Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1901-10-04
AN INDIAN CEREMONY
THE "MEDICINE SWEAT" THAT MAKES
THE RED MAN CLEAN.

II Is His Turkish Bath, So to Speak,
and It Is to Him n Rite, Both Phys
I icaI and Spiritual - Making Medi-
/ cine TO the Great Spirit.
Few, If any, of the writer's on the
habits, folklore and history of the
American Indian have devoted any
SPACE to the red mans Turkish bath,
an institution homemade to be sure,
but n recognized necessity in every
camp and feature of the daily life of
the Indian. On the contrary, COM
mentators have conveyed the impress
sion that habits of cleanliness are for
eign to the Indian and that he has an
Unborn aversion to water except for
culinary purposes.
BY the avidity and frequency with
which the Indian INDUCES in his home.
made Turkish bath he proves the fall
lacy of this belief and shows that he,
as we'll as his white brother, can live
up to the precept Cleanliness is next
to godliness," only in the practice the
Indian puts cleanliness first.
The term Turkish bath Is unknown
to the Indian. He calls that method Of
ablution medicine sweat" 1t is to
him rite both physical and spiritual,
for he cleanses his person and then
"makes medicine" to his Great Spirit.
That the rite is religiously observed
was shown by band Of Brule Sioux
Indians, who made a Journey across
the continent to the east and went into
encampment In, to them, a strange
land.
On their arrival, even before they
raised their tepee poles they erected
medicine sweat" tent. The framework
Of this tent Is Of hoop poles so trained
that 1t Is about nine feet in diameter,
four feet high, fat topped and almost
circular in form.
Just within the framework there Is
bedding Of straw about two feet wide,
and in the center Of the tent there Is
whole in the ground about three feet in
diameter and three feet deep. There
are no steam vents or pipes. no marble
slabs, no rubbers and no sheets. When
the Indian is ready for his medicine
sweat" n number of stones or rocks
are heated to almost white heat and
dumped into the hole in the ground.
Then the red men, 90 or % of them, in
a costume even scantier than Adams
after the fall, range themselves upon
the straw. They sit mummy fashion,
their chins on their knees and their
arms around their shins, packed so
close together that even If they would
they could not move.
When they are all ready, blankets,
skins and canvas are thrown over the
framework until the tent is almost air
tight, two or three buckets of water
are passed in and thrown upon the hot
stones and the medicine sweat" be-
gins. The moment the steam begins to
rise the Indians begin a chant, which
is kept up without interruption until
the sweat Is over. Packed together,
, enveloped in steam so thick that none
can see his neighbor. the Indians sit.
singing and perspirng for an hour or
more. Not an Indian moves. He
neither can nor wants to.
At a signal from the chief or the
medicine man section of the tent Is
torn away, and with heave and q
whoop all the bucks make pellmell for
the water. A run and a jump, and in
they go. 1t Is just as much sport for
the oldest warrior as for the boy who
. has not yet won his war bonnet Once
more on land, the Indian, having per-
formed duty he owes to himself and
his neighbor, Is ready to make medi-
|, cine" This Is always done after the
, medicine sweat"-in fact II Is part
! and parcel of the ceremony, for 1t Is
regarded as q ceremony.
The Indian, clean in person and at
this moment, before his communion
with the God of his fathers, supposed
, to be equally clean Of mind and guile
, less of soul, now proceeds to the high
, est point of land in the vicinity Of the
| camp, thus getting as near to the
, Great Spirit as 1t Is possible to do while
? on earth. On the way he gathers up a
, little soil. n stray leaf. some old tobacco
guilds, dead fly or bug or two-in fact
anything which may be deemed refuse,
, for he is about to convey to the Great
Spirit that he has cleansed his person
, and that all things unclean have gone
from him.
| These things that he has gathered he
places in a piece of white cloth, which
I In turn is fastened to the end of long
| stick. The other end of the stick is
, thrust into the ground at the top of the
= hill or knoll, and the good Indian has
made medicine. Two days seldom pass
| without the repetition of this cere-
? mony. 1t never varies. The scene may
: change, the Indian may wander to new
| lands or be driven to them, but where
he is there also Is his medicine sweat"
( : tent and there he "makes medicine'-