.117 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
THE CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF THE 
 QUILEUTE INDIANS 1 
 
 i*cV^ 
 
 BY LEO J.FRACHTENBERG 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 PROBABLY the most important (and complicated) feature 
 in the social life of the tribes of the North Pacific coast, in 
 addition to the potlatch, are the winter ceremonials (ritual 
 dances, secret societies) which have thus far been observed to 
 exist among the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Bella-Coola, Kwakiutl, 
 Nootka, Comox, Pentlatch, Sanitch, Lkungen, Clallam, and 
 Quileute Indians. These ceremonials consist of a series of dances, 
 held during the winter months, and rendered at the initiation 
 ceremonies of novitiates into the secret societies which are the 
 owners and keepers of these dances. They have attained their 
 fullest development among the Kwakiutl Indians, undoubtedly 
 because of the intricate totemic organization of this tribe. Whether 
 these ceremonials originated with the Kwakiutl Indians and were 
 spread by them among the other neighboring tribes, is a question 
 which will, perhaps, never be solved. As was pointed out by Boas, 2 
 all ceremonials were in the main derived from one source, namely 
 from the Kwakiutl Indians. But, 
 
 it does not necessarily follow that no secret societies existed [among the other 
 tribes] before the Kwakiutl exerted their influence over the people of the [North 
 Pacific] coast. 
 
 However, the fact remains that wherever these ceremonials have 
 been met with, their main features and even nomenclature were 
 patently Kwakiutl; moreover, in a number of instances, the partici 
 pants were able to point out that certain features were introduced 
 within recent times from sources which ultimately go back to the 
 
 1 Published with the permission of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 2 Franz Boas, "The Kwakiutl Indians," in Report of U. S. National Museum for 
 1895 (Washington, 1897), p. 66 1. 
 
 320 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 321 
 
 original Kwakiutl source. In other words, while most of the tribes 
 of the North Pacific coast may have had secret societies and attend 
 ing rituals of their own, they borrowed the main features of the 
 winter ceremonials either directly or indirectly from the Kwakiutl, 
 each tribe adapting and developing them in accordance with the 
 peculiarities of its social organization and with the original elements 
 of its own existing societies. 
 
 This process of acculturation is perhaps best shown in the de 
 velopment of the ceremonial societies of the Quileute Indians. It 
 is not within the scope of this paper to treat the Quileute ceremonial 
 societies in their relation to the corresponding Kwakiutl ceremonies. 
 This will be done systematically and extensively in a paper dealing 
 with the general problem of Quileute ethnology. The object of 
 this article is to give a brief description of the main features of the 
 Quileute ceremonial societies and rituals and to call attention to 
 those elements which have not been found in the societies of the 
 other tribes and which must be looked upon as distinctively Quileute 
 in origin. 
 
 THE QUILEUTE CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES 
 
 The Quileute Indians observed the following rituals, 1 based 
 upon the principle of ceremonial societies: 
 
 1. The Tlokwali or Wolf Ritual (Ld'kwali). This society, as 
 the mere name implies, is of Kwakiutl origin, having been intro 
 duced among the Quileute within comparatively recent years 
 through their contact with the Makah (Nootka) Indians of Neah 
 Bay. It has the largest membership and constitutes the so-called 
 Warrior Society among the Quileutes. 
 
 2. The Tsayeq or Fish Ritual (tsfa'yeq), also of Kwakiutl origin, 
 introduced within recent times through the medium of the Makah 
 Indians. 2 In point of membership it ranks next to the Tlokwali 
 and its membership is primarily made up of fishermen and seal- 
 hunters. 
 
 1 The terms "ritual," "ceremonial society," "initiation-ceremony" are so closely 
 interwoven as practically to form synonyms. 
 
 2 The Kwakiutl term ts'ets'aeqa (singular ts'a'eqa) means "secrets" and is used to 
 denote "the period of the winter ceremonial" and also the ceremonial itself. See 
 Boas, op. cit., p. 418. 
 
 21 
 
3 22 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 3. The Hunting Ritual of the Hunter Society (qe'L/a'akwdl 
 "going up the river") is next in importance. This is the only 
 original Quileute society, and, as will be pointed out later on, 
 served as a model in the adaptation of all other ceremonial societies 
 introduced through the influence of the neighboring tribes. Pri 
 marily only hunters could become members of this society. 
 
 4. The Ritual of the Whale-Hunters' Society (siba'xulayo' 
 "singing for the grease") is a whaling ceremonial recently adopted 
 by the Quileute from the Makah Indians. The adoption took 
 place some seventy years ago simultaneously with the introduction 
 of whale-hunting. Only actual whale-hunters were entitled to 
 membership in this society whose list was very small, owing to 
 the fact that a limited number of Quileute Indians practised whale- 
 hunting. 
 
 5. The Ritual of the Weather Society (tcala'layo' "singing from 
 the south") is a recent introduction from the Quinault Indians. 
 All songs of this society were rendered in the Quinault language, 
 hence the term "singing from the south." Membership was 
 restricted to those who had acquired a guardian-spirit enabling 
 them "to change the weather." 
 
 Before proceeding to a detailed description of the rituals con 
 nected with each of these societies, it will be well to describe at 
 first those elements (membership, duration, paraphernalia, etc.) 
 that are common to all; deviations from the general scheme, wher 
 ever such occur, being pointed out during the description of that 
 particular ceremonial which shows such distinctive features. 
 
 All rituals were held during the winter months and took place 
 whenever a new member was initiated into a ceremonial society. 
 Each ceremonial lasted (with the exception of the last one) six 
 days, and one of its most prominent features was the distribution 
 (on the last day) of presents on the part of the family of the novitiate 
 among the other members of the society. This "potlatch" feature 
 has assumed such importance among the Quileute Indians, that 
 one is almost tempted to maintain that the ceremonial societies 
 served the important purpose of facilitating the giving and re 
 ceiving of presents. The amount of a present to be given to a 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 323 
 
 particular member was not based upon the social rank of the re 
 ceiver but was predicated upon the number of ceremonials previously 
 arranged by that person ; that is to say, upon the number of members 
 (in accordance with the number of children) which that person 
 (head of the family) had in the society. Thus if a member of a 
 given society had three children who were also members of that 
 society, he received four presents (one for himself and one for each 
 of his three children). Of course, presents received during those 
 ceremonials were returnable either to the giver himself or to his 
 descendants (or family). If the receiver died before he was able- 
 to pay this obligation, then his children (family) were charged 
 with the duty of returning the same number of presents or even 
 more gifts of greater value. Because of this potlatch feature,, 
 each head of a family, in order to insure future wealth to his chil 
 dren, strove to enroll them in as many societies as was possible 
 the novitiate in many cases being a mere infant. Membership 
 into any of these societies was open to males and females. 
 
 Each society had two types of membership: (i) members whose: 
 affiliation was purchased for them by their fathers (or mothers) 
 upon the arranging of a ceremonial, and (2) those who were in 
 itiated as members because they had obtained a guardian-spirit for 
 that particular society. No social distinction, however, was made 
 between these two types of membership, at least as far as the 
 quantity or quality of the presents given to them was concerned 
 although a linguistic distinction obtained between them, a guardian 
 member being called he'ts/dq, and a plain member het/aya'sldqa* 
 "he is sung for." Each member of a society was called tcfa'a,, 
 "ripe" in contradistinction to the non-members who were called: 
 xwela 1 "raw" and who could not participate in any of the cere 
 monials except as spectators, and who were not eligible to receive 
 gifts. The initiation ceremonies varied somewhat in accordance 
 with the two types of membership; that is to say, they were different 
 for a het/aya'sldqa' (plain member) and for a he'ts/dq (a member who 
 had a guardian-spirit) . These ceremonies will be described later on. 
 
 Each society had its distinct guardian-spirits, and the color 
 applied to the facial painting and the headgear of the participants 
 
324 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 (members) differed for each society. Only members who had 
 guardian-spirits were entitled to wear the headgear and to display 
 the ceremonial facial paintings that pertained to their society. 
 The headgear consisted of head-rings made of shredded cedar bark 
 dyed black or brown. These head-rings were different for each 
 society. In the same way, each society had its special facial paint 
 ings, every member using a distinct form, in accordance with the 
 instructions given him by his or her guardian-spirit. The drums 
 that were used during the initiation ceremonials consisted, in former 
 days, of cedar chests, square or oblong, and manipulated by the 
 hands and feet of the drummer. More recently these cedar boxes 
 were replaced by circular drums consisting of cedar hoops over 
 which was stretched deer skin fastened to the hoop by means of 
 wooden pegs. The rattles consisted of two pieces of wood hollowed 
 out and filled with small pebbles and fastened together by means 
 of wild cherry bark. The shape and coloring of these rattles varied 
 for each society. Whistles were made of cedar and were similar to 
 those used among the other tribes of this aiea. 
 
