68 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

houses. The night’s ceremony concludes with a meal and the
admonitions of the marshals.

No further description is needed of the rites taking place
the next day, that of nusiutalsap, when a second song is com-
posed, again dealing with X’s patrons, and wood for masks is
cut. The evening’s ceremonial does not last as long as that
of isuxtamem.

The next day, gothm, the carpenters work at the masks,
some of which must be finished by nightfall. Late in the
evening both kukusiut and uninitiated prepare themselves
by painting and washing; at this time the young men provide
pans of warm water for their female friends. As already de-
scribed, the kukusiut are the first to enter, followed by the
uninitiated when all is ready. In Kimsquit they see the masks
of at least some of X’s supernatural patrons suspended by
cords of dyed cedar-bark from a sloping pole that stretches
from the floor at the base of the back-room to the cross-beam
behind the fire. It is said, although the informant could not
guarantee the truth of the statement, that long ago masks had
to be displayed at this dance, though it was optional at others.
It is a serious and sacred time, one at which frivolity is quite
out of place, and the marshals are in readiness to punish any
offender. One very old informant told of having seen a mar-
shal strike down and kill a kusiut from another house for
holding intercourse with a woman on this night. The heralds
stay near the door, repeating and enlarging on the remarks of
the marshals; the fluency of these functionaries always adds
appreciably to the success of any Bella Coola rite. On this
occasion X and the dancer of Nodkxnum must perform, fol-
lowed by those who have danced in former years, according
to the desire of the singers; later in the season, when many
kukustut have performed, the rite may continue almost till
dawn, for all must dance. After the departure of the unini-
tiated the kukusiut eat leisurely, while a marshal addresses
them, commenting on the ritual and, perhaps, asking a man