18 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

others. This differentiated them clearly from all neighbouring
tribes.

B. CerEMoniaL. A member of a secret society in any of
the above towns was accepted as a member in any other one.
A person of another tribe, even if known to belong to a com-
parable society, was treated as an uninitiated person.

C. Ortcin anp Re.icion. The people of Bella Coola,
Tal.io, and Kimsquit felt themselves to be akin through
acceptance of the fact that their ancestors had been created
together in the beginning of time. This marked them off with
great clearness from all other tribes, especially from the Car-
riers of the interior. This belief formed a sentimental and
religious bond of great strength.

NEIGHBOURING TRIBES

It is desirable to describe, briefly, the tribes with which
the Bella Coola came in contact.

THE CARRIERS

East of Bella Coola, amid the mountains of the interior,
roved the Carriers. In summer they often came down to the
river valley to fish or trade for salmon, and in winter they were
sometimes forced by cold and starvation again to visit the
Bella Coola, Bella Bella, or Rivers Inlet people. There wasa
good deal of intermarriage between them and the inhabitants of
the upper valley, so that the wanderers were able to spend the
cold months with relatives. None the less, the Bella Coola
considered these people utterly foreign in habits and beliefs,
and to call a man a “Carrier” was, and still is, a deadly insult.
The Carriers lacked the rich ceremonial life of the coastal
peoples who, therefore, regarded them with scorn and con-
tempt. The presence of a few of the much-despised Carriers
was, however, almost necessary to the correct performance of
the winter dances since they were uninitiated spectators whom
it was necessary to impress and delude.