The lord of life once told the first man, that if the Numangkake should go over the river they would be devoured by the wolves; on which they both crossed the river, and killed all the old wolves. They ordered the young wolves not to devour men in future, but to confine themselves to buffaloes, deer, and other wild animals. They threw the old wolves into the north ocean, where they became putrid, and their hair swam on the surface of the water, from which the white men originated. The lord of life also told the Numangkake, that when they had boiled their maize they should keep up only a small fire for the rest of the day; and this they still do. When the fire would not burn, they were to take the larger brands from below, and lay them on the top. When the lord of life was a little below Heart River, in the spring, when the first wild geese flew past, he told them to wait, because he would fly with them, and assumed the form of a goose. The Indians are accustomed to shout and halloo when they see the flocks of geese, by which they are frightened, and thrown into confusion. So it happened on this occasion to the lord of life, and he fell to the ground. He was carried into the hut of the chief, who sent for the youngest woman to pluck the goose, but it bit her, and she gave it to the oldest, who was likewise bitten; so that the lord of life escaped. He then flew to the Manitaries. A young woman, who refused to marry, was here whipped and beaten by him. She went to the lower village, and complained that God had punished her, because she would not marry. A young man, who wished to have her for his wife, took the dress of the lord of life, as she was resolved to marry none but him. She now desired to know whether her lover was really what he pretended to be, and with this view placed some pointed stakes in the ground, on which he must wound himself in the night, if he were not of a superior nature. He came and wounded himself, on which she fell on him, took away all his clothes and hid them, so that he looked for a long time both for them and his weapons. When day came, two long lines, like fishing lines, were hanging down from the sun to the earth, and near to the place where the girl was. A voice called to her, from above, to climb up by the lines; that the clothes were no longer in the place where she had hidden them; it was, therefore, the lord of life who had appeared to her under the form of the young man. The girl took hold of the lines, and the sun seemed to come down. Several of her relations, and other men, pulled the lines, but could not draw the sun down, while the lord of life lay quietly in it. A very strong man, who was able to pull up the largest trees by the roots, and cast them from him, was not able to do anything on this occasion; the line turned round his shoulders. "I can pull up the largest trees," said he, "and my strength is greater than that of all other men united, and yet I cannot break this small line." To which the lord of life answered, "If you reach and kill me, the human race will be destroyed from the face of the earth."
{366} At the time that the first man had incensed the Whites by his voracity, the latter made the water rise so high that all the land was overflowed. On this, the first man advised the ancestors of the Numangkake to build a wooden tower, or fort, upon an eminence, assuring them that the water would not rise higher than that point. They followed his advice, and built the ark, on the lower side of Heart River, on a large scale, and a part of the nation was preserved in this building, while the remainder perished in the waves. In remembrance of the kind care of the first man, they placed in each of their villages a miniature model of this ark, one of which still exists in the village of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush. The waters afterwards subsided, and they still celebrate the festival of Okippe in honour of this ark, of which we shall have to speak in the sequel.[279]
Before the first great deluge, the Numangkake lived below ground, but a band of them (the same of which we have been speaking) took up their abode above ground at an earlier period. They believe that there are four stories below ground and as many above, and they now inhabit the fourth from below. The band which first came above ground is called by them Histoppa (those with the tattooed countenance), and these, for the most part, perished in the great deluge. Those who lived under ground one day perceived a light over their heads, which made them desire to ascertain what was above. They accordingly sent up a mouse, which looked about, returned, and reported that the land above was similar to that which they inhabited. They then sent up a certain animal, called by them, Nahsi, about the size of a polecat, and distinguishable by black stripes on its face and legs. Perhaps this was the racoon, which is not now to be found in this part of the country. This animal, when he came back, said that it was much more pleasant above than below. They, therefore, ordered the badger to dig a larger opening, as the present issue was too small. After the badger had performed his task, the black-tailed deer was ordered to go up and enlarge the opening by means of his horns. He ran about the whole day, ate service berries, and returned in the evening. His tail was at that time white, but as this deer returned at sunset, and the sun went down at the very moment when his tail only was above ground, that was ever afterwards black.
The Numangkake now resolved to go up. The great chief, with his medicine and his schischikué in his hand, went first. They climbed up, one after another, by the aid of a branch of a vine; and when exactly half their number had ascended, and a corpulent woman was halfway up the vine, it broke, and the remainder of the nation fell to the ground.[280] This happened in the neighbourhood of the sea-shore. Those who had reached the surface went on till they came to the Missouri, which they reached at White Earth River. They then proceeded up the Missouri to Moreau's River.[281] At that time they knew nothing of enemies. Once, when a Mandan woman was scraping a hide, a Chayenne Indian came and killed her. The Mandans followed the traces of this new enemy till they came to a certain river, where they all turned {367} back with the exception of two, the husband and the brother of the woman who was killed. These two men went on till they discovered the enemy, killed one of them, and took his scalp with them. Before they got back to their village they found some white clay which they had never seen before, and took a portion of it with them. When they came to their great chief, the first who had climbed up the vine, and whose skull and schischikué they still preserve, as a relic, in the medicine bag of the nation, they gave him the white clay, with which he marked some lines on his schischikué. The name of this chief was, at first, Mihti-Pihka (the smoke of the village), but when he ascended to the surface of the earth he called himself the Mihti-Shi (the robe with the beautiful hair). When he had received the clay and the scalp, he commanded all his people to shoot buffaloes, but only bulls, and to make shields of the thickest part of the hide, which they did. When this was done, they asked the chief what were his next commands? To which he replied, "Paint a drooping sunflower on this shield" (as a sort of medicine, or amulet), on which the sister of the chief said, "You are fools! paint a bean on it; for what is smoother than a bean to ward off the arrows?"
The chief now introduced the establishment of the bands or unions, and founded first that of "the foolish dogs." He made four caps of crow's feathers, and commissioned the Mandans to make a number of similar ones. He then gave them the war pipe and song, and exhorted them to be always valiant and cheerful, and never to retreat before the point of the arrow. He also gave them the strips of red cloth which hang down behind, and added that, if they would follow his directions, they would always be esteemed as brave and worthy men. The chief then made two of the bent sticks covered with otter skins, and gave them the kana-kara-kachka, and then two others adorned with raven's feathers, which he also presented to them. The first represent the sunflower, and the latter the maize. "These badges," said he, "you are to carry before you when you go against the enemy; plant them in the ground, and fight to the last man, that is to say, never abandon them." He next founded the band of "the little foolish dogs," and assembled many young men, whom he ordered to paint their faces of a black colour, and gave them a song of their own, with the war whoop at the end, and said he would call them "the blackbirds." He afterwards went to war with his people against the Chayennes. They reached the enemy and laid all their robes in a heap together. The chief wore a cap of lynx skin, and had his medicine pipe on his arm. He did not join in the action, but sat apart on the ground during the whole time that it lasted. They fought almost the whole day, drove the enemy into their village, and were then repulsed, which happened three or four times, and one of the Numangkake was killed. When the chief was informed of this, he ordered them to go to the river and bring him a young poplar with large leaves, which he planted in the ground near to the enemy, and challenged the Chayennes to attack him; but they answered, they would wait for his attack. As {368} he would [not] commence the combat, the enemy shot at him, but their arrows only grazed his arm and robe. He then held up the poplar, which suddenly shot up to a colossal size, was thrown, by a violent storm which arose, among the enemies, crushed many of them, and obliged the Chayennes to retreat across the Missouri.
