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Show Mew Year's V V T By DR. E. A. BATES tfS? HE soft white snow has cov- i b ered the hills and In the val- St i 1 leys tne song of tlle r0Din A and the cricket is no longer jgSli heard. Even the purr of the sll little brook in the bark-N. bark-N. housed village is silenced by J the fingers of the overhanging overhang-ing ice and the quiet hour has come to the soul of the red man. At such a time In midwinter, when the moon is full at midnight, the New York Indian and his kinfolks prepare for their ceremonial of the New Year. This ceremony centers around his faithful companion, the dog; no other animal has an equal hold on the heartstrings heart-strings of the Indian. The dog daily teaches him the ever-sought virtue of loyalty. Then, too, the dog alone knows the trail to the land beyond the sky when the life trails of the red men are ended. Thus It was In the olden days that the Six Nations selected a pure white dog, and by solemn gestures cast their sins into the sacrificial animal. The tire of white oak chips was kindled under the strangled dog and as the smoke ascended, the Indian knew that his confession of sin and plea for forgiveness for-giveness carried in the soul of the dog had reached the all-seeing, all-knowing, Great Spirit far up in the land of the departed. Even today the age-old ritual Is carried car-ried out by the Iroquois; but instead of a white dog, feathers and ribbons from headdresses are burned with all the ancient ceremony of their forefathers. fore-fathers. Enemies become friends, harsh words are forgiven, family dissensions dis-sensions are healed, debts are paid, and parental objections vanish as lovers lov-ers plight anew their troth at this Indian ceremony of the New Year. Inter-tribal discord Is banished, old loyalties loy-alties are renewed, and a fresh trail is blazed for a New Year on the dally earth trail of each red man. |