Ceremonies of the Pomo Indians

by S. A. Barrett

On the morning of the fifth day, however, the children who underwent the scarification on the first day were again assembled and driven by the dancers as rapidly as possible about the village and out into the valley. The children held one another's hands as they were driven, making a continuous line. When they had become quite fatigued, they were made to lie down and the dancers covered them with branches. They remained here throughout the day and were again driven about in the same manner just after sundown, being again covered with branches, under which they stayed until morning. They were then brought in by the dancers and made to perform a short dance in a brush inclosure, called ma´le (E), which was built just outside the dance-house for this special purpose. After this, an old man, probably the same who performed the scarification, sang over the children. During this dance each child carried a small willow twig, which he threw onto a pile at the end of the dance, after which he was free to go his way, and the entire ceremony was ended. The fire-tender bore these twigs away and deposited them at some distance from the village.

A Gū´ksū-dancer appeared at other ceremonies, but only for the purpose of removing sickness from the village. He was sometimes called in, as were other dancers, but often he appeared unannounced. He, however, always notified at least one individual, whose duty it was to assist him and direct his movements. Apparently this individual was not a particular official, but might be any friend of the Gū´ksū-dancer. The ceremony was a very short one. The Gū´ksū ran rapidly in and passed in a contra-clockwise direction four times around the fire. He then hurried to a position directly in front of the center pole and here ran swiftly back and forth four times over a short, straight course. He then ran around back of the center pole and stopped on its west side. Here he turned his head slowly to the left; then ran a short distance toward the door, stopping and repeating this motion, making in all four such stops. After this he ran swiftly out through the tunnel and back to the woods, where he undressed and returned as an ordinary civilian to the village. As he started to run out of the tunnel, the people said, "ya ... s ... pūtsa´l kam" (E), that is, "ya ... s ... healthy make us." The prolonged "s" was simply a hissing expulsion of breath, and as it was blown out in this fashion any disease which might possibly have found lodgment in the body of the individual was supposed to depart with it and to be taken by Gū´ksū to his home in the south.

Before dressing, the Gū´ksū-dancers always chewed up and rubbed upon their bodies the very sweet-scented seed of a certain species of conifer, kawa´cap (E), growing plentifully in the region of Clear Lake. A Gū´ksū-dancer was forbidden to eat meat or drink anything before the ceremony or before doctoring a patient, as described below. The Gū´ksū-dancer might, however, eat vegetable foods and drink water after the ceremonial swim, which always occurred directly after his dance. He could not eat meat or greasy food of any kind for four days after a ceremony.

TREATMENT OF DISEASE

In addition to their part in the scarifying ceremony just described, the Gū´ksū-dancers formed a class of medicine-men, and were often called in to minister to the sick. These "doctors," when curing the sick, dressed themselves in the costume of the regular Gū´ksū ceremony. As in the ceremony also, the Gū´ksū doctor had to be ceremonially summoned, and he came in from the woods impersonating the supernatural Gū´ksū. The latter was pictured, to all intents and purposes, as coming from his home in the south to perform the "medicine" rite and carry away with him the disease from the sick person. A special call was used in this case as follows: "hyō ... hyō´ ..." repeated four times.

The Gū´ksū doctor never spoke and never sang over his patients, but constantly blew a double bone whistle in a characteristic way, a very short blast followed by a very long one. Upon reaching the patient, who might be either in or out of doors, he ran around him several times. He then inserted the point of his staff under the neck of the patient and made motions four times as if prying upwards. He next inserted the staff under the shoulder and repeated this prying motion four times. He did the same at the hips, and finally at the knees.

He next tapped and pressed down with his staff; first upon the forehead, then upon the chest, then upon the belly, and finally upon the knees of the patient. After this he ran rapidly out of the village and into the hills, where he stopped and turned his head toward the left four times. He then disappeared and was supposed to have returned to his supernatural abode in the south, carrying with him the ailment of the patient.

While the above was the typical procedure of one of these doctors in curing a patient, he had great latitude, and might, at his own option, omit altogether certain of the above mentioned movements or use others in their places. For instance, he might pry as above, or he might press and pat the body of the patient. On the other hand, he might simply pass his staff down over the body of the patient a number of times, usually four or some multiple of four, or he might omit the use of the staff entirely and "doctor" with his whistle only, in which case he bent over or knelt beside the patient and blew his whistle over the various parts of his body, particularly those recognized by the patient as the seats of pain.

FOOTNOTES:

[22] U.S. Dept. of Interior, Contr. N.A. Ethn., III, 179-180, 1877.