The Numangkake now went up the Missouri to beyond the Heart River, where a Mandan village had long stood. An old man of their tribe was fishing at this place, when four men appeared on the opposite bank. On his inquiring who they were, they told him their names, and put the same question to him, which he answered; and, having an ear of maize with him, he fastened it to an arrow, and shot it over to the strangers. Finding the maize very agreeable to the taste, they called to him and said that, within four nights, a great many men would come, for whom he would do well to prepare plenty of food. They then returned to their camp, and gave their countrymen an account of the maize. They had likewise tasted the pomme blanche, and several other vegetables, but considered the maize as the best of all. The camp was accordingly broken up, and they proceeded slowly onwards. The Numangkake expected the strangers for four nights; they cooked and made everything ready for their reception, but, as their visitors did not make their appearance at the end of the fourth night, they ate the provisions themselves. A year passed by, and the strangers did not come; the second and the third year likewise; at length, in the spring of the fourth year, all the surrounding hills were covered with red men. Thus, instead of four days, four years had elapsed. The new comers crossed the river, and built a village near the Numangkake, and the name of Manitaries was given, i. e., those who came over the waters.[282]
The principal chief of each nation met, and had a conference together. The Manitari chief asked the other whence they procured so much red maize? To which he replied, "When we fought with our enemies, and they killed our wives and children in the maize fields, the maize grew up, and was for the most part red." To which the Manitari chief replied, "that he would assist them with his people against their enemies." Already on the following day many Chayennes came and killed a number of women in the plantations; the united nations attacked them, killed many during the whole day, and drove them back to a small river which falls into the Missouri. The two allied nations now remained united, but, being so numerous that the country did not afford them sufficient subsistence, the Mandans said to the Manitaries, "Remove higher up the Missouri: this whole country belongs to us. There are the rivers Little Missouri, Yellow Stone, and Knife River, on the banks of which you can settle, but do not go beyond the latter river, for it is only in this case that we shall remain good friends. If you go too far we shall have disputes, make peace and again disagree; but if you remain on this side there will be constant friendship between us." The Manitaries removed as proposed, but built {369} one of their villages on the other side of Knife River, which frequently occasioned dissension between them, and it is only within these fourteen years that permanent peace and concord have existed between the two people.
At the time when our narrator was a young man, the Arikkaras were near and dangerous enemies to the Mandans. They often fought with them as well as with the Sioux. When one of the two allied nations fought alone, it was almost always defeated, but when they were combined they generally triumphed. The preceding long narrative throws, as I have said, much light on the actual condition of this people, and of their prevalent superstitious customs.
At the time of their first alliance with the Manitaries, the Mandans are said to have inhabited eight or nine villages on the two banks of the Missouri, on the Heart River, and higher upwards. Subsequently a great number of the Mandans were carried off by the smallpox, and their enemies, the Sioux, entirely destroyed their largest village, and massacred the inhabitants. The remaining population then collected in the two villages that still exist—Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush and Ruhptare.[283] Previously to the devastations of the smallpox, the Sioux were not very dangerous enemies to the Mandans, because they lived at too great a distance from them, but the Chayennes and the Arikkaras were their natural adversaries. I shall now proceed to treat of the religious and superstitious practices which still prevail among them.
These Indians are full of prejudice and superstition, and connect all the natural phenomena with the before-mentioned silly creations of their own imaginations. They undertake nothing without first invoking their guardian spirit, or medicine, who mostly appears to them in a dream. When they wish to choose their medicine or guardian spirit, they fast for three or four days, and even longer, retire to a solitary spot, do penance, and even sacrifice joints of their fingers; howl and cry to the lord of life, or to the first man, beseeching him to point out their guardian spirit. They continue in this excited state till they dream, and the first animal or other object which appears to them is chosen for their guardian spirit or medicine. Every man has his guardian spirit.[284] There is, in the prairie, a large hill where they remain motionless many days, lamenting and fasting; not far from this hill is a cave, into which they creep at night. The choice and adoration of their medicine are said to have been taught them by the strange man or spirit who appeared in their villages many years ago, and has not since been seen, and of whom mention has already been made by the name of Ochkih-Hadda. He is said also to have taught them the art of tattooing, and to have instituted their medicine feasts. In all natural phenomena, which are not of daily occurrence, they see wonders, and indications of favourable or unfavourable events. If the falling stars are numerous, or in a certain direction, it is to them an indication of war, or of a great mortality in the human race. They were not willing to have their portraits painted, because they alleged that they should soon die if their portraits came into other hands; {370} at least they endeavoured to obtain the portrait of the painter as an antidote. One of their chiefs never smoked out of a stone pipe, but always used a wooden one. Mato-Topé never partook of other people's tobacco, but always smoked by himself, with the doors shut. They do not willingly show their medicines or amulets, which are usually kept wrapped up in a bundle or bag, and never opened except on important occasions. They have particular medicine pipes, or, as the English call them, medicine stems, which are uncovered and used for smoking only on solemn occasions. Many make such pipes according to their own taste; such, for instance, was the pipe of Dipauch.[285] The bowl was nearly in the form of a Turkish pipe, and was made of brownish-red clay; the tube, which was rather short and thick, represented the lord of life in human form, but which it required some stretch of the imagination to discover. The nation preserves a celebrated pipe of this kind as a sacred relic, which no stranger is permitted to see. It has been in their possession since remote ages, and they offered to show it to me for the value of 100 dollars.