538 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



He must carry a wing bone of an eagle and drink through it, as his 

 lips must not touch the brim of his cup. He also wears a copper nail 

 to scratch his head with, as his nails must not touch his skin, else they 

 would come off. For sixteen days after he has eaten human flesh he 

 must not eat any warm food, and for four months he is not allowed to 

 blow hot food in order to cool it. For a whole year he must not touch 

 his wife, nor is he allowed to gamble or to work. When the dancing 

 season is over, he feigns to have forgotten the ordinary ways of man, 

 and has to learn everything anew. He acts as though he were very 

 hungry all the time. 



The whole ceremonial of bringing back the novice is, according to 

 the ideas of the Kwakiutl, a repetition of the same ceremonial per- 

 formed by the wolves who attempted to bring back their novices; and 

 the following tradition, which, however, is not complete in all its details, 

 is made to account for its origin : ' 



Mink made a salmon trap back of Qa'logwis, the village of the 

 Kwakiutl. The different tribes held a winter ceremonial, and the sons 

 of the chief of the wolves had disappeared in the woods. While there 

 they spoiled Mink's salmon trap. For three days they did so. Then 

 Mink became angry. He made up his mind to watch who was tamper- 

 ing Avith his salmon trap. He went there in the evening and hid near 

 his salmon weir. Now the four sons of the wolf, who had disappeared 

 in the woods, came. They went right up to the salmon weir and took 

 out the salmon that had gone into it. Then Mink said to himself, 

 " You are the ones who tampered with my weir." They sat down and 

 ate the salmon raw. Mink crawled up to them from behind and killed 

 them with his club. He cut off" their heads, and went home carrying 

 the four heads. Xobody knew that he had killed them ; even his mother 

 did not know it. 



Now the wolves were going to bring back their novices after two 

 days. When the time came for bringing the novices back, Kue'kuaxaoe 

 was master of ceremonies. Mink closed all the holes and cliinks of his 

 own iiouse, and tied ropes of cedar around it to strengthen it. 



Before daylight Mink went in his canoe to Me'mk'umlis. He made a 

 salmon weir of stones. Then he went and sat down on a rock. He 

 looked at his weir. '' What fish is in my trap ?" he said. "A small bull 

 head,'' replied the trap. Then he scratched his head. "Oh, that is 

 ])retty; 1 am working hard looking after my trap! Throw it into the 

 water!" He asked again, "What fish is in my trap?" It replied, "A 

 small flounder." He threw it into the water, and then the trap had 

 caught tirst an eel, then a dogfish, a perch, a silver perch, a cohoes sal- 

 mon, a dog salmon, a humpback salmon, a steel-head salmon, a spring 

 salmon, and finally a si'siuL. Then he said, "That is it; that is it!" 

 and he was glad. He took the si'siuL out of his trap and put it down 

 on the rock. He broke off hemlock branches, laid them into his canoe, 

 and put the fish on top of them. Then he went home to his house at 



' Appendix, pa.^e 725. 



