accepted tribal symbol of the high dorsal fin, completed by the
details of the flippers and tail on either Side; also the artis-
tic representation of the teeth.

A wide diversity of legends among the Northwest Coast people
are concerned with the origin of the Whale Crest and refers in-
cidentally to the reason why the Killer Whale was much dreaded
by this otherwise fearless tribe. They looked upon this huge
mammal as representing the Principle of Evil--hence their belief
that these creatures purposely broke their canoes with malicious
intent. One legend recounts how certain Haida were lost in their
canoe off the dangerous coast of Queen Charlotte Islands on ac-
count of a dense fog. They were seized by a sculpin and carried
down under the sea. As they wandered along in despair, they
came to the house of a Killer Whale who turned them all but one
man into Killer Whales. This man escaped and returned safely
to his mourning parents. He found his elder brother had died
during his absence, having also mysteriously become a Killer
Whale. His father had built a grave house for him, carving on
it as a crest a representation of this much dreaded creature.

The Tsimsyan legend of the origin of their Whale Clan exem-
plifies one of the numerous variations to which these tribal
tales are subject. Once upon a time, they say, a man went out
fishing. For three days he fished but caught nothing. Then he
cast anchor at a place where a steep hill descended sheer into
the water. It so happened that his anchor struck upon the house
of a Killer Whale, who drew the man, canoe and all, to the bot-
tom of the sea. For two long years the man lived with the Whale
at the bottom of the sea, but they seemed to him but as two days,
for the Whale taught him the Whale Dance and how to ornament his
house with the pattern of the Whale. When the two years had thus
Slipped away, the man rose to the surface of the sea and returned
to his old home all covered with seaweed. There he built a house
and painted a whale on the front of it as the Killer Whale had
taught him. He used the Mask: and the Whale Blanket when he
danced; also, the descendants of his sister have used the Whale
Crest ever since.

Killer Whales were considered the most powerful of the "Ocean
People," all others were thought to be their servants. These
mythical "Ocean People" whether cod, salmon or herring, were cus-
todians of human food supplies and were appealed to with suitable
offerings and words: "Now, Chief, give us food. Let us see good
things to eat." The suppliant put flicker feathers and a little
tobacco on his paddle and slid them into the sea. The return
expected was generally a whale found soon after floating at the
very spot.

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