ox THE ETHNOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 405 



this garment out and display it to her guests, and dwell in a mournful 

 strain upon the many virtues of her late husband. Her words usually stirred 

 the feelings of others of the relatives of the deceased, and they were moved 

 to do likewise, and much property was again given away. These gifts were 

 made outright : they were not ' potlatched,' and no obligation rested upon 

 the recipients to make any return. Though when some connection of 

 theirs passed away, and they gave a burial feast, they specially remembered 

 those who had been generous to them under similar circumstances, and 

 treated them in like manner. 



The name of the deceased must not be mentioned in the hearing of 

 tlie surviving relatives till some years have elapsed, when his son gives a 

 feast and assumes it. During the feast the oldest man present gets up 

 and publicly states that their host is desirous of assuming his father's 

 name. Those present acquiesce in this desire, and the son is known hence^ 

 forward by the name his father bore. The reason of this lapse of time 

 between the father's death and the son's assumption of his name or title 

 is due to their concejition of the state of the soul or spirit after death. 

 The iwpl akoe' Ua (ghost) of the dead is supposed to haunt the scenes of its 

 life for a longer or shorter time, and if the son assumed the name too 

 soon the popldkoe'tsa of his father might exercise a baneful influence upon 

 him. Hence the delay. 



All the mourners cut their hair and burn the severed parts. They 

 did not cut the hair all round their heads, but only that on the fore- 

 head and temples as far back as the ears. Those who tended the corpse 

 were apparently a distinct order or class. They could not mingle with 

 the rest for a time. They had first to undergo some kind of purification. 

 They were called spo2)ldkoe'tsa, that is, ' corpse handlers.' When they 

 had finished with the corpse the sQEld'm took charge of it and conveyed 

 it to the tomb. 



The Kwa'ntlEn, 



In my studies of the Kwa'ntlEn I was assisted by a native named 

 August Sq'tctEn, of the Fort Langley Reservation, an intelligent and 

 thoughtful Indian, who had been trained in his younger days in the 

 mission school of the Oblate Fathers, and who had a very tolerable know- 

 ledge of English ; by Jason Allard, a fairly educated half-breed ; and to a 

 less extent by an elderly Indian woman named Mrs. Elkins, the wife of a 

 white fisherman of the district. If my studies of this tribe could have 

 been begun a few years earlier I could have secured much valuable infor- 

 mation now, I fear, lost for ever. A noted old shaman among them, 

 who is reported by the natives and white settlers to have been able to do 

 many strange and mysterious things, such as dancing on hot stones, 

 handling live coals, and drinking or otherwise mysteriously disposing of 

 enormous quantities of liquids, such as oils or water, died a year or two 

 ago, and with him passed away the opportunity of acquiring first-hand 

 information on many of their old customs, practices, and beliefs, thus 

 affording another illustration of the need there is to push our inquiries 

 and observations without further loss of time. Most, if not all, of the 

 present Kwa'ntlEn have been born since the settlement of the Hudson's 

 Bay post in their midst, and their early contact with the white men con- 

 nected with this and their long training by the Fathers of the Oblate 

 Mission have much modified and changed their habits and lives. The 

 whole tribe ig nQ>y upder t}ie religious care of this mission, an(i all the 



