Ha′tnithi′aku′ta′na.
Translation
The cedar tree, the cedar tree,
We have it in the center,
We have it in the center
When we dance,
When we dance.
We have it in the center,
We have it in the center.
The Kiowa, the Sioux, and perhaps some other tribes performed the Ghost dance around a tree set up in the center of the circle. With the Kiowa this tree was a cedar, and such was probably the case with the other tribes, whenever a cedar could be obtained, as it is always a sacred tree in Indian belief and ceremonial. The southern Arapaho and Cheyenne never had a tree in connection with the Ghost dance, so that this song could not have originated among them. The cedar is held sacred for its evergreen foliage, its fragrant smell, its red heart wood, and the durable character of its timber. On account of its fine grain, and enduring qualities the prairie tribes make their tipi poles of its wood, which will not warp through heat or moisture. Their flageolets or flutes are also made of cedar, and in the mescal and other ceremonies its dried and crumbled foliage is thrown upon the fire as incense. In Cherokee and Yuchi myth the red color of the wood comes from the blood of a wizard who was killed and decapitated by a hero, and whose head was hung in the top of several trees in succession, but continued to live until, by the advice of a medicine-man, the people hung it in the topmost branches of a cedar tree, where it finally died. The blood of the severed head trickled down the trunk of the tree and thus the wood was stained.