for their work; wealthy chiefs would summon such men from long
distances for the carving of a totem pole or other tests of
unusual skill.

The following opinion of an expert on modern attempts to
reproduce these arts also emphasizes these tribal variations:

"Haida art copied by the Salish tribe is little
better than having it copied by Japanese. The true
art of the Coast Salish being quite distinctive.

One only has to note the stock type of totem poles on
the market, quite rudely cut wood, smeared with paint,
no skill or feeling shown by the carver. Why?
Because ninety per cent or better of the specimens
are carved by Salish or Nootkans from an original
type by the Kwakiutl."

Brief and quite inadequate reference only can be made to the
Skilled and varied crafts practised by the tribal women of the
Province, divided by a sharply defined line from the artistic
skills of their menfolk. The women were concerned with the pre-
paration, spinning, and weaving of many unpromising substances,
chiefly cedar fibre, into a kind of cloth for clothing, cloaks
(blankets), mats, wall hangings and baskets. The far-famed
Chilcat blankets represent the one example of cooperation between
men and women and at the same time draws attention to the weaving
of a non-geometrical design otherwise characteristic of women's
decorative work. Hence the man drew the animal pattern for his
wife to reproduce, the weaving of which was the highest test of
a woman's skill emphasized in many legends.

The women on the coast were specially proficient in types
of exquisitely fine basketry of which the decoration consisted
of variations in the weaves employed. In the interior, women's
crafts included quill and beadwork on buckskin garments, later
also silk embroidery. But the triumph of their skill was the
making of coiled and imbricated baskets, an almost unique craft
practised only in one other small district farther south.

Among other interesting points to note is that all the varied
designs used by women for imbrication were strictly geometrical,
memorized, and passed down unvaried through generations. Authori-
ties on this rare art have collected the significance of some of
the designs from those who still employ them, but it is necessary
‘to note that due to their geometrical form this significance
varies in different localities. One must not overlook the skill
with which these designs are adapted to the forms and dimensions
of the baskets for which they were and are still employed.

BAG Sh