Beside the _tai´me_ keeper there are three classes of persons who dance; the associates (_g.uołg.uȧt`_), the _tai´me_ shield keepers, and the common dancers. The four associates (Scott's "keeper's assistants") must dance throughout the whole four day period. They appear in four successive dances (normally four years), after which they choose successors from among those young men, eighteen to thirty years old, who have made the best records in war. These young men, with the assistance of their relatives,[37] pay horses and buffalo robes for the privilege, receiving the regalia in return.[38] One who is chosen cannot refuse: if he does, he may expect a calamity. The associate may belong to any of the military societies. His office does not impose obligations of foolhardiness in war (such as the no-flight idea), but he is obliged to act the part of an intrepid warrior, because he enjoys security in battle.[39] The associate must not look in a mirror lest he become blind,[40] nor can he touch a skunk or jackrabbit, nor remain near a fire where someone is cooking. Dogs must not be permitted to jump over an associate. He must remove his moccasins before he smokes, but others may keep theirs on when smoking in his presence. The associate dances in order to live long and to be a great warrior. His body is painted white or yellow: a round spot representing the sun is painted on the middle of his chest, with a crescent moon (the concavity upward) on both sides of the sun, and the same decoration is repeated on his back. The skin is cut away as a sacrifice and to make these designs permanent after his first dance. A scalp from a _tai´me_ shield hangs on his breast with two eagle feathers; another on his back. His face is "ornamented with a green stripe across the forehead, and around down the sides of the cheeks, to the corners of the mouth, and meeting on the chin."[41] He wears a yellow buckskin kilt, with his breechclout hung outside, like the Arapaho and Cheyenne sun dancers. Bunches of sage are stuck into his belt, others tied around his wrists and ankles, and carried in each hand. On his head is either a cap of jackrabbitskin in which is stuck an eagle feather or a sage wreath with down attached. He carries a bone whistle. Like the sacred doll keeper and all other dancers, he is barefoot.[42] Battey saw three associates purify themselves in the incense from the censors, and then dance on piles of sage.[43] The _tai´me_ shield owners, who dance with the associates are sometimes painted yellow or green with pictures of the sun and moon on their bodies, but otherwise they wear the regalia of the common dancers. The rank and file of the dancers are men, never women. Anyone may vow to dance a certain number of days, with the object of becoming a better warrior and living long.