utFLESCHE] RITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 73 



and the Singer lifts his outspread hands toward the sun, as though to 

 receive from the God of Day the sacred color and its life-giving power. 

 At the end of the last (seventh) line the A'-ki-ho° Xo'-ka pauses and 

 the Singer passes his hands over the face and body of the Xo'-ka, 

 who sits partly nude awaiting the painting, without touching him. 

 This done, the Singer paints the face and body of his Xo'-ka with the 

 sacred red paint. This ceremonial act is supplicatory. By it the 

 Singer expresses his craving that through the sun his life may be made 

 fruitful and that he maj be blessed with a long line of descendants. 

 The putting of the symbolic paint upon the face and body of the Xo'-ka 

 is like putting it upon himself, for the Xo'-ka represents, among other 

 things, the Singer. When all of the body of the Xo'-ka has been 

 painted red, a dark line is drawn on his face running upward from one 

 cheek to the forehead, then across to the opposite side and downward 

 to the middle of the other cheek. This line represents the dark 

 horizon line of the earth and is called ho'-e-ga, a snare, or an inclosure 

 into which all life is drawn and held captive. From the line as it runs 

 across the forehead, four black lines are drawn downward to the eye- 

 brows. These four lines represent the four winds that symbolize the 

 breath of life. Upon the right side of the Xo'-ka the Singer makes 

 the picture of a man, that represents his soul or spirit. When a man 

 who has taken the No°'-zlu"-zho" or the Wa-xo'-be degree of the 

 tribal rites dies his face antl body are painted in this manner in prejDa- 

 ration for burial (PI. 4). 



Putting Symbolic Aeticles on the Xo'-ka. 



The A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka proceeds to the next section of the wi'-gi-e 

 while the Singer picks up from the pile of sacred articles a white, 

 downy plmne taken from under the wing of an eagle and holds it in 

 his hand as the A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka recites. The downy feather repre- 

 sents one of the two shafts of light that are sometimes seen on either 

 side of the sun as it rises above the eastern horizon. In tliis instance 

 the shaft of light at the right of the sun is mentioned in the wi'-gi-e 

 for the reason that the ceremony is being performed by a gens belong- 

 ing to the Ho"'-ga division. If the ceremony was given by a gens of 

 the fsi'-zhu division the shaft of light on the left side of the sun 

 would be mentioned. The shaft represented by the downy pliune 

 symbolizes the strong active life of a warrior. At the end of line 14 

 the A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka pauses while the Singer fastens to the base 

 of the braided lock of the Xo'-ka that hangs from the crown of his 

 head, the downy pliune, which is so adjusted that it stands in its place 

 upright and firm. 



The Singer next picks up from the sacred articles a shell gorget 

 which is fastened to the ends of a woven neckband and as the A'-ki-ho° 

 Xo'-ka goes on with the third section of the wi'-gi-e, holds it in readi- 



