354 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



break ii copper, thus indicating his disregard of the amount of property 

 destroyed and showing tliat Lis mind is stronger, liis power greater, 

 than that of h-is rival. If the latter is not able to destroy an equal 

 amount of property without much delay, his name is "broken." He is 

 vanquished by his rival and his inliuence with his tribe is lost, while 

 the name of the other chief gains correspondingly in renown. 



Feasts may also be counted as destruction of proi^erty, because the 

 food given can not be returned except by giving another feast. The 



most expensive sort of feast is the one at 

 which enormous quantities of fish oil (made 

 of the oulaclion) are consumed and burnt, 

 the so-called "grease feast." Therefore it 

 also raises the name of the person who can 

 afford to give it, and the neglect to speedily 

 return it entails a severe loss of prestige. 

 Still more feared is the breaking of a valu- 

 able copper. A chief may break his copper 

 and give the broken parts to his rival. If 

 the latter wants to keep his i)restige, he 

 must break a copper of equal or higher 

 A^alue^, and then return both his own broken 

 copper and the fragments which he has 

 received to his rival. The latter may then 

 pay for the copper which he has thus re- 

 ceived. The chief to whom the fragments 

 of the first copper are given may, however, 

 also break his copper and throw both into 

 the sea. The Indians consider that by this 

 act the attacked rival has shown himself 

 superior to his aggressor, because the latter 

 may have expected to receive the l)roken 

 copper of his rival in return so that au 

 actual loss would have been prevented. 



In by far the greater number of cases 

 where coppers are broken the copper is 

 preserved. The owner breaks or cuts off 

 one part after the other until finally only 

 the T-shaped ridge remains. This is valued at two-thirds of tlie total 

 value of the copper and is the last part to be given away. The order in 

 which the parts of the copper are usually broken off is shoMni in the 

 accomi)anying illustration (fig. 4). The rival to whom the piece that 

 has been broken off is given, breaks off a similar piece, and returns both 

 to the owner. Thus a copper may be broken up in contests with 

 different rivals. Finally, somebody succeeds in buying up all the 

 broken fragments, which are riveted together, and the copper has 

 attained an increased value. Since the broken copper indicates the 

 fact that the owner has destroyed property, the Indians pride them- 

 selves upon their possession (see Plares 11 and 12). 



Fig. 4. 



COPPER PLATE. 



Tlie order in wliicli the scction.s are 

 l)roken otf and thrown away is 

 indicated by the letters (« — f7). 



