SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONBureau of American EthnologyBulletin 173
Anthropological Papers, No. 62STONE TIPI RINGS IN NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANAAND THE ADJACENT PORTION OF ALBERTA,CANADA: THEIR HISTORICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL,AND ARCHEOLOGICAL ASPECTS
By THOMAS F. KEHOE
417

CONTENTS PAGBIntroduction 421Historical evidence 424Ethnological considerations 429Blackfoot informants 429Informants of other tribes 436Archeological considerations 437Introduction 437Environmental factors 438Ethnological background 439Archeological fieldwork 440Discussion 456Conclusions 462Appendix. A Modern Blackfoot Camp 464Literature cited 471ILLUSTRATIONSPLATES FOLLOWINGPAGE48. a, Site 24GL390, Boulder-lined fire hearth, b, Adam White Man indoorway of his father's tipi ring 47449. a, Site 24GL520. fe, Site 24GL490 47450. a, Site 24GL486. b, Site 24GL487, ring 1 47451. o, Site 24GL487, ring 4. 6, Site 24GL486, ring 4 47452. a, Site 24GL486, ring 4, fire hearth, b, Site 24GL486, ring 4, squares2L1 and 2L2 47453. a, Site 24GL486, ring 4, squares ILI, 2L1, and 2L2. b, Fastingshelter of Ear Rings 47454. a, Site 24GL520. b, Blackfoot woman repairing Lodge 26, 1956Blackfoot camp 47455. a, Aerial view of 1956 Blackfoot encampment, b, Site 24GL350,whitewashing tipi rings 47466. o, Aerial view of Site 24GL350. b, Aerial view of Lodges 2 to 12 and 39,1956 Blackfoot camp 47457. a, Inside view, Lodge 26, 1956 Blackfoot encampment, b, Outsideview, Lodge 26, 1956 Blackfoot encampment 47458. a, Tipi ring of Lodge 26, 1956 Blackfoot encampment, b, Tipi ringof Lodge 14, 1956 Blackfoot encampment 47459. a, Mary Ground in tipi ring of Lodge 30, 1956 Blackfoot camp. 6,Tipi ring of Lodge 30, 1956 Blackfoot encampment 47460. a, Closeup view of tipi ring, Lodge 30, 1956 Blackfoot camp, b, Lodge2, 1956 Blackfoot encampment 47461. a, Children'splay tipi, Lodge 39, 1956 Blackfootencampment. 6, TomHorn's family and tipi, Blackfeet Reservation, 1910 474419
420 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 178TEXT FIGURES PAGE29. Site24GL422 (tipi ring of White Man).. _ 43130. Site 24GL390 44831. Site 24GL584, ring 5 45032. Section of Milk River Ridge slope with three tipi-ring sites 45133. Site 24GL486 45234. Site 24GL486, ring 4.. 45335. Site 24GL620, tipi rings associated with bison drive 46136. Sites showing tipi-ring camp patterns 46537. Camp plan, 1956 Blackfoot encampment, Browning, Mont 466MAP
2. Map of the Blackfeet Reservation showing sites (facing) 421

O
STONE TIPI RINGS IN NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANAAND THE ADJACENT PORTION OF ALBERTA,CANADA: THEIR HISTORICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL,AND ARCHEOLOGICAL ASPECTS
By Thomas F. Kehoe
INTRODUCTION 'The casual visitor to certain parts of Montana and Alberta, Canada,will often wonder about the original purpose of stone circles encoun-tered here and there on the open plains. When one leaves the well-traveled highways and strikes off across country unbroken by theplow, clusters of stone circles are likely to appear, often in considerablenumbers. These circles are formed of small boulders placed at inter-vals to form rings ranging from 5 to over 40 feet in diameter. Theserings will in most cases be deeply embedded in the sod, suggesting thata considerable period of time has elapsed since they were originallylaid down. Local residents long ago adopted the name "tipi rings"for these phenomena.Scrutiny of the writings of contemporary archeologists reveals con-fusion and uncertainty concerning the function of tipi rings. In thefirst review of Montana prehistory, Mulloy (1952, p. 137) classifiesthem as "manifestations of unknown relationships." He regards "itas implausible that they were used to secure the edges of a skin lodge,even though they are repeatedly referred to as having this function."He is led to this decision by variability in size and a lack of habitation
• I wish to extend my appreciation to the following persons who have greatly aided me In this study:Dr. Claude E. Schaefler, former curator of the Museum of the Plains Indian, who called my attention to theproblem and contributed suggestions from his own experience in Plains ethnography; Dr. Schaefler andJohn C. Ewers, who carefully reviewed the historical and ethnological sections; Dr. Douglas Osborne,who did the same for the archeology; and Drs. Osborne, William Elmendorf, and William Massey, whoread the manuscript in its entirety.I am also indebted the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Museum of the Plains Indian, and the Louis W.and Maud Hill Family Foundation for making possible the 4 years of research on tipi rings.Sincere thanks are due to Peter H. Baez, Verl P. Brady, and Carl Shaddo.x, formerly with the Soil andMoisture Conservation Oflace; to Charles Gerard, of the Forestry Office of the Blackfeet Indian Agency;to Kenneth Oalbreath, of Browning; and especially to F. Earl Turner, of the Geology Department of theUnion Oil Company of California, for their assistance in locating tipi ring sites.Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to those who helped me in the excavations involved in this project:Donald and Jerry Ziegler, Edward and Phyllis Jay, and my wife Alice. 421
f-AMAOA
CUTBANK
TIPI RING 5ITESBLACKFEET RESERVATION, r-lONT.(Bajed Ofl Bureau 4 Irvi'on Affo.rs mop)
Map 2.—Map of the Blackfeet Reservation showing sites.

422 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BnU. 173
remains in their vicinity. Factors contributing to the latter premiseare (1) the rare occurrence of fire remains within the circle, (2) thelack of packed floors, and (3) more frequent location on high riverterrace fingers than in sheltered lowlands. Mulloy further notes thatthe stone circles range from isolated individual rings to groups ofseveral hundred, sometimes intersecting one another or occurring ineccentric forms. In the Dakotas, he points out, they are found asmerely circular depressions in the sod. Mulloy refuses to commithimself as to the original purpose of the circles, but believes that theyare related to the so-called "medicine wheels," an example of whichis found high on a mountain peak in the Big Horn Mountains ofWyoming.In a review of the book containing Mulloy's comment cited above,Wedel (1953, p. 179) states the following:Other interesting and puzzling subjects include tipi rings, various boulder align-ments and configurations, and petrographs. Mostly these are still unassignedculturally, because associated cultural-diagnostic materials are rare or absent.I am inclined to agree with Mulloy that a good many of the tipi rings are prob-ably of ceremonial, rather than practical, purpose.Previously Wedel (1948, p. 48) had discussed the origin and signifi-cance of tipi rings and included a useful statement on their distribu-tion:The so-called tipi rings, whose true purpose and significance are still obscure,are abundant and apparently highly characteristic. They occur in limited num-bers in northern Colorado and extreme western Nebraska, and more frequentlyin the Dakotas eastward approximately to the Missouri from Fort Randall north-ward, but the greatest number of such sites seem to lie in Wyoming, Montana, andnorthward. It is possible that they correlate with a relatively late hunting occu-pation, perhaps partly at least involving Shoshonean peoples.In a recent study of tipi rings in Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyo-ming, Hoffman (1953, p. 2) observes that their "nature and use ishighly controversial." He lists what he terms the most commontheories concerning their purpose: (1) Occupational remains, (2) cere-monial or religious remains, (3) remains once associated with games,and (4) a combination of (1) and (2). As occupational debris, Hoff-man believes that they represent the site of the recent conical skinlodge or a crude hogan of earlier times. In connection with a cere-monial or religious function, he speculates on their use in a "medicinegetting" ritual, on the basis of statements made by a "Lacotah SiouxIndian" named Judge Zahn, of Fort Yates, S. Dak. Judge Zahn re-marked that "a person would go up a hill and build a circle of rocks inwhich he would sit and pray and fast until he got his medicine" andadded that "tipis were never held down by rocks, always staked."In'^ this Connection it would be useful to know the identity of thejudge quoted^and the authority for his assertions. Hoffman goes on
NaelT"^^^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 423
to cite other instances in which Kutenai, Flathead, and Upper Pendd'Oreille Indians have ventured similar information on rock-shelterfasting places. He concludes (p. 5), "These points can lead us toonly one definite conclusion : the nature and use of tipi rings is highlyconjectural."Carling Malouf (personal letter dated November 7, 1953), who hasa number of ideas incorporated in the Hoffman paper, believes thatthe rings are both domestic and ceremonial, and that they are asso-ciated with some sort of conical structure. He says that none or fewof them seem to have been occupied for any length of time, sincehearths and specimens are lacking. In an unpublished manuscripton Montana archeology, Malouf adds:Although their presence has been widely recognized very little is really knownabout them [tipi rings]. It is not even certain that they had any connection withthe use of a tipi. Ethnographical accounts fail to give any sound information onthem, hence, they must be of considerable age. Yet, archeology indicates thatsome of them were made in recent times.In a recent review of Plains prehistory, Jennings (1948, p. 69) statesthat "too little is known of these features [tipi rings] to permit veryintelligent speculation about them, so no mention of them appearselsewhere in the text." In a glossary, however, the same author ad-mits, "These stones have been interpreted as evidence that a skin tipihad been erected at the spot, the stones having been used to hold downthe edge of the tent."Survey work in Alberta has given Wormington this view on thetopic, as reported by Krieger (1956, p. 450)
:
Near Neutral Hills, MuUoy and Judd were shown a number of large groups ofstone rings similar to those found in Montana and Wyoming and commonly called
"tipi rings." Wormington, however, doubts that they represent habitations andsuggests they had ceremonial significance.These varied opinions expressed on the function of tipi rings call fora reexamination of the evidence. It is clear that certain of these stu-dents have brought together, under the name of tipi rings, dissimilarprehistoric remains from diverse areas and attempted to assign to themidentical functions.Despite the recent increase in archeological knowledge of theNorthern Plains, the question of the origin and function of stone "tipirings" seems as far from solution as ever. This is particularly true inrespect to the original purpose which these seemingly mysterious stonecircles served. Modern students of Plains prehistory hesitate to assigna use to them or else waver between practical and esoteric types ofutilization. Sufficient information exists in historical and ethnologicalrecords, it is believed, to reveal their function, if not their ethnicorigin. The latter remains a task for the archeologist or ethnohisto-
424 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. ITS
rian. It is the theme of this study that "tipi rings," in one part ofthe Northern Plains, at least, represent just what their popular namesuggests : rings of stone employed by former resident Indians to holddown the periphery of their skin lodges. In support of this thesis wehave assembled in this paper evidence from documentary and tradi-tional sources as well as from archeological work clarifying the signifi-cance of these stone circles.HISTORICAL EVIDENCEFrom the beginning of the 17th century, when the earliest Europeanvisitors first entered the Northern Plains, the area has been traversedby a constant stream of explorers, traders, trappers, and pioneers whoprovided eyewitness descriptions of the native peoples in variousstages of acculturation. From some of these early visitors we obtainthe first accounts of tipi rings or cu'cles of boulders. The use of stoneor other weights by the Blackfoot and their neighbors to hold downtheir lodges is established by a number of references in the literature,several of them by first-hand observers.Maximilian (1906, p. 104), who saw the Blackfoot at Fort McKenzieduring the summer of 1833, has left a very concise account of theirmethod of holding down lodge covers. In this case they appear tohave used blocks of sod rather than stone, possibly because of thescarcity of stone in the vicinity. He writes
:
When these tents are taken down, they leave a circle of sods, exactly as in thedwellings of the Esquimaux. They are often surrounded by fifteen or twentydogs, which serve, not for food, but only for drawing and carrying their baggage.The circles of earth indicating the former position of lodges wereagain noticed by Maximilian while at Fort Union, at the mouth of theYellowstone, October 16, 1833. The abandoned camp was probablyleft by Assiniboin or Cree. He noted (1906, p. 199)
:
The little prairie fox was so hungry, and, therefore, so tame, that it oftenvisited the environs of the fort, and we found these pretty little animals among thecircles of turf which were left on the removal of the Indian tents. [^The expedition under Henry Y. Hind exploring west of the RedRiver noticed, in the summer of 1858, both numerous groups of Creehunters and former camps of that tribe. The narrative mentions(Hind, 1860, vol. 1, pp. 338-341):Immediately on the banks of the Qu'appelle Valley near the "Round Hill"opposite Moose Jaws Forks, are the remains of ancient encampments, where thePlains Crees, in the day of their power and pride, had erected large skin tents,and strengthened them with rings of stones placed round the base. Thesecircular remains were twenty-five feet in diameter, with the stones or boulders
' SpGck (1928, pp. 39, 40) photographed Sioux standing before their lodges, which appear, although thedetails are not too clear, to be held down by sod piled on the lower edge.
