664 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



therefore assume tliat the psychological explanation for the develop- 

 ment of the complicated system of the membership in secret societies 

 lies in the combined action of the social system on the one hand and 

 the method of acquiring manitous on the other. 



While these considerations explain the variety of forms of the secret 

 societies and prove that the myths on which the ritual is apparently 

 founded are probably secondary in character, they do not give a clew 

 to the origin of the secret societies and of the peculiar customs con- 

 nected with them. There are, however, indications which allow us to 

 conclude that these customs had their origin in methods of warfare. 

 First of all, the deity Wlua'lag-ilis is considered the bringer of the cere- 

 monial. This name means "the one who makes war upon the whole 

 world," and he rules the mind of man at the time of war as well as 

 during the period of activity of the secret societies. For this reason, 

 also, the secret societies are in action during times of war, in winter as 

 well as in summer (see p. 429). All the oldest songs of these socie- 

 ties have reference to war; the cannibal, the bear dancer, and the 

 fool dancer, are considered as chief warriors, and fall into ecstasies as 

 soon as they have killed an enemy. All this seems to indicate that 

 the origin of the secret societies has a close connection with warfare. 



But one thing more must be considered. The customs which we 

 observe nowadays are evidently a modern development of more ancient 

 forms. The ceremonial of cannibalism, which nowadays is the most 

 important part of the whole ceremonial, is known to have been intro- 

 duced among the various tribes recently, although its foundation, the 

 idea of the existence of a spirit who is killing people, is present among 

 all the tribes. The Kwakiutl state uniformly that the custom of 

 devouring men was introduced among their tribe about sixty years 

 ago, and that it was derived from the He'iltsuq. We also have 

 conclusive evidence that the custom was acquired by the Tsimshian 

 not more than seventy years ago, and that they also obtained it 

 from the Hc/iltsuq. Therefore there is no doubt that the custom origi- 

 nally was confined to the small territory of the Hc/iltsuq. Among the 

 southern tribes the action of the cannibal was confined to his taking 

 hold with his teeth of the heads of enemies, which were cut off in war. 



The form in which the ceremony of cannibalism of the He'iltsuq 

 appeared first was the following: A slave was killed by his owner, and 

 then was torn and eaten by the cannibals, or pieces of flesh were torn 

 with the teeth from the arms or the chest of people, or, finally, corpses 

 which were prepared in a j^articular manner were devoured by the can- 

 nibal. The first of these customs shows clearly its close connection 

 with warfare. The slave is the booty of the cannibal or of his relatives, 

 and by slaying him the victory is once more brought before the eyes of 

 his admiring friends. It is hardly possible to prove definitely that the 

 secret societies have developed exclusively from customs relating to 

 warfare, but I believe my remarks have made clear the close connection 

 between the two phenomena. 



