UNUSUAL INDIAN RELIC ON EXHIBIT AT PEABODY

An eleven foot totem pole effigy of Atlao, nicknamed "King Siwash," nineteenth century chief of the Ahousat Indian Tribe, located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, was placed on public view Saturday in the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.

Good Old Siwash

Chief Atlao, alias Siwash, was noted for his prowess as a whaler, the claim being asserted that one summer he brought in five of the creatures. He is represented, with full Russian moustachies, as holding a replica of the cedar ball which the chief used in testing out the strength of his tribesmen. When he brought in a whale, the Indians formed a circle around the chief, and he hurled the ball at them. When any brave dropped it, he was "out." The last man remaining got an especially large slice of the catch as prize.

Poor Nose

At Atlao's back is a roughly carved bear, hugging its nose. Authorities are not agreed as to what this represents. It is a symbol either of man's rise from the bear, or of Atlao's spirit, supposed by his tribe to resemble a bear's.

Amphibious Atlao

The totem pole was intended primarily as a support for the cross beams of the tribe's Big House. This building fell down in 1910, and the statue was left undisturbed until noted by Mr. Arnold. At that time the Indians refused to part with the effigy, but later, according to the museum plague, a missionary persuaded the tribe to hurl the huge pole into the sea. It was subsequently washed as here on Vancouver Island, where Mr. Arnold found it and had it shipped to Maine.