A SACRED CEREMONY IN MAD WOLF’S TEPEE
Mad Wolf called upon the Society of Brave Dogs to build the framework
of the sweat-lodge. It held a prominent place in the Sun Dance.
Then the Brave Dogs rode to the river valley for willow branches to be
used in constructing the framework of the lodge; and on their return,
they entered the camp on the east side, parading around the circle and
the tepee of Mad Wolf, where the sacred woman was fasting and praying,
singing in unison and holding aloft their green branches, which they
finally deposited on the side of camp toward the setting sun. There
they built the sweat-lodge by sticking the willow branches into the
ground and bending them into the form of an oval; they interlocked them
on top and made the entrance toward the rising sun, digging a hole
inside for the heated stones and covering the entire structure with
robes and blankets.
When the Brave Dogs had everything ready, the medicine men and women
came from Mad Wolf’s tepee. White Calf, as the “father,” was in the
lead; then came Mad Wolf, and Spotted Eagle, the head medicine man; and
then the wife of White Calf with Gives-to-the-Sun, the fasting woman.
They walked in single file, slowly and by stages, with eyes fixed upon
the ground, passing around the south side of the sweat-lodge from east
to west, following the direction of the sun through the heavens. They
stopped on the west side, where Gives-to-the-Sun took her seat beside
the structure with the wife of White Calf; the men stood on the south
side, while the two women bowed their heads in prayer.
Then Mad Wolf, White Calf, and Spotted Eagle removed their clothing and
entered the sweat-lodge. The fasting woman prayed over the skull of a
buffalo bull, which the Brave Dogs handed to Mad Wolf inside the lodge.
He laid the skull on a bunch of meadow grass, because it was the
favorite food of the buffalo.
Then Spotted Eagle painted black marks on the skull to represent stars,
and red for the Sun; and they chanted together, while Spotted Eagle put
meadow grass into the nose and eyes of the skull, to symbolize the
feeding of the buffalo. The Brave Dogs took the skull outside,
fastening it on top of the sweat-lodge with the nose pointing towards
the rising sun.
Then the Brave Dogs passed hot stones to Mad Wolf inside the lodge. He
laid sweet grass upon them and held his hands in the rising smoke,
rubbing them over his body for purification, and sang this prayer to
the Sun:
“May our lives be as strong as these stones.”
He sprayed water on the hot stones; as the steam rose, he sang:
“May our lives be straight.
May we live to be old and always have water to drink.”
Throughout the ceremony, Mad Wolf and his associates prayed to the Sun,
Moon, and Morning Star. Then the procession returned to Mad Wolf’s
tepee, walking slowly and in single file, with heads bowed and eyes
fixed on the ground, carefully avoiding the trail by which they came
out.
On this same day the tribe had a parade, in which men, women, and
children took part. They dressed in their best and painted their faces.
The two war chiefs, Little Plume and Little Dog, were in the lead,
wearing fine costumes of deerskin decorated with colored beads and
black-tipped tails of weasels. Little Plume had a foxskin wound around
his head for a cap, with the tail hanging down behind and two eagle
feathers in his hair.
Some of the women riders wore dresses decorated with quill work and elk
teeth; their saddles had pommels of deer antlers, beaded pendants, and
buckskin cruppers; clusters of eagle feathers hung from the necks of
their horses and bright-colored feathers from their tails.
Red Fox was dressed as a clown or jester. He rode a black horse and had
his face and hands painted black; his robe too was black and extended
from his shoulders, back over the tail of his horse, waving gracefully
in the wind when he rode at a gallop.
Before the parade, Two Spears rode through the camp, leading the white
horse of Morning Eagle, the aged warrior. It was covered with painted
pictures, to remind the people of Morning Eagle’s brave deeds in war,
both as leader and as a scout.
The pictures told how he cut loose a horse close to the lodge of an
enemy—a hand with a knife, a picket pin and a horse; also the time he
took many horses in an open fight; how he killed some Gros Ventres and
took their weapons—a lance, a shield, and bows and arrows. He even
seized a gun from the hand of an enemy and escaped without hurting him;
and killed a Crow Indian who entered his camp at night and tried to
steal his horses. While Two Spears rode through the camp, leading this
horse of victory, he proclaimed in a loud voice the brave deeds of old
Morning Eagle and then joined in the parade.
When the tribe had assembled, they marched slowly around the inner
circle, with their two war chiefs in the lead, and singing in unison.
Some held aloft human scalps tied to long branches; others held
standards of eagle feathers, guns and lances and feathered shields
fastened to poles.
