LAFLESCHE] RITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 251 



to meet again in the evening at the house of the candidate for the 

 Night Singing. 



Ceremony of Painting and Decorating the Xo'-ka. 



Before sunrise on the morning of the following day the candidate, 

 the A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka, and the Sho'-ka go to the house of the Xo'-ka. 

 The Sho'-ka carries the following articles which comprise the cere- 

 monial attire of the Xo'-ka: Red paint, a downy feather taken from 

 the undertail covert of the eagle, a gorget made from the shell of 

 the fresh-water mussel and attached to a woven neckband with 

 fringes, a pair of woven wristlets with fringes, a woven girdle, a 

 pimia skin, and one pair of the symbolic moccasins. 



In this version of tlie m'-gi-e wliich belongs to the Tsi'-zhu great 

 tribal division the left side is always the side mentioned, as will be 

 noted in line 4, while in the version that belongs to the Ho^'-ga great 

 tribal division the right side is the side always indicated. It will be 

 recalled that the left and the right side both refer to the symbolic 

 man, who in turn symbolizes the unity of the tribe and also the 

 blending of the dual forces throughout all nature. 



Wlien the three men have entered the house of the Xo'-ka and 

 taken their appointed places, the Xo'-ka, preparatory for the cere- 

 mony which is to follow, removes and lays aside his moccasins, leggings, 

 and jacket. The candidate puts some of the red paint upon the 

 palms of his hands and holds them outspread toward the rising sim 

 while the A'-ki-ho" Xo'-ka begins to recite the Ki'-no" Wi'-gi-e. At 

 the sixth line the candidate makes a pass over the face and nude 

 body of the Xo'-ka without touching him; at the seventh and eighth 

 lines the candidate paints the face and body of the Xo'-ka red, a 

 symbol of the fiery glow, as a sign of the never-ending life of the sun. 



The candidate next takes up the downy eagle feather while the 

 j\.'-ki-ho° Xo'-ka continues to recite the wi'-gi-e. At the fourteenth 

 line the candidate makes a movement with the downy feather toward 

 the head of the Xo'-ka. At the fifteenth and sixteenth lines the can- 

 didate ties to the scalp lock of the Xo'-ka the downy eagle feather so 

 that it shall stand upright and firmly. This downy feather repre- 

 sents the left shaft of light, for two shafts of light are sometimes seen, 

 one on either side of the rising sun, and are regarded as significant of 

 never-ending life. 



The shell gorget is then taken up by the candidate and held in 

 readiness as the A'-ki-ho° Xo'-ka continues to recite the wi'-gi-e. 

 The shell gorget in tliis wi'-gi-e has a dual sjanbolism: (1) the never- 

 ending life of the sun (see section 3 of the Ki'-no° Wi'-gi-e recited by 

 Wa-xthi'-zhi, p. 75) ; (2) the life of the mussel itself, which, though 

 well protected by a hard shell, reaches its destination at the seventh 



