LAFLESCHE] RITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 327 



THE SIX SONGS. 

 Songs of the Fight for the Charcoal. 



The second part of this ritual is called Wa-tho° Sha-pe Tse, The 

 Six Songs, and belongs to the Tsi'-zhu great division of the tribe. 



This part of the ritual begins with a group of songs having the title 

 No°-xthe' I-ki°-dse Wa-tho", Songs of the Fight for the Symbolic Char- 

 coal. A wi'-gi-e is recited before the songs are sung and both the songs 

 and the wi'-gi-e refer to a ceremony which has an important place in 

 the Wa-sha'-be A-thi°', an elaborate ritualistic ceremony used when a 

 war party composed of men from the two great tribal divisions, the 

 Ho°'-ga and the Tsi'-zhu, is organized. The word Wa-sha'-be used 

 in the title of the ritual may be fi-eely translated as, a dark object, 

 and refers to the sacred symbolic powdered charcoal prepared for the 

 warriors; A-thi°' means-to have, or to carry about the person as a 

 treasured object. In such an organized war party both the officers 

 and their men when about to charge upon the enemy must blacken 

 their faces with the " dark object," the charcoal, which is an emblem 

 of fire, a merciless power when it goes forth upon its destructive 

 course. The powdered charcoal is carried by a warrior in a small 

 deerskin pouch, usually attached to his neck ornament or to his belt. 

 The man who neglects to blacken his face with the sacred charcoal 

 when an attack is to be made is not permitted to recount the acts he 

 performs in the fight, acts that would otherwise entitle him to a war 

 honor, nor is he permitted to share in any honors won by the war party 

 as a whole. 



The theme of the wi'-gi-e which precedes the songs is the courage 

 of three animals designated by the ancient No^'-ho^-zhi^-ga and cer- 

 tain qualities of a given bird. All these are to be used as emblems 

 and to typify the angry fire which destroys all things that happen to 

 be in its pathway. The animals are the black bear, the puma, the 

 white swan, and the deer with the spiked horns. All of these crea- 

 tiu-es are personified and made to speak as benefactors of the people. 

 While the swan is not a warlike bird yet it is endowed with physical 

 strength and power of endm-ance, qualities the No^'-ho^-zhi^-ga 

 desired for the warrior. The deer is not, ordinarily speaking, a fight- 

 ing animal, for it has no "liver-gall," which was commonly believed 

 to be the place whence anger arises or is kindled; nevertheless the 

 deer was chosen to be one of the animals to typify anger and courage 

 in the tribal war rites. Its fleetness and quickness of movement, 

 however, seem to have been the qualities the No^'-ho^-zhi^-ga desired 

 to be bestowed upon the warrior. 



The following is a free translation of the wi'-gi-e: 



