THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 591 



When we entored tlie room we found the feast arranged on the floor in the center 

 of the large hall, and smoking, and the men all seated around it on buffalo robes 

 and the only two guests besides ourselves, my man Daniel and Mr. Clark, who were 

 also seated. Two robes were placed for Mr. Rankin and myself, and we took our 

 6eats upon them. Tho three women of the party came in after we were all arranged, 

 and spreading their robes, seated themselves in another group at a little distance from 

 us. A short time before the feast was ready, they sent Cadotte to me to request that 

 I would buy for them a small cup of whisky, which was to be partaken of, " not as 

 drink for the belly, but as drink for tho Spirit," which by the custom of their country 

 was absolutely necessary to the holding of their feast of thanksgiving. In this they 

 were also, of course, indulged; and when we were seated we found the whisky 

 standing in front of the medicine-man in a small pewter mug. 



Everything now being in readiness, the pipe was lit by the war-chief, who rose up 

 with it, and, presenting its stem towards the north and the south, the cast and tho 

 west, and then upwards to the Great Spirit, and then to the earth, smoked through it 

 himself a few breaths, and then, walking around, held it to the lips of each one of 

 the party (the women excepted), who smoked a whiff or two through it ; after which 

 he made a short and apparently vehement appeal to the Great Spirit to bless the food 

 we were then to partake of. When he had taken his seat, the medicine-man took his 

 wa-be-no (medicine-drum) and commenced beating on it as he accompanied its taps 

 with a medicine song to the Great Spirit. When the song was finished he arose, and, 

 shaking a rattle (she-shee-quoin) in his left hand, and singing at the same time, he 

 ban tied the cup of whisky around to the lips of each guest, all of whom tasted of it 

 it was then passed to the women, who also tasted it, and returned it to its former 

 position but partially emptied. 



The war-chief then rose upon his feet, and, drawing his large knife from his belt 

 plunged the thumb and fore finger of his left hand into the sockets of the sheep's 

 eyes, by which he raised the head as he severed it from tho body with his knife, and 

 held it as high as he could reach. At this moment he returned his knife to its scab- 

 bard, and, seizing the she-shee-quoin (or rattle) in his right hand, he commenced to 

 sing a most eccentric song as ho shook his rattle in one hand and brandished the 

 sheep's head in the other, and danced quite around the circle between the feast and 

 the guests, going so slow as to require some eight or ten minutes to get around. 

 Having got around to his seat, he gave a frightful yell, and, raising the sheep's head 

 to his mouth, bit off a piece of it, and again danced until he had swallowed it. He 

 then laid the head and the rattle at the feet of another, who sprang upon his feet, 

 and, taking the sheep's head and the rattle, performed the same maneuver, and so 

 did a second and a third, and so on until each male of the party had performed his 

 part. After this, the flesh was carved from the bones by the war-chief, and placed 

 before us, of which we all partook. Parts of it were also carried to the women, and 

 after a little time the greater part of the flesh of the carcase had disappeared. 



It is worthy of remark, also, that at this strange feast there was nothing offered 

 but the flesh of the sheep ; but which w r as cooked in a manner that would have pleased 

 the taste of an epicure. 



When the eating was done, the war-chief took the rattle in his hand, and, lightly 

 shaking it as a sort of accompaniment, took at least a quarter of an hour to repeat a 

 long prayer, or return of thanks, to the Great Spirit, which was spoken (or rather 

 sung than spoken) in a very remarkable and rapid. manner. After this the pipe was 

 lit, and, having been some three or four times passed around, the feast was finished, 

 and we took leave. 



I leave this strange affair (having described it as nearly as I possibly could) for the 

 comments of the curious, who may have more time than I can justly devote to it at 

 this moment, barely observing that the old chief, after this, seemed quite contented 

 and happy that he had acted in conformity to the sacred injunction of the Great 

 Spirit, and strictly adhered, though in a foreign country, to one of the established 



