1 34 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [ Vol . XXI , 



niggard re-signed his membership. On the whole such cases must be 

 viewed as exceptional since the ceremonial relationships assumed by 

 adoption usually do not fail to affect an individual's personal attitude 

 towards his fellow-members. 



The motive for entrance into the society varies, but two reasons 

 appear again and again; the novice is induced to join by a substantial 

 gift, or he is fulfilling a pledge. 



Members frequently present people with gifts in order to make them 

 join; this seems to me connected with the notion that it is honorable 

 to have stood sponsor for many new initiates. The individual accounts 

 of my informants often refer to this feature. Little-rump gave Magpie a 

 horse, thus inducing him to enter the Yellow Tobacco chapter ; Muskrat 

 similarly joined the organization after receiving a horse, and Old-dog 

 allowed himself to be initiated by Bear-wolf on receipt of ten dollars. 

 Sometimes a man is left in the dark for a while as to his would-be 

 sponsor's intentions. For example, Bear-gets-up was living with the 

 River Crow when a few lodges arrived from another band. The old 

 men among the visitors called him. He took a horse to them and entered 

 a tent, where he was entertained with food. Then an old woman gave 

 him buckskin leggings and moccasins. They did not tell him what they 

 wanted and he went out. Some time after this some one informed him 

 that they wished to adopt him into the Tobacco lodge and that that was 

 the reason for their giving him presents. He consented and was duly 

 initiated. Of course, in this as in other cases, the value of the fee 

 ultimately paid by the novice far exceeds that of the gift received by him. 

 Thus Bear-gets-up paid four horses and an abundance of quilts and other 

 property. This group of cases recalls the mode of admission into the old 

 military societies and the purely secular clubs of today, and the practice 

 may have been borrowed from them. 



The second group of instances presents an aspect more consistent 

 with the ancient seriousness of the Tobacco society and also recalls the 

 ceremonial usages of other Plains tribes, such as the Arapaho. A man 

 who was seriously sick or whose child was sick would make a vow to 

 join the Tobacco society in case of recovery, fulfilment being entirely 

 conditional. Also a man going on the warpath might say, "acbd'-ihe- 

 ha-mtiret-ddk, bacusud dibtwik' '." (If I strike some enemy, I will join the 

 Tobacco society). A few concrete variations of this motive will not be 

 out of place. 



When Cuts-the-picketed-mule's daughter was born, a warrior nam- 

 ing her promised that she would not die young, whereupon the parents 

 declared that if she lived they would let her be adopted into the Tobacco 



