142 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

The singers have also composed a song for each of the dnuyex
and these too must be practised, while the men dance or remain
still as they think fit. Since no uninitiated are present the
affair is purely a rehearsal. The words of each of these songs
is of the manner in which the patron helped X to survive his
ordeal. By this time it is late and the kukusiut disperse after
the usual meal and admonitions of the marshals.

The next day, gotfm, the carpenters assemble early in the
morning to start work. Since X is entitled to portray any of
the supernatural beings who are companions of his patron in
the land above, it follows that there is wide variation in his
choice of masks to be manufactured. The principal super-
natural beings are always shown, and any animals, since all
are supernatural, can likewise be displayed. As usual, a few
kukusiut are invited at midday to share the meal provided for
the carpenters. The number of masks to be provided is often
so great that two days or more are necessary for their com-
pletion, in which case no ceremony takes place on the night
which would normally be gottm; the kukusiut merely gather
and again practise their songs.

But the day after is gotfum. At dusk the kukusiut are called
in for a final rehearsal of the songs, and then a summons is sent
to the uninitiated, who have been washing and beautifying
themselves in eager anticipation. In Kimsquit it is customary
to hang some of the masks on a sloping pole behind the fire and
the sight of these amazes the non-members. First the singers
beat out the song of one of the women mourners and she dances
in time to it, while the heralds near the door keep up a steady
stream of remarks, encouraging the woman to perform yet
more strenuously and to have no modesty about shaking her
breasts. Then another of the women dances, followed in suc-
cession by the third and fourth if that is the number who sang
the mourning songs. Next the dmuyex perform, each in suc-
cession accompanying the song composed for him. Now comes
the central feature of the evening, the performance of X him-
self. As the singers strike up the shaman’s song which he is