partridges), the unmarried girls.
6. Hē’melk˙ (those who eat continually), the old chiefs.
7. K˙ēki’qalak˙ (the jackdaw), the children.
Every one of these groups has its separate feast, in which no member of another group is allowed to partake; but before beginning their feast they must send a dish of food to the Hāmats’a. At the opening of the feast the chief of the group—for instance, of the K˙ā’kiao—will say, “The partridges always have something nice to eat,” and then all peep like partridges. All these groups try to offend the Mē’emk˙ oat, and every one of these has some particular object by which he is offended. The grizzly bear must not be shown any red color, his preference being black. The Nū’tlematl and crane do not like to hear a nose mentioned, as theirs are very long. Sometimes the former try to induce men to mention their noses, and then they burn and smash whatever they can lay their hands on. For example: a Nū’tlematl blackens his nose. Then the people will say, “Oh, your head is black!” but if somebody should happen to say, “What is the matter with your nose?” he would take offense. Sometimes they cut off the “noses” of canoes because of their name. The Nū’tlematl must be as filthy as possible.
Sometimes a chief will give a feast to which he invites all these groups. Then nobody is allowed to eat before the Hā’mats’a has had his share and if he should decline to accept the food offered to him, the feast must not take place. After he has once bitten men, he is not allowed to take part in feasts.
The chief’s wife must make a brief speech before the meal is served. She has to say, “I thank you for coming. Be merry and eat and drink.” If she should make a mistake by deviating from the formula, she has to give another feast.
The first of these classes, the Me’emk˙oat, are a real nest of secret societies. I failed to gain a full understanding of this subject, which offers one of the most interesting but at the same time most difficult problems of Northwest American ethnology. I am particularly in doubt as to in how far the secret societies are independent of the clans. It seems to me, from what I was able to learn, that the crests of the clans and the insignia of the secret societies are acquired in the same way. They are obtained by marriage. If a man wants to obtain a certain carving or the membership of a secret society, he must marry the daughter of a man who is in possession of this carving or is a member of the secret society; but this can be done only by consent of the whole tribe, who must declare the candidate worthy of becoming a member of this society or of acquiring that crest. In the same way the chieftaincy of one of these societies devolves upon the husband of the chief’s daughter. If the chief of a certain clan or of a secret society has no daughter, a sham marriage is celebrated between the chief’s son and the future chief. But in some instances, the daughter or son succeeds immediately the father.
The ceremonies are as follows. When it has been decided that a man is worthy of acquiring a crest, he sends messengers to his intended wife’s father to ask his permission to marry the girl. If the father consents, he demands fifty blankets, or more, according to his rank, to be paid at once, and double the amount to be paid three months later. After these two payments have been made, the young man is allowed to live with his wife in his parents-in-law’s house. There he must live three months, and, after having paid a hundred blankets more, is allowed to take his wife to his home. Sometimes the girl’s father receives as much as five hundred blankets in the course of time.
When the young man comes to live in his father-in-law’s house, the latter returns the fifty blankets which formed the first installment of the payment for the girl. At this time the young man gives a feast (without giving away blankets), and on this occasion the old man states at what time he intends to return the rest of the payment. During this feast the young man rises, and in a long speech asks his wife’s father to give him his crest (carvings) and name. The father must comply with this request, and announces when he is going to transfer his rank and dignity. This is done at a great festival. I am not quite sure whether the whole tribe, or the clan alone, takes part in it. The father-in-law takes his copper and formally makes it over, together with his name and carving, to the young man who presents the guests with blankets.
These facts are derived from information which I obtained in Oumta’spē (Newetti), Fort Rupert, and Alert Bay, and from a thorough study of the traditions of these tribes, in which the membership of secret societies and carvings are always obtained by marriage. Notwithstanding this, the man who is thus entitled to become a member of the secret society must be initiated.
The members of these societies, when performing their dances, are characterized by headdresses and certain styles of painting, some of which are represented in Figures 11–20, as I found them used by the Tlatlasik’oa’la.
The most important among them is the Hā’mats’a [derived from ham, “to eat”]. I have described his initiation in the first number of the “Journal of American Folk-Lore” [Boas 1888c:58], and shall confine myself here to a brief description of his attire. The new Hā’mats’a dances four nights—twice with rings of hemlock branches, twice with rings of cedar bark which has been dyed red. Strips of cedar bark are tied into his hair, which is covered with eagle down. His face is painted black. He wears three neck rings [head rings] of cedar bark arranged as shown in Figs. 11–13, and each of a separate design. Strips of cedar bark are tied around his wrists and ankles. He dances in a squatting position, his arms extended to one side, as though he were carrying a corpse. His hands are trembling continually. First he extends his arms to the left, then he jumps to the right, at the same time moving his arms to the right. His eyes are staring, and his lips protruding voluptuously. The new Hā’mats’a is not allowed to have intercourse with anybody, but must stay for a whole year in his rooms. He must not work until the end of the following dancing season. The Hā’mats’a must use a kettle, dish, and spoon of their own for four months after the dancing season is at an end; then these are thrown away, and they are allowed to eat with the rest of the tribe. During the time of the winter dance, a pole called ha’mspiq is erected in the house where the Hā’mats’a lives. It is wound with red cedar bark, and made so that it can be made to turn round. Over the entrance of the house a ring of red cedar bark is fastened, to warn off those who do not belong to the secret society. The same is done by the other secret societies, each using its peculiar ornament.
FIG. 11. Kwakiutl head ring for Hā’mats’a
FIG. 12. Kwakiutl head ring for Hā’mats’a
FIG. 13. Kwakiutl head ring for Hā’mats’a
FIG. 14. Kwakiutl attire for Mā’mak˙’a
Another society is called Mā’mak˙’a. The initiation of a new member is exactly like that of the Hā’mats’a. The man or woman who is to become Mā’mak˙’a disappears in the woods, and stays for several months with Mā’mak˙’a, the spirit of this group, who gives him a magic staff and a small mask. The
