Miscellaneous Papers- 261 



whole village was vigorously astir. Men, boys and squaws were 

 on the house roofs, in the streets and plaza, and running to the 

 river to meet the hunters, all at the same time. Excitement com- 

 pletely ruled. The people of the village, on reaching the river, 

 plunged into it, swam and waded it. and made a mad rush to the 

 leading horse of the home-coming procession, to be the first to 

 touch the bear hide carried on this horse and to be the first to blow 

 a hissing breath on it, so that they should receive a special blessing 

 of the gods. On meeting the home-coming party they turned 

 about and all entered the village in a long-drawn-out procession. 

 On arriving at the village, the hunters rode completely around it 

 and through each street, and stopped before each house as they 

 sang the bear song and fired guns in the air. Completing the vil- 

 lage in their singing, they stopped in front of the house of the hero 

 of the hunt, the young man who got his hand on the dying bear 

 first. As soon as they stopped, the mother came out with a club, 

 dragged the bear hide from the saddle, put it on her shoulder, and 

 danced a clumsy jig with it as she made a speech to those present. 

 Finishing her dancing she threw the hide to the ground, jumped 

 on it and pounded it with the club, while she shrieked a hideous 

 "Wow, wow, wow," as she batted her mouth with her left hand to 

 make the noise the more terrible. After pounding the hide for 

 several minutes, she took it into her own house and stretched it on 

 the floor with head near and toward the fire a moment. Then 

 she took it and laid it in the front part of the room near the door 

 Then each and every Indian of the village entered the house, blew 

 his breath on his right hand, and stroked the bear hide with it. 

 Then, lighting a cigarette, he left the room and went to the plaza 

 to hear the hero tell of the adventures of the trip, and of how he 

 succeeded in killing the bear. 



This, I learned afterwards, is only a small part of the bear cere- 

 monies. At another time I saw the remaining ceremonies performed, 

 with the exception, however, that they were performed with a live 

 cub bear. They were as follows : 



One morning at daylight, in the fall of 1900, the war-captain 

 and his aids, in broad, sonorous, strongly accented words, gave the 

 following order to the people as they made the rounds of the vil- 

 lage: "Fast and pray these four days. Take part in nothing pleas- 

 urable these four days. Go to your homes and do penance." 



For four days no one moved about the village. The streets were 

 deserted. The dwellings and estufas, however, were astir. Within 

 them every one was occupied in religious ceremonies. In the 



