“There were seven _teoshpaiay_ [bands], seven council fires, and one of them was my people, the Oglala. They were all Lakota and had the same tongue, but they did not all say things in the same way, and when we got together, sometimes we boys would mock each other, because our way of speaking was the best. Each _teoshpaiay_ was a hoop by itself, and could go anywhere it pleased, for it had its own tepee _okige_, the highest tepee where its chief lived, and its own tepee _iyokihe_, the next highest tepee, where its councilors made the laws for the people. “When all the seven _teoshpaiay_, or most of them, came to live together, they would camp in a great hoop, which was more sacred than any of the smaller hoops that made it. And if there were laws to be made for all the hoops to obey or something to decide for all of them, then each _teoshpaiay_ would bring its council tepee to the center of the great hoop; and with all these tepees they would make a big place for all the councils and chiefs to meet as one, and this they called tepee-thrown-over-together. It had no roof, only walls, because it was not needed very long. “And it was here that four were chosen to be chiefs above all others--one _wichashita nacha_, who is highest, and three _nacha_, who were next. “Also each hoop had its own _akichita_, and they were the keepers of all the laws. They were like relatives of the thunder beings, and theirs was the power of lightning. Nothing could stop them; and if any man broke a law, they took care of him, even a brother or a father. If the chief himself broke a law, the _akichita_ could throw him out of the tepee _okige_, and a better man would be chosen. If any should go on a war party or a hunt when the council said, ‘no,’ the _akichita_ could whip them and cut their tepees in pieces. And if any fought the _akichita_, they would be killed. If you broke a law, it was like breaking the sacred hoop a little; and that was a very bad thing, for the hoop was the life of the people all together. “If an _akichita_ did some bad thing or did not do what he ought to do, then the _wichasha yatapika_ could throw him out before all the people; and it was better to die than to see shame in every face. Even little boys could mock such a man and no one would stop them. For the _wichasha yatapika_ [men whom all praise] were stronger at last than all others except Wakon Tonka; and yet they did not make the laws. They chose the chiefs and the councilors and the _akichita_ from among themselves; and any man could become one of them, but it was not easy, and it took a long time.