36 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

some ashes which he puts into his mouth and chews. Of course
he masticates only the ashes but X, unaware of this, is con-
cerned for the fate of his spirit. At last it is restored to him
and he is told that the s#ki has altered it from that of an
uninitiated person to that of a kusiut.' The psychological
effect of this act on the mind of a young man who has not had
time to adjust himself to his new knowledge and who is firmly
convinced of the powers of the siki is tremendous.

The first sifi now instructs two kukusiut sitting on either
side of X to lie down to serve as a seat for him. They do so,
irrespective of who they may be. If the novice is still ignorant
of the full mysteries of the society, the s#kz announces that he
is going to get a call for X. He walks around the house, peer-
ing here and there as if seeking something, and then pounces
as if he had caught an object between his hands. A whistle
is heard, such as the novice knows accompanies the coming of
every call; but he does not know that the noise is made by
compressing a goat or bear bladder-whistle between two sticks
held beneath the armpit. This is the “mystery” of the strange
noises.

“Do you know what makes that noise?” ask the two kuku-
siut on whom X is sitting.

If X denies all knowledge, the mystery is explained to him,
and he is warned that he will be killed if he communicates the
information to uninitiated persons. If he answers that he
knows the cause, he is asked who has told him. Perhaps some
lad has been peeking and has told X of what he has seen; in
that case the over-inquisitive youth is at once initiated to
prevent further leakage of information. As soon as X has
learnt the great secret he moves to one side and the singers
take their positions behind the fire. His father, or whoever it
may be from whom he is to obtain his name, then stands up
and unfolds its origin, telling which supernatural being is his
patron, and the locality of his repository. X sometimes re-

_ "This part of the rite has been omitted for so many years that many of the
middle-aged kukusiut have forgotten it.