This is a very old rite of the Sioux, intended to typify the conquest of
the Thunder-Bird, which is supposed to bring the lightning, and is the
emblem of destruction.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.]
It is appropriately given in early summer, the period of frequent
thunderstorms.
Cut the figure of the Thunder-Bird from a piece of birch-bark or thin
wood, and suspend from the top of a pole fifteen feet high, which is
raised in the center of a ring sixty feet in diameter, formed of small
bent saplings or willow wands. The ring must have two entrances. At the
foot of the pole, place a bowl of clear water to represent the rain
which accompanies the lightning. On either side stand two small boys,
dressed in red or wearing red about their clothing, and carrying
war-clubs in their hands. These boys represent War.
Now all the Scouts enter the ring in single file, dressed in Scouts'
uniform or Indian costume and armed with bow and arrows. The drum beats
a slow tattoo as they march about the pole, looking upward toward the
figure of the Thunder-Bird and chanting these lines:
"Hear us, O Thunder!
Hear us, and tremble!
We are the soldiers,
Soldiers of peace!"
At the close of the song, each in turn shoots an arrow at the image, and
when it falls, the Scout who brought it down must drink all the water in
the bowl. The war-clubs are then taken away from the two little boys
representing War, who go out by the western entrance to the ring. At the
same time there enter by the eastern entrance two more boys (or
preferably girls, if it is a mixed assemblage), clad in blue and
carrying calumets, to typify Peace. These lead the second march around
the pole, while all chant the second stanza of the song:
"The Thunder is fallen;
Lost are his arrows;
Peace is the victor--
Our mother is Peace!"
A heavy stick with a large knot or knob on the end will do for a
war-club, and if no genuine peace-pipe is obtainable, one may be
improvised from a piece of wood.
[Illustration: Fig. 20.]
To any or all of these ceremonies spectators may be invited (and among
the Indians the whole village is generally present), but it is essential
that they maintain perfect order and absolute silence during the
solemnities.