Miscellaneous Papers. 259 



sins, each made of buckskin, beautifully fringed, and painted in 

 symbolic designs. At his back he carried a quiver filled with ar- 

 rows. In his right hand he gripped a bow; in his left he held a 

 heavy rawhide shield, on the front of which was painted the sym- 

 bol of the sun. 



Entering the plaza, the dancers crow-hopped, leaped, tripped or 

 danced as the meaning of the chant demanded. On separate lines 

 in front of the slowly forward-moving musicians and the populace 

 who had joined them, they danced back and forth the full width of 

 the public dancing area, the squaw facing and dancing in one di- 

 rection, the Indian in the opposite. As they thus danced, the half 

 of the time that they faced each other the squaw, in mimicry, shot 

 at her adversary and drew her tomahawk to scalp him. At the 

 same time her approaching foe defended himself with his shield 

 and went through the motions of shooting at her with his bow. 

 Passing each other, they each leaped and crow-hopped at a rapid 

 pace to the turning-point in their course. As they thus danced 

 the squaw lifted the tomahawk and the bow and arrows alternately 

 above her head, and the Indian elevated first his shield, then his 

 bow and arrows, with a quick, vigorous thrust. Reaching the turn- 

 ing-points in their respective courses, the inner dancer swung 

 around the outer one to a line in the rear. The other dancer then 

 wheeled about and performed in the reverse direction over the line 

 he had just danced. When these dancers had moved in a sidewise 

 movement across the entire plaza they retired, and a new "set'^ 

 took their places and danced the very same dance over again — 

 nothing ever gets monotonous to an Indian. In this manner, whea 

 one "set" broke up another took its place, till night commenced 

 coming on. Then the war-captain and caciques lined the people 

 up and prayed over them, as they sprinkled them with sacred meal. 

 This closed the ceremonies. 



THE AUGUST DANCE. 



On August 2, 1900, thirteen Indians entered one of the estufas 

 to fast and pray to complete the act of maturing the crops. On 

 August 6 they completed their work, and, leaving the estufa, puri- 

 fied themselves in the river. As soon as they returned to the vil- 

 lage there followed a plaza dance, which lasted till night. In this 

 dance the old men danced around the drummer as they waved their 

 hands to bring out the meaning of the song. The dancers, a man 

 and a woman, were gaudily dressed. Both had their hair bedecked 

 with the long feathers of the eagle's tail. The man carried a gourd 

 rattle in one hand and a tomahawk in the other ; the woman, a toma- 



