ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 855 



carved bone. Then mountain-goat tallow, red paint, eagle-down, and 

 other valuable objects are burnt, and the soul held over the fire. The 

 bone is then laid upon the sick man's head, the shaman saying, ' Here is 

 your soul. Now you will be better and eat again.' Sometimes the soul 

 is supposed to be held by a shaman, who is paid for returning it. 



A supposed sorcerer is tied up and starved until a confession is made, 

 when he is driven into the sea to expel the evil spirit. Should he refuse 

 to confess he is either starved to death or placed on shore at the limit of 

 low tide, and, being bound, is drowned when the water rises. Sorcery is 

 practised principally by means of parts of the body of the person to 

 whom the sorcerer wishes to do harm. If it is believed that a man died 

 in consequence of being bewitched, the Tsimshiau take the heart from the 

 body and put a red-hot stone into it. They wish at the same time that 

 the enemy should die. If the heart burst their wish is expected to be 

 fulfilled ; if not, it is a sign that their suspicions were unfounded. 



The shamans of the Coast Salish go into the woods in order to be 

 initiated. They swim in ponds and w:ish their bodies with cedar branches, 

 and thus prepare themselves to meet the spirits and the fabulous double- 

 headed snake who give them their supernatural powers. They cause sick- 

 ness by making bits of quartz and wood fly into the body of their adver- 

 sary, and heal the sick by removing these objects. To show their power 

 they perform dances in certain festivals in which they pretend to cut 

 their bodies with knives; the blood is seen to flow from the wounds; 

 but when they move their hands over them no trace of the cuts is to be 

 seen. At the burial, food is burnt for the dead on the beach. On this 

 occasion the shaman throws presents for the dead into the fire on behalf 

 of the mourners. He then affirms that he sees the deceased person's 

 spirit, who speaks to him. lu the winter dances each shaman wears the 

 painting or the mask of the spirit who initiated him. 



The shamans of the Kutoua'qa are also initiated in the woods after 

 long fasting. They cure sick people, and prophesy the result of hunting 

 and war parties. If this is to be done, the shaman ties a rope around his 

 waist and goes into the medicine-lodge, where he is covered with an elk- 

 skin. After a short while he appears, his thumbs firmly tied together by 

 a knot which is very difficult to open. He re-enters the lodge, and after 

 a short time reappears, his thumbs being untied. After he has been tied 

 a second time he is put into a blanket, which is firmly tied together like a 

 bag. The line which is tied around his waist, and to which his thumbs 

 are fastened, may be seen protruding from the place where the blanket is 

 tied together. Before he is tied up, a piece of bone is placed between his 

 toes. Then the men pull at the protruding end of the rope, which gives 

 waj'; the blanket is removed and the shaman is seen to lie under it. This 

 performance is called k"'eqnEmna'm (= somebody cut in two). The 

 shaman remains silent, and re-entera the lodge, in which rattles made of 

 pieces of bono are heard. Suddenly something is heard ftdliug down. 

 Three times this noise is repeated, and then singing is heard in the lodge- 

 It is supposed that the shaman has invoked souls of certain people whom 

 lie wished to see, and that their arrival produced the noise. i?Vom these 

 he obtains the information and instructions which he later on communi- 

 cates to the people. 



