SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYBULLETIN 194
HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIALORGANIZATION
By ALFRED W. BOWERS
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON : 1965
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing OflSceWashington, D.C., 20402 - Price $3.25
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
Smithsonian Institution,BuEEAU OP American Ethnology,Washington, D.O., September 30, 1963.Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled
"Hidatsa Social and Ceremonial Organization," by Alfred W. Bowers,and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau ofAmerican Ethnology.Very respectfully yours, Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr.,Director.Dr. Leonard Carmichael,Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.TL
PREFACEDuring the spring of 1932, the late Dr. Fay-Cooper Cole invited meinto his office at the University of Chicago to examine a projectwhich the late Dr. George L. Collie, curator of the Logan Museum ofBeloit College, had formulated to investigate the archeology of thehistoric Hidatsa sites near the Knife River in North Dakota; theinvestigation was planned to include interviews with the older Hidatsamen and women concerning an interpretation of their ancient way ofUfe. When the depression deepened, the Logan Museum was unableto finance these researches. Since our preliminary investigations hadindicated that there were only a few well-informed old Hidatsas livingwho were famihar with their aboriginal culture. Dr. Cole suggestedthat I work with them for at least 1 year and investigate every as-pect of their former culture before they passed away. Hidatsa arche-ology could be done later. In the meantime, under the influence ofDr. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and Dr. Robert Redfield, my own prin-cipal interests had shifted away from archeology.Dr. Cole secured a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for 1year's investigation of Hidatsa culture. During the depression, ex-penses were less than we had calculated and after 9 months in thefield I was able to handle the Hidatsa language without the servicesof an interpreter; therefore it was possible for me to remain at FortBerthold Reservation for 15 months. It was our understanding thata request would be made for additional funds to report the findings,but since funds were not available in 1933 I obtained employmentwith the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where I worked for severalyears. However, as time passed, it became evident that I was losingmy understanding of the Hidatsa language; in the period 1939-46Dr. Cole sent me additional funds to engage interpreters to translatepassages that were no longer intelligible to me and to recheck some ofmy field data.From July 1932 to September 1933 I lived at Elbowoods, N. Dak.,where Mr. and Mrs. Hal O. Simons, who were employees of the Gov-ernment as Farm Agent and Postmistress respectively, provided mewith living quarters. Off-reservation I made my home with Mr. andMrs. George A. Boomer, of Oakdale, whom I had known for manyyears. I look back with warm memories to the time I spent in theirhomes, ni
IV PREFACEHowever competent informants may be, it takes good interpretersto bring out the information one seeks. Tom Smith, my first andoldest interpreter, had worked with me in assembling the data I usedfor my Mandan study. He had attended school at Hampton, Va., asa young man, but had returned home to hunt buffaloes and participatein the ancient ways. He had done much of the preliminary work inacquainting the older Hidatsas with the nature of the study to be madeand had assisted me in preparing a preliminary census of lodgegroups as of 1870-72, even before the Hidatsa study was undertaken.Without his help I could not have secured the data I received from afew of the more conservative non-Christian Indians. When I came toElbowoods in 1932 he had already written me that his health was notgood. I found him too ill to work for me, but he did give me muchassistance in selecting good informants and he talked to them of mywork when he saw them. He died about 2 months after this studywas begun. He had told me that Sam Newman would be an excellentinterpreter if I could get along with him. Mr. Newman was withoutquestion the most competent interpreter I ever used. He had hadextensive experience interpreting for various Government officials.Although he was with me most of the time for 9 months, I cannot saythat I came to know him well. He never discussed his family orneighborhood matters with me. He always came on time, eventhough the winter of 1932-33 was a severe one, with deep snow. Hewould come to my informant's home, take off his heavy wraps, sit athis place at the table, and, without commenting on any of the eventsof the day, say, "Will you read me the last paragraph, please, so I cancollect my wits?"I used James Baker as interpreter during the late winter while Iworked in the Independence district of the Fort Berthold Reservationand lived in his home. Jim, as he was known by everyone, made noclaim of competence as an interpreter, his only experience beingwith White stockmen of the district who came to call on non-English-speaking Indians about ranching problems. He was warm and friend-ly, and we became close friends and kept track of each other as longas he lived. Whereas Sam Newman's facial expression never changedthroughout the day and one would have never been able to anticipatehumorous or serious matters coming up in translation, Jim was con-tinually responding to the informant. One moment he would say tome on the side, "Get ready to shed tears" or "You are going to get alaugh out of this" or "Hold onto your hat." Sam Newman's precisemanners and lack of response to emotional scenes was always bringinginformants up short of tears. This was not so with either TomSmith or James Baker. Informants freely expressed their emotionsto them, laughing at the obviously humorous events of theu- lives and
PREFACE V
weeping on recalling the death of their loved ones in war or epidemics.These were my interpreters, all of whom have long since died.My informants, too, have long since passed away, Crows Heartbeing the last to die, about 13 years ago. Joe Ward, the younger sonof Hauy Coat (see pi. 2) who had come from Awatixa village on theKnife River, was the first to die. In fact, the data he supplied I re-corded while making the Mandan study during odd periods when noMandan informant was immediately available. He would have beenan easier informant than his brother, Bird-Lying-Down, as he was anelder in one of the Christian churches at the time of his death. Hisdeath made my work much more difficult, for, even at that late time,some informants were reluctant to discuss the details of their variousceremonial bundles and lore.Bears Arm (frontispiece) was a brilliant man with a tremendousmemory for detail, but, more important to me, he had given muchprior thought to the interrelationships of the various aspects of Hidatsaculture. His home was near the Elbowoods Agency, and people fromthe most distant ends of the Fort Berthold Reservation found a heartyinvitation to come in and spend the night with him. Sometimes theseold people would stay up all night telling of past events. He toldme, when I first discussed with him the matter of serving as an in-formant, that he had long recognized how the younger people werelosing interest in the old ways and that the old people visiting at hisplace were glad to find one who wanted to know everything aboutthe Hidatsa ways and history. I was very fortunate to find a manof Bears Arm's understanding with whom to shape the design of thisstudy. His father, Old-Woman-Crawling, was born at Awaxawi vil-lage and his mother. Many Growths, was from Awatixa village. Iaddressed Bears Arm as "father" and he addressed me as "son.''Wolf Chief was an old hand at dealing with anthropologists, forhe had been an informant for Dr. Gilbert L. Wilson, Dr. Robert H.Lowie, and Edward S. Curtis. He lived at Independence and I hadcome to know him beforehand as he claimed me as a fellow clansmanof the Prairie Chickens. Unlike Bears Arm, who was a man of greatdignity. Wolf Chief was easygoing and inclined to laughter. Hehad a tremendous memory for details, but he was not the great syn-thesizer Bears Arm was. He died during the spring of 1933 whilethis field study was being made but after I had completed my workwith him. Thinking he would not live much longer, he had askedme, if I were around when he died, to come to his funeral and sheda tear on his grave, which I did.My experience with Four Dancers, of the Speckled Eagle clan, whomI addressed as "older brother," was somewhat different from myrelationships with the others. He was the only male descendant of
VI PREFACEthe Earthnaming bundle owners from whom I could secure dataconcerning the Earthnaming ceremony for Poor Wolf, having no sons,had not given his daughter, Mrs. White Duck, a coherent picture ofthis important ceremony. When I drove up to Four Dancers' homehe was quite surprised when I addressed him in the Hidatsa languageand told him why I was there. We talked a while and then hesaid, laughing, "You talk just like an Awaxawi." All my associationswith him were without the aid of an interpreter. Even at this latedate, after nearly a century of living together, the older people stUlhad slight dialectic differences which they associated with the variousoriginal community groups. I took down everything he said inHidatsa text and we got along very well together. He gave me muchvaluable data on the Earthnaming and related ceremonies that theother informants were unable to provide. I learned from him muchabout the internal stresses that so often got out of hand and led tothe disruption of communities, such as had occurred when the Crow-Flies-High group, with Four Dancers' father as ceremonial leader,had moved out of Fishhook Village to Fort Buford when he was asmall boy.The weakness of this study is in part due to the few convenientand outstanding female informants near my headquarters. I reliedentirely on Mrs. Good Bear?she addressed me as "gi*andfather"?forinformation on those ceremonies in which she had participated withher husband. Most of the information on the Sun Dance came fromher. She also contributed much material on lodge groups withwhich she was familiar, both Mandan and Hidatsa. I relied on Mrs.White Duck?I called her "father's sister" and she called me "son"
?
for an understanding of the woman's role in Hidatsa communitylife. She told me very early in my study with her that she thoughtthe woman's role in warfare was as important for the success of theexpedition as those who were away to war, and that the success orfailure of a war party depended as much on what women at home didwhile the warriors were out as on what their male relatives lookingfor their enemies did. I learned much from her, and what I havewritten of the woman's role is largely her contribution.I did not use Crows Heart very much during the initial studyexcept for those ceremonies that were clearly of Hidatsa origin, sincehe came from a mixed Mandan-Hidatsa household. However, duringthe summer of 1947 I spent several weeks with him recording hisautobiography, and I did draw heavily from these notes for an inter-pretation of many aspects of Hidatsa culture. He was the first ofmy informants to apply their kinship terminology to me, callingme "younger brother."
PREFACE VnWithout the help of these older Hidatsa informants, this studycould not have been made. All of them were born about 1850-60and were adults at the time of the Custer massacre. They hadbeen participants in their ancient ceremonies. They were thelast survivors sufficiently informed to provide an accurate picture oftheir former culture. Other weaknesses in this study are due to myown shortcomings; I never observed the culture I was studying.When such a wealth of information is at hand, it is not always easyto extract the most pertinent patterns of a culture for analysis or tosee life as the informants did without actually living it.I have had much assistance from many people. I am deeplyindebted to the late Dr. George L. Collie of the Logan Museum, Be-loit College, for starting me off into the field of Plains researches.The late Dr. Fay-Cooper Cole followed my progress in the field andguided me skillfully toward the attainment of my objectives in theHidatsa studies. Dr. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown guided me toward anunderstanding of the synchronic approach to the study of society asa system, which was essentially the image of the Hidatsa that BearsArm was always describing for me. Dr. Radcliffe-Brown would havebeen greatly impressed with Bears Arm. Nor had I gone far inmy field investigations before I discovered that theoretically, underthe Hidatsa kinship system, an individual might stand in severaldifferent relationships to another. At first I was inclined to believethat there were errors in my recording or that informants were con-fused. I drew these matters to the attention of the late Dr. RobertRedfield. He called for examples and was able to demonstrate tome that, in fact, individuals could stand in a number of differentrelationships, each social situation determining the relationship thatwould prevail.In January 1947, I went to Chicago to prepare manuscripts frommy field notes on the social and ceremonial organization of the Man-dan and Hidatsa and Great Plains archeology under the directionof Dr. Cole. When he retired from the faculty of the Universityof Chicago, the supervision of these researches went to Dr. FredEggan with whom I worked until July 1, 1949, when I joined thefaculty of the University of Idaho. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Egganfor his assistance. During my first years on the University of Idahofaculty, it was difficult, because of my heavy teaching load and largeclasses, to devote much time to this report. Three years ago myteaching load was reduced by one-fourth so that I could devote timeto the preparation of this report and other researches in the Plainswhich the University of Idaho had sponsored.Dr. Robert L. Stephenson, chief of the Missouri Basin Project,River Basin Surveys, Smithsonian Institution, suggested the incorpo-
VIII PREFACE
ration of various old maps of the Hidatsa sites near the Knife Riverthat had been made by personnel of the North Dakota HistoricalSociety many years ago, and Russell Reid, superintendent of theSociety, furnished me with these maps. Dr. Stephenson provided areconstruction of Rock Village of the Awatixa (pi. 1), made by DonHartle for the River Basin Surveys. James Macduff, of the GeologyDepartment, University of Idaho, processed the village maps of theKjiife River sites for publication. All the other maps and drawingswere prepared by Dale Ludick, of the Geography Department of theUniversity of Idaho. Leo D. Harris made the photographic studiesof Bears Arm (frontispiece) and of Drags Wolf and Foolish Bear(pi. 12). The turtle effigy (pi. 6) was photographed by Russell Reidfor Logan Museum of Beloit CoUege. All other original photographswere taken by the author. It is a privilege to express my thanks toaU these people and many others who have helped me in one way oranother in the preparation of this book.Finally, I must express to my wife, Gladys Monson Bowers, mydeep appreciation for her great help in typing rough and revised copiesof my extensive field notes on Hidatsa mythology and traditions aswell as the final manuscript. We have worked together as a teamduring the entire period this report was in preparation.Alfred W. Bowers,February 1962 University oj Idaho
NOTEThe variation in the spelling of "AwaxEna^\ita" and "Itisuku" inthe text and in the charts arises from dialectic or individual differencesin pronunciation. The final vowel "u," "a," or even "e" comes outshort and unaccented en the ends of compound words and to theHstener may sound like u as in "up," a as in "anon," or e as in "met."
CONTENTS PAGEPreface iiiIntroduction 1Historical and cultural background 10Hidatsa social organization 26Village and tribal organization and activities 26Councils 27Leaders 40War 40Summer camp 45Intertribal visits 47Summer hunt 50Winter camp 56Summary 63The clan and moiety system 64Origins 64Clan membership and affiliations 67Clan duties and responsibilities 71Hidatsa moiety concept 78The kinship system 80Kinship extension 90Kinship behavior 103Life cycle 126Birth and naming 126Training and ceremonial participation 129Marriage and the household 138Maturity and old age 163Last illness and death 168The age-grade system 174Men's societies 175Stone Hammer society ISOKit Fox society 181Lumpwood society 183Half-Shaved Head society 183Black Mouth society 184Dog societies 194Bull society 198Women's societies 199Skunk society 200Enemy society 200Goose society 200White Buffalo Cow society 204Characteristics of the Hidatsa age-grade structure 207Warfare 212Intertribal relations 212
X CONTENTSHidatsa social organization?ContinuedWarfare?Continued pageTraining 219Offensive warfare 223Defensive warfare 275Cannibalism 277Military honors 278Hidatsa ceremonial organization 282The individual and the supernatural 282The legendary period 297First Creator myth 297Sacred Arrows myth 303Hidebeating ceremony 308Woman Above and Holy Women ceremonies 323Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and related ceremonies 333Grizzly Bear ceremony 348Thimder ceremonies 358Big Bird 363Missouri River 371Creek 380Tying-the-Pots 389Wolf ceremonies 392Sunrise Wolf 394Sunset Wolf 410Wolf Woman 430Buffalo Calling ceremonies 433Earthnaming 433Imitating Buffalo 438Buffalo Corral 446Painted Red Stick 451Buffalo Neckbone 463Clan bundle ceremonies 467Waterbuster clan bundle 467Knife clan bundle 473Summary 474Hidatsa cultural position in the Northern Plains 476Bibliography 490Index 495
ILLUSTRATIONSPLATES(All plates follow p. 494)Frontispiece. Bears Arm.1. Reconstruction of Rock Village.2. Hairy Coat's earth lodge near Shell Creek,3. Pehriska-Ruhpa (Two Crows) in the costume of the Dog Band.4. Buffalo (Bull) Dance of the Mandan.5. Wolf Chief and wife.6. Turtle effigy near Price, N. Dak.7. Roadmaker, of Awaxawi village.8. Scalp Dance of the Manitaries (Hidatsa).9. The seven enemy warriors.10. Buffalo skulls of a bundle owner.11. Winter village of the Manitaries (Hidatsa).12. Drags Wolf and Foolish Bear with Waterbuster clan bundle.TEXT FIGURES PAGE1. The 13 parts of the sacred arrow 2922. Plan of the NaxpikE lodge (Sun Dance) and offerings to the NaxpikEbundle 3133. Ceremony to the Sun, Moon, and Woman Above 3244. Ceremonial appointments for Woman Above ceremony 3255. Diagram of Bear ceremonial lodge 3546. Lodge arrangements for Sunset Wolf ceremony 4207. Plan of the last dance of the Sunset Wolf ceremony 4288. Floor plan of the Imitating Buffalo ceremony 4449. Plan of the buffalo corral 45010. Painted Red Stick ceremony, plan one 45811. Painted Red Stick ceremony, plan two 45912. Plan of eagle villages in the sky 468MAPS
1. Limits of Hidatsa lands 122. Map of Rock Village 133. Hidatsa village site 35 on north bank of the Knife River 184. Old Awatixa village at the mouth of the Knife River 195. New Awatixa village at the mouth of the Knife River 20zi
XII ILLUSTRATIONSCHARTS PAGE1. Hidatsa kinship system; ego= male 822. Hidatsa kinship system; ego= femaIe 833. Hidatsa affinal relatives; ego= male 844. Hidatsa affinal relatives; ego=female 855. Father's lineage; ego==male 866. Mother's lineage; ego? male 877. Mother's lineage; ego= female 888. Father's lineage; ego= female 899. Mother's father's lineage ; ego= male or female 8910. Relationships between Bears Arm and Walks 9611. Relationships between Bears Arm and Yellow Coat 9812. Relationships between Old-Woman-Crawling and Bear Woman 10013. Relationships between Old-White-Man and Lead Woman 10214. Wolf ceremonies in Four Bears line 416
HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIALORGANIZATIONBy Alfred W. BowersINTRODUCTIONAnthropologists are usually silent with respect to their field methodsand their manner of handling research data in the final preparationof reports. When the researcher lives with the people he is investi-gating and writes about a way of life that he is able to observe, onemay presume that most of what he records is the result of personalobservations supplemented by direct inquiry. When I studied theHidatsa Indians in 1932 and 1933, and for short periods thereafter,little of their ancient way of life remained, and a description of whatI saw then would have told me little of the ancient culture that Iwas endeavoring to reconstruct.The Hidatsa of the Fort Berthold Reservation provided an excel-lent laboratory for the employment of the "creatively historicalmethod" so commonly used by those of us who have directed re-searches in the Great Plains area. At the time I undertook thisstudy, the older Hidatsa men and women had lived much as theirgrandparents had when the first fur traders and explorers visitedthem at their ancient villages downstream on both banks of theKnife River. This was the last chance anthropologists would everhave to get first-hand information from those who had lived by theancient culture.Much had already been written about the Hidatsa. Some of thisinformation was very good; much of it omitted material we shouldhave about these important agricultm-al communities. They hadbeen variously known as Big Bellies, Gros Ventres, Ehart-sah, Min-netarees, Minnetarees of the Willows, Wandering Minnetarees,Minataries, Minitaries, Mahaha, Maxaxa, Awatixa, Amahami, Awax-awi, Ahnahaway, Gens-di-foulers, Mirokac (collectively with theRiver Crow), and by other names. This array of proper names forvarious segments of the total population told us little of their originalcommunity social organization. The first extensive study to employthe name "Hidatsa" as a tribal designation was written by Wash-1
2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194ington Matthews (1877), assistant surgeon of the United States Army,while stationed at Fort Stevenson near Fishhook Village. Sincethat time, all students of the culture have identified them as Hidatsa,and other proper names have tended to drop out of the literatureexcept in Government reports.All the informants for this study were born within 10 years afterthe abandonment of their old villages near the mouth of Knife Kiver.Their parents all were adults before Fishhook Village was built in1845, and they had referred to three contemporary settlements whichthey identified as Hidatsa, Awatixa, and Awaxawi, these three andno more. The three ancient villages were remembered by my in-formants, for it was the custom of many families to return to thesesites and to point out to the younger people the depressions of lodgeswhere certain relatives had lived, their graves, or earth rings on theprairies where various ceremonies such as the NaxpikE or Wolf cere-monies were held. Wolf Chief, Crows Heart, and Bears Arm pointedout many of these features to me, identified even earlier sites in theSanger vicinity, and explained many things that might have other-wise gone unrecognized.As this study progressed, it was evident that some cultural dif-ferences existed between villages and that there should be someconsistent way of identifying these former separate and independentcommunities. The tribal name "Hidatsa" was generally in use bythis time, although it had been employed by the people themselvesonly to identify the inhabitants of the largest village communitysituated on the north bank of Knife River. I decided to continuethe use of the term "Hidatsa" when speaking of the entire populationor when referring to customs and practices that appeared to be commonto all three communities. I have identified the people of the middlevillage as "Awatixa," the name by which they were designated bythe others. The small group, somewhat more diverse in dialect andculture, I have designated as "Awaxawi." Unlike their near neigh-bors, the Mandan, they had no tribal name until given one by earlytraders. Since many situations arose during the preparation of thismanuscript when it was necessary to distinguish the communitygroup known as "Hidatsa" from the other communities, I haveemployed the term "Hidatsa-proper" when referring to them.This study of the Hidatsa actually began several years prior tothe field studies of 1932 and 1933 when, as a graduate student inanthropology at the University of Chicago and graduate assistantfor the Logan Museum of Beloit College, I collected much archeo-logical data from ancient earth-lodge sites along the Missouri. Al-though the ancient sites of the Hidatsa at, and downstream from,the mouth of the Knife River have never been extensively studied
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 3by archeologists, surface features of these sites are still clearly dis-tinguishable, and river cutting frequently exposes large sections ofsome of these sites and their associated artifacts. Extensive diggingby local artifact hunters at the old village of the Awatixa north ofStanton, N. Dak., has opened up deep cross sections of stratifiedrefuse with the lower levels, producing many pottery types identicalto those found at the oldest traditional sites of the Hidatsa in theSanger area but not characteristic of the contemporaneous modernsites. Perhaps the strongest evidence in the archeology of the regionindicative that the Hidatsa groups when first reaching the Missouriwere culturally more unlike the Mandan than in later years, as men-tioned in both Mandan and Hidatsa traditions, is the fact that thelate prehistoric and historic archeological inventories of the two tribesare essentially identical. Researches in Hidatsa social organizationand ceremonialism point to similar intertribal cultural borrowing evenwithin the memory of informants or of their parents.Rarely does the researcher in an Indian tribe have available sorich a source of archeological, historical, and anthropological infor-mation when undertaking a detailed analysis of a small segment ofthe total culture of a people as was the case with the Hidatsa. Wecan trace their group movements through the earliest historic accountsand the statements of qualified informants from data they securedfrom grandparents who saw the first White traders to reach theirvillages. We can compare their prehistoric culture, as revealed bytheir traditional village sites, with that of their immediate neighbors,the Mandan, and even with their more remote neighbors, the Arikara.The literature on the Hidatsa is extensive, even though the earlyfur traders, explorers, and others tended to view them as the "poorrelatives" of the Mandan, giving us rather extensive accounts ofthe life of the latter and sketchy accounts of the former. Amongthe first contributors to our knowledge of the Hidatsa were Boiler,Kurz, Lewis and Clark, Charles Mackenzie, Maximilian, Palliser,Thompson, and others (see Bibliography). In the middle of thepast century, studies by Hayden, Matthews, Morgan, and School-craft appeared. During the first quarter of this century, variousaspects of Hidatsa culture were studied by a generation of trainedresearchers, among whom were Beclrwith, Curtis, Densmore, Hyde,Lowie, Pepper, Will, and Wilson, All of them contributed importantinformation on some aspect of Hidatsa culture and provided back-ground data for this study.The primary purpose of the present study was to reconstruct theaboriginal culture of the Hidatsa as it would have been observedabout 1836, prior to the last major smallpox epidemic. It wouldhave employed the synchronic approach to the understanding of the
4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Hidatsa at a moment in time. However, as the study progressedand as I became aware that my informants all recognized markedchanges in their way of life from that of their grandparents, I decidedto deviate from that plan wherever there was pertinent and authenticknowledge of historic cultural changes. My employment of thediachronic approach was especially applicable to particular aspectsof their culture such as the age-grade system. In other areas of theirculture, such as their kinship system, there was little evidence ofcultural change.Extensive use has been made of the voluminous source material onthe Hidatsa. I have tried to combine all that has been written aboutthem with my personal observations of their ancient sites and cultureand what information I was able to glean from native informants.My aim has been to produce a study of the personal and intimaterelationships of individuals and organized groups living togetherwithin a complexly integrated social-ceremonial system that wasundergoing significant cultural enrichment under the influence oftheir agricultural neighbors until terminated by the heavy lossessuffered during the smallpox epidemic of 1837 and the destructiveinfluences of subsequent White encroachments upon their communityand ancient wildlife resources.The Hidatsa were not a homogeneous people. The knowledgeof one was not that of another, save as exists between individualsas to sex and age, so characteristic of very primitive hunters andgatherers. The Hidatsa had a firm economy based on hunting andprimitive hoe gardening. There was much specialization; one couldhave learned this from the literature.My first problem was to select informants who possessed specialknowledge. I had become acquainted with most of them beforehandwhile making the Mandan study with the help of Tom Smith, whowas in their age-group and knew each of them well. We had antic-ipated difficulty in getting informants to reveal certain religious lore,and it was necessary, in some instances, to assure the informantthat what he told us would not be revealed in his lifetime so thatwe would not be interfering in the orderly transfer of this knowledgeto Indian purchasers. This rule was never broken. When what werecorded of a religious nature was not repeated by us, or informantslearned that we never talked about what they told us should be treatedsecretly, confidence between us grew. When resistance was met insecuring sacred lore and the informant was otherwise well informed,we would work with him on routine social patterns and try again.Usually, after getting acquainted with each other, the informantwould slowly edge into the sacred area of his experiences and submitto detailed inquiry. Eventually there was not an informant that
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 5I could not have inter\dewed on any aspect of their culture; anygaps in our knowledge of Hidatsa social and ceremonial life are ofmy own oversight.From my experiences with the Mandan, I decided to investigatehousehold and kinship ties first and then relate sacred bundles andrites to households and lineages. The Government census and tribalroles for 1870 and 1880 were obtained in advance, studied, and par-tially memorized. Without revealing this fact to my informants,I then made up my own census as of about 1872, using Bears Arm,Mrs. White Duck, and Mrs. Good Bear as informants. This was theonly instance in which I used several informants simultaneously.This census by households was taken by securing, first of all, thenames and relationships of the occupants of the three informants'own households and then moving to those households to which theyhad been related or where they visited most. These three inform-ants finally came to a number of households about which little wasknown, and information on them was secured from other informants.On the basis of the principal occupants of these household groups,extensive genealogies were then made extending family lines backto the three contemporary villages at the mouth of Knife River,Rock Village, and a fifth community area near Square Buttes ofwhich my informants knew little. Residence at Scattered Village(Awatixa) on the north bank of the Heart River at Mandan, N. Dak.,was not borne out by these genealogies. However, the data onhousehold groupings is in essential agreement with the Governmentrecords when one takes into account the fact that the small log cabinwas introduced at this time?what the Government counted as twoor more households (lodges set side by side, perhaps joined by ahallway) my Indian informants counted as a single household.The next step was to establish the clan membership of all indi-viduals reported, the approximate age of each person, village ofbirth, and all known tribal and personal sacred bundles and rites inwhich the individual had held ownership and special roles. Mostof this was known in a general way, at least, through ritual obser-vations or by word of mouth. Nevertheless, inquiries with otherinformants brought out further information about certain lesserknown bundles, especially those of a personal nature.Understanding the social position of mixed families, where thehusband and wife were of different tribes (primarily Crow, Mandan,Arikara, and Assiniboin) was more difficult. In one instance, thehusband would be a Mandan and in another, a Hidatsa, but norule of residence seemed to apply. It was finally eptabhshed that mixedhouseholds should be classified as Hidatsa only in those instancesin which they participated primarily in Hidatsa activities. I had710-1?5?65 2
6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194had some misgivings as to whether it would be possible to relatelineages and household groups to the three former villages at KnifeRiver, but I found that informants were more certain of the oldvillage ties than of actual clan membership. I had to rely on moietymembership for some individuals whose precise clan membershipwas not known.The genealogies were further extended as the study progressedand additional informants were used. Constant reference was madeto them throughout the field study period. They provided me withprecise information on the inheritance of sacred bundles, bundlecomplexes, and rights?often at variance with the ideal patterns
?
and indicated that certain ceremonies or age-grade societies werefound only at certain villages. Differences in village clan systemswere also determined by these genealogical records. They wereespecially valuable in ascertaining changing trends in intervillagemarriage between clans while living iu the old villages and ultra-village marriages after the survivors united at Fishhook Village.It was further established that intervillage marriage and marriagewith the Mandan or other tribes was virtually nonexistent priorto the building of Fishhook Village in 1845 and common with theMandan, but rarely with the Arikara, after that date. With thisinformation at hand it was possible to view in brief outline most ofthe important sacred bundle systems even before investigating thedetails of the associated rituals.At the time this study was made, there were many more old Hidatsamen and women than were interviewed. Some, whose parents had notbeen important leaders and who were not from households owningimportant bundle rites, were not used in the investigation. Access-ability in the reservation was also an important factor. Whereseveral shared unique information, I tended to go into great detailwith one informant and merely recheck with another. Informantswere both Christian and non-Christian, the latter tending to be moreconservative in divulging sacred lore but equally cooperative inroutine matters. Even the Christian Indians were not entirelyunrestrained in divulging knowledge of their parents' sacred rites.They would speak freely of general matters concerning these bundles;but would sometimes wait for a while before relating the sacred mythsand usually did not like to have pictures taken of the sacred bundles.There was a common reluctance to sing any of the sacred songs.Mrs. Good Bear, for instance, was a devout Roman Catholic whoattended Mass regularly and who spoke freely with me concerningher deceased husband's and her role in the NaxpikE (Sun Dance)ceremony. She knew all the songs used, but could not be prevailedupon to sing them or repeat the words of the songs. Wolf Chief,
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 7
a Congregationalist, told how he had been in several close brusheswith lightning after he allowed Gilbert L. Wilson to take the Water-buster (Thunder) clan bundle to New York City, and had been afraidof lightning ever since.I discovered that all informants were unwilling to talk in thepresence of visitors, regardless of the subjects being studied. Informer times it was considered bad taste to enter uninvited whenone was telling stories or giving certain information to another andthe only trouble encountered was with young men not familiar withthis custom.The kinship charts were prepared primarily from the combinedgenealogical data of all my informants. At this time (1932) therewere no important variations in the terminology and categorieswith the exception of those of the father's father's sister and daughter-in-law. Some claimed the former was a "grandmother" whUe othersthought she would be a closer relative by some other extension ofthe kinship system. Daughter-in-law terminology also differedbetween villages. It was found that many factors of social partic-ipation affected the relationships between individuals and extendedthe system to include nonrelatives, age-grade associates, ceremonialparticipation, adoption of children and ceremonial adoptions by bothmen and women, and equation of Hidatsa with Mandan clans. Allthese produced systems of interaction between individuals in whichtwo people often stood in several relationships to each other. Thiswas not mentioned specifically by informants and came out in thestudy of various customs.All of my informants had had previous experience with anthro-pologists and claimed that no two of us worked the same way. Iheard several criticisms of us, chiefly that we either tried to answerom* own questions or that informants were cut off by saying thatwhat was being told was not important. I tried to avoid doingeither, for I had a year to make this study and I was as interestedin what my informants thought about their cultural values as inwhat they did. Each informant was encom-aged to digress whenone social pattern reminded him of something else, or when hisexcursions into another area seemed to produce noteworthy culturaldata. Since the Hidatsa explain much in their culture by meansof formal myths, they were encouraged to relate the myths as theyhad learned them. Lest continuity be broken, I usually avoidedinterrupting informants and held back my questions until a narrativehad been completed.I followed few fixed rules in getting at the data, and these weresubject to change whenever the situation warranted. I frequentlyrequestioned an informant months later on obscure points. The old
8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194people generally knew who would be the best informed in certain areasof their culture. Wherever possible, I relied heavily on direct infor-mation from the informant's parents or a relative who had lived in thesame household. One who had bought ceremonial rights or had paida person for specific information was considered to be a better in-formant than one who had not done these things. Information froman individual who had served as understudy to a ceremonial leader inperforming a ceremony was highly rated as was that from one who hadbeen a ceremonial "father" when another was buying ceremonialrights and bundles. I discovered that mere participation in a cere-mony as a young man added little information that one could not haveacquired as an eyewitness to the event. At all times I have hadbefore me notes on the source and the conditions under which theinformants gained their information and have tried to weigh this inmy analyses.From the beginning of the field study, I recognized that the Hidatsalearned much by means of sacred and secular myths and that thesymbols and ritual acts performed could best be understood in termsof the instructions in these myths. So I always took them down inessentially the form in which they were related to me, making allow-ance for some alteration both in form and meaning inevitable in trans-lations. After I acquired some understanding of the Hidatsa language,they were recorded in native text without an interpreter and translatedlater. These myths often revealed interrelationships, native attitudes,and values not otherwise apparent.Their mythology and traditions as recorded provide an importantbody of original source material on Hidatsa literary style and form,but in too great detail to be used unedited in this study. They appearin this report in summary form, expressing what I thought were theimportant points the speaker was trying to communicate.The various sections dealing with Hidatsa ceremonial organizationwere arranged, in part, chronologically according to native traditionsat the time of their adoption in mythological times. This chrono-logical order was broken, however, beginning with "The ThunderCeremonies," in order to treat groups of related rites as complexes.Some of the rites of the complex?the Thunder ceremonies, the Wolfceremonies, or the Buffalo Calling ceremonies?^are beheved to goback nearly to the beginning of time. Other related rites were adoptedfrom time to time thereafter. Because the informed Hidatsa believedthese rites were interrelated, I arranged them in this way.Finally, I have tried to present a detailed account of the social andceremonial life of the Hidatsa in the image they had of their way oflife. To do this, I have frequently resorted to the same sources ofinformation a young Hidatsa man or woman would have?sacred and
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 9traditional myths?and have presented them herein as a summary ofthe myth. In other sections of this study I have presented briefsegments of personal histories, believing that a correct presentationof the social and ceremonial organization of these people should bemeaningful to those who worked so long with me when it was beingrecorded.
HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUNDThe first reference in the literature to the Hidatsa as an independenttribal group was made by Thompson (1916, pp. 209-242), who visitedthe villages of this tribe and of the Mandan in 1797. Prior to thattime, owing to the similarities between the cultures, tribal differencesapparently were not recognized by the early White traders; all theseearth lodge village groups living upstream from the Heart River wereknown as Mandan, from the name given by the Assiniboin to themore numerous and sedentary tribe. The Mandan, prior to the 1782smaUpox epidemic, must have greatly outnumbered the populationof the three Hidatsa villages. The latter, however, were not recog-ni2;ed as separate tribal and linguistic groups xmtil White traders hadcome to live in the villages and had actually learned the native lan-guages. When Thompson visited the five village groups of Hidatsasand Mandans, his information was obtained from traders who hadmarried into the tribes and were living in the villages.In 1738, La V6rendrye (1927, pp. 290-360) visited earth lodgevillage groups on the Missouri downstream from the traditional villagesites of this tribe believed, on the basis of archeological findings, tohave been occupied at this time. Although there is no reference inLa Verendrye's account to visiting groups other than the "Man-tanees," he may have seen the Awaxawi group of Hidatsa who werethen more closely associated with the upstream Mandan villagegroups.Mackintosh, in 1773, reported that the Mandan were living onboth banks of the Missom-i with from 9 to 13 villages and manythousands of warriors (Schoolcraft, 1851, vol. 3, p. 253). However,no reference is made to other tribal earth lodge groups. His estima-tion of the Mandan population is obviously excessive and it is to bepresumed, on the basis of traditional and archeological evidence, thatsome Hidatsa village groups, particularly the Awatixa and Awaxawi,were also included in these figures.Although the M. Bellen map of 1755 was the first to show thelocation of the Mandan villages, indicating that the Mandan andArikara were separated by a stretch of about 300 miles on the MissouriRiver, no reference is made to the Hidatsa in relation to these otherearth-lodge groups (WincheU, 1911, p. 47). The Laurie and Whittlemap (1782) enumerates and locates a number of tribes heretofore not10
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION H
reported (ibid., p. 56) . It resembles Bellen's map in that the MantonsRiver still was not recognized to be a section of the Missom-i. TheMandan lived along the Mantons River, which flowed to the southeast.Their nearest neighbors were the Nadouasis who had left the head-waters of the Mississippi, crossed the Red River, and were livingbelow the Mandan villages. Immediately to the west of the Mandanvillages were the Snake Indians; the Assiniboin were to the north.The Arikara were to the southeast along the Missouri River, and theTetons occupied the prairie region between Lake Traverse and theMissouri River. ^During the entire period of recorded history, beginning with Thomp-son in 1797 and continuing to 1845, the Hidatsa recognized threeindependent but closely related village groups whose relative sizeremained unchanged. Of these groups, the Hidatsa were the mostnumerous and exceeded the other two in total numbers. TheAwatixa were intermediate in size, while the Awaxawi have neverexceeded 20 earth lodge household groups in historic times. Thomp-son (1916, pp. 235-236) visited these groups when they were in theirwinter villages and gave the following figures for households byvillage groups: (1) Awatixa, 31 earth lodges and 7 tipis; (2) Hidatsa,82 earth lodges; (3) Awaxawi and Mandan, 52 earth lodges (15Awaxawi and 37 Mandan); (4) Mandan, 40 earth lodges; and (5)Mandan, 113 earth lodges. For 190 Mandan lodges he estimatedthe population to be 1,520 and for the Hidatsa (FaU Indians) 128lodges and 7 tipis he gave a population of 1,330.^Even as early as 1797 two contradictory accounts of the history ofthe Hidatsa were recognized by Thompson; that they were formerlyagriculturalists living at the headwaters of the Red River, and thatthey were nomadic and came from the north to settle near the Mandan,where they adopted agriculture and fixed villages. The same con-tradictions appear regularly in subsequent accounts, and similarinformation was given to me by Hidatsa informants when this studywas made.LeRaye, in 1802, identified two village groups of Hidatsa; theHidatsa-proper occupying the large village (site 35) on the northbank of the Knife River and the Hidatsa group, better known by thenatives as the Awatixa, immediately opposite on the south bank(site 33). The Awaxawi, whom he called Gens-di-foulers, had anindependent village (site 32) 3 miles below the Awatixa (LeRaye,1908, p. 169). He estimated the population of the two Hidatsa
' Bellen probably errs in placing the Arikara so far downstream. There is much archeological evidencethat several Arikara village groups were at this time upstream from Pierre, S. Dak., in a region not wellknown to explorers.> Identification of these village groups was by my native informants.
12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
oc
as
?5 s
.s<Si^1PSmu
is^** Si^?u
s.sw
_>00 bo5 ?J
ffi
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 13
^v' VILLAGE SITENW /'4 SECT. 27 T. 147 R.86SCALE
I INCH: 100 FT.CONTOUR INTE.'^VAL 5 FT. SURVEYED 7-10-08BY STOUTFISHSTEINBREUCKMap 2.?Map of Rock Village. (Courtesy North Dakota Historical Society.)
villages to be 600 warriors and 2,500 inhabitants. It is of significancefor a reconstruction of Crow-Hidatsa group relations to note that,on the basis of information obtained from the various Crow bands,the Ehart-sah (Hidatsa) were still considered to be a Crow bandalthough the two other Hidatsa village groups, the Awatixa andAwaxawi, were not so considered.
14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Lewis and Clark (1804-05) wintered near the Mandan and Hidatsavillages. They also grouped together two Hidatsa village groups,the Hidatsa and the Awatixa (sites 35 and 33) as a separate tribe todistinguish them from the Awaxawi. Concerning the earth lodgevillages at this point they wrote:The villages near which we are established are five in number, and are theresidence of three distinct nations: the Mandans, the Ahnahaways [Awaxawi],'and the Minnetarees [Hidatsa and Awatixa].On the same side of the river, and at a distance of 4 miles from the lower Mandanvillage, is another called Mahaha [The Mandan name for the Awaxawi]. It issituated on a high plain at the mouth of Knife river, and is the residence of theAhnahaways . . . [They] formerly resided on the Missouri, about 30 miles belowwhere they now live. The Assiniboins and Sioux forced them to a spot 5 mileshigher, where the greatest part of them were put to death, and the rest emigratedto their present situation, in order to obtain an asylum near the Minnetarees
. . . their whole force is about 50 men.On the south side of the same Knife river, half a mile above the Mahaha andin the same open plain with it, is a village of Minnetarees surnamed Metaharta *who are about 150 men in number. On the opposite side of Knife river, and oneand a half miles above this village, is a second of Minnetarees, who may beconsidered as the proper Minnetaree nation [Hidatsa]. It is situated in a beauti-ful low plain, and contains 450 warriors.
. . . The Mandans say that this people came out of the water to the eastand settled near them in their former establishment in nine villages; . . . TheMinnetarees proper assert, on the contrary, that they grew where they now live . .
.
They also say that the . . . Minnetarees of the Willows,^ whose languagewith very little variation is their own, came many years ago from the plains andsettled near them. Perhaps the two traditions may be reconciled by the naturalpresumption that these Minnetarees [Hidatsa] were the tribes known to theMandans below, and that they ascended the river for the purpose of rejoiningthe Minnetaree proper.The inhabitants of these five villages, all of which are within the distance of6 miles, live in harmony with one another. The Ahnahaways understand inpart the language of the Minnetarees. The dialect of the Mandans differs widelyfrom both; but their long residence together has insensibly blended their manners,and occasioned some approximation in language, particularly as to objects ofdaily occurrence and obvious to the senses. [Lewis, 1893, pp. 196-200.]Although Lewis and Clark's analysis of the history of Hidatsa villagegroups is somewhat confusing, many of these conflicting traditions canbe resolved by examining the Hidatsa not as a tribe but as independentvillage groups. Both the LeRaye and Lewis and Clark accounts agreein designating the Awaxawi, although dialectically related to theothers, as somewhat removed culturally. Lewis and Clark further
' Village group names in brackets are my interpretations.
* The Mandan name for Awatixa meaning "Scattered Village." Another Mandan equivalent is
"mitoxtE" which is the name by which the Mandan also speak of the village on the present site of the cityof Mandan, N. Dak.
? So far as we know this name was applied only to the Hidatsa, never to the Awatixa or Awaxawi. Notethat the Awatixa at this time recognized dialectic differences with the Hidatsa and that the Mandan traditionof a Hidatsa migration to the Missouri as nonagriculturalists is denied by the Awatixa as applying to them.
Bowers] EQDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 15indicate that the Hidatsa (Minnetarees of the Willows) and Awatixa(Minnetarees-proper of Metaharta) have had independent histories.The former, as a nomadic group, came recently to the Missouri fromthe northern plains to Heart River where they became known to theMandan before taking up residence north of Knife River. The Awa-tixa claimed long residence on the Missouri as an agricultural group.This distinction between nomadic (Hidatsa) and sedentary (Awatixa)Hidatsa groups must have loomed prominently in theu* minds, forthey distinguished these two groups when they wrote:
... As Captain Clark was about leaving the village, two of their chiefs returnedfrom a mission to the Grosventres [Hidatsa] or wandering Minnetarees. Thesepeople were camped about ten miles above, and while there one of the Ahnahaways[Awaxawi] had stolen a Minnetaree girl. [Ibid., pp. 219-220.]It appears that Lewis and Clark were aware of differences betweenthe two principal Hidatsa village groups, the Hidatsa-proper and theAwatixa, since they refer to the group living on the north bank of theMissouri as the Minnetarees (Hidatsa), and those on the south bank(Awatixa) as the Minnetarees, surnamed Metaharta. Inasmuch asthe names employed to designate these village groups are of Mandanorigin, it would be well to examine Mandan interpretations of them.According to my Mandan informants, the word "Minnetaree" referredonly to the nomadic ethnic group which arrived at the Mandan villagesnear Heart River from the northeast in late prehistoric times. Havingtasted the Mandan corn, which they learned to cultivate during ashort residence there, they were advised by the Mandan leaders inthese words:It would be better if you went upstream and built your own village, for our cus-toms are somewhat different from yours. Not knowing each other's ways theyoung men might have differences and there would be wars. Do not go too faraway for people who live far apart are like strangers and wars break out betweenthem. Travel north only until you cannot see the smoke from our lodges and therebuild your village. Then we will be close enough to be friends and not far enoughaway to be enemies. [Crows Heart.]Once this group became established on the Missouri near the mouthof Knife River, a separation occurred to produce the Hidatsa whoadopted agriculture and built Hidatsa village 35 on the north bank ofthe Knife River. The remainder removed farther upstream and be-came the Kixa'ica' or 'Those Who Quarreled Over the Paunch,' thepresent Hidatsa name for the River Crow. According to Mandaninterpretations, neither the Awatixa nor the Awaxawi was in-volved in this more recent migration, both being older agriculturalgroups on the Missouri. The Mandan relate the Awatixa to the west-ern Crow from whom they are said to have separated by mutual con-sent while living on the Missomi between the mouths of the Knifeand Heart Rivers. They viewed this early separation as a gradual one
16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194due to their long western migrations out onto the Plains. Eventuallythe western ones moved permanently into the upper Little MissouriRiver region to take up hunting. The smaller group remained onfriendly terms with the Mandan living in the Painted Woods regionintermediate to the Knife and Heart Rivers where they practicedagriculture. This seems to be a reasonable interpretation, for theMandans who supplied much of the data recorded by Lewis and Clarkin 1804 were aware of the different cultural histories of the threeHidatsa village groups and the Crow.Concerning the Awaxawi, if we are to rely on traditions andinterpretations of Mandan and Awaxawi informants, we must concludethat they represent an independent village group who arrived on theMissouri after the Awatixa and Mountain Crow and prior to theHidatsa-River Crow; that they were agriculturalists prior to theirarrival on the Missouri as indicated by the Thompson account; andthat they were, owing to their small numbers, closely associated fordefense with either the Mandan or the more sedentary Awatixa duringthe 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. The archeological recordof their traditional villages on the Missouri River further strengthensnative beliefs of the relative periods of the occupation along the Mis-souri by these three village groups and the Mandan.In 1806, Alexander Henry recognized the Saultier (Awaxawi) to bean independent tribe, writing:These people are an entirely different tribe from the Big Bellies and Mandanes;'their language resembles that of the latter more than that of the former, but isnot the same.^ Their long intercourse with those people has tended to thissimilarity of language, and from proximity they have acquired the manners andcustoms of the other nations, though they continue to live by themselves. Theyhave the reputation of a brave and warlike people. They formerly sustained athree-years' war with the Big Bellies notwithstanding the latter were then tentimes their number.^ They held out with the greatest resolution and disdainedto submit till the others, finding it impossible to reduce them, unless by extermina-tion, proposed to make peace. Since then they have lived in amity. They arestationary, like their neighbors, the Mandanes, with whom they have alwaysbeen at peace, and have acquired more of their customs and manners than thoseof the Big Bellies, who continue to view them with an envious eye. [Henry,1897, pp. 343-344.]Henry estimated the size of the villages to be: Awaxawi, 40 lodges;Awatixa, 60 lodges; Hidatsa, 130 lodges. These are unquestionablyoverestimations, since lodge outlines at these villages show Hidatsasite 35 to have 83 earth lodges, Awatixa site 33 to have 49 earth
' Hidatsa and Awatixa village groups at this time lived In the same two villages as reported by Lewis andClark previously.
' Henry errs. It was a Hidatsa-Crow dialect.
' Traditionally this was with the Hidatsa, not the Awatixa, and was brought about by the unwillingnessof the Hidatsa to permit settlement on the Missouri upstream from the mouth of the Knife River in tradi-tional Hidatsa hunting territory.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 17lodges, and Awaxawi site 32 to have approximately 20 lodges. Theexact number at the latter site is not definitely known, since the sitehas been partially destroyed.Bradbury (1904, vol. 5, p. 162) also distinguished the Awaxawi asa separate tribe from the other two Hidatsa village groups of whichhe said "It is stated by Mr. Lewis that the two villages or bands canraise six hundred warriors but the number at this time is probablymuch less." It was at this time, according to traditions largely sub-stantiated by recent tree ring studies, that one group under StrongJaw moved out of the Hidatsa village to buUd on the Little Missourinear the mouth of Cherry Creek (WUl, 1946). Concerning theAwaxawi, Bradbury (1904, p. 163) wrote that?
?
In our way to the Mandans we passed through the small village belonging tothe Ahwahhaways, consisting of not more than eighteen or twenty lodges. Thisnation can scarcely muster fifty warriors, and yet they carry on an offensive waragainst the Snake and Flathead Indians.Catlin in 1832 did not recognize the Awaxawi as a separate tribe,writing:The Minitarees (people of the willows) are a small tribe of about 1,500 souls,residing in three villages of earth-covered lodges, on the banks of Knife river; asmall stream, so called, meandering through a beautiful and extensive prairie,and uniting its water with the Missouri. [Catlin, 1841, vol. 1, p. 185.]Catlin identified Awatixa village on the south bank as the principalvillage; it consisted of 40 to 50 earth-covered lodges (see map 5).Maximilian (1906, pp. 230-231) in 1833 reported that the Hidatsagroups were in the same villages as when Charboneau came to theMissouri in 1797. These were sites 35, 33, and 32. However, 6 or 7years prior to 1797 it would appear that the Awatixa and Awaxawiwere not living at the mouth of Knife River, for Maximilian describesan attack by the Sioux on Hidatsa village (site 35). These twoincidents provide a minimum date for the final union of the threeHidatsa village groups at the mouth of Knife River where theyremained in close associations until 1837 when they scattered toescape a second smallpox epidemic. The Maximilian account wouldindicate that immediately after the smallpox epidemic of 1782, theAwatixa were in Rock Village (site 53) upstream from the mouth ofKnife River, the Hidatsa were at the mouth of Knife River in villagesite 35, and the Awaxawi were downstream near the Mandan of theHensler-Sanger region where ruins of their villages were described byLewis and Clark in 1804. This date for the occupation of RockVillage would agree with Curtis' (1907 a, p. 131) account.Bears Arm, one of the principal informants for this study, statedthat his mother. Many Growths, was born at Awatixa site 33. Imme-diately after the smallpox epidemic of 1782, the Awatixa abandoned
18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Ni
>o
^ O Hidatsa VillageKnife RiverSW \ OF SEC. 21, TOWN. 145RANGE 84SCALE
I INCH- 105.6 FT.Map 3.?Hidatsa village site 35 on the north bank of the Knife River. (Courtesy NorthDakota Historical Society.)
their old village 34 and removed to Rock Village, where Bears Arm'smaternal grandmother was born. According to Bears Arm, the villagegroup which we know as Hidatsa comprised both an agricultural andnomadic population prior to 1782. The ratio of nomads to agricul-turalists varied from season to season, Theu' principal headquarterswas on the north bank of Knife River (site 35) from which they ranged
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 19upstream along the Missouri, the tributary regions to the west, andthe Mouse River and Devils Lake regions to the northeast.The Awatixa at this time, he stated, were agricultural and livedmuch like the Mandan who placed great emphasis on agriculture.They had lived at site 34 for a long time, at first with the Mandanand Awaxawi living downstream to the Heart River and beyond, theCrow to the west, and the other Hidatsa-River Crow group to thenortheast and upstream as nomads. The Awatixa were then the mosto
-OoFENCE
Old Awatixa VillageSE % SECT. 33 TOWN. 145 RANGE 84SCALE
I INCH TO 115.75 FEET
Map 4.?Old Awatixa village at the mouth of the Knife River. (Courtesy North DakotaHistorical Society.)
20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
New Awotixa VillageNe!'40F sect. 33 TOWN. 145 RANGE 84SCALE
I INCH TO 90.66 FEET
Map S.?New Awatixa village at the mouth of the Knife River. (Courtesy North DakotaHistorical Society.)
northern agriculturalists along the Missouri River. Concerning theAwaxawi, where his father was born, Bears Arm stated that this groupwas once more numerous and lived to the east as agriculturalists onthe streams of that region and later at Devils Lake. There theHidatsa-River Crow (called Miro'kac prior to the separation) foundthem and concluded that they were related since their languages weremutually intelligible. Reaching the Missouri, the Awaxawi lived inthe Painted Woods region around the Square Buttes where theyremained on friendly terms with the Mandan of that and the HeartRiver region, and the Awatixa of site 34 on Knife River. Prior tothe epidemic of 1782, the enemies of the earth-lodge groups, particu-larly the Sioux, were not numerous. The Arikara were more niunerousand aggressive at that time and carried on constant warfare against
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 21their upstream neighbors. There were fewer Assiniboin and theyrarely wintered on the Missouri River upstream from the earth lodgevillages at and below Knife River. The Hidatsa and River Crowhunted on that stretch of the Missouri between the Knife and Yellow-stone Rivers and were numerous enough to withstand the Assiniboin.It was during this time that the Awaxawi moved upstream and at-tempted to build a permanent village above Knife River only to bedriven out by the Hidatsa. War broke out between them and wascontinued for 3 years during which time the Awaxawi moved down-stream near Fort Yates and built a village near the friendlier Cheyenne.This conflict with the Hidatsa and temporary residence below theMandan traditionally is prior to 1782, according to Bears Arm, as theAwaxawi were in the Painted Woods region during the first smallpoxepidemic.Awatixa traditions provide little information on their early historyand migrations, for they claim to have always occupied positions onthe Missouri, priQcipally around and upstream from Painted Woods(Washburn, N. Dak.). They have no traditions of permanent resi-dence elsewhere. It was in this area that they believe the clans andall of the rites relating to the Sacred Arrows originated. From allinformation provided by traveler accounts, Mandan informants, andAwatixa traditions, it appears that this group lived in that area forat least three centuries. They claimdd to be the descendants of an orig-inal population which came down from the sky to Charred Body Creeksituated a few miles below the present town of Washburn. Theirtraditional history is chiefly an account of the cultural developmentof tribal ceremonies pertaining to this vUlage site, the sites of theHensler-Sanger region, and site 34 at the mouth of the Knife River.References to legendary incidents occurring elsewhere are exceedinglyrare. They speak of moving downstream to the north bank of theHeart River while still a part of the Crow (Mountain or Western Crow)where certain incidents occurred prior to the removal of the latter tothe western Plains in company with a few Mandan families. Theyclaim Rock Viflage above the Knife River was built after the epidemicof 1782 when the Hidatsa consisted of both nomadic and agriculturalgroups. They also mention in the Waterbuster bundle myth, a tem-porary village built farther upstream and below Shell Creek. Thissite is said to have been built prior to the arrival of the Hidatsa-Crow.Nor are the Awatixa unique in claiming exclusive cultural developmentin one area along the Missouri River, having first been created thereby culture heroes who brought the original "parents" of the tribe downfrom the sky; some Mandans have a similar legend to account for theoriginal creation of the earth and the human population of the regionat the mouth of the Heart River.710-195?65 3
22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194According to both Awatixa and Mandan traditions, once the originalpopulations were established, other related groups moved to the regionand joined them. There is much archeological evidence in the earthlodge sites of the area to support the general outlines of tribal historiesas given by native informants. Will (1946) has dated certain sites ofthe Heart Kiver region as representing an early agricultural popula-tion at the Huff site. On the basis of changes of frequencies of pot-tery types, I have shown that a continuous cultural developmentoccurred in that region even predating the Huff site (dated as 1485-1543) and continuing to the historic period (Bowers, MS.). Typo-logical differences exist between these earlier traditional Mandan sitesand those believed by both tribes to have been occupied by the variousHidatsa village groups. On the oldest identified horizons, the Mandansites show many middle Mississippi cultural traits. The Hidatsashow stronger Woodland influences. Mandan pottery had a highfrequency of plain or polished (body) wares while Hidatsa pottery hada high frequency of check-stamping and cord-roughening. Thesedifferences were less pronounced in the historical period sites. Man-dan village sites show fixed lodge arrangements with an open circle orceremonial area within the village, a specialized ceremonial lodge withstructural features of the older rectangular lodges, and the commonuse of bastions. The Hidatsa never preserved a fixed ceremonial areawithin the village, nor is there reference to lodge orientation withinthe camp area. Even in historic times, the Hidatsa had no cere-monial or tribal lodge for their ceremonies. Nor do those Hidatsasites known to have been occupied prior to the smallpox epidemic of1782 show well-defined fortifications, although the Mandan werebuilding strongly fortified villages before A.D. 1500.Trade sherds appearing in Mandan sites after 1550 indicate thatthe first Hidatsa groups, probably the Awatixa and their closestMountain Crow relatives, reached the Missouri about that time or alittle later. Awatixa pottery and culture in general were influencedby the Mandan far more than were Mandan cultural traits influencedby the AwatLxa, indicating that the first contacts were made by anAwatixa invading group fewer in number than the contemporaryMandan. That contacts were not entirely broken between the variousHidatsa-Crow groups is indicated by the close similarity in theirlanguages. If we assume a distribution of Hidatsa-Crow groups inaccord with their traditions (from the Red River and its western tri-butaries westward in the headwaters region of the Sheyenne and JamesRivers, the Turtle Mountains, the southern loop of the Mouse Riverand onto the Missouri upstream from Washburn, N. Dak., thencewestward onto the Little Missouri to its headwaters and the Yellow-stone River to the Powder River), we have an area which reveals ma-
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 23
terials of unusual uniformity. Temporary campsites found along therivers reveal pottery complexes characteristic of this older Hidatsaearth lodge culture on the Missouri. Temporary nonagriculturalsites are found east and west of the Missouri; permanent sites arefound on the lower section of the Sheyenne River where it emptiesinto the Red River and again in the Devils Lake region where evi-dences of agriculture are indicated. It appears that only in the cen-tral portion along the Missouri, around Devils Lake, and in the lowerSheyenne River region, was agriculture regularly practiced by theAwatLxa and Awaxawi. Evidences of occasional agriculture upstreamfrom the mouth of the Knife River is indicated by numerous smallstorage pits, scapula hoes, and charred corncobs. The corncobscould have been brought in by trade, but it is unlikely that scapulahoes and storage pits would have been used unless some agriculturewas practiced. The archeological evidence indicates that agriculturewas not important upstream from the Knife River until historic times,but earlier attempts at farming are indicated by numerous temporarysites in that region.The late prehistoric and protohistoric locations of the villagegroups comprising the Hidatsa tribe are pretty well defined bytraders and native accounts which can be authenticated by arche-ological record. The Awaxawi were intermediate in position on theMissouri to the Mandan and Awatixa, living in the Painted Woodsregion as agriculturalists. The Awatixa, though formerly mostintimately associated with the other agricultural groups, the Man-dan and Awaxawi, rather than with the nomadic Hidatsa-Crowgroups, were by this time in closer associations with the Hidatsa whooccupied the north bank of the Knife River and the area upstreamfrom that point. The final separation of the Hidatsa and the RiverCrow traditionally occurred during this period after a quarrel overthe disposal of a buffalo's paunch. The archeological record up-stream along the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, however, wouldindicate that this Hidatsa-Crow population was composed of numer-ous bands which gradually moved apart as some members took overagriculture while others remained on the Plains permanently ashunters.It would appear that even the Hidatsa-proper did not make thedecision to settle in earth lodge villages quickly but, rather, wereindifferent to agriculture for quite a while. The smallpox epidemicof 1782 and the westward movement of the Assiniboin and Siouxchanged the picture on the Missom"i; it was the sedentary peopleswho suffered most from smallpox. The more nomadic Hidatsa werecompelled to make a decision between reuniting with the River Crowor moving in with their linguistically closer relatives living near the
24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Knife River. It was during this period, 1782-1800, and as a resultof some serious losses at the hands of the Sioux, that the three Hidatsaand the nine or more Mandan village groups reorganized for mutualdefense. In 1790 a large force of Sioux attacked the Hidatsa; be-cause of the distance between the villages, the Awatixa at RockVillage and the Awaxawi, who had survived an attack on them and theNuptadi Mandan, were unable to provide assistance. Nevertheless,by 1796 the Mandan groups had aU moved out of the Heart Riverregion and had consolidated their position in a limited area immedi-ately below the Knife River Hidatsa villages.Close intervillage and intertribal cooperation developed. Onegroup of Arikara, who previously had had close ties with the AwigaxaMandan near the Grand River, moved north at this time and settlednearby at the Greenshield site opposite Washburn. They did notget along well with the other Mandan and Hidatsa groups and weresoon driven out. The Awaxawi had abandoned their village nearSquare Buttes after the epidemic of 1782 to live in one of the Mandanvillages. However, once the earth lodge population was concentratednear the Knife River, they moved into a village of their own (site 32)situated between the Mandan and Hidatsa. There they continuedto live as an independent village group until after the epidemic of 1837.They then abandoned their own village organization and united withthe Awatixa.The Hidatsa, Awatixa, and Awaxawi occupied the same village sitesbetween 1795 and 1837 although the Hidatsa-proper had some diffi-culty in integrating their population. Quarrels occasionally brokeout, one resulting in the building of Cherry Creek Village on the LittleMissouri River. These close contacts, between slightly different cul-tural groups of Hidatsas and Mandans endeavoring to preserve theirindependent village systems, resulted in the breakdown of culturaldifferences through intergroup borrowing and intermarriage. Never-theless, something of the cultural differences between these groups isstill preserved in native interpretations and traditions. The assimila-tion process of the Hidatsa groups was rapid after 1782.With the heavy losses suffered from smallpox in 1837, a secondperiod of reorganization followed. Many living at Hidatsa villageconsidered rejoining the River Crow. In fact, many did move therepermanently. Other Hidatsas from this village moved upstream whenthe epidemic broke out and built an earth lodge village near the mouthof the upper Knife River which they occupied until 1845. TheAwaxawi and Awatixa remained on the Knife near the Mandan until1845, when, in company with the Nuitadi Mandan, they undertookthe building of Fishhook Village where they were rejoined by manyHidatsa households. The problem of resolving several traditions was
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 25
not an easy one. None of the groups composing the population ofFishhook was sufficiently numerous to survive in an independentvillage. Were it not for the pressures of nomadic enemies, the rem-nants of each village would have lived alone. Those Hidatsa whowere unwilling to continue as agriculturalists at Fishhook moved westand united permanently with the River Crow.In the chapters that follow, through field investigations and inter-views with many Hidatsa informants, I have examined the cultures ofthe three original village groups, recorded cultural differences whereit was possible to do so, indicated something of the cultural elementscommon to the three groups, and have traced out in some detailthose cultural processes and native concepts of the history or "road"by which the Hidatsa groups achieved the cultiu*al status they knewwhen Fishhook Village was abandoned for the move onto the reserva-tion. The Hidatsa still (1932) think strongly in terms of these orig-inal village groups.
HIDATSA SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONVillage and Tribal Organization and ActivitiesThe Hidatsa employed the term "chief" to designate anyone who,by virtue of his authority at any particular moment was recognizedas leader of a group of people, whether a segment of the village group,a village group, or the entire population of the three villages and suchother organized groups as might be residing with the Hidatsa at thatparticular time. Leadership was graded in much the same manneras was the male and female population comprising the age-gradesystem. The Hidatsa had, in 1932, a rather clear understanding ofthe character of the tribal leadership prior to the epidemic of 1837when the population lived in three independent villages. Accordingto my informants, these villages had had no tribal council until afterthe epidemic of the 1780's, as the villages were widely scattered alongthe Missouri and its tributaries and contacts were not numerous.At that time, the Awaxawi were below the Knife River near SquareButtes, and the Awatixa were in their old vUlage on the south bankof the Knife River where they had lived for a very long time. TheHidatsa-proper comprised a loose association of closely related bandsthat ranged northward along the Missouri and Lower Yellowstone,the Little Missouri, Mouse River, Turtle Mountains, and even theDevils Lake region. Occasionally the wandering Hidatsa groupswould all move back to the north bank of the Knife River to plantcorn but, just as often, they remained on the prairies during thesummer, hunting buffaloes. These northern Hidatsa bands collec-tively greatly exceeded the Awatixa and Awaxawi in numbers andconsistently resisted their efforts to move above the Knife River.Each Hidatsa band was under the leadership of a strong chief whohad considerable prestige with his group. The Awatixa, who hada traditional history of long residence in earth lodge villages on theMissouri, had a more complex vUlage system of chieftainships basedon hereditary bundles and offices, "ward" leadership to supplementand reinforce tribal chiefs, and clan inheritance of rights and privileges.The ceremonial aspects of their village life were organized around a26
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 27
village or peace chief and the war activities around an outstandingwar leader. The Awaxawi, although sedentary like the Awatixa,lacked clan inheritance rights and privileges. The ceremonial andpeace functions at Awaxawi were vested in the Earthnaming bundleowner while the war activities were organized around the strongestwar leader.The smallpox epidemic of the 1780's greatly reduced the tribalpopulation, and the subsequent westward movement of the Assiniboincaused the Hidatsa and Awatixa village groups to attempt a union.At this time the Awatixa built Rock Village upstream from the KnifeRiver. The effort was unsuccessful because of conflicting bundlerights and the jealousy of the chiefs. After a few years, those whodesired to remain agriculturalists returned to the Knife River, TheAwaxawi left Painted Woods and built 2 miles below the mouth ofKnife River, the Awatixa were situated on the south bank of the Knife,and those Hidatsa who chose to ally with the other two village groupssettled on the north bank. A few Hidatsa families joined the Crow,and others followed them, a few families at a time, until after 1845.Except for the short residence at Rock Village, this was traditionallythe first time that the Hidatsa village groups had lived within a fewmiles of one another. This was done to offer better opportunities formutual defense and still retain the original village groups. The Hid-atsa lived in about 130 lodge or household groups, the Awatixa inapproximately 50 household groups, and the Awaxawi in about 20household groups. COUNCILSFor mutual defense against common enemies, around 1797 or 1798,the three villages established a tribal council composed of the mostdistinguished war leaders of each village. Council membership hasbeen reported by my informants as totaling 10, with the head chiefs ofHidatsa and Awatixa as additional members, and as 12 in number byCurtis (1907 a, vol. 4, p. 182) . Their duties were concerned only withgeneral matters concerning warfare and the mutual assistance of thevillages. They made peace with neighboring villages and discouragedefforts of the enemy to make alliances with one village to the exclusionof the others. This tribal council was first established before 1800and continued until the three village groups united to build FishhookVillage in 1845.When the smallpox epidemic broke out in 1837, the council wascomposed of the following men (according to Bears Arm who secured
28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull, 194
this information from his father, Old-Woman-Crawling, who camefrom Awaxawi)
:
Hidatsa Village Clan membershipWolf Chief Three-clan moietyTwo Nights WaterbusterGives-Away-his-Arrows Prairie ChickenBloody AwaxenawitaRuns WaterbusterAwatixa VillageBlackens-his-Moccasins WaterbusterYoung-White-Bear MaxoxatiStirrup KnifeTwo Tails MaxoxatiAwaxawi VillageCrow Bull AwaxenawitaRoadmaker WaterbusterThis tribal council was composed of persons whose names commonlyappear in the journals of travelers and traders of that period. Thevillage representatives of the tribal council were outstanding individ-uals, respected primarily for their good judgment and mihtary ac-complishments, who were members of their respective village councilsfrom which they received their authority. When a member died orlost prestige, as in the instance of One-eyed Antelope who stole awoman and killed her husband when he returned from warfare toclaim her, the position was not filled until the next year at the time ofthe summer buffalo hunt and the NaxpikE ceremony. There were noregular meetings of the council. If one of the members had somethingto discuss with the others, he would have a feast prepared and thematter was discussed at that time. On other occasions, as when apipe bearer arrived for the purpose of arranging a peace treaty or thepeaceful admission of his band for trading, the council met to deter-mine the attitude of the people. The council frequently would refuseto discuss matters with young men of an enemy tribe, knowing thatsuch an arrangement did not carry the authority of the band leaders.It appears that the council also had an earlier understanding with theMandan, for in his journals of 1806, Alexander Henry wrote of aparty of Arikara that had arrived at the nearby Mandan villages toarrange a treaty:About 30 Big Bellies soon arrived on horseback, at full speed; they brought aninterpreter with them. This party consisted of some of the principal war chiefs,and other great men, who did not appear well pleased, but looked on the Pawneeswith disdain. After some private consultation they desired the Pawnees toreturn immediately to their own villages and to inform their great war chief,Red Tail, that if he sincerely wished for peace he must come in person, and thenthey would settle matters, as they were determined to have nothing to do with aprivate party of young men. [Henry, 1897, p. 335.]
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 29When it was not possible to arrive at a unanimous decision, thecouncil would endeavor to influence the minority group or a decisionwas postponed for a later date. Because of the numerical superiorityof the Hidatsa-proper the other two villages frequently gave in,particularly in matters concerned with the protection of the villages.This led early travelers to refer to the domination of the other twovillages by the Hidatsa-proper. This was probably only partly truefor either village group could have moved away and settled at any timeprovided they did not establish a permanent earth lodge village up-stream from the Hidatsa-proper. In matters for the common good,the council was an eft'ective organization. There was no tendency toinclude Mandan representatives in the council even though the twoMandan village groups lived only a few miles below the Awaxawi.Instead, the two tribes maintained independent councils which metjointly from time to time to discuss common problems. Each tribedefended the villages of the other tribe from attack and peace treatieswere not entered into by one tribe unless the other was included.With one exception, that of the Nuptadi who did not go upstreamwhen the other Mandan accompanied the Hidatsa groups in 1845 tobuild Fishhook, preferring an alliance with the nearby Arikara, thisrule was followed until the people went onto the Fort BertholdReservation.This federation of Hidatsa villages served a useful function inbreaking down the borders between village territorial grounds, thuseliminating one longstanding cause of intratribal friction. In 1750,the Awaxawi controlled the river region opposite the present town ofWashburn and hunted on the flats and along the small streams in thatregion, the Awatixa controlled the Knife River valley westward to-ward the Killdeer Mountains, and the Hidatsa claimed the regionalong the Missouri upstream from the mouth of the Knife River.When the three village groups settled on the Knife, however, separatevillage hunting grounds were no longer recognized. Each grouphunted on the others' territories or hunting parties were comprised ofhousehold groups from each of the villages. Nevertheless, theHidatsa-proper felt a prior claim to the region upstream from theKnife and consistently refused to permit the AwatLxa, the Awaxawi,or the Mandan to build earth lodge summer villages above them onthe Missouri. In 1845, because the wood had been largely consumedat the Knife River, the Hidatsa-proper contemplated moving up-stream to the Lower Yellowstone to join the River Crow. TheAwatixa, under Four Bears and Missouri, preferred to move to Fish-hook Bend and there build a permanent village. The former raisedno objection to a village at that point since they contemplated movingstill farther upstream. In the spring, however, when a trading post
30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194was established at that point, the Hidatsa-proper also decided tosettle there. The upstream position in relation to the other groupsof the Hidatsa was never relinquished. An attempt at this time toestablish a separate Hidatsa-proper village near the present town ofSanish, N. Dak., failed due to the greater strength of the Assiniboin.For a number of years after the three Hidatsa village groups imited atFishhook, each former village group continued to occupy a separatewinter village; in each instance we find the Hidatsa-proper occupyingthe upstream position. The Hidatsa-proper did not contribute to theorganization of the original "building" ceremonies at the time Fish-hook Village was built in 1845, these rites being largely performed bythe leaders of Awatixa, Awaxawi, and the Nuitadi Mandan, but theirstrength was not great enough to survive alone as an independentvillage group. Cultural differences between villages caused endlessfriction; the Awatixa and Awaxawi were more conservative than theHidatsa-proper in the preservation of longstanding organized rites,and the latter placed greater emphasis on individual vision experi-ences. When an opportunity arose to settle near a Government fortat Fort Buford shortly after 1870, many Hidatsa who had earlierfailed in maintaining a summer village near Sanish, again movedupstream to live. It is this group that now occupies the upstreamend of the Fort Berthold Reservation around Shell Creek.The stability of the original three Hidatsa groups is indicated bythe traditions and mythologies identified with these groups, thearcheological evidence of long residence in recognized village sites,and the persistence of the original groups in maintaining and pre-serving their identity in the face of forced union for mutual defenseagainst common enemies. One cannot say that they were primarilyeconomic groups, for if that were so, after the epidemic of the 1780*sthe Awatixa and Awaxawi collectively were not as numerous as eithervillage group had been before the epidemic. It appears to me fromnative accounts, that the reluctance to unite was due to differentcultural histories, differences in ceremonial and social organization,a strong sense of village solidarity, and the imwillingness of recognizedleaders to share their hard-earned positions with others of comparablestatus.Some of the cultural differences can still be identified from ananalysis of bundle rites and the traditional knowledge of the olderHidatsas. Since the Awatixa have contributed much to the cere-monial rites at the building of the last important vUlage, the FishhookVillage, some of the basic cultural characteristics of that group willbe indicated first. This Hidatsa group had traditions of long resi-dence on the Missouri; in fact, this group claims to have settled theearth from a village in the sky which distinguishes them from the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 31
other two groups which claim a common kinship by virtue of a com-mon origin from the underworld. In spite of their traditional originfrom the sky, the oldest culture-bearing levels in the Awatixa sitesshow features which are characteristic of the other Hidatsa sites onthe Missouri as well as to the east and southeast of the region. TheAwatixa culturally occupied a position intermediate to the other twoHidatsa groups on one hand and the Mandan on the other. Thebasic Hidatsa-Awaxawi inheritance pattern of sacred rites and objectswas from father to son; the Mandan practiced clan inheritance ofbundles, particularly ancient tribal bundles. The Awatixa had adual system; that is, most bundles were inherited through a "father-to-son" relationship but a number of other important bundles were ownedby the clan and transmitted to another member when one holding thebundle died. The Waterbuster and Knife clan bundles were ownedcollectively by the clan members of Awatixa village. While living atthe Knife River, and after the other two bands had built villagesnearby, those of the same clan in the other villages at first claimed norights in the clan bundles; it was not until the three Hidatsa groupsunited at Fishhook in 1845 that clan rights extended to the othergroups. The Shell Robe belonging to the Prairie Chicken clan ofAwatixa was actually kept by the Mandan during the last century.Nevertheless, rights in the bundle were claimed by all Mandans ofthe Prairie Chicken clan regardless of the village they lived in, and bythe Awatixa. More recently, after imiting at the mouth of theKnife River, rights were extended to include persons of the PrairieChicken clan at Awaxawi and Hidatsa. The Awatixa, according totraditions, brought the Sun Dance (NaxpikE) down from the skyand taught the rites to the other Hidatsa groups. They shared withthe Mandan the custom of arranging skull circles near the scaffoldsfor the dead as shrines to the Sun Doing bundles and transportingback to the villages skulls of those who had died or had been killedwhen away from home. This custom was not generally practiced bythe other Hidatsa groups. They did not establish "mourners' camps"as did the Hidatsa and Awaxawi, rationalizing this practice by theother two groups on the basis of a quarrel?not a part of their culturalhistory?which occurred prior to the separation of the Hidatsa-properand River Crow.Awatixa village organization differed slightly from that of the otherHidatsa groups in the absence of an Earthnaming bundle with ritesdefining village hunting territory. It was claimed that the highestranking leadership was vested in the holders of the Knife clan bundle(Three-clan moiety) and the Waterbuster clan bundle (Four-clanmoiety): Stirrup and Blackens-his-Moccasins, respectively, just priorto 1837. The village had no open circle or lodge arrangement other
32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194than the close grouping of lodges according to nearness of kin. Thevillage was, however, divided into four "wards," each under the super-natural protection of a prominent man selected for his part in theceremonies conducted for the gods of the direction which he repre-sented. These four men, known as "protectors of the people," wereesteemed ceremonial leaders and occupied a status position equal withthat of the two village chiefs and other select members of the villagecouncil distinguished either for their knowledge of sacred lore or fordistinction in warfare. Although the dual chieftainship of the Man-dan and the other Hidatsa groups prevailed, the distinction betweenwar and village chiefs was less evident due to the greater prestige ofthe Waterbuster and Knife clan bundles. The entire population wasorganized by the age-grading of both men and women. The BlackMouths served as police and enforced the regulations of the councilcomposed of older men.The Hidatsa-proper and Awaxawi village organizations differed fromthat of the Awatixa in many ways. Both groups traditionally arrivedrather recently on the Missouri. Since that time the Awaxawi werein intimate and continuous contacts with the Mandan, particularlythose at Painted Woods. According to traditions, the Awaxawi cameto the Missouri as a small agricultural group and settled in the PaintedWoods region. They represent the most diverse dialectic group andwere believed by Lewis and Clark to be a distinct tribe (Lewis, 1893,p. 196). During their short residence on the Missouri, they have beenon friendly terms Avith the Mandan with whom they cooperated in theperformance of tribal rites and, before reaching the Missouri, withvillage groups of agricultural Cheyennes near the headwaters of theRed River. In spite of dialectic differences and their greater emphasison agriculture, they more closely resemble the Hidatsa-proper cul-turally than either the Mandan or Awatixa. Hidatsa and Awaxawiclans apparently did not own ceremonial bundles; ^ all inheritance wasfrom "father" to "son." Authority was vested in a council of headmen who had attained eminence by the performance of rites or suc-cesses in warfare. The top leadership of the council was representedby the owner of the Earthnaming bundle, who organized the ritesrelating to the various buffalo-calling ceremonies which defined villagehunting territorial rights, and the principal war leader. Thus thesocioceremonial and the war-making activities of the village weresymbolically separate as represented by two head men. Tradition-ally, the top leaders of the ceremonial activities are said to have heldprecedence over the war leaders. In recent years, due to the increasedwar activities of the tribe in its struggle for survival, the war leader
? One exception?the notched sticks for the Tylng-the-Pots ceremony.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 33took precedence and the owner of the Earthnaming bundle was hisrepresentative in the village. As at Awatixa, special leaders wereselected when the occasion arose: directing the summer hunt, manag-ing the winter camp, or traveling beyond the summer vUlage. Villageswere divided into four "wards" with a bundle owner, whose gods wereof the direction selected, serving as "protector of the people." TheBlack Mouths were subordinate to the council of older men and policedthe village.The village council was of indefinite size, since elevation to mem-bership was based on personal achievements and public acclaim.Although it was composed chiefly of those who had passed the BlackMouths in age, it was essentially a group of mature men. Since theBlack Mouths must be kept informed of council decisions, theyusually met together whenever any matters of great importance werebeing discussed. It was the privilege of each person to speak, butone's prestige was based chiefly on age and accomplishments; thosewith mediocre records carried little influence. If a young man witha good record presumed to influence the older men, they wouldusually say to him:You are young; you have a good record. Do not assume responsibilities ofthis kind too soon. If you seek to influence us, it may be that you are not ready.Then you might "kick the stone." There is plenty of time. When you areolder and have demonstrated your abiUty in other things, the people will wantyou to be their leader. In the meanwhile, be kind to the old and the very young;be industrious and generous. Do not ask to be our leader. If you do all thethings that a chief must do, the people will ask you to help when they think youare ready.The high respect for age indicated by the attitude of individualstoward their older brothers and fathers, an organized age-group to thenext higher one, and the buying of sacred bundles from older people,is expressed in the attitude of the people toward the councU. Nor-mally, one's position and prestige in the council was slowly attained.One who had distinguished himself in a chiefly way frequently did notattend meetings until he was called in to render an opinion or toassist in solving some difficult problem. Since to act as a group, allsub-groups and households should have a voice in decisions, importantmatters were frequently discussed for quite a time in order that allhouseholds might have an opportunity to express an opinion. In theorganization of the council the "crier" or announcer held an honoredrole comparable to that of "First Creator" in the ceremonies. Heannounced meeting dates and the purpose of the meeting so that eachhousehold could be adequately informed of the matters for discussion.It was the privilege of each household to send an older person toexpress opinions. In the event that a number of related householdsopposed the proposition, measures were taken to win their approval
34 JBUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
or the matter was dropped. We find, for example, instances of peaceemissaries being received by the council but acceptance being delayeduntil those households which had recently lost members in warfareagainst the tribe had indicated their willingness to accept the peaceofferings. The council could not accept the peace plans if a householdrefused to approve. Usually, families were given horses and othergoods in considerable quantities as symbols of respect to the deadmembers of the households, at which time objections were withdrawn.Although on the surface these gifts may appear to outsiders as bribes,to these people the offering of gifts was a symbol of respect. If thereturned leader of an unsuccessful war expedition did not fast longenough or inflict personal torture sufScient to console the families ofthose killed, the council frequently was thwarted in its efforts to wintheir approval of the matters under discussion. In the face ofcontinued resistance by the households, the council was unable tofunction. Even as peace negotiations could not be completed exceptwith the approval of the interested households, neither could thevillage function as a unit in other matters. Thus, at best, the councilwas only as strong as the bond which held households together. Thecouncil could not prevent households from withdrawing from thevillage whenever they wished to establish independent villages.Through the police, however, it could enforce rules of behavior aslong as the household groups remained in the village.The attitude of a dissatisfied group obviously took a different formwhen enemies pressed them from all sides. On the other hand, agroup could lose prestige by making unreasonable demands. In-formants will say that decisions were always unanimous and that de-cisions were not made until a solution was reached that was acceptableto all. Nevertheless, we have a number of council decisions whichwere not unanimous and can observe the reactions that followed.Since conditions of warfare were difficult during the winter due todeep snows and the ease of tracking the enemy, pressures of enemygroups were not as great. Under these conditions, the village groupwas frequently unable to agree on a common winter camping area andsmall segments of the population would break away against the betterjudgment of the older and more experienced leaders. The councilcould not exert physical force to drive them back into the group butthey could throw the weight of tradition against them by publiclyinvoking the gods sending the winter buffalo to send them no buffaloes.Cherry Necklace was selected by a majority of the combined Hidatsa,Awatixa, and Awaxawi during the autumn of 1862 as "leader of thewinter camp" but was opposed by some households because he hadalready served in that capacity a few years earlier during which timemembers of these households died. These deaths were blamed on
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 35their leader since he was held accountable for any deaths or accidentsoccurring during the winter. Cherry Necklace could have reinstatedhimself in their esteem by "sacrificing" for the dead, that is, makingofferings of goods and fasting a short time away from the village, buthe chose instead to disregard the matter. Now he was chosen againby the other households because there had actually beenmany buffaloesin the vicinity of his camp aU winter but some families chose to opposehim on the grounds that he had brought them bad luck intentionallyas proved by his disregard for their deceased relatives. Thus a stale-mate developed and no compromise could be reached. They wentinto two winter camps: one under Cherry Necklace and the majorityof the population together with the police organization, and the othera few miles nearer the summer village. Rumor reached the un-organized camp that their relatives were concerned for the safety ofthis small group and that Cherry Necklace had pointed his pipe tothe north and invoked the gods of that direction to send the peopleback by sending the buffaloes only to his camp where the long estab-lished buffalo calling rites were being performed. Soon rumors alsoreached the little camp that Cherry Necklace had also pointed hispipe to the south and directed the Sioux to attack the undefendedcamp to bring them back. When the buffaloes came south to CherryNecklace's camp but did not continue southward to the other campand scouts discovered strange human tracks in the woods near thelittle camp, relatives went to the little camp and begged them to jointhem for mutual defense and offered them goods to show their respect,treating them as mourners.From the foregoing accounts, we have seen that prior to 1837,each village group had its own council and police force and operatedpretty much as an independent group with prescribed territory onthe Missouri for permanent summer villages and separate huntingterritory. The traditions indicate that the territory controlled wassharply reduced during the latter part of the 18th century due toepidemics and an intensification of warfare when neighboring groupsreceived firearms and moved westward into territory formerly con-trolled by these and the Mandan village groups. With the reductionof controlled territory, and the resettlement of the three village groupsnear the mouth of Knife River, a tribal council was estabhshed foreffective cooperation between village groups, its membership con-sisting of some 12 members of high status. This system was notof long existence, beginning shortly after the 1782 smallpox epidemicand ending with the union of the three village groups to build FishhookVillage in 1845.Various writers have written of the first building of FishhookVillage but the particular rites employed on this occasion have signifi-
36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
cance only when analyzed in the light of the former village systemsof the three Hidatsa and one Mandan group that comprised theoriginal population at the time of its founding. Each of thesevillage groups had suffered severe smallpox losses 8 years beforeand the intervening period was one of general disorganization. Nodoubt the original village groups would have remained independentand separate villages had the pressure of enemy groups slackened,for we have seen that although the Awaxawi numbered only 18 or20 households prior to the epidemic, they had shown no inclinationto assimilate with any of the other village groups. During thisperiod of social disorganization, the Hidatsa and Mandan villagegroups accepted the Arikara ^? as equal partners because of commonenemies, the Sioux. The three Hidatsa groups and the NuitadiMandan chose to move out of the Knife River region because woodwas getting scarce. One Mandan village group, the Nuptadi, pre-ferred to maintain an independent village near the Arikara ratherthan join with the Hidatsa. The Nuptadi Mandan group had manykinship bonds with the principal Yankton bands under MedicineBear, a Sioux chief, whose mother was a Nuptadi Mandan takenprisoner when the Sioux sacked and burned the village near PaintedWoods during the 1780's. She was a small girl at the time and wasreared by the Sioux, later marrying a Sioux. Her son distinguishedhimself and became head chief of one large band of Yankton. Itwas said that he always had a compassion for the Nuptadi Mandanand liked to visit them because he had so many relatives in thatvillage. Other Mandans taken prisoner at the same time and adoptedby the Sioux likewise claimed kinship with this Mandan group whichremained back at the Knife River when the Fishhook Village wasbuilt.The smallpox epidemic of 1837 had cut deeply into the earth lodgepopulation on the Upper Missouri; even a majority of the originaltribal council died at that time. Of the three Hidatsa village groups,the Awaxawi and Awatixa suffered the heaviest losses; this was dueto the nearness of their villages to the Mandan where the epidemicfirst broke out. At this time, the Hidatsa-proper were on one oftheir periodic upstream migrations and were dispersed into severalbands. The period 1837-45 was one of indecision; the Awatixaand Awaxawi were so few in numbers that they were obhged to seekassistance of the Mandan and Arikara for protection from the Sioux.The Hidatsa-proper, in part, lived in a strongly-fortified village northof the present town of Sanish while others moved westward and joinedwith the River Crow from whom they had separated when they
1" The Arikara were themselves the remnants of a large number of independent village groups.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 37
adopted agriculture and settled at the Knife River. The Awatixa,with a long history of life in earth lodge villages, chose to remainagriculturalists as did the Awaxawi who were few in number andunable to maintain an independent village organization. TheNuitadi Mandan, finding conditions intolerable with the Arikara,who had moved in on them after the smallpox epidemic, indicated apreference for the Awatixa and Awaxawi near whom they had livedfor a long time and with whom some households were related throughmarriage.The Awatixa, Awaxawi, and Nuitadi Mandan then organized acouncil headed by Four Bears, son of Two Tails of the original council,who was at that time the most distinguished war leader. He wasentrusted with the physical defense of the people, and Missouriwas selected to organize the ceremonies of establishing the new vil-lage which was to be built upstream from the mouth of Knife Riverbut below the Hidatsa-proper. Although the selection of the siteis clothed in traditions, the Like-a-Fishhook Bend was an ideal sitefor defense. The role of the supernatural in determining where tobuild is indicated by the complete absence of references to the manyadvantages of the site for the summer village. It was on a low bendoverlooking the Missouri with the river at the edge of the village,steep banks on three sides, an abundance of timber growing in thevalley and reaching up to the edges of the village on two sides, suitablesoil for gardens in the timber, and a broad, flat, grassed prairie withan unimpaired view which extended back from the unprotected sideof the village where horses could be better protected while grazing.During the period 1837 to 1845 the Hidatsa were unable to operateas a tribal unit. The more sedentary Awatixa and Awaxawi pre-ferred to continue the old cultural pattern based on agriculture.The Hidatsa-proper, with a short traditional history of agricultureon the Missouri after separating from the River Crow with whomthey had still maintained close contacts on the Missouri above KnifeRiver, preferred to accept an invitation to rejoin the Crow. Whenthe final decision was made and the site of the new village had beenselected, the Hidatsa-proper were ready to move upstream in thespring and separate permanently from their more agricultural rela-tives. Some Awatixa and Awaxawi families, however, decided toabandon agriculture and move upstream, while several Hidatsa-proper famihes moved downstream to continue agriculture.BoUer (1868, p. 242) gives essentially the same account of theevents leading up to the building of Fishhook Village. He wrote:
... At last they determined to seek the Crows and unite with them again.They deserted their village, abandoned their corn-fields, left the bones of those710-195?65 1
38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
once loved and lost, and severing all old ties, crossed to the east shore of theMissouri, and started on their pilgrimage.It was in the fall when they arrived at the site of the present village. TheFour-Bears thought it would be a good place to winter in, ... . When springcame, the Fur Company's steamboat arrived, and at the urgent solicitation ofthe Indians, a trader was left with a few goods.The squaws cut and dragged timber for a fort; the Gros Ventres gave up theiridea of rejoining the Crows, ....Although the original Hidatsa village group broke up at this timethey took little part in the village-building ceremonies. The topchieftainship was patterned after the former Awatixa village systemin which the Waterbuster clan owner was village chief and Missouriwas selected to manage the ceremonies of laying out the vUlage anddesignating the ward leaders or "protectors of the people." The warchief was likewise selected from this village group, Four Bears beingselected for that position.The top leadership in 1845 when the village was built was asfollows:Head Chiefs.?Missouri River from Awatixa, village chief andkeeper of the Waterbuster clan bundle; Four Bears from Awatixa,war chief and owner of rights in Daybreak and Sunset Wolf ceremonialbundles; and Big Hand from Awaxawi, First Creator impersonatorand announcer for the chiefs.Protectors of the People.?Big Cloud (Fat Fox) from Awaxawi,Thunder bundle and protector of the east direction; Bear-Looks-Outfrom Awaxawi, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle and protectorof the south direction; Bobtail Bull from Awatixa, Thunder bundleand protector of the west direction; Bad Horn from Hidatsa, Bearbundle and protector of the north direction; and Big Hand fromAwaxawi, vUlage announcer.This group was entrusted with the supernatural protection of thevillage. Four Bears, the war chief, took no part in the ritual organiza-tion of the village other than outlining the limits of the area on whichlodges were to be built. In deference to the wishes of the Mandanfamilies, they laid out an open-circle area within the village near theriverbank on the southwest section of the village which was reservedfor their ceremonies, sacred cedar, and ceremonial lodge. TheMandan were organized independently by the Okipa members underthe direction of Big Turtle and Flying Eagle. The Mandan did nothave enough households to complete the open circle and others alsoselected lodge sites there.From the time of its first construction, the village life was a com-promise of several village systems. A distinct ceremonial center withlodge orientation had never before been reserved in Hidatsa villagesfarther downstream, according to native traditions. This is borne
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 39
out by archeological evidence in the three villages at the Knife, FortClark Station, Bagnall, Gaines, Mile Post 128, Upper Sanger, andother traditional sites, although the surface evidence at UpperHidatsa site 35 suggests a small area not occupied by lodges. Thestill distinguishable large open circle described by Kurz (1937),Boiler (1868), and Matthews (1877) at Fishhook Village, suggests thevillage arrangement of a dozen or more Mandan sites found betweenthe mouth of the Knife and Cannonball Rivers, some of which wereoccupied as early as the 15th century. The open-circle area hadnever been considered a sacred phenomenon by the Hidatsa as it wasby the Mandan; even today there is no religious taboo againstdescribing it although the writer sometimes encountered this in hiswork with the Mandan. Nevertheless, it was a convenient place toassemble on social and ceremonial occasions. Although the Hidatsanever performed tribal rites at the sacred cedar, as did the Mandanon all ceremonial occasions, the Mandan ceremonial lodge situatedadjacent to the open circle to the north and facing the sacred cedarbecame increasingly popular with the Hidatsa. Because of its greatsize, the performance of ritualistic feasts formerly held in any largeearth lodge were often held in this lodge.The council continued to be the principal policy-making body.Any chief could call a council meeting merely by preparing a feastfor its members. The village was occupied only during the summerperiod while the gardens were being cared for; the population wouldleave in late fall for the eagle-trapping camps and winter villageswhen the danger of massed attacks against them lessened. At firstthe population tended to retain its identity according to the fouroriginal village groups from which it was derived. The council wasselected from the population at large without regard to originalvillage origin, the only qualifications being that one was in the age-group above that of Black Mouths and had distinguished himselfin warfare or had participated in recognized ceremonial and socialactivities. Until the Nuptadi Mandan joined the earlier populationat Fishhook, one large Black Mouth society functioned to preserveorder until the population went into winter camps. The societythen broke up into separate camp segments based on their originalvillage ties.Unless enemies were numerous, it was customary even as late asthe 1860's for the Hidatsa to go into three separate winter campsand the Mandan into a fourth some distance away. In some in-stances the camps were many miles apart, at other times only a fewhundred yards apart; nevertheless this breaking up into separatecamps, however close they were, was a device for expressing eachgroup's feeling of "separateness." There were intergroup gambling
40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
contests for adults and games of skill for the children, but in the sum-mer village the population was intermixed so that an outsider wouldscarcely have been able to detect the existence of different socialgroupings.Under the direction of the council, the village was fortified. Alarge bell was obtained and rung each day by a Black Mouth toannounce that the gates were open for the horses to go to pasture.The bell was again rung in the evening to announce that the gateswere soon to be closed and that the people should come in from theirwork. Once the gate was closed, all sections of the village wereguarded to keep out intruders, and only those who could be identifiedwere admitted. Unauthorized war parties were forbidden to goout and the rewards of their successful expeditions were depreciated.LEADERSWarIt was in this atmosphere that Fishhook was first built and ad-ministered until the last Mandan village group and the Arikarasettled at the village after 1860. Prior to that time, the people atFishhook were largely at the mercy of the Assiniboin and Siouxwhose war parties against the Arikara and Nuptadi Mandan livingbelow the Knife were harbored and fed both going and coming andthe group felt obliged to tolerate them?even though it was commonfor a young man to be sent out on the sly to warn the people down-stream. During this time several large-scale attacks were made onthe village, each of which was driven off under the skillful leadershipof Four Bears who is today still considered one of their most dis-tinguished v/ar chiefs. The role of the village or religious leadershas been largely obscured by the numerous exploits and the braveryof this military leader. His prestige was so great that all respectedhim as the savior of the village. Before his death in 1861, he hadconvinced the Nuptadi Mandan and the Arikara that their positionwould be more secure if they came to Fishhook to make their per-manent home away from the Yanktons who greatly outnumberedthem and were determined to extend their range northward from theHeart River to include the large Painted Woods bottoms admirablysuited for winter camps.The role of the council has been largely obscured by the socialstature of this Hidatsa leader, but numerous incidents reflect theinfluence of the bundle owners expressed in the objective acts of thewar chief. At the time the Arikara were invited to move north andjoin the other earth lodge people at Fishhook, they chose to buildinstead on the opposite bank in two separate villages and with thatend in view "planted" their medicines there. That is, they had
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 41
covered certain tribal bundles, indicating that the villages shouldbe erected at that spot. The Hidatsa-Mandan council sent wordacross with Four Bears that the Arikara should move across andbuild with the others but they told this delegation that they hadput their medicines in the ground at that place and planned to buildthere. Then the bundle owners entrusted with the rites of the
"protection of the people" selected Wooden Bowl to take the pipeto the Arikara and ask them to come but they still refused to acceptthe pipe. Standing before them, Wooden Bowl raised his pipe soall could see, saying, "My medicine is the bear who lives above.These people have refused to take the pipe so I ask you, my god, tosend them across in four days."Wooden Bowl returned and told the people how he had invokedhis god, the bear, to compel the Arikara to comply with the orderssent across by Four Bears and his council. In a few days a largeparty of Sioux came and camped beside the Arikara. They gotalong very well for a few days and then a quarrel broke out betweenan Arikara and a Sioux in which both tribes became involved. TheMandan and Hidatsa crossed to the aid of the Arikara even thoughthey had "called down the gods" on them with the result that theSioux were driven off. Then the Arikara crossed and joined theHidatsa and Mandan where they remained until the reservation wasestablished.On another occasion, the Hidatsa were informed in 1851 that theyshould send representatives to Fort Laramie for the purpose of enteringinto a treaty with the Government concerning tribal territory.Again we find the real authority asserting itself in the persons ofthose bundle owners possessing supernatural powers. Among thesewere the two Earthnaming bundle owners whose rites were concernedwith certain hills and other landmarks believed to be the homes ofvarious supernatural beings, foremost of which were those believedto be connected with the increase of the buffalo herds. When thedelegation was selected with Four Bears as leader. Guts and PoorWolf instructed him relative to tribal territorial claims based onthe area traditionally associated with their bundle rites. It was onthe basis of this information that the delegation entered into a treatywith the Government.A chief was considered great if he could command the respectof the village for a long time. The principal war chief's positionand reputation varied according to residence. He was essentiallya summer chief and connected with the summer village life duringwhich time warfare was actively conducted. Although he wouldstiU be an important person during the winter period, when warfarewas usually discontinued, the winter chief or leader of the winter
42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194camp took precedence over all other males. Unlike the winter chief,who was appointed annually and rarely succeeded himself, the prin-cipal war chief continued as long as he retained the good will andrespect of the entire community. When dissatisfaction developed,the tactful chief invited in those who expressed opposition to himin an effort to dissipate conflict, showed other evidences of generosityand good will, or suggested that others take over his work. He wasstill an important member of the council. In any event, when theprincipal war chief grew old he tactfully relinquished his position toa younger man who had passed Black Mouth age.When Missouri River grew old and his Waterbuster clan or Skullbundle was relinquished to Small Ankles, the latter never attainedthe eminence of the former owner. The top ceremonial leadershipreverted to the system formerly in practice at Hidatsa and Awaxawiwhere the principal role was delegated to the owner of the Earth-naming bundle. Since, with the union of the Hidatsa-proper andAwaxawi, two bundles were in existence, complications developed.Guts, who came from Hidatsa village, was a much older man thanPoor Wolf, the bundle owner from Awaxawi, and should have heldseniority, but he had the reputation of bringing bad luck to all warparties he accompanied. None would follow him as war leaderand the warriors tried to keep him from accompanying them. Intime, people thought that he had committed some errors when buyingthe bundle and his prestige was very low indeed, however hard hetried to win successes in warfare. Poor Wolf, the other bundle owner,although a younger man, had some military successes. He wasalways kind to the old and the poor, and had bought rights in this andseveral other bundles. He was active in many additional ceremoniesand showed great interest in the people's welfare. He was selectedas principal village chief after he had shown good judgment whileserving as one of the leaders of the BlackMouth or police society. Withthe death of Four Bears and the selection of Crows Paunch as warchief. Poor Wolf became the village chief over the objections of theyounger men still in the Black Mouth society. Guts then relinquishedhis rights in the Earthnaming bundle to his son, Bobtail Bull, of theyounger set who had a good reputation in every way and none of thebad luck that had plagued his father. Bobtail Bull was very popularwith his own age-grade group and was a recognized leader of theyounger "set" as Poor Wolf was of the next older age-group. Asholder of the Earthnaming bundle of the former Hidatsa village on theKnife, he was held in high respect by those formerly belonging to thatvillage. By tribal custom when all other things were equal, prece-dence was given to age. Poor Wolf rightfully occupied a positionsuperior to Bobtail BuU, who was some 10 years younger, but each
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION" 43had an Earthnaming bundle although from two different villages onthe Knife River. This was a new situation, for in the old villagesthere was only one bundle to a village and it could not be subdivided.Opposition to Poor Wolf and Crows Paunch came largely from theformer Hidatsa village group with short traditional permanentvillages, for this group was traditionally more hke the Crow withfewer formal ceremonies. The Awatixa and Awaxawi had placedgreat emphasis on the formal ceremonies of long traditional existenceas the basis for societal welfare and indicated that, with the exceptionof Bobtail Bull, the others had not made outstanding contributionsto the ceremonial life of the village. The younger men replied thatthis was true but that they had done individual fasting and had morescalps, war honors, and stolen horses than those who were alwayshanging around the village begging goods of their relatives to pay forthe ceremonies. It was in this atmosphere that the people livedduring the latter part of the 1860's. Under other circumstances,one group would have broken away until the differences had beenreconciled but this was impossible at the time because of the pressurefrom the Sioux.During this time the conservative element centered its attack onCrow-Flies-High whose relations with Bobtail Bull were essentiallythat of a war chief to the village chief except that this relationshipdid not have universal approval. Crow-Flies-High's parents had diedduring the smallpox epidemic of 1837 and he was reared by womenof his clan. His father was the owner of an Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle which was "put away" when he died. While fasting as ayoung man, Crow-Flies-High dreamed of the bundle which wasinterpreted as a supernatural instruction to perform the rites andtake up his father's ceremonial rights with the tribe. Instead, hemade up a personal bundle of those articles seen in his dream andotherwise disregarded tribal practices of "taking up the father'sgods." Thus, the old "holy" men got neither a big feast nor fine goodsand Crow-Fhes-High received neither promises of success in warfareand everything that he undertook nor the promise that he wouldsome day become a chief. Still, he was very successful whenever hewent out to war whether under someone else or as his own leader.The older men said that his luck would surely give out, but it neverdid. Fearing that he would lead the young men to their deaths, theold men would advise the young warriors not to go out with Crow-Flies-High; but they would sneak out and return with war honors.All this was very disturbing, for Crow-Flies-High and his friendBobtail Bull were both members and leaders of the Black Mouth societyas well.
44 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194To reinforce their positions, Crows Paunch and Poor Wolf selectedfrom the council four men older than themselves to serve as "pro-tectors of the people" according to ancient custom, but many ofthe younger group ridiculed these four men, calling them, "protectorsof our chiefs who are no good." About this time, the Governmentestabhshed Fort Buford near the mouth of the Yellowstone andyounger men from the village served as scouts. Trouble broke outat the village when the Government rations were being distributed;some younger men accused Crows Paunch and Poor Wolf of showingfavorites and retaining too large a share for their own famihes. Fightsbroke out, but Bobtail Bull quickly asserted himself as leader of theopposition and urged moderation. He promised that if his supporterswould take no drastic steps or resort to j&ghting, he would serve astheir peace chief, take them upstream, and ask the Government forpermission to build a village near the fort. Since there were manybuffaloes farther west and the young men could get positions as scouts,he felt that the people would be happier there. The next day hisfollowers commenced packing and left the village shortly thereafter.Some Mandans discovered that they too had not been treated fairlyby their chiefs in the distribution of goods and decided to go alongalso. At this time, the Mandan had two sets of head men: thoserepresenting the Nuitadi Mandan who came to Fishhook in 1845when the village was first built, and those of the Nuptadi Mandanwho arrived in the early 1860's. Flying Eagle, the chief of theNuitadi Mandan, also decided to go upstream, for the people nolonger recognized his authority and talked about him when he wasnot present, saying that he was selfish. A few Mandan famihes wentwith him.The character of this conflict expresses numerous situations whichwould have taken a different form in former times. In the firstplace, it was wrong for younger men to question the authority of theolder men, irrespective of their relative ceremonial and militaryachievements. This questioning of authority led to the fast break-down of the age-grade structure. A drift away from the organizedand formal public rites was indicated by the willingness of young mento go to war with one who had not obtained his full military authorityin the customary way. Although the practice of seeking personalsupernatural guidance was characteristic of the Crow and numerousother adjacent tribes, the Hidatsa had gone one step further and hadmade supernatural quests a prerequisite for entrance into the formalbundle rites having group recognition and participation. A finalpoint was the length of the feud and the unwilhngness of either groupto take the customary steps to separation into a separate camp, eitherpermanently or until the differences had been corrected, knowing that
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 45
should the smaller group move away and suffer severely from enemyattacks, their leaders would lose face and those who followed themwould be ridiculed by their relatives who had wisely taken no partin the separation.In this instance, the separation "worked." The group had theprotection of the U.S. Government. Buffaloes were numerous, so thepeople lived well. In fact, there was an upstream migration ofindividual families to join the group, which was an affront to theleadership at Fishhook. More than that, the four "protectors of thepeople" named did not prove to be wise selections; Sitting Elk murderedEdge-of-Rock in a drunken brawl. This disposed of two members ofthe group: Edge-of-Rock, who was dead, and Sitting Elk, who wasbanished and taken in by the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Stevenson.Of the other two members, Knife, the Long Arm impersonator of theNaxpikE ceremony, moved to Fort Buford and joined the BobtailBull group; Cherries-in-Mouth had family troubles and with no wivesto provide big feasts for his friends was no longer able to entertainand people no longer sought his advice.This was the situation at the time that the Government was takingover the social and economic life of the Hidatsa. The two groupsvisited back and forth and assisted each other in the performance ofceremonies. There was no thought of intergroup warfare and neithergroup defended those who got into trouble at home. The relationshipbetween villages was essentially the same as existed a century earlierwhile living in the three villages on the Knife River. There was ageneral drift away from the formal public ceremonies at Fort Bufordwhile the other group continued about as before. In time, Crow-Flies-High as military leader assumed the principal role as had FourBears a number of years earlier; Bobtail Bull, as village or peacechief was not so frequently mentioned. At the present time, thedescendants of this group live largely in the Shell Creek section of thereservation and are spoken of as the Crow-Flies-High band. Theystill consider themselves to be a separate group which had its originseveral centuries earlier when they separated from the River Crow tooccupy the river section north of the mouth of the Knife River.Summer CampThe accounts given above have been devoted to the three originalvillage groups, the Hidatsa, the Awatixa, and the Awaxawi. Thesewere the summer village groups which were formerly further sub-divided into winter groups until the pressure of enemies and reducednumbers caused further integration so that the summer and villagepopulations were composed of the same households. The social,ceremonial, and economic life of the summer village was more complex
46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194than that of the winter camps, even in later years when the populationof each summer village occupied the same winter camp. Summer wasa period of intensive activity for the women and many of the oldermen in the gardens, planting and caring for the growing crops of corn,beans, squash, and sunflowers. There were corn scaffolds to buildor repair, former seasons' crops to be restored, cache pits to be built,and many other duties relating to the production, curing, and storingof the crops. This was the period of small hunting expeditions intothe adjacent areas and one large communal summer hunting expedi-tion organized so as not to interfere with the caring for the gardens.Summer was also the period of greatest war activity. When thelast snows were thawing, the rivers were clear of ice, the horses hadregained their strength, and the men talked of warfare ; even those tooold or too young to participate actively talked about it. Thoseintending to go out cried and fasted on the prairie, offered feasts tothe older men for assurances of successes and advice, and looked totheir riding equipment and ceremonial bundles as plans were formu-lated to leave the villages in search of their enemies. Simultaneously,enemy groups moved from their wintering grounds to the summerranges while their young men made similar plans to raid the Hidatsaand other earth lodge villages. Although the Hidatsa emphasizedwarfare and encouraged the young men to carry on continuous warfareagainst their enemies, and all males hoped to show pubhcly symbolsof their military accomplishments, it was necessary for the village attimes to restrict military activities so that enough able-bodied menwere always at hand to defend the aged, the women, and the childrenfrom attacks on the village. In these situations the role of the topleadership, the council, and the dual chiefs armed with the authorityof public opinion, becomes evident; a war leader asked to remain inthe village when many parties were out was acclaimed as highly asthose who had returned with military honors. Since the protectionof the village was primarily the duty of the Black Mouth society, thestatus of that group which effectively protected the village fromattacks was greatly enhanced; its members automatically becamemembers of the council when rehnquishing their society to the pre-ceding age-group. Not only must the village be defended fromattack but the women must be protected while working in theirgardens or getting wood. All these activities required close integra-tion of the entire population.This was the period of greatest ceremonial activities. All of thecorn, snake, and rain rites were performed at that time; likewise theNaxpikE (Sun Dance) and Wolf rites were held during the hottestpart of the summer. The Hidatsa liked a well-performed ceremonybut, by virtue of the inheritance pattern, there were frequently more
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGAlSriZATION 47ceremonies promised than it was possible to perform adequately.In these situations, the older men could postpone the performance ofa particular rite until the succeeding year simply by informing thepledger that "since you have pledged the ceremony, it is the same asthough you had gone through with it." The postponement had thesanction of the group and the authority of the council was neverquestioned. Informants say that to question the authority of thecouncil would have brought bad luck which was just what the pledgerwas endeavoring to avoid by pledging the ceremony. Village esti-mations of young men's bravery and fortitude were made largely onthe basis of observations of the older men at the important summerceremonies. When the population occupied the three villages at theKnife River, there was a large measure of competition betweenyouths of different villages to outdo each other in the endurance ofpain and the old people would encourage this competition by tellingtheir young men that they should be brave and not show any signsof fear in the presence of their people from the other villages or ofenemy groups who might be present.The summer camps were situated on grassed terraces above woodedbottoms and out of the reach of floods. The construction and mainte-nance of these villages was a greater task than was necessitated bythe winter villages. The large summer earth lodges, large dryingscaffolds, and the storage pits all demanded a great deal of labor.During later years there were fortifications to build and maintain.In time, fuel became a problem and it was necessary to rely more ondriftwood or trees and branches cut from timber farther upstreamand floated down to the villages. Nevertheless, the stability of,and the long residence in, these summer villages is indicated by nativetraditions substantiated by travelers' accounts, the depth of refuseaccumulation, and the concentration of lodges on their village sitesat the Knife River and downstream along the Missouri to the vicinityof Square Buttes. Intertribal VisitsBoth intratribal and intertribal contacts were most numerous duringthe period of summer village occupation. Visits were both economic(alien groups came to trade for garden products) and social in char-acter. At this time it was necessary to watch the hotheads to preventquarrels, and to protect the village should trouble threaten. TheBlack Mouths met continuously during the visiting period, forbadeyoung men to leave on war expeditions lest the village be left defense-less, and frequently recalled parties outside the village when wordwas received that an ahen group was approaching. There werealso continuous contacts with other Hidatsa village groups and the
48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Mandan. In later years such visits were deemed a necessity in thewinter camps also, occasioned by the proximity of enemy wintercamps attracted by nearby trading posts.The Hidatsa visited alien groups a great deal, even those groupsagainst whom they conducted intermittent warfare. There werenumerous friendships between individual Hidatsas and members ofalien bands who customarily came to the villages to trade for corn.In return, a prominent Hidatsa would pledge a return visit at somefuture date at a rendezvous out on the prairies. As far as I know,these smaU group visiting trips were only to those bands whichcame regularly to the villages to trade. A Hidatsa would selectas a "son" a prominent member of the visiting band, usually theleader of the band, and announce that he would come to visit some-time during the summer. In the interim both "father" and "son"would prepare the goods and paraphernalia necessary for the adoptionceremonies. The father would first prepare, or have prepared bysome member of the Adoption Pipe fraternity, the principal ceremonialobject; a wooden pipestem decorated with redheaded woodpeckerscalps, eagle feathers, and horsetail hair hanging as a scalp. Hewould also secure a good buffalo horse, complete sets of clothingfor the son and family, and other fine presents such as robes, guns,and bows and arrows. In the accumulation of the necessary things,he received assistance from his own and related households, andfrom the members of his own clan and age-grade groups.When the time came for the adoption rites to be given, frequentlya large part of the village indicated a desire to go along for the purposeof trading corn for robes, horses, and other things. The father inthe adoption rites became the leader of the party since it was hisceremony. If a large number of families were involved, includingsmall children, and the trip would take them through enemy territory,the party was organized in essentially the same manner as the summerbuffalo hunt. Since the party was burdened with sacks of corn andother garden products, they traveled slowly. The leader was re-sponsible for the safety of his party and invariably employed thoseBlack Mouths in the party to assist in the policing of the group.If the leader was especially popular and the group represented mostof the village population, the Black Mouths accompanied themas the recognized police force while the defense of the village wasleft to those left behind and the men of an adjacent village.One adopting a son of an alien group endeavored to make a gooddisplay of wealth, and his relatives would feel obliged to go alongand assist him in his efforts lest the enemy groups think little ofthe Hidatsa. If a man had little following and the others thoughtthat his trip was unwise, it was usually canceled on the advice of
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 49the older men and the rites were held when the alien group cameto the village. Nevertheless, trips, sometimes involving a largepercentage of the village population, went far out onto the prairieseven as far as the Black Hills and Powder River, traveling as anorganized group and through territory occupied by unfriendly groupsto reach the band where the adoption was to be made. To commandthe confidence of a large party, the leader must have distinguishedhimself on former occasions. To lead a party far from home on oneof these combined adoption and trading expeditions added greatlyto one's reputation. Frequently, the top leadership of the summervillage and other adjacent Hidatsa or Mandan villages went alongon these trips but their social position at the moment was inferiorto the one who had organized the party and they were subject tothe same rules as the others. The leader surrounded himself duringthe trip with the other distinguished men of the tribe; they met athis lodge to eat, smoke, and discuss the affairs of the day. In allmatters of procedure, however, he was the final authority, for hewas responsible for the safety of the most distinguished chiefs aswell as the women and children.Arriving at the enemy camp, he set up a separate camp in a circle,policed the camp lest the young men get into quarrels, and directedthe negotiations with the alien group. The people looked to himfor instructions through his announcer as on the summer hunt. Eigiddiscipline was necessary to avoid quarrels or, if quarrels broke out,immediate steps had to be taken to settle them before they got outof control. Although the rules of hospitality prescribed that onewho had entered the camp or village and had been fed and shelteredwas to be protected, young men sometimes did not observe theserules. For that reason, the police authority was important in keepingone's own group from committing an unfriendly act which wouldinvolve the safety of the entire party. One who had wide "relation-ships" with alien groups and could bring them to the villages totrade for corn enjoyed a high prestige. Leadership of trading partiesprovided one of the avenues by which Hidatsa chieftainship wasdeveloped.Sometimes, however, smaller groups of related households traveledout from the villages for the purpose of visiting "friends" in neigh-boring tribes. Although small groups did not go far from the villages,care had to be taken against attack by an enemy war party. In-stances of the attack and extinction of these small parties must havebeen rare indeed, for informants could recall few traditional examples.These small visiting groups were never as elaborately organized asthe summer camp. The character of the organization was determinedby the size of the party and the likelihood of being attacked. If the
50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194party was merely a group of individuals accepting invitations tocome visiting, usually the most distinguished war leader was selectedor the people accepted his leadership without the formality of aselection. More often, however, these visits were for a specific pur-pose ; to invite the alien group to come to trade, to observe ceremonies,to partake in the winter hunts, or to instruct the Hidatsa in someceremony or dance which appealed to them. Although the grouplacked the formal organization and specialization of duties so charac-teristic of the summer camp, the essential features were there: aleader was appointed or one assumed that position by virtue of hispersonality and prior experiences; the older men were consulted whencrises arose; and younger men served as scouts. The principaldifference was the absence of an organized police group. Beingbetter able to travel unobserved, the party avoided battle by seekingcover, and prohibiting noises and fires whenever, in the opinion ofthe leader and the older men, the situation warranted. One wonderswhy, in view of the teachings of the older men when the youth of thevillage were seeking supernatural guardians, these measures weretaken. Evidently, the Hidatsa were practical about these religiousmatters. SuMMEE HuntOne of the most important activities of the summer camp was thesummer buffalo hunt which, invariably, affected the entire tribe.These hunts were not tribal activities in the manner of the Plainsnomadic groups, who assembled as a unit during the summer for thelarge buffalo hunts and tribal Sun Dance activities, but rather avillage activity in which all except the old participated. It was arecognized unit of the total social and economic activities of thevillage and seems to have been a custom of long standing. Afterthe corn had reached knee-height, and the fixed summer rites suchas the NaxpikE and Wolf Ceremonies had been performed, there wasa slack period of about a month before the time came to harvest thecrops. The summer hunt was designed to come at this time. Informer times, it was often customary to go out 100-200 miles fromthe village to cure meat and hides, leaving behind an older womanof each household, the small children, and enough older men to defendthe village from burning. In later years, with reduced numbers andvillages closely built for mutual defense, groups cooperated for thedefense of the villages and older people. Either the older peoplewould move to one village, or they would keep in close touch witheach other, or one village would not go out until the others hadreturned.The older men planned the summer hunt several months in advancefrom reports of war parties and others who had been out from the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 51
villages to learn the disposition of enemy camps as well as the locationof the herds. From this information they determined the regionwhere the hunt would be held. The principal problem was that oftransporting the cured meat and hides.The summer herds generally were largest to the southwest of KnifeRiver between the KjUdeer Mountains and the Black Hills, but theproblem of transportation overland was greater than when the huntwas held upstream from the summer villages, for then the hidescould be used for boats and the cured meat could be floated down tothe villages. If the reports indicated an abundance of buffaloesadjacent to the Missouri or its larger tributaries, the Hidatsa preferredto go in that direction. However, the buffaloes usually?especiallyafter a severe winter?left the river valleys, which had been strippedof all grass, to summer on the higher lands away from the principalstreams.Some time before the village group was to leave on the hunt, thecouncil of older men selected a hunt leader. Although all men aspiredto be selected as leader once, many never received that distinctionchiefly because there were too many eligible for the honor. Theselection was made on the basis of one's personal record; he shouldfirst of all be one who had been a successful "leader of the hunters" ona former summer hunt, have the buffalo represented in his sacredbundle, and have the confidence of the group. This leadership wasan outlet for those who had not been previously afforded the distinc-tion of serving as leader of the whole group. As a rule, former wintercamp leaders were not selected or, if they were considered, they usuallydeclined in favor of one who had not as yet been so recognized. Theprincipal war leader was rarely selected and his role was a subordinateone during the period of the hunt.The council considered different men until one could be selectedwith unanimous agreement of the group. Rarely did a minoritygroup hold out, for it was believed that when the people quarreledover the selection of the leader, bad luck would surely follow. Thefear of responsibility for prolonged debate was sufficient to quicklybreak down most opposition. As soon as the leader was selected, thecouncil's announcer called the name of the leader and the time ofdeparture. Although the council delegated authority to direct thegroup, the wise leader solicited the assistance of the council as repre-sentatives of the various households in order that he could keep inclose contact with his group, learn their difficulties of travel, andknow of their wishes. Once the leader was selected, and before theparty left for the hunt, his lodge became headquarters for the council.The old men would drop in through the day to eat and discuss detailsof the contemplated hunt. Some would tell of a household with no
52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194horses or riding gear, of others whose men had all been killed in arecent battle, and of the little problems of preparation for the trip.A good leader was one who could organize the group to travel withoutlaggards. So he would send word by his announcer to those with asurplus of horses to lend assistance here and there or a word of criti-cism to another household that was not providing adequately forsome of its members. But many of these details were more tactfullyhandled by dropping a hint to the council member most closelyrelated to the distressed household.Since the gardens were so important to the Hidatsa, the summerhunt was not scheduled to leave until the corn was knee high. Whenthe date for the hunt was announced, the women looked to theirgardens, completing the hilling of the plants and pulling the lastweeds; the men repaired their riding equipment and checked theirweapons. But the sharp dichotomy of work was not as apparentas during normal times. Men did many duties otherwise reservedfor the women. They would assist in the gardens, spread out thetipis for inspection and last-minute repairs, and attend to last-minute matters so that the household would be ready to move outof the village when the signal was given. Everyone worked hardto get ready, for the summer hunt was a happy event in Hidatsalife. It was an opportunity for the younger boys and girls to traveland see new things. Riding horseback together in groups, boyswere often mounted three or four to a horse. They ran races, sangsongs, and galloped back and forth from the front to the back of theline.The older boys and young men would dress up and watch for op-portunities to talk to their girls whose mothers were otherwise en-gaged in caring for the household's equipment. But this fhrting wasoften a front to conceal their inner feelings about the torture ordealsthat would be expected of them once the group was out in the buffalocountry. Many had already pledged to draw buffalo heads or to besuspended from some cliff while on the summer hunt; others knewthat their "older brothers" would bring up the matter once theyhad reached the hunting grounds.The welfare of the whole group was the leader's responsibility, butthe council was always invited to assist him. The leader's positionwas at the head of the line with his announcer who rode back andforth informing the people from time to time of matters affecting thewhole group. The Black Mouths policed the party, driving stragglersback, assisting the laggards or those encountering difficulties of traveland looking after the general welfare of the group. The leader calledupon men younger than the Black Mouths to serve as scouts, ridingahead and watching from the hills for evidences of enemies or of
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 53buffalo herds. Each group of scouts under a leader selected by thesummer hunt leader was assigned an area to cover; these groups werechanged from time to time so that their horses were not tired ex-cessively. Often these scouts were 40 miles or more in advance ofthe main party. As the group moved along, the leader designatedthe evening camping places for several days in advance. Thesesites were selected because of water, fuel, and ease of defense ; a levelflat adjacent to a stream usually was selected because it providedprotection from the creek bank on one side and water for themselvesand their animals in case of attack. Since they frequently went tothe same general area to hunt each year, certain named camps wereused.The camp circle was always used. The leader's household set uptwo tipis, one for the leader and his council and the other for hishousehold, at the head of the line. Those at the back end swungin a circle so that the household at the rear of the line placed its tipito the left of the leader's council lodge. The Black Mouths movedback and forth to see that the tipis were spaced properly to completethe circle and yet leave sufficient room to bring in the horses. Whenthe tipis were set up, rawhide ropes were strung between each tipiforming a corral into which the horses were driven for the night.While the tipis were being set up, the horses were freed of their burdensand taken to pastm'e by the younger men below the status of BlackMouths. While some young men kept the horses together so theywould not stray, others rode out to serve as scouts in guarding thegroup against surprise by enemy horse-raiding parties. Before dark,the horses were brought into the enclosure and guarded during thenight. Special attention was given to the horse guard while theBlack Mouths kept scouts out in all directions near the camp to fore-stall sudden attacks on the party. Young men were permitted
?
in fact, they were encouraged?to go out to hunt small game such asantelope, deer, and elk or even to surround a small herd of buffaloes.Except for small quantities of dried corn and corn balls, no otherfood was taken on the summer hunt; the party rehed on the gamebrought to camp each day by the scouts and small hunting partiessent out whenever animals were discovered at hand. They movedalong leisurely from one camping spot to the next, stopping to permitthe women to dig wild turnips or to pick Juneberries and choke-cherries whenever the quantity of these foods warranted the delay.As the party approached the customary hunting grounds, theystopped from time to time to permit those having sacred bundle ritesrelating to certain buttes and sacred spots to make appropriateofferings for the replenishment of the herds or for a distinguishedindividual to pray at some traditional fasting spot where he had710-195?65 5
54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194formerly received supernatural experiences. When the buffalo ap-peared in great numbers, the leader, with the advice of the counciland the information supplied him by the scouts, selected the camp-ing place where the hunt would be held. The camp was alwaysplaced near good water, either a large spring or a creek, and a supplyof wood from which to construct the drying frames.The final organization of the hunt was not completed until the camphad been set up. Then the leader of the summer hunt selected the
"leader of the hunters" whose duty it was to organize the surroundand direct the rites of taking the buffaloes. In the selection of thisman, the camp leader always named a person of a younger age-gradegroup, one who had formerly shown skill in hunting buffaloes and hadthe right to pray to them. Generally, the one selected had justrecently obtained or had made the pledge to obtain his sacred bundle.Thus he was given an opportunity to test the bundle's supernaturalpowers. Except for the camp leader, who always remained in camp,and those Black Mouths who were selected to protect the party, allother males were given definite assignments. The younger boysherded the horses while the old men assisted by hauling poles intocamp and setting up the drying frames. Young men acted as scoutswatching from the hills to prevent attack. All men not otherwiseassigned were expected to assist in the surround.The surround was a group activity and anyone hunting alonewas severely punished by the Black Mouths. The "leader of thehunters" planned the attack and arranged the riders. Before thehunters made the attack, all dismounted and stood around theirleader while he prayed to his bundle for good luck and to the buffaloes,who were given a small offering placed on a buffalo skull or a stick,asking them not to send him bad luck or to gore the hunters. Inreturn for good luck, a feast was promised the buffaloes at a later date.Without the rites, it was believed that the buffaloes would break upinto small groups and run out between the hunters. All manners ofmisfortunes are said to have befallen those who did not fast properlyor who, in other ways, violated the rules relating to the buffalo rites.When the hunters had good luck and everything went well, the "leaderof the hunters" was acclaimed as a future leader of the village. Onother occasions, when their horses stepped into badger or gopherholes, or the buffaloes were difficult to handle, people talked of his badluck and sought to explain it in terms of improper fasting or ritualperformances. The leader would then ask to be reheved of his re-sponsibility to his hunters, and would ask the camp leader to selectanother to complete the surround.As soon as the surround was completed, word went back to thecamp for the people to come out and help with the butchering. At
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 55
first the women would come out to assist, but, in time, as the supplyof meat reaching the camp grew, the women would stay in campcuring the meat and hides while men with packhorses would butcherand transport the meat and hides to camp. Meat and hides weretaken to a number of convenient parts of the camp and piled in heaps.There was no particular attempt at supplying one's own household;coming in with meat, one would look across the camp circle and selecta collecting point where the pile was low and there unload his meat.Old men and women alike assisted as their strength permitted, ifdoing no more than standing nearby to keep the dogs away. Oldmen who never assisted in getting wood or poles for the summervillage would work enthusiastically hauling poles for additional dryingframes. From time to time, if the meat was not taken from thepiles for curing fast enough, the camp leader would go around thecircle and urge the people to work faster. Until the meat was takenfrom the communal piles for curing on household scaffolds, it remainedgroup property and could be taken by anyone able to cure it. Dueto the division of male labor at this time, many households wouldhave no hunters and butchers out, but in the manner of distributionof the meat and hides, all shared according to their ability to dry andstore the meat. Nor was the capacity of the households to care forthe meat and hides equal. Some households would have four or moremiddle-aged women of good health and wide experience in caring formeat, while others might have only one woman who was in ill healthor was burdened with several small children. Under normal condi-tions, the women of a household would often fill all drying spacequicldy. While their meat dried, they would assist their less fortunateclanswomen or brothers' wives. The tribal rule that "the clan looksafter its own" certainly applied to these situations. There was agreat deal of mutual assistance between related households on theseoccasions.Evenings were spent in dancing and feasting. For many youngmen, however, once the first large kill was made, it was a period offasting for supernatural instructions. In these camps, self-torturetook two forms: (1) dragging of buffalo heads through the camp bymeans of thongs in the skin and flesh; and (2) suspension from cliffsor trees. The Hidatsa, like the Mandan, thought of the varioussupernatural beings as having homes near the summer villages or inhills and other places on the prairies. Believing that it was easy toget supernatural guidance from the buffaloes, many sought visionsduring the summer hunt. Generally, a number of young men werefasting on hills or dragging skulls through the camp at the same time.These personal vision quests and brief stops for an individual to makea personal offering when passing a butte or other spot were the prin-
56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
cipal religious expressions while on these summer hunts. In noinstances were any of the important village ceremonies performed.By contrast with the nomadic tribes, this period was not one forreorganizing the tribal structure, selecting new chiefs, joining militarysocieties, or any of the other group activities. For the Hidatsa, thesummer hunt was primarily an economic activity. Even the leader-ship of the summer hunt was in hands other than either the summervillage or winter camps. Its internal organization and economicaspects show close similarity to the nomadic groups in that the campwas organized around a recognized leader and a poUce authority andthat the camp circle was employed. But the top leadership differedfrom that of the nomads. The leader was selected for a specific time,that is, from the time the group left the summer earth lodge villageuntil it returned about a month later; the nomadic leadership was,except in a few cases, for no specific period. The summer war chiefand village or peace chief seemingly had no greater authority thanany other distinguished person and was restricted by the same rulesas were other people. For the nomadic groups, there was a leisureli-ness that the Hidatsa could not enjoy since the hunt must be com-pleted in time to harvest the crop.As soon as the party returned to the village, the summer campleader's duties terminated and the established village leaders tookover. The summer buffalo hunt thus was one of the outlets for leader-ship to which all aspired as a mark of public esteem.Winter CampAfter the retm^n from the summer hunt, and the completion of theharvest, the group disbanded to form winter camps. These werein sharp contrast to the few but permanent summer villages to whichthey returned each spring. According to traditions, prior to theappearance of the strong Siouan bands and the Assiniboin, thesummer villages were unfortified and the population was widelyscattered over a broad site situated to exploit adjacent corn grounds.This is certainly true, for only in the ruins of the later sites do wefind evidences of fortifications and ditches. In traditional sites suchas Fort Clark Station and the settlements at Sanger, lodges werewidely scattered over broad river terraces. The pressure of enemygroups also produced changes in the winter village structure. Incontrast to the smnmer village sites, which are still easily identifiedby deep refuse and lodge pits, winter camp sites are exceedinglydifficult to find even when taken to the actual locations by olderinformants who lived there. These were temporary sites locatedin the heavy timber for protection from the storms. The woodwas used for lodges, fuel, and feed for the horses. The site was
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 57
selected solely on the basis of the wood supply and observations thatthe buffalo sought shelter there during the colder months. Thelodges were neither large nor carefully constructed, and the eagle-trapping lodge was of common use. In the fall, after the gardenproducts had been stored away, the population of any of the summervillages would disperse into several groups to seek shelter on theMissouri or one of its tributaries. There, under the leadership of aneagle-trapping bundle owner, eagles and other large birds werecaught until ice began to form along the edges of the streams. Ifthe crops were poor, they usually remained in the eagle-trappingcamp until spring, depending on the hunt, and returning in the springby bullboat, floating down their lodge goods, dried meat, and hides.Not uncommonly, while the Crow were on the Little Missouri andLower Yellowstone and before enemies became too numerous, thesewinter hunting parties would go overland to the Little Missourinearly to its source to trap eagles and hunt until spring and returnto the summer villages by water, using the larger hides for boat coversto float the party and the goods. There was a revival of this practiceafter the railroads went through and the Sioux were put on reserva-tions, but the distances traveled were not as great as formerly.The winter camp organization was much simpler than that of thesummer village. The top leadership was vested in a "winter campchief" selected by the council, and his authority was only for theperiod out of the summer village. According to tradition, the wintercamp system was based on that of the eagle-trapping camps; oneleader functioned with full authority and responsibility for the wel-fare of the group. His duties were to supervise and organize thecamp for the duration of the winter until they returned in the spring.He selected the winter campsite with the advice of the council, deter-mined the time for moving, and generally supervised the group veryclosely. He set the time for the winter ceremonies, regulated campactivities during sanctioned rites and fasting for the winter buffalo-calling ceremonies, and placed restrictions on family movements be-yond the camp whenever the enemy was about or when the herdswere observed to be moving toward the river bottoms. The wintercamp leader was held responsible for any misfortunes that befell mem-bers of the party, even such trivial matters as accidental broken limbs.Once having suffered misfortune, a household preferred to avoid goingout with the same leader unless he compensated the unfortunate oneswith gifts of one sort or another. The same responsibility rested withone leading the winter camp in later years even when the total villagepopulation was in a single camp. Every ambitious male aspired tobe winter chief at least once in his lifetime although men usuallyrefused to serve more than twice. His authority and responsibility
58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194
were great. He received credit for all enemies killed during thewinter, but he was likewise held responsible for any killed by theenemy even though it was not customary for the winter camp chiefto engage in active warfare except when the village was attacked.About the year 1863, Cherries-in-Mouth was winter camp leader.He had fasted much and had been given credit, as war leader, for fiveSioux kUled a few years earlier in a winter battle at Saddle Buttes.During this battle Red Leaf had been shot through the lungs but hadrecovered. In 1863, however, Red Leaf overexerted himself whilehunting, and the old wound opened causing him to bleed to death.This was considered equivalent to losing a man in warfare and thedeath went against Cherries-in-Mouth's record.The winter camp leader was selected by the council on the basis ofhis military record, interest in public matters, participation in villageand tribal rites, generosity and kindness to the old, good judgment,and personality. Ownership of winter buffalo-calling rites and goodstanding with the various households were of importance, for theleader must have the confidence of the people. He could direct thebuffalo-calling rites personally, or he might cooperate with othershaving a good reputation in "bringing the buffaloes." Likewise, hemust have the good will of the households or the population wouldbe likely to break up into smaller camps. Since much good will wasobtained by generosity, selfish persons or those with an unhappyhome were disregarded. Humility when selected was a prime virtueas the leader was expected, by custom, to express his own incompe-tence without the assistance of his sacred bundles and the advice andassistance of the older men. The leader's lodge became a meetingplace for the village dignitaries to eat and sleep while discussingmatters for the good of the group. The leader selected his own an-nouncer, a clansman, usually an older and distinguished individualwho had acted as assistant in many ceremonies. There were fewrules, but those that were made were enforced by the Black Mouths.It was customary for the sinnmer village leaders to rest from theirsummer duties and to relinquish their responsibilities to the newlyselected leaders.Nowhere in the Hidatsa cultm-e do we find clear-cut distinctionsbetween military aspects and village or peace functions?war chiefsperformed numerous rites and village chiefs often went on militaryexpeditions?but winter camp leadership was more clearly indicatedas an extension of the role of peace or village chief to the winter camp,for this was a period of Httle mihtary activity.The Hidatsa relied heavily on the winter buffalo migrations onto
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 59the river bottoms both for their primary som'ce of food during thewinter months, and for a surplus to carry them through the springmonths when they were engaged in agricultural pursuits. Frequentlythe winter herds did not come onto the river bottoms, especiallywhen the season was mild. Then the winter camp suffered. Whetherthe winter was mild or not, the rites to the winter herds began withthe winter solstice and continued until either the herds appeared orthe population divided into smaller hunting groups to seek othergame such as deer and elk in the undisturbed wooded areas. Theydid not normally rely heavily on the garden products for wintersubsistence. Some corn and other garden products were taken to thewinter camp to vary the diet, and periodic trips were made to thesummer village to open caches for additional garden products, but theHidatsa endeavored to save their produce for use while at the summervillage.The winter leader never rehed solely on the supernatural powersof his own sacred bundles. He would pray frequently to his gods tosend good luck and the herds, but his principal duty was to organizeand regulate the winter rites. Ambitious younger men who hadrecently received visions would go to the winter leader for interpreta-tions of their dreams. A good leader was one who could stimulateinterest in winter fasting, for it was to his credit to have many youngmen out in the forests or on the hills fasting during cold stormyweather when the "calUng the buffaloes" rites were being celebrated.If the fasters succeeded in bringing the buffaloes, that is, if the buffaloherds began arriving while one was fasting or shortly thereafter,particularly if the herds appeared on the day indicated in the dream,fasters were praised by the people without in any way detracting fromthe reputation of the winter camp's leader. From native accountsrecorded when making this study, we find numerous instances ofyoung men first coming to the attention of the people as potentialtribal leaders as a result of their successful fasts during the wintercamp period.Winter fasting followed two distinct patterns; fasting for personalvision instructions, and fasting for the specific purpose of bringingthe winter herds. The former affected but few people, chiefly thehousehold of the faster, and generally went unobserved by thepopulation at large unless the personal torture was so severe that hisclan relatives or age-grade society members were obliged to intervene.In the latter instances, the entire population was affected. It hadthe sanction of the winter camp leader and those working with himin the management of the camp, and restrictions of one sort or another
60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
were invariably imposed on the whole population while the fast wason. Commonly, when one with recognized supernatural powersvolunteered to fast at a distance from the camp, fires were extinguished,all loud noises were prohibited, and hunters were forbidden to leavecamp. The entire population fasted while men and women alikeaddressed prayers to their sacred objects. When the sun set, thefaster returned to the camp and the fires were rekindled. Fastingcontinued daily for 4 days, after which, if no buffaloes appeared, thefaster terminated his fast by either promising the herds in a statedtime or offering some excuse for his failure. The women's White-Buffalo-Cow society also fasted daily during the coldest days, withthe camp organized in the manner described above.The first approach of the winter herds toward the river bottoms wasthe signal for increased ritualistic action to "keep them coming."The camp was strictly policed to prevent premature hunting. Woodcutting was prohibited, and fires were extinguished if they were up-wind of the approaching herds. Scouts kept watch of the progress ofthe herds and reported regularly to the camp leader. The individualhouseholds which had sacred bundles including buft'alo skulls madeofferings of food and calicoes to each bundle, while households havingno such bundles made similar offerings to those of closely relatedhouseholds. During the approach of the herds, the Black Mouthswere on constant guard to see that no person hunted prematurely;there are traditions that on some occasions the police killed individualsdisobeying their orders. In the memory of the oldest Hidatsa,however, there were few intentional violations of the orders ; hence thepunishment was less severe. In any event, the Black Mouths hadthe authority, fortified by public opinion, to take such measures asthey deemed necessary to enforce the "no hunting" orders of the winterchief. According to informants, the buffalo herds were easily startledwhen they fii'st reached the wooded bottoms from the prairies?infact, whenever a herd first moved to a new pasture?and it wasnecessary to leave them undisturbed for a few days to graze and getsettled in their new environment, or'^they were likely to move on.During this time, Wolf Chief said that it was very hard indeed torestrain one's self, particularly when the children were crying fromhunger and cold. The people stayed within doors and could often seethe buffaloes walking between the lodges or hooking at dogs that hadnot been securely tied. When the time came to kill, even in lateryears, restrictions on the use of firearms were enforced. Theserestrictions placed the young men unskilled with bows and arrowsat a disadvantage. After two or three large surrounds had been
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 61
completed and enough meat had been secm-ed for the winter needs(and the meat-cm-ing capacity of the women had been reached),all restrictions were removed and those who desired additional meatwent out in small parties and hunted whenever they wished. Withthe arrival of the winter herds, the ritualistic activities diminished.Those who had pledged summer ceremonies used the period forexceptional efforts to obtain large quantities of meat and robes. Thepledgers hunted continuously and the women cured meat and tannedrobes with the assistance of their female relatives. The people wouldsay that the pledger's prayers for a good Uving for his people werebeing answered when, diu"ing his period of preparation, the winterherds were unusually large. "The gods he was buying had sent thebuffaloes," they would say.The winter camp leader's responsibilities ended with the return tothe summer village. When enemies were far away, the familiesleisurely returned to the summer camp in small groups of relatedhouseholds, assisting each other with the loads and the care of thechildren. If, however, signs of enemy war parties had been reportedor there were other reasons for believing that an attack might be made,the group moved as an organized party with the leader to the frontand the Black Mouths in charge to see that none dropped out of line.Should a household encounter difficulty in traveling at the pace setby the leader or the loads fell from the horses, others gave immediateassistance so that all were adequately protected. Each individualkilled or wounded represented a mark against the leader's record.Therefore, the good leader was careful to maintain discipline and toprohibit individual and disorganized breaking of camp unless dangerof attack was very remote. He lacked authority to prevent segmentsof the group from leaving the main party, establishing temporaryhunting camps out in the hills, and following the buffaloes moving outfrom the river valleys with the first general thaws. He was not,however, responsible for the safety of these small hunting partiesonce they had fallen out of line.These spring hunting camps were not without leadership. Theprincipal purpose of these side trips was to obtain an additionalsupply of fresh meat. The older men met and selected from theirnumber one who had formerly enjoyed good luck while making the
"surround" and who had bundle rights which included the sacredbuffalo skull. The organization of the camp was essentially the sameas for the larger summer buffalo hunt. These hunts were known as
"in-between" hunts as they were conducted after the winter camphad broken up and before the summer village was reoccupied. Guards
62 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
were placed around the camp but the Black Mouths no longer func-tioned as an organized group except when the entire winter encamp-ment moved out onto the hills as a group. Instead, the leader selectedvarious younger men who served without regard to age-grade afl&lia-tions. The old people today identify the thousands of boulder outlineson the prairies adjacent to the river valleys as former tipi outlines ofthese ''in-between" camps occupied in the late winter and early springas precaut ons against sudden flooding of the river bottoms. Fromall available evidence it appears that with the arrival of the Siouxand Assiniboin, the "in-between" hunting camps were less commonand that when brief expeditions were made onto the adjacent prairies,greater emphasis was placed on organization for defense.As the groups moved back into the summer village, the summerchieftains assumed command, and the winter camp leader becamemerely a distinguished member of the council of older men. If thepopulation at large was well cared for, had no suffering or deaths, thewinter camp leader was highly acclaimed. If there had been anunusually large number of buffaloes nearby, the people would say thatnot in years had there been so many buffaloes, and would recount thefine winter they spent. They would show their esteem after returnmgto the summer camp by preparing feasts from the garden productswhich had been sparingly used during the winter, and invite thewinter camp leader and his family. Other households perhaps, werenot so successful: one member of the household had died or had hadan accident; their horses had been taken sick and died or had strayedaway to be captured by raiding parties; their best buffalo horse mayhave broken a leg or been gored by a buffalo. All these and othermisfortunes went agauast the winter leader's record. They would telltheir friends of their misfortunes and criticize the leader behind hisback even though he had been their best friend before going into thewinter camp.Custom provided numerous measures for restoring good will andthe wise leader was certain to take quick action. If the discontentarose from the killing of a member of the household by a known enemy,the leader would often organize a retaliatory war party or designateone to go out and take the scalp of the particular enemy or one ofhis near relatives. This type of war honor, going out for a specificperson, particularly if unaccompanied far from the village, was of thevery highest. In recent years, the Hidatsa had a wide acquaintancewith enemy groups and frequently the person killing a Hidatsa wasknown in the viUage. When the individual or war party returnedsuccessfully, the scalp was taken to a sister of the one mourned. Shecarried the scalp during the war dances and sang the praises of theone who had returned victorious. No longer did the household
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 63
criticize their winter leader; in fact, they would be the first to nominatehim as winter leader for the succeeding year.Frequently, however, one did not take such positive action. Hear-ing that a war party was going out, the former winter leader mightmake offerings of gifts and recite a prayer for the success of the party.If the expedition was successful, out of gratitude to the former wintercamp leader who had assisted them ritualistically, he received thescalp which was taken to the mourners, especially the sister or mother,and carried in the dances. Then the matter was forgotten. Forminor misfortunes such as the natural death of a relative, feasts andpresents were sufficient to establish a feeling of good will betweenthem. Then the people would say, "Think nothing of it; one can'tlive forever." Wolf Chief tells of a little boy who told the winterchief that their winter chief was no good because his bow string keptbreaking, and the winter chief had a new bow made with a strongerstring; after that the boy had no trouble with his bow. When theparents heard of the incident they scolded the boy, for they con-sidered it impudent for a child to speak of an elder in that manner.SUMMARYThe Hidatsa used the term "chief" very broadly to designateanyone who was at the time in a position of leadership and authority.Every important situation required leadership. We have shown abovethat there was a feeling of clan leadership in matters concerning theclan; that each age-grade as an organized group had its complementof officers; and finally that responsible leaders were recognized in thegeneral administration of the summer and winter villages. These byno means exhaust the list of organized groups recognized by thesepeople. These units varied in size from the community to smalleconomic groups, such as fish trapping, and from permanent groupsto those of short and temporary existence.The wide selection of leaders and the numerous opportunities to
"lead" are consistent with their concepts of supernatural powers andthe promises of the tribal ceremonial leaders when young men orga-nized and planned their lives. On every important occasion, when ayoung man distinguished himself in warfare, personal torture, orritualistic purchases, the leaders assured him that his ultimate goalshould be that of "leader of the people."Because "supernatural power was measurable," it increased bythe performance of certain rites and other practices and, in likemeasure, was exhausted in combating the daily risks. As the in-dividual assumed greater responsibilities within the group, thesepowers were exhausted at a greater rate. An individual, therefore,should not remain in authority too long and no man aspired to
64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
continuous leadership. In applying this concept to group leader-ship, we find constant changing of top leadership as the situations oflife changed.The opportunities to lead enumerated above indicate only a fewgroup situations, but they represent the largest groups for whichleadership was provided. In this category should be included theorganization of the village for the purpose of corralling buffaloes nearthe village. Since this activity had important ceremonial aspectsand was a part of a group of related rites, it is analyzed under "HidatsaCeremonial Organization" (pp. 282-476).The Clan and Moiety SystemThe clan?a named matrUineal group?was an important featureof Hidatsa social, economic, and ceremonial life. At birth, thechild became a member of his mother's clan or, if the mother wasclanless because she had belonged to a different tribe, the child assumedthe clan of the other children of the household. In spite of thetraditional late arrival of the Hidatsa-proper and the Awaxawi onthe Missouri River, the clan names as now employed are concernedwith incidents or events occurring along the Missouri River and inno instance reflect incidents or events relating to their former resi-dences to the east or northeast. The traditions and mythologyindicate that two different clan systems were once in vogue: (1) the13-clan system of the Awatixa; and (2) the 7-clan system of theAwaxawi and Hidatsa-proper. ORIGINSReference to the Awatixa system of 13 clans is found in the mythsof the Sacred Arrows which relate that when this group came downfrom above to inhabit the earth, their culture hero. Charred Body,selected 13 household groups to represent the 13 parts of the sacredarrow. Each household group established a matrilineal lineage;marriage within the household was prohibited. Since the populationof this mythological village was small, people were able to remembertheir relatives. Because of the rich land Charred Body had foundbelow at Painted Woods, with its extensive wooded bottoms foragriculture and the large herds of buffaloes on the adjacent prairies,the population increased rapidly and broke up into 13 small localgroups of related kin. At that time the groups were exogamous andlived near each other for protection from certain local evil spirits whoresented the occupation of the area by Charred Body's people.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 65During mythological times, these groups were named for incidentsinvolving them. Of the 13 original groups, 8 received names whichstill designate existing clans. Of the other five lineages, nothingis remembered, and it is assumed by the Hidatsa that these groupsdied out or united with other named groups.The Hidatsa-proper and the Awaxawi informants claim never tohave had more than seven clans. Genealogies of the three Hidatsagroups indicate that the eighth clan, the Xura, was found only atAwatixa. They also claim short residence on the Missouri, coming tothis river as large village groups without clans. It is to be presumedthat they had matrilineal lineages, in view of the method wherebyclans were introduced into the village population; when a clan namewas adopted from some incident involving a group of males, the namewas extended to include the mothers, sisters, and sisters' children. Inthis manner, according to mythology, every person in the tribe in timebecame a member of a named clan. This system of extending clanmembership obviously is acceptable to the Hidatsa, for they show thatwhenever a considerable number of female prisoners were taken, in afew years all were incorporated into the clan system by the samemethods as nonclan Hidatsa were integrated when the clan systemwas adopted.Native concepts of clan origin are of two kinds: (1) the origin of theclan from a single female of a household group coming down from thesky with Charred Body; and (2) a local group accustomed to livingtogether. We shall see that numerous bundles were inherited byclans of the former group but less characteristically by those of the latter.The clan names with two exceptions are nontotemic and referto incidents involving a few people. The Maxoxati clan receivesits name from maxoxi, which refers to the dry dust that formedfrom the decaying of the earth lodge rafters and dropped downcontinuously, and ati meaning "lodge." The MEtsiroku clan meansliterally "knife people" and refers to an instance of wife-purchasewith a stone knife. The Apukawiku clan receives its name fromapuka meaning cap or article of clothing worn above the eyes to shadethem from the sun and wiku meaning "low." The clan name wasderived from the supernatural experiences of Packs Antelope withthe Thunderbirds and the Grandfather snake of the Missouri whokilled by means of hghtning which flashed from his eyes. When hereturned from his exploits with the supernatural, he shaded his eyesto protect the people. The three clans listed above are groupedtogether and are known today as the Three-clan Moiety.
66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The Prairie Chicken clan was believed to have once been a separatevillage group. The name was derived from the fact that membersof this group were noisy like the prairie chickens. In another myth,the Prairie Chicken clan began from the custom of a war partyto camp at night in the bushes, the berries of which were eaten by theprairie chickens. The AwaxEnawita clan derives its name from thechildhood custom of building tiny villages with wet clay. Laterthe people saw hills upstream and nearly opposite the present cityof Williston, N. Dak., that reminded them of the work of smallchildren. The people camped there three times; hence the nameAwaxEnawita taken from awaxE meaning 'hill sliding down' andnawi meaning 'three.' The Miripdti clan derives its name from aquarrel that occurred in the village. The Miripdti separated andbuilt near the village of the Xura, who, at that time, had a separatevillage. Water was brought from the river and stored in bladdersfor use in case of a prolonged attack. One man became angeredbecause of the cowardice of his people and cut up the waterbaghanging in his lodge; after this the group was known as Miripatihsfrom miri meaning 'water' and pati meaning 'to break open.' TheXura clan, which in recent years has functioned as a named lineagein the Waterbuster or Miripdti clan, is believed to have been aseparate village at one time. The name is derived from the noiseof the cicada. The village, except for one woman and her baby daughter,disappeared mysteriously during the night. The survivors moved tothe village of the Waterbusters of Awatixa and formed a friendshipwith that group.The Itisuku clan received its name from the custom of being outto the front of the war party along the edges of the hills overlookingthe Missouri. Once a group of young men called on Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies at her lodge near the Red Buttes and she promised themsuccess in warfare. When they returned to their homes, they calledthemselves Itisuku.In addition to the eight clans listed above, there were a few membersof the Speckled Eagle clan in the tribe. According to tradition, thisclan was of Mandan origin although many members can no longertrace their lineages back to any particular Mandan village group.They lived principally at Awaxawi village. According to the Mandan,however, the Awaxawi Speckled Eagles were people who moved toAwaxawi at the time of the destruction of Nuptadi shortly after1780. Like the Mandan Speclded Eagle clan, they have been assimi-lating with the Prairie Chicken clan in recent years and marriage withthe Prairie Chicken clan is now generally disapproved.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 67CLAN MEMBERSHIP AND AFFILIATIONSA census by mformants of the Mandan and Hidatsa living at Fish-hook Village in 1872?subsequent to the removal of the Crow-Flies-High band?showed the following population by clans: *^Hidatsa clans:MaxoxatiKnife (. MEtsiroku)Low cap (Apukawiku)Prairie chickenAwaxEnawitaWaterbusters ( Miripati)XuraItisukuMandan clans:WaxikenaTamisikPrairie chickenSpeckled eagleOther tribes:ArikaraBlackfootCrowWhile the Mandan and Hidatsa seemed in general agreement as towhether a mixed household was Mandan or Hidatsa, no definite rulecould be made. Although children generally claimed to belong tothe mother's tribe, there were numerous exceptions to the rule asin the case of Bad Gun, one of the Mandan chiefs, whose motherwas a Hidatsa and whose wife was also. Tribal aflEiliation seemedto be based even more on the individual's participation in social andceremonial functions. In other similar situations a man and thehousehold would have been classified by the informants as Hidatsa.The extent of Hidatsa-Mandan intermarriage prior to 1872 is indicatedby the figures for households. These figures do not include onefaction of the Hidatsa who moved away about this time and wereaccompanied by a few Mandans. We see that there were 296Hidatsas living in recognized Hidatsa households while an additional63 belonging to Mandan clans lived in the same households as did3 Arikaras, and 4 Crows who were brought there by marriage. Inaddition, there were 81 persons belonging to Hidatsa clans who wereliving in recognized Mandan households housing 192 persons ofMandan clans. More than 80 percent of this intermixture of Mandansand Hidatsas occurred after 1850.
