The place where crying begins,
The place where crying begins—
The thi′äya,
The thi′äya.
This song refers to the sweat-lodge already described in treating of the Ghost dance among the Sioux. In preparing the sweat-lodge a small hole, perhaps a foot deep, is dug out in the center of the floor space, to serve as a receptacle for the heated stones over which the water is poured to produce the steam. The earth thus dug out is piled in a small hillock a few feet in front of the entrance to the sweat-lodge, which always faces the east. This small mound is called thi′äya in the Arapaho language, the same name being also applied to a memorial stone heap or to a stone monument. It is always surmounted by a buffalo skull, or in these days by the skull of a steer, placed so as to face the doorway of the lodge. The thi′äya is mentioned in several of the Ghost-dance songs, and usually, as here, in connection with crying or lamentation, as though the sight of these things in the trance vision brings up sad recollections.
35. Thi′äya he′năă′awă′
Thi′äya′ he′năă′awă′—
Thi′äya′ he′năă′awă′,
Nä′hibiwa′huna′,
Nä′hibiwa′huna′.