ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS 14:5 NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL BY RONALD L.. OLSON I UNIVERSIIY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS * BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES 1955 NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL BY RONALD L. OLSON ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Vol. 14, No. 5 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Editors (Berkeley): R. L. Olson, R. F. Heizer, T. D. McCown, J. H. Rowe Volume 14, No. 5, pp. 319-348 Submitted by editors October 6, 1954 Issued May 23, 1955 Price, 50 cents University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles California Cambridge University Press London, England Manufactured in the United States of America CONTENTS Page Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Tribe and village ...... The septs ......... Names and titles ...... Succession . . . . . . . . . Legends of the origin of septs, Marriage . . . . . . . . . The kinship system ..... House names and totem poles Dancing societies s..... Shamanism . . . . . Miscellaneous tales .. The life story of a Bella Bella Notes on the Xaixais Kwakiutl Tribal history . Tribal organization . . . Miscellaneous legends . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. 3 2 0 * * * * *0 e * * * * * * * * * * 0 crests, and i * * * * *. . * * * * * * 0 * * * * * 0 * * * * * . . . * * * 0 * * * * 0 woman. . *** lp 1 * * * * * 0 * * * * *- . * * * * * * * names * * * * * * * .* * 324 326 329 330 334 335 336 337 338 339 341 344 344 344 346 Bibliography. .......... 348 NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL BY RONALD L. OLSON INTRODUCTION he information on the Bella Bella contained in this ,r was collected in the course of two visits to the L. The first was made in 1935; the second in 1949. t of the materials were obtained during the first. L field trips were made to investigate the Haisla and keno, respectively, and my information represents spent with Bella Bella informants when Haisla and keno were not available. This will perhaps explain lacunae in the account rendered here. 'he time when a complete picture of Bella Bella cul- could be reconstructed has long since passed. Since It 1880, when they moved to the present location, the a Bella have been under constant pressure from the iionaries and members of the hospital staff to give Weir old culture. The success of these well-meaning devoted persons has been all too great, from the rapher's point of view. As early as 1923 Boas com- d: "The whole culture of the Bella Bella has practi- disappeared." (1928, Preface, p. ix). This was of e an understatement in terms of 1935 and 1949. In d aL the time of Drucker's visit in 1936-1937 er, 1940), there were still a few persons (perhaps ose memories of the old life were fairly complete asonably accurate. By 1949 most of these had on and the others had become senile. And by this e middle-aged had little knowledge of or interest r cultural past. Some, yes, many, in this age do not even know their crest-group (sept) affilia- d none has seen other than diluted vestiges of the ces, potlatches, and so on. is true of the Bella Bella is even more the case eXaixais. About 1870 these groups abandoned llages, some moving to Klemtu and a few to Bella Only three informants could be found and these, far along in years, had only vague memories of d culture. Aside from Drucker's element list r, 1950), information on them is practically nil. they speak the Heiltsuq dialect, they are usually spoken of as distinct from the Bella Bella. Accordingly, I have separated my data on them from those on the Bella Bella. Informants.-Most of my data were obtained from Mr. and Mrs. Moses Knight and Mr. and Mrs. Sam Star. These were excellent and willing informants. Some infor- mation was secured from Andrew Wallace, Mrs. Charley Windsor, and Mrs. Moody Humchitt. Interpreters were Mrs. William Grant, Chris Walker (both of Kitimat), and Brenda Campbell of Bella Bella. My Xaixais informants were Mr. and Mrs. Alex Campbell (except for a little information from several persons of part Xaixais blood). Geographical locations.-Most of the places mentioned in the following pages are located on the British Columbia Department of Lands, Preliminary Map, Bella Coola sheet, 1924. Many of these places bear Anglicized native names. Others were located on the map by informants. A few places mentioned I have been unable to locate. Phonetic key.-In transcribing native words, the follow- ing symbols have been used. 5a e 1 u a g L ai au + as in hat as in met as in it as in put obscure vowel of but or idea as in gig surd 1 as in English high as in how explosive k or q glottal stop accented syllable prolonged sound Vowels are long unless otherwise indicated and have the Continental (or Spanish) value. Letters in capitals (ex- cept initial letters) indicate whispered sounds. [319] TRIBE AND VILLAGE Among most of the Kwakiutl-speaking groups there is little idea or concept of "tribe" as that term is generally used. The village, instead, is the basic unit and, if the term "tribe" is used at all, it should be used as applying to this unit. But "village:" too, is scarcely acceptable since in some instances the "tribe" occupied several vil- lages; and between these there may have been a vague notion of a closer affiliation than between them and more distant groups. To some extent these points will be clari- fied in the course of the descriptions which follow. Be- cause of this lack of a sense of tribe and lack of ttibal organization, I have used the term "tribe-village" fre- quently in the following pages, just as I have used the term "sept" for the crest groups. Boas (1897, pp. 328 ff.) has used the term "sept" for the village groups and "clan" for the septs. But his uses of these terms, like his term "numaym" for Fort Rupert Kwakiutl, are distressingly vague. This relation between tribal and village groups is fairly widespread on the Northwest Coast. Thus, among the dozen or so Tlingit "tribes:" most have but one winter (permanent) village. The various clans, subclans, septs, or families usually have summer villages (camps) where they go for fishing, hunting, or berrying. (Most commonly these are individually or family owned.) The "Bella Bella" of today are made up of some six such village-tribes who, about 1870, moved to a spot (Old Bella Bella) in McLaughlin Bay about three miles south of the present village. About 1880 the mission and hospital were established, and the Hudson's Bay Company post at McLaughlin Bay was abandoned. The village moved to the locale of the mission (sometimes called New Bella Bella). These merged groups usually referred to them- selves as the O'yalidox. This term can refer to the dialect spoken by the groups from Rivers Inlet to Kitimat (Owi- keno to Haisla). The terms awi kelA and hai'ltsAwallA were also used (walla = people?). The name Bella Bella is a corruption of the place name pe lb&h ("flat tapering point") which is a low flat point (at low tide?) just south of the present village. 1 The Bella Bella recognize that six village-tribes merged to make up the modern village. 2 These were as follows: 1. K!o'kwaye'dox of Ellerslie Channel. 2. Uwi'tlidox of Ellerslie "Lake." 3. E'stedox of Dean Channel. 4. Uwi'galidox of Calvert Island. 5. Yalaklai .idox of Goose Island and other outside islands. 6. O'yalidox of Lama Passage. It was this name which came to be applied to all. l Some whites, and even some of the natives, ascribe "Bella Bella" to the first Spanish explorers thus: One of the sailors was struck by the beauty of several of the local belles and exclaimed, "Bella! Bella!" A similar erroneous interpretation is that of Bella Coola. A sign on the warehouse of the government wharf at that place bears the legend, "Bella Coola means 'Beautiful Valley."' 2 Of these six, nos. 4 and 5 have become extinct or at least have lost their identity. The four remaining may be, and sometimes are called K' okwaye tXU ("calm waters people"), Uwi'tlitXU ("inside people"), Iste 'tXU ("people of Iste"), and U yatlitXU ("outside people"). These are Drucker's q6qwaiAtH, owiLitlH, istetH, and 6yalitH respectively (Drucker, 1950, p. 159). To these six should be added (as some of the natives 7. K!weye&idox of Koey River and Lake. 8. Xai'xais. But these last two have lost their identity as separate groups. Some of the Koey people went to Rivers Inlet a became merged with the Owikeno (Olson, 1954, p. 214 Others went to Bella Bella. Some of the Xaixais moved, to Klemtu where they have almost lost any sense of the derivation and have become mixed with Kitasoo Tsim81 Most of these tribal-village groups moved from tim time within their areas. In fact, a certain restlessne8 seemed to characterize all the tribes and villages of th Northwest Coast from Seymour Narrows northward. M legends attest this and most of those who have worked id the area agree that these legends contain considerable historic truth as regards these movements. Some grou changed names as they changed residence. This is true several of the Bella Bella groups. Moses Knight, a very good informant, who, as of 191 the time of my first visit, probably knew more of the ol history and culture than any other person at Bella Bell gave the following list of towns and places involved in Bella Bella history. It should be noted that not all thes places were occupied simultaneously. There is the rec ring theme of movement from place to place for some the groups. 1. K'we'y ("bird sitting on the water"). The modern Koey. There were several villages along the rive: and on the lake of the same name (Olson, 1954, p. 214). 2. Na'mu (meaning ?). A village located at the presi day Namu. This may have been only a summer fli ing village. The two foregoing made up what might be called a "tribe.' But the group is now extinct, though a few per' sons at Rivers Inlet and Bella Bella trace their ancestrj in part to Koey. 3. Uwi keh ("on the hump," referring to a whale?), village on Calvert Island. This may have been onl a hunting-fishing camp. Another camp was in Safi Cove on Calvert Island, and several other camp83 were located on the west coast. 4. Lui xpalis ("boulder point"). This was a large per manent village at the head of Kwakshua Inlet on Calvert Island. The entire village is said to have been wiped out in a smallpox epidemic. 5. K!liklli' s ("island on the flats"). A village on Nat Channel at the southern tip of Hunter Island. 6. Nu'lu ("elder people" or "head people,' the vilal of the Nulau widox). A large village situated on t} channel to the east of Ruth Island at the southwest point of Hunter Island. The people fished as far O1 as Sea Lion Rock. All the people of Hunter Island 3 The word Klemtu' is a corruption of kLA 'mtu which is in turn a corr tion of the Tsimshian LAmdu' ("where it was tied"). The southern Tsirma (Kitasoo) are called Xwi'saXglalidox ("people of the other side"), or Kwi' tallA. The Kwakiutl-speaking groups from Smith's Inlet to Cape Mudge a called Kwa'gwallA. Li tall& applies to the Nootka and Stiki'ngall& to the Tlingit. The Bella Coola are called K'i'mxakwidox, the Kimsquit Bella Colla, Tsa tsd&kwidox. [320] OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL secured most of their salmon in Kildidt Lagoon. 7. Wa'hk'enalux ("current running against an ob- ject") located at the southern tip (?) of Goose Island (Ya'lakli, "dim island on the horizon"). The chief here was named WigwiLbahwai'kes ("hooked beak of bird"). This chief's daughter wished to live where there were red salmon, so the people moved to village 9, below. 8. A'lstam ("a grave"). A village on Duck Island. There is the legend that Goose Island was once a whale, the bay his mouth, and the small islands to the south his viscera. The white sandy beach on the west shore of Goose Island is the belly of the whale. 9. Tuxsowi's ("narrows"). A village on Louise Channel to the west of Campbell Island. 10. My informant had forgotten the name and location of this village at the southern end of Hunter Channel, but the people moved here from village 9. 11. T'ilya'su (from "waiting"). A village near Howeet on the northern end of Hunter Island. It is said that all the people of villages 3 to 11 united here and called themselves the U'yalidox ("outside people," i.e., those of the open sea coast). Only one or two persons of this group survive today. t 12. It is said that the Istedox (Iste'tXU) ("people of Iste") 4 once lived at Kimsquit and later that the Bella Coola moved there. Long ago the Bella Coola lived only along the Dean River, the Kwak- iutl at the mouth of the river. In Kwakiutl the Dean River is called K!ImxakU ("canyon"), and the Bella Coola people K!;'mxakwidox. The Kims- quit River was called Tsa'tsuX (a Bella Coola word), and the Bella Coola people of the town at the mouth of the river were called Tsa'tsakwidox (the modern Chats-cah). 13. From village 12 the Istedox moved to SuXwi'lk (a Bella Coola word) at the mouth of the Skowquiltz River. From here they moved to: 14. A'Lko (meaning ?) on Elcho (or Alice) Harbour. Here they were living when Mackenzie came. (The Mackenzie monument is at the mouth of Elcho Harbour). The people then moved to: 15. Ya'hais in Jenny Inlet. From here they moved to: 16. Kwa'tos ("birds congregate") on Stokes Island at the mouth of Dean Channel. Here they were living when the first smallpox epidemic came, and my informant Moses Knight was born here. This would place the date about 1860. The survivors of the smallpox epidemic moved to Old Bella Bella where the Hudson's Bay Com- pany had established a post. Here they merged with the U'yalidox (see above). North of modern Bella Bella lived the K!o kwaye 'dox or Kokwaye'tXU ("calm waters people"). They had a village at K!okyet and also at: 17. K!o'kwi ("calm"). This is modern Koqui at the northwest corner of Dufferin Island. But they moved to: 4The name is rationalized as follows: A Kwakiutl man of this group married a Bella Coola Woman. He once gave her a beating and she cried "Iste" ("ouch" in the Bella Coola tongue). At any rate, "Iste" is said to be a Bella Coola word. 321 18. O' pes ("point"). This was probably at the mouth of the lagoon at the northwest corner of Smyth Island. They also had a village at: 19. Ni'kas ("contest"?) on Ellerslie Channel. This is modern Neekas at the head of Neekas Cove. It is said that here there was a post driven into the ground. Ellerslie Channel was also claimed by the Kftadju Tsimshian. They agreed to settle the affair by a contest, with a man from each group attempt- ing to pull out the post. The Kwakiutl won, so Ellerslie Channel became the territory of the K'okwayedox. 20. K'apa 'h (meaning?). A village at the southern tip of Yeo Island, now called Kokyet. 21. Te 'nki (meaning?). A village on the southeast coast of Don Peninsula, modern Tankeeah. The Uwi'tlidox ("inside people") lived mainly on Ellerslie "Lake" (which is salt water) and Roscoe Inlet. 22. Kwa'xtsu (meaning?). A village at what is now called Quartcha near the head of Roscoe Inlet. 23. Nu'tA ("poisoned"). A village at the head of Roscoe Inlet, now called Noota. 24. Huni's ("spring water"). A permanent village at the tip of Florence Peninsula, the modern Hooness. One informant (Mrs. Star) gave this account of the fusion of the various groups.5 The people of the villages named below moved to McLaughlin Bay, about three miles south of Bella Bella, where the Hudson's Bay Com- pany had a trading post. This was about 1850 (?). They came to be known collectively as the Hailtsuk. With the establishment of the mission and hospital at Bella Bella, the people were persuaded to move to the present location. The following is a list of these groups, together with some additional notes on them: 1. K'a'tthmk'es. One of the several villages of the north shore of Hunter Island. 2. Hau'wiyat. A village near the preceding. Now called Howeet. There was a rock fish weir on the beach in front of the village. The head chief here was named Hi'mi.azalas. 3. Ankya'k (referring to a stone). Located at about Graves Point, about a mile south of Bella Bella cannery. Here the people saw white people for the first time. A small island (now a cemetery) offshore served as a fort. 4. Uwi 'tlitXU. The people of Roscoe Inlet (?). The villages of the group moved from time to time and just before the consolidation at Bella Bella they lived at a village in Gunboat Passage. 5. Iste'tXU. The people of Iste. The village was located at the head of Elcho (Alice) Harbour. 6. Bukwiya'h ("on top of the salt water"). A village on Hunter Channel. 7. A'k'legus ("far in village"). A village probably located in Evans Arm. Here there lived a chief named Du'klwayella who built a huge canoe on Sagar Lake. The men who helped him get it to salt water were paid with a keg of rum. Later he gave a great dance and potlatch for his son and at that time gave the canoe to Chief Ce kC of Kitkatla (Tsimshian). 5 Her account differs somewhat from that of Moses Kinight and is prob- ably less accurate. I 1. ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS In time the latter gave the canoe to Queen Victoria (British Museum ? ). 6 8. Tani'L. A village to the south of Bella Bella. The first person at this place descended from the sky, seated on a half-moon. His name was K'u'mLk'- umLkfleg6h ("the chief from above"). Later three young women descended from heaven. One carried a baby girl and this one he married. The women built a stone fish weir at the beach. 9. K!abah ("at the point"). A village on Gunboat Pas- sage (?). The first person there was named K!wa'lgoL. He descended from the sky on a great ball of light. A huge house came down at the same time. One day a man named K!u mgilax from the village of Nuwa'tsi came to visit him. The visitor said, "Let us see who is the elder. When you hear a whistle, if the sound comes from above, you will be the elder; but if you hear it from below, then I will be the elder:' When Kwalgol heard the sound, it was from above, so he was the elder. The two lived there as brothers. One day some logs drifted in, each with a face carved at one end. (These were regarded as beings.) The elder "brother" said, "Drive them back to sea, lest they say that they were the first to find this place." So they pushed the logs out to sea. One day they heard a noise on the roof. The younger brother investigated and found a baby boy in a cradle. Soon they heard the same sound again. This time it was a baby girl in a cradle. When the two infants grew up, they married. So started the village (tribe) at this place. THE ORIGIN OF THE ISTEDOX 7 At the head of Cascade Inlet (G;ldiL, "long inlet") there lived a man who was a real raven (sic) and who was the ancestor of the Raven sept. His name was Mrni'galis ("the only man there"). He owned the whole inlet. Flowing into the head of the inlet is a small river which has no lake upstream. One day he was asked what kind of salmon he wanted in his stream. He said he wanted dog salmon and cohoe. That is why these are the only salmon in the inlet. 