366 REPORT— 1902. 



was for the SQEla'm, the people all standing round outside. When all 

 is ready the SQEla'm enters this ring, and, taking up portions of the 

 offerings, throws tliem into the fire, offering them as he does so to the 

 manes of the departed. What is left of the presents after the offerings 

 have been made is distributed among the people. The names of deceased 

 persons were never uttered in the hearing of their relatives. They were 

 practically tabooed till given to some of the survivors later at some name- 

 feast. Slaves were never killed at the death or burial of their owners 

 among the Tcil'Qe'uk. They were sometimes sold to defray the expenses 

 of the mortuary feast. 



Birth Ceremonies. 



In most of the ceremonies of the Halkome'lEm tribes the emblems of 

 the Sqoi'aql play an important part. At the birth of a child it was the 

 ambition of most parents to have one or more of the members of this 

 brotherhood or totem present to perform the sqoi'aql dance, and secure 

 for the child the protection of this powerful ' medicine.' ' A child whose 

 birth was celebrated by the Sqoi'aql was made thereby a person of social 

 importance. It entitled him to rank later among the notabilities of the 

 tribe. Part of the birth ceremony consisted in the formal washing of the 

 infant by the Sqoi'aql. It was during the birth-feast that the eai's of the 

 child were pierced for earrings. The piercing was done by means of a 

 pointed piece of pitch-pine, the wood being left in the hole to prevent 

 it from closing again. The task was always performed by skilled persons, 

 who were paid for their services by gifts of blankets. The pads or bands 

 for deforming the child's head were also applied on these occasions. 



Puberty Customs. 



I did not gather much concerning the customs practised by youths on 

 reaching manhood. They went apart by themselves for a longer or 

 shorter time, and fasted, and bathed and exercised their bodies till they 

 had acquired their su'lla. When a girl reached puberty she had to 

 undergo a four days' seclusion. For the first two days she must abstain 

 from food of any kind ; after this she might eat a little dried salmon, 

 but no fresh meat or roots. After the fourth day the girl's face was 

 painted, and she was permitted to walk abroad for a little distance in 

 charge of some woman. On her return four o'lla would meet her and 

 dance round her, each holding a salmon of different species in his hand. 

 When this ceremony was over, she was taken to a lake and made to 

 undergo a ceremonial washing and cleansing. She was never allowed to 

 enter a stream frequented by salmon, or they would shun the stream 

 thereafter. Throughout the four days of her seclusion she was kept busy 

 in making yarn, as among the Sk-qo'mic. While her menses are upon 

 her a woman must never eat hot or fresh foods. 



Mythology. 



The great transformer and wonder-monger of the Tcil'Qe'uk was 

 called by them QeqcI'Is. This is apparently the collective form of the 



' I have given below the Pila'tlq account, which is the fullest yet obtained, of 

 the origin of these emblems. Apparently all the Halkome'lEm tribes held members 

 of this totem, who were entitled to the use of its emblems. Amung the Kwa'ntlEn 

 as many as 300 of them, I was informed, would assemble together at some of their 

 naming-feasts. From this it is clear the brotherhood or totem was extensive. 



