BOUHKE.) THE APACHE SPIRIT DANCE. 583 



Marion (St. Augustine, Flu.}, in 1887, when the C hiricahua Apache were 

 confined there as prisoners; although the accompanying figure repre 

 sents a ghost dance headdress seen among the Apache in the winter of 

 1885. A great many of the band had been suffering from sickness of 

 one kind or another and twenty-three of the children had died; as a 

 consequence, the medicine-men were having the Oha-ja-la, which is eu- 

 tered into only upon the most solemn occasion s,j3ucli as the setting out 

 of_ajEar_pjirty, the appearance of an epidemic, or something else of like 

 portent. On the terreplein of the northwest bastion, Ramon, the old 

 medicine-man, was violently beating upon a drum, which, as usual, had 

 been improvised of a soaped rag drawn tightly over the mouth of an iron 

 kettle holding a little water. 



Although acting as master of ceremonies, Ramon was not painted or 

 decorated in any way. Three other medicine-men were having the fin 

 ishing touches put to their bodily decoration. They had an under-coat 

 ing of greenish brown, and on each arm a yellow snake,_ the head to 

 ward the shoulder blade. The snake on the arm of one of the party 

 was double-headed, or rather had a head at each extremity. 



Each had insignia in yellow on back and breast, but no two were exactly 

 alike. One had on his breast a yellow bear, 4 inches long by 3 inches 

 high, and on his back a kan of the same color and dimensions. A sec 

 ond had the same pattern of bear on his breast, but a zigzag for light 

 ning on his back. The third had the zigzag on both back and breast. 

 All wore kilts and moccasins. 



While the painting was going on Ramon thumped and sang with vigor 

 to insure the medicinal potency of the pigments and the designs to 

 which they were applied. Each held, one in each hand, two wands or 

 swords of lathlike proportions, ornamented with snake-lightning in blue. 



The medicine-men emitted a peculiar whistling noise and bent slowly 

 to the right, then to the left, then frontward, then backward, until the 

 head in each case was level with the waist. Quickly they spun round 

 in full circle on the left foot; back again in a re verse circle to the right; 

 then they charged around the little group of tents in that bastion, mak 

 ing cuts and thrusts with their wands to drive the maleficent spirits 

 away. 



It recalled to my mind the old myths of the angel with the flaming 

 sword guarding the entrance to Eden, or of St. Michael chasing the dis 

 comfited Lucifer down into the depths of Hell. 



These preliminaries occupied a few moments only; at the end of that 

 time the medicine-men advanced to where a squaw was holding up to 

 them a little baby sick in its cradle. The mother remained kneeling 

 while the medicine-men frantically struck at, upon, around, and over the 

 cradle with their wooden weapons. 



The baby was held so as successively to occupy each of the cardinal 

 points and face each point directly opposite; first on the east side, fac 

 ing the west; then the north side, facing the south; then the west side, 



