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Show igoo] GREAT PLAINS INDIANS 139 another among practically all of the stocks and tribes of the plains except the Comanche. Xtf is an elaborate annual ceremonial in which the sun is invoked, but chiefly thanked for favors bestowed upon his devotees. \ j t is participated in by practically all the adult members of the tribe, is managed by the recognized shamans or medicine- men, and the leading parts are taken by the secret societies of a military character which are found in nearly all the tribes. While it is thus a general tribal ceremony, it is always prepared and given by some individual in fulfilment of a vow. A ceremonial lodge of saplings is erected, and on the centre pole a sacred bundle containing symbolic shamanistic charms is suspended. The dancers form a semicircle, and with their eyes fixed on the sacred bundle keep up a constant shrill whistling through eagle bones held in the teeth, accompanied by characteristic movements of the arms and bodies. The participants are naked and painted with symbolic designs, which are frequently changed during the ceremony. \ The dance lasts four days as a rule, and among certain tribes, notably the Mandan, the later stages were marked by the physical tortures noticed above. The flesh of the breast and shoulders was pierced by wooden skewers to which thongs were attached and upon which the dancer threw his weight until he tore himself loose. The dance is accompanied by singing and driimming, and throughout the performance there |
