292 



CALENDAR HISTORY OF THE KIOWA 



[ETH ANN. 17 



the entry is postponed until the next morning. The warriors take the 

 women np behind them on tlieir horses and ride around the circle sing- 

 ing, while the scalps, stretched over hoops and painted red on the 

 inside, are carried at the ends of poles about C feet long- 

 by other women in the dance; at night a tire is built in 

 the center of the circle. As the interpreter said, in his 

 ([uaint English, "Everybody very happy time like pic- 

 nic." No men excepting those of the returned war 

 party engage in the dance, but all the women take part. 

 The dance may continue every afternoon and night for 

 a month, after which the scalp is usually ''thrown 

 away" in some unfrequented spot by fastening it to the 

 branch of a tree, or to the end of a pole planted on the 

 hillside, with a prayer oftering it to the sun. This act 



I of sacrifice was called paTuiun^ a word signifying "to 



give by throwing away." 

 An instance of the employment of biiftalo chips 

 among the Crows in ceremonial dances of a warlike 

 character is noted by an officer concerned in the Dakota 

 campaign of 1876. Several officers and men had left 

 camp for a short hunting trip — 



They were sighted by the Crow scouts at some distauce below 

 aud mistaken for Sioux, whereupou the latter made a tragical 

 rush lor our camp to Rive the alarm. As they appeared in view 



across the valley running in single file at a lively speed, occasionallj' deviating 



from a direct line to describe a small circle indicating that they had seen an enemy, 



quite an excitement was aroused in the camp. The soldiers 



gathered in throngs, while the Crows formed in line, shoulder 



to shoulder, behinil a pile of buff:ilo chips jilaced for the pur- 

 pose aud stood there swaying their bodies aud singing while 



the scouts approached. As the leader of the scouts came up 



he paused to kick over the pile of buffalo chips, which was 



equivalent to a solemn pledge to tell the truth, then sat 



down surrounded by his fellow Crows, and after resting a 



minute or two, told what he had seen {Montana, 1.) 



SUMMER 1S50 



A'liotii K'dd(>, "Chinaberry sun dance," so called 

 because held near a thicket of these trees on 

 Beaver creek {P'o P'«) or upper North Canadian 

 river, a short distance above the junction of Wolf 

 creek at Fort Supply, Oklahoma. In the figure 

 the tree above the medicine lodge represents the 

 chinaberry tree with its leaves and berries. No other event is recorded 

 in connection with this summer. 



Fig. 1U5 — Winter 

 18 49-50— Dance 

 over .slain Paw- 

 nee. 



FiQ. 106— Summer 1850— 

 Chinaberry sun danoe. 



WIXTKR 1S50-51 



Tanf/lapti Elwtal-de Sai, " Winter that Tangiapa was killed." The 

 bust above the winter mark represents the man killed, whose name, 



