206 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

his follower on earth can do the same. The ritual of nebusam
of a Thunder dancer is accordingly identical with that of a
Mystery dancer. In the field an effort was made to obtain
accounts of what had actually occurred at dances rather than
of what should have happened; at the dance of Mystery, pre-
viously described, several of the usual features were omitted,
and these were accordingly left out of the account. They will
now be mentioned in connection with the dance of Thunder,

but the fact must be emphasized that they belong equally to

all Ausiut rites in which the dancer has the prerogative of
showing all supernatural beings, including Thunder.

In Kimsquit the name of the kusiut having the prerogative
of singing of Thunder signifies, “The Roarer,” with reference
to his patron. The native term could not be learnt. It will be
convenient to refer to the dancer as X.

The Thunder dance is of the normal kusiut type in every
respect, so no account need be given of the ceremonial of the
first three days. Many masks are ordered on the night of
nusiutalsap and these are ready early on nebusam. During that
day the expectant uninitiated are excited to see the masked
figure of Ano°likwoisaix emerge from X’s house, accompanied
by a throng of kukusiut who chase all but members of the
society back to their homes. Following them comes Thunder's
herald, 4#xwoldtunum, calling on all to prepare to come to the
dance of Thunder, the leading kusiut of the supernatural
beings. This messenger circles Sonx ‘ to summon the supet-
natural ones to Thunder’s dance, the reason that all can be
shown at X’s ceremonial. Immediately behind Mxwoldtumm
comes T#ogots, the Defamer, protesting that Thunder’s dance
is not worth attending since he, and he alone, is the senior
kusiut of the supernatural ones. Ano°likwotsaix adds her usual |
comments to the remarks of the two masked figures. This
series of invitations and counter-invitations is repeated four
times during the day, to the wonder of the uninitiated who peer
out through chinks in the houses and around corners of the
buildings. Sometimes Axwolétinum and Tiogots pass from