r^ FLBSCHE] TRIBAL RITES FREE TRANSLATION 91 



23. When, by this means, they bring themselves back to life, 



24. They shall always live to see old age. 



25. When the little ones make of me their bodies, 



26. They shall always be free from all causes of death. 



27. When the little ones make of me their bodies, 



28. They shall know that there is no god whose skin is as hard as 



mine. 



29. I am the only god whose skin is hard. 



30. When the little ones make of me their bodies, 



31. Their skins shall become as hard as mine. 



32. The four great divisions of the days (stages of life) 



33. Tiiey shall always successfully reach. 



34. The day that is free from anger and violence, 



35. I, as a person, can bring to your presence. 



36. The little ones shall, as a people, dwell in the days that have no 



anger as they travel the path of Ufe. 



Wa-the'-the, OR Ceremony of Sending 



At the close of the recitation of the "Wi'-gi-e of the Vigil" the 

 Xo'-ka takes up the ceremonial act next in order, called Wa-the'-the 

 (The Sending) — i. e., the sending to the various gentes of the two 

 great tribal divisions the life symbols belonging to each. The candi- 

 date, in his preparations for initiation, is required to collect such of 

 the life symbols of the various gentes as are of a tangible character. 

 At the beginning of the Wa-the'-the ceremony these symbolic 

 articles are brought by the Sho'-ka and placed in a pile before the 

 Xo'-ka. While these symbolic articles are not actually sent to 

 each gens, yet they must be present. The symbols that are of an 

 intangible nature and therefore not collectible, such as the earth, 

 sun, moon, stars, sky, night, and day, are borne in mind by the 

 Xo'-ka and are counted by him as being actually present. Before 

 the Wa-the'-the ceremony begins the heads of the gentes having 

 symbols that are collectible ask of the Sho'-ka if the symbolic articles 

 are actually present. When all the gentes are satisfied that such is 

 the case, the Xo'-ka begins the ceremony. He sends to each of the 

 gentes the fees collected ami offered by the candidate for his initia- 

 tion. Ceremonial etiquette requires the Xo'-ka to begin the "send- 

 ing" with the gens sitting nearest to him but belonging to the divi- 

 sion opposite to his own, then to the gens nearest to him belonging 

 to his own division, after which the distribution proceeds in sending 

 alternately to the gentes of the two great divisions. (See dia- 

 gram, p. 83.) When all the fees have been thus distributed the mem- 

 bers of each gens recite simultaneously the wi'-gi-e which tells of the 

 meaning of some of its own life symbols. 



