580 REPORT—1890. 
brother) by the Catlo’ltq of Comox, Qa'is by the Sk-qd’mic, and Qiéils by 
all other tribes. The Lku’igsn pray to him, and expect that he will 
again descend from heaven at some future time and again wander all over 
the earth, punishing the bad. ‘heir dances are said to be performed to — 
please him. Although it seems probable that there exists some connection — 
between Qals and the sun, I have found no clear evidence showing this to be © 
the case. Itis said that Qails made the sun and the moon. The Snanai’muq, 
who are closely related to the Lku/igen, and whose customs are very much 
the same as those of the Lku’igern, worship the sun and pray to him. 
Traces of sun-worship may be found among the Lku’figen in the custom of 
young girls and boys avoiding to eat until the sun is high up in the 
sky, in the si’dua offering her prayers towards sunrise, and in the regula. 
tion that novices and menstruating girls must go homeward in a direction 
following the course of the sun. : 
Animism underlies the religious ideas of the Lku’figrn, as well as — 
those of all other North American Indians. Animals are endowed with 
superhuman powers, and inanimate objects are considered animate. Trees — 
are considered transformed men. The creaking of the limbs is their 
voice. Animals, as well as the spirits of inanimate objects, but princi- 
pally the former, can become the genii of men, who thus acquire super- — 
natural powers. A peculiar conception is what is called stla'lzk-am. 
This is as well the protective genius of a man, as a supernatural being — 
whose power is directed against a man. Therefore it seems to express 
the relation of man to supernatural powers. Certain occupations or © 
actions are forbidden to mourners, parents of new-born children, men- — 
struating women, shamans, novices of secret societies, and dancers, 
because certain objects are stld'/lzk:am against them. The door and the 
earth, as being stld'lzk-am, were mentioned in a foregoing paragraph. 
In dreams the soul leaves the body and wanders all over the world. The — 
soul after death retains human shape and becomes a ghost. Shamans 
are able to see ghosts. Their touch causes sickness. They make those 
who have not regarded the regulations regarding food and work mad. — 
Their touch paralyses man. When one feels afraid, being alone in the 
woods or in the dark, it is a sign that a ghost is near. They know who ~ 
is going to die, and approach the villages early in the evening to take the 
soul of the dying person away. In order to drive the ghosts away the 
people cry g, g/ beat the walls of the houses with sticks, and burn Peuce- 
danum leiocarpum, Nutt., to drive them off. Some people believe indivi- 
dually that the soul of a man may be born again in his grandchild. 
There are two classes of conjurers or shamans, the higher order being 
that of the sawnii/am, the lower that of the sz/dua, The si/dua is generally 
a woman. It seems that her art is not acquired by intercourse with 
spirits, but it is taught. The principal function of the si/dua is that of 
appeasing hostile powers. It is believed that certain objects are hostile 
to man, or to man in certain conditions; for instance, to mourners, to 
menstruating women, to shamans, dancers, and novices of secret societies. 
These hostile powers may be appeased by the si/dua bespeaking them in 
a sacred language. The words of this language are handed down from 
one si/dua to the other, and heavy payments are exacted for instruction. 
There is not one si/dua left among the Lku’figrn, and my endeavours to 
learn any of the words of this language were consequently vain. The 
same means are used for endowing men or parts of the body, weapons, &¢., 
with special power. This is called ‘to give a name to an object’ (for 
