270 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

instrument is the drum.! In former times the drum consisted
solely of a box, though recently skin drums have been adopted
from the Carriers. There is usually one singer especially pro-
ficient in using this, though sometimes another takes his place;
all such arrangements are completed during the final rehearsal.
A final decision is also reached as to who shall fill the three
principal parts, sankwoisdm, dliaia, and tsulkum. It is the duty
of the sankwoisdm or leader, to regulate the time; he squats
facing the others, who are grouped in a close semicircle, and
indicates the rhythm by pounding with his stick on the floor.
When a song is to start, he first taps rapidly, then modifies and
regulates it throughout. The leader should be the best mu-
sician among the singers, and the same individual usually
functions on all occasions although a rearrangement is sometimes
necessary. In the centre of the singers sits the Gltaia, announcer,
who must possess a powerful voice. As already mentioned,
every song consists of three parts, each with several sub-
divisions. When the leader has beaten time rapidly to indi-
cate that the singers are ready, the announcer bellows out the
words of the first subdivision so that all the audience can hear
them. Crash! goes the leader’s stick and his voice gives the
key for singing the words just called out, in which the audience
is expected to join. As they are finishing, the announcer roars
the next subdivision, and the same procedure is repeated. In-
stead of proceeding to the third, the announcer often next
returns to the first, following it by the second. The subdivisions
of a single part are never sung through in order once only, there
are always repetitions and ramifications according to the dis-
cretion of the announcer. At the end of the first part, the
leader again beats time rapidly in which his fellow-singers join.
If a dancer is performing, he crouches down without making —
any effort to keep time with the rapid tapping, and the singing
ceases. After a short pause, the second part is sung in the
same manner, followed likewise by the third. The function of

1Rattles, made of dried maple, are used by some stsaok dancers, but they can
hardly be termed musical instruments.