WINTER CEREMONIAL DANCES 91

songs are sung, all that are needed when a Cannibal does not
go to the land above.

On the following day, gothm, the masks are manufactured
and the ritual proceeds in the normal manner. In the evening
the uninitiated are invited to watch the dances, at which X is
the first to perform, lengthening his face and protruding his
lips to their greatest extent in order to frighten his beholders.

The ritual of the next evening, nebusam, corresponds to the
usual pattern. Before the entry of the uninitiated, X has con-
cealed himself so that nothing can detract from their awe at
sight of the masked figures. Hguntdm stands in state behind
the fire, sometimes announcing his own name, while 4y0°/ih-
woisaix moves to and fro, adding to the solemnity of the occa-
sion with her explanations, echoed by the heralds. Algotteos,
represented with blood-stained lips, moves around the fire,
restrained by the three Holders, and the audience is told that
this is how they act in the land above. When the guests have
gazed sufficiently on these marvels they are sent away, and
the masks are burnt in the usual manner, accompanied by the
gentle singing of one of X’s songs. Late at night a number of
kukusiut go with X to the sidewalk outside his house, where
they expel his call by pressing upwards with their hands against
his stomach and calling hoi#.

For the rest of the winter X conducts himself in the manner
of any kusiut who has danced.

Although similar in outlines, the prerogatives enjoyed by
Cannibals differ so considerably that no clear picture of the
rites can be obtained without detailed descriptions of several.
The following is an account of a dance carried out by Zutzulimut,
a biting Cannibal of Nusga/st. It was obtained from one of
the marshals who, of course, understood the details of every
performance. The origin of the name is unknown, although
the informant believed that it had been created in this world
by the chiefs in consequence of the manner in which a shaman
ancestor of the dancer had been in the habit of biting people