The Sun Dance of the Blackfoot IndiansWissler, Clark
Religion
The Sun Dance of the Blackfoot Indians
Wissler, Clark
Siksika Indians; Sun dance
On the return, the women make four pauses as before. When the pail is
finally within the tipi, incense is burned between the fireplace and the
door and the pail held in the smudge. The father takes up the board upon
which some of the tongues lie and while holding it up in one hand,
shakes the cup about in the water, meanwhile making a noise like the
buffalo, finally striking the pail a blow with the cup. Here the song
runs:--
"Buffalo will drink."
This may be taken as marking one stage of the ceremony. The boiling of
the tongue is now in order. When all is ready, the father starts the
songs in the next series. The two women hook the kettle on the tripods
and while the kettle is heated, there are other songs and incense burned
and the song runs:--
"Where I (buffalo speaking) sit is sacred."
While the water boils, the director takes up a tongue, holds it above
the kettle, lowers it slowly, making a noise as if something were
drinking. After this, the women place the tongues in the kettle and
proceed with the boiling. Here or elsewhere, songs accompany the
ceremonial acts. The pot must not boil over.
When the tongues have cooked, the two women rise and stand by the fire
as the songs begin. At the proper moment, they remove the kettle and
place it on the spot where the smudge was made. First, they take out the
painted tongues and then the others. The father takes up a small piece,
singing:--
"Old Man (sun), he wants pemmican.
He wants to eat.
Old Woman (moon), she wants back fat.
She wants to eat.
Morningstar, he wants broth.
He wants to eat."
Then the painted tongue is passed to the daughter. Now, each of the
women tears off a bit of the tongue skin and all hold up the pieces and
pray. After the prayers, the pieces are placed in the earth and the
tongues are hung up to dry. First, the rope is taken up and a song sung.
The woman who made the vow, rises and ties one end of the rope to the
tipi pole on the north side and the other end to the tipi pole on the
south side, a little to the west of the fireplace. All the tongues, both
painted and unpainted, are hung on this rope.
During all these ceremonies there is no regular smudge. The smudges are
made with sweetgrass on the grass near the rear of the tipi. The tongues
are left to hang for two days before they are taken down to be cooked.
When the tongues have been hung, all return to their homes, the women
taking the tongue skins with them for their relatives to eat, as they
are considered to be blessed and supposed to bring good luck.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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