Arikara villages—An alarm in the village—Manners and customs.
The morning after the council, we were completely drenched by heavy rains, which had fallen during the night. The chief has not given his answer as to the conditions of the trade. It is for him usually to fix the price, on a consultation with his subordinate chiefs; to this the whole village must conform. The Indian women and girls were occupied all this morning in carrying earth in baskets, to replace that which the rain had washed off their lodges. Rambled through the village, which I found excessively filthy, the ‘villainous smells,’ which every where assailed me, compelled me at length, to seek refuge in the open plain. The lovers of Indian manners, and mode of living, should contemplate them at a distance. The rains had rendered their village little better than a hog pen; the police appeared to me, in general, extremely negligent. Some of {141} the ancient cities of the old world, were probably like this village, inattentive to that cleanliness so necessary to health, where a great mass of beings are collected in one place; and we need not be surprised at the frequency of desolating plagues and pestilence. The village is swarming with dogs and children. I rank these together, for they are inseparable companions. Wherever I went, the children ran away, screaming and frightened at my outre and savage appearance. Let us not flatter ourselves with the belief, that the effect of civilization and refinement, is to render us agreeable and lovely to the eyes of those whom we exclusively denominate savages! The dogs, of which each family has thirty or forty, pretended to make a show of fierceness, but on the least threat, ran off. They are of different sizes and colors. A number are fattened on purpose to eat, others are used for drawing their baggage. It is nothing more than the domesticated wolf. In wandering through the prairies, I have often mistaken wolves for Indian dogs. The larger kind has long curly hair, and resembles the shepherd dog. There is the same diversity amongst the wolves of this country. {142} They may be more properly said to howl, than bark.
The lodges are constructed in the following manner: Four large forks of about fifteen feet in height, are placed in the ground, usually about twenty feet from each other, with hewn logs or beams across; from these beams other pieces are placed above, leaving an aperture at the top to admit the light, and to give vent to the smoke. These upright pieces are interwoven with osiers, after which the whole is covered with earth, though not sodded. An opening is left at one side for a door, which is secured by a kind of projection of ten or twelve feet, enclosed on all sides, and forming a narrow entrance, which might be easily defended. A buffaloe robe suspended at the entrance, answers as a door. The fire is made in a hole in the ground, directly under the aperture at the top. Their beds elevated a few feet, are placed around the lodge, and enclosed with curtains of dressed elk skins. At the upper end of the lodge, there is a kind of trophy erected; two buffaloe heads, fantastically painted, are placed on a little elevation; over them, are fixed a variety of consecrated things, such as shields, {143} skins of a rare or valuable kind, and quivers of arrows. The lodges are placed at random, without any regularity or design, and are so much alike, that it was for some time before I could learn to return to the same one. The village is surrounded by a palisade of cedar poles, but in a very bad state. Around the village there are little plats enclosed by stakes, entwined with osiers, in which they cultivate maize, tobacco, and beans; but their principal field is at the distance of a mile from the village, to which, such of the females, whose duty it is to attend to their culture, go and return morning and evening. Around the village they have buffaloe robes stuck on high poles. I saw one so arranged as to bear a resemblance to the human figure, the hip bone of the buffaloe represented the head, the sockets of the thigh bones looked like eyes.
Friday 14th. It rained again last night, which prevented the trade from commencing until some time in the day. Mr. Lisa sent a quantity of goods to the lodge of the principal chief before mentioned, and Hunt to the one who accompanied him to meet us, the principal war chief. The price of a horse was commonly {144} ten dollars worth of goods at first cost. Hunt had resolved to purchase horses at this place, and proceed by land to the Columbia, being assured by some hunters, who met him before his arrival here, that this would be his best route.
