Dramatic Elements in American Indian Ceremonials 29 



child could answer, ' I cannot go on a journey — my moccasins 

 are worn out ! ' " 



And so the child is left free to grow, after its introduction to the 

 universe, until it can walk steadily by itself. At this stage are 

 enacted the dramatic rites in which the child is " symbolically 

 sent into the midst of the winds " for further insurance of life 

 and of health. 



Introduction of the Child into the Tribe 



At best the account of these rituals is incomplete. The greater 

 part of what is recorded of the two secret mystery plays consti- 

 tuting this ceremonial comes from what a boyhood friend of 

 Joseph La Flesche was able to hear and remember while hiding in 

 the ceremonial tent. And yet what remains is worth considering. 



In the spring, after the first thunders had been heard, when the 

 grass was green and the meadow lark was singing, the herald went 

 about the Huthuga (tribal circle), announcing that the time was at 

 hand for the second set of childhood ceremonies. A tent was set 

 up and made sacred, within which the prescribed rites were to be 

 performed by priests whose hereditary duty it was. These secret 

 performances were witnessed from the east-facing doorway by a 

 company of intense spectators ; for, having to do with the making 

 of the child a distinctly human being with recognized name and 

 place in gens and tribe, these ceremonials were of profound inter- 

 est, not only to parents with children of the essential stage of 

 development but to every true clansman and tribesman as well. 

 The child, as the individual representative of tribal increase and 

 prosperity, was of vital importance — hence, the human audience, 

 hungrily gathering up what scraps they could from the two se- 

 cret enactments, directed primarily to the god of Thunder, the- 

 controller of human life. Only for the little boy, however, were 

 the two ceremonials performed, " The Turning of the Child " and 

 " To-Cut-the-Hair." In the case of the little girls the second ob- 

 servance was omitted, for reasons that will be made clear later. 



" Turning-the-Child " 

 405 