No*62T*^*'' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 425being about one foot in circumference. They wore the aspect of great antiquity,being partially covered with soil and grass. When this camp ground was occupiedby the Crees, timber no doubt grew in the valley below, or on the prairie andravines in detached groves, for their permanent camping grounds are alwaysplaced near a supply of fuel. . . .Buffalo Pound Hill Lake, sixteen miles long, begins near Moose Jaws Forks,and on the opposite or south side of this long sheet of water, we saw eighteentents and a large number of horses. ... On the banks of the valley the remainsof ancient encampments in the form of rings of stones to hold down the skintents are everywhere visible, and testify to the former numbers of the PlainsCree. . . . The largest ancient encampment we saw lies near a shallow lake inthe prairie about a mile from the Qu'appelle Valley. It is surrounded by a fewlow sandy and gravelly hills, and is quite screened from observation. It mayhave been a camping ground for centuries, as some circles of stone are partiallycovered with grass and embedded in the soil.Bushnell (1922, p. 21) comments briefly on the origin of the circlesof stones observed by the Hind party:This is a simple explanation of small circles of stones now encountered indifferent parts of the country, but in other localities, v/here stones were not obtain-able, masses of sod were used for the same purpose, and these in turn may havecaused the small earth circles which are now discovered in the lower MississippiValley and elsewhere.That the use of boulders to secure lodge covers was stiU extant by1866 is attested to by Dr. Washington Matthews, in a discussion of thepaper, "Stone Monuments in Southern Dakota," by T. H. Lewis, readat the meeting of the Anthropological Society, February 5, 1889(Lewis, 1889, pp. 164-165):Dr. Matthews said that ... he could not speak for the particular circles ofstones to which Mr. Lewis refers; but he was certain that many stone circles inDakota were to be attributed to the former use of bowlders in holding down theedges of skin tents. He had seen bowlders used for this purpose in Dakota twenty-three years ago, while the Indians still followed the nomadic life. The fact thatsome circles were only eight feet in diameter did not militate against this theory,since the Indians used small lodges as sweat-houses and for sacerdotal purposes.In the paper that elicited this discussion, Lewis mentioned (Lewis,1889, p. 162):The Indians claim that the stone circles mark the places where in former timesthe tepees of their people were located, and that the bowlders held down the edgesof the skin tents in place.A subsequent article on the same general subject contained thisstatement (Lewis, 1890, p. 274):There can be no doubt that the Indians used bowlders and stones to hold downthe edges of their tents or tepees.Lewis also quotes an observation made by J. N. Nicollet, who
"visited southern Minnesota in 1838" (Lewis, 1890, p. 272), on page 12of his "Report Intended to Illustrate a Map of the Hydrographic
426 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 173
Basin of the Upper Mississippi Kiver" (Washington, January 11,1845) (ibid.):One mile from the Traverse des Sioux, and on the bank of the river, are theremains of an Indian camp; the circular area of which is still indicated by theheaps of stones around each lodge.While engaged in fieldwork for the Geological Surrey of Canada,George M. Dawson ^ made the following note from observations inthe Sweet Grass Hills in 1874 (Dawson, 1875, p. 297):The country surrounding the Buttes [Sweet Grass Hills] is said to have been fora long time a neutral ground between various tribes of Indians. That it has beenso is evidenced by the almost complete absence of the circles of stones markingcamping places. The region is at present a debatable ground between the Black-feet, Peigans and the Bloods of the west; the Sioux and the Assiniboines of theeast, and the Crows and other tribes of the Upper Missouri. It is not passedthrough save by war parties strong in numbers and travelling rapidly. Ten milesnorth of the Middle Butte the bodies of over twenty Crow Indians were foundunburied on the scene of a conflict.Sir Cecil Denny, an original member of the Northwest MountedPolice and Agent of the Blood Keserve in 1881-82, came west in 1874.In an unpublished manuscript (pp. 148-149) he notes the abundantoccurrence and the original purpose of tipi rings found on the prairie:Rings of boulders or smaller stones will be found in hundreds on the prairie,and the curious will often wonder as to their origins. The stones will in mostcases be covered by sod, showing that long periods of time must have elapsedsince they were placed there.Long ago, before the Indians of the plains obtained steel axes ana hatchets,they were unable to cut and sharpen the stakes and to fasten down their lodges.These stones picked up on the prairie were used for this purpose, and on thetents being moved these rings of stone were left, and in the course of ages becamecovered w ith soil. Often if the inside of these rings be dug over, stone arrowheadsand other stone implements will be discovered.Upon visiting the Blackfoot and Blood tribes near Fort Macleodin the summer of 1880, John McLean became acquainted with thoseIndians' practice of weighting down their lodge covers with rocks.He described the custom and notes the erroneous explanation of theorigin of the rings by inexperienced travelers in the region (McLean,1896, p. 577):Riding carelessly over the prairie with a young man who had lately arrivedfrom the Old World, my companion called my attention to a circle of stones.
"That is a mark," said he, "placed there to commemorate a great battle that wasfought between different tribes of Indians." Oftentimes had I seen these circleson the prairie, and knowing the cause of their construction, I was amused at thisdisplay of apparent wisdom. These circles are to be found on our western prairies.As the Indians traveled on their hunting expeditions, they placed stones aroundthe edges of the lodges when they camped, to prevent the wind from over-turningthem, and to keep them warm. This is shown by the outer circle of stones. In
« I am indebted to Hugh Dempsey, Calgary, Alberta, for the Dawson and Denny references.
No?62T'^"^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 427
the centre of the lodge the fire was made, and to keep the fire from spreading andto adapt it for cooking purposes, a small circle of stones was placed which confinedthe fire. When the camp was moved the circles of stones were left, and that whichwe saw was one of the circles. . . .In the brush fringing the rivers of the west stone circles, deeply imbedded inthe soil, are found, linking the past with the present.An eyewitness account of the use of stones by the Blackfoot tohold down lodge margins was given by John R. Barrow, a Wisconsinyouth in Montana in 1880-82. The camp was that of Running Rabbitand his followers (Phillips, 1927, p. 9) : *The typical tepee was a conical lodge of specially tanned elkskin stretchedover a framework of perhaps twenty-five skin peeled lodge-pole pine. The bottomof the tepee was held down by stones.Schultz, who lived in Montana during the last decades of the 19 thcentury, speaks of stone circles marking the encampments of winterhunters (Schultz, 1907, p. 63):You have perhaps noticed on the northwestern plains, circles of stones or smallboulders, varying in size from twelve to twenty and more feet in diameter. Theywere used to weight the lower edge of lodge skins, to prevent the structure beingblown over by a hard wind, and when camp was moved they were simply rolledoff the leather. Many of these circles are found miles and miles from any water,and you may have wondered how the people there encamped managed to assuagetheir thirst; they melted snow; their horses ate snow with the grass; buffalo chipswere used for fuel. The stone circles mark the place of an encampment of winterhunters in the long ago. Some of them are so ancient that the tops of the stonesare barely visible above the turf, having gradually sunk into the ground of theirown weight during successive wet seasons.^George Bird Grinnell talked to the older men of the Blackfoottribes in the years immediately preceding 1890. He collected thefollowing data on circles of stones (Grinnell, 1892, p. 198):In ancient times, before they had knives of metal, stones were used to holddown the edges of the lodge, to keep it from being blown away. These varied insize from six inches to a foot or more in diameter. Everywhere on the prairie,one may now see circles of these stones, and, within these the smaller ones, whichsurrounded the fireplace. Some of them have lain so long that only the tops nowproject above the turf, and undoubtedly many of them are now buried out of sight.The age of the use of stones as lodge-cover weights is indicated bythe fact that it has become an intimate part of Blackfoot astronomy.Brings-Down-the-Sun, an old Blood ceremonialist, in relating the
"Star Husband" tale to McClintock (1910, p. 500) pointed out thatthe constellation knoAvn as the Spider Lodge was thus named becauseof the aiTangement of its stars, suggesting a tipi ring:The half circle of stars to the east (Northern Crown) is the lodge of the SpiderMan, and the five bright stars just beyond (in the constellation of Hercules) are
* Claude E. Schaeffer, Portland, Oreg., kindly brought this reference to my attention.
' In a letter dated March 25, 1954, John C. Ewers commented on this passage, "The use of stones to holddown tipis in winter could be a survival in historic times from a common (perhaps year-round) customin the protohistoric. Undoubtably it would be quite a task to drive pegs Into frozen ground in the winterseason."
428 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
his five fingers, with which he spun the web, upon which So-at-sa-ki was let downfrom the sky. Whenever you see half-buried and overgrown circles, or clusters ofstones on the plains, marking the sites of Blackfeet camps in the ancient days,when they used stones to hold down the sides of their lodges, you wiU know whythe half-circle of the stars was called by our fathers, "The lodge of the SpiderMan."In another place (McClintock, 1910, p. 492) Brings-Down-the-Sun,in discussing the origin of the Sun Dance, pointed out:We know not when the Sun-dance had its origin. It was long ago, when theBlackfeet used dogs for beasts of burden instead of horses; when they stretchedthe legs and bodies of their dogs on sticks to make them large, and when theyused stones instead of wooden pegs to hold down their lodges.During the years immediately preceding 1909, Clark Wisslerrecorded information on the material culture of the Blackfoot Indians.He notes (Wissler, 1910, p. 108):During the winter, or even at any time, the cover of the tipi was often held downby stones laid on its edges. Circles of such stones are to be seen in many parts ofthe Blackfoot country, marking the sites of former camps or burial tipis.Wissler (1913, p. 430) takes the following from Duvall's notes on theconstruction of the Ma'toki dance structure made from lodge covers,with rocks to weight down the bottoms:The ma'toki dance but once a year when the camp circle is formed. Theirceremony lasts four days. First they make a shelter somewhat like the one usedfor the sun dance. A tipi pole is set up in the center, with a peculiar cross piecenear the top. A number of travois are set in a circle around this pole and joinedtogether by tipi poles tied along the top, making a single railing all the wayaround. Then other tipi poles are tied to this and to the cross piece on the centerpole, forming rafters like in the sun dance shelter. On the sides and over the topare stretched tipi covers. At the bottom they are weighted with stones. Alongthe sides within blankets are suspended.It has been noted that another neighbor of the Blackfoot, the CrowIndians to the south, used rocks to weigh down their lodge covers.During visits to the Crow Reservation during the period 1907-16,Lowie (1922, p. 224) obtained the following information concerningthe practice:Bear-Crane stated that long ago rocks instead of pegs were used to weigh downthe bottom of tipi covers; another informant restricts the practice to the winterseason.There are, perhaps, other documentary references to the topic thathave escaped my attention, but those cited are numerous enough, it isbelieved, to indicate that the Blackfoot, Cree, Crow, Dakota, andprobably other tribes in the northwestern Plains employed stones oroccasionally sod as lodge-cover bottom weights. Our references coverthe period from 1833 down to contemporary times, when stones arerarely seen, and the wooden tent peg appears to be ubiquitous.
NasIT'^*^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 429ETHNOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONSBLACKFOOT INFORMANTSSeveral elderly Blackfoot Indians were questioned about tipi ringsand taken into the field to locate and identify them. All of theinformants were certain that they were used by their ancestors asweights to hold down lodge covers.^ Each gave independent testi-mony that the rings were used in this way and additional informationwhen asked what he knew about the practice.My ethnographic notes on tipi rings were collected dm-ing thesummer of 1953 from both Northern and Southern Piegan. Twoaged North Blackfoot living near Gleichen, Alberta, interviewedduring the fall of 1956, revealed that their tribe had similar customs.Most of the data came from Southern Piegan located in and aboutBrowning, Mont. These informants were Annie Calf Looking(age 51), Chewing Black Bones (age 87), Jim White Calf (age 89),Cecile Black Boy (age 67), and Adam White Man (age 81). Oneinformant, Bull Head (age 84), from Brockett, Alberta, providedinformation on North Piegan practices. My interpreters for theseIndians were Calvin Boy, Louis Bear Child, and George BuU Child.The North Blackfoot were Pete Little Light (age 78), from Gleichen,whose remarks were translated by Mrs. Rosie A Young Man, andMrs. Duck Chief (age 92), of Cluny, Alberta, whose relative, a youngerwoman, served as interpreter.Bull Head (a North Piegan from Canada) stated that people of histribe used the rock rings:My father, Dog Head or Bull Head (born about 1820, died about 1900), andmy grandmother. Red Painted Feet, told me this. It was my great-grandfather'sgeneration, the people that never had the horse and used the dog for traveling,that used the rock rings. They were the people that just had dogs and had touse buffalo traps for a way of getting food.Now, both the horse and the dog people used the rocks for tipi weights. Thehorse people used both wooden pegs and rocks to help weigh down the lodge toprotect it from the wind.The outer rocks were used as weights to hold down the tipi for protection fromthe wind because the tipis were right in the open. These tipi rings were callediskiman, "something to hold down the lodge."The inner rocks in the center of the large ring were the fire hearth. They wereabout two feet in diameter and used to protect the fire from spreading on theground. The center rocks were called dppskitan, "confine the fire."Chewing Black Bones testified that the early Piegan did not havetools to use in sharpening tent pegs. They were able to construct a
' Hugh Dempsey secured similar information during the summer of 1955 in Alberta (Dempsey, 1956, p. 177)
.
471762—60 29
430 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
better-shaped lodge after they obtained tools from white traders andcould make tent pegs:
I heard my grandfathers, Carries Braid and Middle Sitter, say that their an-cestors, the dog-pony people, did not use pegs for their lodges. The reason wasthat they did not have the instruments to use in sharpening pegs then. Theyused rocks to hold down the lodge skin in keeping out the wind. The stone circleswere known as a "wind break." When the pony came they switched to usingjust pegs and only rocks continued to be used in the center for the fireplace. HWhen they learned to use pegs the tipis were put up in fine shape.Jim White Calf said that wooden tent pegs were a later innovationamong the Piegan:The first people were very poor and lacked everything. They piled rocks onthe outside of the lodge cover because they had no pegs then. They did not havewooden pins to fasten the lodge together—they just tied it. Wooden pins andpegs are a new stjde. After they had completed piling the rocks on the outsideof the lodge, they gathered more for inside in order to build a fireplace. Theserocks were not placed all around, but a space was left blank at the rear. [']I do not know the reason for this. Also, there was a space at the door of the lodgewhere no rocks were placed.Cecile Black Boy contributed the following:We were near Landslide Butte with Spotted Bear and we saw those rock rings.We asked him about them and he told us that the old-timers of our tribe usedthem to hold down the lodge cover.One informant, Annie Calf Looking, was able to associate the useof tipi rings with a particular Piegan band:My grandmother, Elk Yells in the Water Bear Chief (90 years old at her deathin 1946), told me this: the Blackfoot never used pegs to hold down the lodge inthe old days. They used rocks and that is why you see the rocks on the prairiestoday. My grandmother said that her people, the Don't Laugh band, used therock rings.Adam White Man, describing the method of tying the skin lodgecover to pegs, also told of anchoring the lodge to the ground againstthe wind by the use of logs as weights:The old-timers always talk about the first people. The people that used therocks were the ones that used the dogs. The only way of packing their things inthose days was by dogs and their backs. The rings are all over, so all the tribesmust have used them.The rock circles found today on the Reservation were caused by people usingrocks to hold down their lodge covers. Ever since the Blackfoot got the horsethey pegged their tipis. When they began to use pegs they even used to tie a
' Ewers, In his letter of March 25, 1954, expands this Information by suggesting that the true cause of theshift from rocks to wooden pegs was not the horse, but the metal ax, which was an early fur trade importa-tion and thus was first used at about the same time that the horse was obtained by the Blackfoot.
