Of all the dances of the Kwakwaka’wakw, the Hamatsa is considered to be the most important. The right to perform this dance is owned by particular families whose members have been possessed generation after generation by Baxwbakwalanuksiwe’, the man-eating supernatural being. The dance acts out the capture, return, and calming of the initiate.

The Hamatsa initiation ceremony has changed a great deal since the old days. In days long ago, a new initiate used to become possessed by the cannibal spirit and go into the woods for up to four months returning to the edge of his village yelling, “hap, hap” (this word has to do with the word “eat”). When he returned to his village he would be captured by the healers in the Hamatsa society, and they would begin to tame or calm the Hamatsa initiate.

After the mourning songs you will hear madzis (whistles) blown again and again. The whistle sounds come from behind the dance screen, which is behind the singers, or it may sound like it is coming from outside the Bighouse, or even on the dance floor. Once the whistles start, this indicates that the Hamatsa ceremony has started. The whistle sounds are said to represent the sound of Baxwbakwalanuksiwe’ moving through the woods. He has so many mouths on his body that when he walks it sounds like the whistles we hear.

The musicians change tempo to match the possessed spirit. Eventually the dancers calm the spirit. The ritual concludes when the new initiate sings his newly-acquired hamatsa song. The novice performs a trick on the final day after a potlatch is held in his honour.