THE CODE OF HANDSOME LAKE 



125 



ceremony, when held in a private lodge, the members feast on a pig's 

 head ; but this is a modern substitute for a bear's or a deer's head, 

 though crows' heads once were eaten also. 



NIA GWAl' OA 'NO , THE BEAR SOCIETY 



The ritual of the Bear Society consists of twenty songs and a 

 dance. During the intermissions in the dance, 

 that is, between songs, the participants eat 

 berries from a pan on the dance-bench, or, in 

 winter, eat honey, taking portions of the comb 

 and eating it as they walk about the bench. 

 The ceremony is opened by making a tobacco 

 offering to the spirits of the bears, during 

 which the chief Bear-man makes an in- 

 vocation. The high officer of the society, 

 however, is a woman. The symbol of mem- 

 bership is a black streak drawn diagonally 

 across the right cheek. The object of the 

 society is to cure the diseases of its mem- 

 bers and candidates by chanting and dancing. 

 The ceremony is believed to be a remedy 

 for fevers and rheumatism, as well as to 

 bring good fortune. In a healing ceremony 

 the chief woman blows on the head of the 

 patient. After a ceremony the members 

 carry home with them pails of bear pud- 

 ding, a sweetened corn pudding mixed with 

 sunflower oil. The Bears use the water 

 drum and horn rattles. All Seneca dances 



are counterclockwise Fip. 4 Horn Rattle used in 



are counieruocKwise. the Seneca Bear Dance 



degi'ya'go 11 oa''no', the buffalo society 



The ritual of this society consists of a number of songs which 

 relate the story of the origin of the order. After a ceremony in 

 which there is a dance, the members depart, carrying with them the 

 buffalo pudding. The dancers imitate the action of buffalo when 

 stamping off flies, and the pudding is supposed to be of the consis- 

 tency of the mud in which the buffalo stamps. When it is eaten it 

 acts as a charm that " stamps off " disease or ill fortune. The 

 Buffalos use the water drum and horn rattles. 



