[CONCLUSION]
Pomo ceremonies were in general quite simple and the ceremonial life was characterized by an absence (1) of any fixed ceremonial season or sequence of ceremonies, and (2) of any extensive priesthood or secret order controlling ceremonial matters. Some of the ceremonial performances possessed certain esoteric features, such as initiation rites and special restrictions on the part of the uninitiated.
We note the presence of a few fairly elaborate ceremonies and a considerable number of dances, some of which were employed as integral parts of certain ceremonies, others as merely incidental to them. These dances usually followed one another without any definite order or relation, though in certain cases definite dances were prescribed as parts of given ceremonies.
One ceremony has a definite mythological background, but this has been lost elsewhere. No myths are told today to account for the other performances.
In most of the dances an indefinite number of both men and women might participate. In two dances the number of performers of each sex was definitely prescribed. In five, only men might participate, and two were strictly women's dances. In other words, there is patent in Pomo ceremonies a rather thorough going democracy regarding the positions of the sexes.
Transmitted September 21, 1916.