Northwest Coast clans owned crests because they owned the stories behind them

Evidence

For the 10-year-old (Ages 9–11): Among Northwest Coast peoples, stories were a form of PROPERTY: a clan owned the right to display a crest (killer whale, raven, eagle, bear) on its totem poles and ceremonial regalia precisely BECAUSE it owned the story of how an ancestor encountered that being. To tell another clan’s story or use its crest without right was a serious offense. This is a striking idea — that stories are owned, inherited, and confer rights and identity. — , A Year of World Stories, 10018

Categorization

• XREF: Directly connects to the Akan idea that all stories belong to Anansi (Week 9) and to modern concepts of copyright and intellectual property.
• SEED: The claim that stories confer property rights and identity could anchor an essay on indigenous intellectual property versus Western copyright regimes.