650 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



to liini and takes liim up to the sim, where lie is initiated. Early one 

 morning- he returns, and is heard outside the houses. He has lost all 

 his hair, AA'hich, it is believed, has been torn out by the strong breeze 

 blowing in the higher regions. He is quite naked, and bites everyone 

 whom he can lay hold of. If he can not catch anyone he will bite his 

 own arm. It is believed that he has lost his soul, which fled from the 

 body when the spirit came to him. Therefore the shamans must try 

 for four days to recapture his soul. The night after they have recov- 

 ered it the ElaxO'La dances, clothed in a l)earskin and wearing a large 

 head ring, heavy bracelets and anklets, all made of red cedar bark. 

 Sometimes he appears wearing the mask of the S'a'Lpsta (fig. 200), 

 the spirit which initiated him. This mask corresponds exactl}^ to that 

 of BaxbakualanuXsI'wae of the Kwakiutl. Some ElaxO'La do not 



bite people, but merely 

 devour raw salmon or 

 tear dogs to pieces and 

 devour them. Those who 

 bite people will also 

 devour corpses. The 

 Elaxo'La has to observe 

 a number of regulations. 

 For four years after his 

 initiation he must not 

 gamble. He must stay away from his wife for one 

 year, but this period is being reduced to one month. 

 For two or three months he must not leave his house. 

 Tlie o'Iex (the laugher) and the da'tia (the thrower) 

 do not go into the woods to be initiated, but both 

 must fast three days before their lirst dance. The 

 o'Iex "makes fun of everything" and scratches i^eo- 

 ple with his nails. The da/tia carries stones and 

 sticks and breaks household goods and canoes. If he 

 has destroyed some object during the day, he pays for 

 it at night when he dances. The o'Iex and the da'tia, 

 after they have danced, must stay in their houses for one month. 



If a person transgresses the laws of the ku'siut, for instance, when 

 the Elaxo'La gambles, or when a man x)erforms a dance to which he 

 has no right, also when a person derides the ceremonies or makes a 

 mistake in dancing, his i)vinishment is death. The chiefs assemble in 

 council and the offender is called before the court. After his offense 

 has been proved, he is asked whether he is willing to suffer the penalty 

 of death. If he is not willing and one of his relatives is found willing 

 to take the penalty on himself, the guilty party is spared and the sub- 

 stitute killed in his stead. The execution of the judgment is intrusted 

 to the shaman, who bewitches the condemned person by throwing dis- 

 ease into him or by poisoning him in some otlier (supernatural?) way. 

 The object thrown by the shaman is a shell, bone, or finger nail, around 



MASK OF THE S'A'LPSTA. 



Bi'lxula. 



Cat. No. 129609, U. S. N. M. 

 C<.llecteil bv F. Boas. 



