BACKGROUND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 723

ish wintered in earth-covered log structures known as pit houses. Depressions left by these
ancient structures can still be seen in places such as Keatley Creek, alongside the Fraser
River. Within the Salish Nation, four distinct tribes have been identified: the Lillooet, the
Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), the Okanagan, and the Shuswap. The Shuswap occupied the
largest area, with a territory that extended from the Fraser River to the Rocky Mountains;
they were the only Salish who crossed the Rockies to hunt buffalo on the plains.
TOTEM POLES
Traveling through British Columbia, you can't help but notice all the totem poles
decorating the landscape. Totem poles are made of red (or occasionally yellow) cedar
painted black, red, blue, yellow, and white, with colored pigment derived from min-
erals, plants, and salmon roe. They are erected as validation or public record or doc-
umentation of an important event. Six types of poles are believed to have evolved
in the following order: house post (an integral part of the house structure), mortuary
(erected as a chief's or shaman's grave post, often with the bones or ashes in a box at
the top of the pole), memorial (commemorating special events), frontal (a memori-
al or heraldic pole), welcome, and shame poles. None is an object of worship; each
tells a story or history of a person's clan or family. The figures on the pole represent
family lineage, animals, or a mythical character.
Since 1951, when a government ban on potlatch ceremonies (of which the raising
of totem poles is an integral part) was lifted, the art form has been revived. Over the
years, many totem poles have been moved from their original locations. Both his-
toric and more modern poles can be viewed in British Columbia. The Haida were
renowned for their totem poles; many totem villages, long since abandoned, remain
on the remote southern tip of the archipelago. Of these, Ninstints is regarded as the
world's best example of an ancient Haida totem village. More modern totems can be
found at Stanley Park, Vancouver; Thunderbird Park, Victoria; Alert Bay, Cor-
morant Island; and Kitwancool, at the south end of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway.
The Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver also has an excellent collection.
The Kootenay
The Kootenay (other common spellings include Kootenai, Kootenae, and Kutenai) were
once hunters of buffalo on the great American plains, but they were pushed westward by