8 Now, Minigalis lived on the right side of the river. 9 On the left side lived another man. This one was Ka'sana ("half-man"), for he had only one arm, one leg, and so on. Kasana wanted some salmon, but Minigalis would not let him have any. So Kasana dug a channel from the salt water far up the river and diverted into it a part of the river, and some fish came 6 A minor legend is that some young men once found a canoe in Sagar Lake. Not knowing to whom it belonged, they brought it to salt water. When they reached the beach, there was a person sitting in the canoe. This (super- natural) being told them that because they had stolen his canoe, the whole village would soon become extinct. Not long after the village was wiped out in a raid. Only one woman and her baby survived. She escaped to the woods but became wild. The paintings of the canoe are still used in certain dances. Also in the canoe were a bow and arrow. The arrow had a row of human heads hanging along it, and a painted face at one end. I have no details beyond these as to how the "canoe" or its "paintings" were used. 7 Told by Moses Knight. He was born a Raven, i.e., his mother was Raven, but he was adopted into his father's sept, the Blackfish. OSockeye (red) salmon run up-stream only where there is a fresh-water lake in the drainage. 9 Minigalis was a Raven. He was bested only once. He was being chased by a canoe full of warriors. When he saw he could not escape, he threw away his paddle, which can still be seen on a cliff in Cascade Inlet. The paddle was named Hi'lbas ("one stroke takes one the length of the inlet"). The paddle is one of the crests (prerogatives) of the Raven sept today. up his channel. So today this river has two mouths. Kasana used to go across the mountains to visit the Owitlidox of Ellerslie Channel and the Haihais of Kynoch. Kasana was a great hunter. He had a good hunting dog. A valley runs from Nascall Lake to a glacier above the head of Cascade Inlet. Here he hunted mountain goats. His dog would chase the goats to crevasses which they could not jump and there Kasana speared them. Kasana grew tired of living alone with his dog. He decided fo try s6mething. He carved rotten alder into four figures like himself (i.e., half-men) and placed them against the wall. He had heard of a female being named Hai'yaLlaks who could make such things come to life. He called on her to help. She came down and caused the fig- ures to come to life. They were all young men. He made up a song which ran, "Kasana has only one leg," and so on. HaiyaLlaks came down again, bringing four young women. Kasana thought these were her children and that the fathers were the four young men. But her purpose was to cause the people (tribe) to multiply. Soon there was a large village. 10 In a valley west of the head of Cascade Inlet is a place where the salmon berries ripen late. A party went there to pick berries. Among them was an adolescent girl name Kla'kwatsek's ("copper girl"). She wore a basketry hat and an apron-skirt decorated with copper tubes on its fringe. On the way back she fell behind the others. She stepped in a huge pile of bear dung. She cursed it. Just then a man stepped in front of her and said, "That is mine Why did you swear at it? Show me if yours is better." So she squatted down and slyly pulled off two of the copper tubes and put them under her. When he saw them he said, "Very fine. No wonder you cursed mine. But prove it by doing it again:' So she did, and when he saw the copper tubes again, he said, "I'm going to marry you." He carried her to a great cliff which had a doorway (a cave) at its foot. When they went inside, she was surprise for it was a big house. He told her to look after the house while he went fishing. "Keep the fire up with good wood. Get K!anni s," he said. She didn't know what K'annis was, except that it was wood. When he came home, she saw that he was a bear. He shook himself and the spatter from. his coat put out the fire. Then he took off his bear robe and was like a man. He scolded her because the fire had gone out. "I told you to get K!annis, not that kind:" he said She still didn't know what K!annis was, and did not ask. The next day she went to the foot of a waterfall and got soggy, water-logged wood and made a fire with it. She was surprised that it burned as well as the dry. That evening her husband came home, and as before, he shook himself. But the fire didn't go out. Then he was pleased. The next day she bore a child, the second day another, the third day another, and the fourth day a fourth. She didn't know that in the bear world a day was a year of the human world. Three of the children were bears, the fourth was a mountain goat. In the meantime her people had been searching for her. One evening, as she sat at home, she thought of her elder brother. "I guess he will be the one to find me," she thou At this her husband said, "What is the sense of talking abo that man. He doesn't clean fern roots properly. And he doesn't hide his face from a menstruating woman." 11 10 In the legend "Minigalis is heard from no more. 'No one knows what happened to him."' This is the origin of the custom which dictates that when a menstruating woman goes about, she warns men (especially hunters) so that they can turn their faces away from her. I I I 322 OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL Her husband told her to take the children and go home. He gave her a bear cape to wear. So she started out. Now her elder brother was spearing crab at the mouth of a creek. He heard the rattle of stones as she and the children came down the mountain. But when she got home, she found that only this brother and her parents lived there. The rest of the tribe (village) had moved on (down the inlet). So they took two canoes, laid house planks across, piled their goods on the platform and started down the inlet. Half- way down the inlet is a high cliff. When they reached this, the children began to cry. The mother asked what the matter was. They answered, "We are tired of this. We want to go and play on that sand bar." So she let them go ashore. They all ran up the cliff (the "beach") and disappeared. The cliff is to this day called Ho'ktsu- lalax ("running away place"). That night the party camped at a winter village near the mouth of the inlet. But the mother was unused to (human) village life and that night she died. From Cascade Inlet they moved to the mouth of Dean River opposite Kimsquit. There lived at the village at the mouth of Dean River a chief who had four children, three sons and a daughter, the girl being the eldest. The eldest son was a ne'er-do- well named Yexdzi'h ("of no account"). The father was so disgusted with this son that he decided to move away, leaving the four children and their grandmother behind. So (all) the people moved across to Kimsquit. The five left behind made a brush shelter for the night. The next day Yexdzih went hunting for birr8o on the tide flats. Across the bay he saw mountain ,-c -dts. He climbed toward them. But on the way he met a man coming down. This man was dressed in a fur cap and a fur cape and wore leggings and moccasins. He had a quiver full of arrows. He asked Yexdzih where he was going, and the latter replied, "After those goats!' The stranger felt something was wrong, and Yexdzih told him how his people had gone away. The stranger said, "I know all about it. That's why I came down." Yexdzih sensed that the man was a supernatural being and asked that they trade arrows. This they did. Then the stranger said, "When you get back to your shelter from hunting, you must call out very early in the morn- ing, 'I have no house.' Do this as I do it and repeat it. Four times you must say it:' Yexdzih climbed and when he came within range, he shot an arrow. It went through three (four ?) of the goats and killed them. Then the arrow came back and fell at his feet. He picked it up, dressed out a load of meat and returned home. On the way down he carefully re- hearsed what the stranger had told him. At dawn the next day he (carefully) shouted four times, "I've no house!' At the fourth time he heard a sound behind him. He looked and saw four fine houses in a row. On the peak of the first was an eagle, on the second a sea gull, on the third an owl, and on the fourth a kingfisher. (They were alive.) The house where the eagle sat had a round doorway-the moon. Above it was an arc of stars. The house where the eagle sat had a sunken floor with ten steps going down from the door. The other house floors were at ground level. Yexdzih took the first house as his own and gave his two brothers and his sister the other three. In the morning the birds atop the houses gave their cries, the sea gull first. When he heard the cries, Yexdzih went down to the beach and found a small fish. But each morning he found something bigger. Last of all he found two dead whales there. From this time on these people never needed to hunt. One day an uncle (who was a chief) thought of those left behind and sent three young men across the channel to see how things were. They saw the four houses with the living birds atop them. And they could tell that the houses had not been built by humans. Yexdzih showed them around, fed them, and said to them. "Tell my uncle that I bear no ill will. The people can come back if they wish." So the three went back and told the whole village what they had seen and what Yexdzih had said. The uncle said they would all go back. The uncle lashed two canoes to- gether, piled all his goods and coppers on the platform and placed his daughter atop the goods. As he came ashore, he said to Yexdzih, "You are to marry my daughter, and all these goods are yours.12 From the mouth of Dean River the Istedox moved to Skowquiltz Bay (on Dean Channel). There Yexdzih gave a great feast, inviting the Bella Coola and the tribes near the Bella Coola. He had built a house like the shelter he had lived in. But he began building another house like the one with the eagle on it (at Dean River). In this house he gave the greatest feast ever given. At this feast he took the name A 'Lgaiyax. (This was about five genera- tions ago.) One of the guests was chief WigwiLbAhwai 'kes of Goose Island. Now Yexdzih had the logs ready for the fire but had not lighted it. This displeased the Goose Island chief and he lay down and covered himself with his blanket (the customary sign of strong disapproval). A boy told the rest of the people what had happened, and they asked the host what he was going to do. He said to tell the angered chief to get up and look about him; that he would receive half of all the wealth he saw. Then the host ordered the fire lighted, and the visiting chief was given not only the promised goods, but also the right to build a house such as he was in. When Wigwilbahwaikes returned },ome he built such a house near Bella Bella. There he gave a great feast at which he related the history of the house. In this house he dug a tunnel out under the water (at high tide ? ). He fashirned miniature blackfish and at the feast had his sons (inside these) "swim" them so they came up inside the house. The sea monster was also imitated by the foam from soapberries. (But the Owikeno guests were not fooled by the sea monster trick, for they smelled that it was soapberries and not the foaming monster.) 12 This tale is obviously only a variant of one common in the area (Olson, 1954, pp. 232-233). It is here an interpolation in what is more of an histori- cal legend. 323 THE SEPTS I here use the term "sept" to mean the subdivisions of the village groups (which are usually "tribes," most tribes having but one permanent winter village). These septs might be called crest groups. Their names, the crest system, the ownership of name-titles, of legends and other privileges and prerogatives associated with them are certainly, I think, derived from the maternally organized tribes to the north. Of all the Kwakiutl tribes, only the Haisla and Kitlope-Kemano of Douglas Channel and Gardner Canal have maternal clans with a rigid rule of exogamy. The two groups have obviously derived the system from the Tsimshian, probably through inter- marriage with Tsimshian women. Some of their clan names and quite a number of the name-titles are in the Tsimshian tongue. (Olson, 1940.) Because of the absence of the rule of exogamy and the lack of rigid unilateral (unilineal) descent I have called these groups "septs" rather than "clans." (Boas, 1895, has used the term "sept" for the tribe-village groups and the term "clan" for the crest groups.) It is interesting to note the fading of the unilineal, maternal descent complex as we leave the Tsimshian and Haisla and observe the tribes to the south in order. The Xaixais had three crest groups-Blackfish, Raven, and Eagle. The rule of exogamy was, as it were, present but not enforced. There was a "feeling" that one should not marry into his own crest group. But marriages with- in the sept occurred. This is rationalized by the tale of the time when a brother and sister were the only survivors of a village, so they married and bore children (pp. 344- 346). Property and titles passed preferably from a man to his sister's son. But a woman married to a chief often "gave" her crests, names, and so on to him so that he could then hand them on to his (her) children. In other words, the Xaixais system is mixed and muddled and confused in the native mind. The situation among the Bella Bella is likewise con- fused. (There were evidently some differences between the original "tribes" which make up the modern Bella Bella.) Some informants claim that daughters belong to the sept of the mother, sons to the sept of the father. Other, equally reliable, informants state that children belong to the crest group of the mother but that the father usually adopts the eldest son into his sept and passes his privileges and names to him. Others say that these things go from a man to the eldest son of his eldest sister who has a son. Some say that marriage within the crest group within the same tribe-village was taboo, but that marriage to a person of the same sept from another village was permitted. Others claim no such rule of exogamy. Crests, names, and so on often came from either or both parental lines, usually by the giving (or loaning) of such, or by adoption, with the person adopted retaining some of the privileges of the sept of his birth. It seems certain that all these seemingly con- flicting statements are true. But there was a tendency to follow the rule of exogamy, a tendency to place child- ren in the crest group of the mother, and a like tendency for a man's name and privileges to be handed on to his sister's son. All this is nearly as confusing to the natives as it is to the investigator. There is, as it were, a feel- ing that they "ought" to adhere to the system of the north- ern tribes. Among the Koey people (between the Bella Bella and the Owikeno) the septs remain as crest groups with animal names but without the idea of exogamy or maternal reckon- ing. (The Koey are extinct, though a few persons at Bella Bella and Rivers Inlet trace some of their ancestors back to Koey.)13 Among the Owikeno the septs have dropped their animal designations for names such as "Those who receive first,'" though vaguely each of these septs has a primary animal crest. There is no idea of exogamy, no rule or tendency toward either maternal or paternal reckoning. Siblings may belong to different septs, or the same person may even claim membership in two or more septs at the same time! The septs have become almost functionless, save that members are sometimes seated together in feasts. The only element of the maternal system is that when a person receives a name or privilege from his mother's line, the speaker says, "And it comes from the right [best or proper] side of the family." This reference is a puzzle to the Owikeno themselves! The merged tribes of modern Bella Bella recognize four septs: 1. Raven (Koe'xtandox, "raven people") Crests: Raven and a human face on human hands. 2. Eagle (Wi'hkwaxdandox, "eagle people") Crests: Eagle. 3. Blackfish (Ha'lhaidandox, "blackfish people") Crests: Blackfish, sea monster with human face, grizzly bear, the "half man!' 4. Wolf (Ko saltsaixdandox, "wolf people") Crests: Wolf. The list of crests is far from complete. The word for sept is ma'inuix, which is the same as the Haisla word for clanm The septs are not paired in any way. In a vague way the septs are ranked. Raven is highest, Eagle second, Blackfish third, and Wolf fourth. This is despite the fact that the chief of highest rank is Wo'wiyala of the Blackfish sept. (He was, however, born a Raven, his mother's sept, and was "adopted" by his father, a Blackfish.) As elsewhere in the area, the various parts of the hous are ranked in feasts. As one stands at the door, the highe part of the house is the opposite wall (the "head"). Next is the left-hand wall and lowest is the right-hand wall. The host group remains at the door end. When the Eagle sept is host, Ravens are seated at the head, Blackfish along the left wall, and Wolves along the right wall. When Black fish is the host, Ravens occupy the head, Eagles the left wall, Wolves the right. When Wolves are hosts, Ravens occupy the head, Eagles the left wall, Blackfish the right wall. When Ravens are hosts, Eagles occupy the head, Blackfish the left, and Wolves the right wall. At such feasts each sept used distinctive face paintings. Ravens encircled the face with dark red, Blackfish painted a broad stripe down either side of the face (color? ), Eagle used a band across the eyes (color?), and Wolves blacken the whole face. 13 So far as I know, the Smith's Inlet and Blunden Harbor Kwakiutl have never been studied. I do not know what further transitions toward the Fort Rupert and Alert Bay organizations might be found. 14 One informant gave kfmini'xot as the word for sept or crest group. [324] I I OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL Although the Bella Bella are commonly said to have four septs ("clans") or crest groups, namely, Raven, Eagle, Blackfish, and Wolf, this was true for only one of the original gr6ups, the U 'yalitXU (or U 'yalidox, the oyalitH of Drucker, 1950). The other tribal-village groups had septs as follows: The K!weye idox (Koey) people had the septs: 1. Raven 2. Blackfish This does not coincide with information I ob- tained from an Owikeno man whose father derived from Koey (Olson, 1954, p. 214). He claimed all four crest groups were known there. The K!okwaye'dox had the septs: 1. Blackfish. Head chief Wowiyala. 