Just outside the circle camp was the race track, a level stretch along
a low range of hills. The head of the course lay towards the
snow-capped Rockies and extended eastward toward the open plains. On
one side were grass-covered prairies, decked with lovely wild flowers;
and on the other the outskirts of the big camp with its smoke-colored
tepees.
For the most exciting race of that day, a large crowd of Indians
gathered at the finish; they wagered horses, robes, and blankets. The
young riders were naked, wearing only loin-cloths and moccasins. They
rode wild broncos without saddles, using rawhide ropes for bridles. At
the start I heard shouts, and saw a cloud of dust moving swiftly. The
riders came, lying low along the backs of their broncos and beating
them with rawhide whips. A famous race horse named “Bull Shoe” won,
amid shouts from the throng of spectators.
Then Elk Horn, the herald, rode through the camp and announced that
White Grass, the medicine man, would take out his Dancing Pipe; he
invited every one to come to the ceremony.
Now the Dancing Pipe was the oldest and most powerful of the medicine
pipes. Many came to follow it, both men and women, dressed in their
best, each carrying some sacred object to which they prayed. A throng
soon filled the lodge of White Grass and crowded about the outside.
They watched him remove the wrappings from the pipe, one by one, each
with a different song, until at last he held up the long stem. It was
wrapped with fur and decorated with eagle feathers and bright-colored
plumes.
White Grass lifted the Pipe reverently, holding it to the north, south,
east, and west; and prayed to the Sun for all the people. Two chiefs
arose and recounted their brave deeds in war; and, after that, four men
sounded their drums.
Then White Grass stood up and held the Pipe in front of him. He danced
slowly from the lodge, men and women and even children following in
single file, until there was a long line of dancing Indians moving in
and out among the tepees. White Grass and the four drummers led the
dancers, beating their drums and singing the songs of the Dancing Pipe.
They moved once around the big camp circle and then back to the lodge
of White Grass.
Another crowd gathered at the tepee of Night Gun, to see some women
choose their men in the Kissing Dance. The men stood in line on one
side of the lodge, the women on the other. When the lines came close
together, the man who was chosen put a blanket over his head and the
woman’s, and they kissed each other while dancing between the lines.
For this favor, the man had to make the woman a present, generally a
blanket, though sometimes other gifts were added.
But a tragedy put an end to the Kissing Dance. There was a married
woman who liked the dance so much she neglected home and children. When
her husband found out that she kept choosing a former lover, he came to
the dance lodge and killed her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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