[286] The Indians cannot obtain such pipes but at a considerable expense: many of the necessary ornaments are not to be procured among them, such as the upper bill and the red crown of a species of woodpecker (Picus pileatus, Linn.), a bird which is not found so high up the Missouri. For the head of one of these woodpeckers, which was brought from St. Louis, they gave a large handsome buffalo robe, worth six or eight dollars. If a man possesses such a pipe, he sometimes conceives the idea of adopting a medicine son. The young man whom he is to choose appears to him in a dream; it is, however, requisite that he should be of a good family, or have performed some exploit. He acquaints him with his intention, and, after having provided two similar medicine pipes, he asks his newly-adopted son, whether he is ready to undergo the ceremony of the pipes? The latter frequently answers in the affirmative, and the time for the ceremony is fixed: but, if he has not yet made up his mind, it is deferred. The adoptive father then chooses two young men, who practise the medicine dance together, with the two pipes in their hands. The father often dances, in the morning, on the roof of his hut, and instructs these two young men. When the time arrives, and the adopted son is ready for the ceremony, the father, with all his relations, and the two young dancers, repairs to the hut of his newly-chosen son, and brings him a present of maize, cloth, blankets, kettles, and other valuable articles. The father takes his son by the hand and makes him sit down, after which the company dance round him, with the two pipes; they sing, accompanied by the drum and schischikué, the two young dancers keeping time to the music with their pipes. When the ceremony is over, and the presents laid in one or two heaps, the relations of the medicine son bring horses, cloth, blankets, and other things of value, which the two parties reciprocally divide between them. The father then again takes his son by the hand, makes him rise from his seat, and dresses him in new clothes from head to foot, and likewise paints his face according to his fancy. The dress and pipe are henceforth his property, and he is considered as a real son, who must support and defend his father. {371} This custom exists among most of the nations on the Missouri, and even among the Esquimaux there is a somewhat similar usage.[287] If the adopted son and father have not happened to meet for a long time, they make presents to each other; the father gives the son a new dress, and the latter presents him with a good horse. Among all the Indian nations of North America, there is a particular class of men, who are specially engaged in all the above-mentioned ceremonies and medicines. They are, also, the physicians, and are called, among the Mandans, Numak-Choppenih, which signifies medicine man.[288]
The skin of a white buffalo cow is an important article, and an eminent medicine in the opinion of the Mandans and Manitaries. He who has never possessed one of them is not respected. Suppose two men to be disputing about their exploits, the one an old veteran warrior, who has slain many enemies, the other, a young lad without experience; the latter reproaches the other with never having possessed a white buffalo cow hide, on which the old man droops his head, and covers his face for shame. He who possesses such a hide generally offers it to the lord of life, to whom he dedicates it, or, which is equivalent, to the sun, or to the first man. He collects, perhaps, in the course of a whole twelvemonth, various articles of value, and then hangs them up all together on a high pole in the open prairie, generally in the neighbourhood of the burying-place, or in the village before his hut. Distinguished men and chiefs of eminence are for the most part poor, because, in order to gain reputation and influence, they give away everything of value which they possess. A large number of relatives is one of the chief means of acquiring riches, for a young man who wishes to distinguish himself, and to be liberal, does honour to the whole family, who assist him to the utmost of their power. When one of his relations has anything of value, the young man goes to the owner to demand it, and not unfrequently takes it away without ceremony. Sometimes he hangs his head in silence, and then something of value is given him, a handsome dress, a horse, &c. If he wishes to gain reputation and a claim to distinction, it is necessary that he should make presents. All the people in the village notice very accurately what presents are made, and the donor has a right to display all such presents painted on his robes, and in this manner to hand down his reputation to posterity, as has been already related. This and military glory are, in the eyes of these men, the greatest virtues. They dare not draw a stroke too much on their robes for the horses, guns, &c., which they have given away, for the young men keep a most strict account against each other, and universal ridicule would be the immediate consequence of violating this rule. Among the distinctions of any man, the white buffalo hide is the greatest. He who has not been so fortunate as to kill a white buffalo himself, which is generally the case, as these animals are very rare, purchases a hide, often at a great distance from home, and other nations bring them hither, being well aware of the great value attached to them by the Mandans.[289] The hide must be that of a young cow, not above two years old, and be taken off complete and tanned, with the horns, {372} nose, hoofs, and tail. The value of ten to fifteen horses is given for it. A certain Mandan gave ten horses, a gun, some kettles, and other articles, for such a hide. The white hide of a bull or of an old cow is by no means so valuable. The white hide of a young cow suffices for all the daughters of a family.
They do not wear it as a robe, like the Manitaries, or, at the utmost, the wife, or one of the daughters of the family, wears it once at some great festival, but never a second time. The Mandans have particular ceremonies at the dedication of the hide. As soon as they have obtained it they engage an eminent medicine man, who must throw it over him; he then walks round the village in the apparent direction of the sun's course, and sings a medicine song. When the owner, after collecting articles of value for three or four years, desires to offer his treasure to the lord of life, or to the first man, he rolls it up, after adding some wormwood or a head of maize, and the skin then remains suspended on a high pole till it rots away. At the time of my visit there was such an offering at Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, near the stages for the dead without the village. Sometimes, when the ceremony of dedication is finished, the hide is cut into small strips, and the members of the family wear parts of it tied over the head, or across the forehead, when they are in full dress. If a Mandan kills a young white buffalo cow, it is accounted to him as more than an exploit, or having killed an enemy. He does not cut up the animal himself, but employs another man, to whom he gives a horse for his trouble. He alone who has killed such an animal is allowed to wear a narrow strip of the skin in his ears. The whole robe is not ornamented, being esteemed superior to any other dress, however fine. The traders have, sometimes, sold such hides to the Indians, who gave them as many as sixty other robes in exchange. Buffalo skins with white spots are likewise highly valued by the Mandans; but there is a race of these animals with very soft silky hair, which has a beautiful gold lustre when in the sunshine: these are, likewise, highly prized, and sold for ten or fifteen dollars, and, sometimes, for the value of a horse. Besides the white buffalo skins which are offered in sacrifice and hung on poles, there are, in the vicinity of the villages of the Mandans and Manitaries, other strange figures on high poles.[290] These figures are composed of skin, grass, and twigs, which, it seems, represent the sun and moon, perhaps, also, the lord of life, and the first man. The Indians resort to them when they wish to petition for anything, and sometimes howl and lament for days and weeks together.
The Mandans have several medicine festivals, of which the Okippe, or the penitential ceremony of the ark, is by far the most remarkable. It is celebrated in the spring or summer, and I regret to say that I cannot describe it as an eye-witness. I am, however, enabled to give a circumstantial description of it, word for word, as it was communicated to me by men initiated in the mysteries of the nation.[291]
{373} Numank-Machana, the first man, ordered the Numangkake to celebrate this medicine feast every year.[292] When the village has fixed the time for this festivity, they choose a man of distinction, in whom confidence can be placed, who must put himself at the head, and direct the solemnities. In the year 1834 Mato-Topé was chosen. He is called Kani-Sachka. This man then causes the medicine lodge to be prepared and cleaned before the appointed time, and wood and other necessaries to be provided.
