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MUSEUM BULLETIN NO. 2 . 
FASTING EXPERIENCE (A). 
I was about ten years old when I fasted. That is the age at 
which our grandparents generally desired us to fast. My 
parents, themselves, seemed to care very little whether I did or 
did not fast, and I imagine that had it not been for my grand- 
mother, I never would have done so. 
It was at about the middle of what we call the “little-bear” 
p 
month that my grandmother came to visit us. When she was 
about to return to her home, she had me accompany her. I 
did not know at the time what she wanted and it was only on the 
morning of the next day that she told me that I was to fast. 
Two mornings after that I received very little to eat and drink 
at breakfast time. At noon I received nothing at all. For the 
evening meal she gave me a very small piece of bread. In 
addition to myself there were six other boys fasting at the same 
time. During the daytime we would play together, keeping a 
close watch on one another, lest someone try secretly to get 
something to eat. 
We were to fast ten days, all in all. At the end of the fifth 
day, however, I became so hungry that after my grandparents 
had gone to bed, I got up and helped myself to a hearty meal. 
They discovered it, however, the next morning and I had to 
begin my fast all over again. This time I was very careful not 
to break my fast, for I did not want to begin over again, as on 
the first occasion. 
At the end of the tenth day, my grandparents built me a 
wigwam. It was supported on four poles, about three or four 
feet from the ground, and I was to use it for sleeping. My little 
wigwam was situated at some distance from the lodge of my 
grandparents, directly under an oak tree. I do not know 
whether in olden times it was customary to build the fasting 
wigwam under just this tree or not. My impression is that the 
old people built it at some distance from their own lodge, but not 
too far to prevent them from watching its occupant during the 
day time. 
My grandmother told me not to accept the blessings of every 
“spirit” that would appear to me in my “dreams,” for there 
