THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 541 



celebrate the winter dance without having had previous knowledge of 

 what was coming, and re<iuests his father-in-law to rejiay him for the 

 l)roperty with which he was presented at the time of the marriage of 

 his daughter. The father-in-law rises, asks the young man to give 

 him the staff, wliich he grasps in the middle, holding it horizontally. 

 Then he calls his friends to take hold of the staff with him. By doing 

 so they pledge themselves to help the old man to repay his son-in-law. 

 He says how much he is going to pay to his son-in-law and returns the 

 staff to him. Then the latter takes it and carries it, pretending that it 

 it is exceedingly heavy, saying, "o, o, o, o!" It is supposed that the 

 property is attached to the staff. 



The father-in-law asks: " When will you want me to pay you all this 

 property ? " And the young man says that he wants it by the third day. 

 The following days the people are invited to feast and to dance in the 

 chief's house. A sail is stretched across the rear of the house. The 

 seal society have their seats close to this sail. 



Now the master of ceremonies rises and calls one man (the ma'mE- 

 nats'enox), whose office it is to look after the drum. This office is 

 hereditary. The master of ceremonies says: "Go and bring your 

 inheritance." The man rises, steps up to the fire, goes around it, leaves 

 the house, and soon returns carrying the drum on his shoulder. He 

 stops in the doorway, turns around silently, and walks around the fire 

 four times. He stops finally in the left-hand rear corner of the house, 

 where he puts down the drum on its flat side. He carries a small 

 whistle in his mouth and every time he pushes the drum he blows the 

 whistle. It is of course supposed that this sound is produced by the 

 drum. Then he says, ''It is done; I have brought my inheritance." 

 The master of ceremonies asks, "Did you bring the baton with you?" 

 To which the man replies, " My grandfather has been dead so long- 

 that I forgot this part of my inheritance." He is sent to fetch it, and 

 walks out of the house and returns in the same way as the first time. 

 He deposits the batons in the middle of the rear of the house, and 

 every tinu^, he moves them he blows another whistle. 



Then the master of ceremonies calls another man, whose office it is 

 to look after the eagle down. This office is also hereditary. He goes 

 out in the same way as the other officer, and soon returns, carrying a 

 painted l>ag filled with down. He says, "Here is the bag which my 

 grandfather left for me to take care of." He walks around the fire 

 four times, turning in the front and in the rear, and finally deposits it 

 in the right hand front corner of the house. Then four men take four 

 dishes, each takes one handful of down out of the bag, and puts it into 

 the dish. The down is pulled apart so that it fills the dishes entirely. 

 The owner of the down shakes his bag, which then appears to be 

 quite full again, and carries it back. It is supj)osed that the bag 

 always remains full. Then the master of ceremonies takes up one of 

 the dishes and asks his brother, who is chief of the que'qutsa, to take 



