THE ALKATCHO CARRIER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 35”

chief and was expected to pay heavily for it, the amount he of-
fered to pay determining his social standing within the group.
The property, in the form of skins, dentalia shells, items of
clothing, guns, etc., was distributed to all the nEts/ members,
and no return payment was expected. The Tsayu people at one
village, Salmon House, had the following prerogative: if one
of the Tsayu was walking outside and a gust of wind blew off
his hat, another Tsayu member would dash to pick it up, and
be privileged to purchase it at an excessive price. If the hat was
worth five dollars, for example, as much as fifteen dollars would
be offered for it.

The Ravens had this prerogative: a member of the group
climbed up on the roof of the house and cried out, “kaw kaw,”
imitating the sound of the raven. It was then said that the raven
crest mounted on the roof made the cry because it wanted to
smoke. The cry was the signal for all to assemble at the house
of the nEtst chief for a small feast. The chief cut up tobacco and
distributed it to those assembled. He also put some tobacco in a
pipe with a number of stems radiating from it like the spokes
from a wheel hub, from which the guests smoked.

The prerogatives belonging to the Grizzly Bear nEtsi in-
cluded the right to construct a circular door opening in the pot-
latch house. This type of door seems to have had a special sig-
nificance apart from its representation of a bear’s den. In order
to enter the house it was necessary to climb in, the threshold
being raised about four feet from the ground. The men gathered
at the door within the house to laugh at the women as they awk-
wardly tried to enter. In those days women wore only a large
blanket. To avoid exposure some women tried to jump through
feet first with their legs held tightly together. Others scrambled
in head first. Still others were.so embarrassed that they never
ventured into the house. Noble women, however, were supposed
to have walked boldly in disregarding the men. These women
were respected for their boldness, fortified of course by their
social position and ability to potlatch. The missionaries later
forced the Carrier to cut away the threshold.

In a somewhat different category from the Carrier point of
view was the DzEgwanli prerogative, derivative from the Bella