WINTER CEREMONIAL DANCES 221

her house while the singers compose a new song. The theme
is of her patron, the young male being, Kwat-iwal-a, “The Big
One.” It describes how he came from above and went far and
near over the earth in lustful pursuit of women, how each
victim fell in love with her seducer so that she followed him in
all his wanderings, how Loon befriended him, and how he
exchanged his blanket for a covering of abalone-shells.

On nusiutélsap when the kukusiut as usual go to the forest,
they bring back not only wood for masks but also the trunk of
a large cedar tree, at which the carpenters work during the two
succeeding days. On nebusam a parade occurs of the super-
natural beings similar to that in the dance of the Supernatural
Charmer, but the masked figures represent women, not men,
of the different coastal tribes. Kwat-iwal.g leads the procession
and pays no more attention to his mistresses than did Sximsx-
imut to her would-be lovers. There is the same licence for lewd
remarks, of which Kwat-iwal-a takes full advantage when he
calls the attention of the young men to his following, and asks
them how many mistresses each has had.

In the evening the uninitiated are called to X’s house where
the first object they see is the tree-trunk, converted by the
carpenters into an enormous bird. Wooden wings and a loon’s
head have been provided and the whole is painted in imitation
of a loon’s plumage. Kwat-iwal-a is in evidence, wearing a
bird disguise. Presently a matting enclosure in one of the rear
corners of the house is thrown open, and the uninitiated see
the throng of his mistresses who rush forth, almost coming to
blows in their eagerness to reach their seducer. Anolikwotsaix
Stands on one side and explains the significance. After the
mock combat has lasted for a few minutes, a Cannibal begins to
growl and the uninitiated hurry out. The ceremonial then
concludes in the usual manner.

This dance differs from all other kusiut rites in one respect,
since the call can come to X several times during a single cere-
monial season. Of course there is no compulsion; she uses
her own discretion as to whether she dance more than once,