128 B GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



best clothes he may happen to have, and on his head an ornament 

 made of the stout bristles from the whiskers of the sea-lion. These are 

 set upright in a circle, and between them feather-down is heaped,, 

 which as he moves is scattered on all sides, filling the air and covering 

 the spectators. He dances in the usual slouching way common among 

 the Indians, bending his knees, but not lifting his feet far from the 

 ground. The people, sitting around in the fire-light, all sing, and thg 

 drum is continually beaten. This dance may last half an hour or an 

 hour. 



Ska-duiand 2. The dance distinguished as Ska-did, appears to be merely the 



lung. 1 " beginning of that known as (3) Kwai-o-guns-o-lung. Any man who 



knows the mode of singing starts the dance alone, when it is called 

 Ska-dul, soon others join in, and it becomes ISTo. 3. This is performed by 

 no particular number of people, the more the better, and occurs only 

 when a man desires shortly to make a house. The man himself does 

 not dance ; nor does any giving away of property take place. The 

 women occupy a prominent place in this dance, being carefully dressed 

 with the little marks and na-xin or cloaks previously described. One 

 man perforins on a drum or tamborine to which all sing, or grunt in 

 time, shuffling about with a jerky motion as they do so. There is a 

 master of the ceremonies who leads off the chorus. Battles are 

 freely used. The song is in praise of the man who intends to build,, 

 and also of the dancers. It eulogises his strength, riches, and so on, 

 and is in the Tshimsian language. 



Ka-ta-ka-gun. 4. Ka-ta-ka-gun. This is performed by the male relatives of a man's 

 wife, and takes place when a house has been finished, the owner at the 

 same time making a distribution of propert}^. The dancers are attired 

 in their best, ornamented, and with faces painted, but no birds'-down 

 is used. It is performed in the newly finished house, and may occupy 

 half an hour or an hour. The man who makes the distribution does 

 not dance. All sing in the Tshimsian language. 



Ska-rut. 5. Ska-rut. One man performs this dance, but is generally or always 



paid to do the duty for the person more immediately concerned. It 

 takes place some days before a distribution of pmperty, on the occasion 

 of such an event as the tattooing of a child or death of a relative or 

 friend. The dance is performed by a single man, naked with the 

 • exception of his breech-cloth. In the first part of the dance, which 

 appears to be intended to simulate a sort of possession or frenzy, one of 

 the grotesque wooden masks is worn, and this is the only dance in 



Mask. which they are used. The wearing of the mask is not, however, abso- 



lutely necessary, but is a matter of choice with the performer. Getting 

 heated in the dance, he throws the mask away, snatches up the first 

 dog he can find, kills him, and tearing pieces of his flesh eats them. 



