NO. 5 NARRATIVE OF A CHEYENNE WOMAN MICHELSON 9 



she made decorated tipis. There is a rather long ceremony in connec- 

 tion with the making of tipis. I became a member of the " Tipi Deco- 

 rators." which is composed of women only.' I was very carefully 

 instructed never to disclose the ceremony in the presence of males. 

 So I shall be obliged to discontinue the subject. 



My husband's health became broken. We summoned many Indian 

 doctors, and gave away much personal wearing apparel, and also some 

 ponies. One day when we were alone he pledged a Sacrifice Ofifering. 

 This ceremony is a sacred ritual which is regarded as a prayer to the 

 spirits for strength and health. When he made the pledge this in- 

 cluded me, for the rule requires that a wife must be included. But sad 

 to say, he passed away before we could carry out the pledge. 



Four of my younger children also died later. It was a good thing 

 for me that my father and mother were still living. I did not really 

 have a hard time to support my children. 



I surely loved my husband. His death made me very lonely, and it 

 was a terrible event in my life. Apparently I missed him more than 

 I did my children who died afterward. My hair was cut off just be- 

 low my ears.' This was done by an old woman who had obtained the 

 authority by participating in one or more sacred ritualistic ceremonies 

 previously. Before cutting off my braids she first raised both her 

 hands towards the sky. touched the earth with the palms of her hands, 

 laid her hands on my head, and made a downward motion, repeating 

 the motion four times. Thus my braids were cut off in accordance 

 with the belief that the spirits would be pleased and extend blessings 

 and sympathy to the bereaved. The old woman who cut my hair was 

 given a blanket and a dress. 



The death of my husband marked the passing of our tipi, includ- 

 ing all the contents. If people do not come and carry away something, 

 the whole tipi is destroyed by fire.' 



J.. The Cheyenne Indians, Mem. Amer. Anthrop. Assoc, vol. i, pt. 6, p. 411, 1907. 

 It is extremely common among North American Indians, but Mooney's gen- 

 eralization is too sweeping; see for example, Lowie, R., Primitive religion, 

 p. 284. New York, 1924. 



This note applies to all the references to the number four in the followmg 



' See Grinnell, loc. cit., vol. i, pp. I59 et seq., for lemale societies among the 

 Cheyenne ; also Petter, loc. cit., article " bead," pp. 97, 98. 



= Compare Grinnell, loc. cit., vol. 2, p. 161. The same thing occurs elsewhere, 

 c g among the Arapaho, Gros Ventre, and Blackfoot: see Kroeber, A., The 

 Arapaho, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 18, pt. i, p. 16, 1902; Kroeber A., 

 Ethnology of the Gros Ventre, Anthrop. Papers Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. i, 

 pt. 4, p. 181, 1908; Wissler, C, The social life of the Blackfoot Indians, Anthrop. 

 Papers Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 7, Pt- i, P- 3i, 1912. 



' See also Grinnell, loc. cit., vol. 2, p. 162. 