 Each initiation ceremony was presided over and in the hands 
 of a set of officials whose position was semi-hereditary, dependent 
 upon the fulfilling of certain obligations. Thus, a son assumed the 
 official position of his father (or uncle) and a daughter that of her 
 mother (or aunt) as soon as he or she gave a feast which was re 
 garded as sufficient to justify the individual in question in assuming 
 the prerogatives of his or her predecessor. Failure to comply with 
 this custom constituted sufficient reason for the tribe to appoint 
 to the vacancy a person outside of the family of the last incumbent. 
 The names of these officials and their functions, in the order of their 
 importance, were as follows: 
 
 I. The Fathers (hehe'bilists! "starters"), two in number, held 
 their office by virtue of having obtained a special guardian-spirit 
 (taxe'lit) for it, but subject to the previously mentioned regulations. 
 It was their duty to give all necessary signals during the ceremonial, 
 to start all songs, and to cut up and divide the food among the 
 guests. They sat near the fireplace, facing the door. This office 
 was considered a high honor, but no special privileges were con- 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 3 2 5 
 
 nected with it, except that all the food left over from a ritual became 
 the property of the Fathers. 
 
 2. The Firemen (k/e'iya'q/w&yo* "fire-owners"), also two in 
 number, attended to the fire in the house in which the ceremonial 
 was held. For this service they received some special gifts from 
 the family of the novitiate. 
 
 3. The Door-keeper (tla'tipata'qlwayo' "door-owner") stood 
 guard at the door seeing to it that no outsider entered the house. 
 He closed and opened the door at a signal given him by one of the 
 Fathers. He also was rewarded at the conclusion of the ritual 
 w r ith a special present from the family of the novitiate. 
 
 4. The Water-carrier (k/wa'ya'aq/wayo' "water-owner") passed 
 drinks to the participants whenever necessary. It was considered 
 a bad breach of etiquette for any member to help himself to water 
 without having first obtained permission from the Water-carrier. 
 Whenever this happened, water was refused to all members until 
 the Water-carrier had been appeased by the offender by some gift. 
 A similar custom prevailed, whenever anyone helped himself to 
 the food or threw a stick of wood into the fire without permission 
 of the Fathers or Firemen. As soon as such an infraction of the 
 rules occurred, the Door-keeper was informed of it and promptly 
 closed the door and kept it shut until the fine was paid to the man 
 against whose office the crime was committed. 
 
 5. The Face-painter (ti'e'li'tslHat "painter of faces") painted 
 the faces of the members of the society. This office was always 
 held by a woman. She sat near the entrance, on the left side of 
 the house, and had before her large wooden dishes filled with 
 paints. As each person was about to enter the house, she inquired 
 his particular design, whereupon she proceeded to paint the face in 
 accordance with the instructions given her. 
 
 Having discussed those elements of the rituals that are more 
 or less common to all, we shall now proceed to describe the manner 
 in which each ritual was held, beginning with the Tlokwali; and 
 inasmuch as the initiation ceremony varied in accordance with 
 the two types of membership (see above) we shall first describe the 
 initiation of a young child whose parents arranged for a ceremonial 
 
326 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 in order to purchase for their offspring membership in the Tlokwali 
 society. 
 
 THE TLOKWALI (WOLF RITUAL) 
 
 Before announcing his decision to purchase for his child member 
 ship in the Tlokwali Society, the head of the family ascertains first 
 whether enough presents are available. For that purpose he holds 
 a consultation with all members of that family who are related to 
 it by blood. If the father of the intended novitiate does not possess 
 enough wealth, the other members of the family, aid him by con 
 tributing additional gifts. The next step is to ascertain how many 
 gifts each member of the Tlokwali is entitled to receive. This is 
 done by calling into consultation the chief of the tribe and the 
 heads of the most important families. Upon the completion of 
 this task, two relatives of the prospective novitiate go around the 
 village throwing handfuls of small pebbles on the roofs of the various 
 houses. This serves as a warning to the inmates that a Tlokwali 
 is about to be held and to get themselves ready for it. Upon the 
 return of the two messengers all male members of the family of the 
 prospective novitiate betake themselves, in the evening, to the 
 woods near the village or to the burial grounds, where for about an 
 hour they imitate the cry of the wolf, or that of the horned owl 
 (two of the most important guardian-spirits of the Tlokwali Society). 
 
 On the next day two messengers, dressed in their Tlokwali 
 garments and painted accordingly (see below) go from house to 
 house, carrying a rattle and a bundle of sticks, the latter represent 
 ing the gifts to be received by each participant. The messengers 
 do not sing; they merely shake their rattles. Upon entering each 
 house, they pull out from the bundle a previously indicated number 
 of sticks (each stick represents the value of one gift) and touching 
 the head of the family with them, they whisper, "You are invited 
 by So-and-so to a Tlokwali tonight." 
 
 The Tlokwali is always held in a special, commodious structure, 
 belonging to the whole village and known as the Tlokwali-house. 
 In the evening of the same day in which the invitations are made 
 the members begin to assemble. At first only the women and 
 old men appear in the Tlokwali-house. All other members of the 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 3 2 7 
 
 Tlokwali betake themselves first to the woods where they imitate 
 the cries and actions of the wolf. After a while they proceed to 
 the Tlokwali-house whistling, crying, and behaving themselves 
 like wolves. Before entering the house, they walk around it 
 shouting, pounding the walls with sticks, and throwing rocks at 
 them. Finally they enter, led by two men who wear wolf masks 
 and the ends of whose blankets are tied in such a way as to represent 
 the tail of the wolf. The others carry salal-bushes on their shoulders 
 and are provided with whistles of various sizes. All crawl in on 
 their hands and feet (also in imitation of the wolf). Before the 
 actual entrance of the "Wolves," those inside the house begin to 
 sing, or rather recite: 
 
 Qwayd: tilkiulswdi, qwayd: tukim-swdi, qwayd: tukunswal, huuuu. 
 
 When the singers reach the word huuuu, the Doorkeeper throws 
 the door open, whereupon the Wolves rush in, shouting, blowing 
 their whistles, and shaking the salal-bushes. They walk to the 
 right until they reach the northeast corner of the house, where they 
 stop. Upon a signal from the Fathers they stop making noises 
 and throw themselves in a pile, one on top of the other. After 
 a few minutes the Fathers again begin the recitation of the previous 
 song which is soon taken up by the whole assembly. This serves 
 as a signal for the Wolves to get up. They arise and rush out of 
 the house in the same manner in which they entered it. 
 
 Outdoors the Wolves discard their masks, whistles, and salal- 
 bushes and, dressed in their everyday garments, they dance into 
 the house. Here they seat themselves, wherever they please, 
 regardless of social rank. The women usually sit on one side of 
 the house, while the men occupy the other side. After all are 
 seated, the singing commences. The songs rendered on these 
 occasions are always Tlokwali songs, that is to say songs which 
 pertain to this ceremonial. These songs may be either inherited 
 or received from the guardian-spirit. The first songs rendered are 
 those by the Fathers ; then the first member seated in the southwest 
 corner of the house recites his song; he is followed by the individual 
 sitting next to him, and so on until the last woman in the northwest 
 corner is reached. Very young children and slaves are passed up. 
 
AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s. ( 23, 1921 
 
 Each song is rendered by two people and is accompanied by the 
 shaking of the ceremonial rattles (held by the singers in their right 
 hands) and by the beating of the drums. The singers usually 
 start the song and are soon joined by the whole assembly. Upon 
 the completion of the song the singers pass the rattles to the next 
 pair, and so on until they come back to the Fathers in whose charge 
 they remain throughout the ceremonial. The drums are the 
 property of the whole tribe and are always kept in the Tlokwali- 
 house. Those who manipulate them are given small presents by 
 the family of the novitiate. The rattles are made of vine-maple 
 and are shaped like a raven; they are painted black, except the 
 breast, bill, and eyes, which are painted red. The rattles are 
 made and owned by those members who have the raven as their 
 guardian-spirit. 
 
