THE SWEAT HATH 



823 



tight to close every opening, and lie sits in this aboriginal Turkish bath 

 until Lis nak.-.l body is dripping with perspiration. Dunn- this time 

 the doctors outside are doing their part in the way of praying to the 

 gods and keeping up the supply of hot stones and water until in their 

 estimation he has been sufficiently purified, physically or morally, when 

 he emerges and resumes his clothing, sometimes flrst checking the 

 perspiration and inducing a reaction by a plunge into the neighboring 

 stream. The sweat bath in one form or another was common to almost 

 every tribe in the United States, but as an accompaniment to the Ghost 

 dance it seems to have been used only by the Sioux. It may have been 

 used in this connection among the Shoshoni or northern Cheyenne, but 

 was not among any of the tribes of the southern plains. The Ghost- 

 dance sweat-house of the Sioux was frequently made sufficiently large 

 to accommodate a considerable number of persons standing inside at 



the same time. 



After the sweating ceremony the dancer was painted by the medi cme- 

 men who acted as leaders, of whom Sitting Bull was accounted the 

 greatest among the Sioux. The design and color varied with the indi- 

 vidual, being frequently determined by a previous trance vision of 

 the subject, but circles, crescents, and crosses, representing respectively 



the sun, the moon, and the morning star, were always favorite ligures 

 upon forehead, face, and cheeks. As this was not a naked dance, the 

 rest of the bodv was not usually painted. After the painting the 

 dancer was robed in the, sacred ghost shirt already described. This 

 also was painted with symbolic figures, among which were usually 

 represented sun, moon, or stars, the eagle, magpie, crow, or sage hen, 

 all sacred to the Ghost dance among the Sioux. In connection with the 

 painting the face and body were rubbed with the sweet-smelling vernal 

 grass (Hierochloe), used for this purpose by many of the prairie tnl.es, 

 and sometimes also burned as incense in their sacred ceremonies or 

 carried as a perfume in small pouches attached to the clothing. 



The painting occupied most of the morning, so that it was about noon 

 before the participants formed the circle for the dance. Among the 

 Sioux, unlike the southern and western tribes generally, a small tree 

 was planted in the center of the circle, with an American flag or colored 

 streamers floating from the top. Around the base of this tree sat the 

 priests At a great dance at No Water's camp on White river near Pine 

 Ridge shortly before the arrival of the troops, a young woman stand- 

 ing within the Circle gave the signal for the performance by shooting 

 into the air toward the cardinal points four sacred arrows, made after 

 the old primitive fashion with bone heads, and dipped in the blood of a 

 steer before being brought to the dance. These were then gathered up 

 and tied to the branches of the tree, together with the bow. a gaming 

 wheel and sticks, and a peculiar staff or wand with horns. (See plates 

 XC xci.) Another young woman, or the same one. remained standing- 

 near the tree throughout the dance, holding a sacred redstone pipe 