In Hidatsa In Mandanhouseholds households
68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The Three-clan moiety was composed of the Maxoxati, Knife, andLow Cap clans. Although differing greatly in relative size, each wasof equal status in the moiety. In recent years it has become commonpractice to identify oneself as "three clan," and in some instancesthe actual clan membership is not now known. The other moietyis spoken of as the "Four-clan moiety" although it actually comprisesfive clans, excluding the Speckled Eagle which is of Mandan origin.The clans of this moiety are grouped into phratries of linked clans.One phratry is composed of the Prairie Chicken-AwaxEnawita clans. Inmythological times, so the people say, the Prairie Chickens would killand scalp people of the other clans. They lived in a separate villagenear Expansion and above the mouth of the Knife River. The peopleof the AwaxEnawita clan went to the people of Prairie Chickenvillage and said, "It is not right for us to fight, for we speak the samelanguage." Then the Prairie Chicken people "united" into a friend-ship band with the AwaxEnawita people. When no other relationshipwas known, persons of the two clans treated each other as distantclansmen. Nevertheless, marriages between the two clans werecommon. The close ties of the Waterbuster, Xura, and Itisuku clansare indicated by the mythologies. When the Xura village groupmoved away and disappeared, one household joined the Waterbustersof Awatixa village and is now largely incorporated into that clanas a named lineage. The union of the Waterbusters into related clansis of long standing, according to the mythology, and stems from thebelief that at one time a minor group of Waterbusters, who later wereidentified as Itisuku, went on the warpath together. The tablesshow that this phratry was largely exogomous. This is consistentwith native beliefs that the Prairie Chicken and AwaxEnawita inter-married more frequently than the Waterbuster-Itisuku.Table 1 was prepared from genealogies of the Hidatsa and Mandanliving at Fishhook Village in 1872 and was compiled from the informa-tion supplied me by about 15 informants. Table 1 enumeratesmarriages which were of some permanence and does not include briefelopements. These marriages were, in general, those that occurredbetween 1825 and 1885. Approximately 80 percent of the marriagesoccurred after 1855 while the Mandan and Hidatsa were living atFishhook Village. Figures for the Mandan are included in the tableto indicate the extent of intertribal marriage.Table 1 shows that of 128 marriages within the Hidatsa tribe, 7were within the clan. According to custom, it was considered im-proper for one to marry a person of the same clan, but the instancesof marriage with one of the father's clan are equally rare. This is insharp contrast with data from the Mandan genealogies which showa frequency of nearly 25 percent. Table 1 shows 59 marriages with
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 69
70 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194to Awaxawi village after the first smallpox epidemic. According totraditions, the equivalence of the Mandan Prairie Chicken clan wasoriginally with the Prairie Chickens of Awatixa village, who owned aSacred Robe bundle in common. It was customary for these peopleto meet whenever the ceremony was being performed. Inclusion ofthe Prairie Chicken members of Hidatsa and Awaxawi villages inthese rites did not occur until after the three Hidatsa villages unitedfor mutual defense after 1837, at which time all Prairie Chicken mem-bers, irrespective of village origin, met when the rites were being per-formed and were entitled to receive goods and honors. Marriagewithin the clan was then no longer considered proper. The equatingof the other clans occurred within the memory of the older peopleliving in 1932 when this study was made. When they were young,opinion was divided; some thought that it was proper for persons ofthe Knife clan to marry Mandans of the Tamisik, since the couplewas of different tribes, but others disapproved. The same viewsprevailed for the WaxikEna and Maxoxati clans. By 1880, whensuch marriages occurred, disapproval was general.Equating of clans was extended to include the moieties as well.Except for the Awatixa, who claim to have once had a 13-clan systemwhich at this time seems forgotten, there was a marked difference inthe number of Mandan and Hidatsa clans. The Hidatsa Three-clanmoiety was equated with the Mandan WaxikEua-Tamisik moietyfounded by Lone Man and comprised the survivors of the Six-clanmoiety; the Hidatsa Four-clan moiety became equated with theMandan Seven-clan moiety founded by Clay-on-Face of which onlytwo clans, the Prairie Chicken and Speclded Eagle, survive.The Hidatsa clan names have remained unchanged during the entireperiod of recorded history. This is in sharp contrast with the Crowamong whom names were changing during the memory of old in-formants. With the exception of the Prairie Chicken and Xuraclans, Hidatsa names were nontotemic and more closely resemble theCrow than the Mandan who had, in one moiety, Prairie Chicken,Speckled Eagle, Bear, Badger, Red-Hill-People (snake), Crow, andBunch-of-Wood People. In spite of their traditional late separationfrom the Crow, none of the names of Crow clans show similarity tothose of the Hidatsa nor do the Hidatsa have traditions of clan re-lationships to specific Crow clans. Those Hidatsa who have hadintimate contacts with the Crow during the period of readjustmentsubsequent to the smallpox epidemic of 1837, when many Hidatsalived temporarily with the Crow, are aware of the presence of clansamong the Crow but in no instance do they equate the clans of thetwo tribes. Those Crow who settled with the Hidatsa soon affiliated
Bowersl HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 71
with a Hidatsa clan group. Such has also been the case with personsof other tribes settling at the villages.The role of the Hidatsa clan, with a few exceptions, is essentially thesame as that of the Mandan. It is composed of a named group ofrelatives tracing their origin back to separate households of CharredBody's village and to names subsequently given to the group duringtheir residence on the Missouri River. The clan is an outstandingfeature of Hidatsa social organization but it has its economic andritualistic aspects as well. It extended kinship relationships to thelimit of the village and the tribe, not to discount a more recent ex-tension by means of "clan equating" to include the Mandan as well.Based on a "sibling" relationship between clan members, one classifiedas "brothers" and "sisters" those of one's clan. By the same prin-ciple, the persons of the father's clan were "fathers" or "father'ssisters." These were the most important kinship extensions, sincethey comprised an individual's important relatives.CLAN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESThe clan was responsible for the care of its own members. Theseobligations were expressed in many ways. Old people and orphanswere cared for and often taken into the households of clan members.When the wife died, the man generally left the household to live inone where the females were of his clan. One would go preferably tothe sister's or sister's daughter's household; otherwise he would takeup residence with any member of his clan with whom he was wellacquainted. From the number of instances of change in residence ofold men whose wives had died and the attitude of those providingcare for them, I feel that they were welcomed through a sense of obliga-tion. These old men were respected and welcomed members of thehousehold and played an important role in informing the youngerpeople of tribal lore and traditions. Since those attaining prominencein the tribe were required to display considerable knowledge of tribaltraditions and mythology, particularly those defining proper conduct,these old men sold their stories and received goods, horses, and honors,in proportion to their knowledge in these matters.It was the duty of the clan to assume responsibility for the care oforphans. The Hidatsa interpret an orphan to be one whose fatherand his brothers, mother and her sisters, married sisters, and able-bodied maternal grandmothers were dead. Then the clan took overand provided a home. The number of such cases was quite largeafter 1800 owing to epidemics and enemy attacks on small huntingparties of both sexes. It is interesting to observe that some of themost distinguished Hidatsa of the 19th century were left orphans in1837 by the inroads of smallpox. Occasionally a childless couple
72 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
received permission of the clan to adopt one of a different clan. Thesechildren invariably joined the clan of the female caring for them.The clan was responsible for the behavior of its members. It wasthe duty of older persons of the clan to instruct and supervise thechildren as they grew up. At first this responsibility was assumed bythe "older brothers" of the household: one's own older brothers; themother's brothers and the mother's sisters' older sons; the maternalgrandmother's brothers; or any other males residing in the lodge andclassified as "older brother." Also included were the females of thelineage residing in the same lodge. As a child grew up and movedmore freely about the village, it was the right as well as the duty ofan older person of the clan to step in and correct any child who violatedvillage rules and customs, and to lend assistance on various occasions.Discipline usually took the form of a mild reminder of misdeeds. Inmore extreme offenses?^hitting smaller children or girls, playing inlodges containing certain sacred bundles, destroying property, at-tempting rape, or stealing?^any older clan member conveniently athand could step in and inflict punishment by beating or ducking theoffender in the river.It was the duty of the clan not only to discipline its own membersbut also to protect them from the attacks of others. When a matureperson violated tribal custom and caused people to talk of his mis-deeds, the whole clan was shamed. People would say that the clanhad been negligent in its duties or he would have behaved properly.Often some woman would neglect her gardens and steal from others'gardens. People in the village would talk of strange tracks seen inthen' gardens and of stalks from which corn had been stripped.Watching late at night, someone v/ould see a woman or sometimesseveral women leave a certain lodge and go toward the gardens.Knowing that the women of that household had been neglectingtheir garden or had failed to plant a crop that year, the observerwould conclude that these women were out stealing. A thief's clanwould usually attempt to break up the stealing without the assistanceof the injured parties, lest the Black Mouths be called upon to investi-gate the affair. Each sex tended to discipline clan members of itsown sex. Women of the clan would lie in wait to catch her. Seizingher they would throw her down and beat her with sticks, straps, andeven hoe handles until she confessed her errors and promised neverto steal even so much as the smallest and most worthless thing again.If she fought back, the punishment was likely to be extremely severe.When she promised to forego stealing in the future, she was taken tothe lodges of her clan members and given food, clothing, and sometimeseven horses. Once the stealing was stopped, it was considered im-proper for people of other clans to discuss the matter lest the same
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 73misdeeds be committed by members of their own clan. Had thestealing continued, it would have been the right of others to demandpayment of any member of the thief's clan. Probably more importantfor the peace of the village, this practice of punishing a clan memberkept conflicts localized and confined within a segment of the totalvillage group and limited the duties of the organized village policeto matters involving the population at large.One's clansmen played an important role in directing and super-vising the fasting of its younger members. When a number of youngclansmen had reached the age of 12 to 14, older people of the clan wouldsay that it was now time for them to take fasting seriously. Severalrelated households would discuss the matter and decide to send theboys to some secluded spot under the direction of an older clansmanwhere they would be supervised and instructed in fasting. A fastingshelter would be erected where the director could eat and smoke andthose who wished to could sleep. Each faster would select a spot onthe side of a clay bank, beside a pile of rocks, or near a bush too smallto offer shade or protection from the hot sun, where he would standduring the day and far into the night. He was taught how to cry tothe gods for successful dreams; afterward he would be recommendedfor a chance to join some war leader to secure from the enemy thatwhich the holy ones had promised him in the dream. During thetime the boys fasted, the leader observed their behavior and watchedto see that food or water was not being taken on the sly. Those whopursued extreme measures to induce good dreams were publicly praisedin the village and were told that they would surely live good lives.The clan further assisted its young men by encouraging fasting andparticipation in all ceremonies providing opportunities for publicfasting. The most popular rites in this class were the NaxpikE(Sun Dance) and the Wolf ceremonies which emphasized warfare.The clan furnished goods and horses for a younger member to giveduring the ceremony to certain "fathers" and others in exchange forcustomary services relating to the acquisition of supernatural powers.When the young clansman endured unusual suffering during theceremony, the clan would voice its approval and bring goods to theceremony in such quantities as to embarrass the other clans whosemembers had endured less suffering or had shown fear during thetorture featiu-e.The clan protected its members from outside attack, whether by amember of the village or by an outsider, and resented infringement byanother in the disciplining of a member. Because of these importantfunctions of the clan, the father's role as a disciplinary officer wasexceedingly unimportant. Had the father scolded his son or hit him,he would have been severely criticized by both his son's and his own
74 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
clan. When a clansman's wife was stolen, the whole clan felt injuredand would assist the one whose wife had been stolen by demandingpayment collectively from the aggressor's relatives and clans. Sincesome of the aggressor's relatives usually had advance information thatan elopement was contemplated, it was customary for them to takegoods and horses to the injured man even before he discovered hisloss and had enlisted the assistance of his clan; otherwise they werepermitted to kill the aggressor's horse and cut up his property.The clan revenged the murder of a member by killing the offenderand demanding goods of his clansmen as indemnity. There is norecorded instance of murder by one of a different clan in recent yearsso it was not possible to study a case history of manslaughter. Whena person killed another of the same clan, restitution was betweenhouseholds. Since the clan as an organized group could not extractindemnity from itself, the matter was allowed to drop if the murdererescaped from the village. During the last century there have beenat least three murders committed within the clan by males whileintoxicated. In two cases the murderer was aided by his householdin making his escape while his household and closer clan relativesmade restitution to the dead man's household. The third case wascommitted during a drunken brawl after the Agency was estabUshedand was handled by the North Dakota courts. In former times, mur-der was of such great importance that the Black Mouths took chargeimmediately to see that matters did not get out of hand, otherwisea portion of the population was likely to break away and establishan independent village. In former times when the Hidatsa occupiedthree villages, since each village had essentially the same clan repre-sentation, murderers escaping from one village were not secure inanother one because of the presence there of the murdered one'sclansmen. Generally they would escape to the Crow but frequentlythe Mandan or Arikara would harbor them. At first those of Hidatsavillage who had committed crimes against persons of the PrairieChicken and Speckled Eagle clans were prohibited refuge with theMandan, where these clans were also represented. Because of thenumerous marriages between the Mandan and the Hidatsa villages ofAwaxawi and Awatixa, it was never considered safe for men of thesevillages to seek refuge with the Mandan. After the Mandan movednorth to the region of the Hidatsa villages near Knife River, refugewith the Mandan was less common due to the equating of the Mandanand Hidatsa clans and intermarriage between these village groups.One-eyed, a chief of the Hidatsa, is said to be the last from Hidatsavillage to seek temporary refuge with the Mandan with whom helived for a short time after killing a clansman whose wife he coveted.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 75Clan cooperation was expressed in many ways. In addition toassisting and caring for the old and the orphans, women who were illand could not do their work were assisted in caring for their householdsand gardens. One might even be brought into the lodge of clanswomenand nursed back to health; Goods and horses were contributed whena clansman performed a ceremony. Men of the same clan gave uptheir wives for an unmarried clansman or one whose wife was inadvanced pregnancy when a ceremony was being performed, in orderto enhance the prestige of the clan. When a clansman was killed inwarfare and his clan brothers did nothing about it, people of the otherclans would accuse them of being cowards. The highest honor wasshown one who had organized his fasting so as afterward to avengethe death of a clan brother. In every instance, the clansmen broughtout goods and property for the victory dances when one of its numberhad returned successfully from war.At death, both the person's own and the father's clan had importantduties. Generally, the members of the father's clan who officiatedwere selected in advance, sometimes years beforehand. It was theduty of the clan to provide goods, horses, and food for the funeral ritesas payment for the official mourners who comprised the adults of thefather's clan. Not uncommonly one who was believed dying wouldcall in the close relatives of the father's clan, either men or women,who would paint and dress the dying person even before death oc-curred. The clan members would begin bringing in the property anddisplaying it on lines within the lodge where those caring for the sickperson and friends coming in for a last visit could observe them. Itwas believed that a lavish display of goods expressed the generosityand solidarity of the clan. The sick person was happy in the beliefthat in the spirit world he could boast of the goods that had beendisposed of when he was sent away. The clan had no other role whendeath of a member occmred. Individuals of the father's clan were incharge of the last rites. A dying person called in those who were to bepresent to perform the funeral rites, otherwise the family would makethe selection. They would say to the people selected, "We want youto bring the robe; your son (or daughter) is ill and about to leave you."Those selected talked to the "son" or "daughter," telling him notto be afraid; that all people must die sometime; that they would seetheir people in the spirit village and to greet them. Some dyingpersons had many messages to carry to relatives in the spirit world.The Hidatsa preferred to be dressed and painted when death occurred,so, not uncommonly, a person would be painted and dressed severaltimes before death occurred. Brave men wounded in battle, knowingthey were dying, often asked to be painted so that they could dancebefore the people to show their bravery. The people of the father's
76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
clan would sing the victory songs and praise their "son" while hisown clansmen wept at the thought of losing one of their members.In such circumstances the "blood father" occupied an intermediatesituation. He would weep with his son's clansmen, cut his hair, andinflict physical pain on himself as did the females of the son's familyand clan. The degree of self-torture was usually in direct proportionto the son's bravery and whether the father would be left sonless.A man grieved loudest and longest for an only son.The final rites were held at the grave or scaftold where the body wastaken by persons of the father's clan and either placed on a scaffoldor interred, according to the wishes of the deceased or his nearestclansmen. Those officiating, people of the father's clan, and visitors,were given the goods collected by the clan for its deceased member.According to tradition, the Hidatsa more frequently buried theirdead outside of the village than did the Awaxawi or Awatixa. Inthis respect, the latter groups more closely followed the later Mandanpractice of placing the dead on scaffolds. The archeology of the threeKjiife River villages supports this native belief; individual burial pitsand mounds are exceedingly numerous adjacent to Hidatsa villagealthough exceedingly rare at the other villages.The father's clan had other important duties in addition to officiatingduring the death and funeral of a son. They generally named their
"sons" and "daughters" and frequently, in the case of children dyingyoung, the same person giving the name was selected to "bring therobe" when the child died. Informal feasts were also given to thepeople of the father's clan from time to time. Everyone was expectedto give feasts. Those who had a surplus of food and property wereexpected to share it from time to time with the elderly, but moreparticularly with the people of the father's clan. One looked tothe people of the father's clan for formal instruction in fasting andrituals and paid for that service. With few exceptions, organizedceremonies likewise passed from one man to another standing in therelationship of "son." The father and the people of the father's clanwere respected relatives; they took little part in the routine training oftheir "sons" and "daughters." In ritualistic training, however,they assumed a dominant role, for, at birth, a "son" or "daughter"received a name taken from these ritualistic possessions believed toafford supernatural protection. All through life the people of thefather's clan offered prayers and sold sacred objects and rites to the
"sons" and "daughters"; and in death they disposed of the body withappropriate rites to send the spirit away. On some occasions, specialrites were performed years after the death of a "son" or "daughter"who had died away from the village, at the time when the skull wasbrought back and placed at a skull shrine.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 77The clan, particularly a large one, played an important role inuniting households and integrating the village population, and itbrought together many households for common efforts. Thus we findthat the amount of goods required for the purchase or performance ofa ceremony was far in excess of one person's ability to acquire. Cere-monial demands, in general, were not difficult burdens for one belong-ing to a large clan since all people of the clan were obliged to assist toavoid censure from the other clans and to save face. Only in the caseof small clans v/as the burden heavy; this may explain the tendency ofthe small clans, such as the Xura and Itisuku, to affiliate with largerones. The obligations of the clan in elevating a person to chieftain-ship were so numerous that a small clan was at a distinct disadvantage
.
Not only did the clan play an important role in the integration ofhousehold groups comprising the villages but it united households withthose of other villages. The degree of cooperation between personsof the same clan but of different villages was largely a matter of dis-tance. According to the opinion of informants, well supported byarcheological evidence, the villages were quite widely separated whenthe population was large and their enemies were not so numerous.The villages were largely endogamous due to matrilocal residencewhich kept the women tied to the households of their mothers.Males were reluctant to move from their mothers' villages where theyhad all of their closest social and ceremonial ties. We can assumethat, because of the similarity of clan names and groupings, the clansystem as we know it today was established long before 1796 when thethree village groups occupying sites within 3 or 4 miles of each otherat the mouth of Knife River were visited by early travelers. In rela-tions between villages, the clan was the principal integrating force.Visitors from adjacent villages were housed with clansmen and fre-quently assisted and participated in the ceremonial activities of fellowclansmen. Although there were minor dialectic and other culturaldifferences which distinguished villages, a common clan system playedan important role in holding the tribal population together and avoid-ing intervillage warfare.By 1825, and after a quarter of a century of intimate contacts withthe Mandan, refuge there was no longer offered to those who hadmurdered a tribesman. This is undoubtedly due to the equating ofMandan and Hidatsa clans prior to that period. At this point it isinteresting to note that even though the Crow-Flies-High band ofHidatsa separated from the Fishhook Village about 1872 under condi-tions approaching civil war and established a separate village of theirown, those who got into trouble at either village were not accepted bythe other because of the strength of the clan ties. Neither Big Wind,who committed manslaughter at Fort Buford, nor Sitting Elk, who
78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194committed the same offense at Fishhook and under similar circum-stances?killing a clansman while intoxicated^?-dared flee to a Hidatsavillage. Big Wind fled to the Crows and Sitting Elk fled to FortStevenson and asked protection of the U.S. Army. It is interesting toobserve, and it is important for this study to note, that the custom ofvillage groups to break up whenever irreconcilable internal conflictsarose did not weaken authority of the clan.HIDATSA MOIETY CONCEPTIn contrast with the Mandan, the Hidatsa moiety concept was ofless social and economic importance. In this respect the Hidatsaseem to have occupied a position intermediate between the Mandan,who had a highly developed moiety concept, and the Crow where themoiety was unknown. Nowhere in the Hidatsa ceremonialism doesone find moiety seating of fasters or participants as practiced by theMandan in their important summer Okipa ceremony. We find theHidatsa fasters in their important summer NaxpikE and the SunsetWolf ceremonies sitting around the periphery of the sacred lodgewithout regard to moiety. Hidatsa fasters, when participating inthe Okipa ceremony, would sit by moieties and, so far as possible, byequated clans. Although the Hidatsa relate the myth of the creationof the earth by two heroes working on different sides of the MissouriRiver, they obviously borrowed the myth from the Mandan in veryrecent times. Their ceremonies in no way celebrate the event norare the culture heroes represented in the rites identified with clan ormoiety as did the Mandan ; nor does one find culture heroes responsiblefor the establishment and naming of moieties as with the Mandan.The concept of the moiety is highly developed and permeates theentire Mandan ceremonial structure and one would conclude fromtheir traditions that the clans came later than the moiety. Eefer-ences to Hidatsa symbolic representation of the moiety is limited tothe Eagle Trapping and related ceremonies which, in every respect,show greater similarities to the comparable Mandan rites than anyother common ceremonies. In fact, the similarities in the rites andmythological interpretations were so great that in a former paper(Bowers, 1950, pp. 206-254) I treated this aspect of their culturestogether, the differences between the two tribes being no greater thanbetween different bundle lines of the same tribe. I interpret thissimilarity of Eagle Trapping rites, techniques, and beliefs as pointingto recent diffusion from the Mandan. This similarity seems also tosubstantiate Hidatsa traditions of an eastern origin from a woodedregion not suited for eagle trapping by the techniques in vogue on thePlains. If we eliminate those moiety concepts associated with eagletrapping and related economic activities, little or nothing of the moiety
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 79concept remains. We find the Hidatsa dividing the buffaloes takenfrom corrals by moieties but the rituals of corralling buffaloes areassociated with the eagle trapping bundles and, more particularly, thesacred snares of that bundle.One finds reference to moiety division of eagle trapping sites withthe Missouri River serving as the dividing line between moieties, buta survey of site locations recalled by the older people shows no suchdivision (ibid., p. 213). I found that informants unacquainted withthe eagle trapping rites had no knowledge of territorial moieties.Lowie (1917, p. 21) speaks of moiety eagle trapping grounds on whichother trappers could not trespass. Case histories show that theseare basically clan grounds?linked-clans and moiety ties applied onlywhen no clansman used the site?at least so far as ownership and usewere concerned in the 19th century. A new trapping site was theproperty of the man who erected the lodge and supervised the selec-tion and excavation of the trapping pits. So long as he lived, thesite was his own to use or to lend. When he died, the site became thepreferential property of the clan and not of his son who inherited thebundle rites. Here we have two rules of inheritance in conflict witheach other, namely, clan inheritance of trapping sites and father-soninheritance of bundles. The Mandan, with a highly developed systemof clan inheritance of property and bundles, provided for simultaneoustransfer of both the site and the sacred bundle to a younger clansman.Lowie (ibid.) refers to moiety division in council and mentions thegreater number of chiefs in the Four-clan moiety. Chieftainshipseems to have been unaffected by moiety aflBliation; instead, it was amark of individual stature based on personal accomplishments.Moreover, there were more people in the Four-clan moiety, my countshowing 237 individuals in the Four-clan moiety and 185 in theThree-clan moiety. In addition to sitting and debating issues bymoiety in early treaty discussions and other business dealings withthe U.S. Government, each moiety had a spokesman; one who washeld in high regard by the tribe. In the division of Governmentallotments, goods were divided into two equal parts and the membersof each moiety took from their pile. The same rules applied whendividing corralled game.Ttie moiety defined relationships when clan relationships did notapply. When parents were of different clans of the same moiety, oneoccasionally hears reference to honors shown the opposite moiety,honors usually limited to those of the father's clan. Case historiesshow a greater tendency of the Mandan, in the same situation, tooffer presents to all clans except that of the mother. My case his-tories show that rarely did an Hidatsa ask one of the opposite moiety
80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194to cut the flesh and insert the thongs for fasting; this was the specialduty of one's father's clansmen, irrespective of his moiety affiliation.In the light of recent data obtained from the Mandan, I believethat the Hidatsa moiety concept developed recently from a clansystem similar to that of the Crow after their settlement on theMissouri. It was not exogamous nor were there traditions of formermarriage exogamy. The Mandan, on the other hand, had traditionsof moiety exogamy and the table shown indicated even during thelast century a greater tendency toward moiety exogamy than for theHidatsa. The Kinship SystemNot only the daily social and economic life but much of Hidatsaceremonial life as well was patterned by the kinship system. Kinshipwas based on socially recognized genealogical relationships whichextended to the limits of the tribal group. For many individuals, theculture heroes were also included in the kinship structm-e. Alien popu-lations likewise were included in the kinship groups in instances whereTable 3.
?
Hidatsa kinship terms ^Number 2
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 81
contacts were numerous and continuous. The accompanying chartssummarize the important features of the Hidatsa kinship system.Charts 1 and 2 illustrate by means of conventional diagrams the kin-ship terms used by a male ego and by a female ego.^^ The systemcan be conveniently described by an analysis of its terminologicalstructure, the behavior of reciprocals, and the life cycle of the indi-vidual. For convenience in analysis, English terms will frequentlybe employed, but these terms should be understood in reference tonative meanings which are determined by the applications and thesocial behavior involved.The Hidatsa kinship system is of the "classificatory" type in thatcollateral and lineal relatives are classed together. The father'sbrothers are classed with the father, and the mother's sisters with themother, while separate terms are employed for the mother's brotherand the father's sister. Grandparents are distinguished according tosex, and grandparent terms are extended to their siblings of the samesex. The maternal grandmother's brother is an "older" or "youngerbrother" {iuku or isuku, m.s.); the maternal grandfather's sister is a
"grandmother" except in those instances where the maternal grand-father and the father are of the same clan when she is classed as
"father's sister"; the paternal grandmother's brother is a "father"and the paternal grandfather's sister is sometimes a "grandmother."In the parent's generation there is a separate term for the "father'ssister," and her husband is classified as a "grandfather." There is noseparate term for the "mother's brother." Instead, he is classifiedwith ego's brothers, being either "older brother" or "younger brother"depending on whether he is older or younger than ego. The mother'sbrother's wife, woman speaking, is classified with her brother's wifeand her husband's sister as "sister-in-law" (itu'). A man classifiesthe "mother's brother's wife" (uuku) with his brothers' wives and hiswife's sisters.In ego's generation, siblings are distinguished according to ageand sex, while parallel cousins are treated as siblings. A femaleuses the term itdru and a male the term iuku for an older brother;both employ isuku to designate a younger brother. A female employsthe term iru for an older sister and itdku for a younger sister; thechildren of sisters are designated as sons and daughters. A maledesignates "older sisters" as itawiu and "younger sisters" as itakisu,their female lineal descendants likewise being classified as "oldersisters" and "younger sisters" depending on their age.
12 The kinship system is still in operation (1933) among the older people so that it is possible to get a ratherdetailed account of the terminology and most of the social usages.
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86 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Cross-cousins are differentiated from parallel cousins; the childrenof a "father's sister" being "father" and "father's sister," while thechildren of "mother's brothers" are "sons" and "daughters." In thechildren's generation, a female classifies her brother's and her sister'ssons and daughters with her own sons and daughters. A male classi-fies his brother's son and daughter with his own while the sister'schildren are "older sister," "younger sister," "older brother," and
"younger brother." In the grandchild generation, children of sonsand daughters are "grandchildren," sons of "older brother" and
"younger brother" are "sons" and "daughters" whUe children of
"older sister" and "younger sister," male speaking, are "older brother,"
"younger brother," "older sister," and "younger sister."This conventional analysis does not throw much light on thenature of the Hidatsa kinship system. Obviously, the system isnot organized on any principle of "generation" except for lineal rela-tives. A clue to the basis of organization is indicated in the groupingof descendants of the "father's sister" and "mother's brother," byindividuals of either sex of the "sister's" descendants by a male, andby the rule of matrilineal descent.Charts 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 illustrate the Hidatsa kinship system by
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 87
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Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 89
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90 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
"sisters-in-law": the spouse of an "older brother" is an "older femalein-law"; the spouse of a "younger brother" is a "younger femalein-law." The "younger female in-law" classification is extended toinclude spouses of "sons" and "grandchildren."A male ego and a female ego also classify the children of malemembers of the lineage somewhat differently. A male ego classifiesthe children of male members of the mother's lineage only on thebasis of sex as "sons" and "daughters" irrespective of their age andgeneration. A female ego makes the same distinction for childrenof her own and previous generations but children of males of succeed-ing generations are classified as "grandchildren" irrespective of sex.All men of the mother's father's lineage are called "grandfather"regardless of age and generation, and all women of the same lineageare called "grandmother" or "father's sister" by both male and female.Men and women of the father's father's lineage are not usually recog-nized; instead, they are classified in relationship to other kin withcloser kinship ties to the mother's matrilineal lineage. The groupingof the father's father's brothers with the paternal grandfather, whereasinformants generally were uncertain of the classification of the paternalgrandfather's sister, can be better explained by the practice of equatingsibhngs of the same sex.The lineage diagrams are the basis of the Hidatsa kinship system.They indicate the grouping of kin, determine the applications ofkinship terms, and regulate the behavior and social relations of everyHidatsa within the village group.KINSHIP EXTENSIONThe extent to which the Hidatsa recognized kinship is importantboth from a comparative standpoint and also from that of socialintegration of the village group and the relations of the villages toeach other and to neighboring alien social groups. The Hidatsa havenumerous methods of extending the scope of the kinship system whichresult in the general belief that all people of the village and the neigh-boring Hidatsa villages were in some way related to each other.Actually, by the extension of the kinship categories to comprise theentire village and tribal group, an individual generally stood in twoor more relationships to all persons not of the immediate relatedhouseholds.In addition to the socially recognized genealogical relatives men-tioned in the preceding charts, a person was believed to be a bloodrelative to everybody in his own clan even though this relationshipcould not actually be traced. A person was similarly related to allmembers of his "linked" clans and moiety. Since, with two excep-tions, the same clans existed in the other Hidatsa villages and were
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 91equated with the Mandan clan system, further groups of relativeswere estabhshed that cut across village, tribal, and linguistic lines.A person was related to everybody of the father's clan, "linked"clan, and moiety; this relationship also extended to the other Hidatsavillages and to the Mandan. There is no evidence of similar exten-sions to include the Crow clans. Kinship was additionally extendedto include the mother's father's clan which was conceptually inde-pendent of the father's clan except in instances where the father andmother's father were of the same clan and lineage. Such instanceswere rare, the higher frequency of merging of the two lineages bythe Mandan being due to the clan inheritance of tribal bundlesassociated with female inheritance of the lodge and matrilocalresidence.
"Adoption" rites were of common occurrence. All men of dis-tinction, and some women as well, adopted "sons" from clans andlineages not otherwise closely related, thereby establishing closerrelationships with new sets of relatives. Moreover, "adoption"ceremonies with persons of different Hidatsa villages and of differenttribes established kinship relations beyond the village unit to whichthe individual belonged. A "peace" chief was expected to performmany of these adoption ceremonies to cement the village with othernearby village and band units, thus encouraging intergroup visitingand trading.The Hidatsa highly respected those of the village who had wide
"relationships" with alien bands. As far as it is possible to determine,all council leaders had established, by means of the adoption ceremony,
"father-son" or "friend-friend" relationships with a number ofdistinguished men of other tribes. Even the children established
"friend-friend" relationships with individuals of the same age andsex by the formal exchange of clothing and presents. Althoughwomen occasionally adopted "sons" or "daughters," their relation-ships usually were based on "father-son" relationships existing be-tween males of their households. Thus, if a woman's brother adopteda "son" she became his "father's sister"; if her husband did theadopting, she became "mother." Nevertheless, the culture providedmany extentions of "kinship" reaching beyond the limits of thetribe and materially affecting intertribe activities and behavior.From observed cases of cultural borrowing between tribes inhistoric times, we find that these intertribal kinship groups have beenthe principal avenue of cultural transmissions. Unfortunately, thenumber of observed cases is not sufficiently large to determinewhether this was the sole avenue of cultural borrowing. About 1870,a band of Santee Sioux from Devils Lake introduced the Grass Danceto the Hidatsa who bought the right to perform the dance. According
92 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194to the Hidatsa purchase pattern, if the sellers were treated as "fathers"then the sale was outright, as in the instance of the age-grade transfers.The Hidatsa therefore treated the Santee Sioux as "friends"; arelationship that existed between groups of individuals of the sameage or that prevailed when one earth lodge group transmitted asociety dance to another earth lodge group not having the society.The same year that the Grass Dance was bought by the Hidatsaand a few Mandans, visiting Crows watched them dance and invitedthem to visit the Crow for the purpose of selling the right to dance.Before selling to the Crow, oflScers of the Hidatsa Crazy Dog Societysold them the right to use certain emblems of that society for thedances?even before the dance rights were sold to the Crow the sameyear. When the visiting Crow invited the Hidatsa to return thevisit and bring the Grass Dance to them, the matter of sale wasdiscussed. The Hidatsa were unwilling to sell in the sense of re-linquishing their rights, which would have happened had a "father-son" relationship been established. The Crows, therefore, agreedto a "friend-friend" relationship so that the Hidatsa could transmitthe right and the information while still holding their own rights.Then each member of the society selected a friend to whom he supplieda duplicate set of the society equipment. Another instance of cul-tural borrowing between the Assiniboin and the Hidatsa is evidencedin the case of the Horse Ceremony. Before the rites were transmittedto individual Hidatsas, a "father-son" relationship had existed forsome time; then on the initiative of the Assiniboin "father" the rightsto doctor horses and to perform the ceremonies were sold. In thetwo instances of sale to Holding Eagle and to Big Black, the culturalborrowing (buying in this instance) was through the medium of anexisting intertribal kinship relationship.Marriage resulted in the acquisition of an additional set of relativesand altered the previously established classification of relatives.Marriage between persons of the same clan regardless of villageresidence and between close blood relatives was disapproved of.Dm-ing the last century, the members of the Mandan Prairie Chickenclan have come to be viewed as "related" to the Hidatsa PrairieChicken clan and marriage between Prairie Chicken members hasbeen imiversally disapproved. Also in recent years, the Xura clanhas been reduced to a lineage of the Waterbuster clan and marriagesbetween the two are discouraged. It has not been considered properfor the Speckled Eagle clan to marry with the Prairie Chicken clanalthough a few have done so. Other than these restrictions, therewere no clan limitations to marriage and there is no evidence that themoiety in any way regulated marriage. An additional set of relation-ships through marriage with persons of other tribes, particularly the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 93Crow, Sioux, Assiniboin, and Chippewa, commonly occmred. Visit-ing between related people of the Hidatsa villages and groups ofrelatives of other tribes was of common occurrence.In the event of the separation of a couple with children and thesubsequent remarriage of the wife, an additional set of relatives wasacquired. The wife would no longer recognize her former husband'srelatives based on marriage but would classify them according to thevarious categories employed previous to their marriage. The formerhusband would do likewise with the woman's relatives. The childrenwould recognize the stepfather's relatives as though they were theirown father's as long as the stepfather performed his social andeconomic duties as a father. Whether the biological father and hisrelatives were ever recognized would depend on the assistance thatthey gave in rearing the children and the attitude of the stepfather.Should the stepfather fail to perform his duties as a father, thechildren's affections were usually transferred to one of the mother'ssisters' husbands. This was an important matter to a young personwho must make a decision as to the "father" he would recognizewhen participating in the social and sacred rites of the community.Since the father, the stepfather, and the mother's sisters' husbandswere frequently of different clans, the decision had an importantbearing on the selection of ceremonies in which he would participate.Should a young man, however, distinguish himself in warfare wefind, from a study of genealogies and case histories, that the fatherinvariably began showing new interest in a neglected son.Members of an age-grade society treated each other as related kinof sibling grouping although all of the clans of the village weregenerally represented in the membership. Members assisted eachother in warfare, ceremonial functions, and on any other occasionwhen such group action would enhance the prestige of the society.Although age-grade purchase was a group action, instruction andpreparation of the symbols of the society were individual in natureand involved intimate personal relations between the seller and oneto foiu- "sons" by the extension of the kinship system. Each organizedmen's society thought of the next higher society collectively as
"fathers" and the next lower one as "sons." Women of an organizedwomen's society likewise thought of each other as "female siblings."The clan principle was not closely followed by females, the sale beingmade to "daughters" who were daughters of female members of theclan or of the father's sister's clan. Either group, however, addresseda woman as "daughter" and the collective transfer was considered a
"mother-to-daughter" transfer. The comrade or pal relationship(irakuu) that existed between individuals was extended to men'ssocieties in their relationship to the women's societies. Each of the
94 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194women's societies had a "pal" society which assisted during theperformance of their organized social and ceremonial functions.The Hidatsa treated the Whites married into the tribe as a singleclan of male "brothers."Ordinarily, adoption of a child took place when parents separatedor the mother died. Usually the mother's relatives adopted andcared for the child. The first responsibility for the care of an orphanrested with the child's mother's sisters. If one of these was childless,she would invariably adopt the child and care for it; the husband'sopinions were not solicited. If the child had no close "mother'ssister" the responsibility rested with the father's sister; she commonlyasked for the child even when there was a mother's sister to care forit, but to relinquish a child under those cu'cumstances was consideredimproper and one so doing would be the subject of severe criticismby the other members of the child's clan.In extreme crisis situations, such as the occasional destruction of alarge part of the village population by warfare or epidemic in which anumber of the households were broken up, extreme measures ofreorganization were necessary. During the smallpox epidemic of1837, when more than half of the Hidatsa died, children were caredfor by their nearest kin?the first responsibility rested with themother's own sisters and the maternal grandmothers; second were thefather's brothers' wives or the father's sisters. Those having none ofthese relatives were cared for by women of the clan. A few instanceswere cited where orphans were adopted by women not of the abovegroups because of unusual circumstances such as being left childlesswith no child of the clan available for adoption. In cases such as thelatter, the child so reared invariably disregarded his blood kin andclan and adopted the clan and kin of the person raising him. Shouldsuch a person endeavor to marry one of his own blood, however, hewould be advised not to do so. Adoption of children of aUen tribes,when the parents were unable to care for them or they had beenabandoned by their parents while trading at the Hidatsa villages,was of common occurrence. The cases usually involved children whosefather had been killed or died and whose mother was unable to travelwith and care for a small child. These children when adoptedfrequently assumed the position of a child who had died, while thekinship bonds with the blood relatives were never broken. Theycould return to their own tribe when grown and nothing would havebeen done to prevent it. In fact, it was a common occurrence toreturn to visit the blood relatives, and no war party would haveknowingly attacked a band from another tribe coming to the villageto visit relatives.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 95Another group adopted into the villages was composed of prisoners,comprising women, small children, and even babies, when it waspossible to bring them back safely without danger from counterattack.A woman sometimes would ask a brother leaving for war to bringher a child, to replace one that had recently died, instead of a horse.Women prisoners were taken as wives and their children capturedwith them lived in their mother's household. Motherless childrenwere adopted and cared for by other households. If a girl was ap-proaching marriageable age, she was usually taken into a householdwithout formal adoption and assisted the women of the householduntil she could be married to some young man who would assist inthe hunting. The most illustrious prisoner to become a member of thetribe was Bird Woman, the Shoshoni guide for Lewis and Clark in1805-1806. By residence at Awatixa village, she became a memberof the Itisuku clan.Within the village, those men owning ceremonial rights that includeda buffalo skull were collectively spoken of as "fathers." Women ofcomparable status were addressed as "father's sister." The kinshipsystem also comprised the culture heroes and various sacred objects.Woman Above, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, the field mice, the cornmill, and the Holy Women were referred to as "grandmother." Fireand Missouri Kiver clan bundle deities were "grandfathers." Sun,Moon, Two Men, Buffalo Bull, and many others were "fathers." Inevery situation of a sacred character, there existed a kinship relation-ship between the sacred characters and objects on the one hand andthe bundle owner and purchaser on the other.The numerous methods of extending kinship within the villageinvariably brought about situations in which a Hidatsa had a choiceof two or more relationship terms for the same person. A few caserecords will indicate the general underlying rules for determining kinnot in the direct bloodline. Chart 10 illustrates several alternaterelationships between Bears Arm and Walks. Bears Arm alwayscalled Woman-in-Water a "father" because Woman-in-Water andOld-Woman-Crawling were of the same clan and were presumed to berelated through "clan sisters" further back, although they could nottrace out actual blood sister relationships since Woman-in-Water'sfemale lineage was of Awatixa village while Old-Woman-Crawling'smother's lineage was from Awaxawi village. Bears Arm explainedthat Medicine Robe was, by the extension of his mother's lineage toinclude those of her clan, actually an "older sister" since he andMedicine Robe were of the same clan and that would have madeWoman-in-Water a "brother-in-law." Bears Arm placed greateremphasis on the "sibling" relationship existing between males, in thisinstance Woman-in-Water and Old-Woman-Crawling, than a similar
96 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194
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Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 97
sibling relationship between Many Growth and Medicine Robe. Healways addressed Woman-in-Water as "father" and Medicine Robe as"mother." Although by this reasoning, Walks should have been a
"son," this would have been inconsistent with clan exogamy. Healways called him "brother," claiming that common sex was again theimportant factor.In the case of YeUow Coat (Chicken-Can't-Swim) of the Itisukuclan (see chart 11), Bears Arm called him "grandfather" by thisreasoning: he first showed that nowhere in his known matrilineal orpatrilineal lineages were there any lineal or collateral relatives marriedto persons of the Itisuku clan. Yellow Coat's wives, however, were ofthe Prairie Chicken clan as was also Bears Arm's maternal grand-father, so Bears Arm called each wife "grandmother" and YeUow Coat
"grandfather." He could have addressed Yellow Coat as "father"since the Itisuku clan was of the Four-clan moiety to which BearsArm's father belonged, but he considered the other relationship acloser one. He could also have called Yellow Coat "grandfather"through Breathing, Bears Arm's paternal grandfather who was also ofthe Prairie Chicken clan, but he considered Bear-Lying-Against-Tree,the maternal grandfather, a closer relative than Breathing. BearsArm called Two Bulls a "grandfather" who, although a son to GoodSquash, was also of the same clan as Bear-Lying-Against-Tree. Hecould also have called Two Bulls a "brother-in-law" since Bears Armand Chippewa Woman were of equated Mandan and Hidatsa clansand would have so classified Two BuUs had there been no other rela-tionship. He considered relationships with Mandan individuals onthe basis of equated clans closer than moiety relationships within hisown village and tribe.Bears Arm (Knife clan) called Cherry Necklace (Maxoxati clan) a
"brother" because both were of the Three-clan moiety, and the wives
"sisters-in-law" because there were no persons of the Maxoxati clanin Bears Arm's lineages; neither were there persons of the wives' clanin his lineages. None of Bears Arm's relatives had ever adopted a"son" or "brother" in Cherry Necklace's lineages. The moiety was,in this instance, the last resort in establishing relationships.The evidence indicates that the moiety or the "linked" clan servedas the basis of extending Idn only when lineages did not apply. TheThree-clan moiety, consisting of the Maxoxati, Knife, and Low Hatclans, comprised one group of linked clans. The Four-clan moietyhad two groupings or phratries: Phratry I comprised the PrairieChicken, Speckled Eagle, and Awaxenawita clans; Phratry II com-prised the Waterbuster, Xura, and Itisuku clans. Thus, a personwould call females of the Prairie Chicken, Speckled Eagle, orAwaxenawita clans "father's sister" when the father belonged to
98 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU, 194
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Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 99one of these clans. This was an important relationship for theHidatsa because of the numerous situations when one was expectedto offer presents to males and females of the father's clan.This "father's sister"-"sister's son" relationship would, unlessbroken by closer ties established by marriage, extend to all of thefather's sister's female descendants as well as to the female membersof the father's clan. Chart 12 illustrates this point. Old-Woman-Crawling could call Bear Woman and Hunts Turnips "daughters-in-law," since they were his wife's mother's brother's wife and sister-in-law. The Hidatsa, however, preferred not to employ classificationsbased on affinal relationships when other relationships were applicable,due, I believe, to the instability of marriages. In this instanceOld-Woman-Crawling never classified the two women as "daughters-in-law" but rather as "sisters" because they were of the same clan.Bears Arm caUed them "father's sisters" since they were of Old-Woman-Crawling's clan but they were Bears Arm's mother's mother'sbrother's wife and wife's sister. He called Bears Nose an "olderbrother" but called the women "father's sisters" instead of "sisters-in-law." Bears Arm, on the other hand, called Bear Woman andHunts Turnips "father's sisters" even though Bear Woman wasmarried to his mother's mother's brother. In his own age groupwas Medicine Woman, daughter of Bear Woman, who also mighthave been classified as a "father's sister." However, she was a
"closer" relative to Bears Arm than her mother, Bear Woman, beingthe daughter of Bears Nose (Knife clan of Bears Arm) whereasBear Woman was only his wife. From Bears Arm's point of viewMedicine Woman was a blood relative while Bear Woman was not.Lying Chicken stood in several relationships to Bears Arm. Inthe first place he was the husband of Hunts Turnips, whom BearsArm called a "father's sister," and was therefore a "grandfather."Likewise he was a "brother," since Bears Nose was a "brother"to both: to Bears Arm by being his mother's mother's brother andto Lying Chicken since they had married sisters. Old-Woman-Crawling called Lying Chicken "brother" because they were of theFour-clan moiety. When Lying Chicken?who, by all standardsof kinship extensions would have been classified as a very distantrelative indeed?married, Old-Woman-Crawling adopted him as a
"son" since Lying Chicken gave promise of becoming a distinguishedwarrior, and thus new and permanent relationships were establishedbetween two sets of relatives. Bears Arm continued to treat MedicineWoman as a "daughter"; Lying Chicken became Bears Arm's
"brother," a relation that could not be broken during their entirelifetime except in the event of cowardly acts; Hunts Turnips andBear Woman became Bears Arm's "sister-in-law."
100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
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Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 101All other things being equal, relationships through persons of thesame sex were closer than through opposite sexes. Frank Packineau,Low Hat clan, and his wife, Rattles Medicine of the Maxoxati clan,both belonged to the Three-clan moiety with Bears Arm who was ofthe Knife clan. Bears Arm would classify Packineau as an "olderbrother" and Rattles Medicine as an "older sister" prior to theirmarriage, but after they were married he could not do so since thatwould imply that Frank Packineau had married his sister. BearsArm could continue to call Rattles Medicine a "sister" and thenFrank Packineau would be a "brother-in-law" or he could call FrankPackineau a "brother" and Rattles Medicine would be a "sister-in-law." Bears Arm chose the second alternative because he consideredrelationships established between individuals of the same sex closerthan with the opposite sex. Bears Arm's sister. Wolverine, employedthe first alternative, calling Rattles Medicine a "sister" and FrankPackineau a "brother-in-law." Informants recognize that relation-ships based on moiety membership are remote and not ordinarilyemployed.Formerly, the village residence was also a factor in determiningrelationships when no known lineal or clan aflBliation existed. Personsof the same village were considered closer even when no actual rela-tionships were known. Since Rattles Medicine and Bears Arm wereof parents coming from Awaxawi village, whereas Frank Packineauwas from Awatixa village, in former times Bears Arm would haveconsidered Rattles Medicine a closer relative of the Three-clan thanFrank Packineau and would have called her "sister" and FrankPackineau "brother-in-law." This distinction was rarely used afterthe remnants of the three Hidatsa village groups united followingthe epidemic of 1837.Out of the numerous alternatives, the selection made by the indi-vidual determined his social position in relation to others. A womanof the Xura clan might call an individual of the Maxoxati clan a
"son" whereas he would call her "father's sister" while her husbandcalled the same individual a "brother-in-law" because the man ofthe Maxoxati clan had married a "sister." Lead Woman (see chart13) called Old-White-Man a "son" as he was the son of a memberof her clan. She also could have called him a "grandfather" sinceOld-White-Man was Lead Woman's husband's sister's husband, butthe latter relationship would be based on marriages and could bedissolved at will whereas neither Lead Woman nor Old-White-Mancould change their clan affiliations. Also, by maintaining a "father'ssister" status to Old-White-Man she was eligible to receive presentsduring social and ceremonial occasions. Crows Heart could havecalled Old-White-Man a "grandson" but he never did, always calling710-195?65 8
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Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 103him "brother-in-law." In either instance Old-White-Man was anaffinal relative. Crows Heart considered a relationship to Old-White-Man through a sister "closer" than one through a wife.The above examples illustrate the methods of determining ex-tended kin. The Hidatsa considered everyone of the tribe a relativeand there is evidence that the extension of the kinship system, toinclude the Mandan through the equating of Mandan and Hidatsaclans, is of recent development. One's relationship by blood andHneage is the basis from which extended kin groupings are deter-mined. There are so many factors involved in the classificationbeyond the blood relatives that no fixed rule can be made. Therelationship is largely determined by social participation. Althoughthe Hidatsa kinship system is not a "clan system" the importance ofthe clan, phratry, and moiety, in regard to kinship has been indicatedby the foregoing discussion of the kinship extensions. Other exten-sions of the kinship system are brought about by ceremonial adoptionand cooperation in the organized ceremonies and age-grade societies;these extensions go beyond the limits of the village and tribe. Thegeneral outline of social behavior prevailing between relatives wasthe basis for socially recognized relationships with groups of extendedkin. KINSHIP BEHAVIORKeciprocal obligations and duties between relatives were importantelements in social integration. The basic relationships were thoseexisting between members of the elementary family, the household,and the related households. Although the basic relationships arethose which apply to parents and children, because of descent andresidence factors, relationships of a more distant order play an im-portant part among the Hidatsa. Within the elementary familythere are nine possible combinations of relatives or reciprocals:mother-daughter; mother-son; father-son; father-daughter; husband-wife; older sister-younger sister; older brother-younger brother; olderbrother-younger sister; older sister-younger brother.Within the parental household groups there are also these importantreciprocal relations: mother's brother-sister's son and daughter;father's sister-brother's son and daughter; grandfather-grandchild;grandfather-daughter-in-law ; grandmother-daughter-in-law ; father-in-law-son-in-law ; mother-in-law-son-in-law ; brother-in-law-brother-in-law ; sister-in-law-sister-in-law ; brother-in-law-sister-in-law.The general pattern of behavior prevailing between these pairs ofrelatives should throw much light on the native values ascribed tothe terminology and indicate the relationship of the individual to thefamily, the household, and the other household groups comprising thevillage unit.
104 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194Mother-DaughterThe relationship between a mother and her daughter was an ex-ceedingly close and intimate one. It was based on kinship ties, life-long residence together, common occupations, and common sex. Themother was the principal instructor in both economic and ritualisticmatters. She taught her daughters to cook and care for the lodge,grind corn, tan and decorate hides, sew, butcher and cure meat, andto perform all of the special tasks. If, for instance, the mother wasa potter and owned particular designs, the daughter was expected tobuy the complete rights and continue the designs unique to thatfemale lineage.She instructed her daughters in the care of the gardens, the plantingof the seeds, the pulling of weeds, the curing and storing of thegarden products, and the performance of those rites celebrated whileengaged in agricultural activities. She taught them good mannerstoward visitors and strangers and particularly toward prospectivehusbands. She selected her daughter's first "ceremonial" mother atthe time of her daughter's first introduction into and participationin the age-grade societies. She also was the principal one to advisethe daughter in premarital sex matters and, with the assistance ofthe other "mothers" and "older sisters," kept a watchful eye to seethat these instructions were obeyed. The mother assumed an impor-tant role in the marriage of the daughter, for no well-trained daughterwould want to marry a man disapproved of by her mother.A woman's deepest affections were for her own daughter, but, ina household where there were many others standing in a mother-daughter relationship, diverse female work patterns developed. Thus,one or two "mothers" commonly worked together in the gardenswhile the others were in or about the lodge preparing the meals,tanning and working with hides, or performing the multiple tasksof the household. When there was urgent need of extra help in thegardens, one of the "mothers" would take all of the household " daugh-ters" to the fields where they worked together. Here the daughterswere watched to see that they performed their work.A mother who had given her daughter good training preferred tohave her live in the same lodge after marriage and to assist her asshe grew old, hence the tribe was strongly matrilocal. The motherwas always present when a child was born to her daughter; if thedaughter was living in another lodge, she invariably returned to hermother's lodge to give birth to the child. The mother advised herdaughter in the care of the child and would offer such assistance asshe could without taking over its actual care. A mother mightpunish her child by denying her privileges or by scolding her, but
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 105physical punishment by whipping was almost entirely unknown. Anolder brother might shake her and ask her to come back to her sensesbut the usual procedure was to scold her or to offer positive rewardsin return for good behavior.Although residence was normally matrilocal, it was not customaryfor several sisters with different husbands to occupy the same lodge.The Hidatsa believed that it was hard for men married to sisters andliving in the same lodge to get along together. If one husband wasambitious and a good hunter, he would be praised by the femaleowners of the lodge and only poor hunters or unlucky warriors withlittle pride would continue to live there. The first residence wasinvariably patrilocal whenever insufficient time had been allowedfor the preparation of the son-in-law section of the lodge.Informants all thought that a woman had more "mothers" throughthe father's clan than in the mother's clan. This is consistent withthe extension of the "mother" relationship beyond the immediatehouseholds. In the mother's lineage and clan, only her householdsisters and those females who were daughters of the maternal grand-mother (rarely was the great-grandmother known) were classifiedas "mothers"; all other clanswomen were classified either as "oldersister," "younger sister," "daughter," or "grandchild," dependingupon their relative ages and other factors. Within the householdthere were frequently other "mothers" of different clans when thefather had not married sisters. A female classified as "mothers" allspouses of men of the father's clan. Of this group of "mothers"close bonds of affection and respect were often shown due to thepractice of looking to the members of the father's clan for instructionand assistance in ceremonial matters.Since the wife contributed significantly in goods and serviceswhenever a man performed a ceremony and shared in his purchases,her advice was widely sought by a "daughter" through her husband.In visiting other villages, one felt free to move in with a householdwhose female members were classified as "mother" by the extensionof the kinship relationships when it was not convenient to stay witha "sister." Mother-SonThe relationship of a mother to her son was almost as close as toher daughter since it was based on kinship ties. It was, however,different from the mother-daughter relationship due to sex dichotomy,division of labor, and matrilocal residence. A mother taught a sonearly in life to play boys' games, to dress like boys, to be brave, andat all times to avoid female avocations lest he be "blessed" by one ofthe female deities and become a berdache. Naming, games, and
106 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194terms of address all emphasized a son's masculine character anddiscouraged him from participating in female activities. He waspermitted to own property in his own right and to dispose of it; hewas taught to use bows and arrows and to hunt small animals andbirds; he was instructed in the importance of warfare, fasting, andhunting, and was discouraged from gardening and wood gathering.The mother contributed much time to advising her son, as a child,a duty that was largely taken over by her brother as the son ap-proached the age of puberty. She would advise a son in mattersdealing with ceremonial participation, contribute goods for his usein the ceremonies, and direct his efforts in securing proper visions.The mother was his closest relative and the one who did most toorganize her cooperating group to contribute material assistanceconsisting of goods, horses, and food for a son's age-grade and otherpurchases. Although a mother would have a direct interest inselecting a daughter-in-law who would make a good wife, she wouldnot ordinarily say a great deal when she disapproved, leaving thematter to her brothers and older sons to decide. If they, too, objec-ted to the marriage, there would be no goods put up, in which casethe other family would generally withdraw the marriage offer.A young man was expected to obey his mother. If she was growingfeeble and had no daughters to help her in the lodge and her gardensshe, in consultation with her brothers, frequently selected a youngwoman as wife for her unmarried son at home with the intention ofbringing the daughter-in-law into the lodge to help her and to inheritthe lodge and gardens when she herself was too old to manage thehousehold. In such cases, she enlisted the assistance of the otherfemales of the lodge and her brothers of other households to put upthe necessary goods and horses to complete the marriage. This wasa happy arrangement for a woman without female descendants. Shecould keep her son at home to hunt and provide for her household.Situations of this nature required respect and cooperation betweenthe females, the mother on the one hand and the wife on the other.A man was expected to look after his mother, irrespective of hisresidence, and to take an interest in her welfare. As a newly marriedman he was free to return to his mother's lodge at any time, and ifhe wished to give a feast for his friends or respective relatives, it wasalways given at the mother's lodge. She and her daughters wereexpected to meet him when returning from a successful war expeditionand to sing his praises?or to torture themselves if he died or waskilled. A man would return often to his mother's lodge for mealsand, should he return to the village from hunting and find his wifeout of the lodge, he would leave most of his meat with his wife's
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 107household and return to his mother's lodge to eat, for it was notconsidered proper to be in the lodge alone with only his parents-in-law.His horses were grazed and cared for by the younger members ofhis mother's household and most of his personal property was keptthere. Although he was expected to hunt for the wife's householdwhen living with her people and to supply meat for her to take toher parents, a man's interest was at first primarily with his mother'sgroup. The mother would be ashamed of a daughter-in-law whofailed to keep her husband's clothing mended and his moccasins ingood repau\ If he needed a good horse and his wife's people hadnone, he could use freely those of his mother's household. Thespoils of war went to his mother and her female relatives and theywere expected to mourn longest if he lost his life.Father-SonThe father's relationship to a son was quite different from that ofthe mother. In the first place, they were of different clans; but itwas to the father and his clansmen, nevertheless, that the son lookedfor formal training in the ceremonies. The two parental groupscomprising the father and his brothers, and their sisters and theirchildren, on the one hand and the mother, her sisters, and brotherson the other, were sharply differentiated both as to lineages andfunctions. The father's obligations were both economic and ritu-alistic. He should provide for the family by hunting game andprotecting them from their enemies. In the Hidatsa's mind, how-ever, this was not an essential function, for households were knownwhich had had no adult male for a decade or more and in which themembers lived very well by exchanging garden produce for othernecessities. A man's status in the wife's household rose as childrencame along. He was never present at the time of the birth of hischild. Once it appeared that the infant was going to live (at the ageof 10 days or so), however, he took the leading role in securing a namefor it. He could give the child a name from his own ceremonialrites but ordinarily a man preferred to widen the field of supernaturalforces working for the child's welfare by selecting another of the sameclan to give the child a name suggested by the namer's ceremonialrites. Even at the age of 10 days a child's individuality was reconized.When approaching the person who was to supply the name, the fatherwould say "My son who has just come to live with us asks you togive him a name and to receive these goods." The father's brotheror sister supplying the name would pray to his or her sacred bundlesto send the child good luck and the father would do hkewise. Eachtime thereafter when the father offered the pipe and food to hissacred bundles, he would ask that they send his children good luck
108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194and keep them healthy. He would continue this practice until theson's security was assured by owning sacred bundles of his own.It was considered improper for a man to urge a son to participatein sacred rites. This belief stemmed from traditional lore that anindividual's role in the sacred rites would be revealed in due time byvision instructions. Hence the father taught by example ratherthan by direction. At all times the initiative came from the son orhis son's older brothers. Although the Hidatsa made little distinc-tion between the father and the father's brother and received instruc-tions from both, it was from one's own father that ceremonial riteswere normally obtained, although one was not denied rights to bundlesowned by the father's brothers or even husbands of the mother'ssisters when the proper vision instructions were received.The cultural patterns provided many situations for the extensionof this father-son relationship to more distant or attenuated "fathers."A man's closest ties were with his own father if his parents were notdivorced. The father's brothers were next in importance. In thepurchase of a ceremonial bundle a "ceremonial" father was selected toinstruct the "son" and to prepare a new bundle. He was one of thefather's clan but rarely of known blood relationship. This selectionbrought together distant "fathers" and then- relatives, which thereafterincreased cooperation between these two groups of relatives. Feastswere given by each group to the otlier and, in the performance of otherrites at a later time, the "ceremonial" father's children, now standingin close sibling relationships, were expected to assist.A "father" coming upon a "son" who had just killed an animalshould be given the choicest pai'ts and the hide without asking.It was expected that he would praise his "son" upon returning tothe village, or condemn him if the gift was not a generous one. Sincea man's status was raised through his relationships with "fathers,"no person hoping to be shown honore and respect would deny a
"father" meat even should it mean retm'ning to the village empty-handed. Wishing to save an animal for one's family, it was a morecommon practice for a man killing an animal and knowing that
"fathers" were hunting nearby, to move away from the kill andpretend that the animal had escaped until the meat could be broughtto the village undetected.It was a man's highest aim to have many "sons" and "daughters"both of his own and through extension of the kinship system; he wasthen assui'ed of many presents and other honors during his lifetime.He received goods, horses, and the right of ceremonial intercourse
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 109
with the "sons'" wives; in return he sold sacred rites, performedsacred rites, and taught tribal lore to his sons. If a son died, thefather or his sister must, when asked, "bring the blanket" to wrapthe body in, take it to the scaffold or grave, and send the spirit away.A father, on request and for pay, instructed a son in the arts ofwarfare and horse stealing but avoided taking him on his own expedi-tions. He would supply objects from his own sacred bundles forthe son to wear until he had sacred objects of his own and the sonwas expected to pay the father with horses taken. There was alwaysan aloofness toward the father that never entirely disappeared.Although a young unmarried man would go out hunting alone withhis father and would be taught many things, most that one learnedof secular matters was taught by an older brother or one standingin that relationship. The Hidatsa have a saying that if a chief's sonhas many "older brothers" he will become a chief also, but if hehas no "older brothers" his father will spoil him.Father-DaughterA father's relationship with a daughter was even more distantthan that with his son. It was expected that he would provide meatfor the household but he had few other economic duties. He was notpresent at her birth, but he did provide a name for her or he selectedanother of his own clan to name her. He was usually consulted byhis wife and her brothers when a husband was being selected. Hemight even give a horse to the other family if he thought much of hisdaughter. A man avoided being in the lodge alone with a daughterafter she reached the approximate age of 10 years. Often throughlife he offered the pipe and food to his sacred bundles, asking for hercontinued success and good health. In later years she was expectedto assist in the preparation of goods and food for her brothers' cere-monial purchases from the father. A daughter's attitude towardthe father was largely determined by the compatability of the par-ents; if the parents had cooperated in the ceremonies and there wasgood will between them, the father was highly respected as theowner of important bundles. Although a daughter rarely inheritedimportant bundle rites from the father, the culture provided someceremonial rewards to the sisters assisting a young man in purchasingtheir father's ceremonial rites. Due to the division of labor betweensexes, a daughter learned little from her father of the daily skillsand practices. In the event that the mother died, unless a sisteror other female replaced her through the operation of the sororate,the father usually returned to his sister's household to be with peopleof his own clan until he could remarry into another household.
110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Husband-WifeThe relation between a husband and wife varied widely withdifferent couples and changed gradually from the time of marriageto old age. Probably the majority of couples got along very well,particularly when the young people made their own choice of matesand were assisted subsequently by their relatives in completing themarriage ceremonies. Residence was, in theory, matrilocal. Astudy of 39 lodge groups at Fishhook Village as of 1872 shows that22 were matrilocal, 11 were patrilocal, and 6 were both patrilocaland matrilocal. A young married man was expected to live with hiswife at her lodge and to hunt for her family except when: his motherhad no grown daughters at home; he was an older man long marriedand needed a young wife to help his aging wives; or his wife hadseveral brothers-in-law already living in her mother's lodge.At first the bond between the husband and wife was weak andeasily broken by the husband if they were living in the wife's lodge,and by the wife if she was living with her husband's people. Thiswas probably due to jealousy since the husband would frequentlycontinue to see girls he had "run around" with before marriage andhusbands were suspicious of their wives and always checldng up onthem to see if they had dropped their former sweethearts. Therewas a saying that a young married couple would get along betterwhen their children came. This was generally true.There was a marked sex dichotomy in labor and in ownershipof property. The woman cared for the garden, cured the meat,tanned hides and made the clothing, supervised building the lodge,and did all of the household work. The man hunted, cared for thehorses, assisted in the heavier work of building and repairing thelodge, went on war expeditions for horses and scalps, and carriedout most of the ritualistic activities.Sexual relations were avoided during menstrual periods and therewas segregation during that time. Although sexual relations werenot taboo during pregnancy, it was customary for the parents-in-lawto offer another daughter or one standing in that relationship assecond wife when the first one was in advanced pregnancy, sinceintercourse was not considered wise after the fifth or sixth month.In a population with a ratio of nearly three females to each male,rarely was it impossible to supply a second wife. This was obviouslyan insurance against having the man running around with otherwomen and possibly losing him as well.In the wife's lodge a man could divorce his wife by simply pickingup his things and walking out?or his wife might tell him to leave.When living with the husband's household, a man would generally
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 111hesitate to tell a wife to leave unless she was one he had marriedwithout the exchange of goods between families. Instead, he wouldprobably go out visiting to another village and stay away until thenews reached him that the wife had returned to her people. Adul-tery and mistreatment were the most common grounds for divorce.Usually the families would attempt to patch up differences betweenthem. If a man had been unusually mean to his wife and she hadrun away or sent him away, he would usually, when desiring a recon-ciliation, send his sister to straighten matters out. In cases ofseparation the children customarily stayed with the mother.The ties that held husband and wife together were, to begin with,affection or respect for their parents and, later, children and commoninterests in household and village activities, particularly those ofa ritualistic nature. After a few years of married life when thehusband and his wife or wives had adjusted their lives to each otherand the children were coming along, marriages were quite stable;only during the first years of adjustment were divorces common.The extended household tended to maintain its structure in spiteof numerous divorces and separations.Oldee Brother-Younger BrotherA very close bond of mutual assistance and affection prevailedbetween brothers of approximately the same age. This was basedon common blood and residence. Age was an important factor indetermining the relationship between brothers. Brothers wouldtease each other a great deal but quarreling was largely unknowndue to the early training of the household in which harmony betweenpersons of the same clan was emphasized. The closest bond was be-tween "brothers" of the same household, and little distinction wasmade between one's own brothers and the sons of mother's sistersliving in the same household. Of the other households having close
"brothers," those in lodges occupied by the mother's sisters wereconsidered closer brothers than children of the father's brothers;the former were not only "brothers" through blood sisters but werealso of the same clan.The universal rule that it was the duty of the clan to discipline itsown members might well have been restated to say that it was theduty of the older male members to discipline and train the youngermale members since much of the actual training of boys and youngmen was directed by their "older brothers." Age was an importantfactor in determining whether one gave or received advice. Myinformants frequently mentioned accepting advice and instructionsfrom "older brothers" who, at most, were only a few months older. Inone instance, Wolf Chief had told a male clansman that he would do as
112 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194the other advised because he was the older and therefore would under-stand such things better?actually, the difference in age between themwas at most not more than 3 months.An older brother would advise his younger brother in competitivecontests or in hunting small game and take an active interest in thethings he was doing. If the older one had been away to war and hadwon honors, he would relate his experiences and encourage the youngerman to follow his ways. If the difference in age was not great, theywould play together, hunt together, chase girls together, and fasttogether in the same ceremonies or at the same places away from thevillage. They would assist each other in putting up goods to hear thesacred myths or ask the mother to help them with feasts to their
"fathers" who were to pray for them to be successful in war expeditions.Older brothers already established in the ceremonies would help theyounger ones in their ambitions to secure a good wife, honors in war,and rights in ceremonies and age-grade societies. In fact, a youngerbrother not making suitable progress was severely criticized by olderbrothers. It was the most distinguished older brother's right todiscipline those not showing special interest in warfare and rituahsticactivities. An older brother rarely punished a younger one unless theother clan members of the household demanded it. Finding a groupof boys abusing a girl, he would feel obliged to whip and cuff the youngboys of his own clan and related households at once and see that thegirl got back to her lodge without further trouble. Having oncepunished his own brothers, the girl's brothers could not punish themagain. Learning of the attack, "older brothers" of the other boysinvolved in the attack would hasten to punish their relatives to avoidhaving their property cut up and their horses shot by the girl's relatives.Boys caught steaUng were also punished by whipping or ducking in theriver to avoid ridicule and retahation. Older brothers, being aroundmore with their younger ones, were expected to keep an eye on themto keep them out of trouble and to avoid situations requiring the inter-vention of the Black Mouth society.Inquiry among the older Hidatsas revealed that only a few had everbeen whipped or ducked by an older brother but all had been scoldedat one time or another. Those who had been both ducked and scoldedthought that the scolding was the more severe punishment, for in-variably it was done in public or word of it got around. In any event,it was not held against an older brother afterwards since there were somany situations when he could and did offer assistance. They wouldassist each other in progressing through the age-grade societies and iftheir age differences were not very great they often bought societiessimultaneously. They would have feasts prepared to show honor
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 113and respect to the same older people, fast together, dance together,and even hunt together alone when there were no reports of enemyactivities about.Unless there was a great difference in age, they would go on raidingparties together under the leadership of a war chief and assist eachother in capturing horses. In situations of extreme danger, a brother'sfirst duty was to protect the other one even when the odds wereagainst him. Should one be killed by the enemy, his brothers wereexpected to avenge his death. One who succeeded in killing theparticular enemy responsible for the death of a brother was highlyrespected and Hidatsa traditions are rich in accounts of brothersgoing out alone to waylay and kill the person responsible for a brother'sdeath. Like the Mandan, there was a special design to be wornindicating that the wearer had gone out alone far from the villageto kill and scalp one enemy.It was a man's duty to see that his deceased brother's widow andchildren were cared for. He held first right to marry the widowand she ought not remarry with another until her husband's brothershad made their views known. A man felt strongly obliged to marrya widow who had mom-ned long for her dead husband. A singleman would ask a brother for his wife to assist in certain ceremoniesand one should not refuse his request. If one or more of a man'swives wished to go out with her male relatives and their wives to getmeat, and the husband found it inconvenient to go along, he wouldfrequently send a younger unmarried brother m his place to hunt forthe women and even to assume his own rights and duties. Oldermen and women involved in this temporary husband-wife statusexplained that this was done to keep other men from running offwith these unattended women. Under no circumstances was abrother permitted intimacy with a brother's wife without the other'spermission. A man would tease his sister-in-law and teU her thatshe should go out with him on the prairie or go visiting the Crows,but she was expected to accept these overtures as a form of teasingand never take them seriously. If a woman made overtures to herhusband's brother and he was "unable to resist," the woman and notthe man was punished, for it was said that women should havegreater controls of their sexual impulses than men. A brother wasnot expected to hold a grievance against another brother; in fact,when conflict situations arose, brothers invariably banded together.There are numerous references in the mythology to widespread chaosin the village stemming from quarrels between brothers.^^
u See "The Legendary Period," pp. 297-308.
114 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Older Sister-Younger SisterExcept where there was a marked diflFerence in age or ability, therewas little difference in behavior between this set of relatives. Wherethere was a marked difference in age, the older sister acted more like a"mother" to the younger one. The bond between sisters was verystrong, being based on close blood ties, residence, sex, occupation, andlifelong residence together. As children they played together aroundthe lodge. Later they worked together in the gardens or about thelodge and cooperated in the same household activities. Quarrelsbetween sisters were rare and of little consequence. Unless there wasa marked difference in their ages, they were commonly married to thesame man. There was a strict rule that the oldest sister shouldmarry first and ultimately become the female head of the household.The younger sisters were expected to marry the same man as they, inturn, reached marriageable age. When differences in age were great,however, younger sisters frequently had a different husband andcommonly moved to a different lodge unless the husbands were ofgreat difference in age. The oldest sister or sisters married to oneman normally inherited the lodge, garden plots and tools, and thehousehold goods. There was little distinction in behavior betweensisters of the same or of different mothers, provided they werereared together in the same household. With few exceptions, sistersreared their deceased sister's children. Since descent was matrilineal,children of sisters were adopted without changes in clan affliation orkinship terminology.When a husband maintained two households, the wives were oftenof different clans. Then the sister bond was not as close; in fact,there frequently was mild antagonism toward each other. Theattitude of sisters of different households depended in large measureon the attitude of their mothers toward each other.Sisters cooperated in preparing food and goods for ceremoniesperformed by their husbands and brothers, working together as ateam. This relationship of two or more sisters working together andtaking over the role held by the mothers formed the basis for thecontinuity of the Hidatsa household. Brothers were expected tomarry and move away, but the sisters' obligation to the householdwas primarily that of preserving its continuity.Brother-SisterA strong bond existed between a brother and his sister, based oncommon blood and residence combined with common economic andceremonial interests. They played together until they were 6 or 7years of age, after which they tended to avoid each other when other
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 115
relatives were not present. Early in life, division in their play andwork activities was emphasized by the parents lest a son take anundue interest in girls' toys and dress and become a berdache. Thus,a boy was treated like a boy and a girl like a girl so that a brother andsister quickly developed many different interests. Less concernwas shown over a girl who played with bows and arrows than wasshown over a boy who played with a baU or doll.It was not considered proper for an adult male to carry on prolongedconversations alone with a sister, particularly if they were alone in thesame lodge. A man would have a great deal in common with ayounger brother or an older sister but very little with a younger sister.An older sister would tan hides and make clothing for a brother evenwhen he lived in another household. It was expected that he wouldfrequently return to eat with the sister's household. They aided eachother in assembling goods whenever one of their relatives was giving afeast, and a brother often gave horses or other property for a sister atdances. Each would put up goods when the other married and do allthat they could to bring honor to the sister's household. A sisterwould look to her brother for help against an abusive husband and onefrequently hears an informant say even today, "She got prettysaucy with her husband for she had many brothers." However,brothers did not always defend a sister from her husband's wrath.If she was found meeting a lover in the cornfield or while out for wood,the brothers would do nothing when she was severely beaten. If thehusband was a good provider for the household, the brothers wouldrecognize this and endeavor to put her straight. (Although no onethought the less of a runaway woman who returned to her husband,everyone thought ill of a man who cried around because his wife hadleft him and who made overtures to get her to return.)When there were several mothers in a lodge there were likely to bebrothers and sisters of different ages. If the mothers had died orwere feeble, the younger brothers and sisters were invariably cared forby older sisters living in the lodge with their husband. These oldersisters cared for them as they did their own children and the childrenwould come to respect their older brother-in-law and treat him as a
"father." Although older brothers had an interest in the household,living in a different lodge after marriage their interests were divided.They would advise and discipline their younger brothers and sistersbut the principal responsibility for their training rested with the oldersisters. A married brother would bring meat to the family and seethat they were provided with horses for his brother-in-law's use. Inreturn he would get assistance from his sisters in his social advance-ment.
116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194A sister would fast and pray for her brother's success when he wasaway on a war expedition and she should be the first to meet himoutside of the village when he returned. Then he was expected togive her the horses he had taken.. All his war activities were directedtoward the enrichment of his mother's household and, in return, hissisters were expected to inflict the most severe personal self-tortureand to mourn longest were he to be killed.Mother's Brother-Sistee's Son; Mother's Brother-Sister's DaughterThere is no distinction in the terminology for a mother's brother;he is an "older brother" or "younger brother" depending on theirrelative ages. The sister's children are "brother" and "sister," olderor yoimger, depending on their relative ages. In the Hidatsa matri-lineal system the mother's brother is a very important relative evenwhen married and living in a different household. The most distin-guished mother's brother was usually considered the head of themother's household and the actual direction and supervision of the
"younger brothers" was his responsibility. It was his chief duty todirect their interests so that they would bring honors to themselvesand distinction to their household. He advised, punished, and praisedthem; he organized their fasting and games of skiU and instructed themin tribal lore.He would advise a "younger son" in marital matters and givematerial assistance if he approved of the match; rarely would ayoung man marry someone of whom his mother's brother disap-proved. He would condemn a "sister's son" for being derehct inhis ceremonial duties while offering assistance with goods and horses.Until a young man had made considerable advancement in the cere-monies he would not tease a "mother's brother," but should he havethe good fortune to exceed his adviser in amassing war honors, hewould invariably tease his "mother's brother" saying "I went inwhere the fighting was heaviest and see aU the honors I have, butyou must have been somewhere else for I see you do not have asmany honors."Unlike the Mandan, who transmitted most of their tribal bundlesfrom mother's brother to sister's son or ones standing in that rela-tionship (except those owned by the clan or reserved for women),sacred bundles passed from father to son. Therefore, the sister's sonor daughter did not look to the mother's brother for ritual training.The relations of a girl to her mother's brother were less restrained.He would give assistance at her wedding or settle domestic quarrelsin the household, but the role he took depended on the assistanceasked of him by his sister.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 117Father's Sister-Brother's Son; Father's Sister-Brother's DaughterThe father's sister occupied a position similar to the father in theceremonial Ufe and distinguishable only by tribal limitations placedon the activities of females. It was her right and duty to be presentwhen a brother's child was born and to receive presents for ritualsperformed at the time of its bu'th and naming. Most female babieswere named by the father's sister or a woman standing in that rela-tionship, the name being taken from ceremonies in which she heldrights with her brother. She was paid by the child's clan relatives.The sum was large if a distant "father's sister" was giving the namebut only a token payment was made if she was the child's father'sown sister or the maternal grandfather's sister.The father's sister was expected to pray often for her brothers'children so that they would be healthy and grow to maturity. Inlater years it was expected that they would honor her by giving hergoods and horses during ceremonies and social events. Should herbrothers' children be sickly, she was expected to come and assist themwith the doctoring and "bring the blanket" if death occurred. Eventhough she might be younger than the deceased "brother's child,"it was her duty to officiate at the funeral, when requested by thedeceased's clan relatives, and to send the spirit to the "home of thedead."Having assisted her brother each time he made ceremonial pur-chases, she was likewise considered to have supernatural powercontrols, and presents were due her each time honors were shown herbrother. The father's sister played an important role in the transferof the age-grade societies owned by women. She selected as a
"daughter" first those who called her "father's sister" and instructedthem in the ritual of the society being purchased.The father's sister took no part in the marriage of her brother'schildren; neither was it her duty to give presents to the sister-in-law's household. Marriages were in no sense religious in nature.Grandmother-Grandchild; Grandmother-Daughter-in-LawIn general, grandmothers treated their grandchildren kindly andlooked after them much the same as the "mothers" of the lodge did.A child saw more of the maternal grandmothers since they usuallylived together in the same household. These old women, too old foractive work in the gardens or for heavy work around the lodge andvillage, usually cared for the grandchildren of the lodge. Theywould make toys, offer advice, relate myths and traditions, and teachskills they had themselves obtained. For this advice and instructionthe children were advised to make payments to them even thoughthey might be of little value.710-195?65 9
118 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY tBuU. 194A grandmother might sleep with her granddaughter and watch herto see that the boys did not molest her, going out with her after darkwhen the granddaughter had business away from the lodge. Agrandmother was with her granddaughters more than with a grandson.A grandmother would tease her grandchildren about their associatesand they would do likewise, but teasing was mild out of respect forher age.A "grandmother" had a right to meat being brought back to thevillage and, learning that a hunting party was approaching the village,the old women of the village would walk out to the point where thehunters would pass and sit down to await the men with their loads.Each hunter was expected to give meat to those women whom headdressed as "grandmother" irrespective of the lodge in which shelived and she, in turn, should sing one of the songs of praise. Anyyoung man wishing to become a village leader must be generous to the
"grandmothers."A grandmother might adopt a child whose mother and mother'ssisters had died and care for it until it was old enough to marry. Inreturn, the child was expected to care for the grandmother during thelatter's old age.The paternal grandmother was treated with respect due to herposition as mother of the father from whom one received training inthe ceremonies. She was not teased; in fact, she was feared andhighly respected if her husband owned important ceremonial bundles.Since men were afraid to marry the widow of one who had importantsacred bundles, even the grandchildren feared her and treated herwith a certain reserve when she came to call. This difference seemsto have been less apparent when she lived in her son's lodge. Aschildren grew older the paternal grandmother played a greater rolein the ritualistic training than did the maternal grandmother and,being of the father's clan, her knowledge of sacred matters wassolicited and paid for on numerous formal occasions.Other "grandmothers" were those women whom the husbandcalled "mother," "father's sister," or "grandmother." They, in turnaddressed the young man's wife as "daughter-in-law" to distinguishher as being not of their blood. If hving in different lodges, the
"grandmothers" always treated her with respect. The situation wassomewhat altered with time when living together in the husband'shousehold where none of her sisters-in-law lived. Although the wifepreferred to live in her own household, frequently the husband hadno sisters to care for his parents and payments were made to thedaughter-in-law to come to the husband's lodge to live. This was agood arrangement for the husband's people, for, provided they chose agood daughter-in-law, they would have help around the lodge and in the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 119gardens. When the daughter-in-law was treated well and got alongwith her husband's family, she gradually assumed the position of
"one of the family" with the arrival of children. She inherited thelodge, gardens, and lodge property. After a number of years ofharmonious residence together, the mother-in-law would say that herdaughter-in-law was just like a daughter and would begin to call her
"daughter" and the daughter-in-law would address the mother-in-lawas "mother." This change in terminology was based on commonresidence, common interests in ceremonial bundles held by herhusband, and lodge inheritance. There was not, however, a corres-ponding change in terminology for the husband's father, brother, orsister. Grandpathek-Grandchild ; Grandfather-Daughter-in-LawA child showed somewhat different attitudes and feelings towardthe mother's father than toward the father's father due to the inher-itance of sacred bundles and rights from the latter. Residence wasalso a factor. A child normally saw more of the mother's father, soit was this relative who contributed most to his early training ingames and hunting. The grandfather would make toys for his grand-sons and teach them games. As the children grew older he wouldshow more attention to the grandsons, instructing them in the art ofhunting and warfare although not actually participating in thoseactivities himself. A grandfather might mildly tease his younggrandchildren and they would reciprocate. With age, however, thechildren learned to respect and fear their grandfather (particularly ifhe was an important leader in the ceremonies) and the teasing less-ened.A grandfather might scold one who was lazy or disrespectful andmight even hit one with his cane when they were residents of thesame lodge. The mother's father, due to his position as the rankingmale member of the lodge, was entitled to meat brought in by agrandson married into another household merely by walking up whenthe hunter was entering the village and saying, "We are hungry."Should a child lose both parents, the maternal grandparents mightadopt the child, otherwise the child should be cared for by the paternalgrandparents.A woman classified as "grandfather" all those whom the husbandcalled "father" or "grandfather." The men, on the other hand, dis-tinguished her from their blood relatives by classifying her as adaughter-in-law. She was treated with respect, and teasing wasimproper. She was expected to respect them in return, feed andshelter them, and treat them at all times with kindness. The penal-ties for those who are unkind to the husband's father are well illus-
120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194trated in numerous myths. Women who were kind to their husband'sfather were beheved to have good luck all through life.The grandparents' roles in the preservation of the tribal traditionsand cultural heritage were important. It was considered proper toshift the physical responsibilities to persons of middle age, allowingolder people more leisure time. Thus, while the father was engagedin warfare, hunting, or preparing for ceremonial feasts and rites, andthe mother and her sisters were busy in their various economic,social, and ritualistic enterprises, the grandparents were free to teach.It was the pattern of the culture for the younger people to seek outthe knowledge and skills possessed by the older people, particularlythose of their own households. In return, the society offered manyrewards to those possessing unique skills and knowledge. It seemedto this writer that Hidatsa interest in the history of their tribe and itsinstitutions is not unique among the older people today.Much of their culture was transmitted through purchase fromthose of the previous generations who had bought from their elders.Thus, arrows were made only by those with ceremonial rights inbundles carrying arrow-making songs; pottery was made by thosewith bundles associated with Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies ; basket-making was practiced by those with Holy Women rights; fish, eagle,and game traps were controlled by those with Black Bear rights;and buUboats and earth lodges went with River bundles. Sincethese skills were related to the principal bundles from which theoriginal rights were given, there was an aura of sacredness aboutthem. A person wishing to learn to chip flint and to make aiTOWscould buy the rights and receive the instructions from those withthe sacred bundle or he could buy the rights from one who had boughtsecondary rights from the bundle owner. In practice, it meant thata young man would go first to the people of his own household,generally a maternal grandfather, for instruction and training. Thesame rules would apply to a woman wishing to obtain the knowledgeof pottery making. One did not have the right to make those thingsor perform those rites which were privately or group owned withoutfirst getting permission. Thus, much of the knowledge which oneacquired during his or her lifetime, often at a high price, was sharedwith the younger generations, while the goods received in paymenthelped to sustain them in old age.Mother-in-Law-Son-in-LawA man classified as "mother-in-law" aU those females that his wifeand his own brothers' wives classed as "mother," "father's sister,"and "grandmother." In theory, all of a woman's sons-in-law'sextended "older brothers" and "younger brothers" were also "sons-in-
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 121law" but ordinarily these extended kin were not so recognized. Therewas complete avoidance of recognized sons-in-law, but the limits towhich the taboo extended were largely determined by the associationsof extended "brothers." The avoidance taboo would invariably ex-tend to two households, the wife's mother's and the wife's father'ssister's, but generally there were four or more lodges in which the son-in-law could not carry on a conversation with the older females.When residence was matrilocal, a separate section on the left side ofthe lodge was prepared for the son-in-law and his wives; here he wasexpected to stay when the "mothers-in-lav/" were in the lodge.Should they meet in the entrance to the lodge or out in the village, theywould turn their heads and appear not to recognize each other. Un-less the son-in-law's section was ready when the marriage was com-pleted, the newly married couple would live with the husband's peopleuntn it was ready. However, if the family was in lu-gent need of ahunter, quick work was made of finishing the repairs. When residencewas patrilocal, the taboo caused little inconvenience to the husband.He was free to move around his mother's lodge at will, help himself tothe food at the fireplace if the women were away, clutter up the lodgewith his riding equipment, and have friends in at any time. In hiswife's lodge he had none of these privileges. Conversations wererelayed through the wife as intermediary.The son-in-law could break this taboo by taking a scalp in warfareand bringing it to any one of the numerous women classified as
"mother-in-law." One of the women then would carry the scalpduring the victory dances and proclaim her new "son" so all could hear.Then aU would know that he no longer avoided her. He would ad-dress these "mothers-in-law" thereafter by the same terms as his wifedid. Scalps were never brought to the mothers-in-law unless one wasliving in their lodge. To have done so while living with his own peoplewould have been grounds for much teasing on the part of his jokingrelations. They would say, "That foolish fellow must not trust hiswife; perhaps he is getting his mother-in-law on his side." Otherswould say, "Perhaps he is going to give up his wife and marry hismother-in-law. " In any event, the taboo was never broken downwhen the man was living with his own people.The scalp was a mark of prestige; to give it to the wife's householdinstead of his own was to bring extreme honors to them. They woulddance and sing his praises. Apparently the wife's family did not ex-pect the first scalp. When, however, he had taken scalps on severaloccasions without honoring the wife's people, his omission was viewedas an insult. Their joking relations would say "We heard that yourson-in-law won great honors the last time he was to war but I don'tsuppose you would know anything about that," or "We heard he
122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194meant to bring you a piece of it but a White man gave him a bottle ofwhisky for it." Repeated successes in warfare without recognizingthe mother-in-law often led to divorce. Giving the mother-in-lawa scalp was no guarantee that the marriage would be successful, butit did help in changing the status of the son-in-law in the wife's house-hold. He could help himself to food when the women were out, bringin his friends, and do about as he would in his own household. Al-though his status was somewhat improved after children had come,there was still general avoidance unless the taboo was broken in theabove manner. Father-in-Law-Son-in-LawAlthough the taboo was not as extreme in the case of father-in-law and son-in-law, it was not considered proper to sit around andvisit. If they had business to transact, they discussed it and thenseparated. The same reserve prevailed through hfe and was notmodified by long residence together or the presentation of scalps tothe mothers-in-law. The avoidance was not as strict when thefather-in-law and son-in-law were of the same clan, for there weremany situations when cooperation outside of the household wasnecessary. Unlike the Mandan, there seems to have been no effortto get a son-in-law of the same clan.Brother-in-Law-Brothkr-in-LawThis was a relationship based on marriage. One classified asbrothers-in-law the husbands of "sisters" and the "brothers" of one'swives. In terminology and behavior no distinction was madebetween the two groups. There was mutual assistance betweenthem. Brothers-in-law generally hunted together and if one wasunmarried and hving in the same lodge, they would pool their meatand bring it to the same household. The wife's brother wouldbring back horses from raids and give them to his sister for herhusband's use to show respect for his sister's husband who was hunt-ing to provide for the family. Assistance was interpreted in terms ofthe welfare of the sister's household since it was not considered properto give a brother-in-law horses when residence was patrilocal.There was usually a certain amount of rivalry between them inceremonial matters. Although a woman would assist either a brotheror a husband in obtaining sacred rites, a man would receive assistancefrom a brother and a sister but never directly from a sister's husband.When the wife had small brothers whom she was caring for in thelodge, her husband frequently assumed the role of a "father," pro-viding for the younger "brothers-in-law's" physical needs and instruct-ing them in sacred matters. If a man was mean to his wife, beatingher too severely or accusing her falsely, brothers-in-law were likely
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 123to interfere, especially if the man was not a good provider or wasnot the owner of important sacred bundles. The Hidatsa have asaying that "a woman won't take much abuse from her husbandif she has many brothers." Other times one will hear them say,
"She was saucy to her last husband too because she had manybrothers and now she is a widow again." Nevertheless, a husbandcould make certain demands of his wife that even her brothers wouldnot question. Should her husband whip her for failing to performher duties, the brothers were unlikely to do anything about it.Sister-in-Law-Sistek-in-LawIn this class are the females the husband calls "sister" and thewives of those men she addresses as "older brother." It was cus-tomary to distinguish age by classifying the spouse of a younger
"brother" as a daughter-in-law when the difiference in their ageswas 10 years or more. There was mutual assistance between sisters-in-law, irrespective of their residence. They normally were indifferent households but, in any instance, helped each other, workingon robes, or cm'ing meat while out with hunting parties. When aman prepared food and goods for a ceremony, his principal assistantswere his wives and his sisters. They shared the confidence andrespect of a common man. Returning from the hunt, each shouldbe cared for; finding his wife out visiting, he would go to his sister'slodge to eat. Brother-in-Law-Sister-in-LawA woman classified as brother-in-law all males her husband classifiedas "older brother" and "younger brother," and the husbands ofwomen she classified as "older sister" and "younger sister." By theextension of the kinship system, a female had many brothers-in-law and a male had many sisters-in-law. By the operation of thesororate and levirate, all of a woman's "brothers-in-law" were poten-tial husbands, and all of a man's "sisters-in-law" were potential wives.Rarely, however, did a blood brother assume the duties of a deceasedbrother, chiefly because he was usually already married into a dif-ferent household. If he was getting along well there he would belikely to invite trouble since jealousies would be sure to arise. Asingle man would often be teased by his joking relatives, but if hewas attached to his brother's children more than to some youngunmarried woman he would usually take his brother's widow inorder to provide for the children. It was usually a more distant
"brother," however, who married the widow. Instances of marriageto a deceased wife's younger sister were even more rare, chieflybecause seldom were any available. If the family intended to have
124 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
sisters marry the son-in-law, the marriages were akeady completedbefore the death of one of the sisters. It was common occm^rencefor two brothers actively engaged in warfare together to promiseeach other and their wives that, in the event one brother was killed,the other would marry the widow and care for her children. Thenfriction rarely developed between the two households.A brother-in-law would tease his sister-in-law a great deal, oftencarrying the teasing to the point of vulgarity. He would accuse herof love affairs with decrepit old men or little boys and ask her whenhe could take her out. Often when the husband could not get awayfor a hunt planned by a few households he would send a brother inhis place to look after his wife, hunting and butchering for her.Supplying a wife for a brother to use in a ceremony or age-gradepurchase was a common occurrence. Cooperation between brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law in ceremonies was the usual practice sincea man making these purchases would have the assistance of his wifeand his brothers as well as his wife's sisters.Friend-FriendThis was a relationship prevailing between two males or twofemales. The selection was made by the individuals themselvesand was of an informal nature. They would play together. Men inlater years hunted or went to war together. The only bond was acommon liking for each other. A list of a dozen or more sets offriends showed that rarely were they of the same clan. Age and com-patability seemed to be the basis for these associations. It was ofcommon occurrence for two male friends to marry two girls who werefriends or for a man to marry two girls who were close friends.Joking Relative-Joking RelativeThis is a relationship between related kin with a difference inthe degree of teasing depending upon the relationships between theopposing parties. The term "joking relative" applied, in descendingorder of activity, to persons whose fathers were of the same clan;sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law; persons of the same clan; personswhose fathers were of the same moiety or "linked" clans; and grand-parents with grandchildren.It was the right of the "joking relative" to criticize an offender oftribal custom and standards, and one was obliged to accept it in goodgrace. Men would tease one who had less honor marks or had notstolen many horses. Even a member of the village council was notabove criticism. Crows Heart had distinguished himself in warfareand for a number of years had the highest war record of the Mandanand Hidatsa. Still, his joking relatives would tease him, saying that
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 125he was once brave but now that there were no enemies around, he waseven afraid of the snakes. On one occasion he and a number of hisHidatsa inlaws were returning from visiting the Sioux on the Cannon-ball River. They stopped in the shade along the river to eat and rest.While the men were sitting there he looked around and his jokingrelative asked him if he was afraid of snakes. While they were dozing,a bullsnake crawled over his arm. His joking relative saw the snakeand waited for Crows Heart to jump away so that he could tease himbut Crows Heart, pretending to be sleeping, waited until the snakehad crawled half way through his hand and then threw it at his jokingrelative, striking him on the chest. Not being prepared for this suddenturn in events, his joking relative jumped away. Crows Heart thensaid, "Now I see that my joking relative is not very brave. He wentout to war all the time but he never won many honors. When therewere enemies to strike, he must have been somewhere sleeping."The most severe criticism was leveled at one who had been cowardly.A joking relative was expected to save another in danger and failureto do so would have brought down upon the person such criticism thathe would have been ashamed to appear in council or to offer advice onvillage matters. If one was angry at a joking relative and was thepossessor of greater war honors, he could say "That is how I strike myenemies" and administer a severe blow to the other who could not, onpenalty of loss of face, strike back. Often brothers returning from asuccessful war expedition with scalps would search out a joking relativewho had not shown much interest in warfare or had not struck theenemy when out. Seizing him, they would hold him and cut his hairoff, telling him that it was a man who looked just like him that theyhad scalped. Then it was the right of the victim to demand a goodhorse in return.It was the duty of the joking relatives to criticize one who madeimjust claims of bravery or industry and to set him aright. As a rule,the severity of criticism and teasingwas influenced by age. Individualswith a great difference in age criticized and teased each other lessseverely even though they were children of men of the same clan, forone was supposed to show due respect for age. The degree of teasingwas also affected by residence. Those living in the same lodge weresupposed to live together harmoniously; therefore, the more distant
"joking relatives" were the ones who were most active.The importance of the joking relative cannot be overemphasized.No one, from the highest chief to the lowHest orphan, was exempt fromthese relatives. If criticism and teasing were not taken in goodgrace, one was certain to lose prestige. If one resorted to force, publicopinion and, if necessary, the Black Mouths could interfere. How-
126 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194
ever, since the clan should discipline its own members, it seems thatmatters never got entirely out of hand.Life CycleMost social, economic, and ritualistic activities were more complexsets of relationships than was indicated above in the analysis ofgeneral attitudes and behavior patterns prevailing between pairs ofrelatives. Relatives had prescribed duties and obligations for everyimportant occasion in the life of a Hidatsa. Some insight into theirgeneral attitudes and behavior patterns is indicated by tracing anindividual from birth to death. Since no effort has heretofore beenmade to bring together the important events in the life cycle of thistribe, it is particularly appropriate that these specific aspects beexamined in relation to the total cultiu'al setting.BIRTH AND NAMINGIt is rather difficult to get adequate information on Hidatsa beliefsconcerning conception and birth. On inquiry about the physicalnature of conception, informants invariably mention "spirits" enteringthe mother's body, causing a baby to develop there. Although theyfrequently cite instances of virgins giving birth to babies who grewup to become culture heroes, they consider humorous any suggestionthat unmarried girls of recent times gave birth to children withoutactual intercourse. On the other hand, they recognized that allmarried women did not have children.The spirits destined eventually to become human beings, like thosethat will become animals and birds, were believed to inhabit certainhills in their traditional territory. Three of these hills are remembered:one is near the mouth of Knife River; a second is on the Heart River;the third is southwest of Dickinson, N. Dak., and east of the LittleMissouri River. Each hill was believed to be an earth lodge in whichthe babies lived and were cared for by an old man. Women would puttoys at the foot of these hills if they wanted children. It is of signifi-cance that in the memories of my informants, only the hill near theLittle Missoiu:i and farthest from their villages had been visited bychildless women. Matthews (1877, p. 51) indicated that men wereaccustomed to fast at these hiUs when desiring a son. If this was true,the custom has fallen into disuse. According to native beliefs,children desiring to leave the hill and be born, must crawl across aditch within this earth lodge on an ash pole. If they succeeded inreaching the opposite side without falling into the ditch, they would bebom into the tribe soon afterward. One time when Cherries-in-Mouth, Cuts-his-Hair, Sitting Elk, Puts-His-Hair-Away, and Crows
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 127Heart were out on the warpath under the leadership of Cherries-in-Mouth, Crows Heart wanted to go onto the Baby Hill near the LittleMissouri to look around, but the leader said, "We came out to look forour enemies, not babies' tracks." Shortly afterward, however, theentire party went to Buffalo Home Butte nearby to see if the buffaloeshad been coming out of the cave recently. They made offerings ofeagle feathers to the buffalo spirits residing in the hill and asked thebuffaloes to come out faster, for the number on the earth was not very-great at that time.It was believed that the tracks of the little babies and buffaloescould be seen under the rocks and in the caves of those hills wherethey were believed to reside. Some people would claim that theycould remember things before they were born. Sitting Elk ^* of theHidatsa and Standing Bear of the Mandan would claim that theycould even remember each other when they lived in the Baby Hill.Standing Bear was in the lead and they came to the washout with asmall pole as a bridge. Standing Bear crossed safely but Sitting Elkfell from the pole after he had reached the opposite side, so he wasdelayed. Standing Bear was born first. Although they were born ofdifferent mothers. Standing Bear would call Sitting Elk his "youngerbrother" for they had started out of the hill at approximately the sametime. Standing Bear said when they grew up, "I crossed the bridgeand went on but Sitting Elk nearly fell in. That is the sign that I amgoing to live to an old age but Sitting Elk will not grow old." Stand-ing Bear and Sitting Elk called each other brother even though theformer belonged to the Mandan Tamisik clan and the latter to theHidatsa Waterbuster clan.The concept of the origin of humans from spirit homes was extendedto other animal life as well. There were numerous Buffalo Spirit homeswhere offerings were made for the propagation of the big mammals.^*From the ceremonial myths believed to be of Awatixa village origin,it appears that they, unlike the Hidatsa and Awaxawi, thought thatthey came from the sky in contrast to the other groups who tell of thefirst settlement of the earth from people coming from underground.Sometimes a person would say that he came from above when he wasborn and that, when he died, he would return to the land above.Then the people would say that he talked just like an Awatixa.Frequent reference is made in the sacred myths to former existence inthe sky. A common theme of these myths is that one's formerexistence will be revealed by visions. The Hidatsa also believed thatthe spirit babies would play with sticks and were so rough that someH He had a NaxpikE bundle but was obliged to leave the village after he murdered Edge-of-Rock. aclansman." See Earthnaming Rites, pp. 433-436, for these spirit homes.
128 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
would be hit on the base of the spine producing a purple mark whichwas distinguishable for several months after birth.If a pregnant woman ate the pancreas, or kiUed snakes or anyanimals, she would have a difficult delivery. She should not eat orlook at a rabbit or the child would have a split lip. If she ate eggs, itwas believed that the child would awaken early in the morning andkeep the people awake. She should not quarrel and become angry orthe child might come too soon and die. If she braided grass and madea ring of it, or picked up a ring of braided grass, the male child might bedeformed. It was believed that working in the cornfield was good fora pregnant woman, for the baby would then be strong but not so largeas to make delivery difficult. The older women would tell theirdaughters having their first babies that if they kept busy and did notthink about it, the delivery was always easier.Kegardless of residence, it was customary for a woman to give birthto her first baby at her mother's lodge assisted by her female clans-women. Various household rites were employed when delivery wasdifficult. If delivery was further delayed, her husband's sister andmother were expected to contribute assistance. If their measuresfailed, certain women having both sacred rites and practical knowledgerelating to childbirth were called in and paid to assist the women.The otter was believed to possess the supernatural power to makedelivery easier. Other doctors used black root, scrapings from theturtle, or pulverized rattlesnake rattles taken with water to inducedelivery.It was the maternal grandmother's responsibility to care for thechUd, and bury the placenta or wrap it and place it out of the reach ofanimals. The child was wrapped in soft tanned hide and placed in acradle made of buffalo hide. The household group made the cradle,the men providing a young buffalo's hide which the women tannedprior to cutting and sewing the parts together.The chUd was taken from the cradle twice a day to be washed andcleaned. The rites of naming the child were viewed as the formal way ofintroducing him to his father's relatives. Often a child was named bythe maternal grandfather living in the lodge and only a nominalpayment was made for the service. When the child was named bysomeone outside of the household?a "distant" father or father'ssister?it was customary to procure a supply of fresh meat and gardenproducts, take the chUd to the person giving the name, and pay himwith the food. The richer families usually gave a horse also. Thename given was taken from some incident or association with thename-giver's sacred bundle. The person giving the name would firstpray to his or her medicine bundles. When a boy was to be named,one would ask his sacred things to give him good health so that when
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 129he grew up he would be helpful to his people and brave in battle.They would ask that he live a long useful life and be a leader amongthe people, kind to the old, and have much to show for his efforts.One would ask that a girl be industrious and good to her people so thatshe would sometime have a happy home with a good hunter andwarrior as her husband.Prior to receiving a name, children occupied a marginal positionbetween the spirit world and the mother's household. Should theydie unnamed, they were wrapped and placed without ceremony in atree with other unnamed children. From there the spirit left the bodyand returned to the Baby Hill or other place from whence it had come,while the body was thought to be consumed by Sun and his sister,cannibals of the upper world. Only rarely did an individual "know"the hUl or place to which a child returned; this information usuallywas revealed to the child years later during fasting.Birth and naming made the child a member of the mother's house-hold and clan while additional transitional rites between birth and theattainment of adulthood were the means of establishing new sets ofrelationships, some of which were with people outside of the villageand tribe. The naming ceremony also introduced the child to thepeople of the father's clan. The child's position was then completeas far as the immediate parental clan groups were concerned. It wasfurther believed that one's "real" person was not revealed untilfasting had been undertaken seriously. Then one's spiritual fatherwould come to him and enumerate the things the young man shouldundertake to help his people.TRAINING AND CEREMONIAL PARTICIPATIONThe early training of a Hidatsa child was largely entrusted to themother, with assistance from the other females of the lodge. Whenthe mother was ill or died during childbirth, it was not uncommon togive the child to another woman to care for and to adopt. At an earlyage, boys began to receive training dijBferent from that of girls. Boyswere trained in games of hunting and warfare by the older men,especially the grandfathers, of the lodge, or by the younger men of thelodge who were classified as "older brothers." The father's role,particularly as far as it concerned his first son, was likely to be one ofaloofness and distance if living in the wife's lodge. He was expected tohunt for the household and help protect the village from its enemies.Thus his attention was directed toward other matters. He wasexpected to show respect for his son by neither scolding nor punishinghim. When a child was old enough to walk, he was usually in constantcompany with the other children of the lodge and their closest rela-tives of related households. An older brother would look after a
130 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194younger one, seeing that he did not get hurt or stray away, pullinghim back when approaching too close to the horses or when in dangerof falling into an open cache pit. A younger sister would be given intothe care of one of the older sisters of the lodge. Those a little olderwould teach the younger ones games which they had learned fromthose a little older than themselves. Thus the knowledge possessedby the older siblings was passed down to the younger ones. Mostof a boy's economic training came from the maternal grandfather andthe older brothers?less frequently a brother-in-law?while hisritualistic training was reserved for the father and the people of thefather's clan. Except for ritualistic training, most of the culturalheritage was transmitted informally. A girl received most of her train-ing from her mother and the older women of the lodge. Although herown mother was closest to her, as a rule, all lodge females would giveadvice and training directed toward her welfare and upbringing.The household was sharply divided as far as its child-training func-tions were concerned; one looked to the mother's lineage for economicand social training while the father's lineage assumed the responsi-bility for ritualistic training.A boy was discouraged from playing with toys usually used bygirls while, to a lesser degree, girls were not encouraged to play withboys' toys. "Spin the top" was the first game played by very smallboys while the girls of the same age would play with marbles andbeads. Usually the maternal grandfather would make the top andshow the little boy how to spin it. The maternal grandmother orsome other old woman of the lodge would supply the toys for thelittle girls and show them how to string the beads or roll the marbles.Even though men had firearms, the boys had bows and arrows.It was said that a Hidatsa boy grew up with a bow and arrows. Hewas given a bow and blunt arrows as soon as he was able to use them.At first he would use them around the lodge, shooting into the coalsor at targets made of grass set up against one of the lodge posts.Girls of the same age would have a ball to roll and kick. Gamblingwas common and encouraged by the adults. A boy would inviteanother of an adjoining earth lodge to come over and shoot at atarget, usually a stuffed rabbit skin, and the one who hit it wouldtake both arrows. The old men of the lodges would join in thecontest, betting things for their lodge members, and pitting lodgeagainst lodge. It would not be long until the young boys of thesame age were shooting at moving objects with greatly improved bowsand arrows. Wolf Chief said that he was not more than 6 years ofage when he began testing his skill with other boys in the game of
"tied up," one involving shooting arrows into a stuffed bird throwninto the air by some old man. Each contestant would usually have
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 131some old man and older brothers there advising him, showing himhow to lead the moving object so as to hit it. In none of my accountswas there reference to the father's participation in these games.While boys of 6 or 7 years of age were gaining proficiency in theuse of bows and arrows, the girls would play "kick ball" or learn tosew clothing for their dolls. The women would encourage the littlegirls to care for their younger sisters and encourage the boys to pro-tect and look after their younger brothers. Little boys just learningto use the bow and arrows would help the older ones to surroundsmall patches of brush where rabbits were known to stay and to keepthem from running out while they closed in on them. Frequently100 or more children, both boys and girls, would surround a patchof brush to enclose the rabbits. Then the older boys would teachtheir younger brothers how to hit moving targets. According to thereminiscences of numerous informants, this must have been commonwinter sport for Hidatsa children. Each child was entitled to theanimals he had killed, identification of his rabbits being made byspecial markings on the arrows. Returning home with his rabbits,the parents would praise him and say that he would surely be a greathunter and warrior when he grew up. Informants related that theywent out to surround rabbits while still so young that it was necessaryfor their older brothers to carry them through the deeper snowdrifts.Some older person would act as "crier" for the boys and caU throughthe village that the little boys should get their weapons and come outfor the rabbit hunt. Here we see, even in the childhood games ofboys under 10 years of age, elements of the adult social pattern: theorganized age-group with an announcer; the leader; the cooperatinggroup; and the approval of society as a whole, expressed by praisefor those who had demonstrated exceptional skill.Concepts of reciprocal obligations were taught early in life, A boywould get his bow and arrows from his maternal grandfather who,in turn, should be presented with some of the rabbits, gophers, orprairie chickens shot with them. A girl would do favors for her
"grandmothers" who had made toys for her or had taught her howto decorate things with beads and quills. Informants spoke warmlyof these relatives and the reciprocal relationships of their childhood.The discipline of little boys and girls was a household responsibilityand the duty of the older members of the clan. In some situationsthey learned about the police. When word was sent through thewinter camp that everyone should be quiet, for the buffalo herds wereapproaching the river, freedom of movement about camp was oftenpermitted by the Black Mouth police society provided there was nonoise. One informant said that when he was 6 years old he wassliding downhill with other boys and girls of his age when word went
132 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194around that the buffaloes had appeared on the hills opposite and thateveryone should be quiet. The children forgot about this order andbegan to shout. The police appeared carrying their clubs. Seeingthem, the children ran for home for they had been told that the BlackMouths killed people who did not obey their orders and there wasnothing the people could do about it.There were always a number of old women in the village whoencouraged boys to be active so that they would become good huntersand warriors when they grew up. In the fall, when the corn was inthe milk, one of these old women would invite the boys and girls under10 years of age to come to her garden where she had prepared roastedcorn on the cob for them. The girls would stand around the firewhere the corn was roasting while some old man would line up theboys for a footrace to be run to the fire. The girls would shout aswhen someone returned from the war with horses and scalps whilethe boy who ran fastest was praised and told that he would surely bethe first of his group to strike the enemy. Boys were always runningfootraces in imitation of the young men preparing for war. Some ofthese courses were 5 and 6 miles in length. The older men wouldencourage them to race, and commonly bet on their relatives.Girls' training was quite different from that of the boys. Theycared for their younger brothers and sisters when the women were outof the lodge. As they grew older they were taught to cook, care forthe lodge, make and repair clothing, and care for the gardens. Eventhe heavier work in the gardens was performed by the females of thelodge. Although old men too feeble to engage in hunting or warfarewould frequently assist the women of the household in clearing brush,repairing fences, or even hoeing the garden if the work proved toomuch for the women, boys and young men were never permitted toassist. This prohibition was fortified by ritual beliefs that thoseyoung men who performed women's customary duties were morelikely to dream of the Woman Above and become berdaches. Thisresulted in a distinct sex dichotomy of labor. The only commonexceptions were butchering and retrieving wood from the river.Children were taught, when 4 or 5 years old, to respect the sacredbundles hanging at the head of the lodge. They were told by theirclansmen that these bundles were gods and that they should "cry tothese bundles" whenever they thought of them to get good luck. All
"older brothers" were not equally entitled to discipline a younger one.Special rights and obligations were held by those who had shownbravery in war. Age and experience were important, for a boy only2 or 3 years older would teach the younger one all that he knew. An
"older brother" who had been unusually brave in battle would make ita point to watch while going through the village for younger ones who
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGAOTZATION 133were not doing right and scold them. Frequently he was an olderbrother by the extension of the kinship system to include males of thesame clan. Finding the boys playing rough or teasing the girls, hewould seize one of his own clan and duck him in the river or hit himwith a strap saying, "This is the way I hit the enemy." They wouldsay that boys who fought with the girls would not be brave in battle.Older brothers, particularly the mother's brothers, were the ones toprepare the younger ones for their first fasting. The first fasting wascustomarily begun at the age of 7 or 8 years. It was customary fora boy of that age to accompany a brother a few years older to theceremonial grounds and stay with him. Advice and direction wasgiven by a brother who had fasted often. A boy 7 or 8 years oldwould be afraid to attend alone, but it was considered great sport tofast if accompanied by an older brother. Seeing that his son wasmaking plans for his first fasting, the father would take some objectfrom one of his sacred bundles and place it on a stick to be set up infront of his son at the ceremonial lodge. Relatives?father's andmother's?would praise him and call his name as he walked to theceremonial grounds, saying that he would surely be a brave manwhen he grew up. The household would bring presents to the cere-monial grounds and give them to people of the boy's father's clanwho, in turn, would pray for the success of the "son." Small boyswere not expected to stay at the ceremonial grounds for the entire 4days but they were expected to stay for a short time. Usually mostof the small boys had left the ceremony by the end of the first day.On future occasions, they would stay for 2 or even 3 days. By thetime a boy was 15 or 16 years of age, fasting was taken more seriously,for he was then reaching the age when he should be going out on hisfirst war expedition. Fasting introduced a boy to a new set of rela-tives, particularly the "ceremonial" fathers; the prominent men ofhis father's clan.When the boys reached the age of 11 or 12 years, they would runin gangs chasing the girls. The older brothers would criticize theyounger ones for dressing up in their finest clothes and watching thegirls all the time when they should be fasting or caring for the horses.At this age, boys often made a great deal of trouble around the village.Those who took little interest in training for warfare would dress intheir best clothes and loaf around the village or at the trading postswatching for the girls. The girls were taught not to be intimate withthese boys for they would be poor hunters and have no war records.Nevertheless, gangs of boys would watch for guis to catch them alone.It was considered great sport to catch a girl who was being watchedespecially closely by her female relatives. Girls would be scolded forcarrying on an affair with the boys, while nothing was usually said to710-195?65 10
134 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
a boy unless he gave so much attention to the girls that he neglectedother duties. Cases of rape were common. The offender might beseverely whipped by the girl's brothers or the man's sisters might tryto restore good relations by expressing regrets and giving her house-hold a horse or other valuables. The young man would lose face asit was considered cowardly to force a woman into sexual relationsagainst her wUl.It was at this age, when the young boys were getting into mischiefand just before they were old enough to go on war expeditions ascamp tenders, that they joined the Stone Hammer society. At theage of 12 to 15, boys organized and bought the society from the olderboys who were ready to buy the next higher one. As members of theStone Hammer society they were expected to confine their mischief tothose times when the society was meeting. They would announcetheir meetings in advance so that all would hear; then those who failedto protect their food were likely to lose much of it during the night.The society owned a stuffed mouse to which they prayed, asking it tohelp them find the best food. The leader would tie the mouse in hishair before going out on a raid for food. The members would greasetheir bodies to make seizure difficult, paint their bodies with the dis-tinctive society markings, and tie up their hair in a knot. If a lodgedoor was securely barred, entrance was often made down the chainsuspended from the smokehole or poles were removed from the side ofthe lodge. Old people would often place their meat between robes onthe bed so that they would waken if someone attempted to move it.Frequently old men would stay up aU night talking and smokingaround the fire with the meat in a conspicuous place near them toencourage the boys to attempt to slip in quietly and remove it. Thiswas considered good practice for stealing horses when older. Otherhouseholds would set up various traps to warn them that prowlerswere at hand. This was considered good training for entering a Siouxcamp undetected when out raiding horses.When one was caught stealing, his hands were tied in back of himand around one of the large lodge posts. His associates would returnto the lodge where the society had its headquarters to report themisfortune. The society would collect goods and follow the leaderto the lodge where its member was being held prisoner and form acircle around him crying. The old people would scold them severelyfor attempting to steal their best meat. Then the boys would offersome of their goods to free their member. A high price was alwaysset, not expecting that it would be paid, but not infrequently the boyspaid up without dickering. Old women would warn them that thenext time they would keep them tied up longer and it would cost themmore to get their member back. It was understood that if the boys
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 135failed once, they would continue untU they succeeded. When they weresuccessful in stealing from a lodge, the old woman of the householdwould prepare a feast for them. They would smoke the pipe she hadfilled and had ready for them; then they would enjoy the food, singingand dancing while they ate. After that it was considered improper tosteal from that household. Wolf Chief said that during the time hewas a member, he had been in many of the Arikara lodges and all ofthe Mandan and Hidatsa lodges looking for food. This training inentering a lodge undetected was considered good training for enteringan enemy camp at night.A boy was encouraged to fast during all ceremonies that includedfasting rites. At the age of 15 or 16 he was constantly reminded tofast by his "older brothers" if he did not join in the ceremonies. Hewas scolded publicly; even his mother would cry because the familywas poor and her son was not doing anything to help them. Whenthere were a number of boys of approximately the same age in severalrelated households, the bravest and most distinguished older brotherswould frequently select a man classified as "father" who had ledwar parties to take the boys out from ,the village, there to supervise theirfasting and suffering. He would see that they cried to the holy thingsand did not take food or water. He would suggest that the boys cutoff a finger, cut flesh from their body, or be suspended from a tree orbank by means of thongs put through the skin to induce dreams fromthe spirits. Those who agreed were tortm-ed by the man in the mannerthat they chose. He would promise the bravest ones that they couldgo out with the next war expedition.Because of the numerous enemy tribes near at hand, it was necessaryfor the Hidatsa to herd their horses continuously during the daytimeand bring them in at night. Except when snow was on the ground,scouts were kept out beyond the range of the grazing animals. Acommon arrangement was to place the horses in charge of the youngerboys, while those who had been to war acted as scouts to signal incase an enemy war party was discovered. Frequently, several olderboys would take out the horses and train the younger ones. Thoseshowing sufficient sldll in handling horses were invited to accompanywar parties and assist in driving back the captured animals.The most distinctive feature of Hidatsa child training was itsuniformity. Irrespective of the unequal and changing status positionsof the various households, each child had essentially the same oppor-tunities. Some households would have no fathers to whom the boyscould go for ritualistic training; nevertheless, they could attain emi-nence by following the instructions of the older persons of the house-hold. One could acquire the sacred bundles and ceremonial rightsowned by a deceased father provided he showed bravery in battle,
136 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 191was industrious, and married well. Nevertheless, a young man wasgreatly handicapped by having no father to whom he could go forearly guidance in ritualistic matters. He was fm'ther handicappedbelonging to a household without an adult hunter, for it never receivedthe same share of hides and could not put up as much goods in theceremonies. Likewise, having no mature male to assist in the cere-monies, the household did not receive many gifts during the cere-monies. Due to the heavy losses of males as war casualties, it wasnot uncommon for a household to be without a male provider forseveral years, during which time the children were growing up, forthe Hidatsa population was composed primarily of women andchildren.Although the products of the community summer hunts wereequally available to all households, as were the animals taken in corralsduring other seasons, they did not always resort to these methods ofsecuring game. The people of the clan would provide their basicnecessities and the women of the household would trade gardenproduce for meat and other things. A boy would frequently stayout of an age-grade society in which he should belong because he feltthat his people could not spare the goods. At the same time, otherboys would take the honored positions because their families werewealthy and showed good prospects of a continuous income fromprominent positions held in the various tribal ceremonies. Deathof a father was a serious blow to a young man's ceremonial ambitions
?
chiefly because one was expected to pay "ceremonial" fathers fortheir advice and, frequently, the household was poor.The Hidatsa say that the best husbands often were those who hadno fathers or became orphans too late to be adopted; they had towork hard to get ahead. The sons of eminent men were the ones tolead the war parties but the poor boys were often the ones to capturemost of the horses. Difference in wealth was reflected in the courseof a young man's interests. One who was poor and felt unable toaccumulate the goods to buy the deceased father's rites, generallyestablished personal bundles based on his visions preliminary to latertribal bundle purchases when he had prospered. The richer boy,while still a relatively young man, would perform the formal cere-monies and obtain the same rites as his father owned. A youngman's interest, whether in warfare and hunting or in rituals, wasusually evident before he had married. This was partially deter-mined by his birth?into a household that either did or did not possessmany rights in ceremonies. In either instance the com'se followedto attain eminence was difficult and exceedingly competitive.A young man usually received his first serious training in the hard-ships of warfare and hunting at one of the formal ceremonies which
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 137included fasting and torturing as a part of the rituals. By partici-pating with the household furnishing the goods and horses as giftsto the ceremonial fathers, one could enhance the status of the personputting on the ceremony. The demands were so great that onlythose who were married could initiate a ceremony. However, anyyoung man (more particularly, those classified as "younger brothers")was obligated to put up goods and to fast whenever a ceremonyinvolving fasting was being given. The distinguished war leaderswould come to watch the young men and to observe their responseto hunger and pain in order to get only the most promising ones fortheir war parties.It was considered a great honor to be invited to go out with thehigher-ranking war leaders. Parents discouraged their sons fromaccompanying those leaders with poor reputations. Boys who werealert, good runners, and ambitious were soon invited to go alongwith war parties to serve as camp tenders. They were expected tocare for the fires, bring water, and do the cooking. If there weretwo or more boys along, the leader would observe their responsewhen camp duties were assigned them. Should he need a greenbranch to hang sacred objects on and there were four boys in camp,at his request all four were expected to jump up and bring the brancheven though one could do it. Boys knew that they were beingwatched and that those who were lazy would not be invited out againsoon. Returning home, it was expected that the leader wouldpraise publicly those who had shown interest and had obeyed hisorders. As time passed it became more difficult for the lazy boys tojoin war parties under the more successful leaders.Offensive warfare provided a young man with many opportunitiesto learn skills in locating horses and attacking or evading the enemy.There were also opportunities to observe and participate in ritesnot practiced in his own household. The ambitious leaders encouragedfasting by the camp tenders, offering as rewards the opportunity toserve as scouts on future expeditions. At this point in a youngman's training, the father's experiences and training were soliciteddirectly by a son. The father would outline in detail his experiencesin fasting, the dreams he had received, the ceremonies he had per-formed, and his military achievements. He might even "give" hisson those horses and scalps which the former had been promised inhis dreams but which, for one reason or another, he had not yetpossessed. When a young man had reached the point where he soughtadvice in ritualistic matters, the "older brothers" became an assistinggroup, supplying goods, horses, and other necessities as payments tothe father or "ceremonial fathers." The Hidatsa believed a youngman wishing to get ahead should have many fathers praying for him.
138 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Thus, tlie father generally directed his son to other "fathers" andpayments were made to them individually for their ritualistic in-structions and prayers.Even those eligible by the rules of inheritance to purchase thefather's sacred tribal bundles, believed to go back nearly to thebeginning of time, were not exempt from military duties. Everysacred bundle was in some way concerned with warfare even thoughits principal functions were to bring the buffaloes, catch eagles, insuregood growing conditions for crops, or attain other social values. Inthe competition for high status, those who had performed manyceremonies and had publicly disposed of a great deal of wealth werenot expected to have as many war records to show as those who haddistinguished themselves largely in warfare.A girl's position was much different from that of a boy. Sheusually remained a lifelong member of her mother's household,brought her husband there to live, and inherited the lodge and lodgeproperty, including the gardens, when the older female members ofthe lineage died. Her training was in domestic tasks so that she couldmarry a good provider. Her affections and interests were with herbrothers even after they had married and moved to another lodge.She would put up goods when a brother returned from a successfulwar expedition, fast for his success whUe he was away, and have firstclaim to the horses he had captured, even when he lived with hiswife's household, provided she ran out to meet him. She fasted lessthan her brothers, never tortured herself while seeking a vision, andgenerally kept the first name given her for her entire lifetime. She wastaught to avoid the vUlage ceremonies during her menses lest she undoall the rites, and, if on eagle-trapping expeditions or small huntingparties, to report her condition so that appropriate sacred songscould be sung to send away bad luck. There were no organizedpuberty rites but many simple household rituals relating to agriculturewhich she was expected to observe. A girl was trained to become agood gardener and housekeeper, and a skillful tanner and decoratorof hides. It was customary for the household to arrange her marriagesoon after she had reached puberty.MARRIAGE AND THE HOUSEHOLDMarriage did not involve more than a few Hidatsa households atmost and was never a public event. Frequently only the two house-holds of the couple were involved. Courtship was usually carried onopenly and people would see that the couple were showing affectionfor each other. When a girl was a good worker, and neither she northe man had been married before, his older brothers and sisters would
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 139
see the couple together a good deal in the village, perhaps noting thatthe girl had accepted his pemmican at a ceremony, that she was wear-ing his beads, or that when he was away from home herding thehorses or hunting she would pass his mother's lodge several times aday. They would tell their younger brother that he should marry thegirl. Frequently a young man would be reluctant to suggest marriage,fearing that her family would demand more horses than could bespared yet being reluctant to suggest that they elope for fear that herfamily would resent the suggestion and either keep a closer watch onher or marry her to someone else. When the brothers and sisterssuggested the marriage, a young man was free to bring up the matter,knowing that his family would put up horses for him. My informantsclaimed that they never gave any thought to the matter of closerelationship at first, for their older people were quick to disapproveof courtship with one of the same clan or of a too close blood relation-ship.A young man preferred to marry without putting up horses. Hisjoking relatives would be sure to tease him for buying a wife otherwise.However, few households permitted their daughters to marry for thefirst time unless the husband's people delivered the number of horsesdemanded of them. If the girl agreed she would say to him, "It is allright, but I wiU have to ask my mother first."Even though the young man was acceptable, the first thing themother would ask was, "How many horses did he promise us?" Rarelydid a young man offer horses, preferring to get married withoutrelinquishing them. To discourage undesirable marriages, the motherswould tell how hard they had worked to bring the girl up well whilethe young man ran away or never seemed to get any honors when atwar; how he loafed while herding his brothers' horses and had notgiven them good care; how he never showed interest in hunting; howhe slept late every day and never seemed to find anything to do. Ifthe girl still expressed a desire to go through with the marriage and,if necessary, live with her husband's people, the older brothers wereappealed to in an effort to prevent elopement. They would restateall of the young man's faults and if there was still danger of an elope-ment, the children of her father's clan (the "joking relatives") mightparticipate. The girl could persist in the marriage and escape thehousehold's criticism, for "a mother should love her daughter."There was no escape from the father's clansmen's children, however,for they were scattered throughout every Hidatsa village to whichshe might go. Nevertheless, once the marriage was completed, peoplepreferred not to talk about it.If the proposal was acceptable, the woman's household set the dayfor the marriage and the number of horses that would be expected.
140 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The man would inform his household of the number of horses that thegirl's family wanted and his mother's sisters and brothers would meetand decide which horses to give. The man's sister would take thehorses to the other lodge beforehand and leave them. Meanwhile,food was being prepared for the wedding feast. When the horsesarrived, the girl's mother would invite her male relatives and theirfamilies to come for the feast. The sister's older brothers and mother'sbrothers present at the feast were given the horses brought from theyoung man's household; they then gave an equal number of theirown horses to the girl's mother who, on the day of the wedding feast,took them to her son-in-law's household, tied them up, and left.The groom's relatives, the household and those whom he classifiedas "brothers" living in other lodges, came to the groom's lodge at theappointed time. The women from the other household, including thebride, came to the groom's lodge with all of the food needed for thefeast and the horses given by the wife's household. The bride re-mained and all of her household left. A robe was placed on the floorfor the marrying couple to sit on. At this point the groom was ex-pected to appear bashful so that his brothers could tease him. Thehusband's relatives passed around food and then began presentingthe bride with goods which were to go to her mother's household. Atthe same time the bride gave the horses to her husband's people.When the exchange of goods was completed, word was sent by thebride to the other household who sent female members over to takethe things away. This completed the ceremony.In this instance, the initiative being with the husband and hisrelatives, residence was patrilocal. Few families were willing torelinquish their females, however, and it was customary to prepare aseparate section of the lodge for the son-in-law and his family, afterwhich a horse and other property were taken to his household with arequest that he bring his wife back to her own household. If the wife'ssisters and their husband or husbands were already occupying thelodge with their wives' older relatives, it was not uncommon to permita younger daughter to take up residence with the husband's people.An ambitious man generally did not like to live in a lodge with hiswife's sisters and their husbands unless the two men belonged to thesame clan.Marriage was as frequently initiated by the woman's household.People who had raised their daughters well would look for an am-bitious young man who was a good hunter and warrior, showedgreat interest in rituals, and was good-natured and kind, to becometheir daughter's husband. When a marriage was planned by thewoman's household, the older women of the lodge would go to thefemales of the other lodge and get their approval even before the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 141
matter was discussed with the prospective husband. Once theproposition was agreed to by the females of the two households, theman's older brothers were instructed to go to him and break thenews that his people wanted him to marry the girl. The older brotherswere selected since one was expected to obey them and because theywould be assisting in supplying the horses and goods for the wedding.When the initiative was with the girl's people, they would indicatethe number of horses that they would put up. They selected theday for the wedding, took the horses and food to the husband's lodgeand returned for the presents given by the husband's relatives. Afew days after the ceremony, the wife's brothers took a horse, gun,or other things used by a man in hunting and invited him to moveover to their mother's lodge.Frequently a man was poor and had few relatives to assist him incompleting the marriage ceremony, particularly when he belonged toa small clan. Several informants referred to the marriage of TwoShields whose close relatives had all died years before. He had livedfrom lodge to lodge while a young boy. When he was old enough togo out hunting, he would volunteer to go along at every opportunity.There was a household that had four daughters. They had beenbrought up well by their people and never ran around with the boys;instead, they had the reputation of being good workers and kind tothe old people. Their parents talked of marrying two of them toTwo Shields. Informants were not sure why Two Shields could nothave the other two daughters as well but they thought that thehousehold wanted at least two sons-in-law to help them. When thematter was discussed with Two Shields, it was agreed that he mustnot ask for the other sisters or have an affair with them.Concerning this marriage Crows Heart said:Two Shields was not good looking; sometimes he acted queer and did not seemtoo bright; he didn't take much interest in rituals and sometimes he did not evenseem to respect those things; sometimes he would steal and once his clansmenbeat him for taking things. But he was a good hunter and liked to go out hunting.It seemed that even though he was not too bright, he did understand the habitsof the wild animals.When the people heard that Tucks In wanted to marry his daughters to TwoShields they said, "We think you are foolish to give your daughters to that man,"and Tucks In replied, "You people do not know it but I want to eat meat; thatis why I want to give my daughters to that man. I know he dees foolish thmgsand does not care about the holy things but he is nevertheless a good hunter."So Tucks In and his wife gave two of their best bufifalo horses to Two Shieldsand he married the two girls and came to Tucks In's lodge to live. Since TwoShields was an orphan and had no regular lodge he did not put up anything.Tucks In had two sons and they would go out hunting and bring in all the meatthat the household could use. The family treated him well for he was a greathelp in getting meat and they did not want to lose him. It was a%ood place to
142 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194go visiting. There was always plenty of food, for Two Shields hunted and thewomen worked hard in the gardens.People were soon saying that Tucks In was a great man for he was very generous;whenever one went to that lodge, he would find it full of their relatives. Thewomen were busy all the time tanning robes to sell to the trader to get guns andammunition for Two Shields and his two younger brothers-in-law. One time hefound some stray horses and gave them to his father-in-law.Two Shields was such a good provider that Short Bull offered him his daughternamed Spotted Woman. Then Two Shields had two lodges to provide for andTucks In's relatives didn't come so often. He would stay at one lodge for a shorttime and then he would move over to the other lodge. When hunting, he would takethe meat to the lodge where he was living at that time and the women of that lodgewould take part of it to the other family. But the lodge where he lived would getthe greater share. If either family had objected to the arrangement, it wouldhave got no meat.He left Spotted Woman because her family was not satisfied with the arrange-ment. If the family had wanted him bad enough they could have given himanother horse and asked him to come back but I guess they were glad to be rid ofhim for they had another man in mind.Although Two Shields was a good hunter, he was not too smart. One time theFort Buford band was up near Poplar hunting and the men found a gray marethat was so wild they could not catch her. Two Shields threatened to kill her butthe older men who understood the holy things said, "You must not kill that horse;it may be that she comes out of the earth and goes back in again when she hasenough to eat. That is why her mane and tail are so long. Horses are holy. Ifyou kill her, she may bring you bad luck."Two Shields did not believe that so he waited for her at a waterhole and killedher. The people said that he would surely have bad luck. More than twentyyears later, after the people were put on the Reservation, Two Shields, whilemowing hay, was cut on the foot and bled to death.It was not uncommon for a family to attempt to marry their girlsto men who were already married and had families. If the twohouseholds were related and the women were of the same clan, thispre^^rranged plan was often very satisfactory, particularly when ashortage of eligible husbands existed. This arrangement was oftenmade between related households so that each could have the servicesof a good provider. It was less likely to be more than a temporaryarrangement when the second household was not on intimate termswith the other one. Then each household would try to outdo theother and in the end one would become tired of the arrangement.Owing to the greater risks taken by males in warfare and hunting,adult females greatly outnumbered the males, often 2 to 1. Monogo-my was rare. Divorce was common. When there were children,families were less likel}^ to break up. While maldng this study, theHidatsa said that Wolf Chief was one who had more than the usualnumber of wives. Wolf Chief enumerated his various marital venturesand seemed proud of many of his conquests. His only regret was thatwith so many wives, he was childless in his old age. The variety of
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 143ways in which he obtained a spouse and the complexity of his maritalrelations are given below in his own words:When I was 18 years old and single I had a dream of four frames surroundingmy father's sacred bundles, the outer one being old and broken down. I remem-bered my dream and told my father how I saw willows in a circle like the fishtrapand that there were four concentric circles with the outer one broken down. Hesaid, "I often think of the way that you and your friends play here in front ofthese skulls '* and now this dream has been given to you by these 'grandfathers.'It means that you will give the 'walking' ceremony four times and make yourwives 'granddaughters' of the buffalo bulls." It also means that you are goingto live to be an old man for the last circle of sticks is old and broken down."I thought that I would have my wife "walk" with the buffalo when I marriedand then I would surely have a long life. While the other young men of my agewere out looking for the enemies, I used to dress up and go out through the villagelooking at the girls; but one day the enemy came to the village and I thought thatthis time I will surely have to fight. I went out and, being brave, I was to thefront chasing the enemy when one man turned and shot my horse, killing it.When the fight was over all my "fathers," the men of the Waterbuster clan, wereproud of me because I was so brave and sang the honor songs.When I came back to our lodge, a girl stepped up in front of me and I askedwhat it meant. She asked where my bed was and I showed her. I felt bashfulfor I was only 18 at the time. Her name was Different Snake; she had beenmarried and was separated from her husband. She said "You are not supposedto go out tonight."Seeing us together at my bed, my mother came over and said, "Will you wantany supper? It seems that I have a daughter-in-law." Different Snake saidthat we should go to bed so she took off my moccasins and leggings. When shecame near me I was not bashful any longer and possessed her. In the morningmy mother got up and prepared breakfast for us and we sat together on a robeshe spread for us. When it was daylight I was bashful again and did not talkmuch with Different Snake.I did not love her for she had come to me without being asked. I was fond ofanother girl who had not been married so 1 thought as I sat there eating my break-fast, "I will go out and stay away for a while; it will be better to separate fromher."I went out and did not go back for 4 nights when I heard that she had left.While I was out I met the girl I Uked and she said that she had heard I was married.I told her I did not like Different Snake. She told me that I should go back as Iwas married but I told her that I would not. I kept seeing her and 3 nights laterI got her to come with me to my mother's lodge. She was Brown Blossom, aMandan. The families exchanged presents after she came to live with me.Now that I was married, I thought that I should give the "walking" ceremony.I thought that Brown Blossom was quite young and might not obey me so Imentioned the matter to my father. My father said, "We will tell your motherabout it and she will advise you. Since you have really promised, you should notback out. When your mother comes in we will have her explain it to your wife,also to your mother-in-law, and it may be that they can persuade your wife tohelp."
w The Waterbuster clan bundle. See pp. 467-473 for the rites." The Painted Bed Stick rites. See pp. 451-463.
144 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The women all agreed to it, thinking that it would make me a good husband;then my wife would be with me always and we would have a good living. Mywife's brother said, "It is a great thing for it is hard to do. If he puts you in theceremonies that way, it is like giving you to the gods. Then the gods will takegood care of you. You must not be bashful or refuse the holy men for they aredoing that for your welfare."When everything was arranged between my wife's relatives, I talked to herabout it, telling her how much I wanted to give the ceremony and have her"walk" with the gods and become a "granddaughter" to my fathers '* but thatI hated to ask her. She immediately replied "It is all right; my people haveadvised me to do tliis for you, for then you will stay with me. It will show thatwe love and respect each other and that you want to get along with me and notleave me."My father said to me, "l think this is a good thing you are doing. I had yourmother in the same ceremony and she was always the right kind of woman afterthat. Your wife is old enough to understand and this way you will have a goodhving and she will be faithful to you. If you give it four times as in your dreamsyou will be a great man and have good luck and a good home. You must go ontothe lodge and announce the ceremony saying, 'I am promising to hght the fireand give you the Ught. I promise to make feasts for my fathers all over the world.I want to see my people well fed with enough food for a good Uving.' "Brown Blossom was in the ceremony 2 nights, going to the various holy menand saying, "I will take you out," but each would pray for her in the lodge in-stead of having intercourse with her. My father had told me not to think aboutit if I saw her going out, saying "If you think of your wife when someone takesher out, you will not be successful. When I was doing my part in the sameceremony, sometimes the men took my wife out and other times they gave herthe red sticks to press to her chest. Then when we went to bed I could alwaystell the diflference for it seemed that she smelled good and had new life."I happened to look in the direction of the door and saw that Walking Chiefof my father's clan, the Waterbusters, was taking her out. When they returned,I asked her to go to Poor Wolf, Waterbuster Clan, and he prayed for her. Thenext day she hid and was afraid to go through with the ceremony. I thoughtthat I would not be able to finish the ceremonies; then I would surely have badluck for not finishing what I had promised the gods. I went to a clan brother,Knife, who said, "My younger brother, you do not need to stop the ceremony.All the women married to men of the Prairie Chicken clan are eligible to go inwith you and help you out. So you can use my wife for the next 2 nights."I was angry at my wife for hiding. My people thought that some womenwere afraid of the ceremonies and that I should not beat her. I began seeingIron Woman every day and 5 daj's after the ceremony was finished she told methat my wife was seeing Small Bull. He had gone along when the women werepicking Juneberries and had picked for my wife. I was angry at my wife so Ibrought Iron Woman to my father's lodge without paying her, for she was lookingfor a man at that time. Then I had two wives. After 4 days with two wives,during which time I directed all of my attentions to Iron Woman, the other tookher things and left. I was glad that Iron Woman was looking for a man and hadtold me about my wife's aS'air with Small Bull for, by getting her, my "jokingrelatives" no longer teased me about my wife who ran out on me at the ceremony.So I proved to them that I could get plenty of wives, even without paying horsesfor them.
8 Heretofore she was a daughter-in-law to Wolf Chief's "fathers.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 145While I lived with Iron Woman, another young woman named Folds-her-Robe would watch for me and stop to talk. I liked to have her stop me that wayfor some of my "joking relatives" were sure to see us. This made Iron Womanangry, but she did the best she could to hold me. In a few months I broughtFolds-her-Robe to my father's lodge but I did not have to put up any horses forher either. Then I had two wives who said mean things to each other all thetime. I got tired of their constant quarrehng and used to go out through thevillage looking for other young women. When I came back I would find thatthey had been fighting. I would talk to both of them and try to make peacebetween them for it had not been long since my other wife, Brown Blossom,had walked out and hidden during the ceremony.My mother would keep saying to my wives, "After a while you women willhave children and then you will get along better together."BufTalo-with-Grey-Penis was going out hunting with his wife and wanted meto go along. I wanted to go for he was a good hunter and his wife was my "grand-mother." They came to my mother's lodge and invited my two wives to go alongfor they knew that I would not trust them alone in the village. I got powder andbullets from the trader. I left Iron Woman with my parents for she did not careto go along. We set out afoot, just the four of us, and walked to the mouth of theLittle Missouri where we camped. We hunted up the Little Missouri where weshot elk and cured the meat, drying it over a slow fire. In all we killed five elkand two deer. We made four bullboats of the four elk hides to float the meatand the four of us to Fishhook Village. Before we returned, the women dividedthe meat equally between them. When we reached the bank at the village mywife called her brother. Old Bear, and her sister, who was BufFalo-with-Grey-Penis's wife's sister, and the two came to the river bank. I thought that sincethe meat belonged to my wife, it was her right to dispose of it as she wished, soI took my gun and personal things and went to my mother's lodge.My wife came in shortly afterward with a bundle of meat as large as she couldcarry on her back; what she could not carry she had given to her brother and sister.Bringing so much meat to our lodge made my mother very happy, for my wifedid not have to do that since she had many relatives. My mother set to cookingsome of the meat. Iron Woman was still in the lodge but she did not say much.She was as surprised as the rest of us that Folds-her-Robe had brought us somuch meat. Folds-her-Robe was with me all the time and sat down with mewhen the food was ready but my other wife would not join us. My motherdished out her share and took it to her. When I looked at her from where I sateating with Folds-her-Robe, she would put her head down and would not talk.Then she refused the food, picked up two dry robes she had been decorating, andwent out. After she left, my mother told me that she had heard in the villagethat Iron Woman's people had told her to come back home for Wolf Chief hadleft one of his wives and would do it again for he was not good to his wives.While I had Folds-her-Robe with me, I found another girl that I became fondof so one day I hid myself out in the woods so that I could talk to her. My wifemust have suspected us for she came along and found us talking. When I wenthome she was angry. She turned her face from me that night; in the morningshe would not eat so I went out for a while visiting my friends. When dinnerwas ready, she refused to eat and cried, saying to my mother, "I have been doingthe best that I can for your son, going out after meat, and caring for his things.Now I do not think I can get along with him." Then she picked up her beddingand walked out.
146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194When I got back my mother told me what had happened but I did not sayanything for I knew another girl who had not been married. I liked this BirdWoman very much but it was awful hard to see her alone. Her mother watchedher all the time and never let her go out alone. Her father never paid muchattention to her for while he was caring for this family he was also running aroundwith other women all the time. His wife did not worry for she was caring for, andwas good to, her husband's mother who was old. They had lived together so longthat she no longer paid attention to his love affairs and knew that he wouldalways come back. It was a long time before I was able to get Bird Woman alonewhere I could talk to her, for William Bell was watching to catch her alone totalk to her, too, even though he was also watching for Looking-for-Sweetgrass.At last she learned that I was watching and following her and that I wanted tomarry her. She made it as hard as possible for me to talk to her. One night Imet her and asked her to marry me. She said, "You are married; you don'tneed me." When I told her that I had sent my wife out she said, "I am not afoolish girl; I won't marry you unless you give me a horse."I gave her the horse which she took to her brothers who gave me a poorer onein return. Then she came to my parents' lodge to live. Bell married Looks-for-Sweetgrass. That summer we were out hunting along the Yellowstone for weheard that there were many buflfaloes out there. Because my wife was young,I took my sister along to teach her how to cure meat and hides. I had a goodrunning horse and killed several buffaloes so we had plenty of meat and hides.We were hunting about 10 miles from the Yellowstone and my father said thatwe should take care when skinning the buffaloes not to cut holes in the hides orthey could not be used for bullboats. My father thought that we would needfour bullboats for our meat so my wife and I went out to get the poles. Whilewe were cutting the poles, scouts rode by and called that a small herd was nearbyso I left my wife to finish trimming the poles while I went out for another hidefor the boats.When I came back with the hide, from a distance I saw two people talking to-gether. I discovered that it was William Bell talking to my wife. Then Iremembered that I used to meet his wife before he married her and could havetaken her away from him instead of marrying Bird Woman so I did not worry.When I came back to camp my sister was worried because Bird Woman had notcome back and thought that she might have drowned. She kept looking out andwondering about my wife's disappearance until I told her that my wife was outwith William Bell.My sister said, "She went out after some wood; it is too bad; I thought she wouldbe different from the others."I said to my sister, Brown Woman, "You can divide the meat and bullboats sothat she has half. I know William Bell's wife for I have talked to her before.I do not think it will be very hard to get her to come over here with us."I went to her lodge after dark and lay down close to it so that I could look inand see which side she was sleeping on. When it was quiet inside, I went up andlifted the cover, for their tent was a frame covered with robes. At first she wasstartled. I told her who I was and added, "Your husband is out in the brushwith my wife." That made her very angry. I said, "I do not think your husbandis coming back tonight so there is no reason to be afraid if I come in with you."So I pulled off my clothes and crawled under her blanket and told her to do thesame. My brother-in-law, White-Finger-Nails, who was the brother of BirdWoman, was sleeping in the lodge so we made enough noise to make sure he knewwhat was going on. I thought this would shame him so my wife's brothers wouldscold Bird Woman.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 147During the night Bell came in and, seeing that we were together, he went outagain. In the morning I took Looks-for-Sweetgrass back to my mother's camp.She brought her share of the dried meat with her. Some families were bringingdown their meat with horses but ours was using buUboats. My new wife and Ipainted up and dressed in our best clothes so everyone could see how happy wewere. Others were floating along, too, but we kept a httle to the side of the others.I was singing the Fox Society songs as we floated along but at the same time Ihad my eyes on some other girls. This way I got separated from my family.Hearing a noise, I saw that my new wife and Bird Woman were fighting with bull-boat paddles so we paddled off where Bird Woman could not hit her.When we got back to the village, Looks-for-Sweetgrass gave all of her meatto her mothers, sisters, and brothers. Then she came to me at my mother'slodge. I liked her for she did such fine quill and bead work so I kept her fora year. During that time I again had the 4-day walking ceremony for thebuffaloes. We went through it together and while she was taking the kettlesback after the ceremony was completed, I stopped to smoke with some of myfriends. I caught her standing with White Belly, one of my friends, holdinghands. I said to them, "You two people stand there very pretty," but myfeelings were badly hurt for he was a clansman. I went back home and closedup the door so there was no chance for her to get in. I knew he would take her out.Now that I had gone through the ceremony with Looks-for-Sweetgrass, I wassure that I could get a good wife who had not been married. I found a girlnamed Otter who was the daughter of Red-Buffalo-Cow, the head chief of theNuptadi Mandan. I tried hard to get her, for none of the young men couldboast that they had possessed her. We could see that she warranted that goodreputation; she worked hard and never seemed to want to get away from hermothers to talk to the men. It took me a long time to marry her for she wantedthree horses while I tried to marry her without putting up horses. I tried toget her to love me; I tried to get her to go out with me alone on the prairies.She refused each time I asked her. I could see that her people were not wor-ried for they had confidence that she was not going to elope. At last I had togive in and put up the horses. My brothers and sisters helped me and we hadthe feast at my mother's lodge. Immediately, her family paid me a horse tocome to my wife's lodge to live.Red-Buffalo-Cow was good to me. We were of the same clan and he treatedme like a brother. He would say to me, "Sometime you must invite the oldpeople to eat with you here and then you may become a chief, too." This wasmuch different than in the Hidatsa lodges where the fathers-in-law were not asfriendly. At that time I was strong enough to stand many hard hunting tripswithout eating during the day. I would go out hunting often and we surelyhad a good home. I had two mothers-in-law there. The Government issuedout two guns to each tribe and my father-in-law got one with many shells. He said,"My son-in-law, here is a gun for you; now you can kill all the game you want."He had other daughters; All-Comes-Out was about 2 years younger thanOtter, and Antelope Woman was much younger. One day when Otter was sev-eral months pregnant, my father-in-law said to me "I am well satisfied with theway you treat us, bringing in meat from the hunt and bringing me the candyand goods from the trader. We do not think we can find a better husbandfor our daughters so you can have All-Comes-Out but not Antelope Woman,for it is up to her whom she marries since she has been married before." Itook All-Comes-Out without putting up any horses and was with her all thetime while Otter was pregnant. The baby was a boy; my father-in-law named
148 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194him Standing Coyote from a dream in which he saw a coyote standing lookingout over the land.I slept with All-Comes-Out while Otter was nursing Standing Coyote. Ante-lope Woman's mother and sisters talked of giving me Antelope Woman, too,but I did not learn of that until later. One day I lay in bed with the rear cur-tain raised for it was hot in the earth lodge. I had just come from bathing inthe river and was lying in bed naked. Antelope Woman came around to theback of the bed and said, "I will lie beside this man." I moved over and shecrawled in with me. While I possessed her, my oldest wife lifted the curtainand told us it was wrong so Antelope Woman left. Then I went outside andstayed in the village until late that evening. Otter met me when I came inand said "Why don't you go to your new wife? I saw you in there. You havetreated my younger sister like a dog. You can leave. We are not dogs."I left because it was their lodge. I did not mind so much leaving my wiveseven though Otter had been in the walking ceremony twice with me for she wasnot a blood relative. It was hardest to leave my son. When the other womenheard about it, there was trouble in the family, for Antelope Woman had beenmarried before even though she was the youngest of the three sisters. The familydid not object to my coming to see the boy, for it was not my fault, and then Istayed with All-Comes-Out again. Otter would quarrel with me even though Idid not stay with her since she was nursing the baby. One day she said to me,"Why don't you go back to Antelope Woman and leave All-Comes-Out alone?Antelope Woman may have a disease and then you will pass it on to my sister,All-Comes-Out. We have had plenty of chances to marry. You are not theonly eligible husband around here." That made me very angry so I left Red-Buffalo-Cow's lodge.Two days later my mother said, "Your mother-in-law was here while you wereout; she wants you to come back."I replied, "I do not think I will go back; they made me angry telling me that Iwas not the only man and that the other girl might be diseased."A few days afterward I had my eyes on another girl named Rubs Herself andI thought that I would like to marry her. I stood around near her lodge, tryingto get a chance to talk to her. At the same time. White Belly was watching forher. Then I learned that she had married him. I had met her once alone andtalked to her. I was hurt when I learned that another had got ahead of me.I still tried to talk to her but it was much harder now that she was married. Onedark evening I saw her in front of her husband's lodge and seized her saying, "Ihave tried hard to see you."She said, "You must not do that for I am married now and they might hearyou." Her husband did hear us and came running out so I ran oflf before he couldsee who was with her.It was customary for the men to sit on the earth lodges during the day and watchthe people as they went about their work in the village. I sat down on a lodgewith some of my friends where I could watch White Belly's lodge. I wanted tofind out if she had been beaten. I saw her going toward the bank and met herbetween the lodges. She had been crying. She said, "He found out aboutlast night and has been beating me. The last time he hit me on the shoulder andnearly knocked me down."I said, "You should go to my lodge for he is angry; I do not think he will treatyou kindly now that he knows I have been with you. I think I will treat youbetter than my clan brother, White Belly."
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 149She replied, "I will go along to your lodge if you are not afraid of him. He toldme that if he ever caught me out that way again with a man he would beat me andthe man too."I knew that some men were not very brave and would make trouble when theirwives were stolen. White Belly was always cutting up in the Stone HammerSociety meetings; sometimes when the society was not meeting he would stealthings; he would even carry on with others' wives but I thought he might not bebrave so I said, "If we stay around here, he may catch us or do something foolish.He might treat you even worse than he has and come to my mother's lodge for you.We will run away. I will have my saddle horse hidden in the trees. We will goup to Fort Buford and stay until things quiet down."I asked my mother to prepare me food as I was going to Fort Buford. Next daywhen Rubs Herself went to the place we were to meet, I came down from the earthlodge and met her there. She had a robe along and we put it on the horse and rodedouble, keeping to the heavier timber. She was afraid for she thought that hermother-in-law suspected something. We traveled fast and came to a place in theheavy timber where we stopped to eat. There I possessed her and then we rodealong slowly. Soon someone was riding toward us and I saw that it was herhusband. He pulled her off the horse, whipped her, and even knocked her downand kicked her. At first I intended to fight with him and then I thought the betterof it.She said to me, "Why don't you help me? Don't stand there and look at me."So I said to White Belly, "You came after your wife and now you want to kill her."I knew that I would never fight with him for it was not right for people, particu-larly those of the same clan, to fight. But she was his wife and he had the rightto take her. I knew that people would say bad things of White Belly for takingback by force a wife who did not want to live with him. He put her on the horseand walked, leading the horse. I stood there after they left and did not knowwhat to do. I wondered which of White Belly's joking relatives would say mostto him. I thought that they might say too much to him and that he might evenkill me. Still I kept thinking of that woman but I was consoled to know that Ihad not been entirely unrewarded for my trouble. Finally I mounted and gal-loped toward Fort Buford and Crow-Flies-High's village, arriving there the nextday after sleeping out in the timber. I went to Two Bull's lodge to live, for hewas a close relative of my clan.I had not been there long when I found an eligible woman named Many Growthswho was not married. Finally I saw her alone and talked to her. She said thatshe would marry me but I would have to give her one horse. I visited her a secondtime and then she wanted two horses. I decided to look for two horses but Itried to marry her without giving up horses, telling her I did not have a home andonly a few relatives there. When Two Bulls heard that she wanted two horses heoflFered me two old ones for mine which was a good runner. I gave her Two Bull'stwo horses and her parents invited me to come to their lodge to live. I lived withher in Standing Bear's lodge that summer.The people planned to go farther west to set up the winter vUlage under theleadership of Poor Bull who had had many dreams of the buffaloes even thoughhe had never given the big buffalo ceremonies. The people thought that hewould certainly be able to call the buffaloes close to the village. Since I gavemy good running horse to Two Bulls when I was married, I did not have a horseso my wife and I went back to Fishhook Village to get my gray gelding to usein the hunt. I saw White Belly who was not very friendly for a clansman sincehis joking relatives were still annoying him even though he then had a differentwife. I was just past 30 at this time.1710-195?65 11
150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 104We went as far west as Poplar Creek and learned that there were buffaloes fartherup that creek; so we went there and found a Sioux camp of 400 tipis. Theyinvited us to join them so we traveled along to Sand Creek and finally to WolfMountain where there was a trading post run by Weidman, Bears Arm's brother-in-law. Buffaloes were numerous there so we stopped but the Sioux went on.The White hunters were bringing in green hides for the women to tan at $4 arobe. Our group stayed around the trading post all spring tanning and decorat-ing robes for the trader since the councU had decided to ask permission of the manin charge of the steamboat to send the old people and children back to FortBuford with him. Those of us who went by land did not travel as fast as theolder people. When I got to Fort Buford, I decided to go down to FishhookVillage to see my parents. I asked my wife to pack up some of the dry meatfor them. I left my wife at Fort Buford but it was not because we did not getalong well. I would have gone back to her since she did not want to live atFishhook Village if I had not seen Coyote Woman, a Mandan,Coyote Woman was very beautiful and I decided to marry her if I could. WhenI had seen her a few times she said she wanted three horses. I did not promiseher at once for I wanted to marry her without putting up the horses. FinallyI put up the horses anyway, but my brothers and sisters gave me most of the help.Then her father, Big-Foot-Bull, paid us to come to his lodge to live. Some ofthe people thought that it was wrong for me to marry her for she was of thePrairie Chicken clan. Others thought that it was all right since we came fromdifferent tribes. I got along quite weU with her. She helped me in the walkingceremony and did all she could to help me buy my father's Wolf bundle rites. i'It was not long after we were married that the people went out onto the reserva-tion and we came up here. She died shortly afterward of tuberculosis and thenBig-Foot-Bull gave me her sister named Sweetgrass Blossom who died shortly ofthe same disease. Then he gave me a third sister named Woman and she died.By this time the homes were all established on individual allotments on thereservation. The agency was established at Elbowoods and Indian judges wereappointed to assist the Agent. Then I married Moves Sweetgrass. She hadbeen married to Edward Goodbird; they could not get along so they separated.She came to me and wanted to marry me so I took her. I had been told that noone could get along with her but at that time I was single and could not findanyone else. I thought, since there is no other woman available who will marryme, I will do the best I can to satisfy her. Whenever we went places I boughther nice clothes. At this time there were Squaw Dances, for the old ceremonieswere not given so much, but I did not care to go myself. She liked to go and Ialways gave her permission to go even though I did not go along.She complained that I was stingy. She would say, "When I go to the dances,you should have me give flour, sugar, and calicoes.^" When I go there, I am theonly one who does not give things away." She was so mean to my mothers thatthey stopped coming to see us and I did not like that. At this time I was caringfor George Bassett, who was of my father's clan, for he was ill and poor. Sherefused to care for him and would not prepare my meals for me when I was work-ing in the field.One day she said, "I would like you if you would only give away many thingsat the dances. Then I would carry out your orders."
i? See "The Wolf Ceremonies" for her contribution (pp. 392-433).
?> Wolf Chief had a store at Independence at this time.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 151At that time I was afraid that she would tell lies to the Indian judges at theAgency and they would criticize me. I went to my good friend Major Clapp andsaid, "I am married to Moves Sweetgrass but she does not attend to my cooking.She runs around all the time to the dances. I tell her you do not want the Indiansto dance. She wants to give away all of our things at the dances. She dancesand comes back late. You are the agent and if you say I must keep her, I will."Major Clapp asked me to bring her to the Agency for the next issue of Govern-ment rations. He asked her, "Does your husband refuse to go to dances? Doyou ask him to give away property? When he comes in from work, do you tellhim to cook his own meals? Do you ask others to dance and to take you todances?" Without waiting for her answers the agent said that she was wrong todemand so much and that people should not dance all the time. Then he divorcedus. But the three Indian judges. Good Bear, Sitting Bear, and Black Eaglewanted me to take her back and try it again.I said to them, "I can't. If you want to know her better, you should marry her,yourselves." Then I walked off, for I knew that the Agent was on my side. [Endof Wolf Chief's narrative.]From Wolf Chief's narrative, something of the range of marriagepatterns can be observed. In some instances there vt^ere no riteswhatsoever, the wife moving in with Wolf Chief. In other instancesthere was an exchange of horses and other property. He avoidedgiving horses or enlisting the assistance of his relatives in completingthe marriage whenever possible, and openly boasted of his extra-marital adventures. We note that he avoided marrying those withchildren. He expressed sadness only when separated from Otterbecause of his love for his son, Standing Coyote. AU through thenarrative we see him referring to his dream of a long life promisedhim if he gave his wives four times in the "walking" ceremony to caUthe buffaloes. Having assisted him in the rites, his wives are cast offwith little show of emotion. When he gave the "walking" ceremonywith Looks-for-Sweetgrass, he concluded that his social stature wasso much higher that he could get a better wife and tried to marry awoman who had never been married before, the daughter of a Mandanchief. We see that when Wolf Chief locks Looks-for-Sweetgrass outof his lodge because of an affair with White BeUy, separation is acceptedby both parties. A few years later, however, when Wolf Chiefsteals Kubs Herself, White Belly does not accept the situation andthreatens to kiU Wolf Chief, his own clan brother.He also had his eyes on a captive, while with the Sioux on SandCreek, but was unwilling to buy her from the man who had capturedher because he disliked putting up horses. He did not dare steal her,for he considered that equivalent to stealing a man's horse or gun,which to Wolf Chief was different from eloping with another man'swife. In no instance did the aggrieved man's clan destroy propertyof Wolf Chief's household or clan, for most women with whom WolfChief was involved had themselves been involved in numerous
152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
marital adventures. We see that when Wilham Bell has an affairwith Bird Woman, Wolf Chief bravely moves in with Bell's wife.He is unwilling, however, to defend Rubs Herself from a beatinginfhcted by White Belly because of public opinion which gave a manthe right to take back his wife if he was willing to face the ridicule ofhis joking relatives.We must not infer that Wolf Chief's record is characteristic of histime. Wolf Chief lived in a prominent household with parents whostood high in the estimation of the tribe, for Small Ankles had notonly distinguished himself in warfare but had obtained numeroussacred bundles. His wives were also prominent in various ceremoniesin their own right. Small Ankles had also been honored by beingselected as chief of the winter village. During his youth. Wolf Chiefhad older brothers and a brother-in-law who provided for the house-hold. He usually dressed up and walked through the village when theother young men were preparing for war. His early efforts at fastingwere not very ambitious. He showed so little interest that, at onetime, his father criticized him sharply in public for his indifference tofasting. It was indeed an extreme measure for a father to reprimanda son. By Hidatsa standards, Wolf Chief would not be considered agood son-in-law so we see that most families did not invite him tolive with them.Further understanding of Hidatsa famUy relations is brought outby a study of Bear-Looks-Out's family. He was one of the "villagebuilders" or "protectors of the people" when Fishhook Village wasbuilt in 1845. At that time he was married to Corn Woman, a Man-dan, who had assisted him in purchasing the Mandan Corn Bundleyears before. A few years later he married four girls who had losttheir parents in the smallpox epidemic of 1837 and who had beenraised as sisters by Swan. Bear-Looks-Out maintained their separatehousehold and the five women assisted him in purchasing Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and other ceremonial rites. Bear-Looks-Out wasa good hunter and the women were good workers. He also got manythings for helping in the ceremonies. He would invite in manypeople to eat with him. Corn Woman died first but he preserved theMandan SkuU Bundle which had come from her father. With thisbackground, we will examine the later family life of this household offour sisters occupying two different earth lodges, as related by CrowsHeart:People liked to go to Bear-Looks-Out's lodges for he always had good things toeat. It was not known that the women were not getting along, for their lodgeswere used for the White Buffalo and Goose Society dances and the women wereofficers. When their children were nearly grown and my mother's brothernamed Bears Heart had grown children, he ran away with Bear-Looks-Out's two
Bowrs] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 153younger wives. I can remember that Bears Heart was always chasing afterwomen even though his own wife never divorced him for it. He was my 'ptdwada-todE' and was always bossing me around, teUing me just what I ought to do. Hewould tell me that I should stay away from the girls, for chasing girls would hindermy war record. He would tell me that girls had vaginal teeth that would bite me.He would always bring up the matter of fasting whenever he came to our lodge,and tell me to stay away from the girls and forget about them. My mothers usedto tease him for he was always doing what he told me not to do.Bears Heart was not well-to-do at the time he ran away with Different Sage andJuneberries, Bear-Looks-Out's two youngest and prettiest wives. They had towalk out west to the Crows for he had no horses and his relatives would not help.As soon as Bear-Looks-Out missed his wives, the people of his clan helped himlook for them, for at first they thought something had happened to them. Bear-Looks-Out knew that sometimes they met other men, for it was hard to watchfour wives, but he thought nothing of it as long as they attended to their work anddid not cause too much gossip. That is why he had his clansmen watching forhim. When Bears Heart, my clansman, was missing they knew that he had goneoff with them.My relatives of the Prairie Chicken clan met and put up goods to take to Bear-Looks-Out so that he would not destroy their things or shoot their horses. Severalbrought horses. Then they went to Bear-Looks-Out's lodge and offered to givehim the things but Bear-Looks-Out refused the things saying, "What is this for?"My mothers' brothers said, "We thought you would be angry. Don't youknow that Bears Heart has taken your two younger wives?"Bear-Looks-Out laughed and said, "Why should I get angry? I am gettingold so those younger women don't want me. Take your stuff back and keep it.I am not going to do anything about it. I know those women asked Bears Heartto go away with them."At the time they eloped, a Hidatsa hunting party was on the Missouri aboveKnife River. They decided to cross the Missouri well below their camp so asnot to be seen by the hunters for fear that the Waterbusters in that camp wouldseize the women and beat Bears Heart. They made a raft of logs and put theirclothing, food, and weapons on it, swimming back of the raft and pushing it acrossthe river. In midstream the raft came apart and their things were all lost. Whilethey were sitting on the bank naked wondering what to do, a hunter from theHidatsa camp came along. He was one of Bears Heart's joking relatives. WhenBears Heart told him what had happened, the hunter teased him about it. BearsHeart asked him to ride to the camp and ask help of the Prairie Chicken clan forhimself and of the Knife clan for the women. The people of the Prairie Chickenclan sent word back that they could not help him, even while they were getting thethings together for it was their duty to help their own clan members. BearsHeart was sad when he heard that his clan members, even though they were of theHidatsa and not the Mandan Prairie Chicken clan, would not help him. He wascontemplating returning to Fishhook Village with the women when things werebrought down to them from the hunting camp. The people of the Prairie Chickenclan sent Bears Heart three horses, a gun with ammunition, and clothing, whilethe women of the Knife clan sent clothing and bedding for the women. Theytold Bears Heart not to come to their camp for Bear-Looks-Out's clan relativeswere angry. The three went west to the Crows where shortly afterward DifferentSage was captured by the Blackfeet and became the wife of a chief who appreciatedher fine quillwork. Bears Heart was wounded in the battle but Bear-Looks-Out's
154 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194
relatives who lived with the Crow 21 would not help him so he had to walk backto the camp unassisted after the bleeding had stopped.Some time later, a Crow who had been a good hunter but was then ill wantedraw kidneys to eat. Hearing that Bears Heart was a good hunter but had no fasthorse, the Crow sent his young wife with Bears Heart to get meat. When BearsHeart saw how pretty the woman was, he thought how lucky he was; he could killa buffalo at a distance from the other hunters and possess her while they werebutchering. With this idea in mind, he sent her to a distant point near the woodsand killed a buffalo there. Before he could tie up his horse and begin the butcher-ing, the woman's father and brother joined them, never giving him a chance tobe alone with her. Bears Heart suspected that a trick had been played on him sothe next time the Crow offered to send his young wife with Bears Heart, he refused.The Crow men tease each other a great deal and talk about sex all the time sothey would say, "The next time we go out hunting, we will let Bears Heart takeour wives. Then we will get much fat meat."Bears Heart stayed with the Crow Indians 1 year and then he brought June-berries back to the village. When Bear-Looks-Out heard that they were back,he had his other two wives, the sisters of Juneberries, cook a big meal. Then heinvited Bears Heart to come and eat with him. Some people thought that heshould not go but Bears Heart said to them, "I have to go for he has invited me.I have to die sometime."Three of his friends went with him to protect him if there was trouble. Afterthey had smoked, one of the men said to Bear-Looks-Out, "I heard that youinvited Bears Heart so I came along with him to see whether you were angry orwhether you had just called him in to feed him."Bear-Looks-Out said, "I am not angry at Bears Heart. I was angry at thosewomen because they did not want me any longer and left me. I want you to comehere, my brother,22 whenever you want to smoke."Bears Heart and Bear-Looks-Out were often seen together after that. BearsHeart often called on his former family but he never went there to live again forhis other wife had grown children to take care of her. [End of Crows Heart'snarrative.]Reactions to the loss of a wife by elopement differed with the indi-viduals. One should pretend disconcern, or, when the elopers had re-turned, invite the woman back home and there, after painting anddressing her up, put her on a good horse and take her back to her newhusband. When this was done the woman would cry from shame.Should a man demand his wife back, she should return to him. Itwas considered cowardly to force a woman to come back against herwill. Frequently a man, on discovering that a wife had eloped, wouldset out alone or with a small party of close friends and relatives toraid some adjacent enemy camp. However much his feelings mayhave been hurt, he should conceal these feelings and pretend not tocare. It was believed that the woman's reputation was injured if hereturned with scalps and horses because she could not partake in thevictory celebration with her husband. Since families wanted to marrytheir daughters to men with good war records, one returning as leaderM These were people who abandoned agriculture after the smallpox epidemic of 1837 and joined the Crow.M Men married to sisters are classified as "brothers."
