DKNSMORK] TETON SIOUX MUSIC 131 



WORDS 



tugka^sila grandfather. (See p. 120, footnote) 



ho uwa^yiij kte a voice I am going send 



nama'Tion ye hear me 



maka'' sito''mniyaij all over the universe 



ho uwa^yiij kte a voice I am going to send 



nama'Ii on ye hear me 



tugka^sila grandfather 



wani'' ktelo' I will live 



epelo' I have said it 



Analysis. — Peculiar strength is given this melody by the fact that 

 a quarter note is the shortest note occurring in the rhythmic unit. 

 The time of the sustained tones was accurate in all the renditions. 

 Two-thirds of the progressions aredownward, the melody beginning on 

 the fifth above the tonic and ending on the third in the lower octave. 

 All the tones of the octave are found in the song, which is minor in 

 tonality and melodic in structure. The words are continuous. As 

 already stated, continuous words are found most frequently in songs 

 connected with ''medicine." 



A man might take part in the Sun dance in one of six ways, accord- 

 ing to the nature of his vow. The requirement of fasting was the 

 same in every vow. The first way of taking part in the Sun dance 

 consisted merely in dancing, the second added a laceration of the 

 flesh, and the other four required that a stick be thrust through the 

 flesh and strain placed upon it until the flesh tore or was cut. The 

 Indians stated that the stick, or skewer, was ''put through the skin," 

 and probably it pierced also the subcutaneous fascia.^ The two 

 most common forms of this treatment consisted in the piercing of 

 the flesh over the chest with skewers attached by cords to the crossbar 

 of the sacred pole, and the fastening of buffalo skulls to the flesh of the 

 back and arms. The two more severe and less employed forms were 

 the suspending of the entire body by the flesh of the back, and the 

 fastening of the flesh of both back and chest to four poles at some 

 distance from the body, the poles being placed at the corners of a 

 square. 2 



If a horse liad carried a man on the warpath when his vow was 

 made, the man miglit fasten the horse to the thong by which he was 

 suspended from the pole, thus hastening his release, or he might 

 fasten in a similar manner the bridle and whip which he carried on 



1 As the word "skin" is commonly applied to the cuticle, the word "flesh" is used in this chapter as 

 indicating more clearly the severity of the ordeal. 



2 In th5s connection it should be borne in mind that the present memoir concerns only the customs of 

 the Teton Sioux, as described by members of that tribe who took part in the dance. 