That evening, Mad Wolf invited to his lodge prominent men and women who
had taken part in former Sun Dances, to pray and sing throughout the
night. And the Brave Dogs sang in their lodge the dancing songs of the
weather makers, to keep the weather clear. Then they rode through camp
and commanded the people to be quiet and not disturb the medicine men
and women in their ceremony in Mad Wolfs tepee; next day would take
place the building of the sun lodge and the ceremony of raising the
center pole.
Round the outside of Mad Wolf’s lodge green branches were placed—the
sign of an important ceremony and only those invited should enter. For
a while I watched from my tepee the chiefs and their wives coming to
the ceremony. I went nearer and listened to a solemn chant led by Mad
Wolf and White Calf. At intervals the low monotone of the men was
joined by the higher voices of the women. Then I stood close to the
door and heard the song die away. In the silence that followed I
decided to enter. So I raised the door-flap and looked inside. Mad Wolf
and White Calf were seated at the back, behind a sort of altar, made by
cutting away the grass and forming sod-walls on three sides, with an
open space toward the rising sun. An Indian seated by the door motioned
me to withdraw, but my Indian father signed for me to stay, so I took
my place among the singers and priests. At one side sweet grass was
burning on a hot coal as incense. The base of the altar was covered
with light-colored earth and had painted symbols to represent sun dogs,
the Moon, Morning Star, and Mistake-Morning-Star.
Mad Wolf and his wife sat quietly in their places, with heads bowed in
prayer and eyes cast down. As the fasting woman, she was the central
figure; all the serious and solemn aspects of the Sun Dance centered
about her. She wore a tanned buffalo robe, which covered her from head
to foot; her hair was unbraided and concealed her face. She and Mad
Wolf did nothing for themselves; others took care of their lodge and
looked after the fire. No one spoke aloud; every one whispered. All who
came to the ceremony entered quietly and reverently. That night
throughout the big camp no noise was allowed, because of the fasting
woman and her ceremony.
It was Morning Plume’s duty to attend to the fire. He kept the blaze
down, so that the light was subdued. Every one sat quietly in their
places without talking, and left the moving about to Morning Plume. If
Mad Wolf or his wife had anything to say, they whispered it to White
Calf or his wife; and they repeated it in a low voice to the others.
Morning Plume also attended to cutting the tobacco and filling the
pipes for all the company. Beside him was a tobacco outfit—a large
beaded bag, extra pipe stems and a cutting-board. Two redstone pipes
were passed around the circle, one for men and the other for women.
Whenever they burned out, they were handed back to Morning Plume, who
emptied the ashes into a hole in the ground and refilled them with
tobacco. After food had been distributed, they were ready to begin the
ceremony.
White Calf brought forth some buffalo rawhides, which were spread on
the ground in front of the men singers, and pairs of rattles
distributed. My Indian father asked that two of the rattles be given to
me, so that I could join them in the singing.
White Calf opened the ceremony with a prayer. Then Bear Child took a
hot ember from the fire with the prongs and laid it before White Calf;
he placed sweet grass upon it to burn as incense and sang to the
Morning Star. Then we all joined in singing seven songs to Morning Star
and seven each to the Sun and Moon. There were seven songs for a sacred
eagle feather; in the Sun Dance legend, the Sun God used an eagle
feather to brush the scar from the face of Scarface. We also sang songs
to the raven and songs to the sacred headdress, which was worn by the
fasting woman. There was a song for everything that made up this
bonnet—the white weasel-skin, the feathers and plumes, flint
arrow-point, snipe, buffalo tail, and a small bundle filled with seeds
of the tobacco.
Then White Calf, the head-chief, prayed, saying:
“Father, the Sun, I am praying for my people.
May they be happy in the summer and live through the cold of
winter.
Many are sick and hungry,
Pity them and let them live.
May we go through this ceremony right,
The way you taught our people to do in the days of long ago.
If we make mistakes, pity us.
Mother Earth, pity us, help us; may the grass and berries grow.
Morning Star, shine into our lodge and give us long life.
Father, the Sun, bless our children, relatives and visitors.
May our trails lie straight through a happy life; may we live
to be old.
We are all your children and ask these things with good hearts.”
During this prayer, the Indians sat silently and with heads bowed
reverently; and at the close, they united in a long-drawn
“ah-h-h-h-h-h” to express their approval, while some added a few words
of prayer.
This ceremony lasted until long after midnight; day was beginning to
dawn when the company went away. But before they separated, White Calf
as the “father” gave instructions for the important events of next
day—the big day of the camp. Then the Sun Dance Bundle would be
transferred to Mad Wolf and his wife; they would have the tribal feast,
when the sacred tongues would be distributed; women would make their
vows before all the people; and at sunset they would raise the center
pole and finish the sun lodge.