mong Indians are invariably
accompanied by singing and dancing. These are frequently derived from
the movements of animals and are both pantomimic and symbolic.

The object of the medicine dance is to work up the dancer to a state
of trance, in which he receives a revelation in regard to the matter
under consideration.

Some of these medicine dances are ritualistic in character and must
be performed with great strictness, but in the case of the Chisera
the dance is assumed to be made up of various dance elements
expressing the emotion of the moment, combined by individual taste
and skill.

Power is supposed to descend upon the dancer as he proceeds.
Sometimes the dance lasts for hours, and even for days before the
proper trance condition is attained. Even then the revelation may not
come until a second or third climax has been reached.

The blanket dance is common throughout the Southwest, and possibly
elsewhere. It is accompanied by a song which says, in effect, "How
lovely it will be when you and I have but one blanket." By the young
people it is not taken any more seriously than "drop the
handkerchief" and other courtship games.

COSTUMES

While the scene of this play is laid among the Paiute peoples, there
is nothing which makes it absolutely unlikely among any of the
hunting tribes.

Considerable latitude is therefore permissible in costume and
accessories. The only indispensable thing is that all these should be
kept within a given culture area. Every article of Indian use or
apparel is determined by some condition of living, and it is a
mistake to mix costumes from various tribes.

Concessions must be made to the objections of the modern audience to
the state of nudity which would be natural to the time in which the
story is laid. But even making allowance for this, the tendency is
always to overdo, to have too many beads and fringes and war-bonnets.
No more than his white brother did the Indian wear all his best
clothes every day.

The blanket is the most considerable item of Indian equipment. At
once by its quality, its color, and its pattern it announces
something of the wearer's rank and condition.

The way in which it is worn betrays the state of his mind as does no
other garment. It is drawn up, shrugged off, swung from one shoulder,
or completely shrouds the figure according as his mood runs, or it is
folded neatly about the body to get it out of the way of his arms
when he has need of the