Inside the hollowed log of the drum was a small piece of charcoal in a small quantity of water. These represented Fire and Water, the drum itself the Earth. In a continuous line, without lifting his finger, the Singer started at the south and drew the line in a circle along the edge of the drumhead all the way around the perimeter and back to the south, then continued another quarter circle until at the east, then straight across to west, made another quarter circle to south again, and finally drew his finger toward him all the way across to end at north. A quarter of a mile away, in a glade beyond the village, Tecumseh and some of his warriors, painted for war and dressed in full regalia, knelt around the hide-wrapped War Bundle and watched as the bundle keeper untied the thongs. Tecumseh trembled as the sacred contents were dimly revealed. Even at arm’s length from it, he could feel its power, like a vibration, and hear, though not through his ears but in his head, the hum of its being.
