EADiN] RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES BASED ON BLESSINGS 331 



that council, relatives, all who are seated here, I greet you. It is 

 good that _you have taken pity upon me. All those that I have 

 along with me, my relatives, you have caused them to think that 

 they were to obtain life; that a great life was to come to us through 

 you. And all this you have done when we were leading worthless 

 lives. It is good. If such an invitation were to be extended to 

 people when they are sick and weakly, it would heal them; it would 

 overcome their illness, it is said. It is good. When I think that 

 our sick people will get well by reason of this feast, I am thankful. 

 Up to the present our children have all been sickly, but from now 

 on we will have no cause to worry. I am thankful. The principal 

 tree of the night-soldiers, standing in front of their doorway and 

 which is in full bloom, has not a dead leaf upon it, not one that has 

 dried. It is beautiful to look upon. They obtained it for us and 

 caused it to come down to us, and we feel grateful. It will strengthen 

 our families. This lodge that we have entered is like the first lodge 

 (the night-soldiers' lodge), and just as we were strengthened by it, 

 so will we surely be strengthened by entering this lodge to-day. In 

 the night-soldiers' lodge fine white feathers are scattered all over 

 the ground, ankle deep, it is said. As we are about to go over the 

 past, we certainly will be strengthened thereby. The lodge of the 

 night-soldiers was fair to behold from the inside, we are told. We 

 will consider ourselves blest wath life to-day, even although we are 

 not children of the night-blessed ones, and even although we will 

 not be able to conduct ourselves as it is meet. We will, however, 

 do what we can in order to obtain life. You children of the night- 

 blessed ones, who are seated around here, I greet you.'' 



Then he sings the entrance songs and walks around the lodge. 

 His singing is generally finished at about the time that he has made 

 the complete circuit of the lodge. Then he starts around the lodge 

 again uttering the peculiar sounds mentioned before, until he comes 

 to the seat of the host. There he stops and makes a circle in the air 

 (\vith his hand) and addresses him as follows: 



"I greet you. A great day has come to me and all my relatives 

 have tasted thereof in the hope that they might thereby be strength- 

 ened. I have also brought along with me a pipeful of tobacco to be 

 given to you, that we may all be strengthen^. So it is said. It is 

 for that reason that I am acting thus and am greeting you." 



With these words he concluded and walked to the place that had 

 been assigned him in the lodge, opposite the host and, still standing, 

 he said the following: "Children of the night-blessed spirits who are 

 seated here around me, I greet you all. The councilor, I mean the 

 host, has seen fit to give me and my relatives a seat. We will sit in 

 it so that we may be strengthened thereby. We will now take our 

 seats, but before that let me send forth my greetings to all." 



