56 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. IV. 



on each side of her head, and once in the palms of his own hands, 

 which he rubbed over his head, and once again on the palms of his 

 own hands, which he rubbed down her body. She then took up an 

 axe, and as he spat toward the mark indicated by Hdwkan, where the 

 pole was to be cut, she made the four usual passes, and then touched 

 the pole with the edge of the axe. She then went outside of the tipi 

 and cut the pole at this point. 



In the mean time, Nishnat^yana had left the lodge and now 

 returned with a bundle of sinew, which he gave to Hawkan. Presently 

 the wife of Nishnat^yana entered, with the digging-stick, which she 

 passed to Hdwkan, who, in turn, gave it to Watdnah, who smoothed its 

 edges with a knife. 



After the stick had been prepared, the priests on the south side 

 sat in the following order, beginning next the skull: Nishnat^yana, 

 Watanah, Hawkan, Hocheni, Watangaa, Chanitoe, and Debithe. 

 H6cheni passed Hawkan a piece of root. The latter touched the 

 ground with his forefinger, touched it to his tongue, took a bite of 

 root, and spat in his hands five times, placed the stick and sinew 

 in front of him, and prayed : 



hAwkan's prayer to digging-stick. 



"My Father, Man- Above! My Grandmother! I pray you to look 

 down on us! You Four-Old-Men, be merciful to us all! May this 

 great occasion be sincere, and meet with the approval ot the spirits, 

 the messengers of Man-Above! This stick belongs to you; it has 

 been used upon many occasions, and now we again come to you to ask 

 the privilege that the stick, which is the living part of every house- 

 hold, may be made just and holy in your sight. Our old men and 

 women have left us on this earth with poor knowledge of your secrets; 

 so help us to do these things in harmony with you! Let this stick be 

 the upholding power for us, to keep our people in good health here- 

 after! May the making of this digging-stick be an aid to us; may it 

 bind our people together! May love prevail in the tribe! May this 

 great task be light for the Lodge-Maker and for all!" 



Hdcheni then, after the usual rite, spat upon the stick four times, 

 at the same time making the customary passes toward it with the pipe- 

 stem. At the fifth instance, he touched the stick with the stem and 

 rubbed it back and forth, over both stem and sinew. Hdwkan now 

 took up the sinew and began shredding it, while Watdnah opened the 

 bags of red and black paint. After Hdwkan had torn the sinew into 

 shreds, he gave one to Watdngaa, two to Chanitoe, two to Debithe, 

 and two to Nishnatdyana, while he himself retained two. The priests 