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 155from a successful war expedition was likely to receive many invitationsto marry girls who had not been married and who had good reputa-tions, even before the victory dances were ended.Prominent men invariably had two or more wives. The older oneshad assisted the husband in achieving his ambitions by contributingtowards ceremonial purchases and formal feasts for the older men andwomen. As a man's social status grew, his social obligations increased.Frequently the wives encouraged their husband to get another wifeto help them with their work, in which case the additional wife Uvedwith the household. A man might bring a female prisoner to hislodge to increase the number of his wives or he could marry someonefrom the tribe. Not uncommonly, however, it was necessary to main-tain two or more households because of the objections of the otherwives to moving or abandoning their lodge. Sometimes the newwife was the chief provider for her own old people. A vUlage leadercould not risk his reputation by marrying one who had carried onnumerous affairs with other men. Thus he invariably married ayoung girl strictly trained by her parents. Being past the age whenhe would be offering his wives in the walking ceremonies, he wouldkeep close watch of her and usually enlisted his clansmen and societyto do likewise. He would keep her always as his favorite wife andshould a situation arise when a clansman asked for a wife to take tothe "walking" ceremony, he would give him one of his first wives.Knowing that he was keeping close watch of her and had the aid ofhis friends and relatives as well, it was considered great sport to meether on the sly. He would take her out on hunting trips, on visits toneighboring camps, even on war expeditions, knowing that his jokingrelatives would tease him if they learned of an affair going on behindhis back. If her lover was one of little standing in the village orbelonged to a small clan and had few relatives, he was likely to bebeaten. Sometimes however, the rival was a person of considerablesocial stature in his own right, or even a clan brother. The HidatsastiU tell and reteU the story of Two Tail's and Wolf Chief's quarrel,occurring between 1826 and 1830. Bears Arm's account is as follows:Two Tails ^^ was a great gambler. He would gamble each day at Hidatsavillage on the Knife River. Wolf Chief, who was one of the principal chiefs ofthat village, had three wives, the youngest one being much younger and verypretty. Her parents had married her to Wolf Chief but she liked Two Tailswho was younger than her husband. She would send little boys to Two Tails totell him where he could meet her.Two Tails was getting a good reputation as a war leader after he had givenboth Wolf Ceremonies, was leading successful war expeditions, and was fastingoften. He would gamble all day and then go out to fast for several days. Onetime when he was out fasting. Sun came down and said to him, ''Every morning
" The name refers to two eagle taU feathers. Two Tails was the father of Four Bears, chief at the time ofthe Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851.
156 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
when I come up I see you sitting there. My son, you will be a great man and aleader of your people."One day Wolf Chief learned of the affair between Two Tails and the youngwoman. He became very angry but he did not let on how he felt to anyone.Instead, he organized a war party and went out against the Sioux. He stolehorses and camped near Hidatsa village until morning. They painted and cameinto the village at daybreak, driving the horses stolen from the Sioux. WolfChief drove the horses directly to Two Tails' lodge and called, "Two Tails, comeout and see what I brought. You go out and do the same thing right away."Two Tails knew that the people would call him a coward if he did not go out,for everyone had heard of his affair with Wolf Chief's wife. The people knewthat Wolf Chief was taking his anger out on the Sioux. Two Tails organized awar party and brought back both horses and scalps. His party went directlyto Wolf Chief's lodge. Two Tails called, "Wolf Chief, come out and see what Ibrought back. You go out and bring in only horses; I bring horses and scalps.You go out right away; we will keep this up until the snow comes."Wolf Chief went out again and brought in horses. Then Two Tails went out,killed the occupants of an isolated tipi and brought back scalps and horses. Hestopped at Wolf Chief's lodge and called, "See what I brought. You get onlyhorses; I get both horses and scalps. My father, the Sun, asked me to do thisbut I like gambling better. You have hurt my feelings so you go right out again.If you lose one of your men, we will make war right here."Then he returned to his sister's lodge and gave her the horses. The 10 menruling the three villages ^^ met to devise a plan to prevent bloodshed in the tribeThey decided to take the pipe to Two Tails and ask him to make peace. Theyselected a man of Two Tails' clan to carry the pipe. They found Two Tails at thehead of the lodge with the scalps on sticks. When they put the pipe before him,he asked the meaning of it and his clansman said, "We want you to stop goingon the warpath. It might bring trouble. We want you to smoke the pipe."Two Tails said, "If I light it, my brother. Wolf Chief, will say that I am afraidand want to quit. Wolf Chief started this because he learned I was with hiswife who likes me and sends for me. I did not want to insult her so I went outwith her. Now it seems he wants to get even with me. Take the pipe to himand explain these things to him. If he takes the pipe, then you can bring it to meand I will smoke it. This trouble wUl then be settled."The council picked a man of Wolf Chief's clan to carry the pipe and theywent to the other man. When they went in, Wolf Chief inquired what it meantand the clan brother said, "We fear that there might be trouble, for this rivalryhas gone too far. Two Tails says that you did this because he visits your wifeand that it is all because of your jealousy. We 10 head men have looked into this.You must discontinue this contest or there might be trouble."Wolf Chief repUed, "It is not so; I do not care what he does to my wife; I amnot jealous. I wanted him to do something for the people?be brave and dothings like I do for the people. You men did right coming to me, for now youknow I only wanted to make him a brave man." Wolf Chief lit the pipe andwhen he had finished smoking, the men went back to Two Tails.They told him what Wolf Chief had said and added, "We know that WolfChief is a great leader and is brave. Now you have exceeded his war record.We now have seen what you can do. You are braver than Wolf Chief," SoTwo Tails built up his reputation and was a leader after that, but he no longerbothered Wolf Chief's young wife.
2< Bears Arm refers here to an intervlllage council that was Instituted shortly before to handle problemsconcerning relationships between villages.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 157Many years later after the people moved to Fishhook Village, Two Tails' son namedFour Bears also had a young wife he got after he was far along in the ceremonies.One day Bear-on-the-Water, a Mandan, stole her and took her to a Mandanhunting camp. Four Bears became very angry and threatened to kill everyMandan in the village. They fled rather than attempt to pacify him with goodsand horses. He called the Black Mouth society and liis clansmen to go to theMandan camp with him for his wife. They went to the camp prepared for war.He went into the tipi where she was hiding, dragged her out by her hair, and beather for leaving her child who was, according to Four Bears, ill at the time and hadno one to care for him. He jabbed her with arrows and beat her with his bow,daring the Mandans to come to her rescue. As the party left the camp, a clans-man named Poor Wolf who was also leader of the Black Mouths at the time,killed a valuable stallion belonging to Bear-on-the-Water's brother. MovesSlowly. Most of the people did not approve of Four Bear's action ; they consideredit unworthy of a principal chief. Poor Wolf was in an embarrassing situation,for, only a few years earlier, he had stolen a Mandan's wife and nothing was doneabout it. Even Four Bear's best friends thought he had given a very poor argu-ment for taking his wife back, since the child had several mothers in the lodge tocare for him. [End of Bear Arm's narrative.]The position of the older wives in the household was quite differentfrom that of a man's young wife. The older ones were generally theowners of the lodge and the household equipment, the associatedgardens, and many of the horses which they had inherited from theirmothers and grandmothers within the maternal lineage. They hadassisted the husband in his ceremonial activities, prepared goods tobe given away on numerous social and ceremonial occasions, hadacquired much knowledge of sacred lore while assisting their husband,had borne him children, had prepared feasts for the older men onorders of the husband, and had "walked" with the husband's "fathers"during age-grade purchases or certain ceremonial performances.They had come to take each other more or less for granted.Men were, in general, afraid to have love affairs with a woman whohad participated often in the ceremonies with her husband. Theywere even more reluctant to marry her if the husband died. Widowsfrequently pledged publicly during the funeral rites not to remarryand were not asked to marry thereafter. Women who had obtainedconsiderable knowledge of the husband's sacred rites were viewed assacred and, therefore, potentially dangerous. This avoidance appliedto all men except the deceased man's brothers or those with identicalceremonial rights. When no vow was made during the husband'sfuneral, some man might desire to marry her. Those not acquaintedwith her husband's ceremonial rights were said to be foolish to marryher. There are many traditional accounts of those violating the ruleby marrying the widow of an important man, only to go insane, blind,or die soon afterward. Hence there were generally a few olderwidows in most households.
158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The younger wife rarely remained a widow very long. She hadtaken little or no part in her husband's ceremonial purchases andritual activities, and it would have been considered foolish for herto vow not to remarry. The men were not afraid of her for she wouldhave little knowledge of her deceased husband's sacred lore.From the foregoing accounts we see that marriage was always asecular activity. The bride's household, expressing their socialstatus by demanding horses or other property, tended to eliminatesuitors who came from poor and low status households. The return tothe groom's household of an equal or greater number of horses andother property expressed the bride's family's estimation of the husbandand his household. Strictly speaking, marriage involved only twoclans, that of the husband and that of the wife. The husband's fathermight speak for his wife's relatives, once they had reached a decision,but his relatives had no part in the ceremony; generally they did notattend and under no circumstances would the people of the father'sclan put up horses or contribute to the feast. This attitude on thepart of the people of the father's clan is consistent with a broadercultural pattern that "fathers" and "father's sisters" receive giftsand give "blessings." The Hidatsa did not consider marriages ofsufficient ritualistic importance to enlist the aid of the father's rela-tives. The mother's relatives, the members of her clan, were a man'sprincipal cooperators and participants. The maternal grandmothers,mothers, sisters, and brothers put up the horses and other propertyand welcomed the new daughter-in-law into their household. Itwas this group who made the arrangements with the bride's relatives.Although the bride's father might prefer a different young man anddiscuss the matter with his wife, the bride's mothers and brotherswere the ones to approve or disapprove a proposal of marriage. Incompleting the marriage, they were the ones who made gifts to thebride's husband's household. The groom's economic value to thewife's household was expressed by a personal gift of a horse andweapons by the bride's household with an invitation for them to livein the bride's lodge.Marriage within the clan was strongly disapproved of but there wasnothing that could be done to prevent it other than indirect controlssuch as ridicule and adverse comment when the couple persisted intheir plans. There was no exchange of property between householdsand no marriage feast. Those marrying within the clan were teasedby their "joking relatives." Hidatsa thought that children sujfferedmost because of conflicts in relationships, for a man would be both afather and an older brother. Formerly, no objection was raised tomarrying one of the Mandan Prairie Chicken clan when the Mandanand Hidatsa had separate villages. After they settled together at
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 159Fishhook in 1845, the Mandan and Hidatsa clan systems were socompletely equated that marriages between them were generallydisparaged. Although no objections were raised to marriage withinthe Three-clan moiety, the Hidatsa have recently come to disapprove,according to my genealogies and native observations, marriagesbetween certain clans of the Four-clan moiety. It was improper forone of the Waterbuster clan to marry either a Xura or Itisuku, or fora Prairie Chicken to marry a Speckled Eagle.Marriage of a woman to one of the father's clan was as uncommon aswith one of the same clan. The genealogies show that this reluctanceto marry into the father's clan was of long standing. This was insharp contrast with the Mandan who commonly and preferably hada clansman as father-in-law with whom he talked freely and withoutthe restraints normally shown a Hidatsa father-in-law. Thegenealogies show a higher frequency of marriage to men of the father'sclan for the Awatixa women than for the other Hidatsa village groups.This was also the village group that transmitted some sacred bundlesthrough the clan. In the few cases of marriage to a man of thefather's clan observed by my informants, the father-in-law taboo wasless rigid; they had common clan interests and the father-in-law feltobliged to assist his son-in-law in society and ritual purchases. Thisdid not, however, in any sense alter the mother-in-law taboo relation-ships.Marriage of blood brothers to women classified as sisters and ofthe same household must have been exceedingly uncommon although,by the extension of the kinship system, males married to sisters wereclassified as "brothers." Cases of the sororate were numerous. Thelevirate operated only when the deceased husband's famUy so de-sired, after observing that the widow had mourned long.The basic economic unit was the household or extended matrilinearfamily based on matrilocal residence. The older daughters invariablybrought their husbands to their lodge. If there were a number ofdaughters, the younger ones commonly lived with the husband'speople, particularly when his services were needed at home to providefor his parents. If, however, her older sisters died, she would takeher husband to her own lodge to care for her parents. If her husbanddied or divorced her, she would return to the mother's lodge. Thehousehold would normally consist of the old parents, old men andwomen of the clan, daughters with their husband or husbands, un-married daughters and sons, and usually a few orphans belonging tothe clan of the females. A few households would also have a berdacheeither reared in the household or brought to it by marriage. Withthe exception of those households where, for want of a daughter,
160 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
residence was patrilocal, the unit was composed of a number of ele-mentary families held together through the female line.Except for certain ritualistic practices celebrated by the females andsold to the daughters, the household did not perpetuate ritual prac-tices. A man would secure his ceremonial bundles and rites fromhis father living in a different lodge, and sell them to his married sonresiding elsewhere in the village. Thus the sacred bundle rightscirculated from lodge to lodge. This was in marked contrast to theMandan system where bundles were often retained in the same house-hold from generation to generation.Until the small log cabins were adopted, the lodge arrangement offamilies varied little between households. The section to the back ofthe lodge was reserved for the sacred bundles of the principal malemember of the household. He lived in that section of the lodge withhis wives. The right side of the lodge on entering and nearest thedoor was penned off for the horses. Beyond the pens were the bedsfor the old people and the very young children. The central sectioncontained the firepit and seats for those of the established membersof the family. A section next to the door on the left side on entering,and beyond the windbreak and area reserved for the wood, waswalled off for the son-in-law and his family. As time passed and theson-in-law became permanently adjusted to the others of the house-hold, while growing in importance in the community, he and hisfamily moved nearer the head of the lodge and took over the favoriteand honored position formerly occupied by the father-in-law and hiswives. The final shift to the head of the lodge was made when thefather-in-law reached old age and no longer participated actively invillage matters, or at any other time when the son-in-law had at-tained unusual respect in the village or the father-in-law died.The women cared for the lodge and kept it repaired. When thelodge timbers were decayed and it was necessary to rebuild it, thewomen provided the materials for a new roof cover. They enlistedthe assistance of their related households who worked together as ateam. The males living in the lodge and those belonging to the house-hold living elsewhere raised the heavier posts, beams, and timbers.It was the duty of the clan to care for its own members. Most of thefemale clan members assisted in one way or another, if for only afew hours, and also brought food for the workers.When camping away from the permanent summer village for shortperiods during the eagle trapping season, or on other occasions whenthe campsite was on the river and was to be occupied for only afew months at most, it was customary to build the small "woodlodge." These were small wood-covered tipi-shaped structures builton a four-post central platform. Being smaller than the usual earth
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 161lodge structures, two or more with entrances facing each other wereusually built for each household. One lodge would then be occupiedby the mothers-in-law and their husband, and the other by theyounger married people. Children were quartered in either lodge.After 1860, the Hidatsa largely abandoned the large circular earthlodge for winter village use. When returning to a foimer wintercamp, the lodges stUl usable were repaired as shelters for the horses,storerooms, and dancing lodges, while small rectangular log cabinswere built nearby with an enclosed hallway leading into the earthlodge. Often as many as four such cabins were built adjacent to theearth lodge when the household was composed of several families.The log cabin was in general use for winter camps by 1860, and by1865 was replacing the large circular earth lodges of the summervillage as well. In 1872 McChesney reported 35 earth lodges and69 log cabins occupied by the Mandan and Hidatsa of FishhookVillage (Matthews, 1877, p. 4).The household economic pattern seems to have been affected littleby the adoption of the log cabin. Although two or more cabins werebuilt to house a former earth lodge household, the lodges were builtadjacent to each other or as double-roomed cabins with separateentrances and an intervening doorway. Each room had a fireplacewith a plastered chimney and an opening in the roof to admit lightand air. When the lodge was completed, certain women sldlled inmaking chimneys were paid to make the fireplace and construct thechimney. This right to buHd chimneys and fireplaces was boughtin the matrihneal line like other ceremonial rights. Each room had acache under the earth floor. Having a separate room away from themothers-in-law, a man felt freer to invite in his friends. The eco-nomic life of the household, however, was unaffected by the changein living quarters. The women continued to plant and harvest thecrops according to the ancient system. The gardens were held by thelinked households and the women worked as a group curing andstoring the produce without consideration to the small family lodgeunits. They also shared the common stores as before. A youngwife living with, or adjacent to, the husband's people continued toplant crops with her mother's group, at least until she had childrenand was an established member of the husband's household. Theson-in-law provided meat for both his own and his wife's family.In theory, a man provided the meat and hides for his wife and herhousehold while the wife's household provided him with the necessaryhorses, weapons, and knives. For the communal trips and summerhunts, however, the Hidatsa employed a more equitable system ofdividing the products of the chase. These hunts being highly or-ganized activities, aU able-bodied men could not devote equal time
162 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194and effort to killing the animals. Some men, especially those of theBlack Mouth police society, were continuously engaged in policingthe camp or guarding the encampment to forestall a surprise attackfrom their enemies. Others were at a distance from the encamp-ment serving as scouts, guarding the horses at pasture, or seekingbuffaloes and planning the surround. It was customary, there-fore, for those with good buffalo horses to do the killing while oldermen with packhorses brought the meat to the camp.Once in camp, the meat was placed in centrally situated piles whereall could help themselves, irrespective of households. Older men toofeeble to engage in the heavy work of butchering and transportingthe meat would assist their households in erecting drying platforms.As each platform was completed, the meat taken from the commonpiles was sliced in thin strips and dried by households. One wasconsidered selfish to take meat or hides that could not be curedimmediately while others were able to give these things immediateattention. From native accounts, these communal hunting expedi-tions were happy times. A household with many active youngwomen, having all their meat cured, would pitch in and help the lessfortunate ones. Frequently the special officers refused their extrashare of hides and tongues because of the size of the kill and thelimited facilities for transporting it to the village.Animals taken in corrals were divided in a different manner. Afterthe special awards were made to those managing the rites and directingthe animals to the corral, a line was drawn through the center of theenclosure from the center of the mouth to the opposite wall. Animalslying on one side of this line went to the Three-clan moiety and thoseon the other side belonged to the Four-clan moiety. Employing thisdivision in 1872, we would have found 22 households butchering onthe Three-clan side and 27 on the Four-clan side. Five additionalhouseholds, comprising two with Arikara female members and threerepresented by both moieties, would have to be taken into accoimt.According to Bears Arm, if the households were unequal in number,mixed ones butchered on the weaker or smaller side. When butcher-ing at the corral, each household group selected one animal untilthere were no longer enough animals to go around, when relatedhouseholds went together and shared the additional ones.The women of the household also frequently shared certain sacredand secular rights, mythological lore, techniques of basketry andpottery decorations and manufacture, household doctoring procedures,and other activities which were transmitted through the householdlineage.Due to matrilocal residence and patrilineal inheritance of mostsacred rites, sacred bundles obtained by a male usually passed out of
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 163the household in one generation. Thus a man, after he had married,would normally obtain his bundles through his father living in theyounger man's maternal household but belonging to a differenthousehold lineage. Although the sacred bundle rites were not longkept within the female household, the members of the various house-holds had certain duties and obligations whenever the transfer wasmade. In the purchase of the father's bundle rites, a man receivedassistance in the form of goods and food from his brothers and theirwives, mother's brothers and their wives, his sisters, and his sisters'daughters and sons when they were old enough to assist. Fromhis wife's household he received the assistance of his wives, his wives'sisters and their husbands, and the mothers-in-law. This group ofrelatives, varying in number, would occupy different households butthe prmcipal contributions came from two household groups; hismother's and his wives'. The clan and society members of boththe buyer and his wife were also expected to lend assistance, buttheir responsibilities were not as great. These many relatives andother cooperating groups lightened the burden of ceremonial purchasesand enhanced the prestige of all of them.The household group was a stable unit for generations as long asthere were daughters to inherit the lodge complex. With strongloyalties to the mother's household group, any study of a Hidatsamale or female must take these ties into account. The Hidatsa saythat a person without relatives is nothing.MATURITY AND OLD AGEMembership in the Black Mouth society was viewed as a mark ofmaturity and respectability. As a man moved upward throughthe age-grade system, his role as buyer of ceremonial rights changedto that of seller. A man's position in the lodge also changed in time.At first, as a young married man living in his wife's lodge, his sectionof the lodge was that nearest the door on the left side as one entered.As the older people became aged and infirm, they slowly shifted theirbeds and personal equipment in a clockwise direction. The mostmature and active male member of the lodge would then occupythe head of the lodge where he kept his personal property and sacredbundles, and entertained his friends.A woman's position in the household was essentially the same asthat for a man. As her parents grew older and were unable to par-ticipate actively in the affairs of the household and village, sheslowly took over the roles formerly performed by her mothers andmaternal grandmothers. A woman would normally be participatingactively in the Goose society by this time.
164 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The Hidatsa showed great respect for age. They recognizedthat each person was an individual with his or her own distinctivecharacteristics and achievements. The rules dealing with the careof the aged and unfortunate of the clan, and the special respectshown to people of the father's clan, largely set patterns for the careof the aged within one's own immediate family. There was no suchthing as abandonment of the aged and the infirm, for young peoplewere taught early in life to respect the aged; even the least dis-tinguished old people ought not to be neglected. There are manyreferences in Hidatsa mythology dealing with this matter. A promi-nent theme of Hidatsa mythology told how some old people withlittle visible evidence of wealth or supernatural powers broughtmisfortune upon others by magical means when they were neglected
?or unusual good fortune when they were treated well. The Hidatsaassociated age with wisdom. They spoke well of those middle-agedpeople who were caring for a number of their old relatives. Peoplewould say that those lodges were occupied by generous and wisepeople. There, old people of the lodge, both men and women, wouldtell their young grandchildren of times as they used to be, teach themthe sacred and traditional myths, and advise them in various mattersso that when they grew up they would be of great help to the people.An old woman without meat would go out to the edge of the villageto await the return of the hunters. It was her right to demand meatof any man, regardless of his age, if he stood in the grandson-grand-mother relationship to her. By the numerous extensions of theHidatsa kinship system, a woman would normally have many grand-sons in the community and none should deny her meat or hides if sheso requested. Old men would not customarily do this. Instead, anold man would attend ceremonial and social functions, sitting in thehonored section of the lodge, and receive gifts of many sorts fromthose performing the rites. In the Northern Plains where the Hidatsalived, largely surrounded by the nomadic tribes such as the Crowand Assiniboin, they had an opportunity to observe the care of theold people of those tribes. They were well aware that both theCrow and the Assiniboin sometimes abandoned their old peoplewhen traveling. It was possible under the semisedentary life ofthe Hidatsa to provide much better care for their old people thanthose wandering tribes living near them. The result was thatHidatsa households frequently cared for the aged, widowed mothersand very young orphans from these and other nomadic tribes whichcame to the villages to trade for corn. The Hidatsa never seemedto have considered caring for these unfortunate people an unduehardship and my Hidatsa informants spoke highl}^ of people whocared for the unfortimate of other tribes.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 165A few old couples or a single old woman who preferred to get alongalone usually were to be found in all the Hidatsa villages. In someinstances they were left without younger sons, daughters, or grand-children, or they might have been childless themselves. If the oldcouple or old woman, as the case might be, were the survivors of alarge household once living in the usual-sized earth lodge, the task ofkeeping the lodge in repair would be too great for them as yearspassed. In this instance, when the lodge needed extensive repairs,it was customary to tear down the old lodge, preserving the strongertimbers, and erect on the same ground a much smaller one built on afour-post foundation without the peripheral posts. This lodge, whencovered with earth, resembled the tipi made of hides and was identicalto those constructed at the eagle trapping sites. Surface outlines ofancient villages of the Hidatsa along the Missouri River frequentlyreveal the location of these little lodges.Hidatsa informants were in agreement that some older couples prac-ticing special arts and crafts found it more convenient to live apartfrom their extended relatives. An example of this would be an oldcouple, man and wife or wives, specializing in pottery making. Pot-tery making for the Hidatsa was a secret and sacred activity. The oldwoman who had bought rights in pottery making, usually from hermother's or father's sisters, would practice her skills more energeticallyas she grew older. She bought this right from one having ceremonialrights coming to her from the snakes. It was believed by the Hidatsathat only the snakes made pottery in former times. One day thesnakes took an old couple out on the prairie where they had beenworking. They showed this old couple piles of dirt scattered aboutand explained to them that in making pottery one must mix certainclays with sand or the grit produced by crushing certain stones longused around the fires. The husband would assist his wife in the heavieroperations of pottery-making such as securing the clay and pad-dling out the vessel forms. There were many exposed clay banks inthe neighborhood of the various Hidatsa villages. The potters wouldtest the clay to find those deposits that had the proper qualities. NearFishhook Village, about 4 miles to the northwest, there was an exposedvein of lignite coal. The potters of Fishhook Village secured aU theirpottery clay from the beds immediately above and below this coallayer. The men would sack up the clay and either carry it on theirbacks or pack it on horseback to the village. The old men would alsogather the fired stones from about the village and take them to theirlodges.Pottery making was a secret rite and one should not visit or standaround talking with those making vessels. It was customary toperform secret rites directed to the snakes and sing the appropriate710-195?65?12
166 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
sacred songs while shaping the vessels. Women were considered moreskillful in impressing into the damp walls of the vessels the variousdesigns and patterns which they had bought the right to use either atthe time when the initial rights were purchased or at a later timewhen a particular design owned by other women met their fancy. Sothey would bar the door to their lodge, pass the word about throughthe village that they were making pottery, and work in secret. Itwas necessary to keep ojff drafts from the wet clay and the newlyshaped vessels.Most of these finished vessels were given to their own immediaterelatives as gifts, knowing that the receivers were looking after theirwelfare. In other instances, the vessels were traded directly withwomen desiring pots for those things which the family did not alreadyhave. It is not known today how many pottery makers there werein the Hidatsa villages, but informants believed that only a fewfamilies made pottery.Another category of specialists who preferred to live alone becauseof the nature of their activities were those who worked with flintsand other stones. The Hidatsa secured most of their flint from thehigher buttes and uplands west of the Missouri River. Here, ir-regular layers of flint were exposed and they had a number of tradi-tional places where they quarried the stone. The best stone wasthat which was covered with dirt and had to be exposed, using hard-ened ash poles as digging sticks to break off the layers. Working ofchipped stone was a ceremonial activity, and goes back to two ancienttraditional systems; one derived from the large birds, such as theeagles, hawks, owls, and thunderbirds, and the other derived fromthe beavers. Concerning the latter system, little is known todayother than what has been passed on traditionally. The formersystem was connected with the sacred arrows of which there were anumber of bundle owners living at the time my informants wereyoung men. Even so, they no longer practiced their skills of stoneflaking. It is said that in former times a man working at stoneflaking operated in a closed lodge using the light from the fireplaceand, like the potters who kept their clays stored away in cache pitsor shallow pits near the inner edge of the lodge, the stoneworkerslikewise kept their flints moistened and covered until used. It wasbelieved that the stone would fracture irregularly if people stoodaround watching and, like pottery making, stonework was done insecret.Another organized group was that of the berdaches. These peoplewere men who, during their late teens and after many dreams fromthe Holy-Woman-Above, changed their clothing to that worn bywomen and assumed special roles in the community. They usually
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 167formed attachments to older men, generally men without childrenand having trouble keeping their wives, and set up separate house-holds. At the time this study was made, informants could remembertwo such people in the generation above them, but they had heardthat in former times there were sometimes as many as 15 to 25 ber-daches in their villages.Since the berd aches were viewed as mystic possessors of uniqueritual instructions secured directly from the mysterious Holy Woman,they were treated as a special class of religious leaders. Although aberdache might have lived within an extended household as one of thecowives, informants thought that separate households more commonlywere maintained. According to tradition, these were well-to-dohouseholds. The "man-woman" worked in the garden, did beadwork, and butchered as did the women. Being stronger and moreactive than the women, the berdache could do many things moreefficiently and was never burdened down with childbearing. Ac-counts we have of the berdaches tell of industrious individuals work-ing harder than the women of the village and exceeding the womenin many common activities. Informants felt that separate house-holds established around the berdache were very often better fixedthan those where the men carried on active military duties.The berdache performed many ceremonial roles. When the SunDance ceremonies (NaxpikE) were to be performed, it was the ber-dache's duty to locate the log for the central post from driftwood inthe river. Whenever a major ceremony was being given, the berd-ache would dress hke the other members of the Holy Woman Societyand receive gifts as an equal member with the women of the society.The berdaches comprised the most active ceremonial class in thevillage. Their roles in ceremonies were many and exceeded those ofthe most distinguished tribal ceremonial leaders. There was anatmosphere of mystery about them. Not being bound as firmly bytraditional teachings coming down from the older generations throughthe ceremonies, but more as a result of their own individual andunique experiences with the supernatural, their conduct was lesstraditional than that of the other ceremonial leaders.The berdache was a brother or the son of a man holding tribalceremonial rights in the Woman Above and Holy Woman bundles.There are no known instances of exceptions to this rule and theHidatsa believed that only persons standing in these relationships tothose bundles ever assumed the woman's role. The berdache com-monly adopted orphans from the village or secured young daughtersand sons through the capture of prisoners by their relatives, transmit-ting their property and their ceremonial knowledge to their youngeradopted children. Like certain male medicine men, they sur-
168 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194rounded themselves with many individual rules of conduct for guestsin the lodge. This limited the activities of people associating withthem and, like several outstanding male medicine men surrounded bythese many rules, people tended to fear, respect, and avoid them.In this sense they resembled in their social position males possessingimique and special mysterious supernatural powers. Berdachestended to disappear once warfare had ceased and their ceremonialsystem had collapsed.LAST ILLNESS AND DEATHWhether a doctor was called in when a member of the householdbecame ill was largely a family matter. When it was known thatan individual possessed ceremonial rights dealing with some common-place illness, such an individual would normally be called in and paidfor his services. In general, it would seem that the household morecommonly relied on the supernatural powers of its own members atfirst. For most illnesses, help was not solicited beyond the immed iatehousehold and other near relatives. If a doctor was called in andagreed to assist after a preliminary examination, the price for hisservices being already determined, and it was evident that the patientwould not recover, it was customary to ask the doctor to remainuntil death and to give comfort to the sick person. This wasespecially true when the doctor belonged to the sick person's father'sclan for the father's clansmen had particular roles to perform at thedeath of their sons and daughters. Many individuals never soughtaid of a doctor as they had faith in their own ceremonial bundles tocarry them through life.Most people reaching middle age and older had the clothing theywere to be put away in set aside and ready for the moment of death.Since many lived many years after initial preparation of their clothing,from time to time they would substitute new items, and either wearout or give away those which they formerly had kept. Each individualat some time also indicated the person who was to "bring the robe" andhad instructed him or her on how his body was to be prepared andthe manner of disposal that was to be employed. Some individualslong outlived those first selected and named new ones throughoutthe years.In the event of the iUness of a young married person, it was customaryto return to the mother's lodge. In the case of a young married manit was rather difficult to look after him in a lodge with parents-in-lawsince the young man's brothers and sisters would be the ones mostconcerned about his welfare. Thus a young man when iU wouldreturn to his mother's lodge where those coming in to look after him
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 169would have greater freedom of action. The same applied to a youngmarried woman living in her husband's lodge.The Hidatsa tried to anticipate the moment of death and to have theperson painted in his distinctive designs and dressed in his burialclothing before death. The duty of attending to this fell to themembers of the father's clan. In the case of little children, this dutyusually fell to some well-known father's clans-woman selected bythe child's mother. There was a formal way of addressing the womanso selected in which the mother would go to her and say "yourbrother's child is about to die. You are to bring the robe." Whenthis was done, no one could refuse. It was her duty to select a robein good repair, one of the best that she had, or go out through thevillage and find a well-decorated robe that she thought the childwould have liked. She would then go to the lodge, dress the child inappropriate clothing, and wrap him tightly in the robe. Otherbrothers and sisters or clan brothers and sisters might bring additionalrobes and ask that the child be buried in them or give them to somemember of the father's clan who in turn was expected to provide anadditional robe. Whether child or adult, it was customary, ifpossible, to bury or to place the dead on a scaffold or in a tree duringthe day of death. If, however, the person died late in the day andit was not possible to complete the burial arrangements that day,itwas customary to leave the corpse in the lodge overnight. Old mocca-sins with hot coals in them were placed in the entrance of the lodge tokeep away the evil spirits and to protect the people from the Ul-effectsof having a dead person in the lodge overnight. When this happenedpeople would stay up all night awaiting the break of day for thefuneral services.It was the duty of the people of the father's clan to take care of andhandle all of the funeral arrangements. First of all there was thepreparation of the body. The manner of disposal was largely a familycustom inherited from their family lines going back to the threeoriginal village groups on the Knife River. The Hidatsa recognizedthat there were a number of different traditional methods of disposingof the dead. They were well aware of the fact that more people wereburied in the ground at Hidatsa village on the Knife River than at theother villages. This was evident to the Hidatsa themselves for, afterleaving the Knife River and up until a few years ago, the Hidatsacommonly made trips downriver to their ancient villages. They hadseen the many burial mounds and depressions at Knife River, atHidatsa village, and the few that were found around Awatixa andAwaxawi villages. The Hidatsa-proper claimed that this difference indisposal practices dated back to their first appearance on the MissouriRiver and they have many traditions dealing with burial in the ground.
170 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 104There were some who believed that Hidatsa earth burials wereadopted from the Arikara. However, this position cannot be heldin light of other evidence. In the first place, it is inconsistent withthe evidence to maintain Arikara origin of earth burials since both theHidatsa and Awatixa villages were contemporaneous and situatedless than a mile apart. Further evidence is the fact that in 1837 whensmallpox broke out in the Hidatsa and Mandan villages, the peopleof Hidatsa village moved upstream a few miles below Lucky MoundCreek and lived in the woods apart from the other people. Neverthe-less the smallpox did reach them at this village known today as "WherePeople Died of Smallpox." Several informants mentioned this villagealso and the many burial pits of that date were still to be seen in 1932.Old Hidatsa informants who had been to the shoreline areas of DevilsLake to the east where they formerly lived, claimed that they hadseen the burial mounds of their old people who formerly lived there.The other method of disposal was above ground in trees, on scaffolds,or under overhanging rocks. When living in winter camps, it wascommon to place the dead in trees. During the summer months,while occupying the permanent villages, scaffolds were erected on afour-post frame at the edge of the village. The area might containboth burials and scaffolds. In some instances all the members ofsome households would be placed on scaffolds, while all the membersof other households would be buried in the ground. In other instancesa household might practice both scaffold disposal and interment.When a person died away from the village, it was usually impossibleto bring him back. If his brothers and sisters wanted his bonesbrought back to the village, it was then the duty of some femalestanding in the relationship of father's sister to the deceased to makethe arrangements for the return of the skuU a year later. She wouldthen communicate with various people going out in that direction andprovide them with a bag in which to place the man's skull. When itwas returned to the village, it was customary to rewrap it and placeit on one of the existing scaffolds with his relatives or, in the event ofinterment, to bury it just below the surface, over the body of one ofhis close relatives.Another closely related practice was to paint the skuU and set iton a nest of soft sage in one of the skull circles near the village.These skull circles were customary fasting places for those seekingdreams. When Fishhook Village was abandoned and the Hidatsamoved out on the reservation, one such skull circle was maintainedon the hOls northeast of Elbowoods. People coming primarily fromAwatixa and Awaxawi villages on the Knife Kiver were wrapped andset on the ground at this place. When the wrapping had deteriorated^nd the flesh had decayed, close relatives would remove the skulls
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 171and set them in a rough cu-cle surrounded by buffalo skulls. Thispractice was abandoned a few years prior to 1932.Occasionally a small child was buried at the outer edge of thelodge, believing that a child would be lonely away from his closerelatives. In other instances, children were placed in bundles besidetheir relatives on scaffolds. The Hidatsa appear to have no traditionsof cache-pit burials within the village. They do, however, havereferences to the separation of the skull and the other bones, theskull becoming a part of a skull circle while the other bones, wrappedin a bundle, were buried in a soft place along the river bank or withinthe fortification. There are also traditions of earth burials made inmounds or mounds built over the burial in the outline of the indi-vidual's "spirit god."Regardless of the method of disposal employed, the same sets ofrelatives participated. The principal official was the one designatedto "bring the robe." Other people of the father's clan assisted inbuilding the scaffold or digging the grave. Both men and womenassisted and received generous payment for their services. Theylikewise were viewed as the principal mourners. When a persondied, most of his personal property usually was already willed awayand it was the duty of the relatives to see that those promised differentthings received them. A man might promise his favorite buffalohorse to his "pal" or his gun to another person. When death occurred,it was the right of the brothers and sisters and the closer members ofthe person's clan to come in and take possession of his unwilledpersonal property. They, however, were obliged to put up thegoods to pay those of the father's clan who had performed variousservices and/or others of the father's clan and certain distinguishedpeople of the village whom they felt were entitled to special recognition.A man's ceremonial bundles were treated in two ways. Those thatwere of a personal nature and that had been established by thedeceased on the basis of his dreams or as gifts from a near relative weregenerally wrapped in the bundle with the body or hung on one of theposts of the scaffold. In no instance were they kept around thelodge or treated lightly by the survivors. Tribal bundles associatedwith the long-standing ceremonies were viewed as tribal property andwere kept by the nearest relative. Here two subpatterns prevailed.A widow who had participated with her husband in the initial acquiringof the bundle usually held custodianship of it until it was either soldto someone in the village standing in the "son" relationship to thedeceased or it was preserved and kept until the man's own sons reachedproper age.The Hidatsa did not tend to place much personal property withthe bodies; a man's favorite firearms, bow and arrows, pipe, personalsacred bundle, and paints of various colors were the most common
172 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
articles. When the individual was placed on a scaffold, it was com-mon for those having distinctive military records to request that thesymbols associated with these records be painted on the posts.Food of the type a man would carry on a long journey was usuallyplaced in a dish or bag with the body.The mourners and the participants would meet at the deceased'slodge and move to the burial grounds in a procession. At the headwould be those carrying the body, immediately followed by thenearest relatives. For a man these relatives would be his sisters,mothers and father, brothers, and wife in that order.Prior to the removal of the body from the lodge and usually imme-diately after the moment of death, it was the custom for the sistersand mother to prepare their mourning clothing and hair. First ofall, they would cut their hair short and jagged. Then they wouldcut off the lower section of some old dress and remove the sleeves.A woman was expected to cut off a section of a finger for anyonewho had given her a horse on returning from a successful war expe-dition. Since a man normally gave horses only to mothers andsisters, these generally were the ones who cut off fingertips. Menrarely cut off the tips of their fingers in mourning; they, however, diddo this when fasting for visions and supernatural powers.For distinguished men and women, the amount of goods given to themourners was often very great. Most of the goods was secured asgifts from members of the clan. However, a man's age-grade societywould frequently contribute goods to be given to various distinguishedpersons. No two individuals tended to have exactly the same kinshipties and relationships. One individual, whether male or female,might during his hfetime adopt many sons and daughters and beadopted as son by many others, even of ahen tribes. When such aperson died, it was expected that the brothers and sisters and all thesesons and daughters would present gifts to distinguished people in thedeceased person's name.My informants were all in agreement that the fires in the lodgeswere all extinguished on the death of a great chief. However, myinformants could not agree on the particular categories of chiefs in-volved. All agreed that the head chief of the village, commonlyknown as the Village or Peace Chief, the principal War Chief, and thefour men "protecting the four directions" would be so honored.It may well be that the lack of agreement after the Hidatsa moved toFishhook Village was because there was not the same cultural unitywithin the village that there had formerly been when they lived inseparate villages.When it was learned in the village that someone was about to die,it was customary for those who had lost loved ones shortly before to
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 173come to him with messages to be carried to their dead in the spiritworld. One about to die sometimes had many of these messages todehver, A mother would send word to a recently deceased child,giving it instructions and advice of one sort or another.In no area of Hidatsa culture were there so many diverse views as inthat pertaining to the hereafter. All informants agreed that life in thehereafter was very much like that on earth. Murderers were excludedfrom the villages of the dead and became aimless wanderers much asin life when, after committing a murder, the individual, should he suc-ceed in escaping the wrath of the victim's clansmen and sons, wasexcluded thereafter from the social life of his conununity There wasdisagreement among informants relative to suicides. Some informantsthought that suicides never reached the land of the dead but wanderedabout much as murderers did. However, since most suicides werecommitted by females, the views of women in this matter probablymore correctly reflect the views of the Hidatsa. All my female in-formants believed that no distinction was made between suicide andnatural death; that people did not commit suicide except during epi-demics; and that in those days the Hidatsa did not believe that anypeople would survive. Therefore, these women claimed, people com-mitted suicide during the periods of epidemics simply to catch upwith and rejoin their recently deceased relatives, at a time when thehousehold was largely destroyed by these newly introduced diseases.Hidatsa behefs relative to the hereafter are based on two bodies ofdata, their ancient traditions and mythologies and recent dreams andvisions. Numerous informants spoke of the return and reunion oftheir people with those who were once left behind in very early timeswhen the Hidatsa came up out of the ground at some place to the south-east. According to this tradition, the Hidatsa and all other Indianswere at that time living underground. Finding an opening reachingto the land above, the people began moving upward to the surface ofthe earth. One woman heavy with child broke the vine by which theywere ascending, separating the people. Many people believe that ondeath the individual retm-ns to this land below. It was Mrs. WhiteDuck's opinion, given her by her father Poor Wolf, that this villageof the dead was downriver and underground. Bears Arm, one of myprincipal informants, also believed that there was a reunion of thedead with those who were divided when the vine broke. He thoughtthat the land below and the land above the earth constituted the firstand thu'd levels of the universe. He stated that the land below andthe land above were identical to the land on which they were now Uv-ing. To the west were high mountains and to the east were the wood-lands.
174 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BaU. 194Another view held by other informants was that many others werethe descendants of the 13 initial family groups from the sky who estab-lished a village on Charred Body Creek below the present town ofWashburn, N. Dak., led by Charred Body who had first discoveredthis land below. Mrs. Good Bear, whose husband was one of the SunDance makers, believed that on death they returned to the sky.This view was shared by Wolf Chief whose father held one of theWaterbuster clan bundles consisting of two human skulls believed tohave once been of two eagles who transformed themselves into men;one man came from their village at the headwaters of the MissouriRiver, where the sky and land meet, to live in Awatixa village.Another view, held by Four Dancers, was that the vUlage of thedead was on the earth. He based his views on instructions and in-formation given by the owners of the Earthnaming bundles. Otherolder informants believed that when they died they would returndownstream to the mouth of the Knife River or to Devils Lake andjoin their deceased relatives there.Another view held was that when a prominent medicine man died,his spirit father would come to meet him and escort him to thevillage of his spirit people. In addition to these views, there wereindividual views not generally shared by very many people and whichwere based on individual visions and dream experiences in whichthey had seen their deceased relatives Uving in earth lodges, practicingagriculture, hunting buffaloes, and conducting warfare with theirenemies in much the same manner as when they lived.The Age-Grade SystemThe Hidatsa placed great importance on relative age in determiningbehavior between individuals. The same concepts were extended toinclude status of the members of the organized societal and rehgiousgroups. Theoretically, the entire male and female population wasarranged in a series of groupings based on age. For the greaterpart of the population, these groups were formally organized withnames, symbols of membership, songs, and prescribed rights andrules of behavior. The system for men was more complexly devel-oped into a series of age-graded military societies. Individuals werenot organized into formal societies during two periods in their hves:prior to reaching the age of 12 (depending upon the village group),and after they had achieved old age and had passed through theage-grade system. The social and ceremonial system imposed somany burdens and obligations on the individual that it was prac-tically impossible to fulfill his traditional roles and assume his cus-tomary positions in the village life except with the assistance of the
Bowerel HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 175
organized groups to which he belonged, chief of which were his clanand the age-grade societies.MEN'S SOCIETIESThe Hidatsa do not consider the men's societies as sacred, and speakfreely of their participation in society activities or even of societiesto which they never belonged?unlike the sacred ceremonies whichare never discussed except under rigidly prescribed conditions. Still,the men's societies have many patterns characteristic of the sacredceremonies. The societies have traditional and mythological origins,as do the sacred ceremonies, and when no myth was known and thesymbols of the society did not conform to the general cultural pat-terns, the Hidatsa invariably ascribed the presence of the society torecent borrowing from alien groups.Table 4,
?
Age-grade societies by villages
SocietyStone hammerNotched stickLittle dogCrazy dogLumpwoodCrow imitators- _-Kit foxHalf-shaved head.Black mouthDogOld dogBull
Hidatsa Awatixa AwaxawlXXXX XXXX X??X
The age-grade grouping seems to have been characteristic of allHidatsa village groups for some time prior to A.D. 1800. Since mostof the societies comprising the system were also represented by theMandan village groups, there existed an area along the MissouriRiver from the vicinity of the Knife River to the region of the Can-nonball River occupied solely by Mandan and Hidatsa village groups,comprising in all about 13 distinct and permanent village groups, inwhich age-grade groupings occurred. As late as 1833, Maximilian(1906) recognized slight cultural differences between these villagegroups, although a basic social and economic pattern prevailed whichdistinguished them from even the culturally related Arikara and thelinguistically related Crow.The smallpox epidemics which began in the last quarter of the 18thcentury sharply reduced the total population of these peoples andthe number of village groups. This tended to introduce inconsisten-cies into the system and to introduce competition between some so-
176 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
cieties for position in the system. Since competition is not charac-teristic of the Hidatsa age-grade system, they temporarily reconciledthese conflicts by providing two "routes" to the Black Mouth societyuntil one "route" became more popular than the other, with theresultant cessation of the unpopular societies.There is historic and traditional evidence that not only were newsocieties added to the age-grade system from time to time but thatthe existing societies changed their relative positions. This is con-sistent with native traditions of cultural differences between inde-pendent villages. Union of two or more village groups, or the break-ing up of an existing village group into two or more groups, affectedthe number and order of the societies in the system. Since a memberretained his membership until bought out, any undue delay in pur-chase by the younger men would tend to shift the position of thesociety in the age-grade sequence. It is of historic record that thevillage groups bought additional dances such as the Hot Dance,Grass Dance, Big Grass Dance, and Night Grass Dance during the19 th century. In addition, a number of societies (such as the BlackMouth, Bull, and Kit Fox) are of traditional Mandan origin and arenot believed to have been of very great antiquity with the Hidatsa.The preservation of Mandan origin myths for these three societies andthe absence of comparable myths for the Hidatsa further strengthensnative beliefs of their recent introduction.Of the Hidatsa age-grade series, the Stone Hammer and the variousDog societies are frequently mentioned in their sacred myths. Infact, variations in the origin myths as related today suggest formervillage differences or versions. The Hidatsa, informed in the sacredmyths referring to the various Dog societies, speak of the commonbond uniting these four societies: the Little Dog, Crazy Dog, Dog,and Old Dog.In the old villages at KJiife River, the order of purchase preliminaryto entrance into the Dog societies differed. The Awaxawi, whoduring the 18th century were closely associated with the northernMandan and the Nuptadi Mandan, had no Stone Hammer society.Boys entered the age-grade system by joining the Notched Stick so-ciety, whereas young Mandans of the same age had a Magpie societyin some villages, while those villages having the Corn Bundle rites ofGood-Furred-Robe had a similar Notched Stick society believed tohave supernatural powers over the rains.The Crow Imitator society, which was found only at Awatixa andat the Mandan villages, was of late introduction, coming from theCrow Indians. This society was never important after 1837.The absence of an origin myth, together vdih native beliefs that theHalf-Shaved Heads were of Crow origin, leads me to believe that this
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 177
society was not of long standing among either the Hidatsa or Alandanvillage groups. During the last century (1832-1932) the society hasbeen closely associated with the next higher society, the Black Mouths,and it acted as a check in the upward advancement of the lower age-groups to Black Mouth status.The position of the Black Mouths just above the Half-ShavedHeads seems to have been a universal Hidatsa and Mandan char-acteristic prior to 1837. After that date, when the siu-vivors of thesmallpox epidemic united into a smaller nmnber of villages, thenumber of societies situated in the age-grade sequence below the BlackMouth status increased and the Half-Shaved Head society becameextinct. Although the role of the societies prior to attaining BlackMouth status?preparation to police and sup6tvise?was identicalfor all villages, the actual order of advancement through the systemvaried due to a slight difference in the actual societies through whichone passed. This situation seems to have introduced into the systemcompetition not characteristic of the age-grade system, particularlyfor the societies characteristic of the younger men.From what I was able to determine from genealogies and tradi-tions, the Hidatsa-proper and the Awatixa more closely resembledeach other in number and order of purchases during the first quarterof the 19th century than did the Awaxawi. This may be due, inpart, to their closer residence during the preceding century in adjacentvillages less than a mile apart. The Awaxam, on the other hand,were farther removed dm'ing the last half of the 18th century, livingdownstream near Painted Woods where they had intimate contactswith Mandan groups.The Notched Stick society at Awaxawi had no Hidatsa or Awatixaequivalents, but the symbols and rites closely parallel religious ritesperformed both by the Awaxawi and certain Mandan groups. Icould find evidence at the Awaxawi village only of the Notched Stick,Kit Fox, Lumpwood, and Half-Shaved Head societies for men whohad not yet reached the proper age for entering the Black Mouthsociety. There was no evidence of the Stone Hammer, Crazy Dog,or Crow Imitator societies. This does not mean that these societieshad never been present with the Awaxawi. It is very possible thatsome of these, particularly the Little Dog and Crazy Dog, wereformerly represented there. It is of historic record that the Awaxawisuffered extreme losses when their village was destroyed by the enemyduring the last half of the 18th century. Being more sedentary thanthe Hidatsa-proper, they also suffered more severely from smallpoxand other epidemics. Their small numbers may account for some ofthe differences reported by Bears Arm, whose father came from that
178 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
village. On the whole, the Awaxawi show many similarities to theMandan system.The close similarity of the Hidatsa-proper to the Awatixa is signifi-cant in view of their traditional short residence in adjacent villages.If traditions of the long residence of the Awatixa group on the Missouriat Painted Woods and even as far south as the Heart River as anagricultural group, with their earliest contacts with the Mandan aftertheir separation from the Mountain Crow and prior to the appearanceof the Awaxawi and Hidatsa-River Crow are correct, one wouldexpect greater similarities to the Mandan than to the Hidatsa-proper.The order of buying and selling is nearly identical for all Mandanand Hidatsa after reaching the Half-Shaved Head and Black Mouthsocieties. The exceptions for the Mandan were the Black-Tail Deersociety, which was represented in only the westside village groups atthe Heart River prior to 1785, and the Raven society (?) for one ofthe Hidatsa villages. Both societies were of limited distributioneven in their own tribes and died out about 1837. The order of pur-chase from Black Mouth to Dog to Old Dog to Bulls was characteris-tic of all Hidatsa and Mandan village groups and seems to have beenfixed for a considerable time. Instability of purchase order was at thelower haK of the series. It was also at this point that innovationscrept in with supplementary purchases of new societies. Olderpeople were probably more conservative than the younger men.Prior to the union of the three Hidatsa groups into one village in1845, each village endeavored to maintain an independent age-gradeseries and membership was regulated largely by residence. Evenfor those societies common to all villages, one bought and sold withhis own group and membership rarely extended beyond village limits.When a society was not represented in a village, as in the case of theStone Hammer found only at Hidatsa and Awatixa or the NotchedStick and Kit-Fox societies of Awaxawi, there was an occasionalparticipation in society purchase with one's age group of anothervillage. According to native informants, this was more common afterthe epidemic of the 1780's when the Hidatsa vdlage groups movedinto the three villages near the mouth of the Knife River. Sincethere was a great deal of rivalry among villages, informants did notthink joining a society from a different village was a common oc-currence until after the epidemic of 1837, when conditions fosteredfurther union of village groups for mutual defense.In the light of village traditions that the Awatixa represent theoldest Hidatsa village group on the Missouri with long residence atthe mouth of the Knife River, whereas the Hidatsa-proper andRiver Crow were late arrivals on the Missouri, living largely upstreamfrom the Knife River, the greater similarity of the Hidatsa-Awatixa
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 179
societies suggests a recent development based on an older patternembracing the Awatixa, Awaxawi, and the Mandan village groups.Those Hidatsa-River Crow who moved farther upstream developed asystem such as was found among the Crow in the 19th century.Those who stayed on the Missouri and took over the earth lodgeculture drew heavily from the Awatixa, their nearest neighborsdownstream. The smallest village group, the Awaxawi, had theHalf-Shaved Head, Black Mouth, Dog, Old Dog (?), and Bull societiesas did the other Hidatsa and Mandan village groups. The seriesfor younger men at Awaxawi resembled the Mandan more closelythan did the other two Hidatsa villages. In light of the intermediateposition of the Awatixa with both "father-son" and clan inheritanceof sacred bundle rites, the former pattern being characteristic of theHidatsa-Awaxawi and the latter pattern that of the Mandan, itwould appear that the age-grade sequences as reported by my oldestinformants had changed, at least for the younger men, during thelast half of the 18th century.During the 19th century, and prior to the dispersal of the nativepopulation from Fishhook Village onto the reservation, furtherchanges occurred in the societies although the age-grade patternpersisted. The union of villages caused a bunching of societies atthe bottom of the series. At the same time, societies and dancesbought from the Sioux and Arikara had wide popularity becausepersons of both sexes were admitted without regard to age. Duringthis period the position and importance of the Black Mouth societyremained unchanged. The Notched Stick society of Awaxawi wasnever popular after the three village groups united. There wererehgious taboos associated with a rainmaking ceremony, Tying-the-Pots, that had died out with the death of the bundle owners and withtheir death there were none to serve as singers. Shortly after 1837the Awaxawi abandoned their independent village and united withthe Awatixa and those Hidatsa who had remained at the mouth ofthe Ejiife River. The young boys then entered the Stone Hammersociety with boys from the other two villages.Although the Hidatsa recognized the Notched Stick and StoneHammer societies as the first ones entered by boys, there were numer-ous informal societies organized by older men which boys could join.Any older man, seeing a number of young boys watching the dancesor remarking that they wished they had a dancing society, mightorganize a dancing club. He would suggest various forms of dress andserve as the singer for the boys. These informal societies usually con-sisted of Httle boys 4 to 6 or 7 years of age who usually played together.Frequently the leader was some old man of the household who wasinterested in the boys sufficiently to relate war accounts and show an
180 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194interest in their training. If the number of boys in the householdwas small, boys of related households frequently were invited toparticipate. When my informants were children (about 1865)one group of boys dressed in small robes with magpie feathers intheir hair, and were frequently nicknamed Magpies. The manwho served as singer owned a sacred bundle of Woman Above whowas beheved to wear magpie feathers. Another group of boysdressed as buffaloes, suggested by their singer's sacred bundle. Thisgroup was frequently called Mangy Buffaloes since the youngestmember of the club wore a poor robe to impersonate a mangy buffalo.The people would remark that when the buffaloes came to the riverto drink, there was always among them a lean mangy buffalo calfthat had wintered badly. From time to time new societies for smallboys would appear. They would be invited to meet and sing inimitation of their elders. Whenever they danced, spectators weresure to appear to give them presents, to invite them in to eat, and tourge them to follow the example of their elders so that they wouldbe brave and strike the enemy when they grew up. According toinformants, the number of these small informal societies varied fromtime to time. Wolf Chief thought that there were probably a dozenor more of these informal dancing groups. The number was alwayschanging according to the inclination of their leaders.Stone Hammer SocietyThe Stone Hammer was the first organized society at Awatixaand Hidatsa villages, and was bought by the young boys beforethey were old enough to become Little Dogs. When the populationof the three Hidatsa villages and the Mandan of Mitutanku builtFishhook Village, this was a popular society. There are frequentreferences to the society and its traditional origin in the sacred mythsof Two Men and Charred Body. In these sacred myths relating toevents occurring near Painted Woods, Grandson is said to havefounded the society, drawing its emblems from his stock of sacredobjects. The principal symbol of the society was the carved stonehammer which was designed by Grandson during mythological times.The society was psychologically associated with the NaxpikE orSun Dance which had as its principal sacred object a stone ax carriedby the person impersonating Long Arm.Boys were 12 years and older when entering the society. Whenthe number of available boys was large enough to form a society of30 or more members, the older people would encourage the boys tomeet and plan the purchase from those who had owned the societyfor a few years. It was customary for young men when joining theStone Hammer society to go together as a group to the Sun Dance
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 181
shelter to fast during the next performance of the NaxpikE. Purchasewas by an organized group from an organized group, the relationshipbetween the two groups being that of "father-son." The buyerswere encouraged and assisted by their respective households. Not allboys joined the Stone Hammer society. Some families were notinterested in assisting their sons. There was a reluctance for boysto join when the household had recently quarreled with anotherhousehold or a close relative leading a war party had returned inmourning from an unsuccessful war expedition. Some boys werebashful or were reluctant to ask help of their relatives. Not un-commonly, a family would refuse to assist a close relative becausepeople had criticized them unfairly. There was no ceremonialoffering of wives for, theoretically, boys of this age had not married.Purchase into the Stone Hammers introduced new rights and obli-gations. The society had the right collectively to steal food for theirmeetings, but they were obligated individually to appear on eachceremonial occasion providing group fasting and to make efforts tosecure supernatural instructions. One gets the opinion from nativeinformants that there were those who were indifferent to these instruc-tions to seek visions and that others, having no particular desire to bebrave, did not join the Stone Hammers. We have here the weedingout of the cowardly and indifferent individuals.Kit Fox SocietySince 1837 the order of purchase of the Kit Fox, Crazy Dog, andLittle Dog societies has not greatly concerned the Hidatsa. This isdue, it seems to me, to the reconciliation of different village systemsinherited from the first part of the century when three vUlage groupswere in existence. The Hidatsa interpret the societies bought andsold before reaching the status of police or Black Mouths as prepara-tory steps toward entrance into this important society with its manypolice and governing functions. The Edt Fox society, as far as Icould determine, was not present at the old villages of Hidatsa andAwatixa. Mandan traditions state that this society was one of thenumerous ones organized by the Mandan culture hero Good-Furred-Robe to dance whenever the corn rites associated with certain bundleswere celebrated. This was also the basis for the practice of invitingone with Corn rites to officiate as one of the singers for the men of theFox society; Moves Slowly was a singer for the Mandan and Bear-Looks-Out served as singer for the Awaxawi about A.D. 1870. Good-Furred-Robe founded two sacred bundles whose owners were singersfor the Kit Foxes. In late historic times one of these bundles wassold to an Awaxawi married to a Mandan woman, at which time youngmen of Awaxawi bought the society from the Mandan. Bear-Looks-710-1?5?65 13
182 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Out was owner of the bundle at Awaxawi where the Kit Fox society-was organized and served as one of the singers. He was the onlymember of the society to survive the epidemic of 1837. He sold thesociety to a group of young married men at Fishhook Village after thesociety had been inactive for a number of years. Because of the
"friendship" bond between this society and the women's Goosesociety, owners of this society were reluctant to sell until the membersof the buying group had married, since women of the Goose societywere married. Instead, when the selling society thought that theprospective buyers were too young, the price was set high enough todiscourage purchase. This practice tended to slow up purchase,during which time the younger groups would generally buy into eitherthe Crazy Dog or Little Dog societies. It was customary for youngmen of Hidatsa and Awatixa to move from the Stone Hammer to theLittle Dog while waiting to reach the age for entering either the KitFox or the Crazy Dog. During the 19th century, after the union ofthe three groups at Fishhook Village, the Little Dog and the Kit Foxwere in competition for position intermediate to the Crazy Dog andLumpwood societies. In spite of the prominent role of the dog in thesacred myths and rites, the Little Dog society lost popularity as theKit Fox society expanded its membership with each successive sale.At present (1932), the Kit Fox society is one of the few survivingsocieties.Of the entire series for the three original villages, the NotchedStick, Stone Hammer, and Crazy Dog societies were owned by boysand young men whose members were predominantly unmarried.There was no ceremonial surrender of wives even when some of themembers of the purchasing group had already married. Anotherfeature of these societies reserved to younger men was the practiceof employing singers of the older age-grade societies. As a rule,the society paid its singers to officiate until either they learned thesongs and dances or the singers and members tired of each other.The purchase pattern for societies higher in the age-grade structurethan the Crazy Dog society was essentially the same as for theyounger men except that surrender of wives to the buyers became therule. Those who were unmarried but otherwise qualified and acceptedby the purchasing group were not, however, disqualified since it wasthe duty of any clansman asked to supply a wife for the occasion.The Hidatsa interpret age-grade purchase from an older age groupas a means of acquiring additional supernatural powers throughparticipation in various ceremonial activities not a part of the age-grade series. The purchase provided an opportunity for an olderman to "bless" his "sons" by means of ceremonial sexual licenseswith the giver's wife. This practice is not unique to age-grade
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 183transfers but is a general pattern characteristic of numerous ceremoniesperformed for calling the buffaloes near the vUlage. An ambitiousyoung man wishing to get ahead might, before undertaking a perilousmission, invite a prominent ceremonial leader to accept his wife.LuMPWooD SocietyBy the time young men had reached the age when they shouldnormally purchase the Lumpwood society, they should have marriedand participated in several war expeditions. The Lumpwood symbolsof membership, the painted and carved staffs, resemble closely thoseused in the Painted Red Stick ceremony performed for the callingof the buffaloes. Although decorated and carved sticks are found inthe Eagle Trapping, Big Bird, and Thunder bundles, it was with thePainted Wood sacred sticks that the staifs belonging to the Lumpwoodsociety showed closest similarity. According to tradition, the Lump-wood society was found only at Hidatsa and Awaxawi villages atthe Knife River; the Awatixa did not have the associated PaintedRed Stick ceremony. The Hidatsa recognized the society as one ofthe age-grade series but attributed to it the supernatural power ofattracting the buffalo to the villages. The drmn was believed tohave the power to bring rains. The Awatixa had other buffalo-calling rites but no associated Lumpwood society.Half-Shaved Head SocietyThe Half-Shaved Head society was closely associated with theBlack Mouth society. It served as a buffer society to protect theBlack Mouths from premature purchase until the younger men hadsufficiently distinguished themselves in warfare, ceremonial activitiesand fasting, and had shown evidence of good judgment so that thegroup could be entrusted to fulfill the many social obligations andresponsibilities of the Black Mouth society. The Half-Shaved Headsociety is traditionally of Crow origin. Although the same societyis known to have existed at the Mandan village of Mitutanku inMaximilian's time, my Mandan informants knew of the society onlyfrom traditions, as it apparently died out there in 1837. Accordingto the Maximilian accounts and Hidatsa informants, the society wasbought immediately preceding entrance into the Black Mouths.Poor Wolf was 27 when, with other young men, he bought into thesociety and remained a member of it for 9 years (Lowie, 1913). Oneyear after the purchase, the same body bought the Black Mouths.Thus, the same men held simultaneous memberships in both societiesfor 8 years.
184 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Black Mouth SocietyUnlike some Plains tribes where the responsibilities of groupmanagement were passed around from society to society, the Hidatsaand Mandan village groups entrusted police duties to one society,the Black Mouths. Curtis (1907 a) lists two societies with policeduties; the Black Mouths and the Wood-roots. The names actuallyrefer to a single society. The name "black mouth" refers to theparticular painting of the members of this society, whereas "wood-root" refers to the clubs carried by the members. The society is ofMandan traditional origin, according to the Hidatsa. My Mandaninformants claimed that the society was organized by Good-Furred-Kobe to protect the Corn People. For that reason, the Black Mouthsociety had the right to meet whenever the feasts were given forthe Goose society. The Mandan claim that the society was borrowedby the various Hidatsa village groups and, in light of Hidatsa tra-ditions that the society is of recent introduction from the Mandan,we can assume this to be the correct order of diffusion. The Mandanhave sacred origin myths relative to the founding of the society,which I was unable to discover for the Hidatsa.The Hidatsa comprehended the Black Mouth society as occupyingan intermediate and transitional position between the lower societies(whose members had recently begun their first fasts, ceremonial ad-ventures, ritualistic feasting, and participation in the war expeditionsas beginners and immature men) and those older males who hadattained the principal objectives prescribed by the culture. In theprocess of society purchases, the individuals comprising the variousgroups were tested. Those who failed to measure up to the higheststandards of the society dropped from the system. In the process ofadvancing through the lower societies, recognition was given to thoseshowing special skills when officers were selected to wear the badgesof the society or to perform certain honored roles. Young men whohad advanced to the point of buying into the Black Mouth society,were frequently stopped at that point for a number of years. Whenthe Black Mouths were asked to sell by a younger group, they wouldinvariably present the matter to the two older Dog and the Bullsocieties for their approval. If the older and better-informed menfelt that the younger men were moving along too fast and were notready to assume such important obligations, or if conditions in thevillage or relations with neighboring tribes were not right, the salewas delayed. Opposition to sale usually took the form of individualadvice from one's own relatives. The Hidatsa were very sensitive topubhc opinion, whether in the purchase of age-grade societies, sacredbundles, or other activities. When pubhc opinion was against a
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 185group, assistance was denied them. Occasionally, however, youngmen would speak of their accomplishments as collectively exceedingthose of the existing Black Mouths and persist in their ambitions tocomplete the piu-chase. In such instances, exorbitant demands ordownright refusal halted the negotiations. About 1872 the Crow-Flies-High band separated because sale by the Black Mouths wasrefused. There are numerous references to the bypassing of youngermen's societies. This was impossible in the higher societies becausethe Dog, Old Dog, and Bull societies were reserved for older men whohad had wide experiences in warfare, ceremonies, and group leader-ship of one form or another. The Hidatsa think of these oldersocieties as the policy makers for the village. The Black Mouthsserved as executors to enforce the policies of the older men and thecustoms of the village.Prior to the union of the three Hidatsa village groups when Fish-hook Village was built in 1845, each village had an independentpolice or Black Mouth society. Each society was organized in thesame manner as the others with the same number of officers, thesame symbols of authority, and the same relative position in theage-grade structure. Collectively, each society addressed the samesociety of the other Hidatsa or the Mandan villages as irakuu inHidatsa or kotomanaku in Mandan, the kinship term for "pal."A society had no authority except with its own village group untilafter 1845 when the union of three village groups brought togetherthree independent Black Mouth societies. The three societiesfunctioned as one during the summer months, but during those winterswhen the population broke up into separate camps based on theoriginal village lines, the police societies likewise dispersed accordingto former village affiliations. This was a common practice until wellinto the 1850's when, as a result of intermarriage, the original villagelines were blurred.The Black Mouths' duties fell into a number of categories. In-variably the group met whenever a major ceremony was performed.The Black Mouths were concerned only with those public matterswhich involved the entire village population and they had no authorityto interfere in factional or personal matters unlikely to involve theentire population. Thus stealing, whether of meat and corn from ahousehold or of another man's wife, were matters for the clans andhouseholds to handle. In fact, a Black Mouth might often be in-volved in such matters himself without materially affecting the statusof his own society.Probably the most important duty of the Black Mouths was toenforce the orders of the council of older men. Whenever any im-portant decisions were under discussion, the Black Mouths would
186 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194meet with the council. As soon as a matter had been settled, theannouncer for the Black Mouths went through the village informingthe people of the decision. News of important village mattersquickly spread, for those of the council were widely scattered throughthe village and invariably discussed the matters with their ownhouseholds. When people heard the announcer call through thevillage, they would listen. The council's duties were broad andinvolved matters concerning the people at large: moving the village;the time of leaving for the summer buffalo hunt and the variouscamping places along the way; the prohibition on leaving the villagefor warfare; peace treaties with neighboring tribes; and, more re-cently, policies with respect to the White traders and Governmentojfficials.On other occasions, the Black Mouths enforced the regulations ofother leaders such as the Winter Camp leader or the Summer Huntleader. The Hidatsa elected each fall a Winter Chief who wasresponsible for the welfare of the group during the time they wereorganized under his leadership. It was customary for the winterleader to make frequent offerings to his sacred bundles and to seekthe assistance of other distinguished sacred bundle owners for success.Should the enemy attack the camp and kill some of the people orsteal horses, hunters be injured when running buffaloes, or othermisfortune strike, the leader was held responsible and blamed forthese misfortunes. If there were many deaths or accidents, thepeople would say that they made a poor selection. The WinterCamp leader selected someone as his personal announcer to keep thecamp informed of his plans and to integrate the activities of the group.The Black Mouths were in continuous session during most of thewinter and frequently behaved in what sometunes seemed to be avery arbitrary manner. These camps being undefended, it wasnecessary to send scouts out continuously to note the movements ofenemy groups and to see that the horses were brought in quickly incase of an impending attack. Since the purpose of these wintercamps was to move some distance from the summer village in orderto conserve wood and to spare the game ranging near the summervillages, great reliance was placed on the game killed during thewinter both for food at the time and for a surplus supply to be takenback to the villages in the spring when normally the herds were awayfrom the river on the summer range. The importance of these winterherds in Hidatsa economy is indicated by the number of formal grouprituals for the winter buffalo and native statements of intensiveindividual fasting for the return of the herds to the river bottomsduring the shortest and coldest days. Boiler (1868) has given us anexcellent account of the role of the Black Mouths in organizing the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 187group for the performance of winter buffalo-calling rites, the prohibi-tions against premature hunting, firing of guns, and noise around thevillage, and even the prohibition of kindling fires, when the herdswere observed approaching the camp.Frequently no leader was selected to supervise the winter campwhen the people could not agree in council. In case of disagreement,the conflict was resolved by these alternatives: no leader was selectedand the population was at liberty to move out in small groups underindividual leaders of their own choosing, generally eagle-trappingleaders (this was the custom before enemies were numerous); thepopulation remained in the summer villages under the existing leader-ship; or the Black Mouth society was selected to assume the role ofWinter Camp leader and police. This latter alternative was ofcommon occurrence when the Black Mouths had individually dis-tinguished themselves and the people thought that one or more oftheir members would have good luck as Winter Camp leaders.When the summer village had been organized by the council underthe leadership of one or two outstanding chiefs for a number of years,the people frequently had relied so heavily on their good judgmentthat when their chiefs died or were killed, a period of disorganizationfollowed while minor leaders competed for top positions in the council.The council then frequently found it convenient to avoid rivalry andhard feelings in selecting a Winter Camp leader by delegating theauthority and responsibility to the Black Mouths at large. On suchoccasions, the Black Mouths selected the campsites, set the date formoving from the summer village, supervised the party when movingto camp, and kept in continuous session with a separate council lodgefor their meetings during the winter. They assumed collectively theduties and responsibilities of camp leader. In case of misfortunesduring the winter, the entire group was criticized but the two leadersof the society, representing the two moieties, were chiefly blamedbecause of their positions in the society. It was such a camp organizedunder the Black Mouths that Boiler described.The Black Mouths performed comparable services when, after thecorn had been hoed for the last time, the viflage organized a summerbuffalo hunt. In this instance, the council selected a leader whohad taken part in numerous ceremonies, particularly those concernedwith the buffalo or with sacred bundles containing buffalo skulls.He was responsible for the activities of the group; he selected thevarious camping points along the way and announced them in advance
;
he selected the scouts to travel ahead to watch for enemy war partiesor camps and to keep track of the herds and note their size and generalmovements. These scouts were selected from organized men's so-cieties inferior to Black Mouth status. In recent years the Kit-
188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Foxes were generally assigned this duty, chiefly because of the sizeof the society. It is said that formerly different societies for youngmen were selected, according to the leader's inclinations. Apparentlysome rivalry existed between these younger men's societies whenmembers of more than one society were selected as scouts. This isa rather unusual situation since the societies were generally non-competitive, and suggests to me that this is a recent phenomenonarising from the union of several villages and the subsequent competi-tion among these younger men's societies for positions and members.The Black Mouths performed much the same roles as when movingto Winter Camp. They enforced regulations against straying awayfrom the main body, prohibited premature attacks on the herds,and defended the group from attack. There are instances when,in spite of the widespread practice of seeking vision instructionsfrom sacred things not believed to send dreams to those fasting atthe summer villages, the Black Mouths even prohibited fasting outsideof the camp when there was danger from enemy raiding parties.In all their activities, the Black Mouths worked to protect the repu-tation of the leader. Being on continuous watch for infractions ofcustoms and armed to meet an attack of enemy raiding parties, theBlack Mouths took no active part in the buffalo surround but de-pended on others to provide the meat for their households.Occasionally some families would feel that the Black Mouthshad acted in an arbitrary manner. In general, however, the peoplefelt that the society performed a definite social function which thehouseholds and clans could not undertake. Had they acted out ofrevenge, the social group would not have supported them and theywould have lost individual status with the village. When a manfired a gun or went hunting when the village group was orderedneither to make a noise about the village nor to hunt, the BlackMouths invariably took his weapons away from him and broke uphis arrows, cut up his clothing, and even killed his horse and destroyedthe meat he was bringing back. The individual's reactions to punish-ment largely determined the next steps taken by the police. If theman admitted his error and was repentant, he was invariably repaidfor his personal loss many times over in comparable goods. If, onthe other hand, he resisted the police or persisted in disregarding theirprohibitions, he was severely beaten. In two instances in the memoryof the older Hidatsa at the time this study was made, the violators(alien visitors) were beaten and killed without any adverse reactionby the group as a whole. In general, it can be said that the BlackMouths had definite duties to perform for mutual harmony and well-being but they were expected to use good judgment in attaining theseobjectives. This was the principal reason why the Hidatsa, like the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 189Mandan, were reluctant to permit young men to advance through theage-grade series to Black Mouth status until they had demonstratedmature judgment. Entrusting village police functions to a societyof men of all ages, as observed by them when neighboring tribesvisited them, was considered to be a poor way of handling people.The Black Mouths were expected to act with discretion and notin anger, A nmnber of years after 1845, the three Hidatsa villagegroups were in separate winter camps along the Missouri. At thattime scouts from the most northern group discovered buffaloes ap-proaching their village, drifting along with a strong north wind.Orders were immediately given in the village that the dogs shouldbe tied up, woodcutting stopped, and fires extinguished. Untilthat time no buffalo had been on the river bottoms and the peoplewere short of meat. While the people were awaiting the arrivalof the herds and waiting for them to fan out in the timber and brushalong the river bottoms, a Black Mouth was told that someone hadfired a gun just below the village and around a bend in the river.Several Black Mouths ran out and found a man from the next villagedownstream who was just starting to butcher a buffalo which hehad killed. As the Black Mouths ran up they called JJUII and thehunter knew that the Black Mouths were angry; that call was givenonly when someone's actions had met with their displeasure. Helooked toward the village but could not see it for the bend in theriver nor could he hear the sound of barking dogs or of axes in thewoodlots. He suspected then that the village was quiet becauseherds had been discovered approaching. When he was told thathunting was prohibited, he expressed regrets even though his weaponshad already been taken from him. He explained that he had beensent up from the next village to see how the upper camp was faring,that he had seen many buffaloes as he walked along, and that he hadconcluded that the upper village had already been hunting. Seeingthat the man meant no harm, his weapons were returned to him andthe men butchered the buffalo before returning to camp. At thecamp he was rewarded with goods for his "good behavior" in admittinghis error and offering appropriate apologies.In dealing with infractions, the clan had its role in the practiceof using as spokesman for the Black Mouths, one of the same clanas the individual who had committed the infraction. When a conflictsituation developed and the village leaders resolved to settle the matterlest permanent differences arise, the spokesman for the Black Mouthswould take a pipe belonging to the moiety of the offender and askhim to smoke the pipe and forget his grievance. The same procedurewas followed when addressing the leader of the opposing side. Whenindividual Black Mouths in the performance of their duty acted
190 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
with what the offender considered bad judgment, there were numerousrecourses that could be used later against him. He could be deniedproperty for use in a ceremony or be blocked in his ambitions by theaggrieved person's relatives who had social and ceremonial rightsfor sale. Gossip and ridicule could be employed. Women who hada grievance might withhold aid to the individual of the Black Mouthswho had acted unfairly. As a joking relative, if such relationshipexisted between them, she might even go to considerable trouble toembarrass him publicly or dig up things in his past that he wouldprefer to forget. A common practice was to make him a decoratedshirt for which he would be obliged to give her his favorite buffalo-hunting horse. This could be an extreme sacrifice. Although theBlack Mouths collectively had such authority as the clans andhouseholds allowed them, at all times they were individuals in dailycontacts with the group, and the culture provided nmnerous checksto their authority.The Black Mouths of the various villages performed important rolesin preserving peace and reconciling conflict situations between differ-ent Hidatsa and Mandan groups. This was an important functionof the Black Mouths, for it was imperative that the various villagegroups live together peacefully during the past two centuries whenpressure of enemy groups was great and continuous. In these earlytimes, if native traditions are correct, the clans of different villageshad not been completely equated nor had they assumed the importantroles manifested in the 19th century. Each village, however, had anidentical police organization believed to have been derived from acommon founder, the Mandan culture hero Good-Furred-Robe.Thus, when a theft in one village was committed by a member of adifferent village, the Black Mouths of the former reported the matterto the Black Mouths of the latter. The suspect's lodge or personwas then searched and the property, if found, was returned to theBlack Mouths of the village where the theft occurred. Althoughthefts of smaU items might be easily overlooked, taking horses belong-ing to another person, even though they had strayed away from therightful owner, could have had serious consequences if left to therightful owner and his village relatives to come into another villageto lay claim to his property. Village loyalty obviously was verystrong at that time.The Black Mouths had no authority over the movements andactions of neighboring village groups of their own tribe as long astheir common interests did not clash. If, however, one village grouphad imposed restrictions on its people because of the impendingapproach of the winter buffalo herds, the other groups living nearby
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 191were expected to do likewise. This was, however, a matter for theintervillage council to handle and not the Black Mouths.The Black Mouths were also responsible for the safety of the peopleand their good conduct whenever visiting tribes were in the village.This was an important role prior to the middle of the 19th centurysince many tribes came to the Hidatsa villages to trade for gardenproducts. As soon as word reached the village by advanced runnersthat people were coming for the purpose of trade or to visit, thecouncil and police met to arrange the reception. Very often thosefamilies who had recently lost members of their related householdsin warfare with the visiting band announced that they would not bereceived. This was their socially recognized right even though in thelong run they could lose prestige with those families anticipating aprofitable trade with the enemy. The culture, however, providednumerous methods of satisfying those who recently had lost relatives.In some instances the grievance was not actually toward the enemybut with the Hidatsa war leader who had not inflicted sufficient self-torture or had not fasted long enough after the loss of young men ofhis party; the relatives had thought that he had failed to show properrespect for their relatives and had treated their young men's liveslightly. Whatever the circumstances, it was the right of families inmourning to refuse to admit the enemy band even for trading purposes.This left the council one of two alternatives: buy ofl' the mourners withhorses and other valuable things, or refuse to admit the enemy band.The moiimers were generally paid off unless they had very strongfeehngs in the matter. It was the duty of the Black Mouths to putup the goods and horses and carry the society pipe to them.The Black Mouths met continuously when an enemy band was inthe village to forestall trouble. In historic times, each visiting grouphad an organized police to work with the Black Mouths. Should afight break out between two individuals of opposite groups, eachpoliceman would seize his own tribesman but refuse to touch one ofthe other group. In general, unless there was a great disparity innumbers, and one group could be taken by surprise, conflicts rarelygot out of hand. It was an established rule that once an outsidegroup or an individual had been taken in and fed, peace should pre-vail. According to a long-standing custom, a visiting group assistedits hosts in repelling any attack from outside. Thus we find refer-ences to one Sioux band, enjoying Mandan-Hidatsa hospitality, beingobliged to assist in repelling another Sioux band, their own tribesmen.We also find references in their traditions to admitting to FishhookVillage war parties of Assiniboin bent on attacking the Mandan at theKjiife River. Those Mandan with lodges in the Village assumed theposition of "guests" and were refused permission to make an attack
192 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
on this enemy group; custom required that the Black Mouths affordthe Assiniboin protection as long as they were in the village. However,in at least one case, the Hidatsa advised the Knife River Mandanof the impending attack, informed the Mandan in Fishhook Villageof the enemy's proposed course, and entertained the enemy whdewarriors sneaked out of the village to prepare a trap for the Assiniboin.From earliest times, the Black Mouths served an important rolein preserving good feelings and relations with the White trades.Chardon (1932, p. 125) mentions that the society had found horsesbelonging to the traders and had offered to return them. In anotherinstance he refers to sending tobacco to the Black Mouths and ad-vising them to keep the village quarantined as smallpox had notbroken out there (ibid., p. 129). We also find references in traders'accounts to the practice of employing a member of the Black Mouthsas policeman around the trading post, serving as an intermediarybetween the traders and the Indians in preserving order. On theother hand, when traders went into the winter camps to live or hadtheir trading posts near the summer villages, they were restricted intheir movements just the same as the Indians were. They learnedvery quickly that when orders were given out that no hunting orwoodcutting was permitted while the herds moved into the riverbottoms, it was to their best interest to comply, and that the Indianpolice meant business when they said "no hunting."From the foregoing discussion of the functions of the Black Mouthsociety, we see that they performed roles not characteristic of thelower societies. 1 have not indicated the roles of the Black Mouthsin the ceremonies since a section of this study is concerned withHidatsa ceremonial organization. It is needless to say that theHidatsa, like the Mandan, were unwilling to entrust so important amatter as police functions to inexperienced youths. Instead theyreserved those functions for mature men who had been to war, hadparticipated in numerous ceremonies, had given many feasts, andunderstood tribal history and values. In their advancement, theyhad eliminated the cowardly, the lazy, and the incompetent.The Hidatsa placed the duties of the Black Mouths in the sameclass as other services performed for the good of the society at large.They emphasized the importance of fasting for the younger men ofthe Stone Hammer and Crazy Dog societies to be followed by generalparticipation in the buffalo-calling ceremonies or those formal ritesproviding group fasting and individual purchases of sacred bundlesfor males of the Kit Fox, Little Dog, and Lumpwood societies.In general, the Hidatsa disapproved of young men assuming theleadership of war expeditions until they had reached the Half-ShavedHead and Black Mouth societies. My case histories show numerous
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 193
exceptions to this rule, however. It was one of the Black Mouthsociety's duties to forbid the young men to leave the village on un-authorized expeditions. In some instances, horses brought backfrom a successful raid were killed by the Black Mouths when they hadbeen ordered by the council to forbid the raid. These unauthorizedraids could start a great deal of trouble when the raid was madeagainst a band with whom peace negotiations were being conductedby the council. In such instances the young men were frequentlyseverely whipped and their weapons destroyed. On other occasions,when enemy war parties were near and the young men succeeded ingetting away from the village undetected to return with war honors,victory dances were celebrated and the Black Mouths overlooked thematter.These unauthorized war expeditions were a constant cause offriction between age-groups in the Hidatsa villages. The cultureprovided formal patterns whereby those showing promise as leaderscould advance by steps to the status of war leaders, and shortcutswere not sanctioned. Nevertheless, there were those who took short-cuts by organizing war expeditions of their own age-group and weresuccessful. Parents?particularly the older and more conservativepeople?disapproved strongly of these unauthorized expeditions andendeavored to keep their boys at home by denying them sacred objectsto take along. The group feelings toward these unauthorized ex-peditions were reflected in the actions of the Black Mouths. Evenin these conflict situations the Black Mouths preferred to avoiddisplays of force. Learning of some ambitious young man with ideasof organizing an expedition, a member of the Black Mouths standingin the relationship of "father" would go to the young man and talkto him, telling him of the dangers he would encounter, particularlyif those he met in battle were older, skilled in warfare, and had manysacred gods protecting them. He would refer to the fasting andceremonial participation of those in the tribe who had good reputationsas war leaders. He would emphasize the self-punishment on return-ing from an unsuccessful expedition he must endure to regain the respectof those whose young men had been killed. He would point out menwho had "kicked the stone," a term used to designate those unsuccess-ful leaders who had lost men and were scorned until proper restitutionwas made. Those who persisted in their ambitions generally metdisaster sooner or later, and their military ambitions were no longersupported even by their own age-group. The unsuccessful war leaderusually dropped his society membership after "kicking the stone" asecond time and took little or no interest in other social or ceremonialfunctions.
194 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The Hidatsa praised those who aspired to be leaders and followedthe pattern set before them of rising to the top by stages. Theybelieved that a young man should follow the prescribed course,gaining experience and supernatural powers as he went along, andthat the major positions of responsibility should not be assumeduntil he had demonstrated abihty. In the process of his traininghe was assisted by his relatives and his societies. Many males neveraspired to top positions in either war or village matters and did notcare to assume the responsibilities of leadership. Although themajority of the village leaders were in the higher societies, many ofthem had never personally organized and directed a war expedition,being content with strildng coup, capturing horses, or giving feasts.Even among the Black Mouth membership composed of middle-agedmen between 30 and 45 years of age, probably less than half hadever attained war leader status chiefly because the culture providedother and equally effective outlets for leadership.Dog SocietiesAfter selling out to younger men, the Black Mouths bought intothe next higher society of Dogs known by both the Mandan andHidatsa as the "Real Dogs" (pi. 3) to distinguish them from threeother Dog societies; the Crazy Dogs, Little Dogs sometimes called"Dogs-Whose-Names-Are-Unknown," and the Old Dogs. The orderof purchase into the Dog society was the same for all Hidatsa andMandan villages, as far as information could determine. The mem-bers of this society were expected to be brave and to have a goodreputation in warfare; those who had not shown good judgment inhandling police matters or who had shown cowardice in warfare wouldhave become the object of ridicule of their joking-relatives hadthey attempted to buy into the society. Thus the same screeningand dropping-out characteristic of the lower societies continued.Origin myths of the various Dog societies are numerous for boththe Hidatsa and Mandan and are so interwoven into their myth-ology that it is to be presumed that these societies were of long stand-ing in both tribes. The wide distribution of the Dog society in thePlains suggests considerable antiquity as well as popularity. Onthe basis of the integration of the Dog myths into the sacred mythsof the Hidatsa, my informants and those Mandan who have livedlongest with the Hidatsa believed that the Dog societies were ofHidatsa origin. However, the Mandan have identical myths inter-woven in their sacred legends which suggests to the other Mandanthat the societies were of Mandan origin.The Dog myths suggest Mandan origin to me chiefly because thetheme?"imprisoning the animals"?is common to Mandan sacred
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 195
rites but is rarely found in Hidatsa mythology. Nor does one findfrequent reference in other Hidatsa myths to the Dog Den Buttes,an important region in Mandan mythology.In the Hidatsa myth, a beautiful young woman refused to marryor to have sexual intercourse with any man, and her people saidthat it was her prerogative. One hot night she could not sleep untilearly morning, after the lodge had cooJed off. When she awoke,she saw a man put his white robe around him and leave her bed.This happened 3 nights in a row. On the fourth visit she threw redpaint which hit him between the shoulders. When she looked forthe paint mark among her tribesmen she found instead a white dogsleeping in her own lodge with the red paint on his shoulders. Heran out of the lodge and 2 months later she discovered that she waspregnant.When the time came to deliver the child, she went to a washoutbeyond the village limits and there gave birth to nine pups. Thefirst eight were males and the youngest was a female. The oldestwas named Black Wolf or Cedar-Between-the-Eyes; the next oldestwas Blows-Through-a-Hole. The youngest male was named Brisketor Last Male; the others were Little-Dogs-Whose-Names-Were-Not-KJiown. She left the pups in the dry washout and would return nowand then to nurse them. One night there was thunder and lightningwith rain. When she returned, her babies were gone. She followedthem to a tipi and there found the pups with their father and wasinvited in by Brisket. In the morning she was alone. She followedtheir trail. This happened three times and on the fourth day theyreached Dog Dens. Again Brisket invited her in and she went intoDog Dens which she discovered to be a large earth lodge. LastMale or Brisket warned his mother to tell her people that they shouldnot come to Dog Dens for his brothers would cause all except dogsto freeze their feet if they came there. (From this warning thoseof the Dog society would afterward go around in the village withoutmoccasins to show that they were the Real Dogs.) Brisket's brotherswould also cause people to go insane; hence the name of Crazy Dogsfor some people. Brisket agreed to return home with his mother,transformed into the small wood owl named Little Owl. Todaythe Hidatsa say the seven stars of the dipper are Little Owl's sevenbrothers.At this point the Dog myth takes up the theme of the MandanSnow Owl sacred myth. An eagle trapper imprisoned in his trappingpit, dug out and found himself at the lodge of Big Owl and his servant,Little Owl. He was sent out to capture an elk that had manyguardians. He succeeded in killing the elk. Then Big Owl senthim out to get Striped Scalp and he secured the help of Old-Woman-
196 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Who-Never-Dies, for Striped Scalp was very holy. He took thescalp to Big Owl. For helping Big Owl the young man named BlackWolf was given an owl skin to wear in the dances and 10 sacredarrows to protect him on his way home. Big Owl warned him ofdangers along the way. After passing four dangerous persons, hemet a young woman who lived in Dog Den with her brothers. BigOwl told him that when he told this evil woman of his exploits shewould be afraid of him and her brothers would be afraid of the owlskin.He met this Woman in Dog Den and she took him inside the butte.Here some of the dogs were fooHsh or crazy; they would take theirfeet, arms, and even their heads off when they danced. Black Wolffrightened them with the owl skin and they ran out without theirlimbs. Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies used her whistle to send ablizzard, and they begged to get back into the butte. When theycame in they were afraid of Black Wolf. Black Wolf married thisWoman in Dog Den and he knew that she was the daughter of a Hidat-sa woman and White Dog.Some time later they returned to Black Wolf's lodge, which wasin the same village where Grandson, who established the StoneHammer society, lived. Black Wolf announced that his wife was asupernatural woman and that she forbad anyone to touch him. Oneday his brother's wife touched his robe and his wife became angry.Fearing that she would leave the people, they sat up watching herfor 4 nights when all fell asleep. Then she returned to Dog Den.He followed her and found the entrance and smokehole had beenclosed over.Later a man in the vUlage announced that he was a dog and thathis fathers were the dogs who had lived in Dog Den Butte. He toldhow his fathers had gone to the sky to make up the dipper. Thepeople would see him looking toward the sky at night and talkingto his fathers living above. This Yellow Dog announced that hewould organize four societies: Little Dogs, Crazy Dogs, Dog, and OldDogs. He announced that he would sing the songs that belongedto the Dog society, for they would do most of the fighting for thepeople in the future. He gave owl feathers to the dog societiesto wear during the dances. Then he announced the decorations theyshould wear and sang the songs of the various dog societies. Hetold them that these four societies were related but that one mustwait until he had reached the proper age before joining.At this point in the sacred myths, two versions are given. In oneversion Grandson becomes angry because Yellow Dog has intercoursewith his wife and retaliates by imprisoning the animals in Dog Den.In the other version it is the Sun who imprisoned the animals. In
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 197both versions, First Creator?the coyote?assisted in freeing theanimals. In the Grandson version he returned to the sky when hisefforts failed. He warned the people that, although he did manythings for them and founded the Stone Hammer society while onearth, should they make offerings to him or pray to him, they wouldbe unsuccessful. In the Sun version, the animals merely becamehungry and refused to stay imprisoned in the butte. Both versionshave widespread distribution among the Hidatsa but the Grandsonversion seems to have wider distribution since it is the only versionI was able to record for the Mandan. In the Mandan version,however, there is no reference to the founding of the Stone Hammersociety nor is there the prohibition of praying to Grandson.The concept of age-grading runs through the dog myths in spiteof the fact that the supernatural dogs founding the society werebrothers. This is not unusual, for the Hidatsa distinguish ageeven in twins; the first born being older brother or sister dependingon the sex. The psychological relationships between the variousdog societies are based on common parents and are expressed bynumerous common sjrmbols, particularly dress and ornaments.Maximilian stated that Mandan informants said the Crazy Dogswere higher up in the series formerly, but this seems to be basedon an interpretation of the myth rather than actual memory of theirformer higher place in the series.We find in the myth the native beliefs about the Dog societies.The Crazy Dogs bring bad luck and insanity to those who get lostnear Dog Den; the Little Dogs are an abbreviation of their full nameof "Little-Dogs-Whose-Names-Are-Unknown" because in the mythonly the two oldest dogs and the youngest male dog were named;the Dogs were brave and could not retreat; and finally the Old Dogswere the bravest of all and painted their bodies white to representtheir father, White Dog.The Dog society was popular in all of the Mandan and Hidatsavillages and continued so until the aboriginal culture broke down.The Old Dog society was less popular in the Hidatsa villages than withthe Mandan. Maximilian does not list an Old Dog society for theHidatsa-?^unless the society Waschu^kke-Achke, meaning Dog societybut which he translates as "Old Dog," should be so considered.The Old Dog societies died out at the Mandan villages after thesmallpox epidemic of 1837 and must have been even less popularwith the Hidatsa for, in spite of native traditions, I could find noknowledge of the society either at Hidatsa or Awaxawi prior to 1837although it was reported to be an important society at Awatixa.This is not unusual in view of the other cultural similarities betweenthis village group and the Mandan.710-195?65?14
198 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194However unimportant the Old Dog society may have been in recenttime, the Dog society was an important one to which the chiefs orleaders of various subgroups of the vUlage belonged. They weremature men who had distinguished themselves in many ways. In-formants would say, "That is the society that all of the greatestleaders belonged to." When buying into the Dog society, the BlackMouths relinquished their wives as in other society purchases, butthere was less inclination to avail themselves of that privilege. As aman grew older, having prayed often for younger men, it was believedthat his supernatural powers given to him from time to time duringhis lifetime by fasting, supernatural experiences, bundle purchases,and feasts for the older people, were running low. Those who werestill sexually active attributed this situation to possession stUl of greatsupernatural powers, and they sometimes availed themselves of the
"son's" wife. By the time the Dog society bought out the Bulls,the latter society members rarely availed themselves of that privilege,although their "sons" still continued to go through the formality.Bull SocietyThe Bull society was fast going out of existence after 1837; none ofmy informants had ever belonged to the society or observed its saleand transfer. After 1837, this was the highest society in both theMandan and Hidatsa series. Traditionally it was always at or nearthe top by virtue of certain ceremonial attainments prerequisite tomembership. The society in both the Mandan and Hidatsa villageswas limited to those males who had purchased sacred bundles con-taining sacred buffalo skulls together with the right to instructyounger men in the ceremonial painting of these skulls. Membershipin the society was a reward for village major bundle purchases. Thisplaced a premium on ownership of hereditary bundles and bundlerites rather than on personal bundles based on vision experiences.We find that both the Mandan and Hidatsa continued to recognizethe superiority of those bundles containing sacred buffalo skulls evenafter the Bull society died out. Whenever a ceremonial feast wasgiven, all those having these sacred bundles were expected to attendwithout formal invitation.The Bulls were expected to meet and dance in public four timeseach year, at which time theyrepresented the buffaloes of the particularseason and direction when the performance was being given (pi. 4).Both the Mandan and Hidatsa sacred and origin myths make commonreference to the buffaloes of the four seasons and directions, so on thisbasis one would not be able to determine which group first organizedthe society. Although Lowie (1913) suggested a few minor differ-ences in the society of the two tribes, my informants explained that
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 199these were not important. This society differed somewhat from theothers of the age-grade series in the acceptance of junior members torepresent mythological characters associated with the buffaloes. Inthis respect, the society is patterned closely after the White Buffalosociety owned by the women. In both instances they dramatizedthe return of the buffaloes to the village to dance and visit their juniormembers. The Bull society also included in its membership a numberof young girls whose duty it was to "bring water for the buffaloes"when the society met. Whenever the BuU society was paintingits members preparatory to making a public appearance, theirannouncer would go through the village and caU "The buffalo herdsare coming to the Missouri. Everyone come out and see them drink."The similarity of masks and the popularity of the buffalo dance inthe Mandan Okipa suggest, in light of the numerous references inthe Okipa rites to the buffalo dances, a greater antiquity of the Bullsociety for the Mandan. However, the BuU dance was of wide dis-tribution in the Plains and may well be a cultural feature that sub-sequently affected the Okipa. The Bull society seems to have lostits popularity after 1837 due to a change in the Hidatsa and theMandan system of grouping sacred bundle owners. Formerly, owingto the greater village and tribal size, it was customary to subdividethe major bundle owners possessing sacred buffalo skulls according torelated ceremonies. Thus, when a rain, wolf, or other ceremony wasgiven, only those who owned rights in the particular ceremony metto receive goods and honors. The population was so small after 1837that, generally, aU those who possessed sacred buffalo skulls cameirrespective of the bundles of which the sacred skulls were a part.In this internal tribal adjustment, an organization of sacred buffaloskull owners replaced the Bull society.WOMEN'S SOCIETIESIf one excluded those women's societies recently adopted from theMandan, little would remain to indicate an age-grade series forfemales. Both the White Buffalo and Goose societies were reportedlybought from the Mandan during the early 19th century. Both groupsequate the Hidatsa Enemy society with the Mandan Eiver society,although there are features not common to both tribes. The Mandanexplain the differences as due to imitation of the River society ratherthan actual purchase. The Hidatsa, on the other hand, consider theEnemy society one of their age-grade series. After the building ofFishhook Village there was considerable crossing of tribal lines intothe lower societies of the series, but each tribe maintained separateGoose and White Buffalo societies for several years after moving outonto the reservation.
200 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194Skunk SocietyThe lowest of the Hidatsa societies, the Skunks, seems to havehad no Mandan equivalent. The Skunk society consisted of youngwomen from 15 to 20 years of age and a male singer selected by thesociety. Their "friends" were the men's Stone Hammer society;they assisted each other on various social occasions and for societypurchases. Although purchases were made collectively, each womanof the society standing in the "father's sister-daughter" or "mother-daughter" relationship, it was not considered improper for others topaint themselves in the same manner and dance when the men re-tm-ned from a successful war expedition. They were entitled topresents from those who had just returned with war honors. Thiswas not an exclusive privilege of the society; frequently on such oc-casions others also took the victor's weapons and required paymentfor their return. Individuals were taken into the society from timeto time by individual purchase and were considered full-fledgedmembers thereafter. Enemy SocietyLowie (1913) gives a full account of the women's Enemy society.This was second in the series of Hidatsa age-grade societies and itsmembers were "friends" of the Foolish [Crazy] Dogs. The societywas composed of young married women who met whenever the menreturned from a successful war expedition and took an important partin the victory parades. Although the Mandan think of this Hidatsasociety as a poor imitation of the River society, the Hidatsa ascribeits origin to First Creator who organized the society for the purposeof dancing during the victory celebrations. Singers for the societywere men of "friendly" societies and held their positions on invitationof the women. Goose SocietyThe Goose society was of Mandan origin according to all of myinformants, in spite of the fact that Maximilian (1906) lists it onlyfor the Hidatsa. According to Mandan traditions, this society wasof long standing with them and even preceded their arrival upstreamto the Heart River. The society was associated with agriculture andhad as its principal singers men who held rights in various cornceremonies. This society differed from the societies of younger womenby being concerned exclusively with rites for insuring good crops.According to Hidatsa traditions, the Awatixa were longest to havethis society and, since this Hidatsa village group has the longesttraditional history on the Missouri, it would appear that as eachHidatsa group settled on the Missouri, this society became a part of
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 201their society system. In the Mandan villages, the male singers werebundle owners who managed the garden and fertility rites. Thesesacred bundles were of two categories: those originating with theculture hero, Good-Furred-Robe, and those originating with Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. There were two bundles relating to theGood-Furred-Robe: the Medicine Robe and the Skull bundles. Inearly historic times, at least, these bundles were kept in differentvUlages. Villages not represented by these two bundles had Goosesocieties whose singers were holders of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Diesbundles. It is with the latter pattern that the Hidatsa Goose societieswere associated until 1837 at which time Bear-Looks-Out, an Awaxawiand owner of an Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle, received theSkull bundle through his wife, a Mandan. Her father contemplatedputting it away since his family had experienced bad luck during thesmallpox epidemic. He sold the bundle to his son-in-law, a normaltransfer pattern for the Mandan who practiced clan-inheritance oftribal bundles, and thus the bundle passed to the Awaxawi village ofHidatsa. At that time both the Hidatsa and Awatixa had Goosesocieties associated with male singers owning rights in Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundles. In 1845, when the three Hidatsa villagesunited, the three Goose societies were united into a single organization.The purchase of the society was a group transaction. Youngwomen who had belonged to the Enemy society, and any others whomight wish to belong to the Goose society, met with the Goose societymembers to obtain their permission to buy. Since the society waschiefly concerned with agricultural pursuits, those showing littleinterest in the gardens generally did not care to buy. Meetings wereheld at the principal male singer's lodge. At Fishhook Village theHidatsa met at Bear-Looks-Out's lodge until he transferred his SacredSkull bundle to Poor Wolf, after which the meetings were held atthe latter's lodge. During this period, the Mandans met at thelodge of Moves Slowly, he being the principal singer for the MandanGoose society and the owner of the Good-Furred-Robe bundle. Whenone group was buying, they brought in food for 60 consecutive nightsand placed it in rows inside the lodge. Young men who had beensuccessful in war, two from each society, were selected to run towardthe meat while the women cried. Afterward food was passed aroundto the seUing group.Women were usually between the ages of 30 and 40 when theyentered the society. In addition to this age-grade group, one younggirl was selected by the principal singer to carry their pipe on certainoccasions and to present the pipe and dried meat to the principalsinger. The younger member represented the duck and smallerwater birds while the other female members represented geese. The
202 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
selling group selected "daughters"?younger clan members or
"brothers' daughters"?for each of whom they prepared an ear ofwhite or yellow corn wrapped in white sage, a headband of goose-skin with the head attached,^^ and a complete set of clothing consistingof a buffalo robe, dress, leggings, and moccasins. A woman couldselect as many as four women standing in the relationship of
"daughter." During the 60-day period of feasting, the youngerwomen were taught the songs and rites of the society and receivedinstruction in the traditional origin of the society and its relationshipto other corn rites. In return for this instruction and the ceremonialparaphernalia, each younger woman paid her individual "mother" or
"father's sister," according to the relationship that existed betweenthem. At the end of the period, the society was surrendered to theyounger women. However, there was not the same clear-cut separa-tion from the society by the sellers as was practiced by the menbuying into the men's societies.Members of the Goose society frequently received supernaturalexperiences, associated with Corn rites, in which the individual wasinstructed in a vision to make feasts to the society or to varioussacred bundles concerned with the corn. Some women also boughtthe right to have "corn spirits" come up in their throats on certainpublic occasions. These women were retained by the buyers ashonored life members of the Goose society. They met with thesociety of younger women and on all other occasions when publicrites were being performed by bundle owners having supernaturalpowers over the garden crops. These women might even retain theirrights in the Goose society while buying into the next higher society,the White Buffalo Cows, with their own age group.The most important meeting of the Goose society was held in thespring when the first water birds arrived from the south. Usuallysomeone dreamed during the winter of the return of the water birds andasked permission of the society to prepare a feast for the geese whenthey returned so the Goose women could pray for good crops. Fre-quently, several people who had dreamed of the geesewould go togetherand give the feast, otherwise a series of ceremonies were given indi-vidually by those receiving supernatural instruction. The womenwould meet with their singers at the appointed time and go to apoint just outside the village where the rites were performed. Thiswas the largest and most important ceremony heralding the firstarrival of the water birds and the end of winter.During the summer, individuals would frequently prepare feastsand ask the women of the Goose society to dance. At planting time
?' The Hidatsa Goose society formerly did not have the headband. See Lowie, 1913, p. 335.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 203the women of the village would come to the singer who was perform-ing the "fertility" rites on his earth lodge to receive a few kernelsof each variety of corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers. MovesSlowly held superior status to Bear-Looks-Out in Fertility rites. Itwas believed that the corn spirits went south with the water birdsin the fall and were cared for by Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies untilspring when they were sent northward again. As the geese were themessengers of the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, so were the womenof the Goose society the messengers of the sacred bundle owners.When droughts threatened, the people would go to the sacred cornbundle owners who would invite the Goose society to dance. If thedrought was prolonged, the Goose society members would inviteothers having rain ceremonial rights to perform their Rainmakingrites and pay them for their services. When a rainmaker failed tobring rain within a definite number of days, he would terminate hisrites and direct them to take the goods to another rainmaker. IfHidatsa interpretations of the role of the Goose society are correct,all rainmaking rites were undertaken on the initiative of this society.There were a number of bundles that could be classified primarilyas rainmaking bundles, but anyone who had fasted much and haddemonstrated supernatural powers might be asked.On one occasion during the 1860's, the Goose society took theirgoods to various men each of whom tried for a day or two, givingup when rain did not come. At last they asked help of Broken Ax,a Mandan noted for his numerous performances of the Okipa, andthe rains came, penetrating the soil to the depth of a hand's width.Broken Ax did not think it would look proper for him to keep aspersonal possessions all of the goods contributed by the Goose soci-ety, so he shared everything with other "holy" men who had tribalbundles and with those who had fasted much during their youth.In gratitude for services rendered, the people of the village materiallythanked the Goose society.Slightly later, grasshoppers were numerous and flew into the rivervalley from the adjacent prairies, attacking the corn silk as fast asit appeared. The women of the Goose society again met to select
"holy men" to help drive away the insects. Crows Heart, whoobserved the activities of the Goose society at that time, tells us thatThe women were crying, for the grasshoppers were eating up their corn plantsbefore the kernels could form. The Goose women were invited by those whohad gardens to meet and see if something could be done to drive the insectsaway. Each day grasshoppers flying in the air near the sun would settle inthe trees as the sun went down until they were so numerous that even the leaveswere nearly all gone. The Goose women went to various men to ask their help;these men tried because they were asked and goods were promised to them.But the men were soon discouraged and quit. At last the women went to Bro-
204 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194ken Ax who had brought the rain, and put things before him. Broken Axlaughed when they came to him and said, "I can't do anything; no one everheard of holy men driving away grasshoppers. I do not think grasshopperswould listen to me. Since you brought these things, I will try."The women placed their goods in front of his medicine bundle with the pipeon top of the goods. He lit the pipe and prayed to his gods to help the women.The day turned out very hot; the grasshoppers rose up into the air in swarmsas though going towards the sun. When night came, not a grasshopper was inthe gardens. All this I saw as they went up toward the sun and we neverknew what became of them. The people were all happy and thought thatBroken Ax was surely a great medicine man.The fall migration of the water birds was commemorated withceremonial offerings by the Goose society. These rites were usuallyperformed by the Goose society on invitation of some household asthanks for a good crop. It was beheved that the geese and otherwater birds, as they traveled southward, participated in the feastand took the spirits of the corn and other garden crops with themto the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies who spent the winter months in alarge earth lodge on an island near the mouth of the MississippiRiver. As a rule, the Goose society did not meet during the latefall and winter months although, occasionally, someone would askthat they attend a feast and pray for good crops the succeedingseason.Some women were believed to have corn spirits in their body.These women were respected members of the society, for the appear-ance of an ear of corn in their throats might occur at any time of theyear, particularly whenever a number of hungry people were sittingaround a fire waiting to be fed. On these social occasions, the womaninvariably had numerous "attacks" before the corn actually appearedin her mouth. Those sitting near her were expected to give herpresents so that the corn would go back down. My informantsclaimed that after the woman received the goods and some of the foodcooking at the fire, the ear of corn went back into place and did notpain her any more.Although there was no objection to meetings of a social natureduring the winter months if someone wanted to feed the members ofthe society, rites practiced at that time were not considered especiallyeffective since the corn spirits were believed to be far away in thecare of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. For that reason, once the fallceremony was completed, the Goose society was normally inactiveuntil spring approached.White Buffalo Cow SocietyBeginning with the approach of winter, the women of the nextolder group, the White Buffalo Cow society, would talk of meeting
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 205for the purpose of bringing the winter buffaloes to the village. Thiswas the highest of the organized age-grade women's societies knownto the Hidatsa and Mandan. The society was of Mandan origin,according to both Mandan and Hidatsa informants, and does notappear to have been of long existence with the Hidatsa, AlthoughMaximilian did not include the society in his Hidatsa series, Matthews(1877) listed it in his Hidatsa series as of Mandan origin. Boiler gavea detailed eyewitness account of the winter buffalo-calling ritesbelonging to this society which is essentially the same as that furnishedme by the older Hidatsa who recalled the particular winter and in-cidents mentioned by Boiler (1868).According to traditions, a Mandan was fasting on a high hill duringthe shortest and coldest nights of the winter. Each night he hearda voice above the noise of the wind and drifting snow. On the fourthnight the voice was so near and distinct that he could distinguishthe words. The voice kept repeating, "Put a child with them."Soon a man came carrying two children. The man said to thefaster, "I am going to give you these children. Prepare a feastof corn and I will come. I am the buffalo. When the feast is ready,I will come and then you will have winter buffaloes with you always."The faster returned to the village and told the people of his ex-periences. He asked that a feast be prepared, using all the dif-ferent kinds of corn, and he selected two old women to care for thesmall children. Soon a party of strange women arrived and showedthe people how to perform the dance. Then the strange women atethe food prepared for them. When these buffalo women left, thetwo buffalo children struggled to free themselves to accompanytheir mothers. One escaped and the other was raised in the villageas an Indian. Each year when the women dressed up and danced, thebuffaloes would come back to see the little child who danced withthem. The buffalo women would bring the winter buffalo herds withthem.Women not yet through the menopause were not permitted tojoin the society as it was believed that menstrual blood would drivethe buffaloes away. This was in direct contrast to the belief thatmenstrual flows were "good" for the gardens. After the existinggroup had owned the society for 8 or 10 years, and the membershipof the society was getting small from the death of its members,women who had belonged to the Goose society and such others aswished to belong to the White Buffalo Cow society, met and organizeda temporary society for the purpose of negotiating for the purchaseof the society rights from the older women. All ceremonies andnegotiations were conducted after the gardens had been harvestedin the fall and prior to the normal time for the return of the water
206 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194birds. Since even talking of the society was believed to bring coldweather, women were reluctant even to think of the society or tohum its songs during the growing season lest frosts come and destroytheir crops. Even as late as 1932, Calf Women and Scattercorn,representing the Hidatsa and Mandan societies respectively, whohad entered the society as representatives of the buffalo calf leftwith the tribe, were reluctant to relate the myth or discuss the societywith me during the month of August lest frosts destroy their gardens.The actual sale of the society occurred in the late fall after thevillage had gone into winter camp. The purchasing group firstmade their intentions known to the older group; a sale price wasagreed upon; and a date for the commencement of the instructionsand meetings was set. In the meantime, each older woman selectedfrom among the buying group those whom she addressed as ''daughter"and for whom she prepared the clothing and other society para-phernalia. One could select as many as four "daughters," but ordin-arily fewer were selected. The women built a sweat lodge frameat their meeting place and the purchasing group provided five orsix robes for the covering. Each buyer gave a wooden bowl androbes to the individual from whom instructions, paraphernalia, andrights were obtained. The buying group selected one of their numberto take the white robe and to occupy the leading position during thedances. She was one whose husband had an important role in otherbuffalo-calling rites. The child representing the buffalo calf of theorigin myth was a girl 2 to 9 years of age. It was her duty to standin the center of the line when dancing, with the hair of her tiny robeon the outside. A woman standing at the end of the line wore therobe of a summer buffalo and was known as Summer Buffalo. Awoman standing next to the child wore her robe with the hairsideout and attended to the incense as waiter for the group. All theother members wore robes with the skin side out. The special officerswere females who either possessed buffalo bundles in their own rightor were married to men with such rights. The child representativelikewise came of a household possessing buffalo-calling rights. Forthe Mandan, Scattercorn was selected for this office because her fatherwas the Hoita in the Okipa and possessed one of the sacred turtledrums used in that ceremony. When the last Hidatsa group pur-chased the White Buffalo Cow society. Calf Woman was selected bythe older Hidatsa women because her father lived in the Mandanceremonial lodge with his Mandan wives and was custodian of thebuffalo masks worn by the Mandan during their Okipa performances.In the purchase of this society, the Hidatsa adopted many featuresof the Mandan ceremonial system. The male singers for the Mandanwere men who possessed ceremonial rights in the Okipa. The Hi-
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 207datsa, having no comparable ceremony, selected men who had rightsin existing buffalo ceremonies. The same association of male sacredbundle owners and a woman's society existing for the Goose societyfollowed for the White Buffalo Cow society. Because of this associ-ation, when one group of women sold out, the sale did not affect themale singers whose positions were held by virtue of their rightsin other ceremonies. The songs and rites were identical to thoseof the Mandan which suggests recent adoption from the Mandan.On the other hand, the Goose society differed slightly in parapher-nalia, songs, and rites from the Mandan?consistent with nativetraditions that this society was adopted from the Mandan long beforethe White Buffalo society was purchased.According to Mandan accounts, the Bull society formerly metwith the White Buffalo Cow society during the winter observances,but in later years this men's society had died out. During the 19thcentury the Black Mouths met with the women since one of theimportant duties of this society was to organize the village for fastingwhen the days were shortest to bring the buffalo herds to the riverbottoms near the village. When it was announced that the societywas to meet on the invitation of some individual?frequently theman selected as Winter Camp leader?and that goods had been putup for the rites, it was the duty of the Black Mouths to enforce thequiet order in the village. Then the dogs were taken into the lodge;premature and individual hunting was prohibited; women remainednear their lodges and cut no wood; and fires were frequently extin-guished unless a strong wind was blowing from the direction the ani-mals were taking. The women met each day at the lodge selectedfor the rites. During this time other individuals brought goods orhorses and asked the women or the singers to pray to the buffaloes,telling them that the society was dancing and that they should cometo see their "chUd." The robes belonging to the special officers, thesacred pipe, and the white headbands were smoked in the fumesfrom wild peppermint stems. If the buffalo herds were late arriving,the women would sometimes meet daily for quite a whUe. Usuallytheir first meeting was when large herds were observed at a distanceand the storms had begun.CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIDATSA AGE-GRADE STRUCTUREThe Hidatsa age-grade societies were organized and named groupscomprising, with a few exceptions, persons of approximately the sameage and sex. The few exceptions were older men retained as singersby those recently buying a new society, young women engaged bythe Bull society to bring them water during public displays, male
208 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
singers for the women's societies, young girls selected to representthe water birds in the Goose society, and the buffalo calf in the WhiteBuffalo Cow society. These societies cut across clan and moiety lines,dividing the population of the village into a number of organizedgroups. In earlier times, when the Hidatsa lived in three or morevillages, the societies were limited by village bounds and member-ship in a society of a different village was unusual except in thoseinstances when one having rights in a particular society marriedand moved to another village. In these instances the individualsold out his rights with his own group and participated subsequentlywith the society of his new residence.In organization, all societies followed a characteristic pattern.There were officers who were distinguished from the rank and filemembers by special paraphernalia, face painting, and duties. Theseinvariably had distinguished themselves in various socially approvedways. Men were usually selected by the group for bravery or othermanifestations of military skill while women were selected for industryand participation in specific rituahstic activities. Each society hada male announcer or crier whose duty it was to inform the village atlarge of the activities of the society. He could be one of the regularmembership or an older and respected person selected for his kindnessto certain members of the society.With regard to origin, the Hidatsa recognized two groups or so-cieties; those for which no tribal origin myths were known, and whichare therefore presumed to be of foreign origin, and those having tribalorigin myths which they believed their ancestors founded. Eachsociety had prescribed rites and dances which in some way distin-guished it from aU other societies, while those societies having simi-larities were believed to be "related" to each other. Each group hadperiodic meetings according to the traditional customs of the groupand extra meetings whenever one of its members had distinguishedhimself in warfare. The men's societies all placed great emphasis onwarfare but had other functions as well. Certain societies had ritual-istic aspects and conceptual ties with bundle rites. The NotchedStick was related to Corn rites at Awaxawi and it was beheved thatwhenever the young boys of this society danced, rains were certainto fall. The Lumpwood society used staffs resembling those of thePainted Red Stick and Thunder rites for buffalo calling and rainmakingrespectively. The Stone Hammer society was related to the Sun,Moon, and Woman Above rites. The Dog societies were related toEarthnaming rites due to the use of owl feathers by both groups.The Bull society dances during the four seasons were symbolic of thebuffaloes of the four seasons and directions.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 209Although the secrecy of the sacred rites did not apply to the age-grade societies, each society was clothed in a certain amount ofsacredness by virtue of individual membership in various ceremonies.Each society was thought to possess collectively more supernaturalpower than the preceding one because individuals continuously soughtsupernatural powers until past middle age. Thus Stone Hammerswere not thought to have collectively very much supernatural powersince they had just begun their fasting, whereas members of the highersocieties had individually fasted a great deal, participated in manyceremonies, and had given many feasts to older persons recognizedas holy men.The role of the age-grade system in providing a mechanism for theacquisition of supernatural powers is indicated by the similarity of thepurchase to ceremonial purchases. With a few exceptions, the cere-monial purchase was by a "son" from his "father." The same patternprevailed for age-grade purchases. Another feature of the ritualisticquest of supernatm-al power was that of the relinquishment of one'swife to the ceremonial "father."The Hidatsa do not think of the societies in themselves as sacredand informants offered no objections to discussing details concernedexclusively with the societies. Nevertheless, the Hidatsa think of asociety purchase as a mode of acquiring supernatural power. Amale secured this power during the purchase from individuals stand-ing in a "father" relationship who prayed for their "sons," "walked"with their sons' "wives," and received various goods. Although thepurchase was made as a group, it was essentially an individual affairbetween a man and one or more "sons." Some men preferred to havethe same "father" for each successive society purchase whUe othersthought more supernatural powers would be obtained if different
"fathers" were selected for successive purchases. The concept ofage-grade purchases as organized activities designed to acquire super-natural power is further indicated by the reluctance of a buyer toselect as "father" one who had suffered repeated misfortunes or hada poor reputation. In fact, such unfortunate individuals frequentlyrelinquished their sacred bundles or completely dropped out of theage-grade societies. Others took no part in age-grade activities untilthey had overcome their bad luck by successes in warfare, rain-making, or "calling the buffaloes."This feature of acquiring individual supernatural powers withinan organized group does not seem to be characteristic of the women'sgroups. The societies for younger women were concerned exclusivelywith warfare. Each of the Goose and White Buffalo Cow societiescollectively purchased rights in specific ceremonies: agricultural andwinter buffalo-calling rites. Men, on the other hand, did not acquire
210 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
specific ceremonial rites through purchase of an age-grade societynor did they secure the right to participate in the "father's" cere-monies. Instead, they received only such supernatural power andassurances as the "fathers" offered them.Societies were cooperating groups. Whenever an individualsuffered misfortune, his society should help him. Men would helpeach other in warfare, assist in the recovery of stolen horses, andput up goods if one of their number was making important ceremonialpurchases. Women would assist a sick member with food andclothing, and plant or care for her gardens. If a member died, thesociety would supply food and gifts to the relatives of the deceasedfor the funeral rites. On occasions when a member of the societyreturned with war honors, the society would dance and put up goodsfor the victory rites. Other men's groups, two societies removed,would likewise assist on these occasions.The concept of group cooperation extended to the opposite sexas well. Each men's society usually enlisted the assistance of awomen's society composed of individuals of the same age and knownas "friends." This "friend" relationship between societies of oppositesex does not seem to be integrated into the traditions and sacredmyths of the tribe nor was there agreement among informants asto "friend" groups of the opposite sex. This suggests that, due torecent borrowing of the River, Goose, and White Buffalo Cow societiesfrom the Mandan, the Hidatsa had not established a fixed systemof correlations strengthened by custom. Informants all agreed thatthe Stone Hammer and Skunk societies were "friends," but this maybe due to the fact that these societies are of Hidatsa origin andof long traditional existence in the tribe. The Enemy Women areusually associated with the Crazy Dogs but sometimes selectedthe Lumpwoods as "friends," Likewise the Goose society some-times had either the Crazy Dogs or the Lumpwoods as "friends."But the selection was largely a matter of age. The women of theMandan Goose society had the Fox or the Black Mouths for their
"friends" because, as they said, this association was based on thecreation of these three societies by Good-Furred-Robe. The WhiteBuffalo Cow society was the "friend" of the Black Mouth society.It seems probable that they formerly were also "friends" of the Bullsociety, as with the Mandan for whom traditions and customs aremore definite, and that the Bull society was not associated withthem in later years chiefly because the Bulls died out early with theHidatsa. The record indicates that "friends" were establishedsocieties of opposite sex based chiefly on relative age rather than onany preconceived ideas of societies belonging together.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 211Theoretically, everyone ought to belong to a society?in practice,many did not join in or were in and out through life. If an individualbelonged to a society, both he and his society members were subjectto the ridicule of his "joldng relatives." The societies reached asmaller percentage of women. Although theoretically noncompeti-tive, some evidence of rivalry for position existed among the societiesafter 1845 due to the union of the remnants of three village groupswith slightly different age-grade systems.One owned rights in a society until he sold out. If regular purchaseswere not made, accumulation of ceremonies occurred. For instance,if the Half-Shaved Heads bought the Black Mouth society beforeselling their rights to the Lumpwoods, they would own two societies.Temporarily, the Half-Shaved Head dances would not be performedsince a group expressed its position in the system by the highestsociety owned. The same situation frequently developed when theDogs bought the Old Dog society before selling out to the BlackMouths. If a society was not bought by the younger group, owner-ship was retained by the existing members as long as they lived. Inrecent years, societies went together to purchase other dances suchas the Grass and Night Grass dances brought to the tribe by theSioux. This destroyed the age-grade character of the system and thesocieties quickly died out through failure of the younger men tocontinue the purchases.Each village group had independent societies and, as seen in table4 (p. 175), slight differences existed between villages because of theirdifferent histories and group contacts. Although the membershipof a society was limited to the village group, a "friend" relationshipexisted between the same societies of different villages. There weretwo Hidatsa concepts of property transfer. The first, or "father-son"transfer, provided for an actual transfer and relinquishment of rights(as when one organized group sold to a group of "sons") and was thepattern of society sales within the village. The second transferpattern was known as "taking in friends" and was the method oftransferring society rights to another village or tribe without relin-quishing original ownership. Thus, if a group from another villageor tribe wished to buy a society owned by the Hidatsa, after thedetails of the purchase price and time for the sale had been arranged,the buying group was considered "friends." The buying group thenselected individual "friends" of the sellers who were, in the case oftwo groups having common clans, individuals of the same or relatedclans. There was nothing unique in this system since Hidatsacommonly adopted either a "son" or a "friend" of other village ortribal groups. The buying group paid their individual "friends"
212 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194for the paraphernalia and the right to own the society in the samemanner as when the buying grouo was of the same village.The "friend" relationship established during the sale of societyrights was a permanent one between groups of individuals. Whilevisiting neighboring villages or tribes, these "friends" treated eachother as brothers or, in the case of the women's societies, as sisters.They were invited to live with a "friend," usually a clansman, forthe duration of the visit. Although an individual had rights only inthe particular society of the village where he bought, the concept ofgroup assistance to an unfortunate member extended to othervillages as well. When a man undertook to avenge a brother killedby the enemy, society members of other villages frequently volun-teered to give military aid. In light of the wide territory occupiedby the various Hidatsa village groups prior to 1785, the diffusion ofmany common age-grade societies to all village groups no doubtstrengthened the ties between the different village groups when theymoved to the KJiife River region. The establishment of commonsocieties with the Mandan likewise probably contributed much topeaceful relations with that tribe.Although the Hidatsa think of age-grading as an institution ofconsiderable antiquity, they think of the number of societies makingup the series as increasing through the years. A parallel situationprevailed in regard to the ceremonies. They speak of ancient timeswhen the people had few skills, few ceremonies, and much hunger.To them, their golden age was prior to the appearance of the Whitesand their diseases; an age of many societies and ceremonies. Of thenumerous societies found among the Hidatsa, the Stone Hammerand various Dog societies have the best claim for respectable an-tiquity since they are of traditional antiquity and are frequentlymentioned in their origin and sacred myths. If we eliminate thewomen's societies of traditional Mandan origin, we have remainingnothing of a women's age-grade system. Thus, it would appearthat the Hidatsa have borrowed more from the Mandan than theyhave given in return. WarfareINTERTRIBAL RELATIONSMilitary activities had social, ceremonial, and economic aspectswhich affected the entire population. There was scarcely any aspectof their cultural life left unaffected by the intensive warfare thatranged about them on the Plains during the period for which we havedocumentary accounts and traditional information of Hidatsa in-formants. Nor was the prehorse period one of peace betweentribes; there are numerous traditional accoimts of expeditions far
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGAI^ZATION 213into the eastern woods or into the valleys of the Rockies even beforethe horse reached them. Although the Thompson accounts speakof their former residence on the Red River and its tributaries, untildriven out by the Chippewa who first obtained guns, most Hidatsatraditions refer to an even earlier residence on the Missouri by somegroups. Thus, it is to be presumed that formerly, as given by thetraditions, the Hidatsa and Crow groups as we know them todaywere scattered along the lower portion of the Yellowstone, the LittleMissouri, the Missouri from the mouth of the Yellowstone to SquareButtes and then eastward into the Devils Lake, Red River, andSheyenne River regions. Archeological evidence indicates that thosegroups living on the Missouri practiced agriculture and held firmly,in cooperation with the Mandan, a considerable section of the Missourifrom the Knife River to the Cannonball. So far as we know today,the larger area claimed by the Hidatsa as the exclusive territory ofthe Crow, Hidatsa, and Mandan groups was formerly uncontestedby other groups with a peripheral area into which many groupsoccasionally penetrated.Numerous efforts have been made to interpret Hidatsa migra-tions in terms of an old Mandan tradition that tells of the first arrivalof the Hidatsa-proper on the Missouri at a point a short distanceabove the mouth of Heart River where they were named by the Man-dan who gave them their first corn. This tradition, however, is notconsistent with the general traditions of the various Hidatsa groupswhich operated independently, nor with the archeological evidence ofthe area. The Mandan have made a great deal of their traditionsof teaching corn growing to the Hidatsa-proper, but this is in directcontradiction to the Thompson-supported Awaxawi traditions of anagricultural economy on the tributaries of the Red River and in theDevils Lake region (Thompson, 1916, pp. 225-237) and the archeo-logical record for the Schultz sites on the lower Sheyenne which tie upvery closely with the oldest traditional Awaxawi sites on the Missouri.Although my researches do not reveal any evidence that the Awaxawiabandoned the eastern region because of the pressure of enemy groupsequipped with firearms, their former residence there is indicated bytraditions and the custom of the older people even within the memoryof living informants to return to their later village sites around DevilsLake. Instead, the Awaxawi traditions speak of a former prehistoricagricultural life on the streams to the east and at DevUs Lake priorto a "continental flood" which drove them westward onto the Missouriwhere they found related groups already established in earth lodgevillages.The Awatixa village group had lived so long on the Missouri thateven in Lewis and Clark's time they had no traditions of residence710-195?65 15
214 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY tBiiU. 194
elsewhere. Their large traditional village at the mouth of the KnifeRiver indicates a period of long residence; probably since 1550 or 1600.Their traditions are largely concerned with the later settlement of theother Hidatsa groups on the Missouri River, and the Crow groups onthe adjacent Plains. Neither does the Hidatsa-River Crow migra-tion tradition supply us with positive evidence of pressure from easterngroups as the basis for then* westward movement. However, thetraditionally late westward movement of the Awaxawi and theHidatsa-River Crow indicates a general abandonment of the territoryeast and northeast of the Missouri about the time firearms were firstintroduced to tribes in the Winnipeg and Great Lakes area.Except for the traditional village site of the Awatixa at the mouthof the Knife River, none of the traditional Hidatsa-proper or Awaxawisites on the Missouri show evidence of great antiquity. On thebasis of pottery types represented in these sites, it has been possibleto distinguish them from those of the adjacent Mandan and to indicatethat during their residence on the Missouri these Hidatsa villagegroups were both sedentary and agricultural. Except for shortperiods, their agricultural villages were at or below the mouth ofthe KJnife River, although the same pottery complex is widely distrib-uted in hunting camp sites upstream along the Missouri and theLower Yellowstone as well as on tributaries (such as the LittleMissouri and the Powder Rivers) wherever a quantity of wood wasavailable. The basic similarity of the pottery types and frequencyof types over a wide area extending westward from the Sheyenneand Devils Lake area to the Yellowstone suggests that there werecontinuous contacts between the various Hidatsa-Crow groups andthat the abandonment of the eastern wooded section of their terri-tory was rather late, but that it preceded the introduction of the horse.A significant feature of the Hidatsa position upstream from thelarge concentrated Mandan population below Painted Woods and theCrow position to the west of the Mandan is the fact that they livedhere together in a weak confederation of independent village groups.With one exception, a short war between the Hidatsa-proper livingabove the Knife and the Awaxawi living farther downstream whoundertook to establish a permanent village above the Hidatsa, thereare no traditional accounts of warfare among these three tribes.With the final abandonment of the region east of the Missouri, thiscluster of friendly tribes controlled an area from the mouth of theCannonball to the mouth of the Yellowstone thence upstream to thePowder River and eastward across the Little Missouri with thecourse of the Cannonball as their southern limits. The three tribesheld a commanding position in this region until 1780, living peacefullyand assisting each other in conducting offensive warfare against those
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 215groups which attempted to penetrate the region. Prior to 1780 theAssiniboin pressure to the north had scarcely been felt (in 1738, LaVerendrye found them living back from the Missouri farther to thenortheast), but the Sioux had already moved into the Ked River,James River, and Devils Lake regions. Even as late as 1797,Thompson found the Assiniboin northeast of the Hidatsa on theMouse River, in the Turtle Mountains and northward, with theSioux as far west as the Dog Dens and in general control of the tallgrass east of the Missouri.After 1780 the Hidatsa, together with the Mandan and Arikara,were under constant pressure from mounted nomadic groups fre-quently better equipped with firearms. This was also the period ofdevastating smallpox epidemics. Both these factors materiallyaffected them. Before 1780, having the powerful Mandan villagegroups to the south in the direction of the Sioux and Arikara, theHidatsa showed little inclination to fortify their villages or evenplace them for defense or the easier and safer herding of the horses.There is no archeological evidence that ditch and wall fortificationswere constructed at their principal villages prior to 1780 althoughthe Mandans to the south had been fortifying strongly since beforeA.D. 1500. However, the Mandan situation was somewhat different;their pressure was as great during later years from the Arikara livingbelow them on the Missouri as from the nomadic groups, particularlythe Sioux and Cheyenne.The epidemics of the 1780's materially changed the picture on theMissouri, for the sedentary bands usually lived together in largeagricultural groups during the summer and in somewhat smallerwinter camps situated close to each other. The nomadic bandsrarely came together as large social groups for longer than a fewweeks during the summer, thus contagious diseases weakened themless than the sedentary groups. The losses of the latter are painfullyevident when a comparison is made between the large Mandan villagesites with European trade material near the Heart River, abandonedafter this epidemic, and the two small villages of survivors reportedby Lewis and Clark to be living near Fort Clark in 1804. Of theHidatsa groups, the Awatixa and Awaxawi suffered most, probablydue to their custom of going into winter camp as a village unit. Incontrast, the Hidatsa-proper, then consisting of organized bandswhich sometimes practiced agriculture, broke up into smaller winterhunting camps much as did the Assiniboin described by Thompsonin 1797.A further factor ajffecting the Hidatsa village groups was their posi-tion on the Plains. To the northeast, the Assiniboin and Chippewahad permanent trading posts situated near them at a much earlier
216 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194date and were better armed than their western neighbors. To thesouth, the Sioux (Dakota) had immediate access to trading posts onthe Missouri and Mississippi and endeavored to prevent trade with theearth lodge groups. Other Siouan (Dakota) groups traded regularlywith the posts in Minnesota. Even as late as 1800 traders found itdifficult to reach the Missouri to trade with the Hidatsa and Mandan.On the other hand, due to their northern and eastern position in thePlains, the horse reached them rather late ; raids by mounted Indiansfrom the southwest were of common occurrence by 1780 although theHidatsa were probably not completely mounted by that time. Thefirst result of these factors?horses and White trade?was a concentra-tion of the population into compact villages. Whereas their villagesites of prehorse times, with the exception of the Awatixa, were com-posed of widely scattered lodges and small clusters of lodges (as seenat the Upper Sanger, Gaines, and Fort Clark Station sites below theKnife) or the temporary campsites (as the Energy or Stanton Ferrysites, and elsewhere to the mouth of the Yellowstone River), thepopulation now either went into strongly fortified sites (Big Hidatsa35, Lower Hidatsa 34, Rock Village 53, or Awaxawi 32), or completelyabandoned the region above the Knife River for summer villages andunited with the River Crow, Not only were the post-1780 vUlagesreduced in size by compactly arranging the lodges, but they werevery strongly fortified with ditches and walls. After one attempt tomaintain a village?Rock Village?some miles north of the KnifeRiver, the population united at the mouth of the Knife River andbuilt the three villages observed by Lewis and Clark in 1804.There was a comparable concentration of the Mandan populationa few miles downstream from the Hidatsa villages. When the Mandanoriginally abandoned the Heart River region, the east side or NuptadiMandan sought to move above the Hidatsa on the Missouri and thusviolate a long-standing arrangement of village groups. These Mandanhad been intimately associated with the Awaxawi and the Mandan ofPainted Woods while living farther downstream and had intermarriedwith them. Nevertheless, the Hidatsa refused them permission tomove above the mouth of the Kjiife River in territory claimed asexclusive Hidatsa hunting territory. The Hidatsa welcomed theMandans, however, as close neighbors and the entire Mandan popu-lation finally united into two village groups downstream from theHidatsa where they were found by Lewis and Clark in 1804. A periodof close cooperation between these vUlage groups in all matters ofcommon interest followed. They assisted each other in warfare ata time when the Crow had moved so far west as to afford little aid.Although permanent ties with the Crow were now severed, Hidatsa
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 217war parties and visiting groups often went to the Crow and assistedthem in stealing horses until the aboriginal culture broke down.Whereas during the 18th centm-y, the Arikara were in conflict withthe Mandan and Hidatsa in their northward penetration of theMissouri River valley, by the close of the century they were willingto cooperate with their northern earth lodge neighbors against acommon enemy?the Sioux. Peace between the Arikara and theirnorthern agricultural neighbors developed slowly due to old griev-ances?chiefly competition for agricultural grounds?and troublefrequently broke out during the period prior to 1837. As the pressureof the Sioux increased, numerous efforts were made to bring theArikara into the earth lodge federation. In 1836, after a few yearsof nomadic life when their corn crops failed, the Arikara came northwith the intention of rebuilding (Greenshield site) near PaintedWoods. This region had been abandoned by the Hidatsa and Mandangroups in their northward migration along the Missom-i and onevillage group of Arikara from the Grand River had, on several occa-sions, settled there temporarily. This arrangement was generallyaccepted by the Hidatsa and Mandan, now greatly reduced in num-bers, for it offered protection on the south from the Sioux who hadmeanwhile hunted in the Heart and Cannonball River regionsabandoned by the Mandan a half century earlier. So the Arikara cameto the trading post at Fort Clark in the late winter of 1837 and werereceived by the Hidatsa and Mandan (Chardon, 1932, p. 100). Duringthe late winter, one Arikara band went out hunting with the Hidatsaonto the Upper Missouri and the other remained with the Mandan.^*^When spring came they did not separate to build a separate villageas had been planned, and when smallpox broke out that summer, thethree tribes suffered so severely that the Arikara took over andoccupied the Mandan village at Fort Clark. From that time on, theArikara were accepted as friends ;^^ they assisted the Hidatsa andMandan when attacked. After 1837 there was growing evidencethat, due to increased pressure by the Sioux, the Assiniboin shouldbe included in this federation. Whereas the Arikara had carried oncontinuous warfare with the Crow on every occasion, with the estab-lishment of friendly relations with the Hidatsa, warfare with theCrow was discontinued. The Hidatsa had established permanentfriendly relations with a few Assiniboin bands after a century ormore of conflict with them over the control of the Missouri upstream
'? They probably represented the two separate village groups reported by Maximilian and others duringthe period 1810-34.s' Occasionally, quarrels occurred which demanded prompt action by the respective police and councils.For procedures in resolving these differences before the entire groups became involved, see Chardon, 1932,p. 188.
218 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194from the Knife. These cooperating groups camped together dm-ingthe winter and went out on friendly hunting expeditions together.This friendship had never extended to the entire Assiniboin tribe, forthe western Assiniboin were in constant conflict with the Crow andthose Hidatsa living with the Crow after 1845. Likewise, there wasa great deal of hard feeling toward the western Assiniboin bands fortheir attacks on that northernmost Hidatsa group which had at-tempted to establish a village above the Big Bend after the epidemicof 1837. On the other hand, marriage, adoption rites, and temporary-winter residence worked to bring about a federation with friendlyeastern Assiniboin bands. During the Sioux wars, the Assiniboinoften left old people or widows with small children unable to travelor to stand the rigors of winter with the Hidatsa when leaving forthe winter villages after coming to the Hidatsa to trade for corn.During the 19th century, a number of people were adopted into thetribe and married Hidatsas or Mandans. In addition, small childrensometimes were left in alien villages?while their parents were tradingfor corn?to be raised by the inhabitants of that village. On a fewoccasions shortly after 1800, when the Assiniboin were contestingthe Hidatsa for the Missouri River region, the latter destroyedAssiniboin winter hunting camps, taking the women and children ascaptives. Once taken into the tribe, these captives maintained adual citizenship which was acceptable to the Hidatsa. Assiniboincoming to trade would visit their relatives in the village and, as faras can be determined, once a female had married and had childrenby a Hidatsa father, her position was more secure than with her owngroup. In several instances, however, where the Hidatsa husbandhad died, no objection was raised when she returned with her childrento her own people. These were household decisions over which thecouncil had no authority. Her children were related to groups ofindividuals in both tribes and could and did move back and forthbetween both tribes without risk of their lives as long as they wererecognized.The practice of intergroup visiting and "adoption" had made greatprogress toward terminating warfare between the Hidatsa and certainbands of Assiniboin, Chippewa, and Sioux even before the aboriginalculture broke down. These ahen groups came to the Hidatsa villagesfor prolonged annual visits and, on several occasions, assisted theHidatsa when attacks were made on the village. Groups of alienssometimes went into winter camp with the Hidatsa and got along verywell.A man organizing a war party invariably avoided attacks on thosebands with which he was related by blood (in much the same manneras did Medicine Bear of the Sioux, whose mother was from the Mandan
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 219
village of Nuptadi). In the case of a few alien bands of small sizethat had maintained frequent contacts with the Hidatsa and wereknown individually to all of the young Hidatsa, learning that an en-campment was of their acquaintances, they went into the camp tovisit rather than to steal their horses. In one instance, a war partyof young Hidatsas went to Devils Lake to steal horses from the Sioux.Discovering that the horses stolen during the night were those whichtheir people had given to a band of Chippewas a few weeks before tosend them away happy, and knowing that their relatives woulddisapprove of stealing horses from their friends, they drove the horsesback into the Chippewa camp, telling them of their mistake. Theyoung men of the two tribes then organized a common raid on a distantSioux camp. Even as late as the 1850's, warriors of friendly bandswould come to Fishhook Village to visit when on the way to the Arikaravillage at Fort Clark to steal horses.TRAININGNo other aspect of the culture received as much attention as warfare.As soon as a boy was old enough to walk, he was given a bow and ar-rows; childhood games emphasized military adventures in imitationof their elders. Observing the behavior of the older people as theydanced and sang the victory songs when a successful war party re-turned, or wept when the party was unsuccessful, the small childrenwould, with the encouragement of their elders, go on imaginary warexpeditions although the enemy defeated was often only a younggopher or rabbit. Waving the dead animal, and with their facesblackened with the dirt from a pocket gopher's mound, they wouldcome into the village or a make-believe village consisting of oldhides hung over bushes, singing the victory songs and waving theirtrophies. The little girls, pretending to be the sisters or the wives ofthe warriors, would paint up, often with the help of their older rela-tives, and dance as the young women of the Enemy, River, or othersocieties did.As children grew older they could observe the preparation of youngmen for military careers: the, at first, brief attempts to endure thetortures of the 4-day fasts during the Sun Dance or the Wolf ceremony;the prolonged fasts during the ceremonies providing opportunitiesfor self-torture or the organized fasts under the supervision of old warleaders; and, finally, long sustained fasting either alone on the prairies,at the skull circles, or about the vUlage when thongs were insertedinto their flesh by which they were suspended or buffalo skulls weredragged. Equally important in molding the young man's characterwere the visible positive awards by which the society recognizedmilitary achievements; the public parade with the victor mounted
220 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194on a horse; the bestowal of a new name and the privilege of makinga public display of giving away goods; the praises of the relatives;the right to wear emblems, symbolic of military accomplishments,on public occasions and particularly when visiting tribes came; orthe right to assume an important role in rites reserved for the brave.Wolf Chief described the training of the young men as equivalent toa wagon drawn along a deeply rutted road; there was no way to getout of the road except by going forward in the same path as othershad done before?one could make no progress backing up, and thedepth of the ruts prevented one from taking a different course. Ayoung man, according to Wolf Chief, got along very well as long ashe performed in exactly the same way as his elders had; he was des-tined to be very unhappy if he attempted to stray the least bit fromthe beaten path. The only effective alternate was to become aberdache. As a boy grew up, the culture provided him with manyopportunities to prepare for a military career ; there were the organizedfootraces and military games supervised by the older men, horseracing and contests on horseback, and shooting contests of varioussorts.The ritualistic aspects of warfare were highly developed. Youngpeople were encouraged to fast to secure supernatural powers so thattheir lives would be saved when they went to war or when the villagewas attacked. Supervision was the duty of the older members ofthe clan, but it was from the father and the members of the father's clanthat one secured most of his ritualistic training. The older menwould endeavor to prevent unauthorized war or horse raiding partiesfrom leaving the village. The Hidatsa were realistic about militarytraining, for they mixed a bit of both ritualistic and technical trainingand never confused the two. One ought to have a considerableknowledge of both. The successful war leaders would watch theyoung men at their games or at their fasting and encourage them tomake even greater efforts with a promise that they would soon beready for war, but the society frowned on efforts of the young men toshortcut the established procedures. An older clan member wouldoften bring together a number of his "younger brothers" and send themout to some spot a distance from the village. There, under the super-vision of a recognized war leader, the young men fasted with thepromise that those who had successful dreams and fasted faithfullywould be taken on the next horse-stealing expedition. This super-visor was paid for his services by the young men's households andeven by those young men who had secured appropriate visions.In return for the goods, the "leader of the fast" prayed for the successof the giver.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 221The Hidatsa were continuously plagued with unauthorized mili-tary expeditions led by irresponsible young men. The weight ofdisapproval rested primarily with the "father" of the young manindicating a desire to go out, and it was his duty to cancel these so-cially disapproved expeditions. In these matters, the father shouldbe obeyed. The Hidatsa villages were not so large that news of acontemplated expedition did not spread quickly. Collectively, thefathers of all of the boys carried considerable prestige. Although theBlack Mouths enforced the edict against war parties leaving onoccasions when the public welfare required that all remain in thevillage for the mutual defense of the group, such crises generally weremet successfully by the prestige relatives, the "fathers." The variousfamilies, however, were greatly concerned for the safety of theiruntrained youths. Since a leader must have warriors to make up hisparty, the older people usually were successful in breaking up any plansof an ambitious but unqualified leader simply by securing invitationsfor their young men from recognized successful leaders leaving soonon a raid. Nevertheless, young men did, from time to time, bypassmost of the requirements for military leadership.When a competent war leader was in the territory where an un-authorized group of young men was looking for horses, it was commonpractice to waylay them and embarrass them before their relatives andfriends at home. The most common way of doing this was to observethe young men from a distance until they had tied up their horses forthe night and had put their arms aside to eat and sing about their girls.Then, during the night, one group would steal the horses while otherssneaked up to the camp, rushed the unsuspecting fellows, and struckthem with whips or seized them as though they were enemies, all thewhile calling to each other 'T have struck one Sioux" or "this Siouxwas not very smart; he doesn't know how to protect himself." Bycalling out when making the charge, the young men were informedthat the attacking party was of their own tribesmen. Nevertheless,the attacking group endeavored to inflict severe beatings on the youngfellows and to frighten them so that in the future they would avoidsurprise attacks.About 1872 a war party was out under the leadership of Kidney inthe Devils Lake region when the scouts reported seeing two menapproaching driving two horses. The leader directed the party towait until late in the evening when the two men would be engagedpreparing their meal as the best time to make the attack. Kidney'smen crept in close and led the stolen horses away from the camp.One large horse was gentle and Crows Heart recognized it in the darkby its large joints as belonging to Bear Necklace. Kidney did notbelieve him so the horse was taken back to their camp and examined
222 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194in the light of their own campfire. Knowing then that the party wasfrom Fishhook VUlage, Kidney announced that they would have somefun with them and "strike them" while they slept. They sneaked inclose and listened to the young fellows talli, not knowing that theirhorses had been taken from them and that "enemies" were in theneighborhood. Kidney's party rushed them so fast that it was notpossible to tell who had "struck the coups." The boys were withoutfood as the enemy had been close on their tracks. Nevertheless, theyhad permitted their own people to sneak into their camp, steal theirhorses, and strike coups on them. The boys were fed and theirhorses were returned to them in the morning. Their credit for stealingtwo horses was somewhat dampened when Kidney's party returnedand told the young men's joking relatives of striking coup on themin the night.The Hidatsa endeavored to organize their military activities so thatthe warriors advanced in status by degrees in much the same manneras advancements were made through the age-grade series. Boys 14or 15 years of age who had done some fasting, were skilled withweapons, and were handy around horses, were selected as camp tendersas rewards for effective and faithful fasting or for caring for the oldermen's horses. On these military expeditions, the boys waited on theleader and the older men of Old Wolf status, bringing wood for thefires, preparing the food, and attending to the horses. On these trips,the boys were given few opportunities to leave the main party eitherto steal horses or to engage in fighting: The leader kept them near himall the time. They assisted the leader by bringing things needed inthe rites?^wood, branches, or dried buffalo manure?and usuallyserved as waiter in passing the ceremonial pipes around to the warriors.Whenever the leader called for assistance, the camp tenders wereexpected to jump up and perform the duty requested, even though onecould do the job as well as several. Camp tenders cared for the horses,seeing that they got water and grass, and generally made themselvesuseful wherever they could. In case a member was wounded inbattle, they cared for him. The military pattern provided publicrecognition for their services and those who performed faithfully werepraised publicly when the party returned to the village. Even inlater life, as a distinguished war leader, one would often relate publiclyhis exploits as a boy when he built a travois on which to bring back tothe vUlage those wounded in battle, feeding and watching over them allthe time, and thus saving their lives.Even as those who had shown interest and obedience while servingas camp tenders were praised publicly by the leader, names of thosewho were lazy and wanted to sleep all the time were omitted. Thetribe would listen during the Victory dances for the names of those who
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 223had distinguished themselves, and repeat the names of relatives whohad contributed to the success of the military expedition. The men-tion of a relative's name was an occasion to bring forth presents to begiven away in the name of the one so distinguishing himself. Hearingthat a young man had distinguished himself as a camp tender and hadshown great interest in getting a good reputation, other war leaderswould compete for his services, even promising him a higher positionas a scout. OFFENSIVE WARFAREOffensive warfare was primarily pursued as a result of a vision inwhich one was instructed to go out in a particular direction or to acertain spot v/here honors would come to the one following all theprescribed rules set down by the guardian spirit. In one instance thevision recipient would be promised a specified number of horses to bedistinguished by distinctive features, such as color or the manner inwhich they were grazing. In other instances, a specified number ofenemy lodges or households were "seen" in the vision. However, theHidatsa did not approve of young untrained men's expeditions awayfrom the village. When a young man reported his vision to hishousehold, particularly the father or an older brother-in-law occupyingthe position of father, he was advised to accompany an older andbetter-trained leader in the hope that the things revealed to him in thevision would come true, or to forego taking possession of that whichhad been promised him in the vision until a later time. So, at anytime, there would be many individuals claiming ownership of horses orscalps of which they had never been able to take possession. Frequent-ly, in the social and ceremonial activities of the village, an older mantoo feeble to go out on military expeditions "gave" to a "son" hisrights to certain horses encountered under the conditions described inhis earlier dreams. Then, regardless of the person first seeing apeculiarly marked horse, the horse was delivered to the one havingprior right to it by vision or purchase from this "father."A young man who had given numerous feasts to the older men ofthe father's clan frequently had a number of these claims to complete.If one was anxious to go out to take possession of these animals, theolder people of the household and of the clan benefiting most by thecompletion of the claim were the first to discourage individual ini-tiative by young men, or someone of the household skilled in warfarewould volunteer to serve as military leader and invite others to assisthim in making up the war party. Offensive warfare was conductedentirely on the basis of vision instructions either as the result of one'sown visions or the visions bought from another who had never com-pleted his prior claims. These visions were received during the priva-
224 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194tions of one of the formal ceremonies or as a result of prolonged fasting;but, more often, after pledging to purchase the father's ceremonialrites when the young man had already distinguished himself in war-fare and had consequently married.When a person signified his intentions of leading a war party, heundertook to make up his expedition by invitation. As he went fromhousehold to household, inviting various young men to accompanyhim, approval or disapproval was given by the older men. If theolder people thought he was not ready to go out, they would dis-courage their young men; if they thought the visions were genuine,they would encourage their young men by providing sacred objectsto be worn during the trip, A young man leading his first militaryexpedition invariably endeavored to give the organization dignity byinviting as coleaders individuals who had formerly distinguishedthemselves in warfare so that the personnel of the party would becomposed of experienced persons as well as beginners. Theoretically,the party was invited to meet at a place outside the village at a certaintime. In practice, however, it was not uncommon for others to goalong without invitation. Those who had already distinguished them-selves were welcome additions to the party while beginners weretolerated. Informants could not remember any instances when un-welcome individuals were refused permission to go along.When the party had assembled at the predetermined meeting place,usually a day's journey from the village, the leader selected the variousofficers: the coleaders or Old Wolves were selected on the basis oftheir ceremonial membership and previous military record; the YoungWolves comprised the remainder of the party which was, in turn,subdivided into scouts, warriors, and camp tenders, depending onthe size of the party. If the party was small and carefully selected,the group consisted only of Old Wolves led by the military leader andthe scouts under a leader selected by the leader of the Old Wolves.The position of leader of the scouts was given to one of wide militaryexperience, frequently one who had come up through the ranks andhad been a war party leader in charge of the rites on other occasions.He organized and directed the other scouts working with him anddetermined whether an attack should be made in the event the enemywas found. Frequently the scouts were the only ones to meet theenemy since, once having fulfilled the objectives of the expeditionwithout loss of men, the expedition was terminated and the partyreturned to the village. The Hidatsa endeavored to find the horsespromised or the enemy as seen in the dream and, once these objectiveshad been attained, the leader's mission was completed. He hadsucceeded in establishing the potency of his sacred bundle.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 225Hidatsa offensive warfare was normally highly ritualistic in char-acter, particularly as practiced by those who held rights in the estab-lished ceremonies. For that reason, the older people endeavored tokeep their sons associated with these recognized leaders rather thanwith young aspiring men whose sole claim to distinction was basedon personal vision experiences not immediately associated with thelong-established bundle rites. Personal vision experiences were con-sidered adequate for membership and participation in military adven-tures under a highly successful leader whose authority stemmed fromwide participation in the tribal rites. To be successful as a warleader, however, it was believed that, in addition to property rightsin well-established sacred bundles, one should fast to the limits ofone's endurance, give freely to other recognized holy men, and assista great deal in the performance of village rites, particularly thoseconcerned with buffalo calling.If we are to believe native traditions, there was a greater tendencyamong the population of Hidatsa village to organize war expeditionson the basis of supernatural experiences outside of the formalizedvillage ceremonialism?^and with public approval?than there wasamong the Awatixa and Awaxawi who conformed more closely to theMandan pattern that war leadership should be restricted to those whohad pledged or had performed public ceremonies. From our knowl-edge of the history of the Hidatsa in relation to their neighbors, thiswould suggest that they more closely conformed to the Crow patternthan to that of the more sedentary Awatixa, Awaxawi, and Mandan.With the union of the Hidatsa village units, this tendency of certaingroups to initiate military expeditions on the basis of a personalvision, although approved by a portion of the population, was a sourceof friction with the more conservative Awatixa and Awaxawi. After1860, Crow-Flies-High more or less represented the progressive element,and his unusual military successes outside of the formal pattern ofthe Awatixa and Awaxawi eventually lead to internal friction whichwas not reconciled until the progressive group broke away under hisand Bobtail Bull's leadership.Although the rituals performed whUe on the military expeditionsvary slightly according to the rules belonging to the bundles andbundle lines, the general organization and practices were essentiallythe same. The following narrative by Wolf Chief indicates many ofthe basic features of the Hidatsa warfare pattern:Kidney gave the Wolf Ceremony in May to buy his father's Wolf bundle. Hehad a dream just after giving the ceremony so he decided to go out to war to tryout the powers of his new bundle. I went along with him from Fishhook Village.There were nearly 40 men and large boys selected by Kidney.He selected a place to stop near the present town of Stanton where he said hewould try that night to find out what was going to happen. In the morning he
226 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194
said that he was going to appoint the scouts to go out ahead on horseback. Hepicked up the sacred bundle and walked a few yards from us, spread it out andsaid, "Crows Breast, step forward; also Red Robe, Rabbit Head, Crazy Raven,Wolf Chief, Old Dog, and Good Bear. Crows Breast will be the leader of thescouts for he is already a headman. You will go over towards Wolf Den Buttesand see if there are any enemies. We will follow you over that way and build thefire and you will come back and meet us. Crows Breast, I want you to stand infront of me; I will paint you just as I saw things in my dream right after givingthe Wolf Ceremony. I will paint you with wliite clay first, for you are the leaderof the scouts; then I will paint the other scouts. I will sing a holy song."He wet the white clay but before he painted us, he sang one of the Wolf songs.As he painted, he sang and talked to his gods saying, "You are our leaders andwe want you to give us good luck."Then he sang, "When I look for a horse, I alwaj'^s say this." He sang this songbecause he wanted to get a horse.As he painted the foreheads of the young wolves or scouts, he said to the wolfhide, "I want you to save their lives when they strike the enemy; I want to seethem all have good luck." He sang again; then he picked up the wolf hide fromhis sacred bundle and put it around Crows Breast's neck saying, "You men go along distance on horseback; then if you think it best, you can go the rest of theway afoot."Whenever the chief of the scouts or young wolves wanted us to go faster healways said Huiiii. We rode nearly 60 miles that day, going to the tops of thehills to look around with a telescope. By evening, since we had not seen anysigns of the enemy, Crows Breast sent two young wolves out to kill antelopes forour evening meals and they brought in three while the rest of the scouts watchedfor the enemy.After the scouts had been selected that morning. Kidney named four men to behis assistants or coleaders, for they were very holy and could be of much help tohim. All were older men who had important sacred bundles and had lead success-ful war expeditions. Spotted Horn was selected because be had a Creek bundle;Loud Walker because he had fasted often in the Mandan Okipa and had manydreams from the buffaloes; Moves Slowly because he was the Hoita in the Okipa,and Porcupine Pemmican because he represented Long Arm whenever the NaxpikEceremony was given.We scouts had just finished eating when the others reached camp. We weresitting in a circle singing about our girls and having a good time teasing each otherwhen Kidney told us to be quiet. Then we knew that the time had come to findout what Kidney was after on this expedition.He said, "I want to learn what is going to happen; if we are going to be success-ful, I want to know that beforehand. All you men sit facing the south. One ofyou young men go out, cut a chokecherry branch, and bring it here."It was the custom on a trip like this for the camp tenders to be alert and tojump up whenever the Old Wolf asked for something. If one failed to do that,the older men would see it and say that he was lazy and no good. As soon as hementioned the branch, from fear of being called worthless, several of them went,although one could have done it.Kidney put his saddle blanket down in front of him with the sacred bundle onit. He stuck the branch in the ground in front of the bundle. He took a stuffedhawk, one of his personal sacred objects, lifted it toward the south, sang a sacredsong belonging to the bird, and tossed the bird towards the branch. It stuck tothe branch and hung there.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 227Then he took out a little black bear skin that belonged in his eagle trappingbundle and spread it out on the ground under the hawk; then he took out the wolfhide and smoked it with "sweetgrass" while he held it toward the west.We waited to hear what would happen. He sat there for some time and thenhe said, "I have had a sign and I think we will be lucky. I was told by my godsthat there would be a sign of the future; even though there are no clouds now, thehawk says that after sundown a small cloud will go over and it will sprinkle for alittle while. Another sign tells me that tomorrow we will find a horse. The signis that it will be a cripple. If you scouts find it, you must look for paint for theone who finds it will conquer the enemy. In the morning you scouts will go toWolf Den Buttes (about a mile southeast of the present town of Dickinson,N. Dak.) and wait for us." So we knew now what the gods had planned for us.Next day we went toward Wolf Den Buttes, going to the high places to lookaround as we traveled. We reached the buttes at noon and hid our horses whOewe looked around. Some killed antelopes, others of us watched for the mainparty, and I looked for a good place to camp. Soon the main party came alongand Kidney sent us scouts on ahead toward Rainy Buttes to find a good placeto camp for the night. It was hard to find a good camping place there but wefinally found a good camping place and spring on the east side. We came to-gether there late that night.Crows Breast had had his foot injured in a former battle and the stirrup causedit to swell, so he told Kidney of it and asked that he be relieved. Kidney ap-pointed me leader of the scouts. Kidney instructed me to take the scouts tothe east side of Buffalo Home Butte. I thought that if I did not take too largea party, we could travel faster. So Old Dog, Rabbit Head, Red Robe, and Istarted ahead thinking that we would get there before the sun came up. Wedid not get there that early for on the way Rabbit Head and Red Robe wantedto stop to smoke and rest. At the same time we saw many Juneberries. Therewere some high rocks where we stopped and Old Dog, who was on guard whilewe stopped, came running howhng like a coyote and we knew he had foundsomething. He stopped and said that there was a horse not far away.When we went toward the horse there was not much wind so we thought thatit would be a good idea to burn some buffalo manure to make it easier to catch.The wind went down so we decided to surround the animal instead. I said tothe others, "We have already found the horse that our leader saw in his sacredsigns. Now we should try hard to catch him."As we came close, we saw that the horse had hobbles on that had cut into itsskin. We knew then that it belonged to the enemy. One said to me, "Kidneysaw a crippled horse in his dream. This one is not crippled. It must be thatour leader does not have a sharp eye."There was spring water on the north side of Buffalo Home Butte so we picketedthe horse there and climbed the butte to look around with the telescope. OldDog saw something in the distance; we thought it might be a bear, elk, or buffaloand kept turning to it. At last we saw that it was a buffalo going to water.Two stayed back on the butte while the rest of us went for the buffalo. By leavingour blankets and leggings we were able to travel as fast afoot as a horse galloping.There seemed no place to approach the animal for it was flat there so I, being theleader, told the others to go to the other side of the buffalo and crawl toward it.If it came my way I would head it off so that someone would get a shot at it.This way we killed it but we teased one warrior because he jumped up when acactus stuck into his leg. This was the best time for hunting buffalo for they arefat in the summer. We took the best meat and piled it to one side. We took thepaunch for a bucket, cleaned out the inwards, and drank the blood that accumu-
228 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194lated on the inside for we were hungry. Then we went back to our camp withmeat for the others.When almost to the butte, the rain predicted by Kidney came and we weresoaked. It was dark so I called like a coyote and the others answered so wewent to the east side where the leader told us we would meet. When we wentdown to the foot of the hill, we heard them singing and knew that they had arrived.We saw their fire and called like the coyote and they answered. They had foundthe horse that we had left picketed. That made Kidney happy, even though thehorse was not a very good one, for it proved that Kidney's bundle had greatpowers.We had gone a long distance from home and I did not know the country butthe older men Uke Kidney did. He said, "l think we will move tomorrow to theplace where you killed the buffalo and stored the meat, for there is a stream atthat place that flows towards Powder River."After supper Hard Horn said to me, "Wolf Chief, my father, I want you to cutmy skin; there is a hawk's nest here; I want to fast near it tonight. I have ahorse and some blankets at home that I will give you for doing this."When he said that, I did not know what to do for I did not have much to prayto. Even Hard Horn had more bundles than I did and had often been out towar. I thought that it would be better to ask one of my older clan brothersnamed Dancing Flag.^^ I went to Dancing Flag and said, "My brother, ourson wants me to cut his skin but you are older and have more gods and powerthan I have. He is going to give a horse and blankets. I will return the arrowto him."Dancing Flag said, "That is right; you are younger than I am. Since youwant me to, I will take the arrow."Hard Horn furnished two sharpened sticks and three or four heavy stakes tofasten into the bank. It was too steep where the nest was and there was no placeto drive in the stakes for it was too rocky. Dancing Flag found a place where hecould drive the stakes in the ground nearby. Dancing Flag put the sticks throughHard Horn's skin and let him down. We had an extra roi^e fastened to him lestthe sticks pull out of his flesh allowing him to fall and be killed. About midnightwe thought he would be exhausted so Dancing Flag and I went back, pulled himup, and took the sticks out.Next morning I thought that by custom I really owned the horse because Iwas leader of the scouts when it was found, but others thought it belonged toKidney because he had actually seen it first when he had his bundle predict thefuture. Ividney was happy when I said to him "You should take the horse, foryou saw it when you sang the holy song."We moved to the place where we had killed the buffalo and had the meat piledwith our shirts arranged around it to keep the wolves and coyotes away. Westayed there several days enjoying ourselves and examining the butte from whichthe buflfaloes were said to come. While we were there two other war parties ofour people arrived looking for the enemy. Hairy Coat was one leader who hadwith him Scattered Village and Takes-the-Gun. Shortly afterward. Iron Eyescame with Big Bull, Bears Teeth, Red Leaf, Wolf Ghost, High Eagle, Bear Chief,and Coyote Necklace. We stayed together for a few days and then decided tounite and go west in search of the enemy.The three war parties united and then we had three leaders. Kidney, Hairy Coat,and Iron Eyes. We traveled as before with the scouts out to the front. The
? Dancing Flag was a Mandan of the Speckled Eagle clan; Wolf Chief was of the Hidatsa Prairie Chickendan.
