The Sun Dance of the Blackfoot Indians Part 2

The following statement of an informant has a bearing upon this point:--

The natoas is said to have come from the Elk. It was first owned by beaver bundle men, but it was the custom for the medicine woman in the sun dance to borrow it for her ceremony. This continued for a time, but ultimately the medicine woman bought it and kept it in a bundle of her own. The feathers on the front of the natoas are said to represent the horns of Elk and the plumes at the sides, the leafy top of the large turnip. This is the same turnip which the woman who went to the sky land is supposed to have dug up. The digging-stick which accompanies the natoas also represents the stick with which she did this digging. Some of the songs in the natoas ritual speak of little children running about and this refers to the ball-like image on the front of the natoas, for this image is stuffed with tobacco seeds, which, as you know, are often spoken of as children, or dwarfs (p. 201). The broad band upon which the natoas is mounted is said to represent the lizard. All these things, it is said, were added to the natoas, one at a time, by some of the beaver men. So it came about that we have the natoas as it is.

Now, as to the story about the Elk giving the Natoas the robe and the wristlets used with it. The objection is sometimes made that this first woman who ran away from her husband to join the Elk was not a true woman and that the facts are therefore inconsistent with the ideal of the natoas ritual. Yet, some of our people claim that the woman was true and that though she went away with the Elk it was merely for the sake of receiving the ritual and that this is evident because in the story it tells how she was able to hook down trees by her magical powers and it is not conceivable that she could do this if she had not been a true woman.

The ceremonial transfer of the sun dance bundle really begins with the fasting of the medicine woman on the first day. Neither she nor her husband are supposed to eat or drink while the sun is visible, and then but sparingly. On the evening before, they are put to bed by the father and mother. The mother places the daughter on the south side of the fire and the father the son on the north side. They must remain in the same position until morning. Before the sun rises the father and mother go to the medicine woman's tipi, stand by the door and sing. They sing as they formally enter, the father raising up the son; the mother, the daughter.

The man is taken out by the father and the daughter by the mother for the morning toilet. When they return a small amount of food is fed to the son and daughter, after which the father and mother take a little food and drink. This must be before sunrise. During the day the son and especially the daughter must sit quietly in their places with bowed heads and eyes cast down. She wears a buffalo robe, hair side in, painted red, covering her head as well as her body. Her hair is not braided, but hangs down freely except for a horizontal band around the head. The hair may be allowed to conceal the entire face.

The daughter must do nothing for herself. If she wishes to speak it must be in almost a whisper in the ear of the mother or other attendant, who in turn will announce the import, if necessary. A fire is kept burning in the middle of the tipi, the ears are closely drawn around the smoke hole, the door closed, and the tipi cover securely staked down at the edges. Though this keeps the temperature high, the medicine woman cannot use a fan, but may use the skin of a muskrat to wipe the perspiration from her face and hands.

During the fasting period no noise must be made in the tipi. All the attendants must avoid unnecessary conversation and speak in a very subdued tone; utensils must not be rattled or struck together. Visitors may enter, but respectfully and quietly. No noises should be made in the vicinity of the medicine tipi and boisterous acts abstained from in all parts of the camp circle. If water is brought in the vessel must be covered. No one should spit in the tipi nor do the other things forbidden at the ceremony of the tongues.

Throughout the whole period there is a male attendant. He keeps the fire alive during the night and until camp is moved. He can only start the fire with an ember from some other tipi, striking fire in the tipi being strictly prohibited. Pipes can only be lighted from the fire by this attendant with service berry sticks. A blaze must be avoided as much as possible. The attendant cuts the tobacco and fills the pipe and when burnt out he must empty the ashes into a small hole in the ground near his seat. Everyone is expected to sit quietly, leaving the moving to him. He remains on duty during the night also.

Formerly, the tipi of the medicine woman was moved three times, four different camps resulting, the last being at its position in the circle for the sun dance. As a considerable journey was often necessary to reach the sun dance site these camps might be far apart. Theoretically, the camp is pitched late in the afternoon of each day. At the sun dance a special sweathouse ceremony takes place. This will be discussed later.

After this the evening and greater part of the night are spent by those in attendance at the medicine woman's tipi in rehearsing the songs and instructing the son and daughter.

Like everything else, moving the camp of the medicine woman is a formal matter. The travois is made, painted red, and reserved for the special use of the medicine woman. When the time for breaking camp in the medicine woman's band arrives, she and her husband are led out and seated upon a robe at the west or rear of their tipi, facing in the direction to move. The parfleche of tongues and other paraphernalia are brought out by the attending women and put down beside the couple. The mother directs the attending women in taking down the tipi and hitching the horse to the travois. The parfleche of tongues is packed on the travois. When all is ready, the woman and man are led to their horses and a.s.sisted to mount, the woman riding the horse to the travois. The father and the son go ahead in single file, next the mother and the daughter, or medicine woman. They pause four times, as songs are sung.

