DENSMoaE] TETON SIOUX MUSIC 83 



pipe, and was known as itay'cay vja'tay I'Vyapi, or "leader who 

 lights the pipe." This man put lighted sweet grass on the buffalo 

 chip wliich lay on the mellowed earth. He did not do this with 

 directness, but, lowering the grass a short distance, he paused for a 

 moment ; then lowering it farther, he paused again, making four down- 

 ward motions, after which he moved it four times in a circle, "\vith 

 the sun," and placed it on the buffalo chip. The a'taya itarj'i^aij held 

 the pipe in the ascending smoke and repeated the words which the 

 \Miite Buffalo Maiden said to the Sioux when she appeared to them. 

 This ceremonial speech was not recorded, as none of the writer's 

 informants on this subject were able to repeat it.) The a'taya 

 itaij'(5ai] then turned the pipe and held it as if he would smoke it. 

 Having done this three times, he put it to liis lips, ready for lighting. 

 More grass was put on the buffalo chip, and the man who was to light 

 the pipe rubbed the fragrant smoke on his hands and face, after which 

 he lit the pipe and the a'taya itaq'<^ar) smoked it freely. Weasel Bear 

 said: 



After he had smoked for awhile I sat down close to Mm and he pointed the stem 

 of the pipe toward me, saying, "Young man, you are going to smoke tliis pipe. It 

 was brought to us by a woman, and drawing it will lead you to be as straight and truth- 

 ful as the stem of the pipe." I smoked it without touching the bowl, and the old 

 man in taking it from me passed his hand downward over my face. The pipe was 

 then passed around the lodge, going toward the left. When it was smoked out itaij^cag 

 iya'tag ki'yapi took it and three times pretended to empty the ashes on the buffalo 

 cliip, emptying them with the fourth motion. 



During the day of the ceremony the spirit bundles lay beside their 

 respective spirit posts. The actual release of the spirits came when 

 these bundles were opened. This was done by the a'taya itaq'daq. 



Weasel Bear said: 



He did not take all the wrapping from a spirit bundle at once. He removed a por- 

 tion and then made a brief discourse, doing this in such a manner that there were four 

 acts of unwrapping, the last one occurring about an hour before sunset. Then he un- 

 folded the last wrapping and let the spirit of my child depart. 



The lock of hair, or other object which formed the nucleus of the 

 spirit bmidle, was kept by the family, and the itaij'daij kept such 

 articles from the bundle as he desired, the remainder being distributed 

 among the people in the lodge. The spirit-keeper and his wife then 

 gave away practically all they possessed except the clothing they 

 wore. 



If the principal spirit-keeper made use of a white buffalo robe in the 

 spirit lodge there was much interest at the close of the ceremony in see- 

 ing who would have the honor of carrying it out of the lodge. A man 

 having the necessary qualifications might do this, and children who had 

 been through the Alo'waijpi ceremony might take hold of it and help 

 him carry it. The qualifications included uprightness of life and the 

 former possession of a white buffalo robe. Outside the lodge a crude 



