one of them
to be killed?

Among the reasons given by the Christian Tarahumares for continued
dry weather are the following. The Devil has made Tara Dios sick and
has tied him up; or the Moon (Virgin Mary) is sick; or the people
have not given Tara Dios enough food and he is very hungry; or the
railroad engines of the Americans are making so much smoke that Tara
Dios is angry; or, finally, someone at a feast has infringed upon
the law of decorum, and thereby annulled its value.

At present domestic animals are considered more valuable at sacrifices
than the beasts of the field and the forest; yet squirrels (chipawiki),
turkeys, deer, rabbits, and fish are still used to some extent,
especially by those who do not possess domestic animals. Twenty men
may go out to hunt a deer, or from six to ten men try to bring in
four or five squirrels for a communal feast, to which all contribute
the corn necessary for the tesvino, say, half an almud, more or less,
according to the means of each householder. Never does any one man
give all the corn required for a tribal feast, though he may donate
all the meat, in the shape of an ox, a cow, or a sheep. Goats are
sacrificed only at burial functions. If the people do not give the
best they have for the sacrifice, they will obtain only poor results.

The dances are always held in the open air, that Father Sun and Mother
Moon may look upon the efforts of their children to please them. They
dance on the level space in front of the dwelling, preferably each
danced on its own patio. Some people have as many as three such
dancing-places, but most of them have to content themselves with
one. If a Tarahumare could afford it, he would have ten patios to
accommodate more people and dances near his house.

To my knowledge there are six different dances, but of these I will
describe only two, the rutuburi and the yumari, as these are the most
important and the two almost exclusively used in the central part of
the country. The other four I saw only among the southern Tarahumares.

The rutuburi was taught to the people by the turkey. Generally three
crosses are put up, and there are three shamans, the principal
one being in the middle; his assistants need not be shamans,
but the master of the house and his son, or some trusted friend,
may officiate. When the dancing is about to begin, these men take a
position in a line before the crosses, facing east, and shake their
rattles continuously for