THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 



435 



Height, Oiuches. 



Fiji 



Breadth, 8 inches. 



BATTLES OF HE'LIQ-A HEPKESENTINO THE HEAD OF A DEAD PERSON. 



IV A, Nos. 1353 and 135", Kuyal Ethnographical Museum, Berlin. Collected by A. 

 Jacobsen. 



The view taken by the Kwakiutl is evidently that the falling of a 



ha'mats'a or of another dancer is an indication of either ill will on the 



part of the spirit, or as a defeat of their spirit by that of another tribe. 



Thus I was told that at one time the Kwakiutl had invited the 

 Ma'malr'leqala for a winter ceremonial. When 

 one of their dancers fell, their own nu'LmaL 

 tried to kill him, and he was rescued with dif- 



liculty by the que'- 

 qutsa. The song which 

 was nsed during his 

 dance was never used 

 again. They believed 

 that the event was 

 proof that the spirit 

 presiding over the 

 winter ceremonial of 

 the Ma'maleleqala 

 was stronger than 

 their own. 

 When one of the dancers of an inferior society falls, he disappears 



also to be initiated, but his father does not need to go to the exjiense 



of a complete festival, as these initiations are much less expensive. 

 The i^araphernalia of the dances consist largely of ornaments made 



of cedar bark, which is dyed in the Juice of 



alder bark ; of masks, whistles, and carvings of 



various kinds. All of these must not be seen 



by the profane. If any of these happened to see 



them, they were killed without mercy. As an ex- 

 ample of this, I was told the following incident: 

 One of the que'qutsa was prei^aring a carving 



to represent the si'siuL. His daughter happened 



to see him at work. Then he called her into his 



room and dug a hole right under the fireplace. 



He asked her to put her head into his lap, i^re- 



tending that he wanted to louse her. Then he 



killed her with a hammer. He put her body 



info the hole, covered it, and replaced the ashes. 



His wife looked for the girl, but he did not tell 



her of what he had done until the following 



summer, Avhen he fell sick. Then he asked his 



wife to bury the remains of their daughter. As 



a survival of this custom, the saying remains which is used by the 



initiated in warning away the profane: -'Go away, else we shall bury 



you." ' 



By far the greater portion of the winter ceremonial is performed in 



Fig. 52. 



KATTLE OF HE'LI(}-A. 



Representation of the head 

 of a dead person, out of 

 who.so mouth a snake is 

 crawling. Height, 8^ 

 inches. 



I\' A, No. ViRH, Royal Ethnographical 

 Museum, Berlin. Collected by A. 



' Hil'g-a qof'tax a'LantVx tsame'soL. 