Mr. Bradbury and I, took a walk into the upper village, which is separated from the lower by a stream about twenty yards wide—Entered several lodges, the people of which received us with kindness, placed mats and skins for us to sit on, and after smoking the pipe, offered us something to eat; this consisted of fresh buffaloe meat served in a wooden dish. They had a variety of earthen vessels, in which they prepared their food, or kept water. After the meat, they offered us homony made of corn dried in the milk, mixed with beans, which was prepared with buffaloe marrow, and tasted extremely well. Also the prairie turnip, pounded and made into gruel. This is a root that abounds in the prairies—has something of the taste of the turnip, but more dry. Their most common food is homony and dried buffaloe meat. In one of the lodges which we visited, we found the doctor, who was preparing some {145} medicine for a sick lad. He was cooling with a spoon a decoction of some roots, which had a strong taste and smell, resembling jalap. He showed us a variety of simples which he used. The most of them were common plants with some medical properties, but rather harmless than otherwise. The boy had a slight pleurisy. The chief remedy for their diseases, which they conceive to be owing to a disorder of the bowels, is rubbing the abdomen and sides of the patient, sometimes with such violence, as to cause fainting. When they become dangerous, they resort to charms and incantations, such as singing, dancing, blowing on the sick, &c. They are very successful in the treatment of wounds. When the wound becomes very obstinate, they resort to the actual cautery, after which it heals more easily.
Saturday 15th. Fine weather—Took a walk with Mr. Bradbury through the country, which is entirely open, and somewhat hilly. Large masses of granite were usually found on the highest knobs. We saw a great variety of plants, and some new ones—One or two of the vallies are beautiful, with scarcely any shrubs {146} but dwarf plum trees, scattered along a rivulet.
On our return in the evening, an alarm prevailed in the village, which appeared to be all in commotion. We were informed that the Sioux, their enemies, were near. This was probably all preconcerted. I was shewn, at the distance of about two miles, four horsemen on the top of a hill, at full gallop, passing and re-passing each other, which I understand is the usual signal given by the scouts, (some of whom are constantly on the alert,) of the approach of an enemy. To give intelligence of the appearance of a herd of buffaloe, instead of crossing each other, they gallop backward and forward abreast. Presently the warriors issued from the village with great noise and tumult, pursuing the direction in which the signal was made, down the river, and past our encampment; observing no regular march, but running helter skelter, like persons in one of our towns to extinguish a fire—and keeping up a continual hallooing to encourage each other. A number were on horseback, but the greater part on foot. Some were dressed in their most gaudy {147} stile, with the cincture of feathers, and their ornaments of the head made of plumes, fitted round a kind of crown. The tops of the lodges were crowded with women and children, and with old men, who could give no assistance, but by their lungs, which they kept well employed: yet there were several who sallied forth, bending under the weight of years. I counted upwards of five hundred in all. They soon after returned; whether they had chased away the enemy, or the alarm had turned out false, I never learned.
In the course of the next day, several parties arrived from different directions. According to custom they were met by warriors and conducted to the council lodge, where they gave an account of what had occurred, which was afterwards announced to the village by heralds, who went round bawling out the news at the door of each lodge. These occurrences contribute to enliven the village; yet independently of these, it continually presents a busy and animated scene. Great numbers of men are engaged in the different games of address and agility, others judging, or looking on, and many employed in a variety of other ways. There are {148} a great number of women constantly at work in dressing buffaloe robes, which are placed on frames before the lodges. One of the parties which arrived to day, came from the snake nation, where they had stolen horses. This arrested their employments for a moment, the immediate friends and relatives of such as returned, spent the evening in rejoicing; while several females who had lost a relation, retired to the hills behind the village, where they continued to cry the whole afternoon.
In the evening they usually collect on the tops of the lodges, where they sit and converse: every now and then the attention of all is attracted by some old man who rises up and declaims aloud, so as to be heard all over the village. There is something in this like a quaker meeting. Adair labors to prove the Indian tribes to be descended from the Jews,[43] I might here adduce this as an argument in favor of these people being a colony of quakers. The object of this harangue was to urge the people to treat the strangers well. To have such amongst them, is regarded as a matter of pride and exultation amongst the Indian nations, and often gives rise to jealousies. {149} There is hardly such invidious distinction as that of natives and foreigners. If a man brings any thing useful to the society in which he happens to be, he is thought to confer a favour on it—he is thought to increase the wealth or safety of the tribe.
