Rise on your feet, rise on your feet,
My tonwan is for sport,
Rise on your feet, rise on your feet.
Such, it is believed, was the origin of the medicine dance.
There are no officers, or superiority of rank, except that of age and
experience, known in this pagan institution. The dance is celebrated;
1st, on account of the death of one of its members whose sack is given to
a near relative of the deceased; 2nd, when a new sack is to be conferred
on one who desires to become a member and who has proved himself worthy
of the honor by making medicine feasts, and rendering due honor to the
members; and 3rd, in the performance of a vow.
It is required of a candidate for admission, that he go through the
ceremony of the “vapor bath” once each day, four days in succession. In
the meantime some of the aged members instruct him in the mysteries of
the institution, in imitation of the course of its author as already
related. Besides, he is provided with a dish and spoon both of wood. On
the side of the dish is often carved the head of some voracious animal,
in which resides the spirit of the IYA—the god of gluttony. The dish will
contain eight to ten quarts, or more, and is always carried by its owner
to the medicine feast, and he is bound to eat all that is put in it, or
pay a fine to the maker of the feast. A woman came to the writer on one
occasion to ask for calico to make a short gown. She said she had lately
had seven new ones, but had lost them all at medicine feasts, where she
was unable to empty her dish. GREY IRON, of the _Black Dog_ band, used
to possess a dish on which was carved a bear entire, indicating that he
could eat as much as a bear. The candidate is also instructed in the
matter of painting his body for the dance. This paint is nearly all the
covering that he wears on the occasion. He must always paint in the same
manner for the ceremony of the dance. There is said to be wakan virtue
in this paint, and the manner of its application, and those who have not
been furnished with a better, by a war prophet, wear it into battle.
The candidate being thus prepared, and having made the requisite
offerings for the benefit of the institution, on the evening of the
day which precedes the dance, is taken in charge by ten or more of the
more substantial brothers, who pass the night in devotional exercises,
such as chanting, dancing, exhorting, eating, and smoking. Early in the
morning the tent, in form like that which the god first erected for the
purposes, is thrown open for the dance. The members assemble painted and
ornamented, each bringing his medicine-sack.
After a few preliminary ceremonies, appropriate to the occasion,
including a row of kettles of large dimensions, well filled and arranged
over a fire at the entrance of the court, guarded by sentries appointed
for the occasion, the candidate takes his place on a pile of blankets
which he and his friends have contributed. He is naked, except the breech
cloth and moccasins, and well smeared with pigments of various hues.
Behind him stands an aged and reliable member. Now, the master of the
ceremonies, with the joints of his knees and hips considerably bent,
advances with an unsteady, uncouth hitching, sack in hand, wearing an
aspect of desperate energy, and uttering his “Heen, heen, heen,” with
frightful emphasis, while all around are enthusiastic demonstrations
of all kinds of wild passions. At this point the sack is raised near
a painted spot on the breast of the candidate, at which the tonwan is
discharged. At the instant the brother from behind gives him a push and
he falls dead, and is covered with blankets.
Now the frenzied dancers gather around, and in the midst of bewildering
and indescribable noises, chant the words uttered by the god at the
institution of the ceremony, as already recorded. Then the master throws
off the covering, and chewing a piece of the bone of the Onktehi, spits
it over him, and he begins to show signs of returning life. Then as the
master pats energetically upon the breast of the initiated person, he,
convulsed, strangling, struggling and agonizing, heaves up the shell
which falls from his mouth on a sack placed in readiness to receive it.
Life is restored and entrance is effected into the awful mysteries.
He belongs henceforth to the medicine-dance, and has a right to enjoy
the medicine feast. Now comes the season of joy. The novice takes the
wakan shell in his hand, and in the midst of savage demonstrations of
the wildest kind, exhibits it to all the members, and to the wondering
by-standers who throng the enclosure outside. The dance continues
interspersed with “shooting each other,” rests, smoking, eating and
drinking, till they have jumped to the music of four sets of singers.
The following chants, which are used in this dance, will sufficiently
evince its character and tendency, and the character of its members,
especially when it is considered that this is the RELIGION OF IMMORTAL
BEINGS—men and women.
“Waduta ohna micage.
Waduta ohna micage.
Minizata, ite wakan, maqu—Tunkan sidan.”