First day of the Okippe.—At sunset the Kani-Sachka goes into the lodge, and begins the fast, which continues four days. With him are six men, who are to strike what is called the tortoise, a vessel or sack made of parchment, and filled with water.[293] Three of the men must strike in the direction of the river downwards, and three in the direction upwards. They strike the tortoise during the whole night. Before sunrise a man representing the Numank-Machana, or the first man, arrives. He dresses himself in the medicine lodge in the following manner: round his body he fastens a wolf's skin, on his head, raven's feathers, in his arms he carries the medicine pipe, and in his robe a portion of pemmican. His face is painted red, and on the small of the back he binds a piece of wood, to which the tail of a buffalo cow is fastened. Dressed in this manner, he goes early in the morning of the first day of the festival, and sings on the open space in the centre. All kinds of valuable articles, such as guns, robes, blankets, &c., are thrown towards him, of which he afterwards takes possession,[294] while on his part he distributes pemmican among the people. He then returns to the medicine lodge, but is not at that time permitted to speak a word. The most eminent men of the nation now come to the lodge, address the first man as their uncle, and say, "Well, uncle, how did you fare in the villages? How did you find them? Were you well received?" To which he replies, "Very well, nephew. I have not once lowered my pipe to the ground." By which he means to say that he has received ample presents, and offerings of all kinds have been hung upon his pipe. He then says, "I have seen a great many buffaloes feeding in the prairie and drinking at the river; they are very abundant everywhere." These were the horses; but he means to intimate that, by the medicine of this day, the buffaloes will be attracted in great numbers. All those who intend to submit their bodies to a penance or certain tortures, in order to render themselves acceptable to the lord of life and the first man, come to the medicine lodge early in the morning. Their number is, of course, uncertain; sometimes many present themselves, at other times only a few. They are smeared all over with white clay, with no other covering besides their robes, with the hairy side outwards, and drawn over their heads, so that the face is covered, and they are quite wrapped up in them. In the medicine lodge they lay aside their robes. On the first day of the feast they go four times, wrapped up as before described, and dance around the ark, which stands in the centre of the open space. The Kani-Sachka remains during all this time moaning and leaning against the ark. All {374} this is done in the forenoon. In the afternoon all is silent, and neither dance nor procession takes place.
Second day of the Okippe.—On the second day, early in the morning, eight men appear, who represent buffalo bulls. They are naked, wearing only an apron of blue and white striped woollen cloth. Their body is painted black in front, with two red perpendicular stripes like the facings of a military uniform, and with several white transverse stripes looking like lace or bands. The fore arm and ankles are alternately striped white and red. In their hands they carry a fan of green willow twigs, and on their back a buffalo robe, the head of which, with the long hair on the forehead, hangs over the face. To the middle of the robe a single buffalo horn is fastened, while at the head and loins green willow branches are appended. The eight buffalo bulls put on this fantastic dress in the lodge, and, when this is done, march out two abreast in an inclined posture, extending their robes with outspread hands, and holding the willow fans upright. In this manner they dance up to the ark, where they divide, four going to the left and four to the right round the space. They again join opposite the medicine lodge, and then return as before to the ark, where they continue to dance. When they are opposite to each other they stand upright and imitate the roaring of the buffalo. As soon as this dance begins, the six tortoise strikers bring their instrument from the centre of the lodge, and place it near the ark in an easterly direction, striking it, and singing a certain song which is said to be a prayer. The Kani-Sachka stands, with his head bowed, leaning on the ark, directly opposite the tortoise, and moans without ceasing. He is quite naked except an apron of buffalo skin. His whole body is bedaubed with yellow, and on his forehead he has a wreath of bleached buffalo hair or wool hanging over the eyes. The eight buffalo bulls form a ring and dance round him, covering him with their robes; they dance in like manner to the tortoise, and next go to the door of the medicine lodge, where they make a kind of covered way with their robes, beneath which the tortoise is conveyed into the lodge. The whole ceremony is repeated eight times on this day, four times in the morning and four times in the afternoon.[295]
Third day of the Okippe.—The same masks as yesterday dance on this day twelve times, and are prohibited from either eating or drinking. A number of other masks join them. 1. Two men, dressed like women, who dance in this costume, keeping by the side of the eight buffalo bulls. They wear clothes of bighorn leather, women's leggins (mitasses), the robes having the hair outwards. Their cheeks are painted red, their chins tattooed, and their heads adorned with glass beads, as is the custom among the women. 2. Two other men represent a couple of swans; they are naked, carry a swan's tail in their hand, are painted all over white, only the nose, mouth (representing the bill), and the lower part of the legs and feet, black. 3. A couple of rattlesnakes; the back is painted with black transverse stripes, in imitation of those {375} animals, the front of the body yellowish; a black line is drawn from each eye down the cheeks, and in each hand they carry a bunch of wormwood.[296] 4. One man represents the evil spirit; he is conducted by two men of the village to the river, where he is dressed and painted; his entire body is painted black, and, as soon as this is done, he is not permitted to speak a word. They put on his head a cap, with a black cock's-comb; he likewise wears a mask, with white wooden rings left for the opening round the eyes. They then make for him large teeth of cotton yarn, paint the sun upon his stomach, the crescent upon his back, and on each joint of the arms and legs, a white circle; they then put on a buffalo's tail, and place a small stick in his hand, with a ball, made of skin, at the end, to which a scalp, painted red on the under side, is fastened. The ball represents the head of an enemy.[297] When this monster is completed, they let him loose, and he runs, like one possessed, about the prairie, comes into the village, gets upon the huts, one after the other, and prys into every corner, while the inhabitants throw out to him all kinds of valuable articles as presents. As soon as he perceives this he turns towards the sun, and intimates to it, by signs, how well he is treated, and that it is foolish of it (the sun) to keep at so great a distance. He goes about and looks on the people's heads for vermin, and, if he finds any, he pretends to be very happy, and runs about with great rapidity. The Indians are very much afraid of the devil, for which reason this part cannot be assigned to anybody; but he who wishes to perform it must offer himself. My informant added that this medicine feast was once celebrated on the banks of Heart River, where the Mandans then resided, and the man who had undertaken this part was conducted into the river. When his clothes were taken off, in order to paint and dress him, he appeared very uneasy, and required to be let loose; and when this was done he seemed as one possessed by the evil spirit, and ran, with the velocity of an arrow, on the hills and about the plain. His two attendants were alarmed, and pursued him to the village, but the new demon darted past them, leaped over the high fence of the village, jumped down into the huts, and again made his egress, and then ran to the river; this now convinced them that he was possessed. It cost the inhabitants much trouble to catch and wash him, but he trembled like an aspen leaf, wrapped himself in his robe, and continued in this condition for the remainder of his life without ever speaking a word.[298]
While the devil is walking about, the other masks continue dancing, and {376} act in conformity with their parts, endeavouring to imitate the natural attitudes of the animals they represent. 5. Two men, representing white-headed eagles, are painted of a dark brown colour; the head, neck, fore arm and hands, and the lower part of the legs, are white; they carry a stick in their hands, and their business is to pursue the antelopes. 6. Are two beavers; they wear the robe with the hairy side outwards, have a piece of parchment, resembling a beaver's tail, fastened to their girdle, and are painted brown.[299] 7. Are two birds of prey; their shoulders are blue, the breast yellowish and spotted; they have feathers on their heads, and the feet of birds of prey in their hands. 8. Are two or four bears (mato), wrapped in bears' skins, with the head and claws, which cover their head and their whole body; they generally walk in a stooping attitude about the dancers, and growl like those animals. 9. Two men represent the dried meat, which is cut in small strips. They wear a cap of white hare skin; their body is painted with zig-zag stripes; round the waist they have a girdle of green boughs, and they dance with the others. 10. Forty or fifty Indians of different ages perform the part of antelopes; they are painted red on the back, the rest of the body and limbs are white, the nose and mouth black; they carry small sticks, and run about very swiftly. 11. Two men personate the night; they are naked, painted quite black, with white stars; on their backs they have the setting moon, and on their breast the rising sun; they are not allowed to sit, during the whole day, till the sun has set: they then sit down and must not rise till the next morning.[300] 12. Are one or two wolves; they are painted white, wear a wolf's skin, and pursue the antelopes, which fly before them: if they catch one, the bears come and take it from them and devour it. All these animals imitate the originals to the best of their power. 13. Two prairie wolves; the tops of their heads are painted white, their faces yellowish-brown; they wear dry herbs in their hair, and carry in their hands a stick, painted with reddish-brown stripes, and run in the prairie before the other animals when they leave the village. Almost all these animals are said to have different songs, with words, which the uninitiated do not understand; they sometimes practise these songs for a whole summer, and are frequently obliged to pay a high price for instruction. Originally there were only ten masks at this festival. The white-headed eagles, the beavers, and the prairie wolves, are a modern addition, and no part of the true ancient observances of it. When all these animals come together they fight with each other, and perform all sorts of antics. Every animal acts according to its natural character; the beavers strike with their tails, making a loud clapping noise; the buffaloes roll and wallow in the sand; the bears strike with their paws, &c.
