478 ' REPORT — 1900. 



elderly friends of the family. It was then doubled up and placed In a 

 box coffin before it had grown rigid. In the case of chiefs the body was 

 sometimes placed in a canoe instead of a box. It was then taken to the 

 burial-ground whether it were day or night. If it were night-time 

 torches would be used. The box containing the corpse was then placed 

 in a roughly constructed cedar-slab shed, after which everybody returned 

 home. The immediate relatives of the deceased followed the corpse, 

 accompanied by the other members of the family or clan, together with 

 all their friends, and a band of special mourners, Vho are engaged for the 

 occasion. All those who followed the corpse to the graveyard must 

 paint the breasts of their garments with red paint. If this were not 

 done a scarcity of fish would be the result at the next salmon run. The 

 moui-ners are of both sexes, and all cry aloud. The period of mourning 

 lasted generally about a month. If, however, the deceased were very 

 dear to the survivors, the mourning would be kept up longer. When a 

 chief died the whole community turned out to mourn, and almost every- 

 body followed the corpse. The hired mourners are paid for their services 

 with blankets or skins. If the friends of the deceased are wealthy a 

 feast is held immediately after the disposal of the body, and the mourners 

 are then paid. If, however, the relatives of the deceased are poor, then 

 no feast is given at the time, and the payment of the mourners is also 

 deferred until such occasion as a sufficient number of blankets and skins 

 has been collected, and they are in a position to hold the feast. It was 

 customary to choose the occasion of some big ' potlatch ' gathering, when 

 everybody would be present. 



When the relatives of the deceased have returned from the grave- 

 yard they burn cedar {Thuya gigantea) and salal-berry {GauUheria Shallon) 

 branches and whip the whole dwelling with boughs, particularly that part 

 where the body lay, to drive away the presence of death, sickness, and 

 ghosts, all of which are supposed to linger there. 



Some three or four days after the burial it was not unusual for the 

 witches and wizards of the tribe to declare that the ghost of the dead had 

 returned from the land of spirits for something to eat. The relatives of 

 the deceased are informed, and they iraaiediately gather all the best food 

 they can procure, and take it, sometimes to the burial-ground and 

 sometimes into the woods, and spread it out on a big blanket made from 

 the wool of the mountain sheep or goat. The witches and medicine-men 

 now invite the shade of the dead to eat. Presently they assure the 

 relatives that the .spirit is satisfied. The food is then either distributed 

 to the poor and old, or else it is consumed in a fire built for the occasion. 



The customs to be observed by the immediate survivors of the 

 deceased differ somewhat according to sex. If a woman had lost her 

 husband she must fast for one whole day. At the close of the day a 

 neighbour would bring in a large piece of dried fish. The widow must 

 now bite four mouthfuls from this piece of fish, while it is held in the 

 neighbour's hands, without touching it herself except Avith her mouth. 

 After she had eaten her four mouthfuls of fish she might partake of other 

 food, but nmst be careful to abstain from eating it before her children. 

 .Should the food bo eaten in the presence of the children it avus believed 

 that they would all shortly die, the act being regarded as equivalent to 

 ' eating up their life.' This rule must be strictly observed for the space 

 of a month. For the same period she must bathe the first thing every 

 morning and scrub her body with boughs, after which she must blow on 