Monday 17th. This day arrived a deputation from the Chienne nation, to announce that those people were on their march to Arikara, and would be here in fifteen days. I sometimes amused myself with the idea of forming a gazette of the daily occurrences. We here see an independent nation, with all the interests and anxieties of the largest; how little would its history differ from that of one of the Grecian states! A war, a treaty, deputations sent and received, warlike excursions, national mourning or rejoicing, and a thousand other particulars, which constitute the chronicle of the most celebrated people.
In the evening, about sundown, the women cease from their labors, and collect in little knots, and amuse themselves with a game something like jack-stones: five pebbles are tossed up in a small basket, with which they endeavor to catch them again as they fall.
{150} Tuesday 18th. Confidence had been somewhat restored between the leaders of the two parties, since the council in the village. Mr. Hunt having resolved to start from this village, a bargain was made with Mr. Lisa, for the sale of Hunt’s boats and some merchandise; in consequence of which, we recrossed the river in order to make the exchange, after which we returned and encamped. We are to set off to-morrow morning to the Mandan villages.
Before I bid adieu to Arikara, I must note some general matters relating to their character and manners.
The men are large and well proportioned, complexion somewhat fairer than that of Indians generally—usually go naked:—the dress they put on seems intended more for ornament than as essential; this consists of a sort of cassoc or shirt, made of the dressed skin of the antelope, and ornamented with porcupine quills, died a variety of colors; a pair of leggings, which are ornamented in the same way. A buffaloe hide dressed with the hair on, is then thrown over the right shoulder, the quiver being {151} hung on the other, if armed with a bow.[44] They generally permit their hair to grow long; I have, in one or two instances, seen it reach to their heels, when increased by artificial locks of horse hair; and is then usually divided into several braids, matted at intervals, with a white tenacious clay; sometimes it is rolled up in a ball, and fixed on the top of the head. They always have a quantity of feathers about them; those of the black eagle are most esteemed. They have a kind of crown made of feathers, such as we see represented in the usual paintings of Indians, which is very beautiful. The swan is in most estimation for this purpose. Some ornament the neck with necklaces made of the claws of the white bear. To their heels they sometimes fasten foxes’ tails, and on their leggings suspend deers’ hoofs, so as to make a rattling noise as they move along. On seeing a warrior dressed in all this finery, walking with his wife, who was comparatively plain in her dress or ornaments, I could not but think this was {152} following the order of nature, as in the peacock, the stag, and almost all animals, the male is lavishly decorated, while the female is plain and unadorned. I intend this as a hint to some of our petit maitres. The dress of the female consists of a long robe made of the dressed skins of the elk, the antelope, or the agalia, and ornamented with blue beads, and stripes of ermine, or in its place, of some white skin. The robe is girded round the waist with a broad zone, highly ornamented with porcupine quills, and beads. They are no better off than were the Greeks and Romans, in what we deem at present so essential, but like them they bathe themselves regularly, twice a day. The women are much fairer than the men; some might be considered handsome any where; and exceed the other sex in point of numbers; the dreadful consequence of the wars in which the nation is constantly engaged. Polygamy is general, they have often four or five wives. Their courtship and marriage resemble that of most of the Indian nations; if the parties are mutually agreeable to each other, there is a consultation of the family; if this be also favourable, the father of the girl, or whoever {153} gives her in marriage, makes a return for the present he had received from the lover—the match is then concluded.
