“A man dreamed of the thunder, and afterwards called in four men
to assist him in making the medicine-bow. They went through the
preliminaries (the sweat-house, etc.), after which a special
tent was erected. The ground inside of this tent, where the
dreamer and his four companions sat, was covered with
sage-grass. A young man was called in to act as their assistant.
He was sent out to cut elm sticks. He went out slowly, and after
a time came back with the sticks. Then he was sent out to get
together the feathers of swift flying birds, pieces of
buffalo-hide, paints, etc. He went around the camp, and begged
these of the people.
“Then the four men set to work making the sticks under the
direction of the dreamer. The dreamer gave a bow to one of the
men, and a piece of buffalo-hide in which to wrap the sticks,
also a wooden bowl from which to eat.
“After a time, the faces of the men were painted red. When the
sticks were finished, four men came in wrapped in buffalo-robes,
each carrying a drum. Now the four men who had prepared the
sticks were ready to receive the bow, and the drummers began to
drum and sing. Then the man who dreamed about the bow carried it
outside of the lodge, pointing it toward the west. He was
followed by the whole company, and, after singing a song, they
took a step forward and pointed the bow to the north; another
step again, then pointed to the east; and then a step forward,
pointing to the south. Then they ran toward the west, then
toward the east, then toward the north, and then toward the
south. [The significance of this is, that the thunder resides in
the four directions of the heavens, and also goes in all
directions, so that the carrying of the sticks toward the
various points of the compass puts them in touch with the
thunder.] Then they went back to the sweat-house, and the
ceremony was complete.
“The man who owns one of these bows must not wear iron on his
person, he must never give his food to any one else after eating
from it himself, and he must never allow the bow, or any part of
it, to touch the ground.”[21]
[Illustration: Fig. 24. Sketch of a Robe for the
Medicine-bow Owner. Drawn by a Native. ]
The owner of a medicine-bow should have a buffalo-robe with special
decorations, consisting of a spider-web design of the character
previously described, from the corners of which extend wavy lines
representing the thunder. Sometimes the picture of a thunder-bird was
drawn above the spider-web design, or a few tail-feathers of the eagle
were attached to the robe. The spider-web design on the robe of an owner
of a medicine-bow was to symbolize the thunder, for, as stated by the
informants, the spider is a friend of the medicine-bow. None of these
robes are now in existence; but sketches were made for the writer, one
of which is reproduced in Fig. 24.
The body-painting for the medicine-bow was rather elaborate. In the
first place, the whole body was smeared over with a brownish-red paint,
representing the earth in a buffalo-wallow. There were two ways of
decorating the face. In one, a curved line was drawn, extending from the
corners of the mouth around over the forehead, the ends of the lines
being forked to represent lightning. Wavy lines, also with forked ends,
were drawn down the arms and the legs. These lines were in black or
blue. Blue bands were painted around the ankles, arms, wrists, and
shoulders, representing the power of the lightning. These bands were
often covered with wristlets and anklets of rabbit-fur, because the
rabbit was in some way associated with the medicine-bow. In the other
painting, a crescent, representing the moon, was placed upon the
forehead and a line drawn from ear to ear across the bridge of the nose.
In this form, the body-painting was the same as in the preceding, except
that one of the lines upon the leg was straight instead of wavy, and it
was said to signify the desire for ability to think straight or to
possess presence of mind, in contrast to the state of mind supposed to
be produced by the power of the whirlwind.
[Illustration: Fig. 25 (50-2093). Design on a Metal Belt-ornament. Width,
2 cm.
Fig. 26 (50-3124). Design of Spider-web on a Straight Pipe. Length, 25
cm. ]
The spider-web design has been mentioned in connection with shield and
other designs, and a retrospect indicates a peculiar graphic resemblance
in it to the older type of star-designs shown in Plate VI. The writer
uses the term “older” on the authority of two Indians. Some incised
designs on metal ornaments worn by a woman, of the form shown in Fig.
25, seem to be a combination of the older star-design and that of the
spider-web. Another design (Fig. 26) scratched on the bowl of a straight
pipe of red stone was also said to represent the spider-web. There is
another design used by the Dakota in ceremonies relating to the buffalo;
but it is rectangular in form with projecting corners, and is considered
a distinct symbol.
-----
[19] Wissler (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol.
XVII, p. 248).
[20] Dorsey (Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 480).
[21] Narrated by an Ogalala man.