The Washington times., 1901-10-06

The old chief tapped the floor with little
stick in a rhythm peculiar, Miss Fletcher
notes, 10 the drumming of man who Is
invoking unseen powers to protect him.
His eyes Were cast down, his speech was
deliberate. and his voice low-as If he
were delivering to himself alone the fun
| eTal Grafton of the dead past of his peO-
pie. The soleTnnity of the occasion was
justified in the event The chief recital
lasted three days, at the end of which
time Joseph La Flesche fell sick and two
! weeks later died in the very room where
| the story had been told.
According to the description which was
then given the painting oL the Poie
| should occur when the buffalo below
| in the latter part OF july and should fol-
| low the fourth tribal chase. The DIVISION
| of the Honga village which had specia!
| charge of the Pole called the seven
| principal chiefs of the tribe to the sacred
tent. These chiefs, ceremoniaily clad in
| buffalo robes. sat together in the closed
| tent which contained the Pole and smoked
sacred pack. They ate food, in a crouch
! ing attitude, to initiate the posture of the
| buffalo, but if morsel dropped to the
! ground 1t was pushed to the fire in ac-
cordance with the saying, No man must
! take anything claimed by the Pole.
| Each chief took reed from a bundle and
named some man of ValOr in the tribe.
| The reeds were then given to herald,
| who notified the men chosen. These in
| turn brought together poles, one from
! each tent in the tribe, to be used in build
! ing semi-cirCular communal lodge,
which included and furnished a sort Of
/ stage setting FOR the sacred tent
| The Sacred Pole itself was brought out
] from the tent and set up, leaning toward
| the centre OF the tribal encdmpmcnt. The
] pipe from the sacred pack was handed
| about in gathering OF dignitlries which
had come together in the communal lodge
! and the seven principal chiefs, again
| drawing reeds named the heads Of fami-
| lies who We're not dependent upon rela-
| tiVeS for support. These mcl, whose
| names were shouted out by the herald,
were designated to send, by the hands OF
their children, a contribution to the cere-
| monial consisting of the fattest pieces
of buffalo meat. invariably special cut
called the Te-zhu. If anyone refused 10
render this Offering. ne might expect to
be struck by lightning, to be wounded in
battle, or TO lose a leg because of Il splint-
er in his foot; and the little Indian mes
sengers came with fear and trembling IN
their hearts. Three days were spent in
gathering the meat which was laid in
parallel rows before the ceremonial ledge
Sacred songs We're sung at intervals
through the day and night. If error
was made in the order of these nongs the
members Of the Honga would weep, and
il was necessary for the herald to wipe
away their tears before the mistake could
be condoned
on the fourth day the Song of the
Knife was obanted. while the keeper of
the Pole cut of bits of fat from the
coiiected buffalo meat and placed them in
wooden bowl carried by his wife. An
other song was sung while this fat was
kneaded into the pigment with which the
Pole was TO be smeared. A buffalo chip
was then burned with the sweet grass
and cedar which We're kept in the pack
and the seven sacred arrows of the pack
were pur1hed in the fragrant smoke. The
piece of hide-the leather shield previous
ly described-was removed from the Pole
and the seven arrows were thrust through
the basket underneath each arrow re-
qulr1ng its special song. If an arrow
q = e1,p nf
JOY, since this Indicated victory in war
or success i'll hunting.
Then the buffalo meat was laid aside
ana Tour efilsleS- Of grass and hair, rep
resentinS the enemies of the tribe were
set up before the Pole. PITY me- my
Young men; let me once more complete
my ceremonies, dToned the herald as a
signal to the young men to put on their
war paint and attack the efiigies When
the young men dashed up on horseback
the people massed at either end of the
lodge shouted, They have come" on oc-
casions with so auch realism that the
chief believed for the moment that an
actual hostile attack had been made
Four times the Young men clar,yed the
priests meanwhile pretending to defend
the otiigies. and with this mimic battle
the ceremony ended.
The legend told Miss Fletcher relates
that the ceremonies of the Pole were for
the purpose Of holding the people togeth-
er. The Pole had been found when a
peace council was being held between the
and the Omahas. The son of one of the
Omaha chiefs came running to his father
saying that he had seen a wonderful tree
of fire with thunder birds lighting in its
branches. The father replied, Not yet.
my son, the compact or peace is not
made" Again the son came with the
same story and received the same answer
But when the peace council broke up the
father went before his head people and
Sac- My son has seen a wonderful tree
he thunder birds come and go upon this
tree, making trail of fire that leaves
four paths of burnt grass toward the four
winds. AS the thunder birds light upon
the tree it bursts into flame and the fire
mounts to the top; still the tree stands
by night
Runners we're sent out and confirmed
the story; and in planned attack arrows
Io,,-- shot into the tree and it was cut
-a0"n and brought in triumph back to the
camp. Songs were sung to it for four
nights, a tent was made for it and the
chiefs shaped it and bound about 1t a
basket-Work of twigs and feathers for a
pody and called It a human being. 1T
has no hair" they cried: and so a scalp
was fastened to its head. Then they paint
ed the Pole and set it up before the sacred
tent. leaning upon its staff and called
all the people together You see before
you a mystery they said. When we
are in trouble we shall bring our trouble
to him. To him you shall make all your
offerings and requests. All your prayers
must be accompanied by gifts. This Pole
belongs to all the people. but it shall be
in the keeping of one family and the lead
ership shall be with them. If anyone de-
sires to lead he shall make presents TO
the keepers and they shall give him au-
thority." After that address the people
prayed TO the Pole for courage and tro-
phies Of war and their prayers were an
Ewered.
Researches made by Miss Fletcher and
other ethnOlogists show that the Pole |
could not have been cut later than 1913 |
1t is believed to have come originally |
from the region Of the Red Pipe quarry in !
southwestern south Dakota The name |
given to it, Wa-ghdhe-ghe, means power |
to perform certain ceremony comforting |
the mark OF honor. and emphasized Miss |
Fletcher says. a political change in the !
method of choosing chiefs. The Sacred
Pole stood for a new idea-democracy.
But either as political symbol as an |
specimen, or as the memorial |
of the greatness Of an important tribe of |
American Indians, its value and interest |
are hardly 10 be surpassed by any similar |
object in this country.