boas] TSIMSHIAN SOCIETY 555 



He takes him by the head, drags him around the fire twice, and then 

 drags him out of the house. The singers stop singing, and all the 

 chiefs and princes and princesses go out following him. Outside they 

 take the novice away, and shout, saying that he has been taken up, 

 that he has flown to the sky. For four full days and nights he is 

 supposed to stay in the sky. On the fifth morning some animal brings 

 the novice back to the village in front of the beach, so that all the 

 common people can see him. Although it is midwinter, he is naked. 

 After this the novice has the right to take his uncle's place when he 

 dies." 



The names of the various powers belonging to each subgroup have 

 been enumerated on p. 513. I will give here a description of some of 

 these powers as mentioned incidentally here and there by Mr. Tate. 



Dllogil (Boiling Words). — It has a body like that of a dog. The 

 chief did not wear it on his face or on his head, because the mask had 

 its own body, and it was considered a very terrible object. Its whistle 

 was very hard to blow. Nobody now knows how to do it. It is not 

 blown with the mouth, but it is squeezed on a certain mark on the 

 whistle. All they knew about this being was that it was living in a 

 rock of the mountain. They had a song of this mask. It was always 

 kept hidden, and no common people knew about it, only the children 

 of the head chief and the children 1 of the head man of Dzeba'sa's 

 tribe. The children were very much afraid to hear the voice of 

 Boiling Words. It was a very terror among the common people, and 

 it was a great cause of pride among the princes and princesses to be 

 allowed to touch it. It was very expensive to obtain the right to 

 use it. This mask was made during the time or a little before the 

 arrival of the white people here. Before tho white people met the 

 chief Dzeba'sa on the ship, they made the mask with stone axes and 

 beaver-tooth knives. Many chiefs who had used the masks have died. 



Marir-Tcs-ga' gum lax-ha' (Who Was The First To Go Up To Heaven) 

 is supposed to five in heaven, and he is called upon to open the sky 

 and to let the power of the sky come down and initiate the chief's 

 children and nephews. 



Nahengan is said to be a very strong animal which lived before 

 the Deluge. It is similar to a grizzly bear. 



Wa-ts! Em-mo' (Without Ears). — When he enters, the people call 

 him by name four times, but he does not pay any attention. One 

 chief after another approaches him and asks him to dance, but he 

 does not reply. Finally one chief says, "I will see if he has any 

 ears." Finally a young child of high rank calls him. Then he 

 answers, "Haie," a chief's word meaning "yes." Then all the people 

 shout, clap their hands, and begin to beat the drums. It is said 



> what has been said on 



