THE WOLF

References:
Plate 8, Figure 6. Wasgo in Wolf form. Haida.
Plate 9, Figure 2. Ceremonial Feast Dish. Kwakiutl.
Plate: 1S npure 4: Compound Monster. Haida.
sake mnie alkisye Figure &. Compound Monster. Nootkan.

The powerful Wolf Phratry of the Tsimsyan Tribe accounted
by several myths for the origin of the Wolf Crest, though too
long to quote in full. One Eagle village faced a Wolf village
at Metlakatla. The two tribes agreed to build a weir between
the two islands but then auarrelled on certain details. Event-—
ually the Wolf people were defeated and scattered but carried
their crest with them.

The ancestors of one clan among the Gitksans traced their
Wolf Crest to two myths. The first refers to the results of
the theft of a child from its mother when she was alone while
her brothers were gone hunting. The little body was torn to
bits. On their return the brothers at once followed the tracks
of the wolves but could not overtake them; nevertheless the
family adopted this animal as a family crest. A second myth
Continues the tale, namely that while the "Grandfather" of
this clan and his family lived at River-of-the_-Mists they in-
habited a large communal house named Log-House. Snow fell in
the winter till the house was almost buried. When the inmates
woke in the morning a wolf sat inside, near the door. The
Household Chief asked him what this meant, and ordered the
people to give him food. But the wolf could not eat. "See
whether there is anything wrong," said the Chief to his
nephews. They found a bone stuck in the wolf's throat, which
they removed. From this moment the wolf became their friend
though he soon went off to the woods. The result of the snow-
fall was a famine and starvation. One night a Being appeared
Speaking like a man and invited these men outside. They were
frightened but when they recognized the tracks of their friend
the wolf, they followed them until they found several caribou
which the wolf had killed for.their use. In memory of this
Supernatural event they assumed another wolf also as a crest.

A widespread Northwest Coast myth relates that it was the
Wolf Spirit which first appeared to man and revealed the
elaborate details of the Whale Cult.

Many finely carved totem poles offer representations of

the Wolf Crest, showing the animal in varied positions; it
is found frequently also in more or less conventionalized

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