472 BUREAU OF AMKRICAX K'lIINOLOGY I Bru.. 61 



grass-dance songs of our own, the melody and also the words being Sioux. There is 

 always a feast at a gra&s dance. The men who have charge of the meeting decide 

 who shall proN-ide the feast, and the Crier notifies them. The same people are not 

 asked to provide for two successive feasts. Each "cook" brings wliat she likes — 

 dried borrii's or grapes, wild turnips, and sometimes sweet corn, prepared by lioiling 

 it with ashes until the husk drops off, then washing it thoroughly and l)oiIing it with 

 a bone which has fat on it. Dog is not insisted upon, but if one of the appointed 

 "cooks" wishes to provide a dog it is greatly appreciated. The head and chest of 

 the dog are cut into four pieces and put in a large dish. Four young men are selected 

 to eat them, and after the young men have finished this the bones are put in a pile, 

 and the four young men, one after another, dance four times around it. The pile is 

 not in the center of the circle made by the young man as he dances; it is near one 

 side, and as the young man passes near the pile of bones he extends his hand over it.' 



Ill a orass danco the drum is outside the circh'! of dancers, near 

 that side of the assembly where the men sit. A few women sino; with 

 the men at the drum. 



One feature of this dance is that a k)st article must ])e redeemed 

 with a gift. Thus, if a featlKn- falls to the ground the whole party 

 danco aroimd it, and one of tlie men goes forward aiid strikes it, 

 afterwards giving a present to some old man, who is not expected to 

 make any return. More than one may strike a feather, each being 

 required to give a present to an old man. Sometimes four men do 

 this, after which the feather is returned to its owner. 



The men dance alone. The women also dance alone, but occa- 

 sionally summon a few men, whom they call by various terms of 

 relationship, as ''brother" or "cousin." If a woman calls a married 

 man into the dancing circle his wife regards it as an honor, which is 

 correspondingly greater the longer he is required to dance. His 

 wife always gives a present to the woman who asked him to dance. 

 Sometimes a woman, rising, tells the brave deed of some relative, and 

 all the women respond with the high, cjuavering cry which is their 

 customary applause. 



At the end of the men's dances the participants sit down, but the 

 drum continues a moment or two, whereupon one of the men rises 

 and dances around the circle, singing a sho^-t phrase. This is called 

 "dancing the tail" (see pi. 77, B), and words are often used only in this 

 part of the song. The tail dancer is selected by the other dancers, 

 and it is considered an honor to be so chosen. Only a man who has 

 done some brave deed may be chosen as a tail dancer. According 

 to Mr. liigheagle, this feature of the grass dance had its origin in an 

 honor dance, signifying that the dancer had acted as rear guard in a 

 certain war expedition and been successful, or had been left behind 

 on the warpath and had acted nobly. The same honor might be 

 given to a man whose horse had boon shot under him and who had 



» Cf. the dog feast in the drum-presentation ceremony of the Chippewa (Bull. 53, pp. 173-180), which 

 rcsemble.s the dream dance of the Menomini. 



