108 THE SIA

ortwo ^lie pouredtwo

more

goixrdfuls into the medicinebowl

and two

intothe cloud bowl,

and resumed

thedance; again he emptieda gourd-

fulintothemcdiciuebowl

and

two^intothecloudbowl;then he emptied three iuto tlie medicine bowl

and

drank twice from the bowl, after which hereturnedto his seat inthe^line, the

boy

restoringthevase to thefarthercorner of the room.

Two

smallmedicinebags were

handed

to each

member

from the altar, one containing corn pollen and the othercornmealofsix varieties ofcorn^: yellow, blue, red, white, black,

and

variegated.

The

bags were held inthe left

hand

with tlie eagle l)himes, that

hand

being quiet, while the rattle

was

shaken with the right in

accompaniment

to the song. After singing a few minutes, pollen and meal taken fromthemedicine bags were sprinkled^into the medicinebowl.

The

choirdid notrise

and

passtothealtar,butleaned forwardon either side;

and

with each sprinkling of themeal andpollen a shrill call

was

given forthe cloud peopletogather; theho'naaite, in sprinklingin his pollen, reached over the altarslats.

The

sprinkling of thepollen

was

rei)eated four times,the novitiates takingno part in this feature of the ceremony, although they were provided with the bags ofpollen

and

meal.

The

ya'ni'siwittanni dancedbefore thealtar

and

westof thelineof meal without rattle or plumes, butcontinually hooted as he

waved

hishandswildly over the altarand dropped pebble fetiches alternately into themedicine

and

cloud bowls, untileach bowl containedsixfetiches; then,reachingbehindthealtarforhis rattle

and

eagle plumes, heheld an eagle

plume and

rattle in theright

hand and

an eagle

plume

in the left,

and

stirred the water

and

sprinkled the altar; then hestirred the water in the cloud bowl with the reed,

and

sprinkledthealtarwith it.

The

sprinklingofthe altar fromthe medi- cinebowl

and

thecloud bowl

was

repeated sixtimes.

After each sprinkling a quick shake of the rattle

was

given.

The

ho'naaite then reached over the altar slats, takinga ya'yain either hand, and ^all stood

and

sang. In a

moment

the

man

to the right of the ho'naaite leaned over thewest sideof thealtar, and, dipping his plumes in the medicine water, sprinkled the altar; he repeated the sprinkling four times, and

when

tlie

two

ya'yawere returned to the altar the ho'naaite dipped his eagle plumes into themedicine water,

and

sprinkled the altar

by

striking

them

on the topwith the rattle held in the right hand.

Each member

then sprinkled the altarfour times, with a wild exhortation to the clovid people, all apparentlyex- hibiting

more

enthusiasm

when

sprinkling thealtarthan at

any

other time during the ceremonial.

When

the song closedtwo of theboys proceeded topreparecigarettes,takingtheirplaces before thefireplace, and, tearingoff bits of corn husksof thepropersize, they

made them

pliable by moistening

them

with saliva.

One

boy

made

hiscigarettes ofnativetobacco,which he took from anold cloth hanging onthewall;

the other filled his with commercial tobacco.

As

theboys

made

cigar- ettes they tied

them

with ribbons of cin-n husks, simplyto keep

them

OREAU OF ETHNOLOG TLFVENTHannual report ^Pt_.XXVI

SHRINE OF KNIFE SOCIETY.

STEVENSON.]

THE KNIFE

SOCIETY.

109

inshape until thesmokers

were

ready.

The

remainingnativetobacco

was

returnedtothe old cloth

and

inxt iu place

upon

thewall.

About

the time the boys

had

finished preparing the cigarettes, the vice- ho'naaite took his seat on his

wadded

blanket, in frontof the cloud bowl and westofthelineofmeal.

The man

atthe eastend oftheline

dipped hiseagleplumesintotheashes,holding a

plume

in either

hand and

strikingtheone held in theleft

hand

on theunder sidewith the

plume

held inthe right, he sprinkledthe

head

of thevicar,

who was

oft'ering a silent prayer,

and

at the

same moment

the song opened to the

accompaniment

of the ^I'attle. Previous to the vicar leaving the

line, the ho'naaite

removed

awhite fluffyeagle featherfrom oneof the ya'ya, towhich ^it

had

been attached with a white cottoncord, and tied ittotheforelock of thevicar,

who

put into the cloud bowlthe pow- deredroot which

was

to producethefroth; then dippingthe reedinto cornpollen hesprinkled the altar.

He

placed a pinch of pollen into theupper end of the reed, and, turning that into the water, he puta pinchintothe other end,

and

touched the four cardinal points of the cloud bowl with the corn pollen, and

made

bubbles

by

holding the hollow reed in the center of the bowl

and

blowing through it. This operationlastedbuta few moments,

when

he began stirringthe water with thereed,

moving

it fromrightto ^left,

and

ne-verraisingthelower end tothe surface of the water, producinga beautiful egg-like froth.

Not

satisfied with its rising high abovethe bowl, he did not cease manipulatinguntil thesuds

had

completelycovered^it, sothatnothing could be seen but a

mass

of

snowy

^froth; fifteen minutes of continual stirring

was

requiredtoproducethiseftect.

He

then stood the reed iu the center of the froth,

and

holding an eagle

plume

in each

hand

danced before the altar vehemently gesticulating.

He

dipped suds with his

two

plumes

and

threw

them

toward thealtar, with awild cry,

and

again dipping suds he threw

them

over the altar tothenorth^; a like quantity

was

thrown to the west,

and

the

same

tothe south, the east, the zenith,

and

the nadir.

He

then dipped a quantity,

and

placing

some

on the

head

of thewhite bear

and

putting

some

over the parrot, he

resumed

his seaton theblanketand

began

blowing through thereed and beating the suds. In five minutes he stood the reed as before in the center of the bowl, then, dancing, he dipped the suds, placing

them

on the

head

of the bear and over the parrot; hethen

removed

the remaining sudsfrom the plumes

by

striking one against the other overthebowl (thisfroth is always referred to

by

the Sia as clouds).

During

thispart of theceremonythechoirsanganexhortation to thecloud peoples.

A boy now handed

a cigarette ofnative tobacco to thevicar,

who

pufled the

smoke

for

some

time, extending thecigar- ette to the north;

smoking

again, he blew the

smoke

to the west, and extended the cigarette to that point; this

was

repeated to the south

and

east;

when

he

had consumed

all but aninch of thecigar- ette, helaid itin front ofthe cloud

bowl and

east ofthemealline.

The