The Salish tribes believe the sun to be the chief deity, and certain ceremonies, described by Mr Lord as having taken place on the death of a chief, seem to indicate that fire is in some way connected with the great light.[V-10] The chief is ex officio a kind of priest, presiding for the most part at the various observances by which the deity of the sun is recognized. There is the usual belief in sorcery and second sight, and individuals succeed, by force of special gifts for fasting and lonely meditation, in having themselves accounted conjurers--an honor of dubious profit, as medicine-men are constantly liable to be shot by an enraged relative of any one whose death they may be supposed to have brought about.
The Clallams, a coast tribe on the mainland opposite the south end of Vancouver Island, have a principal good deity called by various names, and an evil spirit called Skoocoom; to these some add a certain Teyutlma, 'the genius of good fortune.' The medicine-men of the tribe are supposed to have much influence both for good and evil with these spirits and with all the demon race, or _sehuiáb_ as the latter are sometimes called. In this tribe the various conjurers are united by the bonds of a secret society, the initiation into which is attended by a good deal of ceremony and expense. Three days and three nights must the novice of the order fast alone in a mysterious lodge prepared for him, round which during all that time the brethren already initiated sing and dance. This period elapsed, during which it would seem that the old nature has been killed out of him, he is taken up like one dead and soused into the nearest cold water, where he is washed till he revives; which thing they call "washing the dead." When his senses are sufficiently gathered to him, he is set on his feet; upon which he runs off into the forest, whence he soon reappears a perfect medicine-man, rattle in hand and decked out with the various trappings of his profession. He then parts all his worldly gear among his friends, himself henceforth to be supported only by the fees of his new calling.[V-11]
Ikánam, the creator of the universe, is a powerful deity among the Chinooks, who have a mountain named after him from a belief that he there turned himself into stone. After him, or before him as many say, comes Italapas, the Coyote, who created men after an imperfect fashion,[V-12] taught them how to make nets and catch salmon, how to make a fire, and how to cook; for this the first fruits of the fishing season are always sacred to him, and his figure is to be found carved on the head of almost every Chinook canoe on the Columbia. They have a fire-spirit, an evil spirit, and a body of familiar spirits, _tamanowas_. Each person has his special spirit, selected by him at an early age, sometimes by fasting and other mortification of the flesh, sometimes by the adoption of the first object the child or young man sees, or thinks he sees, on visiting the woods. These spirits have a great effect on the imagination of the Chinooks, and their supposed directions are followed under pain of mysterious and awful punishments; people converse--"particularly when in the water"--with them, apparently talking to themselves in low monotonous tones. Some say that when a man dies his tamanowa passes to his son; but the whole matter is darkened with much mystery and secrecy; the name of one's familiar spirit or guardian never being mentioned even to the nearest friend. A similar custom forbids the mention of a dead man's name, at least till many years have elapsed after the bereavement.