LAFLESCHE] RITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 107 



These songs refer to the vigils of a man who is chosen for the office 

 of leader of a war party. His office is one of great hardship, because 

 he must act as intermediary between the people and Wa-ko"'-da and 

 offer to that power the prayers of the people for aid in an enterprise 

 that is serious and uncertain in its future consequences. The chosen 

 leader is required, for the time, to abandon all thoughts of human 

 affairs, even to disregard his physical comforts or discomforts, to 

 keep his mind fixed only upon the supplications of the people and 

 upon the divine power to whom he offers them. He must keep 

 awake while he offers the prayers so as not to lose any sign of approval 

 that might be revealed to him in answer to the prayers. To insure 

 wakefulness the supplicant must stand or he must move about, or if 

 forced by exhaustion to rest he must sit in an upright position, 

 although he may lean against a rock or against the trunk of a tree. 

 He must, however, remain awake whether he stands or sits and keep 

 his mind fixed upon the divine power to whom he must cry con- 

 tinually for a period of four days, or seven if his strength holds out 

 for that length of time. Thus it will be understood that the title 

 of this group of songs is figurative and means that when the chosen 

 war leader takes this rite he is to be as it were asleep to all human 

 affairs but stand awake as he offers the appeals of his people to 

 Wa-Jko"'-da. 



In liis seven days vigil this chosen leader represents all of the 

 people, and at the end of the four or seven days his duty as repre- 

 sentative of all the people has been performed. When he returns to 

 his home then begin the rites pertaining to the organization of the 

 war party and the leader's responsibility as intermediary shifts from 

 the people to the warriors who are to risk their lives for the tribe. 

 Throughout the expedition the leader must maintain his vigil and 

 his appeals to the divine power for aid to the warriors. During the 

 march he must walk apart and at night must camp alone with no 

 one for companion, for he must be alone when in the presence of 

 Wa-ko"'-da. When he lies down for required sleep he must always 

 lie on his side, never on his back, in order that the vigil might remain 

 unbroken, in spirit at least, until the expedition comes to an end. 

 This is what No°'-zhi"-zho", the native title of the Rite of Vigil, 

 means. By some authors on Indian customs the term "fast" is 

 applied to this rite; while the term is correctly used it, nevertheless, 

 is very partial, as it covers only one phase of this complex rite. 



A man may take the rite of No°'-zhi"-zho" on his own behalf when 

 overcome with grief at the loss of wife, child, or some close relative, 

 by death, or when he desires to appeal to Wa-ko°'-da for aid in his 

 struggles for life. 



