Paraphernalia.—For this ceremony the tipi is erected with the door to the east, and a complex series of symbols arranged inside, as shown in the smaller drawing, [pl. IX]. On the western side of the lodge is built a crescent-shaped mound, or “moon,” of earth, packed hard, its horns turned toward the east, which they say represents the tomb where Christ was buried, and on the center of this is placed a large peyote, dampened and flattened ([fig. 19]), resting either on a bed of feathers or on the bare earth; and to the west of this again, sometimes a crucifix, as shown in the illustration. Between the points of the crescent is built the fire in a certain prescribed manner with overlapping sticks forming an angle pointing westward. Near the door lies another mound—a round one representing the sun. From the peyote resting on the embankment to the sun mound, directly through the middle of the fire, a line is drawn in the earth of the floor. This represents the “peyote road” along which the Peyote Spirit takes the devotee on a journey toward the sun, and also symbolizes the road to Heaven that Jesus made for the souls of men when He returned thither. West of the crescent-shaped mound stands, when not in use, the highly decorated arrow or staff, frequently made in the form of a long cross, with a groove extending from end to end, representing the spirit road. A small water-drum made of a piece of deerskin stretched over a crock, as seen in [pl. IX], a nicely carved drumstick, an eagle-feather fan for brushing all evil influence away from each devotee as he enters or leaves the ceremony, and a supply of dried peyote, dampened and crushed in a mortar, are all necessary for the ceremony. Each devotee, moreover, must be supplied with a decorated gourd rattle of his own.
Officers.—The only officers needed for this rite are a “Road-man” or speaker, who sits in the west, just opposite the door, and a fire guard stationed at the door, whose duty it is to keep the fire burning, and to brush with the feather fan the devotees as they enter. This is illustrated in the colored plate ([pl. IX]), which represents also the “Road-man” guiding a newcomer to a seat.
Conduct of the Ceremony.—When all are gathered in the tipi, the leader first passes around a fragment herb which the people chew and rub over hands and body. Then the macerated peyote is passed, and each takes enough to make eight pellets about half an inch in diameter, of which some eat all, some only part, reserving some pellets to be eaten later. About this time the leader addresses the peyote and the fire, prays, and often delivers a regular sermon or moral lecture. He then takes the staff in his left hand, and sitting, or kneeling on one knee, he sings a certain number of peyote songs, which are a class to themselves, while the man to the left beats the drum, then passes the staff to the person on his right, himself taking the drum while this person sings, and so the staff travels round and round the lodge, each taking his turn at singing, while the devotees, men and women alike, keep their eyes fixed upon the fire or upon the peyote lying on the mound. As the night wears on the “medicine” begins to take effect, and the devotees see many strange visions, pictures, and brilliant-colored patterns. Often one may see the Peyote Spirit, in the form of an old man, who takes his spirit on a wonderful journey along the “peyote road,” eastward toward the sun. At daybreak they all file out of the tipi bearing their paraphernalia, as seen in [pl. IX, b], and when the sun appears they raise their hands in salutation, and then those who are left standing (for some fall as if dead at the sight of the sun) “give thanks to the Great Father in Heaven.” Those who fall at sunrise, they say, are the ones who visited the sun in their visions. All sleep, or at least rest, until about noon, when a feast is served, after which everyone tells what he or she saw while “on the peyote road.”
The Lenape variant of this ceremony, as related above, differs somewhat from that of other tribes practising the Christian form of the Peyote rite, but in all essentials it is almost identical.
Ghost Dance
The Ghost dance was also introduced among the Lenape by an Indian named Wilson, about the same time, our informants thought, as the Peyote rite, and, like it, probably from the Washita River region.
Wilson would call a dance every now and then during his lifetime, at which the people appeared in their everyday dress, without such special costumes as were seen, for instance, at such functions among the Kiowa and the Arapaho. At these meetings the participants would dance round and round for a long time, with a sidewise step, to the sound of song and water-drum, sometimes for a considerable period without stopping. Occasionally one would fall and appear to faint, and when revived would claim to have visited Heaven in spirit while his body lay as if dead. When Wilson died, the cult, so far as the Delawares were concerned, perished with him.
Such were the ceremonies surviving until recent times among the Lenape, from which have been omitted only the observances connected with the dead, shamanism, witchcraft, and war, all of which will be discussed in later papers.