48 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

X is supposed to be gazing constantly to the west, watching
for another sight of Nodkxnum. With the aid of a friend, X
arranges his eagle tail head-dress on a box so that it projects
above the wall of the platform as if he were sitting within. The
uninitiated understand that X is watching, and the motionless
feathers confirm their belief. Meanwhile X remains hidden in
the back-room, never leaving the house except when necessary,
and then only under cover of night.

On the fourth day after his first vision, X stands up and
cries out:

Yupdailx, ‘The Point.”

The significance is that X sees Nodkxynum as he appears
around the first point. A herald is at once sent out. First he
repeats loudly the exact words used, then departs to call the
kukusiut to X’s house. When they have taken their places the
singers beat out a new song previously composed, the second
for X. The theme describes how Nodgkxnim is rounding the
first promontory, in his craft which is often likened to a cloud
or a flock of birds. This they practise, before carrying sound-
ing-boards and drums to the lowest house in the village, where
the singers and a number of kukusiut take up their stations.
When all is ready X enters, the women utter their droning cry,
and, to the accompaniment of the beating of time and the
singing of his new song, he dances around the fire. This same
procedure is carried out in every house of the village, working
from the bottom upwards. Finally all return to X’s house
where they receive food and the usual admonitions from a
marshal. Then they disperse. This is about II a.m.

X again climbs to the platform where his head-dress is
arranged as if he were sitting constantly gazing towards the
approaching Nodkxnim. For four days he remains hidden,
and on the morning of the fifth he again cries out:

Yupd4ilx.

This time it signifies that the supernatural one has rounded
a second promontory. The same ritual is repeated, the calling
by the herald, the meeting in X’s house, and the procession to