420 KEPOBT — 1891. 



■wtat cause this divergence is due. Mythology and religion are so closely 

 connected that a few words on the former must be added here. The 

 principal deity of the Bilqula is Snq, the sun-god (compare sonq, sun). 

 The rays of the sun are his eyelashes. When prayed to he is called 

 Taat'au. In praying the Bilqula look heavenward. I obtained the fol- 

 lowing formulas : Atll:HH itlutlsuq, Taat'au, ' Look on us where we are 

 going, Taat'au ; ' and Taat'au, atlkHaltiiomdu tlq, ' Take care of us, Taat'au.' 

 Snq is pre-eminently the ruler of the world, and does not interfere with 

 the actions and thoughts of men. These are given by Masmasala'niq. 

 According to the tradition of the Bilqula, before the liberation of the 

 sun, and before the world was made as it is nowadays, four deities liTed 

 on the earth : Masmasala'niq, Yula'timot, Matlape'eqoek, and Itl'itlu'lak. 

 The raven wished to obtain the sun, but he was unable to liberate it. 

 Then he went to these deities and asked their help. They ascended to 

 the sky, and tore the curtain, which up to that time had been expanded 

 between heaven and earth, hiding the heavenly orbs. The sun appeared, 

 but he shone dimly, as though darkened by clouds. The raven ascended 

 to heaven through the rift made by Masmasala'niq, and found there a 

 beautiful prairie country in which all the birds lived. Masmasala'niq and 

 his brothers painted them beautifully and sent them down to earth, 

 giving each his song and his arts. The raven was not content with the 

 sun, and resolved to try and find a better one. He flew to the house of 

 a great chief, who kept the nusqe'mta (nw-<a=place of, sqem=ih.e 

 day is dawning). The nusqe'mta was a small round receptacle closed all 

 around like an egg. The chief guarded it jealously, and kept it sus- 

 pended from one of the rafters of his house. The raven knew that he 

 could not obtain it by sheer force, and resorted to a ruse. He assumed 

 the shape of the leaf of a spruce tree, and let himself drop into the pond 

 from wliich the chief's daughter used to take water. Tlie girl drank 

 from the pond, swallowed the leaf, and thus became with child. She 

 gave birth to a boy, who was the raven himself. The old chief loved the 

 boy dearly, and allowed him to play with the niosqe'vita. This was what 

 he desired. He ran out of the house, broke it, and flew away in the 

 shape of a raven. 



After the sun had thus been obtained Masmasala'niq said : ' Let us 

 make man.' He made the image of a man out of wood, but he was 

 ■unable to endow it with breath. Matlape'eqoek and Itl'itlu'lak tried 

 likewise to carve human figures and to give them life, but they failed. 

 Finally, Yula'timot carved the figure of a man and endowed it with life. 

 He made a man and a woman in each country, and they became the 

 ancestors of all the numerous tribes. Then Masmasala'niq gave them 

 their arts. He taught them to build canoes, to catch salmon, to build 

 houses. He made rivers everywhere, that man should have water to 

 drink, and that the fish might go up the rivers to be caught by man. 



The Bilqula believe that Masmasala'niq and his brothers still continue' 

 to give new ideas to man. They say that any new design of painting op 

 carving, or any other new invention made by a member of their tribe, 

 has been given to him by Masmasala'niq. 



The religious side of the potlatch and of the secret societies has been 

 referred to above. 



The soul is believed to dwell in the nape. It is similar in shape to a* 

 bird inclosed in an egg. If the shell of the egg breaks and the soul flies 

 away its owner must die. Shamans are able to see and to recover souls. 



