g6 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. IX. 



feet long. It was folded so that the two narrow ends were brought 

 together and along these edges holes were made so that it could be 

 laced. Having fashioned the tying strings, he thrust his fingers in 

 the white lime paint and drew them irregularly over both exposed 

 faces of the skirt, the markings being symbolic of rabbit tracks. 



The Lodge-Maker's Whistle. 



Deafy now prepared the eagle wing bone whistle to be used by 

 the Lodge-maker. He attached to it a buckskin thong by which 

 it could be suspended about the neck, and tied to it a piece of sage. 



Preparing the Buffalo Skull. 



While the priests under the direction of the Chief Priest were 

 preparing the ceremonial costumes of the Lodge -maker and his wife, 

 the assistant Chief Priest had been working continuously for over 

 an hour on the buffalo skull. First he took up the bundle of swamp 

 grass and began to fashion three large plugs for the two eye sockets 

 and the nasal cavity. These finished, the Lodge-maker was re- 

 minded that before he painted the skull or proceeded further he 

 should have his compensation for the service. Consequently the 

 Lodge-maker prayed as follows: "Please do this right; all of you 

 will be happy; have pity on me and if you will perform this as you 

 ought you will receive benefits from the ceremony," and left the 

 tipi. He soon returned, bringing a gun, which he presented to the 

 assistant Chief Priest. The latter made four moves with his hand 

 and picked up one of the grass plugs and moved it four times toward 

 the eye socket and inserted it. He repeated these motions while 

 he placed in position the second plug. He then completed the piece 

 which was to be placed in the nasal cavity; attempting to insert it, 

 he discovered that the nasal bones were in the way. As he broke 

 these out, one of the priests remarked that work of that nature 

 should be done outside of the lodge. 



He knelt down behind the skull and painted a black line along 

 the median line of the skull from back to front. The line was about 

 an inch in width and represented the road to the four medicine 

 spirits. Parallel with this and on each side he painted a narrower 

 line in white, which also extended from the base to the anterior 

 part of the skull. He then painted the remainder of the skull, 

 including the horns, red. The white lines represented day, the 

 black night, the red of the skull the earth. He then painted the 

 two grass plugs in the eye and nasal sockets red; they represented 