During all these masquerade dances, the penitents have remained three entire days in the medicine lodge, where they have fasted and thirsted, sitting perfectly still and quiet. On the afternoon of that day, the persons of the ten masks also meet in the medicine lodge, and all together then leave this place. The penitents lie down on their bellies, in a circle round the ark, at some distance from it; the masks dance among them and over them, to the sound of {377} the schischikué.
Some already begin to suffer the tortures: they give a gun, a blanket, or some other article of value, to an eminent person, to inflict the tortures on them. During this time the Kani-Sachka has been moaning, and leaning on the ark. The tortures of the penitents now begin. In many of them strips of skin and flesh are cut from the breast, or the arms, and on the back, but in such a manner that they remain fast at both ends. A strap is then passed under them, and the sufferers are thrown over the declivity of the bank, where they remain suspended in the air; others have a strap drawn through the wound, to which the head of a buffalo is fastened, and they are obliged to drag this heavy weight about; others have themselves suspended by the muscles of the back; others have joints of their fingers cut off; others, again, are lifted up by the flesh, which is cut across the stomach, or have some heavy body suspended to the muscles, which have been cut and loosened, and other similar tortures. Those who have been tortured on this day return directly to their huts; but those who can bear to fast longer do not submit themselves to the torture till the fourth day.
Fourth day of the Okippe.—All those who have endured fasting for four days are now assembled in the medicine lodge. Such as feel themselves faint beg that the dancing may begin early. Accordingly, the masquerade, and the dances performed yesterday, begin at daybreak. They dance on this day sixteen times—eight times in the morning, and eight times in the afternoon. The candidates for the torture are out about two o'clock in the afternoon; and when they have suffered to the utmost of their power, a large circle is formed; two men, who have no part in the festival, take one of the penitents between them, hold him by the hand, and the whole circle moves round with the greatest rapidity. The Kani-Sachka is likewise treated in this manner. The famished and tortured penitents, for the most part, soon fall down, and many faint away, but no regard is paid to this; they are dragged and pulled about as long as they can possibly bear it; they are then let loose, and remain stretched on the ground as if dead. The eight buffalo bulls now come forward to execute their last dance. Meantime, Numank-Machana (the first man) stands on one side of the place, and invites the inhabitants to assemble. The men come on foot and on horseback, with their bows and arrows: the arrows are adorned with green leaves at the wooden points; and, when the eight buffaloes have approached, dancing, the first man, and been repulsed by him, they are shot at from all sides, fall, roll on the ground, and then lie still as if dead. The first man then invites the inhabitants to take the flesh of the buffaloes. The latter, whose robes have already fallen off, rise, and retire into the medicine lodge. Then the dancers divide into two parties, extend their arms and legs, strike themselves on the stomach, exclaiming that they feel themselves strong; some, that they will kill enemies; others, that they will slay many buffaloes, &c. They then retire, take food, and rest themselves, and the festival is concluded.
The wounds that have been inflicted on this occasion are now healed, but they remain visible {378} during the whole life, like thick swollen weals.[301] This is to be observed in a much higher degree among the Manitaries than among the Mandans; the former seem to submit to much more severe tortures. The buffalo skulls, which these Indians have dragged about with much pain, are preserved in their huts, where they are everywhere to be seen, to be handed down from the father to the children. Many such heads are looked upon by them as medicine; they are kept in the huts, and sometimes the Indians stroke them over the nose, and set food before them. In general, the buffalo is a medicine animal, and more or less sacred.
Another very remarkable medicine festival is that for attracting the herds of buffaloes, which is usually celebrated in the autumn, or winter. I shall describe this festival, as an eye-witness among the Manitaries, where it is observed precisely in the same manner as among the Mandans. At this festival they leave their wives to the older men, and individual Indians do the same on certain occasions, when they desire to ask good wishes for the attainment of some object they have in view. A man, in such a case, goes, with his pipe, and accompanied by his wife, who wears no clothes except her buffalo robe, to another hut. The wife carries a dish of boiled maize, which she sets down before a third person, and the man does the same with his pipe. The woman then passes the palm of her hand down the whole arm of the person favoured in this manner, takes him by the hand, and he must follow her to a retired spot, generally to the forest surrounding the huts in the winter time; after which she returns and repeats the same process, often with eight or ten men. As soon as the man so favoured has resumed his seat, the person who asks his good wishes presents his pipe to him that he may smoke; whereupon he expresses his best wishes for the success of the undertaking or project in hand. By way of returning thanks, his arm is again stroked.[302]
A third medicine feast is that described by Say, by the name of the corn dance of the Manitaries. He is pretty correct in his account of it, and it is used as well among the Mandans as the Manitaries. It is a consecration of the grain to be sown, and is called the corn dance feast of the women.[303] The old woman who never dies sends, in the spring, the water-fowl, swans, geese, and ducks, as symbols of the kinds of grain cultivated by the Indians. The wild goose signifies maize; the swan, the gourd; and the duck, beans. It is the old woman that causes these plants to grow, and, therefore, she sends these birds as her signs and representatives. It is very seldom that eleven wild geese are found together in the spring; but, if it happens, this is a sign that the crop of maize will be remarkably fine. The Indians keep a large quantity of dried flesh in readiness for the time in the spring when the birds arrive, that they may immediately celebrate the corn feast of the women. They hang the meat, before the village, on long stages made of poles, three or four rows, one above another, and this, with various articles of value, is considered as an offering to the old woman. The elderly females, as representatives of the old woman who never dies, assemble on a certain day about the stages, carrying a stick in their hands, to one {379} end of which a head of maize is fastened. Sitting down in a circle, they plant their sticks in the ground before them, and then dance round the stages. Some old men beat the drum, and rattle the schischikué. The maize is not wetted or sprinkled, as many believe, but, on the contrary, it is supposed that such a practice would be injurious. While the old women are performing these ceremonies, the younger ones come and put some dry pulverized meat into their mouths, for which each of them receives, in return, a grain of the consecrated maize, which she eats. Three or four grains are put into their dish, and are afterwards carefully mixed with the seed to be sown, in order to make it thrive and yield an abundant crop. The dried flesh on the stages is the perquisite of the aged females, as the representatives of the old woman who never dies. During the ceremony, it is not unusual for some men of the band of dogs to come and pull a large piece of flesh from the poles and carry it off. As members of this band, and being men of distinction, no opposition can be offered.