After they get some distance out, they stop and wait for the camp, now moving for the first time. This procession of four always leads, the two men side by side and behind them the two women likewise. At noon, when they stop for lunch, the two are again seated on a robe, the travois unhooked and laid down before them. Then follows the camp some distance behind. The old men form a circle and smoke near the pair.

At this time the father orders one of the men's societies to go forward and mark out a camp site. When this spot is reached, tipis are pitched and when everything is in place the medicine woman and her husband are taken inside.

On the morning of each day a society is given instructions to make the sweathouse at the camping place, a man to get the creeping juniper and another to cut out the smudge place. As the sweathouse procedure is a distinct ceremony, it will be treated under another head.

The following account of the evening ceremonies in the medicine woman's tipi was given by Red-plume:--

In the evening, after sunset, the first sweathouse is made. All those who took part in the ceremony before and a few other old men are invited. The man who fills the pipes and tends to the smoking during the ceremony remains on duty during the whole sun dance ceremony. Four-bears is told to tell the mosquito society to sing that night in their own tipi which is inside of the circle. This society is to sing the sun dance songs, the weather-makers dancing songs, the rest of the people remaining quiet through the night. In the medicine lodge they sing until a little before day-break.

The smudge place in the medicine lodge on the first day and for the first sweathouse is a square marked in the soft earth with a crescent in the middle of it. It is not painted. Under the crescent is a dot where the smudge is made.

When all the guests are a.s.sembled in the tipi the ceremony for the evening begins. Food is given to all; the medicine woman and her husband have their meat cut up for them. While a song is sung a piece of meat is held over the smudge, four pa.s.ses made with it, and then fed to the man and woman. The same thing is done with water.

After this they may help themselves to the food. After the meal is over the singing begins. The sweetgra.s.s is taken up and a song sung: "Old man, takes spring gra.s.s. Old woman comes in with her body."

Another man takes the smudge stick and places a live coal on the smudge place. The singer holds the gra.s.s over head and then brings it down on the coal. This song is for the morningstar: "Morningstar says let us have a sweathouse." Seven songs are sung for the sun and moon which are spoken of as the old man and old woman. These with the seven sung for the morningstar make fourteen sung thus far.

Since the men have been in the sweathouse where the paint has all washed off, five songs are sung to re-paint the man and woman. As the man sings, he takes some red earth paint with a ball of fat which he rolls in the palms of his hands. The song is: "Old man says red face I take." He makes a streak crosswise on the man's forehead, vertically on his cheeks, and across the chin. The entire face is then covered with the same red paint. The robe is then taken from the man's shoulders. He sings another song as he takes up the sagegra.s.s and brushes one side of the man's head, his arm, and then his body. At the same time, the woman is painted on the other side of the tipi. Another song is sung and he takes the paint, rubs it in his hands, and sings: "This man I am making his body holy, powerful." The same words are sung for the woman. The man's body and robe are then painted.

When the tongues were first taken in to be sliced, two round buffalo dungs together with a ball of sweetgra.s.s were given to the man and woman. They keep these to wipe the paint from their hands. A song is sung for the dung. The two men and the two women hold their hands over the dung. They make four motions with the closed fists and then touch the ground to the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast of the dung. The words in this song are: "This may help me to live long, and help me through life." There is also part of a buffalo dung. The smudge stick is taken up, with the song: "Timber I am looking for? Timber I have found and taken." The two men and the two women all grasp the forked stick. They sing as they take up the dung with it and gradually move it up the stick until it rests on the fork. Then it is held over the fire. Someone knocks the dung into the fire and it is covered with ashes. The song is: "Powerful, I start. Powerful where I sit." To throw the dung off into the fire is a sign that enemies will be conquered.

Four songs are now sung for the muskrat skin used to wipe the faces of the man and woman: "Man says, my medicine, I am looking for. I have found it." The skin is taken up. Two songs are sung for the parfleche with tongues in it. It is taken up very slowly and the singing continues during all the movements made with it. It is held over the smudge and placed to one side, the cords untied, and the tongues taken out and distributed to all who are now in the tipi.

The two medicinemen and women also eat. The song when first taking up the parfleche is: "Buffalo I am powerfully starting. It is powerful where I sit." When undoing the cords the words are: "Buffalo I take some." When the first tongue is taken out, a little piece is held up by everyone, prayers are said, the small pieces are placed on the ground, and they begin to eat them.

Seven songs for the eagle tail feather with which the sun is supposed to have brushed off the scar from Scar-face's face and is supposed to be the feather brought down from the sun by Scar-face follow: "Old man says, hand me a feather." The feather is pa.s.sed to the man. Another song follows: "Old man says he wants a hundred feathers. Old woman wants different kinds of feathers." Seven more songs are sung, the words of some of them are: "This man says that above have seen me. It is powerful. The ground I see is powerful.

