The ash-devils, or fire-eaters, dressed more simply. According to some informants, they were entirely nude except for a coat of blue paint. According to others, their attire was somewhat more elaborate. The face was painted red, black, or white, two colors never being used together. The legs were painted white, then scratched with the fingernails so as to remove some of the paint and produce longitudinal stripes. The hair was bound up with the usual head-net into which a single black feather was inserted, [12] or a feather tuft was attached to it. As a screen or mask before the face, the dancer also wore a fringe of green twigs further to disguise his identity. Otherwise he was completely naked.
When everything was in readiness in the village, the head captain sent out a messenger to notify the dancers. When the latter were ready to enter the village, a small fire was built in the hills to give notice of the fact. They made their first entry just about daybreak on the first day. A crier, who was always one of the captains or a fire-tender detailed to this duty, took his position on the roof of the dance-house just below the smoke-hole, where he gave the ghost call "yē ..." four times. At once answering calls were heard from the ghost-dancers in their several locations, for they had scattered to a number of different places, each man by himself, or in groups of not more than two or three individuals. The ghost response was a loud "waū wa´i," repeated four times. If the ghost-dancers were sufficiently close together, this was given by their leader only. The crier continued his calling until one or more of the dancers appeared on the outskirts of the village. They came running in, [13] each carrying in his hands two bunches of grass or twigs a foot or so in length, [14] behind which he at times pretended to hide. Each suddenly stopped as he came in sight of the dance-house and stood for a moment with outstretched arms. Thereupon the crier shouted, "ō, ō, ō, ō," after which he delivered an invocation to the ghost-dancers, asking them to come running into the village bringing health and happiness to the people. This invocation was as follows:
napō´
village pūtsa´l
healthy gīwa´lē
run to
ma´yawala
girls kale pūtsa´l
healthy gīwa´lē
run to
xā´xalik
chiefs pūtsa´l
healthy gīwa´lē
run to
da´xalik
chieftainesses pūtsa´l
healthy gīwa´lē
run to
kawi´k
children pūtsa´l
healthy gīwa´lē
run to
Then, according to one informant, all the people who were assembled in the dance-house shouted, while the drummer beat rapidly for a minute or two. The head singers took their cocoon rattles and intoned a song as they marched outside to meet the dancers. After singing outside for a short time, they re-entered the dance-house.
The dancers then came running in, making a loud noise produced by a voiced expulsion of breath through the relaxed but closed lips, "bū ..." and ran to a point about one hundred yards directly in front of the dance-house door ([see fig. 1]). While the dancers were running into the village, the singers sang the following song:
yōhīya´, yōhīya´, yōhīya´,