A similar corn feast is repeated in the autumn, but at that season it is held for the purpose of attracting the herds of buffaloes, and of obtaining a large supply of meat. Each woman then has not a stick with a head of maize, as in the former instance, but a whole plant of that grain, pulled up by the roots. They designate the maize as well as the birds, which are the symbols of the fruits of the earth, by the name of the old woman who never dies, and call upon them in the autumn, saying—"Mother, have pity on us; do not send the severe cold too soon, so that we may have a sufficient supply of meat; do not permit all the game to go away, so that we may have something for the winter."
In autumn, when the birds emigrate to the south, or, as the Indians express it, return to the old woman, they believe that they take with them the presents—especially the dried flesh—that were hung up at the entrance of the village, for the giver and protectress of the crop. They further imagine that the old woman partakes of the flesh. Some poor females among these Indians, who are not able to offer flesh or any valuable gift, take a piece of parchment, in which they wrap the foot of a buffalo, and suspend it to one of the poles as their offering. The birds on their return, go to the old woman, each bringing something from the Indians; but, towards the end, one approaches, and says—"I have very little to give you, for I have received only a very mean gift." To this, the old woman, on receiving the buffalo's foot from the poor women, or widows, says—"This is just what I love; this poor offering is more dear to me than all the other presents, however costly." Upon this she boils a piece of the foot with some maize, and eats it with much satisfaction.
The old woman who never dies has very extensive plantations of maize, the keepers of which are the great stag and the white-tailed stag. She has, likewise, many blackbirds, which help to guard her property. When she intends to feed these keepers, she summons them, and they fall with avidity upon the maize fields. As these plantations are very large, she requires many {380} labourers, and the mouse, the mole, and the before-mentioned stags, perform the work. The birds, which fly from the sea-shore in the spring, represent the old woman, who then travels to the north to visit "the old man who never dies," and who always resides in that quarter. She does not, however, stop there long, but generally returns in three or four days. In former times, the old woman's hut was near the little Missouri, where the Indians often went to visit her. One day, twelve Manitaries came to her, and she set before them a pot of maize, which was so small, that it was not sufficient to satisfy even one; but she invited them to eat, and, as soon as the pot was empty, it was instantly refilled, and all the twelve men had enough. This occurred several times while the old woman resided in that spot.
Serpents, especially the rattlesnakes, are in a greater or less degree "medicine" for these people, who kill them, and cut off the rattles, which they regard as an effectual remedy in many diseases.[304] They chew one of the joints, and wet various parts of the body of the patient with the saliva. They likewise believe in the existence of a colossal medicine serpent, which lives in a lake three or four days' journey from this place, and to which they make offerings. The following is their tradition of this monster:—Two young men were strolling along the bank of the river, and observed a cavern, through which curiosity led them to go. On reaching the further end, they were surprised at beholding a picturesque country, wholly unknown to them, where numerous herds of buffaloes were grazing. Suddenly, however, an immense giant stood before them, who demanded—"Who are you, you little people? I am afraid if I were to lay hold of you, I should crush you!" He then lifted them in his hands very carefully, and carried them into the village, which was inhabited by giants like himself. Accompanied by the two Mandans, they went out to hunt buffaloes. The giants killed the buffaloes by throwing stones, but the Mandans destroyed many with their arrows, which greatly delighted the giants. At that time the giants were at war with the eagles, which were very numerous, and which they slew by flinging stones. The Mandans, however, shot them with arrows, so that they speedily procured a large quantity of eagles' feathers. They then took leave of the giants, and were permitted to depart with all their valuable feathers. On their return they found the cave blocked up by a colossal serpent. At first they were at a loss how to make a passage, but they soon collected a large pile of wood and burnt the monster. One of them tasted the roasted flesh of the serpent, and, finding it palatable, partook of more. They proceeded on their way, when the head of the Mandan who had tasted the serpent's flesh began to swell prodigiously, and an intolerable itching came to his face. He begged his friend not to leave him, but to take him home. On the second day he continued to swell, increased in length, felt an irritation all over, and was soon afterwards transformed into a serpent, upon which he begged his companion to take him to the Missouri, which the latter accomplished in three days. As soon as the serpent reached the water, he dived, but speedily rose to the surface, and said, "There are many like me below, but {381} they hate me, therefore carry me to the long water, three days' journey from the Missouri." This, too, was done, but the serpent not liking his new abode, his comrade was obliged to carry him to a second lake, called Histoppa-Numangka (the place of the tattooed countenance), when the serpent was satisfied, and resolved to remain. He commissioned the young man to bring him four things, viz. a white wolf, a polecat, some pounded maize, and eagles' tails: after this he was to go to war four times, and kill an enemy in each combat. All this accordingly took place. The serpent then added that he would always remain in this lake, never die, be medicine, and, when the Mandans desired anything, they might come hither, do penance, or make offerings, that is to say, hang robes, eagles' tails, and other articles of value, on poles on the banks of the lake, which the Indians sometimes do even to this day.
Another curiosity of a similar nature is the Medicine Stone, which is mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, and which the Manitaries likewise reverence.[305] This stone is between two and three days' journey from the villages on Cannon-ball River, and about 100 paces from its banks. I was assured that it was on a tolerably high hill, and in the form of a flat slab, probably of sand-stone. The stone is described as being marked with impressions of the footsteps of men, and animals of various descriptions, also of sledges with dogs. The Indians use this stone as an oracle, and make offerings of value to it, such as kettles, blankets, cloth, guns, knives, hatchets, medicine pipes, &c., which are found deposited close to it. The war parties of both nations, when they take the field, generally go to this place, and consult the oracle as to the issue of their enterprise. Lamenting and howling, they approach the hill, smoke their medicine pipes, and pass the night near the spot. On the following morning they copy the figures on the stone upon a piece of parchment or skin, which they take to the village, where the old men give the interpretations. New figures are undoubtedly drawn from time to time on this stone, near to which the celebrated ark, in which part of the nation was saved in the great deluge, formerly stood.
