150 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

tells them that he wants a mask made to represent his own
face. The purpose for which it is destined is not mentioned,
although there is no reason why the workmen, all of them
kukusiut, should not know, as they actually do. X blackens
his face a trifle, making it easier to depict, and lies down as
model for the carpenters, who at once start chiselling masks.
Each works independently, and usually finishes one, or even
two or three, in a day. Five or six carpenters are labouring
simultaneously, and when the first group of masks has been
finished the marshals, and perhaps one or more influential
chiefs as well, come to inspect the handicraft. The masks are
laid out in a glade of the forest and the marshals make their
criticisms.

“No. The nose is too long,” they say of one mask, or,

“The cheeks are too full,” with regard to another.

It is seldom that one of the first group of completed masks
meets with their approval, but the next morning the carpenters
try once more, with X again lying down as model. In the
evening the marshals again examine the results. Hundreds
(probably an exaggeration) are often made before one is found
which satisfies every requirement, and if the carpenters fail to
produce a realistic portrait, the rite cannot be carried out. The
unsuccessful attempts are carefully hidden in the forest lest
they should be seen by an uninitiated person. When Onixwalt-
cua performed the rite, it was near the end of September before
one of the carpenters succeeded in making a satisfactory model.

When the wooden representation has been completed, there
is no further doubt about holding the ceremony, and one of the
marshals, acting for X, summons the singers and other influ-
ential kukusiut to the secret meeting place for a discussion of
preliminaries.”° At this conference X tells the carpenters what
he proposes to give them as presents for the work they have
done for him; the concept of “pay” is entirely lacking although
itis an essential part of the transaction. The singers are told

7Several details that apply to all kusiotem are here included which were inad-
vertently omitted by informants in describing the Stomach-Cutting dance.