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On the return, the women make four pauses as before. When the pail is finally within the tipi, incense is burned between the fireplace and the door and the pail held in the smudge. The father takes up the board upon which some of the tongues lie and while holding it up in one hand, shakes the cup about in the water, meanwhile making a noise like the buffalo, finally striking the pail a blow with the cup. Here the song runs:—

This may be taken as marking one stage of the ceremony. The boiling of the tongue is now in order. When all is ready, the father starts the songs in the next series. The two women hook the kettle on the tripods and while the kettle is heated, there are other songs and incense burned and the song runs:—

While the water boils, the director takes up a tongue, holds it above the kettle, lowers it slowly, making a noise as if something were drinking. After this, the women place the tongues in the kettle and proceed with the boiling. Here or elsewhere, songs accompany the ceremonial acts. The pot must not boil over.

When the tongues have cooked, the two women rise and stand by the fire as the songs begin. At the proper moment, they remove the kettle and place it on the spot where the smudge was made. First, they take out the painted tongues and then the others. The father takes up a small piece, singing:—

Then the painted tongue is passed to the daughter. Now, each of the women tears off a bit of the tongue skin and all hold up the pieces and pray. After the prayers, the pieces are placed in the earth and the tongues are hung up to dry. First, the rope is taken up and a song sung. The woman who made the vow, rises and ties one end of the rope to the tipi pole on the north side and the other end to the tipi pole on the south side, a little to the west of the fireplace. All the tongues, both painted and unpainted, are hung on this rope.

During all these ceremonies there is no regular smudge. The smudges are made with sweetgrass on the grass near the rear of the tipi. The tongues are left to hang for two days before they are taken down to be cooked. When the tongues have been hung, all return to their homes, the women taking the tongue skins with them for their relatives to eat, as they are considered to be blessed and supposed to bring good luck.

After two days, all meet again in the same tipi. The two women who went for the water place the tripods over the fire and while songs are sung, the pot is passed to them with the red painted sticks. The two women, each holding one end of the stick, go for water, praying on the way. When they return to the tipi a smudge, over which they hold the bucket of water, is made between the door and the fireplace. Then the bucket is placed beside the smudge. While the others sing, the woman who made the vow rises and first takes the painted tongue and then the others from where they were hung. They are then placed on a buffalo hide and the woman returns to her place. Four women sit down near the tongues; each one takes a tongue, one of which is the painted one. Kneeling and swaying their bodies in time with the songs, they sing the buffalo songs. The painted tongue is placed in the kettle first and a song is sung: "When buffalo go to drink; it is powerful. Where buffalo sit is powerful (natojiwa)." Then the rest of the tongues are placed in the pot which is hooked on the tripod over the fire. Songs are sung and four sticks, about the length of the forearm, for stirring the tongues, are placed where the tongues were first placed. One of the cooks takes a pair of the sticks and stirs the tongues with them. When removing the tongues from the kettle they are held between two of these sticks.

Another song, called the song of rest is sung, and all rest for a time and smoke. When the tongues are cooled, another song is sung, the two cooks rise, and taking the pot, place it over the smudge place near the door. To the singing of songs, the painted tongue first, and then the others, are taken out and placed on half a rawhide. The soup is poured into wooden bowls and distributed among those present. No tin cups must be used in drinking this soup. While all sing, the woman who made the vow rises and first takes the painted tongue and then all the others and hangs them up as before. This ends the ceremony.

Two days later, the same participants are called together to the same tipi and the woman rises and takes first the painted tongue and then the others from where they were hung. A parfleche is brought and a buffalo song sung: "Buffalo I take. Where I sit is powerful." The painted tongue and then the others are placed on the parfleche. Wild peppermint is put in with the tongues, the parfleches are tied up and placed at the rear of the tipi. Sometimes tongues are dried in front of the tipi on a stage made by setting up two travois with a lodge pole tied between them.

The man and woman who lead the ceremony must not have any metal about them. Brass rings, earrings, and all such trinkets must be taken off. Nor must there be any knives in the vicinity. Even the knives with which the tongues are cut are taken out. No one must spit in front of him, but always close to the wall under the beds. If they do, it will rain. No water is brought into the medicine lodge and when water is brought, it is covered. The only time when it is permitted to eat or drink is before sunrise and after sunset. They must be given food by the instructors. The prayers in this ceremony are prayers for good luck for everyone in the camp.

This closes the preliminaries to the ceremonies leading to the sun dance and may be designated as the cutting of the tongues. As in most other cases, there seems to have been considerable variation in this procedure, both as to time and order. Certainly, for a number of years, it has been much abbreviated. As implied in the program, this ceremony may be performed on the first day. The gathering of tongues was dependent upon circumstances and after the days of the great buffalo drives was a matter of gradual accumulation. Thus, it was explained that by necessity, the "cutting" was often repeated, though naturally with less ceremony.

The parfleches containing tongues are kept in the medicine woman's tipi where they are "prayed and sung over" during the first and second days of the program. The underlying thought seems to be that they are consecrated to the sun.

In the procession of the fourth day, the parfleches are carried behind the medicine woman by her attendants. In former years, these were the women who had promised "to go forward to the tongues." They are present at the ceremony in the medicine woman's tipi and may be said to be in attendance during the entire fasting period. At the time indicated in the program, the parfleches are opened and the women in turn step out with some of the dried tongue, face the west, and each holding up a piece, address the sun then nearing the horizon. They declare their innocence of adultery, as at the time of making the vow and cutting the tongues. They also pray for themselves and their relatives after