[4] The reason for the throwing of the beads is as follows: Pomo custom prescribes a period of mourning lasting one year. If a dancer so far forgets his sorrow as actively to participate in a ceremony of this kind before the expiration of the prescribed mourning period after the death of a friend or relative some atonement is required. It is customary under such circumstances for some one in the audience to throw some loose shell-beads at the dancer, these being evidently intended as an offering to the spirits and having nothing directly to do with the dancer himself. [5] For a description of this large semi-subterranean structure see "Pomo Buildings," by the present author in the _Holmes Anniversary Volume_. [6] These words are in the Eastern Pomo dialect. THE GHOST OR DEVIL CEREMONY This ceremony was perhaps the most important of the four-day ceremonies of the Pomo. It was usually held in the spring and was witnessed only by properly initiated men, never by women or children. The uninitiated men, as well as the women and children, were much afraid of these dancers and kept a very respectful distance when they entered the village. This was due to the belief that to approach closely would produce serious illness. Such esoteric ceremonies are unusual among the Pomo, though they occur among other California tribes. As examples might be mentioned the Hesi ceremony among the Wintun and Maidu, especially among the Maidu, who have a definite secret society. STEPHEN POWERS ON THE GHOST DANCE The ghost dance of the Pomo has been attributed by Powers[7] to a secret society. In speaking of the subject of chastity among the Pomo, he describes a "devil-raising" ceremony conducted by what he terms a "secret society" which had several branches in the various Pomo villages. His description of this ceremony is given from information obtained by him from an old resident closely connected with the Indians of the region in early days, and, while his assumptions and deductions are in many respects incorrect, it is plainly a description of the ghost dance. After speaking of the "secret society ... whose simple purpose is to conjure up infernal terrors and render each other assistance in keeping their women in subjection," Powers says:[8]