AMERICAN ABORIGINAL PIPES AND SMOKING CUSTOMS. 569 



in the back part of the lodge. Notice is then given to the bi.irer of the calumet 

 respecting the time when it will be convenient for the danee to take place. The 

 bearer of the calumet is now considered as the father, and addresses the individual 

 whom he is about to honor by the title of son, presenting him with some valuable 

 articles, such as a gun, kettle, blankets, clothing, and ornaments for his youngest 

 child, who is destined to represent the father, or the adopted son, at the ensuing 

 ceremony. 



At sunset the calumet is taken from the forked stick, or support, enveloped like 

 an infant in swaddling clothes, and pla( ed carefully in a bed prepared for its recep- 

 tion ; a lullaby is then sung, ac<ora])anied by the music of the rattle, for its (juiet 

 repose. On the following morning it is awakened by a song, with the same music, 

 and again consigned to its forked sui)])ort. The appointed day having arrived, a 

 space of sufficient diameter is inclosed by a screen of skins lor the dance; a post is 

 fixed in the earth, near tlie entrance to the area. Around this area the principal 

 men of the nation seat themselves; the adopted son leads in his youthful represent- 

 ative, and the two dancers, decorated with i>aint and entirely destitute of clothing, 

 with the exception of the breech-cloth, conmu-nce the dance. They are each provided 

 with a decorated calumet stem and a rattle of dried skin or a gourd, containing 

 pebbles, with which to keep time with the music of the gong and to the vocal chant- 

 ing of the musicians of the village. They dance in the ordinary manner of the 

 Indians and pass backward and forward between the entrance and back part of 

 the area, endeavoring to exhiliit as much agility as possible in their movements, 

 throwing themselves into a great variety of attitudes, imitative of the actions 

 of the war eagle, preserving at the same time a constant waving motion, with 

 the calumet in the left hand and agitating the gourd in the right, more or less 

 vehemently, agreeably to the music. "Warriors and braves will now bring forth 

 presents of horses, guns, etc. The bridle of the horse is attached to the post by 

 the donor, who receives the thanks of an old crier stationed there to perform that 

 duty. The music now ceases while the donor strikes the post and recounts his 

 nnirtial deeds, and boasts of the presents which he has made at different times 

 on similar occasions. Sometimes during a ceremony a warrior will take the gong 

 from the performer and strike upon it as many times as he has achieved brave and 

 generous actions; he then sits down, and no cme must dare touch it but such as can 

 strike it more frequently than the first; if this is done the gong is returned to the 

 performer. The calumet dance sometimes continues two or three days, but each 

 night the calumet is consigned to its repose in the bed with the same ceremonies 

 as the first night. When all the presents have been made which the dancers have 

 reason to expect, they depart immediately with them to their own nation or lodge. 

 Instead of striking the post the donors sometimes strike lightly upon the persons of 

 the dancers. The presents made at these dances are sometimes quite considerable. 

 Ong ])atunga once danced tbe calumet to Tanarecawaho, the grand Pawnee chief, 

 and received from him between eighty and ninety horses. The Pawnees are. indeed, 

 distinguished for their liberality and dexterity at this ceremtmy. They gave one 

 hundred and forty last autumn to the Otoes who performed this dance at their vil- 

 lage, and gave so much satisfaction to many individuals of this naticm as to receive 

 extraordinary presents from them. On this occasion one person, in the warmth of 

 his feelings, brought forth his child and presented it to them as the most precious 

 gift in his power to bestow. The Pawnees accepted this gift, but on their departure 

 they returned the child to its parents, accompanied by the present of a fine horse, 

 upon which it was mounted.' 



Maj. J. W. Powell informs the writer that the Shoshoniaii family, 

 many of the Pueblos, Xavajos, Apaches, aud Sioux, iu smokiug, pass 



' Stephen H. Long, Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, I, p. 332, 

 Philadelphia, 1823. 



