. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. SEAL DISH. Alaska. U. S. National Musi VI. The Spirits Presiding over the Keligioits Ceremonial AND THEIR GlPTS. It is a common feature of all the legends referred to heretofore that the supernatural powers which were obtained by the ancestors became the crest of a clan, and that there is no mention of an immediate rela- tion between the descendants of the ancestor and his crest. We have 1o deal only with legends commemorating the early his
. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. SEAL DISH. Alaska. U. S. National Musi VI. The Spirits Presiding over the Keligioits Ceremonial AND THEIR GlPTS. It is a common feature of all the legends referred to heretofore that the supernatural powers which were obtained by the ancestors became the crest of a clan, and that there is no mention of an immediate rela- tion between the descendants of the ancestor and his crest. We have 1o deal only with legends commemorating the early history of the clan. They do not indicate that the being which helped the ancestor con- tinues to protect his descendants. We have now to deal with another class of legends which relate entirely to spirits that are still in constant contact with the Indians, whom they endow with supernatural powers. In order to gain their help, the youth must prepare himself by fasting and washing, because only the pure find favor with them, while they kill the impure. Every young man endeavors to find a protector of this kind. It is clear that this idea corresponds exactly to the manitou of the Algonquin Indians, and that we have to deal here with the ele- mentary idea of the acquisition of a guardian spirit, which has attained its strongest develop- ment in America. Its specific character on the North Pacific Coast lies in the fact that the guardian spirit has become he- reditary. This is the case among the northern tribes of British Columbia. It is also the case among the Kwakiutl and among the Chinook. When the youth pre- pares to meet a guardian spirit, he does not expect to find any but those of his clan. This is i)r()bably the reason for the relatively small number. Fig. 31. DETAIL OF SEA-LION DISH. r. S. National Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrati
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