a

244 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

Qwaixosén-i moved to and fro among the chiefs as they were busying
themselves in preparations for leaving, and drew to herself the spirit of
every one of the party. As they pushed off from the shore, she put these
on a board which she set afloat behind them. It capsized in the first
rapids, immersing the various spirits, and presently the canoes were
upset and their occupants all drowned. The six orphans continued to
live at Stuux where they intermarried with the poor people and in time
the village increased in population and fully regained its old importance

This myth has many points of resemblance with those de-
scribed in vol. I, chap.1x. Each of the six orphans, and espec-
ially Onieeuasie: i, received the boon of supernatural good
fortune, but the present given to the five took the form of a kusiut
prerogative. The names so received are either in use at the
present time or have but recently become dormant. Nuxim
was used by the father’s brother of the woman who related the
story; Sonx ‘mai belongs to her son, a boy about eight years
old; Nuxem is the property of another youth, related to the
family; uxem has been lent to a friend, subject to recall at any
time, and Qwaixosdén-i is used by a girl relative about twenty
years of age. Each of these has the prerogative of carrying
out the dance given to their ancestor at Stmx, long ago.

ORIGIN MYTH OF THE DANCE OF THE SUPERNATURAL
CARPENTERS!

In the beginning 4#guntém sent down to a point on the upper reaches
of the Clearwater four brothers, Ninitsamlaix, Waiuxsum, Afquntém, and
Hai-le-kela with several sisters whose names have been forgotten. They
thought they were the first to reach this earth but presently, to their
sorrow, saw T?ékwakila, a man who had preceded them, and the women
cried bitterly in their mortification. Afguntim had given Ninitsamlaix
shamanistic power which he now used as he rubbed his hands over his
sisters’ faces to carry away their tears.

‘“Become fog,” he said, as he held the palms of his tear-stained hands
towards the land of the Ta-xa-x7 people.

That is why there are thick fogs in the vicinity of Alert Bay to the
present day.

Ninitsamlaix and his relatives moved a short distance down the valley

12Related by Steamboat Annie.