RELIGION 115

Ceremonial chastity is considered almost a necessity to
hunters, and in former years a man would rarely, if ever, set
out to seek game without fortifying himself by at least several
days of continence followed by washing. In the few cases
known of a female assuming the clothing and activities of a
male, she has been forced to hire a man to sleep with her on
the proper nights before starting to hunt. But hunters are by
no means the only ones to observe ceremonial chastity. Ifa
man wants to build a salmon-weir, it is by this means that he
makes himself strong enough to succeed; if he plays cards,
good fortune is sought in the same fashion. The guests at a
potlatch observe ceremonial chastity so that their host may
not forget them in his distribution of presents, the host, that his
guests may arrive on time. The kustut dancer thus fortifies
himself for the performance of a dangerous ritual. In this way
a man experiences dreams foretelling the future. In every
desire or activity of life, ceremonial chastity is a potent means
of success, not infallible, usually combined with prayer and in
many cases with sacrifice, but a background and accompani-
ment to every means of propitiation. If a man has conspicuous
ill-luck, it is because he has failed to observe ceremonial
chastity; if he succeeds, it is because he has done so. At the
present time there is living in the Bella Coola valley an old
white man who for years has ranged the mountains in search
of gold; he has been unsuccessful, and the Bella Coola believe
that he will never succeed until he observes ceremonial chastity.

The strength which a man may acquire through the prac-
tice of this rite is almost limitless. A man may be ailing on
account of the leaning of his tally post, but, if he energetically
and faithfully observes chastity, it will become straightened,
whether automatically or through the agency of Atguntém is
uncertain. After the termination of a long period of contin-
ence, a man’s spirit is so strong that his friends place their
hands on the back of his neck in order to absorb some of the
power radiating from his spirit. Ancient myths record how
the mere force engendered in a man’s body by lengthy abstin-