aracter. The ground is to be cleared of the debris of
winter's storms and the dead leaves and twigs gathered into heaps and
consumed by fire. When the brown earth is uncovered on the sunny slope it
is to be mellowed and made into little hills with flattened tops to receive
the kernels of the corn. The first seven of these hills must be
ceremonially planted. Into the first hill one kernel of corn is dropped,
two kernels are put into the second hill, three in the third, and so on to
the seventh, in which are placed seven kernels. The product of these seven
little hills must be kept separate, for it is to constitute the "first
fruit offering" made to Wakon'da, through the priest, in recognition of the
gift of corn as food. After the seven hills are completed, then the rest of
the field is similarly prepared and planted. When the kernels are put in
the loosened ground they are covered and stamped with the foot, so that
each little hill beards the mark, the footprint, of the planter. The Ritual
Song depicts the task of planting to its completion and compares the rows
of little brown hills to lines of buffalo following one another down the
slope. With this vision, suggesting the promise of abundant food, the
workers joyfully turn toward the home fireside.

The words given for the first song are a brief paraphrase of the many
stanzas of the original Ritual Song, which so touches the necessary acts of
the planter as to lift them above a merely prosaic level.

_Properties_.--As this dance represents work, no scarfs or mantles are
used. The garments should be plain and the arms free for the necessary
dramatic motions in portraying the various acts connected with clearing,
preparing and planting the ground. In ancient times the hoe used for this
work was made from the shoulder blade of the elk, or a stick three or four
feet long shaped at one end like a wedge. Similarly shaped sticks of wood
should be used in this dance, one for each dancer. Pouches are required
made of brown cloth, with broad bands or straps long enough to pass over
the shoulder and chest and to let the pouches hang at the back. Both
pouches and straps should be ornamented with geometric designs painted in
red, yellow, blue or green; two or three of these colors should be combined
in each design. The corn carried within the pouches can be represented by
rounded chips, little stones or, when possible, by the corn kernels
themselves.

The boys must wear head-bands