proceedings: anthropological society 275 



and physical type the people are much alike, but there most of the 

 similarity ends. 



A Bontoc village is divided into ato Qr political divisions each one 

 of which is governed by an oligarchy of old men. The leaders of the 

 various ato meet from time to time to decide matters of importance 

 to the village. These ato are also exogamic divisions of the settlement 

 and each has its man's house in which all unmarried men and boys 

 must sleep. It also serves as a council house and as the storage place 

 for drums and other ceremonial paraphernalia. Here also are kept 

 the skulls of enemies. Unmarried girls sleep in the olag or girls' house 

 from the age of about four years until their marriage. Trial marriage 

 is common, a final union seldom taking place until the birth of a child 

 is assured. 



Going to the Tinguian a radically different type of house construc- 

 tion is encountered. The villages are not divided into political or 

 exogamic groups; the man's house and the girls' dormitory are not 

 found, nor is trial marriage practiced. The government of the village, 

 is in the hands of a head man known as lakay, who may if he desires 

 call in other old men to aid him in the decision of important matters. 



Dr. Cole ended his talk with a somewhat detailed description of 

 the religious beliefs of the Tinguian; the possession of their mediums 

 by the spirits; and the ceremonies conducted to bring health and pros- 

 perity to the group. 



About one hundred colored lantern slides were used in illustration. 



The 510th meeting of the Society was held at the Natural History 

 Building of the National Museum, April 3. 1917. At this meeting 

 Leo J. Frachtexberg, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pre- 

 sented a paper on The religious ideas of the Northwest Coast Indians. 



Dr. Frachtenberg stated that four important features of the re- 

 ligious ideas noted among the Indians of this region are: (1) An in- 

 tensive animism; (2) a belief in the powers of supernatural beings as 

 dwarfs and giants; (3) a belief in the existence of guardian spirits; 

 (4) a complete absence of the social phase of religion. 



According to Dr. Frachtenberg many, religious ideas are common 

 to all the tribes of the Northwest Coast, yet the northern and southern 

 portions of this area are found to differ in cosmogony. The tribes in 

 the extreme southern portion believe that the world was created out 

 of a watery mist, the Transformer enlarging a small piece of land until 

 it became large enough for habitation. The tribes of the northern 

 portion are satisfied with a world whose origin is not explained. They 

 hold, however, that the Transformer (Creator) first made man and 

 1 ho members of faunal and floral kingdoms, and at a later time re- 

 turned and improved this creation. Two visits of the Transformer are 

 typical of this region. In the south the Transformer (Creator) and 

 the Trickster are separate individuals, while in the north they are 

 unified. In the south the Transformer makes all that is good, and 

 the Trickster is held responsible for all the bad elements; while in the 



