NELSON] BLADDER FESTIVAL 385 



sky laud ; then be stamped on the floor two or three times and the peo- 

 ple came in, bringing food, of which he partook. 



i!^o further ceremonies were conducted until the middle of the night, 

 when the lights were suddenly extinguished and the shaman uttered, 

 from the roof, a long series of unintelligible words ending with a loud 

 shout, followed by his entry into the kashim. Then the lights were 

 renewed and a bucket of water was placed on the floor under the blad- 

 ders. A man and three boys then stripped, and one of the boys was 

 placed astride the man's back, where he hung by his arms and legs 

 twined about the man's body; the other two boys stood in a stooping 

 posture in front of the bucket of water, and the man carrying the boy 

 on his back stood beside them. 



This man dipped up some water with his hand and tossed it up 

 toward the bladders, so that it fell back in a shower upon the two 

 boys and himself. After doing this for some time he carried the bucket 

 around the room, continually flirting the water up toward the roof with 

 one hand as a libation to the tunghdt of the air. The boys then knelt 

 in the middle of the room with bowed heads and rounded shoulders 

 while the cold water iu the buckets was dashed over them. Shortly 

 after a growling noise was heard under the floor, and a man with the 

 hood of his fur coat over his head and a kaiak paddle in his hand 

 entered and stood in one corner of the room. He was soon followed 

 by another, also carrying a paddle, who went to the corner occupied 

 by the first comer, while the latter went on to the next corner; then 

 a third man came in, and the preceding ones advanced each to the 

 next corner, and the first corner was occupied by the third man; a 

 fourth entered, and the changing of places was continued so that each 

 of the four corners was occupied. These men then marched around 

 the room several times, lifting the bladders with their paddle blades as 

 they passed and knocking down the spears that were stuck up on the 

 walls of the room. 



After this they filed out, and the people gathered up the fallen spears, 

 removing their points. The bunch of wild-parsnip stalks was fast- 

 ened to the stake at the back of the room, and the bundle of spears, to 

 which the bladders were hung, was lowered to a level with the sleeping 

 benches, between three and four feet above the floor. When the four 

 men went outside they planted their paddles, blade downward, in front 

 of the kashim, forming a row across the entrance. To the top of each the 

 owner fastened his wooden hunting helmet, which had been worn under 

 his fur hood when in the kashim. To each helmet was fastened a bunch 

 of straw or grass similar to that used to form the ring on the floor, rep- 

 resenting seaweed. To the heads of this grass were fastened a few 

 small, downy gull feathers. 



Early on the following morning the old men told us that we must not 

 stamp our feet in the kashim during that day, for fear of alarming the 

 shades of the animals that were expected to be present. The bunch of 

 18 ETH 25 



