120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



cine shoot, which followed the initiation of new members. These 

 were contests in which the various shamans tested one another's 

 "power" or waxube. One shaman, gasping the magic cry Hex!, hex!, 

 hex!, would point the nose of his animal skin bag at another, thus 

 "shooting" his "medicine arrow" into this person's body. The per- 

 son "shot" in this manner would stagger and fall, apparently uncon- 

 scious. Other shamans would then "doctor" this person, who 

 would shortly recover. He would then "shoot" the first man, in turn, 

 or another, until all members had participated. If a person "shot" 

 in this manner was not immediately treated by other members of 

 the society, or if they failed to retrieve the "medicine arrow" of his 

 assailant, he would soon sicken and die. 



Admission to the Medicine Lodge society was by pm*chase, and the 

 price was high. If a candidate had relatives who were already mem- 

 bers, however, the price was slightly lower. Skinner (1920, p. 307) 

 also notes that: "a member possessed the privilege of passing on his 

 knowledge, by purchase, to his eldest son, who might buy it of him 

 instead of from one of the four leaders. If he had no son, he might 

 sell it to his nearest relative. In any case, he had to inform the 

 society of his intention." 



Persons who had been "doctored" by the society were also eligible 

 for admission at lower rates. The last Northern Ponca curing cere- 

 mony of this type was described by JLR, who had attended it as a 

 small boy: 



My brother was a great fisherman. He used to go out and fish all day. One 

 night, after he had been fishing all day, he had a nightmare. He sat up in bed 

 crying, "Daddy, save me, he's going to get me! Daddy save me, there he is!" 

 My father went to his bed and shook him to wake him up. "There is nothing 

 here to harm you," he said, "so don't be afraid." My brother had the same 

 dream for four nights. The animal he saw was like a bloodsucker, only much 

 larger. My brother was terribly afraid of this monster. 



Then one day he went fishing in the lake near Monowi, the one that never 

 freezes. This lake has a smell like sulphur, and steam comes off it. Even in 

 winter it never freezes. This was the day my brother saw Gisnd, the water 

 monster. It was so big that it had to lie in a horseshoe shape because there 

 was no room for it otherwise. The monster saw my brother and tried to hook 

 him with his tail and drag him into the lake, but my brother fought his way back 

 to shore. Seeing that he was escaping, the monster shot him with his tail and 

 then disappeared under water. 



Shortly after this my brother took sick, and we thought he was going to die. 

 My father called in the Medicine lodge society doctors to see what they could 

 do for him. Shaky was the leader of the society. My father said to him, "Come 

 and examine my oldest boy." Shaky agreed to come. He instructed my father 

 how to prepare the house for the ceremony. One night shortly after. Shaky 

 and three other doctors came and put on their dance. They had my brother 

 stand naked in the center while they danced around him. They asked my 

 brother what the Gisnd had told him when it shot him with its tail. My brother 

 said, "It told me I was to be a doctor." 



The first doctor danced around my brother. He suddenly stopped dancing 



