ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA.

4. Lolo’tlalatl.

5. Hai/alikyalatl.

6. Yia‘iatalatl.

7. Pa’qalalatl, a female conjurer, who has to sooth the Ha’mats’a and
keep him from using his whistles.

8. Wa/tanum. Those who join for the first time the T's’étsd’éh'a, w.¢.,
novices of the lowest grade.

Among this group the Ha’mats’a, on returning from the woods, dances
four nights with wreaths of hemlock branches; the following four nights
(fifth to eighth) with no ornaments whatever; then four nights (ninth to
twelfth) with ornaments of red cedar-bark. He wears eight bundles over
his forehead which are called ky’a’siwé, and four on each side. The fol-
lowing night (thirteenth), after he has finished dancing, one of the
key’ a’ stwé is taken off, which is publicly announced onthe following morning.
The fourteenth night two more of these bundles are taken away, the
next, two more; and finally, the sixteenth, one more, which is also publicly
announcedeach morning. The seventeenth night a black line is drawn over
his face from the left side of his forehead to the right side of his chin,
and then he rises to bite people. Later on he is excited by mistakes
made in songs, and by Lold’tlalatl songs.

The gentes are suspended during the T’s’étsd'ék'a, and societies take
their place. The members of the 7s’étsi/éka are called Kva’ k-ana’s
(‘stickshoes’ ?). If a dancer makes a mistake he is tied up in a blanket,
thrown into the fire, and roasted alive.!

The following customs belong to the Kwakiutl group, but are probably
more or less in common to all those tribes.

In order to become a member of any one of these societies the novice
must be initiated by the spirit of the grade he intends to occupy. But
when first entering the society the novice must take the lowest degree,
from which he may gradually rise. A number of these grades are the
property of certain gentes, so that anyone who is a member of the gens
may acquire it, provided he finds someone who is willing to give the
T's’étsa/ék-a for him. For instance, the Ha/ilikyilatl belongs to the gens
Haai/lakyemaé of the K’’d/méyué. Asa rule, however, the right to be-
come a member of the respective grade of the society is acquired by
marriage, after the consent of the council has been obtained. After tbe
marriage has been consummated the woman’s father must give up his
dance to his son-in-law, as described in my last report (p. 142). Ifa man
purchases a wife on behalf of his brother he may take the woman’s father’s
dance.

The father of the novice gives a feast, at which the young man
dances, and then retires to the woods, where he must prepare himself by
fasting and bathing for the encounter with the spirit. The spirits
appear only to clean men ; others are not likely to see them, and if they
did the spirits would kill them. Sometimes the novice disappears sud-
denly during the feast, and is supposed to have flown away. After he
has been initiated by the spirit of the grade he wishes to acquire he
returns to the village, and his whistle or his voice is heard in the woods.
Then tne yé2'winila, who is to give the Ts'étsi/ck a, calls the whole tribe
to the first dance, which is called kikyi'Inala. The yé'winila has to give

| T have no trustworthy information regarding the rank of dances of the He’iltsuk:.

They call the Ha’mats’a, Tani's.

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