boas] TSIMSHIAN SOCIETY 531 



and whale. The mother is confined in a small house or in a separate 

 room. 



Numerous ceremonies must be observed when girls reach maturity. 

 When about thirteen or fourteen years old, they begin to practice 

 fasting, eating in the afternoon only, as a very severe f asting is pre- 

 scribed at the time when they reach maturity. It is believed that 

 if they have any food in their stomachs at this time, they will have 

 bad luck in all the future. They must remain alone and unseen in 

 their room or in a hut for ten days, and abstain from food and chunk. 

 For four days they are not even allowed a drop of water. For a 

 fortnight the girl is not permitted to chew her own food. If she 

 desires to have two or three boys when married, two or three men 

 chew her food for her; in the other case, two or three women. At 

 the end of this fasting they are covered with mats and held over a 

 fire. It is believed that by this ceremony her children are made to be 

 healthy; if it were omitted, they would die, even if they should grow 

 up to be a few years old. The girl is not allowed to look at fresh 

 salmon and olachen for a whole year, and has to abstain from eating it. 

 Her head is always covered with a small mat, and she must not look 

 at men. She must not lie down, but always sit propped up between 

 boxes and mats. Her mother's family give a great feast and many 

 presents to her father's family. At this feast her ears are perforated, 

 and she is given ear-ornaments. When a chief's daughter reaches 

 maturity, she is given a jade pebble, which she must bite until her 

 teeth are completely worn down in the middle. When the festival 

 was held, slaves were often given away or killed. 



The perforation of the ears is repeated on later occasions; and every 

 time a new hole is made, a new festival is celebrated. 



In 1894 the marriage ceremonies of the Nlsqa' £ were described to 

 me as follows: When a young man desires a young girl for lus wife, 

 he sends a certain amount of property as purchase price {hana'qs) 

 to her parents. If the suitor and the amount of property are accepta- 

 ble to them, they send word to him, stating that they accept his suit. 

 Then the young man takes a number of slaves, who accompany him. 

 They are called lu-t'.a'mxsgut ("always close to him"). They arm 

 themselves, and the young man embarks with them in a canoe and pad- 

 dles to the bride'shouse. As soon as her clan relatives see them coming, 

 they arm themselves with clubs and stone hammers, and rush down 

 to the landing-place. They break the canoe, and try to drive off the 

 companions of the young man. They fight seriously, and sometimes 

 one of the lu-t.'a'mxsgut is killed. This foretells that the couple will 

 never part. After the fight is over, the bridegroom and his com- 

 panions are carried into the bride's house. Then her friends strew 

 on the companions of the bridegroom eagle down, which is kept in a 

 bag made of sea lion's intestines. Her father puts on his headdress 