They display considerable ingenuity and taste in their works of art: this observation applies to all the American nations, from the Mexicans to the most savage. Their arms, household utensils, and their dresses, are admirably made. I saw a gun which had been completely stocked by an Indian. A curious instance of native ingenuity which came under my notice, ought not to be omitted. I was told one day, of an old Indian who was making a blanket; I immediately went to see him. To my surprise, I found an old man, perfectly blind, seated on a stool before a kind of frame, over which were drawn coarse threads, or rather twists of buffaloe wool, mixed with wolf’s hair; he had already made about a quarter of a yard of a very coarse rough cloth. He told me that it was the first he had attempted, and that it was in consequence of a dream, in which he thought he had made a blanket like those of the white people. Here are the rudiments of weaving. They make beautiful {154} jugs, or baskets, with osier, so close as to hold water.
I observed some very old men amongst them—from the purity of the air, and the healthiness of the climate it is not surprising that human life should be drawn out to a great length. The ravages of the small pox, that dreadful scourge to the Indians, has been felt by these people in all its severity. These villages are the remains of seventeen distinct tribes. One day, in passing through the village, I saw something brought out of a lodge in a buffaloe robe, and exposed to the sun; on approaching, I discovered it to be a human being, but so shrivelled up, that it had nearly lost the human physiognomy: almost the only sign of life discernible, was a continual sucking its hands, and feeble moan like that of a young infant. On inquiring of the chief, he told me that he had seen it so ever since he was a boy. He appeared to be at least forty-five. It is almost impossible to ascertain the age of an Indian when he is above sixty; I made inquiries of several, who appeared to me little short of an hundred, but could form no satisfactory conjecture. Blindness is very common, arising {155} probably from the glare of the snow, during a greater part of the year. I observed the goitre, or swelled neck, in a few instances.
Their government is oligarchical, but great respect is paid to popular opinion. It is utterly impossible to be a great man amongst them, without being a distinguished warrior; and though respect is paid to birth, it must be accompanied by other merit, to procure much influence. They are divided into different bands or classes; that of the pheasant, which is composed of the oldest men; that of the bear, the buffaloe, the elk, the dog, &c. Each of these has its leader, who generally takes the name of the class, exclusively.[45] Initiation into these classes, on arriving at the proper age, and after having given proofs of being worthy of it, is attended with great ceremony. The band of dogs, is considered the most brave and effective in war, being composed of young men under thirty. War parties are usually proposed by some individual warrior, and according to the confidence placed in him, his followers are numerous or otherwise. In these excursions they wander to a great distance, seldom venturing to return home without {156} a scalp, or stolen horses. Frequently when unsuccessful they “cast their robes,” as they express it, and vow to kill the first person they meet, provided he be not of their own nation. In crossing the river, they use canoes made of the buffaloe hide, or a few pieces of wood fastened together. They usually leave some token, as a stake, which is marked so as to convey some idea of their numbers, the direction which they have taken, &c. To avoid surprise, they always encamp at the edge of a wood; and when the party is small, they construct a kind of fortress, with wonderful expedition, of billets of wood, apparently piled up in a careless manner, but so arranged as to be very strong, and by this means to withstand an assault from a much superior force. They are excellent horsemen—they will shoot an arrow at full speed, and again pick it up from the ground without stopping: sometimes they will lean entirely upon one leg, throwing their bodies to that side, so as to present nothing but the leg and thigh, on the other. In pursuit of the buffaloe, they will gallop down steep hills, broken almost into precipices. Some of their horses are very fine, run swiftly, and are {157} soon worn out, from the difficulty of procuring food for them in winter, the smaller branches of the cotton-wood tree being almost the only fodder which they give them. Their hunting is regulated by the warriors chosen for the occasion, who urge on such as are tardy, and repress often with blows, those who would rush on too soon. When a herd of buffaloe is discovered, they approach in proper order, within half a mile, they then separate and dispose themselves, so as in some measure, to surround them, when at the word, they rush forward at full speed, and continue the chase as long as their horses can stand it: a hunter usually shoots two arrows into a buffaloe, and then goes in pursuit of another; if he kills more than three in the hunt, he is considered as having acquitted himself well. The tongue is the prize of the person who has slain the animal; and