in diameter and from sixty to eighty feet long. It must
require the united strength of many men to roll such a log into
position. Upon the framework thus constructed split cedar boards
are fastened, and the building is practically finished. Such a house
is usually occupied by a number of families. Upon Queen Charlotte
Islands there is a dwelling of this kind large enough to hold seven
hundred Indians.

The fronts of the houses are ornamented with figures hewn out of
wood. These represent men, birds and animals and have a religious
significance. Sometimes these figures are mounted upon the tops
of tall poles.

The "totem pole" is a most interesting affair. Figure 66 represents
the pole at Alert Bay, east of Vancouver Island. It is one of the
finest upon the north coast. The figures of animals and birds carved
upon it represent the mythological ancestors of the family or clan
in front of whose abode the pole stands. The Indians often hunt
similar animals to-day, but believe that their ancestors had
supernatural power which raised them above the ordinary creatures.

The Chinook Indians live upon the lower Columbia. The name "chinook"
has been given to a warm, dry wind which blows down the eastern
slope of the Rocky Mountains and out upon the Great Plains. This
wind is so named because it blows from the direction of the Chinook
Indians' country. The "Chinook" jargon is a strange sort of mixed
language with which nearly all the tribes of the Northwest are
familiar. It is formed of words from the Chinook language, together
with others from different Indian languages, French-Canadian, and
English. Through the influence of the trappers and traders the
"Chinook" has come into wide use, so that by means of it conversation
can be carried on with tribes speaking different languages.

[Illustration: FIG. 66.--TOTEM POLE

Alert Bay, British Columbia]

Although there are so many different tribes, with great diversities
of language, throughout the West, they were probably all derived
from the same source. As we go north the similarity between the
coast Indians and the inhabitants of eastern Asia becomes more
noticeable. It seems almost certain that these American Indians
originally came across the narrow strip of water separating Asia
from America.

We do not know how long the Indians have occupied our country,
but it has probably been several thousand years. Some of the main
groups have undoubtedly been here longer than othe