1 1^ INDIANS OF THE PLAINS. 



Ceremonial Procedi];!;. 



It is rather difficult to satisfactorily characterize 

 the many detailed ceremonies of the Plains, but some 

 points are clear. In most we find an inordinate amount 

 of singing, often extending over an entire day and night, 

 interspersed with prayers and the handling of sacred 

 objects or bundles and occasional dancing. The sweat 

 house is used for preliminary purification and incense is 

 burned at intervals during the ceremony. The partici- 

 pants usually sit in a circle with a fire at the center. 

 A man leads and has the entire direction of the ritual, 

 other men and perhaps women assisting him. A kind 

 of altar or earth painting is common. This is usually 

 a small square of fresh earth between the leader and 

 the fire upon which symbols are made by dropping 

 dry paint, suggesting the sand painting of the Navajo, 

 but otherwise highly individual in character. In the 

 manipulation of ceremonial objects we often observe 

 four movements, or three feints before anything is done. 

 Again, many objects are not put down directly but 

 moved around in a sunwise direction. All such manip- 

 ulations are likely to be common to all ceremonies 

 and therefore not distinctive or significant. 



It is not far wrong to say that all these ceremonies 

 are demonstrations of the ritual associated with some 

 bundle or objects and represent the original visions or 

 experiences in which the whole was handed down. The 

 demonstration seems to be ordered on the theory that, 

 as in the original revelation, the divine element will be 