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first day we found some old horse tracks and came back in the middle of the dayto eat and to report. Kidney had selected a good place to camp in high cotton-woods for we were now in enemy territory.After we ate we talked to our gods, asking for good luck and advised the youngerfellows to do likewise. Each war party had its separate fire about 100 feet apartso that each group could hold its separate ceremonies. ludney instructed ourgroup to cut some cottonwoods and construct a lodge tipi with the door facingthe southeast. It did not take us long to stand the logs up like a tipi for it wasreally a corral of posts standing upright. When Kindey completed building it,we saw that it was a symbol of the Walking-with-Woman [Painted Red Stickceremony, see pp. 451-463] that the people gave for the buffaloes back at thevillage. Then Kidney told us to scrape the ground smooth, leaving no grassstanding on the flooi, and we did.When the lodge was ready, Kidney went inside with his sacred bundles andbegan to sing. He asked us to bring him a cottonwood branch sharpened so thathe could stick it into the ground. The leader stuck the branch into the groundin front of his sacred bundles. Then he called for us to bring some coals and placethem in front of his bundles. He was then ready to perform the rites so he calledto us "Come in and gather around me; sit in a circle and be quiet. One of youdraw a human foot on the ground and have the tracks reach up to my bundles;draw a bear's foot on top of the human tracks. Each of you others draw abear's foot on each side of the human foot. The last one will draw a mark ofa bear seizing a human."He had the painted hawk on the stick, the bear skin beneath it, and the wolfhide lying on the ground nearby. He said, "My gods, this will be the last chanceyou will have to tell us whether we are going to discover an5i;hing or not."He picked up the painted hawk and lifted it toward the south, sang the holysongs belonging to the hawk, and said, "Everything is all right for us." Thenhe picked up the bear and pointed it to the south and said that it was going tobe all right.Then he picked up the wolf hide and said, "It is all right; it will be readytomorrow. While I was singing these holy songs, I saw off in the distance onPowder River a flat place and on it was a dead human. The wolves and ravenswere eating the body; all that will be happening tomorrow. As its head was tothe east and the animals were eating, it means that it will be tomorrow. Getready, for tomorrow you will need to be prepared. Take your paint along."Kidney stood up and called to Hairy Coat and Iron Eyes who were at theirfires and when they answered he said, "There will be the three of us leaders.The leader of the man who kills the enemy, will get the credit. All you scouts dothe best you can to discover this enemy tomorrow and don't miss the place Tdescribed to you."By this time Crows Breast's foot was well again so he took his place as head ofthe scouts. Crows Breast said, "Do the best you can to kill that enemy given toKidney but if you can't, we will all have to go together and kill him."Before daylight we scouts went out. We climbed each high butte we came toand looked around. At last we saw the place Kidney spoke of and from a dis-tance it looked just like the place he had described to us. The others came upand we stopped to eat. Porcupine Pemmican had walked off a short distance.He saw a rider coming towards him. He ran back to us and reported. Westopped eating and prepared to attack but when we went out, the enemy hadrun away. We should not have gone into the low place but should have stayedon the high ridges. We had been in too great a hurry to eat.710-195??5 16
230 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Kidney told us that he was picking out five men to go out and see if there wereany more. When the five scouts left, the rest of us rode on. Soon we saw onerider but when we looked in the opposite direction we saw a number of riderscoming toward us. We fought them while the five scouts went after the loneman whom they killed. So the five scouts got the best of us. Before they leftthat morning, Flying Eagle asked Crows Breast to pray for him so that he wouldbe successful when he met the enemy. Crows Breast sang his holy songs andsaid, "My son will get the best of the enemy" and he let Flying Eagle carry hismedicine bundle.In the battle. Flying Eagle was ahead, carrying Crows Breast's sacred bundle,so he killed the enemy and was first to strike him. Then came One Wing andafter him came Red Robe. The other scouts rushed in; Hard Horn claimed hehit with his gun on the man's head and Good Bear claimed that place too so nohonors were given for the fourth coup since none could be certain.While the scouts were killing and striking the single enemy, the rest of us foughtwith the other enemies. There were about 30 of them. We shouted, sang ourmedicine songs, and rattled our tongues so that the enemy could not shoot straightand they did the same. When they heard our scouts singing the victory songs,the enemy rode away. We came together singing and all had a good time, forwe knew what Crows Breast had promised before the battle had come true.When Hard Horn fasted by the hawk's nest, Dancing Flag and I prayed for him;nevertheless, he did not get the best record. He struck fourth with others,however, so we did not get credit for our prayers in his behalf.The credit went to Kidney for one of his men killed the enemy. These enemieswere Hunkpapa; afterwards we used to visit them often. Shortly afterwardwe discovered 20 tipis and farther on there were hundreds of tipis. We knewthat we had been reported so our leader thought that we should go west as theenemy would think that we had left for home. We learned afterwards that theSioux thought that we were Crows and that it would do no good to follow us,not knowing that we were Mandans and Hidatsas.We traveled long hours until we reached the Little Missouri west of the KilldeerMountains where it is rough. We found a good place to rest the horses. Whilewe camped there. Kidney fixed the scalp; he cleaned the flesh off it, stretched iton a circular stick, and dried it over the fire. The hair was long; it was dividedbetween Kidney and the four leaders he appointed to assist him when we campedthe first day. We were tired so we stopped to hunt while the older men sangtheir victory songs at the camp.When we got back to the village, we painted our faces black, and ran betweenthe lodges shouting and firing our guns. Then the people brought out the bigdrums and all the people danced. Everyone was happy, for Kidney had provedthat the ceremony that he had just performed had great supernatural powers.The above narrative by Wolf Chief brings out numerous significantbehavior patterns. Wolf Chief first emphasized that Kidney wasinstructed to organize a military expedition in a dream he had shortlyafter he bought rights in the Wolf ceremony owned by his father.We see that the expedition was socially approved by the acceptanceof invitations by numerous individuals highly respected for theirown military achievements; in fact, Kidney's status at that timewas not as high as several of his party. When the party first left,it was not known whether he would select coleaders or assume the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 231
responsibilities himself nor were there any understandings with othersthat they would assist him. He recognized the good reputation ofothers by selecting four of them as coleaders and Crows Breast asleader of the scouts although, at this tune, Crows Breast held thehighest military position in the village, being the village war chief.We see that one ritual activity after another was performed whileout from the village. At first the party knew nothing about hisplans other than that he had a dream shortly after giving the Wolfceremony. Their confidence in his leadership and supernatural powerswas indicated by the size of the party. Although the others assumedthat the purpose of the expedition was to test the supernatural powersof his recently acquired bundle, in his first ritualistic performance,we find him first employing the painted hawk, then the little blackbear belonging to his eagle trapping bundle before introducing thewolf hide to the party gathered around hmi. Thus, he expressedhis wealth of supernatural property which should collectively add tohis supernatural powers. We see that the scouts have the mostdifficult duty, traveling far out ahead of the main party, but that theyhave prior claim to all the horses they first see. In this case, however,the scouts interpret Kidney's "sign" in which he saw a crippled horseas a prior claim. In this connection also, it would be well to notethat very specific rules defined ownership of horses taken on theseraids. The horses belonged to the first person seeing them, irrespectiveof the persons executing the capture of them. This was an incentiveto those who were active in getting about and finding horses. Occa-sionally this rule did not work; one might have discovered fresh tracksand be following them only to meet one of the party in actual possessionof the horses. It was then necessary for the leader to decide whetherthe man finding the horses had seen them before the other had discov-ered their tracks, for the discovery of fresh tracks was equivalent toseeing the horses. On one occasion, the possessor of the horse provedthat the tracks were not made by the horses he brought back becauseone of them had a broken hoof which did not show in the tracksthe other was following.Note that Hard Horn called on Wolf Chief to supply thongs sothat he might be tortured near a hawk's nest, hoping that he wouldget a vision from that bird. We have here a case of deliberate effortto acquire this particular bird as a guardian spirit. By the clankinship extension, Wolf Chief was Hard Horn's "father." WolfChief, due to closer relationships with the Mandan, consideredDancing Flag of the Mandan Speckled Eagle clan, which was at thistime being absorbed by the larger Mandan Prahie Chicken clan, his
"brother." So he invites Dancing Flag, an older person, to assist him.The two men assisted Hard Horn in his self-torturing and prayed for
232 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194him, but we see that Hard Horn got only a questionable fourth coupwhen the enemy was killed. Therefore, Wolf Chief and DancingFlag did not get credit for their prayers and could not enumerate thishonor on public occasions at home.We saw the partial union of three war parties because of the dangerthat one group would reach the enemy first and thus cause the othersrisk of detection when they arrived. So the leaders of the threegroups planned for the future by agreeing on the division of the honors.Each group had its own campfire and performed its own ritualsindependently of the other. When they stopped in the timber beforereaching the enemy, Kidney introduced a new ceremonial featiu-e;the temporary shelter erected in the village when he formerly hadgiven the Painted Red Stick ceremony and had called the old biiffaloimpersonators in to exercise ceremonial sexual license with his wives.Crows Breast succeeded in demonstrating his supernatural powersby praying for a "son," Flying Eagle, who killed one enemy and wasfirst to strike coup on the body. By doing this, Crows Breast cameout ahead of Wolf Chief and Dancing Flag. Although Wolf Chiefdid not say so in the narrative, other "sons" would thereafter payCrows Breast to pray for them whenever they undertook dangerousmissions.It is important for an understanding of Plains warfare to notethat, although the enemy was greatly outnumbered and there was afine opportunity to kill a great many of them, the battle was stoppedand both groups retired once the scouts had killed one man sep-arated from his group. Kidney had fulfilled his mission?to possessone crippled horse and one enemy who would be found on a flatnear Powder River. Since his honors were expressed in the numberof his successful military expeditions without loss or injury to hisparty, nothing further was to be gained by continuing the battle.This military expedition led by Kidney was only one of a numberof successful ones which he directed. He provided an opportunityfor various households to obtain horses and for the young men towin military honors. In time, as he supplemented his military activ-ities with frequent feasts for the older people, he grew in social stat-ure. The older people subsequently met to reorganize the villageleadership and he was selected as "protector of the people" torepresent one of the cardinal points.Although the Hidatsa had a rather clear-cut dual division of vil-lage leadership into war and peace or village roles, some militaryhonors were expected of the peace or village chief. The villagefunctions for the Hidatsa-proper and Awaxawi were normally inher-ited with Earthnaming bundle ownership and as long as the villagegroups were independent it made little difference what the military
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record of the village chief was as long as he gave an adequate per-formance of this rite. If he were successful in warfare, that was somuch to the good. When the Hidatsa-proper and Awaxawi unitedwith the Awatixa to build Fishhook Village, we find duplicate andcompeting bundles and chieftainship. Guts represented the Hidatsa-proper and Poor Wolf the Awaxawi. They were equally proficientin the performance of the rites. Poor Wolf had a good militaryrecord but Guts was accused of bringing endless misfortune to anywar party that he accompanied.Four Dancers supplied the following account of his paternal grand-father, Guts, which is reproduced here in condensed form to showthe group attitude toward one who was entitled to a high positionin the ceremonial life of the people but who had suffered considerableembarrassment because of his bad luck in warfare.My grandfather, Guts, inherited the Earthnaming bundle while he was livingin Hidatsa village on the Knife River before the smallpox of 1837. Because hegot the bundle of his parents, he had the right to pray to all of the living thingson the earth. He was taught that in the beginning all the gods would meet atthe hole on top of Killdeer Mountains to sing. But he was never lucky in war-fare; nine times he went out and succeeded in killing the enemy but nine timeswhen he was out, someone was killed by the enemies. It was not that he didnot try. During his earlier years he was one who wanted to succeed but laterwhen his son. Bobtail Bull, was old enough he sold his rights to my father formy father was lucky at everything he did even though he followed the samerules my grandfather gave him. Then the people looked to my father, for hecould pray to all the living things, and did not pay so much attention to Gutswhen he talked for he had been unlucky. The people respected my father becausehe could pray to all the living things. Poor Wolf was jealous and tried to findsomething wrong with my father's record. The only thing he could find wrongwith my father was that he was younger than Poor Wolf. I think it wouldhave been better if there had been two villages; then there would not have beenthis trouble between the two Earthnaming bundle owners. At last there wasso much jealousy that some of the people told my father that they would followhim if he would find a new place to build. That was when we went to FortBuford about 1870.Guts liked to go on war expeditions, but it was strange?every time he wentout with a bunch, they always had bad luck. The others were afraid to go outif he came along. So he would not be invited but he would wait 2 or 3 daysafter the others had left and then he would join them. The others would notlike that but each time they would think that his bad luck must surely come toan end sometime.One time 10 men went out with Big Bull as leader; this was from Knife River.They went west and crossed the Badlands and Yellowstone River. They had agood time eating the meat the scouts brought in. One day the scouts saw tworiders and came back to report. They painted up, fixed their sacred objects,and then killed the two enemies. Eight men struck honors on the two enemies.Big Bull was very happy and as they rode along, coming home, they sang the vic-tory songs.They had killed the enemies early in the morning; at noon they stopped to fixthe scalps and eat. While the leader fixed the scalps on long poles, singing the
234 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
victory songs, he called the names of those who had struck the enemy and saidthat they would be chiefs. He said to the young men when they stopped to campthat evening, "About this time at the village the young women are out playinggames."They camped in the timber on the Yellowstone. They built two fires, one forthe leader and his assistants and the other for the younger men. They surroundedthe old men's fire with a fort made of logs. Guts was at the shelter set up for theyoung men for it had begun to rain. The young men were sitting around thefire with their robes over each other and their guns between them when someonefired a shot into the camp. All the young men ran and jumped into the riverexcept Guts, whose finger was caught in his robe. While shaking loose of hisrobe he aimed quickly towards a flash from a gun, calling to his friends, "I amthe only one who came to fight; you should come back and fight too."By that time the Old Wolves came running over to the young men's camp,firing their guns, so the Cheyenne ran away. Guts found that the two who laynext to him had been killed; there were three others dead near the fire; one wasmissing and none knew what had happened to him. At last they found the bodyof the missing man who had run in the wrong direction and had been caught andmutilated by the Cheyenne. The dead man was Guts' "friend's" brother-in-law.The "friend" wanted to take the body back to the place where the other fivewere but he was afraid, so Guts carried the body while the other brought the gunthat the enemy had missed in the night. Guts did two honorable things: hecarried the dead man that the other should have since they were brothers-in-law;he stopped to shoot at the enemy when the others ran away. They piled the sixbodies together and covered them with their robes and sticks. Then the partystarted for home.They ran afoot all night toward home. The leader had been nicely dressedbefore but in the night as they ran, the others did not know what he was doingfor in the morning they found that he had cut his hair all off; he had taken offhis leggings and moccasins and was running bare naked he was so sad; he hadcut himself in many places with his knife and had cut off the ends of two fingers.The others begged him at least to wear moccasins but he refused, he was so sad.The others begged him again as they ran along crying, and at last he consentedto put on moccasins and a shirt.They came to Hidatsa village on the Knife River but he refused to go into thevillage. He was so sad because he had lost six men. So Big Bull stayed outsidefasting and crying, thinking that he would be paid back in the future. For ayear he would fast for a few days; then he would rest a few days before fastingagain.While he fasted he thought that he would go back in 1 year to see the youngmen who had been killed. He thought that this time he would take along thegreatest medicine men of the five villages of Hidatsa and Mandan. He wentthrough the other four villages thinking of the different men he could ask untilhe came to the south village of the Mandans where the highest war record washeld by Four Bears.When he came to that village he saw Four Bears sitting on his earth lodge.Four Bears came down and they went into his lodge, for he saw that Big Bullwas carrying his medicine pipe. He set the pipe before Four Bears and, tappinghim on the head, said, "I am looking for my gods; I want to get even with theCheyenne who killed my six young men; I have thought of all of the great menand my thoughts always come back to you. I have decided that you are the onewho can help me do it."Then Four Bears said, "What do you want to do?"
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 235Big Bull said, "I want to go out to see my six young men and to kill the enemyand even things up. I want you to go as leader of the scouts to be out in front tofind the enemy."Four Bears agreed and they set the date to leave 4 days later. This time Gutswent along. Some did not hke it but they said nothing for Four Bears, the great-est war chief of that time, was along. As they went along Four Bears served asleader of the scouts, going out each morning before dayhght ahead of the mainparty. At last they came to the bones of the six men where Big Bull cried for along time. Then they went on. Evenings they would stop to eat and sing thewar songs. Everyone had a good time.One morning Four Bears was out with his scouts. When the sun was up to theheight of a man, a small cloud came over and it rained. They came to a gumboflat and the buffalo wallows were full of water. This was a good sign, for FourBears' god was the medicine robe with a rainbow painted on it. He got thissacred robe at the time he fasted beneath an oak tree in which a large hawk hadits nest after his brother had been killed by the Arikara several years before.Four Bears opened his sacred bundle and unwrapped the robe; he placed it beforehis scouts and asked someone to volunteer to make a mark on it. One young manvolunteered and asked what he should paint on it. Four Bears told the youngman to paint a rainbow on it.When the young man painted the rainbow on the robe. Four Bears looked at thesigns on the robe, thought of the shower that had just come because he had wantedsuch a sign as an indication of the time when the enemy would be found, and said,"I do not think we will be going very much farther for my gods have sent theshower to tell me they are thinking of us just as they do in the village when theweather is too dry for the corn. I think we will find what we are looking fortoday."When they finished the painting of the robe. Four Bears put the robe aroundhis shoulders and they went on into hilly country. They discovered seven horse-men and met them on top of a high hill. One enemy was dressed in a fine redshirt and beautiful leggings; he was carrying a good gun. This enemy was killedeven though he was very brave; then the others ran away. Four Bear's party tookhis fine clothing, his scalp, and gun. No Tears was first to strike the enemy. Thesecond honors went to a Mandan who was with the party. I forgot who hit thirdand fourth.They returned to the main party, running in single file and howling like thecoyote. The main party put a robe down for them to jump over and they cameinto camp howUng. Four Bears gave the scalp and other things taken from theenemy to Big Bull. Four Bears announced, "The man we killed was the leaderwhen you lost the six men a year ago."Big Bull was even, for he had now succeeded in killing the one who had broughtbad luck to him a year before. Guts also got credit for he had lost his friend ayear before.Big Bull was one who fasted much. Formerly he had been lucky in stealinghorses and killing the enemy. Now he had overcome the handicap of losing sixmen by fasting long and then going out to prove that his sacred powers had beenrestored to him. His god was the Prairie Wolf that he saw in a dream but henever put up the village ceremony for his bundle. Instead he made it up him-self from what he had dreamed.The above narrative brings out some additional behavior patternsnot indicated by the Wolf Chief account. He speaks as a relative ofone who should have had good luck by virtue of the Earthnaming
236 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194bundle from Hidatsa village, which he had acquired by normal tribalinheritance from his father. Having fulfilled all the obligations toacquire the bundle, he should have, according to the previous recordsof former bundle holders, been highly esteemed by his village group.His principal duty as bundle owner was to organize the variousBuffalo Calling rites and to serve as the authority in matters involvingvillage traditional actions. As long as he performed these dutieswell and showed bravery about the village, the group did not expectmore. Nevertheless, he hked to go out to war. So far as we know,he never acted as leader himself; this was not expected of the Earth-naming bundle owner. Still, he would accompany others on whatgenerally proved to be unsuccessful expeditions until he had thereputation of being unlucky for any group he accompanied. Asequel to this narrative is indicated by Fom* Dancers' statement thatPoor Wolf got ahead of Guts. Here we have a conflicting situationinvolving village bundles. Prior to 1845 there was one Earthnamingbundle for the Hidatsa village group and another for the Awaxawi,but in 1845, when the Hidatsa village groups united, two separateand competing bundle lines existed. Poor Wolf, in addition to in-heriting the Earthnaming and several other village bundles, alsofound time to accompany or lead numerous war parties withoutsuffering the embarrassments of bad luck. Thus, Poor Wolf occupieda higher status than Guts who, when his son named Bobtail BuUgrew up, passed the bundle on to him in an effort to reestablish thefamily's rightful position. Four Dancers volunteered the opinionthat his grandfather's reputation was beyond repair by that time.Bobtail Bull proved a worthy competitor to Poor Wolf. FourDancers brought out the point that the people took sides accordingto previous village affiliation, and that this division continued untilthe building of a Government fort at Fort Buford provided an outletfor one group by separation which was otherwdse impossible due tothe pressure of the Sioux.In describing the organization of the war party under Big Bull, wesee no essential difference from that of the previous account. Formalrites as practiced by Kidney were simpler because One Bull's authoritywas based on the personal vision patterns. Even though Guts shotonly because he was tangled in his robe and could not escape quickly,it was a recognized form of bravery; and even though the Cheyennehad the advantage of surprising their adversaries, still they did notpress the attack, being content to kill six men in the initial attack andto scalp one. Here we find the same pattern as in the Wolf Chiefaccount where the fight was terminated when one enemy fell. FourDancers brought out the point that it was obligatory for one to lookafter his brother-in-law since they were related through the wife and
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 237
sister. Since a man brought the horses taken to his sisters whosehusband was the principal benefactor, so must he in return look afterhis wife's brother even as he would protect his own wife. In fact,the brother-in-law was often jokingly referred to as "my wife."The self-inflicted torture and behavior of Big Bull was normal andcustomary. We find that members of his party think he is under-taking too severe punishment and interfere, insisting that he wearmoccasins and a shirt. Here we have an example of interference byhis kin groups, his father's clansmen, and his society members. Weare told that he refused to go back into the village. Instead he fastedand continued self-torture. Although Four Dancers did not say so,in other comparable situations he and other informants emphasizedthat Big Bull was watched by his society members. Seeing that hewas endangering his life, they went to the relatives of those killed andasked them to take the pipe to Big Bull and beg him to terminate hissuffering. The "long period" of mourning, in contrast to the 4-dayperiod, was normal when one had "kicked the stone" as the Hidatsasay of a leader who has returned from an unsuccessful mOitary ad-venture. Big Bull dressed in mourning and fasted frequently for 1year, during which time he received a new personal guardian spirit
?
but Four Dancers knew few details about it for, in contrast to a sacredbundle acquired by formal public purchase, personal supernatual ex-periences tended to be forgotten.Four Dancers indicated the degree of cooperation that existed atthis time between the various earth lodge village groups living nearKnife River by relating how Big Bull walked through the other fourvillages with his sacred pipe searching for some distinguished warriorleader who was willing to serve as "chief of the scouts" on the con-templated expedition to see the bodies of those who were killed a yearearlier. Having enlisted the most distinguished Mandan chief ^^ ofthat time, the narrative from that point on is chiefly an account ofFour Bears' role. The situation in which Four Bears served underanother of recognized inferior status is not unusual, but it does throwa great deal of light on the widely diffused character of the social con-trol mechanism of an earth lodge vOlage population.Four Dancers had a considerable knowledge of Four Bear's sacredbundle rites, for this bundle, although obtained after fasting beneathan oak tree at the time his brother was killed by the Arikara, hadbeen assembled by his elders according to established tribal customand publicly transferred to Four Bears at a ceremonial feast. FourDancers knew little about Big Bull's bundle which had been madeup personally without the formality of a ceremonial feast. It was
" When Four Bears died of smallpox, Guts married the widow and reared Four Bears' son, ChargingEagle.
238 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
widely known that Four Bears' bundle was primarily connected withrain calling; hence, when a shower fell, it was thought that the bundlehad not lost its "powers." Four Bears read the "signs" when therobe was painted, just as Kidney did in the previous narrative, butnowhere do we find reference to rites by Big Bull.Four Bears' scouts concentrated their attack on the best-dressedenemy who was assumed to be the chief of the party. Still therewas no inclination to continue the engagement once one enemy hadbeen killed and struck coup upon. The manner of approaching themain party after a successful engagement was the same as in theKidney account. (Note that the traditional accounts of the behaviorof the scouts when approaching the main party after striking theenemy belong to the Hidatsa Wolf ceremony while the same procedurewas followed in this instance by the Mandan scout leader, eventhough that tribe had no known comparable tribal Wolf rites.)The killing of one enemy was considered adequate compensationfor the six of their own men killed a year before; numbers apparentlydid not count. The object of an expedition was to strike the enemywithout loss to one's own group. Four Dancers shows awareness ofthe conflict of opinion in the vUlage as to whether military leadershipshould be sanctioned by virtue of vision or vision plus formal purchaseof the bundle:It was strange that Guts had so much bad luck. While living at Knife Riverhe went out again with Three Coyotes as leader. Three Coyotes had the coyoteas his god. I think what one dreams is more important than what one buysthrough his fathers, even though he dreams of it first, because after our groupmoved to Fort Buford, we did not have many of the ceremonies that the othershad at Fishhook, still our men had good luck. Crow-Flies-High did not buyhis father's gods until he was old?still, he was a very successful leader.When Three Coyotes went out, there were 32 men in his party. Thej' didnot want Guts along but he went anyway. He was tall and strong; he likedto go on these trips. They traveled to the southwest until they had passed theBlack Hills. All the time the scouts were out ahead looking around but theenemy saw them before the scouts did. There was a large camp and soon theenemy drove them into a washout. The enemy came in great numbers on horse-back so that the Hidatsa were unable to run away. When the enemy attacked,one Hidatsa took a red shirt out of a bundle and Guts said to him, "You shouldnot put it on or they will see you. I will put it on. I always seem to bring badluck. If they kill me they will think that I am a great chief. Then they maystop fighting and let the rest of you go away."The Sioux did not start the fight right away. First they surrounded theHidatsa so they could not get away and then the women and children came alongbringing their tipis and setting them up nearby where they could watch the fight.They must have sent messages out for soon another large group came up andbegan setting up their tipis too. While this was going on, the Hidatsa paintedup and put on their sacred objects. The Sioux did likewise. The young Siouxboys rode back and forth practicing with their horses, riding so that their bodiesdid not show, stopping their horses quickly and pretending that they were fighting
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 239the enemy. This they did to frighten the Hidatsa boys so that they would notbe brave. The Hidatsa all thought that they would surely not be able to savetheir lives.When the Sioux were all properly painted to show their honors and medicines,the battle began. Three Coyotes picked out his two best men to be at the corners.One was Black Shield; he was a good shot. His medicine was the gun and when-ever he fired it, he was sure to get something. The arrows flew toward the wash-out in great curves like grasshoppers dropping into the grass.Before the battle. Black Shield wet some gunpowder and painted his face;he put white cloth on his head and white paint on his lips and eyes just as he hadseen these things in his dream. He had a young man beside him who loadedthe gun each time. They agreed to make a great noise each time an enemy waskilled so that the enemy would be afraid to come into the fort. Each time BlackShield shot, an enemy was killed; then they came closer to get their dead for fearthe Hidatsa would go out and scalp them. After a while, one of the Hidatsawould go out of the fort, shoot an enemy, and run back. Just as he went out, aPrairie Dog Owl flew above him and the others knew that he was not shot becausethis bird was his god.When the dead were taken back to camp, the Hidatsa could hear the relativescrying. All the while the older Hidatsa would repeat to the young men who hadnot been out before, "They will cut your scalps off, but be brave and do not cry."While the Sioux were taking back their dead, the Hidatsa painted themselvesanew for they knew that the enemy were not done fighting. They could notleave the fort or the Sioux would run them down. During the lull in the fighting.Guts said to a friend, "Let's go up on top of the hill and sing our war songs. Ithink there are some Sioux women who can hear us from there."So they went up on the hill and sang their war songs and when they had finished,the Sioux howled in recognition of their bravery. Then the Sioux sang their warsongs for the Hidatsa who were showing such bravery.Then the two Sioux bands went together. They knew then that their enemywas brave so the Sioux selected a man who impersonated a bear, and could notbe shot through, to lead for he was so brave. He was their greatest medicineman. The Bear man was ahead and Black Shield would shoot at him but hewould not fall down. Then Black Shield knew that the Bear man really hadgreat supernatural powers. When Black Shield had dreamed of the gun, his godshad told him if his life was ever in extreme danger he should hold the gun to thenorth, pour powder from his left ear, shot from the right ear, and put the powderand shot in the gun while he sang the song that should be used only in extremelycritical situations.So Black Shield did. He shot at the Bear medicine man who fell down. BlackShield shouted so the enemy could hear, "You were foolish; you didn't have anypower. You should have known that mine was greater."When the Bear man fell, the Sioux stopped fighting and took his body away, forthey did not want to give the Hidatsa the honor of scalping their holiest man.Then the Sioux set the prairie on fire so that the smoke would cover their advance.Some of the enemy went onto the hill where Guts had sung the war songs. Theyhit the sickly young man who had been filling Black Shield's gun and one otherbut the Sioux would not attack the fort. Again the fighting stopped. TheSioux dragged their dead away so that they could not be scalped and as word gotaround in their camp, the women set up a loud howl as they cried for their deadrelatives.The Hidatsa were tired and thought that they would surely lose their lives thenext time. There was brush about a mile away. Some thought they could run
240 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194for it, but others thought that it was too far. Three Coyotes and his coleadersdecided to run for the brush, fighting their way through the Sioux lines. Heselected Guts, who was a great medicine man, and Black Shield, who was a goodshot, to take the two ends while the others sneaked out, following a narrow couleepart of the way. The two went onto the hill to attract the Sioux's attentionand when the others were on the flat, they ran too. When all were near the brush,the Sioux rode in front of them but they were not prepared for the attack and wereeasily driven out of the way. When they got into the brush, the Sioux returnedto their camp and did not try to follow them further.The two on the corners were the ones who saved them, one a great medicineman, the other a good shot. The sickly one had been killed at the fort and oneother was lost running towards the brush.Because they lost two, even though killing many of the enemy that they couldnot strike, the party came back in mourning. But the Sioux kept Three Coyotesfrom dancing the victory dances for they kept their dead out of reach of theHidatsa. It was too bad that he could not possess any of them for the Siouxcamp was in mourning when they left from losing so many young men. If ThreeCoyotes had taken even one scalp, the relatives of the two dead men would havecalled for the victory dances after a period of mourning.The above narrative by Four Dancers of the Three Coyote militaryexpedition imparts a number of factors not included in previousaccounts. He emphasized that what one dreamed was more importantthan what one got through public purchase from the father. Herationalized the war record of Crow-Flies-High who did not, eventhough receiving the appropriate dreams, buy his deceased father'sceremonial bundle rites until he was along in years. Instead, he madeup personal bundles based on vision experiences without the benefitof pubhc performances. He stated that the people who split awaydid not have as many tribal ceremonies but that their men were justas successful as those who stayed in Fishhook because they fasted tocompensate for ceremonies which the Fort Buford group did not own.In this respect, the Crow-Flies-High band showed strong similarityto the Crow religious pattern. By contrast, the other Hidatsa groupspreserved more of the formal pattern of ceremonial transfer wherebyvision experiences were organized and classified in terms of existingtribal rites.We note that Guts showed his bravery by asking to wear a redshirt so that the enemy would think he was chief and that by killinghim, the enemy might caU off the attack. One often wonders to whatextent behavior is affected by confidence in supernatural powers.Here we have an instance in which, in selecting the men to occupy theend positions in the line. Guts was selected for his supernaturalpowers while Black Shield was selected because he was a good shot.When this narrative was recorded, after hearing of Black Shield'srites of "pouring powder and shot" out of his ears, I presumed thatFour Dancers was referring to him as the possessor of great super-natural powers. He explained, however, that it was Guts who was
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 241
selected as the great medicine man in spite of his repeated militaryreverses because the Earthnaming bundle had great potential powerseven though Guts had not heretofore been able to manipulate them.Nevertheless, the powers were there according to tribal traditions.We find the leaders instructing the younger men to make trillingnoises, whenever an enemy was killed, to prove their bravery. TheGun rites performed by Black Shield are interesting because the samerites were frequently practiced in exactly the same manner by othersas a result of identical vision experiences and were bought and sold ina "father-son" relationship as were the long-established tribal rites.The only reference Four Dancers makes to "signs" is in the case ofone man who, when he saw a prairie dog owl flying over him, wasprompted to manifest unusual bravery since the bird was his god.We are told something of the formal character of Plains warfare ex-pressed in the desire of Guts and his friend to sing their war songs forthe benefit of the Sioux women and the prompt response by the Siouxwomen who sang their victory songs for the Hidatsa because of theirbravery.A significant role of Hidatsa offensive warfare was expressed bythe reaction of the Hidatsa to the appearance of the Bear medicineman. Here we find revealed the concept of the measurability ofsupernatural power. Each side believed its supernatural power to begreater and endeavored to test this power by a contest. One wondersif the Bear impersonator was actually the Bear medicine man or someyoung man selected to play the role. If the same pattern prevailed aswith the Hidatsa, we would more likely find the Bear bundle ownerdressing some young man, addressed as "son," in the paraphernalia,singing the sacred songs for the young man, and sending him forwardwith the assurance that when the battle was over his honors wouldelevate him to chief. We see the demoralization of the Sioux whentheir Bear impersonator was killed and their unwillingness to engagein hand-to-hand combat by overrunning the Hidatsa defenses in agully. Four Dancers expressed regrets that no scalps were taken asproof of an engagement with the enemy and symbols to be carriedduring the victory dances. He indicated that even when a war leaderlost a man, the victory dance was sometimes performed after an ap-propriate period of mourning. He does not say so, but we know fromother case histories that the relatives were compensated with propertyand other valuables, after which the dances were given. In this in-stance it was not possible because no scalps were taken and no coupswere struck.Even though Guts was believed to possess potential supernaturalpowers by virtue of his inheritance of the Earthnaming bundle, badluck continued to plague him. In his village duties he showed
242 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
"power" to bring the buffalo herds near the village but he liked tofight so he taught his sons that warfare was an honorable life. Inthe following narrative, Four Dancers traces out his grandfather'slater activities relative to the training of his sons and his eventualrelinquishment of the bundle when two of his sons are killed whilefollowing his instructions.Guts got his Earthnaming rites from his parents and had the right to pray toall of the gods. Guts would say to his sons, "When you are out looking for theenemy, you must be brave. Fast often and buy many gods; they will assist youwhen you are out against the enemy. If you have something to worship in theceremonies, then you will be a head man and the people will look up to you. Ifthere is a fight and the enemy surrounds any of your relatives, do not be afraidto go to their help. Then you will have a good record. If you don't do that,your misfortunes will reflect unfavorably against me for I am expected to giveyou all of these instructions."His son, Never-Runs-Away, was one who hked to put on the ceremonies for thebuffalo so he had his wives "walk" four times with the old men. ChargingEagle's real father was the Mandan Four Bears but Guts adopted him as his sonwhen he married Four Bear's widow after the smallpox. Charging Eagle fastedmuch like his father, Four Bears, did and got the medicine robe Uke his fatherhad in a public ceremony. Sitting Owl was one who fasted much but he nevergot to 7 days. The youngest was Bobtail Bull, my father. He dreamed of the
"walking ceremony" just as Never-Runs-Away did.At the winter camp called Killed-the-Bent-Enemy [1854], Never-Runs-Awayand Sitting Owl followed two enemies who had stolen horses and struck anenemy first and second. Guts followed behind because he was interested inseeing what his sons would do when they first met the enemy. When he foundthat his sons were ahead of the others tracking the enemy, he was proud of hissons. Back at the camp when the victory dances were held. Guts took out hislarge rattles for the Earthnaming ceremony and sang pubUcly, "My sons saidthey would be brave in the future and it is so."Then the two sons were recognized as leaders and the people began to respectthem. Then they got new names.Another time the enemy came and stole horses but the people crowded them sohard that they went into the brush. Wolf Eyes told the younger men not to gointo the brush or some would be killed. Just at that time a Mandan namedThree Rabbits came up and said, "What are you people waiting for? YouHidatsas are always going far down the river looking for your enemies but nowthey have come to you. When you are around in the village you are alwaysshowing off before the women pretending you are brave."The enemy had already shot a Hidatsa in the mouth and the others had with-drawn. The Mandan went in and was killed. Sitting Owl, Bobtail Bull,Never-Runs-Away, and Guts came along at this time and announced that theywere going to jump into the fort while the others rattled their tongues to confusethe enemy, but the enemy ran away instead and jumped into the river. Thepeople praised the brothers because they had volunteered to go into the brush.Shortly afterward, the Sioux attacked the village of Fishhook and the men gotready to fight. The Sioux ran to save their lives when the Hidatsa came out.Bobtail Bull said to his brothers while they were painting for the battle, "Let'seach catch a Sioux." They came to a creek where there was a large bunch of
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 243Sioux and one shot down Sitting Owl; Never-Runs-Away thought he would getahold of one but when he crossed the creek, the enemy knocked him down also.Someone asked Sitting Owl how he was and he said, "l am not suffering."His father came up and Sitting Owl said, "You have always told us to be braveand now I am all in. I am going now and I think my brother, Never-Runs-Away,is on the way and waiting for me. I do not want any doctor. Cover up my facewith my robe." And when they took it off again, he was dead.At the village, Guts tore his mouth in mourning for liis two sons who were sobrave that they did not have long to Uve. He took off his clothing and threwit away. He cut deep gashes in his body and cut out pieces of flesh. He cutoff his hair and went about through the village in mourning for a year. Hewould go out onto the hills or near the graves and scaffolds to cry and fast.Their brothers did the same. Guts would go out at night in the winter and crythrough the village. One night when he was crying that way Different Wolfcalled him in and told him that he had fasted long enough.Different Wolf said, "You will get even. I have been fasting because I havefelt so sorry for you. My gods called me Medicine Chief and offered me fivesquash to eat. When I had finished eating, they had turned into five enemyskulls. That means that you will get five enemies for the two sons you havelost. I dreamt that while you were mourning, so you should stop now. Youhave been sad long enough. When you get the five enemies, you will enjoyyourself again. I have had this dream for you."About a month later he still had not stopped crying when some men saw thetracks of five men. The enemy had come to the outskirts of the village lookingfor horses. Crow-Flies-High was first to find the tracks. The men all wentafter the enemy and camped out on the prairies. When morning came they sawthe enemy. The men painted and put on their holy things before fighting them.Four of the enemy were killed. The fifth enemy had a beautiful necklace thata Crow Indian wanted. In the battle he struck the enemy in the eye with hishand for he was very brave. Then the enemy ran. Ten "brothers" ran afterthe enemy and cut his head off and broke it up with their axes.Guts was very happy for now he was even with the enemy for killing his twosons. No longer did he fast. He painted his body black and rubbed off thewhite paint. He brought out the large rattles belonging to his Earthnamingbundle and sang the victory songs for Different Wolf saying "What DifferentWolf said was right; what he promised to give he has given."Because Crow-Fhes-High found the tracks and was always to the front wherehe struck the enemy, the people praised him and gave him a new name.Then Bobtail Bull, whose two brothers had been revenged, began to plan hislife. He fasted 4 nights in the NaxpikE and did not eat. He dreamed of Guts'Earthnaming bundle and that he was out to war and was bringing back thescalps from two men. He notified his "fathers" of his dream and they said thatthe bundle was instructing him to take over his father's place. So the youngmen he invited to go out with him came to his father's lodge, and there Gutsopened and hung up the sacred bundle before them and prayed that they wouldhave good luck. Guts promised that they would strike three enemies. Themen went out and found two enemies and killed them without losing any of theirown. Because Bobtail Bull was the leader he got credit for the two men andnow the people said he was on the right path; he had revenged his older brothers'deaths and he was a war leader.Because they honored him, the old men came often to his lodge to eat andsmoke. There were old people there eating and smoking all the time. BobtailBull said to them, "I claim nothing for myself ; it was my father's gods who did it."
244 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194But the people did not pay so much attention to Guts any longer for so oftenhe had brought bad luck. Guts told the old men that since his son had dreamedof the Earthnaming bundle, he should put on the ceremony and possess it sincehe was now a head man. So Bobtail Bull pledged the ceremony and right awayhe dreamed of one tipi and the old men told him that one enemy family was givento him by his gods. He gave the four day ceremony of the Red Sticks to bringthe buffaloes and the old men "walked" with his wives. Then he went out andtook possession of the family, killing all of them and taking their horses.The old men came as before and said that since he had killed a whole familyand had possessed their horses, he was even a greater chief. All the time therewere old men at his lodge eating, for they liked to eat with and help an ambitiousand lucky man. His wives worked hard preparing nice things for the old men.The old men told him many things he should know to be a great chief of thevillage because this knowledge was expected of him. Now Bobtail Bull thoughthe would surely get ahead of Poor Wolf who had the reputation of knowingmany sacred traditions and stories of the olden times. So he invited the oldmen in often and gave them good meals and the old men would tell him of theolden times even back when the people first came on the earth. At this timeone of his wives went off with another man and he found out about it. He wasvery angry at her, for she did not take care of their children. He sent two oldmen to bring her back.The two men went to her and said, "Your husband is calling for you."They took her back to her husband's lodge and Bobtail Bull sat down besideher; he painted her face black as she would have had the right to do if she hadbeen beside him when he came back from a successful war expedition. Hedressed her in good leggings, moccasins, dress, and robe, and put her on his besthorse and told the two men to take her to her new husband saying, "Take heraway from here."Not long afterward the other wife ran away with another man and her childrenwere going about through the village looking for their mother. The children werehaving a hard time, for they had no mother to take care of them. Bobtail Bullwas angry because his wife had left him and he could no longer invite in the oldermen. So he resolved to go to war again. His younger brother, Charging Eagle,offered to help him for that was much better than fighting with one's own people.His clansmen and friends volunteered to help him when they learned he was goingto war again. Not far from the village they found an enemy with one foot andkilled him. Now Bobtail Bull was a bigger chief, the others in the party said.Then they found an enemy going along a dry creek and Charging Eagle killed him.The people praised Bobtail Bull and Charging Eagle when they came back intothe village with the two scalps and the horses.Bobtail Bull had done this because another had gone off with his wife. Hesent two men to bring his second wife back and when she was with him again shebegan to cry but he painted her up, dressed her in good things, mounted her onhis best horse, and sent her back to her husband. All this he did because he wasa chief. Then his brother-in-law gave Bobtail Bull a different sister for the onewho ran away. This was good, for then he had his children with him and the oldmen were welcomed once more.Again he gave the Walking ceremony and the old men "walked" with his newwife. Then he went out to war again and his young men killed and struck threeenemies. Soon the younger men were giving him presents in the ceremonies andhe was living a good life. Others asked him to assist when the buffaloes were called
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to the village-^" One day a Crow Indian visiting at the village wanted BobtailBull as his father and he went west to the Crow to adopt his "son." While theywere there, the "son" asked Bobtail Bull to go with him on the warpath and tocarry the medicine pipe. They went west as far as the Rocky Mountains and hada good time, for there were many buffaloes farther west. Bobtail Bull and his "son"were the leaders, for he was training his "son" to be a great war leader. One daythe scouts came back howling and Bobtail Bull put the robe out for them to jumpover. The scouts reported three enemies at a distance shooting buffaloes.Everyone painted up and took out his medicines to wear during the battle.Because Bobtail Bull carried the pipe, the three enemies were killed. When theyreturned to the Crow camp, they painted their faces black and rode in betweenthe lodges firing off their guns and making a great noise. The Crows honoredBobtail Bull shouting, "What he said is true; his arrows are holy; his gods, theswallow and the hawk ^J have supernatural powers,"Then the people gave him horses and many other valuable things. Whenhe returned to Fishhook with the scalps and the fine things, the people sawthem and knew that what he said was true. He gave the goods and horses to hisbrothers and sisters and they helped him put up feasts for the old men. PoorWolf and Crows Paunch did not say much, but Bobtail Bull knew they werejealous because he was coming along so fast.Bobtail Bull and Crow-Flies-High were younger than the other chiefs butthey had done more in battle than Crows Paunch and Poor Wolf who then selectedfour assistants (village protectors) and left Bobtail Bull and Crow-Flies-High outbecause they were younger.One day Bobtail Bull and Crow-Flies-High came back from hunting to learnthat their friends did not approve of the way Government rations were beingdistributed. Crow-Flies-High was angry and mounted his pink horse. Herode through the village with a war bonnet on his head following the interpreterwherever he went, telling him that the old chiefs were selfish, that the peopleneeded new chiefs who would look out for them. The young men whose oldpeople had been accused of selfishness were angry and threatened to kill Crow-FUes-High if he did not stop, for quarrels would bring bad luck to the village.It was at this time that my father. Bobtail Bull, was sent for by his friendsand the pipe belonging to the Earthnaming bundle was lit. Then Bobtail Bulltook the pipe to Crow-Flies-High and told him to go back to his lodge. Crow-Flies-High was very angry at first and threatened to kill the first person whoattempted to interfere with his division of the 50 cattle the Government wasfurnishing for rations. He was telling the interpreter how selfish the chiefswere and that he was going to see that the people got a fair division when BobtailBull put the pipe before him. Because Bobtail Bull was his "friend" and theyworked together, he lit the pipe and announced that he was leaving. Thatnight the people met in two different earth lodges. Those who followed BobtailBull met in his lodge and Guts, my grandfather, was there, for he was an olderman and could talk better for the Earthnaming bundle. Most of the peoplein that lodge were those who had formerly lived at Hidatsa village on the Knifebut there were a few others from the other villages because they too were notsatisfied with the chiefs. The others met at Poor Wolf's lodge. Most of thosewere from Awaxawi and Awatixa and from the Mandan villages.Even the Black Mouths split up according to the way their relatives went.During the night the two groups discussed their grievances separately while some
30 See the "Earthnaming Ceremony," pp. 433-438.?> See the myths of Woman Above (pp. 323-333) and Earthnaming sacred rites (pp. 433-438).710-195?64 17
246 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
of the older men who were respected by both groups went back and forth betweenthe groups trying to work out a solution. The young men of Bobtail Bull'sgroup thought that the other chiefs kept them back, even though they had morehorses and war honors than the others who were always giving medicine feasts.They thought that it would be better to live by themselves.During the night, Bobtail Bull agreed to be their chief in another village ifthey would move peacefully, but he would not serve as their leader if any fightsbroke out to discredit his Earthnaming bundle or the other tribal bundles containingthe sacred objects. He told the people that once before in their history most ofthe people were destroyed by fire when two brothers quarreled ^^ and that therewas no place that he could take them safely if war broke out, for it would belike brothers fighting since the clans were all mixed up in the village.That night he walked through the village with his medicine pipe and reassuredthe people. When morning came the people packed their things and preparedfor the long march to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Those who had morethings than they could carry left them in the care of their relatives. Even thelodges were given to their relatives. Some even borrowed horses of relativesat Fishhook.When the time came to leave, some families decided to remain at Fishhookwhile others decided at the last minute to go along. Those who went west livedwell, for there were many buffaloes and the young men were hired by the Armyto be scouts. The two village groups visited back and forth a great deal andhelped each other in the ceremonies. Some famiUes would live in one villagefor a while and then they would go back to the other one to live. They got alongwell together. Even today we live on this end of the reservation apart from theothers but we visit back and forth and our young people marry into the othergroup. Still we think of ourselves as a separate group and have our own leaders.When we left the old village, we did not have so many of the old ceremonies,for most of the people with the rights stayed back. The old people thought wewould have bad luck. The young men fasted much and had their own bundles.Some would go back to the old village to buy bundles. But, in time, we thoughtthat the gods one got fasting were as powerful as those one bought through thefathers, for our young men got more horses and war honors than the young menof the other village. Then we would tease our joking relatives in the other village.Crow-FHes-High became the head war chief without owning any of the tribalbundles. His father owned an Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle at Hidatsabut the bundle was put away when he died of smallpox in 1837. Crow-Flies-Highwas reared by relatives but he never undertook to take up his father's gods untilhe was an old man and after he had won his position. As a young man he fastedone night at Short Missouri where he dreamed of the eastern Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. His clan fathers told him that she was instructing him to give the4-day rites to take up his father's gods but he did not follow their instructions forhe was poor and did not have many relatives to assist him. Instead he made upa personal bundle of the things he saw in his dream.Another time during the winter he fasted at Sack Butte on the Big Bend. Atthat time some buffaloes were crossing the Missouri with their calves followingbehind. In his dreams he saw that the calves could not get up onto the bankso he went to help. At first the calves were afraid of him. He pushed each oneup over the bank out of the water and then he went back to his fasting. Thenthe buffaloes came and took him to Porcupine Butte on the Little Missouri nearM See "The Legendary Period" (pp. 297-308) for this Incident.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 247Medora and taught him how to bring the rain. Later, when the gardens dried up,he brought rains for the women at Fort Buford.Another time he fasted above the spring near Percy Baker's place at the graveof a Crow Indian. Whenever anyone went there, this Crow would send a highwind and frighten the faster away. This time the wind came but he was notafraid. Then the wind went down and someone stood on the hill and sang asacred song. He had never seen the Crow but he thought the person standingthere must have been the Crow whose grave was nearby.He would stay out fasting for 7 days at a time but he did not put on the publicceremonies. In his sacred bundle he had two dresses made of hides and paintedyellow. This was what he saw when the buffaloes took him to Porcupine Butte.When he was old he gave them to his sons to use for calling the rains.He was always successful in leading war parties; that is the way he becamethe war chief and the people respected him.The above narrative further elucidates the relationship of militaryadventures to village behavior. Although Four Dancers spoke of theright of the owner of the Earthnaming bundle to pray to aU of thegods collectively, there were specific gods and associated rites overwhich the bundle owner had no definite authority. In the ritual, thegods were believed to assemble and come to the village as a group tobring good luck to the giver of the ceremony. One should note thatwhile Guts' own sons performed those rites controlled by their father,Charging Eagle, the stepson, received visions of the Mandan FourBear's, his own father's bundle even though the father had died nearlya quarter of a century earlier.We see Guts checking up on his sons to see if they had performedbravely and lu-ging them to participate in the battles. When theyperform bravely, he brings out his rattles from the Earthnamingbundle and sings the victory songs, thus identifying their braverywith his sacred bundle. Again the sons show bravery, when the enemybuild a fort in the heavy timber to protect themselves, by volunteeringto go into the brush when others have had bad luck. Associatingtheir good fortune on numerous occasions with the supernaturalpowers of the bundle, we find them daring each other to "catch aSioux" and, while distinguishing themselves for unusual bravery, theyare killed. Had they succeeded in their mission, not only wouldSitting Owl and Never-Runs-Away have been highly respected, butGuts would have succeeded in removing much of the mistrust andlack of confidence the people had for him. His reputation would thenhave been as great as Poor Wolf's, the rival bundle owner fromAwaxawi village.Guts' self-torture was greater than that normally practiced by awar leader losing young men in battle, but this was probably due toboth the loss of prestige and of his sons; normally a war leader didnot take his own sons to war. The dream by Different Wolf, in whichfive squash change into five enemy heads, is interpreted to mean that
248 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194his "brother," Guts, will get even. Here Different Wolf thinks ofGuts as a brother although actually the relationship is quite extended
:
Man-With-Long-Hair and Different Wolf belong to the same clan,the Prairie Chickens, and both came from Hidatsa village while Man-With-Long-Hair and Guts had the same father; therefore they arebrothers, although Guts belonged to the Maxoxati clan. At any rate,however extended the relation may be, an "older brother" comes tothe aid of Guts and directs him to stop his mourning, saying that hehas suffered long enough. Note that the obligations of brothers toavenge the death of one of their number is expressed by cutting off thehead of one enemy and breaking it up. Four Dancers uses the kinshipterm here in its broader meaning to include clan members and othersso classified.Four Dancers introduces the concept that, at this point, BobtailBull begins to plan his life. This is not a unique situation, for, inrecording the biographies of various Hidatsas, the informant invari-ably stated that "it was at this time he began to plan his life." Wesee that he initiated his plan by fasting during the Sun Dance whileanother was buying the rights from a father, but that the vision hereceived was of his own father's Earthnaming bundle. Here we seeunfolding the tribal bundle purchase pattern: regardless of the cere-mony being performed during fasting, it is of one's father's bimdlerites that one normally dreams. When he tells the "fathers," includinghis biological father, that when dreaming of the bundle, he was alsopromised two enemies, Guts says that he will get three. His reputationis not improved when BobtaU Bull successfully kills two instead of thethree enemies his father predicted he would get.We see that as Bobtail Bull's reputation grew, the number of oldermen who came to his lodge to eat and smoke increased. Guts thenrealized that although the bundle has supernatural powers, he hasnot succeeded in controlling this power and is, therefore, avoided.At this point he decides to relinquish the bundle to his son althoughit was customary for one to keep this bundle untU his death. Closelyassociated with his initiation into the bundle rites were his perform-ances of the "Walking" ceremonies when his wives were ceremonially
"given" to the fathers. But the path to eminence was not an easyone. While the old men were instructing Bobtail Bull in tribal lore,the wives worked hard preparing feasts for the old men. It wasduring this instruction that the first wife eloped with another man,abandoning her children to the other women of the lodge. Thehusband had the legal right to take her back or to destroy his rival'sor the rival's relatives' property, but to do that would bring theridicule of his joking relatives upon him. Although he could takeher back, the honorable thing to do was to pay no attention to the
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matter or he could go further by using the occasion to embarrassboth the wife and her eloper by casting her off with an elaboratepublic display of gifts. This Bobtail Bull does to the embarrassmentof the elopers and the ridicule of their joking relatives who teasethe eloper by saying that his new wife is so poor "that he has beenpaid to take her." When a second wife elopes, Bobtail Bull wasfrustrated in his chiefly ambitions; no longer could he invite the oldmen to his lodge, for he has only his mother-in-law and a youngunmarried sister-in-law in the lodge. By this time it is evidentthat a conspiracy exists to hold him back by depriving him of theassistance of his wives. He resolves to take out his anger on thetribe's enemies rather than on his own group, and at the same timehumiliate the elopers by adding further military honors. We seethat his brothers, clansmen, and friends volunteer to assist him.Returning with military honors, he sends for his second wife and againembarrasses her and her new husband by dressing her in good clothingand sending her back with a good horse. The only thing that thewife's brother could do to resolve the situation was to provide anotherwife. In this case another sister was substituted; the childrenremained in the household under the care of their grandmother andthe new mother.Village cleavage was then complete; those who had come fromHidatsa village and a few Mandan families looked to Bobtail Bull,owner of the Earthnaming bundle from Hidatsa village; the Awaxawiand Awatixa were represented by Poor Wolf, the bundle owner fromAwaxawi. There was little that the former could do to extend hisauthority within the village. Poor Wolf's faction held intact. Itwas at this time that a Crow Indian visiting at the village indicateda desire to become Bobtail Bull's "son" through the medium of themedicine pipe. To complete the ceremony, Bobtail Bull and a fewof his friends went to the Crow camp where his "son" indicated adesire to go on the warpath with Bobtail Bull as leader. Again hewon military honors, extended his kin to include many Crows, andreturned to Fishhook with scalps, fine goods, and many horses. Atthis point Four Dancers remarks that Bobtail Bull does not keepthe things he received of the Crows. Instead, he passes the thingson to his "brothers and sisters" as payment for past help and futureassistance when he gives further feasts to the older men. This pointbrings out the advantage one with many brothers and sisters andmembership in a large clan enjoys. Here we have one of the factorsgiving rise to the rapid reduction and assimilation of clans occurringamong the Mandan and Hidatsa during the 19th century.Probably the most significant feature of this conflict was the opposi-tion of the next older age-group headed by Poor Wolf which should have
250 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194been a respect group according to traditional behavior. In thiscrisis situation, Bobtail Bull alines with Crow-Flies-High who,although entitled to enter the fraternity of traditional bundle ownersby virture of descent from one owning rights in the Old-Wornan-Who-Never-Dies rites, flaunts tradition and establishes a personal bundlewithout the benefit of public ceremonies. Orphaned by the smallpoxepidemic of 1837 and poor in his youth, he followed a different coursefrom that of most of the other young men ; when his age-grade groupfasted during the organized rites, having no close relative to put upgoods, he could not compete with the larger households. He avoidedfasting on these occasions to seek visions alone on the prairies. But heoften went out with others on the war path, winning more honors thanthose who had followed the traditional course. Like others of hisage-grade group who had won honors without the benefit of publicrites and many who had come from Hidatsa village and had beenin closer contacts with the River Crow from whom they were recentlyseparated, they shared the belief that personal and individual fastingwas as effective in bringing good luck as fasting during the formalizedrites or the purchase of tribal bundles.Crow-Flies-High's action in assuming authority against the re-spected older age-grade group was equivalent to overthrowing theentire traditional system, and has been largely explained by themore conservative element as ignorance due to his early trainingwithout the benefit of close relatives to advise him. However, theconfhct as I see it was more deep-seated than that; the village groupfrom which he came traditionally conformed more closely to theCrow pattern, being more closely associated physically with thatgroup. His actions on the occasion of the division of the 50 cattlewould have been normal for the Crow but were outside the patternof group behavior for either of the other two Hidatsa village groupsor the Mandan.A significant aspect of the conflict was the new role that BobtailBull assumed as Earthnaming bundle owner and symbol of thetraditional peace role of this bundle owner. Note how he first orderedCrow-Flies-High to return to his lodge; this is indeed a demonstrationof authority rarely manifested. We see the authority and symbolicsignificance of the bundles manifested in the orientation of the popula-tion according to allegiance to one or the other of the two competingEarthnaming bundles. Even the police authority was immobihzedbecause the Black Mouths membership took sides individually.At this time. Bobtail Bull and Crow-Flies-High both belonged tothe police society while the chiefs whom they wished to replace werein the next older age-group. This was a distinct revolt against theestablished age-grade structure. The instructions in traditional lore.
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which Bobtail Bull had previously received from the old men, provedtimely. We j&nd him referring to the Creation Myth in which mostof the tribe was once destroyed by fire because Hungry Wolf andHigh Bird, brothers having the same mother and father, oncequarreled.^^The establishment of an Army post at Fort Buford provided aready outlet and easy solution to the problem. Since 1837, the com-bined numbers of the three villages had barely been able to defendthemselves from the Sioux. Now it was possible for a faction tobreak away much as must have been the case in earher times, if Icorrectly interpret the archeological evidence of the numerous smallvillage settlements in their traditional territory, and without thedanger of destruction by overwhelming attacks from their nomadicneighbors. Bobtail Bull agrees to be their leader provided there isno bloodshed, for he was unwilling to assume the responsibihty forthe group if brothers fought. So he walked through the villagethroughout the night in his peace role, just as Poor Wolf as ownerof the other bundle did, to see that no quarrels occurred. It is signifi-cant to note that when a crisis arose, these two bundle ownersstood as the top authority and the customary police authority wasmissing.The division was a peaceful one ; most families had made a decisionlong before the final crisis occurred. Those who were remainingbehind assisted their relatives who were leaving, even providingthem with extra horses for the trip. Arrangements were made forthe use of abandoned lodges by relatives and clan members. Therewas never a thought of continuing the conflict once the issue wasdecided and the separation was completed. The two populationsvisited back and forth even though they lived 150 miles apart; eachgroup assisted the other in the performance of ceremonies and rejoicedwhen the other had won military honors; individuals moved fromone group to the other to live without discrimination. Fewer tribalbundle rites were owned by those moving away, and the ceremoniallife suffered by comparison with the Fishhook Village group. Intime, the Fort Buford group came to look to Crow-Flies-High asthe leader and less was heard of Bobtail Bull, chiefly because of theshift in emphasis from the formal ceremonies to individual fasting.With these comments we close the Four Dancers' narrative.It was customary for one to enumerate his miUtary honors andthe details of his various mihtary exploits on numerous social andceremonial occasions and to depict them by dress and painting.For many individuals, and on most public occasions, one's statusM See "The Legendary Period" (pp. 297-308) for details of this incident.
252 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
could be determined largely by his display of these honors. Itwas customary for the younger married men to invite those possessinggood mihtary records to eat with them and to relate their mihtaryachievements. This had become a ritual with the Hidatsa andfollowed a set pattern; one would select a "father" or a group of
"fathers" to come eat with him when he had enjoyed good luck inhunting and had an abundant supply of fresh meat. Usually the
"fathers" received a few presents consisting of new robes on whichthey were invited to sit while partaking of the meal. On approachingthe lodge where the feast had been prepared, the fathers wouldinvariably indicate how much they had craved fresh meat and nowthanked their "son" for thinking of them. As they ate, the youngman would ask them to tell stories of the olden times or of theirmilitary adventures. The old men would tell a younger man thatthis was the way to get ahead and then pray to their sacred bundlesfor the "son's" success.These feasts to the older men provided one mechanism for theperpetuation of the military record of many individuals. Some-times a young man wanted to learn more of his own father who haddied years before; these feasts provided a means of acquiring thisinformation. For the acquisition of knowledge about one's ownclan members there was less formality; older brothers as disciphnaryofficers usually provided that information as a part of the trainingof the younger brothers. Older clan members belonging to thehousehold would, from time to time, undertake to transmit theirknowledge of the clan informally while assembled around the lodgefire during long evenings. This was done without thought of pay,since one enjoyed rights in the property of his clan members. Thepersonal achievements of those who attained universal respect of theentire group became a part of the traditions of the group long aftertheir deaths.The Hidatsa had produced a number of leaders during the lastcentury whose record has become a part of the traditional lore ofthe people and is repeated to the young and discussed among theold whenever a few gather for a feast or to smoke. Four Bears,son of Two Tails who was one of the war chiefs at Knife River, roseto eminence as one of the war chiefs after 1837 and is distinguishedprincipally for his part in signing the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1851.Bears Arm supplies the following narratives of Four Bears' life,securing the information from his father, Old-Woman-Crawling, whoat one time served as an Old Wolf on one of the mihtary expeditionsundertaken by Four Bears.When Four Bears was giving the Wolf Ceremony to get his father's rights,while the people were still living at Knife River, he dreamed that he was going out
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 253to the northwest to get six men and one white horse. He thought that he waswell paid for his efforts in putting on the ceremony. Then he went to severalholy men who had gods that had come down to them generation by generationfrom the olden times and asked them to be his helpers. There were eight of theseholy men who were to help him: Raven Bear had the Big Bird bundle; CrowsPaunch had a Long Arm bundle; Bears Heart, Old-Woman-Crawhng, Marries-by-Carrying-Water, and Edge-of-Stone had Grizzly Bear bundles; Red-Buffalo-Cow had a People Above (Mandan) bundle; and Boy had a Hawk (Arikara)bundle.He invited these and enough young men to make up a party of about 40. Aswas the custom, he did not announce what he was looking for until they went intocamp 1 day's distance from the villages. Then he told them that he was outlooking for the six men and a white horse promised by the Wolves. They wenton and passed the mouth of the Yellowstone, traveling westward. Raven Bearand Marries-by-Carrying-Water were appointed leaders of the scouts to takeyoung men and go ahead to look for the enemies. Just before they came to theirtrail, they camped, and Raven Bear stood up with the sword that belonged to theBig Bird ceremony and began to cry. He said to the Big Birds, "Have pity onme. When we surround an enemy, I want to strike one."The scouts went ahead and saw the trail which the Assiniboin had followed.They reported to Four Bears and the next day the party followed the trail untilthey came to a post with a sign carved on it. There was a picture of the RockyMountains with an arrow showing that they were going there; Sitting Wolf asleader with the pipe was shown; the moon with 15 cuts below it showed that theyhad left on the 15th day after the new moon; the human head with 100 gashestold that there were 100 in the party. Four Bears came to the post and saw thatit had been put there by the Assiniboin. They followed the trail, watching bothways, for they knew that the sign had been put there so another band of Assin-iboin would know where to find the head band. In 3 days, the scouts reportedthat they had found the camp. Seeing the scouts coming back howling, the OldWolves put out a robe for them to jump over. Sometimes they put up a moundof dirt, buflfalo manure, or a robe to jump over. When they had done this andthen kicked the mound down, it was a sign that they would overcome theirenemies.Then Four Bears stood, holding the wolf hide which he had given to the leaderof the scouts to carry, saying, "My father's gods, when I had your ceremony, Istood before the four holy women of the four winds ^* suffering while thinkingthat someday I would meet my enemies. I became dizzy and fell to the ground;then I saw a trail leading westward and I saw six persons and a white horse atthe end of that trail. For that reason, the scouts have seen the camp and I wantto take what has been promised me. I want you to lead ofif six men from thatcamp so my men can get them without any bad luck coming to us. I want thatwhite horse you promised me too."Raven Bear stood up and told what he had seen in his dreams. He said,"My gods, the eagles, the big birds, and thunder, you came to me from myfather and I have taken good care of you. When we have those enemies sur-rounded, I want you to help me to be the first to strike one of them. I havecome to the enemy this day and I want to hit that man you promised me."Bears Heart stood up and said, "My god, the yellow grizzly bear, I got youfrom my father. I got the arrow that came from Two Men back at the beginning
w See "WoU Ceremonies," given below, for their role in thiB ceremony.
254 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
of times. I want to hit one enemy with that holy arrow and I want to strikeone enemy myself."Then Married-by-Carrjing-Water took out his sacred lance and addressingthe silver grizzly bear, told the men that he was supposed to cut 3 inches fromthe end of the lance each time he struck an enemy. One time he had been walkingalong the edge of the timber at Shell Creek when a bear attacked him. Theywere so close together that there was not room to use an arrow so he took up hisstone ax. When the bear was about to seize him, he hit the bear on the headand the Bear said, "Don't hit me again," so he drew back the stone ax. Thebear reached over back of his head and took out a red feather, handed it to theman and said, "Whenever you meet an enemy, put this on your head. Make along lance and paint it red; when you meet the enemy, take out the stick and hitthe enemy with it. Even if they are aiming their guns at you, they will notbe able to hit you. Whenever anyone asks for the stick to strike the enemy,give him both the stick and the feather for he will be successful. When jj^ou strikethe enemy, cut off a piece of the stick and take it to the west side of the camp andpoint to the west as an offering to me."^^Boy was the next to get up. His god was the hawk that he got from his Arikarafather. He had the tail feathers and a red feather that he held up as he calledhis son, Bear-Comes-Out, to stand before him. Boy prayed, "I want my boy tobe one of the first to strike one of the enemies."Raven Paunch had the Long Arm bundle but he prayed to the horse instead.He told how he had fasted 4 days and nights out on the prairies with his horsewhich he led during the dajd:ime by means of thongs in the arms. The fourthnight he had a dream in which he saw the horse decorated with grass on top ofthe head. The horse said, "Do like that with me when you go out against theenemy; whether you take me or some other horse, paint us with white clay on theshoulders in four places. The four white spots represent the 4 days you fastedwith the horse; it also represents the four legs I run with, for the four spots willgive my legs strength so that I can run without stumbling," He was ridingthat horse then.Each of the other Old Wolves told of their dreams and ambitions. FourBears said to the scouts, "Go out and see if the six men and the white horse haveleft the camp."The scouts crept close to the camp and saw the six men and the white horseleave the camp with dogs trailing along, so they came back and reported to FourBears. When the enemy was some distance from the camp. Four Bears' mensurrounded and closed in on them. Bear-Comes-Out was first to strike the enemythat his father had asked the hawk to give him. They killed the six men and tookthe white horse, giving the scalps and horse to Four Bears who had a prior claimto them since he had seen them in his dream. Then they hurried back to thevillages to dance the Victory dances. Four Bears called out the names of thosewho had struck the enemy so that all would hear.Again Four Bears had a dream from the Wolves who gave him one enemy so heorganized a party to go out for that which had been promised him. This man wasan Assiniboin who would be found alone far to the north. They traveled northuntil they came to the lake region. There was a lone tree by a lake and Bluestoneasked Four Bears to camp there as he wanted to fast under the nest occupied byyoung eagles. Four Bears thought that it was a good idea. Bluestone's chestskin was cut and he was hung from a limb so that his feet could scarcely touch theground.
?s The west side of the eagle trapping lodge is holy.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 255In the morning, Four Bears inquired if Bluestone had been given a dream and hesaid that he had the same dream as his clan brother, Four Bears, except that itwas the eagle in the tree that told him instead of the wolves. In the dream hesaw an old man standing by the tree with an eagle feather in his hair and this oldman told him that they would see one enemy and that Bluestone would be thefirst one to strike this enemy.When Bluestone said that he would be the first to strike the enemy, there werefaster young men in the party who did not believe that. They went on until theyfound an old Assiniboin man picking up duck eggs near a lake. Bluestone wasnext to the lead but when the Assiniboin was about to shoot, the front man stum-bled and fell so Bluestone struck the enemy someone farther back had shot. Thesecond man to strike was the one who had shot the enemy.Four Bears went out again along the White Earth Creek looking for the twoenemies he had been promised. He got both of them, women this time, makingnine enemies in all that his sacred bundles had "given" him. The people said thatif he could go to four times without "kicking the stone" he would be a great man,so he fasted much and gave liberally to the older people.One time shortly afterward, the enemy came to the village and stole horses. OneBuffalo, who also had a Wolf bundle, organized a party to go after them. Whenthey were a short distance from the village. One Buffalo stopped to select thescouts. He selected, in this order. Raven Bear as leader. Owns-Many-SpottedHorses, and Lifts Heart. When the leader saw Four Bears get up, he named himto be fourth. Four Bears said, "I was expecting to be called first."The scouts went out and Four Bears got ahead of the others, finding an Assini-boin sleeping. He had not found any horses. Four Bears killed and scalped himbefore the others came, but the other scouts went to the place and struck himsecond, third, and fourth. The war expedition was called off and they went backto the village to dance.Four Bears decided to go out again soon afterward to get one enemy and ahorse. Since he had been out so often, he thought that his supernatural powermight be running out, so he decided to enlist the assistance of some other holymen. Finally he selected his clan brother, One Buffalo, who agreed to help him.They made up a party of 32 men. They traveled southwestward until they cameto Buffalo Lodge (Home) Butte. Since it was quite a large party and the huntingwas poor, they were soon out of food. Usually buffaloes could be found aroundthis butte, for that was a home of the buffalo spirits. The young men thought theywould surely starve and the older men thought they might die, too.Two scouts went out ahead and soon afterward the others saw a buffalo runningabout 2 miles away. One Buffalo said to the others, "We are all in; we can't runthat far. We will have to find some other way to get that buffalo."One Buffalo seated his party in a row. Then he held his braid to one side andhit his head; powder came out of the ear; from the other ear he took a bullet.He put the powder in the gun, using soft sage as the wad; then he put in the bulletwith sage on top of that. All the while he sang a holy song. He directed FourBears to fill the pipe and start it at the opposite end saying, "As soon as I seesmoke coming out of the pipe, I am going to fire the gun."They lit the pipe and began to smoke. One of the Old Wolves said, "They aresmoking now," so he fired the gun. They continued to smoke and pass the pipealong the line. There were 30 men in the row and when the pipe was to themiddle of the line, some claimed a little further, they saw the buffalo fall overnearly 2 miles away.After they had enough to eat, the party decided to turn back towards theMissouri at the mouth of Heart River. One day the scouts found a horse, so the
256 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194two leaders rode double. One day they found two women and a berdache diggingwild turnips on the prairie. Until they were near they thought they were women,for all three Sioux were dressed alike. Before making the attack, Four Bears toldhis party that they would strike coups on the women but spare their lives. FourBears got ahead of the others and struck both but the berdache was brave, saying,"You can't kill me for I am holy. I will strike coups on you with my diggingstick."Then the berdache sang a sacred song and chased them. Four Bears shot anarrow at the berdache but it would not penetrate the robe. Then he knew thatthe berdache had great supernatural powers. Since he had been successful onall other military expeditions and did not want to spoil his luck, he called hisparty back. The expedition was successful, for they got the horse. Four Bearsused good judgment, for it was hard to kill a berdache since they were holy.Later Poor "Wolf bought his clan brother's Bullet rites.Later the Assiniboin learned from the Whites that the Hidatsa were dying ofsmallpox and decided to come and kill off the Hidatsa, for then they would have alarge territory on the Missouri River. At that time the Awatixa and Awaxawiwere at Snake Creek on the bend above the mouth of Knife River and many ofthe Hidatsa-proper were around Sanish where they went to escape the smallpox.The head men selected Raven Paunch as chief of the scouts to locate and watchthe movements of the Assiniboin camp, for they had their women and childrenalong. He found the Assiniboin on Stevenson Flats. The police were on guardall night, and in the morning the men, numbering about 50 and constituting allwho had survived the smallpox, hid near the trail the Assiniboin would take.Seven Bears told the men that they should kill all the Assiniboin men and olderboys they could, but to spare the women and children for many of the Awaxawiand Awatixa had lost their wives and families with smallpox. If they could takethe women prisoners, there would soon be many children in the tribe again. Inthe battle, taking the Assiniboin by surprise, the men were all killed off and about60 women and children were taken. They were taken back to the village andtraded around so that all the single men had wives. Some escaped from time totime but the people never looked for them, thinking that they had children athome they wanted to see. Many of the people in the tribe today are the descen-dants of these women and children taken at that time, but the people never tellif a person is the descendant of a captive for it would hurt his record in the tribe.In this way, young male descendants of captives and Hidatsa fathers have thesame chance as the other boys.When they got back to camp, they found that Four Bears had been shot throughthe body. His clan brother, One Buffalo, went among his clans-people askingassistance so they could engage a doctor. They gave robes, war bonnets, guns,and one horse. Then One Buffalo went to Cherry Necklace with the pipe andasked him to doctor Four Bears. Cherry Necklace instructed One Buffalo tobring in four of the round hand-drums. Then he dressed in his medicine objects,the otter, and went to Four Bear's lodge where all the people were gathered. Hesaid to the people, "Do not let any dogs into the lodge for that is a rule when Idoctor. If a dog gets in, my patient will die. The Waterbusters selected oneof their members to sit at the door and keep the dogs out.Four young men were selected to use the round hand-drums and sing the holysongs with Cherry Necklace. Then he said to the people, "Go over to the riverbank and see how I am going to do this."Cherry Necklace and Four Bears were naked with only an otter skin on CherryNecklace's head. They went to the river where Four Bears was led into the wateruntil they were in the water to the depth of Four Bear's belt where he was wounded.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 257Cherry Necklace took down the otter skin and wet it all over and said to thepeople, "I am not holy at all; I can't do anything by myself. But the otter isthe one I get my powers from."Cherry Necklace spoke to the otter saying, "It is you who has the powers.You should cure this man so the people can see with their own eyes what you cando." Then he sang the Otter songs.He dipped the otter skin under the water and when he took his hand away thesecond time the otter came up on the other side of Cherry Necklace and swamover to Four Bears, touching the spot where he was wounded. When the otterbacked away from the wound, blood came out. Then the otter swam to FourBear's back and did the same thing. The otter did that four times and thenCherry Necklace said, "I am glad that this wounded man is going to be healed."Cherry Necklace instructed Four Bears to wash his head in the river and drinka little water. Then the clansmen helped him back to his lodge where CherryNecklace continued to sing the holy songs. It was not long until he was walkingabout again. Cherry Necklace was highly respected, for he had succeeded insaving the life of a great war leader.Four Bears was consulted when the people were looking for a new village siteand because the people were accustomed to put up offerings for the buffaloes atFishhook Bend, he thought it would be a good place to build, but he did not takepart in the ceremonies when the village was built.The above describes warfare of the first half of the 19th century.Unlike the Four Dancers narratives of his own father, in which heexplains each event in terms of his father's ambitions to eminencetraditionally enjoyed by the owner of the Earthnaming bundle, BearsArm relates the principal military adventures of one who was destinedto attain top rank as war chief during the critical years of village dis-organization following the smallpox epidemic of 1837. While FourDancers belabors the misfortunes of his grandfather. Guts, whoeventually relinquished the bundle to his son. Bobtail Bull, he sayslittle of other ceremonial roles which the bundle owner traditionallyenjoyed. Perhaps initial interest in the Poor Wolf bundle stems fromthe fact that, during the period of village disorganization between1837 and 1845, the Hidatsa-proper had indicated the intention of re-joining the River Crow from whom they had separated not long before.In fact, many Hidatsa families had actually gone west and were en-couraging the rest of the village to join them. At this time theAwatixa and Awaxawi, whose separation from the western Crow hadoccurred long before, decided to remain on the Missouri and live muchas they had before the epidemic.In the Bears Arm narrative of Four Bears, we are concerned withthe life history of one who, through inheritance of Wolf bundles fromhis father. Two Tails, received his principal distinctions as a militaryleader rather than as the director and supervisor of certain aspects ofthe village ceremonial life. We find that after giving the Wolfceremony to acquire his father's bundle rights, he dreamed of six enemiesand a white horse, thus establishing prior rights to them. Bears Arm
258 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 104
lists the Old Wolves whom Four Bears invited to assist him. Theyare selected entirely from his own, the Four-clan moiety, and holdrights in several of the tribal bundles. By means of drawings on apost, the Hidatsa learn that one band of Assiniboin under SittingWolf has gone farther west.The purpose of the expedition, as explained by Four Bears afterthe party has left the village, was to take possession of the six enemiesand the white horse which his gods had promised him. Had he failedto take possession of his rightful property at that time, we learn fromother case histories that his claim still stood. Should he have beenunable on this or subsequent trips to have taken possession of them hecould have sold or given his rights to another as in the followingnarrative by Wolf Chief.The recitation of one's bundle rights before going into battle hasbeen described before. It served a useful purpose in stimulatingyoung men to buy their fathers' bundles and to give them courage inthe immediate battle. In this instance, the Old Wolves reciting theirritualistic rites are of both the Mandan and Hidatsa villages, althoughat this time the union of the population into a single village had notoccurred. In selecting coleaders, he has selected from the equivalentmoiety as well.In this instance we find a group of "brothers" cooperating to bringhonor to one of their number. Four Bears took possession of the sixscalps and white horse for which he received credit, whUe the othersshared the 24 honors of striking coup. This raises the question of thedisposal of other honors, had the group been able to kill and strikeadditional enemies or possess additional horses. By the rules. FourBears would have taken only those horses which he saw first, sinceadditional horses went to those first seeing them. As leader of thewar party, he would have received credit for all additional enemieskilled and struck, with the right to show this accompHshment on hisclothing. Those who struck the enemy could wear feathers. Oneseeing a number of horses rarely took possession of them, for he wasexpected to make gifts according to the membership of the group.Four Bears' second expedition to the north for one enemy promisedto him brings out the point that the Hidatsa fasted in many situations.Here a clan brother assisting him finds an eagle nest under which hedecides to fast. Some of the young men think it very funny whenBluestone tells how in his dream he has been promised the first honorof striking the enemy Four Bears is seeking, since Bluestone was nota fast runner. One wonders if fear caused the one in the lead tostumble, permitting Bluestone to strike first. Crows Heart told thewriter of an instance when young men going into battle found it
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 259
convenient to get off to fix their saddles, thus permitting others todo the actual fighting.We see that after Four Bears has been out several times, the oldmen tell him that if he can go out as leader four times without "kickingthe stone" he wiU be a great man. This imparts that even the greatestmilitary leaders gave but a small amount of time to actual militarycampaigns of their own. When the men go out to look for theirhorses stolen by the Assiniboin, we see a war party being organizedsometime after leaving the village and Four Bears is not pleasedbecause he is not selected to be the leader of the scouts. Why?The informant did not know what One Buffalo had in mind but, inany case, he was shown to be in error since Four Bears was first towin the honors. We see in this account how quickly the Hidatsaterminated a military expedition once they had the better of theenemy. Once an enemy is killed and coups struck on his body, thesearch for the horses is called off.When Four Bears planned a fourth expedition, he acknowledgedthat his sacred bundles had brought him good luck to that time andwondered if they had begun to lose their supernatural powers. Thus,he selects a clan brother, One Buffalo, to be his assistant and theystrike out afoot toward the Black Hills until they come to BuffaloLodge (Home) Butte, the home of the buffalo spirits. We see thatwhen the young men complain of being hungry, the Old Wolves seem toagree with them, thus setting the stage for the magical Bullet ritesby One Buffalo. Here we have a variant of a ritual which FourDancers described above when his grandfather accompanied ThreeCoyotes. In the former case, a similar ritual was employed to killthe Sioux Bear medicine man. The two scouts were out when thebuffalo was seen about 2 miles ahead, so the reader must suspectthat, since guns did not shoot 2 miles at that time, the appearanceof the two scouts on the scene at the time the buffalo was killed wasscarcely accidental.The encounter with the two Sioux women and a berdache disclosesinteresting reactions by the party. In the first place. Four Bears wasnot looking for women, so they are content to strike coup on themand let them go. This was commonly done and is not unique initself, but the recognition of one as a berdache altered the situation.The Hidatsa berdaches, although considered to be somewhat queer,were also possessed of great supernatural powers and customarilycarried digging sticks as a part of their ritualistic paraphernalia duringcertain tribal rites. Here they encounter a Sioux berdache carryinga digging stick which was being used for digging wild turnips. Whenthe berdache said, "You can't kill me for I am holy. I will strikeyou with my digging stick," he was repeating a ritual similar to one
260 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
used in the Hidatsa rite in which the berdache said, "I am holy; Ican do anything." When the arrow Four Bears shot at the berdachebounced off the robe, they were convinced of his supernatural powersand called off the fight. Having been successful on all other militaryexpeditions, he was not taking chances. Although his vision hadonly been fulfilled in part, this was accomphshed without the loss ofany members of his party. His claim to the enemy remained; hecould go out again or transfer this claim to another, preferably a
"son." In the sale of the Bullet rites to Poor Wolf, a younger clanbrother. One Buffalo follows an inheritance pattern not so commonwith the Hidatsa but highly developed with the Mandan.In the final account of the slaughter of the men and the capture ofthe women and smaller children, the arguments offered for waylayingthis party of Assiniboin are scarcely convincing. In the first place,a small party of Assiniboin would never have attempted to storm thesestrongly fortified Awatixa and Awaxawi villages, and, in the secondplace, it was not customary to take women and children out on militaryexpeditions. The argument served a useful purpose, however, injustifying their actions in the face of White critics, although we knowthat at this time there was a high degree of cooperation with theMandan and Arikara who would have come quickly to their assistance.The Hidatsa had customarily raided small hunting bands, going tothe Rocky Mountains even before the advent of the horse. Thatthis attack provided an opportunity to replenish the population cannotbe denied, and the people quickly took advantage of this small bandto take possession of the women and small children. In the Hidatsasociety, a man who had many "children" lived materially better thanone with few or no children.Since this event occiu*red after 1837, one would expect genealogiesof the tribe to show many of these captives, which is not the case.Actually, these captives were quickly integrated into the householdand clan system and are rarely mentioned as captives. Althoughgenealogies supplied by one person for other family lines do not revealthis Assiniboin blood, I did not find the Hidatsas reluctant to speakof their own foreign blood, although they would not freely reveal suchinformation about others. Bears Arm speaks of the escape of captivewomen and relates that nothing was done about it when it was knownthat they had children with the Assiniboin. I found numerousinstances when the Hidatsa provided captives with opportunities toreturn to their tribes because they had small children living there,as well as instances in which members of neighboring tribes came tothe Hidatsa and claimed their families taken captive.The curing rites for Four Bears followed a common pattern whena doctor outside of the family was employed. Note that the clan
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 261took the initiative ; they collected the goods and selected the doctor.When the doctor saw that the case was not hopeless, he dressed in hisceremonial garb and took over the curing. Although the super-natural depicted in the rites did not always "come to life," this wasbelieved to be a common experience when the greater doctors per-formed. We see the employment of sacred songs, the public display,and river bathing.^^ This curing rite expresses significant societalvalues ; in spite of all of the fanfare when the military leader returnedsuccessfully, or the deep sorrow and loud wailing when he "kickedthe stone," the real authority and confidence rested with a restrictednumber of village sacred bundle owners whose authority came to themout of the traditions and sacred rites of the past. Although thehighest acclaim and respect was shown those who pursued a militarycareer, in crisis situations, such as the doctoring of the military leadersor the establishment of a new village, the people looked to the oldermen whose sacred bundle rites were of traditional great antiquity,and the military leaders played no significant role. A review of thefirst building of Fishhook Village will show that in the rites on thisimportant occasion, Four Bears, who then occupied the top militaryposition, was not mentioned.We close these case histories of military and related activities witha summary of Wolf Chief's experiences. Born in 1850 into one of therespected households, he well represents the culture of his generation(pi. 5). His father, Small Ankles, was the owner of Woman Above,Waterbuster Clan Skulls, Eagle Trapping, and Wolf Ceremonyvillage sacred bundles. Rarely were so many sacred bundles ownedby one man. In Wolf Chief, we have an individual who lived an easylife; the father was a distinguished bundle owner and Wolf Chief hadseveral brothers who were good hunters. Wolf Chief's interest in theopposite sex was of wide knowledge in the tribe and his love affairs aregiven in detail under "The Life Cycle."The following abbreviated narrative covers the significant points inhis preparation for a military career:My father was one of the real medicine men and fasted often. My maternalgrandfather, Big Cloud, was also a great medicine man and gave me much advice.He had cut off his fingers in the Mandan Okipa and I saw the wounds on his chestand arms. Even my older brothers talked to me often and told me that I shouldtake fasting seriously. When I was young I got most of my advice from Big Cloud,for he was getting along in years and was around the village more than my brothersand father who were busy hunting and working for a living. Big Cloud told mehow after the smallpox only 10 families stayed at Hidatsa village on Knife River,so they went out west and camped on Rose Creek with the Crows for a while. Hewent out with another to fast on a high hill; during the day they would stand on the
?? River bathing was universally associated with those bundles containing objects from creatures com-monly inhabiting the streams and lakes.f710-l?5?65 18
262 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
hill and cry and stay in a cave nearby at night. A rain came and they went underthe rocks; it turned hot as though they were near a fire. They saw a bird as largeas a bullboat with the head as large as a human's; something shiny-looking likesilk was hanging down from the bill.Because they were frightened, they ran back into camp and the people closedthe tent flaps. When I was born, he gave me a name and said that I would live toold age. He called me He Comes, for when the clouds and thunder come from thewest, they make a loud noise.When I was 7 or 8 years old, Big Cloud made up a cloth of this big bird with around clamshell bead and said that if I wore it, I would live to be an old man. Iwas 15 when he was taken ill; I stayed near him because he had been so good to me.One day he asked me to sit by him and he said, "My grandson, I am getting oldand I think it is the best time to go. When I die, you will know where they buryme ; you come there to fast. If I remember, I will give you a holy song or mentionsomething so that your wishes will come true. If I can't do it, it will still be allright."They buried him where some others were buried. I remembered how he hadtreated me and was crying. My father said to me "Don't forget what your grand-father said to you before he died. He was a great man and struck many enemies;he fasted much; you must do the same. You should go out there where he isburied; he may be able to help you. You could go out there evenings for 30 days.If you do not get a dream, you might try another 30 days."Because my father asked me to go out, I went out there for part of the night for 1month. I rested and then went out 30 nights again. I would cry and say that Iwas poor and wanted a god so that I would have a good living. I tried it 30 daysbut no dream came. I went to 90 nights when the weather was getting cold soI gave it up.The next spring I tried it again. My father talked to me and said, "If you goout again, you should stick to it. There are some bodies on scaffolds out there.You might go to those scaffolds and hold onto the posts while fasting. Perhapsthat will help you."I was a little frightened out there with the human bones scattered around fromthe fallen scaflFolds, the circles of skulls, and the skulls and other bones sticking outof the sunken graves. I thought, too, of our enemies who might come and attackme. I would stay around there until late in the night and then go back home.Once the men told of seeing enemies about but I went out to fast. One night I hadthe sensation that something was seizing me and at the same time I heard a"woosh" from my grandfather's grave. Then all the bodies made the same noise;I was so frightened that I nearly ran away.That night when I came back and went to bed, my grandfather came back, Isaw my grandfather standing on a high hill about 30 miles downstream from Fish-hook. His hair was white and he was smiling.The next year ray father went out west to Shot in Nose Creek. There weremany young men fasting on the side of a high hill with sticks put through theirskin. Because I was not among them, my father's joking relatives teased himabout his worthless son who did nothing but eat and chase the girls. This mademy father very angry so he came to me while other men in the camp were crying totheir gods to send their sons good dreams, saying, "You should not sit around hereand do nothing but eat all the time. You should follow the example of the otheryoung men and fast for a god so that you will be successful."Takes-the-Gun [Three-clan moiety] and Moccasin Carrier [Waterbuster clan]came to take me out without asking if I wanted to go and said, "We are glad thatyou are going to do this so that you will get a god."
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 263They made two thongs from a Juneberry branch; by this time it was so darkthat they lit a fire to see to insert the sticks. First they told what they had seenwhen they suffered, and then they put the sticks through. It felt as though Iwas burning in the fire. They tied me to an overhanging tree and I could hardlybreathe. They noticed my trouble and said, "He has had enough; we better takehim down."All this time my father had been shaking his medicine rattles, praying, and sing-ing the holy songs of the eagle-trapping rites. But I did not get a dream for mybreath would not come when they tortured me.The next summer, when I was 17, the people went to Bear Den Creek hunting.There were many high rocks and two hawks were flying about above the cliffs.We were enjoying ourselves, for the buffaloes were plentiful. I thought of thethings people had said about me and resolved to fast in the rocks near those hawks.I went to Wolf Grass and Coyote, who belonged to my fathers' clan, and askedthem to help me. Because the bank was so steep at the place I wanted to hang,they put an extra rope around me so that I would not be killed if the thongs pulledout of the flesh. All the time my two fathers were praying to the hawks to sendme a dream. I stayed there until after sundown and then my fathers came for me.That night I dreamt of a man who came and asked me to stand beside him onthe right side saying, "Look to the west."I looked and saw a thunder cloud coming. He was carrying burning cedar on aplate. He said, "See how I burn this cedar while facing the west and the raincomes. Someday you will do the same as I am."Then he sang this sacred song, "Birds are coming from the clouds; they bringrain." He told me that when I wanted to bring the rain I should do as he haddone, but I never did try it.When I was 18, my father was appointed to lead the winter camp. Thatwinter we went to Blue Buttes just above Independence in the deep timber. Ihad often seen the dark spot on the moon and the old people had told me that themoon was a human. I went out every night to cry, asking the moon uo help me.After the 120th night I had a dream again, hearing someone speaking from thesky, "Look to the east; there is a boat coming."In my dream I wished for a cord of wood. I saw a log house here where I laterbuilt and a steamboat near Lucky Mound Creek. I saw a large stone on a hilland then I walked into a log house. I awoke and thought of my silly dream andof the silly dreams the other young men often told of getting. Then I went tosleep again and a man came, saying, "They want you over there."I came to a high hill and saw a man sitting facing the north. He had his facepainted below the nose; he had an eagle feather in his hair and scalps hanging onhis leggings. He asked me to sit on his right side. He had a pile of buffalomanure before him and a pipe. While he smoked I thought, "Anytime I go outfor the enemy I am supposed to go against the wind for he is facing the wind."He handed me the pipe to smoke and said, "Son, look towards the south." Isaw great mountains and large herds of horses; I thought that it meant that Iwas to own many horses.That year I also had a dream of four frames surrounding my father's sacredbundles, the outer one being old and broken down. My father interpreted thisdream to mean that I would give the Walking ceremony four times and make mywives "granddaughters of the buffaloes," and that I would live to be an old man.Shortly afterward the enemy came to fight near the village and, being brave, Iwas to the front chasing them. One man turned and shot my horse, killing it.My fathers of the Waterbuster clan sang the Victory songs for me. When I re-turned to our lodge, Different Snake was at our lodge and wanted to marry me, for
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it was the custom to marry when one had received first war honors. I did notkeep her but I married another shortly afterward.When I was 21 I killed a fat deer while we were in winter camp and called intwo of my "fathers," Poor Wolf and Sack who belonged to my father's clan.Poor Wolf asked Sack to speak to me and he said, "There are many ways to becomea chief; some spend most of their time fasting and striking the enemy. When Iwas a young man after the smallpox I went out fasting often. Once in my dreamsI saw a man so old that he could hardly get up and I expected to get that old.Now that you have fed me, I would rather that you would be the old man insteadof me."I thanked him saying that I hoped I would be a lucky man, have a good home,and live to become an old man.When I was just past 22 I thought that since I had seen the man with thescalps on his leggings, I ought to go out to war and get the horses I had seen,but my father tried to discourage me. He said, "I do not see any wounds whereyou have been fasting much; I think you ought to do a great deal more fastingand torturing of your body before you go out after those horses."He urged me not to take young men out but I was insistent. I said, "I thinkI have done enough fasting and suffering. When I was 18, I dreamt of a manwith scalps on his legs and he was smoking and facing the wind. I think I havethe power now to succeed. I fasted at different places; one time I went out 120nights to cry."He was not convinced but I went anyway. I picked young fellows of my age,but a number of them could not go as their fathers did not like the idea. I took12 young men my age and appointed Son-of-Star the chief of the scouts andWolf Ghost, Dog Bear, and Bluebird scouts. We followed the east bank of theMissouri going downstream. North of Washburn the scouts found some horsesand colts, and a mule. Wolf Ghost and Bluebird both claimed the horses andthey disputed each other's claim to the first discovery so I said to them, "Youare trying to get ahead of each other; do not do that; in the future you will dis-cover more horses."We went on, and opposite Standing Rock we found a horse grazing, so I sent thescouts to take possession. They crossed to the west side where the enemy dis-covered them so they brought in only one horse. I kept the horse that had beentaken from the camp because the scouts did not see it first; by that time the twomen had agreed on the division of the other horses.Not long afterwards I decided to go out for more of the horses that I had beenpromised in my dreams. This time my father approved and said to me, "Ithink you will be successful for on your last trip you showed that you have powersfrom your dreams. Do not take too many along, for some of them might becareless. If you had to hide from the enemy, a large party would be a handicap.This time take some of my Wolf medicines. Before sending your scouts out,pray to the Wolf to help you."Before I left, my father took down his sacred Wolf bundle, tied it on a long pole,and hung it up outside. ^'' He wanted to find out what was going to happen.He did this so he would get a dream that night. He burned some sweetgrassand put the wolf hide in the smoke, singing this sacred Song of the Wolves,"Whenever I need anything, I always say this."He said to Sunrise Wolf, "I want you to lead my son who is going out after theenemies," and he sang a second holy song, "You are the holy ones; that is whyI say so."
3' See myth of the Wolf Woman (pp. 412-415) for native beliefs that wolves talk to the bundle owners.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 265Then he instructed me, saying, "Start tomorrow evening; have your buUboatsready. When you select the scouts, rub dirt on their legs just as Wolf instructedand tell them not to touch each other or their legs will get weak. Sing thesetwo sacred songs before you send the scouts out. Do not travel until it is dark."Next morning my father said, "I had a dream of a man coming towards us witha mule and a bay horse with a bald face. He had some meat, too. I am not surewhether you killed him or not.When it was getting dark, my father took his medicines all down and stoodbefore us, for we were meeting at my father's lodge. He was praying to hisbundles when Poor Wolf, my father's clansman, came in. My father asked himto pray for me, his son, who was going out to seek the enemy.Poor Wolf said, "I know that you have had pity on me and fed me when Iwas short of meat; you are my son, too. In my early days I dreamed that Iwas to get a roan horse but I never was able to take possession of it. Now I amgetting old so I will rehnquish it to you."Then he prayed for me and told how he used to fast and pray in his youngerdays.My father said, "I am going to have my son take my wolf hide along. Hewill see a rabbit run ahead of him. It will stop. That is the sign that they willmeet their enemies the same day."It was close to midnight when we got into our bullboats and started downstream.At noon we stopped to select the scouts. I took out my father's sacred bundle,prayed to it, and selected Wolf Ghost, One Buflfalo, and Lean Bull to be thescouts. I rubbed the dirt from the pocket gopher mound on their legs andordered them not to rub their legs together. Wolf Ghost carried the wolf hide.I asked them to go along the rim of the valley not far from the river and wewould meet them farther down.Before they discovered the horse, a jackrabbit jumped up in front of them andthey knew that something would happen that day. They went in the directionthe rabbit went and there found the horse. It was the roan horse that had beengiven to me by Poor Wolf before we left. Wolf Ghost who found the animalbrought it down to the riverbank and said, "I have the horse that was alreadygiven to you before this happened."I wondered how we would manage to float down the river and at the same timelook after the horse. I thought that Crows Breast, who had a bad foot, mightfind it hard to travel if we did not find more horses farther on, so I gave him thehorse and told him to go back.Our next stop was the big Mandan village ruins north of Bismarck. Then Isent the scouts over to the other bank as we floated down to Bird Bill Butte.The scouts came back and reported seeing three men riding north. They wentout again and found a man butchering an elk. He had a bald-faced horse and amule. They decided to wait until he had butchered before killing him, but,in the meantime, two more came along on horseback so my scouts decided acamp was nearby. They decided not to make the attack even though theyhad found the bald-faced horse and mule that Small Ankles had seen in his dream.Coming back to camp they found a horse which later fell into a ditch and waskilled. When they reported, I knew the enemy would learn we were out. Sinceit was not possible to get the horse and mule, we cut up our bullboats and sankthem in the river, returning home afoot.Another year passed and I was 24. I told my father that I was going to tryit again.He replied, "You have enough of it. If you try again, some of your men mightbe killed; that way you would 'kick the stone' and undo all of your good luck.
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It takes a man who does much fasting and buys many gods to go to war oftenwithout losing his luck."I replied, "I had a dream from the time Sitting Elk gave the NaxpikE and Ibelieve that I will have good luck. In my dream I and one other went out lookingfor the enemy. I killed one enemy but as we were coming back the enemyattacked us and shot my partner through the bowels so that blood was flowing.At that time a doctor came along and said, 'It will not take long to cure thatman' so I think it is all right for me to follow my dream."My father replied, "I do not think that was a very good dream. You saythat one was shot while still another came to do the doctoring. There are somany instructions and you have to rely on so many others, I am afraid that youwill not be successful."After that I did not lead any war parties, for my father was skillful in thosethings. "I do not want you to stop your fasting; you might get a dream. Thenwhen the enemies attack the village, you might win over one of them," he said.When I was 28 or 29 my clan brother, Corn Smut, was giving the NaxpikE[Sun Dance] so I fasted to help him out. When the third day was over nearly allthe fasters were gone, for it was hard to do. Two Bulls was hanging from thebuffalo hide tied at the top of the post and I thought what a hard thing it was tosuffer that way. All this time the older men were telling the young men to stickto it and not leave until the ceremony was over, that it was their own fault ifthey gave up and so were always poor. The old men would say, "Those whofast much and are patient while they suffer are the ones who will be successfuland respected by the people. When you move to the winter camp you can seemany poor people walking and carrying their things on their backs; their childrenare barefooted. We do not like to see that. If you young fellows stick to yourtorturing, you will be successful, have many good horses, and plenty of food.You will not have to suffer like those who have nothing and do nothing for thepeople. You can tell those who have most patience by their property, fine wivesand healthy children, and their nice clothing."On the fourth day. Spotted Bear was to be tortured but when his fathers cutthe skin, he was afraid and in pain so they took the thongs out and sent himhome. Only Corn Smut, who was giving the ceremony, and I were left fasting.Two of my fathers were singers so I went to them?Red Basket and Walking Chiefof the Waterbuster clan?and asked them to cut my skin. Red Basket said,"That is the way to have a god. Run as fast as you can and pull hard on therope."He sang his holy songs of the Spotted Eagle, praying all the time that I wouldbe successful. He said to his gods, "I want you to give my son, Wolf Chief, agood dream tonight." Then they put the thongs through my flesh. My clanrelatives paid him for his prayers.Older men standing around said, "Put your head back and do not be afraid."Then the different men began to sing their sacred songs.Then the singers for the NaxpikE sang the flrst song while I put my head back.I pulled as hard as I could while I looked up at the buffalo head in the fork of thepost. At first it was hard to do; I had nothing in my stomach; I was dizzy. Theytold me to get up and walk around while they sang the second song so I got upfrom my hands and knees and began running around the pole. It seemed that mythroat was going to close and I could not walk I was so weak. I could hear theholy songs but I could not distinguish one person from another. I sat still for awhile until I was able to breathe normally when my fathers came to me to removethe sticks but I said to them, "I am going to try once more to go around that post."The singers said, "We will go down to the river for a drink and a bath and leave
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 267him until he is done suffering and has rested." After a while they came back totake the sticks out. They sang one sacred song but I could not jump for my legswere too numb. Then they took the sticks out. Porcupine Pemmican, who repre-sented Long Arm, sprinkled Corn Smut and me with water, using sage to cleanseus.When I reached my father's lodge he said, "l am glad that Red Basket usedthose particular songs for you when he cut your flesh, for the sacred songs he sanghave always been lucky in conquering the enemy. Now you will surely have goodluck." After a while I went to the river and bathed. When I got back, I ate ahttle too much and had terrible pains from it.My father had been offering smoke to all of his medicines while I fasted and hesaid to me when I came back from the river, "Put these sacred things beside youwhen you go to bed. I have asked my gods to send you good dreams." Butmy wounds had swollen and my insides hurt from the food I had eaten after fastingso long so that I was not able to go to sleep right away.Toward dayhght I went to sleep. I heard someone singing a song and saw aman coming from the west. He was singing a new song in the Crow Indianlanguage. He sang, "There is plenty; I am satisfied."I could not understand what it meant, for in the earlier days when going forthe enemies, I had the best of success. I thought that since there were now noenemies, it meant that I would have plenty of property. It seems that I wasright, for since that time I have had much property, once shipping 50 cattle ina single year.A few years before fasting in the NaxpikE, I missed an opportunity to get adream. Kidney was giving the Wolf ceremony and since he was a clan brotherI was fasting to help him. I asked the same fathers I used in the NaxpikE fasting,to put thongs through my back so I could lead my horse. Because the horse wasso high-lifed, they were afraid that the horse would drag and kill me. I said, "Itdoes not make any difference whether it kills me or not. I am not afraid. I wantto try to get a dream from the horse."They begged me not to do it, but when they saw how determined I was theyput a bridle on the horse and tied the reins to the sticks so that I could stop thehorse. I walked around between the earth lodges; once in a while the horse wouldknock me down. When the young men came out from fasting, I went among themleading the horse, while the old men sang the medicine songs. But I did not haveany dream.I often think how important it was in the olden days to do the same as the othersdid and there was no way to get out of it.^^ We fasted and we went to war becauseour fathers did. The fathers took their "son's" wives in the ceremonies. It washke a deep trail; one had to follow the same path the others before had made anddeepened.When I was 30 1 dreamt ofmy father's gods and I knew that the time had come toput on the ceremonies to possess them. So I bought the Wolf and my brother,Red Basket, bought the Old-Woman-Above. It was hard to do for the game wasscarce but our relatives helped us. But there were no enemies then so I nevertried it out as war leader as Kidne}^ had done a few years earlier.In the Wolf Chief narrative we have accounts of experiences duringthat period between 1865 and 1880 when warfare rose to its highestcrescendo and then stopped abruptly with the establishment ofmilitary posts, the building of railroads, successful military campaigns
39 The berdache was one outlet.
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against the powerful Sioux, and the estabhshment of reservations.Here and there in the narrative he refers to the older pattern and newinterpretations that were creeping in. No longer was fasting enduredor bundles purchased to lend supernatural assistance in overcomingthe enemy or capturing horses. The buffaloes were gone and concernfor the future was emphasized. So, we find his dreams later inter-preted as assurances from the supernatural that he would have plentyof food and a good home.In the narrative he begins with an enumeration of his vision andmilitary experiences by referring affectionately to his step-grandfather,Big Cloud, who had been kind to him and had awed him with numerousmarks of bravery on chest and arms. Big Cloud, being too old tohunt, sets the stage for Wolf Chief's fasting by providing the appro-priate atmosphere : he tells of his people's misfortunes from smallpox;how the people feared the supernatural and closed their tipis; and howthe big bird came during a shower. Wolf Chief reviews his experi-ences with the supernatiu-al when Big Cloud made up a bundlerepresenting this bird, tied a clamshell to it, and gave it to him towear as assurance of a long life.The indifference to death shown by Big Cloud was characteristicof a brave man, but his death, as related by Wolf Chief, was not takenlightly by his relatives. We see that at the age of 15, Wolf Chiefhad not, yet, taken fasting seriously. Small Anldes reminds WolfChief of the promises Big Cloud had made to him. This is a ratherextreme measure for a father to take, but he had been teased by hisjoking relatives, other informants told me, because Wolf Chief'straining had been neglected.'^ There was a saying that a chief's sonswere often spoiled. It was the clan's duty, and particularly that ofthe older brothers, to attend to such matters and to see that thefasting was conducted faithfully. So we find Wolf Chief, at therequest of his father, undertaking to fast near the grandfather's grave.What he does not tell us is that during this time he met various girlswhom he took into the brush when his father presumed that he wascrying to the gods; that Wolf Chief's clansmen discovered him andwhipped him for deceiving his father; and that Small Ankles' jokingrelatives teased him for staying in his lodge singing his sacred songsto bring a good dream to his son presumed to be fasting. These arethe things that Wolf Chief's joking relatives told me at the time thisstudy was made. So we find that when Wolf Chief went out duringthe succeeding spring to fast near his grandfather's grave. SmallAnkles was prompted to say to his son, "If you go out again, you
3? Wolf Chief's earlier Indiflerence must have been the subject of widespread comment, for old peoplementioned the matter often when I made this study and would Inquire whether Wolf Chief had mentionedit to me.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 269
should stick to it. There are some bodies on scaffolds out there.You might go to those scaffolds and hold onto the posts while fasting.Perhaps that will help you."As far as Wolf Chief could recall, the dream of Big Cloud standingon a hill downstream from the village was the first that he associatedwith the supernatural. It is interesting to observe that in thedream Wolf Chief saw his grandfather to the southeast, the directionof the spirit villages.The incident at Shot in Nose Creek during the following summerbrings out the role of the joking relatives in group behavior. Herewe have a boy of 16 who has made little progress in fasting at atime when his age-group was seen making serious efforts to securedesirable visions, with the result that the father was being severelycriticized by certain relatives. While other boys were fasting orserving as camp-tenders during military adventures, Wolf Chief sleptlate, dressed well, and kept his eyes on the girls. Even his brotherswho normally should have disciplined him could do nothing with him.If they tried to shame him, he merely smiled ; if they ducked him inthe river, he laughed about it. But the father's moral weight, thoughslow in being asserted, finally broke down his son's indifference.Both father and son felt the sting of their joking relatives. Whenother young men were fasting while their fathers were singing theirsacred songs. Small Ankles could take no more criticism. Then hescolded his son, saying, "You should not sit around here and donothing but eat all the time. You should follow the example of theother young men and fast for a god so that you will be successful."Wolf Chief does not tell us what prompted Takes-the-Gun andMoccasin Carrier, the father's clansmen, to come for him. Hisjoking relatives know, and it was from them that the writer securedthe information, that Wolf Chief's older brothers took robes to thetwo "fathers" and informed them that they should take their youngerbrother out. We see that they supervised his suffering, insertedthe thongs, and repeated their vision experiences while Small Anldesremained in camp, opened his bundle, and sang his sacred songs.We note that once the thongs were inserted. Wolf Chief was im-mediately overcome with pain and that they removed the thongsat once. Nevertheless, a beginning was made; frequently this was asfar as the "fathers" could go when the first suffering was undertaken.Even Wolf Chief was conscious of the fact that his record was in-ferior to that of his brother. Red Basket, 6 years younger. Whilerecording the Wolf rites, he said of Red Basket, "He had been aroundour father a great deal and knew many songs and stories about theeagles. He was more interested in those things and braver than I
270 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
was, for he had struck the enemy, had fasted much, and had cut hisown fingers off."We find the weight of tradition and public opinion bearing soheavily on Wolf Chief that on the following year at the age of 17,while the village was on the summer hunt and camping near BearDen Creek, he took the initiative and asked two of his father's clans-men to officiate so that he could suffer near two hawks. His displayof bravery was commendable and the vision is understandable interms of native concepts of the raiu-making role of the large birdsof prey. It is significant that under no situation did Wolf Chiefrequest assistance from his own father in infficting self-torture.Assumedly, one never tortured one's own son.The selection of Small Ankles as leader of the winter camp was animportant event for the Wolf Chief household. It was his father'sreward for living a good life, fasting, bundle purchases, and generosity.At the time of his selection, the households paid him to lead them.In this position, his pay for past services came back to him. AgainWolf Chief fasted, not from direct compulsion, but from "proof" thatit paid good dividends; his father was even living a better life nowthat he was leader of the winter camp.We find Wolf Chief addressing appeals to the moon because themoon is one of the above-world spirits associated with the big birdsand the thunderbird appealed to on a former occasion when fastingat Bear Den Creek. All of these spirits were associated with war-fare through the sacred arrows and rainmaking rites associatedwith thunder and lightning. Due to the severity of winter fasting,a 4-month period of vision seeking at that time represented greatself-denial. Coming at a time when the father was winter campleader, he contributed immensely to his father's status; still he couldnot remember that his father had assisted him in interpreting hisdreams. We find his dreams reflecting his personal ambitions to ownmany horses and to be a war leader. Without the aid of others, heinterpreted the vision of a man with feathers and scalps to signifythat he would strike his enemies (from the presence of the feathers),and that he would be a war leader (because he had seen scalps).The next year Wolf Chief dreamed, without fasting, of four concentricframes surrounding his father's sacred bundles. At a loss to under-stand the dream's meaning, although he believed there was somesacred significance attached to it, he called on his father for an inter-pretation. Although Wolf Chief described the wooden fence assimilar to the enclosure for the fishtrap, his father interpreted thefence to be that of the temporary enclosure erected for the "walking"ceremony. This dream greatly influenced Wolf Chief's later behavior,for Small Ankles further interpreted the dream as meaning that Wolf
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 271Chief would give the "walking'* ceremony four times with the promiseof a long life. No doubt the promise of a long life in return for apledge to give the "walldng" ceremony greatly encouraged WolfChief when the village was attacked?he fought at the front of theline where his horse was shot from under him, and his life was savedonly because others rode between him and the enemy. To be woundedor to have a horse killed or wounded was recognized by certain symbolsof dress and painting, and by public acclaim during the victory dances.After this public acclaim, a young woman, formerly married, movesinto the lodge with him without a formal ceremony. From otherstudies we find that an individual did not long remain single oncehe had won war honors, but to marry earlier was the grounds forconsiderable teasing by the couple's joking relatives. A young manwithout war honors would be teased as though he were a small boywho had married his grandmother; the woman would be teased byher joking relatives for marrying a baby so she would have a husbandwhen he grew up "because she was so homely none of the men wouldhave her." Thus, a yoimg man arrived at the marrying age whenhe had won first war honors. Nevertheless, the Hidatsa were realistsin the matter of selecting mates for their children, and the conceptof first marrying age was modified by other factors such as industry.A young man who was a good hunter and provided well for his parentswas in great demand as a son-in-law. One who was a good hunterand provider, while at the same time winning military honors?if nomore than strildng fourth or assisting around camp?was likely tohave offers of marriage from the best families of the village. WolfChief, who was shiftless and lazy, was able to capitalize on a firstmilitary honor and the respect that the village had for his parents.Whereas prior to winning first war honors Wolf Chief had had manyclandestine love affairs by his own admission?some even during hispresumed fasting periods?and had caused his father's joking relativesto criticize him, he could now marry without fear of his own jokingrelatives. Thus he accepted Different Snake for a few days immedi-ately after winning first military honors for it made him feel grownup, but she was not the woman of his choice and he cast her off shortlyafterward for another.We see that at the age of 21 and married. Wolf Chief killed a fatdeer in order to invite in two members of his father's clan for a feast.On such occasions the "fathers" were expected to contribute importantadvice or to pray to their gods for their son's well-being. In thisinstance a "father" told Wolf Chief that he wanted to share thepromise of a long life with him. As far as we know. Wolf Chief neverinvited in a "father" for ceremonial sexual intercourse with his wife.Wolf Chief preferred to offer his wives publicly during the formal
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ceremonies according to the pattern indicated by his father wheninterpreting the dream of the wood frames. Others under similarcircumstances regularly sent their wives to a "father" during the feastand asked that he have intercourse with one of them. Under thesecircumstances, the "father" was not permitted to buy himself out bypraying to his bundles.Wolf Chief, at the age of 22, organized a war party to go out andtake possession of the horses claimed by virtue of an earlier dream.He did not mention former expeditions which he accompanied as acamp tender. From other informants it was learned that he had beencriticized for laziness, staying around camp, eating, and loafing all thetime. Late arrivals joining the war party on another occasion teasedhim by saying that his girl was seen with another man, causing himto sneak away and return home. His father knew all these thingsand attempted to discourage his son, but we find no evidence ofrepression by the police society; instead, the various households im-posed their own controls when the fathers stepped in and checked theirsons. He was able, however, to get together a small war party fromwhich he selected scouts who had a considerable knowledge of warfare.It is interesting to note that, in spite of the higher military status ofhis scouts, when a dispute developed over the division of the horses,they accepted Wolf Chief's advice. The expedition was consideredsuccessful when the objectives of the trip were attained without theloss of any men. Wolf Chief had established the reality of his dream.When Wolf Chief announced his intentions of going out a secondtime for horses, we find complete acceptance of the plan by his ownhousehold; his father lent ritual assistance and advice. Anticipatingthat his approval would be reflected in the number of young menseeking permission to attend, he advised his son not to take too manyalong. For the first time. Wolf Chief was permitted to use his father'sbundles as a recognized war leader and to perform rites for the successof the undertakmg. We find that the "signs" predicted by thefather?the appearance of a rabbit?were followed and the roan horse
"given" to Wolf Chief by Poor Wolf was captured. Although thescouts found the horse, it was delivered to Wolf Chief who had aprior claim by virtue of Poor Wolf's assignment of his original rightsto Wolf Chief. The immediate disposal of the horse by gift to CrowsBreast, an older man of the opposite moiety, emphasizes quite defi-nitely the fact that the rewards of warfare were not measured inmaterial property values; a man's status was measured by his gen-erosity. In this instance Wolf Chief established the potency of hisdream and his ability to conduct successful military expeditions which,in itself, enhanced his standing with the people. He could have keptthe horse and nothing would have been thought of it; by relinquishing
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 273his horse, he indicated that his acts were for the welfare of the groupand not for personal gain.When the party found the mule and bay horse "seen" by SmallAnkles when he hung the Wolf bundle outside his lodge in the evening,it was decided not to attack the enemy. This indicated the nature ofPlains warfare; do not expose yourself or your party to unnecessaryrisks. Since Wolf Chief could not take possession of the property
"given" to him by the father, his claim still stood. Wolf Chief oftenspoke of the mule and roan horse as his legitimate property whichhe was never able to possess because warfare terminated shortlythereafter.We see from the narrative that, when Wolf Chief had reached 24years of age, he indicated his intention of going out again. On theformer expedition he had the ritual assistance of his father's Wolfbundle. Although Wolf Chief does not say so, from other andsimilar case studies we learn that having returned from a successfulmihtary expedition in which the father's bundle was used, the soninvariably had a vision to buy rights in the bundle. He was thenexpected to go out on subsequent occasions as the full owner of abundle, but during the intervening year Wolf Chief took no stepsto perform the rites and seciu*e a bundle. Now the father said,"You have enough of it. If you try again, some of your men mightbe killed; that way you would 'kick the stone' and undo all of yourgood luck. It takes a man who does much fasting and buys manygods to go to war often without losing his luck."Small Ankles discounted the value of a dream because too manypersons were depended upon; if one participant failed in his role,the entire venture failed. Moreover, paying these assistants wascostly. It is important for an understanding of village organizationand policing to note that restraints were imposed by selected individualsof the household rather than the police. In a former situation wefound that numerous households denied their young men permissionto accompany WoK Chief. We must assume that on neither occasionwas the village in danger of attack, otherwise the older men wouldhave forbidden war parties the right to go out. Restraints wouldhave come first from the household itself, as in the case of SmallAnkles' denial of permission, and then from the police, in situationswhere the households failed in their role.In 1876 the Government undertook to enlist scouts from thevillage for the Custer campaign. The councils of the Arikara,Hidatsa, and Mandan met separately to discuss the matter sincemany families disapproved of the idea, feeling that the young peoplewere needed to protect the village and the horses. The Arikaradecided not to impose restrictions, but the Hidatsa and Mandan,
274 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194weakened by the removal of the Bobtail Bull band to Fort Buford,voted to impose restrictions on leaving the village. Dm'ing the latewinter and early spring of 1876 the Hidatsa and Mandan BlackMouth societies were in continuous session to see that none went withCuster. The real and effective sanctions were imposed, however, bythe households. The older men of the households advised theiryoung men that they should not go with Custer because of theirsmall numbers and the risk that those Sioux not participating in thecampaign might attack the village and murder the women andchildren, leaving no one to perform the Victory dances if the youngmen did return successful. I was unable to find a single instance ofphysical restraint by the Black Mouths?the households had performedtheir roles effectively.In spite of his early indifference to fasting, we find WoK Chief asclan assistant to Corn Smuts performing an honorable role by stayingnear his clan brother to the end of the NaxpikE ceremony and sub-mitting to final torture after all others had terminated their fasting.He cites the indoctrination of the young with promises of a goodlife and wealth in contrast to those about them who were poor.The reference to Spotted Bear's inability to endure the ordeal bringsout the point that, in status seeking, the torture feature was aneffective screen to eliminate some aspirants to high positions; bydisplaying fear and pain, Spotted Bear unquestionably eliminatedhimseK as a war leader, irrespective of the dream he might haveobtained during the ceremony. We see Wolf Chief's "fathers" atthis point praying to their own sacred bundles, not to the NaxpikEbundle. Wolf Chief's description of the ordeal, the weakness of thefaster after 4 days without food and water during the hottest part ofthe summer, and the role of his ceremonial fathers might weU applyto any other Hidatsa ceremony during which fasting was customary.Obviously, Small Anldes did not at this time realize the extent ofchanged conditions when he said, "I am glad that Red Basket usedthose . . . songs for you when he cut your flesh, for the sacred songs hesang have always been lucky in conquering the enemy. Now youwill surely have good luck." By this time (1879) there was littlewarfare. It appears that WoK Chief was aware of the changing timesfor he interpreted the dream to mean that he would have muchproperty. We find that later events were interpreted as beingpredicted by previous dreams; as he accumulated more property,particularly cattle, he believed that his future had been previouslyrevealed to him.Had aboriginal warfare continued, WoK Chief's bravery in requestingthat his fathers tie him to a horse would have provided him greatprestige in military and social activities. Unfortunately for him,
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 275
it was not long after this that warfare was suppressed by the Govern-ment and the buffaloes were exterminated. The old values were nolonger recognized. He was 30 years of age before buying his father'sWolf bundle.*" There was no attempt to lead a war party as Kidneyhad done a few years earlier when he purchased his father's bundle.DEFENSIVE WARFAREDefensive warfare introduced a different set of responsibilities.The basic concepts of village protection were symbolized by the four
"protectors of the people" representing the four sacred directions.These spiritual defenders of the people represented symbolic defensesestablished during the mythological period to protect the peoplefrom the attacks of various evil spirits who conspired to destroy thevillages. Their role in the physical defense of a village, however,was of importance only to inspire confidence in the defenders. Whena new village was built, the "Protectors" selected the sites for theirfour lodges first and conducted the appropriate ceremonies at eachspot, after which the other households selected lodge sites within aprescribed area according to household, kinship, and other ties.When Fishhook Village was built, new "protectors of the people"were selected by the council from the survivors of the three inde-pendent Knife River village groups who were joining together forcommon defense. The Awatixa and Awaxawi assumed the principalceremonial role as builders of the site since the Hidatsa-proper wereat that time contemplating reunion with the Kiver Crow. In fact, anumber of the Hidatsa households had already moved to Crow terri-tory when the site was laid out. These "protectors of the people"were males past middle age who already occupied eminent positionsin the hierarchy of traditional bundle owners. In a society organizedfor both offensive and defensive warfare, living in an area wherepacifism meant quick extermination, consideration was also given toone's position with respect to established ceremonies, generosity andpersonal qualities, and knowledge of tribal sacred and secular lore.The physical defense of the village was entrusted to the policesociety which received its instructions from the council composed ofan indefinite number of members representing the various households.The war chief was the principal military executive while some highlyrespected older man was his announcer. Whenever reports of im-pending enemy attacks reached the village, the older men distin-guished either as warriors or ritual leaders, assembled to discuss thesituation and to define group action. The first concern was to protectthe women and children inside the stockade. The horses were brought
? This purchase Is detailed under "Wolf Ceremonies,'
276 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194in from pasture immediately upon word that strangers were approach-ing. Herders and hunters kept an eye out for strange movements onthe prairie or reported signs of enemies lurking in the neighborhood.Fishhook Village was protected by a wall with a gate until the lateryears of its occupation. A bell signaled the opening of the gate inthe morning, after which the horses were taken to pasture and thepeople went about their duties in the gardens and on the prairie.One of the important duties of the announcer was to ring the beU toindicate the time for opening and closing the gate and to warn thepeople whenever scouts or herders signaled the presence of potentialenemies.Direct attacks on the village were few indeed, chiefly because ofthe character of Plains warfare; one gained little by killing and strik-ing the enemy if he, in turn, lost several of his own party. But therewere several instances of attacks in which efforts were made to burnthe village. Lewis and Clark report the near extinction of the Awaxawiprior to 1804 when a surprise attack was made by the Assiniboin.Henry speaks of an attack made on one of the Knife River villagesabout 1790 in which 600 tents of Sioux cut off the village from waterand besieged it for 15 days. In this attack, the Mandan and Awaxawiremained neutral. The vUlage was able to supply itself with waterduring the night, so the Sioux, after losing 300 men in the variousengagements and seeing that the population could not be driven fromthe village, called off the seige (Henry, 1897, pp. 358-359).When Fishhook Village was buUt, large mounted war partiesfrequently attacked the village from the north or land side which wasprotected by a wall. When these faUed, as all attacks did due to thestrength of the wall, the Sioux tried various devices to entice theHidatsa from the village to fight in the open. Whether or not theenemy was engaged outside of the village was a matter to be decidedby the councU and war chief. During the deliberations and, in fact,whenever war parties were near the village or the village was underattack, it was the duty of the "protectors of the village" to open theirrespective sacred bundles and perform magical acts designed to givethe Hidatsa mastery over the enemy. When the council of older mendecided that the group would remain within the village lest the enemyhave a trap set for them outside, it was the Black Mouths' duty tosee that all obeyed. Disobedience could have led to extreme measures,even the clubbing or killing of an offender. Nor were war honorsaccumulated when disobeying coimcil orders publicly recognized.In later years, with improved guns, the Sioux would often appearon the opposite bank of the Missouri and fire into the village in aneffort to entice the Hidatsa to cross in their bullboats. These invita-tions were usually rejected or the Hidatsa went out and, in a round-
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 277about way, crossed the river unobserved by the enemy. The headchief and council seemingly were in no way held responsible for lossessuffered in defensive warfare to the extent of extreme personal torturesuch as the leader of an offensive war party inflicted on himself.Such loss of prestige as did occur was individual in character; a fatherwould urge his son to go out with those pursuing the enemy and prayfor his son's success. If his son was killed or severely injured, theprestige the father enjoyed, by virtue of the possession of presumedimportant bundles, was lowered.Alien groups frequently were visiting at the Hidatsa villages whenan attack was made on the village by one of their own bands. Onsuch occasions, visiting groups invariably assisted in the defense ofthe village, even against their own poeple. In recent years, theSioux conducted warfare against all of the other tribal groups whonormally came to the Hidatsa to trade and visit or to assist in ritualpractices. Keen rivalry often developed between the Hidasta andtheir visitors for principal war honors in battles fought near FishhookVUlage. They fought together and afterward danced together whenwar honors were won ; they even mourned for each other's dead, madeofferings to the mourners, and exchanged names.CANNIBALISMAlthough the Hidatsa claim never to have eaten the flesh of theirenemies, they did mutUate them, and they carried scalps, hands,feet, and skulls during the Sun Dance. By contrast, informantsfrequently mentioned the practice of cannibalism by the Chippewaand Cree after assisting them in warfare near the village. Palliser(1853, p. 286) wrote of cannibalism at Fishhook VUlage:The skirmish now terminated; the Sioux retired, and the Minitarees returnedto their village in triumph, dragging the body of their unfortunate victim alongwith them. Then commenced a truly disgusting sight; the boys shot arrows intothe carcass of their fallen enemy while their women with knives cut out pieces ofthe flesh, which they broiled and ate.The Hidatsa claim that this battle occurred during a visit of theChippewa.Several informants referred to cannibalistic practices by the Chip-pewa and Cree although they had no knowledge of its practice byother Plains groups. Concerning an incident that occurred at Fish-hook Village a few years before Crows Heart's birth, and was relatedto him by his relatives, he said:The Sioux attacked the village and the men went out to chase the Sioux away.Some Chippewas were at the village visiting and their men came out to help.Some of the Sioux were killed near the present Nishu School and the others jumpedinto the river. Our men took their clothes off, held their knives in their mouths;710-195?65 19
278 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
and went into the water after them. They would stab them in the back or cutthe cord on the heel. One Sioux, a good swimmer, got across and Young Eagleovertook him in a mudhole. When they came back, they found the Chippewashad lit a fire and were roasting the meat of their enemies. They had taken theflesh from the legs and the heel cords, for that gave one the power to run fast,they said. They had cut the ears off, which they roasted and ate. Ourpeople were afraid and stood back at a distance.In another instance, Crows Heart mentioned a personal experiencenear Devils Lake at the scaffold of a Sioux who had just died. Duringone of his horse-stealing raids, Crows Heart looked for food aroundthe body during the night, thinking that the Sioux relatives mighthave put out something edible when the body was disposed of. Eventhe thought of eating a piece of the Sioux was revolting to him,although in his famished situation and far from home, he was willing topartake of the dead Sioux's funeral feast had he been able to find any.I doubt that the Hidatsa practiced cannibalism, at least during the19th century, although Wolf Chief thought that a number of youngmen visiting the Chippewa would probably have eaten enemy fleshhad they been asked to, and if none of the older people were around.MILITARY HONORSWhen an attack was made on the village, any military honorswere individual in character. Unlike the organized military expedi-tions in which the leader afterward wore scalps on his clothing toindicate that men under him had distinguished themselves, there wasno leadership recognition other than social approval of the top villageauthority. Individual awards were the same as for offensive warfare.However, a defensive organization often quickly changed into anoffensive one. Someone would announce, as soon as the enemy movedoff, that he was organizing a party to meet them farther away from thevillage at a time and place when they could be taken by sm-prise. Inthis event, the leader took the same risks as on other offensive expedi-tions and enjoyed the same honors if they returned successfully. Tosucceed in offensive warfare, one needed a great deal of skill, famiharitywith the country, and leisure from other activities. Some young men,particularly those training for a career in the tribal ceremonies, rarelywent out with war parties, for their time and interests were directedtoward village matters. It is suggested that this selective factorcontributed, in part, to the cleavage of the male population into twooverlapping groups; the warriors and the village leaders. This doesnot mean that each group did not participate in the activities of theother. In general, however, most of the military honors of the villageleaders were acquired as a result of skirmishes at or near the village.The Hidatsa and Mandan recognized the same military honors.The highest honors were shown to one who went out alone far from
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 279home to kill and scalp an enemy unassisted. This honor was chieflyreserved for those who went out to avenge a sibling or clan member,particularly a blood brother. One was not made ineligible for thehonor when a group of friends went along, provided the individualwho had vowed to revenge the brother's death did the actual killingand scalping unassisted. In such cases, others of the party also werenot near enough to strike coup. According to native accounts, thehonors were sometimes won by going undetected into the enemy campat night to kill a particular person known to be the brother's slayer.A variant to this form of brother-revenge occurred when one who hadrecently had his wife stolen from him by a tribesman went out un-observed by his tribesmen to vent his anger on the enemy. Usuallyone announced his plans to a brother or sister but, not uncommonly,he just disappeared and the group speculated on his whereabouts.When one wished to embarrass his rival or his wife's people suspectedof encouraging the elopement, he often went alone far from the village,even in the dead of winter, to kill and scalp an enemy. Sometimes aman would announce his decision to his closest male friend or sibhngs,saying that if he stayed around the village, he might do somethingfoolish?that it would be better to take out his anger on their enemies.One showed these honors by painting one legging and the correspond-ing side of the shirt and sleeve black, and the other side yellow or white.He wore a coyote tail at each ankle to show that he saw the enemy firstand struck him and wore one eagle tail feather. He v/as expected todress in this manner whenever leading the fasters during ceremonies.When several went out and participated in the killing and strildngof the coups, the fu'st to strike painted one side of his shirt and leggingsblack, wore one coyote tail, and one eagle tail feather. The second,dressed and painted in the same manner except that he painted onered band on the eagle tail. The third and fom-th to strike paintedonly the leggings black; the third wore a feather with two stripes andthe fourth wore a feather with three stripes. For the first time onan expedition, when only one enemy was seen and has coups struckon him, each warrior counting coup put two X's on one of his leggings.For the second such honor, one put another pair of X's either on ashirt sleeve or the other legging. If one struck four times when onlyone enemy was seen, he put X's on both sleeves and leggings.The coyote tail was worn if one struck an enemy far from home.Two tails were worn if one struck an enemy on two different trips oron one enemy when one went out alone. The feather of a crow orraven worn in the hair signified that one was first to see the enemywhile serving as scout. The leader of a war party was entitled tocarry a scalp stick with as many scalp segments as scalps taken bythe men under his leadership. The war leader could also wear as
280 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194many scalp segments on his shirt or leggings as enemies scalped by-warriors under his leadership. These scalp segments were bunchedand placed on different parts of the clothing. One scalp on eachlegging and sleeve signified that the wearer had been out as leaderon four occasions when an enemy was scalped. The war leader didnot wear feathers or paint his leggings and shirt unless he participatedin the killing and striking of the enemies on his own or others* ex-peditions. For being first to strike three enemies, one painted theentire left legging red; one who struck three enemies, second in orderof coup counting, painted the left legging red above the knee; thethird to strike painted three stripes on the left legging and the fourthto strike painted four stripes.The first to strike the enemy in a battle during which severalenemies were Idlled, painted three black stripes on one legging; thenext three to strike the same enemy painted three red stripes. Itwas considered an even higher honor to strike coup on the last enemykilled. The first to strike coup wore black double stripes the fulllength of the legging and four pairs of equally spaced horizontalstripes. The second, third, and fourth to strike coup wore only thefour pairs of black stripes.The four strildng a slain woman or one whose life was spared, as inthe case of women found out on the prairie away from camp, wore ashort carved stick decorated with porcupine quills and feathers.The legging or shirt decorations were not employed; the leader wasentitled to carry a scalp.Striking a live enemy was considered a higher honor than strildngone who had been kUled. One could paint two hands on one side ofthe chest to show that a live enemy had been struck or one couldhave two hands tattooed on his chest. If the horse had participatedin striking the live enemy by hitting him with the legs or body, onecould likewise paint two hands on the horse for each enemy so struck.One who had been shot could wear a stick painted red with a knotcarved on it; if one's horse was shot and wounded, the carved stickcould be tied to the horse's mane or foretop. One who had beenstabbed by a knife or spear could wear as a hair ornament a stickcarved to resemble a knife. The one reporting the first tipi when ona war expedition was entitled to wear a white swan feather in hishair. One hit by a bullet was entitled to paint a red spot on theshirt with lines running down from it to represent blood. One couldexhibit his successes on horse-stealing raids by painting horse trackson his robe, bunching the tracks to represent separate raids which hehad directed.These honors, together with other visual representations of sacredbundle rights, gifts, and ceremonial participations, expressed one's
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age-group status when displayed on important social and ceremonialoccasions. Since no two individuals participated equally in recog-nized status-building activities, rarely was the social personality oftwo males identical. In a tribe actively engaged in both offensiveand defensive warfare, and in a region where social values wereprimarily determined by military accomplishments, it is somewhatsurprising to discover that other values played an important part inthe makeup of the social personality and status of many Hidatsaswhose military contributions were not significant. In spite of themilitary "veneer," there existed a central core of societal valuesbased on other significant aspects of their culture. In this respect,it appears that the Hidatsa and their neighbors, the Mandan andArikara, differed from the nomadic groups of the Plains who, in theyears preceding the Reservation Period, measured social status largelyon military records.
HIDATSA CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATIONThe Individual and the SupernaturalHidatsa ceremonial organization was highly formalized and exceed-ingly complex. In theory, all supernatural powers have their originat the beginning of time when the earth or "in between" land wasmade over by the mythological beings for man's occupation. Atthat time First Creator, with the assistance of other mysteriouspersons, created numerous gods from whom the Hidatsa could acquiresupernatural powers and thus survive by performing various rites.In the beginning all of nature was created for the benefit of the peoplebut certain rules were laid down which the people must obey if theywere to survive. The society theoretically survived by virtue ofthe supernatural powers acquired by various means: fasting; ritualperformances; feasts; ceremonial purchases from other tribes; andrigid conformance to the tribal rules of individual and group conduct.At the base of aU Hidatsa religious activities and concepts is thebelief in individual and group-owned supernatural powers which arecontrolled according to long-standing rules.Supernatural power was thought of as a "force" above and beyondthe physical capacities of man. When a man lost his supernaturalpowers, death occurred; contests were won by those with the greatestsupernatural powers. All death, however, was not the residt of suchloss. In the beginning of time, when the land was first created byvirtue of a contest between Lone Man and the First Creator and thelatter established his immortahty for aU time, it was decreed thatin the future people would live no more than one hundred years afterwhich they would leave for the Village of the Dead where they wouldlive the same life and with the same status and honors as when theydied. So we observe, as I have on a number of occasions, old peoplestill able to get around quite well praying to their sacred bundlesthat the long fife promised them be given to younger people, andaccepting approaching death calmly, their chief concern being thattheir bodies be properly dressed and painted, and that adequategoods and food be collected for the funeral feast.The death of younger males actively engaged in military or eco-nomic pursuits, or of younger females occupied with the rearing of littlechildren or providing for the wants of their old people, had a more282
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 283disruptive effect on the social order. Although people felt badlyand mourned their deaths, there was always the tendency to ascribedeath to supernatural causes and to look into their record and tointerpret events in terms of the supernatural. Convenient excuseswere to say that: he must have fasted wrong; his dream instructionseither must not have been genuine or were improperly interpretedby the older people; he must have violated some tribal rule; he musthave spoken unkindly to or mistreated someone possessing unrevealedsupernatural powers; or his supernatural guardian must have sub-sequently blessed the enemy and he had not reestablished his prioritywith the same supernatural being by medicine feasts and renewal rites.Even minor accidents were interpreted either in terms of loss orlack of supernatural power.Ridicule or question of the potency of ritual acts was liable to resultin minor injury?at least to the disbeliever. On one occasion, notlong before the old village life was abandoned, a Crow Indian observ-ing a Thunder rite expressed doubt that thunder was a large bird.A few hours later, while sitting on an earth lodge, he was hit andseverely burned by lightning although none of the other young mensitting nearby were injured.An individual should perform any rites for which he was otherwisequalified by inheritance, or at least pledge the ceremony when hereceived repeated vision instructions. On one occasion a Hidatsahad received numerous visions instructing him to perform the Horseceremony, but he never got around to making the pledge to performthe rites. One day while he sat talking with some of his friends, ahorse strayed by and kicked him, severely injuring him. Since hisfather owned a Horse sacred bundle, the others inquired whether hehad ever had visions sent by the horse and, being answered in theaffirmative, it was concluded that the kicking was merely anothereffort by the supernatual acting through the horse to induce him topurchase a Horse sacred bundle. On still another occasion, about1878, a party of Mandan and Hidatsa were traveling to the Crow tosell them one of the Grass Dances. In the party were some youngCrow Indians. As they passed the scaffold on which a Sioux hadbeen placed, the young Crow men shook the bones from the scaffold,rolled the skuU down the bank into the Yellowstone River, and ap-propriated the pipe for their own use. The older Mandan and Hi-datsa called their young men back, saying that once bodies had beenput away that way, they should not be disturbed. While cookingtheir evening meal that day, the women accidentally set fire to theprairie and the fine ceremonial paraphernalia they were taking to theCrow Indians were burned.
284 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194Native concepts of supernatural power affected and shaped theirbehavior. A child normally had no supernatural power except as amember of a household whose members provided both physical andsupernatural protection. Women had less supernatural powers thanmen because they needed less in their daily activities than did menwho were always facing danger in hunting or in military engagements.Men were not normally born with supernatural powers. Until theywere old enough to seek visions and to obtain supernatural powers byother means, the supernatural powers of their relatives' sacred bundlesprotected them. Children were given some sacred objects when 5 or6 years of age and were taught how to perform simple rites for theirown protection. This instruction was usually given by some oldermale of the household other than the father, who contributed ritualistictraining only when the child was old enough to seek actively a sacredbundle or dream of his own.Ordinarily, the older brothers took the younger ones to the fastingcenters when rites including fasting and personal torture were prac-ticed?but the members of the father's clan inflicted the actual cuttingfor the torture ordeal. At least in later times it was not customary toinflict tortures except at the request of the individual desiring that itbe done to him. On some occasions, when the child was very youngand not well acquainted with the males of the father's clan, he mightask one of his own clansmen or his own father to perform the act. Ifound no evidence that one was ever forcibly tortured and the thoughtof physical compulsion was contrary to native beliefs that vision questsshould be sought voluntarily. Informants were in agreement thatmen formerly submitted to physical torture more frequently andbegan at an earlier age, citing the greater number of weals observedon their older relatives.While living at Fishhook Village, small children not more than 5or 6 years of age were taken to the fasting rites with older brothersand looked after until hunger and thirst could no longer be endured.Rivalry between age-groups was encouraged but one was free toabandon fasting whenever he so desired. Usually first fasting wasfor a day or two. When one was able to fast for 3 days, he wasconsidered qualified to endure further personal torture. It appearsfrom accounts that a century ago physical torture was inflicted atan earlier age. Maximilian (1906, vol. 23, p. 378), in speaking ofthe Hidatsa NaxpikE ceremony (Sun Dance), advises us that
?
None but the candidates dance, and the only music is striking a dried buffalo'shide with willow rods. There have been instances of fathers subjecting theirchildren, only six or seven years of age to these tortures. We ourselves sawone suspended by the muscles of the back, after having been compelled to fastfour days. No application whatever is subsequently made for the cure of thewounds, which leave large swollen weals, and are much more conspicuous among
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 285the Manitaries than the Mandans. Most of the Manitaries have three or fourof these weals, in parallel semicircular lines, almost an inch thick, which coverthe entire breast. Similar transverse and longitudinal lines, arising from thesame cause, are seen upon the arms, nay, the whole length of the limb is oftendisfigured by them.Although supernatural power was usually manifested by visions,it was believed that those who fasted often or performed other power-seeking activities without the benefit of visions also were possessorsof this power even though they had no symbols to show for theirefforts. Thus a child who fasted often without having visions wasbelieved to' possess more powers than one who had not fasted at aU.Supernatural power was viewed as variable and measurable but thelimits were defined in terms of ultimate success; results were whatcounted. One who purposely sought supernatural power and laterperformed dangerous acts without injury to himself or those underhim was believed to have found a genuine guardian. One wouldrarely entrust his welfare to those who had shown little interest inobtaining supernatural power.Since the vision quest was a common way of obtaining super-natural power, the novice had little capacity for interpreting dreams.Instead, the Hidatsa pattern provided for organized fasting andthe quest of visions under the supervision of a ceremonial "father."The young were encouraged to relate their dreams to their "fathers."The formal character of Hidatsa fasting resembled closely theMandan pattern and differed sharply from that of the Crow wherefasting was largely an individual matter. Hidatsa fasting effortswere constantly being channeled into formalized and preexistingceremonial patterns, most of which they beUeved had existed sincethe beginning of time. It was thought that a male child eventuallyought to receive vision instructions to take over his father's cere-monial bundles and rites. Living in the atmosphere of the father'ssacred bundles, it was beUeved inevitable that what one saw andheard in the lodge would eventually affect his dreams. Neverthelessit was impossible to learn of a single instance where a youth's firstvision was interpreted by his elders as an instruction to perform hisfather's rites. Those case histories which I recorded indicated thatthe first dreams of the very young never became an important partof an individual's sacred lore. At the time they were consideredvalued property but as one pursued further fasting under more severeconditions with greater knowledge of ritual seeking, the early visionswere generally forgotten or disregarded as more specific instructionswere received.The concept of quantitative supernatural power, capable ofbeing added to or subtracted from, was indicated by numerous
286 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
social practices; one should not undertake many military adventuresunless he fasted frequently or continued to add to his supernaturalpowers by ritual purchases, informal feasts, bundle renewals, orother power-seeking activities ; one who had been leader of the summerbuffalo hunt or the winter camp should not accept another similarappointment too soon as such responsibilities drew heavily on one'ssupernatural powers. Here we see this concept of the variabilityof supernatural power expressed in social behavior, that is, the rota-tion of the personnel entrusted to group leadership. As anotherexample, because the same bundle is used for fish trapping and eagletrapping and because a great deal of supernatural power is necessaryto catch fish, the manager of a fishtrap during the summer shouldnot supervise the fall eagle traps?he would bring poor luck to hiseagle trappers. Similarly, one should not too frequently acceptinvitations for sex expression in the "walking" ceremonies. Thecustom of inviting other recognized possessors of great supernaturalpowers to assist as coleaders on hazardous military expeditionsfurther expressed native concepts of the quantitative character ofsupernatural powers.Similar grading of the supernatural existed in the sacred myths:Packs Antelope, although having great supernatural powers as ahunter by virtue of the powers given him by the Eagles, is drawnunder the Missouri waters by Grandfather Snake who once wasone of the Sacred Arrows; Two Men are made to suffer hunger be-cause, during the ceremonies at Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' lodge.Grandson selects the arrows having the greatest supernatural powersand thus secures for himself the supernatural powers formerly pos-sessed only by Two Men. The same concepts are expressed in otherinstances. The Woman Above blesses a Hidatsa and promises himseven enemies; before he can take possession of them, however, theenemy makes greater sacrifices to her and she gives him even strongersupernatural powers so that he is able to overcome and kill sevenHidatsa men instead.According to Hidatsa concepts, all of the supernatural has existedfrom the beginning of time and various aspects of the supernaturalhave been revealed to them from time to time during the history ofthe tribe. As new revelations were revealed in visions, "seeing withtheir own eyes," purchases from other tribes who had simQar revela-tions, or the appearance of certain culture heroes who came to livewith them, the people were given instructions in the establishmentand performance of the various formal ceremonies. Thus, the exist-ing ceremonial structure continued only as long as the youngergeneration was given appropriate visions to continue the variousrites. This is somewhat at variance with the Mandan pattern
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 287where one bought because he was the proper relative to inherit thebundle and to perform the rites, and vision instructions were notnecessarily prerequisite to all bundle purchases. In fact, as oftenas not, when a Mandan grew old and feeble, he would request thatthe proper relative learn the rites and accomplish the transfer. Hi-datsa vision experiences provided the sole motive for bundle transferor, if not eligible according to "father-son" inheritance, providedappropriate substitutes such as feasts to existing bundles.The Hidatsa ceremonial system was "open at the top," my inform-ants would say, to provide for the occasional introduction of newbundle rites. The Hidatsa were reluctant to accept vision experi-ences as ends in themselves but rather as the first steps toward tribalbundle rites. They were equally reluctant to elevate to a highposition any individual who had not been active in the long establishedrites or had not been closely associated with someone who heldimportant tribal ceremonial functions. Many of my informants wereaware of the greater informality of the vision experiences of theirclose associates, the River Crows. The Awatixa and Awaxawi seemto have been conservative, like the Mandan, and to have interpretedvision experiences in terms of existing tribal rites. The Hidatsa-proper were intermediate between the other two Hidatsa villagegroups and the Crow. This intermediate cultural position was alsoindicated by their frequent abandonment of agricultiu-e for a fewseasons at a time to go out onto the Plains as true nomads. Theywere away on one of these periodic migrations in 1837, thus partiallyavoiding the devastating smallpox losses suffered by the other twovillage groups and the Mandan.The extent to which Hidatsa concepts of supernatural powers hadbeen institutionalized and channeled into fixed patterns is indicatedby the custom of explaining most institutions and behavior, as wellas the natural environment, by means of origin myths. Even suchrecent events as the first introduction of the horse is now a part ofthe magical practices and mythology relating to the Earthnamingceremony. Concepts of the role of visions have influenced culturalborrowing. Recently a Horse ceremony was introduced into thetribe by individuals who had adopted Assiniboin "fathers" whopracticed the Horse rites. Afterward these Hidatsa buyers' "sons"dreamed of their "fathers," Horse bundles and purchased the ceremonialbundles and rites of them.The Hidatsa reconize two general groups of sacred bundles: thetribal bundles acquired by vision and subsequent purchase, andpersonal bundles acquired by vision. Those in the latter group areinformally prepared without the benefit of group participation andthe incidents relative to their preparation are not widely known
288 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
except as the individual owners choose to speak of them during socialor ceremonial gatherings. The bundle was prepared in the mannerprescribed by the supernatural spirit and the songs and ritual wereprivately owned. The guardian spirit could be any creature innature not specifically associated with a particular tribal bundle aslong as the proper name of a spirit of one of the established bundleswas not used nor the songs recognized to be identical or similar toexisting sacred songs.When the similarities in the vision experiences were so great thatpeople associated them with existing rites, one making up a personalbundle was in danger of public condenmation, not for stealing another'sceremony, but for failing to call on his "fathers" for an interpretationwhich would have led to a medicine feast and public approval of hisassociation with existing ceremonies. But all personal vision riteswere not sufficiently similar to be associated with existing ceremonies.The owner would include the various personal bundles in his totalrepertoire of sacred objects, periodically "feed" the objects of thevarious bundles, and even mention them as contributors to hisnumerous successes whenever called upon to assume various roleson social and ceremonial occasions. The bundles were personal incharacter and acquired privately, so they had no important rites ortraditions associated with them. They were symbols of the individ-ual's social personality during his life and usually were placed withhis body when he died.Occasionally a grandfather would make up a separate bundle for agrandchild, or an elder would buy the right to doctor minor ailments,but the real authority for various tribal practices was derived fromthe sacred tribal myths. No doubt most personal bundle rites wereconditioned by the culture of the group, but the Hidatsa do not admitthat; instead they say that one dreams as he does because partic-ular gods have selected him. It was considered good luck to dreamof spirits or incidents from the sacred traditions. Nowhere do theyadmit that one's visions were conditioned by the culture. Never-theless, we find "father-to-son" inheritance of tribal bundles andrites occurring generation after generation.A common belief of the social effect of possessing great supernaturalpowers was expressed by native utterances such as "because he wasnow a holy man he conducted himself with dignity, and people,watching him as he went about the village discussing matters andadvising younger 'brothers,' could see that a great change had comeover him. He dressed well and gave more attentiom to his appear-ance. He had an air of confidence that people liked to see, for aU thishad come from his suffering." By contrast, one who believed thathe had lost his supernatural powers went about dejectedly and was
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 289the object of pity by all he met. Some who had never partaken ofrites to obtain good dreams or had no important dreams to show fortheir efforts often, as in the case of Old-White-Man, accepted thesituation with indifference or a happy-go-lucky attitude. Theyrarely offered advice or imposed their opinions on other people,particularly outside their own households. Even as a man wasexpected to behave in such a manner as to reflect his group's esti-mation of him, the "joking relatives" were first to criticize one whomthey believed was carrying things too far.One was never measured by his wealth in personal property; thosehighest in the regard of the group were likely to be relatively poorbecause of their numerous social obligations. A man's position inthe tribe could also be measured by the amount of goods that he hadgiven away publicly and privately as well as the amount that he hadreceived as gifts from others in similar situations. All through lifethere were important formal events when one was expected to giveproperty to one's older tribesmen, those who possessed superior super-natural powers, and those who were objects of pity?particularly ofthe father's and of one's own clan. Otherwise most gifts were topersons, both male and female, of the father's clan from whom mostsupernatural powers and authority were derived. On the occasionsof birth, vision experiences, first military successes, and ceremonialpurchases, one presented valued things to the members of the tribe,especially the members of the father's clan?and occasionally to theentire membership of the father's moiety when the father and sonwere of opposite moieties. Even as one worked hard with the assist-ance of the household and clan to accumulate goods and horses touse during the various crisis periods of youth to middle age, so didone who had advanced in status in this way get it all back severaltimes over in the years after middle age.So we find older men advising their "sons" to fast often and tobuy many ceremonial rites in order to live a good life in their lateryears. But one's position as the receiver of honors from the youngermen also imposed restrictions; one would have quickly lost prestigehad he, in the position of ceremonial father, kept for himself all thegoods presented to him on such occasions. While a man endeavoredto show his status among his cooperating relatives by providing greatquantities of valuable things for disposal on the occasion of the pur-chase of the father's bundle rites, hoarding of the goods so receivedwould have brought forth criticism from the whole tribe but moreparticularly the joking relatives. As ceremonial father he might keeponly what he needed for his own use and distribute the surplus tohis friends and old people in need. He benefited both by receivingand giving. He could enumerate publicly the goods and horses he
290 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194had received from others as symbols of their estimation of his emi-nence; he could, by means of certain designs worn on his clothing,show people the extent of his ceremonial giving. Social values didnot sanction the accumulation of wealth for wealth's sake. Exceptthat the household was well organized and neat because people camethere a great deal to eat and discuss group matters, a chief's lodgediffered not at all from that of his neighbors.A woman's position was somewhat different. There was noorganized fasting at puberty and rarely did a woman seek to buUd uppersonal vision bundles. They were never tortured during ceremoniesby having thongs inserted in their flesh although they might fastand cry to seek certain ends such as good health, successful returnof a close relative from war, or the avenging of an enemy. Womenaided their brothers in the purchase of sacred bundles, held rights incertain bundles, and participated in the "walking rites" of the hus-band's Buffalo Calling ceremonies and age-grade purchases.Hidatsa concepts of the supernatural are highly formalized andinstitutionalized, and are drawn chiefly from two sacred narrativeswhich deal with (1) the creation of the earth by First Creator andLone Man for man's occupation and (2) the exploits of the SacredArrows.The Creation myth is concerned chiefly with the accounts of themaking of the land from bogs and swamps by First Creator and LoneMan. This myth relates the details of the shaping of the land andthree river systems, the Missouri, Red, and the Mississippi; thecreation of both animate and inanimate things and various sacredbeings whom the people learned to worship to obtain supernaturalpowers; the bringing of the people to the surface of the earth, wherethey were to live, and their final separation from those living below;the dispersal of the population all over the lands; the separation intodiverse tribes and related bands based on language; the independentmovements of different Hidatsa-Crow bands; the conflict betweenbrothers for which the people are punished by a great celestial fire;the early separation of the Hidatsa-proper and River Crow from theAwaxawi somewhere to the east of the Missouri; the preservation ofcorn by the Awaxawi who escape to the Missouri and its loss by theHidatsa-River Crow when they go north to the land of the mooseand polar climate to escape the flood ; the return of the Hidatsa-RiverCrow to the south where they build at Devils Lake and discover thatthe Mandan are living on the Heart River; the appearance of TwoMen with elements of the Sacred Arrow rites at the villages on thesouthern shore of Devils Lake; the migration of the Hidatsa-RiverCrow to the Missouri where they quarrel and separate, with theRiver Crow taking the Tobacco rites away with them; and finally.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 291the recovery of the corn from the Mandan and the ensuing closerelations of the Hidatsa-proper and the other Hidatsa groups andMandan villages. It is from this sacred tradition that the Hidatsahave drawn in the reconstruction of the early history of two groups:the Hidatsa-proper and the Awaxawi. The myth also provides thebasis for the meaning of numerous customs, ceremonials, and featuresof the natural environment.In contrast to the traditional experiences of the Hidatsa-RiverCrow and Awaxawi, part of which can be substantiated with archeo-logical evidence on the Missouri River and elsewhere, the myths ofthe Sacred Arrows provide quite contradictory accounts of thecreation of the earth and its occupation by certain Hidatsa groups.In this myth, which provides traditional accounts of the origin ofmost formal tribal bundle rites, the earth was prepared for occupationby First Creator and other supernatural beings for the future homeof the Hidatsa but the details of its creation are generally passed overlightly. Instead, the people later making up the 13 clans resided inthe sky in earth lodge villages extending from the zenith to eachhorizon and lived much as those who came down to the earth did inlater years except that the society above was better regulated withno death or evil spirits to bother the people. Charred Body discoveredthis land below and came down from the sky as an arrow, for thepeople above were "at heart" arrows because of their methods oftravel. He found the earth occupied by many evil spirits whoresisted intruders from above. Recognizing that life below wouldbe difficult, he selected 13 young married couples to accompany himbelow where each established a separate household from which the13 clans were ultimately derived. Each household was symbolicallyrepresented by some part of the arrow (fig. 1).They reached the earth at Charred Body Creek, a few miles down-stream from the present town of Washburn, N. Dak., where theyimmediately encountered numerous evil beings who resisted theirefforts to settle there. Because Charred Body had the spirit of theSacred Arrows with which to protect the people, the populationincreased and 13 villages representing the 13 clans were later estab-lished from the descendants of the 13 unnamed household groups.Meanwhile, unborn twins were torn from their mother by an evilmonster who threw one into a spring nearby and the other to theinner edge of her earth lodge. With the help of First Creator andCharred Body, the two boys, now named Spring Boy and LodgeBoy, grew quickly and undertook to annihilate the evil spirits whichsurrounded them. Since Spring Boy was the leader in destroyingthese evil spirits, he was captured and taken above to be tortured byLong Arm?at this point the Sun Dance (NaxpikE) began. The
292 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194OCDm
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Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 293myth then went on to explain the origin of Holy Women partici-pation in the various ceremonies, certain Buffalo Calling rites, SnakeCuring rites, Black Medicine rites with the red baneberry root, andthe institution of village police.At this point in the sacred narrative Moon caused an Awatixavillage woman to follow a porcupine into a high cottonwood tree.She found herself on the land above where she married Moon forwhom she bore his son, later to be named Grandson. Because Grand-son was the son of one of the sky people he was very holy even as asmall child. When his mother was killed by a stone thrown down asshe attempted to escape from Moon, Grandson fell into Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' garden. *^The exploits of Grandson form the basis for the introduction ofadditional sacred rites and practices, chief of which are the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites, Snake Curing rites, altar rites ofEagle Trapping, Sacred Arrow rites, Bear with Arrow rites, EagleTrapping rites, Fish Trapping rites, Buffalo Corral rites, the StoneHammer society, and Star Bundle rites.Grandson's quarrel with Yellow Dog also laid the traditionalfoundation for the origin of the four Dog Societies. Then, in angertowards the people for whom he had done so much but from whom hehad received so little, he returned to the sky after announcing thathe would destroy any village that thereafter made sacred offeringsto him.After the return of Grandson to the sky, the two myths convergeinto a single one involving the more recent traditional and mythologicalhistory of the three village groups stUl recognized. The variousgods formerly living with the people are believed to have then movedto various places in the universe to assume protective roles for thepeople by means of the many major and minor rites and ceremonies.In native theory, all of the Hidatsa village groups had by thentaken their relative positions on the Missouri; the former village groupsoriginating with Charred Body had been named and, through inter-mixture in a reduced number of villages, had become the clans. Sixclans later went back to the sky to become one of the constellations,leaving seven clans and one lineage of the Xura at the Awatixavillages. When the Hidatsa-proper and Awaxawi came to theMissouri to live, they traditionally adopted the seven clans of theAwatixa.According to native concepts, the two principal sacred narrativeswere associated with two different ethnic groups of the Hidatsa andCrow: (1) the Awatixa and Crow, who represented an early popu-
<' This garden and lodge were situated near the Holding Eagle home in the southeastern edge of the FortBerthold Reservation. For an archeological study of the lodge, see Woolworth, 1956.710-195?65 20
294 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194lation on the Missouri above the Heart River and on the tributarystreams to the southwest and who had enjoyed a long period offriendship with some Mandan groups; and (2) the eastern Hidatsa-Crow groups who lived on the Sheyenne River, other western tribu-taries of the Red River northward, and across into southern Canadauntil late in the prehistoric period when they moved onto the Missourias the Awaxawi, Hidatsa, and River Crow. That these nativeconcepts of migrations and ethnic relationships may have some authen-ticity is suggested by the archeological situation in these traditionalregions: At Lower Hidatsa site 34, the traditional home of the Awatixaat the mouth of Knife River, the deep refuse accumulations indicatea long occupation.The Hidatsa think of the ceremonies deriving from the two sacredmyths as knots on a string. The string represents a sequence ofevents and the knots, the various ceremonies. No individual or smallgroup of individuals knew aU of the parts of either the myths or theceremonies deriving from them. Instead, a bundle owner would knowall of the details of the particular ceremony in which he held rightsand its position in the series with respect to the ceremonies immedi-ately preceding and succeeding his own. Thus, the entire sacredmyth was divided into segments which were entrusted for preservationto various individuals of the group. Those ceremonies which werederived from the same sacred myth or similar situations involvingthe same culture heroes or mythological characters were felt to belongtogether. The authority for certain individuals to attend whenevera related ceremony was being performed was derived from theserelationships. It is usually difficult to understand by what rightcertain individuals were permitted or expected to attend ceremoniesuntil one knows the details of the sacred myth from which eachauthority was derived.We find the two sacred myths merging at the point where theThunderbird bundles were founded and Grandson returned to thesky. Two Men, the founders of the Sun Dance, traveled out fromthe Missouri and found other Hidatsa-River Crow living at DevilsLake. Thereafter we see an intermixture of scenes, both on theMissouri and at Devils Lake, after which the population gathers alongthe Missouri, the River Crows move away and take with them theTobacco rites, and a new series of rites is founded by some villagegroups and borrowed by the others.According to native beliefs, the ceremonial life continued to beenriched until about A.D. 1875. The older rites of this series hadbeen integrated into the culture pattern so effectively that if theywere borrowed from other tribes this fact was no longer recognized bymy informants. There is an intermediate series, however, repre-
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 295
sented by the Sunrise Wolf, Wolf Woman, and certain Eagle Trappingrites, that suggests borrowing from the Mandan during the 18thcentury; the Goose Society is of traditional Mandan origin; theWhite-Buffalo-Cow and Adoption Pipe rites were borrowed duringthe first part of the 19th century; and, during the 19th century andwithin the memory of Uving informants, the Horse rites were boughtfrom the Assiniboin.We have seen that the Hidatsa ceremonial system is based on aseries of segmented rites originating through time. Each segmentwas preserved by formal instructions to those making the ceremonialpurchase. Those who had completed the preliminaries to ceremonialparticipation and were admitted as legitimate custodians of varioussegments of the ceremony were entrusted with the responsibility ofcorrect interpretation and performance of their parts. To deviatefrom the ways laid down by the culture heroes was to invite bad luckand to undo all of the promises the gods had made. The Hidatsaspeak freely of the virtues of seeking supernatural guidance but thedetails of specific rites, practices, and songs are not freely given evento individuals of their own household or village. It was believedthat one ought to be in a proper receptive mood to learn all of thedetails correctly and to be able to repeat and interpret them accu-rately before they were given. For that reason, the Hidatsa treatedall rites as sacred matter to be discussed only under prescribed situa-tions. Variation from the traditional lines was to invite trouble.One should not be entrusted with great supernatm'al powers unlesshe knew the proper techniques for their control. Those who hadgone to great efforts to obtain important sacred bundles, only to beplagued with bad luck, were believed to have somehow deviated fromcustom even though the details of their errors were unknown. Butan individual owning rights and possessing precise information per-taining to a particular ceremony did divulge a great deal of his knowl-edge from time to time so that the rites were never entirely secret.There were other situations, such as ceremonial feasts to which oneinterested in segments of the sacred lore closely related to his ownbundles was invited, that provided formal transmission of the sacredlore.A man was expected to become informed in tribal lore as he advancedin status. Beyond what he knew of tribal lore from the sacred bundleshe had bought, he was expected to give feasts frequently to thosepossessing other important sacred lore and to have these mythsrelated. A few individuals who were unusually ambitious and pos-sessed good memories frequently knew most of the sacred myths ofthe village. This knowledge was, in turn, expressed in social behaviorand recognition as councilmen or peace chiefs. One did not buy
296 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194myths belonging to another in order to sell them; one bought as aguide in offering wise judgment to younger people.In addition to the central sacred myths which related ceremoniesto each other in time and space and provided a rudimentary historyof the various village groups, there were many myths of a semisacredor sacred character which occupied an indefinite position; some werefreely told as good entertainment and often with a moral exaltinggenerosity, others were related to certain bundle rites without actuallycomprising the central core of the rites.First Creator stories were told freely by both men and womenand his magical acts were a constant source of entertainment. How-ever important First Creator was in organizing the habitat for man'sfirst existence, he was represented in certain rites only as the waiter.In spite of his traditional role of creating many things, there was noceremony in which he occupied the principal position. Instead, heis the trickster who entertained the people while those spirits hecreated provided the psychological basis for the performance of thevarious rites.Bundle inheritance was by two distinct patterns. Most sacredbundles were transmitted from father to son with wide leeway toprovide for "father and son" inheritance by clan as weU as bloodrelationships. This pattern included rites from both of the sacredmyth series. There were, however, a number of sacred bundles for-merly kept at Awatixa village which were transmitted within the clan.These were the Waterbuster bundle of human skulls said to representtwo eagles; the KJiife bundle of two eagles; and the Holy Robe of thePrairie Chicken clan. The other sacred bundles from Awatixa wereinherited in a father-to-son pattern as were aU bundles at Hidatsaand Awaxawi, so far as informants knew.^^ This deviation from thenormal pattern at Awatixa is significant since this group with itslong traditional residence on the Missouri River shows many featuresof the Mandan clan-inheritance pattern not clearly indicated for theother two Hidatsa groups who traditionally arrived much later onthe river.Details of the Hidatsa ceremonial organization are given in thechapters that foUow. In organizing the great mass of materials atmy disposal, I have presented the material roughly in the order inwhich my informants believed the sacred beliefs and rites were in-troduced into the tribe. I could have presented the Buffalo Callingrites in conjunction with the Rain rites but many natives think ofthem as having separate origins. Some ceremonies are viewed bythe natives as of multiple origins and, in those cases, I have presentedthem with closely related rites.
