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



In point of importance for the Crow the Tobacco ceremonial can be 

 compared only to the Sun dance. Nevertheless the resemblances 

 between the two are limited to very general ritualistic conceptions or to 

 relatively subordinate matters of detail. The structure of the lodges 

 used was identical except as to size; the ritual of cutting the first tree 

 is somewhat similar; in both cases there is a formal procession from the 

 preparatory to the main lodge; noted warriors recite their deeds and, 

 more particularly, demand food in a specific way; and at one stage an 

 eagle shaman takes part, though in very different fashion. 1 But the 

 underlying conceptions vary enormously. The esoteric feature of the 

 Sun dance centers in the medicine bundle of the Doll Owner through 

 whose aid the pledger wreaks the coveted revenge on his kinsman's 

 slayer; and the pledger does not acquire any permanent ceremonial 

 privilege. In the Tobacco dance there is a body of initiates sharing the 

 ceremonial prerogatives of a definite organization. Yet the Sun dance, 

 in which the general public play rather a significant part, was performed 

 primarily for a private end; while the Tobacco ritual, confined as it 

 was in all its essentials to 1 duly adopted members and notwithstanding 

 their preemptive claims to supernatural favor, had for its avowed object 

 the tribal welfare. 



Three other ceremonies invite comparison with the Tobacco ritual, 

 the Medicine Pipe performance, the Cooked Meat ceremony, and the 

 Bear Song dance. The Medicine pipe is acquired after a vow strictly 

 similar to that of the Tobacco society candidate, but since the Pipe ritual 

 is known to have been adopted from the Hidatsa since the settlement of 

 the Crow on their present reservation it cannot have had any influence 

 on the development of the Tobacco usages. The two other ceremonies 

 mentioned share certain ritualistic conceptions with the Tobacco society 

 but these are for the most part of a very general nature. Thus at the 

 Bear Song dance there is an assembly in a preparatory tipi and a single- 

 file procession to the dance ground with the women in the lead, and isk 

 is smoked for incense. A more specific feature highly characteristic of 

 this ceremony but appearing only incidentally in the Tobacco organiza- 

 tion will be discussed below. In the Cooked Meat ceremony there is 

 hardly any resemblance as to detail, but the prominence of war captains 

 is as pronounced as in the Sun dance and Tobacco society; sometimes 

 the performance is in fulfilment of a vow. 



iLowie, (d), 38 f., 32, 42 seq., 44, 37. 



