FLETCHER] SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH RITUALS 213 



1094 Ho-o-o-o! 



1095 Ihari, hal H'ais sire rata; 



1096 Ihari, ha! H'ars sire rata; 



1097 Ihari. ha! H'ars sire rata. 



'rrunslatiiD) 



1094 Ho-o-o-o! An exclaniHtioii iiitroduftory to the song. 



1095 Ihari, ha! IFars sire rata. 



ihari, a term for young; it here refers to tlie little eliikl. 

 ha! an exclamation, calling attention, 

 h', an abbreviation of ha, your, 

 ai's, a modification of H(-ius, fatlier. 

 sire, carrying, refers to the child, 

 rata, walking with. 

 1090, 1097. See line 1095. 



SEVENTEENTH RITUAL 



Part I. TorcHixo the Child 



K.rjiliindt/iin In/ flie Kii't'iiJiu.s 



When the Ilako party, led by the man carrying the child, arrived 

 at the lodge, the child was taken to the west, behind the holy place, 

 and set upon the ground, facing the east, and clad in gahi dress. 



The warriors ranged tliemselves in a curved line, botli ends of which 

 touched the walls of tlie lodge, thus inclosing a space within which 

 was the holy place, the child, the singers and the drum, the Ku'i'ahus 

 and his assistant, the chief, tlie doctors, and an old man selected by 

 the Ku'rahus. The wai-riors stood close together, letting their roI)es 

 drop until the lower edge touched the ground, making a screen over 

 which no one could look to see what was taking place within the 

 inclosure. 



On the preceding evening, before the Children had gathered within 

 the lodge, the Ku'rahus had sent a young man to fill a vessel fi'om a 

 running stream. The vessel was at once covered closely and put 

 beside the holy place and no one was permitted to even touch it. (In 

 old times pottery vessels made by our women were used. They were 

 shaped small at the bottom, larger in the middle, and smaller again 

 at the neck. The handles on the sides had holes thiough which sticks 

 could be thrust to lift the vessel from the fire. They were ornamented 

 b.y lines drawn by a stick in the soft elaj'.) 



The chief now approachei'l the vessel, lifted the cover and poured 

 so)ne of the water into a wooden bowl set aside for this purpose, and 

 put it down before the old man. This man had been chosen liecause 

 of his long life, and his having received many favors from the powers 

 above, in order that similar gifts might be imparted to the child. 



The i^reparation of the child, which took place within the line of 

 warriors, was concealed from their view by an inner group closely 



