“When a girl is about ten she is told what is going to happen to her. When her first period comes [she is not specially confined] people tell her to be active and not to be lazy. She drinks only warm water. In the old days anything that she gathered anyone could come along and take. She couldn’t eat meat or salt but Washo don’t think eggs are the same as meat.” (This last statement was in response to direct questions and does not reflect special Washo traits. In fact, all food appears to have been forbidden for four days.) The family of the girl immediately prepares as much food as possible to feed the guests. One informant remembers in his youth that a family of a girl eligible for a dance would light a large fire part way up on Job’s Peak to announce the event. The dance itself is carried out at night. Singing and hand-clapping accompany the dancing, which may go on all night. During the dance the girl carries a wand about six or seven feet long. The wand is made of a very light wood, often elderberry, and painted red with a native pigment. In the past, groups camped about Dresslerville staged their dances at the base of a prominent hill nearby. During the night the girl was required to run to the top of the hill and light four fires; this practice has been discontinued for many years, however, apparently as a result of white accusations that the Indians started range fires and also to avoid attracting curious whites. About dawn one of the girl’s male relatives ran forward and snatched the stick from her. He then ran with it into the hills and hid it in an upright position in some out-of-the-way place. The elderberry wand is a device used to insure the girl’s continued agility and lightness of foot. As long as the hidden stick remains unbroken the girl will remain straight and agile. After the stick was taken away, an older female relative took a small amount of ash on a whisk of sage, and dusted the nude girl on the head, arms, and legs. This ritual was accompanied by an informal prayer that the girl not suffer pains in her head, arms, or legs. She was told: “I am doing this early in the morning so that you will get up early in the morning and work hard.” The whisk was then thrown into the crowd, along with a gift, which today is usually a bit of money. Food or beads were apparently used in the past. After the dusting, a basketful of water was brought forward and the girl was bathed. The basket was then thrown into the crowd. This was considered a high point of the celebration. After she was bathed, a few dabs of native pigment were placed on her chest and face. The ceremony above was described as the “real way to do it ... the way they did it in the old days.”