• A view of the interior of Mad Wolf's lodge, photographed by McClintock (1910, p. 30) sometime after1896, shows a boulder-lined fireplace with rocks missing from one side, supporting Jim White Calf's testi-mony. At the 1956 Blackfoot encampment, Cecile White Man Godge 23) used 12 rocks placed in a U, withthe gap to the west, for her fireplace. A boulder-lined fireplace similar to these, with rocks missing in thewest portion, was also excavated on the Reservation (see pi. 48, o).
nS.*62*]^' ^^^' STONE TIPI RINGS—^KEHOE 431
stone in a skin. The stone and the skin were then tied to the peg. They peggedtheir tipi but still continued to use rocks as weights. The wind was sometimesso strong that our people even put a pole or logs between the pegs and the tentto hold down the lodge.At this point the interpreter, George Bull Child, interrupted tosay that he himself had even seen rocks employed to hold down lodgecovers:
I myself have seen rocks being used to hold down lodge covers. Adam cantake you down on Badger Creek where his father put up his tipi and you cansee his tipi ring. Old Man Running Crane had a tipi ring and it is still there.It still shows there like the others of the old stone-age people. Their rings arethere, too.Adam took me to his allotment on the north side of Badger Creekto show me his father's (White Man or Eagle Calf) tipi ring (site24GL422, fig. 29). The circle of boulders was situated on a lowterrace, about 100 yards from Adam's ranch buildings and an equaldistance from the edge of the terrace bank. The ring was 16 feet indiameter and made up of stream- or glacial-rounded boulders rangingin size from 3 inches to 1 foot. One-third of the rocks were deeplyembedded in the gi'ass roots and humus. ¥/hen I photographed thering, Adam stood in what he called the doorway, a space 2)^ feet widelocated toward the east (see pi. 48, b). He also pointed out two°ocooking Wrtti
£;O ip 20 f«e1
TIPI RING OF WHITE MAN,FATHEa OF APAM WHITE MANSiTE 246MZa
Figure 29.—Site 24GL422 (tipi ring of White Man).
432 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
cooking hearths. One was in the center of the tipi ring, but nearer tothe west than to the east side. It was not Hned with rocks and wasvisible only by a slight discoloration of the soil. It would have goneunnoticed if not identified to me. The other fire hearth was located21 feet east of the tipi ring, and consisted of two large rocks about 2feet apart. Adam said that his father's family cooked inside the lodgeonly during bad weather, using the outside fireplace most of the year.This, he said, was the reason for the absence of a rock-lined hearthor charcoal remains inside the tipi ring. According to Adam, thistipi ring was then 41 years old.Next, Adam White Man located the tipi ring of Kunning Crane,chief of the Lone Eater band (site 24GL427). This was a circle ofstones 20 feet in diameter located on a very low, wide stream terraceon the south side of Badger Creek. Adam said that Running Crane'slodge had been pitched here 60 to 75 years ago.Later, Adam took me to the site of a Sun Dance performance heldin his youth. About 1891, when Adam was 19 years old, the CanadianCree and the Piegan gave a joint Sun Dance. There were twoPiegan sacred women, Berry Woman and Hit on Top Woman, eachwith her own lodge. Adam said, "At the time of this Sun Dance,only the sacred women used the rocks to hold down their lodgecovers in the old-fashioned way. The rest of the people used pegs."The tipi rings of these lodges are still visible one-half mile west ofHighway 89, on the north side of Badger Creek.The same informant pointed out several other tipi ring sites thathe had first seen during his youth, but was unable to associate themwith any particular individual. He believed that they were muchtoo old for such identification. The stones of these rings were moredeeply embedded in the ground than were the ones identified by theinformant.Bull Head was able to locate his father's tipi ring on the NorthPiegan Reserve because he stiU protected it:One of my father's tipi rings is still west of my place. It is like a keepsaketo me and I am protecting it from cattle and whatever else might destroy it.There are other rings belonging to my father, but I am just protecting one. Iremember that an uncle had a ring there, too. The cattle scattered them andthere are very faint traces of them, so I cannot give you the exact number ofrings. If you come to Canada, I will take you to the spot and show you thering that I am protecting and that belonged to my father. t^l
• Although I was not able to visit this ring, I did see, guided by Charlie Strikes With Gun, a NorthPiegan from Brockett, Alberta, the tipi ring which, according to a plaque, marks the site of Chief Crowfoot'slast lodge, April 1890. This ring is located a quarter of a mile east of the Blackfoot Crossing Monumentnear Cluny, Alberta, and is protected by a cement and pipe railing constructed around it. The ring isapproximately 20 feet In diameter.
NoS^'^***' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 433
Several of the Indians were able to give information on the generallocation of Blackfoot camp sites dui-ing the time when tipi rings wereused. Bull Head located the camps in the open, near water, andsome little distance from buffalo drive sites when the people wereusing the drives:The camp was located some distance from buffalo traps so the buffalo wouldnot be disturbed. It was usually in a place where they could get water and inthe open. More of these rings are found in the open.Chewing Black Bones said, "They had to camp on hills and didnot move very far—just from buffalo jump to buffalo jump." AnnieCalf Looking also stated that her people camped in high places forsafety and in order to observe the enemy:The word for camp is mamapis. In the summer they camped on the hills orin high places so that they could look for the enemy.Adam White Man pointed out that the camps were located inhigher terrain along the streams during the late spring because ofthe danger of flooding:When you see these tipi rings along the creeks and in the valley bottoms, theyare the winter camps. In the spring when it floods they move up on the benchesand high ground.The interpreter, George Bull Child, interrupted here to say thatthere were different places to camp during certain seasons:
I heard the old people of our tribe say that our people camped in the brush ofthe sheltered valleys near the buffalo drives in the winter. The winter campswere in the brush and the summer camps on the flats above the streams.The Indians were questioned concerning the size and plan of thecamp, as weU as about a camp circle. They aU agreed that theirpeople used a camp circle, but usually split up into smaller huntinggroups in the fall. Bull Head said:Yes, I heard that they used the camp circle but they usually did not travel inlarge groups. They were in search of food and that is why you find these placeswith rock rings—sometimes one, only two, and then sometimes five in one spot.They were small groups of people in search of food.Annie Calf Looking said:My grandmother told me that her people planned to meet together in thesummer and had a large camp circle. In the winter there was no larger campcircle, but each band did have a small circle in the winter camp. The bandbroke up in the winter time after they got their meat. She also told me thather people camped more in groups after they got the horse. The chief wouldhave his ring in the center of the camp circle. He would be the one with the mostwives and would have the big tipi ring.My husband, Paul, tells me that he saw a single tipi ring recently out on BirchCreek. It must have been a jealous man who camped out alone like that. Hedid not know why it was single in the old Skunk People's (his band) camp.
434 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 173The informants were questioned as to the size of the tipis whentheir ancestax's used the tipi rings. They all agreed on the fact thatthe tipis were not large before their people acquired the horse. Severalof them said that they heard of large tipis or tipi rings with two fire-places during "horse days"; this tipi had to be taken apart whenmoving. George Bull Child, the interpreter, had interesting infor-mation on the size of the precontact lodge:The tipis were not very large before my people got the horse. The dogs werebigger then, but they could not carry very much even though the travois made aload lighter. A certain dog would have to carry a tipi skin alone. The lodgepoles would be smaller in those days, so that a dog could pull them. A big coverwould be only ten skins then. Some fellows would say, "My tipi is six skins."A big chief would have ten skins. Later on, when they got the horse, eighteento twenty skins was average. [^"1Adam White Man said that small tipi rings occurring in a campof larger rings may have resulted from the smaller dwellings of widows,elderly people, and from children's play tipis."All the informants were asked whether or not their people everreturned to the same campground and occupied the same tipi ring.Several of them thought that it was not the usual practice for theirpeople to return to the same ring. Bull Head agreed with this butadded, "It was not the usual practice for people to come back to thesame ring, but my father did return to the one I am protecting.There is no reason to believe that my father considered he ownedthe tipi ring that he returned to." Information contrary to this wasgiven by Annie Calf Looking
:
Yes, my grandmother said that her people, the Don't Laugh band, would leavetheir rock ring and mark it.p^] No, she did not tell me where they campedbut she did tell me that they marked their camp. They marked their own stonering and they could not take another person's ring. If you wanted someone'sring, you would have to pay dearly for the spot.['3] You would have to giverobes, dogs or horses if you came and wanted to take someone's ring away.There was quite a dispute when someone came and took another person's campingground. Each person would know right where their ring was located. When aperson died, their brother could take the ring, give it to someone else, or leaveit blank. People kept from taking a person's ring because they were afraid ofthe dead.
'« In his letter of March 25, 1954, Ewers believes "the estimate given by this informant on the averagesize of the Blaclcfoot lodges in posthorse period to be excessive. My informants (Independently) seemed toagree very well with Wissler that the average sized tipi was twelve to fourteen skins." (Italics mine.)
" A photograph confirming Adam White Man's statement was published by McClintock (1936, p. 10), inwhich two children are shown playing in a small tipi, the sides of which are held down by rocks. A modernexample of this play tipi was photographed by the writer at the 1956 Blackfoot encampment (pis. 55, a;66, 6; 61, a).» Cecile Black Boy claimed that the tipi ring was marked by buSalo horn cores left among the rocks ofthe ring.
" Annie Calf Looking may be here confusing ownership of the ring (as a collection of rocks) with owner-ship of the right to camp in a certain position in the camp circle (see, e. g., Qrinnell, 1892, p. 224).
nS.*&'^''^* stone TIPI rings—^KEHOE 435Kegarding the practices of the North Blackfoot, Little Light,elderly member of that tribe, told that:In the dog days they just used rocks on the edge of the tipi cover, to hold itdown. They didn't use pegs because they had no axes. When the white menbrought axes they made pegs. In the old days they used hide liners, tied to thelodge covers, and held down with stones.Mrs. Duck Chief, the oldest resident of the North BlackfootKeserve, explained why rocks are not used on the modern tipi:Where old Indians pitch their tipis, they put the rocks around the tipi to keepit down, so when it's windy the pegs won't come out. They don't do it now-a-days; only old people with hide tipis used them, when the tipis were used often,for every day. The hides stretched more than canvas, so the rocks didn't rolloff as they would from tight canvas.In summary, the statements of all the informants bear out thattipi rings represent just what their name suggests: rings of stonesemployed by earlier Indian residents to hold down the sides of theirskin tents. At least one of the early white observers, as well asseveral elderly Indians still living on the reservations of Montanaand Alberta, actually witnessed these tipi rings in use in a Blackfootcamp. (The Museum of the Plains Indian has in its fdes a photo-graph, taken in 1910, showing Tom Horn, a Blackfoot, standingbefore his tipi, the Otter Lodge, with his wife, Different-Kind-of-a-Gun-Woman, and their children. The bottom of the cover, althoughpegged, is weighted with rocks, several of which have been madeheavier by logs placed over them (pi. 61, b)). It was possible toidentify a few rings in the field, but most of them were claimed to betoo old for such knowledge to be retained by the informants.Every informant was certain that tipi rings resulted from the useof rocks to hold down skin lodge covers, and that they were neededas weights to prevent the lodge from being overturned by the strongwinds, as well as to keep it warm by fLxing the cover close to theground. When found inside a tipi ring, a smaller ring was the resultof rocks having been used to confine a fire, but such was not theinevitable practice, for cooking was sometimes done outside duringgood weather. A third cause of rock rings was the practice of weight-ing down the inner liner with stones; ^* however, Mrs. Duck Chiefremarked that filled parfleches were also employed for this purpose.The informants testified to the use of tipi rings both during proto-historic times before the acquisition of the horse, and during historictimes. All agreed that the protohistoric tipi was small, and that thetipi became exceedingly large after the horse was obtained. Theythought that transportation problems had a direct bearing on thesize of the lodge, as did the practice of polygyny. Tipis at one timeM A tlpI liner held down by stones was photographed at the 1956 Blackfoot encampment (pi. 57, a).
436 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 173
were often so large that two fireplaces were needed inside, and thecovers had to be split in two parts upon moving.The Indians had heard that the earlier Blackfoot, when huntingbuffalo, located their camps near the jumps but not so close as todisturb the animals. Many times the camps were placed in the opeu,on high places or hills, yet near water. One informant said that thiswas customary in order to observe the enemy, while another believedthat it was to escape spring floods. In the winter, camps were locatedin the sheltered valley floors; it was in summer that they would bepitched on the flats above.The informants all believed that the size and plan of the campdepended upon the annual subsistence cycle and the ceremonialobservances during the summer. Small tipi rings in a camp of largerrings were probably the lodges of widows or elderly persons, or chil-dren's play tents.There was a division of opinion among informants on whether ornot the earlier members of their tribe returned to the same tipi ringsin the process of migration during the annual subsistence cycle.INFORMANTS OF OTHER TRIBESIn addition to elderly Blackfoot informants, members of othertribes were questioned when they came to Browning on visits or forcelebrations.Dave Frenchman and Edward L. Martell, from the Cree Reserve(Moosemen Reserve), Saskatchewan, 22 miles north of North Battle-ford, had been told by the old people of their tribe that the stones oftipi rings were used to hold down the edges of lodge covers. Some-times there would be a large ring in the middle of the camp circle,and this would be the location of the chief's tipi, that is, of the bestwarrior and the leader of the tribe. These informants had neverheard of a hearth in the center of a tipi ring.Ethel Potter (age 50), an Arapaho from the Wind River Reserva-tion, Wyo., said that her father, Mike Goggles (age 74), had shownher a place where rock rings were located, as they were travelingthrough the mountains, and had told her that they had been used bythe people of his tribe to hold down the skin covers of lodges. Shehad not heard of these circles of stones in connection with ritualisticpractices and knew nothing of "medicine wheels,"(Sister M. Inez Hilger (1952, p. 93), in a study of Arapaho childlife and the milieu in which these children lived, discovered that whensigns of a hard winter or an approaching storm were noticed, "Theold men would tell their wives to weight down the edges of the tipis
nS.*^* ^''^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 437
with plenty of rocks to keep the tipi covers down and thereby thecold out.")'*An employee of the Blackfeet Agency Headquarters in Browning,Mont., Stanley Pugh, an Oglala Sioux from the Pine Ridge Reserva-tion in southern South Dakota, repeated what his grandmother,Alice Palliday (now deceased), had told him of the origin of tipi rings:My grandmother told me that in winter time they would cut fine willows andstraw or marsh grass. They would place it between the pegged skin cover andthe ground in order to keep the lodge warm. Rocks were placed on top of thelodge cover in order to keep the willows and straw from blowing away. Therocks used were of a size easily carried by a woman. After the tipi was takendown the rocks were left remaining as tipi rings. I have many times seen tipirings in that country. Charcoal and scattered cooking stones remained, showingwhere fire hearths had been in the center of the ring.(George E. Hyde (Will, 1924, p. 294, footnote 2) speaks of a similarpractice of making large bundles of long grass, to pile up around thelodge for warmth in winter, in the traditions of the Cheyenne, whowhen they moved west into the short-grass country substituted sodfor the grass bundles.)Ambrose Rider (age 47), a Gros Ventre of Fort Belknap, statedthat old people of his tribe claimed that tipi rings were made by "Ute"peoples who once roamed that area (there is probably confusion onthe part of this Indian between the Ute and the related Shoshonitribe). He further said that there are a large number of tipi rings inthe Fort Belknap area, and that some of them occur on high places.Large, about 20 to 25 feet in diameter, the rings do not appear incamp circles, but are scattered.ARCHEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONSINTRODUCTIONThe area in which the archeological investigations took place wasthe modern Blackfeet Indian Reservation, located in north-centralMontana immediately east of the Rockj^ Mountains. Its boundariesare formed by, on the north, the forty-ninth parallel (the Canadianborder); on the south. Birch Creek (lat. 48°100; on the east, the CutBank meridian (long. 112°100; and, on the west. Glacier NationalPark (long. 113°40')- This encompasses an area approximately 50miles on each side, containing 2,384 square miles, slightly larger thanthe State of Delaware. Of this, only 230 square miles, or one-tenth,had been broken by the plow at the time of these investigations (1953)
.
