XO. 5 NARRATIVE OF A CHEYENNE WOMAN MICHELSON I3 



The wife of the pledger carries the skull from the tipi to the 

 mound/ She carries it in a stooping position, very carefuUv and 

 slowly. Five stones are then selected. Two are painted black, a third 

 is not painted, the last two are also painted black. After this they are 

 not handled with the hands, but are put in place with forked sticks 

 between the mound and the sweat lodge, a little to the south of the 

 trail. Motions are made with the hands four times towards the stones 

 before the stones are forked. These stones are placed in the same 

 manner as the holy places within the tipi but are closer together, the 

 fifth stone being in the center. The dried wood and other stones are 

 then placed without any ceremony. However, before fire is added to 

 the heap, the heap is touched four times with a fork in the same man- 

 ner as the stones. In the meanwhile the women cover the hut with 

 heavy canvas. Blankets, fine clothing, and other things are placed on 

 top of the canvas. These become the property of the priest and his 

 helpers (who are the painters). The property is divided according to 

 what the priest and his helpers gave when they were pledgers. If one 

 or more horses are given away, the ceremony is conducted in the day- 

 time. If not, it is conducted at night. 



The priest and pledger enter the sweat lodge with the paint still 

 on them and go over the ceremony as in the tipi, except that they 

 remove the paints put on by the painters, using sage ' ; water is drunk, 

 and their bodies are washed. When the hot stones are brought in, 

 two are brought in first, then one, then two. They then are placed in 

 the same order as they were before they were heated. The remain- 

 ing stones are then brought in. The sweat bath now begins. The 

 priest utters a prayer and sings songs. The doorflap is raised ; also 

 the rear is raised, thus airing the bather. This is done four times, and 

 each period lasts about 20 minutes. When this is over we all go back 

 into the tipi, when our relatives bring in all kinds of food for us to 

 eat. Before we eat, bits of food are placed on the holy ground and 

 drawing motions on the body are performed. We then proceed to eat. 

 The sacred medicine bag is in a crescent shape ""; it is made out of 

 raw hide. The inner bag is an entire prairie dog skin which contains 

 the sacred herbs. 



^ For the pledger's wife carrying the buffalo skull, see Dorsey, G. A., loc. cit., 

 vol. 2, pp. 107, 108; Grinnell, loc. cit., vol. 2, p. 291. 



"^ The use of sage for ceremonial purposes is common enough. See Dorsey, 

 G. A., loc. cit., vol. 2, p. 159; Grinnell, loc. cit., vol. 2, p. 423. 



" See footnote 3, on page 11. 



