32 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

struggling in fear, to the secret meeting-place. Here the mar-
shals discuss what shall be done with him; some suggest that
he be killed, others a lesser fate, and finally someone advises his
initiation. After apparently due deliberation, this is decided
upon; the slave is told the mysteries of the society and is
warned of the dire fate which will befall him if he tells the
uninitiated of his knowledge. The actual ceremonial rites of
admission do not vary according to the preliminaries used.

Initiation can take place at any time during the kusiut
season. After consulting with the marshals in order to choose
an evening when no other dance is to take place, the relatives
of the neophyte, whom it will be convenient to term X, invite
the kukusiut to their house. Sometimes songs are sung by way
of rehearsal, at other times food is distributed at once. As the
people are eating, one of the marshals stands up to address
them, saying that X’s relatives propose to take him to the
repository of the name —————, so that he may become a
kusiut. X, to whom this may be the first intimation, is called
from his house and taken from the village by several of his
kinsmen, with one or more of the marshals. The kukusiut dis-
perse and tell the uninitiated in the other houses that X has
gone to meet AnoVikwoisaix. His companions hear the news
with mingled envy and thankfulness that they are not to have
this dangerous privilege.

In ancient times X and his guides may actually have pro-
ceeded to his repository, but for several generations at least it
has been customary for the party merely to go to some lonely
spot in the woods for the night. Those accompanying X tell
him as much of the ritual of the society as they think fit, not
forgetting to emphasize the trust put upon him, and the. fate
which will befall him if he should communicate his knowledge.
He is expected to report that he went to the repository where,
lying face downwards on the ground, he saw Ano likwotsaix; in
Kimsquit he is supposed also to see her husband.?

®According to one old Bella Coola a sister of Ano°likwotsaix also remains in
every repository.