Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-01-10
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the dance and bite the flesh from the forearms
Of these spectators. 1t has long been consid-
cred great honor among the Kwakiutl to be
bitten by hamatsa. The wounded spectator
is always we'll paid for his suffering.
Since these Indians do not bury their dead,
but place them in burial houses Of cedar, or up
in trees supply OF mummies can usually -be
obtained The translation OF the Kwakiutl
word for mummy is Sweet food Head hunt
ing was not murder with these tribes. 1t was
sport-a custom Of the region among certain
clans. g
AS Illustrated by their wonderfully carved
totem poles, these Indians hold various ami
mails and fish in the highest veReration. Some,
indeed, have never been killed for religious
purposes. The wolf, for example. was sacred.
But the father OF o man-chd destined to be q
warrior might Stay wolf in order that the in
FAINT might eat four bits OF the heart OF the
wolf.
The killer whale was never hunted Even the
finback whale, which was hunted on the high
seas by the Indians in their frail canoes,
held in the highest veneraton. .
The curious dances OF the animals they be-
lieve were their remote ancestors are shown
in Mr.. Curtis's photographs. There is the
dance Of the grizzly bear the thunder bird. the
tsonokwa, the wolf. the dog, the mythic wasp,
the loon, the saw-bill duck and OF many other
animals and monsters
An entrance to a wedding or mummy feast
WIS uiduc llTOuSn the CeTeluCHel uOOT-lHe
mouth of the raven. Although Motana, big
chief, and his clan warred against the head
hunters, it cannot be said that they frowned on
the practices of the hamatsa or mummy wor-
shippers. The Winter dances OF the priests
were part OF the customs OF practically all the
tribes from where Tacoma is to the mid
Alaskan coast. 1t must be remembered that
these Indians are seafarers There is no word
in their language for horse. Even today many
of them have never seen horse.
They fashioned great sea-going canoes,
commodating as many as eighty people, from
the solid trunks of cedars. Working with tools
Of stone and soft placer-mined copper they
overlaid these canoes with intricate carving.
The carvings for their canoes are only part Of
the really marvellous handicraft OF these IN
dams Their carpentry, In general for they
live in huge wooden houses, and their totem
pole carvings are as astounding as the art of
the ancient Egyptians. Indeed, there is no evil
dence to the contrary that the civilization of
these kwakiutl tribes did not anted' the
Egyptians. ~
Cannibalism and head hunting punished.
But these Indians for centuries before the
coming of the white man had attained a de-
gree or culture greater perhaps, than that OF
any other American aborigines, except the
ancient cliff dwellers of Arizona. In this con-
nection it is curious to note that on this con-
tinent Indians who danced the most may be
said to have had the highest civilization. Wit
ness, for example, the culture Of the Hopitu. Of
Arizona. Just as he won his way into the full
confidence of the Kwakiut so did Mr.. Curtis
become q brother with the Hopitu He was the
first white man TO enter the Kiva or sacred
house OF snakes, and to take actual part with
live rattlcrs in his hands in the entire nine
day ceremony CT the Hopitu snake dance for
rain.
Of all the Nwakiutl dances that Of the fire Is
the most astounding. These fire dancers practice
self-hypnoss. They will attack a huge pile OF
burning logs and literally wallow in the flames,
stamping and crushing the live Goals with their
bare hands and feet That the fire burns them
is witnessed by the deep scars which cover
the bodies of this cult of fire dancers But SO
Indians do not feel the burns during the
dancing.
fire dancer must be a man OF great wealth.
because in scattering the fire he frequently
burns spectators. and, just as those who are
bitten by n hamatsa must be paid for their
pain, SO must those burned by the fire dancer
be handsomely redressed