WINTER CEREMONIAL DANCES 265

expressed the opinion that the whole affair was a stupid
blunder.

The Bella Coola state that long, long ago the usual outcome
of friction between a’a/k and kukusiut was the incorporation of
members of the former society into the latter like any other
uninitiated. The following account of an incident of this kind
was obtained from a Kimsquit man who regarded it as histori-
cally accurate.

Some five hundred years after the first settlement of this earth, the
members of the two societies used to live amicably together during the
summer, which was not surprising considering that both contained mem-
bers of the same families. But during the winter the kukusiut all gath-
ered in a village on the Dean River for their dances, while the a’alk also
performed at the same season in the village of Tyei/sih, opposite the
present Manitou Cannery below Kimsquit.!°* There was considerable
jealousy between the two Organizations, and the members were always
seeking an opportunity to deride and ridicule their rivals. A Cannibal
dance had been given by the kukusiut and the a’alk, who were present as
uninitiated guests, had watched with wonder the disappearance of the
performer into the mysterious realms above. But a few days later,
Xunxumlaix, a chief and leader in one of the a’alk dances, happened to
be in a lonely part of the forest where he was amazed to meet the Can-
nibal. The latter, confident of his supernatural power, spoke:

“In meeting me today you have met disaster, you will soon be a
corpse.”’

Xunxumlaix, a middle-aged man of powerful physique, was not im-
pressed by the other’s powers, whether physical or supernatural.

“No,” he answered. ‘‘It is you who have fallen into trouble. You
are old and feeble and if you try to injure me it will be the worse for you.”’

“My age has nothing to do with it,” reiterated the Cannibal. “You
have met me and will die.’’

At this juncture two of the Cannibal’s guardian-companions appeared,
but Ximxmlaix still did not fear because they were both old and un-
armed, whereas he had an axe. But when two more kukusiut appeared,

**This Kimsquit informant stated that long ago a similar segregation of a’alk
into one village and kukusiut into another took place in Bella Coola. Bella Coola
informants knew nothing of this. The expulsion of the uninitiated from houses in
which kusiut dances are taking place leads to a division of the village, and it is easy
to understand how two sections could have been created without definite intention.
This would hardly account for a separation into two villages and no explanation
for the statement is offered.