204 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



ken Ax who had brought the rain, and put things before him. Broken Ax 

 laughed when they came to him and said, "I can't do anything; no one ever 

 heard of holy men driving away grasshoppers. I do not think grasshoppers 

 would listen to me. Since you brought these things, I will try." 



The women placed their goods in front of his medicine bundle with the pipe 

 on top of the goods. He lit the pipe and prayed to his gods to help the women. 

 The day turned out very hot; the grasshoppers rose up into the air in swarms 

 as though going towards the sun. When night came, not a grasshopper was in 

 the gardens. All this I saw as they went up toward the sun and we never 

 knew what became of them. The people were all happy and thought that 

 Broken Ax was surely a great medicine man. 



The fall migration of the water birds was commemorated with 

 ceremonial offerings by the Goose society. These rites were usually 

 performed by the Goose society on invitation of some household as 

 thanks for a good crop. It was beheved that the geese and other 

 water birds, as they traveled southward, participated in the feast 

 and took the spirits of the corn and other garden crops with them 

 to the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies who spent the winter months in a 

 large earth lodge on an island near the mouth of the Mississippi 

 River. As a rule, the Goose society did not meet during the late 

 fall and winter months although, occasionally, someone would ask 

 that they attend a feast and pray for good crops the succeeding 

 season. 



Some women were believed to have corn spirits in their body. 

 These women were respected members of the society, for the appear- 

 ance of an ear of corn in their throats might occur at any time of the 

 year, particularly whenever a number of hungry people were sitting 

 around a fire waiting to be fed. On these social occasions, the woman 

 invariably had numerous "attacks" before the corn actually appeared 

 in her mouth. Those sitting near her were expected to give her 

 presents so that the corn would go back down. My informants 

 claimed that after the woman received the goods and some of the food 

 cooking at the fire, the ear of corn went back into place and did not 

 pain her any more. 



Although there was no objection to meetings of a social nature 

 during the winter months if someone wanted to feed the members of 

 the society, rites practiced at that time were not considered especially 

 effective since the corn spirits were believed to be far away in the 

 care of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. For that reason, once the fall 

 ceremony was completed, the Goose society was normally inactive 

 until spring approached. 



White Buffalo Cow Society 



Beginning with the approach of winter, the women of the next 

 older group, the White Buffalo Cow society, would talk of meeting 



