LA. FLBSCHBj TRIBAL RITES — FREE TRANSLATION 61 



Ho^'-ga." He then told the Wa-zha'-zhe the maimer in which his 

 people destroyed life wherever it appeared on the earth, using for 

 their weapons the four winds, and that whichever way the people 

 turned the winds, the animals and men stricken by them fell and 

 died. It was at this point that the Wa-zha'-zhe leader made known 

 to his host that the Ho^'-ga and the Tsi'-zhu desired to dwell with 

 him and his people, but did not hke their habit of destroying life. 

 The Wa-zha'-zhe leader then suggested that his host and his people 

 move to a new country, where the land was pure and free from the 

 signs of death. The Ho°'-ga U-ta-no^-dsi (the Isolated Ho°'-ga), as 

 the Wa-zha'-zhe called these strange people, willingly accepted the 

 invitation and moved with the Wa-zha'-zhe to a "new country," 

 where they joined the Ho°'-ga and the Tsi'-zhu. 



All the four groups, the Wa-zha'-zhe, the Ho°'-ga, the Tsi'-zhu, and 

 the Hq°'-ga U-ta-no°-dsi, thereupon moved to a new country, where 

 the land was undefiled by decaying carcasses and where there were no 

 visible signs of death. There they united themselves in friendship, 

 each pledging to the other its strength and support in resisting the 

 dangers that might beset them in the course of their united tribal life. 

 It was at this time that the following dramatic incident took place 

 between the Wa-zha'-zhe and the Ho^'-ga. The Wa-zha'-zhe 

 offered to the Ho°'-ga a symbolic pipe, but before accepting it the 

 Hc'-ga asked, "Who are you ?" The Wa-zha'-zhe repUed: 



I am a person who has verily made of a pipe his body, 



When you also make of the pipe your body, 



You shall be free from all causes of death, 0, Ho'^-ga. 



The Ho^'-ga took the pipe and said in response: 

 I am a person who has made of the red boulder his body, 

 When you also make of it your body. 

 The malevolent gods in their destructive course. 

 Shall pass by and leave you unharmed, O , Wa-zha'-zhe. 



The expression of the Wa-zha'-zhe, "I am a person who has made 

 of a pipe his body," is figurative and means that the pipe is the life 

 symbol of his people, the medium through which they aj^proach 

 Wa-ko°'-da with their supphcations. The words used by the Ho^'-ga 

 in his response, "I am a person who has made of the red boulder his 

 body," are also figurative and mean that the red boulder is the life 

 symbol of the Ho°'-ga people. The red boulder has a dual symbol- 

 ism; it is the symbol of endurance and is also a symbol of the sun, 

 the emblem of never-ending life. 



It was thus that the two groups, the Wa-zha'-zhe and the Ho°'-ga, 

 pledged support to one another in times of danger so long as tribal 

 life should last. The words of the Wa-zha'-zhe and those of the 

 Ho^'-ga were put in the wi'-gi-e form and are embodied in the rite 



