Mad Wolf called upon the Society of Brave Dogs to build the framework of the sweat-lodge. It held a prominent place in the Sun Dance.
Then the Brave Dogs rode to the river valley for willow branches to be used in constructing the framework of the lodge; and on their return, they entered the camp on the east side, parading around the circle and the tepee of Mad Wolf, where the sacred woman was fasting and praying, singing in unison and holding aloft their green branches, which they finally deposited on the side of camp toward the setting sun. There they built the sweat-lodge by sticking the willow branches into the ground and bending them into the form of an oval; they interlocked them on top and made the entrance toward the rising sun, digging a hole inside for the heated stones and covering the entire structure with robes and blankets.
When the Brave Dogs had everything ready, the medicine men and women came from Mad Wolf’s tepee. White Calf, as the “father,” was in the lead; then came Mad Wolf, and Spotted Eagle, the head medicine man; and then the wife of White Calf with Gives-to-the-Sun, the fasting woman.
They walked in single file, slowly and by stages, with eyes fixed upon the ground, passing around the south side of the sweat-lodge from east to west, following the direction of the sun through the heavens. They stopped on the west side, where Gives-to-the-Sun took her seat beside the structure with the wife of White Calf; the men stood on the south side, while the two women bowed their heads in prayer. [[299]]
Then Mad Wolf, White Calf, and Spotted Eagle removed their clothing and entered the sweat-lodge. The fasting woman prayed over the skull of a buffalo bull, which the Brave Dogs handed to Mad Wolf inside the lodge. He laid the skull on a bunch of meadow grass, because it was the favorite food of the buffalo.
Then Spotted Eagle painted black marks on the skull to represent stars, and red for the Sun; and they chanted together, while Spotted Eagle put meadow grass into the nose and eyes of the skull, to symbolize the feeding of the buffalo. The Brave Dogs took the skull outside, fastening it on top of the sweat-lodge with the nose pointing towards the rising sun.
Then the Brave Dogs passed hot stones to Mad Wolf inside the lodge. He laid sweet grass upon them and held his hands in the rising smoke, rubbing them over his body for purification, and sang this prayer to the Sun:
“May our lives be as strong as these stones.”
He sprayed water on the hot stones; as the steam rose, he sang:
“May our lives be straight.