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Show BOFWMAX.] INITIATION CEREMONIES. 231 ers, to be ready for distribution after the initiation on the following day. Several friends of the candidate, who are Mide', are stationed at the doors of the MidS'wigan to guard against the intrusion of the uninitiated, or the possible abstraction of the gifts by strangers. INITIATION OP CANDIDATE. The candidate proceeds early on the morning of the day of initiation to take possession of the sweat- lodge, where he awaits the com-ing of his preceptor and the eight officiating priests. He has an abundance of tobacco with which to supply all the active participants, so that they may appease any feeling of opposition of the man'id5s toward the admission of a new candidate, and to make offerings of tobacco to the guardian spirit of the second degree of the Mide'wiwin. After the usual ceremony of smoking individual songs are indulged in by the Mide' priests until such time as they may deem it necessary to proceed to the MidS'wigan, where the members of the society have long since gathered and around which is scattered the usual crowd of . spectators. The candidate leads the procession from the sweat- lodge to the eastern entrance of the Mide'- wig& n, carrying an ample supply of tobacco and followed by the priests who chant. When the head of the procession arrives at the door of the sacred inclosure a halt is made, the priests going forward and entering. The drummer, stationed within, begins to drum and sing, while the preceptor and chief officiating priest continue their line of inarch around the inclosure, going by way of the south or left hand. Eight circuits are made, the last terminating at the main or eastern entrance. The drumming then ceases and the candidate is taken to the inner side of the door, when all the members rise and stand in their places. The officiating priests approach and stand near the middle of the inclosure, facing the candidate, when one of them says to the Mide' priest beside the latter: O- da'- pin a- se'- nia- " Take it, the tobacco," whereupon the Mid § ' spoken to relieves the candidate of the tobacco and carries it to the middle of the inclosure, where it is laid upon a blanket spread upon the ground. The preceptor then takes from the cross- poles some of the blankets or robes and gives them to. the candidate to hold. One of the malevolent spirits which oppose the entrance of a stranger is still supposed to remain with the Mide'wig& n, its body being that of a serpent, like flames of fire, reaching from the earth to the sky. He is called I'- shi- ga- ne'- bT- g6g-" Big- Snake." To appease his anger the candidate must make a present; so the preceptor says for the candidate: Ka- wTn- nI- na- ga' wa'- ba- ma'- si- ba'- shl- gi'- ne- get' ? Do you not see how he carries the goods ? This being assented to by the Mide' priests the preceptor takes the blankets and deposits them near the tobacco upon the ground. Slight taps upon the Mide' drum are heard and the candidate is led |