? Genealogies, however, suggest possible clan inheritance for some of the Awaxawi Snake ceremonies.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 297The Legendary PeriodThe Hidatsa legends of the creation of the earth as told todaydiffer somewhat in detail from those recorded by Henry in 1806 andMaximilian in 1833, resembling in most details the Mandan myth,whereas the older legends show greater similarities to the Crowcreation myths (Lowie, 1918). In the older myths, the creation ofthe earth was chiefly the work of First Creator who secured themud from a diving bird. In the Mandan creation myth, throughwhich runs the moiety theme, the earth was made by two cultureheroes working on opposite sides of the Missouri. Further evidencethat the older creation myth has been modified by Mandan influenceis indicated by the general indifference the Hidatsa give to detailsof man's earlier existence. In the more recent accounts, the Hidatsamyths state quite definitely that the people on the land below wereagriculturalists who brought corn and the other garden plants upwith them. The Hidatsa had not, however, gone as far as theMandan in founding sacred bundles and rites associated with theprincipal leadership of those coming from the land below, althoughthey had made rapid changes in that direction during the 19thcentury through marriage and sale, whereby the Mandan CornSkull bundle got into Awaxawi hands.FIRST CREATOR MYTHIt would appear that the sacred myth of the creation of the earthby First Creator, Coyote, from mud brought up by a diving birdrepresented the older and more widespread version which the Mandanhad modified to fit their concepts of moiety or dual organization.Further evidence that the Hidatsa creation myth was probablymodified through contacts with the Mandan is suggested by the factthat, in the recent versions, the Hidatsa assign a significant role increation to Lone Man. He is not mentioned in any of the earlierHidatsa versions although with the Mandan he is considered one ofthe principal deities who founded the Okipa, sacred cedar, sacredturtles, and many other sacred objects and practices.Matthews likewise assigned great prominence to the First Creatoras the maker of all things without mentioning Lone Man as thecomaker of the earth. My studies of many Hidatsa myths andceremonies did not confirm Matthews' accounts that First Creatorcreated everything; there are many myths about spirits of the "skyworld" and the "underworld" that were in no way related to thecreation of the earth by First Creator. It would appear, instead,that the beliefs relative to First Creator involve only the creation
298 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
of the "in between" land now known as the earth. Matthews(1877, p. 47) wrote:The object of their greatest reverence is, perhaps, Itsikamahidis, the FirstMade, or First in Existence. They sometimes designate him as Itakat6tas, orOld Man Immortal. Some Indians say that itsikamahidis means he who firstmade, but such a rendering is not in accordance with the present etymology of thelanguage. They assert that he made all things, the stars, the sun, the earth,and the first representatives of each species of animals and plants, but thatno one made him.The following abbreviated account provides the essential featuresof the creation myth. My observations and analyses are given inbrackets.The land was then chiefly under water. First Creator was alone and wanderingabout by himself. He thought that he was the only one when he met anotherperson named Lone Man. They discussed their origin. Lone Man concludedthat he came from the western wheat grass, for in tracing his tracks he saw bloodon the grass, and that his father was the Stone Buffalo, an earth-colored winglessgrasshopper, for he saw its tracks near where he was born. First Creator didnot know who his father and mother were but he thought that he had comefrom the water. The two men undertook to learn who was the older; LoneMan stuck his staff in the ground while First Creator lay down as a coyote.Years later Lone Man returned to the place where coyote was lying and, seeingthe bones scattered about, took up the staff, whereupon First Creator cameback to life and was declared the older.First Creator and Lone Man decided to make the land inhabitable and, seeinga goose, mallard, teal, and red-eyed mudhen, they asked the birds to lend assistanceby diving below for mud. [Note that there is no reference here to First Creator'screation of these water birds. Matthews is evidently in error in ascribing thecreation of all life to First Creator.] Goose, mallard, and teal failed; only themudhen succeeded in bringing earth from below. Lone Man divided the earthand gave half to First Creator.First Creator made the lands on the west side of the Missouri from the Rockiesto the ocean while Lone Man made the land on the other or east side, each usinghalf of the mud brought up by the mudhen. First Creator made many livingthings later occupying the land and from the mud left over he made Heart Butte.Lone Man made his side flat and with the mud left over he made Hill, a smallbutte north of the present town of Bismarck, North Dakota. He made thespotted cattle with long horns and the wolves.First Creator caused the people who were living below to come above, bringingwith them their garden produce. The people continued to come up, following avine, until one woman heavy in pregnancy broke the vine.When first encountered, Lone Man carried a wooden pipe but he did not knowwhat it was used for. First Creator then ordered Male Buffalo to produce tobaccofor Lone Man's pipe. [This act explains the use of pipes in the various ceremonies,which later were introduced, and the concept of tobacco as being sacred.]First Creator decreed that people in seeking a living would scatter into smallgroups all over the land and would fight. [This decree established the variousbands and hnguistic groups.]Because the spotted cattle could not stand the cold winters and the wolvessometimes went mad. First Creator did not think they should be kept. So the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 299
spotted cattle and the maggots around a dead wolf representing the White peoplewere thrown eastward across the waters until a later time when they would returnas the White men and their cattle. Finding the land to the east too level forshelter from storms, they roughened it with their heels to form the land as it isseen today. The people dispersed over the land into tribes and the two menvisited them in their villages and camps. At this time the people, called Mirokacwhom we know as River Crow, Hidatsa, and Awaxawi, moved northward towardDevils Lake and Uved together as a single group. There were many lakes wherethey lived at that time.Hungry Wolf of good reputation Uved in the village with a younger brothernamed High Bird. Young men would Une up along the path taken by the youngwomen getting water to ask for a drink. When water was offered one, it indi-cated that she was fond of him. High Bird's friend, an orphan, Uved with him.Hungry Wolf's wife offered High Bird water; he refused it because she was hisbrother's wife and she became angry. She told her husband that High Bird hadattacked her. Although witnesses denied the charge, Hungry Wolf did notbeUeve them. He announced that he was organizing a war party and High Birdand the orphan decided to go along. To cross a large lake, 40 buUboats weremade to carry the 80 men. They traveled 4 days by water. High Bird as scoutbrought in an enemy's scalp for his brother but Hungry Wolf ordered his partyto leave quietly by water while his brother slept, leaving him no means of reachingthe mainland.Hungry Wolf called back to his brother that the Water Buffalo, his "father,"had ordered him to do this. High Bird was protected by his gods who ate thosewho assisted Hungry Wolf. [The narrative here introduces the sun as a super-natural guardian and also as a cannibal. The concept of the sun as a cannibalappears throughout Hidatsa sacred mythology. See Woman Above rites foradditional references to Sun as a cannibal who causes bad luck so that he canfeast on the bodies.]Hungry Wolf called back that if High Bird crossed the water, the Sharp Noseswould kiU him so High Bird matched the supernatural powers of the Sharp Noseswith that of the Thunderbird, his supernatural father. [This conflict providesthe setting for at least one of the Thunderbird ceremonies performed by theHidatsa in recent years. When this study was made, White Fingernails had aThunder sacred bundle traditionaUy originating with High Bird. For the rites,see pp. 358-363 which deal with the Thunder Ceremonies.]Before the war party was out of sight. Hungry Wolf threatened that Owns-Many-Dogs' dogs would eat High Bird. [The narrative at this point describesthe penalties to the social group when brothers quarreled. Bears Arm said thatpeople were quick to put brothers aright if they showed a tendency to quarrel orfight. This applied also to clan brothers. He explained that as a result of thedestruction of a large part of the population, people learned that brothers mustalways aid and support each other, revenge the other's death by the enemy, andprovide for those the brother loved and respected while he lived.]Thunderbird came down from the sky, learned from High Bird the cause ofthe quarrel, and gave High Bird advice on escaping from the island. High Birdlearned from Thunderbird that the water buffalo was in reality a large snakeliving in the lake. [We find here introduced the conflict between the sky godsrepresented by the big birds and the water gods represented by the snakes.This conflict runs all through Hidatsa mythology.]
300 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194High Bird fed the large snake four corn balls to reach shore where the snakewas killed by Thunderbird. High Bird cut up the snake and Thunderbird calledthe other large birds to a feast. [This feast is reenacted by those performingrites to White Fingernails' bundle.] These big birds then gave High Bu-d adviceon overcoming the magical powers of Owns-Many-Dogs and the Sharp Noses.Thunderbird decreed that the village where the two young brothers lived wouldbe destroyed unless Hungry Wolf gave High Bird enough tobacco for one pipe'sfilling. Then High Bird started for home.Northeast of Devils Lake he overcame the Sharp Noses and when he wasnearer to Devils Lake he encountered 0\\Tis-Many-Dogs and sent her northwardbeyond the great fire which was to destroy the village. Far to the east, wherethe rivers flow southward, High Bird heard a man weeping and discovered thatit was his friend, the orphan. They reached home and found that a MournersCamp has been set up, for his relatives had concluded that he was dead. Eachday the people from the other camp came there to mimic them by singing victorysongs. [The Mourners Camp was often set up by the Hidatsa and Awaxawi.It was not customary for either the Mandan or Awatixa to establish a separatecamp of hide tipis as did the other village groups.]High Bird sent his mother to Hungry Wolf four times for tobacco and eachtime he refused so the people of the Mourners Camp dug deep holes in whichto protect themselves from the celestial flames. Each day the mourners wouldgo to Hungry Wolf's camp to sing under the dii-ection of seven singers. Theysang the Tobacco songs. [Here we find the first reference to an institution highlydeveloped with the Crows which also was traditionally a part of the originalHidatsa and Awaxawi culture.]One day a fire came down from the sky. High Bird's people were in deepcellars and were saved. All of the others were destroyed except Hungry Wolf'swife who was the cause of the quarrel. She was given the name Calf Womanafter the fire. She described the destruction by the fire and it was then decreedthat from this time there would always be women who would make troublebetween married couples. Because the seven Tobacco singers were with themourners, the Tobacco rites were saved. Even today one sees the results of thisfire, for there are no trees to the east except along the Red River and its tributarieswhere the fire could not burn.After this fire the survivors separated, the Awaxawi lived to the south ofDevils Lake where they planted corn while the Hidatsa and the Crow with theirTobacco rites stayed farther north near the large lakes. There Magpie dis-covered an approaching flood, the penalty for sticking a feather through Fat Bird'snostrils and ordering a buffalo calf to carry its mother's entrails. Those Awaxawiwho beheved Magpie escaped to Square Buttes on the Missouri River where theywere joined by Magpie, his mother named Yellow Woman who represented corn,and Spring Buffalo. The buffaloes of the other three seasons drowned on the wayto establishing three important hunting areas between the Missouri and DevilsLake. [Bears Arm explained that the linguistic differences between the Hidatsa-River Crow and the Awaxawi developed as a result of the separation after thecelestial fire. He interpreted this flight from Devils Lake as evidence that theAwaxawi brought gardening to the Missouri and did not adopt the practice fromthe Mandan. He believed the flight northward to avoid destruction from theflood involved only the Hidatsa and River Crow. We see that the traditionalmigrations are intimately associated with magical beliefs. It would appear from
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 301the accounts of David Thompson that these migration myths have at least somehistoric validity.^^jThese people who came to the Missouri in advance of the flood were the Awaxawiwho had separated sometime before from the Hidatsa and River Crow while stillliving northeast of Devils Lake; those who were on lowlands were destroyed bythe flood. After the waters had subsided, the Awatixa were found living on theMissouri also. [This is the first reference in this important sacred myth to theAwatixa whose large village at the mouth of Knife River shows evidence oflonger occupation than the traditional villages of the Hidatsa and Awaxawi ofthe same area.]When the waters subsided, there were lakes and sloughs to the northeast whereFirst Creator and Lone Man had roughened the earth with their heels. Fishbecame abundant in all of the lakes.
? Manoah, who had lived in an Awaxawi-Mandan village after the smallpox epidemic of 1782, suppliedDavid Thompson with considerable information on the Awaxawi. In the following quotations, my com-ments and notes are within parentheses: brackets are la accordance with the source. Thompson writesthat?"The inhabitants of these Villages (obviously referring to the Awaxawi only), have not been many yearson the banks of the Missisourie River: their former residence was on the head waters of the southernbranches of the Red River; and also along its banks; where the soil is fertile and easily worked, with theirsimple tools. Southward of them were the Villages of the PaT^Tiees, with whom they were at peace, except[for] occasional quarrels; south eastward of them were the Sieux Indians, although numerous, their stoneheaded arrows could do little injury; on the north east were the Chippeways in possession of the Forests;but equally weak until armed with Guns, iron headed arrows and spears: The Chippaways silently col-lected in the Forests; and made war on the nearest Village, destroying it with fire, when the greater part ofthe Men were hunting at some distance, or attacking the Men when hunting; and thus harassing them whenever they thought proper. The mischief done, they retreated into the forests, where it was too dangerousto search for them. The Chippaways had the policy to harrass and destroy the Villages nearest to them,leaving the others in security. The people of this Village removed westward from them, and from streamto stream, the Villages in succession, until they gained the banks of the Missisourie; where they have builttheir Villages and remain in peace from the Chippaways, the open Plains being their defence." (Thomp-son, 1916, pp. 225-226.)
". . . . As Manoah was as a Native with them I enquired if they had any traditions of ancient times;he said, he knew of none beyond the days of their great, great Grandfathers, who formerly possessed all theStreams of the Red River, and head of the Mississippe, where the Wild Rice, and the Deer were plenty,but then the Bison and the Horse were not known to them: On all these streams they had Villages and cul-tivated the ground as now; they lived many years this way how many they do not know, at length the In-dians of the Woods armed with guns which killed and frightened them, and iron weapons, frequently at-tacked them, and again.st these they had no defence; . . . ." (ibid., pp. 230-231.)David Thompson provides further information on the Hidatsa earth lodge village group and the Crow,all of whom he calls Fall Indians:
"Fall Indians who also have Villages, are strictly confederate with the Mandanes, they speak a distinctlanguage; (This seems to be the first reference in the literature to earth lodge groups other than the MandanIn this area.) .... The Fall Indians are now removed far from their original country, which was theRapids of the Saskatchewan river, northward of the Eagle Hill; A feud arose between them, and their thenneighbors, the Nahathaways (Crees) and the Stone Indians confederates (Assiniboin), and [they were] toopowerful for them, they then lived whoUy in tents, and removed across the Plains to the Missisourie; be-came confederate with the Mandanes, and from them have learned to build houses, form villages and cul-tivate the ground. (Note that this is a contradiction of his earlier statement that the Falls were formerlyagricultural on the Red River and its tributaries. Obviously he is here referring to a southern group ofFalls who were agricultural and a northern nomadic group which he identifies with both Hidatsa and Crowbands. This is in agreement with the sacred myth of both nomadic and agricultural groups of Hidatsamoving westward and southwestward to the Missouri.) The architecture of their houses is in every respectthe same as that of the Mandanes, and their cultivation is the same: Some of them continue to live in tentsand are in friendship with the Cheyenne Indians, whose village was lately destroyed, and now live in tentsto the westward of them. Another band of these people now dwell in tents near the head of this River(Missouri ?) in alliance with the Peeagans and their allies; . . . ." (ibid., pp. 235-236.)Note that Thompson refers to two distinct groups of Crows; one living farther west who are allied withthe Piegan, and another group to the west of the Missouri and nearer the Hidatsa villages who are alliedwith the Cheyenne. The Hidatsa consider the more western one to be an early offshoot of the Awatixaand the group allied to the Cheyenne as an offshoot of the Hidatsa-proper. It is the latter that is called bythe Hidatsa kixaicas which refers to "Separation due to a Quarrel."
302 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The Hidatsa and River Crow [collectively they are addressed by the termmirokac which does not include the other Hidatsa-Crow groups as far as I wasable to determine; at least it refers to the population prior to the separation ofthe two groups after which separate names were applied to each group], who hadgone far north to escape the flood, eventually returned southward to Devils Lakeand, finding the region uninhabited, concluded that the others had been destroyedby the flood. [Note that by this time the original Hidatsa-Crow populationextended east and west from Devils Lake to the Missouri upstream from theMandan villages and onto the Plains west of the Missouri. Only the agriculturalgroups were on the Missouri; the nomadic ones lived adjacent to the Missouri.]A hunting party from the camp at Devils Lake discovered Mandan villagesnear the Heart River and, because the Mandans could not understand exactlywhat was said to them across the river from the opposite bank, they called themMinitari by which name the people of Hidatsa village are known from that time.[The older Mandan still used the same term in historic times. The Awaxawi arecalled maxaxa and the Awatixa mitixata.] The hunters returned to Devils Lake,after promising that they would return with their people in 4 days. But the 4days became 4 years when the Hidatsa-River Crow appeared on the oppositebank after abandoning the Devils Lake region.^*A quarrel developed over the division of a buflfalo and one group moved fartherwest, taking with them the seven Tobacco singers. The group leaving comprisedthe kixaicas and those who remained behind to take up agriculture became theHidatsa. [Note that the Hidatsa account for the absence of the Tobacco ritesby the fact that the seven men possessing the rights in the ceremony happenedto be camped on the side which moved away.]The Hidatsa were living in tipis near the Heart River when they became fright-ened by two owl spirits held sacred by the Mandan so they moved upstream tobuild north of the Knife River. Before they left, the Mandan gave them cornand taught them the Corn rites which they had lost while in the northland.This completes the first segment of the Hidatsa sacred narrativeand is concerned chiefly with the migration of the Hidatsa-proper,River Crow, and the Awaxawi. We see that by 1932?the date ofthis study?events such as warfare with armed tribes are not men-tioned; instead, the incidents have been completely reinterpreted interms of the supernatural.The Hidatsa, however, do not ascribe the foregoing legendaryhistory to the Awatixa who had separate traditions of long residenceon the Missouri. This is not a new native interpretation for, asearly as 1804, two distinct traditions were recorded by Lewis andClarli although they failed to recognize the independent and separatehistories of the various Hidatsa villages. They recognized dialecticdifferences between the Awaxawi and the other two Hidatsa villagesand spoke of the Awaxawi as an independent "nation," a differenceindicated by my informants in speaking of the separation of theAwaxawi from the Hidatsa-River Crow while living east of the
** For a similar account supplied by the Mandan in 1833, see Maximilian, 1006, vol. 23, pp. 316-317.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 303Missouri. Speaking of the village groups of Hidatsa and Awatixa,Lewis and Clark wrote, on November 21, 1804:The Mandans say that this people came out of the water to the east and settlednear them in their former establishment in nine villages ; . . . The Minnetarees[Awatixajproper assert, on the contrary, that they grew where they now live. . . .They also say that . . . the Minnetarees of the Willows [Hidatsa], whose lan-guage with very little variation is their own, came many years ago from theplains and settled near them. Perhaps the two traditions may be reconciled bythe natural presumption that these Minnetarees [Hidatsa] were the tribes knownto the Mandans below, and that they ascended the river for the purpose of re-joining the Minnetarees proper. . . . [Lewis, 1893, vol. 1, pp. 198-199.]These two traditions recorded by Lewis and Clark are essentiallythe same as those which Hidatsa informants gave in 1932. For ourstudy it is important to note that the Hidatsa-proper-Awaxawisacred myth, although providing the traditional basis for numeroussimple household rites and beliefs, did not account for more than afew of the formal tribal ceremonies. Corn was considered sacredbecause it was brought above ground by the performance of certainmagical acts; corn was lost to the Hidatsa while escaping the flood;thunder and snakes are mentioned and one bundle is believed to bederived from the Thunderbirds at that time; the four buffaloes pro-vided traditional hunting grounds east of the Missouri; Buffalo wasconsidered holy but none of the specific rites originated during thattime; tobacco and pipes were introduced for rituals.SACRED ARROWS MYTHThe myth given above records traditional Hidatsa-proper andAwaxawi legends of an Eastern origin. The second legend, accountingfor most of the formal rites, enumerates incidents on the MissouriRiver, chiefly upstream from the mouth of the Heart River. Thismyth is identified with the earliest Hidatsa population on the Missouri,the Awatixa, who traditionally were agriculturalists during theirentire residence there. According to the myth, they were formerlymost closely related to a group of Crow Indians who separated at anearly time to become nomadic hunters west of the Missouri, and tothe Awaxawi, Hidatsa, and River Crow because of linguistic ties.The second sacred myth complex could more properly be called the"Myths of the Sacred Arrows" since culture heroes possessing thepowerof flight like the arrow are so prominently mentioned. This complexaccounts for the origin of many ceremonies, most of which began onthe Missouri in a restricted area between the Knife and Heart Rivers.Informants compare the ceremonies to knots on a string; all are inde-pendent ceremonies just as each knot is independent of the otherknots but, at the same time, they are connected and related in the same
304 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194way that knots are related to each other by their order on the string.The myth as summarized in this study has been assembled from manyinformants. It has been rechecked with several informants andrepresents, in my opinion, the best that can be done at this time toorganize and relate the various ceremonies. In only a few instanceswere there disagreements between informants as to the order of origin.No single individual ever held ceremonial rights in more than a fewof the formal rites of the series; nevertheless, each bundle owner knewwhere his sacred myth and rights began and another's terminated.Likewise each individual would know whose sacred rites began wherehis terminated. Generally, several individuals would own the pre-ceding "knot" and so on. The formal ceremonial pattern wassymbolized by strings with Imots.Bears Arm provided a unique design, an inverted Y, to illustratethe pattern both in respect to time and space. The two forks of theY constituted: (1) the making of the earth, the creation of the livingthings, and the exodus of the people from the underworld; and (2) thesacred arrow legends of the settlement of the lands by people from thesky. The convergence of the two lines represented the convergenceof the various Hidatsa village groups onto the Missouri River afterthe Crow had moved away. The continuation of the base of the Y asa single line represented the period of intervillage cooperation duringwhich a new series of ceremonies developed. He then proceeded tomake "knots" on the string to represent the points in the traditionalhistory of the tribe when the various ceremonies originated. A sum-mary of the events of Myth of the Sacred Arrows of Awatixa villagefoUows:Charred Body lived in a large village in the sky. All the people there wereliving in four large earth lodge villages a day's journey from each other. CharredBody was a sacred arrow and, hearing the bellowing of the buffaloes which he didnot understand, he looked through a hole in the sky and found that a new landexisted below on which many buffaloes were walking. He liked the appearanceof this new land so he changed himself into an arrow and descended to the earthnear the present site of Washburn. The spirit people living below immediatelyattempted to destroy him. A man named Fire-Around-his-Ankles encircledCharred Body and burned the feathers from his arrow.Charred Body made 13 earth lodges on a high bench overlooking a creek nowbearing his name and returned to the sky where he selected 13 young couples tooccupy the lodges he had made. Since they possessed the spirits of arrows,all flew down to the new land. These 13 households increased to 13 village groups,for this was a rich land to which they had come. [These household groups arenamed later and become the clans.]First Creator found the village, visited Charred Body, and was invited to cometo the village to smoke with the men. Surrounded by various evil spirits whowere always attempting to drive them out, the people of Charred Body's villageaccepted First Creator's offer of assistance. First Creator and Charred Bodywent to the east to another village to see the chief's daughter, thinking that if
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 305
she would marry Charred Body, her village group would come back with them andhelp them repel the enemies. The chief's daughter rejected him and insultedhim so Charred Body killed her. The chief called on Bear, Buffalo Bull, Man-with-No-Head, Man-with-Fire-Around-his-Ankles, Old-Woman-with-Basket, WhiteBeaver, and all Uving things on the earth to assist him in destroying thevillage and all agreed to assist him. [Wolf Chief explained that this fight betweenvillages was equivalent to interclan quarrels after these small village groupsunited into large villages. The narrative illustrates the penalty for murder tobe the destruction of the group. Note above that a village group was alsodestroyed when Hungry Wolf and his brother. High Bird, quarreled.]First Creator visited the enemy village, learned their plans, and sent the meadow-lark back with instructions. The chief's gods, however, caused Charred Body toforget what he had been told. Yellow Weasel decoyed Charred Body from thevillage and First Creator concealed Charred Body's sister in a corn chambeibefore the attack on the village was to be made. The village was burned and thepeople were killed.After the battle. Charred Body rebuilt a lodge and the sister was called fromthe corn chamber. The two men hunted game for her and discovered that theenemy had stationed four spirit people, Man-with-Fire-Around-his-Ankles, Man-with-No-Head, Old-Woman-with-Basket, and White Beaver, around the lodgeto destroy them.Charred Body built a sweat lodge and decreed that in the future the peopleshould use the sweatbaths when returning from hunting and they would keep ingood health. [Sweat lodge origin is at this time.]The sister was told not to admit any strangers who might come to the lodgewhen the two men were out hunting. Man-with-No-Head came to the lodgewhile the men were away and she prepared roast meat for him. He declaredthat he ate only when the meat was placed on the abdomen of a pregnant woman.Since she was pregnant, she permitted him to eat from her abdomen; he used hislong nails to rip open her abdomen and pull out a baby which he cast towards apile of old moccasins near the edge of the lodge, giving the child to "edge of thelodge" as his servant. He became known as Lodge Boy. A second child wasripped out and given to a spring near the lodge as the spring's servant and becameknown as Spring Boy. The mother was suspended between two forked poles andmade to appear to be laughing.Charred Body returned and found his sister's body, which he placed on a scaf-fold, and Lodge Boy who was hiding in the dark under the inner edge of the lodge.The two men performed rites and Lodge Boy grew to the size of a young man.He asked for gambling sticks and a stone and First Creator made a set for him.Returning from the hunt. First Creator discovered strange tooth marks in abuffalo tongue and Lodge Boy admitted that he had been playing with a strangefellow who Uved in the spring. Spring Boy was captured and, after rites wereperformed over him, he vomited out the shells of the clams he had been eatingand was made to look and behave like other Indians.Since the mother came from the sky, the two boys had the supernatural powersof the arrows. Spring Boy performed rites over the mother with his arrows andshe was brought back to Hfe. In later times when these powers were trans-mitted to the people, the Arrow ceremonies began. [Arrow rites began at thispoint.]The mother warned the two boys not to go near Man-with-Fire-Around-his-Ankles but they visited him, borrowed his moccasins, ran around him, and thusdestroyed him with his own moccasins. They burned his lodge as was customaryafter a successful battle.
306 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The mother warned them of Old-Woman-With-Basket so they visited her,borrowed her basket, pointed it at her, and destroyed her with fire. They gavetheir mother the basket and she danced while singing the victory songs, in-stituting the custom of dancing and singing when the enemy had been defeated.[The previous myth claimed that the custom was instituted by Hungry Wolfwho sang victory songs at the Mourners Camp.]When she warned them to stay away from No Head he insulted them by tellingthem how he killed their mother and disposed of the two babies. Then the boyskilled him also by magical means. Then they killed the White Beaver.Having killed one enemy each time out to war, they were now known as TwoMen. [The Hidatsa respected highly one who had led four successful war partieseven though only one enemy was killed each time out. One who had led foursuccessful expeditions, killing and scalping one man each time, was more highlyregarded than one who had led only one war party which had killed four enemies.Also, higher honors were bestowed on one who had led four successive successfulexpeditions than one who had gone out a greater number of times in order to winfour records. Because they had gone out only four times and were successfuleach time. Two Men had attained the highest honors recognized.]Charred Body warned Two Men always to be on their guard, using the sacredarrows for protection, for the gods were all angry because of the holy things thathad been destroyed by them. When out hunting. Two Men would stick theirsacred arrows into the ground while sleeping and the arrows would fall over andawaken them when in danger. One day the arrows did not warn them. LongArm had overcome the supernatural powers of the arrows, for he was the leader ofthe People Above. He found the boys while they slept and took Spring Boy, whowas the principal offender, above for punishment. The people prepared a forkedpost on which to torture Spring Boy. A brush shelter was built around the postand the people came to sing and watch while Spring Boy died. Ten songs weresung over and over while the men danced. Two mounds were built from earthbrought in from outside, between which Spring Boy would be placed and coveredwith this earth when he died. All through the ceremony Long Arm stood watch-ing, holding a stone ax.Lodge Boy awoke, missed his brother, and traveled over all of the earth as anarrow looking for Spring Boy. Returning to the place where they separated, hediscovered a hole in the sky above him. He changed into a sacred arrow and wentthrough the hole in the sky to the land above. There, changing himself into asmall boy, he was taken into the lodge of a very old woman living alone and fed.She informed him that Spring Boy was being tortured in the brush shelter and tookhim to see the ceremonies. He was recognized by Spring Boy and was obliged toleave quickly when Long Arm suspected that Lodge Boy had come.During the night, Lodge Boy freed his brother and they escaped towards thehole in the sky, taking with them Long Arm's ax with the watching eyes. LongArm awoke, discovered Spring Boy and his sacred ax with the watching eyes gone,and ran to the hole in the sky. There he put his hands over the hole to preventTwo Men from escaping to the land below. Now that they had Long Arm'ssacred ax, which was his chief source of supernatural powers, they threatened tocut off Long Arm's hand if he attempted to prevent their return home. He agreedto free them providing they performed rites on the earth in the same manner asthey had observed in the sky. Then he explained the ceremonial significance ofeach article and rite of the Hidebeating ceremony which he was sending to theland below.Later, Two Men traveled over the earth and came to a village where riteswere being performed and decided to have a "son." They caused a virgin to
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 307become pregnant without intercourse and instructed the virgin's mother to namethe child Unknown Man. The child's mother died and he was cared for by hismother's brother and maternal grandmother. [Note how the pattern develops:Two Men now have the supernatural powers and knowledge formerly possessedby Long Arm. To transmit this power, they select a "son" thus establishing therule that rights in the ceremony are to be transmitted through "father-to-son"relationships.]As a young man he was a good hunter for, in spirit, he was an arrow becauseTwo Men had taken him as their "son." Upon leaving for the winter camp, hewent out ahead and found that game was scarce so he returned to the summervillage with his grandmother. They learned that one family did not go alongbecause the husband, a gambler, was too lame to travel. The old couple had adaughter who went out a great deal with Unknown Man hunting and butcheringso the old people asked them to marry. [One of the requirements for tribalceremonial purchases is that one must be married.]While out hunting shortly afterwards. Unknown Man met Two Men and in-vited them to his camp where they promised him supernatural powers in hunting.[Here the informants interpreted unusual skills in hunting as evidence that somesupernatural being was assisting him.]Two Men doctored Unknown Man's father-in-law for his lameness, using theBlack Medicine [red baneberry] root. They took out a buUsnake from each ofhis legs, and instructed Unknown Man and his wife in doctoring. [Here againwe find the transfer of curing rites transmitted to a son and daughter-in-law.Many of the snake curing rites went back to this incident; others owe their originto different traditional incidents. In either case, Black Medicine was used andthe methods differed little between bundle lines.]Two Men sent the buffalo herds to the village, as they had promised, in returnfor the feast which Unknown Man and his wife had prepared for them. The HolyWomen butchered and hung the meat on corn scaffolds during a fog. [Here thenarrative introduces the Holy Women, an organized group of individual bundleowners who met on most ceremonial occasions. See the accounts below forfurther references to this group.]Scouts returned from the winter camp for corn since hunting was poor. Theydiscovered the meat on the various scaffolds of the village. They returned to thewinter camp and the people returned to the summer village. Sometime after-ward. Unknown Man was sitting on his lodge when he was enticed from the villageby a buffalo which he followed. Each time he shot, the arrow was deflectedmagically until he was taken into a large earth lodge occupied by a man, a largesnake, and the buffalo.Unknown Man lost his memory and was forced to hunt and wait on themysterious man. While hunting one day he remembered who he was and calledfor Two Men, his "fathers," and they came immediately to help him. [Thispattern of action, calling for assistance of one's supernatural "fathers" was thebasis of Hidatsa rites.]They killed the snake and mysterious man, and were about to kill Buffalowhen he said, "I am also a prisoner; I am the one who brought the buffaloes thatthe Holy Women butchered for the village. If my life is spared there will alwaysbe buffaloes."Buffalo then gave instructions in making offerings to the buffaloes. [Thisinstruction by the buffalo was considered the traditional basis for the widespreadpractices of offering sage and speckled eagle feathers to buffalo skulls, both athousehold shrines or out on the prairies even far from the villages, whenever onewished to secure supernatural assistance.]
308 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Now Unknown Man was ready to give the Hidebeating Ceremony for he wasmature, had a good record, and had a wife to help him. Then Two Men came tothe village and directed him in the performance of the rites as Long Arm hadinstructed them when they brought the sacred ax with the watching eyes downfrom the land above. Hidebeating CeremonyThis ceremony, performed in order to acquire the father's ceremonialrights, is called Nax'pikE' by the Hidatsa. This is an abbreviation ofnax'pi meaning 'hide,' ni'ki which means to strike, and hs mean-ing 'this act or event.' The ceremony generally has been known anddescribed as the Smi Dance. The Hidatsa think of these rites asdirected to the "people above" but more particularly to the Moon,since a different ceremony with a different set of officers was performedto the Sun. The rites were theoretically a dramatization of SpringBoy's suffering when he was taken above and tortured under thesupervision of Long Arm. At this time, Long Arm instructed TwoMen to have the ceremony performed by their son in order that thesupernatural powers for success in hunting and warfare possessed byTwo Men would be transmitted to the Hidatsa by means of the sacredarrows and sacred ax.The bundle rights were transmitted from father to son, all bundlesoriginating traditionally with Unknown Man who first bought fromhis ceremonial fathers. Spring Boy and Lodge Boy. A father couldsell his rights in the ceremony four times. However, there was noevidence that more than one sale had been made within the memoryof the oldest informants nor could any informant recall an instance ofmultiple sales. It made no difference whether the father was livingor not when the ceremony was pledged since a member of the father'sclan prepared duplicate bundles for all except the fourth sale. Per-formance was not limited by clan membership although, because ofthe small number of bundle lines in existence, all clans were notrepresented. Since the father and son were of different clans, clanmembership of bundles changed with each succeeding sale. Due tothe predominantly matrilocal residence custom, new bundles werecontinually being established in different households. In addition tothe NaxpikE sacred bundles owned by the givers of the ceremony,persons ineligible to perform the rites, due to inheritance, wouldfrequently make up somewhat similar personal bundles according tovisions received.There is no evidence that the performance of the rite was an annualevent. It was probably held most years prior to the epidemic of 1837.Its occurrence, however, was based on bundle purchases of whichthere were only seven lines after 1837: four from Hidatsa village andthree from Awatixa. Due to the limited number of bundle lines after
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 309the epidemic, there usually were intervals of from 2 to 4 years betweensuccessive performances. Good Bear was the last to perform theceremony in 1879.Good Bear, Waterbuster clan, bought from his father. No Milk ofthe AwaxEnawita clan from Hidatsa village; Rabbit Head, PrairieChicken clan, bought a year earlier from his stepfather Snake Cane,AwaxEnawita clan, of Hidatsa village (Rabbit Head's own fatherwas a Mandan); Sitting Elk, Itisuku clan, bought a few years earlierfrom his father. Narrow Nose of the AwaxEnawita clan of Hidatsavillage; Puts-Away-his-Hair, Itisuku clan, bought from his father,Owns-Many-Spotted-Horses, Knife clan of Hidatsa village; CrowsPaunch, Prairie Chicken clan, bought from his father, Twisted Wood,Knife clan of Awatixa village; Crying Dog, AwaxEnawita clan ofAwatixa, bought from his deceased father but the line died out whenhis descendants did not keep up the rites; and Knife of the PrairieChicken clan bought rights from his classificatory father, PorcupinePemmican, AwaxEnawita clan oi Awatixa village.Except for the last bundle line, all sacred bundles were of equalstatus. Since one relinquished his own rights only when the fourthsale was made, there were 10 equal bundles at Fishhook. PorcupinePemmican's bundle was superior in status to the other for, in additionto having rights in Two Men by virtue of performing the NaxpikE,he had bought the sacred ax symbolic of Long Arm whom heimpersonated each time the rites were performed. The Long Armrights were piu*chased separately by means of a medicine feast to theNaxpikE bundle owners to give the purchase social recognition.In theory Long Arm rites could lil^ewise have been sold four timeswith a new ax prepared each time but there is no evidence that therewas ever more than the one bundle which was kept at Awatixa, thegroup which traditionally founded the ceremony. Whenever theceremony was performed in other villages, the Long Arm impersonatorfrom Awatixa officiated. During the years preceding the abandonmentof the three independent villages on the Knife River, the Awaxawioccupied an intermediate position between the Hidatsa-proper-Awatixa and the Mandan, both territorially and ceremonially.Awaxawi informants had no knowledge that the NaxpikE was evergiven at their village although they recalled that their young menparticipated actively in the Okipa due to intermarriage with theMandan after 1782, when they united for about 20 years with oneMandan village group. The Awaxawi had other summer ceremonies,concerned chiefly with agriculture, that were not celebrated by theother Hidatsa village groups.Theoretically, one could give the ceremony only when his fatherhad also, but native informants believed that should one receive710-195?65 ^21
310 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
repeated dreams relating to the ceremony, he should not be deniedthe right to give the ceremony. Such was the case whereby Knifebought the Long Arm rights from Porcupine Pemmican, his classi-ficatory father. A man volunteered to perform the ceremony afterreceiving a vision interpreted by the older men of the father's clanas an instruction from the gods above. Actually, young men oftenhad visions relating to the gods above which were never interpretedas signifying instructions to perform the ceremony because theirfathers did not possess rights in the NaxpikE. Likewise, youngmen eligible by inheritance frequently did not experience appro-priate dreams. When Wolf Chief dreamed of Charred Body, hisfather's clansmen interpreted the dream as an instruction that hewould be a successful eagle trapper since his father had rights inthose ceremonies. When Crows Heart dreamed of the big birds of thesky possessing the supernatural powers of the arrows, the "fathers"interpreted the dream to mean that he was to buy Big Black's Thunderrites.However, such was not the case when Good Bear reported a visionhe received during a performance of the NaxpikE. His widow, Mrs.Good Bear, provided the following information concerning the pre-liminaries to pledging the ceremony:Sitting Elk was giving the NaxpikE and Good Bear was fasting in the lodge withthe other young men. He would get up and dance each time with the other youngmen. During the second and third days while the torturing was on, youngmen who wanted sticks through their skin paid with calicoes and other valuablethings to have their "fathers" pray for them and put the sticks through. GoodBear was poor and had nothing to pay with for his mother was dead. When hisfather remarried, the new wife did not want him so he was taken by Poor Wolf,his mother's brother, to raise.Poor Wolf came to him and said, "You should go up to the post and have yourbreast cut; that is the way to have good dreams."Good Bear said, "I would like to but I have nothing to pay with for I am poor."Poor Wolf said that all clan brothers should help each other so he went for cookedcorn and calicoes.He said, "Go to Porcupine Pemmican who belongs to your father's clan and say
'I want to run around the post and suffer like Spring Boy did up in the sky.'
"
Porcupine Pemmican took the cooked corn to the singers and kept the calicoes.He said, "My son, come and sit against the post in the center."Good Bear was painted white with clay brought from Knife River. PorcupinePemmican sang his sacred songs while he painted Good Bear again with the clay.Good Bear shivered as though he were cold. Then Porcupine Pemmican calledtwo young men to do the actual cutting for him and gave each of them a pieceof the calico. Porcupine Pemmican said, "Good luck will come to you, my son.The first fight you are in, you will strike a Sioux," and the two men pierced theflesh when Porcupine Pemmican said "Sioux." The sticks were tied to the hidehanging down from the post and he was given a whistle. All the fasters stoodup and danced through four songs. He ran and swung around the post, some-times swinging nearly to the roof. When he was exhausted, Porcupine Pemmican
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 311pulled the sticks out and pressed down the swellings, putting white clay on thecuts to heal them and to keep the swellings down.That night Good Bear left the lodge and went north about 3 miles onto thehills out of sight of the village to cry. He was in great pain and very tired. Inhis dream he was walking south on a beautiful flat when something very brightand shiny came down from the sky. He thought it would surely hit him but itmissed him, coming down just in front of him. A cross was on this bright object.When he saw all this he thought that it was an instruction for him to give theNaxpikE. He thought that the hoop was the sun or the moon when it was fulland that the cross represented the laces on the hoop.He awoke, thought of his dream, and again went to sleep. Again he was walkingalong on a large flat; he saw two bulls belonging to White men and stopped to lookat them. There was a voice and then a man dressed in fine clothing and a whitecollar drove up in a light wagon. The man saw him admiring the two bulls andinquired if he liked them. Since he thought the bulls were pretty, the Whiteman told him he could have them. Then Good Bear awoke, returned to theceremonial grounds for a short time, and went to his lodge to eat.That night he again had a vision that he was traveling south on the prairieuntil he came to some White men's houses. There was one long house with afence in front of it and many boxes of goods piled near it. He awoke andwondered what it all meant, the White man, the cattle, the White man's longhouse, the goods, and the shiny thing that came down from the sky. He talkedto his mother's brother. Poor Wolf, about it and inquired what it all meant.Poor Wolf studied a long time and at last he said, "I think the gods abovewant you to take your father's bundle; that shining object that came down fromabove was the Sun. I think the gods want you to give the NaxpikE."Then the two went to Good Bear's own father and told him of the dream.No Milk said, "In the evening, before dark, cry from the top of an earth lodgeso all can hear, 'Next year when the leaves are full grown I will build a housefor you; I will hunt up all the bedding you will want; I want to get good luck formy people, make all of us free of diseases, and bring happiness to all of us.'When you have made the pledge all the people will hear you. It will take a yearbefore you can give the ceremony. In the meanwhile you must get all the goodsthat you can, buffalo robes, blankets, and calicoes. You will need 50 robes soyou will have to go out often looking for buffaloes to get the hides. It will behard to give the ceremony but the gods above will repay you well for yourtrouble."Ordinarily, one was about 30 years old before giving the ceremonysince one must have demonstrated responsibility before undertakingso important a step. Dreams were carefully screened and the qualifi-cations of eligible candidates were carefully examined. Permissionwas given by an older and eminent member of the father's clan
?
not necessarily one's own father, who was frequently dead?whowould have lost status had he sanctioned making the vow by onewhom he knew to be cowardly either in battle or in the protection ofthe village.One should have already demonstrated by previous participationin fasting and personal torture that he was able to endm'e the priva-tions of 4 days of fasting. He must also be sufficiently intelligent tobe able to follow instructions in minute detail. Since the wife assisted
312 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194in certain rites as well as in supervising the preparation of the goods,one must be married to a person who was unlikely to run away duringthe period of preparation or performance of the rites. If, in theopinion of the father's clansmen, the prospective candidate mightnot be able to go through with his pledges, he was usually advisedto withhold making the pledge until he could "build himself up."They would tell him that because of his vision, he would have goodluck in everything that he did just the same as though he had giventhe ceremony. This seems to have been a common practice wheneversomeone else was giving the ceremony during the coming summer,in order to avoid repetition of the ceremony dm-ing the same summerperiod, and to discourage an individual from making the vow untilhe had demonstrated his qualifications for enduring the ordeals.It was not necessary for one so seek advice again since it was theduty of the "fathers" to notify the young man when the time hadcome to make the vow if, in the meantime, he had distinguishedhimself in warfare or had enjoyed other good fortune indicating thathe had been blessed by the gods above.The principal officer of the NaxpikE was the Long Arm impersonator,represented by Porcupine Pemmican during the period when theceremony was performed at Fishhook Village. This Long Armbundle was formerly kept at Awatixa village and traditionally origi-nated with this village gTOup. For that reason, the Hidatsa believethat the Sacred Arrow rites were originally instituted by this villagegroup first to settle on the Missouri as a part of the western Crowand that the ceremony was adopted by the Hidatsa-proper, RiverCrow, and Awaxawi *^ when they came to the Missouri. As furtherevidence that the Awatixa were the originators of the ceremony,native informants cite the fact that they had seen a great many moreSun Dance circles on the prairie adjacent to the old and new Awatixavillages than at the villages of Hidatsa and Awaxawi. In any event,there is no traditional knowledge that the ceremony was performedprior to their arrival on the Missouri from the east. While at theKnife River, each village depended on Awatixa for top leadership byvirtue of its possession of the Long Arm bundle. The ceremony wasalways performed at the outskirts of the summer village and neverwhile away on the summer buffalo hunt.The preliminary preparations and the performance of the ceremonybrought together a great many people, some of whom had conven-tional duties and obligations. When permission was given to performthe NaxpikE, or any other established formal ceremony, the pledgerwas always reminded by a father's clansman of the warning given to
<' I found no evidence of bundle lines at Awaxawi.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 313
PorcupinePemmican
Fosters
Sing
Pasters
Plan of Naxpike Lodge (Sun Dance)
Red Clothor HideStar Moon
.1
Red Clothor Hide
'Sun (black)
Offerings to Naxpike BundleFigure 2.?Plan of the NaxpilcE lodge and offerings to the NaxpikE bundle. (Both drawnby Mrs. Good Bear.)
314 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Spring Boy and Lodge Boy by Buffalo when he was freed by TwoMen in which he said, "If any human being promises me anything anddoes not do it, I wUl destroy that person," Such was the penalty forfailing to fulfill a pledge involving those sacred bundles that includeda buffalo skull. Another group of relatives was expected to lendassistance in accumulating the goods for the payment of the officers.One's clan was expected to contribute generously since a successfulceremony brought credit to the entire group. All those whose fatherswere of the same clan were also expected to assist. Since the wifesecured benefits from the performance of the ceremony, all her brothersand sisters and clan members were likewise called on for assistance.The man's age-grade society was expected to meet and to put upgoods for the occasion. A similar responsibility prevailed withrespect to the age-grade society to which the wife belonged. In theinterim, the pledger was expected to hunt often in order to get anabundance of hides for tanning. Whereas on other occasions hecustomarily shared the raw hides and meat with other households dueto numerous obligations to his relatives, it was understood that oncehe had pledged a ceremony he should not be asked to part withthese things.The pledger selected a member of his father's clan as supervisorand instructor shortly after making the vow. It was the supervisor'sduty to secure information on all details of the ceremony from theone best qualified to supply that information. When the father wasliving, this information was provided by him and the Long Armbundle impersonator, otherwise it was usually provided by the LongArm impersonator to the instructor who in turn passed this informa-tion on to the pledger of the ceremony. The instructor was one out-side the NaxpikE ceremonial fraternity and therefore initiallyuninformed in the rites and the significance of various elements of theceremony. Once the ceremony was given, his knowledge of the riteswas as great or even greater than his pupil, still he acquired no perma-nent rights whatsoever in the ceremony, his sole reward being theproperty which he received for his services and the distinction ofbeing selected as "ceremonial father." It was also the instructor'sduty to see that the goods were kept dry and in good condition, andto burn incense of pine spills on four separate occasions during thepreparatory period.Regardless of the amount of goods already accumulated or pledged,when the time approached for the performance of the ceremony, theinstructor carried the red tubular pipe the pledger was to receiveduring the rites and stopped at each lodge where young men of thepledger's clan lived to cry, "This is a great thing your brother is doingfor his people. You should help him now. He has worked hard to
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 315bring credit to your clan. He will soon be suffering where SpringBoy suffered. Then you can come and suffer too; perhaps you toowill get a good dream and become a leader among your people."Final preparations were completed when the leaves were fullgrown and the days were hot. The instructor would invite thepledger and his wife to his lodge to outline the final steps preparatoryto the erection of the ceremonial shelter. The Holy Women's societywas invited in at the same time and feasted. From the society eightwomen who had passed the menopause were selected to prepare theceremonial grounds. Those berdaches who were to assist in diggingthe hole for the central post were taken in with the Holy Women withwhom they cooperated in various ceremonies. When Good Bear per-formed the ceremony, a Sioux named Twelve was selected as, shortlybefore, the Mandan berdache had been killed by the Sioux and theonly Hidatsa berdache had fled to the Crow Agency when the Govern-ment agent forcibly stripped him of his feminine attire, dressed himin men's clothing, and cut off his braids. The berdache selected thecentral post, which was of cottonwood from driftwood in the Missouri,and received his instructions from the instructor. When a log ap-parently suitable for the central post was discovered, the berdachecalled for the instructor to inspect it. If suitable, and the log wasfloating in the river, rawhide thongs were attached to it, and it wasstaked down to prevent the current from carrying it away. Aid wasthen asked of the young men in carrying it to high ground.On the day when the central log was to be brought in, the Long Armimpersonator took charge. He would instruct his announcer to callthrough the village, "This morning is the time to get the big post.Fix up in your best clothing; get on your best horses; bring yourlariats with you,"Young and middle-aged men would respond and form a line. LongArm impersonator called for the pledger's wife and she walked infront of him to the place where the ceremony at the post was to beheld. He would point his eagle wingbone whistle toward the skyand blow it; this was the signal for the young men to charge thepost as though it were an enemy. The young man striking firstwas believed to have received the supernatural powers to strikean enemy. Four men took credit for striking the post. Then themen gathered around the log, where each sang his own personal sacredsongs, prayed for supernatural powers, attached their lariats underthe log, and proceeded to carry it between them to the ceremonialgrounds.When they started with the log, Long Arm impersonator advancedtoward them, pointing his whistle alternately toward the sky andground. They stopped four times in bringing the log to the ceremonial
316 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194grounds, each time on a signal of Long Arm impersonator. The fourthstop was at the shelter.** The pledger's wife, eight Holy Women, andthe berdache *^ must be on the grounds when the log arrived. Theinstructor delivered a buffalo head with a strip of hide along the backand the tail to the berdache who fastened the head to the fork in thelog and then tied sandbar willow brush and buckbrush to the head.Young men raised the post into place and the berdache tamped the soilaround it. The eight Holy Women meanwhile put the side posts inplace and tamped them securely. The young men then cut andbrought in the roof poles. There was rivalry between the young mento see which side would be first to complete its section with cottonwoodbranches. Unlike the Mandan in simUar competitive situations,moiety division was not employed. They would say that the firstperson to reach the central post would be lucky. The lodge was com-pleted that day before sunset.Long Arm impersonator would devote the next day to arrangingthings in the lodge. First he would mark the location of the doorwayto the west of south. Then he erected two small mounds, north ofthe central post and near the edge of the lodge, from earth alreadybrought in. A bundle of buckbrush was placed upright on eachmound. During the ceremony. Long Arm impersonator's place wasto the west of these mounds. While Long Arm impersonator wasfixing the lodge, the pledger brought in bedding and arranged his bedbehind the two mounds, placing buckbrush under his robes.The ceremony began that evening with "Cuts Hole in the Mouth"dance. Four young men who had struck first coup on the enemy andwere noted for their bravery were selected by Long Aim impersonatorto be the first to enter the lodge. Meanwhile, Long Arm impersonatorhad erected a small post and dressed it to make it appear like an enemystanding there. The clothing, which had been provided by the pledgerand his wife, consisted of a man's complete outfit and fine robedecorated with porcupine quillwork. The four warriors went to thetwo mounds and sang, dancing back and forth toward the smaUpost dressed as an enemy. The fourth time they rushed the "enemy,"striking him. The first to strike took the robe while the three otherperformers divided the remaining goods between them. This com-pleted the Cuts Hole in the Mouth ceremony. As the dancers leftthe lodge, they gave the clothing stripped from the post to old menstanding outside the door. The pledger paid the eight Holy Womenand the berdache in robes for their services and the ceremonial shelterwas ready for the fasters.
4? This approach by four stages was a common pattern for Hldatsa ceremonies.? Formerly all berdaches participated.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 317Long Arm impersonator and the pledger were first to enter, followedby the fasters. Usually all clans were represented but younger clanbrothers of the pledger were usually best represented since a certainobligation was felt to help clansmen. There was no dancing the firstnight, only the cries of the fasters seeking visions. Each had anobject from his father's sacred bundle, hoping that his father's godswould send an appropriate dream. Younger fasters imitated theirolder clansmen. Crying continued all night. Some would go out-side beyond the limits of the village to cry, hoping to experiencevisions there, and return to the ceremonial lodge in the morning.First day.?Although 1 day had been devoted to rites of erectingthe lodge and another to preparing the altar and performing the
"Cuts Hole in the Mouth" dance, this was all considered preliminaryto the main performance. The ceremony began with the arrival ofthe 10 to 12 singers who were to dii-ect the singing. Individualsdesiring to qualify as singers received prior instructions and trainingfrom the Long Arm impersonator whom they paid for their rights todirect the singing and to receive pay from those fasting dm-ing theceremony. The recognized singers performed each time the ceremonywas performed. Long Arm impersonator, the pledger, and the fastersremained at the shelter during the night. As soon as the people sawthe singers leaving for the shelter, they knew that the ceremony wasabout to begin. The entire population gathered and stood aroundthe lodge to observe the practices; only menstruating women werebarred.As soon as the singers arrived, the Long Arm impersonator dressedthe pledger to represent Spring Boy. He led the pledger to the frontof the mounds where white clay which had been previously mixedwith water was ready for use.*^ Using dark sage as a brush. Long Armimpersonator painted the pledger's entire body white, singing thePainting song as he worked. Black paint was used to draw a newmoon on the forehead with the "horns" extending onto the cheeks.The nose was painted black. A tanned leather apron was tied aroundthe pledger's waist and extended to his knees. Then his wrists werepainted black, an enemy's scalp was tied to his left wrist and a driedhuman hand to his right. He wore a jackrabbit skin cap. A hoopof willow wrapped with otterskin to look ornamental was tied on hisback; this hoop represented the Moon. Then his ankles were paintedblack. All the equipment was prepared beforehand by the instructorwith the assistance of the Long Arm impersonator. Each fasterreceived an eagle wingbone whistle.
? The white clay was secured from hills on the Knife River near the present town of Golden Valley. LongArm sent some young man out for the clay and gave him authority to use the clay for doctoring. It wasconsidered a high honor to be so selected.
318 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194When the pledger was properly painted and decorated, he approachedthe central post. This was the signal for all fasters to stand andblow their whistles. This provided the fasters with an opportunityto observe the pledger dressed and painted as Spring Boy had beenprepared according to tradition when he was taken into the shelterto suffer during the first performance of the ceremony in the sky.The ceremony was directed by the Long Arm impersonator just asthe original ceremony in the sky was supervised by Long Arm. Thepledger danced back and forth between the two mounds and thecentral post where the buffalo head and hide hung. The hide and headalso represented Spring Boy. In the mythology, Buffalo volunteeredto take the place of Spring Boy who was tied to the forks of the postduring the original ceremony at which time Lodge Boy came to freehim.*^The parents of those fasting during the ceremony were expected tofeed the singers. Whenever relatives observed that one of theiryoung men was tired from dancing, it was customary to bring foodfor the singers who would then halt the rites to eat. Fasters wererequired to get up and dance each time the singing commenced, butthe pledger was expected to dance more energetically than the others.It was customary for a clan brother fasting during the ceremony toassist the pledger, whenever the latter appeared exhausted, by as-suming his place. Then the Long Arm impersonator painted anddressed the assisting clan brother in the pledger's outfit for severaldances. Dancing and singing ended shortly before sunset.Second day.?The preliminaries to the dancing were essentially thesame as for the preceding day. Usually most of the young boys whohad not terminated their fasts the preceding evening were no longerable to endure hunger and left during the forenoon of the second day,leaving only those who seriously sought visions. The Long Armimpersonator painted and dressed the pledger as on the previous day.Then the singers arrived and the dancing began. One wishing toendure the torture feature would go to his parents and announce hisdesire. They would say, "That is the way to be successful and prom-inent. If you do that you will have a good reputation and the peoplewill listen when you have something to say. Perhaps you will belucky and get the many fine horses and other things that you want.In warfare you will be lucky and strike the enemy."In other cases an older brother discussed the matter of "runningaround the post" prior to the ceremony and urged him to take thesesteps to become lucky. In a few instances older brothers had beenknown to be exceedingly abusive with one showing little inclination
<* Tlie word for buffalo is miiE an abbreviation of mrtEc meaning 'I die.' It was believed that the buf-falo was called mifE, because he volunteered his body for use in the ceremony.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 319to undertake personal privations, but fathers usually did not speaksharply to sons unless driven to such extreme measures by their joldngrelatives. When a young man announced that he wished to be tor-tured at the post, the parents sang their sacred songs and praisedtheir son publicly before bringing the food, calicoes, robes, and horseswhich were to be given to the "father" inserting the thongs. The
"father" selected?always an eminent man with a good war record
?
would go to the young man and lead him to the post, all the whilesinging his sacred songs and relating the successes that his "son" toowould achieve. He would say, "My son, this is a great thing you areundertaking. You will be lucky. This will make your people luckytoo."The "father" would then select two men to do the actual flesh-cutting for the insertion of the sticks. When the Long Arm imper-sonator was selected as "father," it was customary to name two menwho had the high military honor of striking and killing a single enemywhen out alone. When such individuals were not available, menwith the next higher honors were selected. The "father" would payhis assistants with part of the goods, give the food to the singers, andkeep the balance of the goods. The man was tied to the rawhide stripby means of the thongs and left to run and swing around the postwhile the relatives cried and prayed for him. When he was exhausted,he was untied from the hide; the thongs were removed by the LongArm impersonator who pressed the flesh down and covered the cutswith white clay. Then another candidate submitted to the tortureordeal. As each candidate completed the torture ordeal, he pickedup his sacred bundle and robe and left the ceremonial grounds to eat,bathe, and rest. He frequently sought a quiet place beyond the vil-lage limits to rest in the hope that he would receive a good dream.Third day.?This day was a repetition of the second. Long Armimpersonator painted and dressed the pledger as before. This wasthe principal torture day and the activities began as soon as the singersarrived. Each candidate selected a "father" to conduct the rites atthe post. Large crowds would gather to see what goods each fastergave to his "father" and to observe the responses each faster made tothe infliction of pain. The parents would cry as their sons ran aroundthe post. Sometimes the sticks would tear out and the candidatewould be thrown across the shed or even fly through the wall. Sincea young man was not freed until he was exhausted or showed fear, itwas frequently impossible to accommodate all candidates.Fourth day.?The pledger was painted as before. NormaUy therewas no torturing on this day but Wolf Chief submitted to torture andrecalled that it was not unusual. The dancing continued all day.Fasters could leave any time they wished. As before, the parents
320 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194brought food for the singers whenever their boys appeared tired.Some fasters would leave for the hills to continue the fast, otherswould break the fast but retire to isolated spots to sleep in the hopeof receiving good dreams. By this time there were usually only a fewfasters left. A fasting clansman was expected to stay until the cere-mony terminated in order to take the pledger's place should the latterbecome totally exhausted. The singers and remaining fasters left thelodge at sunset. Long Arm impersonator delivered to the pledgerall the things he had worn while impersonating Spring Boy. Theseitems became his personal property and were made into a ceremonialbundle which he cared for during his lifetime and which was placedat his grave or scaffold when he died.The ceremony was concluded with sweat lodge rites attended bythe pledger, his wife or wives, and the Long Arm impersonator at thelatter's lodge. The instructor usually attended, since he had handledthe sacred objects too. Special cleansing songs were sung by Long Armimpersonator while rubbing the occupants with a switch made of thedark sage. The sweat lodge participants then partook of food pre-pared by the wives of the Long Arm impersonator. While participat-ing in the cleansing rites at the termination of the NaxpikE, the LongArm impersonator gave the pledger the right to doctor injuries fromfalling limbs or trees. This right to doctor could be sold four timesindependently of NaxpikE performances. The lodge was left standinguntU it fell down. When the ceremony was next performed, a new sitewas selected.We see that a NaxpikE performance provided a formal institutionfor the transfer of bundle rights from a father to his son. In addition,it provided an opportunity for others to fast and thereby receivevision instructions to purchase their own fathers' bundle rights tothis and other ceremonies. The ceremony also provided the pubUcwith an opportunity to observe young men's abilities to endure thetorture features of the ceremony. Having performed the NaxpikEdid not entitle one to take the part of the Long Arm. This bundleright was sold independently to a son or sons who had formerlyperformed the NaxpikE, but, in historic times at least, there seemsto have been no inclination to maintain more than the one bundleline originating at Awatixa village.There was reluctance on the part of men to marry widows whohad participated in the ceremony with their late husbands and itwas said that the decision whether or not to marry largely restedwith the man. This was in line with native concepts that super-natural powers were controlled by certain rules which the uninformedwould not know. Women of bundle owners frequently made apublic vow during the husband's funeral rites that they would not
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 321
remarry. There was one important exception to this rule; the widowcould marry the deceased husband's brother or one who owned thesame bundle rights without bringing bad luck to the husband sincethey were familiar with, and had participated in, the ceremony.Since this rarely happened, widows of bundle owners generallyremained unmarried as in the case of Mrs. Good Bear who took thevow when her husband died and was never asked to marry thereafter.^"The ceremony has frequently been compared with the MandanOkipa as though the two ceremonies were identical. This is not thecase. The entire drama involved quite different culture heroes andsettings. By comparison with the complex Mandan Okipa, theHidatsa Naxpiks is a very simple rite. Maximilian wrote:They likewise celebrate the Okippe (which they call Akupehri), but with severaldeviations. Thus, instead of the so-called ark, a kind of high pole, with a forkon the summit, is planted in the centre of the open circle. [Natives insist thatthis is not true; that the ceremony was always performed at the edge of thevillage. These dancing spots can still be identified at several of the old villagesites.] When the partisans of the war parties intend to go on some enterprisein May or June, the preparations are combined with the Okippe of several youngmen, who wish to obtain the rank of the brave, or men.^i . . . The partisan[pledger] is bound to build the medicine lodge. During the ceremony the spec-tators eat and smoke; the candidates take nothing, and, like the partisans, arecovered all over with white clay. The latter, when they dance during the cere-mony, remain near their pits, and then move on the same spot, holding in theirhands their medicines, a buffalo's tail, a feather, or the like. None but thecandidates dance, and the only music is striking a dried buffalo's hide with willowrods. There have been instances of fathers subjecting their children, only sixor seven years of age, to these tortures. We ourselves saw one suspended bythe muscles of the back, after having been compelled to fast four days. [Maxi-mihan, 1906, vol. 23, pp. 377-378.]I doubt that the ceremony was called Akuperi since that is theterm by which the Mandan Okipa ceremony is known today. Hisdescription of the Naxpiks ceremony, which is the only one employ-ing the forked post, is essentially the same as described to me exceptthat, in later years, the principal torture feature was performed onthe third day and fathers didj not subject their sons to torture unlessrequested by the son (and then at an older age).The Charles McKenzie account of 1805 (McKenzie, 1889, vol. 1,pp. 354-357) from his observations of a performance at Hidatsavillage indicates that the torture feature was more severe at that timethan in 1879 when Good Bear performed the ceremony. He mentionssimultaneous "assembly line" piercing of the flesh of a number of
"> I asked several men why they did not marry her and each said that she was holy and they wouldhave bad luck." Maximilian is correct that the rites stim ulated military activities; those who had good dreams werealways quick to test the potency of their dreams by going out to take possession of the property promisedthem by the supernatural.
322 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
candidates and the fastening of the thongs of different candidates tobuffalo heads, the number to which the candidate was tied dependingupon his military reputation. Although Mrs. Good Bear did notobserve anyone so tortured when her husband performed the rites,an individual frequently requested a "father" to pierce his skin sothat he might drag buffalo heads through the village on other occasions.Perhaps the fact that the population was so much smaller in her timeprovided time for all who wished to receive torture at the post.McKenzie mentions those warriors who had killed the enemy aswearing skulls and scalps while fasting. This was not a practiceunique to NaxpikE; fasters frequently wore human bones on otheroccasions or fasted near the scaffolds and graves of their own peopleor near heaps of bones belonging to the enemy. The practice ofthrowing the buffalo heads over a beam in order to suspend the can-didates was not employed in later years at Fishhook.In former times, according to Mrs. Good Bear, it was customaryfor the pledger to offer flesh and fingers to the gods above during theperformance of the ceremony, but in her time this was not done ; infact, it was optional to the pledger whether he submitted to personaltorture. Rabbit Head did, but her husband did not. In McKenzie 'stime old women of the Holy Women society who prepared the groundsalso chewed Black Medicine root which they spat on the wounds.In Mrs. Good Bear's time, although she knew of the above practice,the Long Arm impersonator provided white clay for cleansing thewounds.McKenzie correctly describes the practice of taking the finger tipsand flesh to the edge of the village as an offering to the Sun since theSun and his sister were cannibals who ate human flesh and decoyedpeople into battles so that they could eat. Although the HidatsaNaxpikE has undergone numerous changes since first described in1805, the same changes were being made in other ceremonies also.As the Hidatsa culture changed under the impact of White culture,the NaxpikE was no longer considered a means chiefly of attainingsupernatural powers through the medium of the sacred arrows tobecome skilled hunters and warriors with the arrow as a weapon.Mrs. Good Bear interpreted her husband's dreams preliminary toperforming the ceremony in terms of existing values as of 1879:All of the things that Good Bear saw in his dreams or was promised by Porcu-pine Pemmican and the other men came true. The first time he was away towar he struck a Sioux. He afterward learned that the man in the white collarand dressed in fine clothing was the Roman Catholic priest. And the shinything that he saw coming down from above that he thought at the time was thehoop used in the NaxpikE he learned after he joined the Church was the HolyGhost coming down from Heaven. Because he saw the two bulls that belongedto the White man, he had many cattle. The boxes of goods stacked in front of
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 323the long house he afterward learned represented the store that he had for anumber of years. Porcupine Pemmican promised him during the ceremony thathe would be a leader among his people and the Government named him a judgeto try Indian cases and he was judge until he died.Expressed in social status, one giving the ceremony?althoughhighly respected?did not otherwise enjoy a higher position thanthose who had performed other socially recognized rites.Woman Above and Holy Women CeremoniesAccording to native traditions, shortly after First Creator andLone Man had created the earth and the male animals, a mysteriousor holy woman named VUlage-Old-Woman living in the southlandlearned of this new land. She resolved to create females of eachspecies created by First Creator and Lone Man in order to perpetuatelife, and to give the people female creatures to worship. For eachspecies of living males created by the other two culture heroes, shecreated females to serve as gods as well as food for the people whowere to inhabit the earth. Long after she had done this, she heardof the people living near the Ejiife River and followed the MissouriRiver underground to its source in the Rocky Mountains, failing tofind the village. In her searches for the people she dug deep trenches,producing the valley in which the stream and its tributaries flow.She returned underground to Knife River where she entered thewomb of a young woman and thus was born into the village. Whenshe grew to maturity she created the "Holy Women in the groves ofthe four directions," Woman Above, and all other female deities.From time to time she introduced new ceremonies and practiceswhich the people adopted. Because she created both the HolyWomen and Woman Above, she introduced many common sacredobjects for these sacred bundles and ruled that whenever a ceremonywas performed, rites should also be performed for the Holy Womenwhom she had created.According to native belief the two ceremonies?Holy Women andWoman Above?did not begin at the same time. The Holy Womenare mentioned in the myths of Unknown Man prior to the foundingof the NaxpikE rites and it is believed that rites to these women goback to the beginning of time when the two sexes were created andVillage-Old-Woman was born into the tribe, bringing to the peopleher supernatural powers. In the Unknown Man myth the HolyWomen bring meat and cover the scaffolds during a fog sent to thevillage by Two Men (see p. 307). Reference to the Holy Womenis made in most of the ceremonies.In historic times the Holy Women religious society was composedof aged females who had bought their rights individually from their
324 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
Spectators Robes
Figure 3.?Ceremony to the Sun, Moon, and Woman Above. (Drawn by Wolf Chief.)mothers after dreaming of the Holy Women. In this sense theorganization differed from the White Buffalo Cow and Goose societieswhich, although religious in character, were group-purchased. Mem-bership was composed chiefly of daughters of women possessingrights in the Holy Women organization and wives or sisters of WomanAbove bundle owners. All individuals meeting these requirementsdid not, at least in early historic times, seek membership. This wasdue, according to native interpretations, to the failure to obtainappropriate dreams or the inability to amass the required propertyto complete the purchase. There was, however, an increase inpopularity of the White Buffalo Cow society, the members of whichwere women of about the same age; it is possible that the HolyWomen organization suffered from this competing society.The leader of the society was the Village-Old-Woman impersonatorand the other members represented Holy Women of the groves ofthe four sacred directions. They selected a male singer who metwith them. In historic times Cherry Necldace was singer until hisdeath. When no one offered to buy his rights, the women performedwithout a male singer. The singer bought his rights from the societybut particularly from the ViUage-Old-Woman impersonator. SinceVillage-Old-Woman created all of the other female deities, the singeroccupied a ceremonial position superior to aU male owners of Woman
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 325
Sun UWomanAboveFigure 4.?Ceremonial appointments for Woman Above ceremony. (Drawn by BearsArm.)Above bundles. Each village had Holy Woman representatives;in fact, they were represented in the Mandan villages also. TheMandan had even gone one step further and had named one of theirclans, the Managoctadomak or "People in a Grove" from these HolyWomen. The organization was composed of about 20 members,including the village berdaches, according to the recollection of myinformants, but new members were not taken in during later years?and the number never increased.These spirit women'were identified with the magpies that lived inthe ash and oak groves. All dressed alike in mountain sheep dressespainted white. Each woman wore two magpie feathers in her hairand a braid of sweetgrass on her left shoulder. Each painted a redoval on each cheek and sometimes on the forehead. Each carried a710-195?65 ^22
326 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
stick, made of ash and decorated with white sage, about 4 feet longin her right hand, using it as a cane. Their red-painted robes wererolled up and carried under the left arm. The singer carried a simi-larly painted robe under his left arm and red drumsticks, using hisrobe as a drum whenever the group sang. Although the four directionswere represented in the total membership, no distinctive dress orpainting distinguished members of the various directions. The mothersold rights only in the direction which she represented and could sellfour times before relinquishing her rights. In the purchase of singerrights, males seeking to join the organization secured the assistance ofa clan father as instructor, following the same pattern indicated forthe purchase of NaxpilcE rights.The organization met whenever a tribal ceremony was being per-formed; their role differed between ceremonies. They also met anddanced whenever a successful war party returned. In aboriginaltimes they represented an important group, in fact, the only groupthat could claim some rights of participation in every ceremony. Thiswas by virtue of the fact that the organization was associated withevery ceremony that involved deities created by the Village-Old-Woman impersonator. Of aU the ceremonies, the Holy Women wereconsidered to be related most closely to the Woman Above rites al-though, according to native concepts, this ceremony was establishedvery late after Grandson had founded the Stone Hammer society andsome time before the first horses were acquired.The customs of the berdache were based on native concepts that fora man to dream of Village-Old-Woman or a loop of sweetgrass was aninstruction to dress as a woman and to behave as a special class of
"females." It was believed that when a man saw a coil of sweetgrassin the brush he should look away, otherwise the Village-Old-Womanor the female deities whom she created would cause his mind to weakenso that he would have no relief until he "changed his sex." Often aman would tell of his experiences, how everywhere he looked he wouldsee the coiled sweetgrass and how hard he was trying to keep fromchanging over. Those who made the change and assumed feminineattire and activities were pitied by others. The people would saythat he had been claimed by a Holy Woman and therefore nothingcould be done about it. They were treated, until recently, as mys-terious and holy. Since they had been "claimed" by a Holy Woman,they met Avith the organization and performed many tasks other^visetoo difficult for the women, such as raising the posts for the NaxpikEceremony. They dressed and painted in the same way as the HolyWomen for ceremonial occasions. Inasmuch as the organization ofHoly Women was considered to be a benevolent group, doing much toassist the people in time of starvation, berdaches were well thought of,
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 327although pitied. Young men going to war would ask supernaturalaid of the Holy Women, receive a sacred object to wear, and, if suc-cessful, prepare feasts for them.According to native beliefs, the Woman Above ceremony did notreach the tribe from "above" until very late in Hidatsa history.^^Only three bundle lines were unbroken by the epidemic of 1837:Twisted Wood of Awatixa sold to Crows Paunch; Seven Dogs ofAwatixa sold to two sons, No Tears and Dogs Urine; No Tears soldto Hairy Coat; and Small Ankles sold to Red Basket, brother of WolfChief. It is not certain whether the rights came to Small Anklesfrom his stepfather, a Mandan, or Old-Man-Shoots-With, his ownfather. It is suggested by Wolf Chief that it came from the Mandanstepfather. If that is the case, organized bundles existed only atAwatixa. In the case of the Seven Dogs bundle line, only No Tearssold to his sons for Dogs Urine later showed cowardice by pushing hisdaughter from his horse when they were pursued by the Sioux. Aftershe was kUled, he dropped all of his rites, put all of his bundles awayon the prairie, and no longer participated in any social or ceremonialactivities. He entertained no friends and avoided meeting people.Although his son, Sitting Bear, tried to get ahead, he was ashamed ofhis father and would have nothing to do with his father's rites.By contrast with the Hidatsa village groups, seven distinct bundlelines were preserved by the Mandan with whom the rites were highlydeveloped with numerous sacred myths and skull circle shrines onthe adjacent prairie. The bundle rites were practically identicalfor the two tribes and those having rights in the ceremony met to-gether irrespective of tribe, a practice which it is said they followedeven before the two tribes united at Fishhook. The poor representa-tion of bundle lineages for Hidatsa and Awaxawi village groups andthe highly developed rites and practices of the Mandan indicate thatthe beliefs had been formalized into ritual performances for theMandan somewhat earlier, and that the Awatixa, who have thelongest traditional residence on the Missouri, had the highest de-velopment of the rites and beliefs. The Hidatsa-proper and theAwaxawi, who were traditionally last to take up residence on theMissouri, had not gone very far in establishing these bundles.According to native conceptions, the following sacred tradition,given in condensed form, provided the basis for the establishment ofrites to Woman Above:There were great and powerful spirits above. One household up there consistedof a man and his wife, one daughter, and two sons. The older son observed theHidatsa below and, liking their habits, indicated a desire to go down there to live.
" For matters of organization of the data, I have recorded it at this point because of its close psychologicalties with the Doly Women rites. For an actual bundle purchase, see pp. 405-409.
328 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194His father said that it was a hard thing to do and gave him instructions in gettinginto a young woman's body so that he could be born into the tribe. The fathersent him down that evening when the stars came out, warning him not to forgetwho he was.The young man walked into an earth lodge and turned himself into a kernel ofyellow corn. He was eaten with the mush. In time he was born. His father'ssister wrapped him in a hide tanned at the smokehole and he forgot himself.He grew to be a large boy and, one evening while playing with burning corncobson arrows, his father from above came down to refreshen his memory but the boybecame angry and ordered him away. The old man and his wife above called theboy back and he died to return to the sky.The younger brother asked to go down to the earth and promised that he wouldnot forget his true identity. He, too, was wrapped in the smoke-tanned hide andlost his memory. When he was 18 years old, his older brother living in the lodgetold him that it was now time to begin fasting so that he would become a prominentman in the village like those he saw about him. While the young man was fastingon the third night, a stranger appeared and the boy then remembered himself.He was told to go to war, that he would get one enemy on the first trip, two on thesecond, three on the third, and four on the fourth trip.The young man returned to his parent's lodge and was taken to the head of thelodge near the sacred objects where he continued to fast, but he received noadditional dreams. He made three trips out for the enemies promised him andeverything happened just as he was promised.Meanwhile his sister up in the sky received no offerings from him, only hisfather, and she became jealous. Because he did not make oflferings to her also,she blessed a warrior of an enemy tribe who made oflferings to her and adoptedhim as her "son," promising him that he would overcome seven of the Hidatsas.When the young man went out the fourth time, the expedition was unsuccessfuland seven of his party were killed by an enemy painted red and wielding a clubof burnt ash wood. The young man fasted seven nights for seven differenttimes. Each time as he came back after fasting seven nights, the other youngmen would come out to meet him to cry also. The seventh time during hisfasting, four old women with their robes tied at the breast came from the fourdirections to inform him that his sister in the sky had blessed the enemy andhad adopted a "son" there, protecting him with a string reaching down from thesky. They informed him that this enemy could only be killed if this young manperformed rites for the Holy Women and Village-Old-Woman who created allof them, including this "sister" living above.He returned from his fast and prepared the sweat lodge as instructed by thefour holy women and they flew in from the roof through the smokehole. Sincenone of the women assembled there felt capable of carrying the pipe to the holywomen in the sky, they sent for Village- Old-Woman who created all of them andshe, too, flew into the lodge through the smokehole.Village-Old-Woman did not believe that the Woman Above would take thepipe since she had already adopted a young man living with the enemy and hadalready promised him that he would be victorious over the Hidatsas. Neverthe-less, she agreed to go above to secure a hair from Woman Above's necklace toput in the sweat lodge with the stones. She promised that, if successful in gettingthe hair, the young man giving the ceremony would not destroy 30 but 400lodges.Village-Old-Woman left for "above land" with the pipe, asking the HolyWomen to come out and wave their robes at noon when Sun stopped to smoke.Woman Above refused to smoke for she had blessed an enemy and had taken him
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 329
as her "son." Village-Old-Woman threw a louse onto Woman Above's headand the Holy Women below waved their robes. Woman Above became drowsyand permitted Village-Old-Woman to touch the necklace with her pipe.Woman Above ate the corn balls, smoked the pipe, and then went to sleep.Village-Old-Woman stole the necklace, sang the victory songs, and flew down tothe village where the ceremony was being performed, again entering the lodgethrough the smokehole.The Holy Women placed the image in the sweat lodge pit, put the hot stoneson it, poured in the water, heard the image burst, and then announced that theyoung man had conquered his enemies. With this assurance, the young man leda war party toward Mouse River and built two mounds ^ as Holy Womendirected.Hearing young men singing, he found that they were being led by Swallow andHawk who were teaching them the Stone Hammer society songs.
^
The young man selected Swallow and Hawk to kill the enemy who had beenadopted as Woman Above's son and gave them instructions in cutting off thehead so that it would not come back to life again.During the fight, the leader of the enemies was seen coming into the conflict,painted red on the forehead and cheeks with a robe of calfskin and wearing magpiefeathers in his hair. All the time he was protected by a string reaching downfrom a small cloud overhead. *5Swallow and Hawk cut the string, causing their enemy to lose his supernaturalpowers originating with Woman Above. Woman Above came down from thesky, carrying her ashwood stick in her right hand and wearing her robe with acoil of sweetgrass. She was painted red on the forehead and cheeks. Shedemanded the head which Swallow and Hawk had taken but they took it to theirleader instead. He extended his pipe toward the head, which died. Then theeyes closed.After removing the scalp, he gave Woman Above the head which she failed tobring to Ufe again. The war party returned to the village where the Holy Womendanced the scalp dances and received many presents. They sewed scalps to theyoung man's shirt, for he was now a chief, and gave him the name Young-Man-Chief. Whenever the warriors retiu-ned successfully from war the Holy Womenwould dance. When times were hard, they would butcher animals and put themeat on the scaffolds for the people. The rites were passed down from generationto generation. Because Young- Man-Chief did not make offerings to his sisterabove, the people learned that she was holy so they prayed to her too. Village-Old-Woman was represented recently by Fast Dog's grandmother and CherryNecklace was the singer for the Holy Women.
" Similar mounds pertaining to these beliefs together with medicine poles are erected adjacent to thevillages as shrines for the arrangement of skuU circles: see Catlin, 1841, vol. 1, pp. 89-91, pi. 48; andMaximilian, 1906, vol. 23, p. 340." This incident dates the sacred myth as subsequent to Grandson's residence with the people since Grand-son founded the Stone Hammer society. According to native concepts, the sacred myth is interpreted torelate incidents that occurred prior to the founding of the Earthnamiag rites and the first introductionof the horse?Swallow and Hawk, who are mentioned in this rite, had died and were spirits when the Earth-naming rites were established. By relating incidents of this kind, native informants determine the relativechronological position of the various rites. For further information concerning Swallow and Hawk, seethe Earthnaming rites, pp. 434-436.55 This description of Woman Above's "son" provides the basis for subsequent dress and painting forthose Hidatsa who owned rights in Woman Above bundles. Note the close similarity of dress and paintingto the Holy Women; the basis for native concepts that the Holy Women and Women Above bundle ownersshould meet together on ceremonial occasions.
330 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Woman Above rites began much later than the Holy Women rites because theHoly Women were represented by Village-Old-Woman who went back to thebeginning of time, while all the others were created by her.In the mythology, Woman Above is usually associated with herbrother the Sun because both were believed to be vindictive andjealous, sending good luck to the enemy when offerings were notmade to them; both were cannibals and arranged battles in order toeat the victims; both consumed the flesh of dead animals; and bothwere responsible for hot winds that destroyed the crops. For thisreason, when offerings are made at the mounds adjacent to the scaf-folds and graves, both Sun and Woman Above were usually representedby poles and offerings.The Woman Above was considered opposite in character to theHoly Women. Whereas the Holy Women were thought of as benev-olent spirits, the Woman Above was thought;^ of as an evil-disposi-tioned spirit to whom curing rites with Woman Above bundles weredirected chiefly to avoid misfortunes such as miscarriages, prematurebirths, insanity, and paralysis. Men dressed in women's clothingand "renounced their sex" as a result of frequent visions sent by herand coils of sweetgrass placed in their paths by this mysteriouswoman or one of the Holy Women. Of the four berdaches remem-bered by Plidatsa informants aU were sons either of a Woman AboveBundle owner or of a member of the Holy Woman fraternity. Forthat reason, the berdache was considered holy because WomanAbove had "captured" him. He was considered a "prisoner" ofthe Woman Above and was authorized to participate in all ceremoniespertaining to the Holy Women with whom he was classified. Sincewomen were barred from actual participation in certain rites, hewas their representative when heavy work was required.In view of the apparent absence of Woman Above rites or, atmost, their slight formal organization in Hidatsa village on KnifeRiver, it would appear that the berdache had there a ritualisticrole stemming from the Holy Women rather than with WomanAbove. The Awatixa group, however, with both Holy Women andWoman Above ceremonies, was organized in the same manner asthe Mandan where many formal bundle lines and rites survived tothe present day. In detail, the Mandan and Awatixa rites are sosimilar as to indicate the diffusion of the complete complex fromone tribe to the other even to the skull circles which were ceremonialgrounds established by the Woman Above bundle owners. Appar-ently, only the Awatixa of the three Hidatsa village groups on theMissouri had definite Woman Above bundle lines although the SmallAnkles-Wolf Chief line may have come from Hidatsa through SmallAnkles' own father. In any event, there is little evidence that the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 331Hidatsa-proper and Awaxawi gave the rites to Woman Above asmuch emphasis as did the other village group, the Awatixa. TheHoly Women, however, are mentioned in both Hidatsa creationmyths and seem to represent very old rites which had a wide distri-bution within the Mandan-Hidatsa groups. The Woman Above mythis considered to be a segment of the Sacred Arrow myth thought tobe connected with the older Awatixa agricultural group on theMissouri.At this point it is noteworthy to observe that the Woman Aboverites were associated with certain beliefs and practices relating to thehuman body after death and that there seems to be a relationshipbetween the development of Woman Above rites and the disposal ofthe dead. There are numerous references in the literature dealingwith the Mandan concerning "skull circles," mounds, and posts withofferings which informants readily recognized as part of the beliefs andrites performed to Woman Above. She and the other gods above werebelieved to consume,^ the flesh of those placed on scaffolds, after whichthe skuUs were placed near one of these Woman Above or Sun shrinesas a fasting ground for those seeldng supernatural powers.These beliefs seem to have been deeply rooted in Mandan culture.Primary earth burials, except in or adjacent to the lodge, have beenexceedingly rare at all of the long-occupied Mandan villages. Instead,we commonly find secondary bundle burials of adults without the skullin all of their Heart River villages which indicate that the body hadbeen exposed to the air, probably until the flesh had all decayed, whenthe skulls were taken to these skull shrines. The other bones werewrapped in hide and buried in a shallow grave adjacent to the vfllageor within the refuse accumulation of the village itself; apparentlywithout ceremony. Of the two large Hidatsa groups, the Hidatsa-proper and the Awatixa, it is worth noting that the latter group, whosevillages on the south bank of the Knife River show occupation for twocenturies or more, have scarcely a grave adjacent to the village, asituation such as is encountered at the old Mandan villages. TheHidatsa-proper, whose village ruins indicate a much shorter period ofoccupation, have a large and extensive burial area extending for morethan a half mile to the west.Further evidence that cultural differences existed in native beliefsconcerning cannibalism by Woman Above is indicated by the fact thatboth the Mandan and Awatixa had several sacred bundles containinghuman skuUs, whereas none have been reported or are known of for theother two Hidatsa villages. The high development of Awatixabeliefs and practices concerning the Woman Above rites, althoughnever as highly formalized as with the Mandan, indicates that nativetraditions of separate migrations of Hidatsa groups to the Missouri
332 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
over a period of years are valid, and that of all these groups, theAwatixa are probably the original Hidatsa group to reach the Missouri.The bundles were identical as to content. In fact, most Mandanbundles contained essentially the same articles and the songs and riteswere identical. A complete bundle contained 1 large gourd rattle, 12short ashwood sticks decorated with white sage, braided sweetgrass,an enemy's scalp, a jackrabbitskin, magpie feathers, white down froman eagle, a bundle of white sage, and a buffalo skull. Bundle purchasefollowed the tribal pattern in that sons bought their rights from theirfathers after receiving visions interpreted as instructions to make thepurchase. Usually one first made offerings through renewal feasts forthe father's bundle after winning war honors whUe wearing someobject, usually a magpie feather supplied by the father who hadprayed that his son would be successful. It was customary for a sonto put up feasts to his father's bundle even though not contemplatingthe purchase of the rites, and to receive some object from the bundle asrecognition of his efforts.New bundles were assembled when a complete purchase was to bemade. On selling the fourth time, the original bundle was relin-quished. A clan "father" was selected as instructor to assemble thearticles, direct all preliminaries, and arrange for a bundle owner withsinger rights to officiate during the bundle transfer. The ceremonywas of 1 night's duration.^** When the purchaser wished to havesinger rights, it was necessary to get extra instructions from one havingthose rights. The seller prepared an extra rattle or purchased onefrom one who was too old to officiate or from the widow of a formersinger. The rights to the rattle and to be singer were transferred at afeast for those holding rights in Woman Above bundles. In recentyears those Mandans having rights in Woman Above and other femaledeities also met with them.Bundle renewal was an important responsibility of a bundle owner.It was customary for the bundle owner and his family to perform arenewal rite occassionally, at which time they were assisted by theirclans in accumulating the goods. At the termination of the rites,the family woiild be nearly propertyless but it served a useful purposein demonstrating that "supernatural possessions were to be preferredto material wealth." Their relatives usually replenished their mate-rial needs. Individuals, particularly those whose fathers belongedto the bundle owner's clan, often pledged feasts to the bundle if theyreturned from a successful military expedition. Other "sons" and
"daughters" sometimes pledged feasts before a military adventurewas undertaken. All the leading bundle owners of the tribe, those
<* See pp. 405-409 below on the Sunrise Wolf rites for a detailed account of a bundle transfer.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 333whose sacred bundles contained buffalo skulls, were invited tofeast and to receive gifts. The sacred songs were sung and eachgift recipient prayed for the success of the giver. At the close of thefeast three ash poles were set in the ground outside of the village torepresent Sun, Moon, and Woman Above. Two mounds were con-structed with sage at the top and human skulls were placed in circlessurrounding the image of Woman Above. Fasters frequently wentto these shrines to fast.Since Sun and Woman Above were believed to be cannibals, offeringsof flesh and the tips of fingers were often made to them. There weredoctoring rites to cure those manifesting mental disorders, also ritesto cause an enemy to "lose his mind" so that he wandered aboutaimlessly on the prairies to be killed by Hidatsa war parties and to be
"eaten" by Woman Above. Since the ashwood stick was a part ofthe sacred equipment, those who suffered injuries from falling treescalled in a bundle owner to set broken bones and repair their injuries.Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and Related CeremoniesAfter providing the traditional setting for the NaxpikE ceremony(Sun Dance) and the Holy Women society, the Sacred Arrows mythintroduces incidents leading to the adoption of another group of otherclosely related ceremonies. Because Grandson or Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, or both, participated in certain supernatm'al eventsduring the sacred mythological period, the rites having traditionalorigins at that time are believed to be related. Thus, individualspossessing sacred bundles representing these experiences were entitledto attend rites performed for one of the related bundles. No individualowned complete rights in all of the related bundles.The Sacred Arrow myth, which provides the mythological andtraditional origin of the bundle rites of the complex, begins at the pointwhere Two Men terminate their instructions to Unknown Man in theNaxpikE rites and inform him that he is the first to make the SunDance brought down from above. The Sacred Arrow myth inabbreviated form from that point follows:Three young women out in the trees gathering wood discover a porcupine.They select the youngest one to climb the tree and shake the animal down. Thetree grows as she climbs until she reaches the world above when she is takento Woman Above's lodge where two sons, Sun and Moon, live.^^Moon is in the lodge with his mother for he was the one who had decided tomarry the girl. Sun comes in at sunset and announces that he has married aToad Woman. Toad fastens herself to Moon's back when he teases her, a righthe has since he is her brother-in-law.
" This Woman Above is not to be confused with her daughter also named Woman Above to whom riteswere performed.
334 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull- 194A son is born to Moon and the girl from below. Meadowlark tells the son hedoes not belong up there. Moon forbids his wife to dig "wild turnip's sister" andin digging one she finds the hole in the sky. Moon's wife makes a rope of thesinews from one buffalo but Moon did not include all of them so the rope reachesonly to the tree tops. Moon's wife and son attempt to escape down the rope andMoon discovers them hanging at the end of the rope at the level of the treetops.He drops a stone, directing it to kill the woman but to spare his son.^*The son remains around his mother's body which falls near a large garden caredfor by Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. Discovering a child's tracks in her garden,she wonders whether they are by a boy or a girl. She makes a bow and arrowswhich will be taken if it is a boy and a ball if it is a girl. Finding the bow andarrows taken, she knows that the tracks have been made by a boy so she looks forhim and takes him to her lodge near by.She forbids him to roast the red corn, giving him permission to use any othervariety. He roasts red kernels; they turn into blackbirds which he kills. Sheappears pleased but she takes them outside and frees them for they are her helpersin the gardens.She forbids him to go into a certain thicket but he goes there and finds a largegrizzly bear who does not kill him for the bear is afraid of the boy's father, theMoon. So he takes the bear to his grandmother to serve instead of a dog. [Thisact introduces the Bear rites and relates them to the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites.]During the evening he hears Two Men singing love songs to Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies from a village on the north side of the river.^^ Meanwhile he observesthat his grandmother feeds someone who is staying under her bed and behindthe curtains.The grandmother forbids him to go to Red Hills but when she was not in sighthe goes there and finds that the hill is full of snakes. The snakes tell the boythat they are eagle trappers and that the lodge arrangement is for the ceremonialcapture of eagles. [The myth at this point describes the lodge arrangement forthe rites of eagle trapping and explains that the snakes were the first eagle trappersto set up the altar.]The snakes bite into a paunch, leaving their teeth there, and offer it to the boywho roasts the paunch. This burns their teeth and they all run out. The snakesaddress him as "Grandson," for they and all other snakes represent the husbandsof Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies.The snakes ask him to tell them a story. Grandson tells how the buttes makea noise like the wind and then it is quiet again; part of the snakes go to sleep.The streams make a noise like the wind and then it is quiet again; half of thesnakes are asleep. The large trees make a loud noise in the wind and then it isquiet again; only a few snakes are still awake. The wind blows hard and then itdies down; all of the snakes are asleep.Grandson kills all of the snakes except the last one which goes into a hole.This snake warns Grandson never to lie on his stomach to drink. [This redhill provides the name for one of the Mandan clans, the MasEdomak or "RedHilled People," receiving the name from Clay-on-the-Face who provided thenames of the seven clans making up one moiety. I could find no evidence thatthe Hidatsa clan names were in any way associated with this hill situated less
'8 For a picture of this stone, now a shrine to Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, and another version of thismyth, see Beckwith, 1938." This site was excavated by the Smithsonian Institution in 1952. The artifacts?particularly pottery-observed by this writer, appear to give the site a date of late prehistoric period, Heart River Focus.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 335than a mile southeast of the Holding Eagle home in the Fort Berthold Res-ervation.]Grandson learns that it is a large snake, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' husband,who consumes the food placed back of the curtains, so he kills him. The largesnake is placed in Short Missouri which from that time on, though it had noinlet or outlet, never went dry.""One day Grandson observes that his grandmother is bathing in the river.Each time she submerges and comes up again she is a little younger. The fourthtime she comes up as a young woman. This way she never grows old and dies.Then he knows that she is the one who has control of the vegetation, causing itto grow each year when the water birds come north and the snakes appear.^iShe comes to fear her grandson for he has killed her husband. Grandson drinkswater while lying on his stomach and the snake from Red Hill enters his body,going up into his head. Moon asks Thunderbird, Wolf, and Sun to assist him infreeing their son from the snake. ^^ Grandson is freed from the snake and punisheshim by rubbing his nose with a sandstone until Snake agrees to be harmless andnever to disturb people again if the rest of his face is spared.''Two Men come along and butcher a buffalo for Old-Woman-Who-Never-Diesbut Grandson, who is helping them butcher, sees a foetus in the buffalo whichfrightens him so he climbs into a tree. Long after this Two Men discoverGrandson dead in the tree and restore him to life.Two Men ask Grandson to inform his grandmother that they will bring super-natural powers to Grandson by "walking" with the grandmother. Grandmothertells her grandson that Two Men have endeavored to marry her but she has alwaysrefused them for they travel around all the time as the arrows. She, however,can't do that for she is the custodian of the gardens and must stay in one place.She informs her grandson that Two Men are bringing the Sacred Arrow ceremonyand that during the ceremony he must select the oldest bow and arrows if he wantsthe ones with the greatest supernatural powers. [This section of the myth pro-vides the setting for the origin of the Arrow rites as well as relating them to Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites.]Grandmother dresses one of her helpers, a white-tailed deer, to impersonateher, putting two small pumpkins in the dress to provide the form of the breasts.Then Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies hides until the ceremony ends.Grandson calls for all the gods to come and they appear. First Creator agreesto be Waiter if Two Men will invite him. During the rites, each of the gods takesthe deer outside for intercourse but First Creator, who is last, is suspicious anddoes not think he had intercourse with the real Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies.Grandson takes the oldest bow and arrow which is the holiest one so Two Menare not so lucky afterward in hunting.Grandmother is angry at Two Men because they asked to "walk" with her.She has a sacred whistle which she uses to bring rain for her gardens but whichbrings storms and snow if blown at other times. 6* Since the whistle, when blowna
w This body of water within the valley of the Missouri rises and falls according to the level of the Missouri.It was a sacred shrine for both the Mandan and Hidatsa, particularly those who sought supernatural assist ?ance in growing gardens. Both men and women fasted there. Crow Indians also fasted and made offeringshere when passing through.61 She is one of the original characters who, like First Creator and Village Old Woman, were not createdby any other god but who were in existence at the first creation. She occupies the same position as "goddess"of vegetation that Village Old Woman did as "goddess" of the females of the animal species.
'* Note that the four are considered brothers, and fathers to Grandson.?? He is also introduced into numerous medicine bundles to the Snakes.M This whistle from the sunflower stalk is a part of all Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundles and wasused to bring rains while the crops were growing.
336 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194during the winter, brings the cold and drives the game away, she instructs Grand-son to fly into the air and blow the whistle, driving the animals off. Two Men arestarving and promise to give a medicine feast if Grandson will come down andstop blowing his whistle.Two Men send Grandson for the hide of the Chief of the Antelopes to be usedin the rites. Grandmother prepares the antelope's hide for covering the basketused in the ceremony. Two Men, First Creator, and all of the gods come to theceremony during which Grandson permits Two Men to hold the sacred bow andarrows until their supernatural powers have in part been returned to them. [Thenarrative here accounts for the sacred basket covered with antelope hide whichwas a part of the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle.]Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies continues to live near Short Missouri with herGrandson and both are very holy. All this time Two Men travel around a greatdeal for they are in reality arrows. Long after the Chief of the Antelopes waskilled, the Hidatsa-River Crow come to the Heart River and cross there onto thewest side. One young man goes up the Heart River to fast, thinking that somenew spirits might reveal themselves and he receives a vision from Sunrise Wolfwho instructs him to go on the warpath. [This dates the origin of the SunriseWolf rites.]This Village-Young-Man comes upstream to Short Missouri where his partyis fed by their "grandmother." She feeds them in clay pots and instructs themto stir the food when it is low and the pots fill again. She promises them successif they go to the west, saying that they will find seven enemies wearing wolf hidesaround their bodies and carrying bows without bark. She asks for one of thescalps to hang on the side of her basket. The war party finds the seven enemies(pl.9) , kills them, and brings a scalp to their grandmother. She tells them that when-ever they want to get the best of their enemies, they should promise her some-thing. [This incident is used to explain the presence of scalps in a sacred bundleprimarily concerned with agriculture.]By tliis time the people learn where she has her lodge and come there frequentlyto eat. Heretofore, as she caused her gardens to thrive, the gardens of those sheblessed also thrived but she was annoyed by their frequent visits. So she instructsthe people through visions how to perform the rites and hunters discover that shehas disappeared and abandoned her lodge and gardens. The hunters see a ringof stones to the southwest where her tipi had stood. Long after this Two Mendiscover that she has taken up residence far to the south on a large island whereshe cares for her gardens and is guarded by four water monsters. They learnthat the spirits of vegetation, particularly the corn and other garden things,spend the winter with her, coming south with the waterbirds in the fall andreturning with them in the spring.^sOne day Grandson returns to the earth lodge at Short Missouri to discover thathis grandmother is gone and her lodge and gardens are deserted (see also Wool-worth, 1956). He goes south to a village downstream from Knife River to livewith Water Grass whom he adopts as "friend." Grandson has the sacred whistlewhich brings rains for the crops if used during the summer but which drives awaythe animals when used at other times.Grandson does not reveal his identity, but First Creator comes to the villageand tells the people that the stranger is Grandson who came down from above.Grandson informs Water Grass that they will found the Stone Hammer societyand he gives his friend instructions in the rites and meanings of the objects used.He tells Water Grass that the pole across the smoke hole represents the pole his
" For additional traditions of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, see Thunder ceremonies, p. 359.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 337
mother put across the hole in the sky when they came down, that the string usedfor the necklace represents the sinew his mother used to come down from above,that the red side of the hammer represents the sun and the black side the moon,and that the road followed by Sun and Moon in their travels across the sky willbe represented by two lines. Grandson rules that those who buy will later sell tothose they call "sons." He rules that it is proper for them to steal food duringthe nights when the ceremony is being performed.Water Grass forgets and blows the whistle during the cold weather and a severestorm drives the game away. Grandson leaves the village with his wife andpitches a tipi where he performs rites wliich bring the stars down carrying buffalomeat wliich they place around those lodges that have a pipe set out for the starsto smoke. After that the people would put a pipe by Grandson's lodge and thestars would come down to eat and smoke, bringing buffalo meat with them.But YeUow Dog, the founder of the four Dog societies, has designs on Grandson'swife. [The myth has now dated the mythological origin of the Stone Hammer,Little Dog, Foolish Dog, Dog, and Old Dog societies.] Yellow Dog takes libertieswith Grandson's wife. Grandson and the gods from above are bringing meat tothe village when he discovers her unfaithfulness and attempts to leave. His wifesteps in front of him and attempts to stop him with the pipe. He makes a zigzagpath where he steps around the pipe and announces that those who follow thistrack in the future without falling will live to be old.^^ Then Grandson and thegods return to the sky.The people are angry at Yellow Dog and will not feed him. The people moveto new hunting grounds upstream but Yellow Dog is so weak that he cannottravel. Grandson imprisons all game in Dog Den.^'Grandson's wife assists Yellow Dog and marries him. First Creator discoversthe condition of the people and assists Yellow Dog in rites to save the people fromstarvation.^*First Creator advises Yellow Dog to throw turtle fat into the fire and the
"Leader of the Wolves" will help bring the game.^^First Creator turns into a young buffalo bull and brings a herd of buffaloes nearthe village, is shot in the thigh, and runs to Dog Den where Grandson removes thearrow. Then First Creator asks Grandson to stop punishing the people as thepeople are not starving. Grandson sends Fox to Yellow Dog's camp to learn thenews. Fox is taken in a deadfall, fed by the people, and returns to report thatYellow Dog's people are not in want.First Creator goes out and brings another herd of buffaloes to Yellow Dog'scamp. Grandson sends Chickadee to Yellow Dog's camp; he, too, is trapped,taken to the camp, and fed. He returns and reports that the people are not starv-ing. Again First Creator begs Grandson to free the animals.M This happens about 1 mile south of Sanger, N. D," In the Mandan sacred myths it is the Hoita of the Okipa rites who imprisons all the animals. TheHidatsa seem to have no organized rites to dramatize this imprisonment of the animals.
?? Note that First Creator holds supernatural powers superior to Grandson, for the former represents oneof the origuial characters who created the lands. Still, as far as it was possible to determine, there was noFirst Creator ceremony although he assisted in many rites. There seem to be no tribal rites originating fromthe "freeing of the animals" other than references to the incident in the Dog society songs of the age-gradesystem.
?9 The turtle is also associated with the buffalo on other occasions. Throughout Hidatsa huntingterritory are numerous turtle effigies arranged from boulders and situated on high hills with the head pointedtoward the river (pi. 6). Nearby are piles of stones on which individual oflerings were made to clear thefogs so that the bufialo herds coxild be found.
338 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
First Creator brings Yellow Dog's people another herd of buffaloes ; Grandsonsends out the Red Fox and he reports the people are not starving. Again FirstCreator asks Grandson to free the animals.First Creator brings Yellow Dog's people a fourth herd of buffaloes and shortlyafterward Grandson sends out Mousehawk who is captured, fed, and freed to returnto Dog Den where he reports to Grandson that the people are not starving. AgainFirst Creator asks Grandson to free the animals.Grandson sees that he is defeated. He enumerates the many things he did forthe people while he was on the earth for which, never once, did he ever receiveany offerings or pay. He now rules that since he never once received an offering,if people of any village ever make an offering to him hereafter, that village willbe destroyed.^"Then Grandson returned to the sky for all time. He is one of the large stars[Venus] and never is seen in the sky during the summer while the buffaloes arecalving for he is afraid of a foetus or a newborn calf. Neither does he, in histravels across the sky, appear near the Moon, his father, for his father was in-strumental in causing the death of his mother when she attempted to escape fromabove.The myth of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies provided the basis fornative behefs and practices for the propagation of the cultivatedcrops and she was considered the "goddess" of all vegetation. Itwas probably with this latter belief that she was associated by non-agricultural groups in the area such as the Crow and Cheyenne.The Hidatsa thought of her as the custodian of all vegeta,tion thatripens or sheds its leaves in the fall and is "rejuvenated" in the springwith the northern flights of the waterbkds which she accompanied.She was equally regarded as the "producer" of wild fruit crops;occasionally, offerings of calicoes and meat were offered to the shrubsand bushes. Many of the unorganized household rites relating to hershowed considerable variability.In light of the universal distribution of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites in the Mandan and Hidatsa villages, the existence of Cornrites among those groups such as the Cheyenne who no longer practicedagriculture during the 19th century, and similar myths for the Crowwhere there were no organized Corn rites, it would appear that thenative view of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies as "goddess" of vegeta-tion was an early belief that preceded agriculture. Only in the earthlodge villages of the Mandan and Hidatsa do we find these mythsorganized into formal rituals. For the Mandan we find that the Cornrites have been associated with the Women's Goose society (Densmore,1923, pp. 183-205) which was organized by Good-Furred-Robe todance during the northern and southern flights of the water birds andwhenever the gardens suffered from drought. Nowhere in theHidatsa sacred myths do we find reference to the origin of the Goosesociety. Consistent with Hidatsa concepts that those institutions
'" I found no evidence that offerings were made to Grandson.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 339and customs for which there is no origin myth were recently borrowedfrom other tribes, we find them explaining the presence of Women'sGoose societies in the three Hidatsa villages as recent adoptions fromthe Mandan.The unequal development of Corn rites between the Hidatsa andthe Mandan seems to have a direct relationship to the relative im-portance of agriculture to the two tribal groups. The Mandan andAwaxawi were considered more stationary than the Hidatsa bymost early explorers. Henry (1897, p. 338) wrote in 1805 that
?
The Mandanes and Saulteurs (Awaxawi) are a stationary people who neverleave their villages except to go hunting or on a war expedition. They are muchmore agricultural than their neighbors, the Big BelUes (Hidatsas), raising animmense quantity of corn, beans, squashes, tobacco.Of the Mandan and Hidatsa village groups on the Missouri, theMandan seem to have gone farther than their Hidatsa neighbors inthe development of Corn rites. Their exodus myth from under-ground was ritually expressed through Corn and Fertility ritesassociated with Good-Furred-Robe, Cornhusk Earrings, and Uses-His-Head-for-a-Rattle, and their sister, Corn Silk, who taught thatgardens were sacred. The exodus of the Corn spirits and theirmigrations were symbolically represented by the objects in the SacredRobe bundle. The Goose society, likewise, was definitely integratedinto these Corn rites. The Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies as "god-dess" of fertility, on the other hand, was represented both by inde-pendent rites closely resembling those practiced by the Hidatsagroups and as fused or composite bundle rites associated with themyths of the exodus from the ground.The Mandan believe that the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies ritesand bundles represent the older rites of the Heart River area aspracticed there by the earliest population, the Nuitadi. They alsofeel that the Good-Furred-Robe and Skull bundle rites reached theregion much later by migration of southern Mandan groups, theNuptadi and Awigaxa. The concept of the settlement of the HeartRiver and Sanger region by successive migrations is substantiated bythe archeology of their traditional sites. (The outline of the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies lodge is rectangular, similar to those foundat the Huff and Clark's Creek sites of early Mandan who have tradi-tions of former rectangular lodges, but the Hidatsa have no suchtraditions.) This concept seems reasonable in light of the fact thatthere were traditionally never more than two of the Sacred Robe andSkull bundles, both of which are still preserved, whereas the numberof Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundles was suflSciently great tobe represented in each aboriginal village.
340 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETEDSTOLOGY [Bull. 194According to Hidatsa traditions, however, the Goose society wasbought from the Mandan shortly before 1800 and the Skull bundlereached the Awaxawi through intermarriage after 1837. Accordingto the Mandan, this society and bundle both are late additions to theirrites by migration of southern groups out of the Grand Eiver to theregion intermediate to the mouth of the Knife and Heart Rivers.If we eliminate these two additions to the Hidatsa Corn rites, theOld-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites would be common to both tribesand represent the most popular Corn rites before the last Mandanmigration northward. The Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies myth asrelated by people of the two tribes, shows only a few insignificantdifferences dealing chiefly with Grandson who, in the Plidatsa myth,founded the Stone Hammer society.Probably no Mandan or Hidatsa myth is as widely related anddiscussed as that of the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. Most of myinformants had performed rites of one kind or another to this "OldWoman," ranging from simple household cleansing rites after a dayin the fields to the major bundle transfer rites when buying fromtheir fathers. Likewise, the varieties of ritual forms within onevillage were greater than for any of the other ceremonies. Thesimplest and most universal rites were performed by women asindividuals or household groups of females and consisted primarilyof simple offerings of meat and pieces of hide placed on sticks in thegarden during the northward or southward flights of the water birds.This was often done without benefit of public gatherings or paymentsto bundle owners. On other occasions a woman, while working inthe garden, often dreamed of those spirits associated with the gardensand set up within her garden a high post on which a newly composedpersonal sacred bundle was hung as a "protector" of the garden.It was customary to bring these sacred bundles to the lodge when thecrop had been gathered and to return them to the gardens again inthe spring at the time of cultivation.A woman who allowed her sacred bundle to hang in the gardenall winter, however, would have bad luck. The story is told of awoman of the Prairie Chicken clan who dreamed that the WolfWoman would work in her gardens all day and appear at the camp ofwarriors far from the village when the ribs were cooking." She for-got to bring in her bundle and during the winter a wolf came into campand bit her on the nose while she slept. When the men came, hearingher cry, they killed the wolf and found that it was so old that its teethwere worn down to the gums. After that the name Bites-in-Nose wasgiven to young men of both the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes.
" See Wolf rites, below, for an account of this woman.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 341In addition to the simple ritual practices involving only the femalesof a household, there were those practices which centered around theOld-Woman-Who-Never-Dies sacred bundles of which there was onemajor bundle in each of the three Hidatsa villages of the Knife Riverprior to 1837. These bundle owners organized and managed the vil-lage rites during the period of the spring northward and fall southwardflights of the waterbirds. Prior to planting the crop, individuals wouldpledge to have the rites performed if the crop was bountiful or thehousehold enjoyed good health. After the pledge was made, therefollowed a period of preparation. At the appointed time a ceremonialfeast was given, during which those possessing rights in the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundles, the animals and birds mentionedin the sacred myths associated with the bundle, and all others whohad secondary rights in associated bundles, were authorized to at-tend. Each received goods and prayed for the giver's success. ^^There were three bundle lines at the time of the smallpox epidemicof 1837 : Hidatsa village represented by Bears Heart's bundle; Awaxawivillage represented by Bear-Looks-Out's bundle; and Awatixa repre-sented by Crow-Flies-High's father's bundle. Each bundle was equalto the others in status. At this time the Mandan had two types ofCorn ceremony bundles; those which were concerned chiefly withrites to Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies as described in the sacredmyths, and a second bundle complex of two bundles which additionallyrepresented dramatizations of the myth of the exodus of the peopleas corn spirits from the ground and their various experiences untilreaching the Heart River. Mandan informants state that sincethere were only two Good-Furred-Robe bundles, several villages hadonly Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundles while others had bothkinds.The final diffusion of the Women's Goose society to all Hidatsavillage groups appears to have taken place during the early part ofthe 19th century. Nowhere in the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Diessacred myth is there reference to this society. Nevertheless, the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle owners were, in all villages, thesingers for this society during the entire period of recorded history.According to Hidatsa traditions, the society was bought from theMandan who have a tradition of its founding by Good-Furred-Robeto dance whenever the gardens needed rains. At first the Hidatsasociety did not wear the duckskin or gooseskin headbands, only carryingbundles of sage in their arms. But, since the recent union of the Hi-datsa and Mandan societies, even that distinction no longer exists(Lowie, 1913).
'2 These rites are described in considerable detail by Ourtls, 1907 a, pp. 148-152.710-195?65 ^23
342 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194According to Hidatsa traditions, the three village groups did notsimultaneously adopt the Goose society to assist the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle owners. The society was first to reach theAwaxawi through the Mandan living near Painted Woods; theAwatixa were second, and the Hidatsa were last. This would seemto confirm beliefs that the Hidatsa-proper were relatively late to adoptagriculture while the other two village groups had a relatively longhistory of agriculture, the Awatixa on the Missouri above the Mandanvillages and the Awaxawi on the stream courses to the east.Recent changes in the culture patterns resulting from bundlebuying would indicate that the Hidatsa have greatly enriched theirCorn rites chiefly as a result of Mandan contacts. Immediatelyafter the smallpox epidemic of 1837 Bear-Looks-Out, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle owner of Awaxawi, married into the Mandanfamily owning the Skull bundle of the three culture heroes who ledthe corn spirit people from the gTound. His Mandan father-in-law,Red Bird (also known as Different Pipe), had been a leader in theMandan Corn rites and was singer for the Goose society. Red Birdwas discouraged when his only son died after the epidemic had runits course and then indicated a desire to dispose of the bundle which,in spite of the high price he had paid for it, had not brought his familygood luck during the epidemic, Bear-Looks-Out indicated a desireto buy the bundle with his wife. Corn Woman of the Mandan PrairieChicken clan, and the sale was made with the approval of the ISlandanof the Mitutanku village group. The bundle is popularly known as theGood-Furred-Robe Skull bundle. Sale by a man to his son-in-lawwas a common Mandan pattern.The bundle represents the three brothers and their sister, childrenof Corn Father. The children are believed to have been separatedfrom their father during the exodus from the ground at a pointdownstream near the mouth of the Mississippi when the vine wasbroken by a pregnant woman who attempted to come to the surface.The bundle contains the skulls of the three brothers, Good-Furred-Robe, Cornhusk Earrings, and Uses-His-Head-for-a-Rattle; whitesage; corn silk; a headdress of foxskins; and a wooden pipe (Bowers,1950, p, 186, fig. 24),The Skull bundle was obtained by the Awaxawi at the time of theunion of the Hidatsa and Mitutanku Mandans for the buildingof Fishhook Village. Although Bear-Looks-Out kept the two bundlesseparate, both were taken to ceremonial functions, thus providinga situation wherein both the Mandan and Hidatsa groups were en-titled to meet collectively for Corn rites. As singer to two Goose so-cieties, it proved more convenient for the two societies to meetsimultaneously with both the Mandan and Hidatsa singers. This
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 343arrangement was followed as long as the Nuptadi Mandan remainedbelow the Knife River. The great prestige of the Mandan Corn ritesis indicated by the fact that Bear-Looks-Out was selected over allother Corn bundle owners to represent the southern direction whenFishhook Village was built. Concerning this event Curtis (1907 a,p. 138) wrote, quoting Bear-Looks-Around (Out), "My lodge shallrepresent the lodge of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. It shall standto the south whence the warm winds come that they may cause theplants to grow. As her garden prospered so shall it be with mypeople."As long as the Mandans remained divided into two groups, thoseof Nuptadi living below the Knife River and the Nuitadi at FishhookVillage with the survivors of the Hidatsa villages, only two Goosesocieties existed. The Hidatsa and Mandan at Fishhook had asingle society whose singers were the Mandan and Hidatsa Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle owners and the Skull bundle ov/ner.At Nuptadi village, the singers for the society were the Robe bundleo-svner and Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundle owners. When thefinal union of the Mandans at Fishhook occurred around 1860, areorganization of the membership of the Goose societies occurred.The Mandan formed a single society with the Robe bundle owner asthe principal singer while the three Hidatsa village groups metindependently with the Skull bundle owner as principal singer.This situation continued until part of the Hidatsa separated underBobtail Bull and Crow-Flies-High to build near Fort Buford. Thosewomen who had rights in the Goose society organized anew at FortBuford, but for a number of years had no singer. Then Crow-Flies-High "took up" his father's rites in the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies,which had died out at his death in 1837 from smallpox, and the womenthen invited him to become their singer. Fishhook Village continuedto support two Goose societies; a Hidatsa society with Bear-Looks-Around (Out) and later Poor Wolf the principal singer, and a Mandansociety with Moves Slowly the principal singer. Bear-Looks-Aroundhad the Mandan Skull bundle and Moves Slowly had the Robebundle. Only at Fort Buford was the Goose society organizationnot associated with a Mandan Corn bundle.Although the Goose society, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, theSkull, and the Robe rites tended to fuse into a single ritual containingfeatures of all four ceremonies during the 19th century, completeunion of the four ceremonies had not been achieved when the aboriginalsocieties collapsed. Each bundle ceremony had its separate songsand rites which were still recognized by the older informants at thetime this study was made. The singer, when performing at therequest of the Goose society, sang only the society songs unless paid
344 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194to enrich the ritual by singing the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies,the Skull, or the Robe songs.Individuals receiving dreams associated with the Old Woman,the Skull, or the Robe bundles could bypass the Goose society membersin performing rites and frequently did. And female membership ofthe Goose society was of unequal status in respect to their relationshipsto the male bundle owners. Some women had put up goods collec-tively to purchase the society and held their rights in the societyimtil a younger group bought them out. On the other hand, therewere numerous women who had dreamed of the sacred bundles relatingto agriculture or had assisted their husbands or brothers or bothin performing rites to the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, Skull, andRobe bundles as well as buying with their group into the Goose society.These women retained rights to meet even after they had sold rightsin the Goose society to "daughters." This special group also includedthe wives and sisters of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, SkuU, andRobe bundle owners.The Goose society, although associated with Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, had all the characteristics of a separate ceremony.These women kept their own pipe, drums, and sacred paraphernaliawhen the society was not performing and did their own singing andconducted all of the ritual acts when no singer was available. TheHidatsa thought of the society as an addition to the long-establishedgroups.The Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites are a dramatization of thesacred myths, and the bundle was associated with these plants,animals, and birds mentioned in the myth:corn elk blackbirdsgeeseduckscranesBundle purchase was a 4-night ceremony attended by all thosewhose sacred bundles contained buffalo skulls. Traditionally, onlythose with rights in Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies bundles and thoseceremonies mentioned in the myth attended prior to the epidemicof 1837. The number of legitimate owners was so small after thatdate, however, that the category of those invited to attend and topray for the success of the bundle buyer was increased to include theprincipal bundle owners for the other tribal rites. Purchase wasfrom the father, and a father's clansman was selected to make up thenew bundle and give ritual training. The father's clansman alsoselected the singer for the rites. The singer approached the cere-monial lodge by the usual four steps, singing a different sacred songbelonging to the ceremony at each of these stations where the buyer
beans
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 345and his wife met him to deliver the sacred wooden pipe and a robe.It was customary for the same group of relatives to assist in puttingup the goods as when any other tribal ceremony was being performed.The Goose society did not meet as a group but individuals who hadqualified formerly by giving ceremonial feasts to the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies could attend. During the bundle transfer, thebuyer fed the participants and spectators, received the blessings ofthe sacred bundle owners, and paid those who were entitled to attendand to participate.The contents of a principal or complete sacred bundle variedslightly between village groups, whether Hidatsa or Mandan. Therewas, first and foremost, a corn basket covered with a tanned ante-lope hide from which the hair had been removed. The corn basketframe represented Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and the antelopehide represented Chief-of-the-Antelopes who was killed by Grandsonon orders of this old woman. The Sacred Arrows referred to thevisit of Two Men to her lodge when they gave Grandson his choiceot arrows in return for "walking" with the grandmother. Thehuman scalp referred to her assistance to VUlage-Young-Man whoonce came to her lodge to eat and rest before going to the west to getthe seven enemies she had promised him. A wooden pipe with thecarving of a goosehead on the stem represented the goose as the har-binger of spring and the termination of the growing period in autumn.Two clay pots represented the sacred pots which were once placedon the shore by the Snake people and which were used to feed visitors.^*By stirring the contents of the pots, the vessels could not be emptied.The headdress of foxskin represented the fox who served as messengerfor Grandson when he imprisoned the animals in Dog Dens. Whitesage was used to cleanse people; it was kept in all households, andafter the women returned from working in the gardens they used it tocleanse their bodies from the corn spirits and to remove insectspicked up in their work. The gourd rattle represented one of thegarden plants. A piece of elkskin was included since the elk assistedher in the gardens; a deer skull and horns were included also, for thedeer, too, were her servants. A piece of bearskin was included becauseGrandson once tamed the grizzly bear to become her helper in placeof dogs which she formerly worked. Blackbird heads were included,for they were her helpers?eating the insects in the gardens?andare also mentioned in the myth. A circular drum decorated withgoose tracks was sometimes also included. Corn, particularlyyellow corn, beans, pumpkins, and sunflowers, and a whistle madeof the stalk of the sunflower, representing the whistle used by Grand-
" Pottery is generally associated with the snakes and water. It was customary when making pots to shapethem In a secluded and dark place, as in an earth lodge with the entrance and part of the smoke hole covered.
346 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
son to drive away the animals and punish Two Men, were also in-cluded. When blown in summer the whistle brought rains; inthe winter it brought blizzards. These were the primary sacredobjects of a principal bundle, according to Mrs. White Duck whosefather, Poor Wolf, owned the Awaxawi principal bundle. She thoughtthat there had formerly been a snakeskin in the bundle also butthat he had sold this to a "son" who had dreamed of the snake belong-ing to the bundle and that it had never been replaced. Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' husband at Short Missom-i was a large snake, and,in her southern home. Two Men once discovered that four large
"grandfather" snakes associated with water guarded her islandhome from trespassers.The list of objects contained in Bobtail Bull's Mandan bundle,according to Mrs. Owen Baker, was the same as reported by Mrs.White Duck.^* This would indicate that even for the Mandan beforetheir union with the Hidatsa, two almost identical Corn ceremonieswere celebrated. By contrast, the Eobe bundle owned by MovesSlowly had these objects: a buffalo robe said to have been wornby Good-Furred-Kobe, on which was painted a map of the worldshowing the Missouri Kiver as a huge snake and the hole throughwhich the people were believed to have passed in reaching the earth;a carved wooden pipe showing the head of a goose ; headdress of fox-skins; white sage; buffalo hide moccasins with hair to the inside;clay pot (it had been broken and was never replaced) ; a piece of elkhide; gourd rattle; corn silk; three ears of corn (white flint, yellow,white soft); strip of badger skin; several blackbirds and one green-head duck's head; a deer skull to rest the bundle on; three driedsquash; a sunflower head; and a robe made of kit fox hides.The ceremonies were restricted entirely to the period from the firstappearance of the waterbirds in the spring to their fall flight south-ward. The principal rites were performed at the beginning andend of the period. It was customary also for the Goose women tomeet at these times whether paid to do so or not. Until the old cul-ture broke down, there were usually several meetings in the springand again in the fall, and at other times when invited to dance. '^^Usually a number of people pledged to have the Goose society danceand put up goods and meat for the spring dances. The fall dances,by contrast, ushered out the summer garden period. Dances at thattime were said to please the water birds which, as messengers of theOld-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, upon reaching their winter homes with
'? This Bobtail Bull was killed July 13, 1851, and should not be confused with the Bobtail Bull who led theHidatsa to Fort Buford."See Lowie, 1913, vol. 11, pp. 330-338, for a description of their rites; Boiler, 1868, pp. 147-149; Curtis,1907 a, pp. 148-152.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 347the corn spirits whom they guided south, reported the various ojfferingsthat had been made to her. As a token of her thanks for theseofferings, it was beUeved she would send the winter buffaloes near thevillage so that the people could live well until the next crop could beplanted and harvested. Certain women claimed to have corn spiritsin their body. Occasionally, especially during corn rites, this spiritwould appear in the woman's mouth, and payments were made toher to "make the spirits go back down." Women sold thesemysteries to "daughters" independently of the other corn rites.Curtis (1907 a, p. 134) describes an instance in which the Goosesociety was bypassed in securing supernatural powers directly fromthe Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies:During the growing season the owner of the field took a buffalo robe as a giftto one of the Corn Priests, asking him to pray to Old-Woman-Who-Never-Diesand to the spirits that controlled the weather, that the corn might thrive toripeness. The priest returned with the husbandman to his lodge, and there burnedincense and held a stalk of corn in the sacred smoke, praying that the crop mightprosper, and be plentiful. He then passed the stalk to the owner of the field,saying, "Keep this," and it was hung in the sacred place of the lodge as a tokenof a bountiful harvest.It frequently happened that one made the request before thegardens were planted. In this instance a young shoot of the cotton-wood was substituted for the corn plant. Others, however, maderequests for supernatural assistance to win over their enemies in battle.A young man would go to a bundle owner who stood in the "father-son" relationship and pledge that he would give a feast for the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and decorate her basket with a scalp if hewon over the enemy. If successful, after the scalp dances had beencelebrated, a date was set for the decoration of the basket. Foodwas prepared. As many robes and other things as possible werecollected from his household and other cooperating relatives. Thenthe bundle owner was invited in with his sacred bundle. Prayerswere offered to the "son" and some object from the bundle was givenhim for his personal use. In general, however, the bundle rites wereconcerned chiefly with garden crops.Maximilian (1906, pp. 372-373) writes of the sacred pots used inconnection with rainmaking rites as follows
:
She gave the Minitaries [Plidatsa] a couple of pots, which they still preserve asa sacred treasure, and employ as medicines, or charms, on certain occasions. Shedirected the ancestors of these Indians to preserve the pots, and to remember thegreat waters, from which all animals came cheerful, or, as my old narrator ex-pressed it, dancing. The red-shouldered oriole came, at that time, out of thewater, as well as all the other birds which still sing on the banks of the rivers.The Minitaries, therefore, look on all these birds as medicine for their plantationsof maize, and attend to their song. At the time when these birds sing, they weredirected by the old woman to fill these pots with water, to be merry, to dance and
348 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194bathe, in order to put them in mind of the great flood. When their fields arethreatened with a great drought they are to celebrate a medicine feast with theold grandmother's pots, in order to beg for rain: this is, properly, the destinationof the pots. The medicine men are still paid, on such occasions, to sing for 4 daystogether in the huts, while the pots remain filled with water.Native informants were in general agreement as to the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' beliefs contained in the above statement by Maxi-milian, but none could recall a ceremony in which clay pots werefilled with water. Within their memory clay pots were used to holdcoals with which to incense the objects in the bundles. When thesepots were broken, in recent years, large sherds were used. Whendramatizing the visit of Village-Young-Man to Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' lodge, when clay pots were in general use, it was cus-tomary to stir the contents of the pots and to say that the food re-newed itself. The participants would leave a portion of the food inthe vessel for the snakes.Closely associated with the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' riteswere the Tying-the-Pots rites. Informants insisted that this ceremony,practiced only at Awaxawi, had quite a different traditional originand was established after reaching the Missouri River.Grizzly Bear CeremonyThis ceremony was performed to the grizzly bear and the sacredarrows and should not be confused with a small black bear ritual foreagle trapping. The Hidatsa recognize two classes of Grizzly Bearbundles; the hereditary bundles which have their traditional originfrom the bear captured by Grandson to serve as his grandmother's ^^servant, and personal bundles obtained by vision. The latter classwas based on visions, often obtained as the result of being mauledby bears as in the recent cases of Old-White-Man and Foolish Head.These bundles have no long history of inheritance and no traditionalsacred myths. The rites were simple and often had only one or twowordless songs. They were the personal property of the visionrecipient; feasts were rarely given to the bundle. When the owner ofthe bundle died, the bundle was put away and, unless sold to a closerelative, the songs were soon forgotten. In spite of the personalcharacter of these bundles, we find the vision recipient receivingdirections to doctor; the principal role of the hereditary bundle rites.In many respects the personal bundle rites and beliefs partake of thehereditary bear rites without the restrictions imposed by tradition.Not uncommonly, a personal bundle temporarily occupied a relativelyhigh status due to the personality of its owner.
" She Is the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 349Another closely related bundle was the Bear Bullet bundle ritesoriginally instituted as a result of a vision. These rites also took ona hereditary character; those Bullet rites which were instituted assubstitutes for the Sacred Arrows of the Bear bundles assumed thehereditary character of the bundles, while those Bullet rites which wereinstituted by visions independent of hereditary bundles tended todie out.The data on this ceremony were contributed chiefly by BearsArm, the hereditary owner of the principal bundle of Awaxawi(frontispiece). The relationship of the bundle and the rites to otherhereditary bundles is indicated by the sacred myth and his interpre-tations of the pattern of the rituals. A condensed account of thesacred myth by Bears Arm follows
:
Charred Body, a holy arrow, found a hole in the sky and looking down, saw anew world much like that above. He came down as an arrow and established avillage of 13 households representing the 13 parts of an arrow. (See fig. 1.)He returned to the sky and invited 13 different family groups to come down andoccupy the lodges previously constructed." From the beginning, life on the earthwas difficult as there were many evil spirits bent on exterminating the village.First Creator came along and volunteered to be the waiter whenever a ceremonywas given.Charred Body's sister, while alone, had a visitor who forcibly removed herunborn twins which he named Spring Boy and Lodge Boy but who, when theygrew up, were known as Two Men. They were very holy and destroyed many ofthe gods residing in that neighborhood. Of the two, Spring Boy was consideredthe more offensive and he was taken back into the sky to suffer ceremonially, whichdeed led to the establishment of the NaxpikE ceremony. The two boys returnedto the earth, grew to maturity, adopted a son named Unknown Man, and taughttheir son the NaxpikE ceremony. They also taught the Arrow ceremony.One time they prevailed on Moon's son, named Grandson, to have his grand-mother. Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, put on a ceremony to which were invitedall the sacred beings who agreed to "adopt" sons in the tribe for the future, thushelping their sons to get ahead. By doing that, they expected these sons to makeofferings to them according to the particular tastes of the various spirits.The Grizzly Bear, who was one of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' helpers, tookas "son" a young man named Brave-While-Young who became a successful hunterand eagle trapper after that.'* He went out for four successive seasons huntingand trapping eagles, and each year he was very successful. He failed to make anoffering to the grizzly bears and, whenever the gods met at medicine feasts afterthat, they teased Grizzly Bear about his selfish son who never gave him anythingand seemed to have entirely forgotten his "father."Grizzly Bear resolved to punish his son, so on Brave-While-Young's fourthhunting and trapping expedition, Grizzly Bear stole the young man's wife and twochildren, taking them to his lodge in a dense cedar thicket. A year later when theyoung man returned, he was alone. He cried for his wife. Grizzly Bear directed
" This traditional site is situated on the east bank of the Missouri River a few miles below Washburn, N.Dak.
'? In historic times grizzly bear bundles did not carry eagle trapping rights. These rights went with thesmall black bear.
350 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194the young man to the lodge where the family lived and informed Brave-While-Young that he should perform the Bear ceremony the following year when all theholy people would attend.Brave-While-Young worked 1 year preparing for the ceremony. Twenty robesand twenty pairs of moccasins were needed, for the bear has ten fingers andten toes. Spring Boy and Lodge Boy were to bring their holy bow and arrowsto present to Brave-While-Young. All the animals would be there and thebuffalo, bear, elk, deer, and dog would have special parts. Two Men wouldmake the rattle, cover it with an owl's skin, and decorate it with raven feathers;First Creator would provide a snare with which to catch the enemies. The godswould bless the young man and wish him success. The buffaloes would stay nearthe village. He would be able to doctor the sick with the bear and removearrow points or other foreign objects from the body with the aid of the sacredarrows.When the appointed time came, the gods arrived and the ceremony was per-formed as outlined by the grizzly bear. All the Grizzly Bear bundles began withthat ceremony although variations occur in some family lines because of sub-sequent visions.Bears Arm traced his Bear bundle rites back patrilineally to liisgreat grandfather, Crow Bull, of Awaxawi village. He believed,however, that there was an unbroken patrilineal line from Two Menand Brave-While-Young to Crow Bull even though he did not knowand had never heard the names of the intermediate bundle owners.There were hereditary bundle owners in each of the three formerHidatsa villages where ritualistic differences between villages wereassumedly no greater than between individual bundle lines withinthe same village. Only two hereditary bundle lines were unbrokenas a result of smallpox deaths in 1837. Cherry Necklace held thebundle from Hidatsa and Bears Arm's father, Old-Woman-Crawling,from Awaxawi. Purchase was inspired by repeated visions of thefather's bundle or characters and events associated with the bundle.WhUe inheritance was traditionally from father to son, one exceptionwas made for Black Shield who, as a result of repeated dreams,bought from Cherry Necklace, his maternal grandmother's brother.^^Later, Cherry Necklace also sold to a son, High Hump. It appearsfrom native analyses that one not of the patrilineal line would notbe denied the right to purchase a new bundle should he have appro-priate reappearing visions. The first step was to put on a medicinefeast to the family's bundle; then, if the visions persisted, the Bearbundle owners met and consented to a bundle purchase ceremony.Bears Arm provided the following narrative relative to theceremony:Crow Bull went out fasting on the hills called Rainy Buttes for 7 days and nightsat a time. Each time he fasted he had a good dream, but none of them satisfied
" Mandan inlieritance from the mother's brother or the maternal grandmother's brother was a normaloccurrence. Bears Arm (Awaxawi) considered Black Shield's case rather exceptional, although he couldrecall other purchases made through the mother line at Awaxawi village.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 351him. He thought that if he fasted more he would see something with his owneyes without having to dream about it. On the seventh day of the seventh timeout, during the middle of the forenoon, he cut off the first finger next to thethumb. He cut all the flesh off with a piece of sharp flint and the blood spurtedout.He cried from the top of the butte. Soon he heard someone back of him singing,"He is the one I can depend on."He looked up as a small cloud passed over the butte. There was a large bearstanding on the butte, also, trying to look over the rim to see who was doing thesinging. All this time Crow Bull could hear the singing at his back. The singersaid, "When he (meaning the grizzly bear) does that, he always overcomes what hehas in mind."Then the cloud over the butte passed on. The voice said, "You have alwayswanted to see these things with your own eyes and not in a dream; now you haveseen them."Every time they passed the medicine down from father to son, there was asacred bow and arrows with it. After Crow Bull was through with his fasting andcrying, he thought he should go up the Little Missouri River where the railroadnow crosses near Sentinel Butte for the enemy who had been promised to him inhis dream. The Grizzly Bear had said, "Be there and though some of your menwill be wounded, none will be killed for you can doctor them now."He went to the place where he was instructed to go and sent out scouts to lookaround. The scouts returned to tell him that they saw the enemies coming.They waited for the enemies until they were nearer. When the enemies saw them,they climbed one of the high buttes. The men with shields were told to go aheadand all the others would follow closely behind them in a compact group. Eachman, using his bow and arrows, was supported by a shield carrier who walked infront to deflect the arrows with his shield, thus protecting the man in back of him.In this way the shields protected them and in a short time they had killed all 30of the enemies. At that time there were a few horses but no guns. These peoplewere the Snake Indians so after the battle the people named the butte SnakeIndian Butte.Crow Bull's father had the Bear rites and when Crow Bull saw the bear on a-cloud, his father thought that the bear wanted him to get the rights too. CrowBull gathered 20 robes and 20 pairs of moccasins that he needed for the ceremonyand his wife was expected to become the daughter-in-law of the bears. When shedid that, she could not remarry. If she should remarry again after her husbanddied, both she and her second husband would have bad luck.^"Crow Bull gave the ceremony and was a successful leader both in warfare anddoctoring, for the bears had instructed him through his father.Crow Bull's son, Breathing, went out to the hills fasting and often dreamed of thebears. Even at home sleeping, he dreamed of the bears and that was why he tookover his father's rites.Old-Woman-Crawling, my father and son of Breathing, was married and livingat Awaxawi village when the smallpox came. Even before he was married, hedreamed of the bears several times. In one dream the bear was chasing the menwho were shooting at him, but the bullets would not penetrate. He had thisexperience several times in his dreams. He thought that he would not have thebear yet since he was not married. Once when he dreamed of the bear, he decidedto get the bear's ear. Each time he had a dream from the bear, he would take
" This does not seem to apply if she married one with rights in a similar Bear bundle, particularly thehusband's brother.
352 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194the ear down from the wall. There would be a bullet inside. Each time hewould take the bullet to the edge of the village and put it away. Six times hehad a dream and found a bullet in the ear the next day; yet he did not want to havethe bear for he was still single. It was almost impossible for a single person toperform the ceremony and get the Bear rites. The Bears told him that if he tookthe Bullet medicines, the bullets would not go through him; still he did not wantit yet. After that he did not dream of the Bear Bullet rites again.^iThe next dream he had was of the Bear ceremony. He went into the lodgeand made the pledge as a father's clansman instructed him. In the ceremonythere was to be a waiter (iztakis) representing First Creator. It was his dutyto keep up the fires. Then there were the Two Men, Spring Boy, and LodgeBoy. Spring Boy had a bow and two arrows, one red and one black; Lodge Boyhad only the two arrows, one red and the other black. Old-Woman-Crawlingwent out for the bear and his father's clansmen prepared the hide for the ceremony.Bears Arm was assistant to his father, the singer, when BlackShield purchased the rights. He was the only male informantacquainted, from observation and instruction, with the details of therites and their meaning. He never bought a complete bundle norkilled a grizzly bear ceremonially because the aboriginal culture hadbroken down before he had attained the proper age and had married.He supplied the following eyewitness account of a bundle purchase inwhich he assisted and which he beUeves was conducted in the tradi-tional manner:Black Shield dreamed of the bears several times and his mother thought that thebears wanted him to put on the ceremony for her mother's brother's bundle.Black Shield made the vow to perform the ceremony. He selected a man of hisfather's clan, the Low Caps, to supervise collection of materials to go into thebundle and the persons to officiate. Purchase was from Cherry Necklace whowas then dead. The portions of his bundle which had not been sold had beenput away. He had been wrapped in the bear hide for it was believed that whenone died, he and the bear went away together.Black Shield shot a grizzly bear to get the hide since it was required that thepurchaser kill the bear whose hide was to be used during the ceremony. Thiswas to become the principal article in the bundle. As soon as the bear waskilled, a father's clansman was called to take off the skin for the purchaser wasnot permitted to butcher or skin the bear.The killing of the bear was considered a ceremonial act and he said beforekilling the animal, "My father, I have come for you. I have a feast prepared andI need you. You will come and live with me now and when I die, we will goaway together."Then the animal was killed. The father's clansman skinned the animal anddelivered the hide to the father's clansman in charge of collecting the materialsfor the bundle.Twenty robes and twenty pairs of moccasins were required, together with enoughcorn balls and meat to feed the participants. In this case the ceremony was heldin Black Shield's lodge although it was customary at Fishhook Village to use thelarge Okipa lodge belonging to the Mandan on similar occasions.
?i For additional information on beliefe and practices relating to bullets, see "Warfare.'
Bowera] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 353When the ceremony was about to begin, the First Creator impersonator carriedthe bear hide into Black Shield's lodge and spread it out on the right side of thelodge, placing a buffalo robe under it. The head faced the entrance to the sweatlodge which was on the opposite side of the lodge. First Creator was addressedby the name of ixtakis, a term of address also employed for the waiter in the eagletrapping lodges. First Creator impersonator then carried in a buffalo bull'sskull. Old-Woman-Crawling was the singer for the ceremony for, in addition tobuying the Bear bundle, he had also bought singer rights at an additional ceremonyto the Bears. All those with Bear bundles, whether hereditary and acquired bypurchase or individual ones built up as the result of dreams, assisted him with thesinging.Bear bundle owners met at Old-Woman-Crawling's lodge beforehand andadvanced as a group to Black Shield's lodge. There were four stops to sing theBear songs as they approached the ceremonial lodge.At the first stop they sang, "I want to eat cherries," for the grizzly bears wereoften seen in the chokecherry thickets eating cherries.They advanced another quarter of the distance and sang, "it is a pile of goods,I think. The gourd I will take to it."At the third station they sang, "I want to eat cherries,"The fourth station was the entrance to the earth lodge where they sang, "itis a pile of goods, I think. The gourd I will take to it."The four stops represented the distance from the home of the spirits to the homeof the Hidatsa. In all of the ceremonies, this distance is represented by the fourstops to sing and dance.Then Old-Woman-Crawling led the way into the entrance where they sang,
"I want to eat cherries."He entered the lodge and took his place back of the bearskin, followed by theowners of Bear and other major bundles which included a buffalo skull. BlackShield and his wife took their places at the head of the lodge. The other partici-pants took places as indicated in figure 5. Although the First Creator imperson-ator was assigned a place at the first central post on the right when entering, hedid not sit down much since his duties kept him on the move.Spring Boy was represented by No Milk who had given the NaxpikE; LodgeBoy was represented by Frosty Mouth who was the owner of a Sacred Arrowbundle. Old Mouse made the sweat lodge in return for permission to be torturedthere. He also heated the rocks and kept the fire burning. Otherwise it wouldhave been Black Shield's duty to build the sweat lodge and heat the stones.Old Mouse called Black Shield a brother although they had different mothers.This was the reason he did it.Old-Women-Crawling asked Black Shield to fill the pipe and have it ready.Black Shield filled the pipe and placed it in front of the bearskin. Then FirstCreator impersonator carried coals to the front of the bearskin and burnedsweetgrass after holding the grass to the west, north, east, south, the sky, and theground. This was an offering to the spirits of those directions. He then carriedthe pipe to the buffalo skull and burned incense of pine spills. The pine wasoffered only to the four directions, meaning that the buffaloes live only on theland. The man who burned incense before the buffalo skull lit the pipe which hadbeen placed there, after which all the sacred-bundle owners lit their own pipesand smoked.Old-Woman-Crawling asked the holy men to go to the buffalo skull, light thepipe, and smoke to the skull. One man lit the pipe, offered the smoke to the skull,and took goods placed on the skull. Old-Woman-Crawling produced a snare suchas was used in Eagle Trapping rites, tied it to his robe, and fastened some Black
354 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Black ShieldWife
Singer
Spring BoyLodge Boy
Sweat Lodge
aughter-ln-lawFirst Creator
A
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 355While the Buffalo song was being sung, First Creator picked up the skull andhooked it from side to side in imitation of the bull's approach to the village forthe first ceremony.A male and female elk, a male and female beaver, a male and female otter, anda dog, traditionally attended the first ceremony but in succeeding ceremoniesthey were represented by persons owning bundles in which these animals were theprincipal characters. During the feast, a piece of dried meat was fed to the giver'sdog. The dog was represented, as dogs were believed to be related to the bears.The bat was represented because it was believed to protect bear-bundle ownersduring the night. The elk was said to have been the first to arrive when Brave-While-Young gave the ceremony. Elk told Two Men that if they would permithim to attend, the people could kill the elk on slippery ice to get their teeth.Beaver came and promised the people long lives if they would drink water andvomit out the bitter things in their stomach each morning while bathing. Otterpromised easy delivery for women at childbirth.The singer was assisted by the other sacred-bundle owners. The order ofsinging was: Song to the male elk; song to the female elk; song to the male otter;song to the female otter; song to the male beaver; song to the female beaver; songto the bufi'alo bull.Whenever the Bufi'alo Bull song was being sung, one of the sacred-bundleowners would pick up the buffalo skull and hook it from side to side and take thegoods piled on it for his pay. A whistle had been made from willow bark andpainted with alternating red and yellow stripes. This whistle was associatedwith the elk and one owning one of these whistles was believed to have the super-natural power to possess many wives. The clan father preparing the bundlewas expected to provide one of these whistles. Black Shield received his whistlewhen the seven songs listed above were to be sung.After the songs to the elk, otter, beaver, and buffalo bull were sung, the singingstopped for the feast consisting of meat and corn balls. First Creator imper-sonator was the waiter. He offered food to the buffalo skull and bearskin first,then passed food to the singer and bundle owners. Black Shield, his wife, and thespectators were fed last. Old Mouse and a number of clan brothers who werefasting for dreams did not eat.The Dance of the Female Bear came next. First Creator impersonator an-nounced, "We are going to sing the Female Bear song. Any of you women whoknow the Female Bear dance should get up and dance."Black Shield stood in front of the bearskin and each time a dancer passed him,he gave her a corn ball until each dancer had four. Then the singing and dancingstopped.First Creator impersonator put down a buffalo robe in front of the sweat lodgeand my father, Old-Woman-Crawling, placed the bearskin on it. Then the waitersaid to Black Shield's wife, "Come over and sit on the robe."She walked over, removed her dress, and pressed the bearskin to her nakedbreast. This was known as becoming "granddaughter" to the bears. This shedid through her husband who was taking the bears as his gods. If he died, onlythose with bear rights could take his place between the widow and the bear gods.For that reason, unless a younger brother took up the Bear ceremonies, the widowscould not marry, for other men would be afraid of them.Then my father, Old-Woman-Crawling, and I went into the sweat lodge. Myfather called, "We are ready now. Any of you who wish to may come in."The waiter carried the hide back to the west wall and took corn balls over tothe sweat lodge and set them down at the entrance, Old-Woman-Crawhng brokeup a corn ball and gave a piece to each person in the sweat lodge. He directed
356 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Black Shield to draw an image of an enemy on the bottom of the sweat lodge pit.When the first stone was placed in the pit, each man struck the stone as thoughit were an enemy. Each of the first four stones was struck in that manner. Thenthe waiter carried in the remaining stones, the bearskin, and the bufifalo skull.Old-Woman-CrawHng dipped sweetgrass in water from a wooden bowl andsprinkled the bearskin and buffalo skull. All those, including even little childrenwho did not go into the sweat lodge, came to the sweat lodge entrance and weresprinkled.Before water was added to the hot rocks, Old Mouse, who was to fast in thesweat lodge, asked two men of his father's clan to put thongs through his wristsand both sides of his chest so that he could be hung above the heated rocks in thesweat lodge. He came to the door of the sweat lodge and said, "There aremany bears and other gods gathered here. I asked Black Shield, when he wasgetting up this ceremony, for permission to heat the rocks because I wanted to bepierced. I am poor. I want to do this so some god may take pity on me andsend me good luck."The sweat lodge was large and Old Mouse had put up extra posts strong enoughto hold him. When he was fasting at the posts, Old-Woman-Crawling said,
"It is the rule that we must pour 20 buffalo horns full of water on the stones.But I do not think Old Mouse can stand that much heat. When it is hot enough,anyone can call, 'That is 20 alreadyl' I will sing the four Bear sweat lodge songs.There are four of them. When I sing the fourth song, you will all seize the sweatlodge frame and shake it like bears shaking plum bushes to get the fruit."He poured two horns full of water onto the hot stones. The men called, "Thatis 20 already," and Old-Woman-Crawling called to the waiter to lift up the cover.They found Old Mouse hanging there unconscious; he appeared to be dead.First Creator impersonator poured water on him. Old Mouse regained conscious-ness and was sent home. Afterward Old Mouse said that while he was lyingthere he saw the bearskin in its place at the head of the lodge and thought thisample reward for his efforts. Afterward he killed two enemies, stole some verygood spotted horses, and lived a better life. The sweat lodge rites completed theceremony. Black Shield got all the things which his manager had provided for him.Some Bear bundles included the Sacred Arrows while others didnot. Buyers whose fathers held these dual bundles could buy eitherthe Bear or the Sacred Arrow portions of the bundle or both, depend-ing on the nature of the vision instructions. Likewise, purchasecould be made separately or at the same time. If complete purchasewas made with one ceremony, two clan fathers were selected, one tosecure the articles for the Bear bundle and the other to provide theSacred Arrows. There was one principal tribal Sacred Arrow bundlekept, formerly, at Awatixa village. It was kept in the PorcupineHead household, Frosty Mouth having the principal rights in thisbundle at this time and passing it on to Robert Lincoln who wasliving when this study was made. The bundle had its traditionalorigin with the sacred rites at Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' lodgeat Short Missouri and did not include Bear bundle rights. Distinctivesongs and rituals were employed whenever individuals bought fromtheir fathers or whenever Sacred Arrows were to be incorporatedinto other bundles. It was customary, also, for those desiring to
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 357make and use arrows for daily use to present simple offerings to anArrow bundle owner to enhance the arrow's efficiency. Those leavingfor war customarily made offerings to a bundle owner who wouldadd arrows to be used against the enemy.Bear bundles were primarily for doctoring. Bears were consideredto be the great doctors because they cared for their own young andbecause of their great strength. The beaver and otter were alsoincluded in the bundle, for they too were considered to be greatdoctors. ^^ The arrows were used to bleed patients who had swellingsand infection. The bundle was also used in warfare. Bears Armexplained that only very brave men ever owned Bear bundles beforeguns came, for the purchaser, having made his vow, was requiredto kill a grizzly bear unassisted. He considered killing a bear amost dangerous undertaking since a wounded grizzly was moredangerous than any other animal the Hidatsa knew. The bundlesacquired through inheritance were considered major bundles becauseof the possession of the buffalo skull, and owners were rated of suffi-cient distinction to be placed in charge of winter villages and even,as in the case of Bad Horn, to be selected as "protector of the northdirection" at Fishhook Village. It would appear that this concepthad universal acceptance, for Wilson secured information from WolfChief in 1911 which the latter restated for me when I made thisstudy. Wilson (1934, pp. 351-353) wrote concerning the ceremonialarrangement of lodges and the selection of "village protectors"during the initial building of Fishhook Village in 1845:Then the medicinemen addressed Bad-horn. "You stand up and choose aplace for your lodgel" "My gods are the (grizzly) bears," said Bad-horn. "Themouths of bears' dens always face the north. Therefore I want my lodge to opentowards the north; my bear gods will remember them and I will wish this villageto stand a long time." What Bad-horn said of (grizzly) bears is true; they alwayshave the mouths of their dens toward the north.Ownership of these bundles did not include the rights to eagle trap-ping but there were certain practices and beliefs common to both theGrizzly Bear bundle rites and the Acira or Little Black Bear rites ofeagle and fish trapping. Both bundles had sacred snares made of thefiber of the "snare vine." Bear bimdle snares were used ceremoniallyfor ensnaring the enemy, while Acira bundle snares were believed topossess supernatural powers for "pulling" the eagles down out of theair to the trapping pits. White eagle down was used as a ceremonialoffering to the bearskins of both bundles. The altars for both bundleswere set up on the west, i.e., sacred, side of the lodge. The waiter inboth ceremonies was called ixtakis. Beyond these common elements,the ceremonial similarities were no greater than between other majorM For additional belief regarding the beaver and otter, see Greek rites, pp. 380-389.710-195?66
?
?24
358 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull, 194bundles. There were no songs common to both bundles. In spite ofthe fact that in the sacred mythology, Grizzly Bear was angered atBrave-While-Young for failing to make suitable offerings while eagletrapping, there is no evidence that eagle trapping was ever associatedwith the Grizzly Bear bundles. Both bundle groups met when thepurchase of an Acira bundle was being made and, because one dreamedfrequently of bears, purchases commonly were made into bothceremonies. Thunder CeremoniesThe Thunder ceremonies comprise a closely related group ofseparate rites performed to those supernatural beings believed to
"possess the power" of producing thunder and lightning. Thesesupernatural beings comprise two groups, the sky gods and thewater gods, between whom there were endless conflicts during themythological period. The welfare of the Hidatsa was generally be-lieved to be dependent on the outcome of these contests. There wasa wide range of contests between the supernatural, chiefly involvingOld-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, Two Men, Packs Antelope, EaglePeople, and various water spirits such as large snakes, toads, turtles,mink, beavers, otters, and muskrats.The Thunder rites showed a wider variation in supernatural experi-ences during the sacred past than other rites and, in general, theterritorial settings for the incidents leading to the establishment ofthe rites ranged over a large area of the Northern Plains in contrastwith the local character of most ceremonial origins. According tonative concepts, rites relating to thunder were established from timeto time. The oldest of these formal rites now identified by informantsare concerned with the High Bird-Hungry Wolf conflict which oc-curred at a large lake to the northeast, generally identified todaywith Devils Lake, prior to the arrival of the Hidatsa-River Crow(Mirokac) on the Missouri. In a quarrel between two brothers,Sun and Thunderbird protected High Bird from Hungry Wolf's gods.This supernatural experience provided the traditional setting for theorigin of the Thunder bundle owned by Raving Bear (AwaxEnawitaclan) of Hidatsa village who sold to his son. Smells, of the Low Capclan. He in turn sold to his son, White Fingernails, of the Knife clan,bundle owner at the time this study was made. In native concept,this bundle represented the oldest and came down through the yearsby father-to-son inheritance from the time of the residence of theHidatsa far to the east. Smells believed that the rites had originatedon the banks of Devils Lake and, during war expeditions to thatregion, usually stopped on the banks of that lake to perform ritesand to make offerings to his sacred bundle. Those in his party
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 359
claimed that when the wind was not blowing during the evening andthere were no clouds in the sky, they could hear the large snake inDevils Lake breathing as the water lapped the shores. The Thunderbundle owned by Smells seems to have been the only one originatingfrom supernatural experiences relating to the Exodus myth. (Seepp. 298-299 for this myth.)The Sacred Arrow myths relate the supernatural settings on theMissouri for a number of other Thunder rites believed to have origi-nated with the original "Missouri River" peoples. The myth is onesegment of the exploits of Two Men. To place this sacred myth in itsproper chronological position in the system, it was customary for thenarrator to relate the preceding section of the myth. This Wolf Chiefdid while relating the sacred Thunder myth, which, in condensed form,follows:A village of Hidatsa live at Devils Lake; there are no clans.
