16 PAWNEES. 



spriii2f they have tlio iiauio for one Avliieh they call the 

 wind moon, from the circumstance that during that moon 

 tlie Aviud usually blows 'hard. This comes usually in the 

 month of March, though the month of Fel)ruary is oftc^n as 

 windy as March, and this is the time of their difticulty to 

 determine tiie uame of the moon. 'I hoy liave also the 

 green corn moon wiiicii is not always so well detined as 

 some. They have two seasons each year, one the sunnner 

 the oilier the winter. TluMr hahit of going to the hunt 

 twice in the year prol)al)ly gave rise to this division. 

 Twice in u year they all leave their permanent village and 

 go forth in search of the huti'alo. Tiiey usually start on 

 their sununer hunt about thetirst of ffune, and are ijone till 

 August, when tiieir coi'u is rii)e and they return to take 

 care of it. Their women raise considerable (jnantities of 

 corn, and arc very l)usy from the time they return to their 

 tields in Auirust till sometime in Octol)er, <>atlierin<i: in the 

 corn and drying it till sj)ring. When it is sutticiently dried 

 they store it away in cellars, or as they are termed cachefi. 

 These are holes dug in the ground, at the top scarcely 

 large enough to allow of the entrance of a person, but after 

 digging some two feet they gradually cidarge the opening, 

 until it comes to be perhaps twenty feet in diameter and 

 perhaps ten feet deej). Here tluy hide every thing they 

 do not wish to take with them, placing a quantity of prairie 

 hay around on the outside. They cover it so nicely that 

 it cannot Avell be found by their enemies, and sometimes 

 so that it is difficult to tind it themselves. When their 

 etfects are stowed away, they usually start on their winter 

 hunt sometime in October, and travel at about the rate of 

 ten miles a day. When traveling scouts are constantly 

 on the look out for the enemy as well as for the game. 

 Buffaloes wander in immense herds over the prairies, and 

 if one is seen others are supposed to be near and generally 

 are. It is from these the Pawnees mostly derive their food 

 and raiment. They dress in their skins and when they are 

 travelling make of them their temporary tents or lodges. 

 Of their horns they make spoons, of their sinews strings 



