The scalp dance is called _´daldá-`gúăn_, literally "hair-kill dance." Should one of the war party have been killed, all the others go into mourning (_dóát_) and do not rejoice or paint themselves as they return, even though bringing back a scalp. In this case they hold no dance, but sacrifice the scalp to the sun by "throwing it away" on some hillside. If, on the contrary, they have taken one or more scalps without the loss of one of their own party, they return to camp in full war dress, including their war-bonnets, and with faces painted black, to show that they have killed an enemy. They enter the camp running, to imitate a charge, firing their guns and discharging arrows, to show how they had met and struck the foe; if they approached in silence, they might be mistaken for enemies. Their friends run out to meet them, shouting "_Ĭmkágyä´gya!_" ("They are coming in triumph!"), and at once commence preparations for the dance. The entry is generally made in the morning, or perhaps just after noon, in order to give plenty of time to prepare for the dance; should they reach the camp late in the evening, the entry is postponed until the next morning. The warriors take the women up behind them on their horses and ride around the circle singing, while the scalps, stretched over hoops and painted red on the inside, are carried at the ends of poles about 6 feet long by other women in the dance; at night a fire is built in the center of the circle. As the interpreter said, in his quaint English, "Everybody very happy time like picnic." No men excepting those of the returned war party engage in the dance, but all the women take part. The dance may continue every afternoon and night for a month, after which the scalp is usually "thrown away" in some unfrequented spot by fastening it to the branch of a tree, or to the end of a pole planted on the hillside, with a prayer offering it to the sun. This act of sacrifice was called _pä´ñgun_, a word signifying "to give by throwing away." An instance of the employment of buffalo chips among the Crows in ceremonial dances of a warlike character is noted by an officer concerned in the Dakota campaign of 1876. Several officers and men had left camp for a short hunting trip--