During the next rite the musicians should remain silent and the buffalo men should sing and drum as often and when the leader deems fit. When the Buffalo men are seated about the buffalo skin the mothers should place the babes whose ears are to be pierced on the beds of sage they have prepared, and standing, should announce the names of those they have chosen to pierce the ears. Those thus named should come and stand beside the women who have chosen them. They should each have a piercing implement and a suitable block of wood. First each should harangue, reciting the deeds he has done that make him eligible to perform this rite. During this harangue the father of the babe should come and stand beside its mother and when the speech is finished the piercer should exhort the parents, telling them that this rite obligates the parents to rear the babe so that it will conform to the laws and customs of the Oglala and that the ears thus pierced signify a loyalty to these laws and customs. He should then kneel