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3 revisions | Trinh Bui at May 14, 2020 03:08 PM | |
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5440 then 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 or Messiah Dance was first given on Pine Ridge Reservation by the Sioux who had been in Utah on a visist to the Ute Indians, there were many on-lookers. These became interested as the dance proceeded, for such was its influence upon a beholder that he felt an irresistible desire to join the circle. (Picture) While the priests are employed in their prayers, the squaws make a good-sized sweathouse. Ples 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 steam can pass from the interior. A fire is started in a hold 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 rocks have become sufficiently hot, the young men who are to partake of the bath strip with the exception of teh breech-clout, and crawl through the door. They seat themselves in a cicle, with their feet towad 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 hide pocket 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. | 54 |