2. Raven. Head chief K!wi daXU ("cooking a half- dried fish"). 3. Eagle. The Uwi'tlidox had the following septs: 1. Eagle. The head chief was Ta'ltamix (said to be a Bella Coola word meaning "chief"). 2. Raven. The head chief was K'oma'nAkwalah ("moving up to be a chief"). Another chief was U'maxit ("slow in giving"). The Istedox had the following septs: 1. Blackfish. The head chief was Lagauwaya'kli ("overhanging rock:" from a certain place in Dean Channel). 2. Raven. The head chief was Kumu'k!uya ("chief"). 3. Eagle. The Yalaklai.idox of Goose Island had the following septs: 1. Blackfish. 2. Eagle. 3. Raven. The head chief was WigwiLbahwai 'kes. 325 NAMES AND TITLES Personal names are inherited in family lines and within the sept (crest group). Even commoners would have a series of these with the passage of the years. Each giving or assumption of a name must be accom- panied by a feast and the giving of gifts. At such time the history or source of the name is told and the public nature of the festival serves as a validation of the right to the name. For commoners, these are small affairs and the names are of minor social value. But for the chief class, both male and female, there is a limited number of names which carry a definite prestige and which have a high social value. These are as much in the nature of titles of honor as they are names. They are passed on to various persons in a variety of ways. They may be passed from father to son. Usually this involves adoption of the son into the father's crest group. I was also told that a man gives names from his crest only to the eldest son and eldest daughter, not to the younger siblings. (Children are usually con- sidered to belong to the mother's sept.) Female titles usually go from mother to daughter. Masculine names may pass from a man to a surviving brother and from him to another brother, and so on, until the group of brothers is gone. The title then goes to the eldest son of the eldest sister (of the original brothers) who has a son. Failing such heirs, the title passes to the near- est eligible kin. The heir designate would in this case be chosen only after a discussion of the matter by the men of rank (chiefs) of the sept. Or the title may go with a bride as a part of her dowry. In this event, the title often passes to her children, the husband merely holding the title "in trust" for a son. Some men of rank were known to climb the social ladder by marrying a girl to obtain a coveted title, then use the capital gain of 100 per cent when she was bought out to give a great feast to further enhance prestige and rank. Then they would again marry for the same purpose. This might (theoretically) go on indefinitely. For each of the wives, it enhanced her rank and prestige. To be married, if only briefly, to a man of high rank "made her heavy," i.e., of greater social worth. Nowadays, with the de- crease in numbers of the tribe, some of the male titles are even held by women, at least until a male heir is available. Men do not hold women's titles. The following recent incident illustrates the impor- tance of having a name, even among the lower classes. A boy of about fifteen years (in 1949) was constantly teased by his playmates' asking him, "What is your (native) name?" He could only reply that he had none. Then they would say, "Haven't your people given a feast and given you a name? " And he would say, "No. We are poor people.' Finally, in desperation he man- aged to save a few pennies and bought candy. When next he was taunted, he jumped atop a stump and said to them, "From now on my name is Ka'mkas [stump]." Then he gave out the candy. And so he is called. Such nameless ones are called Ha'mala, which means "orphan," "slave,' or very low caste. Even the child- ren of high caste people would be thus classed if their parents died before "doing something for them" and if their kinsmen failed to give the necessary feasts and name them. The following is an example of the series of names assumed by a woman of fairly high rank. 15 1. The day of her birth she was given the name Yu'lukumikas (meaning?). This is a Raven name. 2. At about seven years she was given a name from her father's sept (Blackfish), K!auma'la ("when the wolves howl"). This name actually came from he, father's mother who was of the Wolf sept (but he had, been adopted into Blackfish). The father's mother had given the name to the Blackfish in lieu of property at the death feast of a kinsman. 3. At puberty she was given the Raven name K!ixwakAs ("must be asked about things"). At her firhi menses a girl is put in a seclusion room in the house where she must fast for four days, screen her eyes, use a special drinking cup and a scratching stick. At the end of the seclusion period, after several months she is brought out and a feast and potlatch are given for her and she is given a new name. The expenses are borne by the mother and her kin of the sept. 4. When she was about sixteen, her mother's brother's son, Hamdzi't, 16 (who had been adopted into the Raven sept), gave a potlatch linked with one of the dancing societies. Several adolescents (both boys and girls) danced. Just before the dancing and giving of property, the names were announced. Hers was Kyawadzi'L ("box in which the dance parapher- nalia is kept"). The name was given by her mother and is a Raven sept name. 5. When her mother died, the daughter (ego) gave a funeral potlatch and took the name K!laleLihlahugwa' ("the roll or diving of the whale"). This is the highest female title in the Raven sept. This name she still retains (at about seventy years). Usually a daughter receives the same series of names as each is given up by the mother, who assumes a new om But because of the breakdown of the culture, this mother has kept all but the second name, which she has given to her daughter's daughter. The ceremony of giving away a name is called sana'xaut ("taking off the name"). Names may be given on other occasions, e.g., when the nose is pierced, when the lip is pierced, when the ears are pierced, and for each succeeding piercing of the ears, up to five pairs of holes. A limited number of persons are of a social rank high enough to merit the title of "noble.' Perhaps "those of quality" would be a better translation. Such men are called hai'mas. The equivalent women are called u'makl (pl., wiumaks) or less commonly mu'dziL. Three men, the highest in each of three septs, are of a still higher rank and rate the title glowu 6lgamih. Very low-class people and slaves are called xa'mala (lit., "orphan"), and the term is used to describe ne er- do-wells, persons who had no kin to help them, and slaves. A chief scolding his people (sept members) migh apply the term to them in derision, in annoyance, or to 15 This is Mrs. Sam Star of the Raven sept. 16This is a common English name today, the Anglicized form being Humchitt. [326] I I I I OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL shame them. Real slaves (who were usually war cap- tives) rate the term k'oma 'la. At present the title of highest rank is that of Chief Moody Humchitt arid the name is Wa 'wiyal& ("goods flowing from him like water down a rapids"). He is of the Blackfish sept. But he was born a Raven and has .been adopted into Blackfish. This is rather confusing even to the natives, since the Raven sept is regarded -as being "higher" than the others. I was given the following chief names for the septs (but the list is certainly far from complete): Raven Sept. 1. Gyeloya'komih ("just become human"). 2. KVo'manakulah ("growing greater"). 3. YakiLna 'l& ("many potlatches given for him"). 4. Dzi'ksiwalfs ("the name reaches to the sky"). Eagle Sept. 1. WigwiLbahwai kes ("Eagle' s beak on Waiktes"). 17 2. He'matsalas ("so great that people wish to come to him"). The name Yai'madzalis is sometimes used instead. 3. K!ai xaitasoh ("his people look to him"). 4. T!ai'xklalah ("big flame"). Blackfish Sept 1. Wa 'wiyala ("goods flowing from him like water down a rapids"). This is at present the highest title of the Bella Bella. But I am not certain that this is not due to its being held by Chief Moody Humchitt who was born a Raven but adopted into Blackfish, "so he is not a real Blackfish." I suspect that he would have been counted highest, had he carried the number one Raven title. l 2. Wai'kes ("Flow! great river:' or "greatest river"). Haisla, Owikeno, and other tribes also have this title. 3. Haimasba.a't ("chief he is"). 4. Hamtzidau 'kuy& ("always giving feasts"). 5. Mani'gahlis ("he lives alone"). Wolf Sept The Wolf sept has no men who rank as hai'mas. But it seems that one man of the Wolf clan bore the title nuLila'kU. This man acted as a sort of policeman during the dances. The title is said to imply "brave," "hardboiled.' The Wolf sept is said to have no chiefs because the Wolf children were born to the woman of the legend and they had no father. In feasts two chiefs (number one of the Raven sept and number one of the Eagle sept) have the prerogative of calling on members of the Wolf sept to stand outside and howl like wolves. People then say, "They (the wolves) must have killed something.' This, of course, is in antici- pation of the feast to come. This is said to be because the woman who gave birth to the wolf children later married. She had two children: the first was a Raven, the second an Eagle. The Wolf sept also has a man who bears the title K!ase'ls ("wolf"). He does not rank as hai'mas (chief), but in time of war he is the leader (war chief) and actually outranks all others. 7This is a compounded name. The name Wai k6s or Walkcs occurs peatedly in the area. The foregoing are the titles in order as they are recog- nized today among the merged tribes at Bella Bella. But each of the original groups had its own ranking of chiefs by septs. I have only the following information on them, very incomplete at this late date. Chiefs of the Ko 'kwayedox Blackfish sept. 1. Wa'wiyala All other titles are now lapsed. Nowadays when this chief gives a feast, all the K!o- kwaye'dox help him, regardless of sept. (So it is with the other chiefs also.) Eagle sept. 1. Kahyi't. This name is said to come from the Stikine Tlingit. It is said that four generations back the ancestor (great-great-grandfather) of the present holder of the title was captured by these Tlingit. There he married the daugh- ter of a chief (her name was Ganda 'x). They were sent back to Bella Bella, and the husband was given the name Kahyi't. (This is an ex- ample of how these titles pass from tribe to tribe.) Another title shared by Kwakiutl and Stikine Tlingit is Seks (Tlingit, Ce ks) (Olson, 1940, p. 171). 2. Kla`lpsalaglis ("eagle flapping his wings as he sits on the tide flats"). Raven sept. 1. K'wi'daxU ("half-dried fish boiled"). 2. Hemasp.a't ("chief"). This is a sort of slang for "chief.' It is almost derogatory or sar- castic. Chiefs of the Uwi'tlidox Raven sept. 1. Ta'lt&mix (said to be a Bella Coola word, "chief"). 2. Kwanu'tlami ("sitting on the side of the house "). Chiefs of the Istedox Blackfish sept. 1. Lagauwaya 'kli ("overhanging rock"). The present title holder also has the title Wai'kes (or Wa'kes). 2. Gl'lt.agawa ("he has the longest back-fin"). Raven sept. 1. K!umu'koiya ("highest chief"). Eagle sept. This group is long since extinct. Chiefs of the Uwi'lidoxt8 Blackfish sept. 1. Kfla 'LuyilsAlah ("finning out through the door- way"). 2. M&Lmali'sil& (meaning?). He was the highest chief when this group lived at Nu'lu. My informant had forgotten the chTiefs of the other septs. Is Also called the Uwi'gglidox. Moses Knight thinks that this group, the Kue'idox of Koey and the Nulau'widox of Nu lu, were one and the same group; that they merely changed names as they moved from one location to another. I 327 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Chiefs of the Yalaklai .idox (evidently the name for the people of Goose Island Raven sept. 1. WigwiLb&hwai'kes ("curved beak of the kulu - san"). 19 This title is properly of the Eagle sept, but somehow it came to be the property of the Raven sept. Eagle sept. 1. Ma'kwah ("pulling up a rooted thing"? or "uprooting from the rocks"? ). The title has now lapsed. Chiefs of the U'yalidox 20 Raven sept. 1. Gyeloya'komih ("first to be named in feasts"). 2. Kahla'gauyuis ("crossed braces"). Blackfish sept. 1. K'la'Luyrlasalah ("finning out through the doorway"). The U'yalidox are said to be the only one of the groups which merged to form the modern Bella Bella which had the Wolf sept. The origin legend of the Wolf sept is given on p. 332. This sept had no name- titles, but its members were not regarded as of low caste or inferior. The following is a list of the women whose names may be classed as titles. These women are classed as u'makas. The titles are listed by septs and in order, beginning with the highest. Raven Sept. 1. K!laleLihlahugwa'h ("the roll or diving of the whale"). 2. K!lake Lk!anah ("real copper"). 3. K!ai'xaitasoh ("the people look up to him"). This is really an Eagle sept man's title, but because there was no eligible male heir, it passed to a woman of the Raven sept who has been adopted into the Eagle sept for ceremon- ial purposes. The title will pass to her son. 4. Gyeyu'gwiL ("so heavy that it cannot be lifted"). 5. Kyani'Lamih ("she must marry a great one"). 6. XwrstAne'L ("must be taken from home when she marries"). 7. Klak!wagilahyugwa'h (a name from Fort Rup- ert; it is said to refer in some way to a copper, or perhaps "copper whale"). Eagle Sept. 1. K!auksuma'lis ("sea monster coming up with open mouth"). It refers to a monster at Cousins Inlet near Ocean Falls. 2. Kla 'lpsalagilis ("eagle flying aimlessly"). 3. WiLbo'n ("great whale" in the Tsimshian tongue). 4. Kyani'Lamih. This is the same as title 5 of the Raven sept. But this one belongs to the Uwi'tlitXU, the other to a different tribe- village. 19A fabulous bird which "smells sweet." It has the body of a bird, the face of a man with an eagle's "nose." The original holder of the title one morning saw this creature sitting on some rocks. He tied bits of rag to four arrows and shot at it. The fourth arrow killed it. He had been poor, but now he became the richest man of the whole group of tribes, a great chief, a great feast-giver. 20 The name now applied to the merged tribes. But the name was used by the people of the vicinity before this. Blackfish Sept. 1. Xaxomi't ("great sea lion"). 2. Kyawadzi'L. Wolf Sept. The Wolf sept has no name-titles of u'makAs rank for women, just as it has none for men. Although there was a certain ranking of the septs (p. 324), more important was the ranking of individuals of different septs. Each name-title within the Bella Bella had a certain "social value," and when gifts were distri- buted at a potlatch, the Bella chiefs received in the follow ing order. 21 1. Wa'wiyala (sometimes given as Wo'yala). (Black- fish sept but born a Raven.) His high rank depends in part on his high Raven birth, the great number of other name-titles he has rights to, the great potlatches he has given, and his claim to kinship with high chiefs of other tribes. 2. K!oma'nakulah. Raven sept. 3. WigwiLbahwai'kes. Eagle sept (but has somehow now the property of a Raven. P. 327). 4. Kahyi't. Eagle sept. 5. Gwalxa'h. (Sept ?) 6. Gwiyu'Lditsas. (Sept ?) 7. Wai'kes (or Wa'kes). Blackfish sept. 8. La.e'klas. (Sept ?) 9. Ta'ltamix. Raven sept. While the host is giving out his gifts to the assembled men, his wife is usually acting as hostess to the women, giving away mainly yard goods and other feminine items. The women chiefs receive in the order listed. Again I failed to get sept affiliation of some. 1. K'la'kwagilahyugwa'h. Raven sept. (I think this is an error on the part of the informant; that she meant K!lale 'Lilahugwah. 2. Kumu'ksyela. (Sept ?) 3. Lakyuwa'Li. (Sept ?) This is a man's title, but owing to lack of a male heir, it has passed to a woman. 4a. Gyeloya'komih. Raven sept. This is also a male title but held in trust by a woman. She has "given" it to a man who, however, has not publicly assumed it, so the female holder still uses it. 4b. Kyawadzi'L ("where the spirit treasures are hidden" Blackfish sept. This is a name linked with the MiLA (Glo.ala'xa) dancing society. Gifts are given Qut in order of rank to those who hold titles. Commoners all receive usually the same amount, often only token gifts. When another chief gives a potlatch, he will give to his former host more than that host gave to him, up to double. (The Bella Bella are aware that the Fort Rupert follow the rule that the first host receives double what he had given.)22 21I neglected to get the sept affiliation of all these. The list does not agree with the list of chiefs by sept. My informant here was Mrs. Star, who also gave me the list of chiefs by sept. I cannot explain the discrep- ancy. She may have given me names other than those more commonly used, since each chief nowadays may have several titles or potential titles. When this list was obtained in 1949, her memory was somewhat impaired. 