[WILSON] THE SACRIFICIAL RITE OF THE BLACKFOOT 19 



■vmter that the dying man should not ha.ve made such a request of him, 

 because the immediate object of the painting being to insure good 

 health and a long life to the subject, the painting of the face of a man 

 who was visibly dying was in the eyes of himself, the priest, almost an 

 act of sacrilege, hence his reluctance to make a mockery of a ceremony 

 in the efficacy of which, under proper circumstances, he firmly believed. 

 The colour on the faces should be allowed to remain until the follow- 

 'ing day. Some Indians remove it after sun-down on the day of the 

 ceremony, but the ritualists say that it should be left on the face through- 

 out one night's sleep and tlien removed by rubbing with fur. It should 

 not be washed off with water. 



All having been painted, the priest takes up the forked fire stick 

 and touches the handle of it at four different places with a small piece 

 of " buffalo chip " which he then fijxes in the fork at the end, and ex- 

 tends the " chip '' towards the lodge fire, renewing his singing. At a 

 certain place in the song one of the male guests knocks the " chip " off 

 the fire stick and into the fire. This is done because in the olden time 

 dried bufiîalo dung was used to make tlie ceremonial fire, from which 

 coals were taken to make incense. 



The host, using the fire stick, now transfers a red hot coal from 

 the fire to the altar, and the priest breaks some pieces from the root of 

 the Ferula dissoluta which he mixes with a little piece of fat and some 

 of the powdered charcoal. These are rolled into a ball, and placed on 

 the coal of fire on the altar, causing a smoke. Black pigment is added 

 to this incense in order that good influences may extend over night as 

 weU as day. 



The priest and the host now take up the sacrifice from its resting 

 place on the Artemisia, and the former begins a series of chants which 

 extend over half an hour. The tune being the feature of th,ese songs 

 the words are very few and scattered, but such words as are uttered, and 

 the occasional signs used, show that the songs refer to the myth of 

 Scarface. There is a song belonging to almost every incident connected 

 with his mythical journey to the east. 



Holding the offering in front of them, tlie two men move it from 

 side to side, backward and forward, keeping time to the cadence of the 

 songs. At the end of each chant the priest pushes the offering from 

 himself to the sacrificer who grasps it tightly to his breast, muttering 

 an inaudible prayer. The priest guides the movements of the offering 

 so that as the songs continue, tlie eagle feathers at the top are lowei^ed 

 gradually towards the clay painting of the altar. 



When this has continued untU the tips of the feathers are about 

 to touch the clay, the offering is lifted wliile the priest in a loud voice 



