THE WESTERN DENES. 151 



to the host and singers, and without interrupting his dance he will 

 ]>roceed to his place near the master of the lodge. All the notables 

 present will then follow in their turn observing the same ceremonial. 

 Should there be a female notable among them she will have pre- 

 cedence over any untitled member of the crowd. Instead of a wig, 

 she wears a lofty crown-like head-dress,^ adorned with strips of her • 

 totem-animal's skin and other ornaments. Her ceremonial apron is 

 also much shorter than that of the male notables which falls to the 

 feet and has the lower edge fringed with hanging beaver claws or 

 small ])ebbles which during his dance i)roduce a continual rattling 

 sound.-' She does not dance however, on entering the house ; but 

 bowing low keeps time with her head-dress to all the sounds of the 

 tambourine. When all the assistants ai-e gathered around the notable 

 thus honored, he serves them a frugal supper after which they disperse 

 to their respective homes. 



6. This is the last and most important of all the festivals intended 

 to commemorate the late notable's death. Previous to its celebration, 

 people of the surrounding villages ax-e invited to construct a new 

 lodge for his successor, while the notah>les carve in the woods, away 

 from the eyes of the curious, two wooden masks representing respec- 

 tively the face of a man and of a woman. Meantime the most skill- 

 ed workmen of the village carve out of a large cotton-wood tree two 

 huge toads or grouse according to the clan to which the new To&neza 

 belongs. These different works have to be completed on the eve of 

 the great banquet when the population of distant villages have con- 

 gregated for the occasion. In the night when all are assembled in 

 the new house, the notables who made the masks, concealed behind a 

 screen formed by skin curtains, adjust them to the face of two young 

 men whose persons are carefully concealed by blankets. After this 

 the curtain is lifted up and the notables proceed to the centre of the 

 assembly and commence — attired in their insignia — to dance in a 

 group whilst the masked jesters make with their heads all sorts of 

 comical movements. The chant used on this occasion has a peculiar 



1 So did the Mongol women of the Middle Ages, according to William of Rubruck : "The 

 costume of the women," he says, "does not differ greatly from that of the men, except that 

 they wear a very lofty ' head-dress.' " Relation des Voyages en Tartarie, Bergeron. 



•2 This peculiarity reminds us of the mepil of the Jewish high priest, the most noticeable part 

 of which was its fringe composed of little bells of gold alternating with coloured pomgranates. 

 Exodus xxviii, 31 and 34. 



