and prayed, saying, 'Listen, Sun, pity us! Listen, Old Man, pity us! Above
People, pity us! Under Water People, pity us! Listen, Sun! Listen, Sun! Let
us survive, pity us! Let us survive. Look down on our sick daughter this
day. Pity her and give her a complete life.' At the conclusion of this
short prayer, all the people uttered a loud _m-m-m-h_, signifying that they
took the words to their hearts. Every one now commenced the pipe song, and
the medicine woman passed the stem over different parts of the sick woman's
body, after which she rose and left the lodge.

"The medicine man now took a common pipe which had been lighted, and blew
four whiffs of smoke toward the sky, four toward the ground, and four on
the medicine pipe stem, and prayed to the Sun, Old Man, and all medicine
animals, to pity the people and give them long life. The drums were then
produced, the war song commenced, and the old man, with a rattle in each
hand, danced four times to the door-way and back. He stooped slightly, kept
all his limbs very rigid, extending his arms like one giving a benediction,
and danced in time to the drumming and singing with quick, sudden
steps. This is the medicine pipe dance, which no one but a pipe-owner is
allowed to perform. Afterward, he picked up the pipe stem, and, holding it
aloft in front of him, went through the same performance. At the
conclusion of the dance, the pipe stem was passed from one to another of
the guests, and each one in turn held it aloft and repeated a short
prayer. The man on my right prayed for the health of his children, the one
on my left for success in a proposed war expedition. This concluded the
ceremony."

Disease among the Blackfeet is supposed to be caused by evil spirits,
usually the spirits or ghosts of enemies slain in battle. These spirits are
said to wander about at night, and whenever opportunity offers, they shoot
invisible arrows into persons. These cause various internal troubles, such
as consumption, hemorrhages, and diseases of the digestive organs. Mice,
frogs, snakes, and tailed batrachians are said to cause much disease among
women, and hence should be shunned, and on no account handled.

Less important external ailments and hurts, such as ulcers, boils, sprains,
and so on, are treated by applying various lotions or poultices, compounded
by boiling or macerating certain roots or herbs, known only to the person
supplying them. Rheumatic pains are treated in several ways.