 As soon as the singing is over, the Fathers take the novitiate 
 between them and lead him once around the fire, starting from the 
 right and going to the left. As they walk thus, the Fathers shout, 
 whistle, throw up sticks of fire, tear mats, 1 etc., while the other 
 members of the society beat their feet against the floor or benches. 
 Upon arriving at the left side of the house, the procession stops. 
 The Fathers begin a song which is followed by a general dance of 
 short duration. After the dance the child is taken back to its 
 mother. If the novitiate is too young to walk, the mother carries 
 him on her back while she is being led around the house by the 
 Fathers. This ceremony is called la'qlale'l "going to drive out," 
 and it takes place whenever a novitiate desires to purchase member 
 ship in the Tlokwali society. Its apparent purpose is to visualize 
 the prospective member to all other members. After this ceremony 
 is over, the Firemen add more fuel to the fire, whereupon food 
 is distributed among those present. This is done by the Fathers 
 who, should the occasion demand it, may choose some assistants. 
 This ends the ritual for the first night. 
 
 On the morning of the second day the messengers invite the 
 people again, without, however, throwing pebbles on the roofs of 
 
 1 These "bad actions" of the Fathers correspond completely to the acts committed 
 by the members of the ndLemaL (Kwakiutl) or sa'nsk (Nootka) societies. See Boas 
 op. cit., p. 468. 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 3 2 9 
 
 the houses. Nor do they take the bundles of sticks along, as is 
 done on the first day. In the evening all members assemble at 
 the Tlokwali-house. The spectacular entrance of the Wolves is 
 omitted. As the members come in, their faces are painted by the 
 Face-painter. The following are the most prevalent designs: the 
 whole face painted black; the left side black and the right side white, 
 or vice versa; both sides of the face black with a white stripe in 
 the middle, from the center of the forehead to the point of the 
 chin ; the upper part of the face black and the lower half red. These 
 four designs are used only by the so-called "spirit-men" (he'ts/aq)\ 
 that is to say, by those who have a Tlokwali guardian-spirit. All 
 other members have only black finger-marks on their cheeks. 
 The Face-painter performs the duties of her office on the second and 
 each subsequent night. On the first night each member paints 
 his own face before starting for the ceremonial house. 
 
 As soon as the painting ceremony is over, the members seat 
 themselves, whereupon the singing is started by the Fathers. From 
 now on the ceremony takes exactly the same course as on the first 
 night, and is likewise concluded with a general feast. The same 
 rules are observed during the third and fourth nights. 
 
 On the fifth night the members, after having undergone the 
 usual painting ceremony, take their accustomed seats. On that 
 night the novitiate is represented by a woman (tci'a fl ftldt "pro 
 tector of people") chosen and rewarded by the novitiate's family. 
 (The reasons for this substitution will appear later on.) She is 
 seated on a mat placed in the back of the house opposite the door 
 and is accompanied by five or six other women and by the man 
 (or woman) who gave the Tlokwali. In front of them, at a distance 
 of about fifteen feet, is placed a platter filled with dried black 
 salmon which has been boiled, mashed, and mixed with whale-oil 
 on the same morning. In front of this platter and facing the people 
 on the mat, is seated a powerful medicine-man; he, in turn, is faced 
 by two shamans of lesser prowess who sit behind the platter with 
 their backs turned to the people on the mat and who serve as his 
 assistants during the coming ceremony. This ceremony is called 
 alitse'licel "going to feed him" and takes place in order to give 
 
33 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 the Tlokwali-giver an opportunity to partake of some food. Ac 
 cording to custom, the Tlokwali-giver must abstain from any food 
 (sic/) for five days. He can eat only after he has tasted of the boiled 
 and dried black salmon. 
 
 As soon as everything is ready for the feeding ceremony, the 
 leading shaman begins his magic song in which he extols the prowess 
 of his guardian-spirit. As he sings, the women on the mat register 
 by various motions excessive hunger, while the other members 
 stamp their feet against the floor and benches and make all sorts of 
 noises. Then the shaman, still singing, takes a handful of the food 
 from the platter and shows it to the people. Then he applies his 
 magic power to it, spitting on his hands and rolling the food be 
 tween his palms until, by a legerdemain trick, the food disappears. 
 Thereupon he throws the (invisible) food to one of his assistants 
 who "catches" it and passes it to the third shaman. This process 
 is repeated several times. At last the first assistant takes the food 
 to one of the women on the mat, puts it into her mouth, and, by 
 motions with his hand, shows how he brings it down to her 
 stomach. As soon as the woman has "swallowed" the food, she 
 faints, whereupon the other occupants of the mat are. fed in the 
 same way. Then the shaman stops singing, and the occupants of 
 the mat are covered with a blanket. Thereupon the Fathers make 
 preparations for the la'qlale'l ("going to drive it") ceremony whose 
 sole aim is to wake the women up. The Fathers start a certain 
 song and, as the song progresses, the women are seen to tremble, 
 and gradually they roll over and raise themselves on their hands. 
 Thereupon a man called kU'e'lat ties a rope around the waist of 
 each kneeling woman. The women rise and, led by the k/i'e'lat, 
 walk around the fire, shouting, picking up various objects from the 
 ground and throwing them high into the air, while the other 
 members stand up shouting and yelling. The women are led 
 around the fire once. Upon arriving at the starting point, the 
 ropes are taken off them, and all the participants of the la' q! ale' I 
 ceremony go back to their seats. Then one of the Fathers intones 
 his hereditary dance song. This is the signal for all members to 
 commence dancing. The dancers hardly leave their places. They 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 33 l 
 
 merely raise their feet alternately, stamping them against the 
 ground, and swing their arms up and down. During the dancing 
 every member of the Tlokwali renders his special dance song in 
 herited by him from his father or mother and owned by his family. 
 After the song of the last member has been rendered, the thirsty 
 members drink from the bucket which is carried around by the 
 Water-carrier. After this, food is served, and this concludes the 
 ritual for the fifth night. Before their departure the members are 
 addressed by some very old man thus: "Tomorrow morning all 
 of you must arise early. Bathe, but do not eat! Repair at once 
 to the Tlokwali-house. Those who do not wish actually to partici 
 pate in the Tlokwali dance will go to the house directly; the others 
 will assemble outside." 
 
 On the morning of the sixth and last day the old men, women, 
 and children who do not dance the real Tlokwali dance go directly 
 to the Tlokwali-house where they are painted, as on the previous 
 nights, by the Face-painter. All other members assemble in front 
 of the house, where a large fire has been kindled. Around this 
 fire they dress themselves for the ceremony to cme. All prepara 
 tions must be made around a fire, as otherwise the participants 
 would die. The dancers (L!dk u t!e'qale'l "about to obtain a guar 
 dian-spirit from the woods") paint their faces according to the de 
 signs owned by them. The entire body is covered with red ochre. 
 On their heads and shoulders they place the appropriate Tlokwali 
 head-bands and shoulder-rings, made of shredded cedar bark. 
 These ornaments are painted either entirely black or red, or partly 
 black and partly red, or not colored at all. The men wear short 
 blankets around their groins, while the women wear skirts made of 
 shredded cedar bark. All wear their hair tied in a knot in front 
 over the forehead. Each dancer sticks into his body pins made of 
 elk- or bear-bone, about eight inches long and a quarter of an inch 
 thick, sharpened at one end and decorated at the other end with 
 human hair or strands of shredded cedar bark. Some use arrows, 
 knives, and seal-harpoons for that purpose. These are stuck into 
 the skin of the back, forearm, calves, and thighs of the legs, or 
 through the upper lip. The knives, arrows, and harpoons are owned 
 
33 2 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 4ft 
 
 by those who use them ; the pins are the guardian-spirits of certain 
 individuals, and must be returned to them at the close of the 
 ceremony. 1 According to information given me, these lacerations 
 were by no means painful and special care was taken that no blood 
 vessel should be pierced. Upon extracting these instruments of 
 torture the wounded spot is merely rubbed and blown upon. 
 