22 The Bella Bella say that in personal loans the borrower returns the amount of the loan plus something more. There is no idea of interest "rates" or that the amount paid back is determined by the passage of time. This is not related to the giving of gifts or making loans to kinsmen who are ex- pected to give back double when the time comes, e.g., to buy out the bride. I i 328 SUCCESSION The Bella Bella tribes are not rigidly unilateral (or unilineal) in their descent reckoning. They "favor" the mother's side but are not completely matrilineal, though this tendency is strong. This is obviously due to influ- ence from the wholly matrilineal tribes to the north (Haisla Kwakiutl and the Tsimshian). The result is that the Bella Bella are somewhat confused or uncertain in these matters. The situation is further complicated by the great decline in numbers of the natives. Certain lines have become extinct or without a sufficient num- ber of descendants to fill the positions (or take the name-titles and the attendant privileges). The result is that adoption into different septs has become common. Or women assume the titles of men. Or one person may hold several name-titles, even in different septs. Or siblings may be assigned to different septs (crest groups). Some of the following notes are accordingly contradic- tory. In ancient times (and ideally) the name-title (and its attendant privileges) passed from a man to his next brother, and so on, to the last surviving brother. At his death the title passed to the eldest son of the eldest sister (of the group of siblings) who had a son; i.e., it went from the original holder to that man's sister's Bon. From this nephew it passed in turn to the brothers ,of that nephew until this series of males had passed on. In any event, the title, then as now, cannot be assumed ',without giving a potlatch, at which time the title is pub- Ly assumed. This is usually done a year after the ath of the former holder of the title. It is said that e matter of succession is discussed by the other chiefs the sept. If they agree that matters are in order, they the aspirant to plan his potlatch. It may even happen t the prime heir is without funds for the necessary latch. In this event, the title may be given over to a nger brother who is financially able. In no case does tle pass from a man to his son-in-law, though other condary) name titles may pass to a son-in-law as a of the daughter's dowry. A title may pass from a man to his daughter's son if man has no brothers or nephews. But recourse to ption is the usual way out of the dilemma of lack of egular successor. Women's name-titles pass from the holder to each er sisters in turn. When the last of these has died, title goes to the eldest daughter of the eldest sister. roper heirs are lacking, the title goes to the nearest le relative, though this may depend on the decision informal sept council of persons of rank. It is said women's titles are never assumed by men (when le heirs are lacking), although women sometimes men's titles until a male successor is available. e children of the deceased inherit most of his perty. But, unless he has adopted a son as his heir, [32 his eldest sister's eldest son inherits the title. This nephew, unless his heirship has been taken away by such an "adopted" son, also bears most of the funeral expenses and gets the house of the deceased.23 The following will illustrate the difficulty of tracing the inheritance of titles in genealogical terms. Decrease in the tribe is partly responsible, lack of heirs also enters in, and the number of potlatches given by or in honor of a potential heir is a factor. The title Wa'wiyala originally came to Bella Bella as part of a dowry. The first Bella Bella holder died without heirs and the title passed ("in trust") to the widow's second husband. They had a daughter but no son, so this daughter "carried" the name, eventually giving it to her son. He passed it to his son, and this one to his son. This last man died without heirs, so the title passed "in trust" to his sister. At her death it was to go to her son (who gave the funeral potlatch for her). But the chiefs decided that this son was not worthy of so high a title, and it was "awarded" to the son of a female cousin (?) of the de- ceased, the present holder. He will pass it to his son. Sifting the foregoing data and making use of some genealogies which were obtained, I can clarify the fore- going as follows. In the upper class (hai'mas) it was usual for a man to adopt his son into his own sept so that the son would inherit the father's title. Without this being done the son was regarded as belonging to the sept of the mother. Children other than the eldest son belonged to the sept of the mother. If the eldest son was not adopted, the father's title passed to the eldest son of the father's eldest sister. That is, primogeniture was the rule and an eligible man inherited from his maternal uncle. Among commoners this sort of adoption was not prac- ticed and all children belonged to the mother's sept. Evidently a man (chief) who has rights to several titles from different septs changes septs when he changes names. (This probably would not have happened in early times.) Thus, I was told by Moody Humchitt's wife that had I asked Moody his sept when he bore the name Gy6loya'komih, he would have said "Raven:'' this being a Raven name. But when he gave this name to his son and took (or was awarded) the title Wa'wiyala (from his father's sept), he became of the Blackfish sept, this being a Blackfish name. 24 However, I was told also that among commoners the male children belong to the father's sept, the girls to the mother's sept. I think this is not as reliable information as that stating that in everyday or common practice all children belong to the mQther's sept. I record it to illus- trate the mixed system, the confusion in the minds of the natives, or lack of a definite rule. 23 Burial was in a box coffin which was placed in a cave or a grave-house. 24 It was most unfortunate that this fine old man could not be used as an informant; but he seemed to feel that such service would be beneath him. 29] LEGENDS OF THE ORIGIN OF SEPTS, CRESTS, AND NAMES THE ORIGIN OF A BLACKFISH SEPT NAME 25 At the village of K!ai'lsudux there lived but three persons, two boys and a girl. One of the lads was named Nuwa'k!at ("sensible"), the other Wiki'misimih. The girl had no name. One day as the three played, they felt very sad because they had no chief to lead them. So they prayed for help-that a chief would be sent to them. Four times they went to the same place and prayed. The fourth day as they were praying, they saw something coming down from the sky. It was a human being who wore a fancy hat decorated in the front with pearly inlay. When the girl saw this, she cried out "Hi++." From this fact she took the name K!aila'kulaks ("a long-drawn-out cry"). When the supernatural being was close to earth, he told them his name, which was K!omo'ksyelah ("coming down through"). And he said, "Those who take my place [name] will do as I do. They will not live long.' This name continues in the Blackfish crest group to the present day. THE ORIGIN OF THE EAGLE CREST 26 An eagle was soaring high in the sky. He saw a whale in the ocean below. He dived down and seized it and would not let go. A long time he held on. Finally the whale became the island called Ya'lakli ("long on the water!' This is the modern Goose Island on the west side of Queen's Sound). Then the eagle turned himself into a human being except for his beak. This eagle's beak remained on him as a human being. His first human name was Gla'h.wAh ("stood there,'" i.e., on the rock or island). Soon Eagle-man left Goose Island to look for a place to live. But he found only a poor place called Du'xsowis ("narrow," a place on Louise Channel on Stryker Island) where a few people lived. There he married and had children. He became a great chief and took the name WigwiLbeswaikes ("eagle's nose on a person"). The eldest child was a boy, and because he was the eldest, the father sponsored him in a Mi'La dance (see Drucker, 1940, p. 210). Now, a part of this dance in- volved a (magical ?) performance with a great wooden whale. The father had this prop constructed in such a way that six boys inside made the "whale" swim and dive as it came toward the shore. (The dancer was also inside.) But at the actual dance, as people on the shore watched, the "whale" dived several times, then went down and failed to come up. The six boys and the novice were drowned. In grief at this tragedy the chief moved away to Ha' - nsdaxU. (I do not know where this place is.) He spon- sored his second son in the Land Otter dance (k!ola'laL, "swimming well"). As the lad danced, many otters were seen swimming in the lagoon. (In the dance performances wooden mock-ups of otters were placed in the water near 25 Related by Mrs. Sam Star, whose father counted himself as Blackfish. 26 Related by Mrs. Sam Star. This is essentially the story of the "groom" K'la'LbAh mentioned in the legendary account of the Raven crest (p. 331). the village and manipulated so that they seemed to s Drucker does not list this dance for the Bella Bella.) From Ha'nsdaxU the chief moved to K!at'ttamkes where there are two rivers. 27 Dog salmon run in the one, sockeye in the other. At this place he found a pi of iron which he used as a blade in an adze. People this iron adze was wonderful. With it he made many c He now sponsored his third son in a MiLa dance. It w such a great affair that the potlatch which followed wa held out of doors. To each chief present the father ga canoe made with his wonderful adze. At the potlatch h decided to give the adze away. But not knowing to wh he should give it, he threw it back over his shoulder. the scramble, some commoner rather than a chief got the prize. Now this third son it was who married the daughter Gy6loya 'komih, and the river which was given to him the wedding was named T 'nkis. This is the river at Howeet in which the sockeye run. The other river he g to his father-in-law. THE ORIGIN OF THE RAVEN CREST 28 Raven was a man, the first man to come to this pla From here he went to Smith's Inlet (Gwa.asila') wher took the name K!lisila'ka ("the sun is shining"). Then' went on to Cape Calvert (Tsi'xLik) where he stayed fo time and named himself O'maxaiyu ("came down to ea to be a chief"). From Cape Calvert he went to Bella C (Be lxula), where he flew to the top of a mountain and began crying out like an eagle. A chief who lived there heard these cries early one morning and said, "What this which I hear up on the mountain? Listen to it!" Bu no one paid much attention to him. The chief went outi to listen and said, "Let's chase that thing away. If he keeps that up, there will be no salmon!' For this real the Bella Coola people have no whistles (in their danc for Raven was using a whistle to imitate the eagle. 30 From Bella Coola, Raven went to K!I'mxakU ("can This is Kimsquit). At the mountain there he transforme himself into a true human. Until now he had had copper: wings. Now as a human he wore these coppers on his thus / \ . The copper on the right he called Gwinu'x (" heavy one"), the one on his left side he called Tlagwi' ("biggest part"). The chief at Kimsquit went out to see (creature ?) this was. He wanted the coppers. So he s at Raven and wounded him. But since Raven was now h the chief did not kill him, and Raven stayed on at that p He now took the name Gyeloya'komih ("just born," or now become human"). After a time he married the dau of a chief. Her name was U'lAkumy&s. Soon she bore a child, a daughter, by him. In time word came from Bella Bella (i.e., Howeet) tha 27 This is evidently a village site near Howeet, as one of the rivers is said to have been named Hau'wit. 28 Related by Mrs. Sam Star of the Raven crest group or sept. 29 Now thought of as Bella Bella; probably Howeet would have been given in former times. 30 This is pure rationalization, for the Bella Coola do use whistles in their dance performances or "secret societies." [330] OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL a certain chief wished to marry this girl to his son. But her father refused, saying that if she went to Bella Bella, she would starve, there being no salmon streams there. But the BeIla Bella chief sent word that if the marriage were permitted, a certain river would be given to the groom, So the girl's father brought her to Bella Bella. There she was married to this young man K!la"Lbah, the son of Wai'kes. (The crest of the groom was Eagle, that of the bride, Raven.) In time children were born to them, and many of them were given the Raven names which the bride brought (as a part of her dowry). This is the origin of the U'yatlitXU (or OyaLidox, the people of Howeet). 31 THE STORY OF CHIEF EAGLE NOSE32 Wi gwiLba ("eagle nose") married a woman of the Uwi'tlidox tribe named Ka'kwi. Her parents and other near kin died before she was bought out. So she was really a slave. (For so it is that until a woman is bought out she is, so to speak, the "slave" of her husband.) She had a small son. Every day she cried, because they were like slaves. One day she went out to dig clams, taking her boy along. She saw two big black things in the water. She said to the boy, "Do you see those strange things? " But he said, "I think they are only rocks:' She saw two sea gulls light on the objects. She took a canoe and went out to them. They were two stranded whales. She stuck her digging stick into one and put her hat on top to show that someone already had a claim. Then she came ashore and wove a long line of cedar withes. With this she tied the whales to the shore. Then she cut off a piece of the whale's skin and put it in her canoe. Then she went to her husband (who always sat up in the rafters). "Come down and see this piece of skin I have:' He asked where she had found it, so she related what had happened. He then told the people to take canoes and tow the whales ashore. All this happened at a village called H 'nsdAxU. It was after the winter ceremonials and the people were half starved. Then Ka'kwi said to her husband, "Now I am going to buy myself out. I want you to invite the tribes and give them a feast!' That night he called the people in and sent messengers to Kokyet, Rivers Inlet, Smith's Inlet, and Bella Coola, inviting them to the feast. When they came, he feasted them on the whales. He had many slaves and many canoes. To each guest chief he gave a pebble representing a slave. And to each he gave a tally stick representing a canoe. Then Ka'kwi told her husband, "Now you are to sit and listen. I will talk for myself!' So he flew (sic) up to the rafters and sat there. Then she tied a band around her head and painted her face and that of her son. Then she explained to the people that she would have to speak for herself, since all her kin were dead. "You all know how long ago my parents died. And you know that I have been a slave in my husband's house. It is a good thing I found these whales. For now I can buy myself out. And I am going to give a name to my son. From now on you will call him Ai 'xidadih ("food for the people"). I bought myself out with half of the big whale. You feasted on the small one; that was in my son's honor. I think my husband must be my slave now, for I have spent so much!' 31 The foregoing accounts for the Raven names and crests in the tribe. 32 This legend would be told when a man assumed the "Eagle Nose" title. It is evidently also associated with mourning rites for a person of this title. Told by Mrs. Moody Humchitt, who is of Tlingit descent. SOME OTHER LEGENDS OF THE ORIGIN OF CRESTS AND NAMES The following accounts are legends, some of them much abbreviated, which are related at the time of the assumption of a new name to validate the right to the name. Some are but vaguely remembered now that the old culture is so nearly gone. Raven names.-Raven flew around over the world. One day he alighted on the mountain Tci 'Likt near Namu. The name Uma'xai ("sitting on the mountain") comes from this. Then he flew to Smith's Inlet and rested on the shore of a lake called Toxce 'h, and the name Spla' - kah comes from the river which flows into that lake. Then Raven flew to the mouth of Dean River (near the head of Dean Channel). There he cried out, first like a raven, then like an eagle. The chief of the village said, "Why is that raven bringing us bad news? There will be no fish!' Then Raven flew across the channel to Kimsquit. There he turned into a human. His wings had been copper. Now he wore these coppers on his chest, calling the left one Gwinu'x ("the heavy one"), the right one Tlgwi'tamih ("broad end of the copper"). These were to be the names of his children. The people of Kimsquit tried to shoot him. And the arrow they used was called Hana"tXan (which is another Raven sept name). Another Raven name is Lako 'skan ("the red on his body" of the copper). He married a woman at Kimsquit and in a few years she bore a daugh- ter named Yllkix, which is a Kimsquit Bella Coola word. Now, at Bella Bella there had come down an eagle who became human. He had a son and he sent word that he wanted this son to marry Raven's daughter. But Raven said she would have nothing to eat at Bella Bella. So the Eagle chief gave the couple the stream on Hunter Island called Ti'mkls (near Howeet). There Raven came to live also. (This stream now belongs to Chief Moody Humchitt, Wa 'wiyala). Chief Moody Humchitt has many crests, many (rights to) title-names. His grandfather's grandfather married a Smith's Inlet woman, and the name Wa'wiyala or Wo'yil&h was given to him as a part of the dowry. Also given to him was the name Toxce 'h, from a lake in Smith's Inlet. This man made a petroglyph on a cliff near Smith's Inlet which pictures a canoe, the men in it, the paddles, and the four coppers he was using as the bride- price. At this time he had the name Gyeloya 'komih ("rising of the sun"). This title is now held by Moody's son. The title Wo 'yilah will pass to this son when Moody dies. When this first Gyeloya'komih married, he settled at G;lu'mpt (meaning ?) which is now called Strom's Bay. There he gave a great feast, inviting to it all the Bella Bella tribes, the Haisla, the Owikeno, the Bella Coola, and the Kitkatla Tsimshian. Chief Moody also had as a child the title K1la'Lbah ("whale diving"). This comes from Gyeloya 'komih who married a daughter of Chief Eagle Nose (see below), and he was given this name as a part of the dowry. Some of Chief Moody's titles he acquired in this wise: Moody (Humchitt) first married the daughter of the sister of the great chief Charley Moody. Charley had no sons and no brothers, so his titles went to his niece (Moody's wife). When she died, Moody gave away vast amounts. The titles went to him. Also some of the guests gave him name-titles to lessen his grief. The origin of an Eagle crest and name.