STEVEKSON] a'pI '^LASHIWAN NI ' 595 



the plaza, the air resounds witli songs and war whoops, and the 

 excitement is great. On the tentli day the o'tailasho'nakwe dance. 



On the eleventh day the ha'shiya dance in the chamber on the west 

 side of the plaza, and afterwards in the plaza itself, when they wear 

 for the first time the elaborate dress and the spread-eagle tail upon 

 their heads. 



The o'tulasho'nakwe is repeated on the eleventh da3\ The men are 

 dressed elaborately. The leader of the dance carries a spear having a 

 handle about 6 feet long, with an aigret of raven plumes and a single 

 eagle tail feather attached where the spear joins th(^ handle. All who 

 can by any means secure a gun or pistol carry it, while others less 

 fortunate carr}^ hatchets and hammers. The girls wear black gowns, 

 white blankets bordered in red and blue, white buckskin moccasins, and 

 leggings, the hair being done up in the usual manner. Both men and 

 women have bead necklaces in profusion. This dance begins before 

 5 o'clock in the afternoon, in the house of the elder brother Bow 

 priest, and the dancers afterward form a square ])efore his house; 

 then they begin the meander figure, advancing almost imperceptil)ly 

 with a hop step, raising the foot but slightly from the ground. Only 

 the men sing; the women extend their arms out and bent slightly 

 upward from the elbow, and move them with a kind of shake which 

 seems to be caused by the motion of the body. The men now and 

 then, at the proper time in the song, gracefully extend the right arm 

 as they sing for the enemy to be destroyed. There is one variation in 

 this dance. All turn simultaneously to the left, and as they do so 

 they bend the left side, and keeping the feet close together move 

 three steps sidewise to the right, emphasizing each step with the voice. 

 This is varied by bending to the right and taking three steps to the 

 left. These figures are repeated as they proceed through the village. 



The drummer is west of the sixty -one dancers, who present a most 

 brilliant picture. As they enter the narrow street they straighten out 

 in single file, passing through the eastern covered way to the Si'aa' 

 te'wita, the sacred dance court, and thence on to the northwest corner 

 of the village, dancing for a time before the house of the Shi'wanni 

 of the East, who lives on the west side of the village, where they 

 repeat the meander figure; they then pass in single file to the plaza 

 beyond, where they dance. Again they straighten out in single fil(> and 

 enter the narrow street leading to the western covered way; thence 

 to the large plaza, where great crowds of spectators have gathered, 

 including about fifty equestrians. 



The o'tailasho'nakwe disperse at dusk, and the pu'mokiakianawe 

 come by the northeast and southwest entrances to the plaza. The 

 party from the northeast is halfway across the plaza when those 

 from the opposite side appear. They advance facing each other in 



