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the hands of the whites, the scarcity of food, the presence of the military, that its general aspect was changed from a sacred rite to a warlike demonstration.
When the Ghost of Messiah Dance was first given on Pine Ridge Reservation by the
Sioux who had been in Utah on a visit to the Ute Indians, there were many on-lookers. These felt an irresistible desire to join the circle.
While the priests are employed in their prayers, the squaws make a good-sized sweathouse. Poles are stuck in the ground and the tops bent together and securely tied. These saplings are strong enough to bear the weight of several hundred pounds. Over the frame work are heaped blankets and robes to such a thickness that no smoke or stream can pass from the interior. A fire is started in a hole in the ground several feet from the small entrance to the sweat-lodge and twenty or thirty good-sized stones are placed therein to be heated. When these young men who are to partake of the bath, strip with the exception of the breechclout, and crawl through the door. The seat themselves in a circle, with their feet toward the center and their backs against the sides of the lodge. The attendant shoves some of the hot
stones inside, and the young men pour water from a hid bucket upon the little stone
heap. Steam and vapor arise, completely filling the inclosure. The attendant has
meanwhile covered the opening so that no air from the outside may penetrate. As the vapor condenses, the attendant thrusts more stones within, and thus the operation is continued as long as the youths can stand the confinement. The pipe is also smoked during the sweat. When the young men issue from their bath the perspiration is fairly streaming from every pore. If it is not cold weather they plunge into a pool in the creek near by, but if it be chilly they wrap blankets about their bodies.
Several sweat-houses are erected in order to prepare the young men for the dance.
When a good number of young men, say fifty or sixty, have thus prepared themselves, the high priest and his assistants come forward. The high priest wears eagle feathers in his hair, and a short skirt reaches from his waist nearly to his knees. The assistants are dressed in a similar manner, but wear no
ornaments other than the eagle feathers. The dancers wear no ornaments whatever
and enter the circle without their blankets, many of them wearing their ordinary clothes.
OGALLALLA CHIEFS. PINE RIDGE--SIOUX CAMPAIGN, 1891.
In their other dances, the Omaha, the Old Woman, the Sun, and War Dances, feathers and bangles, weapons, herbs or painted and plaited grasses, porcupine quills, horses' tails and bits of furskins, necklaces, bells, silver disks, etc., are worn in great profusion.
Ghost-dance songs are sung without accompaniment of a drum, as is customary in the other dances. All sing in unison, and the notes, although wild and peculiar, being in a minor key, do not lack melody. The following two songs are sung by them during the dance.
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the hands of the whites, the scarcity of food, the presence of the military, that its general
aspect was changed from a sacred rite to a warlike demonstration.
When the Ghost of Messiah Dance was first given on Pine Ridge Reservation by the
Sioux who had been in Utah on a visit to the Ute Indians, there were many on-lookers. These
felt an irresistible desire to join the circle.
While the priests are employed in their prayers, the squaws make a good-sized sweat-
house. Poles are stuck in the ground and
the tops bent together and securely tied.
These saplings are strong enough to bear
the weight of several hundred pounds. Over
the frame work are heaped blankets and
robes to such a thickness that no smoke or
stream can pass from the interior. A fire is
started in a hole in the ground several feet
from the small entrance to the sweat-lodge
and twenty or thirty good-sized stones are
placed therein to be heated. When these young
men who are to partake of the bath, strip
with the exception of the breech clout, and
crawl through the door. The seat them-
selves in a circle, with their feet toward the
center and their backs against the sides of the
lodge. The attendant shoves some of the hot
stones inside, and the young men pour water
from a hid bucket upon the little stone
heap. Steam and vapor arise, completely
filling the inclosure. The attendant has
meanwhile covered the opening so that no
air from the outside may penetrate. As the
vapor condenses, the attendant thrusts more
stones within, and thus the operation is con-
tinued as long as the youths can stand the
confinement. The pipe is also smoked dur-
ing the sweat. When the young men issue
from their bath the perspiration is fairly
streaming from every pore. If it is not cold
weather they plunge into a pool in the creek
near by, but if it be chilly they wrap blankets
about their bodies.
Several sweat-houses are erected in
order to prepare the young men for the dance.
When a good number of young men, say fifty
or sixty, have thus prepared themselves, the
high priest and his assistants come forward.
The high priest wears eagle feathers in his
hair, and a short skirt reaches from his waist
nearly to his knees. The assistants are
dressed in a smilar manner, but wear no
ornaments other than the eagle feathers.
The dancers wear no ornaments whatever
and enter the circle without their blankets,
many of them wearing their ordinary clothes.
OGALLALLA CHIEFS. PINE RIDGE--SIOUX CAMPAIGN, 1891.
In their other dances, the Omaha, the Old Woman, the Sun, and War Dances, feathers
and bangles, weapons, herbs or painted and plaited grasses, porcupine quills, horses' tails and
bits of furskins, necklaces, bells, silver disks, etc., are worn in great profusion.
Ghost-dance songs are sung without accompaniment of a drum, as is customary in the
other dances. All sing in unison, and the notes, although wild and peculiar, being in a minor
key, do not lack melody. The following two songs are sung by them during the dance.
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