76 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



" grandmother " cedar tree was planted before the eastern entrance 

 to the lodge. Next to it was " grandfather " rock, now painted red 

 with a black belt (fig. 76). That evening the beef dedicated to 

 Mother Corn was killed and prepared, exactly as in the olden days 

 when a fat buffalo cow was thus offered by a successful hunter. 



The next morning marked the climax of the week. After smoke 

 offerings, prayers, and the burning of incense, the only sacred bundle 

 still functioning was opened before the altar. The sacred bundle 

 forms the very soul of Ankara religion, and only a priest versed in 

 all the complex lore pertaining to each bundle may open it. It is 

 impossible to observe such a bundle and its varied contents without 

 appreciating its antiquity. The writer was particularly struck by the 

 inclusion of at least six skins of the extremely rare Carolina parrakeet 

 and what appeared to be the skin of an ani, a southern bird which 

 occurs rarely north of the Gulf of Mexico. 



There followed many songs pertaining to the bundle, sung in honor 

 of Mother Corn, symbolized by a cloth-wrapped stalk of green corn. 

 Later, people brought many presents to certain distinguished old 

 men, who proceeded to bless the children of the donors and to give 

 them honorable names. Particularly favored as name-givers were 

 four fine old warriors, Red Bear, Little Sioux, Bear's Belly, and 

 Running Wolf. These men had served as scouts for Gen. George A. 

 Custer prior to the fatal day of June 25, 1876, when, against their 

 advice, he led his command into the valley of the Little Big Horn. 

 Symbolic dances were next performed, in which both men and 

 women participated, depicting the planting of the corn, the hunting of 

 the buffalo, and triumphs over their enemies in vivid pantomime. The 

 ceremony culminated with carrying the Mother Corn to the " Holy 

 River," as the Ankara term the Missouri, where the carriers waded in 

 waist-deep and offered last prayers to the corn spirit. The symbolic 

 corn stalk was then tossed into the stream to float down past all the 

 ancient Ankara villages, carrying messages from the living to the dead. 



After leaving the Leavenworth site, we conducted stratigraphic 

 studies in the refuse mounds of another village across the river. From 

 its arrangement and its pottery and artifacts, this site appeared to 

 be of Mandan origin (fig. 78). From the presence of a few evidences 

 of white contact it was evidently occupied into the protohistoric period. 

 As was true in Nebraska, the protohistoric period on the upper Mis- 

 souri River appears to have been considerably richer than the early 

 historic period (compare figs. 77 and 78). Ten other villages were 

 carefully surveyed and their refuse heaps sampled. In addition, a 

 map of the numerous sites along this section of the Missouri was 

 prepared. 



