544 TSIMSHIAN MYTHOLOGY [eth. ass. 31 



Before eating they burn food. Having done so, they pray — 



Wa, SEm'a'g'id, dmn ga'ben gwa'a xpiya ga'bEme , da wa'l mand 

 gwa'a,dawa'lmdndgwa'algEraw'°. G%'°nEml (" Here, chief ! Here 

 is for you to eat, part of our food ! It is all that is left us, it is all 

 that is left us ! Now feed us ! " ) 



In the same way the woman in the legend prays — 



Wa, wa, wa, gl'°n,Em, Tiadzena's! (" Now, now, now feed us, fortu- 

 nate one!" 1 ) 



The dead go to a place similar to that of the living. Our summer is 

 their winter, our winter their summer. They have everything — fish, 

 venison, and skins — in abundance. Ideas relating to the future 

 world are told in the traditions recorded on pp. 322 et seq. 



The following tale explains the ideas of the Nass tribe regarding 

 the future life: 2 



"Once upon a time the G - ispawadwE'da killed Adina'k-, the chief of 

 the Wolf group. There was a young man in the same town who 

 happened to walk toward the graveyard chewing gum. There he 

 saw a man approaching him, who wore a robe of marten skins. 

 When he came nearer, he saw that he was no other than the dead 

 chief. The youth wished to run away, but the ghost overtook him 

 and asked him for some of the gum he was chewing. The youth 

 did not dare to hand it to him, and just pushed it out of his mouth. 

 The ghost took it and turned back. The youth went home, and 

 after he had told what had happened, he fell down and lay there 

 like one dead. He had a perforated stone for an amulet, which he 

 wore suspended from his neck. It was to insure him a long life. His 

 friends washed the body and put clean clothing upon him. Mean- 

 while the ghost carried his soul away. They followed a broad trail, and 

 came to a river. The young man got tired of waiting, and yawned. 

 Then he heard a noise in the town. A canoe came across to fetch 

 him. He went aboard, and was taken to the chief's house. He was 

 sick, and the chief ordered him to be laid down next to the fire. The 

 chief called four shamans, who were to heal him. They tried to take his 

 heart out of his body, but they were unsuccessful. They said, "His 

 breast is as hard as stone." This was because he wore the amulet. 

 Finally the chief said to the shamans, "Let us give up our efforts. 

 He is too powerful; we must send him back." Then he was taken 

 back to the canoe, and sent across the river. He returned the same 

 way which he had come: and when he entered his house, life was 

 restored to the body." 



Mayne states, according to Mr. Duncan, the following (p. 295) : 



The Tsimsheeans, I find, believe in two states after death: the one good, and the 

 other bad; the morally good are translated to the one, and the morally bad are doomed 



1 Name of a bird, a nexno'i (see Boas 13, p. 73). * Boas 1, 1S95, p. 582. 



