THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 559 



the whole world swallowing- the tribes.' After the speaker had asked 

 every one in this manner, he thanked the cormorants for coming, and 

 said: "I am glad that you are not light cormorants, but that "ou are 

 heavy with property." 



Another signal was given to the singers to beat time, and in came 

 the killer whales. They also entered by twos and threes. They had 

 fins made of wood tied to their backs, and came in blowing. They 

 moved in a bent position, so that the fins stood upright. Blowing, they 

 went around the fire, where they remained standing next to tlie cor- 

 morants. Now the speaker said: "Do you know why we open our 

 ceremonial with the entrance of the cormorants and of the killer 

 whales? In olden times, when Kuekuaxa'oe traveled all over the world 

 in his canoe Da'daLa, he came to Goil'LgoaL'a'Ialis, where the village 

 of tlie Na'q'oa(itoq is standing. There the Na'q'oaqtoq and the killer 

 whales were living at that time. Kuekuaxa'oe left them and went to 

 Ya'xoestEm. After he had left, difficulties arose between the Na/q'oaq- 

 toq and the killer whales. When Kuekuaxa'oe heard of this, he trans- 

 formed part of the whales into birds, others into sand. For this reason 

 the sand of the beach Goa'LgoaL'a'lalis is sounding when it is stepped 

 upon." 



After he had finished his speech, the women came in, dressed as birds. 

 They danced around the fire and stopped next to the cormorants and 

 killer whales. Then tlie speaker continued : "Do you know what this 

 means? The birds were living at Ya'xoestEm when Kuekuaxa'oe 

 arrived there. They were living in a cave. Kuekuaxa'oe painted them 

 different colors. The crows and the cormorants wanted to be made 

 prettier than all the others, and waited until the last, but then they found 

 that Kuekuaxa'oe had used all his paint and had only some charcoal 

 left, with which he painted them. Therefore they are black. After the 

 birds had been painted, they came dancing out of the cave. At that 

 time Kuekuaxa'oe's canoe was burned. If you do not believe what I 

 said, Koskimo, come and visit me and I will show you the place." 

 After this speech, the Na'q'oaqtoq distributed their blankets among 

 the Kwakiutl and Koskimo. 



After this was done, a messenger entered the house and said : " Some 

 strangers are on the beach." Th-e speaker of the Ka'q'oaqtoq sent a 

 man out, who took a torch and went down to the beach. Soon he 

 returned and informed the speaker that some white men had landed 

 aiul asked to be permitted to enter. The speaker sent for them, and the 

 messengers came back leading a young Indian girl, who was dressed up 

 in European costume, with a gaudy hat, a velvet skirt, and a silk blouse. 

 Then they asked Ko'Lq'auLEla what he thought of her; if he thought 

 she was wealthy. They asked him to send her back if she should be 

 Ijoor. He looked at her and said: " I can easily distinguish rich and 

 poor and I see she is wealthy. Let lier stay here." Then the speaker 



' That means giving away blankets. When blankets are given to a tribe, it ie 

 called swallowing the tribe. 