However, this figure does not include the irrigation ditches, dams,roads, and other activities, such as the building of rock shrines bysheepherders, that destroy tipi rings. Nevertheless, the proportion
i» I am Indebted to W. S. Campbell of Norman, Okla., for bringing this reference to my attention.
438 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU.lTS
of disturbed land is considerably less on the Reservation than on mostof the rest of the northern Great Plains, or of the State of Montana.Because this area represents one of the last regions in which manyof the aboriginal aspects of the Great Plains may still be observed,being relatively unaffected by farming, and in which many of the olderinhabitants retain a first-hand knowledge of native Indian customs,it is a critical area for anthropological study.ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORSThe environmental setting is of importance in interpreting thearcheological sites of the Blackfeet Reservation. It was a major fac-tor determining the manner in which the early inhabitants of the regionlived, whether they must be nomadic, and what materials were avail-able to fulfill the needs which their culture stimulated.The geology of the Reservation (Aldcn, 1912) is complex, and hasgiven considerable variety to the topography. Much of its characteris due to glaciation: the terminal moraine of the Keewatin ice sheetcan be seen lying across the eastern portion of the Reservation, andthe piedmont glaciers, remnants of which still flow in Glacier NationalPark, sculptured the western edge. In addition, stream erosion fur-ther modified the pre-Pleistocene "Blackfoot Peneplain," the ancientlevel of which is marked by buttes and ridges rising several hundredfeet above the present rolling plain. (The edges of these eminences,dropping steeply and abruptly, were utilized by the Indians for bisondrives; beneath many of them the depth of the bison bones testifies totheir effectiveness in slaughter.) The rock of these ridges is Creta-ceous sandstone and shale.The mountains of the Lewis Front Range of the Rockies form Gla-cier National Park. From them issue numerous streams, runningnorth, east, or south from the Hudson Bay and Continental Dividesin the Park. These streams are now found both in deep gorges and inbroad flat valleys, sometimes with gravel-capped terraces. The sur-face appears as a treeless plain, gently rolling in the east, and becominghilly as it approaches the mountains in the west. The stream valleysare abruptly encountered in this plain; only in them and in the foot-hills on the western margin of the Reservation do trees grow (cotton-woods in the former, aspen and pine in the latter).As the topography influenced the inhabitants of the Reservation inselecting dwelling sites, so the climate determined to a large degreewhich topographic settings were chosen for the different seasons. Cli-mate is one of the most important factors to consider in deciding
nS*&'^*^' stone TIPI rings—KEHOE 439
whether or not rocks would be necessary to anchor skin lodge covers.*^The area about the Blackfeet Indian Keservation is, as a whole,characterized by fairly warm summers with abundant sunshine, win-ters that are cold and dry, and considerable windiness throughout theyear. Throughout 1952, the average wind velocity at the closestweather station. Great Falls, was 13 miles per hour, with the prevailing-direction southwest. Seasonal variations ranged from a low of 10miles per hour for August to a high of 18.3 mUes per hour for January."However, as Smith (1925, p. 413) has pointed out, "Averages do nottell the whole story. Averages rarely happen. The freaks of theseason decide man's chances." The greatest wind velocity in 1952 atGreat Falls was 66 miles per hour, in July. Over an 8-year periodfrom 1945 to 1952, there were extremes of 65 to 73 miles per hournearly every year, with a prevailing southwest direction ; every monthof the year showed a development of extreme winds. On the easternedge of the Blackfeet Reservation, at Cut Bank, gusts of slightly over100 miles per hour were recorded more than once.When the spring floods forced the Indians out of the shelteredstream valleys where they were wintering, the wind on the open up-lands would be so strong as to necessitate the use of rocks for tentweights, for with such gusts it would not otherwise be possible to holddown a skin lodge cover.This mountainous region, then, around the headwaters of theMissom-i River on the western margin of the High Plains, was thehabitat of comparatively many tribes, offering them plentiful gameand, though the winters are severe, providing shelter against theclimate in the numerous valleys.ETHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUNDThe history of the region of the Blackfeet Reservation is importantin understanding the archeological material found on it, as well asin relating it to historical and ethnographic considerations.In the area of the Reservation, a number of different tribes repre-senting various linguistic stocks, cultural traditions, and with diversegeographic connections were to be found at different periods. In earlyand middle prehistoric times, no doubt, nomadic tribes, some subsist-ing chiefly by hunting and others by both hunting and gathering,occupied the region. Excavations at two sites on the Reservationhave produced points and artifacts reminiscent of types found at
'« Mae Williamson, a prominent middle-aged Blackfoot (president of the Blackfeet Arts and Crafts Asso-ciation), reports tliat in her girlhood she asked the old people of her tribe why the tipi rings are often locatedin what ,sho would consider a poor camping spot, and that they replied, "You young people are too particularabout where you camp. We would camp wherever we had to, many times. We might have had to makecamp when we were caught In a blizzard, and that is why you see those tlpl rings in places that would notnormally be used for camping, if we had a better place."
" Data summarized from the U. S. Weather Bureau's tables for Great Falls, Mont., In 1952.
440 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BaU. 173
early Middle Period sites in the Plains: at the Billy Big Spring site,one McKean and several Hanna type points (the former dated byradiocarbon at 3445 ±.120 years before present at Signal Butte)were discovered with geological implications that suggest considerableantiquity (Kehoe, 1955, p. 2).It seems likely that some of these early groups may have beenAthapaskan bands, or perhaps affiliated with these. They may, asGordon Hewes (1948, p. 7) suggests, have lingered on in the region inlate prehistoric times. (For the purposes of this paper, the proto-historic is assumed to have begun with the introduction of white tradegoods about 1728 (Lewis, 1942, p. 16) and the historic period withThompson's exploration in 1800 (Ewers, 1944, p. 20)). The close ofthe prehistoric saw the Shoshoni occupying the territory of the presentReservation, and ranging far north on the Plains into Saskatchewan,where the Blackfoot were encountered in the Eagle Hills; horsesobtained from Spanish colonies in New Mexico via the Comanchegave the Shoshoni this mobility soon after 1705 (Ewers, 1955, p. 6).Close to the Shoshoni, in this period, were the Kiowa and Kiowa-Apache, according to their traditions at the headwaters of the Yellow-stone and Missouri Rivers. Mooney considered the Kiowa-Apachean Athapaskan group coming to join the Kiowa from the north,possibly through the region of the Blackfeet Reservation (Hewes,1948, p. 7).Before the southward movement of the Blackfoot in the late 18thand early 19th centuries, the Kutenai and two Salishan tribes, theFlathead and the Pend d'OreiUe, hunted in the territory of the presentReservation, in conjunction with the powerful Shoshoni, from whomthey obtained horses, but it has not been determined whether theyventured from the mountains before they had acquu'ed the horse(Ewers, 1949, p. 356).About the middle of the 1 8th century the Blackfoot began migratingsouth from the Eagle Hills of southern Saskatchewan. By 1800 thesemounted warriors, equipped with firearms, had become masters ofthe vast territory between the North Saskatchewan River and theheadwaters of the Missouri, stretching east from the Rockies about 10degrees of longitude (Swanton, 1952, p. 396). The Piegan, southern-most of the Blackfoot tribes, have thus occupied the area of theirMontana reservation for over a century and a half.ARCHEOLOGICAL FIELDWORKA preliminary survey of tipi-ring sites was undertaken in Octoberof 1952, after regular excavation projects were completed. At thistime, 23 sites were examined before severe weather set in. Duringthe fall of 1953, a further survey was undertaken to examine reportedsites and to locate others. In these two seasons a total of 210 tipi-ring
No*62]^"^*^' STONE TIPI RINGS KEHOE 441
sites were discovered within the limits of and in the various portionsof the Blackfeet Keservation, comprising well over 1,000 individualtipi rings. Subsequent travel over the Keservation has brought tonotice at least 150 additional tipi rings, but they have not been closelyexamined; this study is confined to the intensive survey of 1952-53.Since it was not possible to fully test the majority of these sites,this report is preliminary in nature and will include only summarydescriptions and brief comparisons of the data collected. Further-more, the significance of the data in its fullest implications cannot beextracted from the evidence at this time: only by much future arche-ological fieldwork and extensive comparisons both with sites in otherlocalities and with ethnographic materials can these Reservationsites be defined culturally and chronologically.Proportion oj tipi rings to other sites.—The 210 surveyed tipi-ringsites comprise 72 percent of the total number of archeological sitesfound on the Blackfeet Reservation through 1953. This figure com-pares with the 22 tipi-ring sites forming 42 percent of the total numberof sites reported by Bliss (1949, p. 10) at the Tiber Reservoir on theMarias River, southeast of Shelby, Mont. Bliss' work at otherreservoir sites indicates that six tipi-ring sites, forming 19 percent ofthe total surveyed, were found at the Canyon Ferry reservou- on theMissouri River near Helena, Mont.; only six tipi-ring sites, or 14percent, at the Glendo Reservoir in southeastern Wyoming; ninetipi-ring sites (12 percent) at the Boysen Reservoir in Wyoming; andnone in the Oregon Basin, 8 miles southeast of Cody, Wyo. (Bliss,1949, pp. 8-10). These surveys indicate that the region of the BlackfeetReservation may possibly represent a cultural hearth for tipi-ring
sites.Location of tipi-ring sites.—Tipi rings were found in nearly all partsof the Reservation, although an intensive sm*vey was not made ofevery locality. The rings occur at elevations of from 3,500 to 5,000feet above sea level, in both valley bottoms and as much as 600 feetabove the valleys on the intervening flat-topped ridges.Going to the east, the first occurrence of tipi rings is 4 to 6 milesfrom the front range of mountains, and about 3 to 5 miles from themassive ridges bordering the principal valleys heading in the range.At this point, the rings are placed on the elevated pediments andelongated ridges extending from the mountains, on the abrupt edgesof the flat-topped ridges, and in the river bottoms or on the terracesof varying heights. Continuing east, the elevated pedmients giveway to buttelike eminences; the tipi-ring sites are found along theescarpment edges and on the fingers of these buttes, and on the moregradual marginal slopes (see pi, 49, a) , as well as, still, on the streamterraces and in the valley bottoms.
442 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
All the local topographic settings on the Reservation favorable tocamping reveal tipi rings, both large and small. However, the ringsoccurring on elevated areas seem to average smaller in size than thosefound in low situations, suggesting a possible correlation between thesize of a ring and its topograpliic setting. Withers (1950, p. 11) notesa similar observance in Colorado
:
We also saw sites of the stone circle type. Following a suggestion I got fromBliss, I think we can probably work out two occupations from the stone circle
sites, one with fairly small circles located on the bluffs above the river bottoms,and one represented by the larger circles found consistently on the valley floors.This difference would be difficult to explain, other than by eithersupposing a preference for smaller tipis on the higher locations (owingperhaps to the force of the winds there), or by postulating differentcultural occupations, as Withers suggests, during one of which, pos-sibly, a climatic change flooded the bottoms (detailed geological studieshave not been reported on the paleoclimatology of the Reservation,which, because of its proximity to the glaciers of Glacier NationalPark, undoubtedly experienced many unique local variations inclimate).Camp plans.—There may also be a relationship between the campplan and the topographic setting, caused by seasonal subsistencecycles and ceremonial observances. However, although there weredifferent tent arrangements in the larger tipi-ring sites, and severalvaguely defined camp patterns were worked out, a definite correlationbetween plan and setting has not yet been determined.When three rings were present, they were either in a single row orforming a triangle. In clusters of four or more rings, they were ar-ranged in single lines, double alternating lines, V, semicircle, or circle.But in many cases the group of tipi rings was haphazardly arrangedor scattered—either it was impossible for the writer to pick out thecamp plan or there had been no intended arrangement in these cases.Although immediate topographic features, as well as the number oflodges in the group, would to some extent determine tent arrange-ment, some choice was possible on camp plan. The following tablegives the number of sites and of tipi rings for each of the several camp-ing arrangements: Table 1.
