G78 RETORT— 1898. 



to roappoar to the descendants of the person to whom it once appeared, 

 opportunity was <:tivon for the foi-niation of a new placo in tlie s(>crot 

 societies. We may assume*, tliorefore, tliat, psycliolo;^ically, tlio develop- 

 ment of the complex system of membership in the secret societies nuist be 

 ;>.\j)lain('d as due to the combined action of the social system and llio 

 method of acejuii'lMg jj;uardian spirits. 



While these considerations may explain the variety of form of tiio 

 secret societies, and show that the myths on wliich a i-itual is founded are 

 probably secondary, Ihey do not explain th(^ origin of the societies 

 themselves and of the jieculiar customs connected with them. There are, 

 how(ner, indications which lead to the opinion that the.so societies 

 developed from nn^thods of warfare. First of all, it is important to note 

 that the deity Wina'lagyilis of the Kwakiiitl presid(>s o\-er the whole 

 ceremonial. This name means ' the one who makes war upon the whole 

 world,' and his spirit controls the mind of the Indians also during the 

 time of war. For this reason the secret societies are in action also on 

 war expeditions, no matter at what s(>;ison of (lu^ year they may oemir. 

 All the oldest songs of the secret societies I'efer to war. The cannibal, as 

 well as tlie bear dancei's and the fool dancers of the Kwakiutl, are con- 

 sidered warriors, and go into ecstasies as soon as an (uiemy has been 

 killed. All this indicates that oiiginally the secret societies were closely 

 connected with war expeditions. 



One thing more must be considered. The customs which we ob.serve 

 to-day are evid(>ntly the modern de\el(ipnient of ancient forms. It is 

 known that tlw^ ceremonial cannibalism, wliich nowadays is the principal 

 part of the whole ceremonial, has been introduced very recently among 

 all the tribes. The Kwakiutl state tliat this custom was introducctl 

 among them not- longer than sixty years ago, and that- it originated among 

 the llc'iltsuk-. We idso know that the custom spread from the He'iltsuk- 

 to th(i Tsimshian not. longer- than a, hundi'ed and fifty years ago. There- 

 fore there is no doubt that the custom was originally confined to the small 

 territory of the llc'iltsuk-. Among tlie southern tribes the cainubals 

 originally conllned thcni.selvcs to holding with their teeth the heads of 

 enemies whicli had been cut off. 



The form in which the cannibalism spread from the He'iltsuk* is 

 maiidy the following : — A slave was killed by his owner, then he was 

 torn to pieces and eaten by the cannibals ; or pieces of flesh were bitten 

 out of the arms and the chest of people ; or, finally, corpses which had 

 been prepared in a particular way were devoured by the I'annibals. The 

 first of these customs clearly bears some relation to war. A slave was 

 obtained in war by the I'clative of a cannibal, and by killing him the 

 owner celebrated the victory before the assembled tribe. It is not ])Ossible 

 to prove definitely that tin* secret societies de\eloped in this manner from 

 customs related to war expeditions, but the close relationship of the two 

 cannot bo doubted. 



W(* may say, therefore, that the investigations of the Committee have 

 proved that dissemination of cultural elements has taken j)lace all along 

 the North Pacific coast, and also that the most distant parts of the 

 American continent, and probably even parts of the Old World, ha\e 

 contributed to the growth of the culture of the Indians of Hritish 

 Columbia. This fact shows that we cannot accept the sweeping assertion 

 that .sameness of ethnical phenomena is (ilways due to the sameness of the 

 working of the Imman mind, but that it is necessary to consider in all 



