534 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. avn.::i 



"The marriage of those who do not move their eyas or smile while 

 the people are playing will last until their lives end. 

 . " When the three days were almost ended, the chief ordered his serv- 

 ants to bring water in a large bucket. The servant took the bucket to 

 the brook behind the village and took water from it. He brought it to 

 the chief, and the chief asked the young woman to open her mouth 

 and drink all the water out of the bucket before the whole assembly. 

 If she did as the chief told her, and drank all the water out of the 

 bucket, the chief would say, ' Go away, and wander about away from 

 my house! You are not fit to be married to any one!' This brook 

 is still running, and no single man or single woman should drink of 

 it, else they will not marry until the end of their fives. It is said 

 that the lake at the head of the brook is full of all kinds of frogs, scor- 

 pions, lizards, and locusts. Therefore nobody drinks out of that 

 stream up to this day." 



Burial 



After a death has occurred, the relatives of the deceased have their 

 hair cut short and their faces blackened. They cover their heads 

 with ragged and soiled mats, and go four times around the body, 

 singing mourning-songs. They must speak but-little, confining them- 

 selves to answering questions, as it is believed that otherwise they 

 will become talkative. Until the body is buried they must fast, 

 eating only a very little at night. Women of the exogamic groups 

 to which the deceased did not belong — particularly of his father's 

 group — act as wailers, and are paid for their work, the whole group 

 of the deceased contributing to the payment. In wailing, the women 

 must keep their eyes closed. The body lies in state for a number of 

 days. It is washed immediately after death, placed upright, and 

 painted with the crest of the clan. His dancing-ornaments and 

 weapons are placed by his side. Then the body is put into a box, 

 which is tied up with lines made of elk skins. These are furnished 

 by the group of the deceased, and kept as a payment by his father's 

 group. According to information given to mo in 1888 at Port Essing- 

 ton, the bodies, except those of shamans, were burned. The box is 

 placed on the funeral pile, the lines of elk skin are taken off and kept 

 by the father's group. A hole is cut in the bottom of the box, and the 

 pjTe is lighted. Before all is burned, the heart is taken out of the 

 body and buried. It is believed that if it were burned, all relatives 

 of the deceased would die. The father's group, besides receiving the 

 lines, are paid with marmot skins and blankets. 



According to Mr. Tate, the inner organs of chiefs were removed 

 from the body and cremated, while the body was preserved for some 

 time before being deposited in the grave-box, which was placed on a 

 tree. On the whole, this statement seems more plausible, because 

 it agrees with the statement contained in traditions. 



