[sapir] GIRL'S PUBERTY CEREMONY 75 



Meanwhile a small potlatch or distribution of gifts by the girl's 

 family was in progress. This potlatch was not so much in honor 

 of the pubescent girl herself as of the infant daughter of her brother 

 Hamilton George; she was thereby "made high" and they thus indi- 

 cated how much they thought of the little member of their family. 

 The potlatch for the pubescent girl, according to the speaker's an- 

 nouncement, was to be given later on in the season, after all the Indians 

 had dried their salmon for the winter; the exact time to be fixed for 

 this event, however, was still left open and was to be announced, ac- 

 cording to a rather pleasing fiction, whenever the girl's infant niece 

 should make up her mind to have it. At a puberty potlatch, such as 

 was now going on, anyone has the right to ask for whatever he wants 

 of the one who conducts it, and it must be given to him; this is known 

 as 'o'yû'il" to ask for a gift in a t!amâ song." The proper way to do 

 this is to sing out one's request to the tune of a t\amâ song, improvi- 

 sing the words as a " chorus " so as to fit the melody. Sometimes re- 

 quests for gifts have been made quite some time before, and are then 

 granted at the puberty ceremony. In such cases the speaker announces 

 that such and such a person had asked for a certain thing and that it 

 was going to be granted to him now, after which the article is displayed 

 and handed over to him or her. It is said that some people used to 

 be rather unreasonable in their tlama requests. Thus, according to 

 one informant, a man once asked beforehand for a sheep. As there 

 was none to be had thereabouts, the man that intended to give the 

 puberty potlatch had to go down to Victoria, B.C., for the express 

 purpose of purchasing the animal desired. He came back with two 

 sheep, which he presented at his potlatch to the man that had made 

 the request, for, as has already been noted, in fulfilling a request or 

 promise, the host always aims to act more liberally than seems strictly 

 called for. 



In the present case, one of the gifts that had been asked for was 

 a gill-net. This was accordingly now produced, a pair of paddles 

 and oar-locks being added as an extra, for, as the speaker remarked, 

 in assigning the gift, its receiver might find an extra outfit of paddles 

 and oar-locks come in handy when going out fishing in his canoe with 

 his new net. So also in other cases, the aim was always evident to 

 make the extra gift appropriate, even if only theoretically so, and 

 to make some remark in explanation of its appropriateness. Another 

 man had asked for a dog. When this was given to him, a long new 

 rope was added, ostensibly for the purpose of tying the dog. The man, 

 as he receved the dog and rope, jocosely remarked that he would use 

 them to keep the women at a distance when they followed him in the 

 bush. This was in keeping with the spirit of raillery that now ol^tained 



