CHAPTER I
WINTER CEREMONIAL DANCES

General Observations on the Kusiut Society — Powers and Func-

tions of the Soctety — Initiation — The Ritual of Specific

Dances — Various Origin Myths — Kusiut Prerogatives Other

than Dances — The Death of a Kusiut — The Final Rite —
Concluding Observations and History.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE Kuysiut SociETY

‘i view of the importance of the kusiut society in the lives
of the Bella Coola, it would seem logical to have described
it in an earlier part of this monograph. Though an integral
part of the complicated structure of social organization, it is a
secret, semi-religious grouping which can best be treated separ-
ately. The word kusiut is connected etymologically, according
to native belief, with siut, the term for a supernatural being.
Thus the meaning of the society’s designation is “The Super-
natural,” or “The Learned,” for siut has both these signifi-
cations. A member of the society is likewise called a Rusiut,
plural, kukusiut.

The investigator soon learns of the existence of the society.
If he asks a man his name, and then inquires further what type
of designation it is, the answer is always that it is his Ausiut
name, that is, the one by which he is known as a member of
the society. Ancestral names are used only at potlatches or
other ceremonial occasions, whereas an individual’s kusiut ap-
pellation is the one which he uses commonly. Moreover, for
about three months of every year the Bella Coola live in an
atmosphere of kusiut dances with a performance, or its pre-
liminaries, taking place almost every night. Preparations for
this ceremonial season, for so it may be termed, begin four days
after the September moon is full, while the actual dances com-
mence early in November and are continued until March.
During this period the kukusiut are believed to be in intimate

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