370 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



end. At the potlatch it may be well to mention, all the assembled peo- 

 l)le, both relatives and guests, receive presents, which is different from 

 a simple house-building or other industrial "bee," where only the 

 guests are rewarded. 



Tattooing. — Amongst the Tlingit and Tsimshian, where tattooing is 

 notpracticed, the child receives simply the birth name, the second name 

 as in the preceding, and either one or two other names later on, as here- 

 after explained. With the Haida, however, the ceremony of tattooing, 

 which occupies three separate occasions or gatherings, a name is each 

 time bestowed or assumed. According to Dawson* a house-building 

 bee and potlatch is given by the parents on the first two occasions of 

 the tattooing of a child or several children, and on the last occasion 

 the young man, aided by his mother's peoi^le, makes the potlatch from 

 his own house and adopts formally the name of a maternal relative or 

 ancestor. On this occasion the tattooing is finished ; but the ceremony 

 will be spoken of under the head of Last naming. The process of tat- 

 tooing has been described. 



Puberty. — The ordeals through which a young girl was required to 

 l^ass on attaining the age of puberty were formerly very severe, but in 

 recent years have been almost entirely relaxed. Amongst the Tlingit 

 they were peculiarly trying, but the custom varied in different localities. 

 According^ to Langsdorff", who was amongst them in 1804-05, it was 

 not " uncommon when a young girl is grown up to shut her up, even for 

 a whole year, in a small house by herself at a distance from her family 

 and acquaintance, where she is kept constantly employed; the idea 

 is that by this means she acquires habits of industry and diligence, 

 reserve and modesty, which will afford the better chance of her becom- 

 ing a good wife, and lay a solid foundation for wedded happiness." t 

 This exclusion, however, had a deeper reason, in that young girls were 

 at this period considered unclean, and both among the Haida and Tlin- 

 git were compelled to Avear a peculiar cloak, hood, or hat as a badge of 

 seclusion, and to protect the sky from pollution. The face was painted 

 with charred fungus, and the girl required to fast more or less, only her 

 mother or a female slave being allowed to carry her food. Amongst 

 the Tlingit she was confined to a small hut for six months or so, but 

 amongst the Haida it was customary to screen oft' a corner of the house 

 and give her a separate tire and a separate exit out of a small back 

 door cut for the purpose. According to Dawson, if it was necessary 

 for her to pass out by the front door, preparations were made by remov- 

 ing everything with which there might be danger ot her coming in con- 

 tact. In meeting men she was required to avert her face and cover it 

 with a corner of her blanket. The hood or cloak she wore was made of 

 woven cedar-bark, nearly conical in shape, and reached down below the 

 breast, though open before the face. 



"Dawsou, Report, p. 131. 



t Langsdorff, Voyages, Part il, p. 133, 



