1920.] Lowie, Crow Tobacco Society. 179 



give you my necklace." The Founder took off his necklace, gave it to his adopted 

 son, and bade him adopt someone else. So the orphan picked out a second orphan 

 boy and treated him as he himself had been treated by his ' father.' He also asked 

 his son to bring meat for the first initiation payment. The Founder made a necklace 

 of one Tobacco plant, keeping the first necklace originally given to him. He made a 

 second necklace for his ' son ' and another for his son's adopted son. Then he said, 

 " Adopt another." " No, I'll wait till I shall have returned from a war party with 

 my ' son '." " What are you going out with?" " With this necklace you have given 

 me and which I have dreamt about." Instead of killing the enemy, he brought back 

 six head of horses. His father said: " Don't go on any more war parties until your 

 ' son ' has adopted a child." 



Beaver gave to the last orphan adopted a dream in which he bade him adopt not 

 a single person but a married couple. There were thus five members when this 

 couple had been adopted. At that time initiation presents consisted of meat exclu- 

 sively. The married man picked out an elderly man and his wife and adopted them. 

 Then there were seven members. " Now," they said, " let us dance the Tobacco 

 dance. Let us all get rattles." The two women had beaver skins made for them to 

 be used for medicines. The necklaces used hitherto by the members were unpainted; 

 now the Founder painted his necklace red. Each member had two rattles, which 

 they beat against each other. They sang this song : 



i'tsi'tsewa diriruk' , awaxawesa dfriruk*. 



All the Tobacco plants are walking, towards the mountain they are walking. 



They danced. The women danced. Beaver lay on the ground. The people 

 looked on and thought the dance was fine; they wanted to be adopted and join. A 

 certain man came up for this purpose, but the members told him he was too young, 

 that they wanted to adopt only old people. Being refused admission he went crying 

 on the prairies, then came back to the last couple initiated and asked them how they 

 were adopted. They said they had given meat in order to be adopted. " I want you 

 to adopt me." " Wait, I'll see my grandfather first and see what he says." The 

 Founder said they had not enough seed left and bade the candidate wait until the 

 next spring. 



Every month they performed the Tobacco dance. The candidate always brought 

 meat to them. When the time for planting came, they said, " Let us plant and when 

 we get new seeds, then we can adopt him and make a necklace for him, too." This 

 happened when the Founder was already an old man. The novice was adopted 

 with his wife, making nine members in all. When the time for planting came, other 

 people looked on and said they were glad to see it and liked it. The last couple were 

 told to pay a bow and arrows, moccasins, and leggings, and a robe, also to kill a buffalo 

 by way of initiation fee. The society danced every month at the time of the new 

 moon. They went through the same harvest performance as in the previous year. 

 The Founder told the members to get the pericardium of a buffalo and to use it as a 

 tobacco sack, for the. star had said that that was his own covering. The Tobacco 

 gave the Founder a dream bidding him put him in a sack and tie a meadowlark to the 

 outside of it. The outsiders wished to get initiated for they saw that poor people 

 after being adopted were getting along well. This was especially true of the first 

 novice, who secured horses and was a successful leader. The Founder said that was 

 just what he wanted. The membership increased to sixteen, including wives of 

 married men. 