Old man, says, white buffalo robe I want. Old woman, says, Elk I want. Old man says, don't fool me. Old woman says, don't fool me."

The meaning of this is to be sure and give them what they ask for, that is, offerings made at the sun dance to the sun, moon, etc.

Seven songs are sung before they take up the rattles and the rawhide and five songs for the raven. At this time, the man takes hold of one of the rattles by the ball part touching it to the ground, while he holds the end of the handle straight up. The raven songs are: "Raven says, buffalo I am looking for; buffalo I take. The wind is our medicine. The brush is our home. Buffalo I take." The man pecks the rattle handle with one finger on both sides and crows. Then they begin to beat the rattles on the rawhide and shake them in a circle once.

Now seven songs are sung for the smudge which is made of a species of fungus that grows on a kind of willow. The songs: "Old man says, all right, may my lodge be put up. Old woman says, all right may my lodge be put up or built." These words mean that the sun and moon are speaking and want the sun dance lodge built without any accidents.

The next songs are for the natoas bundle which is not opened. The songs: "Old man comes in, he says, I am looking for my bonnet. I have found it. It hears me. It is medicine." The old woman sings and uses the same words in her songs. There are six of these bonnet songs. The songs for the badger skin follow: "The man above hears me; he is powerful. The ground is my home; it is powerful." There are four songs for the badger. The badger skin and other things are not handled, the songs about them are simply sung. The songs for the natoas are: "Old man says I am looking for my bonnet. I have found it: it is powerful." The woman then sings a song with the same words, which is followed by a song about the stone arrow points on the natoas. There is a song for everything which makes up the bonnet which is as follows: the leather band, the blue paint on the band, the stuffed weasel skin tied crosswise on the bonnet, the weasel tails hanging from the bonnet, two feathers in front, and two behind, two plumes on each side of the bonnet, a flint arrow point, a buffalo calf tail, a snipe, and a small doll the head of which is stuffed with tobacco seed. The song for the doll on the bonnet is: "Children are running about. They are running from us. They are running towards us. They are boys. They are powerful." The man says, "Give me the child," and makes the movement of reception. Another song is sung: "Child is crying," and the man imitates the crying of a child. The song for the little birds is: "Bird says water is my medicine; it is powerful," for the calf tail: "Man says calf tail I want," and for the arrow point: "Sharp points are on both sides."

Then follows the song for the leather band which represents the lizard: "Yonder man, I am angry and mad at you." This song of the lizard refers to the prairie dog chief. The blue paint on the band represents water and the song for it is: "The blue waters are our medicine." The song for the feathers is: "Feathers I want." Another song for the plume on the feathers: "Red I want." This closes the evening ceremony. The man and woman are put to bed and all go home.

This is the ceremony after the first sweathouse is made. Three more moves of the entire camp and three more sweathouses must be made.

The fourth move and sweathouse is where the sun dance takes place.

Nowadays, only one sweathouse is made for the sun dance.

It seems that the final camp is marked out by a society laying rocks around its bounds, according to which the arriving bands find their proper places.

At the fourth camp and on the fourth day, the natoas bundle is opened, or its formal ritual demonstrated. Early in the day another tipi is pitched before the medicine tipi and the covers are joined, thus enlarging the s.p.a.ce and providing for a few spectators. A few men and women are invited to a.s.sist in the ceremony: the men use the rattles and with the women aid in the singing. The father and other men sit on the north side of the tipi, the former next the medicine woman's husband; and the other women sit on the south side, the mother next to the medicine woman. She directs the medicine woman and the singing of the other women. The ceremony opens at about ten A. M. with the first series of songs in the ritual. Three men hold a rattle in each hand, beating them upon the rawhide by a vigorous downward forward stroke, the seventh rattle is used by the father.

The ritual of the natoas will be found in Volume 7, pp. 215-220.

Normally, this ceremony transfers the natoas to the daughter. She may, however, waive the right, in which case the bundle returns to the former owner. Yet, she seems to enjoy all the privileges accorded to one having been an owner.

