362 



ACCOUNT OP THE INDIANS. 



after the feast, are burned, lest the dogs, by at- 

 tempting to break them, should injure their teeth. 



The public feasts are conducted in the same 

 manner, but with additional ceremony. Several 

 chiefs unite in preparing a suitable place, and in 

 collecting sufficient provisions, for the accom- 

 modation of a numerous assemblage. To pro- 

 vide a place, poles are fixed obliquely into the 

 ground, enclosing a sufficient space to hold several 

 hundred, and at times, nearly a thousand people. 

 On these poles, skins are laid, at the height of 

 twelve or fifteen feet, thus forming a spacious 

 court, or tent. The provisions consist both of 

 dried and of fresh meat, as it would not be prac- 

 ticable to prepare a sufficient quantity of fresh 

 meat, for such a multitude, which, however, con- 

 sists only of men. At these feasts, the guests* con- 

 verse only on elevated topics, such as the public 

 interests of the tribe, and the noble exploits of 

 their progenitors, that they may infuse a publick 

 and an heroic spirit, into their young men. Danc- 

 ing always forms the concluding ceremony, at 

 these festivals ; and the women, who are not per- 

 mitted to enter the place where they are cele- 

 brated, dance and sing around them, often keep- 

 ing time with the music within. 



All the different tribes of Indians, on the east 

 side of the Rocky Mountain, believe in the ex- 



