planted after the dead leaves of winter had been cleared away. The dancers
who follow the seven leaders carrying the cornstalks represent the people
in triumphal procession in honor of Corn as "Mother breathing forth life."
Both words and music of the song for this procession are taken from a great
religious ceremony of the Pawnee wherein Corn is spoken of as A-ti-ra,
Mother, with the prefix H' signifying breath, the sign of life. "H'A-ti-ra"
("Mother breathing forth life") is repeated over and over and is the only
word used in this song. The repetition is not an idle procedure but an
awakening of echoes in the native mind, of all that Corn has meant to his
ancestors and race during the centuries. The repeated words imply
contemplation on the subject. This song when heard sung by a hundred or
more could not fail to impress one with its majestic fervor. The beautiful,
bountiful maize giving its life that others might enjoy life, on another
plane, is here reverently and joyously proclaimed "Mother."

_Properties_.--Green and other bright colored scarfs or mantles, as many as
there are dancers, boys and girls, also wreaths made of long leaves like
those of the cornstalk; these can be manufactured from green paper. Tall
yellow plumes, similar to the tassel of the corn, and fastened to the
wreath in such manner that when the wreath is worn the plume will stand
above the forehead. Seven cornstalks, or wands so wound with green as to
appear like the stalk of the corn with its tassel.

_Directions_.--All the dancers should be wrapped in their mantles and have
on their wreaths, the erect tassel plume standing directly over the middle
of the forehead. Boys and girls must mingle in this dance. All dress as
before, with the addition of the mantles. Implements, pouches and bows and
arrows are not used. Of the seven who are to lead, four should be boys and
three girls. When leading the procession and carrying the cornstalks, the
first line of four should be a boy, two girls, a boy; the second line of