—
Camp plan or pattern
Plan
Na62l^'^^^' STONE TIPI RINGS—^KEHOE 443
In most of the 137 tipi-ring sites closely examined on the Reserva-tion, the rings were single isolated rings, in small groups of two orthree, or in clusters of from 4 to 55 rings. One site, however, con-tained 170 individual tipi rings placed in a double alternating line ex-tending for 4}^ miles along an escarpment. The rings were usually 5to 50 feet apart and the same distance from the abrupt edge of theflat ridge. Since they overlooked Trail Coulee, they may possiblyhave been connected with the Old Whoop-up Trail.All these arrangements except the triangle (C) occur in all the dif-ferent local topographic settings on the Reservation. The sites con-taining only three rings are found on flat-topped ridges, includingtheir edges, in saddles between hills, and on escarpment fingers.Those occurring as isolated single tipi rings ranged from 12 to 24feet in diameter and averaged 17.3 feet. At the sites containing tworings only, the tipi rings were between 7.5 and 25 feet in diameter,averaging 15.9 feet. Three rings in one site varied from 10 to 27feet in diameter, and also averaged 15.9 feet; a total of 12 sites con-tained only three rings. In the 38 sites in which the tipi rings arefound in clusters of from 4 to 170, the rings ranged in size from 10 to29 feet in diameter. The complete range of diameters of tipi ringson the Blackfeet Reservation is thus between 7.5 and 29 feet, and theaverage for a sample of 108 sites was 15.8 feet. It can be seen thatthe size of the tipi rings, though somewhat variable, is circumscribedwithin narrow limits; and both the range and the average correlatevery well with the sizes of conical lodges used as dwellings by thetribes of historic times.Shape oj tipi rings.—No eccentric forms of tipi rings were found
—
just circles such as would result from rocks used to hold down lodgecovers. No tipi rings found suggested a ceremonial use. Neitherpartial nor overlapping rings were observed, indicating that thepeople may have returned to the same rings, or at least would notdisturb an older ring to use the rocks in erecting a new lodge.The late H. P. Lewis, in an unpublished manuscript on buffalokills in IVIontana, briefly discussed the tipi rings he discovered innorth-central Montana, and came to the same conclusion, that eventhough rocks may have been scarce, the rings were not re-used foranother tipi. He states, "Strangely enough I cannot remember everseeing such rings appearing as though they had been disturbed, orworked over, or any part of the circle lacking" (Lewis, MS., chap. X,p. 27).Depth oJ rocks.—There seems to be a correlation between the sizeof a ring and the depth to which the stones are embedded in theground. Depth below surface was recorded in 65 sites containing atotal of 391 tipi rings, and in this large sample the size of the tipi
444 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
rings seems to diminish in proportion to the depth to which the stonesare embedded. However, in comparing individual sites or rings, thedepth of the embedded rocks would be a poor criterion for chrono-logical classification or dating, for conditions such as erosion, deposi-tion, frost action, and cultural variations in lodge sizes, reflectingoccupants' status or similar factors, would affect each site differently.Table 2 summarizes the data on sites and depth:
No*627"^^^" STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 445Quantity oj rocks.—Although there was variation in the quantity ofrock material used in tipi rings, it always seemed in proportion to thatneeded in weighting down a lodge cover. Thus, when smaller rockshad been employed, a greater number appears to have been used, aswould have been required.In many cases, clusters of tipi rings of large diameter seem tocontain fewer rocks. It may be that pegs were used to supplementrocks (see pi. 61, h) during the period when these larger rings were used.Rock type.—The unique array of rock exposures and glacial driftgave to the Indians of the Blackfeet Reservation area a wealth ofraw materials for lodge-cover weights. In the great majority of thesites (206), glacial drift or stream boulders make up the rock rings.This material ranges in size from cobbles 3 inches in diameter toboulders IK feet long and about 6 inches to 1 foot in diameter. Thestones may be partially rounded, but are mostly subangular, withsome faceted and striated. The preponderance of mostly subangularrocks can be explained partly by the natural profusion of these rocksand partly by a preference for rocks that would not roll. The materialseems to be wholly derived from the mountains and heterogeneouslymixed; it was principally quartzite (white, yellowish, banded pink,and red), with pebbles of maroon argillite and of diorite. In mostcases it was not necessary for the rocks to be carried more than a fewfeet; they could be carried by women.Four sites had rings composed of sandstone and conglomerateslabs from nearby outcrops. The tipi rings were 15 to 18 feet in di-ameter, but the slabs were much larger than the usual rocks—from10 inches to 1^ feet in diameter. However, the only difference be-tween these rings and the more common ones of boulders was that,because of the larger size and more angular shape of the slabs, fewerwere needed. These four sites were located on the edge and the mar-ginal slopes of flat-topped ridges, close to the Cretaceous rock ex-posures.These rock types represent the use of available materials, as inthe unglaciated prairies to the east, where turf or sod was used tohold down the lodge covers (Bushnell, 1922, p. 28, quoting Maxi-milian; Will, 1924, p. 293).Rock concentrations in center.—Only 23 of the 144 sites on theReservation closely examined for this feature revealed definite clustersof stones in the center of the rock rings. These are presumed to beformer fire hearths. No site was noted in which all the rings in thesite had definite center rock clusters. Usually there were one or twosuch rock clusters in a site of from 3 to 50 tipi rings.These clusters of stones were between 1 to 4 feet in diameter.Many times they were haphazardly arranged, sometimes appearing471762—60 30
446 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 173
to result from putting the fire out by throwing stones on it. Thesehearthstones occasionally are discolored by fire, but are seldom frag-mented, suggesting rather temporary use. Most commonly, theserocks are smaller than those of the outside ring, and therefore it ispossible that, in a deeply embedded ring, they are nearly or entirelybelow the ground surface. When only a few of the tips of the rocksare visible above the surface, they have the appearance of stonesnaturally scattered on the ground, though in a good many cases, theyvery probably had had some connection with a fire hearth.Outside fire hearths.—In five sites, outside fire hearth remains werenoted. Adam White Man has stated that his people would cook in-side the tipi only during bad weather, and pointed out the outsidefireplace belonging to his father's tipi ring (see p. 432).^*Inside fire hearths.—Six tipi rings, in six different sites, had definiterock-ring fire hearths. These hearths contained six to eight rockseach. Since so few fire hearths occur, it seems probable that cookingwas done outside in many cases, as suggested in the paragraph above.A report on the excavated hearths follows.Excavations.—Because of the nature of tipi-ring sites, which mustbe on or very near the surface to be visible, and because both arch-eologists and reputable collectors^" have reported that occupationalremains are rarely found in excavations of rings, it was decided thatexcavation would be a relatively minor aid in the solution of theproblem of the origin and use of tipi rings, and therefore this activity
'• At the 19.')6 Blackfoot encampment, the occupants of Lodge 1 constructed a hearth 6 feet southeast oftheir tipi, on which tin cans, bottles, etc. give evidence of coolring. The placement of this outside hearthconcurs with a description of such cooking hearths obtained bj' Mae Williamson (see footnote 16), duringher girlhood from older Blackfoot. McClintock (1910, pp. 226-227) also mentions and pictures an outsidecooking hearth.w Mr. Carle Leavitt, Conrad, Mont., an amateur collector who is both a serious student and a conscien-tious observer, excavated a tipi ring several years ago. The ring was located on Leavitt's own property, 20miles northeast of Conrad, and was about 12 feet in diameter. A fire hearth in the center gave evidence ofburning and was surrounded by bone fragments. Although the entire ring was excavated to the originalground level 2.5 inches below the surface, most of the interior of the ring was found to be empty. However,besides the material in the center, the area 1.5 to 2 feet inside the rock circle contained numerous bone frag-ments and one arrowpoint, with three (side- and basal-) notches, which in Leavitt's experience is imiqueIn this region, except for one other foimd in a bison kill west of Kevin, Mont. Leavitt recalls that " the pointwas neither obsidian nor agate—some kind of flint."S. Victor Day, of Sunburst, Mont., another reputable collector, reports having found worked flakes ofpetrified wood and moss agate in tipi rings: "I'll show you dozens of places at the tipi rings on my place wherethey dropped their rejected pieces." In addition, he discovered a full-grooved stone maul "leaning againstthe Inside edge of a rock ring," and several arrowpoints both inside and just outside rings.The Museum of the Plains Indian has in its collection two stone mauls, both full-grooved, found asso-ciated with tipi rings: M. P. I. Nos. 63L and 917L. The first Is a stream-rounded boulder 15.1 X 11.7 X 6.8cm., with a pecked groove 2 to 2.5 cm. wide encircling the center. One end shows considerable use. Thismaul was found by Richard Sanderville, a leading Blackfoot often relied upon as an interpreter, on TwoMedicine Creek "near old tipi rings." No. 917L is a pecked maul triangular in cross section, 15.1 X 8.2 X 8.2cm., with a pecked groove 2 to 2.5 cm. wide extending around it 4 cm. from the base, which shows evidenceof considerable use and tapers to a rounded point also exhibiting the marks of use. This maul was found byL. F. Tenney of Kevin, Mont., on the Milk River Ridge 10 miles west of Warner, Alberta; it was associatedwith tipi rings and possibly with a bison drive site, and there was a good spring nearby.
Na627"^^^* STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 447
was not expanded beyond the complete excavation of one ring andthe testing of several others.It is pertinent to the problem of tipi rings that the nomadic peoplespresumably using them possessed very few imperishable materialbelongings, occupied camps for only short periods, and, since theycarried always little more than the bare essentials for living, wereable to abandon very little in moving. Ewers (1955, pp. 130-131)states, "Experience made the Blackfoot efficient in packing theirbelongings quickly in the morning camp was to move. . . . Eachfamily was responsible for its own belongings. Every article had itsassigned place and means of transportation." These factors make itimprobable that the excavation of tipi rings will reveal much of valuein solving the problem of the rings.Site 24GLS90.—This site consists of three tipi rings, averaging 17.3feet in diameter, situated on a long, fiat escarpment finger parallel toand above the north bank of Greasewood Creek. About one-fourth ofa mile southeast of Sharps Lake, it is nearly centrally located on theReservation. The area of occupation is 700 feet, east to west.Ring 1 (refer to fig. 30) measures 15 feet north-south and 17 feeteast-west. The circle of rocks is 1 foot wide with its scattered rocks6 to 8 inches in diameter. Three-quarters of each rock is embedded inthe ground, leaving approximately 2 inches protruding above the sur-face. There seem to be more rocks on the north side of the ring, andthey are more distinct. Since the ring is located on a very slight slope,there may have been more deposition on the south side, covering thatpart of the ring to a gi'eater extent. One rock is embedded in theinterior of the ring 6 feet from the west side. The pattern of a 5-footsection of the ring is seen in figure 30.Ring 2 is 16 feet in diameter. As in Ring 1, the circle of rocks is1 foot wide and the stones range from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, beingthree-quarters embedded in the ground, with about 2 inches protrud-ing. On the east side of this ring a gap of 8 feet in which no rocksoccur is present; presumably this marks the doorway to the lodge.In ring 2, slightly off center (6 feet from the east side, 8 feet from thewest, and midway between the north and south sides of the ring),could be seen a rock-ring fire hearth. The hearth was 2 feet in diame-ter, and its rocks range from 3 to 6 inches in diameter, considerablysmaller than those of the tipi ring proper. Excavation of this rock-ring hearth disclosed only five small charcoal particles the size of apinhead. These fragments were embedded near the base of the rocks,and probably were the last remnants of the charcoal which had beenalmost all blown out. A gap to the west of the fire ring gave it a U
448 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY IBuU. 178
CEU
Ofinq 1
SECTION OFROCK CIRCLERING 2
ring 2
^n'ng 3 /•
100 200 feel
SITE Z^GL3<10
Figure 30.—Site 24GL390.
nS*&"^^^" stone TIPI rings—^KEHOE 449
shape. On this point, it can be noted that this occurrence tallies withinformation given by Jim White Calf, an elderly Blackfoot, previousto the excavation :After they completed placing the rocks on the outside to hold down the lodgecover, they gathered more for the inside to build the fireplace. These rocks arenot placed all around, but a space is left blank at the rear or toward the back of thelodge. I do not know the reason for this.It will be remembered that the "back of the lodge" was to the west,since the door always faces east.Ring 3 is 19,4 feet north-south and 21 feet east-west. The circleof rock is spread over an area 1 to 1.5 feet wide, but the individualrocks still range from 6 to 8 inches in diameter and again are embeddedapproximately three-quarters deep with 2 inches above the groundsurface. These rocks, like those of the first two rings, are glacialboulders of pink quartzite and sandstone. The greatest concentrationof rocks is on the northeast side of the ring, but since it is on a slightslope, greater deposition on the southwest side may have led to thisimpression. There are no rocks inside the ring, and no evidence of afire.Site 24OL49O.—Two tipi rings, one 11 feet in diameter and the other17 feet, comprise this site on the edge of the escarpment forming thesouth side of Milk River Ridge, in the northwest portion of the Reser-vation. A fire hearth (pi. 49, b) occurs in the smaller ring, and wasbriefly tested, yieldmg a handful of charcoal, unworked fragments ofboth burnt and unburnt bone, and four unworked obsidian flakes, 1.2cm., 1 cm., 0.7 cm., and 0.5 cm. (Obsidian is not known to occurnaturally on the Reservation.)Site ^4GL584.—On the north shore of Spring Lake (the middleMission Lake), in the eastern half of the Reservation, is an areaseven-tenths of a mile long and 50 to 100 yards wide, containingapproximately 100 tipi rings. These overlook the lake. At thewriter's suggestion, Phyllis Jay, then assistant curator at the Museumof the Plains Indian, and her husband, Edward Jay, a trainedarcheologist, measured several of the tipi rings and excavated onehearth, which is diagrammed in figure 31. Five of the tipi rings were,respectively, 16, 16.7, 16.7, 18, and 19 feet in diameter.The fireplace of ring 5 was excavated. In it charcoal was dis-covered at approximately 3 inches below the surface. Although noartifacts were found, the structure of the fireplace was very distinct:it was composed of nine rocks arranged in a U shape roughly in thecenter of the tipi ring. The nearest neighboring ring was about 15feet to the west.Site 24GL486.—The south slope of Milk River Ridge, in the north-west portion of the Reservation, is dissected by intermittent streams,
450 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
t 10 15 feetSITE a46L58^RING 5Figure 31.—Site 24GL584, ring 5.
leaving smaller ridges or fingers extending at right angles to the Eidge(pi. 50, a). These flats are excellent camping spots, affording gooddrainage, observation of the country, and proximity, during certainseasons, to running water. One portion of the Eidge contains 12
Antbrop. Pap.No. G2] STONE TIPI RINGS—^KEHOE 451
sites in an area 2 miles long, encompassing this dissected slope (see pis.50, b, 5l,a; refer also to fig. 32).On one of these flat fingers, eight-tenths of a mile southeast of theMilk River Ridge, 400 feet lower than it and 250 feet above the valley
Milk River Ridge
o\ coulee.216L467
]SECTION OFMILK P.WERR1D6E SLOPE
a4GM86
4- approx. Imile—
Figure 32.—Section of Milk River Ridge slope with three tipi-ring sites.
