Stránka:book 1913.djvu/179

Songs, Dances, and Ceremonies 157 Then the leader puts down the stand. The skull is set on it, and the tray on the ground before. The rest sit in a half circle in front. The leader then kneels down and addresses the skull thus: "Dog! In the days of our fathers you were the one who dragged the lodge poles from camp to camp. Without you, we could have had no comfortable place in which to sleep. So I will dance and sing in your honor to-night." He puts a feather in the dog's head, then dances his best dance, while the rest sing, "Yap-yap, Yap-yap, Yap-yap, Yow-w-w-o" in imitation of a dog barking on a rising scale, finishing with a long howl. The leader has now danced to the other end of the half- circle and sits down. The next comes and addresses the skull: "Dog! In times of war you were the one who guarded the camp at night. No one could surprise us when you were on watch. Nothing could make you betray us. So I will dance and sing in your honor to-night!" He adds a feather and dances his best, while the rest "Yap" the dog chorus. Then he sits at the opposite end of the circle. The next comes and says, perhaps "Dog! In the days of our fathers, you were the one who could follow the wounded deer. You made the hunting a success. So I will dance and sing in your honor to-night." He adds a feather or a candy, and dances. (Yap, yap, as before.) The next says: "Dog! When I was a httle pappoose, I wandered from the village and fell in the river. No one saw me. I should have been drowned, but you Jumped in and pulled me out. So I will dance and sing in your honor to-night." He adds his contribution and dances. The next says, "Dog! You were the one who cleaned up the camp, so we were not troubled with flies."