 As soon as the dancers have finished their preparations, the 
 Fathers who are inside the house begin to sing. Thereupon the 
 dancers, walking singly, enter the house, imitating the actions 
 of the wolf and whistling, throwing sticks and stones at the guests, 
 and tearing up anything that comes into their hands. All non- 
 dancing members beat their feet against the floor or benches. The 
 house is dark, there is no fire in it, and the skylights are down. 
 As soon as all dancers are inside, the skylights are raised. Then 
 all members of the Tlokwali begin to dance, singing the dance 
 songs which belong to their families. After all the songs have been 
 exhausted, the fire is kindled, and the Tlokwali dancers return the 
 pins, etc., to their rightful owners. Preparations are then begun 
 to serve food to*the assembled guests. While the food is being 
 cooked, the person who gave the Tlokwali distributes the presents 
 among the members. The food is then served, and this ends the 
 Tlokwali ritual in honor of a plain member. 
 
 The Tlokwali ritual for a full member is the same as the corre 
 sponding hunting ritual, except that the arrangements of the 
 house, dances, etc., are identical with the arrangements during 
 the initiation of a plain member (as below). 
 
 THE HUNTING SOCIETY (HUNTING RITUAL) 
 
 This society, as has been stated before, is the only native 
 
 Quileute ceremonial organization, and its ritual has served as a 
 
 basis for all other rituals. The members of this society were 
 
 divided into two categories, those having a guardian-spirit (qeL/a'ak- 
 
 1 The self-inflicted tortures of these dancers may be compared to similar acts 
 performed by the hawl'nalaL (Kwakiutl) and hl'Ltaq (Nootka) dancers. Within more 
 recent years the Quileute dancers were wont to inflict upon themselves the most 
 gruesome lacerations, with the result that the Government stepped in and forbade the 
 holding of the Tlokwali ceremonial. 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 333 
 
 wa'ltfeqa') and plain members (tda'a "ripe"). Its guardian spirits 
 were: Elk, Night Owl, Horned Owl, White Owl, Deer, Bow, Arrow, 
 Ta'bale (a two-headed dog), etc. The color applied to the rattles, 
 facial painting, etc., of the members of this society was dark brown. 
 Membership was restricted, and, for that reason, the ceremony 
 was held in any common house large enough to accommodate all 
 members. 
 
 The duration and type of the initiation ceremony varied in 
 accordance with the manner in which a membership was obtained. 
 The initiation of a plain member, that is to say of one who either 
 purchased membership by merely arranging for the ceremonial 
 and its attendant feasts and gifts or in whose behalf membership 
 was purchased by the family, lasted two days. The initiation of 
 a qeL/a'akwa'lt/eqa', that is to say, of one who had obtained a 
 qeL/a'akwal guardian-spirit, lasted six days. We shall first describe 
 the ceremonial connected with the initiation of a novitiate who had 
 obtained a guardian-spirit. 
 
 As soon as a man (or woman) receives a hunter's guardian- 
 spirit, he becomes sick. A shaman is consulted who, by the color, 
 ascertains the kind of sickness. The color being dark brown, the 
 shaman declares the patient to have been rendered sick by a guar 
 dian-spirit of the qeL/a'akwdl (the Hunting Society). Thereupon 
 a messenger is sent to all other members of this society inviting 
 them to come to the house of the patient and to lend their assistance 
 in curing him. The members arrive in the evening, wearing the 
 appropriate head-rings, and their faces are painted by the Face- 
 painter. The full members are painted in accordance with the 
 instructions received from their guardian-spirits. Following are 
 the most common designs: the whole face dark brown; the upper 
 part brown and the lower white; the upper half brown with vertical 
 red stripes (the red lines represent showers) and the lower half 
 white; the whole face red (representing blood) with white stripes 
 on both cheeks (these stripes represent showers). Plain members 
 have only dark brown dots painted on their cheeks. 
 
 When the members are assembled, the novitiate (he'ts!a:q "he 
 is sung for") lies on a mat and is covered with blankets. The mat 
 
334 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 Is placed between two fireplaces in which fires are burning. In 
 ancient times any one could attend to the fire ; in more recent years 
 this function became the sole privilege of the Fire-keeper. At 
 the head of the novitiate is placed a wooden or cedar bark repre 
 sentation of his guardian-spirit; while on both sides of him sit two 
 women called qwa'ye'l (" cheeks") and chosen because of their power 
 ful guardian-spirits. These women receive substantial presents for 
 their services, and they serve as transmitters between the novitiate 
 and the assernbled members. The novitiate, as has been stated 
 before, is sick "from his guardian-spirit"; hence, he can not talk 
 nor sing loud. These two women sitting near him listen to his 
 songs and repeat them in loud tones. In front of the fireplaces is 
 a long bench on which sit all those members of the order who have 
 a guardian-spirit; a similar bench is placed behind the mat of the 
 novitiate, and this is occupied by the female members who have 
 acquired the qeL/a'akwal guardian-spirit; plain members occupy 
 the side benches, and spectators, whenever such are admitted, are 
 seated on benches near the entrance. 
 
 As soon as all are seated, the first two male (and full) members 
 of the order, each having a ceremonial rattle in his hand, begin 
 their hunting-song. They are followed by the next pair and so on 
 until all members who own qeL/a'akwdl songs have rendered them. 
 Then the female members of the order render their songs, and 
 are followed in turn by the plain members. The two qwa'ye'l 
 women, sitting on both sides of the novitiate, sing last. Only one 
 drum is used during this ritual. After all songs have been rendered, 
 preparations are made for the la' q! ale' I ceremony. Its purpose 
 is to "wake up" the novitiate. All full members, male and female, 
 arise, and the first two members (male) at the left end of the bench 
 take up the rattles and repeat their previous song. While they 
 sing, the novitiate begins to tremble and, turning over, lifts his 
 right hand and with his index finger points towards the ceiling, 
 thereby indicating a desire to be "taken up to the mountains" 
 where he had obtained his guardian-spirit. 1 (If the novitiate does 
 
 1 If the novitiate received a guardian-spirit "from the woods or river," he does not 
 point at the "hills" but, supported by the two women, crawls around the fireplace. 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 335 
 
 not raise his finger, the ceremony which follows is omitted.) After 
 having raised his finger, the novitiate relapses into unconsciousness, 
 and the two women cover him with the blankets. 1 Thereupon 
 the members of the society begin to dance, employing the songs 
 owned by their respective families. The order in which these songs 
 and dances are rendered is the same as during the Tlokwali (see 
 above). Each member holds in his hand a short stick, about four 
 feet long and painted dark brown (a color obtained by mixing 
 black with red ochre). These canes are used, because the hunters, 
 on their expeditions, always carry sticks. During these dances 
 the actions of hunters and various game animals are imitated. 
 After the dance food is served by the family of the novitiate, and 
 thus ends the ritual for the first night. 
 
 On the next day, early in the morning, the young male members 
 of the order come to the house of the novitiate and build a large 
 platform over the mat occupied by the novitiate. In the evening 
 all members assemble, sing, and perform the waking up ceremony, 
 as on the first night. This time the ceremony is successful, for as 
 the singing continues the novitiate turns over on his right side and, 
 attended by the two women, crawls (on his back) around the fire, 
 going from right to left. Upon arriving midway between the two 
 fireplaces, he jumps up on the platform. 2 He is soon joined by 
 all those members of the order, male and female, who have obtained 
 a guardian-spirit "from the hills." 3 This action on the part of 
 these members represents their journey to the hills, the land of 
 their guardian-spirits. They take along a drum, and each member 
 sings his particular ceremonial song. All lie on their backs (ex 
 cept the two gwa'ye'l women who attend to the novitiate) with 
 their feet hanging down and gradually move farther up into the 
 platform. Inasmuch as the journey is supposed to be a hard one, 
 
 1 The women stay with him day and night. 
 
 2 Inasmuch as the novitiate is supposed to be sick, he does not jump of his own 
 volition; he is lifted up by his guardian-spirit. 
 
 3 If the novitiate has a guardian-spirit "from the river or woods," this ceremony, 
 which represents the journey of the members to the land of their guardian-spirits, is 
 omitted. The novitiate crawls instead around the fire, increasing each night the 
 distance traversed, while the other members having similar guardian-spirits stand up, 
 shake or swing their arms, and shout. 
 
AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 the distance traveled on this night is not more than about six feet. 
 Every now and then one of the "travelers" will say, "It is hardly 
 foggy enough in the mountains." Thereupon those members who 
 remained below would throw mats, rags, etc., into the fire, causing 
 it to smoke. Occasionally a plain member would shout at the 
 gwa'ye'l women, "How are you folks up there?" And the answer 
 would come back, "We are just beginning our homeward journey." 
 Gradually the travelers turn around and, still crawling on their 
 backs, come to the edge of the platform, until their heads touch 
 the same and their hair hangs down. Then they turn around once 
 more and sit. up with their feet hanging down. Thereupon they 
 begin to shake their heads to and fro, while those below beat their 
 canes against the floor and shout. Suddenly they slip down and, 
 as each man and woman conies down, those below seize and hold 
 them by their waists. The travelers stretch out their arms, where 
 upon some of the plain members throw to them dried salmon or 
 large slices of elk and deer meat, which they in turn throw back to 
 the plain members. The meat or salmon not caught on the first 
 throw is permitted to lie on the ground and is removed later on. 
 This ceremony is called haya'walwaxat ("throwing to one another") 
 and the only explanation given for it was that " the people who have 
 such guardian-spirits play in this manner." Upon its termination 
 the usual songs and dances are rendered. The travelers, still 
 weak and weary from their long journey, participate in the dancing, 
 but are supported by the plain members. After the dancing is 
 over, the travelers are released, and all seat themselves. The food 
 employed in the throwing ceremony is then served, and the ritual 
 for the second night comes to an end. 
 
 During the third and fourth nights the ritual follows the same 
 course as on the second night with the exception, however, that on 
 each of these nights the travelers traverse a greater distance and 
 stay away for a longer period. 
 
 On the fifth night only a limited number of ceremonial songs 
 are rendered. These are followed by the alitsi'dice'l ceremony 
 ("giving the food"). The significance and phases of this ceremony 
 are the same as those of a similar ceremony performed during the 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 337 
 
 Tlokwali and need not be described here (see above, p. 329). After 
 this ceremony is over, the first two (male) full members sitting on 
 the right end of the bench stand up, and while the other members 
 of the order shake, sing, and produce various sounds, the uncon 
 scious novitiate and his companions roll over and begin to crawl 
 until they reach a place situated between the two fireplaces. There 
 they are seized by some of the other members, stood up, and held 
 by their waists, while they repeat the throwing ceremony described 
 above (see p. 336). At the end of this ceremony all begin to dance. 
 When the dancing is over, the novitiate sings, in a loud voice, the 
 song given him by his newly acquired guardian-spirit and follows 
 it up with a similar dance, at the conclusion of which the members 
 resume their seats and the novitiate returns to his mat. While 
 food is being prepared for the assembled members, the young girls 
 and boys (children of some members of the order and admitted as 
 spectators) render some dances during which they imitate the 
 actions of a stalked elk. Some of the dancers dance in an erect 
 position, others stoop down, while still others dance on their knees. 
 Occasionally, an aged spectator will join the dancing "elks," acting 
 as if he were hunting them. This aged man (or woman) usually 
 belongs to what might be called "the begging fraternity" and he 
 uses this dance as an opportunity for begging. He will point at 
 some rich man or woman, while dancing, and the individuals thus 
 selected reward him with a small gift. As soon as the food is ready, 
 it is served. After having partaken of the food the members go 
 home, but before they depart they are invited by some old man to 
 assemble on the next morning. The invitation is usually couched 
 in the following words: "Arise ye early in the morning. We will 
 emerge from the woods." 
 
 On the morning of the sixth day the platform and the bench in 
 front of the two fireplaces (on which the male full members of the 
 order have been sitting) are removed. Outside the house a big 
 fire is built around which assemble all full (but young) members 
 and dress themselves for the coming ceremonial dance. The old 
 men, women, and plain members go directly into the house. The 
 full members put on the head-rings of the order, and paint their 
 
AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 faces according to the respective designs owned by them. Upon 
 a signal from the leaders (the Fathers) they enter the house crawling 
 on their knees and acting like elks. Inside, they stand up and 
 dance their ceremonial dances. While dancing they lock their 
 arms and extend the same, thereby denoting that they are looking 
 for food. Thereupon the plain members throw to them salmon, 
 salmon-eggs, berries, bags of oil, etc. This food is thrown back to 
 the owners. After this throwing ceremony some more dances are 
 executed. Then all members go to their seats, and the young 
 boys and girls perform again the dance of the elks. During this 
 performance the presents given away by the novitiate are dis 
 tributed, after which food is served. This concludes the ritual of 
 the qe'L/a'akwal or Hunting Society. 
 
 In the evening of the same day the novitiate and the two qwaye'l 
 women visit the houses of the several members and beg for food. 
 This food is given away at a feast held the next day. If the feast 
 does not take place, the food is divided among the several members 
 of the order. No explanation for this custom could be obtained; 
 it is probable, however, that it represents the appreciation by the 
 individual members of the food eaten at the expense of the novitiate. 
 
 Originally the Hunting Society did not have any distinct officers. 
 But with the introduction of the Tlokwali similar officials were 
 instituted during the Hunting ritual. Thus, the Hunting Society 
 came to have, in addition to the Face-painter, two Fathers, a Fire- 
 keeper, and a Water-carrier. 
 
 A special degree of relationship seems to have existed between 
 the members of the Hunting Society and those of the Whaling 
 Society (see below). Thus, all whaling men were invited to and 
 participated in the Hunting ritual, and vice versa. The two 
 ceremonials were closely related, and the members of these two 
 societies applied to one another the reciprocal term keli'qfwayi'ts/ilat 
 "staying on one side of the mountain." This close affiliation be 
 tween the two societies may, perhaps, be due to the fact that, ac 
 cording to a general belief, the guardian-spirits of these societies 
 dwell in close proximity. The guardians of the Hunting Society 
 live on the eastern slopes of the mountains while those of the 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 339 
 
 Whaling Society dwell on the western slopes. Furthermore, these 
 guardian-spirits can understand one another perfectly well. Con 
 sequently the whaling men, participating in a Hunting ritual, are 
 assigned to special seats and, during every throwing ceremony, they 
 first throw the food to the novitiate and his associates. In return 
 the whaling members invite the hunters to their ritual, and the 
 latter perform the same functions. The songs rendered by these, 
 as it were, ex-officio members are those of their own fraternity. 
 
 The initiation of a new member (child or wife) through purchase 
 lasts only two or three days, according to the amount of food at 
 the disposal of the prospective novitiate's parents (or husband). 
 On the evening of the day set for the initiation ceremony the 
 members of the society appear at the designated house and are 
 painted by the Face-painter. They sing and dance in the usual 
 fashion and leave right after the food has been served. The same 
 performance takes place on the second night. On the third morning 
 they assemble at a different house. After painting their faces and 
 putting on the proper headgear they dance into the house of the 
 novitiate. Upon the completion of the dance, presents and food 
 are distributed among them by the parents or husband of the 
 novitiate, and this completes the ritual. 
 
 In very recent years the members of the Hunting Society who 
 danced into the house of the novitiate carried bags of peanuts 
 which they threw all over the floor. These peanuts represented the 
 excrement of the elk and were picked up and eaten by those members 
 who did not participate in the dance. 
 
 THE TSAYEQ (FISHING RITUAL) 
 
 Membership in this society, as in the two previous orders, could 
 be obtained either by acquiring a special guardian-spirit or through 
 purchase. A person acquiring such a guardian-spirit became a 
 good fisherman, seal-hunter, canoe-maker, and (in the case of a 
 woman) basket-maker. Hence membership was confined to such 
 persons as followed these occupations. The most important 
 guardian-spirits of the Tsayeq were the Seal, Spear, Canoe, Land- 
 Otter, Salmon, Kingfisher, and Sawbill. The color of this order 
 
34 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 was red. The rattles used during the Tsayeq ceremonial were 
 made of vine-maple and were painted red or red with white stripes. 
 These rattles were of a special shape. The drums were the same 
 as those used during the other ceremonials. Special head-rings, 
 made of shredded cedar bark and dyed red, were worn only by 
 members who had acquired a guardian-spirit. Such members 
 displayed facial paintings of distinct designs suggested to them by 
 their guardian-spirits. Three such designs were described to me 
 as follows: the lower part of the face red with three perpendicular 
 stripes on each cheek (representing three men in a canoe) ; the same 
 design but with only one perpendicular stripe on each cheek; the 
 whole face red with a wide white stripe in the center. Common 
 members painted red dots or stripes on their cheeks. Originally 
 only two Fathers and a Face-painter had charge of this ritual, but 
 in recent years the offices of Firemen and Water-carrier were 
 added. We shall describe first the initiation ritual of a new member 
 who had received a guardian-spirit belonging to the Tsayeq Society. 
 
