WINTER CEREMONIAL DANCES 231

dance with Octopus as patron. This was first used by
Luiqwan-i, a relative of Stnuxet?, and has since been the pre-
rogative of the owner of the name, whom it will be convenient
to term X. Being of foreign origin, there is no repository at
Kimsquit; in fact, there is none even in Bella Bella itself
where the kusiut society is believed to lack both localized
power and ancestral authority.°° The Octopus dance is thus
the only one without a Tepository; as far as could be learnt it
is not performed in Bella Coola. In Bella Bella the original
rite was connected both with the sisaok and kusiut organiza-
tions, but in Kimsquit with the latter alone.

When X wishes to dance, which may be at any time during
the ceremonial season, he consults the marshals and picks a
suitable date. As this draws near, the carpenters are re-
quested to make an octopus, sometimes using a real skin as basis.
On the day that the call comes, the dummy is placed in the
water of the fiord, close to shore. Suddenly the heralds raise
the cry that a supernatural being is coming to X; the startled
uninitiated flee from his house and the kukusiut assemble.
Presently the dancer rushes forth, followed by a band of his
fellows, and plunges into the water. Fom a distance non-
members can see arms and legs flying to and fro, blood flows
as the kukusiut struggling in the shallows strike each other’s
noses, and they have no hesitation in believing the heralds who
report that a fight is taking place with a writhing octopus. X
at last bears his booty ashore, amid the droning of the women.

That night the uninitiated are called to X’s house where
the dummy octopus, guarded by the dancer and several other
kukusiut, is placed behind the fre. Hidden strings have been
fastened to its arms so that it moves and seems to be alive.
One of the singers takes a baton and beats time, stops, and all
the kukusiut call out i---. This is repeated four times,
accompanied, on the last repetition, by the return of the
octopus whence it came. This is done by palming the body
from sight, but of course the uninitiated do not know this. A

**This is, of course, a Bella Coola version.