PUBERTY.
§ 262. Among the Oglala Dakota, according to Miss Fletcher,[190] the rites incident to the puberty of girls take place on the fourth day of the sun-dance festival. In a note on page 260 of the Peabody Museum Report, vol. III, the same authority says:
Through the kindness of Rev. A. L. Riggs I learn that among the bands of Eastern Sioux living near Fort Sully, Dak., a feast, called the reappearance of the White Buffalo Skin, is held for the consecration of a girl on her arriving at puberty. The feast is sacred and costly, and not everyone can afford it. Those who have once made the feast become the privileged guests at every such feast, occupy the feast tent, and are served first. A prominent feature in the feast is the feeding of these privileged persons, and the girl in whose honor the feast is given, with choke cherries, as the choicest rarity to be had in the winter. The feast can be held at any time. Bull berries, or, as the Dakotas call them, “rabbits’ noses,” may be substituted, or finely pounded meat mixed with fat, in case no berries are to be had. In the ceremony, a few of the cherries are taken in a spoon and held over the sacred smoke, then fed to the girl. The spoon is filled anew, incensed as each person is fed. As each one is given the cherries, he is addressed thus: “Wi-ća-śa-ya-ta-pi wo-yu-te de ya-tiŋ kte,”
[Transcriber’s note: the second hyphen in “wo-yu-te” was at the end of a line; the word may be “wo-yute”.]
i.e., “You will eat this chief’s food.” The eaters are not chiefs; they only partake of chiefs’ food.
§ 263. Initiation to manhood took place in one of two ways: (1) By the wohduze ceremony, or, (2) by the bear dance, as witnessed by Long.
The former has been referred to in §§ 122-125 of this article; the latter has been described by Long[191] as
a ceremony which they are in the habit of performing when any young man wishes to bring himself into particular notice, and it is considered a kind of initiation into the state of manhood. There is a kind of flag made of fawn skin dressed with the hair on, suspended upon a pole. Upon the flesh side of it are drawn certain figures indicative of the dream which it is necessary the young man should have dreamed before he can be considered a proper candidate for this kind of initiation. With this flag a pipe is suspended by way of sacrifice. Two arrows are stuck up at the foot of the pole, and fragments of painted feathers, etc., are strewed upon the ground near it. These pertain to the religious rites attending the ceremony, bewailing and self-mortification. The young man who has had the dream acts the bear in this dance, and is hunted by the other young men; but the same man can not act the bear more than once in consequence of his dreams.
§ 264. Miss Fletcher says:[192]
The maturity of the sexes is a period of serious and religious experiences which are preparatory by their character for the entrance of the youth or maiden into the religious and secular responsibilities of life, both individual and tribal. Among the tribes which hold especial public ceremonies announcing the maturity of a girl, these rights are held not far from the actual time of puberty, and indicate the close of childhood and entrance of the person into the social status of womanhood. The public festival has, however, been preceded by private religious rites. With young men the religious training precedes and follows puberty, and the entrance is publicly announced by the youth joining in the dangers and duties of tribal life. According to the old customs, a young man did not take a wife until he had proved his prowess, and thus became enrolled among the manly element, or braves, as they are sometimes spoken of. The initial fasts of warriors have been mistaken sometimes for ceremonials of puberty.