g also plays an important part in the curing of diseases. The
patient, with his doctor, may go out and live in the woods and fast
for many days, the shaman smoking tobacco all the time. An omen as
to whether the patient will live or die is taken from the colour of
the tobacco smoke. If it is yellow the omen is bad. Or if the smoke
remains dense the patient will live; but if it disperses he will die.

A very interesting ceremony is performed over a child when it is one
year old. The parents go with the shaman into the field and fast for
five days before the anniversary and for five days afterward. An
hour or two after sunset a big fire is made and four arrows and
the ceremonial object called god's eye are placed east of it. The
parents and those present look east all the time. The shaman first
makes four ceremonial circuits, then puffs tobacco-smoke on the god's
eye and on the child. He sings incantations and again makes four
ceremonial circuits, and smokes as before. Next he places his mouth
to the child's forehead, and draws out something that is called the
cochiste, the sleep or dreams, spitting it out in his hand. He makes
a motion with his plumes as if he lifted something up with them from
his hand, and holds the plumes over the god's eye for a while. The
people now see that two small, white balls are attached to the plumes,
and he shows them to all present, to prove that he does not deceive
them. Then he crushes the balls in his left hand with a sound as
if an egg was cracked, and throws them away. In the morning salt is
offered to the rasters.

The cochiste is taken away from boys twice and four times from girls. A
boy cannot get married until the cochiste is taken away. A girl at the
age of puberty is pledged to a year of chastity, and the same ceremony
is performed on her as in babyhood, to be repeated in the following
year. Should she transgress during that time the belief is that she
or her parents or her lover will die. The principle of monogamy is
strictly enforced, and if a woman deviates from it she has to be cured
by the shaman, or an accident will befall her--a jaguar or a snake
will bite her, or lightning strike her, or a scorpion sting her, etc.

She gives the shaman a wad of white cotton, which he places on
the god's eye. When he smokes tobacco and talks to the god's eye,
information is given to him through the cotton, which reveals to
him whether she has more than one husband, and even the name of