The paint indicated that the man who was about to give thanks
publicly had been potentially dead, but was allowed to live
by the mysterious favor and interference of the Giver of Life. The
buffalo hung opposite the image of his own body in death, because
it was the support of his physical self, and a leading figure in
legendary lore. Following the same line of thought, when he
emerged from the solitary lodge of preparation, and approached the
pole to dance, nude save for his breechclout and moccasins, his
hair loosened and daubed with clay, he must drag after him a
buffalo skull, representing the grave from which he had escaped.

The dancer was cut or scarified on the chest,
sufficient to draw blood and cause pain, the natural accompaniments
of his figurative death. He took his position opposite the
singers, facing the pole, and dragging the skull by leather thongs
which were merely fastened about his shoulders. During a later
period, incisions were made in the breast or back, sometimes both,
through which wooden skewers were drawn, and secured by lariats to
the pole or to the skulls. Thus he danced without intermission for
a day and a night, or even longer, ever gazing at the sun in the
daytime, and blowing from time to time a sacred whistle made from
the bone of a goose's wing.

In recent times, this rite was exaggerated and distorted into
a mere ghastly display of physical strength and endurance under
torture, almost on a level with the Caucasian institution of the
bull-fight, or the yet more modern prize-ring. Moreover, instead
of an atonement or thank-offering, it became the accompaniment of
a prayer for success in war, or in a raid upon the horses of the
enemy. The number of dancers was increased, and they were made to