a

230 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

below a rapids. Care is taken that the uninitiated do not ob-
serve these arrangements. About noon on zebusam the heralds
go to every house with a cry:

“Come to watch the kusiut catch the supernatural one in
the river.” :

The uninitiated are wise enough to remain within their
houses as the kukusiut troop down to the bank of the river.
Presently X appears, clad in the usual ceremonial costume.
In he dives, as if in pursuit of the dark shape which can be seen
swirling to and fro in the water. Non-members, watching
from the background, are amazed to see what appears to be
a struggle, followed by the emergence of X clutching an otter
in his arms. They are too far away to perceive that it ts
merely a dummy, nor do they know that a kuszut has assisted
the performer by cutting the rope at the proper time. As X
reaches shore with his burden the kukuszut women drone.
Forcing his way through the throng of his associates, the per-
former goes to his house where the uninitiated presently hear
the frenzied beating of sticks repeated four times. The dummy
is carefully concealed in the back-room so that it can be used
if necessary on a later occasion.

As X comes ashore, water is splashed in all directions from
the dummy and often dampens several of the kukusiut. Any-
one to whom this happens is expected to give his clothes to a
herald, and a man of chief-like disposition never hesitates to
do so; in fact, he welcomes this opportunity of displaying his
generous nature.

It is probable that a number of masked figures appear on
the evening of edusam, but detailed information is lacking.
It might be added that a question as to whether the catching
of this otter had any influence on the ability of X as an otter
hunter was regarded by the informant as highly humorous. —

THE OCTOPUS DANCE

In the beginning of time Sinuxet? of Kimsquit married a
Bella Bella woman who brought as part of her dowry a kusiut