During the ceremony Hasjelti, dressed in black velvet ornamented with silver, and Hostjoboard, with her nude body painted white and with silk scarf around the loins caught on with silver belt, left the lodge to gather the children upon the mesa for the purpose of initiating them; but the children had already been summoned by men who rode over the mesa on horseback, visiting every hogan to see that all the children were brought for initiation. A buffalo robe was spread at the end of the avenue which extended from the medicine lodge some three hundred yards. The head of the robe was to the east; at the end of the robe blankets were spread in a kind of semicircle. Most of the children were accompanied by their mothers. The boys were stripped of their clothing and sat upon the buffalo robe. The head of the line being to the north, they all faced east with their feet stretched out. Their arms hung by their sides and their heads were bent forward. The girls sat in line upon the blanket in company with their mothers and the mothers of the boys. It is entirely a matter of choice whether or not a mother accompanies her child or takes any part in the ceremony. The girls also sat like the boys, their heads bent forward. Their heads were bent down that they might not look upon the gods until they had been initiated. Up to this time they were supposed never to have had a close view of the masks or to have inspected anything pertaining to their religious ceremonies. The children ranged from five to ten years of age. At this particular ceremony nine boys and six girls were initiated. When the children were all in position, Hasjelti, carrying a fawn skin containing sacred meal, and Hostjoboard, carrying two needles of the Spanish bayonet, stood in front of the children. The boy at the head of the line was led out and stood facing the east. Hasjelti, with the sacred meal, formed a cross on his breast, at the same time giving his peculiar hoot. Hostjoboard struck him upon the breast, first with the needles held in her right hand and then with those held in the left. Hasjelti then turned the boy toward the right until he faced west and made a cross with meal upon his back, when Hostjoboard struck him twice on the back with the needles. He was again turned to face the east, when both arms were extended and brought together. Hasjelti made a cross over the arms and then over the knees. Each time the boy was crossed with the meal Hostjoboard struck the spot first with the needles in the right hand and then with those in the left, after which the boy returned to his seat. The cross denotes the scalp knot. Most of the boys advanced quite bravely to receive the chastisement. I noticed but one who seemed very nervous, and with great difficulty he kept back the tears. The boys’ ceremony over, the gods approached the girls, beginning at the end of the line next to the boys. Hasjelti marked a line of meal on each side