THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 649 



woman to dance in the same way as she saw her dancing. The people 

 sliould accompany her dance with songs, and, after she had finished, 

 they shoiikl dance with masks. She said, "Whenever a person sees 

 me, your people shall dance the ku'siut. If you do not do so, I shall 

 punish you with death and sickness. In summer, while 1 am in my 

 house, you must not dance the ku'siut." 



Ever since that time the Bi'lxula dance the ku'siut. When a man 

 has seen Anafdikuts'ai'x- sitting in front of her cave, he will invite the 

 people to a kfi'siut. A ring made of red and Avhite cedar bark is hung 

 up in his house, and the uninitiated are not allowed to enter it. Only 

 in the evening, when dances are performed, they may look on, standing 

 close to the door. As soon as the dances are over, they must retire 

 from the taboo house. Each ku'siut lasts three days. 



The various dances performed by members of the ku'siut are also 

 property of the clans, and the right to perform them is restricted to 

 members of the clan. They must not be given to a daughter's hus- 

 band, as is the case with the sisau'k- dances, but belong to the mem- 

 bers of the clan, wlio have a right to a particular dance, but who do 

 not own it. Permission to use a mask or dance is obtained from the 

 owner by payments. The owner may reclaim the dance or the borrower 

 may return it at any time. Membership of the ku'siut is obtained 

 througli an initiation. At this time the novice is given his ku'siut 

 name, which is inherited by young persons from their parents or from 

 other relatives. Thus a young man who had the name of Po'po until 

 he was about seventeen years old, obtained at his initiation the name 

 of L'ako'oL. I have not reached a very clear understanding of the 

 details of the initiation; it seems that the dance is simply given to the 

 novice in the same way as the sisau'k*, this initiation being connected 

 with a potlatch. But still it seenis possible that he must "dream" of the 

 dance which he is to perform. Only the highest degrees of the ku'siut 

 have to pass through a religious ceremony of some importance. The 

 highest degrees are the Elaxo'La (the ha'mats'a of the Kwakiutl), the 

 o'lEx (the nu'LmaL of the Kwakiutl), and the da'tia (the no'ntsistalaL 

 of the Kwakiutl). These grades are also hereditary. A ku'siut novice 

 may acquire them at once at his first initiation. 



When the Elaxo'La is initiated, he goes into the forest, where he 

 encounters his guardian spirit. It is believed that he goes up to the 

 sun, and formerly he had to take human flesh along for food. The 

 chiefs held a council the night preceding the beginning of the cere- 

 monies, and anyone who wanted to show his liberality offered one of 

 his slaves to be killed in order to serve as food for the Elaxo'La. The 

 offer was accei)ted, and a payment of from ten to twenty blankets was 

 made for the slave. The latter was killed, and the members of the 

 Elaxo'La order devoured one-half of the body before the departure of 

 the novice to the woods. There the latter was tied up and left to fast. 

 He may stay there for twenty or thirty days until the spirit appears 



