The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-05-21

| Fylum OL IHe InuSlC every tneTllpeF ol
 the Society of Cannibals present Is
 privileged to take a bite out of anybody
 else. Usually pieces of flesh about as | big as 8 half-dollar are bitten out.
 There is also a Society of Female Cam
 nibals, composed of women, but they
 do not bite.
 The ceremonial season among the
 Fort Rupert Indians occurs tn the win ter. Then for a time the entire social
 organization of the tribe undergoes a
 metamorphosis. The ordinary divisions
 of the people by clans are ignored, and ! they arrange themselves according to
 the various societies to which they be- | long. There is the Ghost Society, the
 Bear Society, the Society of the Witch
 Woman, the Society of Fools and many others. These societies are religious in character, being associated also with | the tribal myths and traditions. The
 ancestors of the present generation re- ceived from mythical beings certain su- pernatural secrets, upon which the so- cieties and the ceremonials are based. One of the societies is the War Society.
 A person undergoing initiation into it is suspended from the rafters of the cere-
 monial house by rope passed through
 strips of the flesh of his back, which are
 cut for that purpose. Beneath him stand the members of the Society of
 Fools with sharp lances upraised. If he
 falls he is impaled by the lances, and etiquette demands that he shall be eat
 en at once by the cannibals. It is more
 than suspected that these Indians do
 now and then kill an individual and eat
 him secretly.
 The cannlbal spirit is called the
 Wisest One. One of the most interest ing of the myths relating to him seem
 to show that, like the modern devil, he was easily duped, for all his wisdom.
 Four brothers went forth on a certain
 occasion to hunt on a mountain. Their
 father warned them that they would see
 three houses, one with white smoke, an-
 other with black smoke and third
 with red smoke. Into the first they
 might go, for it was the home of the
 mountain goat, and into the second,
 which was the dwelling of the black
 bear, they might venture likewise; but
 the house with the red smoke was the residence of the cannibal spirit, and
 they must avoid 1t. Nevertheless they
 did go into the house with the red smoke, finding there a little boy with very large head. Becoming frightened,
 the brothers ran away and the boy cried out: Father your supper is run ming away" The cannibai spirit heard and started in pursuit. Finding that they were being overtaken, the oldest of the brothers threw over his shoulder first a stone, which was transformed into mountain, then a bottle of fish oil which became lake, and finally comb, which turned into a gigantic thicket. Reaching home just in time, they constructed a pit of burning en- bers, into which the unsuspecting spirit was induced to tumble. He was burned up and his ashes, blown away, became mosquitoes, This is the reason why these insects bite human beings.
 Some of the myths, of these savages 1 compare favorably with modern Euro pean fairy tales. One of them relates to the infamous Russian Governor Baran- off, whose cruel treatment of the na- tlves of the northwest coast has passed into history He built fort at Sitka, and during a year of absence left his son in command of it, It was attacked and burned by the Indians, young Bar anoff being killed. According to the le- gend, the elder Baranoff started in his ship to search the world for his son. But first he gave orders that there should be no woman on board of the vessel because the presence of a female would certainly cause the ex- petition to fail The first country they came to was the Land of Frogs, which 1 threatened to devour them. Thence | they went on to a region which was in- | habited by women only. Baronoff | asked: Where are your husbands?" and they pointed to some logs of drift | wood They said that every day when | the tide came in they were accustomed l to float these logs. Later on the logs | would come back with two seals tied to each limb, and in this way they were furnished with food.
 After a while they came to country where mo people were to be found 1 though there were houses in which smoked salmon was hanging in plenty | They attempted to take some of the sal mon, but were compelled to desist by | hands, which beat them se- verely. Then they perceived that they mad reached the Land of Shadows, So they sailed away again, and eventually came to the corner of the world, where he stream of the ocean rushes down to lepths beneath. Baranoff put a letter nto bucket asking where his son was md lowered it through the hole. When he bucket was pulled up another letter vas found in it which read: "Please iend us some fresh water, for we are hlrsty and can procure none. Your son ives beyond the edge of the world Go hither and you will find there the ghosts of the departed, your son among he rest. But if there is a woman on board of your ship you will not be able o see him." Baranoff sailed on until le came to the edge of the world There he saw smoke arising. Ghosts were flying to and fro, singing and talk ng, but he could see nothing, and his on did not appear. He ordered the hip to be searched, and in trunk was ound woman, who had been con- ealed by a sailor The sailor and the voman were thrown overheard. Now all of these incidents have been : erived from other legends. They have cen put together and thus made to a veritable Odyssey. Thus a air example Is afforded of the creation f a modern myth. The Fort Rupert indians are wonderful myth-makers. o,1xe hxt TOr |