-There was an eagle flying far out at sea. His name was Klau'wih 331 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS ("standing up"). He saw a whale spouting. He dived down, seized the whale's dorsal fin in his beak, and held on. After a long time the whale turned to stone and be- came Goose Island. Then Eagle became a person, ex- cept for his beak, so he was called Wi'gwiLbAh ("eagle's nose"). He gave a great potlatch, inviting many tribes. At this feast he took the name Wai'kes ("always giving feasts like a river flowing.' This is also translated as "Flow! great or respected river"). Later he combined the two names as WigwiLbaswaikes. In Gull Inlet (or Gull Chuck, located on Hunter Island) there are two streams called K!a.e'LtcutXU and Kiyai'- kustis. Here there lived two men and a woman. There was no chief. One man was Nuw.a'k!at ("smart"), the other was Wiki'misimih ("strong man who is a servant"). The woman's name was K!ela'klaks ("good singer"). They prayed for a chief to come to live among them. In time they saw a being descending from the sky. He was wearing a dance hat with fringes. As he came down he kept turning (twisting) his head, so they named him Kumu'ksyela ("twisting head"). He knew he had not long to live. But (by the woman?) he had children and he said that all his descendants would have short lives. His des- cendants moved to Bella Bella. The village was where the white man's cemetery is situated, where there is a shell heap and petroglyphs. THE HALF-MAN OF CASCADE INLET 33 In Cascade Inlet (Gildi'L, "long inlet") lived Raven (who was also a person). His name was Mini'galis ("the only person there"). Eagle and Blackfish asked him if they could fly around where he lived. They wished to see who was strongest. The one who could stay aloft longest would be chief. Raven was the one to complete the course. This he did by tying splints on his wings to strengthen them. Blackfish jumped up and turned into a stone which can still be seen. Eagle also turned to a stone which can be seen today. Now there also lived in the inlet a man named Ka' - sana. He was a half-man, with half a face, one arm, and one leg. He lived solely by hunting goats. He had four sons who had no mother. (He had never had a wife) One day he carved of alder four figures of women for "wives" for his sons. These he placed on a cedar mat. But he could not bring them to life. Every day the boys went goat hunting. One day as they came in, they saw four young women seated where the figures had been. They were hai'asdelux ("flying beings") who were looking for husbands. But each time the beings would disappear as the dogs came in. Then Ka'sana told the sons to keep the dogs outside. He went in and surprised the beings. The boys immediately married these young women, the eldest marrying the eldest, and so on. Ka'sana danced and sang a song which ran, "[I have] one eye, one arm, one leg:' and so on. Since that time nearly every person of Cascade Inlet loses one eye during his lifetime. This Raven of Cascade Inlet (above) was chased by some raiders. He paddled hard, but they gained on him. Finally he threw his paddle ashore. It can be seen here today. His canoe was named Axwa 'lis, the paddle was named He lbas. The canoe was built three miles south 33 Told by Andrew Wallace. He owns a ceremonial staff which has carved on it, top to bottom, Eagle, Raven, Blackfish, and the Half-man. of Bella Bella where the small flat rocks are the adze chips from its making. And there it was anchored, a the anchor stone with a hole in it can still be seen. THE WOLF CHILDREN 34 A woman named Ts!u'mk!alakas lived all alone at' village of K!a'ttamkes. She found herself pregnant. her time came, she gave birth to four little wolves. named the eldest O'k!usAmih ("mountain"), the secon Yai 'kis ("water monster"). The third, a girl, she named GoLgoLk!wa'salakas ("many mountains"), and fourth, also a girl, she named Go 'k!wataxglekas ("th. last mountain"). One night the mother went down to th beach to dig clams. Soon she heard what seemed to be the sound of singing and dancing at the house. She too off her cape and hung it on her digging stick and went the house and peeped through a crack. One of the chil was singing, "Mother is still digging clams:' The oth children were dancing to this song. They had hung up their wolf blankets, and she saw that (now) they were wolves at all, but human. She was angry and rushed i saying, "You are humans. Yet you were not willing to help me get food. All this time you have been preten to be wolves!' At this they rushed for their blankets, but the youngest didn't reach his (i.e., the mother sei it). The other three became wolves and ran away, and the mother shouted at them, "You will remain wolves forever:' The mother was very sad and each day she cried ov her fate. One morning she heard someone singing in woods. The voice came closer and soon the voice call to her. She looked up and saw a woman standing near. This one said, "I'm the one you heard. I'm coming to- live here and to be a sister to you!' Her name was K!auma'la. Her face and body were painted red. To this day the people of the Wolf sept of that villa (and lineage) use this name. The mother's weeping so is used as a mourning song for persons of high rank. And they paint themselves red in mourning, or some- times cut the scalp at the hair line so that blood will down the face (the red signifying blood, death, and mourning). One informant stated that girls of the Wolf sept hav many more illegitimate children than do girls of the other septs. She thinks it is because this first woman of the Wolf sept likewise had no husband when her wolf i children were born. THE WOLF CHILDREN (SECOND VERSION)35 A woman named Ts!u'mk!alak&s lived at Kokasbidjo. (Lady Lake). She came south to Diasu'h (Lizzie Cove Hunter Island). There she married a wolf and by him four "children," two boys and two girls. One evening she went at low tide to dig clams. She heard sounds of merriment at her house. She went back4 peeked in and saw her wolf children in human form. Th had hung their wolf blankets on the wall. She quickly w in, exclaiming, "Oh, you are in human form! Yet you have done nothing to help me provide!" At this all rushi 34 Told by Mrs. Sam Star. The tale validates the right to the name K:auma li in the Wolf sept. But through decimation of that group the tale has now become the property of Chief Moody Humchitt. 35 Told by Mrs. Charley Windsor. 332 OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL for their wolf blankets. But the eldest failed to get his. She sent the three away, telling them that they would always be wolves. And to this day wolves are sometimes seen which have human faces. The eldest (who remained human) was named Yai'- kis. Now there are places where people go from which there is no return. Yai'kis began to visit these places. The first place he went to was Lilru'k in Hunter Channel. Here there is a cavern which has an underwater entrance. Many sick people came here to be cured, but many died. When Yai'kis entered the cavern, he felt that something (supernatural) was working over his body. But he came out without ill effects. The last of these dangerous places he went to was Superstition Point (Tuigna'nux, "home of the devilfish") on Hunter Island. With him were his mother and a man. As he was about to dive to investigate, he said, "I shall not come back alive if these stories we have heard about this monster are true:' He dived in. After a time only his intestines floated to the surface. From this the mother made up a mourning song, the burden of which is about those who have gone, never to return. 333 MARRIAGE I have but few notes on marriage customs. These are set down for record purposes. There is (and was) a tendency but not a definite rule of sept exogamy. Some informants state that in the old days intrasept marriages did not occur within the village- tribe group. Others deny this. There seems to have been no institutionalized preferred type of marriage (except for caste endogamy). But it is said that it is "good" for cross-cousins to marry because a brother and sister have the same crest and other privileges, and in this way their children have the same rights, which would pass on to their children. (Cf. the Owikeno customs in this respect. Olson, 1954.) In one instance Blackfish married Blackfish. Their fathers were of the same village-tribe, but their mothers (from whom they took their sept affiliation) were from different villages. The wife in this instance told me she would not have married her husband, had their mothers been from the same village-tribe. Although the Wolf sept is lacking in chiefs' titles (the hai'mas class), there is no prejudice against marriage into this group. But persons of the chief class would not ordinarily marry into the Wolf sept because of the factor of the chiefly name-titles, which loom large in upper-class marriages. A sure way to wealth was (and is) to arrange marriages of the "investment" type. This is confined mainly to the upper class and involves desire to get capital gains for potlatch purposes. Thus a chief might "marry" a girl of five years. Within the year, if possible, some- times within a month, the parents "bought her out" by paying the husband double. This money was clear gain and was invariably used for potlatches. The "bride" gained prestige by being "married" to a man of note. Furthermore, she could say in later life, "I was re- deemed without being married" (i.e., without being an actual wife). Sometimes the girl's parents paid back more than double the bride-price. Thus I recorded one marriage where the groom's parents paid $150.00 as an "engagement" payment and $200.00 more plus a gas boat at the actual wedding ceremony. A month later the girl's parents re- deemed her by giving to the groom's female kin eight bolts of dry goods and a $20.00 coat to each of his two sisters. The groom was given a house, a dresser, two (! ) sewing machines, $350.00, plus food (including two cows). The food was used by the groom to "finish" the burial of his uncle, to get the tombstone moved to the cemetery. 36 Another instance is the following. A certain girl's parents were offered $200.00 as the bride-price. But they complained that this would not suffice for distri- bution to her numerous kin. So $150.00 was added to the price. The bride's father invited the girl's kin (i.e., his own and his wife's) and gave out $200.00 to them. The remaining $150.00 he sent to Klemtu where he also had kin, and there it was potlatched in the same way. When the time came a year later, the wife was redeemed as follows. Those kin who had received a part of the bride-price gave the father back double what each had received (except for a few defaulters). This amounted to $600.00. To this the father added $500.00 of his own, so the hus- band received $1100.00 cash. His mother was given ten bolts of dress goods, two saws, and two sweaters. The groom's father received ten boxes of apples. The groom was also given a "pattern" (plan) and a name for a ter- raced house (i.e., such a house was described to him). It was stated publicly that the wife had brought (or given) this to him. He was also given a gas boat (but a few years later he drowned and the bride's father got the boat back),J The son-in-law gave a potlatch and gave away the $1100.00, except that part which he spent for food for the potlatch feast. (In this instance he was of the eagle sept and the guests were all members of the other septs.) At the time the son-in-law drowned, the couple had four children. The father-in-law paid $250.00 for a (stone) tombstone. To each of the four children he gave $50.00. This they gave to a sister of the deceased. She added $200.00 of her own and gave a potlatch to get the memorial stone placed in the cemetery. It is obvious that the "buying out" by paying double is not merely an obligation; it is also a privilege. It is only by understanding this that the payment of more than double makes sense. It "makes her heavy:'' i.e., the rank and prestige of the wife and her children are enhanced. In "buying out" a wife certain amounts are given out and said to "cover" her right arm, left arm, right leg, and left leg. Another part of the payment is to "wipe the floor where she had trod." (There are probably others.) Both the bride-price and the buying-out wealth are called kuwa' lam. 36 During the last seventy-five years it has been a common practice from Kwakiutl to Tlingit country to carve a crest figure in wood and send it to Vancouver or Seattle where it is rendered in stone and sent to the Indians, who set it up in the fashion of the old wooden memorial columns. [334] THE KINSHIP SYSTEM I do not find the Bella Bella kinship terms in the literature (though this may be an oversight). Accord- ingly I record the following terms. The list of terms is undoubtedly incomplete. The Bella Bella were, I think, clearly on the way toward assimilation of the maternal clan system of the northern tribes when European culture disrupted the society. But their kin- ship system had not yet become harmonized with uni- lineal descent and is of the type of the tribes to the south; it remains the "lineal" family type to some ex- tent. Terms used between ego's and parents' generation omph: father abok: mother xoLd'mp: father's brother, mother's brother ani's: father's sister, mother's sister wi 'samshunux: son (lit., "male child") ga namshunux: daughter g namsklo 'll: sister's daughter, brother's daughter wi' samsklo '111: sister's son, brother's son Terms used between ego's and grandparents' generation nula'kamismanu'yaks: older brother (m. sp.), older sister (f. sp.), i.e., elder sibling of the same sex nula'kamiswakwa'h: older brother (f. sp.), older sister (m. sp.), i.e., elder sibling of opposite sex tsa"eslasmAnu'yah: younger brother (m. sp.), tsa eslasmanu'yaks: younger sister (f. sp.) tsa eslaswakwa 'h: younger brother (f. sp.), younger sister (m. sp.) Sept terms kimini'xot: used reciprocally between all members of the sept or crest group. The literal meaning is probably "clansman," or "fellow sept-man," as I was given the word also as meaning merely sept or crest group. Affinal terms wisamsnigump: son-in-law, father- in- law ganamsnigump: daughter-in-law, mother-in-law yaka'La: brother-in-law ki.!'m: sister-in-law wi 'samsga' gam: grandfather ga 'nmsga gam: grandmother tso '.klemah: grandson tso '.klmkas: granddaughter Terms used within ego's generation wakwa'h: (female speaking) brother, mother's sister's son, father's sister's son manu'yah: (male speaking) brother, (probably also mother's sister's son, father's sister's son) manu yaks: sister (female speaking), mother's sister's daughter (male or female sp.), mother's brother's daughter, father's sister's daughter There are no institutionalized taboos between relatives except that it seems that a man does not speak to his mother-in-law (though I could not get an expression of an overt rule regarding the custom). In practice the kinship terms varied widely from the formal pattern, largely on the basis of acquired names. Thus one woman calls her father "brother" because she bears the name of his deceased sister. A small child calls his father "younger brother" because he is named for his father's deceased elder brother. Cross-cousin marriage is not institutionalized but is said to occur fairly often, "so that the children will have rights to the crests, names, and privileges of both the father's and mother's septs." [335] HOUSE NAMES AND TOTEM POLES I did not obtain more than a few house names. What data I have follows. 1. Chief WigwiLbAhswai' k6s of the Eagle sept gave a great feast at the "dedication" of a new house. To it he gave the name Ogwiwi 'lah ("house on the edge of a cliff"). At this same feast the chief took the name Dokwale 'silah ("looking all over the village," i.e., like an eagle looking down). 2 .Chief Gy'eloya'komih of the Raven sept occupied the house (always?) named Gwawaksa'lah ("totem pole at front of house with raven's mouth for a door"). This house was rebuilt several times. Finally an old man rebuilt it, but he did not have the right to put the huge raven's beak on the totem pole (though he belonged to the Raven sept). People objected because the beak looked like the beak of certain masks of the Tanis dance. But he persisted in setting it up and gave a great feast to show off his house. The raven's beak entrance was so huge that a carved human figure was placed to support it at its tip. The host and his daughter danced one of the dances in the Mi'La series. After the feast was over, the raven beak fell down without apparent cause. Not long after the host died suddenly. Finally Moody Humchitt, who was born to the Raven sept, gave Johnny Scow the right to erect a figure of this kind at Alert Bay. This was because Johnny Scow's wife (a Raven) was Moody Humchitt's cousin. Johnny Scow gave him $100.00 in return. Moody and his kin went down to Alert Bay for the potlatch. In front of Johnny's house was the figure of Blackfish. This was moved away by the Bella Bella guests and the Raven substituted. At this time Johnny sang the song which "goes with" the raven's head. But not long afterward Johnny's wife died and Johnny soon followed. So this crest seems to carry bad luck. In any event, no one at Bella Bella could use the raven in this way afterward, because the right had been given away. 37 3. Another Raven house was called Tsuya'kkakU ("house with ten terraces"). This refers to its being dug down so that the floor was several levels below the surface, I have secured very little information about totem poles. At the village of Bella Bella there are none. This is because the missionaries have long dominated certain aspects of native life, and totem poles were naturally a prime object of attack. However, there are a number of poles (memorial posts) at the cemetery across the channel. Moody Humchitt's mother's brother (of the Raven sept) had at Old Bella Bella a totem pole at his house which bore the following figures, reading from bottom to top: Eagle, Human face with raven's nose, Seal, Frog, Blackfish, Whale, Bear. These are said to have all come from his father's side. The Eagle and Frog are said to be derived from the Haida of Massett. The order of figures seems largely arbitrary and could evidently be changed by the owner at will. It goes with- out saying that there is no order of rank and that the phrase "low man on the totem pole" would mean nothing in the native mind. Moody could erect a pole like this if he chose to do so. Totem poles were never carved by the man wishing to erect one. Nor could it be done by a member of his sept. Instead he went to a chief of another sept and arranged with him ("hired" him) for the pole. This chi then hired the actual carvers. Almost invariably (perh always) these totem poles were memorial columns. Th carving must be done by a member of the sept of the father of the deceased. 37 This Raven chief also owned a war canoe which bore the name Dagw& [336] DANCING SOCIETIES I have the following notes on the dances of the Tsaika (Shaman's) series. 38 They should be regarded as merely supplementary to Drucker's material (1940, pp. 208-210). The list of dances is somewhat longer than his and the order of rank differs a little. The listing of the dances in order is followed by some additional information on certain ones. 1. Tanis (Cannibal) 2. Kinkala'klah ("head against" something) 3. Nu'nLs!stA ("fire thrower") 4. K'omina'kslaL (a spirit's name) 5. Ak!la'kem ("go up into the woods," i.e., taken there by the spirit) 6. Lu' LaL ("Ghost" dance) 7. G;lu'k'lalaL ("thieving" dance) 8. Ha'matsala'kula ("eating" and "speaking" ?) 9. Gwi'gwaslaL (meaning ?) 