56 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

walk backwards, or on their heads. Mortals sometimes see
ghosts, but the apparition seals their lips so that they cannot
recount their experiences. Death invariably follows. Shamans
and other mortals endowed with great powers have been able
to penetrate to the realm below, and the knowledge of condi-
tions there has been derived from their accounts. Food is
scarce in that land and ghosts are often driven up to earth to
search for it. Even a small morsel is enough to satisfy their
hunger, so that mortals throw fragments on the fire for the
benefit of their dead relatives. If a person drop a crumb it is
because a ghost has hooked it away from his hand; no wise
Bella Coola ever picks up such a morsel, knowing that to do
so would offend the hungry spectre. Deceased beings are
generally feared, although instances are known in which they
have shown kindness, particularly to their relatives. Like so
many supernatural beings, they figure most prominently as
patrons of kusiut dancers (see vol. II, chap. 1). Further infor-
mation concerning them is contained in the description of life
after death.

Not even a complete list of beings would exhaust the
beliefs of the Bella Coola concerning the supernatural, since
any unexpected visitation is attributed by them to this source.
For example, when Mackenzie appeared, the first white man
with whom the Bella Coola had come in contact, they thought
that he must be from another world. Some thought him a
dead man returned to life, and others considered him a super-
natural visitor from above who had fallen down to earth, as
did their first ancestors. The latter view prevailed, and it was
ultimately decided that he must be Qomcua, a supernatural
being resident aloft of whom little was known. This name was
applied to him, and it has since been given to all white men.'®

18Although it was in 1793 that Mackenzie passed down the Bella Coola valley,
a number of stories of that event were still remembered’ in 1922. What most
impressed the Bella Coola was his ability to make fire quickly. One man, now living,
stated that he had heard from his mother that her father had spoken with him.
Traditions of this type are valuable as reflecting the interests of a people, but their
historical accuracy may well be doubted. One Kimsquit man, for example,

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