^
Two Men are living there; they are Big Medicine (Lodge Boy) and BlackMedicine (Spring Boy). Because Two Men are actually arrows, they travel allover and are protected by the arrows when they sleep. Black Medicine is takenabove to be tortured for killing the sacred things below. Big Medicine finds thehole and goes above. He travels from the zenith westward and reaches the villageof the speckled eagles; the next day he reaches the village of eagles with whiteheads and tail feathers (bald eagle) ; the third day he reaches the village of eagleswith white bars and speckles (old calumet) ; the fourth and last village is of theyoung calumet. There he finds an old woman living alone and learns thatBlack Medicine is there and is being tortured by Long Arm.^^Big Medicine learns that his brother is to be killed on the pole and buried be-tween two mounds. Big Medicine frees his brother and Long Arm attempts toprevent their return. When they fail to cut off the [Long Arm's] hand theydeclare that this job is to be left for succeeding generations. Two Men return toDevils Lake where the chief is named Horn-Between-the-Water.^^Two Men travel to the east and shoot at a white object flying by, tie themselvestogether, are carried far to the southeast by a strong wind, and land on an island.They meet Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies who formerly lived farther upstream atShort Missouri. She has her servants about her and is guarded by four largosnakes living in the water surrounding her island. They hunt for her but she freesthe deer they bring in for the deer are her servants. Being homesick, they ask herhelp to get home. She directs them to the grandfather snakes. One snakecarries them on his back and is fed four corn balls; so he reaches the shore. Therehe swallows Black Medicine.Big Medicine cries and Thunderbird, a white hawk, comes along. There is adual between the bird and the snake, each sending out lightning, but the snake iskilled.88M Tbis reference to the absence of clans before reaching the Missouri is commonly made. Clans tradition-ally originate from events or incidents relating to residence along the Missouri River.
'* Narrator introduces listener to concepts of four eagle villages 1 day apart extending from the zenith tothe horizon. It is from this fourth village, believed to be in the Rocky Mountains where the earth and skymeet, that eagles left to establish the Waterbuster Skull bundle described below." This is the first reference to Two Men in association with Devils Lake. From this point, the Exodusand Sacred Arrow narratives unite and are concerned with events on the Missouri River.8? This is an example of the conflicts between the sky gods and the water gods.
360 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Black Medicine is given medicine and he vomits up the small fish and shellshe had eaten while in the snake's mouth.*'Two Men travel on and reach a wood lodge (eagle trapping lodge) occupied byeagle people. They learn that one of the eagle children is ill because a mysteriouselk stuck his horn in the boy's leg and the birds know of no way to get it out.Black Medicine uses black medicine to remove the horn and pus. [Myth hereprovides the supernatural basis for doctoring with black medicine, a root of thered baneberry, and lancing with an arrowpoint.] Two Men stay with the eaglesthrough the winter until the bald eagles, the scouts for the other big birds, comenorth in the early spring. Bald Eagle stops and sings a sacred song belonging tothe Big Bird bundle rites.Bald Eagle states that there are many people around Devils Lake while thepeople living along the Missouri have many offerings out also in anticipation ofthe return of the big birds from the south. Offerings consisting of food and piecesof hide on sticks are placed at the edge of the villages. The eagles travel north-ward to receive their offerings and Two Men travel afoot.Two Men find a large snake with a head on each end. Finding no way to getaround the snake, they burn a hole through it. Black Medicine eats some of themeat and slowly turns into a similar snake. He is carried westward overland andput into the Missouri River at Bird Bill Butte. Black Medicine announces that inthe future he is to be known as Grandfather. One head is at Bird Bill Butte,the other at Thunder Creek.Grandfather announces through his brother that people may make offeringsto him and the other six holy people of the Missouri River by placing objects onthe river bank and they will have a long life. [This transformation providesthe supernatural setting for the origin of the Missouri River rites, also for certainbeliefs and practices relating to the Big Bird rites.]Grandfather announces that he cannot return with his brother because the bigsnake in the river wants him. He teaches him the Missouri River songs and therites which are to be performed, and tells his brother to inform the people thatwhen a man braids his hair and ties it up in a knot, that will be the sign he is tohave a long hfe. He tells his brother that all offerings to the Missouri River mustbe made when there is no ice on the river, announces that he will be seen for thelast time the next year at Thunder Creek [on the west bank of the Missouri afew miles below the present town of Sanish, N. Dak.] when the Juneberries areripe, and asks that their parents come to see him.He promises to help the people when crossing the Missouri and to notify theother six gods living in the river to do likewise. [This provides the origin of ritesat the time of making a bullboat to insure good luck to those using it.] He saysthat he eats the large intestines and that anyone can make offerings of driedintestines, call him Grandfather, and ask for good luck when crossing the river.Black Medicine gives his sweetheart to his brother to marry and they go up-stream to see him when the Juneberries are ripe. They offer him and the othersix gods seven cornballs and then return to the village at sunset after the largesnake has appeared for the last time.It was about this time that the people began to leave Painted Woods andCharred Body Creek to settle at Knife River. The Hidatsa now had left DevilsLake, settled with the Mandans, and had been frightened away by two owls.Then they moved northward to Knife River also.Packs Antelope was a great hunter because he had the medicines of the SacredArrows which came from Two Men. The arrows would protect him if he went to
^1 He vomited out the same things when Charred Body and First Creator freed him from the spring.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 361
sleep while out hunting. Two Thunderbirds take Packs Antelope to their nest onThunder Buttes while he sleeps.*^He awakens to learn that he is on a high butte with no way of escaping. TheThunderbird children tell him that he has been brought there by their parents toprotect the children during molting time from the double-headed snake that livesin the lake on the west side of the buttes. The Thunderbirds feed Packs Antelopemeat cut from deer they have butchered.When the Thunderbird children shake themselves, their down floats out ontothe lake and the snake knows that they are now defenseless and ready to eat.The snake's two heads appear on opposite sides of the butte and Packs Antelopeshoots sacred arrows into both heads, killing the snake.The Thunderbird children instruct Packs Antelope in the rites for calling thelarge birds to the feast at which the snake will be eaten. These songs were laterused when announcing that a ceremonial feast for the big birds was ready. Thebig birds, while assembled, change Packs Antelope into a big bird to hunt for themand he is given a wooden sword to kill with.*' Thunderbird's daughter teachesPacks Antelope the special song the big birds use for killing and they know, whenthey hear him singing this song, that he is now as powerful as they.Packs Antelope hunts snakes for the big birds for 4 years, during which time theGrandfather in the Missouri is angry because all of the snakes are being killed off.Grandfather prepares a sweat lodge. Then he entices Packs Antelope to comenear, seizes him and pulls him under the water. Packs Antelope is carried intothe sweat lodge and caused to vomit out the snakes; he is fanned with sage until heregains consciousness. Then Packs Antelope becomes a human again.Packs Antelope looks up and lightning flashes from his eyes. Grandfathergives him a low cap to wear over his eyes and tells him that from this time on heand his brothers, mother, and sisters will wear low caps and will be called LowCap people [clan] by the other groups.Grandfather instructs Packs Antelope to give the Big Bird sweat lodge cere-mony and says that the Grandfather will be in it as the principal one. [Thisexplains rites both to snakes and the big birds in the Thunder ceremonies.] Grand-father announces that he is more powerful than the eagles, for he was able tocapture Packs Antelope. [This provides the basis for snake poles and rites inthe trapping lodge when out trapping eagles in the fall.]Packs Antelope goes back to his own people south of the Knife River?theAwatixa village with which the rites of the Sacred Arrow are generally associated.He announces that he is going to give the ceremony for the big birds and notifiesthe people that the weather in early spring will be cloudy and rainy for 4 days,after which the birds will arrive in groups from the south. Packs Antelopeplaces meat on sticks and, as the birds arrive, they take the meat, return thesticks, and promise Packs Antelope success in war. *"The Eagles instruct Buffalo Skull to promise Packs Antelope good dreams sothat he will be successful in hunting. After this, the buffalo skull was a part ofthe altar.The Eagles take Packs Antelope to the sweat lodge and promise him good healthand the power to doctor; they teach him the holy songs and instruct him to keephis holy bow and arrows since that is the most important part of the bundle;they give him the sword with the marks of lightning on the side.
" These buttes are southwest of Sanish, N. Dak., and west of the Missouri." This sword was a common object in these sacred bundles.* These sticks are known as Bird Sticks. Eagles taken during the trapping period were also fed meat bymeans of these sticks.
362 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The Eagles inform him that another eagle, his father, never comes that way andthat meat should be put on the right side of the lodge for him when the ceremonyis being performed. This is an offering to the Low Caps.Before dying, Packs Antelope tells the people that when he dies, he will returnto the sky with his father and mother, the Thunderbirds. A gentle rain with nolightning for the growing crops is a sign that he has returned unseen.He tells the people that if offerings are made to the eagles, the givers will besuccessful; that people will no longer have the power to go around and make deepholes in the ground as he did looking for snakes; that the sight of a dead log ortree breaking down is a sign that a snake once lived there.These myths provide the supernatural setting for, and the meaningof, the various rites and practices whereby the supernatural powerspromised the people reached individuals of the tribe. With fewexceptions (such as the exploits of High Bird and Hungry Wolfassociated with an earlier eastern residence, and the more recentexploits of Packs Antelope which take place along the MissouriRiver) the rites and traditions were also shared by the Mandan who,in recent years, usually attended aU Hidatsa performances. Althoughthe Hidatsa recognize differences in ritual practices and beliefs saidto arise from different group histories?no doubt more apparent inearlier times when the three village groups first came together nearthe Knife River?the Hidatsa system of bundle transfer tends toerase these differences and to unite variants of the same rites into asingle complex by the custom of engaging a father's distant clansmanas instructor once geographical distance between village groups wasreduced. One was usually informed of all details of the father's ritesbeforehand through living together in the same household. Theinstructor, however, rarely drew on the giver's father's lore for hislearning but rather from another who held singer rights or broaderknowledge than his clan brother could have provided.Often, by the time one got around to meeting all the prerequisitesto bundle purchase, the father was dead. The father played a minorrole in the actual transfer. This practice provided for wider contactswhen making a ceremonial purchase, for it gave the instructor wideleeway in choosing his assistants from whom he obtained the knowl-edge, interpretations, and practices transmitted to the buyer. Incases where slight cultural differences existed between bundle lines,whether within the same village or between villages brought togetherby pressure from alien tribes, the instructor played an important rolein erasing ideological and ritualistic differences between bundle lines.By contrast, the Mandan system of individual-to-individual saleprovided for exact duplication of bundles for seller and buyer, tendingto preserve the individual character of the bundle lines.Closely paralleling the hereditary bundle rituals were the personalbundles set up as a result of vision experiences. Like other personal
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 363bundles, these tended to die out with the death of their owners andwere disposed of by placing them at the grave of their owners. Thesesupernatural experiences were of a wide variety but, in the finalanalysis, show rigid conditioning induced by the general knowledgethe people had relative to the big birds.BIG BIRDThe most important ceremonial periods were during the springat the time of the northwestward flight of the big birds?eagles,hawks, ravens, and crows?to their summer nesting grounds alongthe streams, in the badlands, and on the high peaks of the RockyMountains. At this time of the year the bundle owners and otherswho had received individual dreams would place meat and pieces ofhide on short "bird sticks" which were stuck into the ground on highhills adjacent to the villages. It was believed that these offeringswould cause the birds to pass near the village and bring rains for thegardens. It was customary to have these offerings out prior to thefirst spring thunder. On the day following the first thunder, eachbundle owner would take his sacred bundle to some isolated spot nearthe village, there to offer incense to the sacred objects and to prayfor good crops. Similar rites of making offerings placed on "birdsticks" out on the prairie were performed during the autumn whenthe leaves began to fall. The spring rites were performed somewhatlater than the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites; the water birdsnormally came north while some snow was on the ground but theeagles and other large birds arrived afterward. The fall rites werelikewise performed somev/hat earlier since the big birds were believedto fly leisurely southward along the Missouri, hunting as they went,while the water birds remained north until driven out by cold weather.Although there is a close psychological association between theBig Bird rites and those of eagle trapping, the bundle lines were en-tirely independent and originated traditionally from quite differentmythological experiences.Seven recognized bundle lines survived the smallpox epidemic of1837: two from Hidatsa (Smells and Big Coat); three from Awatixa(Big Black, Young-Man-Chief, and Bobtail Wolf); and two fromAwaxawi (Negro and Dry Squash-Wolf Eyes). The greater numberof bundle lines from Awatixa, even though the population survivingthe epidemic was less than half that of the Hidatsa village, indicatesthe traditionally greater importance of the Packs Antelope rites atthis village. The prior rights of those of the Low Cap clan, due tothe importatit role of Packs Antelope ijn founding the rites, is expressedrituaUy by placing meat and other offerings on the right side of thelodge for the people of the clan. The rites provided the supernatural
364 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
sanctions for chipping flint and it is said that in former times thosewho wished to make flint objects received their "authority" fromthose having rights in the Big Bird ceremony. Doctoring authorityby cutting with a flint knife also came from these rites. The use ofblack medicine root in curing came from Two Men and the swordcarried ceremonially in war was believed to have originated with thefemale eagle.The bundles were of major status and differed only in rank accord-ing to the presence or absence of Singer rights. In 1845, when Fish-hook VUlage was built, Bobtail Wolf, owner of a Big Bird bundle,took the western direction or that "from which the rains came."During dry periods, it was customary for groups, individuals, or theGoose society to pay a Big Bird bundle owner to perform Rain rites.He would then take up his position on an earth lodge, there to singthe sacred songs and perform such additional rites as appertainedto the bundle.A complete bundle contained these objects: "Sleep feather" of theeagle; white feather from near the tail feathers of the eagle; featherfrom the eagle's head; feather from left side of the eagle's claw; 12 birdsticks painted red ; bullsnake skin representing the Grandfather in theMissouri River; a turtle shell; an otter skin; a ferret skin; sage; awooden sword with an image of hghtning on each side; a flint knife;rattles; and a wooden pipe.Wolf Chief, who served as instructor (ceremonial father) whenHard Horn bought rights in ttie Big Bird ceremony, supplied the fol-lowing account of a bundle purchase:I remembered that Wolf Eyes of the Prairie Chicken clan had put on the BigBird ceremony long before. His son, Hard Horn, was now going to put on theceremony because he had dreams of the Big Birds. He asked me to be his "father"in preparing the articles for I was of the Prairie Chicken clan. After making thevow he started to save goods for the ceremony and planned to go up to FortBuford to hunt for there were still many buffaloes and other large animals up there.I did not know the rules of this ceremony so I called on Smells who also ownedthis ceremony. Because I did not know the rules I was afraid. So I was carefulto learn them correctly as Smells related them to me. He was a leader in theceremony for he had the big rattles and knew all of the songs, but he told me thatit was hard to remember all the parts even for one knowing and performing theceremony often. He volunteered to help me since, at that time, I had severalgods and had bought the buffalo skull and the right to paint it in two ceremonies.He thought that I had made sufficient progress to show that I could learn thingscorrectly.He said, "When your son. Hard Horn, stands in front of you, you can promisehim that he will be successful in all that he does."When Hard Horn came to my lodge to ask me to be his "father" he brought apipe and left it in front of me while his relatives brought in goods. SmeUs toldme that I should give the pipe back to him when I talked to him during the feast.
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I had been worshiping the eagles and other gods that I saw in my dreams andhad given many feasts to my father's gods. So I prayed to my gods, saying, "Ihave worshiped you and fed you and shown you every respect. Now my 'son'has come to me. I want him to be lucky when he goes out to kill buffaloes. Ifthe enemy attacks, I want him always to be on the safe side."When I finished praying, I lit the pipe and smoked it, pointing it in all fourdirections and to all of my gods. Then I returned the pipe to him. This timeSmells was with us and I said to him, "You have more powers than I have andyou should pick out the best corn balls and articles."He took out the best ones, for he knew all of the rules. After he finishedselecting them. Hard Horn said that he was glad. He thought he would be luckyand that there would be plenty of buffaloes for all the people.As Smells left, he said to me, "I will be back again and teach you the rules."He came back later and said, "These objects are holy but I will explain therules to you so you will not have bad luck. This pipe is holy; we use it when weput up the sweat lodge. I have this pipe that I got from Dry Squash but I willlet you use it. I will lend you this ferret hide. When Hard Horn puts on thesweat ceremony, he should return it to me."I said, "You bring the pipe, for I want to learn to use the pipe and to sing thesongs."Smells went back to his lodge. While he was away, I looked for some tobaccoand calicoes. When he came in, I spread out the calicoes on the floor and he putthe pipe and small ferret hide down. He was happy when he saw the blankets,calicoes, and roast corn before him for that was his pay for helping me. Hesaid, "You will need some red paint."There was plenty, for my father always kept much on hand. He had manybundle rites that required it. Smells took some and painted the pipe, prayingand talking to the pipe and ferret skin as he painted. He asked me to hold outmy hand. He was chewing the black root that came from Two Men. He spitsome in my hand, telling me to rub it all over my body, and I did. He did thesame. Then he sang the song. The ferret was about worn out with no hair onit. He gave me the pipe and ferret, instructing me to paint them as he had.Then I put them back on the robes again. The pipe was a wooden one like inmy father's Waterbuster Skull bundle.When he had finished singing the songs and painting the pipe and hide, hecalled for roasted corn. I took some with dry meat, setting it before him. Heselected a few pieces and said to the pipe and ferret, "I want you to eat. Ialways took good care of you. Now I am going to give you to Wolf Chief to giveto his son. Hard Horn. I do not want to have any bad luck." Then turningto me he said, "I am well paid for this. Wrap the pipe and skin with a nicecalico or hide and put it away for your son." Then he ate the rest of the food.Before Smells left, he directed me to look for one feather from under the leftside of the wing of the eagle and called the sleep feather, one on the left side ofthe claw, a white feather on the tail, and a fourth one from the head. I was tosave these feathers and take good care of them. I was to make 12 "bird sticks"and paint them red, representing the eagle's 12 tail feathers and also the 12sticks for the moccasin game.Smells said that I could tell my son to take these sticks when he went to warand paint them while saying, "I am painting you and I do not want to be killed."Then there were the buUsnake, turtle, and otter to go into the bundle to repre-sent the Missouri River and Two Men who were the great doctors. He asked meto look for all these and I did. I found them but before I even touched them, I
366 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194
chewed black medicine and rubbed it over me for Smells told me to do that orI might lose my life.Before the feast was ready, Smells came and said that he had had a good dreamin which he saw the pipe painted nicely. He thought that it was a good sign.That fall some people came to the village to steal horses. The people shot atthem and they went off without the horses. Our people went after them withOld-White-Man in the lead. He got oflf and was near the enemies when theythrew their guns away and motioned him to come. He went towards one enemyand hit him in the face with his shield. The enemy said, "I will give you mynecklace; we did not come to kill you."They discovered that this enemy had a ferret skin on his neck, just like theone that was to be used in the ceremony. I tell this because they took it awayfrom him. Hard Horn had promised to put on this ceremony and that is thereason why they got the horses back and found the ferret on the man. Smellshad dreamed that there would be good luck; if it had not been for his dream,it would have been hard for me to find one of these ferrets to use in this ceremony.After Hard Horn had left for Fort Buford to get the hides and food for theceremony, I heard how he was getting along. He hunted and got many buflFaloesthat winter. Because he had promised to put up a sweat lodge ceremony, theenemies came to his camp and stole horses. The young men went out to get thehorses back. Hard Horn went along. He thought he might kill some of theenemies since he had promised his gods that he would give the ceremony. Theyfound the enemies hidden in the brush where they were eating, and surroundedthem. One of the enemies ran towards Two Bulls and shot Two Bulls throughthe chest, killing him. Bird Bear was shot through the skin but did not fall;he shot the enemy and Hard Horn's brother struck coup on him. Even thoughone of our men was killed, the three enemies were killed. Hard Horn and hisbrothers succeeded in striking coups; it showed that his luck was good becausehe had made this promise even though one man was killed.*^Smells heard about it and said, "It is all right; Hard Horn was the one whomade the pledge. He and his brother were successful so he is going to becomea chief."When the grass began to turn green in the spring, Hard Horn and all hisbrothers and sisters came back from Fort Buford in bullboats, bringing the thingshe was to use. He selected the large lodge occupied by Never-Eats-Marrow,where the Mandan Okipa ceremony was held, for his ceremony and paid thefamily for its use. He cleaned out the lodge and told me that he would be readythe next day. I was expected to go there when it was dark. When I camein, I saw that they had a line stretched all the way around the lodge. Therewere robes hanging on it, all the way around. There were also three sticksat the head of the lodge to show that I was to receive three horses also.He called me over and said, "There are 60 hides and some of them are welltanned and decorated. Three sticks go with them; it is up to you to decide howthey are to be divided. ^^ Get a man, who has more power and more songs, toeat and sing the holy songs; then pay him part of the things I have gathered here." ^^
" Presumably Hard Horn did not "kick the stone" because he was not personally in charge as in thecase of organized military expeditions.
'2 This is not entirely true. Each ceremony provided rules for the division of the goods put up as paymentfor the various performers. There seems to have been no rule outlining the precise number of robes andhorses required. In this case it was largely determined by their success In hunting. For the minimumamount of goods for the Bear ceremony, see p. 352." Hard Horn seems to have assumed a rather dictatorial attitude not characteristic of buyers; It may bebecause of Wolf Chief's youth. This Is the only Instance 1 encountered In which the buyer undertook toadvise his ceremonial "father" In the management of a ceremony.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 367
All along Smells knew that he was to sing the holy songs so he had been repeatingthem over to himself before he went to the lodge, thinking that he might haveforgotten some of them.The next morning I was called over to the lodge and found that Smells hadalready selected the 12 men who would get the bird sticks to show that they wereto attend. Smells got 12 good men who had important sacred bundles with buffaloskulls, for these men added prestige to the buyer. He selected: Small Ankles,my father (Eagle Trapping, Wolf, and Holy-Woman-Above bundles); DifferentWolf (Buffalo Skull bundle) ; Belly Up (Eagle Trapping bundle) ; Bear-Looks-Out,(Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and the Mandan Skull bundles); Bears Heart(Bear bundle) ; Poor Wolf (Earthmaking bundle) ; Crows Breast (Eagle Trappingand NaxpikE bundles); Red Tail (Wolf bundle); Son-of-Star (Wolf bundle);Wolf eyes (Eagle Trapping and Thunder bundles); Hairy Coat (Holy-Woman-Above bundle); and Chippewa (Thunder bundle).In addition to these, all those who had other bundles containing buffalo skullswere expected to attend and to receive presents. Hard Horn had gone out whenSmells and the 12 men carrying the bird sticks were heard singing. They stoppedfour times as they came towards the lodge and each time Hard Horn was expectedto give some article.They had reached the lodge and were in their places when I was called in.Smells was in the center of the circle of old men, painted up with zigzag markson his body to look like lightning; his entire body was red with blue paint on thenose and the marks of lightning all over his face. He had two rattles of buffalohide with stones inside. From his wrists hung eagle claws.Smells stood up and said, "Bring one of the robes before me; spread it out infront of the sweat lodge; pile up the corn balls there. When you put them there,I am going to walk around them and sing a holy song. That dried meat shouldbe put in one pile together with the bird sticks. When I sing the song, distributethe meat to each of these medicine men. Use these bird sticks.""*Then he began the song, using the rattles. Hard Horn, his brothers and theirwives, and his sisters passed the dry meat to the 12 men. There was a buffaloskull inside the sweat lodge and Smells said, "Put some of the dry meat in frontof the skull; I will appoint different holy men to take the meat from the skull.They will each pray for you."Hard Horn spoke up, saying, "Of course, these robes belong to Wolf Chief andhe is the one to do with them as he wishes. There are a few additional articlesthat I will do with as I please. It is up to him how he disposes of the robes forI have promised them to him already." "'I stood up and said, "I am glad you spoke that way. I prefer that you usethese articles to cover the sweat lodge. I am glad that all of you people whoown powerful bundles are here. I can see that there are plenty of articles. Iknow that Hard Horn wants to succeed, have a good home, and bring the peoplegood luck. In the beginning you made the pledge; at first I thought that it wouldbe a hard thing to do. I had no power but I took it up with an old man who hasmore gods than I and he helped me. Now I see that tliis ceremony will besuccessful. Everything will turn out well. Smells will carry out everything thatyou wanted me to do. I was looking for your medicines all this time; we havesucceeded, even though I knew it was going to be hard to find them. Smells hada good dream and our enemies came. He brought one of the ferrets which are
? This act was symbolic of ttie spring and fall feeding of the big birds during their flights past the villages,at which time offerings of foods and hides were placed on bird sticks outside the village.
?' That is true?but it is also Wolf Chief's duty to see that all those who pray for Hard Horn receiveadequate reward.
368 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194hard to find. We had one that was nearly worn out and I am glad that we foundthis new one. I am glad that you are a leader and that after you made yourpledge, you went up to Fort Buford where your brothers struck the enemy.Now they call you a chief; you are successful and have a good name. I amsupposed to have these 60 robes but in the beginning I asked Smells to come overand help me. I am giving him 10 of them." I thought I would keep 40 of them,and I did.?8SmeUs began to sing the holy songs while Hard Horn and his brothers passedthe meat around on sticks for the old men. Each man would pray for them beforehanding the stick back. Then Smells sent the holy men to the buffalo skull,saying, "There are many articles in front of the skull; go there and pray for HardHorn." Each prayed and then took the article that Hard Horn gave him.Smells announced that he was going into the sweat lodge and invited those whowished to do so also. He wore a robe that was painted red and a cap down overhis eyes like Packs Antelope wore his, for he also belonged to the Low Cap clan.He sang this song four times, "He almost reached the sky."As he approached the sweat lodge, singing this song. Hard Horn and hisrelatives put down a robe, then another at the entrance where he stood. He sangthe same song again while facing the west. While he was singing the fourth time,he turned toward the entrance to the sweat lodge but he did not take his rattleswith him. He had something in his hand; it was covered with sage. In thosedays they carried a flint knife which was the sign of an eagle claw. That waswhat he had concealed in the sage. There were many corn balls in front of thesweat lodge, for the family had worked hard. He sang the same song and said,
"hoo hoo" and stuck the flint knife into the corn balls four times.The sweat lodge was covered and he went in saying, "You old men have some ofyour number come in here."The older men went in around the side with their clothing on. Smells said,
"Bring that skull, otter, snake, and all the other holy things and put them on topof the sweat lodge."Then he asked me to bring sage and I did. He put it in my mouth and pulledit out again, directing me to spit onto the stones. We repeated that four times.Then he directed me to call Hard Horn and his brothers with their wives and thethree sisters. I called them to come into the sweat lodge. He dipped the sageinto the water and sprinkled the sacred objects and all of the buyers. He said tothem, "Now you will feel as though you have new life. You will have good homes.This is a rule that was estabhshed a long time ago and it holds now."At this time they were sitting before the sweat lodge while some of the old menwere inside. He sprinkled all those attending the ceremony if they requested it.Then Smells said to me, "Take those sacred objects back and call your son.Hard Horn; tell him to keep these things. He must always keep them in goodorder."I took the skull back to its place. Then I put the otter, the pipe given me bySmells, the ferret, the eagle feathers, and the other things in their places, saying tothem, "I am poor myself and have no powers except what my gods have given me.I hope that when I give you to Hard Horn you will take good care of him and obeywhat I am now asking of you."Then I called Hard Horn over and handed them to him. After I had finishedthe transfer, Smells called from the sweat lodge, "Come over, all you men and sit
?? This was a selfish act that brought down severe criticism from Wolf Chiefs elders, including his ownparents. He afterward employed these articles to buy back good will by inviting in various old men andproviding them with robes and food. It would have been more appropriate to have disposed of thempublicly at the ceremony.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 369beside the sweat lodge; I will sprinkle water over you for there is much sicknessamong us. Then you will have new life and be healthy. You women come overtoo."Each time he sang, he would dip the sage in the water and sprinkle the waterover them. He would say, "My Grandfather, I want my people to be well,lucky, and free of sickness." "Even the children came over to the sweat lodge and were sprinkled. TheyHked it and beheved in it, thinking they would be lucky. They would crowd toget ahead and be the first. While this was going on, there were only four stonesin the sweat lodge, all the others being left outside.When he had finished, he called three old men. Hairy Coat and two otherswhom I do not remember, and instructed them to distribute the dry meat andcorn balls saying, "We are eating before our gods and I hope there will be no badluck. Try to distribute the food so that all will have an equal share." Aftereating, the rites in the sweat lodge began.Smells called Small Ankles to break a stick and throw it into the sweat lodgepit. They usually picked a man who was brave when he met the enemy to do that.This act meant that Hard Horn would overcome the enemy. When this wasdone. Smells said to Hard Horn, "When you put a stone in the sweat lodge, youshould call the name of some enemy you want to kill saying, 'I killed 'and hit the stone as though you were striking the enemy. Whoever carries thestone in will allow you to hit it. That is the sign that you will overcome yourenemy."They did that and four men would hit each stone. After putting the fourstones in that way, they threw the rest in without striking them. Then theycovered the lodge and poured water on them.After the sweat bath was over. Smells said again, "What are we going to dowith the cover? There are many articles making up the cover."I said, "You do as you wish. I have my share for I have 3 horses and 40 robes.There are many holy men here; you can do as you wish."The robes were distributed and it seemed that everyone was well satisfied withthe distribution. When the ceremony was over I took my share and the threesticks representing the horses. All this goods was the reason I always thoughtthat I had a good protector in early times. It was proof that I was well protected.If old times were back, I would give others the same advice if they wanted tobecome lucky and strike their enemies.When away from the village, bundle owners of Big Bird, MissouriRiver, and Creek rites also performed hunting rites at the variousstone effigies of animals associated with these bundles?for thepurpose of clearing fogs. These effigies have been observed by thewriter on Mount Nebo (sec. 29, T. 143, R. 83) west of Price, N. Dak.(sec. 17, T. 141, R. 82) (pi. 6), and 4 miles northwest of GoldenValley, N. Dak. An effigy situated about 2 miles southwest ofthe Upper Sanger site was removed to Bismarck and set up on theStatehouse lawn. Will (1909) reports an efGigy outline near LudlowCaves in northwestern South Dakota, one of the Buffalo HomeButtes of the Mandan. With the exception of the latter, all effigiesare situated in the historic and late prehistoric hunting range of
" "Grandfather" refers to one of the Two Men who was changed Into a snake.
370 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194the Hidatsa. My Hidatsa mformants had observed a turtle effigyon the north bank of the Missouri near WilHston to which theywent to perform rites while hunting in that area. A large snakeeffigy of glacial boulders west of Independence was frequently visitedfor the performance of similar rites. In view of their pecuHardistribution near the Missouri, it would appear that these knowneffigies were largely Hidatsa-Mandan shrines. However, theMandan had similar bundle ceremonies which suggests that com-parable practices were observed while they lived near the HeartRiver even though the actual shrines have not been identified; inthe late 1860's, while on a hunting expedition near Williston, ClamNecklace, a Mandan owning a Big Bird bundle performed ritesboth at the turtle effigy and later elsewhere on the prairie. Con-cerning these practices, Crows Heart related to me that
?
The next night we camped by a circle of stones in the form of a turtle. Thegods had arranged these stones, the older men said, for none living had everseen one of these effigies made. There was a hill nearby and on it was a pile ofrocks. The turtle's head was pointed to the river because the turtles stay in thewater so the gods must have arranged all the turtle outlines in that direction.This is the only effigy I ever saw but I heard that the old people knew of manyothers down the river near their old villages and would go there to make offerings.Anyone could make offerings of knives, pieces of hides, or dry meat and otherthings to eat when asking for rain or other good luck such as living to be old.If they had children, they would ask the gods that go with the turtle to sendgood luck. To give to the turtle was the same as giving to all the other godsthat went with the bundle.While we stopped near the turtle, people made offerings to the turtle and the othergods that went with it. Some left knives but in the olden times the flint knifewas given, for the flint was a sign of the big birds who go with the turtle and theother gods in the Missouri and the creeks around.After we moved on from this turtle it was so foggy one day that the leader couldhardly find his way. The hunters had to hold each other's hands to keep fromgetting lost. An Arikara brought a knife and gave it to Clam Necklace (Mandanwith a Thunder or Big Bird bundle) and asked him to try to clear the fog. ClamNecklace took the knife and marked out the shape of a turtle in the ground.When he finished shaping the turtle, he prayed to the turtle, telling him that thepeople could not go any farther and asked the turtle to clear the fog away. Thenhe stuck the knife in front of the turtle image, saying that the knife belonged tothe turtle and the other six things in the water. It was not long afterwards, andwhile the men were standing around the image, that the fog cleared away fromwhere the turtle lay. Then it cleared out in a circle around the turtle, growinglarger and larger, until the fog entirely disappeared. Those who were connectedwith the big birds and the snakes of the Okipa were the ones to pray.^^
" Mandan major bundle status was expressed by participation rights on Everything-Comes-Back dayof the Okipa ceremony.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 371MISSOURI RIVERThese rites are nearly identical conceptually and ritually with theGrandfather Snake rites of the Mandan. Their traditional originrelates to the eating of a snake by one of the Two Men who after-ward was transformed into a large double-headed snake and putinto the river by his twin brother. Before taking up his eternalresidence there, he instructed his brother in the rites to the MissouriRiver and explained that although he was formerly a Sacred Arrow,he would thenceforth be chief over all the water spirits, the varioussnakes, the otter, beaver, turtle, mink, muskrat, and frog. In asense, the sacred bundle was almost an exact duplicate of the Big Birdbundles, the essential difference being that the latter had additionalobjects representing the big birds. Natives explain the presence ofobjects representing the water spirits by saying that the grandfathersnake who became the "chief of the river spirits" was himself formerlya big bird identified with the Sacred Arrows. The bundles were ofmajor status with buffalo skulls and were held in high regard becauseone of the Two Men who is represented in the bundle possessed suchgreat supernatural powers that he was able to draw Packs Antelopeunder the waters even though he had been blessed by the eagles, hadlearned their sacred songs, and carried their sword.There were three complete bundles after the smallpox epidemic of1837: Man-With-Long-Hair, Prairie Chicken clan, from Hidatsavillage; Missouri River, Waterbuster clan, of Awatixa village; andRoadmaker, Waterbuster clan of Awaxawi village. Similar bundlesand rites were possessed by the Mandans. The Hidatsa bundle linewas broken when heirs did not buy the rights of Man-With-Long-Hair.The Awaxawi bundle line became inferior to that of Awatixa chiefly,I believe, because Poor WoK was involved in too many ceremoniesand could not make appropriate feasts to maintain its status. Mis-souri River's bundle line was perpetuated by his son, Women-in-Water of the Awaxenawita clan, who took an active part in preservingthe rites and beliefs concerning the Grandfather and other water gods.Although the principal bundle line was maintained by father-to-soninheritance, minor bundles were frequently established through visionexperiences of individuals of more distant relationships. Even theseminor bundles frequently were sold from generation to generationwith the ceremonial sanction and assistance of the principal bundleowners serving as singers. The pattern of River bundle relationshipswith major bundles is characteristically Mandan rather than Hidatsa;complete rights in all of the seven animals of the River together withtheir songs and sacred myths, and the recognition of minor rightsrelated to segments of the complex. A complete bundle carried rightsin several ceremonies. The owner possessed Sacred Arrow rights
372 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
since the Grandfather snake was formerly one of the Two Men. Hecould doctor, using the sacred arrows for opening wounds, and hecould remove arrows. He derived his authority to use black medicinefor doctoring from Two Men who were represented in the bundleby the snakeskin.Bullboat-making rites were iuherited with the bundle, and thosedesiring to make bullboats paid the bundle owner for these rights.When the sale was made, the bundle owner sang the sacred song
"belonging to the bullboat" for safe passage on the water. There-after, whenever a new bullboat was completed, the song was sung andprayers were directed to Grandfather and the other six water gods.Important rainmaking rites were performed with the bundle.These rites stem from native beliefs that moisture for the nativevegetation and the gardens comes both from the sky and the streamsand lakes. Likewise, the sky and the water gods both possess light-ning. Snakes are generally associated with precipitation: One of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies' husbands, a giant snake, was put intoShort Missouri and maintains the water level of that pond; Grand-father snake maintains the level of the Missouri; another large snakeassociated with the Little Missouri maintains the flow of that streamand, by means of his supernatural powers, provided good huntingalong its banks. Other traditional snakes maintain the lakes of thearea and when a lake dried it was said that either the snake died orhad moved away. And, of course, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies isprotected by four large snakes on her island in the southland. Thesame concepts are extended to include small streams, many of whichare thought to be the particular home of the seven water spirits.In other instances, men have been known to fast at certain smallsprings or streams in an effort to learn which spirit made his homethere. When one of the seven spirits "revealed" itself, this knowledgeoften became a part of the sacred lore of the group. It has been
"revealed" through fasting that a giant frog lives in the spring nearTom Smith's home. The large spring on the Little Knife Creek isthe home of an otter which was "revealed" to Crow-Flies-High.It was believed that on cloudy days during the hot weather of thesummer, the Big Birds produced clouds as they flew about lookingfor snakes and other spirits inhabiting the various bodies of watersituated on the land. Then occurred the contests such as transpiredat intervals throughout the mythological period. Natives haveobserved that lightning is sent down on these occasions by the BigBirds and is returned by the snakes and the six other animals whomake their home in the water.Bundle owners were authorized to doctor for rheumatism andstiffness and had the power to remove snakes, usually occurring as
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 373
short worms, Iroiii their patients' bodies or their joints; these rightsstemmed from Two Men who doctored Unknown Man's father-in-law in mythological times. They were also called in when parturi-tion was difficult. The patient was given the otterskin to hold andto rub, the smoothness of the otter and its ability to slide throughnarrow openings being thus transmitted to the chUd; or the patientwas given a concoction of black root and the scrapings from a turtle'sshell in water. When a male doctor was called, it was customaryfor his wife or a sister having similar rights to assist in the physicalcare of the mother and her infant wiiile the male directed the rites.Anyone could make offerings to the Grandfather and the othersix gods of the River and it was customary for those who were on theriver a great deal to make these offerings regularly. Women alsomade offerings regularly and placed the objects near the river's edge inorder to have plenty of moisture for their gardens. It was notnecessary for the major bundle owner to attend and he rarely didunless his presence was requested. The snake's favorite food waslarge intestines, a section of which from a buffalo was usually placedon a stake or thrown into the river. The remainder of the offeringconsisted of seven corn balls which were thrown into the water.When additional offerings of greater value were to be given, it wascustomary to invite a bundle owner to pray for the success of thegiver and receive the goods for his own use. Offerings were firstgiven when the ice went out in the spring and might be given at anytime untU the river froze over in the fall.According to tradition, the potters were formerly owners of rightsin the Big Bird, River, and other Snake bundles. Pottery was madein a darkened place; usually the earth lodge with the entrance blockedand the smoke hole partially covered. The potters impersonatedthe snakes who were believed to inhabit dark places away from thebig birds who preyed on them. Although rights to make potterywere inherited and pm-chased through females, these lines paralleledthe male bundle lines. The rites were secret and defined the meaningof each step in terms of the supernatural. For that reason, individ-uals not possessing rights to make pottery were not permitted to sitaround and watch. There was a lunited number of householdspossessing rights to make pottery, and the other households boughttheir pottery in exchange for decorated robes, clothing, and otherproperty. There were sacred songs used during the mixing of theingredients, the shaping of the vessel, and the application of thedecorations.When the vessels had been completed except for the firing, theywere covered with damp hides until the clay had set. Should anindividual come into the lodge unexpectedly or should the vessels be un-710-195?65 25
374 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194
covered by an unauthorized person, it was believed that the big birdswho were always flying about looking for snakes would cause lightning-shaped cracks to appear in the vessels either before or during firing.This would also cause the vessels to become weak and break easilywhile in use. Thus, the making of a pot was a contest between thebig bu'ds and the snakes. The designs are said to represent the snakes,hghtning, clouds, water birds, and rain, but it was impossible to secureprecise interpretations of the various patterns impressed into the sur-face of the vessels, since pottery has not been made for many yearsand none of the old potters were still living. There was generalagreement that the zigzag lines were lightning since similar designsstill appear on arrows; others associated a curved design on the rimwith clouds or rainbows, horizontal lines around the rim with snakesentwining the pot, and herringbone designs with tracks of the wadingbirds?snipes, heron, and cranes.Men and women cooperated in making the vessels; men brought inthe clays from selected veins and assisted their relatives in makingthe pots after they had advanced in age and were no longer able totake an active part in hunting. Big Black from Awatixa, owner of aBig Bird bundle, and his two wives. Red Blossom from Awatixa andBuffalo Woman, a Mandan, were the last to make a business of pot-tery making when my informants were young. He would ride north-west of Fishhook Village to a bank which had been deeply imdercutby those removing clay from beneath the overhanging cliff. Heshaped the pots with a cottonwood paddle whUe the two women ap-plied the designs they had the purchased right to reproduce. Heassisted them further by bringing the wood for the firing. At thistune he was too crippled from a hunting accident, when his leg wascrushed by a buffalo, to assist in hunting so he traded the pots aroundthrough the village. He also made and decorated a few pots whichwere used in the various ceremonies but informants acknowledgedthat the vessels were not very good for they broke easily. Neverthe-less, out of respect for these old people, and in order to have aroundthese reminders of olden tunes, people would buy their pots eventhough recognizing the superiority of the metal vessels. Big Blackalso had rights in the sacred arrows by virtue of his rights in the BigBird ceremony and would work hard making arrows to sell and trade.One's ritual possessions were so much a part of his daUy life thatwhenever someone is mentioned, people today recall both his ritualrights and other records (as illustrated by Bears Arm's account ofRoadmaker). In time, each personal achievement was expressed interms of the supernatural. These personal records are repeated overand over until they become stylized and differ no more, as told by
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 375different individuals, than do the sacred myths relating to the variousceremonies.Roadmaker was one of the members of the tribal council duringthe first half of the 19th century and is still recognized as one of theoutstanding Awaxawi leaders. Bodmer, who painted his picture in1833, lists him as a Mandan (pi. 7). This error is probably due to theclose cultural ties which the Awaxawi maintained with the Mandanof Painted Woods prior to the removal of the Hidatsa and Mandanvillage groups to Knife River. The name is readily recognized fromthe Bodmer spelling of the name, Addih-Haddisch. Bears Arm'saccount of Roadmaker follows:Roadmaker {art hiris), who lived in the village of Awaxawi, had a full sisterand she had a son, Poor Wolf, who told me these things. When Roadmaker wasa young man he joined the Stone Hammer and other societies. In the lodge wherethe men met he said, "Now that I have joined the Wood Rattler society, I wantto fast and seek visions from the spirits."The old men said, "That is a wise decision; that is the way to become famous."They were making the ceremony called "Tying-the-Pots" in which one of thepots was a man and the other a woman. These pots were given to the Awaxawiby the watersnakes. These large pots were dressed up like a man and a womanwith war bonnets on both of them. The headman who had charge of the potswould burn incense over them and ask for rain, good crops, and other things thepeople wanted. Then they would remove the clothing from the pots and a drum-head from the lining of a buffalo paunch was put over them and tied down securelyto make drums of them. This putting on of the drumheads was called "Tying-the-Pots." Then the singers would take sticks bent in a loop to beat the drumswith.99This ceremony required 4 nights to perform. Roadmaker fasted 4 days andnights during the ceremony; then the ceremony broke up and the whole popula-tion went out on the summer buffalo hunt to the neighborhood of Rainy Buttes.'The camp moved farther west, but Roadmaker stopped at the buttes and fasted7 days and nights. When he finished, he lay down to sleep. In his dreams hesaw black clouds coming from the west and in the clouds he saw a large bird withhuge claws coming down. As the bird approached the butte, it closed it clawsand a voice from above said, "These claws which you see never fail to catchsomething."Then he awoke and knew that it was the Thunderbird he had seen and heardtalking to him. Later he fasted 4 days again in the Tying-the-Pots ceremony.There was a battle with the Assiniboin near the village and Roadmaker was init. They killed many of the enemies. When night came, Roadmaker went to theplace where the dead and scalped Assiniboins lay. He carried some of the bodiesto one spot and lay between them with their heads on his arms, crying. Road-maker afterwards said, "I do not know if I was awake or asleep. I heard voicesfrom the west; I thought that it might be the friends of the dead Assiniboins re-turning and that I would surely be killed. However, it was only the wind andin it were voices. The voices came back a second time with the wind and I couldhear them say, 'Take this bead; when you have taken a scalp, put the bead on theM See the Tying-the-Pots ceremony below for the details.
' This ceremony seems to have occupied the position of the NaxpikE of the other two villages. I found noevidence that any of the older people of this village had ever given the NaxpikE.
376 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
end of the scalp. When you have done this, you will be victorious in all of yourundertakings. We are your enemies but you honored us because you fasted andlay here with us. You will always have your own way.' "Shortly after this dream, the enemy came and stole 10 horses. Those who hadlost their horses were sad. Roadmaker said that he would go out and look for theanimals, for the other young men had not been able to find them. Others volun-teered to go with him. The scouts found the enemy camp of four men far to thewest, nearly to the headwaters of Knife River.Roadmaker said, "We will sneak up on them and then wait until they eat.Then they will put their bows and arrows down."Some had muzzle-loaders too but all of the enemies were killed before theycould get to their weapons. The scalps were given to Roadmaker since he was theleader. He said, "We will now take the horses back to the village. You willbe required to return them to their former owners if they pay us for our efforts.They were taken by the enemy and became the property of the enemy and now wehave taken them back."They started for home but it took them several days, for it was slow travelingwith the horses as they had to keep scouts out ahead all the time so they would notlose the horses to the enemy again. When they came near the village, theypainted [themselves] to show that they had struck the enemy, tied the horsestogether, and drove them through the village so that all the people could see thatthey had been successful.Roadmaker sent an announcer through the village calling that the formerowners could have their horses back providing they paid the warriors for theirservices. The people who had lost these horses were glad to get them back andmade payments in dresses made of mountain sheep, robes, and moccasins.^Several years later Roadmaker awoke one morning and said, "Three tipis havebeen promised to me," meaning that if he organized a war expedition, he wouldkill off three households. He called for volunteers and 79 men volunteered.Some came from the Mandan villages too. They went to the north to a placeeast of the present town of Minot where a small stream enters the Mouse River.Beyond this point the scouts discovered three tipis and returned to report. Road-maker directed the men to wait until the camp moved and then he would notlose any of his men.His men hid themselves in the path of the three families and when the enemieswere close, he gave the order to attack. Roadmaker's party had good horses atthat time and, the enemy being taken by surprise while they were spread out, itdid not take long to wipe out the entire party. He made a staff to which hetied one scalp at the top, one in the middle, and a third at the bottom to representthe three households he had been promised.One day another man named Yellow Hawk went out and took many warriorswith him. They found the enemy on the flats and there was a battle. YellowHawk's men were outnumbered; one young man was wounded and could nottravel. The young man said, "Here is where I am going to have my eagle trappingpit," meaning that he was going to die and the others would bury him there, Ayoung man named On Buffalo, who belonged to the Little Dog society, had hisstaff painted black and white with four black marks and with many feathersalong its length.
' Note that the payments were In things the women wore. This was to compensate the female relativessince a man gave most horses stolen to his sisters and mothers.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONUL ORGANIZATION 377On Buffalo sang his songs and said, "You have heard this man speaking.When you get back tell my people that I died bravely while defending this woundedman."He stuck his society staff in the ground and made his stand there. He woundedsome of the enemies but they were too numerous. He pulled up his staff andcarried the wounded man back, but the enemies rushed him and finally shot andkilled him. Many others were killed in Yellow Hawk's party and when hereached the village the people said that he had "kicked the stone."When On Buffalo's relatives heard of his bravery, the father wept, cut hishair off, stuck arrows through his flesh, and went through the village singing.The mother cut herself and wore short dresses. Many others mourned, for OnBuffalo was so brave. Even the dogs howled.Roadmaker became angry and said, "The people up at Hidatsa village may bewondering what I am going to do about it." The man defended by On Buffalowas named Young Buffalo and belonged to the same clan, the Waterbusters, asdid Roadmaker. Roadmaker announced that he was going out to war and thathe would destroy 15 tipis.He went north with a large force. Before leaving, he talked to the Grand-father snake who Hved in the Missouri River saying, "Grandfather, I am goingout into enemy territory. I am angry for they killed my brother; I want to killthe enemy and I want your help. When I come back I will have a scalp for you."The large snake promised him success, saying, "When you get to the enemyand have killed them, an otter skin will be found and presented to you. It willbe a large tanned one. Take it and wear it as a cap with the tail to the side.Use it in saving the people when they are sick. Then you will become a greatdoctor. When you get back to the village you must pledge the 'Ceremony tothe Water People.' "Roadmaker and his party set out. The first night in camp a count was madeand it was found that there were 452 warriors. They represented the five Hidatsaand Mandan villages. Among them was a man who wore tanned bangs fromthe buffalo which he used as a cap. This man, named Foolish Eagle, would say,"When you find the enemy, I will be the first to strike him" and when the menwere roasting ribs he would say the same and strike the ribs. Then the camptenders would give him the ribs. At other times he would say, "Those enemiesmust have guns, bows, and arrows to fight with. If I am killed, I will be homebefore you are."The next day the war party went on. Roadmaker belonged to the Water-buster clan so he selected a crier from this clan. He instructed the crier to lineup the 40 scouts and selected the best as the number was too large. The 40ran and the first 20 to reach the line were selected to serve with Bull Looks, aWaterbuster clansman, who had been appointed by Roadmaker before they lefthome. This leader ran with them and called out "hoo" four times to makethem run faster.Roadmaker moved his party at night and traveled that way four times. Onthe next morning his scouts came back and reported that they had found 15 tipisand that it looked as though the people were preparing to move camp.Roadmaker said, "We will form here and, when they are opposite us, we willmake the charge."Foolish Eagle was on the left side with his group from Hidatsa, Stirrup was onthe right with his group from Awatixa, and a Mandan named Whistling Ghostwho had married an Awaxawi woman and was living at Awaxawi took the central
378 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
position.' When the enemy was opposite them, Roadmaker gave the signal.FooUsh Eagle was first to strike an enemy, Whistling Ghost was first for the centralgroup, and Stirrup was first of his group. They killed all the enemies and tooktheir horses and other property.Roadmaker moved his camp and they stopped for the noon meal and to rest.He called his criers and said, "There was an otter skin that was promised me by
'Grandfather' and I need that."The criers went through the camp telling all that they must look for an otterskin because Roadmaker wanted it to wear on his head while he sang theVictory songs.There were two young boys who were taken prisoners in the fight and the oldermen met and decided that the boys were old enough to remember what hadhappened to their people and that it would not be wise to take them into thevillages. When they grew up they might do damage or run away with horsesand return to their own people. The old men decided to turn them over to theBlack Mouths. Since it was not customary to kill a person who had been takeninto camp, the Black Mouths went to the boys and told them to go back to theirown country. The boys started out and, when they were some distance fromthe camp, the Black Mouths pursued and killed them.The camp moved again, and the next day at noon Roadmaker said, "I haveprayed to 'Grandfather' that none of my people would be shot or killed. Asyou all know, I have not lost a man. My 'Grandfather' promised me the otterskin saying, 'It will be the largest one with beaver claws sewed on the mouth.'That skin must be in this camp somewhere and the person having it should havegiven it to me. The criers announced this yesterday. It has not been found.Whoever has that skin can keep it now for it is a good skin. Whoever he is, hewill not live very long. We will take his body out and place it on some of thesehills here in enemy territory where he will be lonely. We will put the otter skinbeside liis body and leave him alone with his skin."When this information was announced through the camp, and while the OldWolves were gathered smoking, a man stepped forward and threw the skin beforethe men saying, "There is the skin."Roadmaker opened the bundle and found that it was the skin he had beenpromised. It was the largest one he had ever seen. It had large beaver clawsfastened to the mouth so that when it was shaken, they rattled. He had bluffedthe man and thus secured his skin. He put it on his head as a cap -with, the tailhanging to one side over his shoulder, blackened his staff, and tied to it the threescalps taken by FooUsh Eagle, Whistling Ghost, and Stirrup.He sang his Victory songs, calling the names of those who had struck the enemy.Because there were so many, he called out only their names and the villages theycame from. He mounted his horse and rode through the camp calling the namesof those who had been bravest. Then the party started for home. On the wayhome they killed buffaloes and all were happy.They had guns at this time. Most of the guns were brought in by the Chippewafrom the northeast and traded for robes and corn. These people would come downto the villages with dog teams and sleds, rarely with horses, as they did not havemany and were afraid of having them taken away from them by their enemiesalong the way.The party traveled all night in order to reach the opposite bank of the Missourinear the villages where they howled so all could hear them. When it was daylight,the people could see them waving the scalps. They brought bullboats across to
? Note the division of warriors based on villages.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 379take the men back. Those anxious to get home drifted over on rafts. It tookmuch of the day to cross the 452 warriors and their equipment.When they had reached the village, Roadmaker said, "I am tired now and needto rest. I will rest today and tomorrow I will sing the Victory songs with mymen."It was the custom for people to go around singing, and those seeing that wouldgive them presents. Roadmaker announced that On Buffalo's parents shouldbe invited to his lodge and that those who had won war honors should come andgive the old couple presents during the victory dances.Next morning the warriors painted their bodies and faces black and danced,singing the Victory songs. Many other groups danced too. On Buffalo's fatherand mother went to Roadmaker's lodge and sang this song, "Just a little whileago you did this and now you have done it again. Roadmaker went out and foundthree tipis and killed all the people. He went out again and found 15 tipis andkilled all the people."Roadmaker came out of his lodge and placed his finest war bonnet on the oldman's head. He gave him a new gun with powder horn and said, "You can usethis gun for a cane, my father."The old man went from lodge to lodge singing the same song; all gave himpresents of fine things. This made the old man and woman very happy.Then he made the ceremony to the "Grandfather" in the Missouri River whohad promised the otter skin, for Roadmaker had been told that he must do thatas the price for success. He took the scalp to the spot where the Knife Riverempties into the Missouri, at which place there was a deep pool formed by theswirling water. He gave it to the Grandfather. In the dream his Grandfatherhad said, "You must make the sweat lodge and give the ceremonies to the River;you will become a great doctor; the people will recognize your powers and callyou in to doctor them. When you treat a patient, give him two or three pillowsplaced under his back; raise the head, and he will breathe easier. Scrape the smallturtle and put some of the scrapings in a horn spoon full of water from the Mis-souri. Make the patient drink all of it whether he wants to or not. When youhave done that, take grease and rub on the patient's chest and abdomen. Thenrub wild sage on your hands and knead the sick man's abdomen, for that is wherethe pain all lies and gathers. By kneading the stomach after greasing the patient,this grease goes through the skin and eases the pain so that things will work rightinside. The blood will circulate. In 4 days you can stop doctoring. However,if it is a severe case, you will need to doctor for 8 days, but the patient will recover."These were the instructions that the grandfather gave to Roadmaker.* Hebecame a great doctor and leader of war parties. Three years later Roadmakerput on ceremonies to buy the bundle during the winter. He went out for theenemy six times and never lost a man in war so he was famous both as a warriorand doctor. Men of the three villages would come to him and volunteer to goalong.The Awaxawi would say, "If you are in the age-grade societies, get up and tellwhat you did and it will be sure to come true." The men would get up in the danceand tell how brave they were and the number of times they had struck the enemyand made wishes that came true. So it was that the people of Awatixa andHidatsa, when hearing something funny, would say that it sounds just like anAwaxawi talking.Roadmaker said, "When any of you have a dream that you are being killed bythe enemy, you can always avoid that by dressing up in your best clothing, going
'These are general beliefs associated with all Missouri River bundles
380 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
out, and having some of your friends chase you. They will pretend that theyare killing you and take your clothing, bow and arrows, knife, or whatever weaponsyou are accustomed to carry. It will be a sham battle. You will come back nakedand by doing that you will avoid bad luck."Poor Wolf dreamed the enemy came upon him and killed him, so the next day hetold his friends of his dream. Roadmaker, his mother's brother, advised him todress up in his best, have the people come out imitating the enemy, knock himdown, and strip him. Poor Wolf did, and the warriors took after him. He stoppedto fight back and the men struck him down, took the horsehair that he wore as ascarf, and went back to the village. About that time he heard an uproar on thesouth side of the village where men were running their horses and shooting as theyrode about. Poor Wolf heard one of them cry "The enemy has killed one of us"and he ran over there to see if he could get into the fight, only to learn that theywere referring to the sham battle in which he had been "killed."When Seven Bears (Awaxawi) had a similar dream he put on a sham battle andsaid, "This is the time that I cheated my body" meaning that he had used hissacred bundles to ward off arrows.'Poor Wolf told of a man from Awaxawi who pretended to be lame and wouldlimp during all of the ceremonies. He unbraided one side of his hair and let it fallover the eye. He would say, "My left eye socket is hollow for the eye has brokenand is all white."The people would say to him, "One should not wish for evil, only the good thingsin life," but the man would only reply, "I do not believe in those things; I want tosee if there is any truth to them. That is why I am doing this."In time he had a sore eye. It broke open and then it was hollow. He wouldtake his hair down to cover it. Poor Wolf said to him "You were always telling usyou had a bad ej'e with cataracts and now you have what j'ou have been wishingfor. Why don't you put j'^our hair up so we can see your eye?"Seven Bears would not, for he was ashamed of it. The enemy came and he wasfar back in the line but a bullet glanced and hit him in the thigh, breaking thebone. When he was well again, he had trouble getting around.Roadmaker had the right to wear everything that a chief wore and died atAwaxawi village after the smallpox epidemic was over.CREEKThese sacred bundles and their associated rites were closely relatedto the Missouri River bundles and rites. There were two bundlesafter 1837 but both were considered subdivisions of a sacred bundleand rites originating at Awatixa. Both bundles can be traced back toMissouri River bundle owners; Missouri River for the Awatixa, andPoor Wolf (an older Poor Wolf who died about 1840) of Awaxawi.The bundle rites were associated with certain spirits believed toreside in the small tributaries of the Missouri River, the chief god beinga large snake who resided in the Little Missouri and assured goodhunting along that stream. A complete bundle contained beaver furand claws, otter skin, turtle shell, buffalo skull, mink skin, dried frog,black root or medicine, peppermint, sage, cedar, muskrat sldn (option-
' I did not find reference to this practice for the other Hidatsa groups, but the Mandan made comparablereferences to sham battles for warding ofl misfortunes.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 381
al), and water snake skin (optional). The contents in the bundleclosely approximated those of the Thunder and Missouri River bundles.Nethertheless, the rites and songs associated with the bundle aredistinctive and in no way duplicate those for the other bundles. Thefollowing, an abbreviated account of the origin myth, was related byWolf Chief:Beaver, Otter, and Turtle who lived in the northland made plans to come to thevillage to teach the people to doctor and to care for the sick. They discussedtaking black medicine along to aid them in their doctoring. They decided totake big medicine along also. Then they decided to take peppermint and sand-bar willows. They decided to use a dipper from the left horn of the buffalo, too.They selected a special song which was to be taught to those doctoring one whohas been sick a long while. They also agreed that fat from around the buffalo'sheart should be used when doctoring those who have been sick long.They agreed on a special song for those who were sick in the stomach and hadan evil spirit with a long tail in there. There was another song to be used whiledoctoring should a woman with monthlies come into the lodge, otherwise the sickperson would get worse.Beaver, Otter, and Turtle talked about all these things. They invited BuffaloSkull, who had a holy song, to be their leader and asked him to shake himself.This was to be the sign that any sick person who stood up and shook himselfwould recover.They traveled southward until they came to a creek. Mink was there; hethrew water on dead brush, while singing, and green leaves came out. Theyreached the Missouri; again Mink sang while sprinkling the dead branches, andgreen leaves appeared.They reached Knife River on the fourth day and Mink called for poles to makethe sweat lodge. He taught the people the Sweat Lodge songs, telling them thatearth, wood, stones, and water went together in doctoring. [This combinationprovides the sacred origin of Earth Lodge rites given whenever a new lodge is beingerected.]Frog announced that he also belonged in the creeks, so he taught the peoplehis doctoring song.Mink then instructed the people in the meaning of the various rites: Use blackmedicine for those who are sick or have been poisoned; use the scrapings from theclamshell for those who are nearly dead; use the turtle shell to learn whether thepatient will recover; use fat from around the buffalo's heart for those who havebeen ill a long time; use the buffalo skull for those who seek protection from theirenemies.Inheritance has followed a consistent pattern for the last threetransfers: a group of siblings, male and female, bought from theirmother or mothers, and sold to the children of the female siblings.The purchasing group customarily indicated which articles of thebundle were to be kept individually during their lifetime. Then,when the younger generation indicated a desire to purchase, thoseof the original group of buyers met to complete the sale. All featuresof the bundle and its transfer are characteristic of the Mandan and donot conform to the Hidatsa bundle transfer pattern. During itsentire recorded period, the bundle has been associated with the Xura
382 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194branch of the Waterbuster clan at Awatixa and the closely relatedPrau'ie Chicken clan at Awaxawi. It was also customary for in-dividuals dreaming of the animals associated with the bundle to makeofferings to the bundle and to secure pledges from the bundle o^vnersthat contemplated military and other undertakings woidd besuccessful.In addition to the doctoring rites, there were earth-lodge-makingrites which enjoyed some small measure of popularity. Whenevera new earth lodge was being built, or new central posts were to beerected, the household sought the assistance of someone owningrights in a Creek bundle. While she trimmed and shaped the forksof the four central posts, she addressed the sacred objects, saying,
"These people are building their new earth lodge; I ask you not tofail them. They want to have good luck and no sickness. I askyou, my gods, to send them good luck. These articles they havegiven you, I will keep."The restricted distribution of earth lodge building rites is signi-ficant when examined in the light of traditional residence on theMissouri. The Mandan had a weU-developed system of earth-lodge-making rites which was intimately interwoven into the Okipa andCorn sacred myths. This system had no equivalent in the Hidatsagroups. Traditionally, all Hidatsa Earth Lodge rites are based onthe supernatural teachings of Mink who, while singing the SweatLodge songs, explained that "earth, wood, stones, and water gotogether." Although the rites were a part of the sacred lore of theCreek bundles, females frequently purchased Earth Lodge rites inde-pendently of the other Creek bundle roles. These rites, however,seem not to have been renewed by subsequent sales; instead, newbuyers preferred to purchase directly from the original Creek bundleowners. Creek bundles were traditionally of Awatixa village originfrom whence they spread to Awaxawi village in recent times, andnever reached Hidatsa village. The similarity of the rites to thoseof the Mandan is further evidence substantiating native belief thatthe Awatixa represent the first Hidatsa agricultural group to jointhe Mandan on the Missouri River.Wolf Chief's following narrative provides pertinent data on thebeliefs and habits relating to this sacred bundle:My maternal grandmother's name was Otter Woman, for she was named fromthe bundle. My mother's name was Strikes-Many-Woman. Otter Woman put onthe rites to get the bundle when my mother was about 10 years old. She oftentold her how she put on the ceremony. She made the vow just like the men didand then put up many buffalo robes and a big feast. In that way she boughtthe medicines that her mother and brothers had. She used to put on the sweatceremonies for the bundle even though she owned the bundles. Sometimes she
Bowerg] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 383would also put on a feast and call in all those who had rights in the various animalsthat lived in the creeks.^My mother was taught to doctor and most of the time when she did the doc-toring, she cured the sick persons. Only a few of them died during my time.While she kept this bundle, she would call me to make offerings to the mink, otters,and turtles; I would give my robes to the bundle for they belonged to my mother.She often told me that this Creek bundle was almost like Missouri River bundlesas they were of the otters, mink, and turtles also, so I would sometimes makeofferings to the Missouri River as well.One time we were downstream below Fishhook Village on the west side. Ikilled a buffalo and cut the lower part of the leg off and offered it to the "Grand-father" in the Missouri. I had heard that it was customary to put meat andcalicoes on the bank for the Grandfather, a large snake. I took the ankle andfastened it to a stick and dropped it into the river, saying, "My Grandfather,I am giving you this meat." ^I was 10 years old when my mother taught me how to pray to these sacredthings. She would say, "If you make offerings often and say, 'I want to savemy life,' when you come to the enemies, you can pray to the bundle."My mother gave me an otter skin to keep. When I went out to attack theenemy, I put it over my head; I was always lucky and did not lose my life. I didnot put on the ceremony to own the bundle, for my mother owned it and prayedwhenever I was to war. About 1882 my two brothers. Spotted Bird and TwoTeeth, and my sister named Brown Woman went together and bought my mother'sbundle rights. They made the vow and then went up the Missouri hunting toget the meat. While they were out hunting, they came to the Crow-Flies-High'svillage and their clans-people up there put in some goods for the ceremony .^ Adance was given there also, during which time "sons and daughters" of the peopleof the Prairie Chicken clan gave many fine things, knowing that their "fathersand mothers" would need these things for the ceremony. They stayed up atFort Buford until spring when the cherries were in bloom.When they gave the ceremony, they called in the holy men; they were thepeople who had buffalo skulls in their sacred bundles. They really did not haveto be invited, for it was expected of them. These people represented the holymen: Smells (Big Bird rights); Chippewa (Big Bird rights); Hairy Coat (WomanAbove rights); Son of Star (Wolf rights); Bear-Looks-Out (Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rights) ; Bear Heart (Bear rights) ; Wolf Eyes (Wolf rights) ; CrowsBreast (NaxpikE rights) ; Red Tail (Wolf rights) ; Different Wolf (Buffalo rights)
;
Woman-in-Water (Missouri River rights); No Milk (Missouri River and Naxpiksjrights) ; Poor Wolf (Missouri River rights) ; and Small Ankles (Waterbuster skullrights)
.
Poor Wolf was the leader of the singers, getting his rights both from the Creekbundle and the sacred buffalo skull through the Imitating Buffalo ceremony.He invited the Holy Women society to come to the feast. They used the MandanOkipa lodge for the ceremony. Anyone who prayed to even a small part ofthe Creek bundle was expected to attend. When the procession reached the lodge,my brothers filled the pipe and gave it to one of the Waterbuster clan "fathers."During this time my mother was using the rattles and singing the holy songs.
? Biindle renewal feasts. When none pledged these feasts, it was customary for a bundle owner to per-form these Renewal Feasts.
' This was also a popular food for Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies.
' Although this group had separated a few years before, the bond between clan relatives remained strong.
384 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194As the pipe passed around, the holy men would say, "You are going to havea long life and a good home," speaking to my brothers and sister. My brothersand sister would give my mother a valuable article each time she finished oneof the sacred songs. There were many plates for the roast corn and a large pileof corn balls in the center of the lodge. She would sing four songs and get a pileof robes; again she sang four songs and got another pile of robes. There was asweat bath ready and they used only the finest robes to cover it. Many of therobes were fancy ones worked in quills.Then she went into the sweat lodge, saying "Any of j'ou old men, who wish to,may come into the sweat lodge.^ After you have been cleansed, they wUl dis-tribute the corn balls and other articles. All j^ou old men walk towards thesweat lodge and stand at the door. I will sprinkle you with water and give younew life."She directed Spotted Bird to bring the sacred objects and place them on robesin front of the sweat lodge. She also directed him to sit beside her at the entranceto the sweat lodge saying, "I will sing the holy songs. You wanted to get thesegods so listen carefully. Do not forget them."Then she repeated all of the holy songs that came down to us from the beginningof time. When she finished, she sprinkled all of the old men and called for thewomen and children to come. They were sprinkled also.When she finished, she called Spotted Bird, Two Teeth, Brown Woman, andmyself to sit down near her. She sang the holy songs again in the order thatthej' were given to the people long ago and sprinkled water over us. BrownWoman's husband did not take part even though he hunted for her, but he couldhave bought in with his wife if he had given his mother-in-law a scalp. Then shecalled my two brothers and their wives and Brown Woman to sit in front of herat the entrance of the sweat lodge. There she repeated the same sacred songs.Then they took all of the sacred objects from the top of the sweat lodge.They had a stone ready to put into the pit. My mother said, "Those of youwho wish may break up a chokecherry stick and throw it inside where the stonesare. It will signify that you wUl kill an enemy. My son, break the stick intofour pieces and throw them in one at a time. Each time mention the name ofan enemy you want to kiU."Spotted Bird mentioned a Sioux named Two Bears that he wanted to kill andthrew in a stick; with the second stick, Beads-Stick-Out-of-His-Side, a Sioux, wasmentioned; with the third stick he called Medicine Bear,^'' a Sioux; with the fourthstick he called the name of Red Spear, a Sioux. He had heard of these enemiesby name only, for they were holy men of the Sioux tribe. When he finished, theother stones were put into the pit and the sweat was ready.Before putting water on the stones, my mother said, "You men here in thesweat lodge who wish to fast may do so, for you have many enemies. I am readyto pour the water. If you fast, you may have good dreams to bring good luck."The men in the sweat were crying, for they wanted to be great chiefs. Theywere people who alreadj' had sacred buffalo skulls. I heard them saying in there,
"I want to kill my enemy; our enemies we have thrown into the pit, and wewant to kill them. We are poor and we beg you to help us." "Then the sweat lodge rites were over. She said to the older people who ownedsacred buffalo skulls, "You bring me a stick so I can feed these gods first" and
? She used the familiar term "old man" as used commonly for a husband.
"> Medicine Bear's mother was a Mandan taken prisoner as a little girl when Nuptadi village north ofBismarck was destroyed by the Sioux prior to 1800.11 The man in the lodge at this time represented the most distinguished males of the tribe.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 385then she fed them. She continued, "My sons and daughter, you are the oneswho put on this ceremony and you should pray to your new gods. Also, all youmen who own rights in black medicine and peppermint should give them someto make them lucky."Then she addressed the bundle, saying, "You are passing out of my handsnow; you will be in Spotted Bird's keepmg. I have always treated you well andI hope that while these people keep you, there wUl be no trouble."She touched the different kinds of food?the corn balls and the meat?withthe stick, and then she touched the sacred objects, saying, "You eat this. Yourson has given this to you and you can see what he has done. Perhaps there aresome holy spirits standing outside that we do not know about" so she made amotion with her stick as of feeding them also. She touched the food and pointedthe stick to the different creeks and rivers, saying, "Your grandsons are givingyou this. They want to be lucky and have a long life. Sometime they maywant to cross over you so you should look out for them while they are crossing."She called Two Teeth, Spotted Bird, their wives, and our sister, saying, "I amgoing to sing a holy song that belongs to the Frog and that will be the end. WhenI sing that song, it will mean that you will have a good living and many children."Finishing the singing she said, "I have received many benefits from owning thesegods. Now I have received good things for them and am ready to give them up.I will heap these robes and the food into two piles before my children distributethem to you old people. Each of you older people pray for my children andpromise them good luck so that they will conquer their enemies and becomechiefs."There was so much to divide that it took a long time. When this was done,my mother said, "We have finished eating and we are all happy that our childrenhave done this for us. You spirits should now go back to the places that youcame from; the creeks, the Missouri River, and the four directions." '^Formerly we did not get pay for doctoring unless the patient lived. If thepatient died, the doctor was afraid to take what had been promised him. In thelast 40 years [40 years prior to 1933] the younger people have been taking the pay.When I was about 12 years old [1863] four sisters, Juneberries, Bird Woman,Different Sage, and Roots, the mothers-in-law of Percy Rush, came to her.'^One of their daughters was ill and different doctors had tried to cure her. Theycame with a red pipe and walked up to my mother's sacred bundle and said,"We have come for you. We want you to come over and doctor our daughter."One had a robe and some calicoes with her. My mother inquiied of my fatherwhether she should go there to doctor, for he had told her that she ought not goout doctoring too often or she might lose her powers. Then her own childrenmight catch a serious disease. This time he said, "I think they need you badlyso you should go over there and find out if you can help. You know how to tellif the patient is going to die by feeling the stomach. If it is a hopeless case, youdo not have to stay." "They offered to pay three horses and several robes to have the girl cured.Before they left, they put the pipe in front of my mother's bundle and she smokedit while talking to the bundle. Then she went to the sick girl's lodge.My mother came back and said that the girl was very skinny and that thepeople had given her two sets of eagle feathers; 24 tail feathers. My father
" Note that Strikes-Many-Woman was more generous than Wolf Chief, who kept for himselfa large shareof the goods put up by the buyers. Note also that food and goods were taken from two piles by the moieties.
'? Bear-Looks-Out's wives; see Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies rites.1* Since the four sisters and other doctors had tried and failed, Strikes-Many-Woman could enhance herbundle's status if she succeeded.
386 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [??"? 194promised to lend assistance. The parents wanted my mother to stay in the lodgeovernight for it was then that she got frightened, thinking she would die, and gotworse. My mother said, "I gave the girl some water. She swallowed some of itso I think I will stay over there tonight. I can tell better in the morning whethershe will recover."I did not see how she doctored for I was not there. Next day my mother cameback and said "I felt of her stomach and I could tell that there was a pulse towardthe back of the stomach on both sides. I kneaded the stomach and it seemed thatone side is getting better. If it improves, I think she will recover."She came back the second day and my father inquired if the girl had eatenanything and my mother said, "She would not eat yesterday, but today shewanted roasted corn and I gave her some."Small Ankles, my father, was also a good doctor for he had a dream from thebear and buffalo but he could not doctor for his neighbors, only his own children.He did not like to doctor others, for in his dream he was doctoring his own children.Since he and Bear-Looks-Out both belonged to the Waterbuster clan, the sickgirl was also Small Ankles "daughter" so he thought it would be all right sinceStrikes-Many-Woman thought she would recover.He said, "I will go along with you this time and help you a little."She said, "Yes, you come along and help me for I think I can cure her. I feltof her stomach near the backbone and it seems that it is getting soft on one side."My father went to his bundles and I heard him praying to them. Then myparents went off together. When they got there my father said, "I am not aregular doctor but I will help, for in my dream I saw myself doctoring. If I seethat she is going to get well, I will stay with her and help her along."Bear-Looks-Out's family was glad and promised a good horse. He begandoctoring by telling what he had seen in his dream from the bear. He sang theholy song the bear had sung and blew water over the girl. He did this four timesand the sick girl sat up, saying, "I am well now and can eat. I would like tohave some chokecherries."It was hard to find the cherries for this happened just before the cherries wereripe. The women went out through the village and found some dried cherriesfrom the preceding year's crop. They left the berries near his sacred bundle.Small Ankles talked to the bundle, saying, "I saw you in my dream and youtaught me how to doctor and I am doing that now. You showed me how todoctor with the chokecherries."He sent some young men who had come in to go out and bring in some brancheswith the cherries and leaves on, for he was going to mix these cherries and leavesinto a mash, cook it, and feed her. While the cherries were cooking, he burned anincense from cedar for that went with the bears who live in the cedar thickets.He chewed up the cherries and leaves while singing the bear song and, addressingthe bear, he said, "I would like to see this sick girl lie down stretched out on herback."He stood at her feet, sang the holy song, and, directing her to open her mouth,put the mixture on her tongue.She chewed it and said, " I am eating fresh chokecherries."Small Ankles said, "That is fine. You are going to get well because you haveeaten the new chokecherries. How do you feel?"She said, "It seems that I have new life and can carry myself around,"Small Ankles told the women that they should give her some food and that hermother should feed her. She began to feed herself shortly afterward while,before that time, she could not lift her hands. She sat up and ate the food byherself.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 387Small Ankles said to my mother, "Now it is your turn. I know you have somemedicines to doctor her with. You should use some of the peppermint to cleanseher with. You have many kinds; use all at the same time so she will recover thefaster." Then he teased my mother, saying, "You see how I doctored her, Y'ouare supposed to be the real doctor for you have the things that came from earlytimes. I am not supposed to be a great doctor for I only dreamed of mine.Still you have seen how I did it. So you should not sit there all the time but dosomething."My mother used a plate to dip the peppermint in, and, sprinkling the girl, shesaid, "I would hke to see this girl recover; I want to get these horses; I do notwant to stay here too long."Then she said to my father, "You did not say whether the sick girl wouldrecover or die. I think you ought to tell me." But he would not make aprediction.She doctored a second time, greasing the girl with fat taken from around thebuffalo's heart and singing the song that went with the use of the fat. When shehad finished rubbing the fat into the girl's skin, the girl said, " Now I feel like a dif-ferent person."My mother had a turtle shell in her sacred bundle. She said, " I am going tofind out if she will recover; it is lime to find out now."She burned some of the peppermint before the girl, took up the small turtleand sang the sacred song, " Mink is holy; he came; he is here" and chewed pepper-mint and spit it on the turtle singing, "Peppermint is holy; he came; he is here."While she sang, she held the turtle shell in her hand, motioned with it threetimes and said, " When I throw the turtle on her, she will recover if it stops onher; if it drops down, she will die."She threw the turtle towards the girl and it stopped on her abdomen so shesaid to my father, "Take a stick and tap the turtle lightly."He took the stick and tapped the turtle with it and the turtle slid down slowlyand fell off the girl.My mother said, "I promise that the girl will get better and walk around within3 days."They came back to see the girl after that and my father said that he could seethat she would recover by her eyes. Within 10 days the girl was walking aroundagain. My mother came back then to cleanse her. She gave the girl a smallpiece of mink hide to wear around her neck whenever she walked for she was stillquite weak and thin.When she came home my father said, "It is all right; it was just Uke winning agame. We heard that many doctors had tried and then we succeeded. Wehave many children of our own so you should not go out doctoring often. Ifsomeone calls you again, you should not go."Another time Picture came and said that her boy was very sick. It was thecustom when they begged, saying, "I know you love your children and do notwant to have any bad luck" that one could not refuse. Mother went over to seewhat ailed the boy and came back to tell my father.She said, "You stopped me from going out to doctor. This woman came overand begged through our own children, saying that we honored our children.I do not have to go if you do not want me to. You must decide."He said, "Since that old woman came here and begged, honoring our children,I do not see how we can refuse. You could go without taking your sacred bundle,feel of his insides, and see if you can cure him."She felt of his stomach and then ordered the people to prepare the sweat lodge.She took him inside and sang the songs of the Creek bundle. When he came out
388 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194he felt better and begged for food. I heard her telling my father that she thoughthe would recover for his eyes were bright.My father said, "Since you think it is all right and they have promised twohorses, I think it is better that I go over too and help you. It will be all rightfor you to stay there 1 night."She tried hard to cure the boy; she examined the stomach and found a hardplace there next to the backbone. She thought it was the place where the sick-ness was centered. She kneaded the stomach every few- hours. She pressed theabdomen and then she felt a movement inside. She came home and said that shehad been up nearly all night pressing the stomach. She begged help of SmallAnkles, saying, "I think the boy is going to get over his sickness. I think youshould go along with me and help the boy."He said, "You can go in the morning and I will be over there at night. If Ithink he is going to get well, we will go together. Then I am sure we can worka cure."She came back before sundown and said, "I had a hard time today. RedHead came in and just as soon as she left, the boy lost consciousness. I heardthat this woman had her monthlies. I used the medicines that I am supposedto use when this happens but it seems that the boy is worse. I think you oughtto go along as you have medicines when a woman with monthlies comes around."'^My mother's rites consisted of a song, "That woman came to the lodge door;she is holy; she goes out." "The two went back. The boy was still unconscious. They took their sacredbundles this time. They blew peppermint over him and sang the sacred songs.Towards morning it seemed that the boy was a little better.Small Ankles said, "I have been using the powers that I got from the bears;now I am going to use my Buffalo Spirit rites."Before doctoring the boy, Small Ankles stood and addressed all in the room,
"I tried to have a god of my own; I found a place where there were many buffaloskulls and bones. I piled them together and built a little lodge a short distanceaway. In the daytime I stood by the pile of bones, and at night I stayed inthe lodge for this was during the winter. On the fourth day I cut skin frommy leg and offered it to the gods so that I would be successful in all that I under-took. I want to remind you, my gods, that I did all this and now I want tocure this boy. I am going to sing the songs you taught me. You told me youwere the Buffalo Spirits and you gave me these two buffalo teeth and hair. Inmy dreams you showed me all this so I am going to try to cure this boy andget the two horses. I will sing the sacred songs."He sang the songs twice. He shook the boy and inquired how he felt andthe boy said that he was feeling better already. Right afterward, the boywent to sleep.Next day Small Ankles inquired how he felt and the boy said, "I feel muchbetter; it seems that I can feel my body now. I want something to eat."They doctored for about 14 days and then they had the boy up. Theycleansed the boy in the sweat lodge and brought back with them all the thingspromised except the horses, which the people brought in from grazing anddelivered the next morning.
i? That Is, she Is menstruating." Small Ankles' rites were concerned with eagle trapping. There were particular menstruation riteswhich were performed to prevent bad luck to the eagle trappers.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 389When I was 9 years old, the people went out hunting and ran nine SanteeSioux into a pocket where they built a fort. There was a fight and four of ourmen were killed. A man named Little Bear was in the fight and he would say,
"If we stay around here we will all be killed; we should jump into the hole anddrive them out."He tried and was killed. Then Bluestone went toward them with his sacredspear but he was killed before he reached the fort. Cedar was next; he jumpedinto the fort killed one enemy, and then he was killed. By that time six ofour people were killed and we had only one of theirs.Chokecherry said, "Wait until I can see how to get rid of those eight enemies.Bear Necklace, my son-in-law, stand in front of me. All you young men standwith him. Each time I sing, you make a noise. When I have sung the fourthtime, run over there, jump into that hole and kill them. Bear Necklace willtake my shield and bear bundle. You will never get killed so long as I singmy song. The song I will sing is the one I was taught bj'^ the grizzly bears inmy dream. Do not be afraid."Each time he sang, he shook the chokecherry brush in imitation of the bears.When the song was sung the fourth time, the young men jumped into the fort,killed all of the enemies, and butchered them with their knives.In the fight. Bear Heart was shot between the two bones of the lower arm.It was only a flesh wound but he came to my mother to cure him for she hadthe right to doctor the wounded from a dream she had from the mink in herCreek bundle. She sang "It is badly smashed by the bullet but he will recover."When she sold her bundle, she passed the New Mink song on to her children."When her grandchildren had high fevers, she would doctor them. She wouldnot take pay from her own children as she had in mind being of assistance toher own children when she bought the ceremony. Outsiders were required topay well before she would doctor.TYING-THE-POTSThis ceremony, performed at Awaxawi village, had no preciseequivalent at any other Mandan or Hidatsa villages. It was, accord-ing to traditions, a popular rainmaking ceremony at Awaxawi andwas performed annually during the hottest part of the summer.This important summer ceremony occupied the same prominentposition at Awaxawi that the NaxpikE or Sun Dance did at the othertwo villages.It was not possible to identify any survivor or older descendant ofthat village who had ever participated in the NaxpikE as bundlepurchaser. This would indicate recent union with the other twogroups, too short a time for complete intergroup borrowing of theirrespective ceremonial bundles. Informants recalled, however, severalof their older relatives who had participated in the summer Tying-the-Pots or the Mandan Okipa ceremonies.*^Like other native traditions concerning clay pots, the sacred originmyth for the ceremony relates the experiences of the snake people.
" Here we find an Instance of ritual enrichment,
'- This group has traditions of residence on the tributaries of the Red River until early historic times.710-195?65 ^26
390 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull, 194The following abbreviated account by Bears Arm comes from PoorWolf and Old-Woman-Crawling who lived at Awaxawi village untilits abandonment after the smallpox epidemic.A very handsome young man living at Awaxawi village seldom went arouudwith the girls because he thought that most of them were foolish. One morninghe awakened to see a young woman leaving his bed. She came for 4 nights andhe resolved to follow her and learn who she was. When she left the last time,he followed her and she led him northward until, when evening came, a killdeerbird was frightened up and she knew the bird was scout for the Big Birds.The young woman requested her companion to cut a chokecherry branch torepresent a snake, which they put near the entrance to a cave situated on theriver bank near Mannhaven. In the night they heard the thunder and knewthat the big birds were attacking the branch.After the storm passed, they traveled northeastward and came to a large lake.He followed her into the water where he found a new land and saw that the peoplewere snakes. The young woman was the daughter of Chief-of-the-Snakes.One day he heard thunder and saw lightning. The people said that the thunder-birds were trying to kill them, but the lightning could not penetrate through thewater.After a while the young man became homesick and longed to see his peopleagain. The young woman being married to him, she agreed to return with him.Although she went about a great deal in the village under the lake, she remainedat home all the time in her husband's village. Snake Woman would stay in thelodge seated on a buffalo hide from which the hair had been removed; she wasafraid of thunder. She worked all the time decorating robes, leggings, andmoccasins with porcupine quills but she never went outside to get wood andwater, or to work in the gardens.She ordered that no woman must ever touch her husband and he had thisinformation announced through the village. One day his sister-in-law touchedthe corner of his robe while teasing him. He cut out the spot in the robe whereit was touched but his wife detected it and disappeared shortly afterwards.He returned to the lake and tried to go to the land beneath the lake but eachtime he dived down, he came back up again. He cried long and his wife appearedout of the water with two pots, one large one and one small one. She explainedthat the large one was a man and the small one a woman, and stated that theywere to be used as drums for bringing rain. She instructed him in dressing thepots with clothing and in making the snake poles. She taught the songs thatwent with the rites.She warned that the pots should not be carried about from place to place butmust be stored in a deep hole with a strong roof over them when not in use, asprotection from the thunder.The ceremony was an annual affair and was celebrated during thehottest days for the purpose of bringing rain. Both men and womenpledged to perform the rites but women were excluded from thelodge where the rites were performed as was customary wheneverfasting was practiced. The person pledging the ceremony wasassisted by his relatives in the same manner as in the NaxpikE or theWolf rites but the costs in goods were not as great as when buyinga bundle. The one bearing the expenses of the ceremony was expected
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 391to provide fancy clothing, for the decoration of the pots, and robesfor the singers.The principal ceremonial equipment consisted of two very largeclay pots decorated to represent the water snakes from whom it wasbelieved they were obtained. One was slightly larger than the otherand represented the male and the smaller one represented the female.It is said that the decorations on the body of these vessels representedthe snakes. However, no one living at the time this study was madecould provide a precise description of the decorations. The twovessels were kept in a corn chamber in a bed of soft sage ^^ and coveredwith a strong roof of ash poles and earth. They were taken from thepit only on ceremonial occasions. They were never exposed todirect sunlight and were kept in the earth lodge while the ceremonywas performed.This apparently was the only rainmaking rite which providedopportunities for formal fasting and torturing. Young men conductedthemselves in essentially the same manner as when fasting duringthe NaxpikE, the Wolf, or the Mandan Okipa ceremonies, callingon members of their father's clan to insert the sticks for the suspensionor dragging of buffalo skulls. The use of a carved log to representa snake with eyes, mouth, and nostrils at one end and carved notchesalong the back was unique to this ceremony. During the performanceof the ceremony, the leaders ran back and forth beside the log dragginga vibrator over the notches. The resulting noise was beUeved torepresent the sounds made by the snakes when "bringing the rains."On other occasions during the performance of the rites, drumheadsmade from the buffalo's paunch were tied tightly over the two claypots and allowed to dry. The drumsticks consisted of curvedwillows with a crosshatching of sinews. There were special songsfor "Tying-the-Pots," referring to the tying of drumheads overthe pots, which is the name by which the ceremony is known today.Those who fasted during the ceremony were provided with smallnotched sticks or carved ribs which they rubbed together wheneverthe singers caused the large vibrator to be sounded. It is suggestedthat these small individual vibrators are the numerous notched ribsfound frequently in all of the Hidatsa and Mandan village sites of theHeart River focus or culture. When the ceremony was completed, thepots were returned to the cache and protected by a pole and earthcover. Informants thought those giving the ceremony also receivedrights to make pottery with certain designs.The ceremony had many features in common with the men'sNotched Stick age-grade society of Awaxawi village. It appears that
'? Called "different sage" by the Hidatsa.
392 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194the ceremony was an expression of the greater emphasis placed onagricultm-e by the Awaxawi.^The rites were abandoned a few years after moving to FishhookVillage when the principal sacred bundle owner died. The people atfirst returned to Awaxawi during the simimer for the annual perform-ance, but the rituals never became popular at Fishhook when the threevillage groups united there. Due to the prohibition against movingthe pots, they were never taken from Awaxawi. The exact spot wherethey are buried is unknown ; the last person to possess that informationdied a few years prior to the time of this study. According to nativeconcepts, the Tying-the-Pots ceremony originated after this villagegroup reached the Missouri, this belief being based on incidents thatoccurred on or near the Missouri.Wolf CeremoniesThe Hidatsa recognized three distinct hereditary Wolf ceremonialcomplexes, Wolf Woman, Sunrise Wolf, and Sunset Wolf. Eachceremony was transmitted independently of the others throughestablished hereditary lines although the Wolf Woman impersonatorofficiated also during all performances of the Sunrise and Sunset Wolfceremonies. Traditionally, the thi*ee ceremonies were founded ratherlate. The Wolf Woman is conceptualized to be one of the femalescreated by Village-Old-Woman during earliest times. Nevertheless,the sacred origin myths related by the Wolf Woman bundle ownersand the Holy Women attribute the origin of this specific Wolf Cere-mony to incidents occurring after 1800 when a small group of Hidatsaquarreled and moved onto the Little Missouri to build a village nearthe mouth of Cherry Creek.^^ The Hidatsa consider the recency ofthe events leading to the establishment of these bundle rites merelyas the recognition of a supernatm-al being who was with the people fora long time, gave them personal dreams and sacred bundles, but wasnot recognized by formal tribal ceremonies until recently.The Hidatsa date the establishment of the Sunrise Wolf ceremonyby the fact that it was instituted by Village-Young-Man from visionsexperienced while living at the mouth of Heart River ^^ subsequentto residence at Devils Lake and to the fact that his war party foundOld-Woman-Who-Never-Dies still living on the Upper Missouri.The Sunset Wolf rites were believed to have been established after the
2? "The Mandanes and Saulteurs (Awaxawi) are a stationary people who never leave their villages exceptto go hunting or on a war excursion. They are much more agricultural than their neighbors, the Big Bellies(Hidatsa and Awatixa), raising an Immense quantity of com, beans, squashes, tobacco" (Henry, 1897, p.338).
>> George F. Will dates this settlement as about 1811. See WiU, 1946, pp. 16-17.>* These rites also bear close similarity to Mandan practices and may well have been borrowed from theMandan while at Heart River.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 393Hidatsa had moved northward to the mouth of Knife River and sub-sequent to the removal of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies to her per-manent home in the south. Traditionally, then, the order of adoptionof the various formal Wolf ceremonies was: (1) Sunrise Wolf; (2)Sunset Wolf; (3) Wolf Woman.The Wolf rites are distinctive in that their principal emphasis wason warfare and their ritual training consisted primarily of teachingthe formal offensive warfare patterns. Offensive warfare with theHidatsa was a highly ritualistic activity in which the participants,irrespective of the sacred bundles carried by the leaders, impersonatedthe wolves and coyotes. The leaders themselves were known as theOld Wolves, the scouts were the Coyotes, and the other members ofthe party were Young Wolves. The great florescence of rites empha-sizing warfare was traditionally of recent occurrence. The elementscomprising these rites, however, were plucked from the long-standingcultural traditions and seemingly do not represent many featm-es newto the Hidatsa groups. The ritual attitude toward the wolf is notunhke that of the Mandan, who had gone even farther than theHidatsa in the development of hereditary bundle rites, or the Crow,Sioux, Cheyenne, and their other neighbors; but the form taken wasquite different. Mandan Wolf rites were intimately integrated intoboth the ceremonial and clan systems while we find no evidence thatHidatsa Wolf rites followed any particular clan pattern.In the Mandan sacred myths, Clay-on-the-Face, a wolf imperson-ator, regretted that only the moiety representing the buffaloes andfounded by Lone Man had a leader, and he pledged that, should thewar expedition which he was planning return successfully, he wouldgive names to the people of the opposite moiety. So, when he metthe enemy and overcame them in battle, he thought of his vow. Ashe returned toward the village he observed the prairie chickens, thespeckled eagles, the bears, the badgers, the snakes living in the redhills, the crows, and the people in a clump of woods, so he gave thesenames to the people of the opposite moiety as clan names, designatingthose of the numerically superior Prairie Chicken clan to be the
"carriers" of the Wolf rites. The clan inheritance feature was pre-served by transmission from "mother's brother to sister's son" or
"father-in-law to son-in-law" inheritance, both being aspects of claninheritance. These Mandan beliefs and practices were entirelylacking with the Hidatsa. Transmission was from father to son,thus cutting across clan lines, and Wolf Woman rites were transferredfrom a female to one she addressed as "daughter"?father's sister tobrother's daughter, or mother to daughter.
394 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194SUNRISE WOLFWolf Chief, who bought full ceremonial rights in this ceremony,provided a detailed account of the sacred origin myth and his bundlepurchase efforts. The following is a condensed account of thismyth:When the Hidatsa, the people who afterward lived on the north bank ofKnife River, reached the Missouri they first crossed and settled near Heart River.The people would see the high buttes around there and think that some greatspirits surely lived in them. A young man though the would try to learn whichspirits were in these buttes so he walked far up the Heart River and fasted atone of the highest buttes. He fasted from time to time for 4-day periods untilone morning just before sunrise he heard someone singing Wolf songs and talkingfrom afar.The voice said, "I take their part going out against the enemies and now myson here will do the same." Then the wolves ran, singing, "You will take thepart I used to take. I used to go out against the enemies and take their scalps.Now you will do the same as I did."They ran a third time but he could not see the people who were running.Each time they stopped they sang a holy song. They said, "My son, you shoulddo as we did and go out and overcome your enemies." They ran again andstopped to dance. They said, "It is easy for us to do that and, you being ourson now, we give you the power to do it also."The wolves came into view and he saw nearly 30 of them. He heard thesongs but he did not understand them. He went home and in his dreams hesaw wolf hides over the wolves' shoulders and caps of wolf hide, to which the earswere attached, on their heads.The Wolves said, "You have been suffering so long to get a god of your own.We knew that you were fasting and we have come to instruct you to put on theWolf ceremony so that you can carry on these rites that we want your peopleto have. This is a good thing we have brought to you. There are many enemiesto the south and they will come against you. You will need this power. Inthe future you will pass the ceremony on to others but, before they put up theceremony, they must first go out and kill their enemy. You see how we said'We have been victorious over our enemies.' You repeat that to your sons, too.There will be another wolf, the Wolf of the Sunset. Tell your people that youwant to put on the ceremony for the Flatland Wolf. When you do this, we aregoing to sing a holy song and change you into a wolf. You do not have to goout and kUl an enemy afterwards but pretend that you do. Then the peoplewill make fun of you and give you a funny name. Whenever you sing thisholy song you will change into a wolf. We will show you how to get more strengthand power so that you will never become exhausted no matter how far you travel.Do not show off too soon. It may be that some enemies will attack and surroundyou and then we will instruct you further."The Wolves showed him how to use the sacred things?Black Medicine, Sweet-grass, White Clay, and Earth?so that he and later generations would know whatto do when tired, saying, "You should inform the people that there are songs togo with each of these four things. When you pass them on to the younger genera-tion, you should teach them when to use the songs."Then the Wolves sang, "This earth is holy; sweetgrass is holy; black medicineis holy; water is holy. All these things are holy; they will give you back yourstrength again."
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 395The Wolves said, "There will be a buffalo skull too and a song to go with it andthey sang, "He came to the lodge; he is coming."The Wolves added, "In the future you will want to reveal all this supernaturalpower we have given you, but do not tell them anything until they make fun ofyou. When you are out against the enemy, and the scouts report the enemynear, there is a holy song that the scouts should use. Tell them that when theyrun back to report, they should pretend to be coyotes. Then the others shouldstand in a row. The warriors will sing and the scouts will tell where they sawthe enemies. There is also a holy song that belongs to a very old female wolf:at the end there is a howl. 2* Anyone who sings this song and makes a wish willbe unusually successful in getting what he asks. Whenever the warriors comeback with success over their enemies, they should put red paint under theirnoses; this is a sign of success. It may be that in the future other generations willwant additional dreams. Then they, too, may get additional holy songs from us."So ended the Wolves' instructions.Each time the warriors went out to kill their enemies, this young man wouldsay that he was going along and that he was the one who would do the actualkilling. When the party returned, he would put marks on his leggings. Thepeople thought this was funny for he had not been out to war. His pal would tellhim what the people said.One time the warriors, including the pal, were out and they made up a warsong giving him a name, singing, "The Man-who-Stays-at-Home-Smoking-and-Jealous, he pretends to be brave; still he has not done anything. He is justfooling himself."So the people called him Village-Young-Man. He told his pal of his experienceswith the wolves and which he had now passed on to the others to make themsuccessful. He announced that he was really going out to reveal his supernaturalpowers. There were 12 in the party which included himself and his pal. Theycame to the lodge of Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and she brought out bowlsof roasted corn for her "grandchildren." The men thought the pots were verysmall indeed and she sensed their thought, saying, "Those are indeed small vessels.When the vessels are nearly empty, stir them and they will fill again. Whenyou go out, go to the west. There are seven men whom you will meet.^* Youcan kill them all off. They will have wolf hides around their bodies and carrybows without bark. When you kill those seven enemies, I wish you would bringme one of the scalps to hang on the side of my basket." ^sThey went west to an oak grove, killed the seven warriors, and gave the oldwoman the scalp. She said, "Whenever you want to get the best of your enemies,you should promise me something."At home the people danced and Village-Young-Man decorated his spear andwore feathers to show what he had done.Black Hawk organized a war party and the pal thought they should go alongso further demonstrations of his supernatural powers could be revealed. Village-Young-Man went to his fasting grounds to get further instructions from thewolves. Then he saw the tipis far to the north so he asked his wife to preparehis moccasins. She did not beUeve he would go out for he was always promisingand never went out.
? This reference Is to the Wolf Woman of the Wolf Woman ceremony.
'? These seven warriors were tm-ned to stone (pi. 9).M It was customary for young men going to war to seek supernatural assistance of the Old-Woman-WhoNever-Dies bundle owner and to promise a scalp for the ceremonial basket when successful in striking theenemy.
396 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The next day he instructed his wife to go to the river bank and hide. Hewalked by her and swam the river. There he howled like a wolf and when sheuncovered her head, she saw a wolf on the opposite bank. He called to her,"Now you see that I am holy" and he ran over the hills towards the north.Before the party left, he told his pal that he would join them on the fourthnight while the others were singing derisive songs about him and that when theyheard a wolf howl he should bring roasted shoulder meat to the edge of the campand leave it. Then on the next day Village-Young-Man would be far to the frontand coming from the enemy's village when the others first saw the camp. Allthese things came true. Village-Young-Man and the other scouts returned totheir camp where he reported that he saw the lodges and they were as thick asthe spots in the buffalo's mouth and informed the scouts that in the future scoutsmust repeat the same information.The leader did not believe what Village-Young-Man said so he went out tosee for himself. Village-Young-Man went into the enemy camp. There hewaited until daybreak so his party could see him. Then he killed a woman,scalped her, and ran away slowly so that the enemy would follow. He ran backto the scouts who had not yet reached the enemy camp, instructed them as theWolves had taught him in running so as not to tire, and led them into battleagainst the scouts which the enemy had sent out. While instructing the scouts,he demonstrated his new supernatural powers by knocking down four enemieswith the assistance of his pal.While returning to Black Hawk's camp, he instructed the scouts in the use ofwhite clay to make them light on their feet so they could run faster. The mainparty stood in a line when they heard the scouts coming and Village-Young-Mangave the scalp and elk-horn scraper to Black Hawk's wife, addressing her as sister-in-law. Black Hawk was not sure that they might not be old lovers and Village-Young-Man criticized him for acting unchieftainlike. The scouts told BlackHawk of Village-Young-Man's skill and supernatural powers and they dancedthe scalp dances.Village-Young-Man said to Black Wolf, "I am going back home and will bethere before sunrise for I am not really human any more. I will transform my-self into a wolf and be there when the sun rises."He crossed the river at daybreak and went into his lodge. Since he returned sosoon, his wife thought he had been lost. He told of turning himself into a wolfand she was happy. But he said nothing to her of his part in the battle. Hedressed up and put marks on his leggings to show that he had killed the enemiesand he wore scalps and feathers too. The people thought he must be insane andlaughed at him.On the fourth morning home he saw an old man walking through the villageand he asked him to be announcer to tell the people that the war party wouldarrive that day and to use the word sakucha which in the future would signifythat the party had been successful. The old man made the announcement eventhough he thought the young man was insane.Soon the people saw the war party on the opposite bank singing an Honor songand each time they sang they mentioned Village-Young-Man. It was customaryfor the relatives of those who had killed the enemy to give out food and goods.His parents hesitated for they did not believe their son had accomplished thesethings and were crying for shame.Village-Young-Man came off of his lodge and said to his wife and parents,
"I am the one who killed all the enemies they mention. Now they are asking forarticles and you should give them some. Paint your faces black and dance forI did all that they tell you I have done."
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 397His wife stood in front of their lodge with her face painted and was happy be-cause her husband had been successful.Village-Young-Man instructed the people that the war leaders should not lookinto holes in the ground nor eat meat from the buffalo's hocks. Village-Young-Man taught the ceremony to those who came to him and wanted to give a feastto the wolves.The Wolf rites differ from most other ceremonies in several re-spects: (1) the sacred myths were more widely known than those forother ceremonies, due in part it seems, to the training young men re-ceived prior to and during their first military expeditions; and (2)there were no special singers for the rites whose status during ritualperformances exceeded that of other comparable bundle owners.Items in a Wolf bundle were: a wolf hide; a braid of sweetgrass;black medicine root; cap of wolf hide with the ears attached; anyfox or coyote?Wolf Chief's being a gray fox?to represent thescouts; a buffalo skull; and 12 sticks. Four bundle lines represented byTwo Tails, Yellow Shoulder, Red Basket, and Small Anides survivedthe smallpox epidemic of 1837. During the succeeding years thenumber of bundles doubled but at no time were the sales sufficientlynumerous to become an annual event.Wolf Chief was one of the last to buy a bundle during which thefull ceremony was performed. This ceremony was performed in 1880or 1882 in conjunction with his brother who was buying their father'sWoman Above rites. Since that time, due to the termination ofPlains warfare, interest in the bundles died out. Most of the bundleshave since been put away.Wolf Chief provided the following account of the purchase of aSunrise Wolf bundle. In this joint purchase his brother assistedhim and received their father's Woman Above bundle.^^ The detailsof the purchase preliminaries and the final transfer are given essentiallyas related by Wolf Chief. This narrative is especially valuable inillustrating simultaneous purchase of two distinct bundles, a practicecharacteristic of the later years when the aboriginal culture wasbreaking down rapidly. Of the purchase, Wolf Chief said:This Wolf rite, before my time, belonged to my father, Small Ankles. Oneday my brother, Red Basket, came to me and said, "I dreamed about our father'sWolf bundle."That was when I was 30 and my brother was 24.I said to him, "I had such a dream, too. Now you are trying to do the samething but it is very difficult to do. Let's think it over a while and not make anypromises we cannot fulfill. In your mind you have it already for you have seenit in your dream. I do not want to refuse you for we might get into trouble andhave serious misfortunes. You did not say a certain bundle. You said that youwant to own all the bundles that our father has. You know that he has manyother ceremonies which makes it all the harder. Our father owns the Wolf of the
?? For the myths and additional information on the Woman Above ceremony see pp. 323-333.
398 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194Sunrise, but he has the Black Bear for eagle trapping. Then he also owns theOld-Woman-Above and the Waterbuster Eagles. It would be easier if youmentioned a certain one. We should pick out certain ones to use. I think youshould pick out the Old-Woman-Above ceremony and I will take the SunriseWolf for that would be easier."We informed out father about our plans and he said, "It is going to be hard foryou because the buflfalo are nearly gone. The only way you will be able to do itwill be to ask the different societies. It may be that they will give you enoughvaluable things such as robes, horses, and clothing to make up the ceremony."Then he taught us how to say we wanted to own our father's gods. He toldRed Basket to say to Old-Woman-Above, "I want to own you and I promise tobuild a sweat lodge for you. I will have enough articles. My father's god,I want to own you."He said to me, "You should say, 'I want to own you. Wolf of the Daybreak.I want to own you, my father's god.' After you make your promise, you willhave to look for another 'father' who will repeat the holy songs belonging tothe Wolf and the Old Woman Above. Since the songs for the two bundles willbe mixed, you should pick two 'fathers' but you could have one sweat lodge.Select Hairy Coat (Waterbuster clan) to do the singing in the ceremony as hehas the Old-Woman-Above rights."We decided to appoint Lying Chicken 2? as our ceremonial father for we hadheard much about how he had fasted. Even in war, although he had beenwounded, he was able to save his life. We thought he would be a pretty goodman to ask. Before we went to see him to tell him of our plans, we got severalfine blankets and robes. Our father told us we should take the pipe along whenwe spoke to him of helping us get the bundles.He was not at home when we called but we saw his sacred bundle hangingthere. His wife saw us carrying the pipe and inquired what we wanted and wesaid, "Mother, v/here did our father go?"She said that he had gone out visiting somewhere and we said, "We wishthat you would go out and look for him as we come for a great purpose." Shewent out and in a short time she came back with him.As soon as he came in, he inquired what we wanted and we said, "We wantto own a god so we selected you as our 'father.' My brother wants to ownthe Old-Woman-Above and give that ceremony while I want to own the SunriseWolf. We want to go together and get these bundles from our own father whoowns them both."Lying Chicken said to us, "It is a hard thing to do but it will be all the betterfor you when you are through. When the time comes, I will be ready to takethe things over, my sons."At the time we took the pipe over, we left it in front of his bundles. Whenhe finished speaking, he went to the bundles and lit the pipe saying, "I wantmy sons to be successful."When we came back home our father, Small Ankles, said, "I think it is goingto be pretty hard to get a wolf for they are nearly extinct. You will have toget one. I have an extra hide here that I can fix up and repaint. I think itwill be just as good as a new one. I will look for the ash stick and make it upinto shape for the Old-Woman-Above. I will have to get some braided sweet-grass and buflfalo hair to wrap around it for the Old-Woman-Above always used
" Lying Chicken belonged to the Itisuku clan which was, at this time, being Incorporated Into theWaterbuster clan as was the Xura clan. He had taken an active part in the various Buffalo Calling cere-monies and had fasted on the hills during the coldest part of the winter to bring the winter herds.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 399
that. I think those things will not be hard to find. Then we will need a scalpfrom the enemy but I am afraid that will be even harder to find. The importantthing for her real powers is the jackrabbit. You find one and skin it. Tie apiece of buflfalo tail to the hide. That is very important for when she goes afteranything she always has that. Then there must be a magpie to go with the restof the Old Woman's sacred bundle and that is very important. Pull two orthree of the long tail feathers of the magpie and get eagle down from the calumeteagle; you v/ill need two of those feathers. Someday you may go out to attackyour enemy and then you can wear these down feathers. We will have to bringthe sweetgrass in and have it braided nicely and then folded into a circle for theOld-Woman-Above used that on her breast. There will be 12 sticks (about 6inches long) made of 6 sticks split into 12 and painted red. You will also begiven a buffalo skull."We pledged to give the feast at the time when the chokecherries were ripe.I said to my brother, "We will have to go out southwestward to hunt bufifaloes.There might be a few even though the hides wUl not be very good now. By fallthey will be better. By the time we get back we should have plenty of meat.Then we can invite in the different societies to donate various articles for our use."We went out and passed Dickinson. There were my brother and myself to-gether with our wives, four of us in one wagon. When we came to the LittleMissouri west of Dickinson, there were many tents. White men were living there.They were killing all the buffaloes and we saw the meat and hides. I was angrybut I did not say anything even though they were leaving most of the meat to rotand were just taking the hides. Many places we saw the dead animals and thehides spread out. They were killing the best ones and leaving those that were toopoor and shaggy. We went up the Little Missouri until we came to high moun-tains at the head of the river where there were many small branches to the stream.We crossed and went west again, killing many fat deer and antelopes. We driedthe meat whenever we stopped. We continued west but we could not find anyfat buffaloes for the hunters were leaving only the shaggy ones, so we turned backtoward the Little Missouri again.We decided to stop there to hunt deer and trap eagles. My brother did nothave complete rights in eagle trapping but my father had been teachmg him alittle at a time, for which my brother had paid him. He thought we should tryto trap anyway and I thought it would be all right. We stopped in a place wherethere was plenty of wood and good water. We saw a high butte and thoughtthat the pits should be near its base. He sang and prayed, and then we dug theholes. When the pits were ready, we killed a jackrabbit, cleaned it, and filled itwith grass so that it looked alive.My brother said, "If it is good weather tomorrow I will go into my pit. Ifthe wind is not from the west, we wUl fix another pit for you."The next day was a fine one for trapping eagles so he went out before sunrisewithout eating breakfast, for one was expected to fast while in the pits. I stayedaround camp looking after the horses, thinking that some stranger might comealong and get them or bother the women. After dinner my brother came backwith a fine eagle. When he brought the bird into camp, there was no place toput it as we did not have a lodge built for the eagles. He tied the bird to our tipiand pulled the 12 tail feathers out.I said to him, "We should have a lodge for the eagle as we have no right to dothis to the birds. We have plenty of time to make a lodge. I found a beaver damand we could take that wood."We brought the wood and made a lodge in a short time. Then we lived separatefrom our wives.
400 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194We tied the bird back of the lodge. Then there followed 2 poor days for trap-ping. Wliile looking around, we found holes that were formerly used. We sawmany birds in the air and thought that this must be an old eagle trail that othertrappers had found. I selected an old pit and my brother cleaned it out while Istayed in camp in case strange men came along.I said to my brother, "I will have to pay you for praying for me for I want to belucky."28I told my wife to pick out some fat meat and a hide to give to my brother forfixing the trap. He thanked me and said that he would do the best he could.He came back in the evening and said that he had it ready and that it was wellconcealed. I thought it looked like a good location.Next day the wind was from the wrong direction and I decided to hunt forblacktail deer. I killed one buck and a doe. I fixed some of the meat for mybait, using a piece that was fat and bloody. I gave it to my brother to pray toand fix as our father had taught him. I gave him one side of the ribs roasted forhis pay.He said, "I am satisfied with my pay. I am not supposed to own the wholeceremony, only the part that was taught me by my father. He taught me how todig the holes and tie the bait. He taught me the songs that go with that and Iam going to sing one of them before we go further."He sang the song that he had learned and said, "Now you sing it with me" andwe sang, "The bait you carry on your shoulder; the bait you carry on your shoul-der; the bait you carry on your shoulder; the bait you carry on your shoulder;black bear is fixing his lodge. What will be the best bait to draw birds to it?The best part for bait is the breast."Next day the wind was from the southwest. We could not go out trappingwhen the wind was from the east. We knew the birds would be moving with thewesterly wind so I thought it would be all right for us to go out since our wiveswere not afraid to stay alone. We should not stay too long here trapping eaglesas it was nearly time for cold weather. We went out without eating. I wentinto my pit and pretended to be fasting and crying, but I did not let my voice outloud. After a while I saw a black spot in the air. My pit was near a sharp bank.Suddenly the eagle came up from below and onto the bank. My father had oftentold me how to seize them for, should I miss, I might push the bird over and loseit. I took a careful aim, pulled his legs together, scraped the feathers, and pulledthem out. Then I tied the bird up and went back into the hole again.I saw another black spot in the air. I had been told that when one comes, theother will come from the same direction. It sat on my bait and I pulled it inalso. I pulled the feathers out and said to the eagles, "I wish I could get somemore and I would make a warbonnet."Being late, I started back to camp. Not having a rope, I tied one eagle to mybelt and carried the other under my arm. When I got back I saw two eaglesbehind the lodge for my brother had caught another, a spotted eagle.I thought, "We are supposed to put up a big ceremony; that is why we are solucky" for I had always heard that when one pledged a ceremony, he would belucky at everji^hing he undertook while getting the things together.Next day the wind was not in the right direction so I said, "We should go outfor deer. We should go in different directions. The deer will be fat by this time."I killed a blacktail deer. It was fat even for this time of year. I took off allthe meat over the ribs in one piece for it would make good dry meat for the feast
'* Wolf Chief, though older than his brother, had not bought Eagle Trapping rights of his father as RedBasket had.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 401that we were to give later. At that time it seemed that the wind was changing tothe southwest so I hurried with my butchering and got ready to trap eagles.I used my brother's rabbit for bait as my meat had turned black, and I tiedsome fat to it also. Many magpies came around to eat the fat. I would punchthem but they would come right back again. After a while an eagle came downand I caught it. It was getting cold and it seemed that there were many eaglesflying so we went into our pits the next day. In a short time I saw a black spotin the same direction as before. It disappeared before coming up over the bankand onto the bait. I pulled in another fine calumet eagle and took the 12 tailfeathers out. I was crying for I wanted to catch another calumet. It was notlong until my prayers were answered and I pulled it in.It was getting cold and uncomfortable so I left early. I took the two birds andwent back to camp. I tied the two eagles at the back of the lodge with the others.My brother came in late with a "soft small" eagle. He had been around ourfather a good deal and knew many songs and stories about eagles. He was moreinterested in it and braver than I for he had struck the enemy and had cut hisfingers off and fasted much. He was cold when he came in and I thought thatwe might have a blizzard.I said to him, "I have often heard the rule that when it gets cold and the edgesof the rivers are frozen, we are not supposed to go out any more. It seems thatit is going to freeze up. If the birds get their feet cold, it means that the peoplewill get into trouble. I think the time for trapping is over and that we shouldstop before going any further. We have enough eagles now."We did not go through the regular ritual here for we did not have a qualifiedleader who knew all the rules for cleansing out the spirits. Then there is a regularorder with a head man to pray when the birds are killed so they will go back wherethey came from. We did the best we could and turned them loose the next dayto fly away after feeding them fresh meat during which time my brother prayedto them saying, "I did not have the regular right to do this. I had only the rightto dig the holes which my father taught me. I have no way of sending you backbut I ask you, Little-Black-Bears, 29 to help me send them back. I do not wantany trouble. I want you to carry out anything I do not know and excuse me."We had a big load on for the women had worked hard drying the meat and hides.We had a wagonload of dry meat piled up high and we tied some poles to theback of the wagon on which we piled about 60 deer hides. We came back throughDickinson where we sold 10 hides to buy coffee and sugar. There we foundfresh tracks and soon overtook Spotted Bear and his party to learn White menhad come to the village while we were away and had stolen most of our horses.We hurried home when we learned that. The river was carrying a great deal ofice but we crossed our stuff in buUboats, even taking the wagon apart and crossingthe parts in boats. My brother went back to his wife's parents and I went to mywife's parents' lodge.Our wives did not give away all the hides for I had a good wife. I wanted tosell many of them and turn them into other articles. I belonged to the GrassDance as did my brother. Wolf Eyes (Sunset Wolf bundle owner) came in andI told him that I was going to feed my society for I wanted them to put in somearticles to help us fulfill our promise. He thought that it was the right thingto do for it was hard to get the articles together. He thought that it would be agood idea to pass through another year before fulfilling the promise as it was sohard then for the people were so poor.
*> The traditional custodians of the Eagle Trapping rites.
402 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Wolf Eyes went back to his lodge. He belonged to the Big Grass society andhe told his young men about it. He was one of the real chiefs in a way for he wasusually selected "Leader of the Warriors" in the Sunset Wolf performances.He said to the members of his society, "Wolf Chief has undertaken a great thingfor it will bring rain for the crops; food will be abundant and our people willincrease.30 I think all of you should put in some things for Wolf Chief."I heard afterwards that they were having meetings and would notify me whenthey met. I belonged during this time to the Night Grass Dance and my brotherwas a member also.'* We heard that they were going to dance. I had alreadysent word to them. Big Bull, their announcer, went tlirough the village tellingthe people that we were going to meet that night. I told my wife to have meat,corn, and coffee ready. They prepared several pails of food.The meeting was to be in the Mandan Okipa lodge.'^My wife and I dressed and she took the food to the lodge. All the people ofthe society came in and danced. I told my society that I was in need of theirhelp. When I mentioned it, they did not say anything for a while.Then Red Wing who was highly respected said, "Wolf Chief is doing this forthe good of all the people. He wants to have a good home and fine gardens;he wants our people to increase; he wants no sickness among us. It is hard forhim to get all the articles so I advise you young men to help him along, even withsmall things that he can use."The people met in small groups and talked it over. Sitting Owl said, "It isall true; it is a good thing for us. We should help him. When we pass the barrelaround, each person should put up something. I am going to put up a 2-year oldcolt for the Wolf Ceremony." They had two wooden barrels and stopped at eachend to sing the society songs. As they went along with the barrels, the peopleput in things.There were 50 members in the society and they gave freely. Cherries-in-the-Mouth gave a red pipe. On the other end of the line someone gave me a blanket.We would get an article and then they would sing. Nearly everyone there gaveus a fine blanket, robe, calicoes, quilts, or other things. When the barrel came toRabbit Head, he got up to dance and gave a mare and 2-year old colt, sayingthat it was for the benefit of all.The barrel came to Long Bear, Old Dog's father, and he told how he had foughtthe enemy. He began to tease some of the members of the Dog society sittingthere. They were there and had to hear it. He told how he ran the enemy intothe creek. I thought he was very brave by the way he was dressed. Old Dogwas there and he had his father give an eagle tail of 12 feathers and a good spottedhorse for he was proud of his father the way he talked.Eventually the barrel came to Bears Heart and he danced. He was in the sameage-grade society as Long Bear. He showed how he seized the enemy, makingmany humorous movements that amused the people immensely. He said,
"I do not see why those of my age and society do not get wounded. They must becowards or they always manage to be somewhere else when the enemy is around.Right after the smallpox we were few, still we were always after the enemy.A buUet hit me and that is what I represented just now. Another time we went
^ Note the shift in emphasis to other societal values with the abolition of warfare by the U.S. Government
.
" These Grass Dances were of late introduction from the Sioux and were rapidly replacing the older age-grade military societies.
'2 Note the many references to the use of this ceremonial lodge by the Hidatsa for the performance ofvarious social and ceremonial fimctions. Formerly the Hidatsa met in the various lodges but there was agradual increase in the use of this lodge for their public meetings until, just prior to the abandonment of thevillage around 1889, the Mandan ceremonial lodge was used interchangeably by the two tribal groups.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 403to the north and they shot me in the back but it did not go through. Anothertime near Knife River the enemy attacked and went ahead. Before I got to themthey shot me in the flesh of the arm. That was why I held up my arm. Butthese, my friends, must stand a long ways back from the enemy for they neverget hit. But I go up close and that is why I was wounded four times. Anothertime nine enemies made a fort and I got wounded for I was up close to the fortbut this man here must have been far back for he never got any wounds. I hadused all my bullets so I had only my ax. I jumped into the fort and they shotinto my hand between my fingers. Still my friends here did not get any wounds.I am old and my horse is old too but you can get something out of him. The horseis my donation."All the people laughed but some of them felt a little hurt, for he criticizedthem in pubhc where they had to sit and listen.In all there were four horses donated to us in addition to dry goods, blankets,guns, and eagle feathers. We called our wives to help us take the things backto our father's lodge and put them away there for the future.Two days later we heard that another society, the Big Grass society, wasgoing to have a feast and dance to help us. We saved the best foods, as muchas we could, for our use in the ceremony when the time came so this time wemixed the dried meat, cut into pieces, and corn which together made enough tofeed all.When we heard the drums beating, I told my wife and my brother's wife totake the food over. They left it on the floor. Then I said, "I need help of thissociety; I would like some things to help me as I am trying to own a god."This time Wolf Eyes who was leader of the society said, "It is for your benefit.What Wolf Chief is doing is for all the people."Then Lucky stood up and said, "It is a good thing for all of us and we shouldall help him; it is a great thing that he is looking to our future and the increaseof our numbers. It may be hard for some to give anything but give a littledry meat or goods, even a pair or two of moccasins. All this will help him out."At that time I did not dance with them but sat between two older men whowere my clan brothers and belonged to the society. Representatives of thesociety came together to talk the matter over and then they went back to theirseats.Spotted Horn stood up and said, "There is no way for us to get buffalo hidesfor we are poor. We should trj^ to do the best we can for he is looking to ourbenefit. My son. White Bird, will give Wolf Chief a war bonnet." SpottedHorn was the announcer for the group.They started a barrel on each end of the line. The drums were beaten. Theolder people were dressed in headdresses and feathers to show their war records.Others wore scalps on their leggings or other signs of success in warfare. BigCoat's wife '^ had her husband give a stick to indicate that she was donating ahorse. In all there were only three valuable things, a war bonnet and two horses.Others gave moccasins, shirts, and many knives.These were not the only times we got donations as my age-grade group helpedme and individuals came in with things.We kept all the goods at my father's lodge and my wives could not give any ofthem away for the things were given to use in the ceremony. My father toldTwo Teeth that he could help us, his brothers, in getting goods and participatein the ceremony to get some of the rights.
33 A member of the Maxoxati clan, the same clan as Small Ankles' first wife and Wolf Chief's half brothersand sisters.
404 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194When the days were shortest, our dry meat was getting low, for we had beengiving so many feasts. There were many deer at that time so my brothers andI went out hunting a great deal. Then we would put on a feast and invite inclan brothers and sisters and they would give us things for the ceremony.There was a dance of the Night Grass society towards spring and Young Wolfdonated a horse. There were many other dances of the Grass society throughthe winter and the pile of articles continued to grow. All this time our sister,Brown Woman, continued to help us. Wolf Eyes, whom we appointed to helpus and to look after the articles, would come over once in a while. We heard thathe had been looking for a wolf hide.One day he called us over to his lodge. There we found Hairy Coat, who wasthe leader for the Woman Above rites, and my father. Wolf Eyes' sacred bundlewas on a four-post platform. I saw some fox and coyote hides but I could notsee a wolf hide. I thought it would be hard to get one for wolves were scarce.Wolf Eyes said to Hairy Coat, "You are the man who is leading and will singthe holy songs. I am supposed to get the wolf hide and the other things forWolf Chief but it is pretty hard to get the scalp and wolf hide but otherwise Ithink I have all the things that I should get for them."Hairy Coat said, "Since they made the promise, I thought we might have anenemy come so that we could get a scalp. We should be able to get a wolf but Isee now that we may have trouble. Of course in the early days I promised aceremony to the Woman Above, but in those days there were many enemies.One of our people went out and killed one enemy. He gave the scalp to my
'father' to use and I have that in my bundle. If they will pay enough, they canhave that scalp."When we heard that we were glad. I was 13 years old when this attack wasmade on the village and they gave Hairy Coat the scalp when he put on the Old-Woman-Above ceremony.Small Ankles said, "I am glad they have promised to give the ceremony. Upto this time they have had no bad luck. It shows that their wish is coming trueand yours. Wolf Eyes, and yours, too. Hairy Coat. All this makes me veryhappy."Wolf Eyes was the one to get the scalp from Hairy Coat and pay for it.^^Small Ankles said, "I understand that you did not get a wolf liide but I gavethe ceremony when I was young. My 'father' gave me a hide and I had goodluck in war. Now I see that you do not have one for your 'son' and I will letyou have mine, only you will have to pay me."Hairy Coat said, "I am glad that all the articles that our sons are supposed tohave are at hand. We are to begin tonight for these two ceremonies are to beheld together. This is to be a practice meeting tonight but tomorrow we willput on the regular ceremony. Each time I sing a song, you must pay a little."The men sang and when our fathers brought the holy things in and laid them onthe ground, we were supposed to give some articles. We knew there was plenty.After they finished talking we went back and roasted the corn and cooked thedry meat ready for the feast. While they were together, the three "fathers"selected Different Wolf to be the announcer for he belonged to my clan and wouldsee that the ceremony was well advertised. He went out through the villagecalling, "Wolf Cliief asks all those with the Old-Woman-Above and the SunriseWolf to come. He has a big sweatbath ready and he wants you to come. Who-ever owns the Buffalo Skulls come too."
3* Woli Eyes occupied an important position in the Wolf ceremonies at this time because of his militaryrecord.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 405When evening came, we took the meat in. There were already many peoplethere who owned the different bundles such as Wolf and Buffalo Skulls. Evensome old women had the right for they had put up feasts to the bundles althoughthey had not put on the big feasts or ceremonies to buy the whole rights. Bythat time Lying Chicken, our ceremonial father, came in with a buffalo skull andput it at the head of the lodge.My father, Small Ankles, said to us, "Hairy Coat was supposed to sing theholy songs but he forgot one place where he was to instruct you young men for heis young.35 When they take the skull in, you are supposed to put the pipe andan article in front of the skull. Hairy Coat is supposed to call an old man to takethe pipe and article, and pray for you but he forgot to tell you that for he is youngand has not gone through the ceremonies many times."When we came in, the buffalo skull was in its place. Hairy Coat said, "Youare to bring me some articles and I will begin the holy songs. Bring me a littlefire."My brother took some. Hairy Coat smoked the skull and rattles with sweet-grass. He began to sing a holy song of Woman Above. While he was singingwe distributed food to the older men. He sang a song that I do not remember,something about 'calling the enemy.' When he finished he said, "Whoever hasthe rites of the Sunrise Wolf should take the pipe before the BufiFalo Skull.Kidney (Bull Buffalo is his other name) went over and sat by the skull. Hecalled me and my two brothers to come to him and he said, "Buffalo Skull, theseare your sons; they want long lives. You can see what they have done for you,bringing all these fine articles. They wish to be successful and have plenty offood for all the people." We brought articles and placed them before the skullfor Kidney.Hairy Coat called for some more articles and another small fire to burn sweet-grass, and then he sang. Again the pipe was placed in front of the skull and wecarried articles there. Another man prayed and asked the buffalo skull to sendtheir "sons" good luck.We passed the food around then, feeding all those who had the right to attend.Even the old women with Wolf Woman bundles and rights, by virtue of feaststhey had given, were fed.When the people had eaten. Hairy Coat called for more coals and the filledpipe to be placed before Buffalo Skull with some articles. He asked if there wasany food left and we told him that it was all gone. He said that it would be allright for it was nearly daybreak by that time. He told the old men to get upand pretend to be holy men, impersonating their gods, and to go back to theirlodges.So ended the practice performance.During the day we prepared for the final performance. We took all the articlesand the sticks to represent the horses to the Mandan Okipa lodge and hung themup. Our "fathers" were in one of the lodges and they came out with their sacredbundles. We had had the lodge swept out and cleaned out nicely by the HolyWomen owners, and a new sweat lodge was built inside ready for use.Small Ankles had instructed us how we were to do, saying, "Before they peekin the door, have the articles and horses they are to get ready for them. Thesemen will leave their lodge and sing the holy songs at four different stations onthe way to the lodge. When they sing the fourth time they will come in anddistribute the articles among themselves. Before they come in, you are ex-
's Note how one bundle owner checks up on another to see that performances are conducted strictlyaccording to custom.
'710-195??5??27
406 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194pected to have most of the articles spread before the buffalo skull; also have somenear the sweat lodge. When they bring in the sacred bundles that you are toget, such as the wolf hide and scalp, they will leave them on top of the articlesthat you have heaped there."We had the sweat lodge covered with dry goods and many fine articles, alsothe sticks representing the horses. It was evening. We had given only a fewarticles on the previous evening for this was the important meeting.My father said, "Whenever Hairy Coat calls for some articles, take our fourand give them to him for ho is the leader. Whatever he asks for will cometrue."My brother brought coals as Hairy Coat had directed. Hairy Coat burnedsome sweetgrass and smoked the rattles before beginning the songs. He waspainted with red paint over his body and face and wore magpie tail feathers inhis hair. He wore only his breechcloth. When he finished singing he said,"Whoever owns the Old-Woman-Above bundle step forward to the BuffaloSkull and pray for your son. When you have prayed for your son, you maytake the articles on the skull. Pray that he will be successful."Big-Foot-Bull, a Mandan who owned the Sacred Shell Robe of the Mandansand Awatixa, stepped forward and prayed, "My god, Woman in the sky Above,'*I wish that you would see that my 'sons' here have long lives for they want tobe successful in all that they do." Then he smoked the pipe before the skulland took the goods.Again Hairy Coat called for a fire and sweetgrass. I put goods before the skulland another man prayed for us. Then we would distribute corn and meat tothe people and my sister would give the food to the old women who had rightsin Wolf ceremonies. Sometimes the songs belonged to the Old-Woman-Aboveand other times the songs were to the Sunrise Wolf.Then he called for other old men to go the the skull and pray. Short Bull wentthere and prayed, "Up in the sky, holy Old Woman, I beg of you to help thesesons enjoy a long life; you are the one who has the power. These articles that aregiven to you I am going to use."^' Then he asked Red Basket'^ to come forward,saying, "Whoever owns the bundle for the Sunrise Wolf step forward and take thearticles and pray for your sons."Then Hairy Coat stopped singing and there was a short rest.Small Ankles came to us and said, "Your 'father' did not tell you about this butthere are some old women who own the ceremony of the Holy Woman. Thesewomen always meet separately when a ceremony is in progress. They are to-gether now so you should save some of the articles for them. They representthe very early days before this ceremony was founded. Besides the Old-Woman-Above there were these other women in those times. "^^Hairy Coat called for coals again for he was going to sing the Invitation songagain. The Wolves sang this song whenever they wanted the gods to come to thefeast, so we passed the food around again in imitation of the Wolves.Again Hairy Coat invited someone with Sunrise Wolf rights to step forward andtake the things at the skull. This time Wolf Eyes did, saying, "Stand by me,my sons. In the early days I tried to own this god. I had a hard time so I know
59 He belonged to the WaxikEna clan and moiety opposite that of Wolf Chief who was a Prairie Chicken;hence, Wolf Chief was a "son."5' Short Bull, a Mandan, had an equivalent Mandan Old-Woman-Above bundle and was of Wolf Chief'sopposite moiety.
'8 Waterbuster clan, so a father to Wolf Chief; he had rights in the Sunrise Wolf and his wife was one of theWolf Woman owners.>' Note here how the Hidatsa relate two ceremonies in time.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 407
what a difficult thing it is. I ask the Wolf, my father, that my 'sons' here havegood homes and become leaders among their people. May they have manychildren to increase our population."Hairy Coat said to our ceremonial father, Lying Chicken, "You are the mainone who was going to give the bundles to your sons. There are many thingsunder the bundles, but you did not furnish all the articles. Small Ankles gavethe wolf hide and I furnished the scalp. You have to pay us for those things foryou have many articles. You do not have to worry about your pay."Lying Chicken came forward, picked up the bundles, and put them on thebuffalo skull. He put the articles in a heap saying, "l am glad our sons promisedto give the ceremony for, since they promised, there has been no bad luck. Ihave listened to the old men praying to their gods and I can tell from this lack ofsickness and death among our people that it is because they promised to put onthis ceremony." He divided the goods into two piles and put two sticks on eachpile.He continued, "Hairy Coat is the singer and he took a greater part in singingthe songs. He can have one part of the articles and that stick which is the spottedhorse given by Old Dog, for it is a good horse. Small Ankles furnished a wolf hide.I can see that it is very holy. We know he got good results from it and now hissons want to own this wolf hide. Now I am glad that his sons are going to ownhis gods so I give Small Ankles this pile of goods for there are many fine things inthe pile, as well as a good horse."Small Ankles took the horse and articles. Again Hairy Coat called that hewanted his pay and we put 12 articles consisting of blankets and robes in a pile.But he called for more so we brought more. By that time the stones for thesweat lodge were heated. Hairy Coat said, "There are many articles left. Afterwe come out of the sweat bath, our sons will distribute them among the old people."When the things were distributed, Hairy Coat said, "I think Lying Chicken hashis share. Before I deliver these bundles to our 'sons' they should bring up theirwives if they want to become 'granddaughters' to these bundles."He walked towards the sweat lodge while singing another holy song and shakingthe rattles used by the singer of the Woman Above songs. He said to the oldmen, "Those of you who wish may come into the sweat lodge. Act like the godthat you represent."The song he was using was one which called for sweetgrass. He sang the songand made the request four times. When he was inside the sweat lodge, mybrother took in the stones. Those whose bundles included buffalo skulls went tothe entrance but there was not room for all to go in. There were other young men,mostly Prairie Chicken clansmen, in the lodge crying and begging for a goodliving and success. When the old men came out of the sweatlodge. Hairy Coatsaid, "I want the first chance. Then the rest of the goods will go to those whoown a branch of the Wolf and Woman Above ceremonies. Then the people withBuffalo Skulls and other bundles can have the rest."Hairy Coat stood in front of Buffalo Bull Skull and said, "My granddaughters,^"you must take your leggings and moccasins off. Leave one dress on. If youwant to, you can step forward and call this skull your grandfather. If you wantto keep your grandfather as your protector, do not be foolish; keep yourself cleanand do not run after other men; then I will sing a holy song. If you think youwill be tempted and can't do it, I will not sing that holy song for you here."At that time my wife was Big-Foot-Bull's daughter, Coyote Woman, who wasa Mandan. Hairy Coat called for some coals as he wanted to smoke the bundles
" Note a change in kinship; heretofore they were daughters-in-law.
408 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194in front of the buffalo skull. He held up the sacred bundles and said "Youwomen who respect your 'grandfather' and will obey his rules, come to me. Ifyour are not sure of yourself, I will not sing it."My wife stood up and said, "Sing the holy song."Then Red Basket's wife. Skunk Woman, said, "Sing the holy song."He sang the song and said to the women and the sacred bundles, "Now theseare your granddaughters and they expect to look after you. They want longlives. Hold out your hands. I am going to give you a grandfather."They held the bundles up for a while. Then he picked up the bufifalo skulland incensed it a little, saying to Coyote Woman, "If you are going to respectthis grandfather, rub the skull against your breast. Promise that you are notgoing to think of any other man no matter how good looking he is. Then yourgrandfather, the Buffalo Skull, will look to your benefit."There was a certain man who always painted the buffalo skull for my father.Afterwards my father always had good luck. So I wanted Small Ankles to paintthe skull for me but I had to pay him extra. I thought I might use the skull someday when I was attacking my enemies. At this time I took the red paint and leftit by the buffalo skull and said, "My father, I would like to own the right topaint the buffalo skull. I want you to show me so that I will know."He stepped forward and said, "I see that my son wants to own the paintedskull but of course he spoke to me before. I want all you older people to hearwhat I say. I used to pray to the skull, cut myself, and go out to hunt myenemies; I used to paint the skull on the tipis and it was easy then for me to getmy enemy. My father, Buffalo, I want to show my son how to paint you. Iwant to turn you over to him and I wish that you would give him strength and along life."I was sitting behind him all that time ; he had water to mix with the red paint.He said, "If I mention any words in the song, you should pick up the skull andscratch the ground with it as hard as you can."During the first song he was singing, I was painting the skull and was readybut in the first song there were no words so I finished the painting. In thesecond one there were words and I scratched the ground. The older men werehappy and shouted, "aho! aho!"After we finished he said, "Up-in-the-Sky-Holy-Woman, you taught me thethings you taught in the very early days. You taught us to use the skull andI am teaching its use now. When I owned this skull, I kept it in good order andnow I am giving it to my own son here." Then he said to me, "In the future youmight attack the enemy or come to a tipi where there are many buffalo skulls onthe ground protecting its owner. You will then know how I sing the songs. Yousing the song, pick up one of the skulls, and lay it back on the ground. Thenyou can call your men and attack the tipi for they will get the best of yourenemy."Then he said to me, "You have already learned how to do it from me and it isthe same now except that you will own the buffalo skull. Distribute what is leftto these Holy Men for some of them came from the big timber and far away.They represent the Holy-Women-of-the-Timber around here and the woods to thenorth."Meanwliile our mother was in her lodge preparing for us to invite in the HolyWomen so I took my bundle and the buffalo skull to my father's lodge where Iput them with my father's bundles. The Holy Women had a leader namedCherry Necklace who was already there. He was dressed with a mink hide, I
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 409think, around his head and a roVje upside down. He had a few magpie feathersscattered over his robe. He was there but a short time when my mother lookedout and said that all the old Holy Women were coming, about 10 of them in all.Red Head, Roots, and Goes Around were all I remember.They came in rapidly with face and foreheads painted red. Each had a diggingstick made of ash. They announced, "We have come from the brush, theheavens, and the north but we can't be seen."They pretended to be foolish women of the woods. They ran around in thelodge and bumped into each other. We sat back in the lodge where we couldwatch them perform. Cherry Necklace was carrying his rattle and, walkingaround between them, he sang, "I am the Old Woman; I am the genuine OldWoman. I would rather be the Old Woman to have great powers."When he finished, the women pretended to be like the old women and then onesaid, "I have come for the things you promised me but I am a spirit and can't beseen."They stopped jumping around and formed a circle, when one said, "Bring thepay I am promised for this."My father said, "You should take those articles and distribute them."I said, "My mother, here is an article."She said, "I came from far away in the heavy timber and brought this medicinefor you. Open your mouth." Then she put black medicine on my tongue.Each one told where she came from. Some said, "There may be illness in yourfamily so you can use this black medicine to doctor with."After they finished, Cherry Necklace said to the women, "Go back to the dif-ferent directions where you belong." They ran out fast carrying the goods, andscattered in all directions.That was the end of the ceremony. After receiving all these bundles, we fixeda place for them beside our father's bundles and on the same platform. Myfather spoke to the bundles saying, "They own you now and you should send yoursons good dreams."Night came and I had a dream. I heard many wolves singing but I could nottell if they were inside the lodge or outside. When they finished singing, I memo-rized the song at once. It was a long one without words. I had never heard itbefore. Then I dreamed again. I saw where we had the ceremony in the biglodge. There was a hide rope around the lodge and the wolf hide given to mewas there. The hide was painted red in the middle and it looked like a new hide.In the morning when I awoke, I was happy for I thought from the freshness of thewolf hide, the red paint, and the Wolf song that I would be successful whenattacking my enemies. As soon as I arose I told my father about it.He said, "It is good that you saw red paint for that is a sign that you are goingto kill the enemy and have a long life." I was happy about this dream.At the same time. Red Basket told us that he had a dream also. My fathersaid, "Let me hear what you learned. Don't be afraid to tell me for your brotherhas already told his." I told my brother how I had seen the wolf hide and thatwhen he was out hunting he should take a piece of wolf hide and put it around hishead. Then he would be successful.Red Basket sang the song he had heard. When he finished my father was happyand said, "In your dream you had a song from the Woman Above. I am gladfor it means that you are going to have a good life. You will become a leader ofyour people."The song was, "My son, my son, from up in heaven above you."
410 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194SUNSET WOLFThese Sunset rites, which also included ceremonial participation ofcertain females possessing rights in the Wolf Woman bundles, wereconsidered to be independent of the Sunrise Wolf rites in spite of thefact that bundle owners of both rites had important ceremonial dutieswhenever this ceremony was performed. Each of the ceremonies,the Sunrise Wolf, the Sunset Wolf, and the Wolf Woman, has a sep-arate origin myth. Although wolves are represented in many of theorigin myths relating to very early times, the Hidatsa village groupsdo not consider the Sunset Wolf rites in their later forms to be veryold. This ceremony is considered more recent than the Sunriserites since it traditionally was founded after the Hidatsa-proper hadmoved from the Heart River where the Sunrise Wolf rites were in-stituted. Since the Hidatsa-proper think of the Knife River villagesas quite late in tribal history and the Cheyenne as late arrivals onthe Plains, they consider the ceremony one of the last major ceremoniesto be founded by the gods.Bears Arm and Joe Ward provided most of the data on this cere-mony. The origin myth, summarized by the writer to include theprincipal points stressed by both informants, was as follows:A young man, later to be named Hungry Wolf, was out eagle trapping with hiswife to the west. He had his pit which he would go into when the winds wereright; at other times he would hunt mountain sheep and other game. When hehad caught four eagles and they had all the meat the dogs could bring back, henotified his wife that he would go out for fresh meat while she packed the things.When he returned his wife and the dogs were gone. He found the tracks of sevenmen who had taken his wife and dogs away. At last, near the headwaters ofKnife River, he saw the enemy camp of many lodges.When night came he found one path leading to a waterhole where the Cheyennewomen were accustomed to get their water. He hid near the path and watchedfor his wife, teUing her that he would take her away during the night. Insteadof going away with him, she notified the Cheyenne who captured him. Some ofthese enemies struck coups on him and one man cut a small piece of scalp fromHungry Wolf's head.They decided to kill him so they brought two large ash poles and drove theminto the ground. Instead of killing him outright, they decided to torture himfirst. They ran knives through his ankles between the bone and large cord anddid the same with his wrists. They brought rawhide ropes and fastened themthrough the holes in the legs and arms. They tied him to the posts so that hehung there, and they brought wood for a fire. The women danced around him,among them Hungry Wolf's wife.At last the Cheyenne broke camp, leaving him fastened to the posts. Magpies,ravens, foxes, and coyotes came to the campgrounds to eat the scraps thrown out.He hung there 3 days unable to free himself. On the fourth day the raven flewback toward the "spot where the sun sets." He told the Chief of the Wolvesthat a young man was being tortured in the abandoned camp.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 411The wolf called all the other wolves and they met. They resolved to go to thecamp and free the young man. They traveled as wolves and changed themselvesinto humans as they approached the deserted camp.Chief of the Wolves said, "We heard about you and we came over here to helpyou." They cut the rawhide cords and doctored him until he was well again.The leader said, "This is a Wolf ceremony. You have seen how we paint ourbodies and wear caps made of coyote skins. There are raven feathers on ourheads. There is only one kind of white clay to use. We will go west to theplace where this clay falls down from the sky. Use that for paint when performingthe ceremony."They took the young man west with them. On their way the young manheard something roaring as it came down from the sky.The leader said, "When giving the ceremony, someone must come here to getthe white clay to paint their bodies with. You will be retu rning home now butin a year come out this way with your warriors. You will fi nd a camp and yourwife will be among them. I will give you 100 enemies to destroy. You willtake your wife but you do not have to keep her. When you perform theseceremonies, there must be two brothers dressed alike.""You will have coyote skins tied around your wrists. Use the head from acoyote skin for your cap; wear split raven feathers on top of your head; sew acoyote tail on the cap so that it will hang down the back of your neck. You willcarry two canes and on them there will be four marks. Paint your body withthe clay we showed you. When you are having these ceremonies, have a bowlof clean water and red grass from the hills ready. Dip the grass in the water.The water is sacred. The grass is sacred too. You will us e that for the ceremoniesas well as for doctoring. There is also a song to the old female wolf."Then the wolf showed him the canes saying, "These canes will represent thetwo posts set in the ground where you hung, and the fo ur marks will indicate thefour days that you suffered. Tie a coyote tail to the top of each cane. You willhave a mound formed to represent yourself and the people will dance around themound just as they danced around you. These canes will be used by old peopleand they will live long because they will use them to brace themselves.""On the last day the Holy Woman society will clean the dance grounds and digout the little cacti for the fasters are hungry on the last day and may fall down.You must sing the song 100 times on the last day. Since we promised you 100enemies you must select one man to sit in the middle and keep track of the singing.When the song has been sung 100 times, he will say 'stop.' While the men aredancing and running around the mound the women must stand around wavingtheir robes as though driving the enemy away. You can go out with us and wewill have a feast before you go back, for you have been fasting now for 4 days."The Wolves went out and killed a buffalo. This was the beginning of theceremony. He reached his home at Knife River. During the winter he madearrows all the time and gave them to the old men who trimmed them and passedthem on either to their sons or sons-in-law living with them for these youngerpeople were the ones who would use them. When the arrows were all completed,his helper gave them back to him. He blessed them and made arrow ceremoniesfor them. He gave them to the brave warriors and they in turn gave them totheir sons or sons-in-law.He married one of the best young women in the village. Then he was readyto give the Wolf ceremony. When the ceremony had ended he told the peoplethat the next time they went out on the buffalo hunt they should kill many oldbuffalo bulls to get their hides from the shoulder and neck for shields. Hedirected them to cut out round pieces from the hides, spread them on the ground,
412 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194put hot stones on them, and roll these hot stones over the hides until the hideswere charred. When a Iiide was dry, they should cut the edges again until thehide was round. Tanned buckskin should be fastened over the hide. Thenwhen the tanned buckskin was painted with pictures of \,h.e young men's gods,these shields would protect them when attacking their enemies. All the mendid that and the arrows would not penetrate the shields. The other tribes sawthese shields and copied them. Hungry Wolf also had the power to bring rains.The war party moved camp, going toward the southwest. When they reachedLike-a-Prairie-Chicken-Tail Butte they found red paint inside stone balls andtook all they needed. Scouts returned to report a large camp They chargedand the enemy ran. They killed 100 and allowed the others to escape. Hisformer wife aud another old Hidatsa woman were in this camp. The old womantold how she had been taken captive bj^ the Cheyenne when a little girl and hadraised a family there so she did not want to return to the Hidatsa. Many womenand children were taken prisoners and kept at the Knife River villages. WhenHungry Wolf was old, he sold his ceremonies to his sons and so they passed downto present times.In spite of the fact that women with Wolf Woman rights partici-pated in this ceremony, only one brief reference is made in the mythto the Wolf Woman bundle and that is to the effect that there isanother song without words that belongs to a very old female wolf.A summary of the sacred myth which the Hidatsa claim to accoimtfor the origin of the Wolf Woman bundle is supplied at this pointsince the bundle owner had an important role in the performance ofthe Sunset Wolf rites.The myth has its origin with the Hidatsa who were Uving at the mouth ofKnife River on the north bank. A very holy man named Strong Jaws hved inthis village. He had grown holy because he fasted 9 days and nights and haddreamed of all the different kinds of wolves."The wolves told Strong Jaw to stuflf a wolf hide with sage and to take it outsideof the lodge whenever the wolves howled and they would reveal what news theywere sending him. Because he could predict the future this way with the helpof the wolves, he was of great assistance to the village.The other holy men were jealous of Strong Jaw's supernatural powers and afriend warned him that it would be best to leave the village and take the friendlyfamilies with him.*^Thirty-five families broke away and traveled westward towards the KilldeerMountains until they reached a place on the Little Missouri where they built anew village. They hunted afoot for there were few horses in those days. Theylived there 3 years. Strong Jaw had a son named Walks-at-Dusk and a daughterwho was 8 years of age.Farther west the Snake Indians lived. One of their men was very holy so hewas looking around to find someone suitable to buy his sacred rites. His powerwas a sacred hoop through which he could look and see every tribe on the earth.
?' The informant, Joe Ward, interpreted this to mean that, in addition, he had given public performancesso that the people knew and approved Strong Jaw's beliefs of his supernatural powers and that he hadfurther distinguished himself in battle." Traditionally this village group displayed less imity than the other two Hidatsa groups, the Awatixaand Awaxawl, and is said to have forsaken agriculture from time to time, living nomadically for severalyears at a time.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 413He would take up his hoop and point it towards tribe after tribe, looking for theright man but he could not find anyone who was as strong as he was. He lookedthrough all the tribes until he saw Strong Jaw and his party traveling towardsthe Killdeer Mountains. He saw a man in the camp with something powerfullooking back at him.The Snake Indian called the people together and announced that he was gettingold and wanted someone to take over his medicine powers. The only one fit todo so was Strong Jaw's son, Walks-at-Dusk. The Snake Indians did not approvethe idea but agreed to assist in the transfer.His tribesmen inquired how he would handle it and the Snake holy man said,"We will go after that little boy in the middle of the summer. I do not knowwhether we can get him or not for his father keeps a pack of wolves watchingover him all the time. The only way I can get them off their guard is to feed themsomething. We will drive a large herd of buffaloes into their camp. When theygo out to hunt them, we will have our chance. The men will be out hunting,leaving the women and children alone in camp. Do not kill any of the children."The Snakes, 200 in number, started for the Hidatsa village, driving the bufifaloesbefore them. One night the leader announced that he was to pray to his hoopthat evening and then camp four times before reaching the Hidatsa.They moved one more camp towards the village. Strong Jaw's daughter hada dream which she related to her parents in the morning saying, "I saw a bigsmoke in my dream. I was carrying my little brother on my back and did notknow where to go." The old people said it was surely a bad dream but didnothing about it.The second morning she told the same story saying that things were so clearshe could not get it out of her mind. She shook from fright all day.The third night her dream was even more vivid. Strong Jaw's wife said to herhusband, "You should pay attention to what she is saying." He thought it wasonly a child's dream for no enemies were near or the wolves would have told him.She had a fourth dream. By that time the Snake Indians were on the oppositeside of the hills. Again she said, "I had my little brother, Walks-at-Dusk, onmy back. The lodges were burning and all the dogs were howling."This time Strong Jaw's wife convinced him that something should be done.He brought out his sacred pipe and the wolf skin. He burned sage before theskin and it turned into a live wolf. When the wolf went out of the door, the dogsrushed at him and drove him back into the lodge, just as the Snake holy manhad planned it. The people told of a large buffalo herd near the village; StrongJaw was uneasy and could not decide at first what to do. At last he decided togo after the herd and the men were soon killing the buffaloes. The Snake Indianskilled the women, captured the children, and burned the lodges.Four days later the Snake holy man took the little giil and boy, giving theother children to his tribesmen to raise. He said of the little boy, "This is theyoung man who will some day be your strong man."When they reached the main camp, the little girl was given to another womanwho was very kind. One day this old woman said, "I pity you. Do you thinkyou could reach home if I showed you the way? I will take you away from thecamp."She drew a map of the Missouri and Little Missouri Rivers on the ground andshowed her where the Knife River villages were situated. She said to the girl,"We will start tomorrow evening. I will take you part way. Tell your peoplewhat happened but do not urge your brother to go for he has a good home here.Some day when he is strong enough, he may come back to visit you."
414 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194Before leaving the girl, the old woman gave her advice on conserving the foodand warned her not to travel during the daytime. She traveled night after nightuntil her food was gone. She was very hungry but still she traveled. One moon-light night she saw something ahead of her. At first she thought it was a whiterock but when she was nearer, she saw that it was a large wolf. The wolf waggedits tail like a friendly dog and walked up to her. Then the wolf walked on,showing her the way. When it was daylight she stopped and the wolf broughther a buffalo leg bone with some meat on it. She broke the bone and ate themarrow. That night the wolf came again to lead her and when she was hungry,the woK brought her tallow from around the buffalo's kidneys.The fourth night the Wolf said, "I know all about you. I did not come to youuntil you lost your way. When we get to Butte-with-Grass I will call all thewolves to you and they will tell you what to do when you get home."They walked all night until light appeared in the east. Then the wolf said,
"This is the place."Wolf faced towards the south and howled. Soon wolves were coming from thatdirection. Then she faced the west and howled and the west wolves came. Thenshe faced to the north and to the east to howl and the wolves of those directionscame also. She listened to their conversation and could understand everythingthey said. The "leader of the wolves" kepu repeating, "We must finish what wehave to say before sunrise."The wolves selected the north wolves to speak to her as that was the mostnumerous group. Their leader said, "Whenever she goes anywhere alone, shewill turn into a wolf and have powers like we have. And one thing more, shemust make a ceremony to the wolves. When making the ceremony, you shouldgive offerings and call the name 'prairie people' because the ^\olves are the peopleof the flats."The wolves decided that the wolf who had taken her this far should lead her tothe village. The wolf led her to a high hill back of the village and then said,"Your fathers will come to look for you because they know you are comingtoward the village. You stay here until they find you."While she sat there, it became light and she could see people walking in thedistance. They were her father and his brothers. She scolded them saying,"Look at all the trouble we have had just because you would not listen to mydreams. My brother is with the Snake people whose holy man gives him goodcare. The older women were killed. I promised the wolves to give their cere-mony as soon as I reached home." Her father knew what she meant. Soonthe criers were calling that Strong Jaw's daughter had returned from the enemyand that the wolves had led her all the way back.A few days later she resolved to give the ceremony to the Wolves. She carriedrobes and corn balls onto the earth lodge and wore ceremonial clothing suchas the wolves told her she must wear. The Wolves had said, "Take the skin offof a wolf's head with the head and nose on to make the headdress of. Wear12 eagle tails fastened to a band made of porcupine quills. Wear wolf claws aroundyour ankles and wrists."Then she went onto the lodge and called, "People of the Prairies."Since she was too young to fast, her father and his seven brothers fasted andperformed the dances for her as the wolves had instructed her. Each calledfor arrows to record his exploits in warfare. In this way the men tried to outdoeach other. Afterwards others wanted to perform the ceremony and she wouldtell them when the proper time had come to give it again.She grew up like other girls only all knew her to be holy. She learned to plantand harvest corn like the other women. People praised her for discovering the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 415Wolf dance and said that it was good for the tribe. When men wanted to goon the warpath, they would give her elkskin dresses, robes, and moccasins tobring them good luck and she would say, "I will pray for you to get many horseswithout being seen."Everything would happen just as she predicted. One time a large war partywas going out and the leader came to her and asked for good luck. She said,"Go on your way. Start tonight. On the fourth night I will come to you.Have a fat cow butchered, and camp in the timber near good water. Roastthe ribs and at sundown I will be there. Just on the other side of the hill you willhear a wolf howl so you will know I have come."They did what she said. Just as the full moon was coming up she howled andthe leader said, "The Wolf Woman is here."She had been working in her gardens for 4 days but on the last day she sangthe war party songs saying, "I will be there when the ribs are cooked." Suddenlyshe changed into a wolf and all the people of the village saw her run away. Shereached the war party that night and asked for the short ribs. Others broughther roasted ribs, asking for luck.She said to the leader, "I told you I would be here to tell you what to do.Move your camp three times. The fourth time you will be near your enemies.Run a little and they will chase you; turn and you will kill many. Doing thatseveral times you can take the whole camp. You will find the chief's lodge in themiddle of the camp. Save everything in that lodge for those things belong tome. Now I am going home." They did as she instructed. They killed the menand took the women and children prisoners.Meanwhile her brother, Walks-at-Dusk, had grown up and was quite prominentfor he had a full knowledge of the Snake Indian medicine rites but he often dreamedof his own father's Wolf bundle. He was the leader of many war expeditions.In his dreams the wolves told him to go east towards the Killdeer Mountainswhere he could kill seven men. He knew he was Hidatsa so he was afraid theymight be his own people. The Wolves sent him dreams every night until hedecided to go. Each time he dreamed of seven men and one spotted horse. Atthe same time a Hidatsa living on the Knife River dreamed that he should gotoward the Elldeer Mountains where he would find seven men and a spottedhorse.The Knife River party started out with seven men and a pinto horse at thesame time Walks-at-Dusk came east with six men and a pinto. The Hidatsasent two men ahead as scouts and the Snakes did likewise. The Snake Indianswere run onto a high butte and were surrounded. One Hidatsa was sent back onthe spotted horse to bring warriors from the village. Before the warriors arrived,one of the Hidatsa said, "I am going to talk to them and see if they know what Isay. Are you up there, Walks-at-Dusk? If you are, you better be brave becausewe sent for a large force. We are about to kill all of you."Walks-at-Dusk replied, "Come along" and he sang the Wolf songs. TheHidatsa heard a wolf howUng to the west. That night the Snake Indians wentout between the Hidatsa sentinels but they were not seen.The war party arrived from Knife River the next day but none of the enemiescould be found. When Walks-at-Dusk returned he told how he had nearly losthis life because of the great supernatural powers of the Hidatsa wolf leaders.After that the Snake Indians never led war parties against the Hidatsa.Sunset bundle rites were transmitted from father to son. As wasthe case for other bundle transfers, it was not necessary for the fatherto be living. Since some bundle owners had rights in both the Sunrise
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Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 417and Sunset ceremonies, analysis of the visions usually was necessaryin order to determine which rites were to be performed. There areinstances of indecision on the part of the older men, the "fathers,"when vision recipients came to them for advice, and additional fastingwas recommended to learn which ceremony was to be performed. TheHidatsa reluctantly approved the performance of the rites by onewhose father or a close relative standing in that relationship had notperformed the rites. When, however, the father owned rights in bothceremonies and the initial visions were not sufficiently clear to indicatewhich performance was to be given, individual feasts were generallygiven to the father's bundle or additional fasting was endured to secureadditional instructions. When the father owned rights in only oneceremony, either the Sunrise or the Sunset Wolf, mere dreaming ofthe wolves was considered sufficient.Efforts to secure authority to perform the rites was further con-tingent on the vision recipient's capacity to secure the necessarygoods and endure the traditional inconveniences and ordeals of fastingduring the performance of the ceremony. Since the performancedemanded intimate cooperation between the giver, his family, clans-men, and age-grade group, as well as the confidence of the olderpeople, individuals rarely undertook to have the rites performeduntil they were married and had shown some military distinctionunder recognized war leaders. Once a man pledged the performance,he was accepted as a potential military leader. It was customary forone, immediately after making the vow, to undertake a small-scalemilitary mission to steal horses. It would appear that not a greatdeal was expected at first. Informants thought the mere fact that theleader had not lost any men, even though he had won no significantmilitary honors, was adequate proof that the young leader had alreadyacquired supernatural powers.No vow was made until approval was given by someone whosebundle included a buffalo skull. There seems to have been no specialeffort to select a Wolf bundle owner. Rather, he might consult anyman of the father's clan to whom he had gone for advice on otheroccasions. Black Owl, son of Four Bears whose father owned rightsin both the Sunrise and Sunset Wolf, gave Bears Arm this accountof his instructions to perform the vow:Black Owl said that he had been sick in bed for quite a while and was still veryweak. There were many people at his lodge. They made so much noise that hedecided to move to his brother's [William Bell] lodge while he was ill. Black Owlwanted his "mother," Eagle,^^ to doctor him while he was there by pressing hisbowels, which she did. Black Owl's own mother was Not Mink; Eagle was FourBear's young wife.
*' His mother's "siater" by extension of the kinship system.
