MATTHEWS] CEREMONIES: DANCE OF NAHIKAI. 433 
like wolves and slowly moving around the fire. As they advanced in 
single file they threw their bodies into divers attitudes —some grace- 
ful, some strained and difficult, some menacing. Now they faced the 
east, now the south, the west, the north, bearing aloft their slender 
wands tipped with eagle down, holding and waving them with surpris- 
ing effects. Their course around the fire was to the left, i. e., from the 
east to the west, by way of the south, and back again to the east by 
way of the north, a course taken by all the dancers of the night, the 
order never being reversed. When they had encircled the fire twice 
they began to thrust their wands toward it, and it soon. became evident 
that their object was to burn off the tips of eagle down; but owing to 
the intensity of the heat it was difficult to accomplish this, or at least 
they acted well the part of striving against such difficulty. One would 
dash wildly towards the fire and retreat; another would lie as close to 
the ground as a frightened lizard and endeavor to wriggle himself up 
to the fire; others sought to catch on their wands the sparks flying in 
the air. One approached the flaming mass, suddenly threw himself on 
his back with his head to the fire, and swiftly thrust his wand into the 
flames. Many were the unsuccessful attempts; but, at length, one by 
one, they all succeeded in burning the downy balls from the ends of 
their wands. As each accomplished this feat it became his next duty 
to restore the ball of down. Tbe mechanism of this trick has been 
described (paragraph 120), but the dancer feigned to produce the won- 
derful result by merely waving his wand up and down as he continued 
to run around the fire. When he succeeded he held his wand up in tri- 
umph, yelped, and rushed out of the corral. The last man pretended 
to have great difficulty in restoring the down. Wien at last he gave 
his triumphant yell and departed it was ten minutes to 9. The dance 
had lasted twenty minutes. 
150. In other repetitions of this ceremony the writer has witnessed 
more of burlesque than on this occasion. Sometimes the performers have 
worn immense false mustaches, exaggerated imitations of spectacles 
and of other belongings of their white neighbors. Sometimes the 
dance has assumed a character which will not be deseribed in this place 
(paragraph 146). Itis called nahikai-alil. The former word signifies ‘ it 
becomes white again” and refers to the reappearance of the eagle down. 
The show is said to have been introduced among the Navajo at the 
great corral dance mentioned in the myth (paragraphs 69-72) by a tribe 
from the south named (ildjéhe. Itis no essential part of the rites of the 
dark cirele, yet I have never known it to be omitted, probably because 
it is a most suitable dance for the time when the fire is the hottest. 
131. Second dance. After an interval of three-quarters of an hour, 
the dance of the kAtso-yisgan, the great plumed arrow, the potent 
healing ceremony of the night, began. There were but two performers. 
They were dressed and arrayed much like the akaninili, but they bore 
no meal bags, wore no beaver collars, and the parts of their bodies that 
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