12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 183 



of performances related in these various ways/ and only then could 

 statements regarding the significance of variations be made with some 

 confidence. Whether there is reason to divide the third type listed 

 above along lines that would coincide with linguistic or geographic 

 groupings is not now clear. With regard to the extent of variations, 

 the evidence that is available supports the obvious hypothesis that 

 variations of the first type are the least extensive, those of the third 

 type, the most. 



With no attempt at complete coverage, but simply to illustrate the 

 nature of the variations that are likely to occur within one section of 

 the Thanksgiving Speech, excerpts from two other performances are 

 given on pages 140-145. Each is the section dealing with the wind. 

 The excerpt on pages 140-143 is made from another recording made by 

 Corbett Sundown (Tonawanda Reservation, 1959 c).* On pages 

 142-145 is an excerpt from a recording by the late Solon Jones (Cat- 

 taraugus Reservation, 1956). Thus with relation to the full version 

 given in this work these two illustrate respectively variations of the 

 first and third types. 



Sundown's two versions are relatively very similar, perhaps the 

 more so because of the fact that they were recorded on the same day 

 and in the same place. The sequence of ideas is the same, and the 

 only differences seem to be in the choice and arrangement of words. 



Jones's version, on the other hand, is markedly different. Most 

 obviously, it is shorter. Aside from the terseness of the sentences, 

 the sequence in which the ideas are presented is not the same. Never- 

 theless, most of the ideas as well as the words which express them are 

 also contained in Sundown's speech, and this small amount of material 

 gives us no firm basis for separating local from individual differences. 



Apart from types of variation found within the individual sections 

 of a speech, it is possible to observe variations in the organization of 

 the entire speech, principally in the inventory and order of the items 

 mentioned. In this respect the two Thanksgiving Speeches of Sun- 

 down are identical. The speech of Jones, however, allots a separate 

 section to the strawberry, but includes the birds in the section on the 

 animals. There is no section deahng with the Sisters. The order of 

 the third through seventh items is: water, the strawberry, plants, 

 animals, trees. Handsome Lake precedes the Four Beings. 



Beside variations in different performances of the same ritual, it is 

 also possible to compare similar components in different rituals. The 

 justification for pairing the Thanksgiving Speech and the Thanks- 

 giving Dance in this work was, in fact, the occurrence in both of the 



' Cf. In this connection Fenton, 1953. 



' See the list of recorded versions that follows the Bibliography, pp. 301-302. 



