80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bill. 01 



coal on the other implement, with which it was lifted and laid on the 

 buffalo chip. The spirit-keeper and his wife wore no ornaments dur- 

 ing this period, and their faces were painted all the time. Their 

 manner was always quiet and reverent, as though the body of the 

 relative whom they mourned was in the lodge. It was expected that 

 those who kept a spirit would hold charitable thoughts toward every- 

 one in the tribe, and all unkind or harsh words were forbidden in the 

 spirit lodge. 



The tripod and spirit bundle were brought into the lodge at night 

 and also in bad weather. The bundle was laid in the place of honor 

 and treated with great respect, no one passing between it and the 

 fire. Weasel Bear said: ''At evening I burned sweet grass and 

 my wife passed her hands over the smoke, rubbing the fragrance on 

 her face, hair, hands, and neck. Then she took the tripod in her 

 arms and carried it into the tipi, turning toward the left as she 

 entered. In the morning she again made herself fragrant and took 

 the tripod and its burden outside the lodge." 



The thing most desired was that a man might have the robe of a 

 white buffalo to spread in the place of honor. On this the tripod and 

 spirit bundle would rest when they were in the lodge. Such a robe 

 signified that the spirit being kept was pure, and that all the articles 

 connected with it had been purified. No one was allowed to touch 

 the robe with bare hands nor pass between it and the fire. The only 

 person permitted to touch it was a medicine-man who was known to 

 be qualified for the act. Bear Face said that he had such a robe when 

 he kept the spirit of his son, and that the only person allowed to touch 

 or move it was a man, whom he engaged, who was noted for this 

 ceremony. If he needed help he was obliged to call on some one as 

 fully qualified as himself and to give him half of the compensation for 

 such services. The only exception is in favor of children who have 

 been through the Tluqka ceremony. These children may lift the 

 white buffalo robe and carry it out of the lodge when the ceremony is 

 finished. 



Weasel Bear said further that during the period of keeping a spirit 

 the contents of his lodge were supposed to belong to the tribe. Thus if 

 a man came to his lodge saying, "I have come for some of my tobacco 

 and red willow," he gave him what he required. Weasel Bear con- 

 tinued his narrative as follows: 



I selected a virtuous old man as one of the officers of the spirit lodge. He was called 

 waspay^ka ihpe^ya itay'cay, meaning "leader in charge of food." He came to the 

 tipi for a short time every day, and if he wished to sleep there at night he was at 

 liberty to do so. Every morning I put beef in a dish; he took a small piece of the 

 meat, offered a prayer, and put it in a small dish provided for that purpose. This 

 duty was never omitted. When the dish was full he emptied it into the fire, saying, 

 "Grandchild, this is our food, but we give it to you to eat before us. " Tliis was con- 

 tinued from early winter, when my child died, until the next autumn, when we 