452 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
. t
SITE a4GL486 40 {cet
Figure 33.—Site 24GL486.
floor, is site 24GL486, which consists of six tipi rings ranging from 13to 14 feet in diameter, and placed as pictured in figure 33.In 1953, when this site was first visited, several of the rings werewhitewashed and photographed from the Ridge. Except for the dis-placement of a few rocks on the south sides of a couple of rings, under-mined by soil having been blown out, the rings are in good condition.(The wind is exceedingly strong at this site during some months of theyear; excavation in October and early November of 1956 had to bediscontinued at times because of the powerful gusts.)A large number of rocks make up each tipi ring; they range from0.3 to 1.3 feet in diameter, but most are of considerable size andweight. They must have been gathered from the hill crest, wherethese red glacial boulders are thickly scattered—the only bare spots
No^fisT'^*'*' STONE TIPI RINGS^—KEHOE 453. 62] f
SITE f%W8&
o0?o f'Oi bone I fire-crack«l Tocic
0"o o8^O "
Site 34—Site 24GL486, ring 4.
are the interiors of the tipi rings. Ring 4 was the only one of the sixto possess a fire hearth, composed of a rock ring.The excavated ring, ring 4, measures 13.5 feet north-south by 14feet east-west (see pi. 51, 6; fig. 34). The east-northeast side ofthe ring presents a gap 1 foot wide, probably a doorway. Thecircular band of rocks in the ring covers an area about 3 feet wide andconsists of 124 rocks, 0.3 to 1.3 feet in diameter.The tipi ring was staked out in 5-foot squares, with the centralaxis oriented along the (magnetic) north-south fine through thecenter of the ring, almost bisecting the fire hearth. The southernmostrow of stakes was labeled ON(orth), the next IN, etc.; numberedleft or right of the central axis, square designations were derived fromthat of the stake in the southwestern corner of each.Square 2Ll, which included a segment of the fireplace, was takendown 0.1 foot, to the base of the rocks in the fireplace ring, presumably
454 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
the original floor of the tipi (see pi. 52, a). The fill consisted of afairly loose yellowish-gray sandy soil, but at the 0.1-foot level a com-pact, bard gray layer was encountered. Whether this compactlayer, on which lay the rocks of the tipi ring as well as the hearth,resulted from the occupation of the tipi (either from the tramplingof the inhabitants, or from the effects of sod destruction, leaving the
soil unprotected), or is a natural feature of the region, a hardpan suchas is common on the Plains, is uncertain: local soil scientists wereunable to settle the question, nor, since the region is undisturbedrange, could the experience of farmers be sought. While this layerdoes appear to extend beyond the tipi ring, it would still remainwithin the camp area, and so could have been subject to the sametrampling that may have packed it within the tipi. Extensivetesting of the surrounding region for this feature was impracticalwithin the time available for excavation. Also undetermined iswhether the rocks' of the tipi ring always lay on this compact layer,
soil being deposited around them and eventually covering them, orwhether they sank down to it through successive wet seasons: probablyboth factors were operative.The remainder of the squares containing the tipi ring were alsocleared of the surface material to the 0.1 -foot hard gray level. Whileit appeared that the extremely heavy rocks had embedded themselvesdeeper into this layer, owing to their weight, the majority of the rockslay on it. In a typical square, 2L2, 15 rocks of the tipi ring occurred(pi. 52, 6). Thirteen were approximately 0.6 foot in diameter andwere toward the inside of the ring, while two, 0.8 and 1 foot in diameter,lay somewhat outside the ring. In square iLl the rocks had beendisplaced about 0.6 foot because wind action had removed the soilfrom under them; this formed a section of the small blowout on thesouth side of the site, mentioned above (pi. 53, a).The only artifact discovered was a rounded stone, apparently froma stream bed, 8.6 by 7.1 by 5.8 cm., with peck marks showing evidenceof use as a hammerstone. This occurred 4 feet southwest of the firehearth, on the hard gray 0.1-foot level. A bone fragment 1.9 by 1cm. lay also on this surface, in square 2Ll, near a small deposit of ash.The center of the ring was occupied by a rock-ring fire hearthcomposed of 10 stones, 1 of which was entirely below the surface, andranged in size from 0.4 to 0.8 foot in diameter. These stones lay onthe 0.1-foot level; it was observed that the hard gray layer slopedslightly down to the area midway between the hearth and the outerring, and consequently these rocks were very slightly higher than therest of the interior of the ring. Several of the rocks lining the hearthappeared fire-reddened, and one was fire-cracked. Under one of thelarger rocks in the northeast portion of the circular ring a small handful
N°*62T'^°^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 455
of charcoal and charred wood was found. Since the wind appearedto blow from the southwest, it was surmised that here was representedthe last remnants of the fire, blown from the hearth but caught underthe edge of this rock.Summary oJfieldv)ork.—As in the case of the historical accounts andthe ethnographic material, the archeological information collected onthe Backfeet Indian Reservation supports the conclusion that the tipirings were used to hold down lodge covers.Sheer numbers of tipi rings alone give testimony that they served adomestic function, rather than having been of occasional ceremonialuse. Then- location on flat or nearly flat areas in good camping spots,where they appear to have had taken into account, in their placement,factors of drainage, wind, and other climatic influences, support theiruse as habitation sites. The topographic settings concur with thecamping patterns (of which regular plans of a limited number oftypes were observed) in suggesting seasonal variations in camps,reflecting an annual cycle of activities such as is known from historictribes.The size of the tipi rings on the Reservation vary to a limited extent,but the range and the average both coincide with the sizes of lodgesused as conical dwellings among the historic tribes. The variationscan be explained by both individual owners and by temporal differ-ences. The number of rings in a site approximate the number oflodges in historic camps, changing from season to season in a regularcycle.No eccentric tipi rings were found, nor any partial or overlappingrings. All the tipi rings observed on the Reservation were suitable inconstruction and shape for use as lodge-cover weights. The rocksmaking up the rings were uniform within a restricted range of size,shape, type of material, total numbers, and arrangements, and theaggregate of these features reinforces the surmise that they wereweights for the skin lodges. The absence of rocks, in a few of thetipi rings, in a small area toward the east is reminiscent of the historictribes' tradition of placing a doorway toward the rising sun.The occurrence of rock concentrations and rock-lined fire hearthsin several tipi rings is further evidence of their use as habitations,while the absence of these hearths in numerous rings agrees withnative informants' memories of cooking being done outside the lodge.A comparison between the sizes of tipi rings and the depths towhich their rocks are embedded, as well as the total numbers of ringsand of sites at different depths, suggests a temporal change in tipiring size. The change could well be due to the shift in cultural andeconomic patterns outlined by LeT\4s (1942, pp. 35-36).
456 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 173DISCUSSION
It is difficult to understand why archeologists working in theNorthern Plains appear to be so confused over tipi rings, lumpingseveral diverse phenomena under this classification, assigning esotericfunctions to them, or refusing to hazard hypotheses on their functionsat all.Mulloy is a leading exponent of the "problematical" theory of thenature of tipi rings. Referring to them as "manifestations of unknownrelationships," he has summarized his reasons for arriving at thisconclusion (Mulloy, 1952, p. 137). A point-by-point discussion ofthis summary incorporating the evidence previously presented inthis paper removes, it is believed, the basis for Mulloy's hesitationand supports the conclusion that tipi rings were indeed lodge-coverweights
:
(1) Mulloy states (ibid.) : " 'Tipi rings' [vary] from five to forty feetin diameter and occasionally larger . . ." Tipi rings found on theBlackfeet Reservation vary in size from 7.5 to 29 feet in diameter,^^within Mulloy's range but likewise within the range and with theaverage of lodges used as conical dwellings by historic tribes, and bythe modern Blackfoot at their 1956 encampment. Variations reflectowners' and temporal differences.(2) " 'Tipi rings' . . . are found either isolated or in groups ofseveral hundred." On the Reservation, the rings occur isolatedor in groups of up to 170; these variations in camp size result from theseasonal cycle of subsistence and ceremonial observances.(3) "Frequently they intersect each other so intricately that it isdifficult to separate one from the other. Usually they are simplecircles, but eccentric forms occur." No tipi rings on the Reservationintersected each other, overlapped, or could be termed an eccentricform, nor could historical or ethnographic sources clarify this asser-tion. Perhaps this is a trait characteristic of another area, whichcannot be solved in north-central Montana.(4) "Sometimes they occur near camp sites, but rarely are artifactsfound in them. . . . [There is a] lack of evidence of habitation in theirvicinity." Since tipi rings were occupied for only a short time bynomadic people who would discard very little, an abundance ofhabitational debris is not to be expected. Reputable collectors report
" In the autumn of 1956 an amateur collector from Valler, Mont., James Tidyman, brought the writerto a large hill overlooking Two Medicine Creek in the southeastern portion of the Blackfeet Reservation.On the summit of this hill is a stone ring 43.7 feet north-south by 44.5 feet east-west, but differing from othertipi rings only in size. A fire hearth 3.9 by 3 feet is located 19.7 feet from the west, 18.6 feet from the eastside. Disturbance of the surrounding land, preventing examination of the lower slopes of the hill, obscuredsurrounding rings, if any. Carle Leavltt of Com-ad recalls vislthig, with the late H. P. Lewis, three ringsat a site In north-central Montana, which ho believes must have been about 60 feet in diameter, and 40 to 50feet apart, with the rocks deeply embedded in the ground. It has not been possible, so far, to investigatethese phenomena sufficiently to reveal their significance—perhaps they were ma'toki dance lodges (see p. 428)
.
nS.*627'^^^' stone TIPI RINGS-—kehoe 457
occasional artifacts in them, and one was discovered in the ringexcavated by the writer. Many times the rings are in the vicinityof buffalo drive sites; a Blackfoot informant, Bull Head, stated thathis people were accustomed to camp near their drives.(5) "In the Dakotas, some are merely circular depressions in thesod." Maximilian reports observing the use of sod to hold down thelodge covers of the Blackfoot at Fort McKenzie, where suitable stonesare lacking.(6) "Rarely ... are the remains of fires found in them." Rockconcentrations as well as rock-lined fire hearths are frequently foundin the center of tipi rings. Native informants, however, recall thatcooking was often done outside the lodge. As for the remains of thefire itself, buffalo dung used as fuel would produce a slow, consumingfire leaving very little ash. Furthermore, the wind would be strongenough, in most cases, to remove all ash and charcoal remains—thatcharcoal which is found is usually a small amount caught under thehearth rocks. (Local ranchers have mentioned that many times, onthe day after one on which they have branded cattle, they can findno traces of the branding fire.) Finally, that cooking was commonlydone at the buffalo drives, rather than in camp, is evidenced by thecharcoal and ash midden built up at these drive sites.(7) "They lack packed floors." The tipi ring tested for this featurerevealed a hard layer at the base of its rocks, which may possiblyhave been a floor. However, the nature of the sod on the Reservation(like that of much of the Great Plains) is such that packed earth isunlikely to result from relatively short occupancy of an area. At the1956 Blackfoot encampment, the interiors of the tipis were markedby grass less packed than that outside the lodges.(8) "They are situated on high river terrace fingers and less fre-quently in sheltered lowland areas." On the Blackfeet Reservation,tipi rings are found in all topographic settings favorable for camping.Historical and native sources indicate that the Indians Hved in thesheltered lowlands in winter, but in spring were forced up on theterraces by flooding. It should also be remembered that tipi ringsare very difficult to discover in the brush of the low valleys, and arein greater risk of destruction, from settlers as well as from floods.(9) "They may be related to so-called 'medicine wheels.'" Thistopic is discussed in detail in another paper (Kehoe, 1954; see alsoDempsey, 1956) . Although no medicine wheels occur on the BlackfeetReservation, they are found in north-central Montana and in Alberta,They can be defined as cairns or circles of stones, from the center ofwhich radiate a number of rows of other stones. Elderly Blackfootstate that they mark the grave or place of death of esteemed membersof the tribe, and this is substantiated by historical accounts. Tipi
458 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
rings are thus "related" to medicine wheels solely by having beenused as weights for the cover of the death lodge, and subsequentlyforming the basis of the construction of a marker, or "wheel."Mulloy is further confused by circles of mixed stone and posts,which he encountered in the Yellowstone region (1952, p. 132; 1954,p. 55). These structures are conical, semiconical, rectangular orpentagonal in shape, often supported by trees or cliffs, and con-structed of both stone and wood, in toto suggesting an entirely dif-ferent type of structure from the weighted conical skin tipi. Mulloybelieves (1954, p. 55) that "these structures may account for theorigin of the prevailing myth in this region that 'tipi rings' havehearths in them, but they are by no means the same thing as thecircles."The 1954 report documents Mulloy's investigation of two "stonecircle sites" in the Shoshone Basin, Wyo.-^ In one, containing 75rings from 11 to 24 feet in diameter, situated on a flat-topped gravelterrace, he mapped and photographed the site and tested one circleby coordinate trenches 2)^ feet wide and 3 feet deep. Another ringwas tested by being completely excavated to the level of the gravelterrace. In addition, a second site of six rings was investigated butnot excavated. The conclusions Mulloy derives from this work arethat "stone circles" are still "manifestations of problematical pur-pose," similar in their occurrence along the eastern edge of the Rockiesfrom New Mexico north to the Canadian border, and that "theymight be circles used in dancing, or in other religious rituals" (Mulloy,1954, p. 55), which may possibly be connected to the "medicinewheel" in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. In simi, Mulloyadduces no new reasons for denying the domestic function of tipirings as lodge-cover weights, though he is still committed to a beliefin an inscrutable esoteric use for the circles, and therefore the rebuttalof his 1952 argument continues to be valid.A second student of tipi rings, Hoffman, begins his review bycautioning, "In form and use they must be distinguished from some-what similar structures such as medicine wheels, eagle catches, theLacotah Love Dance circle, and Koyokee pits" (Hoffman, 1953, p. 1),but later refers to all of these together as "tipi ring forms" (op. cit.,p. 10 ff.). Failure to clear the confusion results from his superficialM In a letter dated October 4, 1955, with photographs enclosed, Mr. William McCarty of Laramie, Wyo.,sent me a description of a group of tipi rings in southeastern Wyoming (130 miles southeast of Mulloy'sstudy). He wrote: "This group of tipi rings is located on a high bluff with a sheer drop to the west andnorth and a gradual slope to the east and west (sic). From the high point one can see for miles hi any direc-tion. This bluff is located eight miles south of Medicine Bow, Wyoming These rings seem to be in groupsof three to six and are scattered around the level areas. . . . Rings are about eighteen feet in diameter andare formed of a double ring of stones. ... At each group is a smaller ring of stones with a fire hole in thecenter of each. . . . My wife found a broken arrowhead and my daughter a smaller broken one. Some flintsI have picked up show they were worked on and may be crude arrowheads."
