Plate 1. Peyote leaders. _Upper left_, Charley Apekaum (Kiowa) and
Jonathan Koshiway (Oto); _upper right_, Alfred Wilson (Cheyenne) twice
president of the Native American Church; _lower left and right_,
Packing-Stone (Kiowa) a “Ten-Medicine” keeper and peyote leader in
typical leaders’ costume of blanket and buckskin clothes; the headdress
is old Kiowa.
Plate 2. Altar and ash-birds. _Upper left_, Quapaw permanent cement altar
of the John Wilson Big Moon rite. The ash mounds are the “graves” of
John Wilson and Jesus Christ; the W’s or M’s on each side of the heart
signify “Moon-Head” or “Wilson.” The nearest heart of the mound is the
Heart of the World, that under the fire the Sacred Heart of Christ, that
on the moon the Heart of Goodness on which the father peyote rests. Seven
lines around the apron represent week days, the twelve lines the months
of the year. The ashes mean the parting of the Red Sea, or mean to some
the sheep and the goats. This altar was made by the authorised builder,
Victor Griffin, and his assistant, Charley Tyner. _Upper right_, Symbolic
peyote painting by Mopope (Kiowa) showing sacred staff, seven-marbled
drum, drumstick, gourd rattle, doctoring feathers, and altar or moon
with ash crescent. The water bird intermediary is carrying a prayer
from the father peyote on the altar across the ritual fire to the great
spirit indicated by the seven rays of feathers of the rising sun. The
lightning lines from the god-head result from the artist’s visits to
the Southwestern pueblos. _Center_, A fine example of the scissors-tail
ash bird made at an Oto meeting near Red Rock, Oklahoma. _Lower_, An
unusually fine example of the water bird ash bird made at a Shawnee
meeting near McCloud. The burnt sticks finish out the scissors-tail
of the bird. The smokestick in the foreground is carved with native
and Christian symbols (now in Peabody Museum, Harvard University). (It
is believed that the Yuchi altar of Petrullo, Plate 2, is erroneously
figured and is of the order of those shown here.)