Indians of North America -- Religion; Indians of North America -- Rites and ceremonies; Peyotism
This done, all eat[101] their peyote, to the accompaniment of much
spitting out of the woolly center of the buttons; hereafter during the
night in the intermissions of singing, anyone can call for the peyote
bag (the incense burning may or may not be repeated). Then more cedar is
sprinkled on the fire and the leader makes four motions with the staff
in his left hand and the rattle in his right toward the rising incense
smoke.[102] The drummer motions similarly with the drumstick, pulling
smoke from the fire to the drum. The leader takes a bunch of sagebrush
from between the tipi-cover and pole behind him (previously prepared by
the fireman), holds it with his staff and the singing begins.[103] The
drummer shifts his left thumb over the drumhead or sloshes the water
inside on it or blows on it to get the proper tension and tone, then the
leader holds his staff and sage at arm’s length between himself and the
fire and rattles for the Hayätinayo or Opening Song.[104] The leader
exchanges his staff and rattle for the drum the latter always passing
_under_ the staff,[105] and the drummer sings four songs of his own
choosing. The paraphernalia, staff preceding drum, are then passed to the
left; each man sings to the drumming of the man on his right, and then
himself drums for the man on his left.[106] This singing, rattling, and
drumming forms the bulk of the ceremony during the night. At intervals
older men pray aloud, with affecting sincerity, often with tears running
down their cheeks, their voices choked with emotion, and their bodies
swaying with earnestness as they gesture and stretch out their arms
to invoke the aid of Peyote. The tone is of a poor and pitiful person
humbly asking the aid and pity of a great power, and absolutely no shame
whatever is felt by anyone when a grown man breaks down into loud sobbing
during his prayer.[107]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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