nS*^' ^*^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 459
speculations unsubstantiated by cross checking, field investigationof informants' descriptions, or full documentation of these informants'background and reliability. Hoffman makes much of the theory thattipi rings were used as shelters during "medicine getting" quests;these fasting shelters, however, are U-shaped stone constructionslarge enough to hold a man and high enough to protect him from thewind. They thus cannot be confused, in the field, with tipi-ring
cii'cles. Several of these fasting shelters can still be seen today, andhave been located on the Blackfeet Reservation. One of the bestsurviving examples is the shelter of Ear Rings, a Piegan, father ofJohn Bird Earrings, who brought Claude Schaeffer, then curatorof the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, to this shelter,placed on a hill above Ear Rings' allotment and near his grave. Dr.Schaeffer photographed the shelter at this time (pi. 53, 6)."Carling Malouf is also noncommittal on the use of tipi rings, butis led to the supposition of a ceremonial function by the lack of hearthsand artifacts in so many.^* Malouf's statement that ethnographicaccounts fail to provide sound information on the rings is difficultto comprehend in the light of the evidence presented by informants ina previous section of this paper.Review of their writings suggests that the hesitation of these stu-dents in assigning a domestic function to tipi rings stems from (1)lack of detailed examination and analysis of tipi rings in the field, (2)unfamiliarity with published historical and ethnographic sources andwith surviving native knowledge, (3) application of interpretationsbased on phenomena from a limited area to a large geographical regionoccupied by a number of tribes representing diverse linguistic stocks,cultural traditions, and geographical connections, in which entirelyforeign but superficially similar structures cause much confusion, and(4) an unwillingness to commit themselves on a seemingly controversialtopic.It should be noted, of course, that tipi rings are distributed over anarea much greater than the former home of the Blackfoot, to whichmy conclusions are limited. In other areas and among different tribes,there may be stone circles that served other functions. The archeolog-ical past of each area is, to a greater or lesser extent, unique, and mustbe recognized as disclosing information perhaps inapplicable to anyother area. Therefore it is admitted that the hesitation of arche-ologists such as Mulloy may well be justified in regard to stone circlestreated as a phenomenum scattered from New Mexico to Montana;the writer will maintain only that those herein described from the
" Personal communication, summer of 1953.
" Personal letter dated November 7, 1963.
460 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
Blackfeet Reservation vicinity were used as lodge-cover weights, or
"tipi rings."The extension of the use of tipi rings as lodge-cover weights to thenorthern Blackfoot range in Alberta is corroborated by informationrecorded by Dempsey (1956, p. 177):The tipi ring ... is common in Blackfoot country and has been used withinthe past two decades by at least two tribes of this nation (Blood and NorthPeigan) where the owner wished to follow early customs.The tipi rings were aptly described in 1955 by One Gun, an elderly North Black-foot informant: "The circles of stones were normally used to hold down the edgesof the lodges. The old tipis were made of buffalo skins and were much heavierthan the canvas ones. They could not be blown away as easily, so stones wereable to hold them in place. But when we started to use canvas, we had to usepegs or our tipis would be blown over. Stones were also used between the pegs."Dempsey also notes that the Blackfoot word for "medicine wheel"refers only to the radiating lines, the speaker thus assuming that thelistener knows, as is inherent in Blackfoot tradition, according toDempsey, that the lines are "merely appendages to existing tipi rings"(ibid.).Granting, then, that the question of the function of tipi rings hasbeen answered, at least for the area inhabited by the Blackfoot, prob-lems of cultural affiliation and age still remain for these archeologicalfeatures. Solutions rest partly on knowledge of the changes in sizeof the tipis during protohistoric and historic times, and of the sizeand arrangement of the camps.For example, Anthony Hendry observed in 1754, while journeyingthrough the Blackfoot country, near the present Calgary, Alberta, acamp which in his description invites comparison with archeologicalsites (Bushnell, 1922, p. 25):Came to 200 tents of Archithinue Natives, pitched in two rows, and an openingin the middle; where we were conducted to the Leader's tent; which was at oneend, large enough to contain fifty persons; where he received us seated on a clear[white] Buffalo skin, attended by 20 elderly men. ... I departed and took aview of the camp. Their tents were pitched close to one another in two regularlines, which formed a broad street open at both ends.Matthew Cocking, sent west by the Hudson's Bay Company in1772, writes of this tribe's camp arrangement in connection with abuffalo pound (Bushnell, 1922, p. 26): "Our Archithinue friends cameto see us and pitched a small distance from us ; on one side the pound21 tents of them, the other seven are pitched another way." On theReservation, tipi rings are found associated with buffalo drive sitesin similar arrangements. A cluster of nine was located within a fewhundred feet and on each side of a buffalo drive site, as diagrammedin figure 35 (see also pis. 49, a; 54, a).Deductions on the size of the tipi may be made from observationssuch as those collected by Lieutenant Bradley from white traders
Anthrop. Pap.No. 62] STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 461
skulls
Milk River
cojla 51TE £4615^0TlP\ RINGS ASbOClATEP WITHBI&OM Pl^ivE 300 f*«t
Figure 35.—Site 24GLS20, tipi rings associated with bison drive.
familiar with the Blackfoot from the early decades of the 19th century.He states that about the middle of that century (Bradley, 1900, p.258):From six to twelve skins were ordinarily employed, according to size desiredor the wealth of the occupants. The number rarely exceeded twelve but occasion-ally reached eighteen and twenty, and Major Culbertson relates having once seenone of forty skins that would hold a hundred people. A six-skin lodge was tenfeet in diameter, holding six people, while a twelve-skin lodge was about fifteenfeet in diameter and afforded shelter to eight or nine persons. The cover wasstretched over eight to twelve lodge poles, in the larger lodges from eighteen totwenty, standing in a circle and inclining inward till they joined near the topsat the height of from eight to twelve feet from the ground.The social organization and annual cycle of subsistence of the vari-ous tribes that once camped in the area of the modern Blackfeet Reser-471762—60 31
462 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY tBuU.173
vation may be reflected in the surviving tipi-ring clusters. Eggan'sparagraph (1952, p. 40) is suggestive in this regard:Collier has noted that the social organization of the Plains tribes took a seriesof forms: the camp circle, two types of large bands, the camp based on extendedkinship, and the temporary hunting camp, each of which was adapted to the an-nual C3^cle of subsistence as well as to the social environment. It is importantto note that tribes coming into the Plains with more complex formal social struc-tures were in the process of giving them up in favor of the more flexible bandand camp organization; and conversely, the more simply organized Great Basingroups developed a more complex organization.Using the information from Bradley (1900, p. 258), Lewis (1942,pp. 35-49), and Ewers (1955, pp. 131-134, 307-308), the followingtable has been worked out to indicate the possibilities of chronologicalordering of tipi-ring sites in the area of the Blackfeet Indian Reser-vation. Study of this table leads to the conclusion that most of thetipi rings on the Reservation date from the 19th century (cf. p. 444,table 2 and paragraph following).Table 3.— Temporal change in Blackfoot tipi size
Na&'^*^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 463ing the function of the tipi rings in the area of the Blackfeet IndianReservation of Montana. Because of the once much greater territoryof the Blackfoot, the historical accounts cover a much greater areaand include information on some of the peripheral neighbors andallies of the Blackfoot. The ethnographic evidence was obtained fromearly ethnological works and, principally, from the testimony ofelderly Blackfoot now living on tlie Reservation and on Canadianreserves, as well as from a few members of neighboring tribes. Arche-ological data has been recorded from sites located in and around theBlackfeet Reservation, north-central Montana.Well-documented historical records, statements of surviving par-ticipants in the traditional Indian customs, and the archeologicalevidence all support the conclusion that the stone circles known astipi rings resulted from the use of rocks to hold down skin lodgecovers, at least in the region of the Blackfeet Reservation.There is still a need for interpretation of the data on tipi rings.Contemporary archeologists tend to use the term "tipi ring" as acatchall to pigeonhole problematical stone configurations of unknownfunctions, without seriously attempting to ascertain what such func-tions might be. As a result, the simple stone circle or tipi ring hasacquired a mysteriousness and obscurity of meaning comparable tothat surrounding the more eccentric stone configurations. The prob-lem is largely one of semantics, and could be considerably clarifiedby limitation of and agreement on definitions and categories. As astart, the work incorporated in this paper suggests that the use ofthe term "tipi ring" should be limited to an approximately regularstone circle, between about 7 to about 30 feet in diameter (the rangeultimately determined by the size range of tipis as this becomesknown), averaging about 16 feet, the boulders of the circle being ofa size and weight suitable for securing a lodge cover. Rock-linedhearths may be present, but more commonly are not. That the other,various stone configurations now often erroneously lumped under theterm "tipi ring" had diverse functions, some utilitarian, some ritual-istic, is revealed by historical and ethnographic sources which shouldbe employed to supplement archeological work on these relativelyrecent phenomena.The solution to the problems presented by the stone configm*ations,including tipi rings, appears to lie in intensive investigations of theseveral types in a number of limited areas. If there is preliminaryagreement on the classification of these configurations, and use isfully made of the three branches of study forming the three mainsections of this paper, comparisons of the results of the investigationsin each area should throw considerable light on the history and waysof life of the many tribes once occupying the vast area in the West
464 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
in which the boulder configurations of unknown function are nowfound. APPENDIXA MODERN BLACKFOOT CAMPOn the morning of August 8, 1956, the Blackfoot began erectinglodges for their annual North American Indian Days Celebration(August 8-13, 1956) immediately to the rear of the Museum of thePlains Indian, in Bro^vIling, Mont, (see pi. 55, a). This celebrationhas replaced the Fourth of July gathering of previous years, andnow coincides with the season of the annual Sun Dance assemblageof the historic tribes, in which the various bands of the tribe campedin one village in the form of a circle of lodges.The summer season, usually beginning in June and ending in Sep-tember, was the only time of the year when the entire tribe was en-camped in a single village, using the camp circle. During the otherseasons the several bands occupied different camps and used otherarrangements of lodges (Ewers, 1955, p. 128). Similarly, the con-temporary Blackfoot come together only once or twice in one village,during the summer season, and here use the camp circle. The re-mainder of the year finds them living in their various rural communitieson the Reservation.August 8 and 9, the first 2 days of the encampment, provided op-portunities to secure detailed information and photogi'aphs of theerection of the lodges (pi. 54, b). By August 10 all the lodges werestanding: 39 canvas tipis of the 4-pole type, 69 wall tents, and 2umbrella tents. On this day, with the aid of Lloyd Torgerson ofEthridge, Mont., detailed aerial photographs, both oblique and hori-zontal, were obtained of the camp (pis. 55, a; 56, b). In the course ofthe same flight, a tipi-ring site, 24GL350, the rings of which formeda camp circle partially destroyed by road building, was photographedfor comparison with the modern camp, which was subsequentlymapped (figs. 36, 37; pi. 56, a). (Dm'ing the previous autumn the63 tipi rings at this site had been whitewashed for this purpose byan Indian crew under the writer's supervision—see pi. 55, b.)From August 8 through August 13 visits were made to the variouslodges of the encampment. Upon entering Lodge 26, owned by Mrs.Mae Williamson, it was discovered that rocks were being used to holddown the canvas liner of the lodge (pi. 57). These liners or backwalls "serve to keep out the wind and water that may find its way downthe poles from their tops. They protect the people from draughts,as air can enter under the edge of the tipi, pass upward between thecover and the back wall and out over their heads, affording ventilation
Antbrop. Pap.No. 62] STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 465
SITE £40L35O
o
oO
SITES 5H0UINGTlPl RINGCAMP PATTERNS
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o o
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KX> 200 300 feat
O OOOOooo
Figure 36.—Sites showing tipi-ring camp patterns.
