_d._ Who maketh to walk about, the social people? A bird maketh to walk about the social people.
By the bird the medicine man means himself; he says that his voice has called the people together. Weej-huh nish-a-nauba, or weeja-nish-a-nau-ba seems to have the first syllable from the verb which means to accompany. The two lines drawn across, between this figure and the next, indicate that here the dancing is to commence.
_e._ I fly about and if anywhere I see an animal, I can shoot him.
This figure of a bird (probably an eagle or hawk) seems intended to indicate the wakefulness of the senses and the activity required to insure success in hunting. The figure of the moose which immediately follows, reminding the singer of the cunning and extreme shyness of that animal, the most difficult of all to kill.
_f._ I shoot your heart; I hit your heart, oh, animal--your heart--I hit your heart.
This apostrophe is mere boasting and is sung with much gesticulation and grimace.
This is a medicine man disguised in the skin of a bear. The small parallelogram under the bear signifies fire, and the shamans, by some composition of gunpowder, or other means, contrive to give the appearance of fire to the mouth and eyes of the bear skin, in which they go about the village late at night, bent on deeds of mischief, oftentimes of blood. We learn how mischievous are these superstitions when we are informed that they are the principal men of the Metai, who thus wander about the villages in the disguise of a bear, to wreak their hatred on a sleeping rival or their malice on an unsuspecting adversary. But the customs of the Indians require of anyone who may see a medicine man on one of these excursions to take his life immediately, and whoever does so is accounted guiltless.
_h._ I am able to call water from above, from beneath, and from around.
Here the medicine man boasts of his power over the elements, and his ability to do injury or benefit. The segment of a circle with dots in it represents water and the two short lines touching the head of the figure indicate that he can draw it to him.
_i._ I cause to look like the dead, a man I did.
I cause to look like the dead, a woman I did.
I cause to look like the dead, a child I did.