s wanton] 



COSMOLOGY 455 



thcv expected luck. A mun out ti.shing once said so luucli to the 

 coruioraiit that it burst into pieces. Some time afterwards tlie tire 

 craclvled k)udly and, when this man went through the motion of seizing 

 and swaliowino- the tire, it killed him. That is why in those times 

 people were very careful what they did. 



As elsewhere in North America, eagle feathers had sacred associa^ 

 tions. They were used at feasts in the form of ornaments and the 

 dancers' headdresses were covered with eagle down, which flew about 

 inside of the house and covered everyone. Eagle down and red paint 

 were nmch used l)y shamans and are spoken of in the stories as princi- 

 pal media in restoring the dead to life. At the same time there 

 appears to have been no special veneration imid to the eagle, as such, 

 except by certain families, like the NexA'di, which made a specialty of 

 the eagle <>mblem. 



The mallards (kindAtcune't, i. e., "Flying-up birds") formerly flew 

 up slowly, like the sea ducks, but a mallard once ran into a stick and 

 tore itself open, since which time they have flown up straight. The 

 bird djegenl'k or tslegent' does not like the milt of a male salmon, 

 and therefore does not come down to the beaches until the salmon 

 season is over. 



When a dead grizzly bear was brought into camp its head was carried 

 indoors and eagle down and red paint were put on it. Then one talked 

 to it as if to a human being, saying. ''I am your friend. I am poor 

 and come to you." Before the entrails were Ijurned he talked to 

 them, saying, "I am poor. That is why I am hunting you." Wiien 

 one came to a bear trail he said, '"My fathers brother-in-law. have 

 pity on me. Let me be in luck" (Xat ga Laxe'L). The term of rela- 

 tionship was probably changed when oiie of the Raven phratry spoke. 

 These words were not employed because they thought that the bear 

 would come to life again, but because the dead bear's friends might 

 kill the huntei- if he did not use good words toward it. 



If a bear killed one's l>rother he ti'ied to get its head and keep it. 

 Then it would be taken out at feasts and exhibited. When a woman 

 met a grizzly bear she took out her large labret and blew toward the 

 bear through the hole in her lip. Then the l)ear would not touch her. 

 If one made fun of a grizzly bear it might attack him. 



The origin of the bear emblem is always referred to the hero Kats!, 

 who married a female grizzly bear, though to which W'oli clan he 

 belonged is entirely uncertain, the Te'qoedi and Ka'gwAutfin both 

 claiming him. 



That the wolf was also supposed to possess great power is evidenced 

 l.y his use as a totem by one of the two great phratries and as an 

 emblem of many of the clans. 



The wolverine (nusk) was also held in great respect. Because he 

 can take an iron trap apart and eat what is in it, there was a saying, 



