WHITE] GOVERNMENT 49 



the estufa); he is barefooted. He goes to each of the standards of 

 the altar and prays. Into each standard he mserts a hasi (a feather; 

 see section on paraphernaha). Then he steps onto the tsiwainiityini 

 (the planlvs over the cavity in the floor; see section on kivas). kasina 

 and his assistant are standing on opposite ends of this tsiwainiityini. 

 Each holds a whip of about 10 switches (liowaip"). The tcaiani 

 (medicine men) begin to sing and dance. At the end of the song 

 they stop and cry, " Do-o-o-wa-a-a-ra-a-a Hio! Hio!" Then the chief 

 faces the altar. The medicine man at the east end strikes the can- 

 didate forcibly on the shins with his whip; the one on the other end 

 strikes him on the shoidders. Then they sing and dance again, and 

 when finished strike him again. This is done four times. The medi- 

 cine man on the east end whips upward, striking first the shins, then 

 the thighs, then the belly, and last the chest. The other medicine 

 man whips downward, striking fii'st the shoulders, then the middle 

 of the back, the back of the thighs, and last the calves of the legs. 

 This covers the candidate pretty thoroughly. 



The three outgoing chiefs are whipped in this \\ay, together with 

 their two cooks; the three incoming chiefs are whipped, but the in- 

 coming cooks ai'e spared. And anyone else who wishes to be whipped 

 may undergo the same ceremony. 



The war chiefs remain in the estufa all day. Toward evening 

 everyone leaves except the new war chiefs, the kasina tcaiani and 

 his assistant, and perhaps a few other medicine men. It is now time 

 to administer medicine to the new chiefs. The kasina tcaiani has 

 some feces of a snake (tsitcuni) ; it looks lilce chalk. He grmds a little 

 of this in his medicine bowl and pours in some water. Then he sings 

 six songs, moving the bowl toward each of the cardinal points, up 

 and down, as they progress. The bowl is then placed between the 

 standards. Kasina then asks the two lieutenant war chiefs if they 

 vnsh to take this medicine. Thej^ have the privilege of refusing, but 

 Cutimiti (the head chief) must drink it. If the lieutenants refuse 

 then kasina tcaiani and one or two of the other medicine men will 

 probably drink some "to keep the war chief companJ^" This medi- 

 cine is supposed to give one great strength and also, the ability to 

 foretell events through dreams. The chiefs remam in the estufa for 

 four days and four nights. No one may touch them during this time, 

 nor do they touch each other, not even their blankets, for "they are 

 so powerful." The altar remains standing durmg this time. Food is 

 brought to the chiefs by their wives during tliis period of seclusion. 

 The tsamai'ye and the tsamahi'ye (the two altar fetishes) are given 

 food at each meal, and a cigarette aftei'wards. The outgoing war chiefs 

 are finished with their duties after the whipping, and after a period of 1 2 

 hours they may again sleep \\nth their wives. (The war chiefs may not 

 sleep with their wives during the whole year of their service in office.) 



