826 REPORT— 1889. 



Na'k'oartok", and finally reached Tliksl'aae (=tlie plain at the mouth of 

 the river, where clover-root is found), in the country of the Kwakiutl, 

 where he settled at K''aioq. He took a wife among each tribe whom he 

 visited, and his family has the name Sisintle. He resolved to stay in 

 Tliksi'uae, and took a Kwakiutl woman for his wife. They had a son, 

 whom they called Tsqtsqa'lis. On each side of the door of their house 

 they painted a large sun. The posts are men, each carrying a sun. 

 They are called Lela'qt'otpes, and were SE'ntlae's slaves. The crossbars 

 resting upon the posts also represent men, while the beams are sea-lions. 

 The steps leading to the house-door are three men called Tle'nonis. 

 During the winter dances the Sisintle use the mask of the sun, 

 TIe'selak'umtl ; in the dance Ta'wiqa, that of the dog Ku'loqsa (=the 

 sun shining red through the clouds), who descended with Sfi'ntlae from 

 heaven. Their heraldic column is called SEutle'qem. It represents a 

 series of copper plates, on the top of which a man called Laqt'otpes 

 (singular of Lela'qt'otpes=he who gives presents to strangers only) is 

 standing. Above all is the mask of the sun emitting rays. 



Of special importance is the connection of the ancestors of these 

 gentes with K'a'nikilak" (meaning doubtful), the son of the deity. 

 He is the ancestor of a gens of the Nak"o'mkilisila, who, upon the 

 strength of this legend, claim a superiority to all others. This point 

 seems of sufficient importance to be given in greater detail. I was told 

 that in the far west there lived a chief called Ha'nitsnm (the possessor 

 of arrows), who had a daughter called Aintsuma'letlilok* (with many 

 earrings of haliotis shells). K'a'nikilak* went into his boat K'ok'o'malis, 

 and after long wandering he reached Ha'nitsum's house. He married 

 the latter's daughter, and took her home to Koa'ne (near Cape Scott). 

 They had a son, who received the name of Ha'neus. He lived to be a 

 great chief. 



K'anikilak" wandered all over the world. In his wanderings he 

 encountered the ancestors of all gentes of the various Kwakiutl tribes, 

 made friends with them, and filled the rivers of their countries with 

 salmon. I give an example of this kind of tradition. K'anikilak' met 

 Nomas, the ancestor of the Tlauitsis. He was the first to make fish-lines 

 of kelp to catch halibut ; therefore the Tlauitsis were the first tribe to 

 use these. K'anikilak' made friends with Nomas, and filled the rivers of 

 his country with salmon. He met O'meatl, who was sitting on an 

 island. When the latter saw K-anikilak" approaching, he pointed his 

 first finger towards him, which perforated K-anikilak''s head. Then the 

 latter perforated Omeatl's head in the same way. Now they knew that 

 they were equally strong, and parted. 



In some cases it is verj^ difficult to decide whether a group of men 

 deriving their origin from one of these ancestors is really a gens or a tribe, 

 particularly in those cases in which the tribal name agrees with that of 

 the ancestor of one of the gentes ; for instance, Ma'malelek'ala (col- 

 lective of Malelek'ala), or We'wek-ae (collective of We'k'ae). A con- 

 siderable number of tribal names and the majority of names of gentes are 

 simply the collective form of the name of the ancestor. Others are taken 

 from the regions inhabited by the ti'ibe. 



It appears that a tribe of the Kwakiutl must be defined as a series of 

 gentes, whose ancestors first made their appearance in a certain well- 

 defined region. Thus the ancestors of the Nak'o'mkilisila gentes appeared 

 on or near Cape Scott ; those of the Tlatlasik'oala on or near Hope Island, 