 As soon as the guardian-spirit enters the body of the prospective 
 member he becomes sick. A shaman is called in who, noticing the 
 color of the sickness to be red, declares the patient to be sick "from 
 a Tsayeq guardian-spirit." The patient imparts this information 
 to his relatives who decide, on the same night, to initiate him into 
 this society. 1 
 
 Messengers are sent to all members of the Tsayeq Society with 
 instructions to assemble the next day in the house of the novitiate. 
 They come, and their faces are painted by the Face-painter who 
 holds this office only during the Tsayeq ritual. After all are 
 seated the members, led by the two Fathers, begin to sing their 
 Tsayeq songs. Then the Fathers begin to wake up the novitiate 
 who, as during all other rituals, lies on a mat and is attended by 
 two qwa'ye'l ("cheeks") women. As the Fathers walk up to the 
 novitiate, they sing and dance. The other members are standing 
 and swing their hands (with the palms open) from right to left, 
 repeating the words hoo'c hoo'c hoo'c after each verse. A stick is 
 
 1 Swan, who witnessed this ceremonial, was misled as to its character. He calls it 
 a strictly healing ceremonial. See James G. Swan, Indians of Cape Flattery, Smiths. 
 Contr. to Knowl., vol. xvi, p. 73. 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 34 1 
 
 placed in the ground on the right side of the novitiate. This 
 stick is supposed to have been put there by the guardian-spirit. 
 As the song of the Fathers progresses, the novitiate moves and, 
 crawling on his back, he goes a little way to the right. Soon he 
 rises and, supported by one of the gwa'ye'l women, he dances, 
 swinging his open palms from right to left and singing in a low 
 voice the song given him by his guardian-spirit. This song is re 
 peated in loud tones by the qwa'ye'l women, who assist the noviti 
 ate (he'ts!d:q) back to his mat. The ritual for this night is con 
 cluded with a general feast. 
 
 The ritual follows the same course on the second, third and 
 fourth nights, excepting only that, during each night, the novitiate 
 traverses a greater distance in crawling on his back around the 
 fireplace. 
 
 On the fifth night the novitiate sits up and is ready to receive 
 some food. The members enter as on the previous nights and are 
 painted by the Face-painter. A platter of boiled black salmon is 
 placed in the middle of the room, and in front of this platter, facing: 
 the novitiate, sits some exceptionally powerful shaman. Behind 
 the platter are seated two other shamans of lesser prowess. Then 
 the feeding-ceremony takes place which is identical with the similar 
 ceremony during the Hunting ritual (see p. 329). The novitiate is 
 joined by four or five other members who have guardian-spirits, 
 and they are also fed. Upon receiving the food, they become un 
 conscious and are " awakened" by the Fathers. While the Fathers 
 sing, the novitiate and his companions arise and crawl clear around 
 the fire. After they have returned to their starting point the 
 novitiate reveals to his fellow-members the dance and song given 
 him by his guardian-spirit, whereupon he goes back to his mat. 
 Inasmuch as the novitiate has not yet regained his full strength he 
 begins to sing a song called wala 'axwala's "pounding with the 
 stick." While rendering this song, he puts his hand on the stick, 
 which had been placed in the ground on the very first night by his 
 guardian-spirit. Contact with this cane gradually gives him back 
 his former strength. After the song is over, food is served, and the 
 members leave the house. They are, however, invited by some 
 old man to appear early on the next morning. 
 
34 2 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 In the morning the full members and those that want to join 
 them appear in front of the house and there, standing around a big 
 fire, they paint their faces and put on the proper head-rings. The 
 other members and the old men and children go directly into the 
 house. The dancers, headed by the Fathers, enter the house, 
 crawling on their knees and shaking their heads back and forth. 
 No songs are sung; only yells are given forth, while those on the 
 inside pound the floor with their sticks. As the dancers enter, the 
 room is dark. After all are in the skylights are raised. Then all 
 members begin to sing and dance, swinging their hands from right 
 to left. At the end of each verse the women shout "hoo'c hoo'c, 
 hoo'c" After all dances have been rendered, the presents are dis 
 tributed, food is served, and the ritual comes to an end. 
 
 The ritual arranged in order to purchase membership for a 
 child or wife lasts only two days. The members appear as on the 
 other occasion, and the ceremony consists mainly of songs and 
 dances rendered by the individual members. Each day, upon the 
 completion of the songs and dances, the novitiate (hetfaya'sldqa' 
 "he is sung for") led by a woman (tci'a"tilat "protector of people") 
 walks once around the fireplace, in order that the members may 
 look upon him and come to know him. No presents are given 
 during the shorter ritual. 
 
 THE WHALE-HUNTER SOCIETY (WHALING RITUAL) 
 
 This society was introduced among the Quileutes by the Makah 
 Indians, and its ritual was modeled wh.olly after the native Hunting 
 ceremonial with which it shares in common special features (see 
 above, p. 332). The color of this society is the same as that of the 
 Hunting order, but somewhat darker, and the full members of the 
 Hunting Society were always present at the ceremonial of this 
 order, and vice versa. This may have been due to the fact that 
 the two orders had fewer members than any of the other societies, 
 although the reason given by the Indians is quite different. Mem 
 bership into this society was open only to those who had acquired a 
 guardian-spirit, and could not be purchased as was the case in the 
 other ceremonial societies. The reason for this exclusiveness given 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 343 
 
 to me was ''that young children and women could not be expected 
 to be good whale-hunters." Furthermore, this society was con 
 sidered the best of all, and its members had a special standing in 
 the social life of the Quileutes. Only whale-hunters could belong to 
 it. Its special guardian-spirits were the Whale, a rope made of 
 sinews, any of the whale-hunting implements, etc. The ritual 
 lasted five nights, and only two Fathers and the Face-painter 
 officiated. The drum used during the ritual was the same as that 
 employed on all other occasions, but the rattles, two in number, had 
 a distinct shape and were colored dark brown. The members 
 wore special head-rings, made of shredded cedar bark and colored 
 dark brown. The same color was applied to the facial paintings, 
 and the following designs obtained most frequently: the whole 
 face painted dark brown ; the same but with white dots (this design 
 belonged to such members as had a certain mythical being for their 
 guardian-spirit) ; the same but with three slanting white stripes 
 on either cheek; dark brown heavy circles around the eyes. 
 
 Inasmuch as this society had but few members, the arrange 
 ment of the house during an initiation ceremony was somewhat 
 different. To begin with, there was only one fireplace. The 
 benches were built clear against the walls, the members of the 
 Whale-Hunter Society occupying those on the left side of the house 
 and half of the benches in the back of the house. Members of the 
 Hunting Society occupied the other half of the benches placed at 
 the back part of the house. The benches to the right were reserved 
 for such spectators as were admitted to witness the initiation 
 ceremony. 
 
 As soon as the shaman ascertains that the proposed novitiate 
 is sick "from a guardian-spirit belonging to the Whale-Hunter 
 Society," messengers are sent to all members inviting them to 
 participate in the initiation ritual. The novitiate lies on a mat 
 placed in the corner of the house and is attended by two qwa'ye'l 
 women. Behind the mat two posts are driven into the ground and 
 over these is stretched a piece of rope, made of twisted and braided 
 cedar limbs. This rope is used only in cases where the novitiate 
 has obtained a rope for his guardian-spirit. As soon as the members 
 
344 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 have been painted by the Face-painter, the invited members of the 
 Hunting Society place in the middle of the room a dish full of whale- 
 oil. Thereupon each member of the Whale-Hunter Society steps 
 forth and, scooping up some of the oil in the palms of his hands, he 
 either drinks it or rubs it over his face. This oil represents the 
 water of the whaling guardian-spirit. This ceremony over, all sit 
 down, whereupon the Fathers intone their family songs pertaining 
 to this ceremonial. Each member renders his own song; the Hunt 
 ing members sing the songs of their own society. After all songs 
 have been rendered, the novitiate is " awakened," in exactly the 
 same manner as is done during the Hunting ritual (see above, p. 334). 
 As soon as he " wakes up," that is to say, as soon as he turns over 
 and sits up, two members of the society lift him up on the rope. 
 Seated there he spreads out his arms, thus expressing hunger. 
 Thereupon one of the members of the Hunting Society throws to 
 him some dried fish, meat, or a bag containing oil. The novitiate 
 catches it and throws it back. This throwing ceremony is re 
 peated several times and is followed by general dancing, during 
 which the Whale-Hunters render the dancing songs of their order, 
 while the Hunters employ the songs that pertain to their own 
 ceremonial. The Whale-Hunters render their songs first, and these 
 are followed by the songs and dances of the Hunting Society. 
 When the dancing is over, the novitiate is helped down from the 
 rope, whereupon he sings, in a weak voice, the song of his guardian- 
 spirit. This song is repeated, in louder tones, by the two Cheek- 
 women. At the conclusion of the song the members sit down and 
 are served with food. 
 
