DOBRRY.l SCALP DANCE HE<^UCKA HE-WATCI. 331 



"He who had been wounded by the foe, without receiving a fatal blow, 

 blackened his body, and put on a red spot and stripe to denote the wound 

 and the dripping of the blood. He wore a red feather in his hair. 



"Those who had brought back horses, wore lariats, "nusi-aq<f>a" (over 

 the left shoulder and under the right arm), and carried their whips on 

 their arms. 



"All these were promoted to the rank of wanace or policemen, to act 

 as such during the buffalo hunt." {La Fleche and Two Crows.) 



"There were many singers. They had a drum, but no rattles of any 

 sort. They danced as they moved around the fire-place, from left to 

 right. This was always after a feast. They had no regular number of 

 times for dancing around the circle. 



"The man who first held a foe ranked as number one; the slayer came 

 next ; the second who held the foe ranked third ; the third to hold the 

 foe ranked fourth, and the fifth was he who cut off the head and threw 

 it away. 



" Sometimes the fourth man did this. Only the first, second, and 

 third of these men were regarded as having gained great honors, and 

 these three laded out the food at the feast. 



"Only those who held or touched the foe made the impression of hands 

 on their bodies. 



"Those who struck living foes -wore feathers erect in their hair, while 

 those who hit dead enemies had to wear their feathers lying down." 

 {Frank La Fleche.) 



Mr. J. La Fleche gave the following as a very ancient song of this 

 dance : 



" Wakan'da akd a"^m'ge te, ai ega n , 

 A n ^iii'ge t&uiiuke." 



"Wakanda having said that I shall not be, 

 I shall not be." 



In this song, "A n £in'ge ta'minke" is equivalent to "At'6 taininke," 7" 

 shall die. The idea is that the singer thought he would not die until 

 Wakanda spoke the word, and then he must die. Till then he would 

 be safe, no matter what dangers he encountered. 



For the song in honor of the Ponka chief, Ubiska, see pp. 380, 381, 

 Part I, Vol. VI., Contributions to N". A. Ethnology. 



§ 217. The He-icatci.— The concluding part of the He^ucka was called 

 the "H6-watci." It was danced only by one man, a member of the 

 He^ucka society. After the feast, the head of a dog or deer was gen- 

 erally given to one of the guests, who ate it clean and laid it down after 

 imitating, as he danced, some of his acts in battle. The man arose sud- 

 denly of his own accord, taking the head in both hands and holding it 

 in front of him. When no head had been boiled he danced without one. 

 The drum was beaten, but there were no songs. The dancer wore the 

 " crow," and grasped a club or hatchet, which had been purposely placed 

 in the middle of the circle. His acts resembled those of the four visi- 

 tors when the Egi'a n -watcigaxe was danced. (See §271.) Pointing in 



