DENSMOKKl TETON SIOUX MUSIC 185 



1 was not rcquii-ed to fast before seeking the \dsion but of course took no food with 

 me when I went to the hilltop. In the middle of this hilltop I dug a hollow about 



2 feet deep and large enough so that I could crouch against its side when weary with 

 standing. At each of the four points of the compass I placed one of the robes and 

 some of the tobacco. These offerings were to show that I desired messages from the 

 directions of the four winds and was waiting anxiously to hear the voice of some l)ird 

 or animal sj^eaking to me in a dream. 



Having plac-od these offerings in position, and according to the advice of the medi- 

 cine-man, I stood facing the west and watched the sun disappear. As soon as the sun 

 was out of sight I closed my eyes and turned my face toward the east, standing thus 

 for awhile, then facing the north and the south. So I stood, wrapped in a buffalo 

 robe. I was not exactly singing, but more nearly lamenting, like a child asking for 

 something. [CI. p. 96.] In the crying or lamenting of a young man seeking a vision 

 two things are especially desii-ed: First, that he may have long life, and second, that 

 he may succeed in taking horses from the enemy. 



Beside me, at the north, was placed a buffalo skull, the face of which was painted 

 with blue stripes. ['] The openings of the skull were filled with fresh sage, and it was 

 laid on a bed of sage. The skull was placed with its face toward the south. The 

 reason for this was that when the buffalo come from the north, traveling toward the 

 south, they bring news that Wakag^tagka has provided food for the Indians and there 

 will not be a famine. During part of the time I rested my pipe against the buffalo 

 skull, with the stem pointing toward the north. Part of the time I held the pipe in my 

 hands, with the stem away from me. The pipe was filled, but not to be lighted until I 

 returned to the medicine-man after my dream. [Cf. sealed pipe in Sun dance, 

 pp. 149, 150.] 



As I still faced the west, after the sun had set and when it was almost dark, I heard a 

 sound like the flying of a bird around my head, and I heard a voice saying, "Young 

 man, you are recognized by Wakag'tagka." This was all the voice said. 



All night I stood with my eyes closed. Just before daybreak I saw a bright Ught 

 coming toward me from the east. It was a man. His head was tied up, and he held a 

 tomahawk in his hand. He said, "Follow me," and in an instant he changed into a 

 crow. In my dream I followed the crow to a village. He entered the largest tent. 

 When he entered the tent he changed to a man again. Opposite the entrance 

 sat a young man, painted red, who welcomed me. When I was thus received I felt 

 highly honored, for as this was the largest tent I knew it must be the tent of the 

 chief. The young man said he was pleased to see me there. He said, further, tha;t all 

 the animals and birds were his friends, and that he wished me to follow the way he had 

 used to secure their friendship. He told me to lift my head. I did this and saw 

 dragon flies, butterflies, and all kinds of small insects, while above them flew all kinds 

 of birds. As soon as I cast down my eyes again and looked at the yoiing man and at 

 the man who had brought me tliither, I saw that the young man had become trans- 

 formed into an owl, and that my escort had changed again into a crow. The follow- 

 ing is the song of this part of my dream. 



[1 It will be recalled that the stripes on the buffalo skull used in the Alo'wagpi ceremony and in the Sun 

 dance were red, and that in the Hurjka ceremony the skull was laid facing the west and in the Sun dance 

 facing the east. In both these instances the skull was laid on a bed of fresh sage. In a narrative con- 

 cerning the "calling of the l)uffalo" by a medicine-man it is stated that a bufialo skull was painted with 

 both red and blue stripes. (See pp. 72, 127, 4?4.)J 