466 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 173
©
©
©
i c.VtIe I ( 38
©
1156 BLACKFOarEMCAMPHENT
30 «0 000/-N (7)®0 0/7)0©00 O
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Figure 37.—Camp plan, 1956 Blackfoot encampment, Browning, Mont.
of the most approved type" (Wissler 1910, p. 106). Questioning ofMrs. Williamson elicited this information:The rocks were used to hold down and push out the tipi liner similar to their usein the old days. Quite a few of the other campers were using them too but mostof them were too lazy to gather rocks since they were not easily found at theBrowning camp ground. Filled parfleches are often used to push out the insideliner.Mrs. Nora Spanish, manager of the Blackfeet Arts and CraftsAssociation, revealed that:The North Blackfeet from Gleichen, Alberta, have discovered a new idea topeg the lining similar to the way the tipi cover is pegged to the ground, and loopsare now being sewn on the tipi liner for that purpose. A woman from Gleichentold me this in 1955, but claimed that it is much harder to peg the inside liner than
Na&'^^^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 467
the tipi cover, so rocks will continue to be used in most cases. There would beless wear on the liner with pegs than in using rocks. I have never seen pegsused to push out a tipi liner here on the Reservation, just rocks or parfleches, orboth. I am going to sew loops on Mother's (Julia Wades-in-the- Water) tipiliner and use pegs next year.The Blackfoot began to break camp on the morning of Monday,August 13. At this time measurements were taken of each tipi'sfloor dimensions, from peg to peg north-south and east-west, tabulatedin table 4, and the distances between each of the lodges were noted(table 5) ; these relationships can be seen in figure 37. It was noticedthat after removal of the lodge inner liner, with the tipi cover andpegs, rings of stones remained in place or slightly inside (0.3 to 1.2feet displacement) their former position against the tipi poles andpegs (pis. 58, 60, a). It was rare, although it did occur, that the rockswere found outside the peg line: in these instances their distancefrom the peg line was 0.3 to 0.6 foot. Unquestionably, the tipi ringsat this camp resulted from the pulling out of the canvas liner fromthe rocks placed on it as weights.Thirteen lodges left these tipi rings (table 6), with stones rangingfrom a total of as few as 5 to as many as 40 comprising each ring.The individual rocks varied from 0.3 to 1.2 feet in diameter and wereangular stream-rolled boulders identical to those forming the tipi ringson the archeological sites previously discovered on the Reservation.Later, after the Blackfoot had vacated the camp ground, the areawas thoroughly examined. In 22 of the 39 sites of former tipis, firehearth remains were visible (pis. 59, b; 60, a). Of these, 17 wereimlined, 4 had boulders placed to confine the fire, and 1 had a singlebrick. Where the hearth was unlined, large metal cans were some-times used instead to confine the fire, forming improvised stoveswhich still left a burned area and ashes on the ground; similarly,an inverted washtub "stove" (pi. 59, a) left hearth remains (pi. 60, a).In at least one tipi (Mrs. WilHamson's Lodge 26), however, a com-mercial stove was employed, which left no evidence of fire afterward.It appeared that for many hearths the sod had been scraped awaybefore a fire had been built, but one hearth seemed to have had dirtthrown on its fire to put it out.The fire hearths ranged from 0.8 to 3 feet in diameter. For 15,the east-west dimension was the larger; 2 were longer north-south;in the remaining 5, both measurements were exactly the same. Theboulder rings of the lined hearths contained 5 to 14 rocks, 0.6 to 1.1feet in diameter.The hearth was usually du-ectly between the north and south sidesof the lodge, but occasionally was closer to one or the other side. In
all but one case, the fire was nearer to the east side of the tipi, the
468 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173doorway. It was never exactly in the middle of the east-west line, andin the one exception was closer to the west side than the east. Thisexception was Lodge 29, which, although erected by the Blackfootwith their four-pole construction, was occupied by visitors from theUmatilla Reservation, Oreg., who built their hearth apparentlyaccording to their own tradition: five unusually large rocks (0.6 to 1.1feet in diameter) placed in a semicircle with the opening to the east,and the whole, as before noted, closest to the west side of the lodge.In this, as in the hearths of the other two Umatilla lodges, charredlogs suggested that the visitors were not as thrifty of wood as theirBlackfoot hosts, at whose fireplaces only small scraps of tinder couldbe discovered.A peculiarity of the camp ground after the removal of the lodgeswas the evidence of their form-er location: rings of tall grass. Althoughthe grass was much trampled for a couple of feet around both theinterior and the exterior of the tipis, at the peg line itself it remainednoticeably unbroken, except for the area of the doorway, in which itwas badly worn down (pi. 60, b).The tipi sites were carefully searched for both perishable andimperishable remains. Of the former, wood, papers, cloth, woodentent pegs and skewers, eggshells, orange and lemon skins, a partiallyburnt, child's beaded moccasin and a woman's slipper were discovered;of the latter the campsite produced hearths (burnt earth, charcoal,charred wood, ash and fire-cracked or reddened rocks), burnt aswell as unburnt bone fragments, pieces of glass and metal (principallyfood containers), corn kernels, fruit stones, a seed (probably sun-flower), and a bead.i Examination of the 1956 Blackfoot encampment in conjunction withinvestigation of archeological tipi ring sites on the Blackfeet Reserva-tion leads to the inevitable conclusion that the phenomena are trulyhomologous (pi. 59, a, 6), resulting from the identical cause, the useof rocks as weights in anchoring tipis. The minor differences betweenthe modern and the older sites are attributable to the innovationsintroduced into Indian life by today's civilization (e. g., stoves, metaltools, and food containers), or to the "cerem.onial" aspects of themodern camp, in which several of the tipis were erected in memoryof former, now deceased owners, or as showplaces, but not actuallylived in, while none were intended to be more than temporary shelterduring a 4-day holiday. Thus, study of the modern camp not onlypresents and indicates the trend for (refer to Mrs. Spanish's statement)an interesting survival of the tradition of using rocks as weights fortipis, now restricted to anchoring the inner lining; but it also illumi-nates the archeological tipi-ring sites, corroborating the testimonies
Anthrop. Pap.No, 62] STONE TIPI RINGS—^KEHOE 469
of early travelers and elderly informants, and indicating that the tipirings are closely accurate markers of the sites and dimensions of thelodges of the aboriginal inhabitants of the region in which lies theBlackfeet Indian Reservation.Table 4.
—
Ti-pis in 1956 Blackfoot encampment
Tip!No.
470 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
NoS^"^^"^' STONE TIPI RINGS—^KEHOE 471LITERATURE CITED
Alden, William C.1912. Pre-Wisconsin glacial drift in the region of Glacier National Park,Montana. Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 23, pp. 687-708.Bliss, Wesley L.1949. Archaeological reconnaissance in Wyoming and Montana, 1946-1947.Fifth Plains Conf. Archaeol., Proc. Notebook 1, pp. 7-12.Bradley, James H.1900. Affairs at Fort Benton, Montana Hist. Soc. Contr. 3.Bushnell, David I., Jr.1922. Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan tribes west of theMississippi. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 77.Dawson, George Mercer.1875. Report on the geology and resources of the region in the vicinity ofthe forty-ninth parallel, from the Lake of the Woods to the RockyMountains. British North American Boundary Commission. Rep.Dempsey, Hugh A.1956. Stone "medicine wheels"—memorials to Blackfoot war chiefs.Journ. Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 46, pp. 177-182.Denny, Sir Cecil.MS. The birth of Western Canada. MS. (n. d.) Provincial Archives,Government of Alberta, Edmonton.Eggan, Fred R.1952. The ethnological cultures and their archeological backgrounds. InArcheology of Eastern United States, J. B. Griffin, ed. Chicago.Ewers, John C.1944. The story of the Blackfeet. U. S. Office Indian Affairs, Indian Lifeand Customs Pamph. 6. Lawrence, Kans.1949. The last bison drives of the Blackfoot Indians. Journ. WashingtonAcad. Sci., vol. 39, pp. 355-360.1955. The horse in Blackfoot Indian culture. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull.151.Grinnell, George Bird.1892. Blackfoot lodge tales. New York.Hewes, Gordon.1948. Early tribal migration in the northern Great Plains. Plains Archeol.Conf. News Letter, vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 3-12.Hilger, Sister M. Inez.1952. Arapaho chUd life and its cultural background. Bur. Amer. Ethnol.BuU. 148.Hind, Henry Youle.1860. Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expeditionof 1858. Vol. 1. London.Hoffman, J. Jacob.1953. Comments on the use and distribution of tipi rings in Montana,North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Montana StateUniv. Anthrop. and Sociol. Pap. 14.
472 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 173
Jennings, Jesse D.1948. Plainsmen of the past, a review of the prehistory of the Plains.Omaha, National Park Service Region 2, Missouri River BasinRecreation Survey.Kehoe, Thomas F.1954. Stone "medicine wheels" in southern Alberta and the adjacentportion of Montana: Were they designed as grave markers? Journ.Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 44, pp. 133-137.1955. Museum of the Plains Indian Newsletter, vol. 1, No. 2. Browning,Mont.Krieger, Alex D.1956. Early Man: Alberta. Amer. Antiq., vol. 21, No. 4, p. 450.Lewis, H. P.MS. Bison kills in Montana. Copy (n. d.) in Museum of the PlainsIndian Library, Browning, Mont.Lewis, Oscar.1942. The effects of White contact upon Blackfoot culture. Amer.Ethnol. Soc. Monogr. 6.Lewis, T. H.1889. Stone monuments in southern Dakota (with report of discussion bymembers of the Anthropological Society). Amer. Anthrop., vol.2, pp. 162-165.1890. Stone monuments in northwestern Iowa and southwestern Minnesota.Amer. Anthrop., vol. 3, pp. 272-274.Lowie, Robert H.1922. The material culture of the Crow Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer.Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 21, pp. 201-270.Malouf, Carling.MS. Montana archeology. MS. (n. d.) lent by author.Maximilian, Prince of Wied, see Wied Neuwied, Maximilian Alexander Philip,Prinz von.McClintock, Walter.1910. The Old North Trail. London.1936. The Blackfoot tipi. Southwest Museum Leaflet 5.McLean, John.1896. Canadian savage folk. Toronto.MuLLOY, William T.1952. The Northern Plains. In Archeology of Eastern United States,J. B. Griffin, ed. Chicago.1954. Archaeological investigations in the Shoshone Basin of Wyoming.Univ. Wyoming Publ., vol. 18, No. 1.Phillips, Paul C, editor.1927. John R. Barrow: A Wisconsin youth in Montana, 1880-1882.Sources of Northwest History 1, Montana State Univ. Hist.Reprints.ScHULTz, James Willard.1907. My life as an Indian. New York.Smith, J. Rtjssel.1925. North America. New York.Speck, Frank G.1928. Notes on the functional basis of decoration and feather technique ofthe Oglala Sioux. Mus. Amer. Indian, Heye Foundation, IndianNotes, vol. 5. No. 1, pp. 1-42.
No*62^^' ^"^^' STONE TIPI RINGS—KEHOE 473SwANTON, John R.1952. The Indian tribes of North America. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull.145.United States Department of Commerce Weather Bureau.1953. Local climatological data, Great Falls, Mont., 1952. Kansas City.Wedel, Waldo R.1948. Prehistory and the Missouri Valley Development Program. Smith-sonian Misc. Coll., vol. Ill, No. 2, 52 pp.1953. Review of MuUoy's "The Northern Plains." Amer. Antiq., vol. 19,pp. 178-179.WiED Neuwied, Maximilian Alexander Philip, Prinz von.1906. Travels in the interior of North America in the years 1832, 1833, and1834. Part 1. In Early Western Travels. Reuben GoldThwaites, ed. Vol. 23. Cleveland.Will, George F.1924. Archaeology of the Missouri Valley. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus.Nat. Hist., vol. 22, pt. 6.WissLER, Clark.1910. Material culture of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer.Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, pt. 1,1913. Societies and dance associations of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthrop.Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, pt. 4.Withers, Arnold.1950. Survey in Eastern Colorado—University of Denver. Proc. SixthPlains Archeological Conference (1948). Univ. Utah, Anthrop.Pap. No. 11, pp. 10-11.
471762—60 32

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 48
a, Site 24GL390. Boulder-lined fire hearth excavated in the center of tlpi ring overlookingGreasewood Creek. Rocks were absent in west portion of fireplace; occupational materialconsisted of small charcoal particles, b, Adam White Man standing in the doorway ofthe tlpi ring identified as belonging to his father. Arrow points east, to the spot described
as the fire hearth; rocks in upper right mark outside cooking hearth. (See fig. 29.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 49
a. Site 24GLS20. Looking down from a bison drive on the south side of Milk River Ridge.Six of a group of nine tipl rings may be seen between bottom of picture and automobileSee fig. 35.) b, Site 24GL490. Testing boulder-lined fire hearth.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 50
a, Looking down from the south edge of Milk River Ridge, site 24GL486 in exact center ofphotograph, h. Site 24GL487, ring 1 (Milk River Ridge in background).
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 51
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a, Detailed view of section of the stone circle, site 24GL487, ring 4 (trowel points north).b, Site 24GL486, ring 4, one of a cluster of six tipi rings located on the slope of the southside of Milk River Ridge. Ring is 14 feet in diameter and contains a boulder-linedfireplace.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 52
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a, Rock ring fire hearth, site 24GL486, ring 4. Square 2L1 (right) excavated to hard graylayer, 0.1 foot below surface, b, Section of the stone circle, ring 4, site 24GL486, square2L2j rock ring fire hearth in square 2L1 (see a).
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY RUl LFTIN t?:^ PLATE 53
a, Site 24GL486, ring 4. Rocks in square ILl (upper left) displaced by blowout; square1L2, unexcavated, shows rocks embedded in ground between excavated squares ILland 2L2; rock ring hearth in foreground, b, Fasting shelter of Ear Rings, Earrings Hill,southeast of Starr School on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. (Photograph takenOctober 1950; courtesy Claude E. Schaeffer.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 54
a. Site 24GL520, tipi rings associated with a buffalo drive site on the south side of MilkRiver Ridge. (See pi. 49, a.) Fragmented bones were found in abundance in the hillslope beyond the jeep. Rock pile drive lanes extend from the drop-off along the crestof the Ridge (not visible in photograph), h, Blackfoot woman repairing Lodge 26 at the1956 Blackfoot encampment, Browning, Mont.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 55
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a. Oblique aerial view from the southeast of the 1956 Blackfoot encampment, Browning,Mont, b, Whitewashing tipi rings preparatory to photographing, site 24GL3S0.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 56
a. Aerial view of site 24GL350. Note similarity of tipi-ring pattern to arrangement of1956 encampment lodges (below), b. Horizontal aerial view of the south row of tipis(Nos. 2 to 12 and 39), 1956 Blackfoot encampment, Browning, Mont. Note small playtipi below larger lodge, right center.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 57
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 58
a, Rocks forming a tipi ring after removal of inner lining and tipi cover of Lodge 26, 1956Blackfoot encampment, Browning, Mont, (dpi poles still standing in place), b, Removalof the poles of Lodge 14, showing rock-lined fire hearth and tipi ring remaining.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 59
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a, Mar}' Ground in ihe center of ihe tipi ring left after removal of her tipi, Lodge 30, inbreaking camp, 1956 Blackfoot encampment, Browning, Mont, b, Mary Ground's tipiring and unlined fire hearth after her departure (see a).
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 60
a, Closeup view of Mary Ground's tip! ring, site of Lodge 30, 1956 Blackfoot encampment,Browning, Mont. Dotted line indicates former position of tipi pegs (i. c., edge of lodgecover). Note lack of packing of grass along edge of ring, b, Blackfoot man using 2-foot-wide doorway of Lodge 2, 1956 encampment.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 173 PLATE 61
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a. Children's play tipi, Lodge 39, next to Lodge 6, 1956 Blackfoot encampment. Browning,Mont, h, Tom Horn's family in front of their tipi, Blackfoot Reservation, 1910. (Noterock weights.)