TRIBAL SOCIETY 251 



mal slain by us !" 30 When the berries are ripe the chief 

 summons all the people and announces that the time for 

 picking has arrived. Before the people, who have 

 painted themselves in honor of the magical ceremony, 

 the chief holds a birch-bark tray containing some of the 

 ripe berries and points the tray towards the highest 

 mountain in sight, announcing to this mountain that the 

 people are going to eat fruit. After this each of the 

 group is given a berry to eat, and all then proceed to 

 pick berries. 



The system of guardian spirits and secret societies 

 which has developed among the southern Kwakiutl is 

 unique among primitive peoples. Each clan derives its 

 origin from a mythical ancestor, on whose adventures 

 the crests and privileges of the clan depend. This an- 

 cestor in the course of his adventures, meets a certain 

 animal, and in a variety of ways obtains from him super- 

 natural powers or magical objects: such as, "the magic 

 harpoon," which insures success in sea-otter hunting; 

 "the water of life," which resuscitates the dead, and other 

 objects of a similar magical power. He obtains besides 

 these things, a dance, a song, and cries which are peculiar 

 to each spirit, as well as the right to use certain peculiar 

 carvings. The dance is always a dramatic presentation 

 of the myth in which the ancestor acquired the gifts of 

 the spirit. These spirits are animals the bear, wolf, 

 sea-lion, killer-whales which have become the protectors 

 of men. 31 



Guardian spirits are acquired individually by young 

 men. They are spirits which protect the young man and 

 give him powers of invulnerability. One such spirit is 

 "Making-War-All-Over-the-Earth," under whose protec- 



30 Teit, Jesup Exped., vol. ii, p. 279. si Boas, Kwakiutl, pp. 334-396. 