he that has the greater number, is considered the best hunter of the day. Their weapons consist of guns, war clubs, spears, bows, and lances. They have two kinds of arrows, one for the purpose of the chase, and the other for war; the latter differs in this particular, that the barb or point is fastened so slightly, that when it enters the {158} body, it remains in, and cannot be drawn out with the wood; therefore, when it is not in a vital part, the arrow is pushed entirely through. They do not poison them. Their bows are generally very small; an elk’s horn, or two ribs of a buffaloe, often constitute the materials of which they are made. Those of wood are of willow, the back covered with sinews. Their daily sports, in which, when the weather is favorable, they are engaged from morning till night, are principally of two kinds. A level piece of ground appropriated for the purpose, (and beaten by frequent use,) is the place where they are carried on. The first is played by two persons, each provided with a long pole; one of them rolls a hoop, which, after having reached about two-thirds of the distance, is followed at half speed, and as they perceive it about to fall, they cast their poles under it; the pole on which the hoop falls, so as to be nearest to certain corresponding marks on the hoop and pole, gains for that time. This game excites great interest, and produces a gentle, but animated exercise. The other differs from it in this, that instead of poles, they have short pieces of wood, with barbs at one end, and a {159} cross piece at the other, held in the middle with one hand; but instead of the hoop before mentioned, they throw a small ring, and endeavor to put the point of the barb through it. This is a much more violent exercise than the other.[46]
With respect to their religion, it is extremely difficult, particularly from the slight acquaintance I had with them, to form any just idea. They have some notion of a supreme being, whom they call the “Master of Life,” but they offer him no rational worship, and have but indistinct ideas of a future state. Their devotion manifests itself in a thousand curious tricks of slight of hand, which they call magic, and which the vulgar amongst them believe to be something supernatural. They are very superstitious. Beside their magic, or medicine lodge, in which they have a great collection of magic, or sacred things, every one has his private magic in his lodge, or about his person. Any thing curious is immediately made an amulet, or a talisman; and is considered as devoted or consecrated, so as to deprive the owner of the power of giving it away. The principal war chief lately took advantage {160} of this. Having obtained a very fine horse, which he was desirous of keeping, but fearing that some one might ask him as a gift, and as to refuse would be unbecoming a great man, who ought not to set his heart upon a matter of so little importance, he announced that he had given, or consecrated his horse to his magic or medicine! Some parts of their superstitious devotions, or modes of worship, are the most barbarous that can be imagined. I observed a great number whose bodies were scarred and cut in the most shocking manner; I was informed that this was done in their devotion; that to shew their zeal, they sometimes suspend themselves by the arms or legs, or the sides, by hooks. I was shewn a boy, who had drawn two buffaloe heads several hundred yards, by cords fixed in the fleshy part of his sides. I might enumerate a variety of other particulars, in which this strange self punishment is carried to the greatest lengths.[47] They have frequent public holy days, when the greater part of the village appears to desist from labor, and dress out unusually fine. On these occasions, each one suspends his private magic on a high pole before his door; the painted {161} shields, quivers of a variety of colors, scarlet cloth, and highly ornamented buffaloe robes, which compose these trophies, produce a very lively effect. I several times observed articles of some value suspended on the trees. I was told, they often leave their property in this manner without being under any apprehension that any of the same tribe will touch it, provided that there be the least sign to shew that it is not lost. A kind of superstition similar to that of the Druids, which protected their offerings hung up in the woods.
Since the unfortunate affair of lieutenant Prior, these people have shewn themselves friendly to the whites. Lieutenant Prior had been sent in a boat, with twenty or thirty men, to convey the Mandan chief to his village, after his visit to the United States, in company with Lewis and Clark. On arriving at the Arikara village, he was set upon, and made his escape with great difficulty, one half of his little party being killed or wounded. The expedition of the Missouri company, which ascended the next year, demanded satisfaction for this outrage, and every concession having been made {162} by the Arikaras, the matter was adjusted. Since that time they have endeavored to keep a good understanding with the whites, and express much regret at the unfortunate occurrence, which, as is usual, they disavow as the act of the nation, but declare it to have been perpetrated by a bad chief, who would not listen to their councils.
