the people and also with the duties of the warrior, who must so protect the
people that these vocations can be pursued in peace and safety. The portion
of the ritual that relates to the planting of the maize is here given. It
is practical in character. The ground is to be cleared of the débris 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