LiFLBSCHB] KITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 205 



2. 



Look you, to yonder houses we are going, 

 Look you, to yonder houses we are going, 

 At j'onder place some are home with their loads, 

 At yonder place some are home with their loads. 



The Tse Wa-tho", or Buffalo Songs, that include the Corn Songs 

 given in the preceding pages, mark the close of that part of the 

 No°'-zhi"-zho" Ritual (Hearing the Songs of the Rite of Vigil) belong- 

 ing to the Ho"'-ga great tribal division. This part of the ritual is 

 called Wa-tho"' Pe-tho^-ba Tse, The Seven Songs. - 



THE SIX SONGS. 



Wa-tho°' Sha-pe Tse, The Six Songs, is the title of that part of 

 the tribal war rite that belongs to the Tsi'-zhu great tribal division. 

 The origin of this second part of the tribal war rite is accredited 

 jointly to the Ni'-ka Wa-ko°-da-gi (Men of Mystery) gens and the 

 Tho'-xe (Buffalo Bull) gens. (See 36th Ann. Kept. B. A. E., pp. 

 64-65.) 



The mythical story of the origin of this part of the tribal war rite, 

 briefly told, is as follows: 



The first war organization of the tribe was composed of four 

 tribal divisions, bearing the names: the Wa-fa'-be, the Wa-zha'-zhe, 

 the Tsi'-zhu, and the Ho°'-ga U-ta-no^-dsi. The war emblems of 

 these four divisions were four golden eagles, varying in plimiage 

 according to the different stages of the bird's maturity. For pur- 

 poses of initiation into the mysteries of this organization the No°'- 

 ho°-zhi''-ga formulated a ritual which they called "Wa-tho° 

 Pe-tho°-ba Tse," The Seven .Songs. The rites by which this organi- 

 zation was governed permitted but one kind of ceremonially organized 

 war party, which bore the name Do-do°'-hi°-to"-ga, Great War 

 Party. Consequently one division could not act independently of 

 the other three and muster warriors to go on the warpath, since all 

 of the four divisions must act as one body in order to make a war 

 movement authoritative. This arrangement served, in a way, the 

 military activities of the people, but because of its intricate cere- 

 monials that took several days to perform during the assembling of 

 the warriors it lacked mobility and so did not admit of prompt 

 action in an emergency. 



After a long period of varied experiences the Xo"'-ho"-zhi"-ga at 

 last determined not to upset the ohl organization but to supply its 

 defect by formulating a supplementary rite which permitted: (1) the 

 assembling of a war party composed of the warriors from the gentes 

 of one of the two great tribal divisions; (2) a war party made up of 

 two or more of the gentes of one of the two great divisions ; (3) a war 



