DEXsMOiiE] TETON SIOUX MUSIC 481 



BEGGING DANCE 



Tho boggiiig dance is sometimes mentioned as though it were one 

 of the social dances of the tribe, but it should rather be regarded 

 as a custom, in which the dance step is merely incidental. The 

 begging of food from tent to tent, wliich has been mtnessed by the 

 writer at tribal gatherings, was accompanied at times with merriment. 

 Such a begging dance was seen among the Chippewa at Red Lake, 

 Minn. (See BuU. 45, p. 171. ) Certain songs are known from usage 

 as beggmg-dance songs ; most of these are very short. The songs origi- 

 nally used in begging food were "praise songs," the company standing 

 in front of a tent and smging the praises of tho occupant until he 

 appeared with the desired donations. While this might be done for 

 a social gathering it was more often done for the council tent or for 

 some society. (See pp. 103, 320, 327.) When "praise songs" were 

 used in this connection the time was gradually hastened, the begging 

 party singing the song first in the usual tempo, after wliich the time 

 was increased with each rendition until the gifts were received. 



The council of chiefs might request contributions of food from 

 three classes of men — those who had been successful leaders of war 

 parties, those who had been victorious, but not as leaders, and those 

 who had been wounded in battle. The request was made by means 

 of sticks (pi. 79), appropriately decorated, which were placed in the 

 ground before the tents. It was considered that the chiefs met in 

 comicil for the benefit of the tribe, and therefore it was an honor for 

 c{>rtain members of tho tribe to provide them with food, while they 

 were thus convened. One of the military societies usually decorated 

 the sticks and "sang around the camp" to secure the food. A man 

 was sent in advance to ascertain who occupied the various tents and 

 to place the proper sticks in the gromid. Wlien the party collecting 

 the food reached a tent they were ready to sing a song in honor of the 

 occupant, who responded with a suitable contribution. Before the 

 tent of a man who had been a successful leader of war parties they 

 placed a stick covered with black paint and having a black feather 

 suspended from it. For a man who had been victorious, but not as 

 a leader, the stick was encircled with black bands, the number of 

 which indicated the number of his victories, while for the man who 

 had been wounded a stick was decorated in red. The elaborateness 

 of the stick varied with the honor accorded the man. The sticks 

 bearing the feather and the red tassels were used at a gathering of 

 Sioux on the Standing Rock Reservation, July 4, 1911. The site 

 of this gathering is shown in plate 80. 



Distinct from the songs which were used when a party of people 

 went from one tent to another is the following song of four old women. 



