822 THE GHOST-DANCE RELIGION [eth.akn.14 



was one of the messiah's word oaine to truth. Tlie messiah said, "I will short your 

 journey when you feel tired of the long ways, if you call upon me." This we did 

 when we were tired. The night came upon us, we stopped at a place and we called 

 upon the messiah to help us because we were tired of long journey. We went 

 to sleep and in the morning we found ourselves at a great distance from where 

 we stopped. 



It is useless to assert that these men, who had been selected by the 

 chiefs of their tribe to investigate and report upon the truth or falsity 

 of the messiah rumors, were all liars, and that all the Cheyenne. Arap- 

 aho, and other delegates who reported equally wonderful things were 

 liars likewise. They were simply laboring under some strange psycho- 

 logic influence as yet unexplained. The story of the revivified buffalo 

 became so widely current as to form the subject of a Kiowa ghost song. 



Having mentioned some characteristics of the Ghost dance west of 

 the Rockies, we shall notice here some of the peculiar features of the 

 dance as it existed among the Sioux. The ceremony will be described 

 in detail later on. 



Before going into the dance the men. or at least the leaders, fasted for 

 twenty four hours, and then at sunrise entered the sweat house for the 

 religious rite of purification preliminary to painting themselves for the 

 dance. The sweat house is a small circular framework of willow 

 branches driven into the ground and bent over and brought together 

 at the top in such a way that when covered with blankets or buffalo 

 robes the structure forms a diminutive round top tipijust high enough 

 to enable several persons to sit or to stand in a stooping posture inside. 

 The doorway faces the east, as is the rule in Indian structures, and 

 at the distance of a lew feet in front of the doorway is a small mound of 

 earth, on which is placed a buffalo skull, with the head turned as 

 if looking into the lodge. The earth of which the mound is formed is 

 taken from a hole dug in the center of the lodge. Near the sweat- 

 house, on the outside, there is frequently a tall sacrifice pole, from the 

 top of which are hung strips of bright-colored cloth, packages of 

 tobacco, or other offerings to the deity invoked by the devotee on any 

 particular occasion. 



The sweat bath is in frequent use. both as a religious rite of purifica- 

 tion and as a hygienic treatment. Like everything else in Indian life, 

 even the sanitary application is attended with much detail of religious 

 ceremony. Fresh bundles of the fragrant wild sage are strewn upon 

 the ground inside of fhe sweat-house, and a lire is kindled outside a short 

 distance away. In this fire stones are heated by the medicine-men, 

 and when all is ready the patient or devotee, stripped to the breech- 

 cloth, enters (he sweat house. The stones are then handed in to him 

 by the priests by means of two forked sticks, cut especially for the pur- 

 pose, and with two other forked sticks he puts the stones into the hole 

 already mentioned as having been dug in the center of the lodge. 

 Water is fchetl passed in to him, which he pours over the hoi slones 

 until the whole interior is tilled with steam; the blankets are pulled 



