Adventure Magazine Cover — page 179: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

““Hishimishtsh Batat-t’’ trunk, and either carry or accompany it to the site of the dance, remaining with it until it was erected. Whenever possible, one of those unfortu- nate bisexual individuals so frequently found among a primitive people, and es- pecially among the Crow Nation, was re- quired to fell the tree, but in the absence of _such a one that duty fell to the maidens. The trunk had to be carried by the vir- gins, or dragged by ropes to the camp to the place where it was to be erected, accom- panied by mounted warriors who yelled, shot at it with arrows or guns, and lashed it with quirts until it reached the chosen spot, generally the center of the camp circle. Every one lent a hand in excavating a deep hole in which to plant it; but the maidens erected and tamped it, leaving from fifteen to twenty feet standing above the ground. It need hardly be said that it was very solidly planted, the strain upon it later being considerable. At the peak was hung a dry and whitened buffalo skull. Long thongs of rawhide were attached in pairs, and on the day appointed, the dancers assembled before sunup to dance, after a night’s vigil of prayer and fasting. Those who had fore-thoughtedly “seen” the medicine man and against whom he had no grudge, were assured of an early and suc- cessful outcome, but wo betide the unlucky wight who had incurred his ill will, for then deep and wide were the cuts he would make through the pectoral and trapezoid muscles, rendering it difficult and sometimes im- possible to tear loose. One young brave after vainly trying to burst the flesh and muscles, had his friends hitch a pair of ponies to his heels and was dragged loose by this means. The flesh of the breasts was pinched up by the medicine man, a sharp knife slid under the breasts and a stout stick inserted in the wounds, these being attached to the thongs dependent from the tree trunk. A bone whistle was placed between the lips of the dancer, and as the sun rose, he danced, throwing himself backward, jerking to burst loose, continually blowing the medicine whistle, keeping his eyes toward the sun, 173 and rubbing sprigs of the white sage between his palms. During the entire ceremony the tom-toms kept up their monotonous tump tump, and the devotee’s friends cheered and encour- aged him to strenuous effort. If successful in breaking loose, he was conducted by ad- mirers to his lodge, and the horrible jagged wounds roughly dressed, care being taken to leave them open so that the cicatrices might be plainly visible in after years. ‘ If by nightfall, he had not succeeded in ireeing himself, or if he fainted under the ordeal, his friends cut him down, and cared for him. Some observers (sic) have stated that if the unsuccessful devotee failed, he was con- sidered disgraced, became an outcast, and was relegated to a place with squaws and as a squaw, but this is wholly incorrect and the product of their imaginations, for no stigma attached to failure. Sometimes the dancer would hang his personal medicine-bag to the post, and among different tribes there was more or less variation in the details, but the underlying principle and object to be obtained was the same everywhere. The dance was only pro- hibited by the United States Government for the same reason that the Flagellantes of New Mexico were enjoined in their prac- tises, or the Holy Rollers restrained by the Dominion Government when they started their hegira westward, stark naked—name- ly, to prevent an excess of religious fervor, and the consequent accidents and fatalities that so frequently occurred. One day only was employed for this dance, and it could not take place again for a certain period, but those who successfully passed the ordeal gained a considerable prestige, and were held in high esteem by the tribe. Even today—one who has been adopted into the Brules and at one time was private secretary to the late Bill Cody assured the writer—hundreds of the young Christianized bucks of the missions and reservations would avidly seize a chance to dance “The Wauchipe of the Sun,” or the Hishimishish Batat-t, as it was known to the Arapahos, “The People of the Blue Cloud.” NOOK CONMUC (C@