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out and make him stand. All of the candidates are thrown into the 

 pit in like fashion. If there are any girl candidates they are thrown 

 in too, but after the boys, when it will not be so hot. 



When all of the candidates have been taken from the pit the head 

 man withdraws the ashes, coals, and shelled com from the pit with 

 his hands and scatters them about on the ground. Then the doctors 

 go into their chamber. As the head man is ascending the ladder he 

 announces to the people that they will have a sword-swallowing 

 ceremony in eight days. When the doctors have gone in the people 

 gather about the pit and pick up the parched com. 



About seven days later some of the doctors go out to the mountains 

 and get some small spruce (or other) trees. They leave the tops 

 untouched, but whittle the butt down, making it quite small and 

 verj' smooth (they are going to swallow this). This wooden sword 

 which they swallow is called oado'ts. They have some made of 

 flat boards, into which designs have been cut. They are painted. 

 The women dance with carved and painted boards in their hands. 

 They are caUed amakaiyum" (they are catalogued in museums, 

 usually, as "dance wands"). 



On the eighth day they dress for the dance. The men wear a 

 close-fitting skidl cap with small downy feathers glued on it. Their 

 shirts are blue, red, or yellow. They wear new moccasins, with 

 leggings that reach to the knee (there are usually silver buttons in the 

 front of the leggings, in a line from top to bottom). They wear a 

 white dancing kilt. A fox skin hangs from the waist in the back. 

 Their legs are painted white. They wear two turkey feathers at 

 each temple and a white downy eagle feather at the crown. There 

 is considerable variety among the men's costumes, except for the 

 dancing kilts, which are aU alike. The women members weai' 

 mantas (white woven cotton mantas with terraces, etc., embroidered 

 on the ends), white moccasins, and leggings. They wear varicolored 

 ribbons in theii- hair instead of feathers. The faces of both men 

 and women are painted with ya'katca (reddish brown) from the 

 mouth upward. They have some black (stcamun) beneath the 

 eyes. They are painted with ipictya (white clay) beneath the 

 mouth. 



The next morning they come out at sunrise, dressed for the dance." 

 They dance toward the east. This takes them to the big plaza. 

 The men go first; the women follow. One man carries a large drum. 

 When they reach the plaza they form a line from east to west, facing 

 north. The men keep dancing. Then one man, carrying an oadots, 

 and one woman step forward and dance to the middle of the plaza. 

 They dance higher and faster. Then the man moistens his oado'ts 



» If they prepare their costames on the eichth day, they dance on the ninth. If the dance is to be on 

 the eighth day, they prepare on the seventh. 



