BADIN] CEREMONIAL, ORGANIZATION 327 



" Your plates will be filled soon, so let me greet you again, you 

 (humans) who are taking the place of the spixits. All you who are 

 present I greet." 



The attendant now takes the kettles from the fire and takes the 

 plate of the first of those sitting in the row. Then he takes the 

 sharp stick that he holds in his hand, sticks it through one of the 

 four chickens, and puts it in the plate of the first man. He passes 

 the plate around the kettle four times, going from right to left, and 

 finally he places it before the feaster. The feaster then says, "I 

 thank you all,'' and the attendant passes on to the next one, and so 

 m succession until he comes to the last person. Then the one first 

 invited rises and says, "All those present, the host and the three 

 other guests, do I greet." Then the speaker addi'esses the one sit- 

 ting next to him, who greets him in return. In the same way he 

 greets the third and the fourth one. Then he speaks as follows: 



"It is good. Who would not be thankful for this? The host and 

 his relatives present here are praymg for life and victory, to the 

 four greatest spirits Earthmaker ever made, to those spirits whom 

 he pierced through the earth so that it might hold together. All the 

 snakes whom we see on the earth are ruled by these four. From 

 them have they asked blessings. The first human beings on earth 

 saw these spirits face to face and, we are told, they used them for 

 protection. These we see before us as the host has laid them out. 

 We are told that blessings can be obtained by the use of these snakes. 



' ' I am indeed not a fit person to be invited to such a gathering as 

 tliis, but the host has kindly overlooked my faults. My grand- 

 father fasted and thirsted himself to death and he was blessed and 

 his spirit taken to a spirit-home. That is what happened to my 

 grandfather, for he told me this himself. The place where he was 

 blessed was at Red Banks at a place where a creek flows into the 

 sea (Green Bay). At the fork of this creek there was a hiU l}Tng 

 east and west. It is there that the yellow snake-chief lives. To 

 the home of this snake-chief my grandfather was taken. This 

 snake was at this place gathering tobacco for all the spirits. There 

 my grandfather was even blessed with their bodies. For this reason 

 I always pour tobacco for them. And I have been given to under- 

 stand that the spirits do not overlook the least fault (in the per- 

 formance of the feast). They are always in our midst just as even 

 the grass and the dust represent snakes. They know everj^thing, 

 they say. It is not safe to cross their path. As, however, the 

 host is now making an offering to them, should we cross their path 

 now it would even strengthen us. It is good. These clubs are 

 heavy and they wiU not fail to strike everything within their reach. 

 The host has asked for that power so that he might have 

 victory (in war). They, the spirits, also have life to dispose of and 

 that we ask of them also, giving them these offerings of tobacco, 



