316 THE MONTAGNAIS INDIANS AND THEIR FOLK-LORE 



affirmative or negative reply, and be will either answer 

 that he does not know or with an invariable " Yes." 



At times quite a number of bears' skulls may be 

 seen upon the same pole. Occasionally the heads of 

 beavers are similarly treated. The other bones of the 

 animals in the chase are buried in the ground, thrown 

 into deep water, or consumed with fire. 



Among the Nascapees the painted skin of a bear 

 cub forms an essential part of the outfit of their con- 

 jurers or medicine -men. By them, as by the Mon- 

 tagnais, the bear, of all animals, is regarded with the 

 greatest reverence and respect. Mr. James Mackenzie 

 describes the feast which occurs among these poor 

 people when the first cub of the season is killed by 

 any member of an encampment. The skin is stripped 

 entire from the carcass, is stuffed with hay, and the 

 head and paws decorated with beads, quills, and ver- 

 milion. The blood, entrails, and flesh are next cooked, 

 and all the people of the horde are invited to partake 

 of it in honor of Kawabapishit, to whose paternal 

 bounty they attribute the luscious meal. In the cen- 

 tre of the feast the skinny deity is placed, grinning, 

 while the drum beats, and the guests devour the flesh 

 in silence. The flesh having been torn from the 

 bones, the latter are, with much ceremony, suspended 

 to a pole, which has been previously erected for that 

 purpose. " Should a dog, amid all this religious mum- 

 mery, be sacrilegious enough to pass any of the fat or 

 flesh between his unhallowed jaws, the vile animal is 

 instantly slaughtered to appease the wrath of the an- 

 gry deity, the flesh is devoured, and its bones in turn are 

 hung to a tree " a ghastly warning to all of his kind. 



