246 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



after being" bit by a venomous snalce, his leg swollen horribly, was 

 cured in a short time; the late Dr. IJe Wolf (U. S. Army surgeon killed 

 in the Custer massaerc) and the writer §aw the man. The doctor said 

 t here was no cure for him, yet he was cured by a medicine man. Another 

 cure, a cataract of the eye, was effected b}^ the insertion within the lids of 

 brass filings. To impress upon the mind of the jiatient the divine nat- 

 ure of his medicine the niedicine man adds to the efticacy of his reme- 

 dies, mysterious incantationSj contortions of feature ami body, accom- 

 panied always by the drum, often placing upon the ground a paper or bark 

 ligure, and while the friends are holding the patient over it, shoots it 

 with his gun. As the patient is held over the figure the sickness falls 

 to the ground, enters the figure, and as he kills it witli his incantations 

 and his gun, it will not re-enter the patient. All this power is received, 

 they say, through the Great Spirit, who confers upon them a spiritual 

 medicine so powerlul tliat they can kill at will, resuscitate the dead, 

 and cure the sick. The spiritual medicine is represented by a bunch of 

 feathers, a claw, a bird or animal head, a pebble; anything, in fact, that 

 strikes their fancy. To keep their medicine from the gaze of the pro- 

 fane a medicine-bag is prepared from the skin of birds or small ani- 

 mals, decorated with beads and porcupine quills, and in this bag the 

 medicine is placed, and is carried with them always, as long as they are 

 followers of the Wau-kan Waci-pi, holy or medicine dance, and as its 

 name implies, tlie religion or worship of the medicine of the Dakotahs, 

 their manner of worshiping the multiplicity of gods through their 

 medicine. A council is held by the liead-men of the order, who appoint 

 to act, as soldiers ten members of the order, who, selecting a suitable 

 spot, erect a 3-foot barricade, in form an ellipse, at eacli end a tent, 

 one for the high-priests to hold their councils, and in which to keep 

 their Pa-zu-hi-ta-wau-kan, the other for the soldiers, who preserve 

 order, wait upon the dancers, prevent spectators from leaning upon 

 the barricade, and attend to a large cauldron of meat and wild turnips 

 cooking over a fire imniediately in front of their tent, often replenished 

 during the ceremonies. 



The high-priests entering the circle from their tent, and the soldiers 

 taking their places, the members are admitted by families or groups, 

 who, standing in line, lace the east, or medicine tent, in unison throw up 

 their hands and shout, "Brothers, have mercy upon me." The head oi 

 the family or spokesman relates where and when each one was initiated 

 into the order, chanting a refrain to the high-priest and holding the 

 medicine-bags in the left hand, tightly pressed against the heart, the 

 right arm raised as if in the act of affirming, trots around the circle crying, 

 "Friend and brother, have mercy upon me;" when reaching the start- 

 ing i»lace he chants again, this time in. praise of the Wau kan Tan-ta, or 

 Great Spirit, ami takes a seat u[)on the ground, leaning against tlie bar- 

 ricade. All the members as they enter go through with the same pro- 

 gramme. 