 If the guardian-spirit of the novitiate is not a rope, the waking 
 up ceremony varies somewhat. The novitiate is awakened and 
 crawls sideways around the fire. Arriving at the starting point, 
 he is made to stand up by some of the members and renders his 
 song. The throwing ceremony is omitted. The sideways crawling 
 represents the swimming of the whale. 
 
 The ceremony varies but little on the second, third, and fourth 
 nights. On each of these nights the novitiate moves farther from 
 one end of the rope to the other (in case his guardian-spirit is a 
 rope) or else crawls more times around the fireplace. 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 345 
 
 On the fifth night the novitiate sits up and is joined by three 
 or four other members of the society. First the feeding ceremony 
 (see p. 329) takes place. After the novitiate and his associates 
 become unconscious the Fathers wake them up in the same way 
 as is done during the Hunting ceremonial. The novitiate and his 
 associates arise and, on their sides, slide around the fireplace. Then 
 they stand up and are supported by some other members of the 
 order, while the remaining participants in the ceremonial wash 
 their faces in or drink the oil placed in the oil dish by the members 
 of the Hunting Society. After the last man has washed his face, 
 the throwing ceremony takes place. During this ceremony the 
 members of the Hunting Society throw dried salmon, meat, or 
 bags of oil to the members of the Whale-Hunting order. At the 
 conclusion of this ceremony the novitiate sings his song and dem 
 onstrates the dance given him by his newly acquired guardian- 
 spirit. The guests are served with food and are asked, prior to 
 their departure, to appear again early in the morning. 
 
 In the morning they assemble around a big fire, built outside 
 of the house, and around this fire they paint their faces and put 
 on their proper head-rings. The spectators and the members of 
 the Hunting Society do not assemble around the outside fire, but 
 go directly into the house which at first is darkened. The novitiate 
 on this day joins his fellow members outside the house. Led by 
 the two Fathers the novitiate and his fellow members enter the 
 house, imitating the motion of the whale. This is accomplished 
 by stooping down and raising the hands above the head and lowering 
 them. All walk in sideways. As soon as the last man is inside the 
 skylights are raised and the members of the Hunting Society pour 
 some oil into a dish which is used by the members of the Whale- 
 Hunter order either to wash their faces or for drinking purposes. 
 This is followed by the throwing ceremony which, in turn, is fol 
 lowed by general dancing. The dancers jump up and down singing 
 the following refrain: "When I go out to sea, my mouth opens and 
 shuts." At the conclusion of the dancing, the members sit down 
 and presents are set aside for them by the family of the novitiate. 
 The ritual is concluded with a feast. 
 
34 6 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 THE WEATHER SOCIETY 
 
 This society is of Quinault origin. The initiation ceremony, 
 although based upon the ceremonial of the native Hunting Society, 
 shows certain important and distinct features. It lasts five nights 
 as do all other ceremonials. To become a member of this society 
 one has to receive a weather guardian-spirit. Such a spirit enables 
 its owner to change the weather and to bring a dead whale ashore. 
 Non-initiates can be present at the ceremonial merely as spectators. 
 The color of the society is light brown (tan), and the head-rings 
 used by the members during the ceremonial are dyed in this color. 
 The same color is applied to the facial painting which, however, 
 does not show such a multiplicity of designs as obtains in other 
 ceremonials. The faces are painted wholly brown or merely with 
 brown dots or .stripes. The only official of this ceremonial is the 
 Face-painter. No rattles are used to accompany the songs and 
 dances. 
 
 As soon as the shaman ascertains, by means of the color, that 
 the patient is sick ''from a guardian-spirit belonging to the Weather 
 Society," the members of this society are invited to the house of 
 the patient who becomes a novitiate. They file in singly and are 
 painted by the Face-painter. The novitiate sits on a mat spread 
 somewhere on the floor, while the members seat themselves on the 
 benches. After all are seated the novitiate (tcala' layouts lit "maker 
 of the tcala'layo'") renders the songs which he obtained from the 
 newly acquired guardian-spirit. In turn the other members render 
 their songs, following them up with the dances of this order. This 
 concludes the ceremonial for the first night. No food is served. 
 
 On the second night each member brings some food for the 
 guardian-spirit of the novitiate. This food is placed in some corner 
 of the house, and each succeeding night more is added to it. After 
 depositing the food, the members take their seats and go through 
 the same ceremonies as on the first night. 
 
 The same ceremonies are repeated on the third, fourth, and 
 fifth nights. On the morning of the sixth day the members and 
 the novitiate go first to a different house where they put on the 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 347 
 
 appropriate head-rings and paint their faces. Then, led by the 
 novitiate, they repair to the house where the ceremonial took place 
 during the preceding nights. They file in singly, singing and 
 dancing. The songs rendered during this ceremonial are meaning 
 less, as far as the Quileutes are concerned. The words are Quinault, 
 having been taken over with the main features of the society. 
 Each member sings the song of his family. At the conclusion of 
 the last song all sit down, and the novitiate distributes the gifts 
 set aside for this occasion. Thereupon the food which was brought 
 by the individual members on the previous nights as an offering 
 to the guardian-spirit is served, and thus ends the ceremonial of 
 the Weather Society. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 The above descriptions of the main features of the Quileute 
 ceremonial societies, while only sketchy, are sufficiently clear to 
 give us a bird's-eye view of the several elements which enter into 
 the composition of these societies. As has been stated in the intro 
 ductory chapter, the internal evidence, the linguistic nomenclature, 
 and other factors point strongly to the fact that, of the five Quileute 
 ceremonial societies, four have been adopted from adjacent tribes 
 (three from the Makah, one from the Quinault) and only one (the 
 Hunting Society) is of native origin. On the other hand, the rituals 
 of these societies, while adhering closely in the main to the corre 
 sponding rituals of the borrowed orders (as is particularly the case 
 in the Wolf, Fishing, and Whaling rituals), have been made to 
 agree, in their more detailed aspects, with the original ritual of the 
 native society. The introduction among the Quileute Indians of 
 the non-native societies has taken place within comparatively 
 recent years and may have been due to one of the following three 
 factors: the importation of slaves in large numbers from the north 
 and south, the frequent intermarriages which took place between 
 the Quileute, Makah, and Quinault Indians, or the frequent friendly 
 visits which these three tribes interchanged from time to time. 
 
 The Tlokwali and Tsayeq Societies are undoubtedly of Kwakiutl 
 origin, but their rituals, as practised by the Quileutes, show vast 
 divergences, which are due to the fact that they have been intro- 
 
34-8 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 duced, not directly from the Kwakiutl, but through the medium 
 of the Nootka, particularly the Makah Indians. A detailed in 
 vestigation of the Makah societies and their rituals will bear testi 
 mony to this fact. Pending such an investigation the original, 
 native features of the Quileute ceremonial societies will have to 
 remain a matter of speculation. 
 
