In some tribes regular
First-fruit ceremonies were annually held at the time of picking the
wild fruit or gathering the roots, and also among the salmon-eating
tribes when the run of the 'sockeye' salmon began. These ceremonies
were not so much thanksgivings, as performances to ensure a
plentiful crop or supply of the particular object desired, for if
they were not properly and reverently carried out there was danger
of giving offence to the 'spirits' of the objects, and being
deprived of them." For example, these Indians are fond of the young
shoots or suckers of the wild raspberry, and they observe a solemn
ceremony at eating the first of them in season. The shoots are
cooked in a new pot: the people assemble and stand in a great circle
with closed eyes, while the presiding chief or medicine-man invokes
the spirit of the plant, begging that it will be propitious to them
and grant them a good supply of suckers. After this part of the
ceremony is over the cooked suckers are handed to the presiding
officer in a newly carved dish, and a small portion is given to each
person present, who reverently and decorously eats it.
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