Council Fire

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TWO BOY SCOUTS, FOUR INDIANS.

THEY ENTER FROM DIFFERENT POINTS

Each Boy Scout holds up his hand and says: "How."

Each Indian holds up his right hand and says: "How."

INDIAN CHIEF: "What wants the paleface in the land of the Indian?"

BOY SCOUT: "We desire to camp here, oh chief, to live in the open as your people have done, and to hold our council fire among these hills during the Red Moon and the Falling Leaf Moon, even as the Indians did here a long time ago."

CHIEF: "Friends, this is the hunting ground of my forefathers. Many moons, long ago, they roamed these hills, pitched their tepees in these valleys, and the smoke of their council fires drifted above these tree tops.

"In great numbers they trod this trail to the lodge of their chief, from here but a short journey. Upon this very hill lies the tomb of our Chief.

"My people were the friends of the animals, of the birds, the flowers and the trees. They clothed us, sustained us and protected us. We respected all living creatures. We left the woods and the fields as we found them. We ask that the White Man use these council grounds the way the Indian did. If he do so, we are glad the White Man is here. I have spoken."

BOY SCOUT: "We promise, oh chief, to protect everything that grows and lives in the woods and fields of your ancestors. We will try to leave it as we found it, so that it may be enjoyed by those who come after us. I have said it."

Sometime before the meeting have drawn on the ground, within the circle, with whiting or lime, an outline of a snake. Then, at this point the Chief rubs out the snake with his foot and says: "We now destroy the snake with alL it represents-with its forked tongue--as there is no room for untruth or hatred here."

Chief gives the signs for: "I give you the Sun. I give you the Moon. I give you the Deer, the Elk, the Bear, the Wolf, the Birds; I give you the council fire. I am your friend."

FIRE LIGHTING

Indians seated on the ground at side, each with a leafy branch. Each one in turn dances around the fire, using the toe-heel and other two-step counts, then lays his branch on top of the fire and returns to place.

Fire lighter prepares fire lighting set, while a Boy Scout or an Indian tells some kind of an appropriate story, such as, "How the Coyote Stole the Fire." Or the fire can slide down a wire from a place where it is concealed in a tree.

As soon as the story is finished, the fire should be lit.

Those who participated in the act then say, "How" and exit.

(The entire proceedings should be in charge of a Chief who wears a headdress and any other Indian equipment possible.)