“I am going around the world eating everywhere with
Cannibal-at-the-North-End-of-the-World.
I went to the center of the world; Cannibal-at-the-
North-End-of-the-World is crying “food”.
[167] F. Boas, Social Organization and Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl
Indians, Annual Report of the United States National Museum, 1895, p.
457.
The dancer accompanies this song which is sung by a chorus, with
movements. His arms tremble from right to left. To the words, “I
am going” the arms are stretched out to one side; “All around the
world”, they swing around in a round circle; “I,” the shoulders are
alternately brought forward and backward; “eating everywhere”, the
right hand stretches far out as though it was taking food, and is
then brought to the mouth, while the left describes a wide circle,
indicating “everywhere”; “Cannibal-at-the-North-End-of-the-World”,
both hands are bent inward and the finger tips moved toward the
mouth, meaning “the eater”; “I went” is expressed as before;
“Cannibal-at-North-End-of-the-World is crying ‘food’ for me”, the
sign of the cannibal spirit is made; then the arms are stretched far
backward, the palms turned downward, and the head is lowered, this
being the cannibal spirit’s attitude when crying “food”. “At the center
of the world”, when these words are sung the dancer is in front of
the fire and looks up to the rear of the house in the characteristic
attitude of the cannibal, the rear of the house being the center of the
world.
The further development of movement accompanying the song leads to true
pantomimic and ultimately to dramatic performances.