418 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
After 8 days, Black Owl heard a group of people singing and as they sang, theycame nearer. He could hear them at the back or head of the lodge near wherethe ceremonial things were kept. He knew the songs to be those of the SunsetWolf ceremony and he wondered how that could be as he had not heard that any-one was to give the ceremony at that time. It was the rule to make it known ayear in advance and he could not remember hearing of anyone making thepromise. He called Eagle to his bedside and inquired who was putting on theceremony. When she said that there was no ceremony going on, he insisted thatthere must be since he could hear them singing at the back of the lodge.She continued, "You must be out of your mind for there is no ceremony outsideor we would all know about it."He insisted, "There must be a ceremony for I could hear them singing anddancing outside. First they were on the other side of the village. After eachsong, they came nearer until they were back of the lodge."Eagle said, "That was your father's god when he was living. It may be thatyou saw it before but made no promise to perform the ceremony, so you have beenmade sick."Black Owl said, "I saw that once before, but it takes 1 year to get all the thingstogether and I did not think I could complete all the preparations for the cere-mony,"She said, "Go ahead now and make your vow to give the ceremony. Youmight get well by doing that."A few days later he went to Poor Wolf who belonged to the same clan as hisfather and Poor Wolf instructed him further. So he stood on the roof of theMandan Okipa lodge and addressed the Sunset Wolf, "Sunset Wolf, I will getyou a robe. I want to get well and strong again. I want my people to be luckyand increase in numbers. I want no hardships for them."When he made his vow, all the people heard what he promised and knew whatwould happen in a year. This was in the fall of the year and boys v/ere playingaround the Okipa lodge. They looked up and one of them said, "There are nobuffaloes around close. How can you get a robe?"When WilUam Bell came home in the evening, Black Owl told him that hewas going to perform the Sunset Wolf ceremony. Bell thought it would be allright and offered to help all he could. He was well a month after making thevow and set out first on the warpath. He did not lose a man. Then he begancollecting buffalo robes and went out hunting often.Rites were performed only during the three warmest months andafter approximately 1 year of preliminary preparation. One of theWolf bundle owners' most distinguished members was appointed todirect the ceremony and to see that it was performed according tocustom. This position was in later years occupied by Wolf Eyeswho served on several occasions, he being well liked for his generosity,respected for his intimate knowledge of these rites, and renowned forhis military achievements. Custom decreed that he was to sit nearthe first central post on the left side when entering the lodge.After making the vow, the bundle buyer selected a father's clansmanas bundle maker. It was his duty to prepare the new bundle andother ceremonial paraphernalia for the occasion and to act as advisor
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 419to the buyer during the period of preparation.** A woman owningrights by public purchase in the Wolf Woman rites was likewiseselected to impersonate the Wolf Woman. Since there were usuallyseveral women possessing these rights, it was customary to select anindividual of the same clan or moiety as the buyer. Informantsbelieved there were several "wolf women" for each of the clans priorto 1837. Bears Arm explained that young men preferred a "wolfwoman" of the same clan where possible as it would "raise the recordof the clan to perform a successful ceremony." First Creator, thewaiter, was represented by one of the buffalo skull owners whoselected one from their members. His place in the ceremonial lodgewas next to the director of the ceremony.Singer rights were not limited to Wolf Bundle owners. Instead,the major bundle owners^?^those who had the tribal bundles con-taining sacred buffalo skuUs^?took turns singing and drumming.When the last rites were performed. Bears Arm counted 42 of thesebundle owners and thought there must have been a number of otherswho were not represented. Fasters lined the wall to the head andsides of the lodge with neither clan nor moiety arrangement (fig. 6)
.
Bears Arm explained that a young man's father never strongly iu*gedhim to fast on these occasions but would often, in a roundabout way,hint that it was an honorable thing to do. Older brothers, on theother hand were more direct. Distinguished clansmen were oftenquite severe in their criticism of younger members who showed in-difference to fasting for it was both their right and duty to speaksharply to younger clansmen. Bears Ann remembered one olderclan brother saying to another, "By all means don't fast or makeyourself uncomfortable. You have so little time to live, you shouldenjoy life. And when you die we will put you on a scaffold. Thenit won't be long until the ravens and buzzards will have your eyespicked out. While you lie there thinking of the good times you had,those young men who are going in to fast now will be striking theenemy; all you will be able to do about it will be to feed the birdsand give off foul odors." Bears Ann added, "Nobody spoke to meabout going in to fast. I was 16 years old and saw how the otherswere doing. I wanted to go in, thinking I might get a good dream."After settling at Fishhook VUlage, the Mandan erected a cere-monial lodge for their Okipa and other ceremonies. The Hidatsa thenpaid to use this lodge for the ceremony. Foniierly the Hidatsa riteswere performed in any large lodge since it was considered a greathonor to have one's lodge selected. No ceremonial lodge having beenbuilt by those Mandans who accompanied the Hidatsa to Fort
<* A woman might assist her brother and get minor rights in a bundle.
420 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
Goods endAr rows
Fosters
WolfWoman
Purchaser
FirstCreator
A Bullboat Covering FireB Two Wolf HidesC Place of Piercing FleshD Buffalo HideE Director of CeremonyF SellerP Lodge PostsS Spectators^ Owners of Bundles ContainingBuffalo SkullsFigure 6.?Lodge arrangements for Sunset Wolf ceremony.
Robes onLine
Buford about 1870, the system in vogue there was that followed inthe Knife River villages prior to 1845.It was the bundle maker's duty to assemble the objects for thesacred bundle. He could either Idll a wolf for its hide or purchase one.He sent some young man familiar with the country'" for the whiteclay and gave him the right to use this clay in doctoring as the re-ward for his efforts. Although similar white clay was found at a
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 421number of places west of the Missouri, only white clay from the hilldesignated by the wolves in the traditional origin myth of the cere-mony was used.The bundle buyer, bundle maker, director of the ceremony, andthe fasters entered the lodge during the evening preceding the com-mencement of the ceremony and took their traditional places. Thefasters would cry all night.First day.?The older men with good military records and owningbundles including buffalo skulls dressed as though going to war.Each employed his distinctive painting and wore some article desig-nating his ceremonial bundle rights. These men met at the lodge ofthe member selected by them to wear the wolfskin. The leader of thewarriors and the buyer entered the ceremonial lodge; each carried apipe and wore a wolfskin. The buyer approached the new ceremonialbundle and placed his pipe in front of the bundle, saying to theWolves, "I promised to perform this ceremony for you a year ago. Ihave gathered all the things that are needed. Now, this day, I amprepared to stand up and come to you. By making this promise Iwish to ha'v e my people free of sickness and lucky in everything theydo. I pray that we may get the advantage of our enemies everytime they attack us."The leader of the warriors picked up the bundle buyer's pipe and,while lighting it, said to the Wolves, "You heard what your son saidto you. He expects you to bring his people good luck and no sickness.He is going to suffer now for 4 days. He will take no food and waterfor 4 days and nights, hoping to realize all that he has asked of you.He believes all this will be given to him because of this ceremony."Then he lit the pipe and returned it to the bundle buyer.While the leader of the warriors and the bundle buyer performedthis rite before the bundle at the altar, the other warriors stood outsidethe lodge in a row with the Wolf Woman impersonator standing justback of them. In a roll across her back she carried an untanned buf-falo hide from which the hair had been removed. She sang wheneverthe men sang. This untanned hide which she carried was kept as apermanent part of her sacred bundle to be used especially for thisceremony. They stood in a row and sang one particular wordless songbelonging to the ceremony and known as the "Invitation song."When sung preceding the ceremony, it was an invitation for all majorbundle owners to participate. A man with a Wolf bundle might, onother occasions, have food prepared for a feast and invite in the peoplewith Wolf bundles by singing the song from his earth lodge roof. When710-195?65 28
422 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
out from the village in smaU parties, singing the song was interpretedas an invitation for all to attend a feast.*^The Invitation song was sung through four times as the warriorsapproached the ceremonial lodge, the fourth stop being at the entranceto the lodge. They stood in a line before the lodge. The man in frontcarried the wolf hide and the man on the end was expected to relate oneof his military achievements. The director of the ceremony, the bun-dle maker, and the bundle buyer aU had to be at their places in thelodge as the warriors approached.The bundle maker supplied the arrows used in the ceremony. Asthe warriors approached the lodge singing ajid dancing, the buyersent First Creator impersonator out four times with an arrow to giveto one of them. The instant the warrior accepted the arrow, thedirector of the ceremony shouted, "Stop," without waiting for thesinging and dancing to end. Bears Arm explained that interruptingthe singing for the man receiving an arrow (which he would take thenext time he went out searching for enemies) was to indicate to theyoung men that when on the warpath, if lucky along the way, theycould turn back and not finish their trip.Four Dancers provided a detailed account of the sending out of thearrows at each of the four stops. When Appearing Coyote, GoodBird's father, gave the ceremony at Fort Buford, the rites were heldin Bobtail Bull's lodge. At the first stop No Milk received an arrowand said, "We went on the warpath towards the south. I was ascout then and found one tipi."Porcupine Pemmican stepped forward at the second stop, took thearrow, and said, "We went out looking for our enemies and I saw alone man on a black horse."At the third stop. Bears Heart took the arrow and said, "We wereout looking for our enemies and I found the man who was given toBluestone the time he fasted under the eagle's nest."
<5 Bear-on-the-Flat explained that this was the song the wolves used after malting a kill to call the otherwolves, coyotes, foxes, and magpies to the feast. One time he was out eagle trapping with Iron Eyes, theonly Mandan known to have performed the Simset Wolf ceremony and then, he was permitted to do so onlyafter dreaming of the wolves many times. One day when the trappers were in their pits, they heard IronEyes singing the "Invitation song."Bear-on-the-Flat said to the younger men, " That is an Invitation for us to go into camp." As each ap-proached the lodge where the feast was to be given, he recited one of his war records. Bear-on-the-Flatsaid, "We were out to war and foimd one tipi. While we were running towards it, I struck one of theenemies." Then Bear-on-the-Flat went into Iron Eyes' lodge.Bears Arm said, " Wolf Eyes was the leader and we went to the north against the Chippewas. When wecame to the enemy, there was a battle and some of our men were wounded. I was a camp tender for I wasonly a boy. As we came towards home, I helped the wounded men by carrying water and cooking meat forthem. I did all this until we reached home." Then Bears Arm went into Iron Eyes' eagle trapping lodge.Iron Eyes picked up a small piece of roasted rib and dipped it into coffee; then he held it in the air andprayed to the Wolves saying, " Sunset Wolf, when you find something good, you call all the wolves, coyotes,foxes, and magpies to congregate and eat. I offer this to all of you. Eat this first. You will have the pipe tosmoke also. You eat first and we will take the scraps." Then he took pieces of meat outside and placedthem on the west side of the lodge for the animals.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 423Raven Paunch stepped forward at the last stop, took the arrow, andsaid, "I was one of the scouts. I saw the enemy making camp andbuilding their fire. This was just west of the Killdeer Mountains.There were six enemies in the party; Bear-on-the-Water saw themafter I saw them."The warriors entered, followed by additional fasters carrying ar-ticles from their fathers' bundles.When the warriors were ready to leave for the ceremonial lodge todance, painting of the bundle buyer was started and timed so as to becompleted when the warriors finished their last song. The bundlemaker did the painting, using white clay moistened with water to forma thick paste. The paint was applied to the entire body; then he usedhis fingers to remove strips of paint from the arms and legs as well asfrom across the forehead. Beforehand, the bundle buyer selected aclan brother to stand with him before the wolf hides and to be paintedin the same manner. Both were dressed in coyote-head caps withraven feathers sticking up at the top and a coyote tail sewed at theback so as to hang down at the back of the neck. They were giventwo canes each, representing the two poles on which Hungry Wolfsuffered. The canes were partly peeled so as to leave four strips withbark on. The canes were peeled at the top and bottom. The fourstrips of bark represented the 4 nights of the ceremony and the fourdivisions of life ; childhood, youth, maturity, and old age. The caneswere used during the ceremony to bend forward on and to keep timewith during the singing. A piece of wolf mane with a foot attachedwas tied to their wrists and ankles. The clan brother selected was onewho had given much assistance in accumulating the goods necessaryto pay the performers. The bundle maker then dipped red grass intothe water and white clay and sprinkled the two wolf hides beforeplacing one around the waist of the bundle buyer and the other aroundthe clan brother.Dancing in the lodge stopped when the warriors arrived. Thefour men who had recited their war records while approaching theceremonial lodge were expected to relate additional war deeds inthe same order while running toward the edge of the village. Thebundle buyer and his clan brother led the way, trotting like wolves,followed by the fasters. Women desiring to fast followed the malefasters. Some fasters dragged buffalo skulls fastened to their backsby means of thongs inserted through the skin. Clan fathers had donethe piercing and were individually paid by the fasters' parents forthis service. The director of the ceremony and the bundle makerremained at their places in the lodge while the fasters were outsidedancing.
424 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Bears Arm remembered the following major bmidle owners asrepresenting the warriors when Appearing Coyote bought his Wolfbundle: Weasel-Blackens-Himself, Thunder and Big Bird bundles;No Milk, NaxpikE bundle; His-Horse-Smells-Him, Thunder andBig Bird bundles; Porcupine Pemmican, NaxpikE bundle; BearsHeart, Grizzly Bear bundle ; Black Horn, Wolf bundle ; Crows Breast,Woman Above bundle; Lying Chicken, Imitating Buffalo bundle;Hits-on-Back, Eagle Trapping bundle; Hairy Coat, Woman Abovebundle; Dog Bear, Imitating Buffalo bundle; Plain Tail, Big Birdbundle; Marries-by-Carrying-Water, Grizzly Bear bundle; HoldingEagle, Eagle Trapping bundle; Iron Eyes, Wolf bundle; BobtailBull, Earthnaming bundle.After the fasters had danced at the edge of the village, the warriorsproceeded toward the lodge, again stopping four times to receivearrows and to dance and sing. The same four men related additionalwar records, after which all went into the lodge. The fasters werebrought out four times each day. Each faster carried an eaglewingbone whistle supplied by his father and, while dancing, wasexpected to look toward the sky and whistle.When all were in their places in the lodge, the "fasters song" wassung 100 times to represent the 100 Cheyenne Indians the Wolvesgave to Hungry Wolf. The major bundle owners took turns singing,using the buffalo hide drum which Wolf Woman provided when theceremony began. All fasters were expected to dance through theentire singing. A bullboat was kept over the fire so that exhaustedfasters would not fall into the fire. The director of the ceremonykept track of the singing by means of 100 sticks. After each songhe removed a stick from the pile until all were taken; then he wouldshout, "Stop." Then the singing and dancing stopped. Thebundle buyer and his clan brother were required to wear the wolfhides during the dancing, so the young men could "look at the wolfas they danced and cried."Other fasters would select clan fathers to pierce them for drawingbuffalo heads while dancing went on outside at the edge of the village.Occasionally one chose to be lowered through the smoke hole by meansof rawhide ropes fastened to the thongs. This was the exceptionalcase and seems never to have been universally practiced as it wasamong the Mandan in their Okipa ceremony. The fasters wentout to the edge of the village in the early forenoon, just before noon,during the middle of the afternoon, and early in the evening. Betweentimes, the major bundle owners sang and one of their number danced.The dancer would call for a specified number of arrows and thebundle buyer would carry them to him. The director of the ceremonywould stop the singing the instant the arrows were delivered.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 425On one occasion Poor Wolf danced and called for three arrows.When the singing stopped he said,
"We were out to war against our enemy, the Sioux. We went to the south.Four Bears was the leader. When we found them, they were making their fireat the edge of the brush on a hillside. I took aim at the man making the fireand killed him. I rushed in and struck him first; a Mandan named Red Leafstruck him next. When we returned to our party, Four Bears said 'We ought toget the scalp as proof that we killed our enemy.' When he said that, it meantthat any man who brought in the scalp could keep it. The rest of the party wentinto the brush and we thought they might be planning to kill anyone who returnedto get the scalp. Nevertheless, I went out and brought in the scalp. I killed theenemy, struck the enemy, and got the scalp. Those are my three deeds for thethree arrows."The major bundle owners sang again and Bluestone danced. Hecalled for two arrows and said, "I went out with Four Bears when hewent against the Assiniboin. We found an enemy and I was the firstto strike him. Another time I went out with Knotted as leader andI struck the enemy."Red Basket danced and Appearing Coyote was directed to bringfive arrows. He said, "One time the Assiniboin came in large numbersto wipe out our people because they heard that we were few in numbersafter the smallpox. There was a big battle and they wounded ourchief, Four Bears. I went out and struck five enemies that day."Then Iron Eyes danced. He said, "I was leader and took my pipealong. I got one man on a black horse. Flying Eagle struck thisenemy while he was riding away."The same men would dance on successive days and caU for arrows,but each time a different war record was related. There frequentlywere so many attending that it was not possible for a man to relatemore than one record. At the close of the day's dancing, the spec-tators, warriors, and Wolf Woman impersonator returned to theirlodges for the night leaving the director of the ceremony, bundlemaker, bundle buyer, clan brother, and the fasters at the ceremoniallodge. Any fasters desiring to do so could go out beyond the villagelimits to cry or drag buffalo skulls through the village. In the lattercase, relatives usually accompanied them to give away property inthe name of the ones manifesting outstanding bravery. Fasters mightgo outside for personal duties anytime except when the song was beingsung 100 times. The bundle buyer and his clan brother could go outanytime when not wearing the wolf hides. The wolf hides were wornonly when the 100 songs were being sung.As stated above, the warriors selected one of their number to be theFirst Creator impersonator and to serve as waiter. In eating, theorder of serving food was: (1) Wolf Woman; (2) director of the cere-mony; (3) warriors; and (4) bundle maker. The bundle buyer and
426 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY I Bull. 194his clan brother, together with the fosters, abstained from eating ordrinking while participating in the ceremony. The bundle buyer wasresponsible for feeding the participants and was assisted by parents ofthose fasting. As was the case when performing the NaxpikE, clanbrothers felt obligated to come and fast to bring credit to the clan.Fasting was an individual matter and one remained only so long as hewished to. Most of the younger boys dropped out after the secondnight. When a faster had a vision, he often thought he should fastlonger in the hope of getting fuller instructions.Second and third days.?The first day's performances were repeatedon the second and third days. Only those intending to submit tosevere torture remained beyond the third day.Fourth day.?Several new features characterized the fourth and lastday of the ceremony. The warriors came in as previously and tooktheir places, making four stops on the way to relate war records asthey approached the ceremonial lodge. Parents brought goods fortheir fasting sons to give away; some brought in much, others onlysmall amomits, depending on the family's means. Those unable tocontribute other items of value brought food.When the warriors were seated, the bundle maker instructed thebuyer and his assistant to stand in front of him before the Wolf Altarin order to be painted and dressed. He picked up his brush of redgrass, dipped it into the water, and sprinkled the wolf hides, singing,
"This water is holy; this water is holy; this water is holy; this wateris holy. This earth is holy. This clay is holy." The two werepainted and dressed as before. When the buyer and his clan brotherwere ready, each faster went about through the assembled crowdcalling on a member of the father's clan to pray for him and wishhim good luck. This took most of the day.Bears Arm, who was 16 years of age when he fasted in the SunsetWolf ceremony, selected Porcupine Pemmican, a clan brother ofBears Arm's father. His parents brought in his gray horse andgave it to Porcupine Pemmican who arose and said, "Come overhere and stand in front of me, my son."When Bears Arm was in front of him. Porcupine Pemmican said,I dragged two buflfalo heads at the same time. All the skin and tongues wereon them; all the hide along the back and the tail was on them. They were heavybut I dragged them by means of the sticks through my skin. I had a hard timeof it and suffered much, but I was well paid for my suffering. I saw in my visionthat I would not get wounded even when close to the enemy in battle: It wouldnot make any difference whether they shot with bullets or arrows. My son, Isuffered for what I have told you. You have given me a fine horse and now Ibless you and pray that you may live to be an old man. If there is war, do notbe afraid to go in close for the enemy will not be able to harm you. If there aremany hardships, do not let them worry you, for you are on the safe path.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 427Each faster was expected to give something to a male of the father'sclan and to receive his blessing. These activities occupied much ofthe day. It was felt that the success of any ceremony was, in part,measured by the degree of cooperation between the fasters, theclansmen, and the age-grade society of the buyer in furnishing valu-able property to be given to clan fathers of the various fasters. Therewas a feeling that all of the major bundle owners participating shouldhave an opportunity to bless at least one "son." Some fasters evenwent beyond the clan and sought the "blessings" of males of the op-posite moiety who had not been called upon to receive goods. Whensituations, due to the limitations of clan membership, arose in whichone had few or no opportunities to pray for a son because noneof the fasters' fathers belonged to his clan, there was a propertytransfer within the group itself or one being called on to pray for a
"son" relinquished his right publicly to another of good or superiorreputation. Nor did the goods received long remain in the handsof the major bundle owners. They shared on the spot vtith otherswho stood in a father-son relationship to them and it was customaryto share liberally with the feeble men and women, addressed asgrandfather or grandmother, who gathered near the door of theceremonial lodge on these occasions.*^ There was a rapid exchangeof property during and immediately following the celebration of allmajor ceremonies; in this respect the Sunset Wolf ceremony was noexception. Hoarding goods in excess of one's neighbors wasfrowned upon.Meanwhile, the Holy Women and berdaches erected a mound atthe outskirts of the village and removed the cacti and grass aroundit for the "last dance" (fig. 7). These women?and men clothed aswomen?wore their low-necked ceremonial dresses with a braid ofsweetgrass tied at the shoulder and magpie feathers fastened in theirhair. They carried bone hoes and wooden digging sticks slung overtheir shoulders. When the giving of property to clan fathers wasended, the bundle maker sent the director of the ceremony to thelodge where the Holy Women and berdaches had congregated, aftererecting the mound, to clean up and paint themselves for the 'lastdance."*^When the Holy Women were ready, they sent word to the bundlemaker. These women, together with their singer, made the traditionalfour stops to sing as they went along and reached the dancing groundsfirst, led by the Wolf Woman impersonator. They stood on the eastside of the cleared space. Then the bundle owners went out followed
*? See the kinship system tor application of grandparent terms." Cherry Necklace was singer tor these women In more recent times and they met at his lodge. After hedied, no new singer bought into the society so the women did their own singing.
428 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
?Wolf Woman?
?West Woman?
?North Woman?
? East Woman?
?South Woman
?? Singer forV Holy Woman
Figure 7.?Plan of the last dance of the Sunset Wolf ceremony.in turn by the bundle buyer, his assistant, and the remaining fasters.A rapid pace was set ; all trotted in imitation of the wolves while manyof them dragged buffalo skulls. They sang the "fasting song" 100times but at an accelerated tempo. For the fasters, this was the finaldance after 4 days and nights of fasting (see fig. 7).The mound represented the place where Hungry Wolf suffered.When a faster fell, others would stumble and fall over him. Thenthe dance would stop long enough for the exhausted man to recoversufficiently to get to his feet again. The bundle maker would dipsage in water and cleanse him. Seeing a son or brother fall exhausted,the relatives would return home and select a good robe, war bonnet,or other article to place on the ground near the exhausted man showingsuch bravery and fortitude. The Wolf Woman impersonator
?
running like a wolf?would pick up these articles and stack them ina pile in front of the Holy Women. Later in the day these articleswere taken to the lodge where these old women met; each would takeone article from the pile untU all the goods were distributed. Thiswas their pay for participating in the ceremony.When a faster fell exhausted, the dancing stopped until he hadrecovered. He was then cleansed with water from the red grassbundle sprinkled on him by the bundle maker and cut free from thebuffalo skulls by those "fathers" who had inserted the thongs. Allthe fasters were without clothing and moccasins, wearing only the
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 429breechcloth for the last dance. The dance consumed much time smceit stopped whenever a man fell unconscious. At the end of 100songs, the director of the ceremony stopped the dancing.Usually only a few fasters could hold out to the end and the bundlebuyer was expected to be among them. For this reason, the oldermen never authorized one to perform the rites until they were assured,on the basis of previous instances of fasting and torturing, that thecandidate could endure through to the end of the ceremony. Historturing was not as severe as that inflicted on the other fasters sincehe was not obliged to drag buffalo skulls and rarely did so. Moreover,the clan brother, dressed and painted in the same manner asthe bundle buyer, substituted in many of the dances, thus givingthe buyer an opportunity to conserve his strength for the last dance.When the song had been sung through 100 times, the cleansing ritesterminated the ceremony. First the fasters were sprinkled, followedby those who had participated as singers, the director of the ceremonyusing the red grass and water for this rite. Then the director of theceremony, the bundle maker, bundle buyer, and the clan brotherassistant returned to the ceremonial lodge to be cleansed either withthe grass or by a sweat lodge rite. When the latter method was used,these four people, together with the latter two officers' wives, met atthe bundle maker's lodge where he took them into his sweat lodge,cleansed them, fitted them out with new clothes and then set foodbefore them.The bundle buyer and the assisting clan brother received identicalbundles. Articles in the bundle were: A coyote cap decorated withtwo raven feathers ; four coyote manes with feet attached, to be wornaround the ankles and wrists ; a wolf hide ; two canes with four darkstrips, and made of chokecherry limbs; white clay; red gi'ass; and abuffalo skull. Bundles were somewhat more numerous at Hidatsathan at Awatixa and none were reported for the survivors of theAwaxawi village. There is no evidence that the ceremony wasperformed in the Mandan villages prior to 1845 although the Mandandid have rites resembling those of the Sunrise Wolf described above.After 1845 Iron Eyes, a Mandan, was permitted to perform the Sunsetrites at Fishhook Village when he had dreamed repeatedly of theSunset Wolves. This was an exceptional case and his sons did notbuy to perpetuate the line.The rites were important since they provided the Hidatsa with asecond major outlet*^ for group tasting during the summer. TheMandans, on the other hand, had only one outlet for formal groupfasting?the medium of the Okipa ceremony. For Awaxawi vUlage
? The NaxplkE being the first outlet.
430 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194there was no evidence that either a Sunset Wolf or Naxpiks bundleline survived the epidemic of 1837 and, in light of the high develop-ment of the Tying-the-Pots ceremony which was performed duringthe summer months as rain-making rites, some question is raised as towhether this village group ever performed these ceremonies. Inhistoric times, this small Awaxawi group were reported to have placedgreater emphasis on agriculture due, no doubt, to their small numbersand the greater danger of extermination by their nomadic neighbors.It is of traditional record of this and the Mandan groups that theAwaxawi lent considerable assistance to the Mandan in the perform-ance of their summer ceremony, the Oldpa. This is no doubt correctin light of the fact that in the period prior to 1785 the Awaxawi wereclosely associated with the Mandan first in the Painted Woods regionand later at the Knife River.The Hidatsa and Awatixa claim that the Sunset rites were of lateestablishment, although immediately prior to the first appearance ofthe horse. Features of the ceremony are of such widespread distribu-tion in the Plains and even in the ceremonial structure of the Hidatsathemselves, however, as to indicate considerable antiquity for Wolfrites although probably not in the precise form taken in later years.This is indicated by the military pattern running through the othersacred rites beheved to be of greater antiquity.WOLF WOMANThe Walks-at-Dusk sacred myth, given above as a part of thesacred beliefs and habits relating to the Sunset Wolf, provides themythological and traditional setting for the rites associated with WolfWoman. This female wolf who led the girl home after tne burningof Strong Jaw's village on the Little Missouri was believed to be aholy woman who formerly lived at Hidatsa village on the north bankof the Knife River. She would often transform herself into a femalewolf and travel out on the prairies far from the village. She lived inthe village as any other old and wise woman, caring for her gardens,tanning hides, and looking after her lodge. But she would often singher holy song for war parties leaving the village and predict good luckfor their undertakings. Transforming herself into a wolf on the fourthday, she would join them at dusk. Thus it was considered a very goodomen when the members of a war party heard the wolves howhng onthe fourth evening after leaving home. There was only one songbelonging to the rites: "Friends, I tell you that dusk when the camp-fire glows is a good time if you are discouraged. When you have putthe ribs to roasting and they are ready to be eaten, I will join you."The Wolf Woman bundle owners were classified as members of theHoly Women and Woman Above groups because, according to tradi-
Bowers] HIDATSA SOClAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 431tions of the various bundle lines, all were created by a very wise oldwoman?Village-Old-Wornan?who created the females of the speciesin very early times. According to present-day tradition, she createdthe female wolf woman who, in turn, assisted Strong Jaw and hisdaughter when the latter performed the rites after returning safely tothe village. On the basis of these supernatural experiences, Hidatsawomen established these sacred bundles.Traditionally, there was one Wolf Bundle for each of the sevenclans prior to the epidemic of 1837. Of these, only two bundles sur-vived; one held by Yellow Head of the Maxoxati clan of Hidatsa vil-lage, and the other held by Yellow Husk of the Prairie Chicken clanof Awatixa village. This distribution provided one bundle for eachmoiety.It is diflBcult to reconcile the traditional late estabhshment of thesebundle rites with the widespread references to the role of Wolf Womanin the other ceremonies. The site on the Little Missouri referred toin the myth is obviously of recent occupation. The Hidatsa date thesite as after the introduction of horses and near the end of the periodof contacts with the Shoshonean peoples to the west. Warfare withthis group was being actively pursued in 1804 (Lewis, 1893). Itseems unlikely that these bundle rites should have been first institutedabout 1800, spread within the Hidatsa and Awatixa villages to eachclan in a matter of a few years, and died out to two bundle lines, aUwithin a matter of less than 40 years. If the Hidatsa had preservedthe belief that each clan should have a bundle and ceremonial rights,enough females should have survived to preserve the bundle lines.Bundles were regularly inherited from persons long dead. A morelogical interpretation of the data would be that the moiety bundlesmet the new ceremonial requirements for participation in the SunsetWolf rites and that the incidents of a historic event?the destructionof Strong Jaw's village?took precedence over the earlier Wolf sacredmyths and beliefs referred to in the other bundle complexes.The rites were of major bundle status since each contained a buffaloskull?the badge of major status?and the presence of sweetgrassand the robe in the bundle related the bundle and the rites to thoseof the Holy Women. One having repeated dreams about the wolvescustomarily went to a "wolf woman" of the same clan (or moiety)to request permission to give a feast to her bundle. Essentially thesame sequence was followed as when making offerings to other bundlesconcerned with calling the buffaloes or bringing rain. A date was setfor the feast, people with related bundles attended, each giver was
"blessed" and promised success in his various undertakings, and eachreceived some object for his sacred bundle.
432 BUREAU OF AjVIERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194When the bundle was to be transferred to one standing in therelationship of "daughter," the bundle owner's children and theyounger people of the clan and household cooperated to acquire thenecessary goods for the transfer feast. The transfer was a directone to the children, one of whom held prior interest.*^ Sons wereassisted by theu- wives, but the daughters' husbands took no part inthe transfer except when a new and permanent relationship had beenestablished with the mother-in-law by prior removal of the mother-in-law taboo. The sale was du-ect from mother to daughter. If themother was dead at the time the transfer was to be made, an olderwoman of the mother's clan was selected to prepare the bundle andto receive instructions for the purchaser. Those owning rights inthe Wolf, Holy Woman, and Old-Woman-Above bundles were ex-pected to attend and to pray for the success of the buyers. Therewas a payment in robes and other goods to the legitimate participantswho, in return, publicly sanctioned the bundle transfer.The Wolf Woman being conceptually one of the Holy Women,any man with singer rights in a Woman Above or Holy Womanbundle could lead the singing. The articles for the bundle werereceived, in part, from Sunset Wolf and Old-Woman-Above bundles.The former supplied the wolf hide, wolf-hide cap decorated with12 eagle tails, and the wolf claws and mane for the wTists and ankles.The Old-Woman-Above owner supplied the buffalo hide with hairremoved, braided sweetgrass, and an enemy's scalp. Either bundleowner could supply the buffalo skuU.The husband, when he had not removed the mother-in-law taboo,took no active part in the amassing of the goods other than his tradi-tional role as hunter for his wife's people and did not attend thetransfer rites or claim any rights in the bundle. Neither is theree\'idence that the husbands of Wolf Woman bundle owners werenecessarily owners of other Wolf bundles. Should a situation havearisen in which the husband and wife were Wolf bundle owners, bythe customary inheritance rules, separation would have occurred inthe next generation. The husband's rights would go to his son, whowould be li\4ng in a different lodge by the rules of matrilocal residence,and the wife's bundle would be retained in the lodge by her daughter.Articles in the bundle included a woLf hide, a buffalo hide fromwhich the hair had been removed, a wolf-hide cap with 12 eagle tailsattached by means of a porcupine quill decorated band, woLf clawsand mane to be worn on the wrists and ankles, a braid of sweetgrassin the form of the sun, an enemy's scalp, a buffalo skull, and white clay.
*' See the Creek ceremony given above for another case of transfer of a bundle through the female line.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 433There was one principal song belonging to the bundle. It referredto Wolf Woman's ability to transform herself into a female wolf andreach a war party out 4 days. The other songs were the customaryWar songs, the common property of all Wolf bundles. Bundle ownerswould dress in their ceremonial outfits and dance whenever scalpdances were celebrated. They were believed to get dreams from thewolves whenever their enemies were lurking about the villages.Whenever these women failed to predict the presence of enemies, itwas believed that these enemies had appealed to their own super-natural guardians to bewilder and confuse the wolves so that theyforgot to warn the Wolf Woman impersonators. Although the WolfWoman impersonator had a definite part to perform in the SunsetWolf ceremonies, independent rites were performed on other occas-sions. This was primarily a war bundle and little emphasis was givento other village activities. The right to use white clay for doctoringwas optional. Buffalo Calling CeremoniesThese rites constitute a series related by virtue of common beliefsand practices believed to increase the buffalo herds and bring themnear the villages. These rites represent but a part of those in whichthe buffalo is included, but they had become recently incorporatedinto a related series in which the singers selected from the Earth-naming bundle owners play a dominant performing role. There isboth historic and traditional evidence that this integration has oc-curred recently (probably since 1800) and that the pattern has changedto one approximating the Mandan as practiced through the mediumof the Okipa summer ceremony although the specific origin mythsfor the two tribes are entirely different.EARTHNAMINGOf the rites in this series, the Hidatsa believed that the Earth-naming ceremony was the last to reach the form as practiced untilthe final extermination of the buffalo. The ceremonies were basedon the belief that certain spirits, including the buffalo, were residentsof the various buttes of the adjacent prairies. A line drawn betweenthose buttes situated on the farthest periphery constituted nativeconcepts of the limits of tribal territory; it was with these limits, asdefined by the bundle owners, that the Hidatsa have been chieflyconcerned recently in all tribal claim negotiations with the Govern-ment. Conceptually, these buttes were the homes of various spiritswhose leader was a large owl living inside the Killdeer Mountains.Each butte had a spirit and each spirit a sacred myth, ritual, and songs.These spirits would meet periodically at the Killdeer Mountains,
434 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194known as Singer Butte, where rites were performed under the direc-tion of a large owl who resided in a deep cave there. Each buttewas further symbolically represented by a buffalo skull in essentiallythe same manner; each sacred bundle of major or tribal importancein the various villages included sacred buffalo skulls (map 1 and pi.10).There were two sacred bundles after 1837; one was owned by Gutsand came from Hidatsa village and the other was owned by Poor Wolfand came from Awaxawi. There is no traditional evidence thatAwatixa ever had one of the bundles. The two bundles and riteswere identical and have provided the basis for considerable conflictdue to the competitive position for peace-chief status which thebundles carried. According to traditions related by Four Dancers,grandson of Guts, and Mrs. White Duck, daughter of Poor Wolf,the Earthnaming bundle rites began with Raven Necklace. Briefly,the sacred myth is as follows:An Assiniboin boy taken prisoner by the Hidatsa wore a raven skin as a necklacewhen captured and was named Raven Necklace. A few years later the Hidatsawent into winter camp on the Missouri above the mouth of the Little MissouriRiver (pi. 11) During the winter, the Assiniboin attacked the village and RavenNecklace undertook to protect three women of his adopted tribe. Two of theAssiniboins who attacked the women were recognized as his Assiniboin brothers.He wounded both brothers but did not kill them. After the battle it was learnedthat 30 young Hidatsa women were missing, among them Raven Necklace'sadopted sister.Raven Necklace traveled northward to the Assiniboin camp, looking for theHidatsa women, and visited with his Assiniboin family. They discussed thebattle and then he inquired about his adopted sister. During the night he freedthe 30 women but his sister was not among them. He killed one enemy who wasout as scout and then they traveled toward the Missouri, reaching a timberedcoulee north of the spot where Fishhook Village later stood. Raven Necklacewas about to push over a dead tree when a voice said, "Raven Necklace, leavethat tree alone, for it is my home. I have my young ones here and I do not wantmy home destroyed."Looking up he saw that Owl was speaking. Owl said, "This valley is known asOwl Valley. You can make a buffalo corral here.^" I will give you a ceremonycalled Earthnaming. When you perform the rites the other spirits will teach youthe songs and what things to use with the Earth medicines. When you call themtogether, they will tell you the names of these high hills. There will be a greatdeal of memorizing."The 30 women helped him build the buffalo corral and they took many buffaloes,tanning the hides and curing the meat. Then they went upstream and joined theothers at the winter camp, waving the scalp to show that they had overcome oneenemy. All this time the spirits living in the various buttes came to him in hisdreams and taught him the songs and rites.The people went back to Knife River in the spring where many people helpedhim put up the goods to buy the ceremony. Among the buttes represented
?? This owl was the singer whenever the spirits of the buttes met at Killdeer Mountains.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 435
were: Killdeer Mountains, the singer; Ghost Singing Butte situated northwestof the Killdeer Mountains, so named because Swallow and Hawk were buriedthere; Crow Butte; Singing Butte; Heart Singing Butte; Little Heart SingingButte; Fox Singing Butte; Rosebud Butte; White Butte; Opposite Butte; BuffaloHome Buttes; and others not now remembered by Hidatsa informants. Thespirits came and established the ceremony. [See map 1 for location of thesebuttes.]The precise beliefs associated with many of these buttes are nolonger known. Poor Wolf had no sons and refused to instruct hisdaughter. Bobtail Bull had not completed the training of his son,Four Dancers, when he died, for the rites were no longer practicedand the rewards for learning the rites seemed insignificant to FourDancers once the buffaloes had ceased to exist. Theoretically, eachbutte had independent rites which collectively comprised the Earth-naming ceremony. One of these. Ghost Singing Butte, was ofspecial importance since the spirits of Swallow and Hawk lived thereand were believed to have introduced horses into the tribe. Bothinformants supplied the sacred myth which was briefly as follows:The people were traveling upstream from Hidatsa village on the Knife Riverto go into winter camps. Swallow and Hawk, who had died and whose spiritsresided in Ghost Singing Butte, exerted supernatural influences on a poor youngman and his wife, causing them to leave the main party at the mouth of theLittle Missouri and to go up this stream where they found a washout in whichthey made their camp for the winter.Swallow and Hawk who, while living, had helped Young-Man-Chief " came asspirits and visited the young man and his wife during the winter telling them howthey happened to be buried at this butte. Swallow told how he had been out witha war party against the Blackfeet and had died of his wounds while returning toKnife River. Hawk told how he had gone out later with a hvmting party, haddied away from the village, and had been buried beside his friend.Swallow and Hawk ate and smoked with the poor young man and sent him goodhunting. They informed him that they would bring horses down from the heavytimber to replace the dogs; they described horses which the people had neverseen before, and gave instructions as to their care and use. They told the youngman not to place moccasins on the ground with the toes pointed to the east orthe spirits would call the owners back.While the poor young man and his wife lived well from the game sent them bySwallow and Hawk, the winter village was without meat and had resorted tosnaring cottontail rabbits. Swallow and Hawk secured the aid of the Holy Womento cure meat for the poor young man. The people from the winter village dis-covered this meat and learned that the poor young man was now holy. Swallowand Hawk had given him instructions in the Bird ceremony of Swallow andHawk who resided in one of the Earthnaming Buttes.When the chief learned that the poor young man had become holy, he instructedhis son to marry his two sisters to the poor man since the two women belongedto the same clan as the poor man's other wife. The oldest sister had a whitebuffalo robe and the younger one had a calfskin robe which they gave for theceremony.
" See Woman Above rites, given above, for an account of the role of these two In protecting Village-Young-Man from the enemy who had been blessed by Woman Above.
436 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194When the time for the ceremony had come, the people went out onto the prairiesnear Ghost Singing Butte to await the horses which Swallow and Hawk promised.They were camped in a circle when Swallow and Hawk arrived with a gray staUion,a bay mare, and her three bay colts. The people examined the horses and saidthat they looked much Uke dogs except that they were much larger and stronger.Speaking of the mare and her colts, the people said, "The hair is red. Theyare not buffaloes or bears. They are holy animals of some kind. They are red-haired-dogs." And so they were called icuwasuka.The people said, "We suffered from hunger and this young man stayed hereand had everything provided for us. Now we have these horses and the cornscaffolds are built and loaded with buffalo meat. We are not in need of any-thing. We are at the end of the world, for it is like finding a new world to findthese horses which will be so useful to our people. Now we will be able to doalmost anything."Then the rites to Swallow and Hawk were performed, after which the peoplereturned to the Knife River.According to Four Dancers, sacred myths were likewise associatedwith the other buttes mentioned in the rites. Whereas offerings tothe characters represented in sacred bundles were ordinarily placedon poles within or adjacent to the summer villages, offerings madeto the Earthnaming bundle were placed near the various butteswhile out from the villages on summer buffalo hunts. Of thesebuttes, four were known as the "Buffalo Spu"it Places": BuffaloComes Out Butte; Singer Butte (Killdeer Mountains); Buffalo HomeButte; and Kosebud Butte. At each of these buttes, offerings offeathers from the speckled eagle were made to increase the buffaloherds. The feathers were tied in bundles to buffalo skulls placednear caves situated under the overhanging cliffs.The sacred bundle belonging at Hidatsa village was owned byGuts who, due to loss of prestige from bad luck in war, passed it onto his young son, Bobtail Bull. The other bundle, kept at Awaxawi,was held by Half-Smoked-Tipi in 1837, he having bought the bundlefrom his father, Raven Necklace.^^ He sold it to Poor Wolf, his son,shortly after 1837. The bundle rites exceeded all other tribal ritesin complexity and had integrated into a related complex most buffalorites when the aboriginal culture broke down. Inheritance was fromfather to son, but, unlike most other ceremonies, training, instructions,and participation in the various rituals were begun at an early agein order to become qualified to assume the father's role later. It wascustomary for a man to train several sons simultaneously for bundleownership, and instruction was continued for several years. In thissense the preliminaries closely resembled the practices of the Mandanwho taught the lore and rituals of their various tribal rites by sectionsor segments untU the entire ceremonial complex was mastered. PoorWolf and Bobtail BuU often remarked to their children that they
? He was named after the bundle.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 437grew up with their fathers' bundles and learned the rites a little at atime. They assisted their fathers each time rites were performeduntil each was fully acquainted with the rites, even before the bundletransfer was completed. The bundle owner's position as singer anddirector of the rites was comparable to that held by the Lone Manimpersonator in the Mandan Okipa and their buffalo rites.The final transfer of the bundle and ritual leadership was made ata public feast attended by all persons having major bundle status;that is, persons having ceremonial rights which included sacredbuffalo skulls. Transfer was authorized by a man of the father'sclan who interpreted the vision experience to signify that the purchaseof the father's bundle was indicated. There was the usual year'spreparation during which time it was necessary to acquire 100 buffalorobes, 100 pairs of moccasins, and sufficient food to feed every manpossessing a sacred buffalo skuU during the 4 days of the transferrites. Conceptually, the cost of the ceremonial transfer exceededthat of all bundles and was expressed in terms of village status,the bundle owner being the leading peace chief of the village group.His status, expressed in terms of the goods mustered, indicated theimportance of the buffalo in the economic life of the people.For this study it is important to note that Earthnaming bundleownership gave one paramount status in terms of village and cere-monial organization. He was the titular head of the rites to propa-gate the buffalo herds and, as such, occupied highest status in theceremonial life. Whenever one dreamed of the buffaloes and wishedto perform a feast for them, the bundle owner was ex officio singerfor the ceremonies. As a symbol of the buffalo which he represented,he acted as singer for the Imitating Buffalo and Red Stick ceremoniesby virtue of Earthnaming bundle status.Although the Hidatsa did not customarily perform village riteswhen out on summer buffalo hunts, it was customary for one havingEarthnaming rights to retire to pray at those buttes mentioned in hissacred myths and to place offerings near them according to the habitspracticed at the various buttes. On one occasion, when the Hidatsawere camped near the KUldeer Mountains, Poor Wolf and his daughterclimbed the cliff to the deep hole in the top believed to be the homeof the speckled owl, singer for the rites performed at that hole period-ically by the spirits of the buttes, and placed old robes near the cave,saying, "Buffaloes, we have brought you your old robes and put themhere for you. You don't come out of this butte very often now andwe are hungry."Then they cried. As they walked back toward the camp, theysaw a small herd of buffaloes and the young men kiUed some of them.When they cut the paunches open they found no grass, only balls710-195?65 29
438 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
of clay [hair balls] in there, and according to Mrs. White Duck,Poor Wolf said, "They must have just come out of the cave for theyhave only clay in their stomachs. Their hoofs are sharp too, butthey would have been dull if they had been on the prairies very long."A sacred bundle contained two very large rattles made of buffalohide; the head, two wings, and two claws of the speckled owl; redand black clay; white sage; and a buffalo skull. Swallow and Hawkwere represented by feathers from these birds. During a bundletransfer, young men paid to fast and to be tortured as it was believedeasy to get dreams from the buffaloes. The Holy Women met at aseparate lodge on the last day to receive their pay for the part theHoly Women performed in butchering and curing meat for RavenNecklace when the speckled owl taught him the ceremony duringmythological times. The Holy Women and berdaches also preparedthe dancing grounds at the edge of the village where the fasterscongregated daily, dragging the buffalo skulls.The presence of two bundle owners when the three Hidatsa villagegroups united to build Fishhook Village after the epidemic of 1837,whereas heretofore there had been only one bundle owner in thesame village with peace chief status, resulted in endless rivalriesbetween the two factions. This competition was settled only whenone group under the leadership of Bobtail Bull, successor to Guts,left the area and built a new village near Fort Buford.IMITATING BUFFALOThese rites, although traditionally of an independent origin,were integrated with the Earthnaming and Painted Red Stick ritesin recent times by virtue of common singers. The sacred mythsexplaining the origin of the rites introduces two characters. Blood(Clot) Man and Buffalo Woman, who worked together to providebuffalo meat for the starving people. Theoretically, both characterswent back to the origin of the land when Buffalo (male) was foundon the earth by First Creator and Lone Man who concluded thatBuffalo, like other things on the earth, came out of caves from theland below, Buffalo Woman was created later by Village-Old-Womanwho introduced the female opposites of male living things. There aretwo important sacred myths to explain the roles of Blood Man andBuffalo Woman in the performance of the Imitating Buffalo rites.One deals with Buffalo Woman's experiences leading to her trans-formation from a buffalo cow to a Hidatsa woman after which shetook up residence in the villages and assisted them in various Buffaloceremonies, particularly the Imitating Buffalo and Painted RedStick ceremonies.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 439Briefly, the Buffalo Woman sacred myth was as follows
:
One winter the people came up from Knife River to build a winter camp inthe timber below Elbowoods. Game was scarce and the people were obUgedto brmg garden produce from their summer village. Scouts could not findbuffaloes anywhere. The children had caves where they played at keeping houseand a strange boy who was rather dark-skinned with curly black hair invitedhis play wife to go home with him.The girl went along to learn that the boy was in reaUty a buffalo named CalfWedge. He was living with his mother in a hide tipi in the heavy timber. Theyhad not been able to travel north with the herd for the mother had injured herfoot on a snag. The buifalo cow gave the girl meat to take to her parents andthey, in turn, made corn balls for the two buffaloes. The buffalo woman asked tomove to the girl's camp and her parents invited them in secretly and pulled outthe snag, for human beings could do almost anything. Buffalo woman describedthe rites of building the temporary lodge for the Painted Red Stick ceremony.Four days later the buffaloes appeared in great numbers. The people appointedleaders who had the right to pray to the buffalo skulls and then the kill was made.The girl married the Buffalo Boy by rubbing her body with a buffalo skulland in the spring Buffalo Woman and her son returned north with the otherbuffaloes, leaving the girl with her own people. During the summer she gave birth toa child in a buffalo wallow but her mother took her back to the village withoutpermitting her to see her child. Buffalo bulls came to the wallow, caused thebaby calf to grow to maturity by rolling him, and then took him to his father tothe north. He was called Spotted Calf because he was half human and halfbuffalo.Four years later Spotted Calf was homesick for his mother's people so hisfather. Calf Wedge, and his grandmother, Buffalo Woman, agreed to return withhim to help the people call the buffaloes. The three changed into humans, enteredthe village, and built a lodge of their own on the south side of the village, forbuffaloes like ground corn.^^ Spotted Calf's mother joined them in the lodge.After that, whenever the people were in want, Buffalo Woman or her descendantswould call the buffaloes, for they were buffaloes in spirit.The myth given above explains the origin of Buffalo Womenimpersonators in the buffalo rites. While Buffalo Woman lived in thevillage the following incidents traditionally occurred and led to theestablishment of the Imitating Buffalo ceremony:An old man named Grey-Old-Man, his wife named Red-Corn-Woman, andtheir daughter lived in one lodge at Knife River with a rather poor young manwho was hunter for the family. Since the young man had no close relativesand went around from lodge to lodge, he was taken in and treated kindly. Herequested one of the older women where he had formerly lived to take meat toRed-Corn-Woman and inform her that he wanted to marry her daughter, White-Corn-Woman. Grey-Old-Man thought that it would be a fine thing to havesuch a good hunter as son-in-law, so the marriage was completed.The young man and his wife decided not to accompany the others into wintercamp farther upstream so he built two small eagle-trapping-type lodges facingeach other in the nearby timber so each couple would have its own lodge.Game became scarce during the winter and the young man ordered his wifenot to feed her parents. He also ordered her not to return to the summer villageM Com is associated with the southern part of the village.
440 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194for com. The magpies went to a valley where the buffaloes were grazing andtold how an old couple was starving because their son-in-law refused to help them.The buffalo bulls came together in council and decided to help this couple, select-ing one of their number to be with the Hidatsa forever and to help them wheneverthey needed buffalo meat.One day Grey-Old-Man walked to the river bank where he saw a buffalostanding. When the buffalo went on, he found a clot of blood where the animalhad been standing. He pulled sandgrass and put the clot on it, wrapped theclot in more grass, and took it to his lodge. When he unwrapped the bundle,he found a baby boy with dark hair and strong muscles and bones. The babyasked Grey-Old-Man to name him and he was given the name Blood Man.Grey-Old-Man performed rites over the baby four times and the child grew froma baby to a mature young man. Then he remembered that he had been sentto hve with the people to prevent them from starving. Blood Man produceda fat buffalo by magical means and the old people ate without divulging theirsecret to the daughter and son-in-law. Next day when the son-in-law left tohunt. Blood Man informed White-Corn-Woman that he was sent to kill herhusband. She agreed that it was the correct thing to do.Blood Man went out to where the son-in-law had wounded an elk and killedthe young man. When the old people learned that Blood Man had killed theirson-in-law, they approved his action, for they saw that the young man's badbehavior was due to the fact that he was an orphan and had no people to teachhim respect for the elderly.Blood Man married White-Corn-Woman and went out each day hunting forthe old people. The Holy Women came to Blood Man and volunteered tohelp him when he brought the buffalo herds to the village, saying, "When oneperson undertakes to do something, he should have help. We will come to helpyou and bring the other gods with us. Instruct your wife and her people totake wood and ice into the lodge, enough to last 4 days. During the time thatthe buffaloes are coming to the village, they must not come outside."The Holy Women brought the meat from the buffaloes and a mysterious womannamed Buffalo Woman looked after it, seeing that it was properly arranged onthe corn scaffolds. When the old people went out, they found the scaffoldsloaded with meat and a white buffalo robe on their own scaffold.The winter camp being without meat, scouts returned to get produce fromthe cache pits, saw the scaffolds loaded with meat, and were invited by Grey-Old-Man to eat in his lodge. He invited the people to return from the wintercamp and soon the various families began to arrive from upstream. Even afterall the people had reached the village, there were many buffaloes near. Fromthat time there was no end to the buffaloes because Buffalo-Blood-Man was abuffalo in spirit.Several years later Blood Man said, "We should have a ceremony to the oldestbuffalo bull, one who is so old that the body seems small in proportion to the sizeof the head. When you kill one, save the hide."Before planting the gardens, someone who did not belong to the village wasinvited to wear the hide. Evergreen was put on his back, wrists, and anklesfor the dances. He represented old age and the dance was called "imitating thebuffalo." Everyone was asked to make pemmican to give to the dancers. BloodMan called the person dancing in imitation of the old buffalo his father andBlood Man's wife stood when the man danced and she moved as he moved.The old men cried and praised Blood Man. When a young man went to thedancer with a robe, he received a bowl of pemmican to give to his sweetheart.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 441People would see that and know that the couple would be happy when theymarried.The people said that Blood Man did right when he killed the foolish youngman for, long before, Two Men had come to save their son. Unknown Man.At that time the buffaloes had taken Unknown Man far to the north where evilspirits lived, but Two Men killed the evil spirits, sparing the buffalo's life whenthe buffalo promised to come whenever the people ran out of food. At that timeBuffalo said to Two Men, "If a human being promises me anything and doesnot do it, I will destroy that person."That was why the buffaloes came and caused the foolish young man to be killedby Blood Man. The ceremony passed down from father to son, all rights inthe ceremony coming from Blood Man. Blood Man grew to old age and diedin the village. By that time sons had taken over his rights.The Imitating Buffalo rites were believed to have originated atKnife River with the AwatLxa group, according to some informants.This belief is founded on the concepts that: (1) The ceremony fulfilledthe same function as the Painted Red Stick ceremony which wasnot celebrated at Awatixa, only at the other two vUlages; and (2)Blood Man was a contemporary to Black Wolf who founded theeagle-trapping rites which were not celebrated by the Awaxawi andHidatsa untU they had left the eastern lake region for the Missouriwhen they acquired the rites and skills from the Awatixa and Mandan.Whatever may have been the development and diffusion of thisceremony, during the past century individuals inherited bundlerites through their fathers at each of the three vUlages. Four bundleliues were from Hidatsa, three from AwatLxa, and one from Awaxawi.That the Hidatsa survivors of the epidemic of 1837 outnumberedthose from Awatixa by a ratio of more than 2 to 1 suggests a greaterpopularity of the rites at the latter village.The Hidatsa do not consider the ceremony to be as ancient asthose relating to either the Sacred Arrow or Exodus myths althoughthey recognize characters represented in the rites as very ancient.Of the eight bundle lines surviving the smallpox epidemics, individualsperforming these rites had, in addition to rights in the ImitatingBuffalo ceremony, other important tribal bundle possessions. Therewere many individuals possessing various tribal hereditary bundleswho had never performed this specific ceremony. It is important torecognize that, whUe all sacred bundles belonging to the traditionalhereditary group had buffalo skuUs, few had bought rights in theImitating Buffalo ceremony. This is due, it would appear, to severalbuffalo ritual traditions which existed as independent units or assegments of other rituals. We find the Calf Wedge myth definingthe practice of arranging buffalo skulls in groups of four, thus relatingthis feature to the Imitating Buffalo and Red Stick ceremonies,whUe similar shrines arranged by other bundle owners were symbolicof the buffaloes of the four seasons.
442 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194The ceremony was traditionally an annual event at each of thevillages untU 1837. It was held during the late winter until, withthe near extinction of the buffaloes, the herds no longer came to theriver bottoms near the winter villages. Then the ceremony wasshifted to the summer and became rites to the summer herds whichwere found farther to the west. Dog Bear, son of Missouri Riverwho was one of the "builders" of Fishhook Village, was the last toperform the ceremony. According to a dozen or more witnesses tothe ceremony, it was performed in the traditional manner with theexception that it was held during the summer instead of the winter,the shift being made because it was only during the summer thatthe people then hunted buffaloes. Although Dog Bear was buyingrights through his father who came from Awatixa village, informantsrecognized no differences in village bundle line rites.The following account of this ceremony was supplied by Bears Armand Rattles Medicine, the latter an officer in the ceremony and thedaughter of Poor Wolf who was principal singer at that time:Dog Bear gave the ceremony to get the Imitation Buffalo rights from hisfather, Missouri River. He made the vow so all could hear while the Hidatsaand Mandan were on the summer buffalo hunt. Kidney had been selected asleader of the summer hunt that year and had taken the people to the southwestwhere scouts had reported buffaloes. While near the Rainy Buttes, Kidneynamed Dog Bear to be the leader of the hunters, for he had prayed often to thebuffaloes because Missouri River had those rights. At first Dog Bear was afraidto accept the risk for his hunters. Then he remembered that he had once dreamedof bis father's old buffalo bull so he decided that should he make the vow it wouldbe just the same as having already performed the ceremony.He went to Poor Wolf's lodge and talked to them about it for Poor Wolf wasa "father," being of the same clan as Missouri River, and Poor Wolf's wife wouldbe a "mother." They agreed that it was the proper thing to do and that it waswise to decide to give it, for it would give Poor Wolf an opportunity to find theoldest buffalo bull from which to get the skull and hide. This duty fell to PoorWolf or Guts, the singers and Earthnaming bundle owners, whenever the cere-mony was to be performed.Dog Bear then made the vow, standing in the center of the camp circle, soall could hear him. Poor Wolf selected Coyote Head to be announcer and toinstruct the hunters to watch for an old buffalo grazing alone. When a buffalogrew old, it was customary for the young bulls to drive him out of the herd.They had some difficulty finding an old animal and moved camp several timesuntil they reached Buffalo Home Butte where one was found. The peopleremarked that because Dog Bear had been unable to find one, Blood Man hadsent one out of the butte in which resided the spirits of the buffaloes.Poor Wolf took charge of the buffalo. He skinned and cleaned the headand neck for the costume to be worn by some visitor during the ceremony. Thenhe cleaned off the flesh so that the skull could be used as a part of Dog Bear'sImitating Buffalo bundle when the ceremony was given.The ceremony was given 1 year later. In the meantime. Dog Bear and hisrelatives collected goods and horses. Officers for the ceremony were: PoorWolf, the singer and Blood Man impersonator; Dog Bear, buyer of his father's
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 443bundle; Bug Woman, Dog Bear's wife, impersonator of Calf Wedge's wife anddaughter-in-law of the buffaloes; Iron Eyes, carrier of the Eagle Trapping snareand owner of the principal Mandan Eagle Trapping bundle; File, an Arikara,the dancer and wearer of the buffalo robe; Coyote Head, the announcer for PoorWolf; Rattles Medicine (Mrs. White Duck, daughter of Poor Wolf) the waiter;the Black Mouth men's society; the Holy Women's society.During the period of preparation, it was necessary to get the wife's approvalsince a vow to live with her husband was made during the rites. At this timeshe was told that should her husband die, she could make a vow not to remarry,which the men would respect. In return for this vow, she was pledged goodhealth and a long life. If, however, she eloped or went around with other men,the promise made by the bulls would be revoked.A runner was sent to the badlands for the creeping cedar. He received theright to use this cedar for doctoring as compensation for his assistance.The rites were usually performed in the Mandan Okipa lodge but in thisinstance they were held in Dog Bear's lodge. The approach to the lodge wasmade by four stops, at which time Dog Bear brought the pipe to Poor Wolfwho used the large hide rattles from the Earthnaming bundle for the songs.The participants followed in groups back of Poor Wolf and occupied places asindicated by the floor plan (fig. 8).Dog Bear filled the pipe and carried it to Poor Wolf who smoked, sang the sacredsongs, and prayed for Dog Bear's success. The night was divided into fourperiods of singing, a practice characteristic of the Mandan Okipa ceremony,representative of the four groups of buffaloes. The people fasted during thenight, symbolically representing the old man and his wife who were starvingwhen Blood Man came to kill their selfish son-in-law and to rescue them. Aboutmidnight, the Holy Women and Black Mouth societies, together with the spec-tators, left the lodge, leaving Dog Bear, Bug Woman, File, Poor Wolf, Iron Eyes,and Rattles Medicine to fast until morning.Shortly after daybreak, those who had left earlier, returned bringing sacksof pemmican; all ate, dramatizing the feeding of the old people after Blood Manhad killed the buffalo. Poor Wolf's wife painted the dancer, having boughtthe right to paint the dancer from Missouri River's wife, Root. File, the dancer,was painted with red paint; the old buffalo head and neck hide with hair on washung over his head reaching down his back. The creeping cedar was tied tothe hide. His moccasins were made from the old buffalo's hide with the hairinside and turned down at the top. These moccasins were called "straight toe."Then Bug Woman's face and arms were painted red.The spectators arrived with the two societies and occupied places at the door,males on the same side as the Black Mouths and the females on the oppositeside of the lodge. The front row was reserved for holy men who had sacredbundles containing buffalo skulls and who were not performing any specificparts in the ceremony. People came in anticipation of a feast. Corn ballswere mixed with the pemmican and served with a ceremonial wooden spoonbelonging to Rattles Medicine. She had bought the right from her mother whohad bought it from Root. She had given her mother a horse to own the spoonand the right to use it during the ceremony.When the food was ready to be served. Poor Wolf sang the Thanks song,holding some of the food up to the four directions and thanking Blood Man forthe buffaloes. Then Rattles Medicine served the food. Poor Wolf received a smallcoil-basket full; the dancer received a wooden bowl full; all the others receiveda handful, except Dog Bear who was fasting.
444 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Rattles
[Bull. 194
Bug WomanDancer Iron EyesWooden spooi
Poor WolfRattles Medlc'me//Feather-on-Hecd1Plenty YellowBlossomBlossomOld BlossomYellow Woman
bman-in -WaterDog BearBear NecklaceWolf EyesHairy CoatDoes GoodCrows Breast
-Two ShieldsRaven ArmBobtail BullCoyote Head
A Buffalo SkullB Buffalo HideMedicine BundleGoodsLodge PostSpectatorsFigure 8.?Floor plan of the Imitating Buffalo ceremony. (Drawn by Bears Arm andMrs. White Duck (Rattles Medicine).)Each member of the Black Mouths and Holy Women societies took a branchof creeping cedar to carry or to wear in the belt. Bug Woman wore a buffalorobe with the hair-side out and fastened with a waistband. She received asmall bag of Dog Medicine to which were fastened hawk or owl claws. Therewere sage leaves in the bag and a song belonged to the bundle to be used in curingbites of mad dogs and rattlesnakes, or injuries from buffaloes. Dogs were repre-sented because the people used dogs in bringing the meat back to camp; rattle-snakes, because the hunters were sometimes bitten while chasing buffaloes; andinjuries from buffaloes because they frequently attacked the hunters or theirhorses.Rattles Medicine wore a stufifed owl and branch of evergreen fastened to herbelt. This was put there by the head war chief, Crows Breast, who prayed thatshe be given a long life and good luck. For the dances, Bug Woman led theprocession followed by File, the dancer, and the others succeeded them in noset order. The Holy Women all carried sacks (made of the buflfalo paunch) ofpemmican to symbolize the scaflFolds which they loaded with meat when Blood
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 445Man "called" the buffaloes in mythological times. Iron Eyes did not leave thelodge but remained seated in his place making signs with the loop as if snaringbufifaloes and drawing them magically into the corral. He sang the Snare songsbelonging to Eagle Trapping rites.Poor Wolf wore a buffalo robe with the hair side out. He had a piece of whitebuffalo hide about 12 inches wide around his head. A raven feather, to representRaven Necklace of the Earthnaming bundle, was in his hair.Bug Woman stopped at some point in the village and all would call out atonce, "Come out and chase this buffalo."Poor Wolf sang one sacred song and, when he finished, the dancer got downon his knees. The people came and asked to buy the pemmican. They receivedas many bowls of pemmican as they offered articles in exchange. A personwho gave a horse received a bag full of pemmican. Only young men boughtand they gave the meat to prospective wives. It was proper and customaryfor a man to give pemmican to two or three girls, providing they were not ofhis clan, for he had the right to marry several girls, but girls were criticized whoaccepted meat from more than one. It was understood that a girl acceptingpemmican was willing to take the buffalo as her god and to assist her futurehusband in the buffalo ceremonies.The procession moved through the village, singing and dancing. The numberof times they danced depended on the supply of pemmican. When all was dis-posed of except what Feather-on-head, leader of the Holy Women, had in hercalfskin bag. Rattles Medicine ran to Bug Woman and shook her, this beingthe signal for the participants to return to the ceremonial lodge. When theceremony ended, the pemmican carried by Feather-on-head was given to DogBear and his wife. It was Poor Wolf's duty to supply the pemmican carried inthis bag. This pemmican was made from the old buffalo whose hide and skullwere used in the ceremony. The other pemmican was contributed by Dog Bearand his relatives.On the second and third days, the ceremony was conducted the same as onthe first. The ceremony broke up duiing the fourth night. When the pemmicanhad been consumed, the spectators left. Sandgrass was used to sprinkle theparticipants during the final cleansing rites. This was the grass on which thepeople believed the old man found the blood which later became Blood Man.Then Poor Wolf made up the Imitation Buffalo bundle for Dog Bear. It consistedof the buffalo hide worn by the dancer, creeping cedar, and sandgrass, togetherwith the buffalo skull used in the ceremony.Because Dog Bear did not want restrictions placed on him in entertaininghis friends, such as the number that should be in attendance when smoking, hesaid, "Do not have any rules."Poor Wolf placed a portion of pemmican on the buffalo skull, saying, "Youwill get this skull without any rules."Dog Bear now had the right to pray to Blood Man and the buffaloes. Hereceived the right to call the buffaloes to the village, doctor the sick and injured,and lead war parties. The people praised him for his sacrifices in performingthe rites to insure an abundance of buffaloes.In dividing the robes and blankets. Poor Wolf instructed the dancer to takehis pick. The dancer had kept track of the number of times they had stoppedoutside to dance and selected an article for each stop. Iron Eyes, who hadcarried the sacred snare, was given four articles for remaining inside with thesnare and singing the Snare song of eagle, fish, and buffalo trapping while theothers were outside dancing. The Black Mouths and Holy Women each receivedone article. The remainder belonged to Poor Wolf. If he thought his share
446 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
was too great, he must divide it with the societies represented, otherwise peoplewould criticize him for being selfish.In this instance, since Poor Wolf and Dog Bear's father belonged to the sameclan. Poor Wolf was both ceremonial father for making up the new bundle andsinger, otherwise Dog Bear would have selected a different man to make upthe bundle. When Dog Bear's father died, his wife made a vow on the buffaloskull not to remarry and remained the "daughter-in-law" of the buffaloes the restof her life.Guts' singer rights were identical to Poor Wolf's. It was the duty of the pledger'sfather and ceremonial father to decide which man would serve as singer. Sincethese two singers came from different villages, the old people usually made theirselection on the basis of the village from which they came.BUFFALO CORRALThe rites of corralling buffaloes were drawn from the Eagle Trappingand Imitating Buffalo ceremonies. The sacred snare was also apart of the eagle and fish trapping rites while Blood Man officiatedas director of the buffalo drive by virtue of his authority to pray tothem. Black Wolf secured his sacred snare for catching eaglesfrom the Black Bears,The following is a summary of the sacred myth on which the originof corralling buffaloes was founded:Blood Man was a great chief living in the village when Black Wolf returnedfrom the Black Bears who had taught him the Eagle Trapping rites. Blood Manthought that since the buffaloes were quite scarce, he would ask Black Wolf toassist him in getting them together into larger herds.He said, "The way it is now the young men go out and get the buffaloes butthe old men can't. I want to plan things so that all get a more equal share. Iknow that you went over to the eagle trappers, the Black Bears, and saw it allwith your own eyes. You got your supernatural powers from them and that isthe reason why I need your help for what I have in mind. You have the sacredsnare. You should arrange things so that we can get the buffaloes into a corralwith the power of the snare."Blood Man selected nine men to assist him and an eagle trapper to stand onthe hill and use the snare. Black Wolf stood on the hill with his snare when therunners were out bringing in the buffaloes. He would paint the snare red andsing the Song of the Snare. In the meanwhile the holy men and Blood Manwere concealed in the trees.The eagle trapper stood on the high hill making motions as though catchingthe buffaloes with his snare. He had four motions to use; When the buffaloes wereto the neck of the corral, he held his blanket to the side ; when they were a littlefarther in, he folded his blanket; the third time he wrapped it around him; thelast time he threw the robe and dirt into the air four times, signifying that theanimals were corralled and the people could come. The right to impersonateBlood Man was bought by one of the Imitating Buffalo bundle owners from hisfather. Each village had one Blood Man representative until the smallpoxepidemic of 1837, Black Shield who lived at Awaxawi being the only one tosurvive. When the people went to Fishhook Village, he directed the rites.According to traditions, corrals were widely used in earlier times and,prior to the adoption of horses, each village group had one or more
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 447
corrals situated near both the summer and the winter villages (see fig. 9) . Ifcorralling buffaloes during the summer, the corrals were usuallybuilt near the Missouri at those points where the herds usually-crossed from the eastern range to the west banks during the latesummers when the waterholes and sloughs had dried up. For wintercorralling, the pens were situated near the winter villages on tributary-streams. Each corral was individually- owned by one possessingrights in Imitating Buffalo ceremonies, but the building and repairingwas a group activity under the bundle owner. As the horse popula-tion increased and the buffalo herds became smaller due to excessiveslaughtering by White hunters, corrals were less commonly used.The last corral, built north of Fishhook Village on a tributary to theMissouri, was operated under the direction of Black Shield who hadinherited his rights from his father while still living at Awaxawivillage.The topography along the Missouri and Little Missouri Riverswas well suited for corrals. Any sharp bank with a flat area extend-ing back from the cliff made a suitable spot for the corral, particularlywhen the flatland narrowed toward the river bank. This madeeasier the convergence of the buffalo into a compact herd at theentrance. It was important that the cliff over which the animalswere run was precipitous enough to prevent the animals from climbingback out. It was also necessary to have these corrals near the villageor winter camp to reduce the work of bringing in the meat. TheHidatsa seemingly did not depend on the steep banks to kill theanimals as did other tribes farther west, although some Mandan andHidatsa informants had participated in cliff-killing when visiting theCrow on Powder River. Instead, the corral was constructed beneatha lower bank 10 to 15 feet high. From my observations of "kills"situated on Powder River in the vicinity of Broadus, Mont., it wouldappear that corrals were not employed there due to the scarcity ofwood at many of those sites. On the Missouri River in the territoryoccupied by the Hidatsa, the terrain is not so deeply eroded and fewerspots were suitable for killing buffaloes by driving them over steepbanks.Construction and repair of the corral were supervised by the ownerof the site; one who had either bought the corral and the associatedrites directly from his father or had built one of his own after ob-serving the movement of the herds and the suitability of the terrain.However much one desired to build and operate a corral for itsprestige value, social recognition and support of the people wasessential since the work was exceedingly hazardous and involvedthe organized activities of many people. The whole populationassisted in making the corral. Men and women went into the woods
448 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194to cut and trim posts and rails. When constructing the corral, menof the four-clan moiety dug the postholes and brought in the postsand rails for the right half of the enclosure looking into the corralfrom the cliff while the three-clan moiety constructed the other half.Large trees with forked limbs were used as posts. About 2 feet ofeach fork were retained and the forked end was set into the groundto give the posts strength and stability so that pressure from theanimals against the wall would not draw the posts out of the ground.The rails were fastened to the posts with strips of green buffalo hidewhich contracted when dry. Eight piles of stones were placed in afunnel-shaped arrangement reaching up to the entrance to the corral.Eight young men, selected for their skUl and bravery, stood behindthese rockpUes and jumped up at the proper moment to drive theanimals over the cliff. Three men, wearing wolf hides to concealtheir identity, were selected to move the animals off of the range tothe funnel-shaped entrance. When the animals did not move ui theproper direction, smoke from small fires was used.The eagle trapper with his snare stood on a high hill in full view ofthe activities and out of the path of the buffaloes. The impersonatorof Blood Man and the other nine headmen kept out of sight in thetrees with the rest of the people. The man with the snare mademovements as though snaring the animals, singing the Snare songand praying to the Black Bears to bring the buffaloes into the corralwithout injury to the young men.The speed of the animals accelerated as they approached the corral.Once the herd was past the outer stones, the men concealed therestood up and waved their robes and the animals broke into a gallop.When they were a little farther into the funnel the next opposing pairjumped up. The most hazardous positions were occupied by thelast men on each side of the entrance to the corral. They could notstand until the front of the herd was even with them or the animalsmight turn, double back, mill around, or break away. When properlytimed, the front of the herd was moving rapidly and directly towardthe opening of the corral, at the instant that the animals in frontsighted the corral and sharp cliff. Then the pressure of those to therear forced the vanguard over the cliff, and the dust from the firstanimals concealed their descent into the corral.Crows Heart told of the time Black Shield had a corral. Thenthe animals were wedged in so closely that a stray yearling thathad broken away from the herd came over the cliff whUe the peoplewere gathered around the corral, fell onto the backs of the otherbuffaloes wedged in there, climbed from the buffaloes' backs over thecorral wall, and ran away. This caused everyone to laugh heartily.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 449The man with the snare signaled the progress of the herd withhis robe as indicated in the sacred myth.The division of the animals after they had been shot was as follows:(1) The tongues belonged to the 3 men who brought the herd to thecorral; (2) the man with the snare received one buffalo; (3) the 10men overseeing the corral each got one buffalo ; (4) the 8 men stationedat the rockpiles each received a buffalo ; and (5) each moiety got halfof the remaining buffaloes. After the oflBcers had made their selections,the rawhides holding the lower rails were cut and the rails wereremoved so that the animals could be dragged out. In dividing thebuffaloes, an imaginary line was drawn through the middle of thecorral as illustrated in the accompanying diagram (fig. 9). Thefirst buffalo on the median line belonged to the four-clan moiety andthe next to the three-clan moiety and so forth, alternating to theopposite end of the corral. Each moiety then took all the buffaloeson its side of this line.A moiety selected beforehand one of its number to divide theanimals among households. Each man knew the number of house-holds in his moiety. The division went by men of the moiety, thewife butchering with her husband on his side of the corral. Theytried to give one buffalo to each family when enough buffaloes cameinto the corral, otherwise one buffalo was given to two related house-holds, such as to two brothers. A widow with children got her meatfrom the moiety to which she belonged. It was her brother's dutyto see that she received her share in proportion to her needs. Officerslisted above received their share as heads of families in addition tothe tongues and animals which they received as their pay for bringingthe animals to the corral. When the corral was only partiaUy filled,it was considered bad taste for the officers to keep too much whUeother families had little. And it was considered foolish to quarrelover the division of meat which all should enjoy. Thus, the householdshaving plenty of help pitched in to assist those in which there weremany small children, few men to take hold and direct the butchering,or in which the people were old and feeble.Once a corral was buUt, it was necessary only to replace the lowerrails when it was ready to be used again.The Hidatsa also captured antelopes, but the animals' great speeddemanded corrals with waUs less substantial but far higher than werenecessary for capturuig buffaloes. The rites, too, differed. Blood Manand his nine helpers were symbolic only of the buffaloes and thuswere not represented. Rather, the rites were under the direction ofone possessing a sacred snare. The corral was built at a point wherea stream undercut a high bank. When a drive was to be made, theable-bodied men usually went out onto the adjacent prairie and drove
450 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
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rL,
i^
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 451the animals together and turned them toward the river valley andwide bottoms with the corral at one end. The women and childrenformed a line along the edge of the timber where they concealed them-selves until the animals had run down from the high hills. As soonas the herds came down from the hills and attempted to go throughthe trees the people stood up and shouted to turn them. In the mean-time, the faster runners who had brought up the rear turned themaway from the hills. The only open area was at the wide neck to thecorral concealed below the bank. Antelopes traveled so rapidly thatcareful timing by the large number of concealed people stationed inlong lines was necessary. There was not, however, the danger ofaccident attendant with the buffalo corral. Once driven into thecorral, the animals were clubbed. There was no division within thecorral by moieties. Instead, a headman for each moiety took chargeand divided the animals according to the number of families and theanimals captured. PAINTED RED STICKThis ceremony was observed by Lewis and Clark. It was describedin detail 28 years later by Maximilian (1906, vol. 23, p. 334) whowrote that
?
Another very remarkable medicine festival is that for attracting the herds ofbuffaloes, which is usually celebrated in the autumn, or winter. I shall describethis festival, as an eye-witness among the Manitaries, where it is observed pre-cisely in the same manner as among the Mandans. At this festival they leavetheir wives to the older men, and individual Indians do the same on certainoccasions, when they desire to ask good wishes for the attainment of some objectthey have in view. A man, in such a case, goes, with his pipe, and accompa-nied by his wife, who wears no clothes except her buffalo robe, to another hut.The wife carries a dish of boiled maize, which she sets down before a third per-son, and the man does the same with his pipe. The woman then passes thepalm of her hand down the whole arm of the person favoured in this manner,takes him by the hand, and he must follow her to a retired spot, generally tothe forest surrounding the huts in the winter time; after which she returns andrepeats the same process, often with eight or ten men. As soon as the man sofavoured has resumed his seat, the person who asks his good wishes presentshis pipe to him that he may smoke; whereupon he expresses his best wishes forthe success of the undertaking or project in hand. By way of returning thanks,his arm is again stroked.The rites as described by Maximilian applied to later times whenmy informants were young. This ceremony was often spoken of asthe "Walking with the Daughters-in-law" ceremony from the prac-tice of sending one's wife to an older man of the father's clan andinviting him outside for ceremonial sexual intercourse. In historictimes there were two active Singer bundles for the ceremony ownedby Bobtail Bull and Poor Wolf. The former traced his rights backto Hidatsa village through his father. Guts, and the latter bought
452 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194from Face, an older clansman who lived at Awaxawi. There wasno knowledge of a bundle at Awatixa, the people of this village cus-tomarily going to Hidatsa when the rites were performed. Althoughtwo distinct origin myths are related, one for the Hidatsa and Awatixa,and the other for the Awaxawi, the rites were performed in the samemanner at all villages. In fact, with few variations, the same riteswere performed in the Mandan villages. According to traditions,the rites were instituted late in Hidatsa history since all incidentsare associated with the Missouri River and its environs.The Hidatsa version as related by Wolf Chief from informationsecured of Bobtail Bull was briefly as follows:Buffalo Bulls came out of the north led by one old bull who carried a red stick.He was the guide and selected the places to stop. The bulls decided to cometo the village to help the people so they went there, carrying a buffalo skullwith them. The club that the leader carried had buffalo hoofs tied in a row andtwo long wing feathers at the end.The leader said to the other buffaloes, "We are taking much food to the people.When we reach the village we should get corn balls and a chance to have inter-course with our daughters-in-law. When we start traveling, I am not going totouch you with this club or you will not be able to carry yourselves along."As the bulls walked along, the leader sang, "If I want to walk, I walk; whenI walk I always say this."They stopped three times and then they were at the village. The leader saidto the people, "We are bringing you something holy. You will have to furnishus corn balls; we want to walk with our daughters-in-law. In return, we willsend the buffalo herds to the village."First Creator arrived and announced that he was the one who always in-structed these people and served as their waiter. The leader distributed thered sticks to the other bulls and instructed the people in the Painted Red Stickceremony. All the other spirits learned of the ceremony and came to eat andwalk with their daughters-in-law while the bulls danced for the people.The leader of the bulls announced that the one giving the ceremony would be achief and leader, for he would be able to protect the people from starvation whileone who dreamed of the drum used for the dances would strike his enemies. Theleader of the bulls announced to the people that they would not come and bringthe buffalo herds unless the people offered their wives to the buffalo bulls. Thosemen who offered their wives would have long and successful lives.The oldest buffalo directed the youngest buffalo to dance, while the bull withthe drum sang several times so all could memorize this song, "When I want towalk towards the village I say this; when I want tobacco I always say this; whenI want to walk towards the corn balls I say this; when I want to walk towardmy daughter-in-law I always say this. Dogs will be among them."The Awaxawi version was as follows:Twelve (six) buffalo bulls?men with the spirits of the buffalo bulls?livedtogether and painted themselves only in red, never white or black. These menwere known as wirukusi for they carried red sticks. In this village the peoplegambled. A short, fat, and rather ill-looking stranger came to the village andwon consistently. He would win all the property the people would put up.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 453
Buflfalo Woman, who was living in the village, predicted that because of thestranger's gambling successes, the village was in danger of starvation. She in-formed the people that the gambler was Sun who planned to kill off the people.If he won the arrows with bark on, he would win half of the village. If he wonthe peeled arrows, he would get the other half. She told one of the buffalo bullsthat Moon was trying to help the people while Sun kept promising Moon a shareof the bodies when the village was destroyed.Buffalo Woman announced, "There is only one way to save the village. Youbuffalo holy men should select four young men to put on the 'Walking with theDaughter-in-law ceremony.' If they refuse, the village will be destroyed. Ofcourse, when you ask them, they will not know what it is and will hesitate. Youcan tell them that I know how to perform the rites and will help them."At first the young men refused but at last one agreed, saying, "Since Sun istrying to destroy the village, I will volunteer."Buffalo Woman replied, "You have made a wise decision. This is the only waythat we can win this game with Sun and save the people. You should have the manwith the arrows here. Sun has already won the first 10 arrows. Do not let himout or he will gamble again and lose the last of his arrows. Then there is nochance of saving the village." Then she taught the young men how to make thevow, saying, "I am giving the ceremony for the Sun and all the different gods ofthe universe. I will give a big feast and call you, my gods. I will let you takemy wives out."Buffalo Woman taught the young men how to erect the lodge with the doorto the south, saying, "Perhaps Sun won't come in right away. That will be mychance to get him in for I will be at the side of the door. It may be that it willtake more than 4 days to get him in. When he steps in, I will seize him by theankles and say 'I want you, my grandfather' and then we will win the game.Announce through the village that the people must build the lodge, for the warriorsfrom those 12 villages are on their way here to destroy our village. Have plentyof dry sticks and three places for fires so the light will show over the entire world.When the lights are bright, the old buffalo bull men will begin to take out thewomen and Sun from outside will see what is going on. Have plenty of roastedcorn and other corn products. Then the gods will come from all directions toeat, even though 5^ou cannot see them. When you want the women to walk withyour gods, the gods will not be seen but they will be there. There is another waythat I can help you. Moon will be there and I will ask him to invite Sun to thefeast so that he can walk with his daughter-in-law. I think Moon will do that.When you are ready, have the older men go inside while the younger men standaround outside. Distribute the food which will signify that you are feeding thespirits from all directions."When night came, they took the food to the shelter. They had the feast andthe older men walked with their daughters-in-law. Moon tried to fool Sun,saying, "Our son has promised us a big feast and we should be there" but Sun heldback and the ceremony broke up in the morning.The ceremony continued for another night. Sun and Moon came towards thevillage where the ceremony was being held. Moon said, "All the different godswere there last night. They had a good time eating and walking with theirdaughters-in-law for I heard them talking about it" but Sun would not go beyondthe edge of the village that night.On the third night, Buffalo Woman went to Moon and said, "You should tellSun that his lover might go out with someone else if he is not here." This timeSun came into the village and stood near the ceremonial lodge.I710-195?65?30
454 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194On the fourth night Buffalo Woman noticed that Sun and Moon were near theentrance. As soon as Sun stepped inside, Buffalo Woman said to him, "I amyour granddaughter. Why didn't you come before, you are the greatest god.We will go outside, for you are my grandfather."Sun did not want intercourse with her, claiming that she was already his "grand-daughter" but he could not refuse in such situations when the daughter-in-lawinsisted. Males have less will power than females in sexual matters. So BuffaloWoman became Sun's "granddaughter" again.When Sun was ready to leave her, she seized him and said, "You are the greatestgod. I will not let you go unless you promise me that you will deliver those 12villages for us." Sun hesitated and she continued, "Why don't you say something;you are my grandfather now and have had advantage of me."Sun was sad, saying, "I will promise you those villages but I do not like to seej^ou kill off those people for my 'son' is there. Since you are now my 'grand-daughter,' I must promise you the villages." As they walked back toward thevillage Sun added, "I adopted a son in one of those villages and now I will haveto eat him along with the other people."When they returned to the lodge, the holy people placed Sun on the west sideof the door which was the weakest side. They had pemmican hanging over Sun'shead. When Buffalo Woman told the people that Sun was eating, the peoplestruck coups on him with sticks just as they did to their enemies, for Sun had losthis supernatural powers to Buffalo Woman when he had intercourse with her.Then the people set fire to the ceremonial lodge at many points so that the lightshone over the whole world.Next day Buffalo Woman announced, "It will be either tomorrow or the nextday that you will kill them, for Sun has promised me those 12 villages." Shepainted all the buffalo skulls red and faced them towards the south. While shepainted, she sang her holy song, saying, "I do not think any of you will be killed,but you will kill all of your enemies." She used the song that kept the buffaloesnear the village.When the 12 villages of enemies came, the people saw that Sun's "son" was theleader. He was painted red over his entire body; he wore a piece of rawhidearound his head and light sage in his hair. The enemy were all killed back to theleader. When the leader was killed, they found that his spinal cord was choke-cherry wood. They had difficulty cutting the head off. One man promised thathe would take the head to the Missouri as an offering to the Grandfather snake,who once was one of the Two Men, if 100 enemies had been killed. The leaderwas the 100th killed, so the head was offered to the snake at a point where theKnife River entered the Missouri. Sun came down from the sky and demandedthe head but Grandfather snake refused for he could not give back what had beenpromised him. Sun found a puffball and white sage to use for head and hair.His son stood up four times but fell to the ground each time. Then Sun went offcrying. The people had won their game.The rites as performed by Wolf Chief about 1870 differed slightlyfrom performances witnessed by Maximilian prior to the epidemicof 1837. The number of red sticks had been increased from 6 to 12due to the union of two identical bundles, one from Hidatsa andthe other from Awaxawi. Also, informants sometimes spoke of6 bulls carrying red sticks but on other occasions even the sameinformants mentioned 12. It would appear that the sacred mythoriginally mentioned 6 bull participants but that after the villages
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 455
united both bundles were used during the rites and the number ofbull impersonators was increased to 12. The rites were performedunder the direction of an Earthnaming bundle owner who servedas singer.The Hidatsa believed it was easy to get dreams from the buffaloes,so young ambitious men sought their supernatural assistance throughthe media of the various buffalo rites and age-grade purchases. ThePainted Red Stick ceremony and most age-grade purchases practicedthe rites of sexual license between females and males possessing rightsto own and to pray to the buffalo bulls. The sexual act constituteda relinquishment of supernatural powers from the buffalo imperson-ator to a "son" through the "son's wife" who, prior to the sex act,was a "daughter-in-law" to the buffalo impersonator and afterwardwas addressed as "granddaughter." Through the medium of thesex act, the older men's supernatural powers to call the buffaloes weretransmitted to the younger generation. Since the chief role of thesexual act was the transfer of supernatural powers, only men whoserecord demonstrated possession of these qualities were selected tocarry the red sticks. The same situation prevailed in buying andselling age-grade societies. Those who lost status as a result ofindifference to ritual responsibilities, evidence of cowardice or lazi-ness, and unwillingness to assist their kinsmen in social and ceremonialactivities, were weeded out of the age-grade societies, leaving onlythose who conformed to the highest traditional standards. Althoughthe same concepts of supernatural power transfers regulated thesexual license of "fathers" with their "son's wives" during age-grade society sales, the rites were not practiced at the lowest levelin the system because the "sons" had not married and the nexthigher group had not as yet secured important sacred bundles con-taining buffalo skulls.Wolf Chief provided the following data on his personal experiencesand beliefs as a result of performing the ceremony on the advice ofhis father:Parents would advise their sons to seek gods while they were young so thatthey would have guardian spirits and not have to rely entirely on their fathers'gods. My father often told me that it was easy to get a dream from the buffaloes,especially if I gave the Painted Red Stick ceremony for calling the buffaloes.Before I was married, I had a dream in which I saw four frameworks of branchessurrounding my father's sacred bundles and the outer framework was old andbroken-down.I described my dream to my father, Small Ankles, saying, "I had a dream lastnight; it seemed strange to me. I saw willows in a circle like the fishtrap. Inall there were four circles of willows and the outside one was broken-down. Ido not know what it means."My father gave this explanation, saying, "I often think of the way you andyour friends play around here in front of these skulls (Waterbuster clan bundle).
456 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Now this dream has been given to you by your grandfathers, the skulls. Thatdream means that you are going to give the 'walking ceremony' four times andyour wives will walk with your 'fathers.' You are going to live to be an old manfor the last circle of sticks is old and broken-down."I thought I would give the ceremony as soon as I married. When I was 19years old, the Sioux attacked the village and my horse was shot. After thebattle, the men of the Waterbuster clan, my "fathers," sang the honor songsbecause I was brave. Several girls tried to marry me but I married a Mandangirl I had been watching.I did not know the best way to bring up the matter with her since my wife wasquite 3''Oung so I went to my father for advice. My father thought that weshould consult my mother. She talked to the girl and the girl's mother andthey agreed, saying that it would make me a better husband and we would betogether always.The girl's brother said, "It is a great thing for it is hard to do. If he puts youin the ceremonies that way, it will be all the better for you since it is like givingyou to the gods to care for."My wife thought that by helping in the ceremony, I showed affection for herand would not divorce her.Small Ankles instructed me that in making the vow publicly, I should say, "Iam promising to kindle the fire and give you the light. I will make feasts formy fathers all over the world. I want to see my people provided with enoughfood for a good living."He instructed me to go to Bobtail Bull, carrying a tubular red pipe and to say,"My father, I want to put up the lodge for aU the gods and send the light out for allthe gods." "Bobtail Bull replied, "It is a hard thing to do. Only a few men can do it. Idid not do much fasting but I made up for it by giving my wives. Now I am achief and every time I go out, I win over my enemies because I have given theceremony. You are going to have a good home and plenty to eat. I will havemy announcer give the news to the village. In the evening I will call the menwho have the right to attend and give each a red stick."Bobtail Bull selected the following men, all members of the Black Mouthsociety to which he also belonged: Hairy Coat; Crows Breast; Wolf Eyes; CrowsArm; Son-of-Star; Lean Bull; Two Shields; Red Feather; Bear Necklace; WolfGrass; and Walking Chief. He selected the following individuals as officers:Guts, the announcer; " Bobtail Bull, the singer; Wolf Chief, the pledger of ritesto the buffalo bulls; Wolf Chief's wife, the Buffalo Woman; Small Ankles, inter-preter of the dream; Poor Wolf, bad luck as symbolized by the Sun impersonator;clan sisters to Wolf Chief, wood carriers; Two Shields, the First Creatorimpersonator.We made the lodge of cottonwood trunks and branches with the opening to thesouth and within the open circle of the village where the Mandans held theirOkipa and other summer ceremonies. The lodge consisted only of a wall withposts dug into the ground and the spaces between filled with small branches.There was no roof.
?* He could have gone to Poor Wolf who was also singer for the ceremony. Both Bobtail Bull and PoorWolf were "fathers"; Bobtail Bull because he belonged to the opposite moiety from Wolf Chief who belongedto the Prairie Chicken clan, and Poor Wolf who belonged to the same clan as Wolf Chief's father. SmallAnkles sent htm to Bobtail Bull because both belonged originally at Hidatsa village before the unionof villages.
?? Father of Bobtail Bull and former owner of the Earthnaming bundle which he relinquished to his sonafter suffering numerous misfortunes.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 457My parents gave me most of the instructions, for they had both participatedin former rites, and Bobtail Bull merely outlined the events as they would occur.Since I was not buying the bundle, only giving the feast to the buffaloes, I did nothave to wait so long. My clan and society, the Kit Foxes, helped me get thefood, especially the roasted corn that the buffaloes preferred.On the morning of the evening that the ceremony was to begin. Bobtail Bull'sfather. Guts, went through the village and called that all the young men andwomen should go to the forest and bring in cottonwood branches and poles for thelodge. I appointed 10 clan sisters to bring in the dry wood for the fires. Thosewho were to carry the red sticks to represent the buffaloes dug the holes for thelodge posts and set the posts. The lodge was built just south of the MandanSacred Cedar with the entrance to the south. It was roughly circular in outlineand was not completed until late afternoon.All the officers met at Bobtail Bull's lodge and I was instructed to listen forthem when they came out singing just after sundown and to bring the pipe.I heard singing and went out to meet them in the village. They sang, "Theland belongs to us; we are walking along."This meant that the buffaloes had the right to walk on their own land. At theend of the song, Bobtail Bull prayed for me and handed the pipe back to me.At the second stop the carriers of the red sticks again sang one of the buffalosongs, "Whenever I want to walk, I always walk."This song meant that whenever the buffaloes wanted to "walk" [have inter-course] with their daughters-in-law, there were always some who wanted to walkwith them. I took the pipe to Bobtail Bull and he prayed for me again.The third stop was at the northeast side of the open circle where they sang,"The land belongs to us; we are walking along." Again I offered Bobtail Bullthe pipe and he prayed to the buffaloes to send me good luck.The fourth stop was at the lodge entrance. Poor Wolf, representing the Sunand bad luck, entered the lodge alone and sang the song. He did not come to thelodge with the others as he was the "enemy" to be overcome. He sang, "WhenI want to walk, I always walk."The holders of the red sticks occupied places along the east side of the lodge,while those who were offering their wives occupied places at the head of the lodgealong the north side. Poor Wolf sat just west of the entrance with the bull skulland folded buffalo robe in front of him. The "drum of protection" was on theeast side of the entrance with the 12 red sticks placed in front of it. Originallyonly one fire was used, and that was near the head of the lodge, but later two addi-tional fires were built; one on the east side and the other on the west side [fig. 10].It was customary for clan brothers of the same age as the giver to bring theirwives. It was also the practice for the Kit Fox Society men to bring their wiveswhen a member of that society was giving the ceremony. Poor Wolf, representingbad luck or the Sun, sat on the west side of the door with the announcer [fig. 1]."^Poor Wolf entered first. He was known as patuki or "savior of the village." ^^He would pray for success over the enemies and for protection for the people.He would say, "If any are to be killed, I turn the matter over to my enemies;they are the ones who should be killed." Then he prayed at four points outsidethe ceremonial lodge in this order: north; east; south; west. He was painted
?? Figures 10 and 11 illustrate the ground plans of the two variations of the ceremony. Plan One wasfollowed when the giver had little assistance except from a few clan brothers; Plan Two was followed whena member of the Kit Fox society gave the ceremony to the Black Mouths.?' Bears Arm explained that it also meant "closed" and referred to the custom of Sun Impersonator toreturn to the ceremonial lodge late in the night, when all were supposed to be asleep, to pray that the popu-lation might increase rapidly.
458 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Wives of the Giverond Clon Brothers Giver of Ceremony
Sun Impersonator SingerRed Sticl(S
A Buffalo Bull SkullD Protector DrumF FireR Protector RobeS SpectotorsFigure 10.?Painted Red Stick ceremony, plan one.
red over his entire body, had a piece of rawhide tied around his head, and haddark sage stuck in his hair.The Black Mouth society entered next, when the Kit Fox society was assistingone of its members, otherwise there were 12 carriers of red sticks who followedthe Sun impersonator. The men whose wives were to be offered to the holy mencame in last, accompanied by their wives who were dressed only in their robes.When the Kit Foxes were assisting a member, it was necessary to bring a wife.Single members could come if they borrowed a wife of one of their clansmen.My Mandan wife helped me 2 nights and then she ran away and hid. I did notknow what to do so I went to my clansman named Knife and asked for his wifefor the next 2 nights.Knife said, "My brother, you do not need to stop the ceremonJ^ All the womenmarried to us Prairie Chickens [clan] are eligible to go with you and help j^ou out.You can use my wife for the next 2 nights." And I did.The holy men who represented all the gods, and especially the buffaloes, carriedthe red sticks with them to the lodge. When they had taken their places, theFirst Creator impersonator collected the red sticks and placed them in a pilenear the singer.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 459Giver of Ceremony
Wives of Kit Foxes
Sun ImpersonotorAnnouncer -Red Sticks
A Buffalo Bull SkullD Protector DrumF FireR Protector RobeS SpectatorsFigure 11.?Plan of Painted Red Stick ceremony, plan two.
Bobtail Bull said, "Your 'fathers' have come from far away and are tired.You should give them a smoke." It was believed that these 12 holy men camefrom a buffalo village in the north. The giver of the ceremony and all otherswho had brought their wives filled pipes and offered them to the holy men. FirstCreator impersonator was always first to receive the pipe and each holy man,when handing the pipe back, prayed for the success of the giver.After the pipes were passed around, Bobtail Bull said, "Your 'fathers' havecome a long distance and are hungry. You should distribute your corn ballsamong them." Again I was assisted by those who had brought their wives.When they were fed. Bobtail Bull said, "If you men have enough food, itwould be well to give food to those spirits outside for they have come a longdistance and are hungry too." Then the corn balls were passed out to the specta-tors standing around on the outside, the plates and bowls being taken back witha pulling motion downward from the shoulder.The fires were replenished and First Creator held the red sticks in smoke fromcreeping cedar before distributing them to the holy men. Bobtail Bull sangand First Creator impersonator danced. This was followed by a song called"The Two Young Ones" while the 12 holy men rubbed each other in imitationof buffalo bulls.Then Bobtail Bull said, "My son, have my daughter-in-law step forward."I said to my wife, "You should walk over to Two Shields."
460 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194She wore no dress, only her robe. She said to him, "I will take you out."Two Shields said, "This painted red stick is my power; it is as good as goingout." So he handed her the red stick and prayed for her while she rubbed thered stick against her bare breast.Then she went to the next man and offered to take him out. She went toseveral men who gave her the red stick to press to her chest. Before the ceremony,my father had said to me, "Do not think about it when she goes to the holymen. If you think of your wife at that time, you will not be successful. WhenI was putting on the ceremony, sometimes my wives went out and other timesthey rubbed the clubs on their chests. Afterwards I could always tell the differ-ence for they seemed to have new life."After a while I saw her going out with Walking Chief who belonged to myfather's clan. He was the only one to have intercourse with her. Wheneverthe men with the red sticks prayed, they asked aid only for me and my wife.Then I sent her to Poor Wolf who represented bad luck or the Sun.Concerning Poor Wolf's role, Bears Arm, who witnessed theceremony performed by Wolf Chief, added:When Wolf Chief took the pipe to Poor Wolf, he not only prayed for WolfChief and his wife but for the people in the ceremony and the whole tribe. Hisprayers were supposed to show that by giving the ceremony he was responsiblefor the welfare of all the people. Poor Wolf remained at the shelter to prayafter the ceremony broke up each evening. At that time he prayed at the fourdirections, asking help for all the people. He was required to remain in his placeduring the ceremony.Should any young man come to him at that time and ask Poor Wolf to moveover so he could sit in Sun's place, it meant "I promise to make this ceremonyin 1 year." Next day the young man would stand on his earth lodge and makethe vow. Sometimes a young man wanting to give the ceremony would beaway from the village when the ceremony was being given. He could waituntil he found Poor Wolf or Bobtail Bull [formerly Guts] with the Sun rightsseated with other older men and say "Move over. I want to sit in your place."Then all would know that he was going to make the vow. When he made thevow, the young men of his clan would hear it and know that they must helphim get the goods and food ready.Concerning his further participation in the ceremony Wolf Chiefadded:When I stood before Poor Wolf he said to the red stick carriers, "I am going tosing a song that belongs to your son, Wolf Chief. I want him to have a long lifeand to be successful. I want him to have a large family and become one of theleaders of our people."He asked me to face the west and he sang, "A man came, he says; Wolf Chiefcame too."Lean Bull led the 12 holy men representing the buffalo bulls from the lodge,followed by all the others except Poor Wolf who remained until the village wasquiet. Then he prayed for the village.They performed the ceremony in exactly the same way on the second andthird nights except that I took Knife's wife the third and fourth nights. On thefourth night there was the usual advance of the holy men through the four stationswith stops for smoking and singing. Poor Wolf came to the lodge in advance ofthe others and sang the fourth song from inside the lodge as before. The holy
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 461men entered, followed by the young men who were bringing their wives. Thepipes were passed; corn balls were given out; the dances were held; lastly, theyoung men's wives walked with or received the blessing of the holy men.Near the end of the ceremony Poor Wolf stood up and announced that I wouldwin the game; I would be successful; the village would be saved. Then he calledme and Knife's wife to stand in front of him. He had a chokecherry branchsticking in the ground in front of the buffalo skull, a black-tipped eagle tailfeather, a tip of a buffalo's tail, and a branch of creeping cedar. He said thatthey should be used for doctoring my children and some of the people laughedfor I didn't even have a wife since mine had run away 2 days before and noneknew where she was hiding.As he passed the articles to me he sang, "A man came and left again; thesepeople live to the east; Wolf Chief kills them; Wolf Chief brings the buffaloes;Wolf Chief will call the rain; Wolf Chief will bring the fruits and plants; thepeople will have plenty to eat." These were the things that Poor Wolf had theright to promise on the part of Sun whom he represented.A large sack of dried buffalo meat hung on the wall back of the Sun impersonator.As soon as he left the lodge, followed by the holy men, those who had broughttheir wives took the sack down and divided the meat between the women who,during the ceremony, had represented the Buffalo Women. Then their husbandsburned the lodge, setting fire to it at many points to make the flames leap highand throw the Hght far.The Holy Women society met on the last evening at their singer's lodge.These women met during the ceremony because, when Buffalo Woman prevailedupon Sun to destroy his own warriors, these Holy Women came out and helpedthe Hidatsa during the battle. All of us who had brought our wives to theceremony went to the Holy Women's lodge with our wives. Each Holy Womanstated the direction she came from, danced in her ceremonial outfit, and thendemanded her pay. Each received a robe and corn balls and gave in returnBlack Medicine roots to use in doctoring. Then the participants were sprinkledwith water, using the creeping cedar to terminate the ceremony.The rites were performed primarily to bring the buffalo herds nearthe villages. In this sense, the giver performed an act of great valueto the group. In return for his and his wife's part, supernaturalpowers were passed down from the top by the buffaloes and all the godsto the red stick and other officers. They, in turn, transmitted thesesupernatural powers to the women and their husbands through themedium of the sexual act, pressing of the sacred red sticks to theirnaked chests, prayers by the old men, gifts of food, and the presenta-tion of pipes. There was no formal bundle transfer and once havingperformed the rites one did not possess the authority to serve as singer,these rights being reserved for Poor Wolf and Bobtail Bull who heldequal rights by virtue of Earthnaming bundle possessions. The riteswere comparable to those performed during the summer by thosemaking the vow in order to insure good growing conditions for thecrops. Nevertheless, one who performed the rites did have theauthority to pray to the buffaloes and, in that sense, occupied a highstatus inferior only to tribal bundle owners and singers. One obtained
462 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194the authority to learn and to relate the sacred myths belonging to theceremony and to speak with added authority when disciplining youngerclansmen.The rites as performed by the Mandan and Hidatsa show closesimilarities that point to a common development from a single source.Each employed the sacred red sticks, but the Mandan exacted avirginity test that seems to be entirely lacking with the Hidatsa.Although the rites for both tribes are theoretically for the attractionof buffaloes to the villages and the increase of the calf crop by bringingthe animals out of the various Buffalo Home Buttes (a symbolicfertility rite), each tribe had its characteristic sacred myths andrituals.'^Ceremonial sexual license was not limited solely to performances ofthis ceremony and age-grade society transfers but was individuallypracticed on the initiative both of young ambitious men and old widow-ers. A young man desiring to undertake some extremely hazardousundertaking, such as a military expedition far from home to avengethe death of a brother or other clansman, with the consent of his wife,often sought supernatural powers of an old man standing in the relationof "father" to obtain his supernatural powers to supplement his own.In this case, the old man was taken to the young man's lodge and fed,after which the young man and his family retired to another lodgeuntil morning, leaving the "father" with one young wife. Irrespectiveof the sacred bundles which the old man possessed on these occasions,he impersonated one of the 12 buffalo bulls as represented by the bullskulls in all major tribal bundles. They were left together during thenight with the doors barred. Although it was not uncommon forone of the red stick carriers to refuse intercourse during the ceremoniesin fear of exhausting his supply of supernatural powers?preferringinstead to relinquish the red sticks?it was not considered proper torefuse when invited to a young man's lodge. The young man returnedto the lodge in the morning and ordered food, fine clothing, and horsesfor the ceremonial father who, in return, prayed for his son to besuccessful in his undertakings. This practice was so widespread withthe Hidatsa and Mandan as to be viewed as a universal pattern.Whites were believed to possess greater supernatural powers thanIndians because of their richer material culture and technology, andvisitors to the villages were often given the same courtesies, bothpublicly during the performance of the rites and privately in the homes.Many a trader who called at the villages soon learned the culturalpattern of praying for their "sons" whenever some young woman methis fancy. Many traders, therefore, not only spent pleasant nights
'* For the Mandan version see Bowers, 1950, ch. 14.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 463with young women, but also received rich rewards in robes and evenhorses from the husband in return for promises of success to theyoung man.Often a small group of three or four clansmen, widowers who nolonger participated in the active events of the day, would send for adistant "son" whose young wife met their fancy and offer to bringthe young man good luck if he would leave his wife to them. Infor-mants thought that this practice was more common among the Hidatsaand Crow than with the other two Hidatsa village groups, the Awatixaand Awaxawi, or the Mandan. My Mandan informants consideredthe practice improper, since one should not offer to part with hissupernatural powers. This seemed to be the case also with many ofthe Hidatsa who had been in closest association with the Mandan.Many informants questioned the sincerity of those who sought inter-course with some young woman on the pretense of sending her husbandgood luck. Nevertheless, it was widely practiced, especially by thosewhose wives were dead or had left them. Informants joldngly re-marked that it was sometimes necessary to send invitations to a num-ber of young men before one agreeable to the proposition could befound. If the old men had not distinguished themselves during theiryounger days, owned no rights in important ceremonies, or were notgenerally well thought of, the matter was usually taken lightly.Since, however, the sacred myths refer frequently to supernaturalmanifestations by old and poor men not thought to possess anysupernatural powers, unless overdone, the old men were likely to findsome yoimg man who was willing to take a chance of obtainingsupernatural powers by offering his wife or wives. After settling atFishhook VOlage the community was divided in its views with respectto supernatural power transfer on the initiative of the old men buttook no action other than public disapproval, leaving the matterlargely to the parties involved.BUFFALO NECKBONEThis ceremony died out shortly after the epidemic of 1837, but thelocalities considered sacred in the ceremony continued to be so re-garded until the aboriginal culture broke dovvm. Crows Heart, whosefather was Hidatsa and whose mother was Mandan, thought that boththe Mandan and Hidatsa had the ceremony. When the author wasconducting archeological work in ancient Mandan villages upstreamfrom the mouth of the Heart River, for Beloit College in 1929, burialswere discovered at the Larson site with articulated buffalo cervicalvertebrae in such close association with the human bones in cache pits
464 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
as to indicate simultaneous burial. Maximilian (1906, vol. 23, p. 375)also refers to a ceremony in which buffalo neckbones were used:The Manitaries [Hidatsa] are as superstitious, and have as much faith in theirmedicines, or charms, as the Mandans. . . . Buffaloes' heads are Hkewise medicine.In one of their villages they preserve the neck bones of a buffalo, as the Crowsalso are said to do; and this is done with a view to prevent the buffalo herds fromremoving to too great a distance from them. At times they perform the followingceremony with these bones: they take a potsherd with live coals, throw sweet-smelling grass upon it, and fumigate the bones with the smoke.After the epidemic in which the greater portion of the populationsuccumbed, some buffalo ceremonies no doubt died out or werechanged in outward ritual form since a number of the legitimateofficers died without providing for successors. Persons who couldnot have been legitimate purchasers of bundles, because of the lawsof inheritance or transmission, purchased the right to own and relatethe ceremonial myths. In that way, some myths continued to bevital parts of the total religious beliefs of the tribe long after therelated ceremonies became extinct.Actually, the site for the last Hidatsa village (Fishhook) wasselected because it was the locality where the Buffalo Neckboneceremony had its traditional origin. There is no evidence, however,that the ceremony was celebrated after the village was built in 1845.All that can be learned from informants is that this was a winterbuffalo calling ceremony of 4 nights' duration; that two posts wereset up, one dressed as a man, the other as a woman ; that it was in someway related to the Holy Woman and People Above ; that feasts weremade to the bundle; and that the principal items in the bundle werevertebrae from the buffalo.It is to be presumed that the rules of inheritance from father to sonwere followed. There is no evidence that Four Bears was an ownerof one of the bundles even though he recommended that the newvillage be built at this traditional shrine. Placing of ash posts on theprairie and making up of images of a sacred character were commonceremonial practices. The songs died out chiefly because they wereritual songs and would not be sung except during bundle purchasesand renewals.Bears Arm provided the following sacred origin myth:The people came up the Missouri from Knife River to go into winter camp.At that time the people used dogs, for horses had not come yet. As they traveledalong, they would take the loads from the dogs when they camped and use thepoles as frames for their lodges. At last they reached timber a short distancebelow the Like-a-Fish-Hook Bend, where they built small earth lodges for thewinter. At first there were a few buffaloes around but these soon became scarceand it would take the men 2 days to reach the herds.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 465
Finally the buffaloes were still farther away and the people had only the thingsfrom their gardens to live on. Time passed and even the garden products wereconsumed. There was one man in the camp with many children, all of whomwere hungry. This young man was a good hunter and the old men had oftenbeen invited in to eat and smoke with him. He respected the old men and theyliked him.One evening he said to his wife, "Fix up my moccasins. I am going to crossthe river [where Fishhook Village was built many years later] and see if there isany game. Fix me a bag." ^^Next morning he crossed the river immediately west of where the FishhookVillage later stood. He was looking for roseberries for his children but he sawthat someone had been there ahead of him. At last he found some and madeballs of the berries for his wife and children. As he was crossing the river, hesaw a person standing on the river bank he had just left. He wondered who itwas since he could not remember having seen anyone go out ahead of him.Soon he saw two persons coming nearer. He did not know who they were and,thinking they might be enemies, he ran faster. At Like-a-Fish-Hook Bend theycaught up with him. They stood in front of him and he stopped. The man wason his right side and the woman on his left.The man said, "The buffaloes are far off and it is hard for your people to getmeat. Although it will be hard for you to do this, when you get home, secure fulloutfits of new clothing for both a man and a woman. Bring them up here, putup two ash poles, and hang the clothing on them. Bring someone along withyou. I know that your children are hungry for you have been picking berries.When you put the clothing on the poles, the buffaloes will come to your wintercamp."The j'oung man observed that the two people were carrying clubs?paintedred?in their belts. The man said, "You will kill the buffaloes and get all the meatyou want. Each time you kill the buffaloes, new ones will come to take theirplaces. In the spring you will have so much meat that many families will taketheir meat down the river in bullboats while the others will go overland with thedogs. You saw us far off and coming towards you. When we travel, we do nothave to walk."They did not say who they were but they flew instead of walking and werehuman. They flew even though they had no wings. Long afterwards FourBears thought that the place where they walked was holy because these peoplehad blessed the man, so we founded a village there.When he reached camp he directed his wife to build up the fire and prepare suchfood as they had for he was inviting some of the old men in. She had a few cornballs and she made the rose balls into soup. When the old men had eaten, he toldthem what he had seen.He said, "I saw some holy persons who were strangers to me. They told of manygood things I should do and promised that I would be a chief some day. I amdepending on you, for I am poor and can't do all those things without help. Ihave been asked to get full-dress outfits for a man and a woman."Between them and their wives, the old men had all the things that the youngman needed. They secured two ash poles; they took the white sage and made itin the form of a head; they put two magpie tail feathers in the hair. He asked
" Bags made of the paunch and used by the Holy Women in the Imitating Buffalo ceremony
466 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
one man to fix up the hair and put the robes over the poles. They painted thesage for the cheeks and forehead, using red paint.When taking the clothing to the place where the posts were to be erected, theysaw the j'oung man's tracks and the spot where the others had traveled, the dis-tance of their tracks being the range of the arrow. They cleared off the snow andbuilt a fire to thaw the ground so that the posts could be set up. The posts wereset up facing the south for that was the direction the two people faced to returnto the sky.The young man smoked sweetgrass and said, "I have the clothing that youwanted; there are two complete outfits. I have put them up as you wanted me todo, begging that the buffaloes will come soon." Then he used the smoke from thesweetgrass as incense for the clotliing.He said to the 10 men standing there, "I will have the buffaloes come soon. Inthe future our people can go through this territory after game. In the spring wewill have rains for our crops. If our enemies come, we will get the advantage ofthem. There will be no sickness among our children and we will have manychildren." Then he directed the 10 men to go home saying, "I am going to cryhere around these posts. I may get a dream. Announce in the village that 4nights from now, all the people must tie up their dogs."He cried all night and returned to his lodge in the morning. He did that for 3nights. On the fourth night he told the old men to stay in their lodges.Late in the night one man looked outside and said, "It is snowing hard but Iheard a noise outside."Another went out and came back saying, "There is a buffalo just outside; hechased me into the entrance."They took up their bows and arrows, killed the buffalo, butchered it right thereand had a feast even though it was not very fat, for the buffaloes breed until latein the fall and are not very fat in winter.After that the people put up offerings at this point regularly and the place wasknown as "Place Where they Put Offerings for the Buffalo."The young man was called Holy-Young-Man after meeting the two spirits.When he was old, they called him Holy Man. The reason the spirits told him towatch until they went out of sight was that if he did that he would have a long life.After that the buffaloes came into the camp and the people cured much meat totake back to the Knife River villages. Before the enemies came, the young manforetold that they were coming. Fifteen enemies were killed and he was a chiefafter that.He kept buffalo skulls and bones of the neck which he would smoke with sweet-grass if the buffaloes went far off and they would come back. The people wouldcome up from Knife River often to renew the shrine whenever someone dreamed of it.After the smallpox of 1837, the people of Hidatsa village on the Knife Riverwandered around for 7 years looking for a place to have a village. Some thoughtthey should reunite with the River Crows, but the Awatixa and Awaxawi did notwant to leave their villages and abandon their gardens.Four Bears said at that time, "Since these holy people came to this place, itshould be a lucky place. The people have been putting up offerings there for along time. I think we should take the people up there and put up a new villagewhere we [the three Hidatsa village groups] can live together."So the people moved to the place and built Fishhook Village on the spot wherethe two spirits were seen and the people were lucky in driving off their enemies.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 467Clan Bundle CeremoniesWATERBUSTER CLAN BUNDLEThere was only one sacred bundle (pi. 12) for these rites and it waskept by a male of the Waterbuster clan at Awatixa village on theKnife River where, according to traditions, the bundle rites wereinstituted by two Eagle Men who came from a spring at the sourceof the Missouri River. Pepper and Wilson (1908) recorded thecomplete origin myth as related by Wolf Chief, son of the last holderof the bundle. In this study of the same rites, the writer endeavoredto relate the bundle to the total tribal pattern. Hence, several pointsnot brought out by Pepper and Wilson are given in order to show theposition of the rites in the total ceremonial structure. (Fig. 12.)The following is a condensed account of the origin myth as relatedby Wolf Chief:Up in the sky there are four eagle villages which were seen by Lodge Boy andSpring Boy when Spring Boy was taken above to be tortured, and by CharredBody who once lived above before he came down to found the village at CharredBody Creek. They told the people that there was a hole in the sky immediatelyabove them; that 1 day's march to the west up there in the sky was the village ofthe Speckled Eagle; the second village was of Bald Eagles; the third was of theBarred-speckled Eagles; the last village was of the Calumet or Black-tippedEagles who lived 1 day's march west of the Barred-speckled Eagles and werethe children of the third village group. At the place where the Calumet Eagleslived, the sky dipped down and met the earth at the highest points in the RockyMountains. It was from this village that the Eagles who founded this ceremonycame.When Spring Boy was taken above to be tortured, Long Arm carried him west-ward thi'ough the other three villages of eagles until he reached the village of theeagles whose tail feathers were white with black tips. There the people torturedSpring Boy.^"Long after Spring Boy was tortured and the Awatixa had moved to the KnifeRiver from farther downstream in the Painted Woods region, two eagles came outof the spring where the sky and earth meet and talked of going to live with theIndians. One eagle liked the Awatixa and decided to live in that village whilethe other decided to go farther south and be born among the Siwaxuwa. No oneknows today who the Siwaxuwa were but they were nomads and did not stay inone place very long.The two eagles selected villages to live in where they could be of great help tothe people. The eagle who wanted to live with the Awatixa came downstream tothe mouth of Knife River and entered the body of a woman where he knew every-thing that happened even before he was born. It was not long after he was bornthat he remembered his mission was to help the people by being their leader so hecarved out a wooden pipe. He thought that the people should have somethingto use when they became ill so he selected the peppermint.^i
*' See "The NaxpikE ceremony," for the details of Spring Boy's suffering.
?' This is the native Interpretation of the plant. Pepper and Wilson identify it as one of the pennyroyalsthat grow in moist places.
468 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194o Hole in sky Big Medicinecame through.
^ Path followed
First () Speckled EagleVillage VV .,.,, ,. . . ? .' ^-^ Village (i-pi-ta-pi
SecondVillage o Bald EagleVillage (ba-tuk)
ThirdVillage ( ) Barred-SpeckledEagle Village (tsa'-tsi)
FourthVillage
s ^Black-tippedEagle Village (mo-i-cu') E3(Village origin of W.Buster and Knife Bundles)Figure 12.?Plan of eagle villages in the sky. (Drawn by Wolf Chief.)He thought the people should have something to give them good luck whentheir enemies attacked so he made up a corn ball to go with the pipe. He thoughtthat he would bring his friend who had gone to the enemy and that he would usecorn balls and pemmican to do this. He thought he would call the rain. Thepeople would have plenty of food so he decided to have a turtle on which to placethe peppermint when rain was wanted. He would have the buffalo skull in hislodge and that would keep the animals near the village. All these things hethought about and all these things he undertook to do.When the year was dry he would use the turtles and sing the sacred song.Then the rains came. Sometimes the buffaloes would stray far away and hewould build a small fire under the buffalo skull while he sang. Then the buffaloeswould come nearer and the people lived well.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 469One day he told the people that it would be better to move farther upstream sothey settled at a place below Shell Creek where Henry Bad Gun lives today.This must have been before the Hidatsa came for there is no mention of them inthe mjrth for the Hidatsa, when they came, did not like to have others build inthat territory. They stayed there 2 years and everything they did was successfulfor this Holy Man was with them and protecting them. After 2 years, manypeople called "People Who Live in the Woods to the East" came out of a ravineto the east and attacked the village.The Eagle Man saw many enemies coming and said, "Wait a little before yougo out against them." He took his pipe out and pointed towards the enemiesfour times and said, "You warriors can go out now and attack them."While his people were fighting, he held the pipe out while singing the holysongs and lightning came out of his eyes and broke a piece of the bowl from thepipe. After the battle the Awatixa returned to their old village at the mouthof Knife River. Many enemies came but each time he would take out the pipeand his people would win.He thought that he would give out corn balls and the peppermint to those whomade offerings to the pipe when seeking good health.He thought of his friend with the Siwaxuwa for he knew everything thathappened there. His friend decided to come with his followers to kill off theAwatixa so he would have his friend with him. The Eagle Man at Awatixaknew all this and thought that it was a foolish idea to think of killing off all theAwatixa. His friend had seven different tribes come together to help him andhe was the leader. The seven tribes were so far away that it would take them 4days to come to Awatixa. The Eagle Man of Siwaxuwa started out aheadsaying that he would reach Awatixa first.When he reached Awatixa, the other Eagle Man knew that his friend was atthe door. He had the pipe and corn balls ready beforehand and called hisfriend in. The Eagle Man from Siwaxuwa said, "I have come for a great pur-pose. You live here and drink this dirty Missouri River water. You have noopportunity to get around and breathe the fresh prairie air. When it rains, itis muddy here. I think this is a bad place to live. I have a better place therewith plenty of buffaloes. We stop at nice springs of good water; everything ispleasant there."The Eagle Man from Awatixa said, "You are mistaken. We were eaglesbefore we came out of that spring. We were to live in the different tribes andbe of help to the people. I am lucky; I have a pipe to bring the buffaloes. Ourwarriors are lucky too. We have all our own corn. I do not think this is a badplace at all. I do not think you are doing well. You said when we left thespring that you were to be the chief but I know that some of your people arenot contented. The water is dirty and brown and it tastes salty. Your peopleare suffering from so much traveling. I prefer to have you here with me whereyou will have a comfortable home and plenty of food. Then you would be hereforever. I told you that I have good water. I have the water right here andI want you to try it."He gave his friend some of the water with the peppermint in it. He drankand said that it was true. He began to shake.He gave his friend corn balls and pemmican but his friend continued to shakeso he filled the pipe and gave it to him to smoke.Eagle Man from Siwaxuwa bit the pipe and said, "Take good care of me, mypartner. I would rather stay here than come here to destroy your people. Myseven tribes will come in 4 days to attack you. Your men will kill them all upto me. Hurry out then with your pipe and offer me a smoke. I will die after710-195?65 ai
470 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
I finish smoking. I want you out there for some of the others might shoot mewith arrows. Then there would be too much suffering."On the fourth day the attack was made and the Eagle Man hurried out withhis pipe. There were many arrows flying around and some were sticking in hisfriend's body. He said, "I told you to hurry; I am suffering a httle now." Hesmoked the pipe and died.When his friend was dead, he cut the other's head off, breaking the Juneberrystick inside.^2 All the others at Awatixa fought long and killed off nearly all theenemies. The people gave Knife River the name Walking-in-Water Creek bywhich it is still known because the enemy were driven across the water. He tookhis friend's head home and put it in an anthill for the ants to clean the flesh fromthe bones.In 10 days the bones were cleaned of flesh so he fixed a platform on four postson which the skull rested. While he was doing this, the skull said, "Do not letmy head touch the ground. Put it on a soft place." He fixed a place for it onsoft hides, painted it red, and left it on the platform he had prepared for it.After that the people thought the Eagle Man from Siwaxuwa was very holy sothey often made offerings of corn mush to the skull. He could not eat it but hisfriend sat beside him. He would offer a little to the skull and then eat the resthimself. If he could not eat all of it, the Skull would say, "Don't give any ofit to another; if you can't eat it all, put it in the fire" and the other would dothat. Whoever made an offering to the skull always got a small bunch of thepeppermint to rub on his body. Then he would get his strength back again.The Eagle Man said, "The supernatural powers I have made and given to theAwatixa will last forever; we will use these things for sickness and they will makeyou strong." After that they made offerings to the bundle and called the EagleMan "grandfather." ^Whenever the people wanted good luck, they made a sweat lodge, brought inrobes for payment to the bundle owner, and had the hot stones put in. TheEagle Man would say, "You will be lucky and prosper." While he was living,he would roll the pipe towards the enemy and the Awatixa would have no badluck.One day Eagle Man said, "Before long I am going back to the eagles" and thepeople wept. The people were sitting in a circle when he told them of his plans.He added, "I belong to the Waterbuster clan. I am leaving so listen to whatI have to say. After I die, take my head out and put it in an anthill until it isclean of flesh. Then wrap it in a soft hide and place it beside my brother, theother Eagle."* Though my body is gone, my spirit will be here to look after youand see that you have plenty of food. It may be that sometime you will needrain; have both of our skulls placed on the ground with a hide under us; sprinklewater with the peppermint on us and it will not be long until the clouds willcome from all directions. Since you have seen how I did it, anytime the enemycomes, take out my skull and place it on the ground, and take the pipe out androll it on the ground. Then you will not have any difficulty killing off the enemyjust as I did. When you want the buffaloes, take our skulls and the buffaloskull out and lift the pipe up. The buffaloes will come near the village. Any ofyou who wish to, may make an offering of corn balls before I leave. I havealways eaten what my friend did not. Speak to us as though we were alive and
?' Pepper and Wilson said "chokecherry." Wolf Chief corrected this to read "Juneberry," as he claimedthe spinal cord was of the same wood as the arrows." All the people so address the skulls. Those of the Four-clan moiety classify Eagle Man as a paternalgrandfather. This is consistent with the kinship system.M Note here Wolf Chief changes the kinship relationship between the two Eagle Men.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 471
tell us what you want. After you have made the offering of food, you can eatthe remainder. Throw what is left in the fire. When one wishes to make afeast for us, he must prepare the sweat lodge. One will pour water on the stonesand tell what he wants. After my body is gone, the one who takes care of usmust be of the Waterbuster clan because we call ourselves holy.^^ Whoevertakes care of us will live to old age.""Don't permit running around on top of the lodge you keep us in. Whoevertakes care of us must keep it clean where we are kept. Then I will make a rulethat whoever takes care of us must not give any fire to any of the other lodgegroups who come asking for it. If they do not ask for fire but walk in quietlyand take some out carefully, do not say anything. If they ask for coals, do notgive it to them. No matter where you are, do not walk around in front of usraising the dust."When he finished talking to his people, he covered his face with his robe anddied. The people of his clan did as requested; they put his head in the anthillto clean the skull and then it was kept by a man of the Waterbuster clan. Howmany kept these skulls no one knows, but there must have been many for thepeople lived long in this village without being wiped out by their enemies. Theyfollowed the rules carefully. When the buflfaloes were far away, the bundle ownertook the skulls onto the lodge and the buffaloes returned. When there was no rain,he took the skulls onto the roof and the rains came. When he came to old ageand died, another member of his clan took care of them and followed the same rules.Wolf Chief supplied additional information on the beliefs and prac-tices in his time, saying
?
When I was a boy I knew Missouri River who took care of the bundle. Hebelonged to the Waterbuster clan and came from Awatixa village, the newvillage closer to the riverbank. He bought from Blackens-His-Moccasinwho was chief there. When Missouri River was getting old, my father gatheredtogether all the goods that he could and took the things to Missouri River, askingfor the right to hold them. At that time there were many Waterbusters and theyagreed that it would be a good thing, for my father already had many holy thingswhich he had paid well for and had taken good care of. Right after he got theskulls, the people appointed him leader of the winter village. This camp was onthe river bottoms near Blue Buttes. The people thought he would be lucky sothey appointed him leader. They went into the winter camp and were lucky allwinter with plenty to eat. Whenever there were hard times in the camp, hewould pray to the skulls and the game would come. Then in the spring theywent back to Fishhook Village.Once the weather was dry and the crops were suffering. The people brought inwar bonnets and blankets to get my father to take the skulls out and pray for rain.There was a feast and sweat lodge. Two days after that the rains came andsoaked the ground. I saw him do that myself. After he had called the rain and ithad cleared again, he called in all the older men. He told them that he had amessage from the skulls that something would happen during the summer to giveall the Indians glad hearts so that they would be enjoying themselves. Shortlyafterwards, the enemy came out in great numbers. I was 19 then and was in thefight. We were not very numerous but the enemy numbered over 200. All thewhile my father prayed to the skulls so we had good luck and drove the enemiesM The meaning of this statement was not clear to Wolf Chief; perhaps It means that one must followInstructions laid down by the gods and must not vary from the rules. During early historic times veryfew clan bundles existed.
472 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194back. I had a fast horse and went ahead trying to catch up with them. When Iwas close, they turned and shot. My horse dropped and Wolf Ghost ran in frontof me so I had no trouble saving myself. It was because my father was praying tothe skulls while the battle was in progress that I was able to do that.Before my time, Missouri River was owner. He was holy because he kept holythings. The Indians met and paid him many valuable things to be their wintercamp leader and he prayed to the skulls, "My people want me to be their leaderand to select the place for the winter camp. While I am the leader, I wantenough to eat and, should the enemy come, I want good luck for my people.'Soon after going into camp, heavy snows came and lay deep on the ground.Then the scouts reported many buffaloes coming toward the village. During thewinter some Sioux came with their pipe and a buffalo skull. It was the rule tobring these things when seeking peace. Missouri River called all the older men inand asked what should be done, whether to kill them off or not, since the Sioux hadbrought in the pipe. They discussed the matter between themselves and left thematter for Missouri River to decide saying, "Because you are leader, we want youto decide for you have been successful in bringing the game and all of us arehappy."Missouri River said, "I see now that you people have smoked with them and fedthem for you have had them in your lodges. Already they are your friends. Ifyou had wanted to kill them off, it should have been done before they got into thevillage. Now they are in so I think you should be friends to them and makepeace."The bundle also played an important part when Fishhook Village was built 6years before I was born. The old men put Missouri River in charge of laying outthe village. He replied, "I am glad you have selected me because I have takengood care of these skulls so we will surely have good luck."He walked around on the site where the village was to be built singing the holysongs and then he said, addressing the Eagle Men, "I want to have the village hereso that my people will increase and be safe. I want four good men who are holyand have had good dreams to decide on four places to build their lodges. I wantthem to help me so that we will have good luck and always conquer our enemies."The older men met and selected Big Cloud first to put his lodge up to representthe east. Then when the weather was dry he could bring rain, for he had haddreams from Thunder. He was a good man and kind hearted. When he sawchildren with dirty faces, he washed them. When they cried, he would pickthem up.Big Cloud said, "I will do the best I can but I am not very powerful myself.But I had a dream so I will talk to the Thunder whenever we need rain, I willface to the east when we need rain and Thunder will do the things he promised me."Again they talked it over and decided to pick a man for the south station.Bear-Looks-Out was named to put his lodge to the south side to help look afterthe village, bringing the buffaloes, calling the rain, and repelling the enemies.He said, "By myself I have no power or strength to carry out these things. In mydreams our Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies promised to help me. I will ask her tohelp me. My grandmother, they appointed me to help direct this village andI want your help."Then they appointed Bad Horn to select a spot for his lodge and he said, "Bymyself I cannot do very much, but my protector is a bear who will help us out. Iwill have my entrance to the north for the bears always den up on the northslopes with the door to the north. I hope that he will protect us and help usalong."
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 473Again they discussed the selection of the fourth man and named MissouriRiver ; he agreed to take the direction from whence the Eagle Men had come. Hestood up and prayed to the bundle.After the four men who were the new leaders finished laying out the village, thepeople got along very well and there were no hungry people. This happenedin the spring and there were good crops. A year later the Sioux came and triedto get into the village from the back side. They failed and four of them werekilled. The people came out of their lodges and built fires where the Sioux couldwatch. They scalped and cut up the Sioux; they burned their enemies' bonesuntil only the ashes remained. The women sang and all were happy. Nearlyevery year the enemies attacked the village but they could not get the people out.Only when the people went out hunting or on war expeditions were our enemiesable to get at us. The people could not be run out of the village because they hadthese four men whom they had selected for their protectors and the two EagleMen skulls which were part of this protection. [See pi. 12 for picture of thisbundle.] KNIFE CLAN BUNDLEAccording to Knife clan informants, the bundle rites for this clanbundle followed the same pattern as that of the Waterbuster clanbundle. These rites, having lapsed somewhat earlier than the Water-buster rites, were not actively performed after the death of MedicineBird, the last bundle holder. Thus, it was not possible to obtain adetailed account of the rites and practices associated with the bundle.Medicine Bird obtained the bundle from an older member of the Knifeclan from Awatixa. Since his clansmen were not interested in thebundle because of the costs of maldng the transfer after buffaloesbecame scarce, he left the bundle in his son's (Hunts Along) care.The latter was ill at the time this study was made and was unwilhngto discuss the bundle as he was performing personal rites to the bundlein hopes of affecting a cure.Bears Arm, who also belonged to the Knife clan, stated that thebundle consisted of two human skulls said to belong to two brotherswho came from above to live with the Awatixa to help them. For-merly the two brothers, named Brush-Between-Horns and Goes-Along-Between-Hills, were eagles living in one of the Eagle villagesin the sky. They entered the body of an Awatixa woman and wereborn in the village where they helped the people repel their enemies.When they were old, they told the people that they belonged to theKnife clan and that their skulls should be retained in the village ; thenthe village would never be destroyed by the enemy. The bundlewas kept by one of the most eminent members of the Knife clan whopaid his clansmen for that privilege. Stirrup, the last bundle ownerat Awatixa, was one of the Council of Twelve selected by the threevillages at Knife River prior to 1837. According to Awatixa in-formants, the top leadership at this village was vested in two bundle
474 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
owners, Blackens-his-Moccasin ^' who kept the Waterbuster clanbundle and Stirrup who kept the Knife clan bundle. The bundlenever attained the same importance as the Waterbuster clan bundleafter the death of Stirrup as several holders died or were killed inwarfare until it reached Medicine Bird shortly before 1870.SUMMARYFive distinct clan bundle rites were reported for the Hidatsa:(1) A Waterbuster clan bundle which was owned by this group andkept by one of their most distinguished male members at Awatixavillage; (2) a Knife clan bundle which was similarly owned andtransmitted through the male clan membership of Awatixa village;(3) a Shell Robe bundle which was shared by the Awatixa andMandans of the Prairie Chicken clan and kept by the Mandan(Bowers, 1950) ; (4) certain Thunder rites relating to Packs Antelopewhich were shared by the members of the Low Cap clan, one of theirnumber retaining the bundle; (5) the Creek and Earth Lodge Makingrites traditionally belonging to the Xura clan of Awatixa.The clustering of clan bundles at Awatixa raises numerous problemsconcerning the bundle inheritance patterns for the three Hidatsavillage groups. The clan was not an important property-owninggroup for the Hidatsa and Awaxawi, except for the eagle-trappinglodges which also were clan-inherited with the Mandan, which raisesthe question of the significance of clan bundles. In view of thegreater emphasis on clan inheritance by the Mandan, it is suggestedthat the Awatixa borrowed this pattern from them. This behef isstrengthened by the traditional relations which the Awatixa andMandan have had over a very long time. In view of the fact thatthis Hidatsa vUlage group has traditions of long residence on theMissouri near the Mandan, predating the arrival of the Hidatsa-River Crow and Awaxawi, it would appear that clan-inheritance ofsacred bundles represents an older cultural stratum. This behef isfurther strengthened by the archeological record on the UpperMissouri where the late prehistoric-early historic site of this villagegroup shows a very long period of occupation not equaled by any ofthe other Hidatsa groups for which we have traditional or archeo-logical information.Not only is there evidence of long and intimate contacts betweenthe Awatixa and Mandan village groups but, as in the case of theShell Robe bundle, ownership included all members of the PrairieChicken clan of Awatixa and the Mandan villages but did not includeMFor additional information on Blackens-hls-Moccasin, see: Lewis, 1893, p. 184, and Catlln, 1841, vol. lip. 186.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 475the clansmen of Hidatsa and Awaxawi until after the building ofFishhook Village. In the case of this important sacred bundle,believed by both the Mandan and Awatixa to be very old, there weredistinct village versions of the origin myth.The two sacred bundles containing male human skulls were bothclan bundles. As far as it was possible to determine, of all theearth lodge village groups on the Upper Missouri, only among theMandan are other human skull bundles found. The Hidatsa andAwaxawi seem to have made more universal use of earth burials nearthe villages than the Heart River Mandan and Awatixa. Thelatter two employed scaffold disposal with secondary disposal throughbundle burials of the bones, other than the skulls of males which wereplaced at Sun Bundle shrines situated at the edge of the village.Women, on the other hand, were more frequently buried in cachepits under or near their lodges.When the bundle systems of the three Hidatsa villages are examinedtrait for trait, the Awatixa occupied a position intermediate to theMandan with their highly developed clan-inheritance system on theone hand and the Hidatsa-Awaxawi on the other with a father-to-sonsystem. It is interesting to note that it was only with the unionof the three Hidatsa village groups at Fishhook Village that clansfrom the three village groups participated in these clan rites.
HIDATSA CULTURAL POSITION IN THE NORTHERNPLAINSNo reference to the Hidatsa communities was made in the historicaccounts of traders and explorers prior to 1797 when Thompsondistinguished them from their immediate neighbors, the Mandan,on the basis of linguistic and minor cultural differences. At thistime they were living in earth lodge villages at the mouth of theKnife River. The village of the Hidatsa-proper was on the northbank, the village of the Awatixa was on the south bank at the river'sedge, and the village of the Awaxawi was situated a short distanceto the south on the spot where the courthouse in the town of Stanton,N. Dak., stands today. By the time of Lewis and Clark?1804-6?itwas known that the Hidatsa and Crow were closely relatedlinguistically, that they were previously one people, and that theyhad maintained close social ties even after the Crow had moved outonto the plains west of the Missouri River as nomadic hunters.Although these early traders and travelers recorded several migra-tion accounts for the Hidatsa and Crow, some of which arecontradictory if one views the Hidatsa as a single unified group,these apparent contradictions tend to disappear if one examineseach village group as an independent social unit. One version ofHidatsa-Crow history deals with the Mandan account of firstencountering a strange people who appeared on the east bank ofthe Missouri River at the mouth of Heart River and called across.The Mandan, not understanding their language, said that "they wantto cross" or minitadi, by which name the people of Hidatsa villagewere thereafter known. This version relates how the Minitaditasted of the Mandan corn, which they liked, and how they agreedto return with their people in 4 days. This lengthened into 4 yearsat which time the Minitadi and the Crow appeared on the east bankof the Missouri and were ferried across in Mandan buUboats. Theylived with the westside Mandan for a short time until a quarreloccurred between the Hidatsa and the Crow, the latter then movingout on the plains to the west as nomads, and the Hidatsa movingnorthward along the Missouri where they set up separate villages.Historical anthropology of these village Indians must take intoaccount general movements of related groups and specific movementsof local groups. Mandan and Arikara migration myths tell of their476
[Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 477
southern origin downstream: the Mandan reached White River fromthe east, where they set up villages, and then migrated upstream untilthey reached the Heart River where some had lived so long that thatarea was thought of as "the heart of the universe." The Arikara hadrecently separated from the Skidi Pawnee to settle on the MissouriRiver in what is now the State of South Dakota where they plantedtheir corn and built their earth lodge villages until losses from epidem-ics and pressures from the Sioux forced them, too, to migrate upstream,abandoning their ancient villages which were observed in ruins byLewis and Clark in 1804.Granting the validity of these migration myths as indicative of thegeneral direction of population shifts in the Great Plains, the wide-spread movements of local groups to many localities during historictimes is consistent with the long-time archeological picture of theregion. Prior to 1930, those writing on the history of the three villagetribes, the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara, tended to treat each as aclose-knit political group of related villages moving as a tribal unitwhen the wood and other resources were consumed. At that timeit was believed that a single cultural tradition was shared by all ofthem. Other than the Mandan, whose late prehistoric archeologyhad been studied by Will and Spinden, Uttle was known of the archeol-ogy of the Hidatsa and Arikara.In 1930, a Logan Museum field party excavated the first rectangularlodge discovered on the Missouri. It was found to deviate sharplyfrom the well-known circular lodge tradition. It was suggested thata second and earlier lodge tradition might exist locally on the MissouriRiver in areas formerly occupied by these three tribes. In this site,39ST1, known today as the Cheyenne River site, surface features inpart of the habitation area suggested other large rectangular lodges.Part of the area of the site had been occupied by the Arikara in his-toric times. Outlines of a rectangular lodge were discovered under-lying the historic level in a stratigraphic position which preceded theearliest White contacts. A considerable interval between the two oc-cupations was further evident by the fact that the outlines of historicArikara graves cut the outlines of the ruins of these earlier lodges.So far as is known today, this was the first actual discovery of thereoccupation of an ancient village site by an agricultural group of asecond tradition.Those who had previously surveyed and excavated in earth lodgesites along the Missouri River in North Dakota and South Dakotatook little note of this new evidence. Rectangular loghouses hadcommonly been built at the Mandan and Hidatsa villages near KnifeRiver by White traders living with the Indians and married to Indianwomen. Although our researches at that time did not establish the
478 BUREAi: OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194presence of any European trade material in this association, potterynow known to closely resemble that of the Riggs site north of Pierrewas foimd. Not knowing at that stage of researches in the Plainswhat prehistoric Arikara pottery looked like, it was assumed by usthat the difference in pottery at these two levels was due to the rapiddeterioration of the potter's art under White trader influence and theintroduction of metal vessels. Numerous heavily grassed sites alongthe Missouri River showed similar lodge outlines, but the LoganMuseum site maps of that time, and those prepared by Will andSpinden, were drawn to indicate circular lodges, it being assumed thatsurface disturbances by wind and water must have altered theiroriginal circular outlines.A few years later, the North Dakota Historical Society with WPAfunds excavated extensively in that State and confirmed the existenceof rectangular lodges at Huff site in North Dakota. This find wasfollowed by numerous similar discoveries by W. H. Over and E. E.Meleen working in South Dakota. In 1952, Woolworth excavated
"Grandmother's Lodge," known by my informants as the "SacredLodge of the Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies" who was held in reverenceby the Hidatsa, Crow, and Mandan. This lodge was found to con-form to the same general rectangular dimensions of lodges in certainvillage sites downstream along the Missouri River to Chamberlain,S. Dak. These discoveries provide us with a new image of the cul-tural history of the region.When field researches there were first undertaken, it was generallyassumed that agricultural villages were not at most more than a fewhundred years old. As early as 1924, George F. Will indicated thatcertain sites near the southern border of North Dakota, which hisMandan informants claimed were older than those at the mouth ofHeart River, had types of pottery which he identified as characteristicof the older sites of Cannonball, Fort Rice, Shermer, Glencoe, Eagle'sNose, Bad Water, Holbrook, and Ward. He distinguished them fromthe later sites such as Slant, Motsiff, Scattered, Boley, Sperry, andBurgois. My Hidatsa informants identify only Scattered as theirancient residence.A cultural history of the village Indians has been slow to evolvefor a number of reasons: (1) The early researchers assumed thatagriculture was late to reach the river valleys of the Great Plains andthat the relatively homogeneous culture of the Hidatsa, Mandan, andArikara which they saw in Historic times was characteristic of theentire period of their residence in the Plains ; (2) knowing only one ortwo local areas, they had little knowledge of the large number of sites,running into the hundreds, which dot virtually every well-drainedriver terrace; and (3) methods and techniques for observation and
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 479
analysis had to be developed in the field in conjunction with theirresearches.By 1946, Mr. Will had been able to introduce time-depth into hisfield researches, employing tree-ring analysis techniques to old postsfound in agricultural village sites near Bismarck. Based on observedcultural changes and differences existing within the same village andbetween villages, in 1939 I set a minimum date of A.D. 1300 for thesmall, unfortified, rectangular, lodge sites situated along the MissouriRiver from the Big Bend to the Clarks Creek regions, after whichtime this earlier native population began building the larger fortifiedsites with bastions.However, recent carbon-14 tests on wood from these ancient rec-tangular lodge sites, now recognized as preceding the circular earthlodges, have established A.D. 700 as the earhest date for this agri-cultural tradition. And this date does not take into considerationstill earlier Woodlands cultures in the Plains which bear evidence oflimited agriculture.Based on the survival of numerous items of the material culture ofthis rectangular-lodge tradition of the Missouri River Aspect afterthe transition to the historic circular lodges of the Mandan andHidatsa, the architectural features of the ceremonial lodge of theMandan, and their well-founded traditions of former employment ofrectangular lodges, the history of the Mandan is now seen as a con-tinuous cultural development on the Middle Missouri extending overa period of nearly 1,000 years. Beginning with the original Mandanresearches by Will and Spinden, and employing all the techniques ofthe archeologist and ethnologist, we see emerging the image of thecontinuous valley residence of a single people?the Mandan of Lewisand Clark's era?which can be matched in few places in the UnitedStates.Simultaneously with the abandonment of the small unfortifiedcommunities and the reorganization of this original population intolarger fortified communities (the Oak Creek site in South Dakota;Huff, Ward, and Shermer sites in North Dakota), there was a generaland large-scale invasion by a people with Central Plains UpperRepublican cultural ties. These people quickly took over most of thevalley upstream nearly to the North Dakota border. Locally, theyunited with the indigneous and other peoples from the east at theArzberger site. There, one tradition in pottery (check-stampingand cord-roughened bodies), which is widely represented in the LakeTraverse, lower loop of the Sheyenne River, and the Red River Valleyof eastern North Dakota, is well represented. These distinctivecombinations of body types in association with crosshatched rims,dark color, and other diagnostic traits, characteristic of the some-
480 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194what later Schultz site on the Sheyenne River southwest of Fargo,N. Dak., have not been reported for locales upstream from the Arz-berger site until one reaches the traditional homeland of the Hidatsanorth of the Square Buttes in sites which my older Hidatsa informantsidentify as those they occupied before moving to the mouth of theKnife River.This mass migration into the Missouri VaUey of South Dakotaseems to have come about as a consequence of an extensive droughtin the central plains which occurred about A.D. 1450. It resulted inthe displacement of many of the original inhabitants, the realinementof populations, and the introduction of many new cultural traitswhich produced local cultures now identified as belonging to the Chou-teau or Slope Aspect. In South Dakota, there was a northward move-ment from the western tributaries of the Missouri River in Nebraskaof the ancestral Arikara. There occurred simultaneously an east-ward movement, along the tributaries of the Missouri River in SouthDakota, of the ancestors of the southern Mandan who had alreadychanged considerably both linguistically and culturally from thosewho had long lived on the Missouri. As our knowledge of the arche-ology of the sites of the Chouteau Tradition or Aspect grows, it isbecoming increasingly evident, however, that a majority of thesesites represents the various branches of the ancestral Arikara.These newcomers to the Northern Missouri Valley introduced: Anew house type, square to roughly circular in outline with the four-post support for the roof and weak peripheral wall posts; distinctiveincised-decorated pottery designs; a high regard for catlinite; simplefortifications with or without bastions, which evolved to simple en-circling ditches ; distinctive flaking tools cut from the edges of buffalovertebrae; and other tools from bone. A few cultural differencesbetween these earliest sites suggest that regional differences probablyalready existed.When these two populations of agriculturalists came together,there followed widespread cultural borrowing between those belongingto the Missouri Valley Aspect and those of the Chouteau or SlopeAspect. The most significant change for the people of the MissouriValley Aspect was the adoption of the four-post roof support to asmall square lodge with rounded corners by those who had formerlybuilt large rectangular lodges. Those peoples of this tradition, livingchiefly upstream from the Grand River, soon modified these smallfour-post lodges by the addition of rather heavy forked peripheralposts usually 12 to 13 in number, and 6-7 feet high, against whichthey leaned wooden slabs set back 5-6 feet to form a distinctivefeature which in later years the Historic Hidatsa referred to as theatvMsh area. The southern groups downstream from the Cannonball
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 481River continued to set the peripheral posts near the edge of the lodgeas uprights, without the atutish section, until protohistoric timesat the Rygh site. This Mandan-Hidatsa earth lodge type did notappear in the south until somewhat later at the Swan Creek site,upper horizon, and the Cheyenne River and Leavensworth sites.In 1929, while excavating at the Larson site north of Bismarck,N. Dak., the field party from the Logan Museum excavated an earthlodge in the oldest and unfortified section of the site which showedthat the atutish area was characteristic of their lodges at this time.Further excavations in the Hensler or Van Costing site again re-vealed that the leaners had been set out 5-6 feet from the peripheralposts. Tree-ring dating for the Mandan village at the Larson siteby Mr, WiU showed occupation between A.D. 1615 and 1641. TheHensler site, although somewhat more recent in age, was still clearlyprecontact and in the Mandan tradition. A ceremonial lodge northof the "open circle" of the Hensler site had the traditional doublerow of eight central posts, a flat front facing the center of the opencircle, a short entryway, roughly parallel long sides, and a roundedback that consisted of uprights set in slightly from the vertical.This lodge's upright back had been rebuilt by extending it backand forth several times.Unlike the Mandan, who have traditions of once living in largerectangular lodges and who think of their ceremonial lodge as roughlyrectangular rather than circular, the Hidatsa have no traditions ofearth-covered lodges other than with the four-post frame, heavyperipheral posts, and the atutish area, or the small eagle trappinglodge set up on a four-post foundation like a tipi. This would indi-cate to me that the Hidatsa did not come onto the Missouri Riverto live until after 1615, as a minimum date. By this time, the rec-tangular lodge was no longer used as a residence by the Heart Riveror Northern Mandan. The Awatixa who have traditions of longestresidence on the Missouri refer to the first lodges built there as havingthe atutish as described in the myth of the "Sacred Arrows" (seep. 305) when twins were ripped from their mother by a monster, onebecoming known as Atutish or "Edge-of-the-Lodge," which is thatsection of the earth lodge extending from the peripheral posts to thewall where things were stored.Some have thought that the Hidatsa came from the prairies asnomads, settled with the Mandan, and took over their culture ina matter of a few years. Reexamination of Hidatsa traditions, whichI analyzed for this study in 1932 and 1933, and new information athand on the archeology of the Northern Plains confirm native tradi-tions of separate and independent migrations of the various Hidatsaand Crow groups coming to the Missouri at different times. When
482 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194
this study was undertaken in 1932, I was able to distinguish threedistinct Hidatsa migration accounts. Those informants whoseparents came from Awatixa village on the south bank of the KnifeRiver claimed that they had always lived upstream from the mouthof the Heart River and they had no traditions of living elsewherethan on the Missouri River. The Awaxawi descendants gave anaccount of their ancestors' migrations which was essentially the sameas recorded by Thompson in 1797; to the effect that they had pre-viously lived along the streams to the east until a few generationsprior to 1797 when they moved to the banks of the Missouri River.These informants claimed that their ancestors came to the MissouriRiver as agriculturalists and continued a way of life which was char-acteristic of their eastern residence. The Hidatsa-proper claimed tobe the last to reach the Missouri River, coming there from the north-east as nomads, having "lost their corn" while residing north ofDevils Lake. The various Hidatsa and Mandan traditions con-cerning the Crow Indians seem to have validity in that they believedthat the Crow Indians residing west of the Missouri River came bytwo or more major migrations from their eastern homeland near theheadwaters of the Red River of the North as agriculturalists, lin-guistically related to the Awatixa, while others came from the north-east as nomadic hunters as part of the Hidatsa-proper-River Crowlinguistic group, known prior to their separation as the Mirokac.This would then have been the picture of distribution of the Hidatsaand Crow groups five or six generations prior to 1797: The westernbranch of the Hidatsa-Crow would have been composed of an agri-cultural group?the ancestors of the Awatixa?living upstream fromSquare Buttes and a closely related nomadic group comprised ofsmall bands living on the Plains to the west; a cluster of agriculturalvillages on the lower Sheyenne River and headwaters of the RedRiver, the survivors of this area becoming the Awaxawi when theymoved to the banks of the Missouri River north of the Square Buttes;the Mirokac living as nomads in the Devils Lake area and to thenorth until they migrated southwestward to the Missouri. Theresome continued to live as nomads, to become the River Crow, andthe others adopted the earth lodge and agriculture, settling upstreamfrom the mouth of the Knife River as the Hidatsa-proper.These native traditions of the various Hidatsa-Crow groups areborne out, in part, by recent archeological studies conducted in manyareas of the Northern Plains traditionally occupied by these peoples.A significant group of sites on the Missouri River, between SquareButtes and the Knife River, traditionally occupied by the variousHidatsa groups, are found, from an analysis of lodge forms, villageorganization of lodges, and pottery types and frequencies, to be es-
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 483
sentially alike and to differ in several respects from the contempora-neous Mandan living near the mouth of the Heart River. Thediagnostic traits of this Painted Woods Focus are: Circular earthlodges with a well-defined atutish area or section; absence ofspecialized ceremonial lodges, open circles, or ceremonial areas; in-discriminate arrangement of lodges; absence of fortifications; distinc-tive pottery types and ranges not characteristic of the contemporaryMandan sites nearby. Type "S" rims fall weU below the range forthe Mandan while thickened rims, formed by the addition of a narrowband, are common. The incidence of check-stamped rims runs ashigh as 18 percent of the collection at the Fort Clark Station site afew miles downstream from the mouth of the Knife River. Check-stamped pottery bodies comprise 40 percent of the collection at theUpper Sanger site, and cord-roughened bodies comprise 6.6 percentat the Fort Clark Station site.The contemporaneous Mandan sites show numerous differencesfrom these identifiable earliest Hidatsa sites on the Missouri River.Lodges were identical for both groups and had the well-definedatutish section. The Mandan preserved an open area within thevillage, a specialized ceremonial lodge distinctive in structure fromthe habitation lodge, and a plaza complex consisting of an uprightcedar post, an adjacent ceremonial lodge, and habitation lodges whichfaced the open circle.There were numerous similarities in the pottery of the two tradi-tions, the Mandan villages of the Heart River Focus and the Hidatsavillages of the Painted Woods Focus, which indicate that there hadbeen a long period of intervalley contacts prior to the arrival of theHidatsa on the Missouri. Evidence of this association is borne out bythe fact that, trait for trait, these early Hidatsa sites on the Missouriclosely resemble several sites in southeastern North Dakota along thelower section of the Sheyenne River. At the Shultz site near Lisbon,the pottery types and frequencies of types more closely resemble thatfound on the Missouri River in sites of the Painted Woods Focus thanthat found in traditional Mandan sites only 2 or 3 mUes away. Check-stamp ware was never characteristic of the Missouri Valley or Chou-teau traditions on the Missouri, but is very common in southeasternNorth Dakota and thence northward into Canada. It is foundin the Devils Lake area and westward into the Mouse River drainageand thence westward to the Yellowstone River as far west as Forsyth,Mont., in a region that in late prehistoric times was traditionallyoccupied by the various Hidatsa and Crow groups. It appearsoccasionally in the Mandan sites near the Heart River by the timeof the establishment of the Huff and Shermer sites, at least a centuryprior to the building of the fii'st Hidatsa villages on the Missomri.
