STEVENSON] CEREMONIES FOLLOWING SHa'laKO FESTIVAL 271 



also a member of Shu'maakwe, of which fraternity he is pe'ivwin 

 (deputy) to the director. He carries his mi'li of LittU' Fire fraternity 

 in his right hand and a meal basket in the left. An eagle phune thrust 

 through the septum of his nose, the quill end protruding through the 

 left side, is a badge of his high office in the Shu'maakwe. Nai'uchi. 

 the elder brother Bow priest, who is warrior guardian of tlie Little 

 Fire fraternitj'^, carries a small basket tray, on which is a hemispherical 

 gourd, the concave side down. This gourd is painted white and capped 

 with a tuft of raw cotton, colored red, in the center of which are a 

 number of white tiuffy eagle plumes; he also carries his two eagle-wing 

 plumes. All the men, including the Ko'3'emshi, have gourd rattles in 

 the right hand. After passing once around the room, the Ko'ycmshi 

 following after the fraternity, the}^ form ii\\ ellipse and dance for 

 a short time, after which the}' visit the six houses blessed by the 

 Sha'liiko. In the first house visited is observed the following trick: 



The drummer precedes the dancers, who, to the music of the rattle 

 and drum, pass down the room, the host of the house leading. The 

 female leader and the member at the rear end sprinkle meal in the 

 usual manner as they proceed, x\n ellipse is formed, and after danc- 

 ing around once they halt, and the Great Father Ko'3'emshi secures a 

 blanket from one of the spectators and spreads it in the center of the 

 ellipse. Nai'uchi now makes a small disk of meal in the center of the 

 blanket and forms a cross by extending four lines outward from it and 

 places the basket tray on the disk. One of the Ko'yemshi performs 

 about the basket tray with his two eagle plumes. Returning to his 

 place, Nai'uchi and another member of the fraternity, the pe'kwin of 

 Shu'maakwe, stand side by side by the basket. After the pe'kwin 

 whispers in the ear of the Nai'uchi he moves about in the ellipse 

 like an animal, stooping and growling, while the others cry out 

 as though they were giving warning of the presence of some wild 

 beast. Finally he plucks the plumes from the gourd and dashing to 

 the fireplace, passes them through the flames. Returning Avith the 

 charred bits, he dances wildly about, part of the time in a cowering 

 posture, making great efforts apparently to draw something from his 

 breast, all the while holding the charred bits ])etween his fingers. 

 Finally the plumes reappear. 



The director of the fraternity and the Great Father Ko'yemshi stand 

 side by side before the basket, facing east, and pray. At the cl()S(> of 

 the prayer Nai'uchi takes the basket, and the Great Father, after shak- 

 ing the blanket slightly to remove the meal, returns it to its owner. All 

 dance around once and leave this house to visit another. In the second 

 house the gourd is turned concave side upward in the liasket. After 

 several futile attempts of the Ko'yemshi to raise the gourd with their 

 eagle-wing plumes, a member of the fraternity, touciiing the gourd 

 with the quill ends of his plumes, gracefully holding them at the feather 



