WINTER CEREMONIAL DANCES Ze

though the cost of validating such a prerogative is less than a
potlatch, yet a Cannibal dance, for example, entails consider-
able expenditure, so a man entitled to give such a ceremony
frequently lends his right to another, or it may lie dormant for
generations. Like other loaned prerogatives, failure to return
is a frequent cause of feud. A man frequently gives away a
kusiut name-prerogative, and if he should give away all of
them, he becomes legally an uninitiated. In such a case it is
customary for his wife, or some relative, to give him a new
kustut prerogative, as is likewise the case when a master causes
a slave to be initiated. A name is sometimes given to a person
who resembles a deceased relative of the donor.

(2) 4 Patron, ométuts. Little need be said on this point.
The words of the songs used by the dancer often describe his
patron, always couched in mystical terms for the benefit of
the uninitiated. If the supernatural associate performs any
type of dance at the gathering above, so can his protégé per-
form on this earth, otherwise his power is limited to singing
of the being. If an individual inherits prerogatives with the
same patron from two different relatives, he can merge these
to give a composite dance, with consequent additional power.
Greedy individuals sometimes illegally add features to which
they are not entitled, a cause of bitter feelings. Or one indi-
vidual may own several prerogatives with different patrons.
Although most kukusiut have only one, yet two or three are
hot uncommon and one case is known of a man with six dis-
tinct patrons. The uninitiated believe that from any one of
these may come the call giving him the power to perform.

(3) 4 Repository. In this subterranean shelter his name
remains, guarded by 4nolikwotsaix. An individual with sev-
eral prerogatives has a repository for each.

Although the £ukusiut are aware that much of their ritual
is deception, it is clear that they believe in the supernatural
origin of their rites, and that their ancestors actually had the
abilities which their descendants of today imitate. In time