After the Indian has reached his booth inside the ring, he must sing
four more tunes as before. At the end of the fourth tune the squaws all
run out of the ring as fast as possible, and must leave by the same way
that they entered, the other three entrances being reserved for the men,
who, carrying their war implements, might be accidentally touched by one
of the squaws--and the war implements of the Sioux warrior have from
time immemorial been held sacred from the touch of woman. For the same
reason the men form the inner ring in dancing round the pole, their war
implements being placed at the foot of the pole.
When the last tune is ended, the young men shoot at the image of thunder
which is hanging to the pole, and when it falls a general rush is made
by the warriors to get hold of it. There is placed at the foot of the
pole a bowl of water colored with blue clay. While the men are trying
to seize the parts of the bark representation of their god, they at the
same time are eagerly endeavoring to drink the water in the bowl, every
drop of which must be drank.
The warriors then seize on the two boys and girls--the representations
of war and peace--and use them as roughly as possible--taking their
pipes and war-clubs from them, and rolling them in the dirt until the
paint is entirely rubbed off from their faces.
Pages:
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367