PREFACE xi

membering, and rendering of songs; in 1923 it was found that
Jim Pollard (see Plate 4) alone had a sufficiently accurate
memory to act as announcer. As more and more men wished
to perform, he found himself unable to keep the texts in order,
and asked me to join the choir as prompter. I held this position
for the rest of the winter, taking a full part in every ceremony.
Although the old customs had broken down enormously, this
actual participation enabled me to understand the winter
dances in a manner impossible from mere description. Later
on, phonographic records were made of many of the songs used,
thus preserving specimens of the fast disappearing music.

My intimate association with the Bella Coola enabled me
to collect the material here presented which, having been veri-
fied and reverified, I have every reason to believe is correct.
Nevertheless, it has one serious defect owing to the lack of
acuteness of my ear. J found it almost impossible to differen-
-tiate certain sounds; in fact, I sometimes recorded the same
word with different spellings. Consequently, I cannot guar-
antee the accuracy of the native terms used in this monograph.
Moreover, I was entirely unable to analyze proper names,
which would have been of great value in understanding the
attributes of supernatural beings.

When writing up field notes, the realization of my own
inefficiency in the recording of sounds tempted me to rely upon
the spelling of Boas whenever possible. After considerable
hesitation, I rejected this course for the following reason.
Ethnological work falls into two categories, descriptive and
comparative. This monograph is of the former type, based on
actual work in the field and the inclusion of any material from
another source would destroy its originality. I believe that a
descriptive work should consist exclusively of the author’s own
research, and I have adhered to this principle in spite of the
advantages which would have followed the use of Boas’ lingu-
istic terms. For the same reason no attempt has been made to
compare the customs and beliefs of the Bella Coola with those
of other tribes, although this would undoubtedly have shed