a

194 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

way as with the salmon, except that the jumping is omitted.
The order of display is according to the time of ripening for
each, but there is so much difference of opinion about this that
no rigid order is maintained. The first shown is always the
cow-parsnip, but after that there is no definite sequence. The
following “‘berries’”’ were shown at a dance not many years ago:
cow-parsnip; Rides laxiflorum; wild gooseberry; tall bilberry;
thin-leaved bilberry; blueberry; black huckleberry; red elder-
berry; dwarf bilberry; Rides bracteosum; salalberry; Canadian
buffalo berry; wild red raspberry; blackberry, Rubus specta-
bilis Pursh.; salmon-berry; black hawthorn; flowering june-
berry; bunchberry; wild rose; red bearberry.

The informant was not certain that the above was the
exact order in which the berries were shown on the occasion
described. It is probable that it is approximately correct,
however, since he added that the wild strawberry had also
been shown, but as he could not remember its correct place he
had omitted it. Other old men stated that the following food
plants had been used at other Winwina dances: itk, one of the
Fritillaria, species undetermined; perennial clover; black rasp-
berry; crabapple; cranberry; fern root; bracken root. Foods
introduced by the white man were shown at a recent dance,
including: potato, carrot, turnip, and a miniature can of pre-
served peaches, such as are commonly used in the manufacture
of native wine.

Sometimes no one is able to guess the object represented,
and when all have grown discouraged the exhibitor puts his ear
against X’s mouth. The uninitiated assume, of course, that
the dancer’s supernatural power makes it easy for him to tell
the answer and that he is transmitting the information to the
bearer who promptly gives it. If an uninitiated person should
guess the correct response rapidly, it is taken for granted that
she has found favour with the supernatural beings. When the
last berry has been thrown on the fire, a kusiut stands up and
starts a song describing the Hermaphrodite and his actions in
the land above. The singer provides his own time by beating