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Show 8 0 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ BULL. 75 a Ute medicine man, replied without hesitation, " They get better because they don't eat and drink for a while." There was said to be no ceremony connected with the cutting of the tree for the Sun dance pole, but it was not permissible for the pole to touch the ground. After felling the tree the bark was removed, together with all the branches except " a few green leaves at the top" and a short branch near the top, to which was fastened some willow brush. When the pole had been carried to the camp it was lifted carefully tod placed upright in the hole dug for that purpose. Around the Sun dance pole a lodge or shelter was constructed by erecting a wall of brush about 4 feet in height and placing poles from this to the Sun dance pole in the center. This lodge opened toward the east and the drum was at the left of the entrance. In preparation for the ceremony the dancers painted their bodies, this paint being renewed every morning during the period of dancing. The manner of decoration was decided by individual taste. The designs were simple, no " pictures" or " zigzag lines" being used. Pa'gitS said that his design was " a line across the nose." Each dancer carried an eagle- bone whistle, to which was attached a white eagle plume. There was no decoration on the whistle. The ceremony lasted four days and nights, during which time the dancers abstained from food and water and remained in the lodge. Occasionally the dance was terminated at the end of the third day, but four days was said to be the proper length of time. It was said that a " sham battle" was held early in the morning of the day that the Sun dance began. This was sometimes followed by a Dragging- feet dance, but no social dances were permitted in the camp after the opening of the Sim dance. The old men sometimes built a sweat lodge and went into it before the ceremony, but this was not a common custom. A " parade" was held before the beginning of the Sun dance. In this, as in other parades ( see p. 166), the participants were on horseback, the men preceding the women and beating hand drums as they sang. One song of this parade was recorded ( No. 26). Pa'gitS ( pi. 10, c) said that 10 or 12 was the usual number of dancers and that they entered the lodge in the early evening, when " only a rim of the sun was above the horizon." There was no acknowledged leader of the ceremony, but a prayer was paade by one of the men after they entered the lodge. He was said to " pray to the sun." This man did not sit by the pole, but sat wherever he liked.- The , man who prayed at the time of entering the lodge did not make another prayer during the ceremony, but others made prayers from time to time. It was required that these be men who had dreamed dreams. The first night the men danced until daylight. No one |