THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 551 



ha'mslianitsEs. After lie had danced, his father, T'e't'esumx-tsana, arose 

 and promised to distribute blankets. ISTE'msqEmk'ala's wife asked her 

 speaker, Qoe'neqoiL, to speak for her. He held a silver bracelet in his 

 hands and i^romised in her behalf that she would give to her husband 

 four sticks of silver bracelets, ten bracelets to a stick, and button 

 blankets as many as were needed for a festival which he was going 

 to give. Then Qfi'snomalas took the blanket and T'e't'esumx-tsana took 

 the bracelet. The latter spoke: " This is my way. Ko other clan can 

 equal mine; no chief can equal me. I always distribute all my prop- 

 erty." Then Qa'sndmalas interrupted him and said: " Don't say too 

 much ! You have made me your speaker and taught me not to mind others 

 in what I am doing. You have made me happy. Therefore I shall 

 sing." Then he sang two songs which expressed his happiness. After 

 his songs he said: "That is enough. I sing two songs for what you 

 have promised me to-day. I shall sing four songs when you will 

 promise me a copper." He thanked his uncle's wife for considering (he 

 noble position of her husband and helping him to keep that position. He 

 announced that he would distribute the bracelets and button blankets 

 among the four tribes of the Kwakiutl. " Ya Koskimo," he said, "fol- 

 low this way, follow my way. Don't lock up your boxes ; keep them 

 open as I do. Thus 1 have become higher than any other man. I 

 always put my property into a box with red-hot bottom.' Let both our 

 tribes strive against the Kwakiutl, so that we may take off" two finger 

 widths of their highness." ^ 



By tliis time the salmon was done and was put into long flat dishes 

 and fish oil x>oured upon it. The fool dancers and bear dancers 

 distributed the dishes and the wooden spoons, every three or four 

 people receiving one dish. The Koskimo and Nii'q'oaqtoq were given 

 first, the Kwakiutl last. Etiquette demands that the guests eat as 

 quickly as possible. Whenever the bear dancers and fool dancers saw 

 a person eating slowly, they went up to him and pushed and scratched 

 him. During all this time a huge tire was being kept up in the middle 

 of tlie house and grease was poured into it. The flames leaped up to 

 the roof of the house, which every now and then caught fire, so that a 

 man had to be sent up to extinguish it. It is considered improper for 

 the guests to mind such fires, and aj)parently no notice is taken of 

 them until the host deems it proper to send up to the roof. He some- 

 times disregards the tire until it has attained quite considerable dimen- 

 sions. 



As soon as the people had finished eating, the chief fool dancer, who 

 is the speaker of the ha'mats'a, tried to deliver a speech. But it is 



'That means, as water is scattered by being poured upon red-Jiot stones, thus his 

 blankets are scattered among the tribes as soon as they fall upon the red-liot bottom 

 of his box. 



^The Kwakiutl arc^ counted as high as four linger widths, as they consist of four 

 tribes. The other tribes are each ouly one tiuger width high. Of these, theN:i'q"oaqt6q 

 and Koskimo wanted to have each one, in order to become as high as the Kwakiutl. 



