ON THE XORTH- WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 



567 



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Ka nil k i 



ka nil ki k'a nii ii ki 



I add a dancing song : — • 



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Ya hii 3-a hi ya hi ya ya; ya hii ya hi ya hi ya ya; ya hii ya hi ya hi ya ya 



"When a person is about to die his friends leave the house and desert 

 him. Everything that is in the house is left behind. They are afraid of 

 ghosts and avoid returning to the same place. Sometimes the body is 

 placed in a hollow tree and stones are piled up in front of the entrance, 

 or the butt of a tree is hollowed out on purpose. The knees of the body 

 are doubled up so that they touch the chin. The relatives of the deceased 

 cut their hair. 



The ceremonial after the death of a chief is somewhat elaborate. The 

 body is burnt by the clan of which the deceased is not a member. The 

 chief's clan fast for three days. On the fourth day they partake of a 

 little water and raw food. On the fifth day they prepare a feast in honour 

 of their deceased chief. During the feast some food is burnt for him. 

 Those who buried the body receive blankets in payment. After they 

 have finished eating they begin to dance. The mourners sit down around 

 a fire wailing. They wear mittens and cover their mouths with their 

 hands that the fire may not strike them. The same ceremony is repeated 

 three times ; the second time from the fifth to the tenth day, and the 

 third time from the eleventh to the fifteenth day after the death of the 

 chief ; then they are clean. During all this time they do not undress, 

 and keep their hats on. Every morning they wash in sour urine and put 

 fresh coal on their faces. 



The following tradition illustrates the beliefs of the Ts'nts'a'ut in 

 regard to the abode of the soul after death. ' A widow who was with 

 child was killed by a brancli striking her abdomen. Before dying she 

 gave birth to two girls. Her sister adopted the children and reared them. 

 In the spring of the year the tiibe went up Portland Inlet to catch 

 olachen. The woman with her two children could not travel as quickly 

 as the others did and lagged behind. One night she was unable to reach 

 the camp of the tribe, and when it grew dark she made a hut and camped 

 with the two girls. They had nothing to eat and the children were 

 crying. After some time they fell asleep. All of a sudden the woman awoke, 

 and on looking around found herself in a village. It was a beautiful village. 

 There were two rows of huts, one on each side of a river. She entered a 

 house and saw her sister and her sister's husband. Then she knew that she 

 was in the village of the ghosts. She began to cry and her sister cried with 

 her. She told her sister that she had not been aljle to follow the tribe and 

 that she and the children were .starving. Then the ghost left the house and 

 re-entered carrying a bag of marmot-guts filled with marmot meat and 

 grease. She gave the bag and a dish to her sister to take them home. She 



told her that the meat would last her a long time. 



The woman took the bag 



