BOURKE. ] THE MAKING OF THE MEDICINE-MAN. 453 
an intense spirituality. Then he will begin to withdraw, at least tem- 
porarily, from the society of his fellows and devote himself to long ab- 
sences, especially by night, in the “high places” which were inter- 
dicted to the Israelites. Such sacred fanes, perched in dangerous and 
hidden retreats, can be, or until lately could be, found in many parts 
in our remote western territory. In my own experiences I have found 
them not only in the country of the Apache, but two-thirds of the way 
up the vertical face of the dizzy precipice of Taaiyalana, close to Zuni, 
where there is a shrine much resorted to by the young men who seek to 
divine the result of a contemplated enterprise by shooting arrows into 
a long cleft in the smooth surface of the sandstone; [ have seen them 
in the Wolf Mountains, Montana; in the Big Horn range, Wyoming; on 
the lofty sides of Cloud Peak, and elsewhere. Maj. W. S. Stanton, 
Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, ascended the Cloud Peak twice, and, 
reaching the summit on the second attempt, he found that beyond the 
position first attained and seeming then to be the limit of possible ascent, 
some wandering Indian had climbed and made his ‘* medicine.” 
While it is regarded as a surer mode of learning how to be a medicine- 
man to seek the tuition of some one who has already gained power and 
influence as such, and pay him liberally in presents of all kinds for a 
course of instruction lasting a year or longer, I could learn of nothing 
to prohibit a man from assuming the role of a prophet or healer of the 
sick, if so disposed, beyond the dread of punishment for failure to cure 
or alleviate sickness or infirmity. Neither is there such a thing as 
settled dogma among these medicine-men. Each follows the dictates 
of his own inclinations, consulting such spirits and powers as are 
most amenable to his supplications and charms; but no two seem 
to rely upon identically the same influences. Even in the spirit dance, 
which is possibly the most solemn function in which the Apache medi- 
cine-men can engage, the head-dresses and kilts adhered closely enough 
to the one pattern, but the symbolism employed by each medicine-man 
was entirely different from that adopted by his neighbors. 
Schultze, Perrin du Lac, Adair, and others allude to “houses of mercy,” 
the “right of asylum” in certain lodges and buildings, or even whole 
villages, to which if the pursued of the tribe or even an enemy could 
obtain admission his life was secure. Frank Gruard and others who 
have lived for years among the Sioux, the Cheyenne, and other tribes 
of the plains have assured me that the same right of asylum obtains 
among them for the fugitive who takes shelter in the medicine lodge or 
the council lodge, and almost parallel notions prevail among the 
Apache. I have heard that the first American who came into one of 
their villages, tired and hungry, was not molested in the slightest de- 
gree. 
It is stated by Kelly’ that all warriors who go through the sun dance 
of the Sioux rank thereafter as medicine-men. This statement seems 
' Narrative of Captivity, Cincinnati, 1871, p. 141. 
