Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/178

 1 66 On tie defcent of the American Indians from the Jews.

fyllablcs of that awful divine fong, feenas defigned to prevent a propha- n at ion.

The leader's Httiffii, *' or waiter/' placed a couple of new blocks of wood near the war pole, oppofite to the door of the circular hot-houfe, in the middle of which the fire-place flood ; and on thefe blocks he refted the fup- rpofed facred ark, fo that it and the holy fire faced each other. The party were filent a confiderabletime. At length, the chieftain bade them fit down, and then enquired whether his houfe was prepared for the folemn oc- cafion, according to his order the day before : being anfwered in the affir mative, they foon rofe up, founded the death whoop, and walked round the war pole ; during which they invoked and fung three times, YO, HE HE, WAH WAH, in the manner already defcribed. Then they went with their holy things in regular order into the hot-houfe, where they continued, .exclufive of the firft broken day, three days and nights apart from the -reft of the people, purifying themfelves with warm lotions, and afperfion-s of the emblematical button-fnake-root, without any other fubfiftence be tween the rifing and .the fetting of the fun.

During the other part cf the time, the female relations of each of the company, after having bathed, anointed, and dreft themfelves in their fineft, flood in two rows, one on each fide of the door, facing each -other, from the evening till the morning, finging HA HA, HA HE, with a ibft mrill voice and a folemn moving air for more than a minute, and then
 * paufed about ten minutes, before they renewed their triumphal fono-.

While they fung, they gave their legs a fmall motion, by the flrong working of their mufcles, without feeming to bend their joints. When they had no occafion to retire, they have flood erect in the fame place, a long frofly night, and except when finging, obferved a mod profound filence the whole time. During that period, they have no intercourfe with their hufbands ; and they avoid feveral other fuppofed pollutions, as not to eat or touch fait, and the like.

The leader, once in -two or three ho.urs came out at the head of his com pany, and raifing the death whoop, made one circle round the red painted war pole, holding up in their right hands the fmall boughs of pine with the fcalps fixt to them, finging as above, waving them to and fro, and then ^returned again. This religious order they flriftly obferved .the whole time

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