uiFLESCHE] RITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 69 



for keeping a correct count of the songs as he sings them. The 



A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka and liis tliree assistant singers each has at liis side 



a goui'd rattle to be ceremonially taken up and used to accentuate 



the rhytlim of the music of the Rattle-songs antl those to be sung 



thi-oughout the rest of the ceremony. This rehearsal lasts until 



about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. The members of the candidate's 



gens are obliged to sit through the entire rehearsal, but the members 



of the other gentes are allowed to go to their homes when they 



become tired. 



Title of the Candidate. 



Up to this stage of the ceremony the candidate has no definite 



title, but when he takes his seat at the eastern end of the lodge 



together with his Xo'-ka, A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka, and the members of his 



gens for the Xight-singing, he thenceforth is spoken of as Wa-tho° 



A-ka, the Singer. He may not know any of the songs to be sung, 



may not even know how to sing, but he thus becomes the Singer, 



ami bears that title throughout the ceremony. At the close of the 



ceremony, when the Wa-xo'-be of his gens is given over to him, he 



^vill then have the right to say: "I sang the songs of the No"'-zlii"- 



zho"," and be entitled to act as Xo'-ka at the initiation of a candidate 



for the degree. 



The Ki'-NON. 



The ceremonies next in order are called Ki'-no", Painting, and 

 relate to the symbolic painting of the Sho'-ka and the Xo'-ka, as well 

 as to the putting upon them of their sacerdotal attire, preparatory to 

 the processional approach to the place prepared for the ceremony. 



Before sunrise on the morning following the Night-singing the 

 A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka, the Sho'-ka, the Singer, and the No'''-h()''-zhi"-ga 

 members of their gens assemble for the Ki'-no" ceremony at the house 

 of the Singer. At this time each man puts upon his forehead moist- 

 ened earth" as a token that he is now a supplicant in the presence of 

 the Life-giving Power. When the gathering has placed upon them- 

 selves this sacred sign the Singer, following the instructions of the 

 A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka, blackens with charcoal the face of the Sho'-ka, 

 fastens to the base of the braided lock on the crown of his head a 

 deer-tail headdress (PI. .3), puts upon his feet the symbolic moc- 

 casins ceremonially prepared for him, and ties to each of his arms, 

 just above the elbow, a yard or two of calico. The moccasins are 

 symbolic of life's long and perilous journey and the strips of calico 

 represent the thongs to be used by the warrior in tying such captives 

 as he may take on his journey. In early daj^s skins of snakes were 

 used as symbols for the captive thongs. The Sho'-ka wraps around 

 his body a buffalo robe which is fastened at the waist with a girdle. 



Having thus painted his Sho'-ka, the Singer places in his hand a 

 pipe filled with tobacco, to be taken by him as a supplicatory offering 



