WINTER CEREMONIAL DAN CES 263

with such powers that they killed one another in their per-
formances. Consequently, they decided to dance only in the
winter months, and merely to imitate the actions which had
been previously carried out.

There are other traditions, probably with an historical
basis, describing conflicts with the a’alk. The Bella Coola say
that long, long ago there were not enough kusiut names for
more than the old people to be admitted to the society, and
that though members were regarded as having supernatural
powers, yet the a’a/k, confident in their numbers and strength,
used frequently to assail the supremacy of the kukusiut. On
one occasion, when the latter had prepared an elaborate feast
of smoked goat flesh for themselves, the a’alé collected their
weapons and demanded a share of the feast. The kukusiut,
furiously angry, felt compelled to yield, though later they took
revenge through the destruction wrought by many Cannibals
and Scratchers when frenzied. It js said that even recently
if the kukusiut did not invite the a’alk to one of their dances,
they were always careful to placate them by sending half of the
food as a present.

Sometimes the a’alk, collectively, were bold enough to kill
a kusiut, particularly if something had gone amiss in a dance
house. Or other motives might be strong enough to outweigh
respect for a member of the society. On one occasion a chief,
who was not a member of the society, was told that his wife,
who was, had beén in the habit of prowling off at night with a
Cannibal. The jealous husband prepared his bear-spear and
slew the Cannibal when next he entered his house during a
frenzied rampage of the village. Kukusiut, both from that
village and others in the vicinity, combined to cause the mur.
derer’s death with the aid of a member of the society who was
a professional killer.

Success did not always come to the kukusiut in quarrels
between members of the two societies. Long ago, the a’alé
were invited to a gothm in a village in the upper Bella Coola
valley. One of their own dances was taking place, but they