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Indian Scout Talks: A Guide for Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls, a non-fiction book by Charles Alexander Eastman |
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Chapter 20. The Maidens' Feast: A Ceremony For Girls |
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_ CHAPTER XX. THE MAIDENS’ FEAST: A CEREMONY FOR GIRLS A beautiful festival, celebrated yearly in the olden time among the Sioux and other Plains Indians, was called the “Maidens’ Feast,” and was designed to stimulate a proper pride and dedication to duty among the young girls of the tribe. I shall describe for you an adaptation of this ancient ceremony, that may be appropriately used by Camp Fire Girls and others on their summer outings. This feast is always given at midsummer, in the fullness of bloom and splendor, as befits a gathering of the flower of the village or community. Invitations may be issued by the Guardian of the Camp Fire, or Leader of the band of girls, in the form of thin leaves of birch-bark or small bunches of sweet-grass. Another way of giving the invitation, if all the girls are in camp, is to engage the services of some man with a bugle or camp-horn to act as herald. He should dress in Indian costume and make the rounds early in the morning, blowing the horn and declaiming in a loud voice somewhat as follows: “Hear ye, hear ye, all the people! The maidens of the ... Camp Fire are summoned to repair at noon to-day to the Sacred Stone in the middle of the encampment, there to hold the annual feast! Hear ye, hear ye!” The maidens all come in ceremonial attire, and full Indian costume is indispensable to the proper effect. The hair is arranged in forward-turning plaits, and surmounted by a modest wreath or fillet of wild flowers. They advance silently, in single file, and form a ring about the “Sacred Stone,” a rudely heart-shaped or pyramidal boulder, which has been touched lightly with red paint. Beside the Stone, two new arrows are thrust into the earth. The rock symbolizes permanence, or the unchangeable forces of nature; the arrows, nature’s punishment for disobedience. Now the leader of the maidens steps out of the ring, and laying her right hand upon the summit of the Stone, pronounces in clear tones the “Maidens’ Vow:” “Upon this Stone I take the maiden’s twofold vow; the vow of purity—my duty to myself; the pledge of service—my duty to others!” She then steps back and seats herself sidewise on the ground in the ring. Each in turn takes the vow in the same manner until the “maidens’ circle” is complete. Then all rise and chant, or recite in unison, the “Maidens’ Song:”
Lastly, they seat themselves again in the same order, and the “feast” is served by handing it about the circle, each maiden taking her portion in her own basin, or bowl, and eating it with her own spoon, having brought these with her according to the Indian custom. Appropriate dishes for the feast would be rice with maple sugar (wild rice if obtainable), green corn or succotash, berries and nuts, maize cakes or pop-corn dainties, or any strictly native product. After the food is served, it is permitted for the first time to talk and laugh, all gravity and decorum having been preserved by participants and spectators during the entire ceremony. The parents and friends of the young women should be invited, if convenient, to witness the “Maidens’ Feast,” and a characteristic Indian feature would be added if some of them should desire to signalize the occasion by gifts to some needy person or cause. Such gifts should be announced at the close of the festival. _ |
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