10. Ula la 11. Nu'Lam (the dog-eater dance) 12. Li'ktamis A child's dancing career ordinarily began by his dancing No. 12 of the foregoing. No whistles are used in this or in No. 11. Whistles are used in No. 10, and the novice is carried above by the spirits; actually, he is taken away to a retreat in the woods. The cry of No. 10 is "0 hoi, 0 hoi, Gwi'gwasoh, Gwi'gwasoh." The cry of No. 9 is "wewahai', wewahai'," and so on. The Tanis is said to be afraid of this cry. If the Tanis in his dance becomes too violent, this dancer utters this cry and the Tanis subsides somewhat. The cry of No. 4 is "oi+, oi+," and so on. The name of the dance is used in the songs of "high" dances only. The dancer is said to be taken all over the world by the spirit. When the dancer returns to a point near the village, the Tanis (and others) go to bring him back to the dance house. Commoners, i.e., those without name-titles, may dance the last seven of the series but never the first five. Those who have danced none of the dances are not allowed to enter the dance house the final (fourth) night of any dance when the masks are worn. But such may look in through the open door. The Tanis (1) and the Kinkala'klah (2) could be danced by a person but four times (years). He would then pass on the right to his nephew, the eldest son of the eldest sister. Women might perform any of the dances except the Tanis. The Lu'LaL (6) could be danced but once. For the other dances there were no restrictions to number of times the dance could be per- formed. All dance prerogatives are inherited in the same way: man to sister's son, mother to son, or mother to daughter. Seemingly no dances were inherited directly from father to son. This illustrates the mater- nal bias of the group. In the first ten of the series, any "outsiders" (unini- tiated) entering the dance house while the novices were 38 Information given by Mrs. Moses Knight. being taught the steps, the songs, and the "tricks" would be killed. During some of the dances the host usually built a fire so huge that guests seated nearest the fire would be "scorched" and would try to put out the fire by piling blankets or coppers on it (and they sometimes succeeded). In any event, the host must return double the amount or value for the things harmed or destroyed in such putting out of the fire. There were no dances for females only. There was no division into groups by age or sex such as the Fort Rupert Kwakiutl followed (Boas, 1897, p. 419). The Bella Bella say that originally the Fort Rupert people had no Tanis dance (which the Fort Rupert tribes call the Ha'matsa). But there was war between the two and a Bella Bella Tanis was captured. He hid one of his whistles under his blanket. On the way to Fort Rupert they killed a seal, and he was ordered to retrieve it. When he took off his blanket, the chief among his captors saw the whistle and forced him to tell about the dance. Thus the Fort Rupert people acquired the Cannibal dance. Likewise the Kitimat people have not always had the dance. But a Beaver clan chief named Tsasi'h visited Bella Bella. There he fell in love with the wife of a chief who'was away. Every night Tsasi'h stayed with her. He asked her about her husband's Tanis dance and she showed him the whistles. He took one without her know- ing it. When her husband returned, he missed the whistle and faced her with its loss. She finally confessed what had happened. For this he beat her. Tsasi'h took the whistle home, made copies of it, and thus started the Tanis among the Haisla. Boas has given us convincing evidence that these dances in their present form probably originated among the Bella Bella tribes (Boas, 1897, pp. 632-664; see also Drucker, 1940). Another informant (Mrs. Sam Star) gave the list of Tsaika (Shaman's) dances in the order below. It is prob- ably not as accurate as the list given above, but I set it down for the record. 1. Tanis 2. K!o'minuaks 3. Ak!la'kem ("taken to the woods") 4. Nu' nLsista ("tough or hard-boiled"). The Fire dancer. 5. Kinkala'klah ("whispered to by a spirit") 6. Glu 'k'lAlaL ("thieving" dance). If the Tanis is too violent and rough, these dancers begin their dance. The Tanis is afraid of them and becomes less violent. 7. Nu'Lam 8. Lu'LaL ("dance of the dead,'" i.e., ghosts). A skull is worn on top of the head by the dancer and he uses leg bones for canes. This informant claimed that there were six Tanis dancers among the Bella Bella, but only one from each of the original tribes. [337] SHAMANISM "Good" shamans, i.e., those who do not practice evil magic, are called he'likuXU ("healers"). "Bad" shamans, Wrorkers of evil magic, are called da'sgyu. The following will illustrate to a slight extent the shaman's methods. At Port Simpson there lived a famous Tsimshian shaman named Louis Gilek. Albert Humchitt of Bella Bella went to see him about his (Albert's) illness. The shaman told him that someone had stolen his breath by getting the mouthpiece of Albert's cornet. He also taught Albert something about shamanizing. I went to see him, for I felt sick. He used a bowl of water and looked into this. He told me to concentrate. He told me that someone was working magic on me by using a piece of the hem of a skirt of mine, the collar of my underwear, and a towel I had used (I remembered missing a towel). Four times I saw drops of water fall into his bowl. He also said some- one had a basket I had woven. (The materials are softened in the mouth.) And someone also had one of my knitting needles (which are sometimes held in the mouth). Since that time I have always been bothered with sickness about the mouth-sinus trouble, toothache and loss of teeth, and now paraly- sis of one side of my face (from a stroke). Albert told me to replace each of the missing things and burn them-that this would weaken the power. A person doing witchcraft need not hate the victim or be trying to harm or kill him. Sometimes he is merely "experimenting:' The shaman is different. He cures people. Black magicians have almost a secret order of their own. They hold secret meetings. A person coming upon them in such a meeting would be persuaded to join them. And he would be given dire warnings against revealing the secrets in peril of his life. Even a person to whom he told these things would probably die. [338] MISCELLANEOUS TALES THE CANNIBAL WOMAN OF HUNI'S 39 When the people of a certain family were getting ready for bed one night, a child started crying. Her father put out the fire. The giantess came in, went to the crying child and whispered, "I am your grand- mother. My name is Abe 'kla." The child believed and went to her. The cannibal woman put her in the big basket she carried on her back. Then she uttered a horrible cry of joy at getting the child. She took the child to her house in a cave on a moun- tain. There she put the child down and went to gather wood to cook food for the child. At the head of the house the child saw an old woman who was of flesh above the waist but of stone below. This woman said, "She is going to feed you. But do not eat what she gives you. Come and get this basket from me, and when she gives you food, pretend to eat it but drop it in this basket. If you eat it, you will become as I am. I was a little girl like you when she brought me here. But I ate the berries she gave me." One morning Cannibal Woman went out with her bas- ket. When she returned that evening, she had her basket full of geoduck clams. She cooked them, gave the old woman some, and ate some herself. Those she gave to the girl, the girl did not eat but dropped them into her basket. The next day the same things happened, but the old lady told the girl, "Put the necks of the clams on your fingers when you see her coming. When she comes in, move your fingers to scare her." The girl met the giantess at the door and waggled her fingers at her. The cannibal was so frightened that in trying to run away she fell, rolled down the cliff, and was killed. When the girl told the old woman that the giantess was dead, the old woman asked her to roll her out and to the girl's village. The stone is still to be seen on the beach at that place. THE CANNIBAL WOMAN OF OWIKENO 40 A certain man (of Rivers Inlet) had a sweetheart whom he visited each night, leaving her before daylight. One morning as he was leaving, he met a giantess who seized him and put him in her basket. As she did so, she uttered her horrible cry. As she carried him along, he watched, and when she passed under an overhanging branch, he seized it and hung on. The basket came free also, but the cannibal woman went on. He dropped to the ground and ran home, taking the basket with him. There he told what had happened. He said they should see if she would come back for her basket. So they put the basket at the top of a big spruce tree and cut off all branches below it. They decided to move away, fearing what the giantess might do. But they left two men to watch. The giantess came for her basket, but when she saw it, she went away, then returned bringing another canni- bal woman with her. (This second one was of the type called Puk!wS.'s, whose cry is "ho'h ho"). But these two 39 Told by Mrs. Moses Knight. 40 Same informant as preceding tale. also went away, bringing back with them a cannibal man of the kind called Yo'xyoxolsila (who cries "ya+"). He was tall and of human form but he had only one leg. He was so tall that he had to stoop to reach down for the basket. He gave it to the cannibal woman owner who took it and went home. RAVEN AND HIS CHILD 41 There was once a high-caste woman who was married to a chief. One day she saw [a] Raven. She thought, "I would like to be the child of that raven. I think I will go when he gives a feast and see if I can't fix it so that I will be swallowed. At Raven's place a girl went to the creek with a water bucket. The woman turned herself into a goli's [a tiny surf fish]. The girl blew away the leaves from the water, but the tiny fish she swallowed.42 Soon the girl felt she was pregnant and in time gave birth to a son. One day the child was crawling on the floor and started crying. She wondered what he wanted. There was a round thing hanging above the door. She gave it to him but he still cried. So she rolled it out the door. He ran after it, caught it, and put it on his shoulder. Then he turned into a raven, gave his cry, and flew away. He flew up the Nass River where people were fishing for eulachon. He said, "Give me some of your food and I will open my treasure. Then you must turn loose my frogs!' They paid no attention. Again he said the same, but they paid no attention. Then Raven turned the frogs loose. These frogs finally became humans. And this is how the Tsimshian got the frog crest. THE TRAGIC TRICK The first man to hold the title Wawwiyala had five wives. He planned a great potlatch. He made a mock-up of a blackfish and fixed it so that he could be inside it, make it dive, and so on, and it could be pulled ashore by helpers. He practiced with it. In the potlatch he swam out to it under water. But as it came in something went wrong; it went under and he was drowned. His helpers brought the body ashore secretly. The guests were told a spirit had carried him away, and a younger brother took his place and finished the potlatch. GLA.I NS There was a woman named K'umu 'ksyel& who had been abandoned by her people. She had her baby boy naked in his cradle on the beach. A man named Ge'L3 (Gla.i'ns) heard noises of persons as he was hunting. Three times he looked. The fourth time he looked he saw the woman, but she did not see him. He heard her scolding the baby, "Stop your crying! Your father, Gla.i'ns ("suddenly standing up" in surprise), will look after you." Then Ge'La said, "I am Gla.i'ns. I am the father of your baby!' Then the woman ascended to the 41 Told by Mrs. Sam Star. 42 The tale is confused at this point. [339] ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS sky. Gla.i 'ns took the baby to his village of PUkuya 'h. One day he saw something floating out in the water. The people watched as Gla.i ns swam out and brought it in. It was a (red) copper. Then they gave the mother the name Kla'kWeL ("copper swam for"). THE DELUGE 43 At the village of Hauy 't (Howeet) on Hunter Island were several shamans. They foretold a flood, so the people began storing food. In one house lived a chief named Tsia'kumailoyu ("doesn't eat much"), his wife Kwi'hyaks, and his son Gwinu'x. They tied their canoe at the bank of the creek. The tide flood kept rising. But (somehow) the canoe sank. The three turned to stone and the three boulders, two large and one small, can be seen on the beach today. The other people escaped in three big canoes. They anchored on the top of the high mountain named Mansga maLi ("the only not covered mountain") on Hunter Island. The flood lasted several days. To the northeast of this mountain is a smaller mountain which was almost covered. It is called Gi 'kamih ("struck straight," from the piece thrown). This second mountain shouted to the first for help. The high mountain threw pieces of itself to the smaller one, which can be seen as pinnacles today. Finally the waters receded. There was a man in one of the canoes who had a section of bone. With this and wood he fashioned a spear and bow and arrows. With these he killed game and saved the lives of the people in the canoe. They went back to the ruins of the village and saw those who had drowned. Then they went to the lake, where they found four little people dancing on the shore. Finally they went back to the village site and started rebuilding. Other survivors also moved to the village. In time there were so many people that they founded several other villages nearby. THE GHOST HUSBAND i At (or near) the village of Hauye 't there lived two young people who were engaged. The boy fell ill and 43 Told by Mrs. Charley Windsor. i Same informant as preceding tale. knew he was going to die. He promised the girl that he would return to her after death. The boy's name was Hi'masilakU ("chief-to-be"), the girl's name was Kla'kweL. When the boy died, the girl was so stricken with grief that she refused to eat. Her people knew how deeply the two had been in love and they feared she would attempt suicide. Finally they were able to per- suade her to eat, but each evening she went out alone. Each time she was keeping a rendezvous with her dead lover. In time she gave birth to a child, but she would let no one see the infant. Finally her grandmother per- suaded her to allow her to look. The grandmother opened the baby's blankets but with a cry dropped the baby-for it was only a skeleton. At this the daughter said she and her son would go away and never return to live with people again. She said they would live on the "island" named K'a ttamkes. (This is a rock outside Lizzie Cove, which is visible only at low tide.) From time to time she would come back to the village for food. At the "island" she called for someone to come and get her and her son. Her (spirit) husband appeared. He told her that that was not the way to call people in the other world. He opened his mouth and yawned four times. Then he reached down to the edge of the water and lifted up the water as one would open a door. They went in and down a path. They came to a large village of the dead. Here they decided to settle and planned a feast for these " people." When she prepared the food she had brought, the people would not eat it. Her husband explained that these people would not eat food until it was partly burned. When she followed this advice, the feast was a success. Finally the wife went back to her people in this world. She told them about the customs of people in the land of the dead. And she told them that when they made offer- ings to the dead, they were not to mourn, for the dead were also in mourning. To this day these customs regarding the dead are observed. 340 THE LIFE STORY OF A BELLA BELLA WOMAN 4S My father was the chief named Hama'Lmat'is of the Blackfish sept of the E'stedox "tribe!' My mother was named Heli 'stis (referred to the race which Raven won over Eagle) of the Raven sept of the Uwi'tlidox tribe. I was Raven but was adopted into the Blackfish sept. I first remember things when our people lived at Ku'kasxaiya near Uwi'tlidox. [Both these villages were evidently located on Ellerslie "Lake'" which is really salt or at least brackish water.] There I first danced the Li'kt&mis dance. This is a simple, common dance and does not make use of any magical tricks or the naulA'kU (the whistles). But it is the beginning of all the dance series for a child. I am the last one of the Bella Bella people to have danced this dance. I was about three years old at the time and too small to actually dance. But four men carried me around in a simulated dance. At one end of the house was a screen with an arched door called yuksama liLt&ma. When V they carried me through this door (four times), they told me to close my eyes; that people would be killed if I looked at them. The actual dancing was done for me by a woman. Then our people moved [the village] to Ai 'kyahuis. Here we stayed only one summer and then moved to Klatula'spela [location ? ]. Two years after my first dance I began, according to the rule, a second dance called the ula'lA.46 Two nights this lasted. The third night I was taken to another [dance] house where I danced again, this time with some other girls. We were kept in the cubicle at one side of the door. At this dance the speaker told the people that I had gone to the world of the dead. Actually they spirited me away secretly. Early on the fourth morning they took me to an island not far from the vil- lage. Two men were with me. They kept blowing the whistles to let the people know that I had returned. When the people heard these whistles, they came over with two canoes lashed together and a platform laid across. On this platform were singers, a woman who had danced this dance before, and a Tanis [Cannibal] dancer. As the canoe came across, the woman danced on the plat- form and the Tanis kept crying "hap, hap" [eat, eat]. 4 All but the paddlers came ashore and sang the song of the Tanis. The Tanis came at me and tangled my hair and cried "hap, hap!' I was ve much afraid. Then they dressed me in my dance costume. I wore whole human skull as a headdress. Ribs of a skeleton ere sewn on my blanket. On each shoulder I wore a alf skull. And I had two canes made of leg bones joined gether with copper. These bones, the people were told, had gotten in the underworld. I was naked except for y blanket robe. Then they put me on the canoe plat- orm and took me back to the dance house. There they 45 Related by Mrs. Moses Knight, a member of the Blackfish sept of the wi'tlitdox "tribe:' Mrs. William Grant of Kitimat acted as interpreter. s. Knight was an excellent informant. This story brings out those parts the life story which loom so large in the lives of these people, namely, i"career" of the climb up the social ladder through a series of dances, giving of name-titles and the potlatches which are involved. For the e of clarity I have slightly modified my original notes and have set this wn in the first person. 