Grant unto me the light of thy favor.
Grant unto me a good (journey) over the trail of life, and, together with children, make the road of my existence, do.
During the performance of these ceremonials the fetich is usually placed in a convenient spot to dry, and at their conclusion, with a blessing, it is replaced in the pouch. The hunter either seeks further for game, or making a pack of his game in its own skin by tying the legs together and crossing them over his forehead like a burden strap, returns home and deposits it either at the door or just within. The women then come, and, breathing from the nostrils, take the dead animal to the center of the room, where, placing its head toward the East, they lay on either side of its body next to the heart an ear of corn (significant of renewed life), and say prayers, which, though short, are not less interesting and illustrative of the subject than those already given, but which, unfortunately, I cannot produce word for word.
The fetich is returned to the Keeper of the Deer Medicine with thanksgiving and a prayer, not unlike that uttered on taking it forth, but which also I am unable to reproduce. It contains a sentence consigning the fetich to its house with its relatives, speaking of its quenched thirst, satisfied hunger, and the prospects of future conquests, etc.
THEIR POWER.
It is believed that without recourse to these fetiches or to prayers and other inducements toward the game animals, especially the deer tribe, it would be useless to attempt the chase. Untrammeled by the Medicine of the Deer, the powers of the fetiches, or the animals of prey represented, the larger game is unconquerable; and no man, however great his endurance, is accounted able to overtake or to weary them. It thus happens that few hunters venture forth without a fetich, even though they belong to none of the memberships heretofore mentioned. Indeed, the wearing of these fetiches becomes almost as universal as is the wearing of amulets and "Medicines" among other nations and Indian tribes; since they are supposed to bring to their rightful possessors or holders, not only success in the chase and in war (in the case of the Warriors or Priests of the Bow), but also good fortune in other matters.
The successful hunter is typical of possession, since the products of his chase yield him food, apparel, ornament, and distinction. It is therefore argued with strange logic that, even though one may not be a hunter, there must exist a connection between the possessions of the hunter and the possessions of that one, and that principally through the fetiches. A man therefore counts it the greatest of good fortune when he happens to find either a natural or artificial object resembling one of the animals of prey. He presents it to a proper member of the Prey Brotherhood, together with the appropriate flint arrow-point and the desirable amount of ornaments (thlâ-â) for dressing (thlé-a-k'ia-na) and finishing (í-ya-k'ia-na), as soon as possible.