1920.] Lowie, Crow Tobacco Society. 161 



for the Tobacco bag and another, as well as otterskins, etc., for the 

 breast ornament. For a horse she bought the privilege of sitting next 

 to the door, which involved always getting the food left undistributed; 

 when there was plenty of eatables, there would be a good deal of this. 

 When any song was sung, she had the privilege of taking it up when 

 nearly ended and carrying it on alone for several measures.' 



When Old-dog was adopted into the Strawberry chapter by Bear- 

 wolf, he and his relatives paid fifty horses, of which Bear-wolf gave one 

 to each of the four song instructors, whom he had selected. The medi- 

 cines received were paid for each with one horse; Bear-wolf distributed 

 the horses among different members of the chapter, and in return* Old- 

 dog received medicines from them. He took Tobacco, weasel skins, 

 and artificial strawberries prepared by Medicine-crow; the Tobacco 

 was in bags and ready to be planted. From Bear-wolf himself my 

 informant obtained little brass bells fastened together and trimmed 

 with little feathers. The bells represent the stars. 



THE PLANTING. 



While I was never fortunate enough to be on the Reservation at the 

 time of a Tobacco planting, I secured a number of independent descrip- 

 tions by trustworthy natives. Briefer accounts have been published by 

 Simms and Curtis. 1 In the interests of clearness I will subdivide my 

 account into sections dealing with the principal activities of the Mixers, 

 the Procession to the Site, Performances at the Garden, Inspection and 

 Harvest. 



THE MIXERS. 



According to Pretty-tail ; if any member (presumably meaning any 

 Mixer) has had a dream during the winter concerning the Tobacco 

 planting, he prepares a feast in the beginning of spring and invites all 

 the Mixers, men and women, for a discussion of the subject. After they 

 have eaten, the host inquires of each guest whether he or she has dreamt 

 about the Tobacco planting. Then any one who has done so tells about 

 it. Some will say that they saw the Tobacco growing to such or such a 

 height, that they saw the leaves but not the site of the garden. Others 

 have seen the Tobacco just coming out of the ground or have seen the 

 crop maturing, or have merely caught a glimpse of the enclosure and 

 of the ploughed ground. Still others have seen the ground ready for 



iSimms, 330-335 ; Curtis, vol. 4, 61-67. 



