BADIN] THE PEYOTE CULT 403 



Therefore I sat inside the meeting place with them. One man 

 acted as leader. We were to do whatever he ordered. The regalia 

 were placed before him. I wanted to sit in some place on the side 

 because I thought I might get to crying like the others. I felt 

 ashamed of myself. 



Then the leader arose and talked. He said that this was an affair 

 of Earthmaker's (God's), and that he (the leader) could do nothing 

 on his own initiative; that Earthmaker (God) was going to conduct 

 the ceremony. Then he said that the medicine (peyote) was holy 

 and that he would turn us all over to it ; that he had turned himseK 

 over to it and wished now to turn all of us over to it. He said further, 

 " I am a very pitiable (figure) in this ceremony, so when you pray to 

 Earthmaker, pray also for me. Now let us all rise and pray to Earth- 

 maker (God)." We all rose. Then he prayed. He prayed for the 

 sick, and he prayed for those who did not yet know Earthmaker. 

 He said that they were to be pitied. When he had finished we sat 

 down. Then the peyote was passed aroutnd. They gave me five. 

 My brother-in-law said to me, " If you speak to this medicine (peyote), 

 it will give you whatever you ask of it. Then you must pray to 

 Earthmaker, and then you must eat the medicine." Hovewer, I ate 

 them (the peyote) immediately, for I did not know what to ask for 

 and I did not know what to say in a prayer to Earthmaker (God). 

 So I ate the peyote just as they were. They were very bitter and 

 had a taste difficult to describe. I wondered what would happen to 

 me. After a while I was given five more and I also ate them. They 

 tasted rather bitter. Now I was very quiet. The peyote rather 

 weakened me. Then I listened very attentively to the singing. I 

 liked it very much. I felt as though I were partly asleep. I felt 

 different from (my normal self), but when I (looked around) and 

 examined myself, I saw nothing wrong about myseK. However, I 

 felt different from (my normal self). Before this I used to dislike 

 the songs. Now I liked the leader's singing very much. I liked to 

 listen to him. 



They were all sitting very quietly. They were doing nothing ex- 

 cept singing. Each man sang four songs and then passed the regalia 

 to the next one. (Each one) held a stick and an eagle's tail feather 

 in one hand and a small gom"d rattle, which they used to shake wliile 

 singing, in the other. One of (those) present used to do the drum- 

 ming. Thus objects would pass around imtU they came back to the 

 leader, who would then sing four songs. When these were finished, 

 he would place the various (things) on the ground, rise, and pray to 

 Earthmaker (God). Then he called upon one or two to speak. 

 They said that Earthmaker (God) was good and that the peyote was 

 good, and that whosoever ate this medicine (peyote) would be able 

 to free himself from the bad spirit (the devil) ; for they said that 



