give aid and assistance to the. weak, to protect the widow and orphan and to succor the sick and the stranger in need. At the ceremonial dances each member carries a long bunch of grass, which is among them the emblem of abundance and charity. It is the grass that nourishes their horses and domestic animals, and fattens the buffalo, the deer, the elk, the bighorn and the antelope of the plains and mountains. Their horses carry all their belongings in their periodical migrations and they ride them on their travels
and to the chase. The flesh of the wild animals nourishes them and their skins serve them for winter and summer garments, for bed and blankets. The skin of the buffalo especially serves in the construction of their canoes and skiffs and their comfortable lodges and tents, and furnishes them cords and everything necessary for the making of their saddles and bridles. The Grass band willingly shares the fruits of the chase with the orphan, the widow, the old man and the stranger.
It is especially in the spring, when the grass is tender and sweet, that their ceremonial dances take place. The badge or distinctive mark of the society is the bunch of grass braided and attached to the waist of each member in the form and appearance of a long tail.
At the first signal given by the master of ceremonies all the brethren are on foot carefully painted and in their finest costumes. They form a large circle, brandish their weapons, whether guns, lances, war-clubs, bows and arrows or any other arms which have been the instrument of some heroic act either in war or in the chase. All their movements are in strict time to the sound of the drum, tambourine, flute and gourd filled with pebbles. While they leap and dance with fantastic gestures and capers, each brother in his turn sings his Dowampi or song, recounting his lofty deeds of valor or his heroic charities. The choruses in which all join are full of sarcasm of cowardice and avarice. Each dancer seems to have a pirouette and to take a position all his own. They jump up and down and the ground seems to