264 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

accepted the invitation. The house was so crowded that the
uninitiated in front were driven forwards by pressure from the
rear until they encroached on the space behind the fire. An
elderly kusiut decided that this was a good occasion to frighten
the visitors, so he whispered to a recently admitted member of
the society:

“You fall down, and I will explain that it is because you
have attracted to yourself the spirit of an uninitiated person.”

Under most circumstances this would have terrified the
uninitiated, as indeed it did the majority. But the leader of
the a’alk, perhaps excited by the dance in which he had just
taken part, refused to be impressed. He knew that the
kukusiut would threaten to throw the spirit of the offender
into the fire, irrevocably compelling the owner to follow it, but
he was not afraid.

“Tet us see your powers,” he said. “Go ahead with your
throwing of a spirit into the fire.”

The £usiut responsible for the scheme knew that it must be
carried out, and only hoped that, as the spirit was about to be
burnt, the owner would offer to pay for its return, as usually
happened in such cases. He instructed the fallen kustut to
proceed and the latter rose, fumbled at the back of his neck,
as if drawing something forth, and thrust the “something”
into the fire. Breathless with fear, the uninitiated waited for
someone to be forced into the flames. But nothing happened.
It was a dangerous situation for the kukusiut, and as the only
means of maintaining their reputation, they began to whisper
that the man must have accidentally extracted his own spirit
instead of the alien one. The heralds repeated what was being
said, and the guests watched to see what would happen. The
unfortunate kusiut was surrounded by a group of his fellows
and thrust into the fire, although their acting was sufficiently
good to make it appear that they were trying to check him.
By these drastic means the kukusiut were able to add to the
prestige of their society, though it is said that the a’a/k leader