This dance is spoken of by La Flèche and Two Crows as an "úckade," a sport or play, and an "úʇigaxe," a game. It is danced at any season of the year that the members decide upon; and all the people can witness it. During the day, it takes place out of doors, but at night it is held in a lodge.
The man who receives the drum calls on others to help him, speaking to each one by name. Then while the first man beats the drum, the two, three, or four helpers sing and the rest dance as grizzly bears, and imitate the movements of those animals.
Painting and dress.—They make the whole body yellow, wearing no clothing but the breech-cloth. They rub yellow clay on the backs and fronts of their fingers and hands, and sometimes over the whole of the legs. Sometimes they redden the whole of the legs. Some whiten themselves here and there; some rub Indian red on themselves in spots. Some wear very white plumes in their hair, and others wear red plumes (hinqpé). One man wears the skin of a grizzly bear, pushing his fingers into the places of the claws. Some wear necklaces of grizzly bears' claws.
§ 263. The [P]a¢in-wasabe or Witcitâ dance.—[P]á¢in-wasábe watcígaxe ikágekí¢ě, The society of the Witcitâ or [P]á¢in-wasábe (Black bear Pawnees).
The members of this society have a medicine which they use in three ways: they rub it on their bodies before going into battle; they rub it on bullets to make them kill the foe, and they administer it to horses, making them smell it when they are about to surround a buffalo herd. If horses are weak they make them eat some of the medicine, and smell the rest. Similar customs are found among the Pawnees and Ponkas.
A man thinks, "I will boil," and he invites to a feast those who have the medicine of the Witcitâ society. On their arrival he says, "on such a day we will dance." Two or three men boil for the feast to be held in connection with the dance.
It takes three days to prepare the candidate, and this is done secretly. On the fourth day there is a public ceremony in an earth lodge, during which the candidate is shot with the red medicine. Frank La Flèche has witnessed this, and says that it closely resembles the public ceremony of the Wacicka society.
§ 264. Paint and dress.—The breech-cloth is the only regular garment. Two Crows and La Flèche say that all whiten their bodies and legs all over; but [P]a¢in-nanpajĭ says that some draw white lines over their limbs and bodies. Some paint as deer, putting white stripes on their limbs and bodies; others appear as bald eagles, with whitened faces. Some wear caps of the skin of the "ʇíkaqúde" or gray fox. Some wear necklaces of the skin of that animal; and others have on necklaces of the tail of a black-tailed deer and that of an ordinary deer, fastened together. Some carry a "ʇikaqude" skin on the arm, while others carry the skin of the "man¢iñ´kacéha," or red fox, of which the hair is very red, and the legs and ankles are black. Some wear feathers of the great owl around the wrist; and others carry fans made of the feathers of that bird. "Makan´-jide ha u¢áha baqtáqta nusi-áq¢a-hnani"—The red medicine with the skin adhering to it (being about three inches long) is tied up in a bundle, which is worn "nusi-aq¢a," like a coiled lariat, with one end over the left shoulder, and the other under the right arm.
Each of the four singers has a gourd rattle, a bow, and an arrow. He holds the bow, which is whitened, in his left hand, and the rattle and arrow in his right. He strikes the arrow against the bow-string as he shakes the rattle.
All the members have whistles or flutes, some of which are a foot long, and others are about half a yard in length. The dancers blow theirs in imitation of the "quʞa."