It now appears fairly certain that the motifs depicted in this totem are crests of the Gispaxlo'ots, one of the 9 tribes of the Port Simpson Tsimshians. Some of Tait's versions carry the name "Kispaklauti," an old spelling of Gispaxlo'ots. Eli's father John Tait was of this tribe, as was John's father Timothy Tait. Sydney Campbell was Kispokloats on his father's side also. ("Kispokloats" is the older spelling; and is found on a few of Eli Tait's "good luck" totems, see elsewhere for more discussion.) The legend or hereditary story associated with the pole is now know (see story Told by the Totem), to be one associated with the Gispaxlo'ots of Port Simpson, and thus one that came with the Metlakatlans from Canada. (according to Viola Garfield, and discussed in "The Wolf ad the Raven") It is noteworthy that there does not appear to be a full-size version of this pole anywhere; so the making of thousands of models of it, by all the Metlakatlan carvers, can be seen as an attempt to perpetuate the crests that were being suppressed elsewhere; a small effort to continue the heritage of their ancestors. As far as the specific way these crests, the Eagle/Salmon Bear: it has been noted, by C.S, a gentleman and scholar, that there are some model totems that appear to be part good-luck totem and part Chief Kian's. Reflecting on this, it has occurred to me that one possible theory for the style of the Good Luck Totem could be that it is a combination of the motifs from Chief Kian's totem and Chief Johnson's totem. Chief Johnson's totem was erected in 1901; Kian's or Kyan's around 1897. But one can imagine that the carvers in the new land, having left all totems of their ancestors behind, might take the new Johnson totem and the Kian totem as models (both are Tongass Tlingit poles)--not only making replicas of these, but also using the motifs on the tradisional pole of the Gispaxlo'ots, the "Good luck totem." A detailed comparison of Eli Tait's carvings of the good luck totem and the Kian totem with the original Kian pole is quite revealing. There are some major parallels; even the chest-face of the Good Luck eagle appears, in part, on the Kian model (and it is fully present on the original, including the quirky mouth) and also the nine dots on the legs. It is interesting that a "good luck" legend is apparently associated with the original Kian pole. In addition, the human face that is often found added to the bottom of the Good Luck totem may be seen as corresponding to that of Spirit-woman on the Johnson pole; Tait's model of the Johnson pole shows two painted slash marks on each of her cheeks, and the added face on a Clyde Boyd "Good Luck" totem also shows these slash marks, strengthening the idea that this figure too may represent Spirit-Woman, and be based on the Johnson pole. The steps from Kian to Good Luck are very few: drop the top bird; change the second bird slightly and delete the wings; modify and speckle the bottom figure (it has to change from a wolf to a bear, so we must still seek the source of that speckled bear). Then add a salmon, taken from Chief Johnson's pole. It is still a good question as to who first did this; in particular, the sideways placement and pierced carving of the salmon on the Good Luck pole was quite a feat of imagination, if it had not been copied from an existing full-size pole (and even then, one would want to know who had made the full-size one). Who was the innovator? It would be good to take a detailed look at the "variants" of the Good Luck pole, as done by various artists; who shows the most departure, and the most innovation, from the basic design? Whose were earliest? Are there any dated Good Luck totems that pre-date the real Kian and Johnson poles? (The Sheldon Jackson Museum collection includes a carving of a "speckled bear with faces in the paws.") Note that in the Tait photo, the totem poles shown are all only slight variants; there are model Kian's and Johnson's; there are many regular Good Luck Totems; there are some Good Luck style with the added face at the bottom. That's about the extent of the variation. In the Mather photo, there is the Good Luck with added lower face; models of Kian, Johnson, and several other real poles; and several poles that are entirely unrelated to the Good Luck series. In some ways, the totems shown with Sydney Cambell show the most interesting combination of features, and the most variation from the norm. Only the two largest are clearly visible, but on these are seen, in varying order: the eagle as on the Good Luck totem; a similar but more owl-like bird; a wolf that looks very much like the one on Chief Kian's pole, and a speckled bear similar to the Good Luck bear, but here instead of faces in his paws he has a salmon, held upright. The carving style of the bears is more like Tait's than Mather's, showing the more elegant sideways placement of the eyes, and the "break" in the snout typical of Tait. If we had to judge by only these three photos, Campbell would seem to be the most innovative, and his poles show the most obvious mix of Kian and Johnson features---even including the owl. Further, Campbell was considerably older than the other known carvers; he was born in 1837 or 40, died 1934; so he is about the only one who possibly had carved before coming to New Metlakatla |
