88 ORIGIN OF THE WHITE BUFFALO DANCE, [ETH. ANN. 40, 
brought out in pages 117 and 173. To-day fasting to obtain super- 
natural aid has either completely disappeared or is but rarely prac- 
ticed, though memory of this is very clear. On the other hand, fasting 
with blackened cheeks after the death of a close relative is still prac- 
ticed, though not absolutely universally. A good idea of the medical 
practices and exorcisms formerly prevalent among the Foxes, infre- 
quent to-day, though not entirely absent, can be gained from pages 
53, 157, 159, 199, 201, 203, 205, 207. The belief in the efficacy of 
sacred packs, still very prevalent, and their uses, is shown on pages 
115, 155, 157, 181, and 189. The mystic power of the hero’s father 
in slaying fellow Indians (p. 85) is quite in consonance with the ideas 
of Fox Indians of to-day. The association of the bad smell where 
he had been sitting with evil medicine (p. 85) is ‘reasoning by 
analogy,’ and is an example of primitive psychology. The state- 
ment that the white buffalo had red eyes and red horns (p. 51) is to 
make it clear that it is no ordinary buffalo who gives the blessing. 
The “finding” of the flute, the catlinite pipe with the stem decorated 
with feathers, the sacred pack, all of which had been used in the gens 
festival of the manitous (pp. 119, 121), and similarly the four gourds 
(p. 123), is in accordance with Fox religious ideas; and it should be 
noted that the one blessed does not merely make them. The concep- 
tion that the furs in the sacred pack are alive (p. 195) is another 
religious idea to be gained from a study of the principal text. 
From the more or less detailed descriptions of the gens festival of 
the White Buffalo Ceremony as well as other minor allusions (see 
pp. 83, 87, 89, 91, 95, 97 ff., 123, 125, 127, 129, 131 et seq., 145, 147, 
163, 167), we obtain a satisfactory knowledge of the general way the 
existing ceremony is carried on, and the songs. The incorporation 
of the songs is most fortunate, as it would be impossible to jot them 
down in a notebook while they were actually being sung, owing to 
the conservative character of the Fox Indians. Moreover, in spite 
of the warnings not to change the songs or their order (pp. 91, 125), 
I have been informed that the order of the songs to-day is not the 
ancient one. The order given in the text accordingly represents the 
theoretical arrangement. It should be noted that the information 
given in different passages is supplementary and confirmatory, not 
contradictory: therefore the presumption of the genuineness thereof 
is heightened. The existing interspersed speeches naturally are not 
the same as in the text, but are presumably of a similar tenor. The 
mystic word né%te™ and variations of this occurs in all the set speeches 
of all festivals of the gentes that I have heard. There is an epilogue 
in existing festivals of the gentes, in which a brief history of the 
sacred pack of the ceremony is given, thus resembling the one in the 
text. The following is a summary of the performance as given in 
the text: The flute is sounded four times, the drum haying been 