The Mandans have many other medicine establishments in the vicinity of their villages, all of which are dedicated to the superior powers. Mr. Bodmer has made very accurate drawings of those near Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, one of which consists of four poles placed in the form of a square; the two foremost have a heap of earth and green turf thrown up round them, and four buffalo skulls laid in a line between them, while twenty-six human skulls are placed in a row from one of the stakes at the back to the other; some of these skulls are painted with a red stripe. Behind the whole a couple of knives are stuck into the ground, and a bundle of twigs is fastened at the top of the poles with a kind of comb, or the teeth of a rake, painted red.[306] The Indians repair to such places when they desire to make offerings or put up petitions; they howl, lament, and make loud entreaties, often for many days together, to the lord of life, which the French Canadians call weeping, though no tears are shed. A similar medicine establishment is represented,[307] where a couple of human figures, very clumsily made of skins, {382} were fixed upon poles, representing, as we were told, the sun and moon, probably the lord of life and the old woman who never dies. Wormwood, of which they generally fasten a bunch to the poles, is a sacred medicine herb, to which they ascribe various effects.
Dreams, as I have before said, afford the usual motives for such actions, and for the penances which they impose upon themselves, and they believe all that appears in their dreams to be true. They were not yet acquainted with fire-arms, when one of the Indians dreamt of a weapon with which they could kill their enemies at a great distance, and soon afterwards the white men brought them the first gun. In the same manner they dreamt of horses before they obtained any. Even the Whites who live among them are infected with this belief in dreams, and other superstitions. They frequently promise, on undertaking anything, the joint of a finger, which they cut off at once, and keep in a handful of wormwood; this I myself saw among the Blackfeet, where, at that time, it was a sign of mourning. It is also done at the time of the Okippe in May and June. Almost all the Mandans and Manitaries have lost one or two joints of the fingers, and several of them more. There are numerous superstitious ideas and prejudices among these Indians. Thus, they believe that a person to whom they wish ill must die, if they make a figure of wood or clay, substituting for the heart, a needle, an awl, or a porcupine quill, and bury the image at the foot of one of their medicine poles. When a child is born, the father must not bridle a horse, that is to say, he is not to fasten the halter to the lower jaw, otherwise the child would die in convulsions. If the wife be pregnant, this circumstance is often the cause of much ill fortune to the husband, and he is frequently unsuccessful in hunting. If an Indian, in such cases, wounds a buffalo, without being able to kill it quickly, he endeavours to carry the heart of a buffalo home, and makes his wife discharge an arrow at it; he then again feels confidence in his weapons, that they will speedily kill. The Indians affirm that a pregnant woman is very lucky at a game called billiards. Many consider it a bad omen when a woman, while several Mandans are smoking together, passes between them. If a woman is lying on the ground between the men who are smoking, a piece of wood is laid across her, to serve as a communication between the men. The strongest man now living among the Mandans, who has been the victor in several wrestling matches with the Whites, always takes hold of his pipe by the head, for, were he to touch it in another part, the blood would suddenly rush from his nostrils. As soon as he bleeds in this manner, he instantly empties his pipe, and throws the contents into the fire, where it explodes like gunpowder, and the bleeding immediately stops. Nobody, they say, can touch this man's face, without at once bleeding at the nose and mouth. A certain Indian affirms that, whenever another offers him a pipe to smoke, out of civility, he immediately has his mouth full of worms, handfuls of which he throws into the fire. The medicine of another man consists in making a snow-ball, which he rolls a long time between his hands, so that it at length becomes hard, and is converted into a white stone, which, when {383} struck, emits fire. Many persons, even Whites, pretended they had seen this, and it is utterly useless to attempt convincing them to the contrary. The same man pretends that, during a dance, he plucked white feathers from a certain small bird, which he rolled between his hands, and formed of them, in a short time, a similar white stone. Sometimes an Indian takes it into his head to make his gun medicine, or to consecrate it, which he does not dare afterwards to part with. With this view he generally makes a yearly feast in the spring. The crier (kettle-tender, or marmiton) must invite a certain number of guests, and receive an equal number of small sticks, which he delivers to them, as a sign of their being invited; nay, now, European playing cards are actually sent round for this purpose. The guests appear, lay their guns aside, and take their places, on which the drum and schischikué go round, and every guest sings, and plays the drum and rattle. While this music is going on, they eat the food which has been dressed, nor are they allowed to leave any of it. The host then takes his gun, cuts a piece of flesh, and with it rubs the barrel, and flings the meat into the fire; this is repeated thrice. He then takes up some of the water in which the meat was boiled, rubs the whole length of the barrel with it, pours the rest of the broth into the fire; and, lastly, takes fat, with which he rubs the whole of his gun, and then throws the remainder into the fire.
A great many Mandans and Manitaries believe that they have wild animals in their body; one, for instance, affirmed he had a buffalo calf, the kicking of which he often felt; others said they had tortoises, frogs, lizards, birds, and so forth. Among the Manitaries we saw medicine dances of the women, where one pretended that she had a head of maize in her body, which she cast out by dancing, and then ate, after it had been mixed with wormwood. Another discharged blood, but of this we shall speak in the sequel. Similar feats are seen among the Mandans also. They likewise relate a number of foolish stories of miraculous and supernatural events. Thus, a girl refused to marry, and had no intercourse with the other sex. One night, while she was asleep, a man lay down by her side, on which she awoke, and saw him go away in a white buffalo robe. As he returned on the two succeeding nights, she resolved to mark him, and stained her hand with red. He appeared, and she gave him a blow, with her hand, on his back, not being able to hold him. On the following day she examined all the robes in the whole village, but could not find the mark of her hand, till at length she discovered it on the back of a large white dog. Some months after, as the Indians are fully persuaded, she was delivered of seven young dogs. The people consider owls as medicine birds, and pretend to hold conversations with them, and to understand their attitudes and voices; often, indeed, they keep these animals alive in their huts, and look upon them as soothsayers. I shall, subsequently, have occasion to speak of the manner in which they catch all kinds of birds of prey, which feed on the flesh of dead animals, particularly eagles, which they sometimes preserve alive. They frequently look upon them as medicine.
{384} Many instruments used by the Whites, especially mathematical, are a great medicine, or charm, in their eyes, because they do not comprehend the use of them. Thus, the Indian women were frequently embarrassed when we looked at them through a telescope, because they believed that we had the power of penetrating their inmost thoughts, and of discovering their past and future actions.
The division of time, especially that of the year into months, is pretty conformable to nature; they count the years by winters, and say so many winters have passed since such an event. They are able to reckon the winters either by numbers, or on their fingers, for their numerals are very complete.
Here and there other names are given to the months, but the above are the most common.
