210/873
[ stop the slideshow ]

Offering food before the shrine of the Big Birds’ ceremony

Offering food before the shrine of the Big Birds’ ceremony.jpg Until I was about nine years old, my hair was cut shortThumbnailsAs the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great holeUntil I was about nine years old, my hair was cut shortThumbnailsAs the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great holeUntil I was about nine years old, my hair was cut shortThumbnailsAs the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great holeUntil I was about nine years old, my hair was cut shortThumbnailsAs the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great holeUntil I was about nine years old, my hair was cut shortThumbnailsAs the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great holeUntil I was about nine years old, my hair was cut shortThumbnailsAs the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great holeUntil I was about nine years old, my hair was cut shortThumbnailsAs the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great hole

“Do the spirits eat the food?” I asked. I had seen my grandfather set food before the two skulls of the Big Birds’ ceremony.

“No,” said my grandfather, “They eat the food’s spirit; for the food has a spirit as have all things. When the gods have eaten of its spirit, we often take back the food to eat ourselves.”