Sacrifices of food, the meat of domestic animals or of game, and of tesvino, are needed to induce Father Sun and Mother Moon to let it rain.  The favour of the gods may be won by what for want of a better term may be called dancing, but what in reality is a series of monotonous movements, a kind of rhythmical exercise, kept up sometimes for two nights.  By dint of such hard work they think to prevail upon the gods to grant their prayers.  The dancing is accompanied by the song of the shaman, in which he communicates his wishes to the unseen world, describing the beautiful effect of the rain, the fog, and the mist on the vegetable world.  He invokes the aid of all the animals, mentioning each by name and also calls on them, especially the deer and the rabbit, to multiply that the people may have plenty to eat.

As a matter of fact, the Tarahumares assert that the dances have been taught them by the animals.  Like all primitive people, they are close observers of nature.  To them the animals are by no means inferior creatures; they understand magic and are possessed of much knowledge, and may assist the Tarahumares in making rain.  In spring, the singing of the birds, the cooing of the dove, the croaking of the frog, the chirping of the cricket, all the sounds uttered by the denizens of the greensward, are to the Indian appeals to the deities for rain.  For what other reason should they sing or call?  For the strange behaviour of many animals in the early spring the Tarahumares can find no other explanation but that these creatures, too, are interested in rain.  And as the gods grant the prayers of the deer expressed in its antics and dances, and of the turkey in its curious playing, by sending the rain, they easily infer that to please the gods they, too, must dance as the deer and play as the turkey.

From this it will be understood that dance with these people is a very serious and ceremonious matter, a kind of worship and incantation rather than amusement.  Never do man and woman dance together, as in the waltz and polka of civilised people.  The very word for dancing, “nolavoa,” means literally “to work.”  The wise old man may reproach laggard, inexperienced younger ones, saying, “Why do you not go to work?” meaning that they should go to the dance and not stand idly about while the feast is going on.  If the Tarahumares did not comply with the commands of Father Sun and dance, the latter would come down and burn up the whole world.

The Indian never asks his god to forgive whatever sin he may have committed; all he asks for is rain, which to him means something to eat, and to be free of evil.  The only wrong toward the gods of which he may consider himself guilty is that he does not dance enough.  For this offence he asks pardon.  Whatever bad thoughts or actions toward man he may have on his conscience are settled between himself and the person offended.  I once asked a prominent heathen shaman why the people were not baptised, and