THE KWAKIUTL INDIANS. 663 



probably the connecting links between these two legends. Further- 

 more, the important incident of the magic liiglit whicili figures in the 

 Kwakiutl legend (p. 400) has so wide a distribution, not only on the 

 Pacific Coast but also iu the Old World, that we must consider it a 

 foreign element in this myth.' 



These instances show tliat the myths referring to the ceremonial are 

 of complex origin. 



I will point out another peculiarity of these traditions: When we 

 compare the legends as told by the various tribes of the coast, we find 

 that the ceremonial is derived from a variety of myths. Some men 

 obtained it from BaxbakualanuXsi'wae, others from the wolves, still 

 others brought it down from heaven. The legend of the Tsimshian tells 

 that a hunter obtained it from a bear who took him into his lodge in 

 the interior of a rock (p. 652). Traditions which are entirely distinct 

 iu character and origin are brought forward to explain the origin of 

 the same ceremonial. 



What does this prove ? We have seen that none of the tales referred 

 to can be considered as a growth of the genius of any of these tribes 

 uninfluenced by any foreign sources. All the traditions are full of for- 

 eign elements which can be traced, step by step, to distant regions. 

 When we see, therefore, that the same ritual is explained by a variety 

 of traditions, we must conclude that in this region at least the ritual is 

 older than the tradition referring to the ritual; that the former must be 

 considered as primary, the latter as secondary. 



I believe the source of the ritual, as well as of the legends which are 

 connected with it, must be looked for in the advantages and the pre- 

 rogatives wliich the membership of secret societies gives. This must 

 have caused a desire to possess such membership, which either led 

 men to acquire memberships in existing societies, or, where these were 

 not sufficient, for the people to invent new ones. Of course, I do not 

 mean to say that the Indian invented traditions consciously and 

 intentionally, but that the desire excited his fancy and his whole state 

 of mind, and that in this manner, after appropriate foisting, the oppor- 

 tunity was given for hallucinations, the material for which was neces- 

 sarily taken from the existing ideas, or from the ideas of neighboring 

 tribes. These are the peculiar phenomena which were set forth by 

 Stoll in his book on Suggestion, and I think iu a deeper manner by 

 Tarde in his book on the Laws of Imitation. 



It is easily understood how the exciting aspect of the ceremonial of 

 the cannibal society caused a young man who had gone fasting to 

 believe that he saw in his hallucinations the same spirit under new 

 conditions, and to tell of his experience after his return. As the 

 notion had become established that the spirit, after having been seen, 

 had a tendency to reappear to the descendants, an opportunity was 

 given for the formation of a new place in the secret society. We may 



'For a remarkable analogue of this tradition eollected among the Golds of Araoor 

 River, see "Globus/' LXXI, page 92. 