4 This is the Ghost Dance, fourth in rank in the Shaman's (Tsaika) series cording to Drucker (1940, pp. 208-210). 47 This cry of the Tanis is called hamatsalakwa ("eating cry"). I put me in the cubicle with the other novices. During all this the drums kept beating. My attendants used four wands made of strips of old blanket tied to a stick. These were set afire and were waved around me and here and there as I stood in the doorway of the cubicle. This was to keep me from going back to the underworld. The attendants and the dancers had certain cries which they kept up. One was that of the Tanis, "wawp, wawp, wawp, wawp" [a variation of the hap or hawp or awp cry]. The special cry of this [Ghost] dance was "hau mu mu" (repeated four times) and "yax yax hau mu mu" (repeated four times). This ended the morning's dance. That night I danced again. As before, certain women (attendants and those who had previously danced this dance) accompanied me. Then we were moved to another house to finish the dance. Here I was whisked away, and the people were told that I had gone to the underworld again. This time I was taken to a point near the village. Throughout the night my attendants kept blowing the whistles (the "voice" or gasping breathing of the spirit) so that they could be heard in the village. The Tanis had danced there the night before, carrying a well-smoked corpse. My mother was one of his attend- ants. She carried a small basket under her blanket. Each time the Tanis took a bite from the corpse she took it and (surreptitiously) dropped it in the basket. The next [second] night the dance was much like that of the first night. Each dancer had his or her song which was sung as he danced. After each of the "old" dancers had danced, I did my dance again, standing at the door of the cubicle. Again they spirited me away, and it was announced that I had once more gone back to the under- world. But this time I merely went into the cubicle. Now everyone was silent. Then the speaker said, "Let the old dancers [of this dance] look for her!' So these went about uttering the cries of the dance. Finally they announced that they could hear me; later, that they had found me. Now I "came back" and again danced in front of the cubicle. The speaker announced that I had brought back four of the ghosts. Four persons impersonated these ghosts, their hair in disarray and their faces blackened. The "ghosts" were named K!o'misila, Lil&wa'linox, Tsoli 'skimix, and LaloLi Lsani. Only the Tanis really knows their names and the meaning of the names.48 He calls the names out, then utters his "hap" cry. The next year (?) I danced a variant of this same dance. It differed only in that the cry was called hama - tsalak!ula (referring to eating, i.e., cannibalism) and it ran "ama -m, a m,' i" etc. The dance ended like the preceding one except that at the end I wore a headdress- mask of wood of a (fabulous) creature called ts.'e'kewAh. This is said to have come from the tribes to the south. The wearing of this signified that this was the end of the Ghost dance for me. The song sung at the end of this dance ran: "It is the mouth of this gi eat ko 'misila which is the path to the underworld; I have been down there along the path of the mouth!' I also had two rattles in the form of birds. These are great dances. The right to the first of the 48 Drucker (1940, p. 210) translates the names in order as "Chief of Ghosts:' "Always first," "Blackened face," and "Ancestor of ghosts!' [341] t ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS Ghost dances I got from my father's side. The rights to the second came from my mother's side. When the Tanis goes about biting people, he especially looks for those who have danced the Ghost dance, for they have been down among the dead. I was about fourteen years old at this time. The next year (for ayear must elapsebetween dances), I danced the kinkla'klah ("head placed against some- thing" ? ) dance. 49 This spirit was supposed to possess me at midnight when I was to give the cry of this dance, called tse'kal&h. Now, this is a very difficult cry to give. With me (in a separate house) were an old chief, his wife, and another woman. (They had trained me in the cry.) I was so nervous, I began to weep. But finally I started the cry. (Had I not been able to give it, I would have died.) My father was so full of anxiety that I would not be able to give the cry, that he hid behind the house to listen. When he heard me, he was relieved to be able to go home and tell my mother that I had begun the cry. 50 All that night I kept up the cry. At daybreak they told me to stop. The next day they began teaching me the songs I was to sing. Five men had composed the five songs. The first song was in fast rhythm, the next three slow, and the fifth was again in rapid rhythm. The second night we practiced I lay on a bench at the head of the house. After each song I gave the cry of the dance. By the third night I had learned how to begin each song. Two more nights we practiced the songs and steps of the dance. Then I was moved into a house where there were about twenty women who had danced the dance. One man acted as leader. We marched into the dance house, all giving the cry of the dance. I entered last and remained by the door. On either side of me stood a man with rattles. 51 I started the first song which was then taken up by the other dancers. Then I danced, uttering the terrible cry as I danced. I wore red-dyed cedar bark on my head, neck, and wrists. After four songs I was returned to the house of the novices. Here a feast was held and all but the novices went home. The next night we danced again. This time each of the old dancers danced individually while the others sang. At the last I danced, the men with the rattles circling with me, and someone held me from behind. I wore the headdress of the ts!e 'kewah [a mythical animal ? ] which not all the dancers of this dance use. At last the speaker called for someone to bring a bowl of salt water. I was to make a stone float in this. A very light stone was substituted for the heavy stone which was shown to the people. This stone floated and it was shown around. Then I took eagle down, sprinkled it on the stone, and trembled my hands over it. The Tanis spoke of the wonderful thing I had done. Then the Tanis uttered his cry to distract the people. Then I was taken into the cubicle while the Tanis threw a tantrum. He sang his songs and gave his cry while his attendants tried to pacify him. During this my mother repeated the cry of the tse'kalaih. 49 This is the qinkulatLa of Drucker's list and is third in rank in the Shaman's series. Boas (1897, p. 394) for the Alert Bay Kwakiutl gives K.i'qalaLala as the name of a slave girl of the cannibal spirit, who pro- vides food for him by catching men and gathering corpses. He also (pp. 460-462) gives some of the songs of the dance. Evidently both males and females could have the right to this dance. 50 My informant claimed she could no longer even approximate the cry. But it is probably "ha ha mamai" given in a special manner (Boas, 1897, pp. 694-695). 51 Boas (1897, p. 462) figures some of these used by the Fort Rupert KwaguL. They are in the form of a raven, most with a human skull carved or painted on the bottom. I was forced to remain in the cubicle until the whole dance series was completed (probably about two weeks), never going out except in the company of older dancers of this dance. When the last of the dance series was finished, all the novices (of the various dances) were taken from their house to the dance house. Each novice began his song and the others joined in. When this was finished, the screen was taken down (and the Shaman's series was at an end). The next year the missionaries came to Bella Bella and the giving of these dances was over. (This was prob- ably about 1880.) (I have been telling you mostly about the dances I per- formed. Now I will tell some other things about my early life.) When I was about eight, I was "married" to my mother's brother's son (who was of the Eagle sept). This was merely an "investment marriage:' arranged by his parents for the sake of the capital gain involved in the "buying out" of the bride at double the price paid for her. His parents came to visit my parents, bringing gifts of food. My parents consented to the marriage, for a marriage of this type raises the rank of the girl. It is called gwakwayu- gwaktim ("making her heavy"). If women quarrel in later life, one so married can throw it in the teeth of the other. Or she can even disdain to answer the quarreling of the other. My "husband's" people came for me with two canoes lashed together, with a platform laid across. When the canoe landed, four men came dancing toward the house, drumming, and saying kind words to my father. They gave the drum to him. Then these four men carried me to the canoe platform and took me to the house of my father-in-law-to-be. Soon my parents came, my father bringing two great bundles of blankets and my mother a lot of yard goods. I was seated on a blanket between the two piles of blankets. I had money tied to my wrists (in lieu of the customary bracelets and earrings). This was given to my new mother-in-law. My father-in-law's brother took the headdress he was wearing and placed it on my head. My father's blankets and my mother's yard goods were given to my husband's parents. Most of these were given to members of the wedding party (the kin of the groom). Then my parents were given the bride-price agreed upon. 52 Then I went back home. Sometimes in such marriages the bride's family moves to the house of the groom's people. This my people did. But trouble arose between my father-in-law and his brother (the one who had put his headdress on me). This chief wanted his nephew (my "husband") to really marry me, so he wanted my parents-in-law to leave his house.53 So my "husband" and his parents moved out. He said that since my "husband" did not wish the marriage to be perm- anent, he, himself, would marry me. This he wished to do because he was planning a tremendous potlatch and he knew my parents would be very generous in the gift ex- change. My parents consented to the new arrangement. 54 This time they gave to the chief much more than at my first marriage, knowing that he had something great in mind. 52 In a gift exchange of this sort, at the marriage the bride's parents always give about twice as much as the groom's parents, not counting the price of the bride. And the bride also brings a name as a part of the dowry. When the bride is "bought out" this name may be returned. Involved here is the concept that a nephew may take precedence over a son in inheritance. This is undoubtedly another element derived from the matriliheal groups to the north. But, like the rule of sept-clan exogamy, it had not yet become a rigid rule, but only a tendency. s Evidently the bride was "bought out" in the meantime, but my informant overlooked this episode. 342 OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL At this time my parents went to Vancouver to buy potlatch goods, including a copper. 55 I stayed on at the chief's house, even though we were not yet married, but only the first part of the marriage was finished. The chief already had two wives, and one of these took me under her wing, looking after me as a daughter. (The chief was a Tanis and was the one who had put the stone in my hands when I danced the krnkla'kah dance.) The chief now gave a great potlatch with many of the near-by tribes and villages as guests. A year later my parents again went to Vancouver, taking me with them. My father worked there (to secure potlatch funds). When we came back, my parents again gave heavily to my husband. I was now "bought out," and it was announced that I was free to leave my husband, but I stayed on for a time. In the meantime he had given another great potlatch. Again my parents went to Vancouver but left me 55 I.e., heavy European sheet copper which was used to manufacture the ceremonial coppers in post-European times. behind because of the white men there who might want me. Two years after this [1882? ] the mission and hospital were established here (at Bella Bella). The Indians were living at McLaughlin Bay, near the Hudson's Bay Com- pany post. Many of the people were dissatisfied with the way things were. Some were resentful of the chief (my "husband"). Among other things, they said he bit much too savagely in the Tanis dance. The missionary (Mr. Tate) told the chief he must not have so many wives. I left the house of my "husband." That winter I reached puberty. The whole village now moved to Bella Bella. The missionary took away all excess wives from the chiefs and kept them at the mis- sion. Soon after I married rmy present husband (Moses Knight). But we were married in the Indian fashion. Moses went away sea otter hunting. When he came back, the missionary married us in the Christian way. And one of the witnesses he brought in was the chief, my former husband! 343 NOTES ON THE XAXAIS KWAKIUTL TRIBAL HISTORY The following notes are mere fragments of informa- tion but represent all the information I could collect in 1935 and 1949. The few survivors of the "tribe" are located at Klemtu except one or two resident at Bella Bella. The Xaixais56 were probably the smallest in number and the weakest of all Kwakiutl groups. This is borne out by their own legends and statements by members of other groups. They seem to have been fair game for raids by Haida, Tsimshian, and other Kwakiutl groups. Xaixais territory seems to have extended along the east shore of Graham Reach southward from Butedale. It included Sarah Island, Cone Island (some say the east shore of Swindle Island), and south to include Ivory Island, but not Watch Island. The westerly drainage of Don Peninsula was theirs also. But their main settle- ments were on Kynoch and Mussel Inlets. About 1875 the Xaixais abandoned their home villages. A few went to Bella Bella but most moved to Klemtu. It is said that the move was motivated by a desire to be near the steamer passage to Alaska. Most or all of the Kitasoo Tsimshian moved there at about the same time. The two groups have intermarried and today it is diffi- cult to separate the two either biologically or culturally. The Haisla called the Xaixais the A 'kla 'lidox ("people of the 'up"'?). 5 Some of the Bella Bella groups (prob- ably those of Ellerslie Channel) called them Xwi 'saXgla- lidox ("people across the mountains"), but most Bella Bella groups called them Xaixais ("people of the down"). One informant stated that there were really two tribes, i.e., two villages. The village of Kai 'nt was located at the mouth of the river of that name in Kynoch Inlet. A second tribe-village was Le 'yuk in Poison Cove (though it may have been at Feeder Creek or Lizette Creek). Summer (camp) villages were Kwi 'ftu (or Kuwi 'h) in Marmot Cove across the channel from Butedale (this was the northern limit of Xaixais territory); Katsu 'L in the bay on Sarah Island which lies across from Separa- tion Point on Swindle Island; one on Ivory Island; and I 'xwah at about Timber Lot 10859 in Hikish Narrows. But one informant 58 claimed that there were but two tribe-villages: at Kai 'net (these were the Kynoch people), and at a village named SXaiyala 'x ("rapids full of kelp on which the animals run") located on James Island just north of the narrows of Griffin Passage. The latter were the "real" Xaixais. TRIBAL ORGANIZATION My notes on the sept, crest, and name-title data are not only fragmentary but sometimes contradictory. 1 56 The name China Hat, or Chinaman Hat is sometimes applied, much to the annoyance of the natives. These names come probably not from the conical shape of their headgear but from the conical shape of Cone Island viewed as one approaches from the south. The village of Klemtu is situated on Swindle Island directly opposite Cone Island. 57 All the Kwakiutl groups use the terms "up" and "down" the coast as they would speak of "up" and "down" a river but "up" is south, "down" is north. 