350 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ands, the facts whicli could be obtained as to the potlatcli or dona- 

 tion-feast of these Indians and of the Tshimsian were detailed. 

 This custom is common to all the coast tribes of this part of North 

 America, and has extended, though in a less marked form, into 

 the interior of the continent. The main features of the custom 

 are probably identical, or nearly so, among all the tribes of the 

 British Columbia coast. They are certainly nearly the same with 

 the Haida, Tshimsian, and Kwakiool peoples. Among the latter, 

 this ceremony is known as pus-a or ya-hooit, these terms probably 

 denoting special forms of the ceremony appropriate to certain oc- 

 casions. 



As a particular instance of the custom, let us suppose that a 

 Nim'-kish, of Alert Bay, has collected together as his own, or ob- 

 tained control of, say, five hundred blankets, and wishes to make 

 a potlatch to the Fort Rupert tribes. He goes to the Fort Rupert 

 village and makes known his intention of distributing a thousand 

 blankets at a certain date. He begins by lending out his stock of 

 five hundred blankets, giving larger numbers to those who are 

 well off, and particularly to such as are known to have the inten- 

 tion of giving a potlatch in return. This loan is reckoned a debt 

 of honor, to be paid with interest at the proper time. It is usual 

 to return two blankets for every one borrowed, and Indians with 

 liberal ideas may return even more. The greater the number of 

 blankets loaned out to any individual, the more he knows that his 

 wealth and standing are appreciated by the stranger, who, later 

 on, taking with him a thousand or more blankets, returns to his 

 home at Alert Bay ; at which place also, in due time, the Fort Ru- 

 pert people arrive. The potlatch does not, however, then occur at 

 once, as much preliminary talk, ceremony, and feasting are in or- 

 der, and the Nim'-kish must entertain their visitors — first one and 

 then another volunteering feasts and diversions. It may also, 

 very probably, happen that delay arises because the man about to 

 give the potlatch has not obtained the requisite number of blank- 

 ets, many being owing to him and others having been promised 

 by friends whom he is obliged to dun. The Fort Rupert people, 

 becoming weary of waiting, lend all the weight of their influence 

 to coerce the debtors into payment, and these may, in the end, be 

 forced to borrow from others to enable them to redeem their 

 pledges — all such arrangements leading to interminable haggling 

 and worry. At length, however, all is ready, and, with the ac- 

 companiment of much bombastic speech-making and excitement, 

 the mass of blankets is distributed in exact proportion to the so- 

 cial position of those taking part — or, what is the same thing, in 

 proportion to their individual contributions. 



To surpass the man who has last given a potlatch, and acquire 

 a superior standing to his, the next aspirant must endeavor to 



