138 THE BELLA COOLA INDIANS

dangerous. Unless he is restored to life before dawn we will
slay you.”

The other uninitiated marvel that any of their number
should be bold enough to taunt the kukusiut, ignorant of the
fact that those who do so are really spies whose part in the
performance has long since been arranged by the marshals.
Instances are remembered when the wooden or copper frame
was defective and the performer was killed; in such a case the
spies actually slew one or more kukusiut to preserve the pres-
tige of the society. Exact details were unobtainable, but it
seems clear that the victims were selected with the aid of the
marshals during the night; they were, of course, men of little
importance in the community.

The spies prevent anyone from leaving the house and grad-
ually the din subsides, except for the constant wailing of the
women, particularly X’s relatives. The kukusiut, granted a
respite until dawn, allow some of the uninitiated to come for-
ward and pass sunwise around the fire to see the corpse of X
with the bloody entrails exposed. At this juncture, the old
women selected for the purpose sing the mourning song, of
which the words and tune never vary; they are believed to
have been handed down from time immemorial. The theme
is of Snitsman-a, a kindly supernatural woman’° who restores
to life kukusiut killed in the performance of their rites. The
singer in the upper, eastern, rear corner of the house sings
the following words:

Nunusxeqgsam:-ixwakotsk* yao disiaiyikmidjutnu siyatagaitaoals
Perhaps you” saw correctly? | hence you did so;™ it is too much
sawanutctyeketist

that has been given to you.™

70Some informants state that there are several of these beings.

Referring to X.

?Bach vertical line marks the limit of a word or word-cluster, emphasized in
singing, and the translation of it.

“That is: “You performed your dance in accordance with what you saw.”

That is: “You have received power that is too great and too dangerous.” The
specific reference is to the knife.