224 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

dance of Nodkxnum is omitted owing to the large expenditure
required, X must sing, without a call, in conjunction with the
Wil-a dancer. In this case also the details are lacking.

Likewise at the winter solstice, when the tarrying 4/guntam
at last enters Nusqulxwaista to greet the waiting supernatural
kukusiut, it is incumbent on his protégé to perform in his
honour below. The singers are always ready with a new song
for the occasion, and in the evening his fellows assemble in his
house to learn it. X wears the usual ceremonial collar, but he
lacks the awe-inspiring qualities of a kusiut who has had a call.
When the song has been sufficiently practised, the uninitiated
are brought in to listen to it and to watch the dancing of X> Ae
the conclusion of the performance they are given a little food,
provided by X, which they carry away while the kukustui
remain to eat at their ease and listen to the admonitions of the
marshals. It is probable that the ritual carried out at the
beginning of the ceremonial season is identical with the above.
One old man stated that long ago it was customary to dance
in the same manner at the summer solstice; this might be
expected, but confirmation was unobtainable.

Like the protégé of Thunder, X is sometimes called upon
to perform during the non-ceremonial season. But whereas a
Thunder dancer acts when his patron is apparent by peals of
sound, X must do so when his patron is invisible through an
eclipse.%* The ritual is almost identical with that already de-
scribed for a Thunder dancer so nothing but additional details
need be inserted. X visits every house shaking a rattle, which
is not the case with Thunder dancers. After his circuit of the
village, the kukusiut gather in his house where the singers are
composing a new song describing the phenomenon. The words
explain that Eclipse, the supernatural being Nudsetx™, has _
blocked or destroyed the path of the Sun, and add how disas-
trous it would be if the Sun could not recover its way. Later
on, the uninitiated are called in to watch X’s dance which, like

The Bella Coola term both for “eclipse” and the being responsible is Nugsedx”
which also means “‘A Fire That Has Died Out.”