karsten] blood revenge, WAR, AND VICTORY FEASTS 77 



the trophy itself has to be laid down in this solution. The priest 

 again grasps the slayer by the right hand and makes him take up 

 a little water from the pot, with which he wets the tsantsa. The 

 same operation is immediately repeated ; but now the slayer also 

 takes up a small sikimuro piece from the pot and touches the hair of 

 the trophy with it. Finally the slayer cautiously puts the trophy 

 itself down into the pot, his right hand then being held by the priest 

 and his left hand by the medicine man. 



The trophy having been laid down in the »iJcimuro solution with 

 these ceremonies, the washing itself is performed by the medicine 

 man (pi. 9, a). He rubs the hair with the sikimuro pieces and 

 Avashes it with the soap produced by them. Having carefully soaked 

 the trophy in the solution, he takes it up from the pot, places it on 

 the top of the chonta stick, and continues washing it. Thereupon he 

 begins to make it dry, shaking off the water from it, beating his 

 arms with the hair, and drying it with his clothes. Finally he combs 

 the tsantsa., receiving a special comb from the daughter of the 

 slayer, who has kept it at her bosom in the same way as the wife of 

 the slayer had kept the sikhnuro root. The hair having been ar- 

 ranged and combed properly, the trophy is again hung on the top 

 of the chonta stick, where it is left for a while so as to get perfectly 

 dry. The medicine man grasps the hand of the slayer and makeis 

 him touch the hair of the tsantsa; then he likewise grasps the hands 

 of his wife and daughter and makes them gently touch the trophy. 



While all these operations have been performed the women, led 

 by the priestess, have again formed a circle around the principal 

 persons, accompanying each of the most important actions — when 

 the tsantsa was first touched by the sikimuro solution, when it was 

 laid in the pot, when it was washed and combed, etc. — by dancing, 

 chanting, and shaking their rattles (pi. 9, h) . The refrains, slowly 

 and monotonously sung by the women, are much the same as were 

 before sung in the house : 



" Ochoyirumhd - yamdyumhd - pakeketd - kokokeho - shlmhdgasme - 

 mishahosS-odod . . . .," etc. 



The operations of the medicine man have also been accompanied 

 by the four warriors armed with shields and lances, who at the 

 critical moments have been striking their shields performing the 

 yaktinyu. 



The washing of the tsantsa having been accomplished, the sikimuro 

 solution is disposed of in the following way: The medicine man 

 seizes the pot with both hands and pours out the majority of its 

 contents, as well as the foam produced by the root, on the earth. 

 The rest of the warriors start to strike the running water and foam 

 furiously with their lances. The remainder of the solution, as well as 

 the clay pot itself, is thrown away into the forest. 