During my short stay amongst them, I endeavored to form a vocabulary of such words as are most likely to be primitive.[48] I found a great diversity in the pronunciation, which I discovered to be partly owing to the circumstance of the present population being composed of the fragments or remains of different tribes; but I was also informed by the chief, that amongst the principal families there was a better language than that in use with the common people. The slaves, of whom there is a much greater number than I had supposed, and those of foreign tribes who have domiciliated themselves here, speak also an inferior dialect.
{163} To give an account of the vices of these people, would only be to enumerate many of the most gross which prevail amongst us, with this difference, that they are practised in public without shame. The savage state, like the rude uncultivated waste, is contemplated to most advantage at a distance. Mr. Bradbury had been an enthusiast, as most philanthropic Europeans are, on the subject of Indian manners, and I was myself not a little inclined to the same way of thinking, but now both agreed that the world would loose but little, if these people should disappear before civilized communities. In these vast plains, throughout which are scattered so many lovely spots, capable of supporting thousands such nations as the Arikara, or wandering Sioux, a few wretches are constantly roaming abroad, seeking to destroy each other. To return to the subject of their moral characters—they have amongst them their poor, their envious, their slanderers, their mean and crouching, their haughty and overbearing, their unfeeling and cruel, their weak and vulgar, their dissipated and wicked; and they have also, their brave and wise, their generous and magnanimous, their rich and {164} hospitable, their pious and virtuous, their kind, frank, and affectionate, and in fact, all the diversity of characters that exists amongst the most refined people; but as their vices are covered by no veil of delicacy, their virtues may be regarded rather as the effect of involuntary impulse, than as the result of sentiment. In some respects they are extremely dissolute and corrupt; whether this arises from refinement in vice, or from the simplicity of nature, I cannot say; but much are they mistaken who look for primitive innocence and simplicity in what they call the state of nature. It is true that an intercourse with the whites, never fails to render these people much worse than before; this is not by imparting any new vices, but by presenting temptations which easily overcome those good qualities, which “sit so loosely about them.” Want of constancy, and uniformity of character, is the defect universally remarked with regard to the Indians, and this naturally arises from the want of fixed principles of virtue. One thing I remarked as constituting the great difference between the savage and the civilized state, their youth undergo no discipline, there are no schools, {165} and the few instructions which are given by parents, are directed only to the mere physical man, and have little to do with the mind, unless it be to inculcate fortitude and courage, or rather ferocity and thirst for blood: no genuine virtues are cultivated and the evil propensities of the individual are suffered to mature without correction, while he wanders about a vagabond, responsible to no one for the waste of time; like a young colt, he is considered as unfit for employment until he attains his growth. The lessons of morality are never taught either in public or in private; at least of that morality which instructs us how to fulfil all the duties attached to our social relations, and which regard us as candidates for a future and more happy existence. Instead of such lessons of morality, the precepts first instilled into their hearts, are cruelty, murder, and rapine. The first step the young savage is taught to take, is in blood; and is it any wonder that when manhood nerves his arm, we should see him grasp the tomahawk and the scalping knife, and his savage heart thirst for blood!
Amongst others of their customs which appeared to me singular, I observed that it was {166} a part of their hospitality, to offer the guest, who takes up his residence in their lodges, one of the females of the family as a bedfellow; sometimes even one of their wives, daughters, or sisters, but most usually a maid-servant, according to the estimation in which the guest is held, and to decline such offer is considered as treating the host with some disrespect; notwithstanding this, if it be remarked that these favours are uniformly declined, the guest rises much higher in his esteem. Self control, in the midst of temptations which overpower the common mind, being thought, even amongst these people, to indicate a superior character. Our common boatmen soon became objects of contempt, from their loose habits and ungovernable propensities. To these people, it seemed to me that the greater part of their females, during our stay, had become mere articles of traffic; after dusk, the plain behind our tents, was crowded with these wretches, and shocking to relate, fathers brought their daughters, husbands their wives, brothers their sisters, to be offered for sale at this market of indecency and shame. I was unable to account for this {167} difference from any people I had ever heard of; perhaps something may be attributed to the inordinate passion which had seized them for our merchandize. The silly boatmen, in spite of the endeavors of the leaders of our parties, in a short time disposed of almost every article which they possessed, even their blankets, and shirts. One of them actually returned to the camp, one morning entirely naked, having disposed of his last shirt—this might truly be called la derniere chemisse de l’amour.
