ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 623 
4. L6]d’tlalatl. 
5. Hai‘alikyalatl. 
6. Yia‘iatalatl. 
7. Pa‘qalalatl, a female conjurer, who has to sooth the Ha’mats’a and 
keep him from using his whistles. 
8. Wa/tanum. Those who join for the first time the 7s’ étsd'éh-a, 1.e., 
novices of the lowest grade. 
Among this group the Ha’mats’a, on returning from the woods, dances 
four nights with wreaths of hemlock branches; the following four nights 
(fifth to eighth) with no ornaments whatever; then four nights (ninth to 
twelfth) with ornaments of red cedar-bark. He wears eight bundles over 
his forehead which are called ky’a'stwé, and four on each side. The fol- 
lowing night (thirteenth), after he has finished dancing, one of the 
ky’ a! stwé is taken off, which is publicly announced on the following morning. 
The fourteenth night two more of these bundles are taken away; the 
next, two more; and finally, the sixteenth, one more, which is also publicly 
announcedeach morning. The seventeenth night a black line is drawn over 
his face from the left side of his forehead to the right side of his chin, 
and then he rises to bite people. Later on he is excited by mistakes 
made in songs, and by Lolo’tlalatl songs. 
The gentes are suspended during the 7s’Ztsd'ck'a, and societies take 
their place. The members of the Ts’étsd'/éka are called K”a/k-ana’s 
(‘stickshoes’ ?). Ifa dancer makes a mistake he is tied up in a blanket, 
thrown into the fire, and roasted alive.! 
The following customs belong to the Kwakiutl group, but are probably 
more or less in common to all those tribes. 
In order to become a member of any one of these societies the novice 
must be initiated by the spirit of the grade he intends to occupy. But 
when first entering the society the novice must take the lowest degree, 
from which he may gradually rise. A number of these grades are the 
property of cortain gentes, so that anyone who is a member of the gens 
may acquire it, provided he finds someone who is willing to give the 
Ts’étsa/ék'a for him. For instance, the Ha/ili’kyilatl belongs to the gens 
Haai/lakyemaé of the K’’d/méyué. Asa rule, however, the right to be- 
come a member of the respective grade of the society is acquired by 
marriage, after the consent of the council has been obtained. After tbe 
marriage has been consummated the woman’s father must give up his 
dance to his son-in-law, as described in my last report (p. 838). If a man 
— a wife on behalf of his brother he may take the woman’s father’s 
ance. 
The father of the novice gives a feast, at which the young man 
dances, and then retires to the woods, where he must prepare himself by 
fasting and bathing for the encounter with the spirit. The spirits 
appear only to clean men; others are not likely to see them, and if they 
did the spirits would kill them. Sometimes the novice disappears sud- 
denly during the feast, and is supposed to have flown away. After he 
has been initiated by the spirit of the grade he wishes to acquire he 
returns to the village, and his whistle or his voice is heard in the woods. 
Then the yé'winila, who is to give the Ts'étsa'ck'a, calls the whole tribe 
to the first dance, which is called kikyi'Inala. The yé'winila has to give 
‘ T have no trustworthy information regarding the rank of dances of the Hé'iltsuk’. 
They call the Ha'mats’a, Tani’s. 
