March, 1905. The Cheyenne — Dorsey. 49 



the cap. All the men who have heretofore pledged and performed 

 the great Medicine-Lodge dance since the time of Erect-Horns have 

 been leaders of other medicine-dances, and such medicine-men may 

 become leaders in several dances in succession. 



There are two distinct bands of the Cheyenne, the old-time North- 

 ern Cheyenne, whose symbol is the great Medicine-Dance brought 

 by Erect-Horns. See PI. XVII. Their language is somewhat differ- 

 ent from that of the other Cheyenne, with whom they once warred. 

 The other band is the original Medicine-Arrow Cheyenne, whose 

 emblem was the great Medicine-Arrows brought by Motzeyouf 

 (Standing-Medicine), the great Medicine- Arrow Prophet. Standing- 

 Medicine and Erect-Horns are regarded as messengers from the 

 Great Medicine and the Roaring Thunder, because of their wonderful 

 powers and gifts; and they are both represented in the great Med- 

 icine-Lodge. Of the two forks of the great center-pole of the Med- 

 icine-Lodge, one represents the Medicine-Arrow Prophet, or Standing- 

 Medicine, and the other Erect-Horns, the great Medicine-Lodge 

 dancer. 



At a certain time in the progress of the Medicine-Dance, the med- 

 icine-men direct the children to go and get mud and fashion it into 

 the form of buffalo two or three inches in height. Those children 

 who go after the mud return and sit outside the front of the lodge 

 and make images of buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, and birds, in pairs. 

 When they have completed the images, they are directed by the 

 medicine-men to bring them into the lodge and place them around 

 the base of the center fork. Thus they represent the buffalo and 

 other animals that the Medicine-Arrow Prophet and Erect-Horns 

 brought with them from the earth. This the Cheyenne do at every 

 medicine-dance, hoping that, as in ancient times, the buffalo will 

 come during the performance of the dance. Long ago, after the 

 disappearance of the two great medicine-men, the medicine-men 

 would sing the songs that were taught them by Erect- Horns during 

 the ceremony, and by the charm of the songs all the animals would 

 appear, running up to see the lodge. 



There was a time when the Cheyenne captured human beings and 

 tied them to the center-pole as a sacrifice, in order that the tribe might 

 be blessed and might procure favor. 



