QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 121 B 



payment in blankets or other valuable property to a satisfactory 

 amount. The culprit generally prefers this mode of settlement to 

 having an uncertain retribution hanging over him, and as the value 

 set on property is great, and the disinclination to reduce the store of 

 blankets — which may possibly be accumulating for a prospective 

 distribution — excessive, the restraint is proportionately severe. 



Religion and 'medicine.' 



It is difficult to decide precisely how much should be included under Religion, 

 the heading religion. The older Indians, and indeed those <of every age 

 where they have come not too closely in contact with the whites, show 

 a persistent — one might almost say a fervent — reverence for their 

 time-honoured customs, among which, in this case, the giving away of 

 property or potlatch and the various dances, are the most prominent. 

 There are no priests, however, nor could I hear of any religious ritual 

 among the Haidas. The medicine or mystery man, or shaman (Haida 

 ska-ga), occupies a position perhaps partly partaking of the priestly 

 function, but more closely allied to that of the prophet, sorcerer, or 

 physician. The Tshimsians say that the Haidas had originally no 

 religion whatever, but adopted their ceremonies not a very great 

 while ago. This may account for the use of Tshimsian words in the 

 dances among the Haidas, and the high esteem in which the Tshimsian 

 language is held by them. It is possible that some of the dances 

 described farther on may have, in part, a religious significance and 

 form a portion of the religious ceremonies above referred to. 



It is, however, unquestionable that the Haidas have, and had before Idea of a chief 

 any missionary leaven spread among them, an idea of a chief deity, or 

 lord of all things, whose dwelling was in some remote, undefined region. 

 This I ascertained by careful inquiry from the Skidegate Indian already 

 referred to, and Mr. Collison, who has been two years among the Masset 

 Haidas as a missionary, and can speak the language with some fluency, 

 confirms me in this statement. The name of this being is Sun-i-a- 

 tlai-dus, or Sha-nung-l-tlag-i-das. His attributes are generally good, but 

 it is difficult to ascertain exactly what they are, owing to the reticence 

 observed by natives in speaking to whites of those of their customs or 

 beliefs which they fear may be ridiculed, but perhaps also in this case 

 to the fact that they have at no time been very precisely defined. The 

 idea of a spirit, soul, or essence being in reality the man, and distinctly 

 separable from the more perishable body, is also firmly rooted in the 

 Haida mind. There is also a recognised principle of evil, called Hai-de- Power of evil. 

 lan-a, a name signifying chief of the lower regions. This being is either 

 typified by, or assumes the form of a certain inhabitant of the sea, 

 believed to be the killer whale (Orca ater). Indians who lose their lives 



