e.

A medicine or "mystery feast" was not a public affair, as members only
were eligible, and upon these occasions all the "medicine bags" and
totems of the various lodges were displayed and their peculiar "medicine
songs" were sung. The food was only partaken of by invited guests, and
not by the hosts, or lodge making the feast. The "Grand Medicine
Dance" was given on the occasion of initiating those candidates who had
finished their probation, a sufficient number of whom were designated
to take the places of those who had died since the last meeting.
Invitations were sent out in the form of small bundles of tobacco.
Two very large teepees were pitched facing one another, a hundred feet
apart, half open, and connected by a roofless hall or colonnade of
fresh-cut boughs. One of these lodges was for the society giving the
dance and the novices, the other was occupied by the "soldiers," whose
duty it was to distribute the refreshments, and to keep order among the
spectators. They were selected from among the best and bravest warriors
of the tribe.

The preparations being complete, and the members of each lodge
garbed and painted according to their rituals, they entered the hall
separately, in single file, led by their oldest man or "Great Chief."
Standing before the "Soldiers' Lodge," facing the setting sun, their
chief addressed the "Great Mystery" directly in a few words, after which
all extending the right arm horizontally from the shoulder with
open palm, sang a short invocation in unison, ending with a deep:
"E-ho-ho-ho!" This performance, which was really impressive, was
repeated in front of the headquarters lodge, facing the rising sun,
after which each lodge took its assigned place, and the songs and dances
followed in regular order.

The closing ceremony, which was intensely dramatic in its character, was
the initiation of the novices, who had received their final preparation
on the night before. They were now led out in front of the headquarters
lodge and placed in a kneeling position upon a carpet of rich robes and
furs, the men upon the right hand, stripped and painted black, with a
round spot of red just over the heart, while the women, dressed in their
best, were arranged upon the left. Both sexes wore the hair loose, as
if in mourning or expectation of death. An equal number of grand
medicine-men, each of whom was especially appointed to one of the
novices, faced them at a distance of half the length of