The chief occupations of the Indians, besides adorning and painting their persons, looking in the glass, smoking, eating, and sleeping, are the chase and war, and these fill up a great part of their time. The principal beast of chase is the buffalo, or, rather, the buffalo cow. The men generally go hunting in a body, on horseback, in order to be the more secure against a superior force of their enemies. The equipments of their horses are much like those of the Blackfeet, and their saddle resembles the Hungarian; though, now, they sometimes obtain saddles from the Whites, which they line and ornament with red and blue cloth. In riding, they never leave hold of their whip, the handle of which is made of wood, and not of elk's horn, as among the more western nations. They never wear spurs. In the summer time, if the herds of buffaloes are dispersed to great distances in the prairie, the chase, of course, requires more time and exertion; but in winter, when they approach the Missouri, and seek shelter in the woods, a great number are {385} often killed in a short time.[309] On these hunting excursions the Indians often spend eight or ten days; generally they return on foot, while the horses are laden with the spoil.[310] The buffaloes are usually shot with arrows, the hunters riding within ten or twelve paces of them. If it is very cold, and the buffaloes keep at a distance in the prairie (which happened in the winter of 1833-34), they hunt but little, and would rather suffer hunger, or live only on maize and beans, than use any exertion; and when, towards spring, many drowned buffaloes float down the river with the ice, the Indians swim or leap with great dexterity over the flakes of ice, draw the animals to land, and eat the half putrid flesh, without manifesting any signs of disgust. It is remarkable how instantly their famished dogs know and take advantage of the hunting excursions of their masters. When the horses return laden with the spoils of the chase, the children in the village utter a cry of joy, of which the dogs seem perfectly to understand the import, for they simultaneously set up a loud howl, run towards the prairie, the scene of the chase, and partake, with their relations, the wolves, of what the hunters have left behind. When a hunter has killed an animal, he generally eats the liver, the kidneys, and the marrow of the large thigh bones, raw. If an Indian has procured some game he usually shares it with others. The entrails and skin always belong to the person who shot the animal. If an eminent man, who has performed some exploit, comes up when the animal has been just killed, and demands the tongue, or some other good part, it cannot be refused him. Dogs are not employed in hunting by the Mandans and Manitaries. They shoot deer and elks in the forests, antelopes and bighorns in the prairies, the Black Hills, and the neighbouring mountains. They make parks, as they are called, to catch antelopes, but not buffaloes. Brackenridge says, that the Indians drive the antelopes into the water and kill them with clubs;[311] but this can only have happened in isolated places when some accident gave them the opportunity. The Manitaries make these cabri parks more frequently than the Mandans. They choose a valley, between two hills, which ends in a steep declivity. On the summit of the hills, two converging lines, one or two miles in length, are marked out with brushwood. Below the declivity they erect a kind of fence, fifteen or twenty paces in length, composed of poles, covered and filled up with hay and brushwood. A number of horsemen then drive the cabris between the ends of the lines marked out by the brushwood, which are very distant from each other, and ride rapidly towards them. The terrified animals hasten down the hollow, and at length leap into the enclosure, where they are killed with clubs, or taken alive.[312] There are not many bears in this country; and the Indians are not fond of hunting them, because it is often dangerous, and the flesh, when roasted, is not very good. Brackenridge is mistaken when he says, that these Indians always shout before they enter the forest, in order to frighten the bears.[313] If they did so they would, at the same time, frighten all other kinds of animals, and we see at once, from this statement, that that traveller was no sportsman.
{386} The wolf and the fox are sometimes shot with a gun, as well as the white hare, in the winter time, or they are caught in traps. They set for the wolves very strong traps. The prairie wolf is not easily caught, being very cautious. Foxes are caught in small traps, which are covered with brushwood and buffaloes' skulls, to conceal them. Many such traps are seen everywhere in the prairies, which are surrounded with small stakes, that the animals may not enter them sideways. Beavers are now caught, in great numbers, in iron traps, which they procure from the Whites. Small animals, such as the ermine, are caught with horse-hair springes, set before their burrows. The manner in which birds of prey are caught is said to be very remarkable. The birdcatcher lies down at full length in a narrow pit made on purpose, and exactly large enough to hold him. As soon as he has lain down, the pit is covered with brushwood and hay, pieces of meat are laid upon it, and a crow, or some such bird, fastened to it. The eagle, or other bird of prey, is said to descend, and to sit down, in order to eat, on which the birdcatcher seizes it by the legs. I would not believe this had not men worthy of credit given me their word for it. In this manner they catch the eagle, called, by the English, the war-eagle, and the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), the Quiliou, or oiseau de medicine, of the Canadians, which I was not so fortunate as to meet with, and which they highly value, as I have already stated.[314]
Next to the chase, war is the chief employment of the Indians, and military glory the highest object of their ambition. It is well known that Indian bravery is very different from that of the Whites; for wilfully to expose themselves to the enemy's fire would, in their eyes, not be bravery, but folly. Cunning and stratagem give them the advantage over the enemy; their strength lies in concealing their march, and surprises at daybreak. He who kills many enemies without sustaining any loss is the best warrior.
When a young man desires to establish his reputation in the field, he fasts for four or seven days, as long as his strength permits him, goes alone to the hills, complains and cries to the lord of life, calls incessantly to the higher powers for their aid, and only goes home, sometimes, in the evening, to sleep. A dream suggests his medicine to him. If the lord of life makes him dream of a piece of cherry-tree wood, or of an animal, it is a good omen. The young men who take the field with him have then confidence in his medicine. If he can perform an exploit his reputation is established. But whatever exploits he may perform, he acquires no respect if he does not make valuable presents; and they say of him, "He has indeed performed many exploits, but yet he is as much to be pitied as those whom he has killed." A man may have performed many exploits, and yet not be allowed to wear tufts of hair on his clothes, unless he carries a medicine pipe, and has been the leader of a war party. When a young man, who has never performed an exploit, is the first to kill an enemy on a warlike expedition, he paints a spiral line round his arm, of whatever colour he pleases, and he may then wear a whole wolf's tail at the ankle or heel of one foot. If he has first killed and touched the {387} enemy he paints a line running obliquely round the arms and another crossing it in the opposite direction, with three transverse stripes. On killing the second enemy he paints his left leg (that is, the leggin) of a reddish-brown. If he kills the second enemy before another is killed by his comrades, he may wear two entire wolves' tails at his heels. On his third exploit he paints two longitudinal stripes on his arms, and three transverse stripes. This is the exploit that is esteemed the highest; after the third exploit no more marks are made. If he kills an enemy after others of the party have done the same, he may wear on his heel one wolf's tail, the tip of which is cut off. In every numerous war party there are four leaders (partisans, karokkanakah), sometimes, seven, but only four are reckoned as the real partisans; the others are called bad partisans (karokkanakah-chakohosch, literally, partisans galeux).[315] All partisans carry on their backs a medicine pipe in a case, which other warriors dare not have. To become a chief (Numakschi) a man must have been a partisan, and then kill an enemy when he is not a partisan. If he follows another partisan for the second time, he must have first discovered the enemy, have killed one, and then possessed the hide of a white buffalo cow complete, with the horns, to pretend to the title of chief (Numakschi). Dipauch, who related these particulars, had himself done all these, and was an eminent man among his people, but had never assumed that title. He had given five horses for his white buffalo hide. All the warriors wear small war pipes round their necks, which are often very elegantly ornamented with porcupine quills.[316]