Scouting For The Tree

SCOUTING FOR THE TREE

During the erection of the Sacred Lodge, the Superior should order the hunter, or scout, to go and search for game, and if he should see signs of an enemy, to return and report to him. The hunter should go, prepared as if for hunting, and when he comes to growing cottonwood, he should select a growing cottonwood tree, the butt of which should not be less than two spans in circumference. The tree should be straight, and forked at a height of about four times the distance from hand to hand when the arms are outstretched. He should mark this tree with circles of red paint, on

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the west, north, east, and south sides. This tree is thereby made the Sacred Tree and its nagila endowed with extraordinary potency so that it can bring disaster on anyone who profanes it by treating it as other trees are treated. Having so marked this tree, the hunter should return to the camp and privately report to the Superior that he has found an enemy near the camp.