No.^^er' ^'^^' ^^^^ ^^ CHANGING WOMAN — BASSO 149 



for holiness. She emerges from bi keh ihl ze' in a unique transitional 

 state. Although ready for the power which will elevate her above 

 everyone else, she is as yet without it. Nevertheless, she is accorded 

 great respect and deference. 



Said one old woman: "5i keh ihl ze' shows everybody who ih 

 sta nedleheh [the girl] is. It shows ever3^body that tomorrow she 

 wiU be at the head of her people." 



BI TIL TIH 

 ('night before dance') 



Whereas hi keh ihl ze' readies the pubescent girl to assume the role 

 of Changing Woman, hi til tih announces to the community at large 

 that she is ready to fulfill this duty. A half-night dance, hi til tih 

 differs from hi goh ji ial (see pp. 138-141) in that songs are sung by a 

 medicine man, and the pubescent girl dances clad in her ceremonial 

 costume. She dances in the conventional fashion with two girls 

 (one on either side) who are roughly her age,^^ At no time during 

 the proceedings does she dance with a male partner. "The cane is her 

 partner," the people say. 



By the time darkness comes, and a large bonfire has been started in 

 the middle of the dance area, the crowd has swelled to include persons 

 from most of the other communities on the reservation. They have 

 come by any available means — truck, car, horse — and will spend the 

 night at Cibecue in order to be on hand for the beginning of na ih es 

 the next morning. At a large hi til tih three or four hundred persons 

 may be present. Bi til tih offers many people their first opportunity 

 to see the pubescent girl dressed for na ih es; and for all there is social 

 dancing. One reason bi til tih is held, said a number of informants, 

 is to welcome all visitors to the dance ground. 



While the medicine man sings, the girl and her two companions 

 dance with expressionless faces and downcast eyes. Contrasting 

 sharply with their solemnity is the gaiety of the other persons, who 

 laugh and joke. Beyond the light cast by the fire, partially obscured 

 by the darkness, the spectators gossip and diink and watch the 

 dancers. 



Bi til tih is usually more restrained than hi goh ji tal. There is 

 less drinking and rarely any violence. The presence of the pubescent 

 girl curbs boisterous behavior. Said one informant: 



At bi til tih everyone is friendly. Nobody gets mad or gets into trouble. She 

 [the pubescent girl] is there, that's why. Everyone knows she will have na ih 



85 The girls who dance with the pubescent girl at bi til tih are usually her cousins (parallel or cross, no 

 preference expressed) or her sisters. They dance viath her because, in the words ol one old woman, If they 

 did not, " . , the girl would be too bashful to dance alone." 



