274 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull, ei 



NARRATIVE OF A VIGIL AND PRAYER FOR THE SICK 



By Tatai^k^-eha^^ni (Old Buffalo) 



It was with no littlo hesitation that Okl Buffalo told this story 

 and depicted the event in a drawing (pi. 42) It is an account of 

 a prayer vigil which ho kept for a niece who was very ill and who, 

 he believed, recovered because of tliis action on liis part. Such a 

 vigil is called by the Sioux Tiayhle'ca'pi, 'prayers offered standing.'^ 



This narrative is given in the present tense, as it was related, 

 and the words of the interpreter (Mrs. James McLaughlin) are fol- 

 lowed as closely as possible. Old Buffalo said: 



I have a sister older than myself. We are children of one father and one mother. 

 As my sister's cliild is growing up to be a young girl, she is taken sick, and is so thin 

 that there is no flesh on her bones. She can not rise from her bed. I sit beside her. 

 She asks me to bring her a drink of water. My heart is very sad. As I see her my 

 thought is, "I will call on Wakag'tagka for help." I had heard that when men 

 came to helplessness in sickness they did this. I could not bear the thought of going 

 many miles barefoot, but I wanted the girl to recover. 



I go on a high hill and make a vow, saying, "Wakag'tagka, I call upon you. 

 Have pity on me. My niece is on her deathbed. Have })ity on her, so she can live 

 on earth and see you. Give me strength to do what is right and honest. I will give 

 you four sacrifices. I will smoke a fine pipe. It is a Chief pipe, so you can bless it. 

 I will do this in your honor if you will spare her life. " 



The girl gets better. She drinks water and eats a little food. 



Now I am going to fulfill my vow to Wakag^tagka. It is July, and the weather is 

 very hot. They make a lodge for me at some distance from the village. It is a lodge 

 of branches. Several men take the big-leaf sage and spread it on the ground in the 

 lodge, then they bring hot stones and pour water on them. As I sit in the lodge it 

 is filled with steam. When I am wet with perspiration the men rub me with sage. 

 They take a buffalo robe, put it around me with the fur outside, and tie it across my 

 chest. The discomfort of wearing this heavy robe is part of my sacrifice, as well as 

 the disgrace of being dressed like a woman. No moccasins are on my feet. So I 

 start for the distant liill where I am to offer my prayer. I carry a pipe decorated with 

 ribbons and mallard-duck feathers, holding the stem upward in front of me as I walk. 

 The sun ha.s not long risen as I leave the village, and I reach the hill before noon. 

 There I find a buffalo skull, which a man has brought from the village. It is a large 

 skull with horns on it. My friends have also prepared a soft place on the ground for 

 me and covered it with sage leaves, that I may rest when I am too weary from standing. 

 That afternoon I hold the pipe and follow the sun with it. At night I lie face down 

 on the sage. 



Now the sun has risen. I stand up again, facing the east and holding the pipe. All 

 day I follow the sun with the stem of the pipe. The second night I stand up all night, 

 until the daylight appears. Then I put my pipe against the buffalo skull and lie 

 down with my head near it. When the sun is fully risen I stand up again and cry, 

 saying "Give me strength for long life, and strength to be right and honest in all I 

 do." On the third day I put a piece of red cloth [waoiyyapi] at each of the four 

 directions. 



Just as the sun is getting low on this day they come for me. I leave the buffalo 

 skull, the pipe, and the four offerings of red cloth on the hill. Now I am going back 



iCf. vigil by Siya'ka (pp. 184-188) 