58 Mrs. Alex Campbell, who was born at Kai net. present what I have. Some additional information may be secured from Drucker's element list (Drucker, 1950). All in all, the Xaixais social structure varied little from that of the Bella Bella tribes except for a slightly greater tendency to stress the maternal aspects. There were three septs or crest groups: Raven (kuwi'- Lanlantox, "raven people"); Eagle (wi hkwax 'dntox, "eagle people"); and Blackfish (ha laidantox, "blackfish people"). One informant claimed a fourth, Wolf (kw' - s&laitatox, "wolf people"), but I believe this is erroneous. He was half Tsimshian and was probably ascribing the Tsimshian clans to the Xaixais. The sept ("clan") is called ma 'inix, which is the Haisla word for their true clans. But one informant gave numai 'nam as the word for sept. The only crests which I could elicit from informants were one for each sept, its eponym. Chiefs were called hai 'mas, women of high rank, u 'makas. AlkwU denoted "commoner" (cf. Owikeno "speaker"), k!akuh was the slave class. Raven sept titles included: Tcau't (Tsimshian?), Kuwi 'h ("raven"), Tsu 'tsaLauwah ("black like dead embers"), and A'Lgaiyahah. An Eagle title was: Ni 'nkmasuh ("people going by in the night"). Blackfish titles included: Ga'sxa ("sour"). This is said to be a Tsimshian word and the title was part of the dowry of a Tsimshian girl who mar- ried the first holder of the title; and Giinxnot, said to be a Tsimshian title. Children belonged to the sept of the mother except among the chief class. Here the high-class wife of a chief often "brought" a name and crest to her husband so that the heir could have crests and titles from both parents. A chief often "adopted" an eldest son into his own sept in order that the son might inherit his crests and titles. In some families girls were assigned to the mother's sept, boys to the father's. Or, in one recorded case, a family assigned the children in this fashion (by giving them names belonging to the respective septs), but one of the sons had three sons. Two of these he assigned to his own sept. The third son belonged to the mother's sept "because they gave him a name from his mother's sept." The septs were not strictly exogamic (see legends below), but a young man known to be courting a sept- mate was ridiculed publicly. If the wedding took place, the guests might wear headdresses with deer painted on them instead of their real crests, for deer are known to be stupid, foolish, "crazy" creatures. Some further data are contained in the legends which follow. In fact, it was difficult to obtain much informa- tion except in the form of legends. The following semihistorical legend is a variant of the several tales told by the Xaixais and their neighbors to explain the weakness of the tribe, in comparison with the neighboring groups. But more important, it seems to me, is that it is also a rationalization of the absence of the rule of sept (clan) exogamy. Both the Xaixais and [344] I I OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL the Bella Bella groups have a vague feeling that they "ought to" follow the exogamic rules of the Tsimshian and Haisla Kwakiutl; and they offer various excuses for not doing so. It is quite obvious that the strictly matri- lineal system of the north was spreading to the south. The Xaixais and Bella Bella were on the fringe or front of this influence. (See p. 324 for a further discussion of this point.) Why the Xaixais Were a Small Tribe (First Version) 59 At Kainet lived a man named Kata'noAla, who was the greatest dancer ever known. He was also a powerful shaman, who could kill or cure at will. He could fly through the air from place to place. He was so great that the Tsimshian were jealous and came on a raid against Kainet. Many of the Kainet people were killed. The shaman and his sister were captured. When the Tsimshian with their two captives were on the way home, they stopped the canoe opposite a high mountain. They took off the mat covering the captives (evidently used to prevent their seeing where they were being taken). They said to the shaman, "Let's see now if you can really fly. Fly up that cliff if you can! " And he flew away, seemingly using his bear robe as wings. As he took off, he said to his sister, "While I am flying, don't look at me." But when he had nearly reached the top of the cliff, the Tsimshian took the girl and held her so that she was forced to look at him. As he fell toward the canoe, they held up a spear, and as he fell into the canoe, he was impaled on this and killed. The sister was kept as a slave. Now, at the time of the raid a man named Mfni'galis and his sister Tsawa'laks had escaped to the woods. They made a camp halfway up the mountain, and there they lived, fearing another raid. He discussed with her how they might start their village again and populate it. He persuaded her that under the circumstances it would not be wrong for them to live as husband and wife. So children were born to them, and as they grew up, they married among themselves. When they had increased in numbers, they again settled at Kainet. Now all these were of the Raven sept. In time other people moved to Kainet, and among them were women of other septs (i.e., Blackfish and Eagle). Thus it is that the Kainet people were few in number, and this is how it is that they (some- times) married within the sept-clan. The Origin of Kainet (Second Version) In the beginning no one lived at that place. Two people descended from the sky world, seated on a rainbow. The man was named KatLa'lukU, the woman KucaXLai'yaks. The two settled at Kainet and in time multiplied. But there came a flood (tide) and nearly all were drowned. Across the inlet from Kainet there is a high mountain and a few survivors managed to climb this. When the flood subsided, they returned to Kainet and in time the village grew larger than before. The people of Gwiyutux in Jackson Passage, of K!yakis in Oscar Passage, and of Tcimsit in Moss Passage joined together and raided Kainet. 60 There were but few survi- vors who managed to escape to a mountain called Xwi'- tsXU(?), but the attackers found them and killed all but 59 Told by Sam Star of the Raven sept of Bella Bella. His mother was of the Raven sept of Kainet Xaixais. 60 These three groups were probably Tsimshian. two, a man named Mrni'gAlis and a woman named Djawa'-3 laks. The two built a stone salmon weir in the river. Children were born to them and again the village grew in size. But they lived in fear of raids, so they moved to Ho'kwis (a lake) and hid on a mountain called K!wak- wahai'yas. Here they grew in numbers. They built four canoes and were planning to attack their old enemies. At this time there was a village (tribe?) called Kui'h in Marmot Cove (across the channel from the modern fisheries pl .- at Butedale). The Kuih went hunting seal in Mathieson Channel where they came on the Kainet people preparing a raid. The two groups joined and all returned to Kuih. They raided the people of Jackson, Oscar, and Moss passages and took a num- ber of captives as slaves. At Kuih they stretched a heavy line across the channel and in this way captured more slaves. The highest chief at this time was N;'nkumacu. There were four other (clan or sept? ) chiefs whose names were KiLpan, Wawano'hu, No'hno, and X&'bus. The group moved to Ka'si.ah at the mouth of Crab River in Gardner Canal. But trouble arose within the village, and the descendants of those from Kainet moved back to that place. It is said others (including slaves) were from Kitimat and Bella Bella. These, too, went back to their home areas. The Beginnings of Kainet (Third Version) 61 The first humans to live there came down from the sky on a cloud shaped like a rainbow and colored with red stripes. At either end stood a woman. At Kainet they built a house. One day they were playing the game k!li'- sah (probably shuttlecock). They looked up and saw some- thing like eagle down drifting earthward. One of the women cupped her hands and caught it. The "down" was a woman who was a child of (from?) the sun. The three started playing hide-and-seek (hai'yita). When it came the turn of the daughter of the sun to hide, the two could not find her. She had gone back to the sun. The two women became the founders of the Xaixais tribe. To this day the Xaixais use the two games mentioned in their dances. The Kynoch Story (Fourth Version) 62 There was a raven with red copper wings at Kynoch. He flew from place to place, often flying over Bella Bella. Now the Kynoch people had suffered from raids until only a few were left. These survivors hid back in the woods at a stream. One evening they saw a bear across the stream. They took canoes and went across, hoping to spear him. When they came to him, he stood up with his forepaws on a log. They saw that his hind feet were human, that he was really a man disguised as a bear. Then they went home and the bear climbed the mountain. One youth there was who told his younger sister, "Get ready. We two are going to run away. Put on your clothes and put food in a basket. They (enemies) are after us." She paid no attention, so he repeated it to her. Then they escaped. The next night they hid high up the mountain where they could watch and listen. Before daylight they heard 61 Told by Sam Star of the Raven sept. 62 Told by Mrs. Nathan Wilson of Bella Bella. Her mother is from the Xaixais tribe. 345 ANTHROPOLOGICAL RECORDS screams at the village as the enemy attacked. All the people of the village were killed. The two stayed back in the mountains. Finally he "married" his sister. They played a game with feathers and a ball (shuttle- cock?). The young man prayed to the moon to send someone down to live with them. The next day (?) they saw four feathers drifting down from the sun. (The rain- bow is also linked with this episode.) They caught these feathers and gave a name to each: Klakla'lAkU ("caught in the hand"), Klik!siwa'l1akkwanax ("the sun himself"), Gwak!la'ks ("bright light"), and Spla'ks ("shine bright"). These supernatural beings named the brother Mini - galis ("all alone") and his sister-wife Djawa 'lks (mean- ing?). In time these two had four children. These child- ren married (each other), and so the group increased and did not die out. There were villages at Kynoch and Kainet. Two of the Raven sept chiefs were TsutsaLawa'h ("black like a raven") and K.lakwa'motU ("the red copper wings" of raven). A woman's Raven sept name was Kla'kweL (also referring to the raven's copper wings). The Kynoch Story (Fifth Version) 63 Raven flew around over the country and finally made a nest for himself. Then he became human and took the name TsutsaLawa h (see above). He was now a chief. Many children (of the people) were playing hide-and-seek. One day the rainbow appeared in four colors. At one end it divided into four parts and these became persons. There was war and of all the people, only a brother and sister remained. The two married and the group grew in numbers. MISCELLANEOUS LEGENDS Origin of Goat Drives At the village of Haphsu 'L on Mussel Inlet 64 there lived a great bear hunter. He was careful in his "train- ing," drinking tea made from devil's club and avoiding his wife for long periods. He went hunting up the river to a place called Uitsowi's (Bear's House). There he heard strange noises on the mountain. He sensed that the noises were not made by humans but he was afraid to investigate. He came around a river bend to a rock slide. On this slide were many newly dead mountain goats, but he did not know what had killed them. Around the next point he saw a gigantic bird (called Pahpakwane 'lisih). Aiding this great bird were many people who drove the goats over cliffs. The bird sat at the foot of the slide, and as the goats tumbled down, many fell into his open mouth. When the hunter saw the bird, he fainted. All day he lay unconscious and saw (in his vision) what he was to do. When he became conscious, he remembered about the goats and went to the rock slide. But now the great bird was gone, all was quiet, and at the foot of the slide were many dead goats. He returned home, but took none of the meat. Now he felt changed and when he entered his house, he again fainted. When he came to himself, he got help and went back to get the goats. On their return they held a feast and dance. The hunter now related what he had seen. Nine men went back to the place, each taking a different 63 Told by Emma Star. 64 Located at the mouth of Feeder Creek, or possibly at Lizette Creek. route. They did not see the great bird, but when they came on the goats, they shouted and otherwise frightened them over the cliffs, and thus it was that people learned to hunt goats in this manner. The Adventures of Three Brothers The following legend has Koey as its locale, though it was related by a Haihais informant, Mrs. Alex Campbell. She doubtless learned it or acquired it from some of her Koey kinsmen. I cannot explain why there are only three brothers instead of the usual ceremonial four. It may be the informant's mistake. At that time the people were living in a village a mile up Koey River. There were three young men, brothers, who hunted seal and ducks on the river. One day they went down the river and out to sea. They saw what looked like a seal in the water and shot it. But when they came up to it, the creature seized the canoe and towed it out to sea. The brothers were afraid and alternately slept and wept. After four days they came to a great pile of float- ing wood like an island. From here the creature towed them for several (four?) days, when they came to an "island" of charcoal. After another day the monster let go of the canoe. They started paddling and came to a sandy beach. As they beached the canoe, the brother in the stern jumped out. But the "sand" was only floating sand and he went down, down (to another world) and did not come up. The remaining two paddled on and came to a real sand beach. They looked around the beach, then lay down in the canoe to sleep. The next morning they saw a tiny man walking down the beach. He picked up a huge log and threw it in the water. A little farther on he picked up a large boulder and threw it in the water. When he came to the canoe, he asked the brothers who they were. Then he invited them to his house. But he told them to remain in the canoe; that he would carry the canoe with his little finger. So he carried them to a village. The first house they came to belonged to the goslings, but these were walking around as humans. The little man flipped the canoe and its occupants up on the roof. The "goslings" were eating maggots and the men were afraid that they would be fed maggots. The little man then took them to where the first brother had disappeared. Here they were taken down into the chief's house. On the wall was their brother, split open. On seeing him, they began to cry. The chief asked why they were crying and they told him that this was their brother. Then the chief told his slaves to take the body down. This they did and covered the remains with mats. The chief spoke a few words and the dead brother came to life. A great feast was prepared. The chief said, "Now that you are here, you will stay four days.' This pleased the brothers. But the chief meant four years (for in the world of myth a day is really a year). After four days (years) they started home. They stopped at a village called Klawa'gilah ("place of copper"). They were feasted and stayed overnight. The next morning the chief of that place gave them a new canoe, all made of copper, and copper paddles. He warned them to avoid a certain village where Crane was watchman. They came to Hakai Pass where they waited until dark, then started for Koey. They (somehow) knew that the people of their home village had been mistreating their parents. They had teased the parents by telling them their sons had returned. \ , . i Fj ; ; . I 346 OLSON: NOTES ON THE BELLA BELLA KWAKIUTL Before daylight the brothers went into the house and knocked softly on the cubicle (bedroom) of their parents, whispering who was knocking. But the father said, "You are fooling me." Finally he got up and saw that it was truly his sons. They told him to get the house ready for a feast. The father said that the wives of the two eldest had remarried, but not the wife of the youngest. Then the brothers went out hunting (without anyone except the parents knowing they had returned). During their adventures they had been given a magi- cal club which, when raised, caused any game in sight to fall dead. They hunted for four days. Early in the morning of the fourth day the father climbed to the roof of the house to watch for them. When he saw the shining canoe, he shouted to the people, "The spirits of my sons are back.' The canoe was loaded down with seal, sea lion, and other game. All this was carried into the father's house and a great feast was held. The wives of the two eldest wished their husbands to take them back, but they would not. The men were given high names and were respected. The Girl Who Married a Bear At a place called CuitkU in James Bay on Mathieson Channel, a group of girls went up the river to pick berries. One of the girls stepped in a great pile of bear dung. This annoyed her and she said, "Oh, there, I stepped on the dung of that akka 'ht." (This was as if cursing.) After they had filled their baskets with berries, they started back to the canoe. The neck string of this girl who had thus spoken broke and her berries spilled. Several times this happened, and finally at dusk the other girls went on ahead. As she was picking up the berries, she saw a man coming down the river. He came up to her and said, "Are you the one who swore at me? Are your feces better than mine? Are they like copper? " She answered, "Yes, they are red like copper.' He said, "Show me." Now, the girl was wearing copper ear ornaments, and as she squatted, she put these under her. Then she said, "Come and see." He looked and said, "It's true." Then he started making love to her and said, "We are going to be married." (He was, of course, the bear in human form.) She fell in love with him and followed him. All summer she stayed with him. (Her companions wondered what had happened to her.) Late in the autumn he said they would go over the mountain to his house. His "house" was under a big tree. As soon as they went in, he turned into a real bear. Six months they stayed there and soon she had two children. These children had the faces of humans, but their bodies were the bodies of bears. This girl had four brothers. One day she thought to herself that she hoped her eldest brother would find her. But her husband read her thoughts and said, "That will never happen. He will never find you here." Then she thought of the other brothers in turn. When she came to the youngest, her husband said, "Now you come to the one who will find you." (For this youngest had lived a clean life.) Her people (of Kainet) went halibut fishing in Hiekish Narrows. On the way home they stopped at a place called Klitka'la in Sheep Passage. It was there where Bear had his house. The girl made a snowball, threw it, and it rolled down to the camp. A dog sniffed at it, and the brothers recognized the print of her hands in the snow. They started searching for her. The three elder ones went the wrong way, but the youngest came straight to Bear's house. Now Bear had told her that a woman should never pass in front of his hide after it was on the stretching frame. He also told her, "Whenever I feel cold, I'll make a noise where I'm hanging. Then you must build a fire for me." When the youngest brother came to the "house." she brought the children outside. Then he went in and killed the bear and skinned him. Then the four went down to the beach camp and home to Kainet. One day the children said, "We wish to play on a sandy beach." But when they were taken to a beach, they said, "No, we wish to play along the cliffs and slides." And so they took them there. One day one of the children cut his paw on a sharp stone. The red (bloody) spot where he stepped can still be seen.65 Not long afterward the children ran away. 65 This is probably the place called Kwalkwola'lus (Red Paint Place?) where red ocher was obtained. It is said that before the ocher was taken a dog must be sacrificied. 347 BIBLIOGRAPHY Boas, Franz 1897. The Social Organization and Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl. United States National Museum. Annual Report (1895). 1924. The Social Organization of the Tribes of the North Pacific Coast. American Anthropologist, 26:323-332. 1928. Bella Bella Texts. Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, Vol. 5. Drucker, Philip 1940. Kwakiutl Dancing Societies. Univ. Calif. Publ. Anthro. Rec., 2:201-230. 1950. Culture Element Distributions: XXVI, Northwest Coast. Univ. Calif. Publ. Anthro. Rec., 9:157-294. Olson, Ronald L. 1940. The Social Organization of the Haisla of British Columbia. Univ. Calif. Publ. Anthro Rec., 2:169-200. 1954. Social Life of the Owikeno Kwakiutl. Univ. Calif. Publ. 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