Moo.NEv] THE Ka'iTSKNKO INITIATIONS 285 



always a matter of coiisideraljle importance. The inembership was 

 always kept up to the requisite uumber of ten. The i)rominent feature 

 of the ceremony was the investiture of the new members with the 

 opinnyaipo, or collar sash of the order ; hence the verb '>'//>", "to 

 ijiitiate into the Ka'itsenko," which is derived from the verb aopiin, 

 "to tie with a rope around the neck."' This ceremony evidently 

 exjdains the picture from the Dakota calendar (figure 00) whicli 3Iallery 

 translates "they made bands of strips of blankets in the winter," and 

 goes on to say: "These bands were of mixed colors and reached from 

 the shoulders to tlie heels. Tliey also made rattles of deer-hoofs by 

 tying them to sticks with bead-covered strings. The man has a sash 

 over his shoulders and a rattle in his hand." The rattle was also a part 

 of the ceremonial equipment of the Dog-soldiers, and as the Dakota 

 calendar does not distinguish between seasons, the ceremony may as 

 easily have taken place in the summer, the ordinary 

 season for Indian celebrations on the plains. 



Of the ten opiim-ynipo, the jtrincipal one, called tlie 

 yaipo-koiikya, "black rope,'" was made of elk-skin colored 

 black and was worn by the leader, the most noted of 

 whom in recent memory was Set-Jingya. Three were 

 made of red cloth and were called ynipo-ynddal, "red 

 ropes," while the remaining six were made of elk-skin 

 dj^ed red and were called simply optiniyaipo. Any of 

 the KiVits6riku was at liberty, if he did not choose to 

 go on a particular expedition, to lend his sash to 

 another for the occasion; but if cowardice was sus- fig.98— Dog-soidi.-r 

 pected to be his motive for this action he was degraded initiatcK o (fr-.m 

 from his rank and the sash taken fiom him and given j^",^ ' "'" ™''"' 

 to a braver man. Usually each one had a younger 

 partner (<««'), whom he allowed to wear his sash while in camp or even on 

 less important expeditions, but when any great war ])arty was on foot, 

 he must wear it and go himself or run the risk of being considered a cow- 

 ard. When a wearer became too old to go to war, he formally resigned 

 his sash to some j'ounger man whom he deemed worthy to wear it, the 

 recipient acknowledging the honor with presents of blankets or otlier 

 property. Sometimes the sash was i)ublicly taken from a warrior grown 

 too old to wear it in battle, Vjut this was not necessarily regarded as a 

 degradation when there was no implication of cowardice. 



AVT^XTER 1846-47 



Henpaija Eta ga-de Sai, " Winter when they shot the mustache." 

 The figure represents a man shot in the mustache or upper lip by an 

 arrow. The long hair and the breech-cloth shows that he was an 

 Indian, and the beard or mustache is exaggerated to accentuate the 

 idea. Mustaches are not infrequent among the older men of the Kiowa, 

 and Set-iingva had almost a full beard. 



