15fi THE HAKO, A PAWNEE CEREMONY [eth. an-n.23 



A holy man who lived long ago, no one knows how long, for there 

 have been many generations since, had a dream. He was taken up to 

 the place where all the visions dwell, those that belong to Kawas, the 

 brown eagle, and those that belong to the white eagle, the male. 

 Wliile he was there the day began to dawn and he saw the visions that 

 had been sent down to earth come climbing up, and he recognized 

 among them some of the visions that had visited him in the past. 

 Then he knew of a truth that all visions of everj' kind dwell above 

 in Katasha, and that they descend thence to us in the night, and that 

 as the day dawns they ascend, returning to i-est in their dwelling place. 



The holy man made this song al)()ut his dream and told its meaning, 

 and the song and the story have been handed down to us that we 

 might know where visions come from, where thej' dwell and where 

 they go to when they dejiart fi-om us. 



Among the Pawnees thei'c are shrines, in the keeping of certain men, 

 which contain ai'ticles that are used in the sacred ceremonies of the 

 different bands of the tribe. These shrines are very old, they were 

 given by the lesser powei's to our fathers with a knowledge of their 

 contents and how to use them. 



An ear of corn belongs to one of the.se shrines. It is a peculiar ear. 

 It is white, with perfect and straight lines of kernels, anil there is a 

 tassel on its tip. In the fall the priest of the shrine tells the women 

 to look carefully for such ears when they gather their corn, for 

 Tira'wa causes such ears to grow in the fields for the purposes of 

 this shrine and they belong to it. The little tassel on the tip of the 

 ear of corn represents the feather worn on the head of the warrior. 

 The sacred ear of corn is sometimes borrowed from the priest by the 

 leader of a war party. The ear of corn is liorn of Mother Earth, she 

 knows all places and the acts of all men who walk the earth, so she is 

 a leader. 



SoTnetimes a young man who proposed going to war would request 

 the following song to be sung. He desired success and wished Mother 

 Corn to lead him. ■ After the Ilako ceremony was over he would 

 borrow a sacred ear of corn and put it in a pack which the leader of 

 the war party would sling upon his back. When the party was suc- 

 cessful, he would thrust into the ground the stick iipon which the ear 

 of corn was tied and as this ear stood before him he would give thanks 

 to it for having led him in safety. 



