May, 1905. The Cheyenne — Dorsey. 183 



tically the same. In each lodge we find an altar, a common method 

 of dancing, and in general a similar color scheme for the dancer's 

 paints and costumes. The lodge in each case is appropriately dedi- 

 cated and with similar rites; the actions of the dancers have much 

 in common; at the conclusion of the ceremony each lodge, including 

 its altar, is left to the elements. 



From this brief resume of the main points of similarity, details of 

 difference may be noted. The dancers of the Cheyenne ceremony are, 

 as a rule, not those who have pledged to dance as among the Arapaho, 

 but they dance because they belong to the same social organization 

 as the man who has pledged the ceremony. The secret tipi of prepara- 

 tion in the Cheyenne ceremony, like that of the Arapaho, is car- 

 ried into the open space in the circle, but the tipi is carried by 

 women and not by men, as among the Arapaho, and is known, suc- 

 cessively, as the Warriors '-tipi, the Priests '-tipi, and the Lone-tipi, 

 whereas among the Arapaho it is known as the Rabbit-tipi. The taboos 

 of the tipi of preparation are more severe and greater in number among 

 the Arapaho than among the Cheyenne. The secret rites of the 

 secret tipi of preparation among the Cheyenne comprise the making 

 of successive "earths," the drum-stick rattles, and the center-pole 

 image; these are not found in the Arapaho. In the Arapaho tipi of 

 preparation there occurs the painting of a buffalo robe to be used on 

 the center-pole. The buffalo skull is found in both secret tipis, 

 and in each its eye-sockets and nasal cavity are provided with grass 

 plugs. The painting of the skull in the Cheyenne ceremony differs 

 materially from that of the Arapaho. During the preliminary days, 

 but one important event is found in the Arapaho ceremony which 

 is not found in the Cheyenne, viz. : the ceremonial killing of the buffalo, 

 the painting of the robe of which has already been noted. The tem- 

 porary altar for the secret rite of preparation in the Cheyenne cere- 

 mony lacks the sacred wheel on its symbolic support, which plavs an 

 important part in the Arapaho ceremony. The belt and head-dress 

 of the wife of the Lodge-maker in the Arapaho ceremony are sacred 

 and are handed down from one ceremony to another. In the 

 Cheyenne ceremony the belt and head-dress are constructed anew 

 for each performance. Women cut down the center-pole in the 

 Arapaho ceremony, whereas this is done by men in the Cheyenne. In 

 abandoning the secret tipi in the Cheyenne performance the wife of 

 the Lodge-maker carries the buffalo skull; the Lodge-maker himself 

 carries it in the Arapaho performance. The painting of the four rafter 

 poles and the center-pole lack the interest in the Cheyenne ceremony 

 this rite has in the Arapaho. The sacred pipe and the wheel play a 



