features and details which forbid generalizations but emphasize
the great complexity of their arts. The skills of the Haida and
Tsimsyan are described as smoother, more elaborate and refined,
in fact more artistically outstanding, than those of the Kwakiutl
and Nootka, these fundamental differences being attributed by
certain authorities to deeply seated divergencies of origin.
Again, the arts of the Haida are characterized as more forceful
and massive than those of the Tsimsyan as judged by the carving
of their totem and other poles, whereas the delicate details of
many examples of Tsimsyan art are less noticeable among the sur-
viving specimens of Haida skill. Kwakiutl art is very bold,
even grotesque, in many of its varied forms and less refined
than the Haida and Tsimsyan. This tribe and the Nootka employed
roughly sculptured, wooden, life-sized figures in connection
with their complex ceremonials, representing chiefs, orators or
even ironical caricatures of invited guests, though entitled
"Welcome figures" among the Nootka! Otherwise the style of art
of the Nootka tribe differs much from that of the Kwakiutl.

Both apply animal motives, but Nootka art is more realistic

though cruder and shows few combinations of characteristic curved
lines which play an important part in the decorative designs of
the Kwakiutl. The Nootka, however, excelled in the high "finish"
lavished on their fishing and hunting equipment while the Salish
men demonstrated another form of artistic ability in high relief
of the unique designs they carved on paper-thin maplewood spinning
whorls for their women's use.

All five Northwest coast tribes and also a few tribes in the
interior employed ceremonial masks in their dances to represent
spiritual beings or legendary ancestors. The high degree of
finish, the diversity of forms and the remarkable mechanical skill
and ingenuity shown in the details of these tribal masks cannot
be too forcibly stressed. The notable contours of the highly
finished masks of the Tsimsyan are quite diverse from the huge,
often intentionally grotesque, bird and animal masks of the
Kwakiutl, which in their turn surpass in mechanical as well as
artistic skill the few examples found among Nootkan survivals.

But it must also be borne in mind that though almost every man
among these Northwest Coast Tribes were adept in producing what

he wanted with the aid of a knife, scraper or chisel, there were
always outstanding individuals who may be described as "“profes-
sional artists." These could command high compensations in "kind"

Lee