484 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194Its presence in these Mandan sites at this early date suggests thatoverland contacts between the Missouri and the Red River of theNorth existed long before the first Hidatsa-Crow groups settled onthe Missouri. Extensive cultural exchange of other traits betweenthe two areas continued until this westward movement of Hidatsa-Crow was terminated with the final arrival of the Mirokac.Continued cultural borrowing between earth lodge peoples livingalong the Missouri River and these western tributaries of the RedRiver of the North even after the abandonment of the eastern areaby the Hidatsa-Crow, is indicated by the many common traitsof the historic Cheyenne of the same general region as noted by Strongin his excavations at the Biesterfeldt site. This site, however, showscloser cultural ties to the historic Arikara than to the Mandan orHidatsa.Thus, the record from native traditions, accounts of early discov-erers, and archeology are in general agreement that the variousHidatsa and Crow bands reached the Plains from the western edgeof the Woodlands as independent and separate groups. They cameprior to the first White penetration of the Missouri Valley and afterthe Mandan had already become firmly established there. Thispenetration of the Plains seems to have been a friendly one as far asthe Mandan are concerned; we find no mention in their traditions ofany conflicts, and the earliest Hidatsa villages were not fortified.The earlier Mandans, with their rectangular lodge tradition, hadbuilt villages as far upstream as Clarks Creek near the mouth ofKnife River. There may have been some settlements farther up-stream, for the "Sacred Lodge of the 01d-Woman-Who-Never-Dies,"was of this tradition (of which the Hidatsa had no memories when thisstudy was made).We must assume that the various Hidatsa groups came to theMissouri Valley a few at a time. They settled above the mouth ofthe Heart River in areas abandoned by the Mandan as they movedfrom an independent village system to a more centralized tribal orga-nization and built the large, long-occupied, and strongly fortifiedSlant, Motsiff, Scattered, Boley, Larson, and Double-ditch villages.Dialectic differences between these west-side communities of NuitadiMandans at the Heart River had disappeared until the later arrivalof a small southern branch of Awigaxa Mandans, who had remainednear the Grand River until after A.D. 1700, and a somewhat largergroup known as the Nuptadi Mandan who had built at Double-ditchsite prior to that date, they, too, coming north relatively late inprehistoric times. By A.D. 1700 the Mandan in the villages listedabove were developing a strong tribal organization which was composedof the Nuptadi and Nuitadi linguistic groups. The Awigaxa Mandan,
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 485
a peripheral linguistic group, also maintained friendly ties with thenorthern Arikara until the smallpox epidemics and the encroachmentof the Sioux forced them to enter into new alliances for mutual defense.The other two earth lodge groups, the Arikara to the south andthe Hidatsa to the north, seem not to have achieved the characteristicsof a tribal organization until after the smallpox epidemics of the 18thcentury. There is archeological evidence that some of the originalArikara communities attempted consolidation at the Fort Sully siteduring protohistoric times, building one huge village of several hundredlodges and multiple ceremonial lodges. The next major Arikara con-solidation did not occur until about A.D. 1800. Lewis and Clark,1804, found them in the two Cottonwood (Leavenworth) sites and athird community on Ashley Island at the mouth of Oak Creek, Itappears that even at that time there was no particular tendency onthe part of the Arikara to set up a unified tribal organization fromamong the survivors of the many abandoned villages mentioned byLewis and Clark. One group of Arikara, representing the survivorsof the northern branch living near the Grand River in close associa-tion with the Awigaxa Mandan, made numerous resettlements of theold Greenshield site opposite Washburn, N. Dak,, as close neighborsof the Awigaxa Mandans who had settled near there. Peace couldnot be maintained between these northern Arikara and the Nuitadiand Nuptadi Mandan; old animosities were revived and conflicts soonarose. As a result, these Arikara came to the Greenshield site torebuild their homes several times between 1785 and 1820, Theythen moved in with the other two Arikara groups at the Cottonwoodsites where they were found during the Leavenworth campaign. TheAwigaxa Mandan eventually joined with the Nuitadi Mandan atFort Clark and, after one final quarrel when they moved back down-stream only to be reunited at Fort Clark a few years later, wereabsorbed by the latter.The Hidatsa settlements on the Missouri upstream from theirculturally related neighbors were, by and large, accepted by theMandan without friction. There is no memory of any intertribalconflict. The Awatixa, who have longest traditions of residence onthe Missouri, acted as a buffer against aggression by nomadic groupsfrom the north, and their close linguistic and friendly ties with theMountain or Western Crow gave the Mandan protection from thatdirection. The long association of this group with their southernMandan neighbors is reflected in their culture as described above;in trait after trait they more closely resembled the Mandan than theother Hidatsa groups. With the single exception of temporary resi-dence at Scattered Village with the Mandan where the present cityof Mandan stands, they have generally lived upstream from Square710-195?65 32
486 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194Buttes. Old Awatixa site on the south bank of the Knife River wastheir principal residence.Traditional, historical, and archeological evidence indicate that theAwaxawi were the next group to settle on the Missouri River, comingthere from the western tributaries of the Red River of the North byway of Devils Lake. They were agricultural Indians with a knowledgeof the earth lodge and a culture that had already been strongly influ-enced by their distant overland contacts with the Mandan and theAwatixa Hidatsa. They settled in the Square Butte to Washburnarea in closer association with the Mandan than with the Awatixa.The Hidatsa and River Crow came to the Missouri River as nomadichunters and took over the unoccupied area upstream from the mouthof the Knife River. Some of these people adopted agriculture fromthe Mandan and their closely related linguistic neighbors, the Awatixaand Awaxawi, to become the Hidatsa-proper. Those who remainednomadic moved upstream and onto the lower Yellowstone River tobecome the River Crow.Once established on the Missouri River, the more numerous Hidatsaand River Crow would not permit the other Hidatsa groups to settleabove them on the river. War once broke out between the Hidatsa-proper and the Awaxawi when the latter attempted to move upstreambeyond the Knife River and the Awaxawi, for a while thereafter, livednear Fort Yates with the agricultural Cheyenne.When the smallpox epidemic of the last part of the 18th centurybroke out in the earth lodge villages on the Missouri River, the Hidatsa-proper and Awatixa were at the mouth of Knife River, the Awaxawiand Awigaxa Mandan were in the Painted Woods region, and theNuptadi and Nuitadi Mandan were in the vicinity of the Heart Riverin six or more large villages. The combined Mandan-Hidatsa popu-lation must have been well in excess of 12,000 people, the Hidatsagroups constituting about one-third of the combined population.The combined Arikara population, apparently twice as numerous asthe combined Hidatsa-Mandan population and living in twice as manyvillages between the Grand River on the north and the Big Bend to thesouth, suffered even greater losses than their neighbors to the northwhere the epidemic wiped out approximately 75 percent of thepopulation.Prior to this time, with the exception of the Mandan near themouth of Heart River, this agricultural population on the MissouriRiver had been widely dispersed. Reorganization of the native pop-ulation was hastened by the invasion of the Sioux in large numbersto the area. The Arikara concentrated near Grand River, the threeHidatsa groups concentrated at the mouth of the Knife River, and theMandan moved upstream and settled a few miles below the Hidatsa
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 487for mutual defense against their common enemies. These mutualdefense measures were taken just prior to A.D. 1800 as a means ofprotection against their more numerous nomadic neighbors.By 1837-38, following another severe smallpox epidemic that nearlyexterminated the Mandan and Hidatsa, the Arikara appeared on theKnife River, having been nomadic hunters in the Western Plains aftertheir gardens had failed from drought a few years earlier. Therethey appropriated the Nuitadi Mandan village, and joined with theMandan-Hidatsa survivors in a mutal defense pact against the Siouxand other nomadic neighbors. In 1845, Fishhook Village was builtby the Hidatsa and Nuitadi Mandans. The other Mandans re-mained near the Arikara until after 1860 when they, too, came toFishhook Village. Ten years later, most of the survivors of HidatsaVillage on the Knife River, under the leadership of Bobtail Bull andCrow-Flies-High, moved to the mouth of the Yellowstone where theylived until forced to return to the Fort Berthold Reservation. Theyestablished a settlement at Shell Village apart from the other Hidatsa.To understand cultural differences and similarities among the vari-ous agricultural communities, one must take into account their sepa-rate histories. Hidatsa family, kinship, and clan loyalties have beenstrong while tribal loyalties have been weak. This has produced asystem whereby some Hidatsa-proper bands have felt stronger loyal-ties to some River Crow bands than to their nearest neighbors, theAwatixa. Likewise, the Awaxawi have occasionally had closer tieswith the Awigaxa Mandan or the earth lodge Cheyenne than withthe Hidatsa-proper or the Awatixa. The Awatixa have had closerties with the Mandan through cultural exchange than with the morenomadic Hidatsa-proper and, in the past, expressed little concernwhen many of the latter talked of rejoining the River Crow.From what we have been able to determine, the Mandan had beenmore successful than the other groups in developing a tribal system.The Awigaxa Mandan, nevertheless, retained closer cultural ties withcertain northern Arikara groups until after 1800. The Arikara, too,had their fraction group which was not completely integrated untilafter 1820.At the time the first Whites reached the Missouri River duringthe 18th century, the Village Indians had a common basic culturewhich was of long standing in the river vaUeys of the Plains and hadspread eastward to the tributaries of the Red River of the North.It was founded on common agricultural plants, tools, and technology.The summer villages were composed of semipermanent earth-cov-ered lodges sufficiently large to shelter an extended family. Minordifferences in design of lodges had disappeared. The winter seasonwas normally spent in the lower wooded valleys where the popula-
488 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194tion depended primarily on the animals they hunted. The eagle-trapping techniques had become standardized. Their materialculture was exceedingly similar throughout several hundred miles ofVillage Indian occupation along the Missouri River and in such areasas the lower Sheyenne River to the east.However, as one delves deeper into the archeology of the area,and comes to acquire greater understanding of these cultures throughcareful examination and with the aid of native informants familiarwith their ancient culture, numerous differences come to Ught. Cat-linite was uncommon in the village sites of the rectangular lodgetradition and in later Mandan sites, but it was common in sites ofthe Chouteau and Painted Woods tradition. On analysis of Mandantraditions and values, one learns that there was a strong prejudiceagainst the use of redstone pipes for ceremonial functions which wasnot shared by the Arikara and Hidatsa. The Mandan preferredthe large, carved, wooden pipe as did the Awatixa who had livedlongest on the Missouri River near them. Shell beads were popularin the Missouri VaUey tradition and unimportant in the Chouteautradition.The open circle or plaza of the Mandan was of long standing withthem and their image of the community was built around this com-plex. Recent fieldwork in South Dakota and carbon-14 dates forthat area indicate that this ceremonial complex was developed beforethe invasion of the region by Chouteau tradition peoples and that itwas not adopted by the Arikara until nearly protohistoric times.Clearly indetifiable ceremonial lodge complexes, as yet unreported forthe Arikara, antedate their first appearance in South Dakota byseveral centuries.Even as late as 1933, Mandan informants were reluctant to dis-cuss knowledge of this sacred complex. Hidatsa informants had noknowledge of sacred areas in their villages or separate ceremoniallodges, and archeology confirms this. Like the Mandan, the Awa-tixa believed that each village ought to have an outstanding sacredbundle owner stationed at each of the four directions within the vil-lage to sound alarms sent by their bundles whenever danger was athand and to assist the head chiefs. This beUef and practice was notshared by the other Hidatsa groups. It was the type of villageorganization that was employed when Fishhook village was builtin 1845. There is neither traditional nor archeological evidencethat the Hidatsa groups ever adopted the earth-covered ceremoniallodge.We also find that the Awatixa, like the Mandan, commonly trans-mitted property of a sacred nature through the matrilineal linerather than from father to son as was the practice among otherHidatsa groups.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 489It is evident that the Mandan have influenced the Hidatsa more thanthe Hidatsa have influenced the Mandan. The oldest Hidatsa siteshave distinctive types and frequencies of pottery that are not charac-teristic of the Mandan, and these had all dropped out by historictimes with the adoption of the more popular Mandan types. Theirage-grade military society system and women's age-grade societieswere, in many instances, borrowed from the Mandan, even within thememory of the grandparents of native informants living in 1933. Acommon clan system was developing from two traditions, a 13-clansystem of the Hidatsa-proper and Awaxawi, which was shared by theCrow, and a 7- or 8-clan system characteristic of the Awatixa. Theirclan systems, through close contacts with the Mandan, were equatedto extend cooperative ties across tribal lines.It can be said that the Hidatsa enjoyed little of the cultural stabilityof the Mandan after their final arrival from the east. They hadshifted from a marginal agricultural region to one possessing a highlydeveloped agricultural system of long standing. Some had evencome as marginal hunters and gatherers from the northeastern edgeof the Great Plains and had undergone significant internal culturalchanges brought about by their close association with Village Indiansliving near Heart River on the Missouri. They adopted social dancesfrom the Sioux and passed them on to the Crow. They borrowed manycuring rites from the Assiniboin which enriched their ceremoniallife. Their ancient way of life was being rapidly enriched by theirmany new contacts on the Missouri when these processes were abruptlyterminated with the extermination of the buffaloes, the conquest oftheir enemies by the U.S. Army, and their forced removal to the FortBerthold Reservation.
BIBLIOGRAPHYBeckwith, Martha W.1938. Mandan-Hidatsa myths and ceremonies. Amer. Folk-Lore Soc.Mem., vol. 32.Benedict, Ruth.1922. The vision in Plains culture. Amer. Anthrop., n.s., vol. 24, No. 1,pp. 1-23.BoDMER, Karl.1906. Travels in the interior of North America, 1832-1834. In "Early-western travels, 1748-1846," ed. by Reuben Gold Thwaites, vol.25. Cleveland.BOLLER, HeNRT a.1868. Among the Indians. Eight years in the far West: 1858-1866.Philadelphia.Bowers, Alfred W.A history of the Mandan and Hidatsa. MS., Ph.D. dissertation,Univ. Chicago, 1948.1950. Mandan social and ceremonial organization. Univ. Chicago Press.Brackenridge, Henry M.1904. Journal of a voyage up the river Missouri; performed in eighteenhundred and eleven. In "Early western travels, 1748-1846," ed.by Reuben Gold Thwaites, vol. 6. Cleveland.Bradbury, John.1904. Travels in the interior of America in the years 1809, 1810, and 1811.In "Early western travels, 1748-1846," ed. by Reuben GoldThwaites, vol. 5. Cleveland.BusHNELL, David I., jr.1922. Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan tribes west of theMississippi. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 77.1927. Burials of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan tribes. Bur. Amer.Ethnol. Bull. 83.Catun, George.1841. The manners, customs and condition of the North American Indians.London.1867. 0-kee-pa: a reUgious ceremony; and other customs of the Mandans.London.Chardon, Francis A.1932. Chardon's journal at Fort Clark, 1834-1839. Ed. by Annie HeloiseAbel. Pierre, S. Dak.Curtis, Edward S.1907 a. The Absaroke, or Crow, the Hidatsa. In "The North AmericanIndian," ed. by Frederick W. Hodge, vol. 4. Univ. Press,Cambridge.1907 b. The Mandan. In "The North American Indian," ed. by FrederickW. Hodge, vol. 5. Univ. Press, Cambridge.490
[Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 491Densmore, Frances.1923. Mandan and Hidatsa music. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 80.Eggan, Fred, Editor.1937. The social anthropology of North American tribes. Univ. ChicagoPress.Grinnell, George B.1923. The Cheyenne Indians, their history and ways of life. 2 vols.Yale Univ. Press.Hatden, F. V.1863. Contributions to the ethnography and philology of the Indian tribesof the Missouri Valley. Amer. Philos. Soc. Trans., n.s., vol. 12,art. 3, pp. 231-462.Henry, Alexander.1897. The manuscript journals of Alexander Henry and of David Thompson,1799-1814. Ed. by Elliot Coues. 3 vols. New York.Kurz, Rudolph Friederich.1937. Journal of Rudolph Friederich Kurz. Ed. by J. N. B. Hewitt, trans,by Myrtis Jarrell. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 115.La Harpe, Bernard de.1886. Relation du voyage de Bernard de la Harpe, Decouvertes et etablisse-ments des Francaise dans I'ouest et dans le sud de I'AmeriqueSeptentrionale 1614-1754. Ed. by Pierre Margry. 6 vols. Paris.La V^rendrye, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes.1927. Journals and letters of Pierre Gaultier de Varennes de La V^rendryeand his sons. Ed. by Lawrence J. Burpee. Toronto,Le Raye, Charles.1908. The journals of Charles Le Raye. South Dakota Hist. Coll., vol. 4.Lewis, Meriwether.1893. History of the expedition under the command of Lewis and Clark.Ed. by Elliot Coues. 4 vols. New York.LiBBY, 0. G.1908 a. Typical villages of the Mandans, Arikara and Hidatsa in the MissouriValley, North Dakota. Coll. State Hist. Soc. North Dakota, vol.2, pp. 498-502.1908 b. La V6rendrye's visit to the Mandans in 1738-39. Coll. State Hist.Soc. North Dakota, vol. 2, pp. 502-508.LOISEL,?1939. Tabeau's narrative of Loisel's expedition to the upper Missouri.Ed. and trans, by Annie Heloise Abel. Univ. Oklahoma Press.LowiE, Robert H.1910. The Assiniboine. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Anthrop. Pap., vol. 4,pt. 1, pp. 1-270.1912. Some problems in the ethnology of the Crow and Village Indians.Amer. Anthrop., n.s., vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 60-71.1913. Societies of the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.Anthrop. Pap., vol. 11, pt. 3, pp. 219-358.1917. Notes on the social organization and customs of the Mandan, Hidatsa,and Crow Indians. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Anthrop. Pap., vol. 21,pt. 1, pp. 1-99.1918. Myths and traditions of the Crow Indians. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.Anthrop. Pap., vol. 25, pt. 1, pp. 1-308.1919. The Hidatsa Sun Dance. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Anthrop. Pap.,vol. 16, pt. 5, pp. 411-431.
492 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194LowiE, Robert H.?Continued1935. The Crow Indians. New York.1954. Indians of the Plains. New York.Mackenzie, Charles.1889. The Missouri Indians, a narrative of four trading expeditions to theMissouri, 1804-1805-1806. In "Les bourgeois de la compagnie duNord-Ouest," ed. by L. R. Masson, vol. 1. Quebec.Matthews, Washington.1877. Ethnography and philology of the Hidatsa Indians. U.S.Geol. andGeogr. Surv. Misc. Publ., vol. 7. Washington.Maximilian. See Wied-Neuwied.Morgan, Lewis H.1871. Systems of consanguinity and affinity. Smithsonian Contr. toKnowl., vol. 17.MuLLOY, William T.1942. The Hagen Site. Univ. Montana Publ. in Soc. Sci., No. 1.Palliser, John.1853. Solitary rambles and adventures of a hunter in the prairies. London.Pepper, G. H., and Wilson, G. L.1908. An Hidatsa shrine and the beliefs respecting it. Amer. Anthrop.Assoc. Mem., vol. 2, pp. 275-328. Lancaster, Pa.Province, J. H.1937. The underlying sanctions of Plains Indian culture. In "Socialanthropology of North American tribes," ed. by Fred Eggan.Univ. Chicago Press.Reid, Russell.1930. The earth lodge. North Dakota Hist. Quart., vol. 4, No. 3, pp.174-185.Schoolcraft, Henry R.1851. Information respecting the history, condition and prospects of theIndian tribes of the United States. Collected and prepared underthe direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 6 vols. Phila-delphia.Spaulding, Albert S.1956. The Arzberger Site, Hughes County, South Dakota. Univ. Michi-gan, Occ. Contr. Mus. Anthrop., No. 16.Strong, William Duncan.1933. The Plains culture area in the light of archaeology. Amer. Anthrop.,U.S., vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 271-287.1940. From history to prehistory in the northern Great Plains. In "Essaysin historical anthropology of North America." Smithsonian Misc.Coll., vol. 100, pp. 353-394.Thompson, David D.1916. David Thompson's narrative of his explorations in western America:1784-1812. Ed. by J. B. Tyrrell, vol. 12. Toronto.Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian Alexander Philipp, Prinz von.1906. Travels into the interior of North America, 1832-1834. In "Earlywestern travels, 1748-1846," ed. by Reuben Gold Thwaites, vols.22-24. Cleveland.Will, George F.1909. Some observations made in northwestern South Dakota. Anthrop.Pap., n.s., vol. 11.
Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 493Will, George F.1924. Archaeology of the Missouri Valley. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Anthrop.Pap., vol. 22, pt. 6, pp. 285-344.1946. Tree ring studies in North Dakota. Agric. Exper. Sta. Bull. 338.Fargo.Will, George F., and Hecker, Thad. C.1944. The upper Missouri River valley aboriginal culture in North Dakota.North Dakota Hist. Quart., vol. 11, Nos. 1-2, pp. 5-126.Will, George F., and Hyde, George E.1917. Corn among the Indians of the Upper Missouri. St. Louis.Will, George F., and Spinden, H. J.1906. The Mandans, a study of their culture, archaeology and ethnology.Peabody Mus. Amer. Archaeol. and Ethnol. Pap., vol. 3, No. 4.Wilson, Gilbert L.1917. Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians. Univ. Minnesota Stud. Soc.Sci., vol. 9.1924. The horse and dog in Hidatsa culture. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.Anthrop. Pap., vol. 15, pt. 11, pp. 125-311.1928. Hidatsa eagle trapping. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Anthrop. Pap.,vol. 30, pt. 4, pp. 99-245.1934. The Hidatsa earthlodge. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Anthrop. Pap.,vol. 33, pt. 5, pp. 341-420, ed. by Bella Weitzner.Winchell, N. H.1911. The aborigines of Minnesota. Minnesota Hist. Soc, St. Paul.Wood, W. Raymond.
. An interpretation of Mandan culture history. MS., Ph.D. disserta-tion, 1961, Univ. Oregon.Woolworth, Alan R.1956. Archaeological investigations at Site 32ME59 (Grandmother's Lodge),North Dakota Hist., vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 79-102.
710-195?65 33

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 194 PLATE J
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 194 PLATE 3
Pehriska-Ruhpa (Two Crows) in the costume of the Dog Band. (Lithograph from originaldrawing by Carl Bodmer.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 194 PLATE 4
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Wulf Chief and wile, 1933.
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Roadmaker, of Awaxawi village. (Lithograph from original drawing by Carl Bodmer.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 194 PLATE 8
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?4
Drags Wolf and Fuulisli Ucar with Waterbuster clan bundle, 1933.
INDEXAddih-Haddisch, Indian name for Road-maker, 375Adoption Pipe fraternity, 48Adoptions, ceremonial, 7, 48, 49, 103, 172expeditions, 49"father and son," 48, 91, 92of prisoners, 95, 167presents for, 48rites, 91Aged, care of, 164Age-grade system, 4, 7, 26, 32, 44, 91,163, 174-212, 250, 337announcer, 131group, 54, 62, 63, 93, 175, 201, 250,403, 417purchases, 106, 124, 157, 178, 182,209 290 455sequence, 176, 179, 188, 199, 222Agriculture, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 27,32, 174, 178, 200, 213, 215, 217,302, 336, 344, 430, 479, 482, 486,487, 489abandoned by Indians, 154, 287, 338adopted by Hidatsa, 11, 16, 18, 23,37, 59, 64, 302, 342gardens, 46, 52, 57, 59, 62, 75, 104,106, 110, 114, 117-119, 128, 132,136, 138, 142, 157, 161, 167, 191,201, 204, 205, 210, 247, 276, 293,297, 298, 300, 301, 334, 335, 336,338, 339, 340, 343, 347, 363, 390,415, 430, 439, 440, 464, 465, 466rites, 104, 138, 209Ahnahaway, see Hidatsa.Alien groups, visits of, 48, 49All-Comes-Out, Indian woman, 147, 148All Difeerent, 98 (chart), 100 (chart)Amahami, see Hidatsa.Ammunition, 142, 147Animals, freeing of, 197imprisonment of, 196Ankles, painted black, 317Antelope, 53, 226, 227, 399, 449, 451hide, 336, 345Antelope Woman, Indian woman, 147148Ant hill, 470, 471Apologies, offering of, 189Appearing Coyote, Indian man, 422, 424,425Aprons, tanned leather, 317Archeological records, 16, 23, 30, 477,486, 488Arm, ceremonial stroking of, 451
Arikara Indians, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 20, 24,28, 29, 36, 37, 40, 41, 67, 74, 135,162, 170, 175, 179, 215, 217, 219,235, 237, 2.53, 254, 260, 273, 281,370, 443, 476, 477, 478, 480, 484,485, 488Arrow, Sacred, 166, 196, 228, 245, 253,254, 286, 290, 291, 292 (fig.),303, 304, 306-308, 312, 322, 335,345, 348, 349, 350, 356, 360, 361,371, 372, 374, 481myth of, 64, 303-308Arrows, 120, 130, 131, 1.57, 188, 239, 2-53,254, 260, 277, 286, 291, 304, 305,306, 310, 322, 336, 345, 349, 356,357, 359, 3G0, 372, 374, 380, 411,412, 414, 420, 422, 423, 424, 425,426, 453, 470holy, 349, 350iron-headed, 301peeled, 453points, 350, 360stone-headed, 301with bark on, 453Arzsberger site, 479, 480Ash, trees, 325poles, digging sticks, 16G, 409sticks, ceremonial, 326wood clubs, 328Assiniboin Indians, 5, 10, 11, 14, 21, 27,30, 40, 56, 62, 92, 93, 164, 191, 192,215, 217, 218, 253, 254, 255, 256.258, 2.59, 260, 276, 287, 295, 30a,375, 425, 434, 489Atutlsh area, 480, 481, 483Awatixa Indians, viii, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15,16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29,30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 43, 45, 66, 70, 127,159, 177, 178, 214, 215, 225, 233,249, 256, 257, 275, 287, 293, 294,300, 301, 302, 303, 309, 312, 327,330, 331, 332, 342, 375, 400, 452,463, 466, 467, 469, 470, 473, 474,475, 481, 482, 486, 487, 488, 489council, 28 (list)traditions, 21, 22village, V, 2, 3, 5, 17, 31, 32, 33, 68,70, 74, 95, 100, 127, 169, 170, 174,176, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 197,216, 245, 260, 293, 296, 303, 304,308, 309, 312, 320, 341, 356, 361,363, 371, 374, 377, 379, 380, 382,412, 429, 431, 434, 442, 452, 467,469, 470, 471, 473, 474, 476, 482village groups, 27, 179, 200, 441495
496 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Awaxawi Indians, vi, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28,29, 30, 34, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 45, 64,65, 76, 127, 176, 177, 178, 181, 213,214, 215, 216, 225, 232, 233, 236,249, 256, 257, 275, 276, 287, 290,291, 294, 296, 297, 299, 300, 301,302, 303, 309, 312, 331, 339, 340,342, 349, 350, 375, 377, 379, 380,392, 430, 441, 446, 463, 466, 474,482, 486, 489council, 28 (list)groups, 430village, V, 2, 31, 32, 66, 70, 74, 95,101, 109, 170, 177, 178, 179, 181,182, 183, 197, 201, 208, 213, 216,245, 247, 260, 293, 300, 327, 341,348, 350, 351, 363, 375, 377, 380.382, 389, 390, 391, 392, 412, 429.434, 436, 447, 452, 454, 475, 476Awigaxa Mandan, 339, 484, 485, 486, 487Ax, stone, sacred, 180, 254, 308, 308, 309Axes, 189, 243, 403Baby, 147, 305, 373, 440spirit, 127Baby Hill, near Little Missouri River,127, 129Badgers, 54, 346, 393Bad Gun, Mandan chief, 67Bad Horn, Hidatsa chief, 38, 357, 472Badlands, 233Bad luck impersonator, 457, 460Bad Water site, 478Bag, 445, 465Bagnall village, 39Baker, James, interpreter, ivBaker, Mrs. Owen, 346Baker, Percy, 247Bald Eagle village, 468Balls, 115, 334berry, 465clay (hair), 438corn, 53, 329. 352, 355, 359, 360, 365,367, 368, 369, 373, 384, 385, 414,439, 443, 452, 461, 465, 468, 469.470Baneberry roots, red, 293, 307, 360Barred-Speckled Eagle village, 468Basket, 306coiled, 443sacred, 336, 347, 395Basketmaking, 120, 162Bassett, George, 150Bastions, 479, 480Bats, 355Battles, sham, 380Beads, 130, 131, 139, 375shell, 488work with, 147, 167Beads-Stick-Out-of-His-Side, Sioux man,384Beams, raised by men, 160Beans, 46, 203, 339, 344, 345, 392
Bear, 227, 254, 334, 344, 348, 351, 352,355 393 472black,' 348,' 349, 400, 446, 448foot, drawing of, 229grizzly, 253, 254, 334, 345, 348, 349,350, 351, 352, 353, 357, 358, 389impersonator, 239, 241medicine man, 241, 259Bear Chief, Indian man, 228Bear-Comes-Out, Indian man, 254Bear Den Creek, 263, 270Bear Heart, Indian man, 383, 389Bear-in-the-Water, Indian man, 423Bear-Looks-Out, Awaxawi chief, 38, 152,153, 154, 181, 182, 201, 203, 341,342, 343, 367, 383, 385, 386, 472Bear-Lying-Against-Tree, Bears Arm'spaternal grandfather, 97, 98(chart)Bear Necklace, Indian man, 221, 389,444, 456Bear-on-the-Flat, Indian man, 422Bear-on-the-Water, 157Bears Arm, interpreter, v, vii, viii, 2, 5,12, 17, 18, 20, 27, 95, 96 (chart),97, 98 (chart), 100 (chart), 101,150, 155, 162, 173, 177, 252, 257,260, 291, 299, 300, 304, 349, 350,352, 357, 374, 410, 417, 419, 422,424, 426, 442, 444, 449, 458, 460,473and Walks, relationship between,96 (chart)and Yellow Coat, relationship be-tween, 98 (chart)narrative by, 252-257, 350-356, 374,375-380, 390, 442-446, 460, 464-466Bears Heart, Indian man, 152, 153, 154,253, 341, 367, 402, 422, 424Bearskin, 229, 345, 352-357black, 227, 231Bears Nose, 99, 100 (chart)Bears Teeth, Indian man, 228Bear Woman, 99, 100 (chart)Beavers, 166, 355, 357, 358, 371claws, 378, 380dam, 399fur, 380Beckwith, Martha W.. 3, 334Bedding, 153, 311, 316Beds, 143, 160, 163Beheading, 243Bell, signal, 40, 276Bell, William, 146, 147, 152, 416, 417,418Bellen, ?, 11Bellen map, 10Belly Up. Indian man, 367Beloit College, vii, 463Belt. 256, 444Berdache, 105, 115, 132, 159, 166-168,220, 256, 259, 260, 207, 315, 316,325, 326. 330. 427, 438dress of, 326, 330function of, 330
INDEX 497
Berries, 465Biesterfeldt site, 484Big Bellies, see Hidatsa.Big Bend, 218, 246, 479, 486Big Black, Indian chief, 92, 310, 363,374Big Bull, Indian leader, 228, 233, 234,235, 236, 237, 238, 402Big Cloud (Fat Fox), Awaxawi chief,38, 261, 262, 268, 269, 472Big Coat, Indian man, 363, 403Big-Foot-Bull, Mandan man, 150, 406,407Big Hand, Awaxawi chief, 38Big Hidatsa 35 site, 216Big Thief, Indian man, 416Big Turtle, chief, 38Big Wind, murderer, 77, 78Bird Bear, Indian man, 366Bird Bill Butte, 265, 360Bird-Lying-Down, informant, vBirds, 57, 130, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206,208, 300, 347, 360killdeer, 390water, 336, 338, 340, 341, 346, 363Bird Woman, Shoshoni guide, 95, 146,147 152 385Birth, 104, 109, 126-129, 289, 330Bismarck, N. Dak., 265, 298, 369, 384,479, 481Bison, 301Bites-in-Nose, Indian name, 340Blackbirds, 334, 344, 345, 346Black Eagle, Indian judge, 151Blackens-his-Moccasins, council mem-ber, 28, 31, 471, 474Blackfoot Indians, 67, 153, 435Black Hawk, Indian man, 395, 396Black Hills, 49, 51, 238, 259Black Horn, Indian man, 424Black Mouths, functions of, 32, 33, 39,40, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 54, 58, 60, 62.72, 125, 162, 177, 184, 185, 188, 189,191, 207, 221, 276Black Owl, Indian Man, 416, 417, 418Black root, medicine from, 128, 373, 380,381Black Shield, Indian warrior, 239, 240,241, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 440,447, 448Black-tipped Eagle village, 468Black Wolf, Indian man, 396, 441, 446Blankets, 227, 228, 311, 365, 398, 402,403, 407, 471to wrap dead, 109, 117Blizzard, supernaturally caused, 196Blood Man Impersonator, 442, 446, 448Bloody, member of council, 28Blossom, Indian woman, 444Bluebird, Indian man, 264Blue Buttes, 263, 471Bluestone, Indian man, 254, 255, 258,389, 422, 425710-195?65 35
Bobtail Bull, Awaxawi chief, 38, 42, 43,44, 225, 233, 236, 242, 243, 244, 245,246, 248, 249, 250, 251, 257, 274,343, 346, 422, 424, 435, 436, 438,444, 451, 452, 456, 457, 459, 460,461, 487group, 45, 246, 438Bobtail Wolf, Indian man, 363, 364Bodmer, Karl, painter, 375Body painting, 243, 282, 317, 367, 454,458of dead, 169Boley site, 478, 484Boiler, Henry A., 3, 37, 39, 187, 205, 346Bones (human) , 322, 463burial of, 171separation of, from skull, 171worn by fasters, 322Bones, buffalo, 388, 414, 464, 466Boomer, Mr. and Mrs. George A., iiiBradbury, John, 17Brave-While-Young, Indian man, 349,350, 354, 355, 358Breathing, Bears Arm's grandfather,97,98 (chart), 351Breechcloth, worn by men, 406, 429Bride, 140, 158Bridle, 267Broadus, Mont., 447Broken Ax, Mandan Indian, 203, 204Brother, 95, 105-109, 111-117, 122-124,127, 129, 130, 132-135, 139, 145,147, 150, 152, 154, 157, 158, 163,167-172, 237, 245, 246, 248, 251,261, 269, 279, 328, 330, 342, 344,353, 360, 361, 366-368, 371, 384,397, 399-402, 404, 405, 407, 413,414, 419, 434, 449, 456, 462, 470,473activities of, 112, 299blood, 159, 279children of, duties to, 113, 117, 123,393clan, 299death of, 113duties of, 113, 129, 130, 449older, 140, 141, 158, 268, 269, 284,318, 419revenge upon, 279widows of, duties toward, 113, 123wife of, 80, 81, 123, 124, 163, 196,367, 403Brother-in-law, 88, 103, 115, 122. 123,124, 130, 142, 152, 223, 234, 236,237, 244, 333"Brother-in-law," 87, 88, 95, 97, 101, 103,110, 122, 123''Brothers," 87, 94, 97, 99, 101, 111, 116,121, 122, 123, 140, 154, 159, 231,243, 248, 249, 258, 288children of, 86, 117, 169, 202
"older," 72, 80, 81, 80, 87, 88, 90, 99,101, 103, 109, 111, 112, 116, 120,123, 129, 132, 135, 137, 248"younger," 80, 81, 86, 87, 90, 116,120, 123, 127, 136, 220,
498 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Bowers, Alfred W., 78, 342, 462, 474Bowers, Gladys Monson, viii, 22, 78Bowl, wooden, 206, 356, 443, 459Boy, Indian man, 253, 254Boys, 52, 54, 63, 112, 130-133, 135, 141,208, 221, 256, 277, 305, 318, 334,413, 414, 426clubs for, 179, 180, 181discipline of, 131, 133dress of, 180killing of, 378raids by, 221, 222training of, 129, 130, 135-137, 220prayers for, 128, 129Brown Blossom, Mandan woman, 143,144, 145Brown Woman, Indian woman, 146, 383,3S4, 404Buckbrush, 316Buckskin, tanned, 412Bufealo
:
blood, drinking of, 227bones, 388, 414, 464, 466calf, 180, 206, 208, 246, 300, 439,462corral, 434, 446, 447, 449, 450 (plan)cow, 438, 439drive, 446fat, 381, 387, 400hair, 388, 398heads, 55, 266, 316, 318, 322, 424,426, 438, 440, 443, 464hearts, 381, 387herds, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 131.186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 192, 207.242, 307, 337, 338, 413, 433, 436,437, 440, 442, 446, 447, 448, 449,451, 452, 461, 464hide cradle, 128hides, 146, 162, 266, 284, 314, 316,318, 321, 328, 390, 399, 400, 403,411, 412, 420, 421, 426, 432, 434.438, 440, 442, 443, 444, 445, 448,454, 458, 470hocks, 397hoofs, 452horns, 356, 381hunt, 28, 48, 50, 411, 436, 437hunt, summer, 50-56, 186, 187, 227,286, 375, 442impersonators, 232, 455intestines, 360, 373meat, 337, 399, 436, 438, 440, 461migrations, 58mouths, 396neckbones, 464, 466paunch, 23, 227, 334, 375, 391, 437,444, 465pens, 447robes, 311, 346, 347, 353, 355, 382,418, 435, 437sinews, rope of, 334, 337skulls, 54, 55, 60, 95, 171, 187, 198,199, 307, 314, 332, 333, 344, 353,354, 355, 356, 357, 361, 364, 367,
Buffalo?Continuedskulls?Continued368, 371, 380, 381, 383, 384, 388,391, 395, 397, 399, 404, 405, 406,407, 408, 417, 419, 420, 421, 423,428, 429, 431, 432, 434, 436, 437,438, 439, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445,446, 452, 454, 455, 456, 457, 461,462, 466, 468, 470, 472snares, 449spirits, 127, 255, 259, 388, 436tail, 316, 321, 399, 426, 461tallow, 414teeth, 388tongues, 162, 305, 426, 449trapping, 445vertebrae, 463, 464Buffalo Bulls, Indian man, 452Buffalo Comes Out Butte, 12 (map),436Buffaloes, iv, 12, 26, 34, 35, 44, 45, 51,53, 54, 57, 59-62, 64, 79, 127, 132,138, 146, 147, 149-151, 154, 162,180, 183, 186, 187, 189, 198, 199,205, 207, 208, 226, 227, 229, 244-247, 255, 257, 259, 263, 268, 275,300, 302-304, 311, 317, 318, 338,347, 350, 353, 354, 364-366, 378,383, 393, 399, 411, 413, 418, 433,437, 439-446, 448, 454, 455, 457,458, 461, 462, 464-466, 468-473coralling of, 79, 448-449division of, 449extermination of, 433, 435, 489prayers to, 54, 461sacred, 303, 383Buffalo Home Butte, 12 (map), 127,227, 228, 255, 259, 369, 435, 436,442, 462Buffalo-with-Gray-Penis, Indian man,145Buffalo "Woman, Mandan woman, 374,456Buffalo Woman Impersonator, 439, 461Bug Woman, Dog Bear's wife, 443, 444,445Bullboats, 57, 120, 145, 146, 147, 262, 265,276, 299, 360, 372, 378, 401, 420,424, 465, 476paddles for, 147Bull Buffalo, Indian man, see Kidney.Bullet, 255, 352, 426Bull Looks, Indian scout, 377Bulls, 311, 322BulLsnake, 125, 307, 364, 365Bundlemakers, 420, 421, 422, 423, 425,426, 427, 428, 429Bundles, 6, 373, 397, 474Acira, 358assembling of, 332, 345-346Bear, 38, 241, 349, 350, 351, 353, 355,356, 357, 367, 389Bear Bullet, 349Big Bird, 183, 253, 360, 364, 370,373, 374, 424
INDEX 499Bundles?ContinuedBlack Bear, 398Buffalo, 206Buffalo Skull, 367, 405ceremonial, v, 32, 38, 46, 118, 119,160, 168, 171, 240, 285, 320, 389,421clan, 7, 32, 38, 471, 474, 475contents of, 332, 380, 429, 432corn ceremony, 341Com Skull, 297Creek, 382, 383, 387, 389eagle-trapping, 57, 79, 183, 226, 227,231, 261, 367, 424, 443Earthmaking, 367, 455Earthnaming, vi, 27, 31-33, 41-43,174, 232, 233, 235, 236, 241-247,249, 250, 257, 424, 433, 436, 443,445, 456, 461foRsts to 4G4Good-Furred-Robe, 201, 339, 342Grizzly Bear, 253, 348, 350, 358, 424Hawk, 253hereditary, 26, 65, 79, 116, 162, 163,198, 201, 236, 260, 296, 348, 349.350, 353, 358, 362, 441, 464Holy Woman, 167, 367, 392, 432Horse, sacred, 283, 287human skull, 475Imitating Buffalo, 424, 442, 445, 446Knife, 296, 468, 473-474Long Arm, 253, 254, 312, 314Mandan Com, 152Mandan Skull, 152, 201, 367medicine, 128, 204, 230, 444Missouri River, 95, 379, 380, 381,383NaxpikE. 127, 274, 308, 309, 313, 367,389, 424, 430Old-Woman-Above, 398, 406, 432Old-Woman-Who - Never - Dies, 43,200, 246, 339, 341, 342, 343, 344,367owners of, 33, 40, 41, 57, 95, 120,166, 179, 186, 199, 201, 202, 203,233, 236, 250, 251, 257, 261, 275,320, 321, 324, 330, 332, 333, 340,341, 343, 344, 345, 347, 350, 353,355, 356, 357, 358, 363, 367, 369,372, 373, 382, 392, 395, 397, 405,412, 415, 419, 420, 421, 424, 425.427, 430, 433, 437, 438, 441, 442,447, 455, 470, 471, 474, 488People-Above (Mandan), 253personal. 5, 136, 171, 198, 240, 242,246, 250, 287, 288, 348, 362Poor Wolf, 257purchase of, 95, 120, 168. 192, 198,238, 246, 250, 258, 268, 270, 287,308, 332, 344, 345, 350, 353, 357,362, 364, 366, 367, 389, 397, 418,419, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426,428, 429, 432, 464Rainmaking, 203, 238Red Grass, 428
Bundles?Continuedrenewal of, 286, 332, 383River, 120, 373Robe, 343, 344, 346sacred, 5, 6, 31, 33, 51, 54, 58-60, 72,107-109, 116, 118-120, 123, 128,132, 133, 135, 138, 141, 143, 152,159, 160, 162, 163, 171, 179-181,184, 186, 187, 192, 198, 201, 203,209, 224-226, 22&-230, 235, 237,243, 247, 252, 259, 261, 263, 265,270, 274, 276, 282, 284, 285, 287,290, 295-297, 309, 314, 317, 319,323, 331, 333, 336, 340, 345, 347,356, 358, 361, 363, 367, 371, 380,383, 385-388, 392, 393, 398, 399,404-406, 420, 421, 431, 434, 436,438, 443, 455, 462, 474, 475, 488Sacred Robe, 70, 339sale of, 42, 171, 332, 342, 420Seven Dogs, 327Shell Robe, 474Singer, 451Skull, 42, 201, 339, 340, 342, 343,344Snake, 373Sun, 475Sun Doing, 31Sunrise Wolf, 397, 401, 406Sunset Wolf, 430, 432Thunder, 38, 183, 299, 358, 359, 367,370, 381, 424Thunderbird, 294tribal, 31, 41, 91, 116, 136, 138, 171,201, 203, 246, 250, 258, 287, 288,441, 461Waterbuster clan, 143, 174, 296, 359,365, 383, 398, 455, 467^73, 474White Fingernails, 300Wolf, 150, 225, 253, 255, 257, 261,264, 273, 275, 367, 397, 405, 415,417, 418, 419, 421, 424, 431, 432,433Wolf Woman, 392, 405, 410, 412,430 431 432Woman-Above, 261, 325, 329, 330,332, 367, 424Burgois site, 478Burials, 169. 170, 463, 464cache pit, 171, 475clothing for, 168, 170earth, 331food provided for, 172ground, 169, 170, 331, 475mound, 169, 170, 171pit, 76, 169, 170rock, 170scaffold, 169, 170, 171, 475secondary bundle, 331, 475tree, 169, 170Butchering, camp activity, 54, 55, 124.132, 154, 162, 167, 189, 449Butchers, 55Butte-with-Grass, 414Buzzards, 419
500 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Cabin, 5, 160, 161Cache pits, 46, 130, 166, 440, 463Caches, 59, 161Cactus, 227, 411, 427Calfskin, 329Calf Woman, Hidatsa woman, 206, 800Calicoes, offerings of, 60, 150, 310, 311.319, 338, 365, 383, 385, 402Campfire, 232Camps
:
areas, 22, 34, 35, 40, 41, 46, 47, 48,186, 227circles, 53, 56, 442eagle-trapping, 39, 57"in-between," 62leaders of, 34, 35, 51, 54, 55, 57, 58,60-63, 186, 187, 207, 270, 472selection of, 53, 54, 57, 187temporary, 23, 216tenders of, 134, 137, 222, 223, 224,226, 269, 272, 422winter, 56-63, 131, 161, 170, 185,187, 188, 189, 192, 206, 215, 242,263, 264, 266, 270, 286, 307, 434,439, 440, 447, 464, 472Canada, 294, 483Canes, 411, 423, 429chokecherry, 429grandfather's, 119, 379Cannibalism, 277-278, 330-333Cannonball River, 12 (map), 39, 125.175, 213, 214, 217, 480Cannonball site, 478Cap, coyote head, 423coyote skin, 411, 429jackrabbit skin, 317low, worn by clansmen, 361, 368otter skin, 377, 378wolf hide, 394, 397, 432Captives, 260Carbon-14 tests, 479, 488Cataracts, eye disease, 380Catlin, George, 17, 329, 474Catlinite, 480, 488Cattle, 250, 267, 274, 298, 299, 311, 322Government rations, 245Cedar, Indian man, 389Cedar, 263, 349, 380creeping, 443, 444, 445, 459, 461incense, 386post, 483sacred, 38, 39, 297, 457thickets, 386Census, Government, 5Central Plains Upper Republican cul-ture, 479"Ceremonial" mother, selection of, 104Ceremonies, 38, 43, 45, 106, 117, 135, 136,152, 157, 167, 185, 190, 192, 209,225, 246, 251, 261, 267, 294, 311,314, 325, 326, 379adoption, 91Akupehri, see Okipa,arrow, 305, 349, 411ash sticks used in, 326
Ceremonies?ContinuedBear, 350, 352, 354, 355, 366Big Bird, 253, 361, 363-370, 374Big Bird Sweatlodge, 361Bird, 435"Bring the Robe," death ceremony,168, 169, 171buffalo, 464Buffalo Calling, 8, 32, 35, 57, 58, 59,60, 149, 183, 187, 192, 205, 206,207, 208, 209, 225, 236, 242, 290,293, 296, 398, 433-466Buffalo corral, 446^51buffalo masks, worn in, 206Buffalo neckbone, 463-466bundle purchasing, 350clan bundle, 467-475corn, 200, 346Creek, 380-389, 432, 474Cuts-Hole-in-the-Mouth, 316, 317Daybreak, 38Eagle trapping, 78, 79, 263, 293, 295,310, 334, 363, 388, 441, 445, 446Earthnaming, vi, 127, 208, 242, 245,287, 433-438Everything-Comes-Back, 370fiSh trapping, 286, 446formal, 224, 286giver of, 458, 459Grizzly Bear, 348-358Hidebeating, 306, 308-323Holy Women, 324, 326, 406, 464, 465horse, 92, 283, 287Imitating Buffalo, 383, 437, 438-446,447, 465initiation of, 137leaders of, 8, 32, 43, 119, 167, 183Missouri River, 371-380Moon, 324 (fig.)NaxpikE, 2, 6, 28, 45, 46, 50, 73, 78,167, 181, 226, 243, 266, 274, 284,308, 309, 312-314, 320, 321, 323,333, 349, 353, 375, 389, 390, 391,426, 429, 467Okipa, 38, 78, 199, 203, 206, 226,309, 321, 337, 366, 389, 391, 424,429, 430, 433, 443, 456Old-Woman-Above, 398, 404Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, andrelated ceremonies, 333-348, 392Painted Red Stick, 143, 183, 207,229, 232, 244, 439, 441, 451-463paraphernalia used in, 283, 344participation in, 106, 113, 129-138,193, 280pledged, 47, 283"Prairie People," 414public, 242, 247, 250purchase of, 77, 91. 92purchases through, 155, 158, 163,209, 282, 289, 307rainmaking, 179. 199, 208, 461, 471Red Stick, 437, 456, 458 (plan), 459(plan)sacred, 175Sacred Arrow, 335
INDEX 501Ceremonies?ContinuedSacred Robe, 70seating arrangements at, 78Square Butte Earth-Naming, 12(map)summer, 47Sun, 324 (fig.), 389Sunrise Wolf, 295, 392, 393, 394-409, 416, 417, 429Sunset Wolf, 78, 248, 392, 393, 402.410-i30sweat, 365, 366, 382village building, 38Thunder, 8, 293, 299, 310, 836, 358-392, 474Thunderbird, 299tribal, 136, 171, 278, 303, 326Tying-the-Pots, 179, 348. 375, 389-392, 430village, 56, 138"walking," 143, 144, 147, 148, 150,151, 155, 229, 244, 248, 263, 270,271, 286, 290, 451, 452, 453, 456Water People, 377winter, 57Wolf, 2, 8, 50, 73, 150, 155, 199, 225,226, 230, 231, 238, 252, 253, 257.261, 267, 295, 391, 392-430Wolf Woman, 392, 393, 395, 410,419, 430-433Woman Above, 323, 325 (fig.), 327,330, 397, 407Chamberlain, S. Dak., 478Charboneau, -? , explorer, 17Chardon, Francis A., 192. 217Charging Eagle, son of Four Bears, 237,242, 244, 247Charred Body Creek, 21, 174, 291, 304.360, 467Cherries, 353, 383, 386Cherries-in-Mouth, Indian chief, 45, 58,126, 127, 402Cherry Creek, 17, 392Cherry Creek village, 24Cherry Necklace, Hidatsa chief, 34, 35,97. 256, 257, 324, 329, 350, 352.408, 409, 427Cheyenne Indians, 21, 32, 215, 234, 236,301, 338, 393, 410, 412, 424, 484,486, 487Cheyenne River site, 477, 479, 481Chicken-Can't-Swim (Yellow Coat), 97"Chief of the Scouts," 237, 238Chief, 26, 78, 466daughter of, 304, 305duties of, 59head, 27, 38, 46, 172, 246, 402, 488lodge of, 290"peace," 91, 295, 434, 437, 438responsibilities of, 57, 58, 61, 62selection of, 56, 57, 77tribal, 26, 59, 156use of term, 26, 63, 172, 241village or peace, 27, 32, 43, 44, 45,56, 58, 155, 172, 232, 233, 244
Chief?Continuedwar, 27, 32, 43, 46, 56, 58, 113, 172winter, 41, 42, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63, 186,471Children, 50, 61, 64, 81, 103, 111, 119,126, 132, 136, 150, 151, 152, 158,160, 161, 167, 205, 218, 244, 260,271, 274, 275, 342, 349, 369, 381,385, 386, 387, 389, 407, 432, 436,439, 449, 451, 465, 466, 472adoption of, 7, 72, 94, 95, 118, 119,129, 256capture of, 413care for, 124, 128, 129, 249, 282death of, 76, 95, 129, 169, 171lack of supernatural powers in, 284legends about, 205naming of, 107, 128, 129punishment of, 105relation to step-parents, 93training of, 129, 135, 219, 321Chimney, 161Chippewa, Indian man, 367, 383Chippewa Indians, 93, 213, 215, 218, 219,277, 278, 301, 378, 422Chippewa Woman, 97, 98 (chart)Chokecherries, 53, 226, 353, 386, 390, 399,429stick of, broken, 384, 470wood of, 454, 461Chokecherry, Indian man, 389Chouteau Aspect, 480, 483, 488Cicada, 66Clam Necklace, Mandan Indian, 370Clam shell, 262, 268, 305, 381Clans, 7, 13, 64, 65, 77, 79, 80, 90, 103,158, 188-190, 246, 270, 291, 293,308, 314, 332, 489adopted, 67-71as integrating force, 77AvAaxEuawita, 28, 66, 67, 68, 69(table), 96, 98 (chart), 100(chart), 309, 358, 371, 416Badger, 70Bear, 70brothers through, 151, 155, 169, 255,256, 258, 266, 267, 274, 310, 318,362, 403, 404, 423, 424, 425, 426,429, 457, 458Bunch-of-Wood People, 70bundle deities, 95discipline by, 126duties of, 71-78, 160, 169, 261, 268father of, 326, 355, 356, 423, 424,426, 427father's, 129, 130, 133, 159, 164, 168,169, 171, 223, 237, 284, 289, 308,310, 312, 352, 391, 417, 426, 427,437, 451, 460functions of, 72-73, 185Hidatsa, 7, 31, 64, 65, 67 (list)instructor of, 362Itisuku, 66, 67, 68, 69 (table), 77,95, 97, 98, 100 (chart), 159, 309,398
502 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Clans?ContinuedKnife (MEtsiroku), 28, 31, 32, 65,67, 68, 69, 70, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100(chart), 101, 153, 309, 341, 358,361, 362, 363, 368, 474linked, 97, 124Low Cap (Apukawiku), 65, 67, 68,69, 97, 101, 352, 358, 361, 362,363, 368, 474Managoctadomak, 325Mandan, 7, 31, 67 (list)Masedomak, 334Maxoxati, 28, 65, 67, 68, 69 (table),70, 97, 101, 102 (chart), 248, 403,416, 431membership in, 5, 6, 28 (list), 65,67-71, 129, 308members of, 160, 202, 252, 279Miripatihe, see Waterbuster.mother's, 129names of, 64, 65origins of, 64-66other tribes, 67 (list)"People in a Grove," Mandan, 325Prairie-chicken, v, 28, 31, 66, 67,68, 69 (table), 70, 74, 92, 97, 98(chart), 144, 150, 153, 158, 159,228, 248, 251, 296, 309, 340, 342,364, 371, 382, 383, 393, 406, 407,431, 456, 458, 474Red-Hill-People (Snake), 70, 334relatives through, 117, 266sisters through, 95, 96, 109, 404, 456,457Speckled Eagle, v, 66, 67, 68, 69(table), 70, 74, 92, 97, 159, 228,231Sunset Wolf, 38Tamisik, 67, 69 (table), 70, 98, 127Waterbuster (Miripati), 7, 28, 66,67, 68, 69, 127, 143Waterbuster (Thunder), 7, 28, 31.32, 38, 42, 66, 68, 92, 97, 143, 144,153, 159, 174, 256, 261, 262, 263,266, 296, 309, 371, 377, 382, 386,398, 416, 456, 467-473, 474WaxikEna, 67, 69 (table), 70, 406Xura, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 (table), 77,92, 97, 101, 102 (chart), 159, 293,381, 398, 474Clansmen, 147, 149, 153, 155, 156, 157,173, 212, 244, 249, 257, 265, 268,269, 270, 284, 289, 317, 320, 344,383, 407, 417, 427, 458, 462, 463,473, 475assistance by, 128, 169children of, 139duties of, 73, 74, 75, 76, 141, 182,419Clapp, Major, Indian agent, 151Clark's Creek site, 339, 479, 484Claws, hawk or owl, 444
Clay, balls of, 438red and black, 438white, 319, 321, 322, 394, 396, 411,420, 423, 429, 432, 433white, used for painting, 226, 310,311, 317, 423, 426, 429, 432Clay-on-Face, Indian brave, 70, 334, 393Clothing, 110, 115, 132, 150, 153, 188,206, 210, 243, 244, 247, 249, 280,315, 316, 373, 380, 391, 398, 407,428, 429, 465, 466burial, 168, 169ceremonial, 414, 427, 433elkskin, 415hide, 247, 376mountain sheep, 325mourning, 172porcupine quill decorated, 432symbolic, 197, 202, 251See also Robes ; Shirt.Clubs, burnt ash wood, 328carried by Black Mouths, 184decorated, 452red, 465Coal, lignite, 165Coals, used in rites, 229, 348, 405, 406,464, 471Coffee, 401, 402, 422Cole, Fay-Cooper, iii, viiCollie, George L., ni, viiConception, beliefs regarding, 126Cooking, 132, 137, 151Cooperation, intervillage and inter-tribal, 24Corn, balls of, 53, 329, 352, 355, 359, 360,365, 367, 368, 369, 373, 384, 385,414, 439, 443, 452, 459, 461, 465,468, 469, 470basket for, 345boiled, 451chamber for, 305, 391cooked, 310cultivated, 15, 26, 46, 48, 49, 50, 52,59, 132, 164, 185, 187, 202, 203,205, 213, 217, 297, 300, 302, 303,307, 339, 344, 346, 365, 378, 392,402, 403, 406, 414, 440, 469, 476,477, 482dried, 53ground, 104, 439growing of, taught by Mandan, 213mill, 95mush, 470products of, 4.53red, 334roasted, 365, 384, 386, 395, 404, 453,457scaffolds for, 46, 440trade in, 218white, 346yellow, 345, 346Corncobs, charred, 23, 328Corn Father, Indian man, 342Cornfields, 37, 56, 128Corn People, 184
INDEX 503Corn Priest, 347Com silk, 346Corn Smut, Indian man, 266, 267, 274Corn Woman, Indian woman, 152, 342Corpse, disposal of, 168, 169Sec also Burial.Corral hunting, 162Corrals, 53, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450(plan), 451Cottonwood, 229, 293, 315, 316, 347, 456,457Cottonwood sites, 485Council of Twelve, 473Councils, 27-40, 42, 46, 52, 54, 57, 125,186, 187, 276authority of, 47, 57, 276decisions of, 34, 39, 51, 57feast of, 28, 39headquarters of, 51intervillage, 156, 191leaders of, 91meetings of, 28, 34, 39tribal, 27-29, 35, 36village, 33, 35, 39, 124, 186, 191, 193,277Coup, Indian honors, 230, 232, 238, 241,256, 258, 259, 279, 280, 316, 366,410, 454Courtships, 138, 139Cousins, 81, 86Cow, 415Cowardliness, feelings about, 125, 192,455Coyote, Indian man, 263Coyote, 148, 197, 227, 228, 235, 238, 393,395, 397, 410, 422hides, 404, 411manes, with feet attached, 429skin caps, 411tail, worn on heels, 279, 411Coyote Head, Indian man, 442, 443, 444Coyote Necklace, Indian man, 228Coyote Woman, Mandan woman, 15'0,407, 408Cradle, buffalo hide, 128Cranes, 344, 374Crazy Raven, Indian scout, 226Cree Indians, 277, 301Creek Indians, 226Crime
:
beating, as punishment for, 148, 149,152, 155, 157, 188, 221cuffing, as punishment for, 112disobedience, 276ducking, as punishment for, 112,269elopement, 154infraction of council regulations, 60,188murder, 74, 173, 305manslaughter, 74, 77rape, 134scolding, as punishment for, 112, 135shaming, as punishment for, 269theft, 72, 73, 112, 134, 135, 185, 190
Crime?Continuedwhipping, as punishment for, 112,123, 134, 149, 193, 221See also Horses, stealing of; Police.Crow agency, 315Crow Bull, council member, 28, 350, 351Crow Butte, 12 (map), 435Crow-Flies-High, Indian leader, 43, 45,225, 238, 240, 243, 245, 246, 250,251, 341, 343, 372, 383, 487group of, VI, 45, 67, 77, 149, 185,225, 240Crow Indians, 5, 13, 16, 19, 27, 43, 44,57, 67, 70, 74, 78, 80, 90, 92, 93,113, 153, 154, 164, 175, 176, 179,183, 213, 214, 216, 217, 218, 225,230, 243, 245, 247, 249, 261, 267,275, 283, 285, 287, 293, 297, 300,301, 303, 304, 338, 393, 447, 463,464, 476, 478, 481, 482, 489group relations with Hidatsa, 13,21, 37, 482Hidatsa-River, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,178, 179, 214, 216, 218, 250, 257,275, 287, 290, 291, 294, 299, 300,301, 302, 303, 312, 336, 358, 474Mountain or Western, 16, 21, 22,178, 257, 312, 485Crows, 363, 393feather from, 279Crows Arm, Indian man, 456Crows Breast, Indian scout, 226, 227,229, 230, 231, 232, 265, 272, 367,383, 424, 444, 456Crows Heart, informant, v, vi, 2, 15, 101,102 (chart), 103, 124, 125, 126,127, 141, 152, 203, 258, 277, 278,310, 448, 463narrative from, 152-154, 221, 370Crows Paunch. 43, 44, 245, 253, 309, 327Crying, by lodge members, 134, 135, 262ceremonial, 263, 264, 290, 317, 319,328, 351, 421, 424, 437, 440, 466preparation for war, 46, 253Crving Dog, Indian man, 309Culture hero, 21, 78, 80, 95, 126, 286, 294,295See also Mythology.Curtis, Edward S., v, 3, 17, 27, 184, 341,343, 346, 347Custer campaign, vii, 273, 274Cuts-His-Hair, 126Dakotas, 216Dancers, 316, 318, 440, 443, 444, 445evergreen worn by, 440, 444Dances, 63, 151, 179, 182, 414, 440, 452Big Grass, 176Buffalo, 199Cuts-Hole-in-the-Mouth, 316fall, 346Female Bear, 355Goose Society, 152, 202, 203, 346Grass, 91, 92, 176, 211, 283, 401, 402
504 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Dances?ContinuedHalf-Shaved Head, 211Hot, 176
"last," 427,428 (fig.), 429NaxpikE, VI, 6, 31, 46, 50, 73, 127,167, 174, 180, 181, 219, 248, 266,267, 277, 284, 291, 294, 308, 310-313, 320-322, 333, 375, 383, 389,390, 391, 426, 429Night Grass, 176, 211, 402sale of, 176scalp, 329, 347, 396, 433social, 489society, 92spring, 346Squaw, 150victory, 75, 121, 155, 193, 219, 222.240, 241, 254, 271, 274, 300, 379war, 62White Buffalo, 152Wolf, 415Dancing, 55, 113, 135, 319, 402, 411, 423.424, 429Dancing club, 179, 180Dancing Flag, Indian man, 228, 230,231, 232Dancing spots, 321, 427, 438Daughter, 80, 81, 88, 90, 93, 104, 109,110, 139, 140, 141, 159, 160, 163,165, 167, 168, 172, 307, 327, 384,385, 393, 407, 413, 414, 431, 432,434, 435, 437, 439, 440husband of, 80, 159, 432"Daughter," 86, 88, 90, 99, 104, 105, 108,117, 119, 202, 206, 332, 344, 347,386, 393, 432Daughter-in-law, 7, 106, 107, 118, 119,123, 143, 144, 158, 307, 351, 355,443, 446, 452, 453, 454, 457, 459"Daughter-in-law," 99, 118. 445Dead, disposal of, 169, 331fear of, 169messages to, 173reunion of, 173Death, 282duties connected with, 75, 169grief for, 76, 159, 283supernatural causes for, 283Decorations, war, 280Deer, 53, 59, 145, 264, 271, 301, 344, 345,350, 359, 361, 399, 400, 404black-tailed, 400hides, 401skull, 346skull and horns, 345white-tailed, 335Densmore, Frances, 3, 338Descent, 81, 86-88, 114Devils Lake, 23, 91, 213, 219, 278, 290,294. 299, 300, 301, 302, 358, 359.392, 482, 486region of, 19, 20, 23, 26, 170. 213.214, 215, 221, 300, 360, 482, 483Dickinson, N. Dak., 126, 227, 399, 401
Different Pipe, see Red Bird.Different Sage, Indian woman, 153, 385Different Snake, Indian girl, 143, 263,271Different Wolf, Indian man, 243, 247,248, 367, 383, 404Digging sticks, 166, 256, 259, 409, 427Dike, protective, 19 (map)Dipper, buffalo-horn, 381Disease, 168, 215, 269, 280, 449epidemics, 35, 71, 94, 101, 173, 177,178, 182, 215, 218, 308, 309, 327,342, 344, 430, 431, 438, 441, 454,463, 464, 477, 486infections, 360of White men, 212paralysis, 330rheumatism, 372smallpox, 3, 4, 10, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24,26, 27, 30, 35, 36, 37, 43, 69, 70, 71,94, 152, 154, 170, 175, 177, 192, 197,201, 215, 217, 233, 237, 242, 246,250, 256, 257, 261, 264, 268, 287,300, 301, 341, 342, 343, 350, 351,363, 371, 380, 390, 397, 402, 425,446, 466, 485, 486, 487stiffness, 372stomach, 379, 381, 385, 386, 388swellings and infections, 357tuberculosis, 150worms, 373See also Medicine.Dishes, 172Ditch, protective, 13 (map), 18 (map),20 (map), 56, 215, 216, 480Divorce, 110, 111, 122, 142, 151, 159Doctoring, 266, 307, 348, 350, 351, 357,360, 364, 372, 381, 383, 385, 386,387, 389, 411, 420, 433, 443, 445,461household, 162, 168Doctors, Indian, 128, 168, 256, 260, 373,377, 379, 385, 386, 387Does Good, Indian man, 444Dog Bear, Indian man, 264, 424, 442,443, 444, 445, 446Dog Den, 196, 197, 215, 337, 338, 345Dog Den Buttes, 12 (map), 195, 196Dogs, 55, 60, 182, 189, 195, 207, 254, 256,344, 345, 350, 355, 377, 410, 413,435, 436, 444, 452, 464, 465, 466mad, 444red-haired (horses), 436teams of, 378See also Mythology.Dogs Urine, Awatixa man, 327Dolls, 115, 131Double-ditch villages, 484Drags Wolf, informant, viiiDream experiences, 174, 226. 2.54, 263,265, 272, 283, 324, 365, 366, 455Dreams, belief in, 73, 173, 223, 224, 225,240, 262, 266, 208, 270, 272, 274,285, 310, 311, 319, 320, 322, 344,350, 413, 438, 472
INDEX 505Driftwood, use of, 167Drumheads, 391"Drum of Protection," 457Drums, 183, 313, 326, 344, 375, 403, 419,452buffalo hide, 424circular, 345hand, 256protector, 458, 459rainmaking, 390sacred turtle, 206Drumsticks, 326, 391Dry goods, 403, 406Drying frames, wooden, 54, 55Drying platforms, 162Dry Squash, Indian man, 365Dry Squash-Wolf Eyes, Indian man, 363Ducks, 344eggs of, 255green-head, 346representation of, 201Eagle, Indian woman, 416, 417, 418Eagle children, 360Eagle Hill, 301Eagle Men skulls, 473Eagle People, 358, 360Eagles, 57, 138, 166, 174, 253, 254, 255,259, 286, 296, 349, 357, 359, 360,361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 371, 399,400, 401, 410, 467bait for, 400claws of, 367, 368down of, white, 332, 357, 364, 399feathers of, 48, 127, 156, 255, 263,279, 307, 359, 364, 368, 385, 399,401^03, 414, 436, 461nest of, 258, 422"soft small," 401speckled, 359, 393, 467spotted, 400tail of, 279, 414, 432traps for, 120, 286wingbone, whistle from, 315, 317,318, 42iEagle's Nose site, 478Eagle Trapping, Indian man, 367Eagle trapping, 78, 138, 195, 286, 310,334, 348, 349, 357, 358, 388, 398,399, 401, 410, 422, 445, 446, 448bundle, see Bundles, eagle-trapping,camp, 57, 79, 165ceremony, see Ceremonies.leaders, 187lodges, 57, 160, 254, 353, 361, 399,400, 401, 422, 439, 474, 481pit, 79, 195, 399, 400, 401, 410, 422rights, 400season, 160, 361snare, 353, 443technique, 488Eagle Villages in the Sky, 468 (plan),473
Earth, 298, 381, 382, 394Earth lodges, 10, 17, 22, 30, 39, 120, 126,130, 148, 149, 160, 161, 165, 174,179, 195, 203, 204, 213, 216, 217,234, 245, 283, 291, 304, 305, 311,316, 328, 336, 337, 345, 353, 364,373, 414, 421, 460, 464, 476, 477,479, 481, 482, 483, 485, 486federation of, 217household groups, 11, 20, 24villages, 14, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 46,56, 301, 304, 476, 477Earth-lodge sites, 2, 3, 10, 16, 381, 382,474Earthnaming Buttes, 435Earth rings, ceremonial, 2Edge-of-Rock, Indian leader, 45, 127Edge-of-Stone, Indian man, 253Effigies, 369snake, 370turtle, VIII, 337, 370Eggan, Fred, vnEhart-sah, see Hidatsa.Elbowoods, N. Dak., in, iv, 170, 439Elbowoods Agency, 150Elk, 53, 59, 145, 195, 227, 265, 344, 345,350, 355, 360, 440teeth, 355skin, 345, 346Elopement, 139, 154, 248, 249, 279Enemies, 228, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265,266, 267, 270, 276, 277, 278, 279,280, 316, 319, 328, 336, 345, 347,350, 351, 356, 357, 365, 366, 368,369, 377, 383, 384, 394, 402, 403,404, 408, 409, 411, 415, 421, 422,423, 433, 454, 456, 457, 465, 466,469, 470, 471, 472, 473bands of, 191, 192, 224bones of, 473camp of, entering of, 135, 154, 279,376, 396, 410, 412conquest of, by U.S. Army, 489killing of, 243, 255, 258, 278, 280,319, 322, 375, 376, 389, 404, 412,425, 434, 466, 470mutilation of, 277, 376, 396, 473See also Cannibalism ; Warfare.Energy site, 216Entryway, 481Evil spirits, 64, 169, 275, 304, 349, 441Expansion, N. Dak., 68Expeditions, unauthorized, 193, 221Explorers, 1, 3Face, Indian man, 452Face blackening, 219, 230, 379, 396Face painting, 263, 317, 325, 379, 397girls', 219society, 200, 208, 244, 406, 409, 423,443war, 226, 238, 239, 242, 243, 245, 251,329, 365, 376Fall Indians (Hidatsa), 11, 301
506 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Familiea, 161, 221, 349, 451elementary, 103, 160extended, 487head of, 449matrilocal, 104, 105matrilinear, 159See also Brother ; Father ; Mother ;Sister ; etc.Fargo, N. Dak., 4S0Fast Dog, Indian man, 329rasters, 78, 203, 226, 266, 285, 310, 313.317, 318, 320, 322, 323, 411, 419,421, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428,429, 438Fasting, 59, 60, 106, 112, 113, 116, 129,152, 153, 183, 184, 188, 191, 192,193, 198, 207, 209, 219, 222, 224,225, 234, 243, 246, 247, 248, 250,261, 264, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270,273, 274, 282, 290, 317, 318, 320,328, 350, 351, 356, 372, 390, 391,399, 417, 456by population, 60, 73, 219fingertips cut off during, 172, 261,322, 333, 351, 401group, 181, 192, 310, 443individual, 43, 46, 54, 55, 58, 59, 73,75, 76, 80, 126, 129, 133, 135, 136,137, 155, 205, 209, 228, 250, 251,255, 258, 262, 267, 270, 311, 375,394, 412, 426leader of, 73, 219winter, 270See also Self-torture.Fasting
:
places, 170, 219, 284, 331, 395rites, 135shelters for, 73, 318spots, prayer at, 53, 112, 133Father, 93, 97, 107-109, 116-118, 120,124, 129, 130, 133, 135-137, 143,144, 146, 152, 154, 1.58, 160, 163,172, 221, 223, 233, 243, 248, 251,252, 256, 257, 261, 262, 264, 266,273-277, 284, 296, 308, 310, 311,314, 317, 319-321, 327, 328, 330,332, 338, 340, 344, 351, 352, 362,377, 379, 385-388, 391, 397, 398,400, 401, 404r-409, 414, 417, 419,424, 426, 436, 437, 439, 440, 446,447, 455-457, 472brothers of, 81, 94, 107, 108, 111, 414clan of, 129, 130, 133, 159, 164, 168,169, 171, 223, 237, 284, 308, 310,312, 352, 391, 417, 426, 427, 437,451, 460clansmen of, duties of, 80, 220, 312,344, 352, 362, 418daughter relationship to, 103, 109death of, 136father of, 90, 119sister of, 80, 81, 86, 93, 94, 103, 107,117. 128, 168, 170, 200, 393
Father?Continuedson relationship to, 103, 107-109,179, 181, 211, 241, 287, 288, 296,307, 308, 347, 351, 427spiritual, 129
"Father," 73, 80, 81, 86, 87, 88, 91, 92,93, 95, 97, 108, 112, 115, 119, 122,135, 138, 143, 144, 157, 158, 193,209, 210, 221, 223, 231, 243, 248,252, 264, 269, 271, 272, 274, 285,287, 288, 299, 307, 310, 312, 319,322, 332, 349, 364, 366, 383, 398,404, 406, 417, 428, 442, 455, 456,459 462
"sister" of, 81. 86, 87, 90, 91, 95. 97,99, 101, 117, 118, 120, 158, 202Father-in-law, 122, 142, 147, 159, 160,307, 342, 373son-in-law relationship to, 103, 122taboo, 159Fathers, "ceremonial," 136, 137, 274,289, 314, 364, 366, 398, 405, 407,446, 462Fea.sts, 55, 108, 135, 140, 202, 209, 289,286, 365, 382, 404, 422, 443, 464,471ceremonial, 341, 361, 437funeral, 278, 282marriage, 158medicine, 246, 283, 288, 336, 348,350, 451renewal, 332, 383ritualistic, 39. 43, 45, 46, 76, 106,112, 115, 120, 155, 184, 192, 194,198, 202, 204, 205, 223, 232, 237,287, 295, 453social, 252transfer, 432Feather-on-head, Indian woman, 444,445Feathers, 321, 376, 395, 396, 403, 409, 436claw, 365hawk, 438head, 365raven, 279, 350, 411, 423, 429, 445red, sacred emblem, 254sleep, 365speckled eagle, 307, 359, 436swallow, 438tail, 365, 399, 401, 406, 465white, 365wing, 452worn by victors, 258, 270, 280Fences, 132, 270protective, 18 (map), 19 (map), 20(map)Ferret, 366, 367, 368skin of, 364, 365, 366File, Arikara man, 443, 444Fire, 144, 226, 228, 352, 353, 354, 448,453, 458, 459, 465, 468, 473celestial, 290extinguished in mourning, 172prohibition of, 50, 60, 187, 189, 207
INDEX 507Fire?Continuedrekindled, 60restriction of, 471tending of, 137used in ceremonies, 405, 406, 424,457Firepit, 160Fireplace, 161, 166, 354"First Creator," role of, 33, 38, 197,200, 298, 323, 335, 336, 337, 338,353, 354impersonator, 353, 354, 355, 356,420, 422, 425, 456, 458, 459See also Mythology,Fish, 286, 301traps, 120, 143, 270, 286Fishhook Bend, 29, 257Fishhook Village, vi, 2, 6, 24, 25, 27, 29,30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 44, 45, 67,68, 77, 78, 110, 145, 149, 150, 152,153, 157, 159, 161, 165, 170, 172,179, 180, 182, 185, 191, 192, 199,201, 219, 222, 225, 233, 238, 240,242, 245, 246, 249, 251, 261, 262.275, 276, 277, 284, 309, 312, 322,327, 342, 343, 352, 357, 364, 374.383, 392, 419, 429, 434, 438, 442,446, 447, 463, 464, 465, 466, 471,472, 475, 487, 488Fish trapping, 63, 286, 445, 446groups, 63rites, 293, 357, 455Flakers, see Tools.Flathead Indians, 17Flint, 166, 370chipping, 120, 364knife of, 363, 368used as knives, 351Flirting, 52Floor, earth, 161Flour, 150Flying Eagle, chief, 38, 44, 230, 232, 425Fogs, treatment for, 369Folds-her-Robe, Indian woman, 145Food, 153, 160, 163, 181, 210, 222, 282,386, 402, 403, 405, 429, 443abstinence from, 135division of, 443offerings of, 60, 106, 109, 201, 385,426, 457, 459, 461, 470, 471provided by bride's household, 140provided for dead, 172raids for, 134See also Agriculture ; Game ; Meat.Foolish Eagle, Indian man, 377, 378Foolish Head, Indian man, 348Foolish Wolf, informant, viiiFoot, human, drawing of, 229Footraces, 132Forests, 301Forsyth, Mont., 483Fort Berthhold Reservation, iii, iv, v, 1,29, 30, 41, 293, 335, 487, 489
Fort Buford, vi, 30, 44, 45, 77, 149, 150,233, 236, 238, 247, 251, 273, 343,346, 364, 366, 368, 383, 420, 422,438Fort Buford Band, 142, 240, 251, 273Fort Clark Station, 39, 56, 215, 216, 217,219, 483, 485Fortifications, 40, 47, 56, 480, 483wall, 215, 216, 276Fort Laramie, 41Fort Laiamie Treaty, 156, 252Fort Rice site, 478Forts, 239, 242, 389Fort Stevenson, 2, 45, 78Fort Sully site, 485Fort Yates, 21, 486Four Bears, Indian chief, 29, 37, 38, 40,41, 45, 156, 157, 234, 235, 238, 242,247, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257,258, 259, 260, 261, 416, 417, 425,464, 465, 466life of, 252-257line, Wolf ceremonies in, 416 (fig.)Four Dancers (informant), v, vi, 174,233, 236, 237, 238, 240, 241, 242,247, 248, 249, 251, 257, 259, 422,434, 435, 436father of, ceremonial leader, viFox, 345, 397, 410, 422skins of, 342, 345, 346, 404Fox Singing Butte, 12 (map), 435"Friend," 91, 92, 124, 245, 336"Friends," societies of opposite sex, 210,211, 212Frog, 358, 371, 372, 380, 381, 385Frosty Mouth, Indian man, 356Fruits, 461Fuel, 47, 53, 56Funerals, 75, 117, 157, 169, 170, 172,210, 278, 282See also Burials.Gaines village, 39, 216Gambler, 155, 307Gambling, 130, 156, 452, 453contests, intercamp, 39sticks used in, 305Game, protection of, 186traps for, 120winter, 186Games. 66, 119, 130, 219boys' 105, 129, 131, 220girls', 130, 131, 219"kick ball," 131marbles, 130moccasin, 365of skill, children's, 40"spin the top," boy's game, 130"tied up," shooting game, 130Gardens, vegetable, see Agriculture.Gate, wall, 276Gatherers, 4, 489
508 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Geese, 298, 344, 345beliefs regarding, 204dreams of, 202representations of, 201return of, 202, 203Genealogies, 6, 65, 159, 177, 260Generosity, regard for, 272Gens-di-foulers, see Hidatsa.Ghost Singing Butte, 12 (map), 435, 436Gifts, compensation for misfortunes, 57,63exchange of, 91, 117, 141given to sweetheart, 440goods offered as, 106, 108, 115, 116,120, 134, 136, 137, 140, 141, 153,157, 163, 171, 172, 189, 204, 207,210, 220, 289, 313, 345, 346, 354,370, 444offer of, 99, 133, 141, 180, 223presentation of, 107, 128, 136, 158,164, 167, 241, 244, 245, 249, 258,280, 289presented at graves, 76Girls, 52, 95, 112, 129, 130. 131, 132, 133,138, 141, 143, 208, 219, 268, 334.413, 414, 445, 456Gives-Away-his-Arrows, council mem-ber, 28Glencoe site, 478Gods, offerings to, 333prayers to, 59, 73, 455sacred, 193sky, 299, 358water, 299, 358See also Mythology.Goes Around, Indian woman, 409Golden Valley, N. Dak., 317, 369Good Bear, Indian judge, 1-51, 226, 230,309, 310, 313, 315, 321Good Bear, Mrs., informant, vi, 5, 6,174, 310, 313, 321, 322Goodbird, Edward, 150Good Bird, Indian man, 422Good Squash, 97, 98 (chart)Goose, 202, 345Goose Flats, 12 (map)Goose Women, See Societies.Gophers, 54, 131, 219, 265Gossip, use of, 190Gourd, 353, 354"Grandchild," 80. 88, 90, 105Grandchildren, 86, 117, 118, 119, 124,164, 165, 288, 389"Grandchildren," 86, 88, 90, 395Granddaughters, 118, 407, 408, 454"Granddaughters," 143, 144, 407, 454,455"of the buffaloes," 263"to the bears," 355Grandfather, 119, 120, 129, 233, 236,259, 268, 269, 288, 301, 329, 350,379, 407, 408, 427, 453, 454, 456maternal, 81, 97, 117, 120, 128, 130,131, 261, 470paternal, 90, 97sister of, 81, 90, 117
"Grandfather," 80, 81, 87, 88, 90, 95,97, 99, 119, 143, 470Grandmother, 80, 81, 87, 88, 103, 117-119, 157, 164, 249, 271, 307, 329,334, 335, 427, 439, 472brothers of, 72, 81, 350maternal, 81, 94, 105, 117, 118, 128,130, 158, 163, 350paternal, 81, 118"Grandmother," 80, 81, 87, 88, 90, 95,97, 118, 120, 131, 145, 336, 346,355"Grandmother's Lodge," 478Grandparents, 81, 119, 120, 124, 489Grand River, 24, 217, 340, 480, 484, 485,486Grandson, 118, 262, 326, 334, 336, 385,434"Grandson," 101, 164, 180, 196, 197, 286,334Grass, 427beliefs regarding, 128red, 411, 423, 426, 428, 429sweet-smelling, 464Graves, 109, 243, 268, 320, 322, 330, 477See also Burials,Grease, used in curing, 379Great Lakes area, 214Greenshield site, 24, 217, 485Grey-Old-Man, Indian man, 439, 440Gros "Ventres, see Hidatsa.Guardian Spirit, 223, 285, 288, 299, 455Guidance, supernatural, 44, 50, 55Gumbo flats, 235Guts, Indian man, 41, 42, 233, 234, 235,236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242,243, 244, 245, 247, 248, 257. 434,436, 438, 442, 446, 451, 456, 457,460narratives about, 238-240, 242-247Hair dressing, 134, 380, 466for mourning, 76, 172, 243ornaments for, marks of victory,280Hairy Coat, informant, v, 228, 229, 327,367, 369, 383, 398, 404, 405, 406,407, 424, 444, 456Half-Smoked-Tipi, Indian man, 436Hammer, carved stone, society emblem,180, 337Hands, dried, 317paintings of, 280Hard Horn, Indian man, 228, 230, 231,232, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369Harris, Leo D., vinHartle, Don, viiiHarvest, 50, 56Hawks, 166, 245, 263, 270, 363nest of, 228, 230, 231, 235stuffed, 226, 227, 229, 231tail feathers, 254white, 359Hayden, F. V., 3
INDEX 509Headband, gooseskin with head at-tached, 202, 341porcupine quills, 414white, 207Headdresses, 403foxskin, 342, 345, 346wolfskin, 414Heart Butte, 298Heart River, 5, 10, 12 (map), 15, 16, 19,21, 40, 126, 178, 200, 213, 215, 255,290, 294, 302, 303, 331, 336, 339.340, 341, 370, 392, 394, 410, 463,475, 476, 477, 478, 481, 482, 483,484, 486, 489region, 20, 22, 24, 216, 217, 339Heart River Focus, 334, 391, 483Heart Singing Butte, 12 (map), 435Henry, Alexander, 16, 28, 276, 297, 339,392Henry Bad Gun, Indian man, 469Hensler-Sanger region, 17, 21Hensler site. 481Herding, 139, 276Herons, 374Hidatsa-Crow group, 214, 290, 302, 402,476, 483, 484Hidatsa Indians, iv-vii, 1, 3, 5, 10, 11,18, 21, 23, 36, 41, 44-46, 48-52, 55,56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 67-69, 77-80,91, 92, 94, 95, 99, 103, 107, 112.120, 123, 124, 126, 127, 129-131,135-138, 147, 152, 153, 158. 159.161, 163-167, 169-171, 173-175,181, 185, 188, 192, 194. 198, 199.201, 203, 205, 206, 208, 210-213,215-218, 223, 224, 230, 238, 240,242, 248, 252, 256, 258-260, 271,273, 275-278, 283, 285, 293, 294,299, 301, 302, 308, 328, 337-340,342, 345, 350, 357, 358, 360, 362,363, 370, 371, 392-394, 415, 419,430, 433, 437, 438, 441, 442, 447,455, 462, 463, 469, 474, 476-478,484, 486-489archeology of, inceremonial organization, vi, 8, 64,282-476clans, 67 (list), 71community life, vi, 476genealogies, 68groups, 3, 11, 15, 17, 22, 24, 26, 27,30, 31, 32, 35, 38, 43, 47, 65, 190,213, 214, 291, 342, 380, 382, 393,483, 486, 488intermarriages with Mandan, 69(table)lands, 12 (map)language, in, vi, 8migration, tradition of, 14, 213, 481,482traditions, 3, 8, 30, 70, 169, 184, 213.340, 341, 342, 481, 482village groups, 175, 177, 184, 233,236, 250, 309, 327, 341, 410, 438,463, 474
Hidatsa Indians?Continuedvillages, 10, 12 (map), 14, 18 (map),29, 38, 42, 49, 70, 76, 78, 90, 91, 93,94, 155, 156. 165, 166, 169, 170,178, 180, 181, 183, 191, 193, 194,197, 198, 214, 216, 221, 234, 236,248, 249, 250, 258, 261, 277, 301,302, 303, 308, 312, 321, 330, 339,341, 343, 350, 363, 371, 377, 379,382, 389, 413, 429, 430, 434, 435,436, 451, 452, 454, 456, 466, 475,476 483 484Hidatsa-pi-oper, 2, 11, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30,31, 32, 36, 37, 42, 64, 65, 169, 177,178, 213, 214, 215, 232, 233, 256,257, 275, 287, 290, 291, 293, 301,302, 303, 309, 312, 327, 331, 342,350, 410, 476, 482, 486, 487, 489Hidatsa-River Crow Indians, 16, 19-23,178, 179, 214, 294, 302, 482Hides, 57, 136, 331, 340, 370, 401, 470curing of, 50, 51, 55, 104, 110, 115,128, 146, 150, 162decorated, 138, 150green, 150hunters of, 399painted, 409soft tanned, 128tanning, 150, 430, 434used as boats, 51High Bird-Hungry Wolf conflict, 358High Eagle, Indian man, 228High Jump, son of Cherry Necklace, 350His-Horse-Smells-Him, Indian man, 424Historic times, 3, 22, 23, 471, 477, 478Hits-on-Back, Indian man, 424Hoes, 4, 23, 427Holbrook site, 478Holding Eagle, Indian man, 92, 424home of, 293, 335Holy Ghost, descent of, 322Holy Women, 95, 293, 307, 315, 316, 322,323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329,330, 331, 333, 383, 392, 405, 406,408, 409, 427, 428, 431, 435, 438,440, 444, 464, 465See also Mythology.Holy-Young-Man, Indian man, 466singer for, 428Hoop, sacred, 412, 413willow, 317Horn-Between-the-Water, Indian chief,359Horses, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46, 48, 52. 53, 54, 61,62, 71-75, 95, 106-109, 115-117,122, 124, 125, 128, 130, 132, 134,136-147, 149-151, 153. 154, 157,158, 172, 186, 191, 192, 207, 210,215, 221-224, 226-232, 244-246.249, 251, 253, 256-259, 263-266,268, 270, 271, 272, 276, 289, 301,315, 318, 351, 356, 366, 369, 376,385, 387, 388, 398, 399, 401-403,412, 415, 417, 422, 435, 436, 442-445, 456, 463, 472
510 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Horses?Continuedadoption of, 446bay, 436buffalo, 48, 62, 141, 162, 171, 190care of, 56, 92, 110, 135, 160effect on warfare, 213exchange of, 151, 158gray gelding, 149horseliair, 48, 380increase of, 447introduction of, 214, 216, 260, 287,326, 329, 430, 431, 435, 464killing of, 188, 193pack, 55, 162pinto, 415prayers to, 254presents of, 245, 249, 319protection of, 53, 135, 161, 162racing of, 220represented by sticks, 405, 406riding of, 52, 238saddle, 149spotted, 402, 407, 415stealing of, 53, 109, 112, 134, 136,156, 190, 19i, 217-221, 231, 237,242, 255, 278, 280tracks, as decorations, 280used in torture, 267, 274Hospitality, rules of, 49Households, 75, 114, 115, 116, 117, 129,134, 136, 142, 151, 152, 155, 159,160, 161, 163, 168, 170, 173, 181,185, 186, 188, 190, 223, 224, 272,273, 274, 275, 290, 291, 341, 349,376, 449extended, 167groups of, 5, 6, 29, 33, 34, 35, 55,58, 60. 61, 62, 65, 77, 128, 163, 304,340, 345mixed Mandan-Hidatsa, virelated, 160, 161, 191responsibilities of, 131, 132, 163Household shrines, 307Houses, 301, 311, 323log, 263See also Camps; Lodges; Villages.Huff site, N. Dak., 22, 339, 478, 479,483Hunkpapa Indians, 230Hunt, summer, 33, 49, 50-56, 136, 161Hunters, 4, 23, M, 55, 60, 105, 118, 119,121, 129, 131, 133, 136, 140, 153,154, 164, 186, 189, 271, 276, 307,432, 442, 489White, 150, 447Hunting, 16, 60-62, 107, 110, 113, 119,122, 124, 129, 136, 139, 141, 142,147, 161, 174, 189, 192, 252, 261,284, 308, 339, 374, 389, 392, 404,412, 435, 473areas, 300camps, 61, 153, 157, 214, 215corral, 162expeditions, 46, 147, 155, 162, 218grounds, 52, 53, 216, 218, 303
Hunting?Continuedinstruction in, 106leaders, 51, 186parties, 29, 46, 57, 59, 71, 118, 123,138, 153, 260, 302, 435premature, 187, 188, 207restrictions, removal of, 61territory, 16, 29, 32, 35, 337Hunts Along, Indian man, 473Hunts Turnips, 99, 100 (chart)Husband, 80, 87, 101, 105, 110, 111, 114,115, 118, 122, 123, 129, 136, 140,143, 144, 146, 148, 154, 155, 157,158, 159, 169, 218, 271, 320, 321,322, 334, 335, 344, 351, 372, 384,396, 397, 413, 432, 440, 443, 449,456, 461, 463brother of, 80, 113, 119, 321father of, 119, 120, 157, 158household of, 158, 159, 161lodge of, 141mother of, 128, 146people of. 139, 140, 159, 161relatives of, relation to formerwife, 93sister of, SO, 81, 119, 128Hyde, ? , 3Ice, 440Images, 329, 464Incense, 348, 375, 466cedar, 386pine spill, 314, 353Independence, N. Dak., v, 263, 370Indians of the Woods, 301Informants, iv, v, vii, 3-8, 11, 15, 16, 22,26. 27, 34, 47, 49, 56, 60, 67, 68,70, 77, 90, 101, 105, 111, 115, 126,131, 139, 141, 159, 165-167, 172-174, 178-181, 194, 198, 200, 204,205, 209, 210, 213, 224, 237, 248,259, 268, 272, 277, 284, 287, 294,296, 302-304, 308, 309, 312, 325,331, 340, 343, 348, 352, 374, 389,391, 412, 417, 419, 435, 441, 442,451, 454, 463, 464, 473, 482, 488,489Awaxawi, 65, 309Hidatsa, vn, 25, 67, 165, 170, 212,303, 330, 370, 435, 447, 480Knife clan, 473Mandan, 21, 67, 183, 184, 197, 341,447, 463, 478, 488Inheritance, clan, 26, 27, 79, 296, 393,474, 475female, 91Hidatsa-Awaxawi, 31, 179matrilineal, 488patrilineal, 162, 350, 371, 393, 436,441, 464, 475pattern of, 46, 350, 381, 432rights of, 32, 114, 119, 138, 432Insanity, 330, 333Insects, 345
INDEX 511Intercourse, ceremonial, 108, 207, 272,451, 452, 457, 460, 462, 463Intermarriage. 24, 69 (table), 185Interpreters, iii, iv, 8Intestines, offerings of, 360, 373Iron Eyes, Indian man, 228, 229, 422,424, 425, 429, 443, 444, 445Iron Woman, Indian woman, 144, 145Jackrabbit, 399skin cap, 317skins, 332, 399James River, 22, 215"Joking relative," 124, 139, 144, 145,149, 152, 153, 155, 158, 190, 194.211, 222, 246, 248, 249, 262, 268,269, 271, 289, 319Judges, Indian, 150, 151Juneberries, Indian woman, 153, 154.385Juneberries. 53. 144, 227, 263, 360stick of, 470Kettles, 147"Kicked the stone," derogatory term.193, 255, 259, 261, 265, 273, 366.377Kidney, Indian leader, 221, 222, 225,227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 236.238, 267, 275, 405, 442Killdeer Mountains, singer, 435Killdeer Mountains, 12 (map), 29, 51,230, 233, 412, 413, 415, 423, 433.434, 435, 436, 437Kinship, 91behavior, 103-126bonds, 94charts, 7, 80, 82-89extension, 9(>-103groups, 91, 237integration, 90relationship, intertribal, 92relationships, 95system, 4, 7, 71, 80-126, 427terminology, vi, 7, 71, 80 (table),81Kit fox, 346Kixa'ica', see River Crow.Knife, Long Arm impersonator, 45, 144,309, 310, 458, 460, 461Knife River, iii, v, viii, 1, 2, 5, 6, 11,12, 14-21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31.35, 36, 37, 40, 42, 43, 45, 47, 51.68, 74, 77, 126, 1.53, 155, 169, 170.174-176, 178, 179, 183, 191. 212-214, 216, 218, 233, 234, 237, 238.245, 252, 256, 261, 294, 301-303.309, 310, 312, 317, 323, 330, 331,336. 340, 341, 343, 360-862, 375,376, 379, 381, 393, 394, 403, 410-412, 415, 430, 43-^L^36, 439, 441,454, 464, 466, 467, 469, 470, 473,476, 477. 480, 482-484, 486, 487Knife River Mandan, 192
Knife River Valley, 29, 36, 39Knife River villages, 76, 275, 276, 410,412, 413, 420, 466Knives, 161, 234, 277, 280, 370, 380, 389,403flint, 363, 368, 370stone, 65Knotted, Indian man, 425Kurz, Rudolph Friederich, 3, 39La Verendrye, Pierre Gaultier deVarennes, 10, 215Lake Traverse, 11, 479Lance, sacred, 254Lariats, 315Larson site, N. Dak., 463, 481, 484Laziness, results of, 455"Leader of the Fast," 220"Leader of the Hunters," 54"Leader of the People," 63, 155"Leader of the Warriors," 402, 421Leaders, 63, 167, 194, 223, 232grading of, 26, 52, 61jealousy among, 30of the scouts, 224selection of, 51, 58, 63summer hunt, 53, 56, 58unsuccessful, 193See also Chiefs.Lead Woman, 101, 102 (chart)Lean Bull, Indian man, 265, 456, 460Leavenworth campaign, 485Leavenworth site, 481, 485Leggings, 143, 202, 227, 234, 235, 244,263, 264, 270, 279, 280, 407decorated, 390, 395, 396, 403LeRaye, Charles, 11, 14Levirate, operation of, 123, 159Lewis, Meriwether, 14, 17, 32, 308, 431,474Lewis and Clark, 3, 14, 1.5, 16, 17, 32, 95,213, 215, 216, 276, 302, 308, 451,476, 477, 479, 485Lifts Heart, Indian man, 255Lightning, 359, 361, 362, 367, 390, 469representation of, 367Like-a-Fishhook Bend, 37, 464, 465Like-a-Prairie-Chicken-Tail Butte, 412Lincoln, Robert, 356Lineage, 6, 64, 65, 86 (chart), 87(chart), 88 (chart), 89 (chart),90household, 162, 163maternal, 157matrilineal, 64, 65, 72, 86 (chart),87, 90, 97patrilineal, 97Little Bear, Indian man, 389Little Black Bears, custodians of eagle-trapping rites, 401Little Heart Singing Butte, 12 (map),435Little Knife Creek. 372
512 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]
Little Missouri River, 12 (map), 16, 17,24, 26, 57, 126, 127, 145, 213, 214,230, 246, 351, 372, 380, 392, 399,412. 413, 430, 431, 434, 435, 447Lodges, 2, 5, 17, 47, 49, 56, 60, 92, 119.134, 146, 157, 160, 166, 216, 265,271, 311, 367, 381, 396, 397, 405,409, 413, 440, 443, 445, 453, 462arrangement of, 22, 31, 32, 160, 161,354 (fig.), 483building of, done by men, 110, 160burning of, 305, 461ceremonial, 22, 39, 133, 419, 422,423, 425, 426, 429, 445, 454, 456,457, 458, 479, 481, 483, 488circular, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 483council, 187dancing, 161eagle-trapping, see Eagle trapping.earth, sec Earth lodges.earth-covered, 481, 487, 488enemy, 223entrance of, 135, 161fixed, 22habitation, 483hallway between, 161inheritance of, 91, 119, 163medicine, 321NaxpikE, 313 (plan)Okipa, 352, 383, 402, 405, 418, 443Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, 339posts for, 160, 165, 382, 420, 444,457, 480rectangular, 22, 477, 478, 479, 480,481, 484, 488
sweat,' 206. 205, 320, 328, 353, 354,355, 356, 3a5, 367, 368, 369, 379.381, 384, 387, 388, 398, 405, 406,407, 429, 470, 471temporary, 439tipi-shaped, 160wooden, 56, 160Log, carved to represent a snake, 391Logan Museum of Beloit College, ni,VII, VIII, 2, 477, 478, 481Loghouses, rectangular, 477Lone Butte, see Buffalo Comes OutButte.Lone Man, Mandan man, 70, 323, 393Lone Man Impersonator, 437Long Arm impersonator, 312, 314^320,322Long Bear, Indian man, 402Look.s-for-Medicine, 98 (chart)Looks-for-Sweetgrass, Indian Woman,146, 147, 151Loud Walker, Indian man, 226Love affairs, 271Lower Hidatsa 34 site, 216, 2!>4Lower Yellowstone River, 26, 29, 57, 214Lowie, Robert H., v, 3, 79, 183, 198, 200.297, 341, 346Lucky, Indian man, 403
Lucky Mound Creek, 170, 263Ludick, Dale, viiiLudlow Caves, S. Dak., 369Lying Chicken, Indian man, 99, 100(chart) , 398, 405, 407, 424McChesney, ?, 161Macduff, James, viiiMcKenzie, Charles, 3, 321, 322Mackintosh, ? , 10Magic, 276, 296, 303Magpies, 325, 399, 401, 409, 410, 422, 440feathers of, 180, 325, 329, 332, 406,427, 465Mahaha, see Hidatsa.Maize, see Corn.Mallards, 298Mandan, N. Dak., 5, 14Mandan City, 485Mandan Indians, vi, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14-17, 19-21, 24, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 38,39, 41, 44, 48, 55, 67-69, 74, 77-80, 92, 97, 103, 113, 116, 122, 124,127, 135, 157-161, 178, 181, 189,192, 198-200, 205-207, 210, 212,213, 215-218, 225, 230, 238, 242,250, 260, 273, 276, 278, 281, 283,285, 290, 291, 295, 300-303, 309,316, 327, aSO, 337, 339, 340, 343,345, 360, 362, 370, 371, 380-382,393, 406-419, 430, 436, 442, 451,462, 464, 472-478, 480, 481, 484,486, 489and Hidatsa intermarriages, 69(table)chief of, 151, 237clans, 66, 67 (list), 71, 91genealogies, 68groups, 190, 213, 294, 342, 430language, 14, 301mythology, 195, 197, 297, 477Okipa, 199, 203, 226, 261, 321, 366,389, 402, 405, 424, 433, 437, 443sites, 22, 39, 265, 483, 484, 488social and ceremonial organization,VIIstudy of, IV, V, 4territory, 12 (map)traditions, 3, 14, 22, 181, 184, 482,488village council, 29village groups, 23, 29, 36, 40, 66, 175,177, 179, 184, 215, 309, 339villages, 14, 22, 24, 49, 170, 176, 194,197, 198, 201, 234, 258, 291, 302,325, 331, 342, 376, 377, 389, 429,452, 463See also Nuitadi Mandan ; NuptadiMandan.Manitaries, 285, 451, 464Mannhaven, N. Dak., 390Manoah, French trader, 300Mantanees, 10Mantons River, 11
INDEX 513Man-who-Stays-at-Home -Smoking-and -Jealous, 395Man-With-Long-Hair, 248. 371Many Growths, Hidatsa woman, v, 17,96 (chart), 97, 98 (chart), 100(chart), 149Marriage, 66, 68, 80, 92, 93, 106, 109, 110,117, 138, 151, 157, 159arrangements for, 138, 140, 141, 142feasts, 140, 158first, 139instability of, 99interclan, 158intertribal, 69intevvillage, 6mother's influence on, 104, 106rules relating to, 64, 70, 92, 110, 114,138, 139separations, results of, 93, 111with Whites, 94Marries-by-Carrying-AVater, Indianman, 253, 254, 424Matthews, Washington, 2, 3, 39, 126,161, 205, 297, 298Maxaxa, see Hidatsa.Maximilian, Alexander Philipp von, 3,17, 175, 183, 197, 200, 205, 217,284, 297, 302, 321, 329, 347, 348,451, 454, 464Meadowlark, 305, 334Meat, 122, 128, 134, 136, 145, 162, 185,188, 189, 201, 228, 252, 352, 355,385, 402, 406, 410, 422, 438, 439,444buffalo, 337, 399, 436, 438, 440curing of, 50, 51, 55, 61, 104, 110,123, 145, 146, 434, 435, 438dried, 57, 147, 150, 329, 355, 365,367, 369, 370, 399, 400, 401, 403,404, 461offerings of, 338, 340, 361, 362, 363,368, 383roasted, 396, 422securing of, 61, 108, 119, 141, 142,154, 161, 465storing of, 55, 227, 228transporting of, 162, 447Medicine, 360, 409big, 381black, 307, 322, 354, 360, 366, 372,380, 381, 385, 394, 409, 461earth, 434feast, 246, 283, 288, 336, 348, 350,451for wounded, 222objects, 256, 265, 347, 351planting of, 40, 41poles, 329wolf, 264See also Disease.Medicine Bear, Sioux chief, 36, 218, 384Medicine Bird, Indian man, 473, 474Medicine Chief, see Different Wolf.Medicine-in-Woods, 102 (chart)
Medicine men, 167, 168, 174, 234, 239,240, 241, 261, 348, 357Medicine Robe, 95, 96 (chart), 97Medicine root, black, 353, 354, 363, 365,397"Medicines," 239, 245, 267, 321, 367, 388Medicine Woman, 99, 100 (chart)Medora, N. Dak., 247Meleen, E. E., 478Men, 44, 46-48, 50-55, 57-59, 62, 63, 132,155, 157 159, 162, 164, 167, 178,179, 18^185, 197, 188, 192-194,198, 201, 207, 220-224, 226, 234,241-246, 248, 249, 251-253, 255,259, 261, 262, 264-266, 269, 271-276, 278, 283, 299, 310, 315, 316,318, 321, 327, 329, 367, 368, 396,405-408, 411, 419, 421, 429, 437,440, 441, 451, 453, 460-^63, 465,466, 471, 472clothing of, 316hairdressing of, 360"holy," 43, 144, 203, 209, 225, 226,253, 255, 353, 368, 369, 383, 384,405, 408, 412, 414, 443, 446, 453,458, 459, 460, 461intoxicated, 74labor done by, 110prominent, 32, 319supernatural powers of, 168, 198Menopause, 205, 315Menstrual periods, 110, 205, 388Metaharta, see Minnetarees.Middle Missouri River, 479Migration, 15, 300, 476-477, 482Mile Post 28 site. 39Minataries, see Hidatsa.Minitadi, see Hidatsa.Minitaries, see Hidatsa.Mink, 358, 371, 381, 382, 383, 387, 389skin, 380, 387, 408Minnesota, 216Minnetarees, see Hidatsa.Minnetarees of the Willows, see Hi-datsa.Minot village, 376Mirokac (collectively with RiverCrow), see Hidatsa.Miscarriages, 330Mississippi cultural traits. Middle, 22Mississippi River, 11, 204, 216, 290, 301Missouri Basin Project, River BasinSurvey, viiMissouri River, Indian chief, 29, 37, 38,42, 371, 442, 443, 471, 472, 473Missouri River, 2, 3, 10, 11, 13 (map),14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 37, 38, 47,51, 57, 64, 65, 66, 71, 78, 79, 80,153, 165, 166, 169, 174, 175, 178,179, 189, 200, 213, 214, 215, 216,217, 218, 246, 255, 2.56, 257, 264,276, 286, 290, 291. 293, 294, 296,297, 298, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304,312, 315, 323, 327, 330, 331, 332,710-195?es- se
514 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Missouri River?Coutinued339, 342, 346, 348, 349, 358, 359,360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 370.372, 377, 378, 379, 381, 382, 383.385, 392, 394, 413, 421, 434, 441.447, 452, 454, 464, 467, 469, 474.476, 477, 478, 479. 480, 481, 482.483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489Missouri River A.spect, 479, 480"Missouri River People," 359Missouri Valley, 480, 483, 484, 488Mitixata, see Awatixa.Mitoxte, see Awatixa.Mitutanku, Mandau village, 180, 183.342Moccasin Carrier, Indian man, 262, 269Moccasins, 107, 143, 169, 195, 202, 234.237, 244, 305, 346, 350, 352, 354,376, 395, 403, 407, 415, 428, 435.437, 465buffalo hide, 346, 443decorated, 390
"straight toe," 443Moieties, 6, 124, 187, 289, 297, 385, 427.431, 449concept of, 78-80Four-clan, 31, 68, 69 (table), 70,79, 97, 99, 159, 162, 258, 448, 449.470headman of, 451Mandan, 69opposite, 79, 406, 456Seven-clan, 70, 334, 489Six-clan, 70Three-clan, 28, 31, 65, 68, 69(table), 70, 79, 97, 101, 159, 162,262, 448, 449WaxikEna-Tamisik, 70Monogamy, rare, 142Moon, offerings to, 313, 325Moose, 290Morgan, Lewis H., 3Mother, 65, 105, 106, 107, 110, 114, 115,118, 120, 130, 133, 135, 139, 140,143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150.153. 157, 158, 161, 163, 168, 169,172, 173, 251, 293, 305, 306, 307,310, 326, 337, 338, 361, 373, 376,379, 381, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387,393, 398, 408, 409, 417, 439, 443,456brothers of, 72, 81, 103, 107, 116.133. 140, 152, 153, 163, 307, 310,311, 352, 380
-daughter relationship, 103-105, 200
-daughter transfers, 93, 432death of, 94, 129father of, lineage, 89 (chart), 90,91, 119hou.sehold of, 107, 129, 140, 163lineage of, 87 (chart), 88 (chart),90, 95, 105mother of, 99, 158
Mother?Continuedsisters of, 72, 81, 93, 94, 107, 108,111, 118, 120, 140, 165
-son relationships, 103, 105-107"Mother," 80, 87, 88, 91, 97, 104, 105,117, 118, 119, 120, 202, 383, 417,442brothers of, 81, 86, 116, 140Mother-in-law, 103, 119-122, 143, 147,148, 149, 161, 163, 249, 384, 385,432"Mother-in-law," 120. 121Motsiff site, 478, 484Mounds, in ceremonial lodge, 313(map), 318, 329, 330, 333, 411,427, 428 (plan)Mount Nebo, 369Mourners, 172gifts to, 172, 191, 277mutilation among, 172, 234, 243, 270official, 75, 171, 172pay for, 75, 171"camps," 31, 300, 306Mourning, 116, 237, 241, 242, 277Mouse, field, 95stuffed, prayed to, 134Mouse River, 19, 22, 26, 215, 329, 376,483Moves Slowly, Indian man, 157, 181,201, 203, 226, 343, 346Moves Sweetgrass, Indian woman, 150,151Mudhen, red-eyed, 298Mule, 264, 265, 273Muskrats, 358, 371, 380Mythological period, sacred, 333, 358,372, 373, 445Mythology, 8, 64, 65, 68, 164, 173, 194,299, 330, 354Mythology, characters in
:
Bald Eagle. 360, 467Bear, 41, 253, 305, 349, 350, 355,383, 386, 388Beaver, 381Big Birds, 253, 268, 270, 361, 363,364, 367, 370, 371, 372, 374, 383,390Big Medicine, see Lodge Boy.Big Owl, 195, 196Bird, 262, 297, 298Black Medicine, see Spring Boy.Black Wolf, dog, 195, 196, 446Blood (Clot) Man, 438, 440-446,448, 449Blows-Through-a-Hole, dog, 195Brisket, dog, 195Brush-Between-Horns, 473Buffalo, 386, 408, 438, 441, 445Buffalo-Blood-Man, 440Buffalo Boy, 439Buffalo Bull, 95, 143, 305, 440, 442,452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 459, 462Buffalo Skull, 361, 381, 405, 408
INDEX 515Mythology, characters in?ContinuedBufifalo Woman, 438, 439--441, 453,454, 461Calf Wedge, 439, 441, 443Cedar-Between-the-Eyes, dog, 195Charred Body, 64, 71, 174, 180, 291,293, 304, 305, 306, 310, 349, 360,467Chief of the Antelopes, 336, 345Chief of the Snakes, 390Chief of the Wolves, 410"Child," 207Cornhusk Earrings, 339, 342Corn Silk, 339, 342"corn spirits," 202, 203, 204, 336,339, 341, 342, 345, 347Coyote, see First Creator,dogs, 194, 196, 197Eagle Man, 469, 470, 472, 473eagles, 467, 469East Woman, 428"Edge-of-the Lodge," 481Fat Bird, 300father, 299fire, 300Fire-Around-his-Ankles, 304, 305First Creator, 282, 290, 291, 296, 297,298, 301, 304, 305, 336, 349, 350.352-355, 357, 360, 419, 438, 452Flatland Wolf, 394"Goddess of fertility," see Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies.Goes-Along-Between-Hills, 473Good-Furred-Robe, 181, 184, 190,201, 210, 338, 339, 341, 346Grandfather Snake, 65, 286, 346,360, 361, 364, 369, 371, 372, 373,377, 378, 379, 383, 454Grandson, 293, 294, 326, 333, 334,335, 337, 338, 340, 345, 348, 349Hawk, 254, 329, 435, 436, 438High Bird, 251, 299, 300, 305, 358,Hungry Wolf, 251, 299, 300, 305, 306,358, 362, 410, 412, 423, 424, 428Holy Man, see Holy-Young-Man.Holy-Woman-Above, 166, 167Holy-Women-of-the-Timber, 408Ixtakis, see First Creator.Last Male, dog, 195"Leader of the Wolves," 337, 414Lightning, 270, 283, 358, 372, 374L i 1 1 1 e-Dogs-Whose-Names-Were-Not-Knov^n, 195, 197Little Owl, 195Lodge Boy, 291, 305, 306, 308, 314,318, 349, 350, 352, 353, 354, 359,467Lone Man, 282, 290, 297, 298, 301,438Long Arm, 180, 226, 254, 266, 291,306, 307, 308, 309, 317, 318, 320,359, 467Magpie, 300Male Bufealo, 298
Mythology, characters in?ContinuedMan-with-F i r e-Around-his-Ankles,304 305Man-with-No-Head, 305, 306Moon, 95, 203, 208, 270, 293, 308,311, 317, 325, 333, 334, 335, 337,338, 349, 453, 454Mousehawk, 338North Woman, 428Old-Woman-Above, 267, 398, 399,404, 406, 409, 432Old-Wonian-Who-Never-Dies, 38, 66,95, 120, 152, 195, 196, 201, 203,204, 246, 250, 286, 293, 334, 335,338, 339, 340, 341, 343, 344, 345,346, 347, 348, 356, 358, 359, 372,383, 385, 392, 393, 395, 472, 478Old-Woman-with-Basket, 305, 306Orphan, 299, 300Otter, 381, 383People Above, 306, 308, 464Red Fox, 338Sharp Noses, 299, 300Snake, 300, 307, 335, 359, 360, 377snake, double-headed, 361, 371snake, "Grandfather," 65, 286, 346,360, 361, 364, 369, 371, 372, 373,377, 378, 379, 383, 454Snake People, 345, 389, 414Snake Woman, 390South Woman, 428Spotted Calf, 439Spring Boy, 291, 305, 306, 308, 310,314, 315, 317, 318, 320, 349, 350,352, 353, 354, 359, 467Spring Buffalo, 300Stone Buffalo, 298Striped Scalp, 195, 196Summer Buffalo, 206Sun, 95, 129, 155, 156, 196, 197, 208,298, 299, 308, 311, 322, 325, 328,330, 333, 335, 337, 358, 453, 454,457, 461Sunrise Wolf, 264, 332, 336, 392, 398,404, 405, 406Sunset Wolf, 418, 422, 430Sun's sister, 129Swallow, 435, 436, 438Takatetas (Old Man Immortal),298Thunder, 270, 283, 303, 358, 472thunderbirds, 65, 166, 253, 270, 299,300, 303, 335, 358, 361, 362, 375Thunderbird's daughter, 361Toad Woman, 333TsikamahidiS (First Made), 298Turtle, 381, 383, 468Unknown Man, 307, 308, 323, 333,349, 373, 441Up-in-the-Sky-Holy-Woman, 408Uses-His-Head-for-a-R a 1 1 1 e, 399,342Venus, see Grandson.Village-Old-Woman, 323. 324, 326,328, 329, 330, 335, 392, 431, 438
516 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Mythology, characters in?ContinuedVillage-Young-Man, 336, 345, 348,392, 395, 396, 397, 435Walks-at-Dusk, 412, 413, 415, 430Water Buffalo, 299Waterbuster Eagles, 398Water Grass, 336, 337West Woman, 428White Beaver, 305, 306White Dog, 196, 197Wolf, 264, 265, 267, 335, 383, 398,407Wolf of the Daybreak, 398Wolf of the Sunset, 394, 397"Wolf Woman," 431Woman Above, 95, 132, 167, 180,208, 245, 261, 286, 299, 323, 324,325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331,332, 333, 383, 397, 404, 405, 406,409, 432Yellow Weasel, 305Myths, 64, 120, 164, 295, 296, 433Buffalo Corralling, 446Calf Wedge, 441ceremonial, 464corn, 382creation, 21, 78, 127, 251, 290, 297,331Dipper constellation, 195, 196dog, 194, 197Earthnaming, 434-436exodus, 339, 341, 359, 441First Creator, 297-303flood, 302, 303, 348importance of, 7, 8, 9Mandan, 197, 297migration, 300, 476, 477Okipa, 382Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, 340origin, 31, 127, 176, 184, 194, 198.208, 212, 287, 291, 381, 389, 410,421, 433, 438, 452, 464-466, 467-473, 475original settlement, 30Prairie Chicken, 66sacred, 112, 127, ISO, 182, 194, 198,212, 286, 288, 294, 295, 296, 301,303, 329, 338, 341, 344, 349, 350,359, 371, 375, 389, 393, 397, 436.437, 439, 449, 462, 463Sacred Arrow, 64, 290, 303-308, 331,333, 359, 441, 454, 481snake, 334Snow Owl, 195Unknown-Man, 323Walks-at-Dusk, 430Waterbuster Bundle, 21Wolf Woman, 264, 295, 340, 392,395, 410, 412, 415, 424, 428, 430,431, 432, 433Nadouasia Indians, 11Nahathaways (Cree),301
Names, 105, 109bestowal of, 107, 220importance of, 129ritualistic, 76, 107Narrow Nose, Hidatsa man, 309NaxpikE, see Ceremonies ; Dances
;
Lodges.Nebraska, 480Necklace, 243, 328, 329, 337, 366raven skin, 434Negro, Indian man, 363Never-Eats-Marrow, Indian man, 366Never-Runs-Away, son of Guts, 242,243, 247New Awatixa village, 19, 20 (map)Newman, Sam, interpreter, ivNishu School, 277Noises, prohibition of, 60Nomads, 15, 18, 21, 25, 56, 164, 287,303. 482groups of. 215, 217, 251, 302, 476,485, 487hunters, 486, 487No Milk, father of Good Bear, 309, 311,353, 383, 422, 424North Dakota, in, 477, 478, 479, 483courts, 74North Dakota Historical Society, vni,13, 18, 19, 20, 478Northern Plains, 164, 481, 482Hidatsa cultural position in, 476-489Nose, painted, 317No Tears, Indian man, 235. 327Not Mink, Indian woman, 416, 417Nuitadi Mandan, 24, 30, 36, 37, 44, 339,343, 484, 485, 486, 487Nuptadi Mandan, 24, 29, 36, 39, 40, 44,66, 147, 176, 216, 219, 339, 343,484, 485, 486village of, 343, 384Oak Creek, S. Dak., 485Oak Creek site. S. Dak., 479Oakdale, N. Dak., inOak tree, 235, 237, 325, 395Offerings, made to gods, 55, 186, 330,331, 332, 347, 360, 428See also Gifts.Old Awatixa Village, 19 (map), 486Old Bear, Indian Man, 145Old Blossom. Indian woman, 444Old Dog, Indian scout, 226, 227, 402, 407Old Mouse, Indian man, 353, 355, 356Old-Man-Shoots-With, Indian man, 327Old-White-Man. 101, 102 (chart), 103,289, 348, 366and Lead Woman, relationship be-tween, 102 (chart)Old Wolves, war leaders, 224, 234, 252,253, 254, 255, 258, 259, 378, 393Old-Woman-Crawling, Hidatsa man,(father of Bears Arm), v, 27, 95,96 (chart), 98 (chart), 99, 100(chart), 252, 253, 350, 351, 352,353, 355, 356, 390
INDEX 517Old-Woman-Crawling?Continuedand Bear Woman, relationship be-tween, 100 (chart)On Buffalo, Indian man, 255, 256, 259,260, 265, 376, 377, 379One Bull, Indian man, 236One-eyed, Hidatsa chief, 74One-eyed Antelope, Indian man, 28One Wing, 230Opposite Butte, 12 (map), 435Oriole, red-shouldered, 347Ornaments, symbolic, 197, 290See also Hair dressing ; Warfare.Orphans, adoption of, 94, 167care of, 71, 75, 94, 159, 164Otter, 256, 257, 355, 357, 358, 365, 368,371, 372, 373beliefs regarding, 128skin of, 256, 257, 317, 364, 373, 377,378, 379, 380, 383Otter Woman, Indian woman, 142, 147,148, 151, 382Overs, W. H., 478Owl, 166, 360prairie dog, 239, 241feathers, worn by Dog Society, 196,208skin, 196, 350speckled, 437, 438spirits, 302, 433, 434stuffed, 444wings and claws, 488wooden, 195Owl Valley, 434Owns-Many-Dogs, Indian woman, 299,300Owns-Many-Spotted Horses, Indianman, 255, 309Packineau, Frank, 101Packs Antelope, Indian man, 65, 286,358, 360, 361, 362, 363, 368, 371,474Paddles, 147, 374Pain, endurance of, 47Paint, 171, 227, 229black, 243, 244, 245, 317blue, 367red, 195, 325, 329, 365, 367, 368, 395,405, 408, 409, 412, 443, 446, 452,454, 458, 466, 470white, 239, 243, 317, 325white clay, 226, 411Painted Woods, 12 (map), 360, 375region, 16, 20, 21, 23, 27, 32, 36, 40,64, 177, 178, 180, 214, 216, 217,342, 430, 467, 486tradition, 488Painted Woods Focus, 483
"Pal," kinship term, 80, 93, 94, 171, 185Palliser, John, 3, 277Pan, Indian man, 416Pancreas, beliefs regarding, 128Parades, victory, 200, 219
Parents, 103, 111, 137, 159, 193, 197, 318,319, 386, 396, 426, 439, 457Parents-in-law, 107, 110, 168Pasture, 276Patience, value of, 266Pawnee Indians, 28, 301Payments, for duties performed, 117Peace emissaries, 34Peace treaty, 28, 29, 186"Peeagans," 301Pemmican, 445, 454, 468given to dancers, 440, 443, 444, 445given to girls, 139, 445Pennyroyal, see peppermint."People Who Live in the Woods to theEast," 469Pepper, G. H., 3Pepper, G. H., and Wilson, G. L., 467,470Peppermint, Indian woman, 416Peppermint, wild, 207, 380, 381, 385,387, 388, 467, 468, 469, 470Phratries, 68, 97Picture, Indian woman, 387Piegan Indians, 301Pierre, S. Dak., 11, 478Pillows, 379Pine, offering to gods, 314, 353Pipe, 35, 41, 109, 156, 171, 189, 201, 204,253, 255, 256, 263, 283, 303, 328,329, 337, 344, 353, 364, 365, 366,368, 383, 384, 398, 405, 406, 421,422, 425, 443, 451, 457, 459, 461,469, 470, 472bearer of, 28, 41, 156, 191, 201, 222,245carved, 346ceremonial, 222, 237, 245, 383medicine, 234, 245, 246, 249offerings made to, 469red, 314, 385, 402, 456redstone, 488sacred, 207, 237, 298, 413smoking, ceremonial, 135, 156, 189wooden, 298, 342, 345, 346, 364, 365,467, 488Pipestem, ceremonial, 48Pits, 384burial, 76, 169, 170cache, 46, 130, 166, 440, 463, 475eagle-trapping, 79, 195, 376, 399, 400,401, 410, 422lodge, 56, 329refuse, 56storage, 23, 47sweat lodge, 355, 369trapping, 357Placenta, disposal of, 128"Place Where they Put Offerings forthe Buffalo," 366Plains, 215, 216, 281, 287, 301, 302, 410,430, 482, 487, 489archeology, viiarea, 1, 477-479groups, 277
518 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Plains?Continuedmigrations onto, 16, 21, 23, 484nomadic groups, 50, 482norttiern, 358warfare, 232, 241, 273, 276, 397western, 486Plain Tail, Indian man, 424Plants, 461Plates, 387, 459Platform, four-post central, 160, 404, 470Plaza complex, 483, 488Pledgers, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 320,321, 322, 332, 341, 346, 352, 366,377, 400, 446Plenty Yellow, Indian woman, 444Plums, 356Police, 34, 35, 48, 49, 50, 56, 60, 73, 131,132, 181, 184, 185, 187, 188, 189.190 191, 192, 250, 251, 256, 272,273, 293See also: Crime; Societies, BlackMouth.Poor Bull, Indian man, 149Poor Wolf, informant, vii, 41, 42, 43, 44,144, 157, 173, 183, 201, 233, 236,244, 245, 247, 249, 251, 256, 257.260, 264, 265, 272, 310, 311, 343,346, 367, 371, 375, 380, 383, 390,418, 425, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438,442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 451, 456,457, 460, 461Poplar, Mont., 142Poplar Creeli, 150Porcupine, 293, 333quills of, used for decoration, 131,147, 153, 280, 316, 414Porcupine Butte, 246, 247Porcupine Head, household, 356Porcupine Pemmican, Indian man, 226,229, 267, 309, 310, 312, 313, 322,323, 422, 424, 426Postholes, 448Posts, 448, 457, 464, 479ash, 126, 330, 333, 391, 410, 464-466cedar, 483central, 481dressed, 464, 466forked, torture implement, 306, 321for Sun Dance ceremony, 167, 315,318, 319, 354peripheral, 480, 481roof, 316snake, 361, 390wall, 480Pots, burial of, 392clay, 336, 345, 356, 348, 374, 375,389, 390, 391decoration of, 391dressing of, 390metal, 374sacred, 345, 347, 348, 392Potsherds, 464trade, 22
Pottery, 22, 334, 345, 373, 478, 479, 483Arikara, 478Awatixa, 22check-stamped, 22, 479, 483complexes, 23, 214cord-roughened, 22, 479, 483cross-hatched rims, 479dark colored, 479designs, 374, 480Heart River Focus, 334incised-decorated, 480S rims, 483techniques, 162thickened rims, 483types, 22, 214, 482, 483, 489,Pottery making, 104, 120, 165, 166, 345,373, 374, 391Powder and bullets, 145, 255Powder horn, 379Powder River, 22, 49, 214, 228, 229, 232,447Prairie, 276Prairie chickens, 66, 131Prairie Chicken village, 68Prayers, to gods, 59, 61, 63, 76, 116, 129,319Pregnancy, 110, 128Prehistoric times, 3, 15, 474, 477, 483Prehorse times, 216Price. N. Dak., 369Prisoners, 95, 155, 167Property, division of, 110, 171personal, 171, 267, 289Protector Drum, 458, 459Protector robe, 458, 459
"Protectors of the people," prominentmen, 32, 33, 38, 44, 45, 152, 232,275, 276Protohistoric times, 481, 485, 488Puberty, 138, 290Public opinion, regard for, 184Puffball, 454Pumpkins, 335, 344, 345Puts-His-Hair-Away, Indian man, 126,309Quarrels, 24, 49Quilts, 402Rabbit Head, Indian scout, 226, 227,309, 322, 402Rabbits, 131, 219, 265, 272, 401beliefs regarding, 128cottontail, 435skin targets, 130See also Jackrabbit.Radcliff-Brown, A. R., iil, vnRafts, 153, 379Raids, 62, 113, 188, 193Railroads, 57, 267Rails, used for corrals, 448, 449Rain, calling of, 468, 471Rainmakers, 203, 263, 270, 363Rainy Buttes, 227, 350, 375, 442
INDEX 519Rattles, 242, 243, 247, 332, 350, 364, 368,383, 405, 406, 407, 409buffalo hide, 367, 438, 443, 444 (fig.)gourd, 332, 345, 346medicine, 101, 263rattlesnake pulverized, 128Rattles Medicine, Indian woman, 442,443, 444, 445Rattlesnakes, 444Raven Arm, Indian man, 444Raven Bear, Indian man, 253, 255Raven Necklace, Indian man, 434, 436,438, 445Raven Paunch, Indian man, 254, 256,423Ravens, 363, 410, 419feather of, 279, 350, 411, 423, 429,445skin of, 434Raving Bear, Indian man, 358Red Basket. Indian man, 266, 267, 269,274, 327, 397, 398, 400, 406, 408,409, 425Red Bird, Mandan man, 342Red Blossom, Indian v?oman, 374Red-Bufifalo-Cow, Indian man, 147, 148,253Red Buttes, 66Red-Corn-Woman, Indian woman, 439Red Feather, Indian man, 456Redfield, Robert, iiiRed Head, Indian woman, 388, 409Red Hilled People, Mandan clan, 70, 334Red Hills, 334, 335, 393Red Leaf, Indian brave, 58, 228, 425Red River, 11, 22, 23, 32, 213, 290, 294,300, 301, 482region of, 213, 215, 389Red River of the North, 482, 484, 486.487Red River valley, 479Red Robe, Indian scout, 226, 227, 230Red Spear, Sioux man, 384Red sticks, 452, 459, 461carriers of, 462used in ceremony, 144, 244, 461, 462Red Tail, Pawnee chief, 28, 367, 383Red Wing, Indian man, 402Refuse accumulation, 47, 294, 331Reid, Russell, viiiReins, 267Relatives, see Father ; Husband
;
Mother; Wife; etc.Religious activities, 282Religious leaders, 40Reservation, 41, 57, 142, 150, 170, 179.199, 246, 268Reservation Period, 281Residence, 119, 218matrilocal, 77, 91, 110, 121, 159, 162,308, 432patrilocal, 105, 110, 121, 122, 140,160Respect, symbols of, 34, 35Rice, wild, 301
Ridicule, use of, 190Riding gear, 52Riggs site, north of Pierre, 478Rights
:
bundle, 27, 41, 108, 119, 198, 233,257, 258, 280, 308, 320, 321, 332,383, 421Black Bear, 120ceremonial, 43, 95, 120, 135, 161, 163,168, 190dance, selling of, 91, 92Holy Women, 120inherited, 373Long Arm, 310NaxpikE, 326pottery, 373singer, purchase of, 326, 332, 353,364, 419Sunrise Wolf, 406Wolf Woman, 412women's, 162, 165Rites, 370Acira, 357adoption, 48, 218Adoption Pipe, 295against grasshoppers, 203, 204agricultural, 138, 209Bear, 334, 348, 351, 352Bear Bullet, 349, 352Bear with Arrow, 293Big Bird, 360, 363, 369birth, 128, 129Black Medicine, 293branches used in, 222, 226, 229Buffalo, 437, 439Buffalo-calling, 8, 32, 35, 57, 58, 59,60, 149, 183, 187, 192, 205, 206,207, 236, 296buffalo corral, 293, 446-451buffalo manure, used in, 222, 227,253, 263buffalo spirits, 127, 255, 259, 388bullboatmaking, 372bullet, 256, 259, 260, 349, 352bundle, 30, 32, 44, 53, 54, 79, 108,109, 163, 198, 208, 225, 248, 261.287, 289, 291, 296, 327, 347, 436,437, 441bundle transfer, 340ceremonial, 8, 70, 108, 120, 157, 160,162, 163, 289, 304cleaning, 429, 445corn, 46, 181, 202, 208, 302, 338, 339,340, 342, 343, 347Corn Bundle, 176, 181Creek, 357, 369, 380-389, 432, 474curing, 260, 261, 307, 333, 489director of, 437doctoring, 333, 382Eagletrapping, 78, 79, 263, 293, 295,388, 441, 445, 446Earth lodge, 2, 3, 10, 16, 381, 382,474Earthnaming, 127, 208, 242, 245,329, 433-438
520 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Rites?Continuedfall, 363fasting, 135fertility, 203, 339fish trapping, 293, 446funeral, 76, 157, 210, 320garden and fertility, 201gardening, 104Good-Furred-Robe, 176Grandfather Snake, 371grave, 76Hawk, 436gun, 241horse, 295household cleansing, 340hunting, 54, 162, 369Little Black Bear, 357marriage, 218medicine, 293, 415military, 220Missouri River, 360, 369, 380, 383Mooai, 208naming, 117Okipa, 199Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, 152,250, 293, 334, 335, 338, 340, 344,348, 363Painted Red Stick, 143, 208, 229,232, 244, 438, 439, 441preparation for, 312purchase of, 136, 224rain, 46, 203, 247, 296, 347, 364, 372,375, 389, 390, 402, 430, 461, 468,471renewal, 283sacred, 5, 6, 108, 109, 112, 122, 128.157, 182, 194, 208, 209, 295, 296.412, 430Sacred Arrow, 21, 290, 293, 335, 356,360, 361, 441sacred bundle, 163, 179sale of, 160, 208snake, 46, 296, 361snake curing, 293, 307spring, 363Star Bundle, 293Sunrise Wolf, 295, 336, 410Sunset Wolf, 410-430swallow, 436sweat lodge, 320, 356, 369, 384, 429symbolized by strings, 304thunder, 208, 283, 310, 358, 474tobacco, 290, 294, 300transfer, 432tribal, 5, 30, 31, 32, 39, 41, 44, 225,^40, 241Tying-the-Pots, 179, 348, 389-390victory, 210village, 225Wolf, 46, 150, 238, 269, 295, 340, 390,393, 397, 430wolf bundle, 150, 225Woman Above, 299, 327, 330, 331,397, 404, 435See also Ceremonies.
River Basin Surveys, vii, viiiRiver bathing, supernatural practice,261River Crow, with Mirokac, 1, 16, 21, 23,24, 25, 29, 31, 36, 37, 45, 466, 482,486, 487Roadmaker, council member, 28, 371,374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380Robes, 48, 61, 75, 76, 134, 140, 145, 149,169, 180, 196, 202, 206, 207, 234,235, 242, 244, 245, 252, 253, 256,260, 269, 316. 319, 328, 329, 345,350, 352, 354, 365, 366, 367, 368,369, 376, 378, 383, 384, 385, 391,398, 402, 407, 409, 411, 414, 415,418, 428, 431, 432, 437, 440, 448,461, 463, 470, 471buffalo, 311, 346, 347, 353, 355, 382,418, 435, 437, 440, 443, 444, 445,451, 457, 458, 460calfskin, 329, 435decorated, 169, 235, 280, 316, 373,384, 390kit fox, 346medicine, 201, 235, 242painted, 238, 280, 326protector, 458, 459sacred shell, 406shell, 147tanned, 61, 123white, 206See also Clothing.Rockefeller Foundation, iiiRock Village, of the Awatixa, viii, 5,13 (map), 17, 18, 21, 24, 27, 216Rocky Mountains, 245, 253, 260, 298, 323,359, 363, 467Rocky Mountain valleys, 213Rod, willow, 321Roman Catholics, 6priest, 322Roots, Indian woman, 385, 409, 443Rope, hide, 409, 410, 411, 424Rose ball soup, 465Roseberries, 465Rosebud Butte, 12 (map), 435, 436Rose Creek, 261Rubs Herself, Indian woman, 148, 149,151, 152Runners, 443, 451Runs, member of council, 28Rush, Percy, Indian, 385Rygh site, 481Sack, Indian man, 264Sack Butte, 246Sacks, 461Sacred Arrow, 166, 196, 228, 245, 253,254, 286, 290, 291, 292 (fig.), 303,304, 306-308, 312, 322, 335, 345,348, 349, 350, 353, 356, 360, 361,371, 372, 374, 481See also Myths ; Rites.Sacrificing for the dead, 35Saddle blanket, 226Saddle Buttes, 58
INDEX 521Saddles, 259Sage, 170, 202, 267, 307, 313, 317, 320,326. 332, 333, 341, 342, 345, 346,361, 364, 368, 369, 379, 380, 391.412, 428, 438, 444, 454, 458, 465hair, used in celebrations, 466Sand Creek, 150, 151Sandgrass, 440, 445Sanger area, 3, 339sites 2 56Sanish, N. Dak., 30, 36, 256, 360, 361Santee Sioux, 91, 92, 389Saskatchewan River, 301Saulier (Awaxawi), 16Saulteurs, see Awaxawi."Savior of the Village," 458Scaffolds, building of, 171corn, 307, 436drying, 47, 55, 323, 329for the dead, 31, 76, 109, 169, 170,171. 172, 243, 262, 269, 278, 283,305. 320, 322, 330, 331, 419, 444Scalping, 279, 306Scalps, 43, 48, 62, 63, 110, 121, 122, 125,132, 137, 1&4, 156, 223, 230, 233,235, 240, 241, 243, 244, 245, 249,254, 255, 258, 263, 264, 270, 277,278, 279, 280, 299, 306, 317, 322,329, 332, 336, 345, 347, 375, 376,377, 378, 379, 384, 394, 395. 399,403, 404, 406, 407, 410, 425, 432,434, 473segments of, 279, 280sticks foi', carried by leaders, 279Scarf, horsehair, 380Scattercorn, Indian woman, 206Scattered site, 478, 484Scattered village (Awatixa), 5, 228, 485Schoolcraft, Henry R., 3, 10Schultz sites, 213, 480, 483Scouts, Indian, 44, 50, 52, 53, .54, 60,135, 137, 146, 162, 186, 187, 188,189, 221, 223, 224, 226, 227, 228.229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 235, 238.245, 246, 253, 255, 256, 259, 264,265, 272, 273, 276, 279, 299, 307,351, 376, 377, 393. 395, 396, 412.415, 422, 423, 434, 439, 440, 442,472Scraper, elk horn, 396Seats, 160Self-torture, 52, 55, 59, 73, 76, 116, 191,193, 219, 231, 237, 247, 254, 261,264, 266, 270, 274, 277, 284, 311,319by mourners, 172, 234, 243, 270by suspension, 55, 391stakes for, 228See also Thongs.Sentinel Butte, 351Seven Bears, Indian man, 256, 380Seven Dogs, Awatixa man, 327Sewing, 104, 131, 132
Sex, 154basis of lineage, 90, 97dichotomy, 105, 110. 132expression, 286Sexual relations, 195, 198ceremonial, 271, 451, 454forced, 134instruction in, 104licenses with, 182, 232, 455, 462restrictions on, 110results of, 455, 461Sheep, mountain, 325, 410Shell Creek, 21, 30, 254, 469section of reservation, 45Shell Robe, of the Mandan, 406Shell Robe, property of Prairie ChickenClan, 31Shell village, 487Shelter, brush, 306ceremonial, 316temporary, 232Shermer site, N. Dak., 478. 479, 483Sheyenne River, 22, 23, 213, 294, 480,482, 483, 488region of, 213, 214Shields, 351, 366, 389, 411, 412Shirts, 228, 234, 235, 237, 238, 240, 280,403decorated, 190, 279, 280, 329Short Bull, Indian man, 142, 406Short Missouri, 246, 335, 336, 346, 356,359, 372Shoshoni Indians, 95, 431Shot-in-Nose Creek, 269Shrines, 331, 333household, 307Sun Bundle, 475Sibley Island, 485Siblings, 130, 279, 381relationships between, 71, 81, 90, 93,95, 97Sign language, 253Signpost, 253Signs, belief in, 235, 238Simmons, Mr. and Mrs. Hal O., inSinger Butte, 12 (map), 434, 436Singers, 179, 180-192, 200-203, 207, 208,266, 300, 302, 310, 312, 317-320,324, 329, 341, 344, 351, 353, 354,383, 397, 407, 427-429, 434, 437,439, 442, 445, 446, 458, 459, 461Singing, 135, 316, 344, 353, 379, 404, 405,406, 407, 419, 443Singing Butte, 12 (map), 435Sioux Indians, 14, 17, 20, 24, 35, 36, 40,41, 43, 56, 57, 58, 62, 93, 125. 134,150, 151, 1.56, 179, 191, 211, 215,216, 217, 218, 219, 221, 230, 236,238, 239, 240, 242, 243, 247, 251,256, 259, 268, 274, 276, 277, 278,283, 301, 310, 315, 322, 327, 384,393, 402, 425, 456, 472, 473, 477,485, 486, 487, 489wars, 218
522 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Sister, 65, 81, 101, 105, 107, 109, 111, 114,115, 116, 118, 122, 123, 130, 131,132, 134, 139, 140, 145, 147, 150,154, 158, 159, 163, 168, 169, 170,171, 172, 237, 244, 245, 249, 279,305, 328, 329, 342, 344, 349, 361,366, 367, 368, 373, 375, 376, 384,385, 404, 406, 434, 435children of, 65, 81, 86, 107, 116, 163husband of, 80, 87, 122
"Sister," 86, 87, 99, 101, 105, 116, 122,123, 249, 328son of, 99, 116"older," 80, 81, 86, 87, 88, 95, 101.104, 105, 114, 123"younger," 80, 81, 86, 88, 105, 123Sister-in-law, 117, 118, 123, 124, 249,390 396
"Sister-in-law," 81, 87, 88, 90, 97, 99, 101,128Sites, fortified, 479Site 32, 11, 17, 24Site 33, 11, 14, 16, 17Site 34, 19, 20, 21Site 35, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 39permanent, 23temporary, 23, 56See also specific site names.Sitting Bear, Indian judge, 151, 327Sitting Elk, Indian man, 45, 77, 78, 126,127, 266, 309, 310Sitting Owl, Indian man, 242, 243, 247,402Sitting Wolf, Indian chief, 253, 258Siwaxuwa Indians, 467, 469Skidi Pawnee, 477Skin, human, offering to the gods, 322,388Skins, tanning, 142Skulls, 174, 243, 277, 283, 322buffalo, 54, 55, 60, 95, 171, 187, 198,199, 219, 307, 314, 332, 333, 344,353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 361, 364,367, 368, 371, 380, 381, 383, 384,388, 391, 395, 397, 399, 404, 405,406, 407, 408, 417, 420, 421, 423.428, 429, 431, 432, 4.34, 436, 437,438, 439, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445,446, 452, 454, 455, 456, 457, 461,466, 468, 470Buffalo Bull, 407, 458, 459circles of, 31, 170, 171, 219, 262, 327,329, 330, 331disposal of, 170human, 296, 331, 333, 470, 471, 473,475painted, 170, 198, 470prayers to, 472removal of, 170, 171, 277returned to village, 76, 170shrines to, 76, 307, 327, 331Waterbuster clan, 261Skunk Woman, Indian woman, 408Slant site, 478, 484Sleds, 378
Slope Aspect, 480Small Ankles, Indian man, 42, 152, 261,265, 268, 269, 270, 273, 274, 327,330, 367, 369, 383, 386, 387, 388,397, 398, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407,408, 455, 456Small Bull, Indian man, 144Smallpox, see Diseases.Smells, Indian man, 358, 359, 863, 364,365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 383Smith, Tom, interpreter, iv, 4, 372Smithsonian Insitution, 334Smoke, use of, 448, 464, 466Smoke hole, 328, 336, 345, 373, 424Smoking, social custom, 154Snake Cane, Indian man, 309Snake Creek, 256Snake Indian Butte, 351Snake Indians, 11, 17, 351, 412, 413, 415Snakes, 125, 128, 165, 299, 303, 334, 345,346, 348, 358, 361, 362, 368, 371,372, 373, 374, 390, 391, 393, 444beliefs regarding, 165, 372effigy of, 370poles for, 361, 390water, 391Snakeskin, 346, 372, 381Snares, sacred, 79, 353, 354, 44.5, 446,448, 449"Snare vine," 357Snipes, 374SocictiGS *age-grade, 6, 48, 59, 93. 103, 104,112, 117, 136, 172, 175, 184, 200,205, 207, 209, 210, 212, 314, 379,391, 402, 427, 455, 462, 489age-graded military, 174announcer for, 208Big Grass, 402, 403Black mouth, 39, 42, 43, 46, 48, 60,61, 74, 112, 131, 132, 157, 162,163, 17o (table), 176, 177, 178,179, 181, 183, 184-194, 198, 207,210, 211, 221, 245, 250, 274, 276,378, 443, 444 (floor plan), 445,456, 458, 459Black-Tail Deer, 178Bull, 175 (table), 176, 178, 179, 184,185, 198-199, 207, 208, 210Crazy Dog, 92, 175 (table), 176,177, 181, 182, 192, 194, 195, 196,197, 200, 210, 337Crow imitators, 175 (table), 176,177Dog, 175 (table), 176, 178, 179, 184,185, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 208,211, 212, 293, 337, 402duties of, 208emblems of, 180, 184Enemy, 199, 200, 201, 210, 219Foolish Dog, see Crazy Dog.Fox, 147, 181, 210
INDEX 523Societies?Ck>ntinue(iGoose, 163, 182, 184, 199, 200-204,205, 207, 208, 209, 210, 295, 324,338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344,345, 346, 347, 364Grass, 404Half-shaved head, 175 (table), 176,177, 178, 179, 183, 192, 211Hidatsa-Awatixa, 178Holy Woman, 95, 167, 293, 217, 315,322-331, 333, 383, 411, 420, 443,444 (floor plan) , 445, 461informal, 180Kit fox, 175 (table), 176, 177, 178,181-183, 187, 192, 457, 458, 459leaders of, 134Little Dog, 175 (table), 176, 177,180, 181, 182, 192, 194, 196, 197,337, 376Lumpwood, 175 (table), 177, 182,183, 192, 208, 210, 211Magpie, 176, 180Mangy Buffalo, 180markings of, 134members of, 237men's, 175-199, 208military, 56, 174, 489Night Grass, 404Notched Stick, 175 (table), 176,177, 178, 179, 182, 208Old Dog, 175 (table), 176, 178, 179,185, 194, 196, 197, 198, 211, 337origin of, 175, 208paraphernalia of, 206, 208purchase of, 134, 178, 181, 182, 184,194, 195, 198, 205, 324Raven, 178"Real Dog," 194, 195River, 199, 200, 210, 219Skunk, 200, 210Stone Hammer, 134, 149, 175(table), 176, 177, 178, 179, 180-181, 182, 192, 196, 197, 200, 208,209, 210, 212, 293, 326, 329, 336,337, 340, 375system of, 175Waschu'kke-Achlce, see Dog.White Buffalo Cow, 60, 199, 202,204-207, 208, 209, 210, 295, 324Wood Rattler, 375Wood-roots, 184Son, 80, 81, 86, 88, 90, 91, 93, 105, 108,109, 116, 137, 148, 151, 160, 165,167, 168, 171, 172, 173, 181, 225.242, 244, 247, 265, 266, 267, 269,271, 272, 273. 277, 296, 307, 308,318, 320, 332, 334, 349, 365, 368,384, 385, 394, 404, 405, 406, 407,409, 411, 412, 421, 426, 432, 435,439, 454, 456, 462education of, 105, 106, 129, 436unmarried, 159wife of, 80, 108, 432"Son," 86, 88, 90, 91, 101, 108, 121, 133,171, 182, 198, 209, 211, 223, 228,
"Son"?Continued232, 241, 245, 249, 252, 260, 287,289, 306, 307, 319, 328, 329, 332,337, 346, 347, 349, 404, 405, 406,407, 427, 454, 455, 462, 463wives of, 109, 267, 455"younger," 116Songs, 433, 464arrowmaking, 120Bear, 353, 356, 386Buffalo, 354, 355, 452, 457cleansing, 320doctoring, 381Dog societies', 196faster's, 424, 428Fox society, 147holy, 226, 229, 230, 255, 256, 257,262, 263, 266, 361, 366, 367, 368,381, 383, 384, 385, 386, 394, 395,404, 405, 407, 408, 430, 454, 459,469, 472honor, 143, 396, 456invitation, 406, 421, 422medicine, 230, 267, 381Missouri River, 360New Mink, 389of praise, 118Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies, 344Otter, 257painting, 317robe, 344sacred, 6, 138, 166, 226, 241, 247,256, 261, 263, 265, 266, 267, 268,269, 288, 310, 315, 319, 333, 344,360, 364, 371, 372, 373, 384, 388,443, 445, 464, 468skull, 344snare, 445, 446, 448Spotted Eagle, 266sweat lodge, 381, 382thanks, 443tobacco, 300victory, 76, 219, 230, 233, 234, 241,243, 247, 263, 300, 306, 329, 378,379war, 235, 239, 241, 433Wolf, 226, 264, 394, 409, 411, 412,415Woman Above, 407Son-in-law, 105, 120, 121, 122, 124, 140,152, 159, 160, 161, 201, 271, 342,389, 411, 439, 440, 443"Son-in-law," 88, 120Son-of-Star, Indian man, 264, 367, 383,456Sororate, operation of, 109, 123, 159Soup, rose ball, 465South Dakota, 477, 478, 479, 480, 488Spear, 280, 301, 395sacred, 389Speckled Eagle village, 467, 468Speckled Owl, 12 (map)Sperry site, 478Spinal cord, 470
524 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Spirit babies, 127Spirit father, 174"Spirit god," personal god, 171Spirit people, 304, 305Spirits, 126, 287, 288, 291, 433, 434, 435,452, 453. 459, 466evil, 64, 275, 304, 349, 441guardian, 223, 285, 288, 299, 455holy, 385Owl, 302protection against evil, 169, 275,354, 381"sky worid," 297"under worid," 297vegetation, 336villages of, 269water, 371worid of, messages to, 75, 173Spoon, 379, 443, 444 (fig.)Spotted Bear, Indian man, 266, 274, 401Spotted Bird, Indian man, 383, 384, 385Spotted Horn, Indian man, 226, 403Square Buttes area, 5, 12 (map), 20, 24.26, 47, 213, 300, 480, 482, 485, 496Squash, 46, 203, 243, 247, 339, 346, 392Squaws, 38Staffs, painted and carved, 183, 376, 377,378Standing Bear, Mandan Indian, 127, 149Standing Coyote, Indian boy, 148, 151Standing Rock, N. Dak., 264Stanton, N. Dak., 3, 225, 476Stanton Ferry site, 216Stars, 298, 337Status, loss of, 455Steamboat, 150, 263Stepfather, 93, 327Stephenson, Robert L., vn, viiiStevenson Flats, 256Sticks, 366, 391, 397, 399, 403, 407, 424,453, 454ashwood, 319, 329, 332, 333, 398bird, 361. 363, 364, 365, 367decorated and carved, 183, 280, 325(figs.), 326gambling, 305offerings placed on, 361, 368Painted Wood sacred, 183red, 452. 454, 456, 457, 458, 460representing horses, 405, 406sharpened, used in self-torture. 228Stirrup, council member, 28, 31, 377,378, 473, 474Stockades, 275Stone Indians, 301Stones, 381, 382, 384, 412fired, 165hot, 329, 354, 407, 470piles of, used in corral, 448shrine, 334sweat lodge, 353, 356, 369, 470, 471Stoneworkers, 166Storerooms, 161Stores, common, 161
Strikes-Many-Womau, Indian woman,382, 385, 386Strong, William Duncan, 484Strong Jaw, Hidatsa chief, 17, 412, 413,430, 431Suffering, endurance of, 73, 135, 315Sugar, 150, 401Suicides, beliefs regarding, 173Summer
:
activities, 46, 185camp, 45-47, 49, 50, 51, 56, 62, 170,215ceremonies, pledged, 61chief, 41, 56, 62hunt, 50-56, 136, 161, 270, 312hunt leaders, 186ranges, 46village, 439Sun, offerings to, 313, 325Sun Dance, see NaxpikE.Sunflower. 46, 203, 344, 345, 346Sun Impersonator, 456, 458, 460, 461Supernatural
:
assistance, 307, 347, 395, 455beings, 41, 55, 65, 283, 291, 358, 392experiences, 54, 198, 202, 225, 237,358, 359, 363guardian, 283, 433guidance, belief in, 44, 50, 55, 268,295instructions, 181, 202, 283, 435powers, 60, 63, 73, 117, 168, 172, 182,194, 198, 202, 203, 209, 210, 220,230, 231, 232, 239, 240, 241, 245,256, 2.59, 260, 261, 264, 268. 282,283, 284, 285, 286, 288, 289, 290,295. 307, 308, 315, 320, 322, 329,331, 335, 336, 337, 347, 355, 357,362, 371, 395, 396, 412, 415, 417,446, 454, 455, 461, 462, 463, 470quests, 44, 209visions, 55See also Mythology.Surrounds, hunting method, 54, 60, 61,131. 162. 188, 227Swallow, 245, 329Swan, Mandan Indian, 152Swan Creek site, 481Swan feathers. 280Sweat bath, 305, 384, 404. 407Sweat lodges, 205, 206, 305, 320, 328, 353,354, 355, 356, 361, 365, 367, 368,369, 379, 381, 384, 387, 388, 398,405, 406, 407, 470, 471pits, 355, 369"Sweetgrass," 227, 264, 325. 326, 329,330, 332, 353, 356, 394, 397, 398,399, 405, 406, 407, 427, 431, 432,466Sweetgrass Blossom, Mandan woman,150Sword, ceremonial, 253, 364, 371wooden, 361, 364Taboos, 121, 122, 159, 179
INDEX 525Takes-the-Gun, Indian man, 228, 262,269"Taking in Friends," society transfers,211Tanning, 138, 314Targets, 130, 131Teals 298Teasing, 113, 118, 119, 121, 123, 124, 125,139, 140, 144, 153, 154, 155, 158,249, 271, 272Telescope, 226, 227Tents, 262, 301Tetons, 11Thompson, David D., 3, 10, 11, 16, 213,215, 301, 476, 482Thongs, 315used in self-torture, 267, 268, 269,423"Those Who Quarreled over thePaunch," see River Crow.Three Coyotes, Indian leader, 238, 239,240, 259Three Rabbits, Mandan man, 242Thunder, 363, 390See also Ceremonies ; Mythology.Thunder Buttes, 361Thunder Creek, 360Timber, 37, 38, 56, 160, 408, 409, 415,435, 439, 451, 464Tipis, 52, 53, 62, 150, 157, 165, 195, 229.238, 244, 268, 280, 302, 336, 337,376, 377, 395, 399, 408, 422, 481hide, 300, 439Toads, 358Tobacco, 298, 300, 303, 339, 365, 392presentation of, 192singers, 300, 302songs, 300Tools, 166, 480Tops, 130Torture ordeals, 52, 55, 59, 73, 76, 135,136, 137, 266, 267, 310, 319, 320,321, 391, 410, 426, 438See also Self -torture.Toys, 117, 126, 130Traders, 10, 186, 192, 216, 462, 477. 478fur, 1, 3, 38, 142, 145White, 3, 10, 186, 192, 216, 462. 477,478Trading, 91expeditions, 49parties, 49, 191post, 29, 48, 150, 192, 215Traditions, 47, 60, 64, 70, 71, 173, 177,225, 486sale of, 71Traps, communal, 161Travois, 222Tree ring study, 17, 479, 481Trees, used as posts, 448Tucks in, Indian man, 141, 142Turnips, wild, 53, 256, 259Turtle, 365, 371, 387effigy, VIII, 337, 370fat of, 337
Turtle?Continuedsacred, 297, 337, 358, 387scrapings from, 128, 379shell, 364, 373, 380, 381, 387Turtle Mountains, 12 (map), 22, 26, 215Twelve, Sioux man, 315Twins, 349Twisted Wood, Indian man, 309, 327Two Bears, Indian man, 384Two-Bulls, Indian man, 97, 98 (chart),149, 266, 366Two Men, Indian man, 95, 180, 253, 286,290, 294, 306, 307, 308, 309, 314,323, 333, 334, 335, 336, 345, 346,349, 350, 352, 354, 355, 358, 359,360, 363, 365, 369, 371, 372, 373,441, 454Two Nights, member of council, 28Two Shields, Indian man, 141, 142, 444,456, 459, 460Two Tails, council member, 28, 37, 155,156, 157, 252, 257, 397, 416Two Teeth, Indian man, 383, 384, 385U.S. Army, 2, 45, 78, 489post, 251scouts, 246U.S. Department of Agriculture, iiiU.S. Government, 45, 79, 273, 402allotments, division of, 79officials, 186rations, 44, 245treaty with, 41University of Chicago, iii, vi, 2University of Idaho, vii, vmUpper Missouri, 36, 217, 392, 474, 475Upper Sanger station, 39, 216, 369, 483Uprights, 481Van Costing site, 481Vessels, 166, 478"Village Builders," 152Village Council, see Councils.Village Indians, 487, 488, 489Village of the Dead, beliefs regarding,173, 174, 282Villages, 10, 14, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 30, 32,33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 45, 78, 90, 174,189, 190, 211, 212, 250, 251, 293,300, 305, 327, 342, 345, 430, 437,446, 484activities of, 50, 111announcer for, 38, 49, 186, 275, 276,315, 396, 442, 456, 459attacks on, 40, 275, 276, 278earth lodge, 14, 21, 23, 24, 26, 29,46, 56, 301, 304, 476, 477endogamous, 77feuds of, 44, 45leaders of 40, 42, 49, 50, 52, 54, 56,118, 155, 193, 194, 275, 277, 278life in, 38, 160organization of, 26, 63-64, 273, 482policies of, 186protection of, 22, 36, 40, 48, 50, 56,245, 357, 484
526 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194]Villages?Continuedsites, 3, 10, 30structure of, 56summer, 30, 33, 35, 37, 39, 40, 41, 45,46, 47, 49, 51, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 63,160, 161, 170, 186, 187. 188, 192,216, 219, 307, 312, 447, 487territorial grounds of, 29, 208winter, 30, 33, 39, 45, 46, 56, 63, 149,152, 161, 170, 186, 218, 357, 435,442, 447, 471Virginity test, 462Visions, 106, 172, 173, 220, 223, 224, 284.285, 288, 308, 317, 318, 330, 332,336, 348, 349, 350, 375experiences with, 30, 59, 174, 198,225, 240, 241, 284, 285, 287, 289,310, 311, 362, 371, 437instructions from, 59, 188, 223, 238,283, 287, 320recipient of, 348Visits, group, 191, 277intergroup, 91, 93, 155, 218intertribal, 47-50, 93Vows, made to gods, 314Wagon, 399, 401Waistband, 444Waiter, ceremonial position, 335, 352,353, 355, 356, 357, 419, 425, 443,452Walking Chief, Indian man, 144, 266,456, 460Walking-in-Water Creek, see KnifeRiver.Walks, 95, 96 (chart), 97Wandering Minnetarees, see Hidatsa.War bonnet, 245, 256, 375, 379, 400, 403,428, 471Ward, Joe, informant, v, 410, 412Ward site, N. Dak., 478, 479Warfare, 32, 40-^6, 48, 58, 75, 112, 121,122, 124, 125, 133, 137, 142, 168,174, 183, 185, 186, 191, 194, 208,209, 212-281, 302, 308, 312, 318,328, 351, 393, 402, 414, 431defensive, 62, 275-277, 281effect of, 35, 94honors in, 43, 62, 112, 116, 124, 125,139, 193, 200, 210, 232, 235, 239,246, 249, 251, 264, 271, 276-281,306, 319, 332importance of, 106, 138interest in, 46, 136intertribal, 212-219intervillage, 77leaders of, 27-29, 32, 34, 38, 40-63,137, 155, 181, 191-193, 220-226,231, 235, 241, 243, 24.5-247, 257-259, 261, 267, 270, 272, 274-276,279, 280, 329, 396, 417. 444military emblems of, 46, 172, 220,280offensive, 214, 223-275. 278, 281, 284,286, 332, 366, 393, 397, 462
Warfare?ContinuedPlains, 232, 241, 273, 276, 397records of, 153, 154, 179, 233, 252,281, 319, 424, 426ritualistic aspects of, 220, 225training for, 109, 137, 219-223.War parties, 34, 40, 47, 49, 61, 62, 66,110, 112, 116, 125, 133-138, 155,156, 172, 181, 183, 184, 187, 192,193, 194, 200, 217-221, 224, 225,228, 229, 232, 233, 236, 244, 245,247, 249, 250, 255, 258, 259, 266,272, 276, 278, 279, 299, 306, 321,326, 329, 333, 339, 358, 376, 377,379, 392, 393, 395, 396, 412, 415,418, 422, 430, 433, 435, 445, 473Warriors, 42, 129, 132, 140, 192, 193, 221,224, 227, 275, 278, 289, 316, 321,329, 340, 376, 379, 380, 395, 411,415, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426,453, 461, 469Washburn, N. Dak., 21, 22, 24, 29, 174,264, 291, 304, 349, 485, 486Water, 53, 54, 135, 137, 381, 382, 384, 386,390, 394, 410, 411, 422, 423, 426,428, 429, 461, 469, 470, 471Waterbag, 66Watersnake skin, 381Weapons, 52, 153, 158, 161, 188, 189, 193,200, 222, 301, 380bow and arrows, 48, 60, 63, 106, 115,130, 131, 157, 171, 219, 334-336,350-352, 361, 376, 377, 380, 395,466firearms, 35, 48, 60, 130, 141, 142,145, 147, 151, 153, 171, 187, 188,189, 213-215, 230, 234, 235, 239,240, 256, 259, 276, 301, 351, 357,366, 377, 378, 379, 403muzzle-loaders, 376Weasel-Blackens-Himself, Indian man,424Weidman, Bears Arm's brother-in-law,150"Where People Died of Smallpox,"Hidatsa village, 170Whisky, 122Whistle, eagle wingbone, 315, 317, 318,424sacred, 335, 336, 337, 345, 346sunflower stalk, 335, 345willow bark, 355Whistling Ghost, Mandan man, 377, 378White Belly, Indian man, 147, 148, 149,151, 152White Bird, Indian man, 403White Butte, 12 (map) , 435White-Corn-Woman, Indian woman,439, 440White Duck, Mrs., informant, vi, 5,173, 346, 434, 438, 443, 444White Earth Creek, 12 (map), 255White Fingernails, Indian man, 146,299, 358
INDEX 527White man, 4, 122, 212, 256, 260, 299,311, 322, 399, 401, 462, 477, 484,487White River, 477Widowers, 462, 463Widows, 113, 123, 124, 157, 158, 159,171, 218, 320, 321, 332, 355, 449Wife, 45, 71, 75, 80, 97, 99, 103, 106, 109-111, 121, 123, 124, 142-146, 150,151, 153-158, 160, 162, 163, 166,172, 182, 196, 236, 242, 244, 249,263, 315, 316, 320, 334, 337, 344,345, 349, 353, 355, 373, 384, 385,390, 395-400, 402, 403, 407, 408,410-413, 429, 432, 440, 442, 443,445, 451, 456-459, 461-463, 465assistance given by, 314, 449brother of, 80, 109, 122, 141, 144,146, 237, 249extended family of, 99, 163, 279, 432household of, 107, 121, 122, 158, 161,163lending of, 144, 155, 182, 209lodge of, 163parents of, 80, 121, 401potential, 87, 123purchase of, 65, 139remarriage of, 93, 157, 443second, 110, 249sisters of, 81, 123-125, 140, 163stealing of, 74, 149, 157, 185, 279surrenderins: of. 182, 198, 232, 248,267, 271, 451, 452, 453, 457, 458, 463younger, 158Will, George, and Spinden, H. L., 477,478, 479Williston, N. Dak., 66, 370Willows, 455bark of, 355brush, 316curved, 391hoop, 317sandbar, 381Wilson, Gilbert L., v, 3, 7, 357Winchell, N. H., 10Windbreak, 160Winnipeg area, 214Wolf Chief, informant, v, 2, 6, 28, 60,63, 111, 130, 135, 142, 145, 150, 151.152, 155, 156, 174, 180, 220, 226,228, 230, 231, 232, 235, 236, 258,261, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271,272, 273, 274, 278, 305, 310, 319,324, 327, 330, 357, 359, 364, 365,366, 367, 368, 385, 394, 397, 400,402, 403, 404, 406, 454, 456, 460,461, 467, 468, 470, 471life history of, 261-267marital relationships of, 143-151narrative by, 225-230, 364-469, 381.382-389, 394-397, 397-409, 452,455-460, 460-461, 467-473Wolf Den Buttes, 226, 227Wolf Eyes, Indian man, 242, 364, 367,383, 401, 402, 403, 404, 406, 418,444, 456
Wolf Ghost, Indian man, 228, 264, 265,472Wolf Grass, Indian man, 263, 456Wolf Mountain, 150Wolf Woman Impersonator, 392, 419,420, 421, 425, 427, 428, 433Wolverine, 101Wolves, 228, 229, 255, 298, 340, 393, 394,395-397, 404, 406, 409-415, 417,420-424, 428, 433altar to, 426claws, 414, 432hide, 226, 227, 229, 231, 253, 264,265, 336, 394, 395, 397, 398, 404,406, 407, 409, 413, 420, 423, 424,425, 426, 429, 432, 448impersonator, 393mane, 423, 4.32medicine, 264Prairie, 235skin, 414, 421Woman, Mandan woman, 150Woman, 46, 50, 52, 55, 61, 110, 117, 118,123, 134, 135, 139, 140, 155, 159,160, 163, 165, 167, 169, 190, 200,201, 206-208, 234, 240, 256, 259,274, 275, 277, 283, 299, 306, 322,328, 343, 344, 345, 369, 405, 406,410, 412-^4, 428, 431, 432, 451,453, 461assistance to, 75, 165captive, 95, 256, 260holy, 95, 293, 307, 315, 316, 322, 323,324, 325, 326, 328, 329, 330, 331,333, 383, 392, 405, 406, 408, 409,414, 430, 431, 435, 438, 440, 445,461, 464, 465killing of, 280, 413menstruating, taboos for, 317offerings made by, 373pregnant, 147, 305, 342protection of, 46, 50supernatural powers of, 284Woman-in-Water, 95, 96 (chart), 97,371, 383, 444 (floor plan)Wood, 54, 55, 56, 57, 160, 186, 214, 222,263, 381, 382, 390, 440, 457carriers, 456cutting, prohibited, 60, 189, 192, 207frames, 272gathering, 106, 132Wooden Bowl, Indian chief, 41Woodland culture, 22, 479, 484Woodlots. 189Woodpecker, redheaded, 48Woolworth, Alan R., 336, 478Yankton bands, 36, 40Yellow Coat (Chicken-Can't-Swim), 97,98 (chart)Yellow Dog, Indian man, 196, 293, 337,338Yellow Hawk, Indian man, 376, 377Yellow Head, Indian man, 431Yellow Husk, Indian man, 43Yellow Shoulder, Indian man, 397, 416
528 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184]Yellowstone River, 12 (map), 21, 22,23, 44, 146, 213, 214, 216, 233, 234,246, 253. 283, 483, 486, 487Yellow Woman, Magpie's mother, 300,444Young Buffalo, Indian man, 377Young Eagle, Indian man, 278
Young-Mau-Chief , Indian man, 329, 363,435Young-Wtiite-Bear, council member, 28Young Wolf, Indian man, 404Young Wolves, members of expeditions,224, 393
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEiI9?5