The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-09-09
AN INDIAN CEREMONY
ME "MED;cINE SWEAT" THAT MAKES
THE RED MAN CLEAN.


and It IL to Him n Rite, Both Phys
zeal nnd spiritual - Making MedI- !
cine TO the Great spirit.
Few, IL 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 a feature of the daily life of
the Indian. on the contrary, com.
mentators have conveyed the impress
sion that habits of cleanliness are for
elgn to the Indian and that he has an
inbOrn aversion to water except for
culinary purposes.
by the avldity and frequency with
which the Indian INDUCES In his home.
made Turkish bath he proves the fal-
lacy Of this belief and shows that he,
as well as his white brother can live
up 10 the precept Cleanliness Is next
to godiness." only in the practice the
Indian puts cleanliness first.
The term Turkish bath is unknown
10 the Indian. lie calls that method OF
ablution n medicine sweat" 1t is 10
him rite both physical and spiritual
for he clcanses his person and then
"makes medicine" to his Great Spirit.
That the rite is religiously observed
was shown 10y 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 tcpce poles, they erected
medicine sweat tent. The framework
of this tent Is of hoop poles SO trained
that it is about nine feet in diameter
four feet high, Hat topped and almost
circular I'm form.
Just within the framework there is a
bedding of straw about two feet wide.
and i'm the center Of the tent there Is n
whole i'm 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 a number Of stones or rocks
are heated TO almost white heat and
' dumped into the hole in the ground.
Z Then the rel men, 20 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 shns, packed so
close together that even II 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 n 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 perspiring 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 a section of the tent is
torn away, and with a heave and a
whoop all the bucks make pellmell for
the water. 4 run and jump, and In
they 90. 1t is Just as much sport for
f. the oldest warrior as for the boy who
\ has not yet won his war bonnet. Once
more on land, the Indian. having per
formed a duty he owes to himself and
his neghbor is ready to make med.
cine" This is always done after the
"medicine sweat'-in fact it Is part
and parcel Of the ceremony, for II N
regarded as "A ceremony.
The IndlCp, 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 Il
little soil, n stray leaf, some old tobacco
guilds, a 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
pldCcS III IL plcNt VI Nulte CloNut Nhl'h
I'm turn is fastened to the end of a long
stick. The other end of the stick il
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. II 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."-
New York Times.
No Pipes smoked In Cuba.