MooNEY] a'dalbeahya, gadombi'tsonhi, and seni 239 



and cared for by Spider Woman, who became a second motlier to him. 

 One day in playing' he threw upward a gaming wheel, which came 

 down upon his head and cut through his body without killing him, so 

 that instead of one boy there were now twin brothers. After many 

 adventures, in the course of which they rid the world of several 

 destructive monsters, one of the brothers walked into a lake and dis- 

 appeared forever under its waters, after which the other transformed 

 liimself into this " medicine," and gave himself in that shape to the 

 Kiowa, who still preserve it as the pledge and guardian of their 

 national existence. This a'dalbeahya, or, as it is sometimes called, 

 the tii'lyiddi, " boy-medicine," is in ten portions, in the keeping of 

 as many priests. Its chief priest is T'dbodal, the oldest man of the 

 tribe, with whom the author once had the opportunity of seeing the 

 pouch in which it is carried, for no man, unless possibly the priest 

 himself, has ever been permitted to open it and look upon the contents. 

 It is kept in a small pouch fringed with numerous scalps, in a special 

 tipi appointed for its residence; it is brought out for use in connection 

 with a sweat -house ceremony as individuals may desire to sacriflce to 

 it, and not, like the tmme, at tribal gatherings. It is briefly mentioned 

 by ("lark in his work on the sign language {Clark, 7). 



The Gadumlntsonhi, "Old-woman-under-theground," belonged to the 

 Kiiiep band of the Kiowa. It was a small image, less than a foot 

 high, representing a woman with flowing hair. It was exposed in 

 front of the talme at the great sun-dance ceremony, and by some 

 unexplained jugglery the priest in charge of it caused it to rise out of 

 the ground, dance in the sight of the people, and then again sink into 

 the earth. A few years ago it was stolen by a crazy Indian from the 

 priest who guarded it and has never since been recovered, although 

 there are stories in the tribe of hunters belated in the mountains, or 

 beside unfrequented streams, who have caught glimpses of a wailing 

 dwarf with disheveled hair who vanished as soon as discovered, and 

 is believed to have been the lost (ladomhitsonhi. 



The Seni, "prickly fruit," the peyote or mescal plant, is a small spe- 

 cies of cactus of the genus LopJiophora (Coulter), which grows in the 

 stony hill country along the Mexican border. On account of its med- 

 ical properties and its wonderful effect upon the imagination, it is 

 regarded by the Indians as the vegetal incarnation of a deity, and a 

 whole system of myth and ritual has grown up in connection with its 

 use. The rite originated among the more southern tribes, and has 

 come through the Mescalero and Comanche to the Kiowa within about 

 fifty years. The ceremony was first brought to public notice by the 

 author and may be the subject of a more extended monograph at some 

 future time. 



Another ritual, pertaining more particularly to women, was dedicated 

 to the Star Girls, or Pleiades {JJd'md'tun). Its last priestess died a 

 few years ago. 



