STEVENSON.] 



RITES WITH CHILDBIRTH. 



133 



At S o'clock she was seized with the first stage of labor, and her 

 mother at oace made a fire in the fireplace, and a low, heavy stool, cut 

 from a solid block, was placed iu frout of it. The woman took her seat 

 npon the stool, with her back to the tire, wearing lier cotton gown, 

 woven dress and belt, and a small blanket around her. 



The doctress (Fig. 19) and sister of the woman's hnsband, who had 

 been summoned, arrived almost immediately. The father and husband 

 removed their moccasins and the women had their legs and feet bare. 

 The father took his seat ujjon a low chair in front of his daughter, the 

 doctress sat to her left, clasping an ear of yellow and purple corn, and 

 the writer by the side of the doctress, holding a medicine stone which 

 iiad been given her some days previously by the doctress to be used on 

 this occasion. The husband sat upon his wadded blanket against the 



I'ifi 1!) Sia itnctrt-s.s, 



wall, and by his side were his two sons and his sister, she having with 

 her an infant and a child some 2 years of age. The night was warm 

 and the door of the room was left open. 



The ho'naaite laid three small buckskin medicine bags on the floor 

 in frout of him (one containing shell mixture, another the iioUen of 

 edible and medicinal plants, and the third a plant medicine powdered), 

 and, holding the (juill ends of two eagle plumes between his hands, he 

 repeated in a low tone the following prayer ; 



I'-iwa-u-wak' nai'-she eh shan'-nai ha'-arts. Nai'-sheeh pitonipina- 

 mu-'sa. N'a' wai-pi-cha-u-wak. I-iwa uwak', na'-wai-picha-u-wak. 



Mish'-'cha hatch-*se ko'-ta-wa oh-wi-chai-ni uwak. Now'-amuts 

 Pitoni p'i namu-*sa. Ya'-ya ko'pish-taia ha'-arts shau' uai Nai'- 

 she-eh uwak', pi-to-ni pi-uamu-'sa. 



Na'-wai-pi-clia u wak. 



