LAFLBSCHE] EITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 77 



2. 



Ha ! Sho'-ka, let us now go forth, 

 Ha! Sho'-ka, let us now go forth. 

 Let us now go forth, 

 Ha! Sho'-lja, let us now go forth. 

 Ha! Sho'-ka, let us now go forth. 



The preliminary ceremonies of tiiis degree, as given by the 

 I^-gtho^'-ga and Wa-fa'-be gentes, wliich include the smoking of the 

 sacred animal skins, the making of the symbolic moccasins, and the 

 painting and dressing of the Sho'-ka and the Xo'-ka, are closed with 

 the singing of the No°-zlii°' Wa-tho", Rising Song. 



The Zhon'-xa Wa-zhu (Consecrated Tally Sticks). 



The principal part of the cereniony, which is spoken of by the 

 No^'-ho^-zhi^-ga as Zho"'-xa Wa-zhu, begins with the Tsi Ta'-pe 

 Wa-tho°, which, freely translated, means Song of the Processional 

 Approach to the House, that is, the house or place prepared for the 

 ceremony. The songs and wi'-gi-es of the rite without any dis- 

 tinction bear the title of "songs." From tliis point the counting 

 begins. These songs are divided into two fclasses: the first is called 

 Wa-tho°' Pe-tho"-ba tse, The Seven Songs, and the second class is 

 called Wa-tho"' Sha-pe tse, The Six Songs. The Seven Songs belong 

 to the Ho°'-ga tribal division and the Six Songs to the fsi'-zhu tribal 

 division. 



The soAgs of the ceremony proper, as stated above, are called 

 Zho"'-xa Wa-zhu, which, freely ti-anslated, means the Songs upon 

 which Sticks are Placed, a title that takes its name from the custom 

 of the No°'-ho"-zlii"-ga or the novitiates using tally sticks for keeping 

 a correct coimt when memorizing the titles and the number of the 

 songs coming under each group (PI. 2, B,C). The tally sticks may be 

 used at a ceremony by a No"'-ho°-zhi°-ga while acting as A'-ki-ho" 

 Xo'-ka or when instructing a novitiate, but the counting stick 

 (PI. 2, A, B) he invariably uses at a ceremony is the one always kept 

 withawa-xo'-be. This stick is about 1 inch^vide and as long as the 

 lower arm of a man. Across the width of the stick are cut small 

 grooves in groups to represent the number of songs in a class. These 

 groups of marks cover both sides of the stick and a man in keeping 

 count as he sings begins to count from the lower end of the stick and 

 proceeds upward toward the top. When he reaches the top he turns 

 the stick over endwise and continues his upward count from the end 

 nearest to him. The bmidle of tally sticks and the marked counting 

 stick are both calletl Zho"'-xa Wa-zhu, and as both are used in con- 

 nection with the ceremonies they are regarded as sacred. 



