harangue and a prayer to the Great Spirit by the high priest. He implores him to accept their gifts, to take pity on them, protect them against sickness, accidents and misfortunes of all kinds, and to give them a plenteous hunt, plenty of bison, stag, deer, bighorns, wild-goat, etc., and to aid them in their wars and excursions against their enemies. Then he offers the calumet to the Great Spirit, to the sun, to each of the four cardinal points, to the water and the land, with words analogous to the benefits which they obtain from each. The sacred calumet is then passed to all the chiefs and warriors, who draw two or three whiffs of smoke, which each puffs out toward heaven, at the same time elevat
ing the pipe. The day finishes with the great " medicine dance," and a variety of dances in honor of the animals
which I have named. In these last they try to imitate, as much as possible, the cries and movements of those animals. Men alone perform this dance.
The second day is devoted to representations; that is, the jugglers, or medicine men, perform their tricks. Some of these men succeed in imposing on these simple and credulous souls, who discover the supernatural in everything that they do not understand: this is great or little Wah-kon, as it is more or less incomprehensible. Most of these representations are mere feats of legerdemain, which would scarcely excite a smile of mirth or the least astonishment in a circle of civilized persons. During their execution the men and women accompany the Jugglers in a kind of chant, which consists of words analogous to the feast, but it is difficult to define what they say, amid their modulations of tone.
The third day is consumed in dances and banquets, in which all can participate. It is highly amusing to witness this spectacle. Among the meats, dogs are particularly numerous - little and big, roasted and boiled, whole or en appalas; these form the principal viands of the great religious banquet. Dishes of other meats, with roots, corn, wheat, sugar, etc., are added. All the pots and kettles of the whole tribe, of every form and dimension, are placed