LAPLESCHE] TRIBAL, RITES FREE TRANSLATION 151 



5. Toward the winds of tlie rising of the sun the days will surely be calm and 



peaceful. 



6. Toward the winds of the south Wa-ko"'-da will make the days to be calm 



and peaceful. 



7. Toward the winds of the setting sun Wa-ko"'-da will make the days to be 



calm and peaceful. 



8. Toward the wdnds of the laud of cedars (the north) Wa-ko'"-da will make 



the days to be calm and peaceful. 



Thus concludes the supplication of thcTsi'-zhu Wa-shta'-ge and the 

 Wa'-tse-tsi Wa-shta'-ge gentes to the four great gods. In this cere- 

 mony is also an implied apj^eal to all the members of the tribe to 

 exercise self-control, so that no contentions may arise to excite anger 

 and hatred among the people but that all may live peacefully as in 

 days of cloudless skies. 



Old men of the Tsi'-zhu Wa-shta'-ge gens, familiar with the 

 tribal traditions, say, in speaking of the oflfice of chief, "When we 

 (the fsi'-zhu) were called to the great council we were given a place 

 and the spokesman of the council said to us: "We have completed 

 the organization and have distributed the offices necessary for the 

 management of our governmeut. You are the last to come into the 

 organization, but you shall have an office that shall be greatest in 

 sanctity and in dignity. The little ones (the people) shall be yours 

 to govern, and the title of your office shall be Ga-hi'-ge (Chief) 

 Your office shall be one of kindliness, and within your house there 

 shall be no anger, no hatred. You shall lead, and the people shall 

 follow you in the paths of peace that they may live long and increase 

 in numbers." (See fig 2, No. 4.) 



The hereditary office then established was religious in character 

 and was held through centuries in reverence by the people, even with 

 superstitious awe. The advent of the European trader introduced a 

 strange element, one that in time interfered with tribal affairs and 

 opened the way to changes that finally led to the abandonment of 

 the consecrated office. These historic changes wUl be treated in a 

 later volume. 