Seeing the chief one day in a thoughtful mood, I asked him what was the matter—“I was wondering,” said he, “whether you white people have any women amongst you.” I assured him in the affirmative. “Then,” said he, “why is it that your people are so fond of our women, one might suppose they had never seen any before.”
This want of chastity among the Arikara was by no means universal—perhaps a more minute acquaintance with them might have enabled me to explain the phenomenon: indeed from the remains of a singular exhibition, which several of us witnessed, I was induced to believe that Diana had not altogether yielded {168} the village to the dominion of her rival goddess. On one of their festive days, as we drew near the medicine lodge or temple, we saw in front of the entrance, or door, a number of young girls tricked out in all their finery of paint, beads, and dresses of the antelope, agalia, or deer skins, red or white, according to the taste of the wearer; their robes were richly ornamented with porcupine quills, stained of various colors, and with fringes, or borders, of silvery ermine. We observed a cedar bough fixed in the earth on the top of the lodge. Prizes of beads, vermillion, and scarlet cloth were exhibited: and the old men who live in the temple to the number of five or six, now proclaimed, as I was informed, that whosoever amongst the young girls of Arikara had preserved unsullied her virgin purity, might then ascend the temple and touch the bough, and one of the prizes would be given to her; that it was in vain to think of deceiving, for the Manitoo, or Spirit, knowing all things, even their secret thoughts, would most certainly reveal the truth; and moreover, the young men were enjoined under the severest denunciations, to declare all that might be within their knowledge. Curiosity {169} was now much excited. In a few moments, the daughter of the interpreter, (a Frenchman who had resided upwards of twenty years,) a beautiful girl of sixteen, came forward, but before she could ascend to touch the bough, a young fellow stepped forth, and said something, the amount of which I easily conjectured from its effect, for the young lady instantly shrunk back confused and abashed, while the surrounding crowd was convulsed with laughter. A pause ensued, which lasted for some considerable time. I began to tremble for the maidens of Arikara, when a girl of seventeen, one of the most beautiful in the village, walked forward, and asked, “where is the Arikara who can bring any accusation against me?” then touched the bough, and carried off the prize. I feel a pleasure in adding, for the honor of the ladies of Arikara, that others followed, though I did not take the trouble of noting the number.
[42] Notes upon the following subjects mentioned in this chapter are found in Bradbury’s Travels, vol. v of our series: Snake Indians, note 123; Cheyenne Indians, note 88; Mandan Indians, note 76.—Ed.
[43] For the work of James Adair to which Brackenridge here refers, see J. Long’s Voyages, vol. ii of our series, note 31.—Ed.
[44] A warrior is seldom seen without his arms, even in the village.—His bow, spear, or gun, is considered part of his dress, and to appear in public without them is in some measure disgraceful.—Brackenridge.
[45] This is doubtless some form of totemism: see J. Long’s Voyages, vol. ii of our series, note 56.—Ed.
[46] For a description of a similar game among the Mandan, see Smithsonian Report, 1885, part ii, p. 304.—Ed.
[47] George Catlin, the painter of Indians, described at some length the religious mysteries and the self-torture of the Mandan tribe. His account was discredited, but appears to have been substantially correct. See op. cit., pp. 349-383.—Ed.
[48] This, in the course of my peregrinations, has unfortunately, been mislaid.—Brackenridge.