INTRODUCTION. 
The Indian text containing the traditional origin of the Fox society 
known as ‘“‘ The singing around rite’”’ [Kiwagam6‘iwen"''] and whose 
members are known as ‘They who go about singing” [Kiwaga’mo- 
‘ag*’] was written in the current syllabary, and subsequently restored 
according to the phonetics of Harry Lincoln, with the exception of a 
few pages which were restored partly according to the phonetics of 
Oliver Lincoln and partly according to those of Thomas Scott. The 
name of the author of the text is withheld by agreement. The author 
was induced to furnish the information through the efforts of Harry 
Lincoln, and I hereby express my thanks to both. The translation 
is almost entirely my own and is based on a grammatical analysis of 
the Indian text, though I have been aided by an English paraphrase 
furnished by George Young Bear. That the account given in the 
Indian text is deficient in some respects, I am fully aware. At the 
same time it contains far more information regarding this particular 
Fox society than was hitherto known, owing to the extremely con- 
servative character of the Fox Indians, and is well worth publishing. 
The linguistic student will notice, besides some unusual grammatical 
forms that the Indian text contains, an enormous number of verbal 
stems in proportion to its length, in sharp contrast with the Indian 
text in “Notes on the Fox society known as those who worship the 
Little Spotted Calf.” 
ETHNOLOGICAL NOTES. 
The Indian text contained in this volume, besides being the tra- 
ditional origin of the Fox society known as ‘The singing around rite,” 
contains quite a little information on general Fox ethnology, and 
especially on the blessings obtained by fasting and vigil as well as 
on scalp dancing. The data on the blessings obtained by fasting 
and vigil may be compared with the following free rendition of a 
portion of another Fox text: 
And another thing, young men are told not to fear ashes: “ By 
fasting and painting your face with ashes you may get a blessing from 
the manitou. If you do the right thing, you will surely be blessed. 
If you are afraid, the manitou will knowit. People claim that fasting 
and blackening one’s face with ashes is one of the best things that they 
can do. In the early days it was said that if one fasted long to obtain 
a blessing from the manitou, he often went on the warpath success- 
fully; or he lulled people by fasting so long. Such was the blessing 
545 
