THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 647 



every moriiiiig wlien the sun rises. He takes care that he rises prop- 

 erly. The first six of these deities are grouped iu pairs, and are 

 believed to paint their faces with designs representing moon, .stars, 

 and rainbow. In the ku'siut these deities make their appearance, and 

 are represented by masks. Xe/mtsioa and Xemxemala'oLa wear the 

 design of the full moon, indicated on the mask of Xe'mtsioa by a 

 double curved line in red and black, the black outside, passing over 

 forehead, cheeks, and upper lip. XemxemakVoLa has a double curved 

 line in red and black, the red outside, which passes over forehead, 

 cheeks, and chin. Aiumkl'lik-a and Aiumala'oLa wear the design of 

 the crescent, drawn in red and black, with differences similar to those 

 between tlie first and second masks. The fifth Q'omq'omkl'lik-a and 

 Q'o'mtsloa have designs representing stars, both wearing the same 

 style of mask. The seventh is Qula'xawa, whose face represents the 

 blossom of a salmon-berry bush. The next in order, KuleTias (who 

 wants to have blankets first), wears the design of the rainbow in 

 black and blue. The ninth, At'ama'k, wears on the head a mask repre- 

 senting a kingfisher, and is clothed in a bird-skin blanket. The last 

 of the series is a woman called L'etsa'apleLaua (the eater), the sister of 

 the others. Her fsice is painted with the design of a bladder filled with 

 grease. She figures in several legends as stealing provisions and pur- 

 sued by the people whom she has robbed. 



The sisau'k-, which is danced at potlatches and other festivals of 

 the clans, is presided over by a being that lives in the sun. A man who 

 had gone out hunting met the sisau'k- and was instructed by him in the 

 secrets of the dance. When he returned, he asked the people to clean 

 their houses and to strew them with clean sand before he consented to 

 enter. Then he danced the sisau'k- and told the people what he had 

 seen. He said that the being had commanded them to perform this 

 dance and to adorn themselves when dancing with carved headdresses 

 with trails of ermine skins, and to swing carved rattles. The man, 

 later on, returned to the sun. Ever since that time the Bi'lxula dance 

 the sisau'k-. Besides this, it is stated that the raven gave each clan its 

 secrets. Each clan has its jieculiar carvings, which are used in the 

 sisau'k' only, and are otherwise kept a profound secret, i. e., they are 

 the sacred possessions of each clan. All clans, however, wear the beau- 

 tiful carved headdresses and use the raven rattles, regardless of the 

 carving they represent. Every time the sacred objects of a clan are 

 shown to the people a potlatch is given. The sacred objects, although 

 the property of the various clans, must nevertheless be acquired by 

 each individual — that is to say, every free person has the right to 

 acquire a certain group of carvings and names, according to the clan 

 to which he or she belongs. Slaves and slaves' children, also illegiti- 

 mate children, can not become sisau'k-. A person can not take a 

 new carving, but must wait until it is given to him by his relatives — 

 father, mother, or elder brother. Xusk'Elu'sta, the Indian, to whom I 



