2
= SUR iene

214 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

leave their bedrooms, but peer curiously and fear‘ully around
the edge of the boards. Finally the party returns to X’s house,
whence the uninitiated hear the sound of sticks being beaten
in a frenzied manner, but without the usual rhythmic con-
clusion. Each kusiut beats as he likes, because it is an affair
of the dead with whom all things are queer and unnatural.
The ghosts wash and take their places in X’s house where
the singers are working on anew song. The words, as if spoken
by the dancer, describe the land of the dead; how everything
is green there; how the river flows from west to east so that the
sun travels upstream; how the shades wished to make him a
chief, and deceived him by not giving proper presents; how he
visited the various towns scattered along the river, finding the
bone in one of the houses; and finally how the dead told him
of any mistakes in ritual that had been committed in the Bella
Coola villages, in Kimsquit, or in Ta/-io. This last is, of course,
common knowledge, but the Ghost dance is the only kusiut
ceremonial in which such information is used in the text of a
song. Details are given, but the wording is so ambiguous that
when the uninitiated later hear the song they do not compre-
hend its meaning. Since the ukusiut have concealed the error
referred to, the necessity for veiled allusions is apparent.
Everything connected with the Ghost dance is carried out in
the reverse order; thus, the reference of X to presents which he
did not receive is merely an intimation that he will presently
bestow gifts on the singers and the other kukusiut who have
assisted him. The wordless chorus of the tune consists of
'aiye axwaia, a phrase said to be the same for Ghost dances
among all the coastal tribes. The singers practise this song
while the audience listens attentively; then it is sung vigour-
ously by all, while X dances. His style differs from that of all
other kukusiut; first one arm and then the other is kept ex-
tended, downwards, at an angle in front of the body with the
forefinger pointing to the ground. This method of dancing is
the prerogative of all Ghost dancers and provides a variation
to the somewhat monotonous performances on different