On the origin of the Good Luck Totem |
It now appears fairly certain that the motifs depicted in this totem are crests of the Gispaxlo'ots, one of the 9 tribes of the Port Simpson Tsimshians. Some of Tait's versions carry the name "Kispaklauti," an old spelling of Gispaxlo'ots. Eli's father John Tait was of this tribe, as was John's father Timothy Tait. Sydney Campbell was Kispokloats on his father's side also. ("Kispokloats" is the older spelling; and is found on a few of Eli Tait's "good luck" totems, see elsewhere for more discussion.) The legend or hereditary story associated with the pole is now know (see story Told by the Totem), to be one associated with the Gispaxlo'ots of Port Simpson, and thus one that came with the Metlakatlans from Canada. (according to Viola Garfield, and discussed in "The Wolf ad the Raven") It is noteworthy that there does not appear to be a full-size version of this pole anywhere; so the making of thousands of models of it, by all the Metlakatlan carvers, can be seen as an attempt to perpetuate the crests that were being suppressed elsewhere; a small effort to continue the heritage of their ancestors. As far as the specific way these crests, the Eagle/Salmon Bear: it has been noted, by C.S, a gentleman and scholar, that there are some model totems that appear to be part good-luck totem and part Chief Kian's. Reflecting on this, it has occurred to me that one possible theory for the style of the Good Luck Totem could be that it is a combination of the motifs from Chief Kian's totem and Chief Johnson's totem. Chief Johnson's totem was erected in 1901; Kian's or Kyan's around 1897. But one can imagine that the carvers in the new land, having left all totems of their ancestors behind, might take the new Johnson totem and the Kian totem as models (both are Tongass Tlingit poles)--not only making replicas of these, but also using the motifs on the tradisional pole of the Gispaxlo'ots, the "Good luck totem." A detailed comparison of Eli Tait's carvings of the good luck totem and the Kian totem with the original Kian pole is quite revealing. There are some major parallels; even the chest-face of the Good Luck eagle appears, in part, on the Kian model (and it is fully present on the original, including the quirky mouth) and also the nine dots on the legs. It is interesting that a "good luck" legend is apparently associated with the original Kian pole. In addition, the human face that is often found added to the bottom of the Good Luck totem may be seen as corresponding to that of Spirit-woman on the Johnson pole; Tait's model of the Johnson pole shows two painted slash marks on each of her cheeks, and the added face on a Clyde Boyd "Good Luck" totem also shows these slash marks, strengthening the idea that this figure too may represent Spirit-Woman, and be based on the Johnson pole. The steps from Kian to Good Luck are very few: drop the top bird; change the second bird slightly and delete the wings; modify and speckle the bottom figure (it has to change from a wolf to a bear, so we must still seek the source of that speckled bear). Then add a salmon, taken from Chief Johnson's pole. It is still a good question as to who first did this; in particular, the sideways placement and pierced carving of the salmon on the Good Luck pole was quite a feat of imagination, if it had not been copied from an existing full-size pole (and even then, one would want to know who had made the full-size one). Who was the innovator? It would be good to take a detailed look at the "variants" of the Good Luck pole, as done by various artists; who shows the most departure, and the most innovation, from the basic design? Whose were earliest? Are there any dated Good Luck totems that pre-date the real Kian and Johnson poles? (The Sheldon Jackson Museum collection includes a carving of a "speckled bear with faces in the paws.") Note that in the Tait photo, the totem poles shown are all only slight variants; there are model Kian's and Johnson's; there are many regular Good Luck Totems; there are some Good Luck style with the added face at the bottom. That's about the extent of the variation. In the Mather photo, there is the Good Luck with added lower face; models of Kian, Johnson, and several other real poles; and several poles that are entirely unrelated to the Good Luck series. In some ways, the totems shown with Sydney Cambell show the most interesting combination of features, and the most variation from the norm. Only the two largest are clearly visible, but on these are seen, in varying order: the eagle as on the Good Luck totem; a similar but more owl-like bird; a wolf that looks very much like the one on Chief Kian's pole, and a speckled bear similar to the Good Luck bear, but here instead of faces in his paws he has a salmon, held upright. The carving style of the bears is more like Tait's than Mather's, showing the more elegant sideways placement of the eyes, and the "break" in the snout typical of Tait. If we had to judge by only these three photos, Campbell would seem to be the most innovative, and his poles show the most obvious mix of Kian and Johnson features---even including the owl. Further, Campbell was considerably older than the other known carvers; he was born in 1837 or 40, died 1934; so he is about the only one who possibly had carved before coming to New Metlakatla |
