The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-23

pure beyond all doubt. For instance, a wo
mans husband or son falisill, or perhaps no goef
10 war against the enemy then tho woman goes
ing to the Sun to make her loved one we'll or 70
bring him snfoly back fnpm war. She proclaims
her purity, calling on any man TO deny That she
calls all the people to witness thai, In case the
Sun grants her prayer she will build the lodge
h In sss sGp% ahass q sG nn%Ser Of y Women SS1 nI msdC PSis
vow in a season. and In that case thoy all Joined
in to mako tho lodge. During. the winter and
faio tongues, and even this, was a matter. OF
much ceremony and attended with the. singing
sacred lodge was to DO built the CHIEF selected
the site, which was always In some open fiat
and near water and timber: Thliher the whole
circle. During the year many warriors had
made VOWS TO tho sun, promising. II relieved
perform come deed, to sacrifice their bodies to
him. These men, with the husbands and other
male relatives Of the DISCRIMINATING women,
built each day for the four days preceding the
erection of the. lodge a large swosthouse or
sudatory, half OF II being painted black and half
rod representing night aud day., and in these
minds might DO purified and acceptable to the
Those sweathouses were built north, south.
east, and west of the place where tho sacred
l.Cee was TO stand, and represented the four
cardinal points of the world, over which tho
sun Is supreme.
In the morning of the first day of the four
which were to 30 devoted to the observance Of
tho rites the lodge was built by all the young
men and warriors Of the tribe, with song and
% RTsysr; s @aSn SS%aPlSs s Their m shs r %sS1Sins
and all the warriors who had made vows to
sacrifice themselves, went Into 1t, there to re-
DAYS. The women had with them 900 dried
buffalo tongues, cut in small pieces, and gave
Who CAME into the lodge. Old and young e big
and little, some IN during the four days
came in. and receiving the piece Of. tongue,
ness, and long life. Each person, too, brought
some gift to the Sun, which was hung on a large
R %aine ID u 5h9 t isntr and G Ind e lser : The ,o1 siit sw re;
with them. These gifts were the best bits Of
fnery the people had. CHIEF among them were
pccial property. of tho Sun. Then were
other furs and robes, embroidered clothing,
s spoaIa ems in fact of every manufacture the
riors who had vowed. to sacrifice to the Sun
thongs which had been skewercd 10 the skin Of
their backs or breasts, and there they swung
and suffered until the flesh gave way, and let
sacrificed a ~joint:or two OF their fingers, which
were chopped OF with 9 knife or Ratchet.
which were. faithfully carried out as the Sun
instructed Scarface In the long ago.
When a person dios, say the ,Blackfeet, his
bleak, barren waste of sand dunes northwest
of the sweet grass hills. There he Joins the
ali are there, even the very first Of the race, no
matter how or when they died. 1t is not a
pleasant place, for the shadows and every
the persons and things In this world. Their
lodges are shadows. their fires arc shadow
SHADOW H1eS, Wnf bn sa I QUE eat h' shadow hhSSL; me mea sna and w ear
shadow robes. Everything Is cold, ghostly,
and unsatisfying, a parody, as 1t were, on our
real life. No wonder, then, that the Black
foot does not look forward, like other Indians,
to the time when his spirit shall enter tho
happy hunting ground, where the p~aleface is
unknown, and where he can revel forever
moro in tho excitement of tho chase. Yet for
all this when the time comes no people are
less afraid of death than the Blackfeet. They
meet 1t s~toically and quietly, with never q
prayer, or regret, and after one has passed
away the mourners say, How sad, how sad.
the sandhills."