L>AFLESCHE] RITE OF VIGIL FEEE TRANSLATION. 43 



group of gentes in the ceremonies of the tribal rites. (See 36th Ann. 

 Kept. B. A. E., pp. 52-53.) From the moment the man chosen to act 

 as Sho'-ka responds to the call and appears before the candidate for 

 the degree the relation between the two becomes formal and cere- 

 monial. The candidate addresses the Sho'-ka, saying: " My 

 nephew," or whatever the kinship term may be that he ordinarily 

 uses in speaking to him, " I have sent for you so that you may call for 

 me my elder brother," giving the name of a member of his own gens. 

 The term "my elder brother" used by the candidate is not the ordi- 

 nary kinship term but a ceremonial one. Having thus made his for- 

 mal request, the candidate places in the hand of his Sho'-ka a filled 

 pipe to carry as his badge of office and to show that the message he 

 bears is of a ceremonial character. 



The Sho'-ka having delivered his message, and the elder brother 

 having arrived and taken the seat assigned him in the house, the can- 

 didate addresses him, saying: "My elder brother, I have called you 

 because I want to ask you to act as Xo'-ka for me." The office of 

 Xo'-ka is teacher or initiator. 



The elder brother asks, in reply: "In what rite do you wish me to 

 act as Xo'-ka for you, my younger brother ? " The elder brother asks 

 this question because if he had not taken the degree desired by the 

 candidate he could not properly act as Xo'-ka for him. 



The candidate replies: "My elder brother, I wish to have you act 

 as my Xo'-ka in the No"'zhi"-zho" rite." 



Then the elder brother, without any doubt or hesitancy, replies: 

 " It is well, my younger brother. I have myself sung the songs (taken 

 the degree) of that rite and can, therefore, act as Xo'-ka for you." 



The two men having thus come to a definite understanding, the 

 elder brother proceeds at once to enter upon his duties as Xo'-ka. 

 He commands the Sho'-ka to summon the heads of two of the princi- 

 pal war gentes to appear at the house of the candidate, namely: the 

 Tsi'-zhu Wa-no°, of the fsi'-zhu division, and the Wa-zha'-zhe 

 Wa-no°, of the Ho°'-ga division. The Xo'-ka also commands the 

 messenger to call an A'-ki-ho° Xo'-ka, an additional Xo'-ka. This 

 assistant is chosen by the Xo'-ka himself from the gens of which both 

 he and his candidate are members, knowing him to be a man well 

 versed in this rite and competent to conduct the ceremony in all the 

 details. The call of the heads of the two gentes, the fsi'-zhu Wa-no° 

 and the Wa-zha'-zhe Wa-no°, to witness the preliminary ceremony 

 serves as notice to all the No'''-ho°-zhi"-ga that a member of one of 

 the gentes of the Ho°'-ga division has offered himself as a candidate 

 for initiation into the mysteries of the No°'-zhi°-zho° degree of the 

 war rites. 



The two men who represent the fsi'-zhu Wa-no° and the Wa-zha'- 

 zhe Wa-no° gentes promptly arrive and are assigned seats appropriate 



