1920.] Lowie, Crow Tobacco Society. 175 



of seventeen days between successive visits. More frequently the periods 

 are given as four days (between the planting and the first inspection), 

 seven, ten, and fourteen days, which intervals also agree with those of 

 Gray-bull's origin tradition. 1 



Bear-gets-up says that at the fourth inspection a Mixer goes toward 

 the garden with all the members. They have dinner first, then the 

 Mixer goes to the garden and builds a fire in it, on which he smokes isk 

 incense. Then the people come and pull up the weeds growing on the 

 plot. Somewhat later in the season a Mixer again inspects the ground, 

 looking for weeds, and notifies the members, who come to remove them. 



On August 25, 1913, when approaching Grasshopper's house, my 

 interpreter and I caught sight of a group of people in the distance, in 

 the little garden near Bad-man's house. We drove up and discovered 

 Old-woman and Bad-man in the garden, with In-the-hole and Flat-head- 

 woman standing just outside. I was told they were going to harvest on 

 the following day, but the ceremony was postponed for some reason. I 

 noted that Old-woman always pointed at the Tobacco not with her 

 fingers but with a stick. This is one of the taboos; neither the Tobacco 

 nor the stars, which the Tobacco represents, must be pointed at with 

 the hands. 



Nowadays practically all members have the right to 'take back,' 

 i.e., to harvest their Tobacco. Formerly this was a privilege to be 

 purchased from the Mixer, who received four presents in return. Mem- 

 bers lacking the right would have their adopters get their Tobacco for 

 them. Gray-bull himself had given away, i.e., sold the right. 



The season for the harvest is "when the cherries are ripe.'.' Theoreti- 

 cally all the chapters take back Tobacco on the same day (Gray-bull, 

 Lone-tree), but on July 12th, 1910 when I attended the first harvest 

 of the year the Ducks alone were in the garden to the number of about 

 half a dozen. They removed the seed case not with their thumb nails 

 but with a small piece of wood. 



The harvesters rub isk root on their hands and feet before plucking 

 the Tobacco. Generally the Mixer, accompanied by several members 

 of his chapter, gets the new Tobacco and brings it back to camp, where 

 they dance in the adoption lodge as at the time directly after the plant- 

 ing (see below). Arm-round-the-neck says they sing at the plot and 

 then pick the Tobacco. After returning to camp with it they dance 

 separately by chapters. The Mixer has tied up in separate bags the 



Curtis (IV, 67) sets the visits at four, seven, nine, and ten days after the initiation. 