Theoretically, no one can perform a transfer ceremony without having first owned the bundle in question. In case of the natoas, even now, a beaver owner is regarded as competent to conduct the proceeding, though he may never have gone through the ritual with his wife. This is consistent with the tradition that formerly the natoas was a part of the beaver bundle.[6] Yet, the conditions here are slightly different from those for other bundles in that the father must provide or is charged with the responsibility to see that a natoas is provided. Following the vow, either he or the son makes formal application to the owner of a natoas by the usual presentation of a pipe.[7]

When the daughter begins her fasting, the father has the natoas brought to her tipi. As a rule, the father's wife owns a natoas. Some informants claim that even should the daughter own a natoas, the father must provide another. On the other hand, the daughter can select the eligible natoas. In any case, the father furnishes the daughter with a dress and an elk robe for which he must be paid liberally.[8]

In conclusion, it may be remarked that anyone can make up a natoas, if he has a dream so directing him; also, if he owned a natoas that was lost or otherwise destroyed; if he gave it away, without receiving payment; or if it was buried with someone. Having owned a natoas and transferred it, he cannot duplicate it; should the new owner lose it, he may, if called upon, replace it; likewise, if buried, the surviving husband or wife could call upon him. In all such cases fees are given.

When one transfers a medicine bundle and has been paid for it, he has no more right to it and cannot duplicate it on his own motion. Should one sell the bundle without the ceremony of transfer, the ritual remains with him and he can again make up the bundle; should one make the transfer and fail to receive the pay, or waive the pay, he can make it up again. The relatives of one buried with a bundle can call upon a former owner to make it up, after which it must be formally transferred to one of them. Men were sometimes killed on the warpath and their bundles lost; such were replaced as noted above. In every case these must be true duplicates; it is only a dream that authorizes new creations, or variations, however slight.

An interesting sidelight is thrown upon the idealized qualities of this woman's function by the following narrative:--

Once while a medicine woman was sleeping in the sacred tipi during the fasting, a nephew of her husband stole in and made improper advances.

Being a good and true woman, like all others who give the sun dance, she spurned him. Next day she told her husband the whole story. He was very angry. He was not satisfied with the confession she made, but suspected that she must have given the young man some encouragement. So when all the medicinemen and women had come into the tipi to rehea.r.s.e the songs as usual, he made a statement of these suspicions and as he had two wives, he proposed to have them change places.

The medicinemen pleaded for the first wife because they believed her innocent, but the husband was obdurate. So the second wife was called in to take the place. Then the first wife said, "It was I who saved this man's life when he was ill. I made the vow to give the sun dance and he got well. I have suffered much in fasting, all for him. Now he disgraces me before all the people. But I will put my virtue to a test. If I am true, I have already acquired power."

She filled a pipe, went outside and standing now on the east side of the tipi, then on the south, the west, and the north, she addressed the sun.

The day was clear, but soon after the woman entered the tipi, thunder was heard. A storm came down with hail and blew over many tipis. But in spite of these proofs, her husband was obdurate and the second wife went on with the ceremony.

Not long after the sun dance this same man became ill again. Finally, as a last resort, he called upon the first wife to save him again. This woman told him to call upon the other woman as he seemed to have so much faith in her. So he died and was properly punished for so unjustly treating his faithful wife.

FOOTNOTES:

[6] In former times, the natoas and the medicine woman's costume were owned by a beaver man. When a woman gave a sun dance she gave a horse for their use. She just borrowed them. Later on, a beaver man transferred them, whence they became a separate bundle.--Tom Kiyo.

[7] Should the woman already own a natoas and the transferrer (father) own one; the woman must say which bundle shall be used. She can use her own, borrow, or purchase of the transferrer.--Curly-bear.

[8] A Piegan informant comments as follows: The woman can either buy or borrow a natoas. In the olden times she often borrowed because the natoas, the dress, the elk tooth wristlets, and the robe were owned by a beaver man's wife. After a time, however, these were transferred to a medicine woman and were thus separated from the beaver bundle.

THE PROCESSION TO THE DANCING LODGE.

In our account of the natoas ritual we told how the father, son, etc., emerge from their tipi. The file is headed by the father, followed by the son, next the mother, then the medicine woman followed by women bearing the tongues. The father and the son are m.u.f.fled in blankets (robes); the latter walks with bowed head, leaning heavily on a staff and bearing over his head a wild rhubarb stalk.[9] The medicine woman wears the natoas on her head, an elkskin (often buckskin) dress and an elkskin robe, with the digging-stick on her back. For a staff, she uses one of the smudge sticks. The women in her rear bear parfleches containing the tongues, together with blankets and other ordinary objects. Two or three old men act as conductors, or flankers, keeping the way clear of spectators, etc. The procession moves slowly and by stages. The four princ.i.p.al personages in it keep their eyes upon the ground. The course is southward past the entrance (east side) to the dancing lodge, around the south side, the rear of the shelter and entering from the north side. Here the medicine woman remains until the dancing lodge is raised at sunset, when she returns to her tipi and breaks her fast with berry soup. The father and the son go to a sweathouse after which their responsibilities also end. During the continuance of the ceremonies in the sun lodge, the medicine woman cares for the natoas bundle, now her property, until transferred to another, but is otherwise free to do as she likes. She usually remains quietly at home receiving guests and resting.