Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

Olbrechts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 123
As soon as the parturient feels the first pangs of pain the women
who are to attend to her are summoned; they give her straightway a
warm infusion of the barks of t'aya' ina'Ge-° eli, {Prunus serotina
Ehr. (?), a variety of wild cherry).
This is probably the time when, in former times, the woman
repaired to the menstruation lodge, the o*'si, where she remained
until 12 or 24 days after delivery. Now, however, the whole opera-
tion takes place in the cabin. All the children and the male inmates,
save the husband if he cares to stay, have to leave the cabin (the
cabins, as a rule, boast only of one room). If the husband or a medi-
cine man stay they have to keep behind the patient.
At this time a medicine man or a medicine woman who has been
warned a few days previously to keep ready is summoned; he or she
comes, and sees to it that everything is all right; that all the pre-
cautions are taken, that the assistants are in attendance, that the
necessary simples are at hand, etc. He or she, if necessary, may go
out and collect the barks and roots needed.
The practitioner then walks out, stands at the eastern comer of
the cabin and recites a conjuration, calling upon the child to "jump
down"; the child is addressed as *i'tsi;-'Dzo°, "thou Httle boy."
He then slowly walks to the north-side corner of the house and
repeats the formula, addressing the child as 'i'Ge*'yif'Dzo°, "thou
little girl."
Then walking on to the west-side corner, the boy is again called
upon, and at the south side, the girl.
He or she may then walk home, if satisfied that there is an old
woman present who can deal with the case and who knows the formu-
las that may further be needed. Should this not be the fact, they
stay imtil after parturition. Plate 12, a, shows the medicine woman
who went through this ceremony at the birth we witnessed.
If it is deemed necessary, the house may be circumambulated once
more, this time to ward off the activity of witches.
Attention has already been drawn to the belief that witches are
especially active against individuals who are too weak to resist, and
it is believed that they consider both the infant at birth and the
woman after parturition as particularly easy prey. (See p. 33.)
The position taken by the parturient may differ considerably in
different cases. One or two of these positions are undoubtedly
acquired from the whites.
(1) The woman lies down until symptoms indicate that delivery
is approaching. She is then taken under the axillae by one or two of
the attending women, and raised to her feet, reclining backward in
a slanting position; her feet are wide apart, and her legs stretched
open. A third woman stands in front, stooping and ready to take
hold of the child when it comes. If matters do not seem to progress,