274 THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE CEREMONIES OR POWER. 
wild sage and piled it up in the west, inside of the lodge. The man 
then placed the skin of a beaver upon the wild sage and put the stone 
in front of the beaver. The rest of the wild sage he spread around the 
circle of the lodge. Other men came in with the skins of birds. Two 
sticks, one of which extended from the head to the tail, and another 
which crossed the first stick and supported the wings, pierced the birds. 
The two sticks were bound at the crossing by means of a sinew string. 
The birds were hung up in the lodge; one was hung up in the west, another 
in the north, another in the east,and another in the south. There were 
other smaller species of snipe that hung around the lodge. There was 
something wonderful about these birds, as the medicine-men saw and 
heard afterwards. 
The two errand men were told to get dry ash wood and four dry ash 
limbs. The first was a large timber, from which the bark was peeled 
and in which notches were made. The small limbs were shaved down 
smooth and were about the length of a man’s arm. The pole with the 
notches was placed in front of the altar, and the sticks were placed across 
the pole. Old medicine-men also took part, so that there was a great 
company of men in the lodge. The medicine-men’s wives brought in 
many kettles of corn. At each meal a parfleche was untied and dried 
meat placed by the fireplace to be cooked. Those of the medicine-men 
who had learned secrets of different animals or heavenly bodies, came 
into the lodge and begged that they be allowed to take part in the 
ceremonies. The man thanked them and told them to come and select 
their seats in the lodge. 
When all things were completed the man placed two water drums 
in front of the altar. A procession was formed inside the lodge. The 
man then told the men that they were to go into the timber to cut young 
cottonwood trees and willows. The cottonwood trees were to stand one 
on the west side of the altar, one on the north side, and another on the 
south side, and two were to be set near the entrance. The willows were 
to be placed about inside of the lodge so that there would be little lodges 
around within the lodge; the other procession started toward the timber. 
As they went along the man yelled and grunted at them and threw them 
down. Sometimes when they arose, the men vomited corncobs; sometimes 
a piece of stick or a piece of root. They kept on going until they came to 
acreek. Then the man began to wave his eagle wing, and all the men ran 
into the water and began to swim. The man told them that they must 
wash clean, for they were to do many wonderful things, and that they 
must wash themselves every day. After they had washed, they went into 
the timber and cut two cottonwood trees which were to be carried by 
