May, 1903. The Arapaho Sun Dance — Dorsey. 71 



the palms of his two hands in front of H6cheni, the latter touched the 

 tips of the fingers of his right hand to the ground, then to his mouth, 

 bit off a small portion of the root, and spat five times in the hands of 

 Watanah, the ceremonial circuit being followed. Watdngaa then knelt 

 in front of Hoclieni, who went through the same performance with 

 his hands. 



Watdngaa and Wdtanah then took the hide from behind and over 

 the buffalo skull, where it had been lying during t"he night and placed 

 it in the open space south of the fireplace, the forward end of the hide 

 being directed toward the east. The bags of red paint were next 

 placed in front of Hocheni by Wdtanah, who went through the usual 

 motions, and who touched them and spat upon them and touched them 

 with the pipe-stem five times. Then he rubbed the end of the pipe- 

 stem here and there, at random, over the hide. Debithe, who had also 

 been sitting on the south side, now took up the bag of red paint and 

 untied it, while Chanitoe untied the bag of black paint. Witanah 

 gave to each a piece of tallow, which they thoroughly mixed with the 

 paint. Hawkan then put a live coal in front of the head of the hide 

 and placed upon it spruce leaves. Moving up by the side of the 

 rising incense, Watdngaa now took the black paint and smeared it 

 between the palms of his hands, while Wdtanah did the same with the 

 red paint. With the palms of their hands together, they then held 

 them over the rising incense four times, the left hand being upward 

 first, then the right, then the left, then the right, the hands being held 

 each time in a horizontal position. Then the hands were turned in a 

 perpendicular position, with the thumbs up, and were held over the 

 incense. Watdngaa then painted the anterior half of the robe black, 

 while Wdtanah painted the remainder red. Wdtanah next doubled the 

 robe in two along the median line, folded it, and placed it upon the 

 buffalo skull, the front end of the robe touching the base of the skull. 



The buffalo skull and robe now constituted a living animal — 

 Young-Bull. With the ceremonial killing of the buffalo, the life-ele- 

 ment is transferred to the hide; this life-element is renewed or revivi- 

 fied as the hide is passed over the incense. With the placing of the robe 

 over the skull, beneath the sage bed of which should be seven buffalo 

 chips, the process of forming an animate being is regarded as complete. 



The placing of the buffalo chips was omitted in 1902 for the reason 

 that they could not be secured. Occasionally five are used instead of 

 seven. The chips are symbolic of food and are spokenof as the gift 

 of the buffalo to the Arapaho. At the end of the ceremony they are 

 supposed to be transferred by the "grandfather" to the Lodge-Maker, 

 i. e., from an elder to a younger generation. 