 However, certain features are so unique as to justify us in the 
 assumption that they represent native, and not borrowed, elements. 
 The most important of these is what may be properly termed the 
 professional element, a feature which, thus far, finds a parallel to 
 some extent in the esoteric fraternities of the Zuni Indians. 1 Each 
 Quileute society is a professional organization; that is to say only 
 persons following the same occupation could belong to it, and each 
 order is, so to speak, representative of one of the four most important 
 occupations followed by the Quileute Indians. Thus the qeL/a'ak- 
 wdl is the society for hunters, the sibd'xuldyo' for whale-hunters, 
 the tsfd'yeq for fishermen, and the Ld'kwali for warriors. The 
 tcala'layo' , the Weather Society, is the latest introduction and may 
 have received its occupational mark through the enormous influence 
 wielded by the medicine men, of which we shall speak later. It goes 
 without saying that these societies were introduced not at once but 
 singly, and that each soon after, or perhaps simultaneously with, 
 its adaptation became the order of persons following a certain occu 
 pation. We have the testimony of the informants themselves for 
 the order in which these societies were introduced among the Qui 
 leute Indians. They are conscious of the fact that the sibd'xuldyo' 
 was the first of the non-native societies to be introduced ; next came 
 the Ld'kwali and tsfd'yeq; and these were followed in turn by the 
 tcald'ldyo'. The Hunting Society (qeL/a'akwdl) was in existence 
 among the Quileute Indians from times immemorial and to this 
 society only those who were habitual hunters could belong. The 
 Whaling ritual, as it was practised by the Makah, was a ritual ex 
 clusively for whale-hunters; and the Quileutes merely followed an 
 established precedent as well as the spirit of the borrowed society 
 
 1 M. C. Stevenson, "The Zuni Indians," Twenty-third Ann. Report of the Bureau 
 of American Ethnology, pp. 407 ff. 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 349 
 
 when, upon its introduction, they reserved it for whale-hunters 
 and their families. Later on, when the Ld'kwali and tsfa'yeq were 
 introduced, the first became the society for warriors, and the second 
 the order of fishermen and (after the Quileutes took to seal-hunting) 
 seal-hunters. The assignment of " weather-persons " to the tcala'- 
 layo* may have been due to the fact that among a littoral geople 
 like the Quileute Indians special respect was paid to persons who 
 claimed to possess tamanos power over the weather. This dis 
 tinction may also be due to an inherent feature in the original 
 Quinault society which, however, for lack of data from that tribe, 
 we are at the present unable to determine. The gradual breaking 
 down of the native mode of living resulted in a gradual wiping out 
 of the distinct professional character of some of these societies, 
 as can be seen by the fact that in later times canoe-makers, basket- 
 makers, and others were also included in the tsla'yeq. However, the 
 two oldest orders (the Hunting and Whale-hunting Societies) always 
 kept their distinctive professional features even to within very 
 recent times; and all present living members of these two extinct 
 societies were either actual hunters or whale-hunters. Further 
 more, the professional emphasis laid upon these two societies was 
 responsible for the special feeling of fraternization which existed 
 between its respective members (see p. 342). It is also highly 
 probable that originally only the male members of the tribe could 
 belong to any of these societies and that the privilege of enrolling 
 the female relatives of a male member also was granted only grad 
 ually and more as a matter of courtesy. This privilege was in the 
 course of time extended until, aided by a desire to insure as much 
 wealth to the future generations as possible, it became universal. 
 However, the two eldest societies kept on granting full member 
 ship only to the male members of the tribe. 
 
 Another important feature of the Quileute ceremonial societies 
 is the manner of initiating a full member, that is to say of one who 
 had received a special guardian-spirit presiding over a particular 
 order. It will be remembered that the whole initiation ritual re 
 volves around the curing by his fellow-members of the novitiate 
 who had been rendered sick through the entrance of the guardian- 
 
35 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 spirit into his body. Of course, this is not to be taken literally, 
 for the " patient " was at no time actually sick. What the Quileute 
 meant to express by this term was probably the unconscious con 
 dition of the novitiate who had partaken of the powers of his 
 guardian-spirit, a condition which disappeared as soon as, through 
 the exorcisms of the shaman and of the fellow-members of the order, 
 the novitiate arrived at an understanding of the qualities of the 
 guardian-spirit. The mystery surrounding the quality and powers 
 of the guardian-spirit was particularly dispelled by the disclosures, 
 on the part of the shaman, of the "color" of that spirit; in other 
 words the novitiate began to feel more at ease by learning the type 
 of his particular guardian-spirit, while the continued incantations 
 of his fellow-members rendered him more normal. This healing 
 phase of the ceremonial is described distinctly by Swan as existing 
 among the Makah Indians. 1 However, this need not be taken as 
 an indication that eventually this Quileute feature goes back to a 
 Makah origin. The belief in shamanistic powers was exceedingly 
 strongly developed among the Quileute Indians, and the shaman 
 exercised an enormous influence over their daily and ceremonial 
 life. Consequently, it seems highly plausible that this healing 
 phase constituted one of the main features of the original Quileute 
 society and that, fostered by the shamans, it became a similarly 
 important feature in the other, introduced secret societies. 
 
 The third important point suggesting itself in connection with 
 the ceremonial societies of the Quileute Indians is the probable 
 determination of the ultimate geographic distribution of this tribe. 
 At the present time the Quileute Indians occupy a small strip of 
 the northwestern coast of Washington where they were found 
 one hundred years ago, while their only other cognates, the Chim- 
 akum Indians, were found in a much farther northeastern direc 
 tion, on Puget Sound, in Snohomish County. Quileute mythology 
 is particularly silent on the question of the original home of these 
 two tribes. It does, however, speak of the separation of the two 
 tribes as the result of a great flood. The myth recounting this 
 event is as follows: 
 
 1 James G. Swan, op. cit., loc. cit. 
 
FRACHTENBERG] CEREMONIAL SOCIETIES OF QUILEUTE INDIANS 35 l 
 
 In early times the Quileute and Chimakum lived together. During 
 the great flood the people took to their canoes, floating in them 
 until they reached the crests of the Olympic Mountains. Here they 
 tied them to trees and rocks. One night a great storm arose, and 
 many of the canoes tore loose from their moorings. These canoes 
 drifted in a northeastern direction until they reached the present 
 site of the towns of Chimakum and Port Ludlow. Here the people 
 abandoned their canoes and settled down, becoming in the course 
 of time the Chimakum tribe. The people whose canoes were not 
 loosened remained on the Olympic Mountains until the flood sub 
 sided. The receding waters carried them and the canoes towards 
 the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They finally stopped at Quileute 
 Prairie 1 and became known as the Quileute (and Hoh) Indians. 2 
 
 Inasmuch as this myth has little historical probability, the 
 original location of the Quileute tribe must be looked for at a 
 point eastward of their present possessions; in other words, the 
 Quileute Indians must have lived originally farther inland. And 
 a clue that this may have been the case is furnished by the 
 importance and antiquity of the Hunting Society of this tribe. 
 Such a society with its attending ritual could have developed 
 only among a group of people whose main occupation was hunt 
 ing and whose chief supplies of food were obtained through this 
 mode of living. The probability of this theory is further sub 
 stantiated by the fact that the Quileute language contains a 
 great number of different verbal stems expressing the various 
 forms of the act of hunting. Now, the only regions in this particu 
 lar neighborhood abounding in game of all descriptions lie much 
 farther east of the present site of the Quileute reservation, which is 
 practically on the western slopes of the Olympic Range. To this 
 
 1 A prairie about forty-five miles south of Cape Flattery and six miles eastward 
 from the present Quileute reservation. 
 
 2 It is interesting to note that the Makah Indians account in the same way for 
 their separation from the main body of the Nootka tribes. Furthermore, the same 
 phonetic elements differentiating the Nootka from the Makah dialect (b > m; d > n) 
 differentiate also the speech of the Quileute from that of the Chimakum, two features 
 which, in addition to many other lexical, morphological, and structural correspondences 
 go a long way toward encouraging us in the assumption of an ultimate genetic relation 
 ship between Wakashan, Chimakuan, (and Salish). 
 
35 2 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 23, 1921 
 
 range the Indians repair even now for the purpose of hunting, and it 
 is here that we must look for the original home of the Quileute 
 tribe Furthermore, that the Quileute Indians have only within 
 comparatively recent times become fishermen par excellence is dem 
 onstrated beyond doubt by the following three facts: First, in 
 ancient times these Indians knew nothing of their present intricate 
 system of hereditary fishing-grounds, this institution having been 
 introduced after their arrival at the mouth of the Quileute River; 
 secondly, traces of old Indian settlements, and even potlatch- 
 houses, have been found as many as twenty miles farther to the 
 east and the Quileutes still remember the native names of these 
 villages; thirdly, the names of the most important sea-fish are not 
 of native origin, having seemingly been borrowed from the Quinault 
 (Salish) language. Of course, it is also quite probable that the 
 original Hunting ritual may have been a general tribal ceremonial, 
 with the identical aspects and in the same sense as, for example, 
 are the tribal rituals among the Creek, Osage, and Omaha Indians. 
 However, the above mentioned three facts militate strongly against 
 this, and we may be justified in the assumption that (i) the Quileute 
 Indians were an inland people, (2) their chief occupation originally 
 was hunting, and (3) their social and ceremonial life was greatly 
 modified by this occupation. 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
omaer 
 
 R Gaylord Bros. 
 m Makers 
 
 p Stockton, Calif 
 MT. JAN 21. 1908 "