(524 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



was glad that the people liad come quickly, and said: " Yes, my tribe, 

 you have done right that you have come to this large house. Make 

 yourselves comfortable. Don't be in a hurry to go home to your 

 houses. Thus 1 say, Wa'k-as. Thus I say, Om'x-'it, wa, wa." Then 

 the songmakers sang, and the people sat around them learning the 

 songs of the dancer. When all knew the song, O'ts'estalis arose and 

 sang: 



Ya, I am the first, liei, ya, lia. 



Ya, my speech is the highest, hei, ya, ha. 



He stopped singing and said: " Ho, ho, ho! Yes, my tribe. Thus I 

 lift the heavy weight of my wealth. Now we will call all the tribes 

 that they may come in the morning. Now go to sleep. That is all, 

 friends." Then all the people, men, women, and children, left the house. 

 The following morning the Kwakiutl went out in their canoes to invite 

 all the tribes. 



Fig. 191. 



RAVEN BATTLE. 

 Length, 13 inches; hhip, hlaoli, red. 



IV A, No. I.icr,. Uoy^l KtliTi.i2r.iiilii.-al IMu^euni, Iterliii. CoUicte.I l.y A. J.icobseii. 



As this festival was to be given to a number of tribes, all the Kwa- 

 kiutl took part in this meeting. When only the Kwakiutl are to be 

 present, the host announces his intention to his clan alone. Then, after 

 the meeting is over, he sends word to the chiefs of all the clans, advising 

 them that the Lao'laxa whistles will be heard that night. Then all 

 those who have celebrated a T.ao'laxa before may go to ask him what 

 masks he intends to show, m order to make sure that he will not 

 infringe upon their rights. In the evening the whistles are heard to 

 blow behind the house of the man who is going to give the Lao'laxa. 

 After about ten minutes they sto]>, and then blow again. This is 

 repeated four times. For four nights the whistles are heard in the 

 woods behind the house. The fourth night, after they have been 

 blown in the woods three times, they are heard on the roof, and tinally 

 in the b(Hlrooni. Then the man begins to siim' his secret song. 



