Hunting at High Altitudes 



there was time to think about it. Among the Black- 

 feet, the Cheyenne and Columbia River Indians, and 

 probably all other tribes, if there was time for thought, 

 satisfactory gifts would always settle the matter. I 

 have known a number of Indians who in a quarrel, 

 or while intoxicated, have killed their fellow tribes- 

 men, and I have not met with a case where anyone 

 has been killed in revenge. On the other hand, this 

 unquestionably sometimes happened. In certain tribes 

 it was sometimes necessary for a chief to kill a less 

 important man in order to uphold his own authority. 

 How this was treated by the public opinion of the 

 camp depended on the tribe where the occurrence had 

 taken place. Among the Piegans, it is reported that 

 this .las been done a number of times, and that the 

 man killing his fellow suffered no loss of prestige. 

 On the other hand, the case of old Little Dog, who 

 had been obliged to kill some of his fellows, and was 

 finally himself killed by his tribesmen, at once sug- 

 gests itself. Among the Cheyennes, such leading war- 

 riors as Porcupine Bear, Gentle Horse and Old Little 

 Wolf had each, through alcohol, accident or ill tem- 

 per killed a member of the tribe, and all of them 

 immediately lost all influence and were ostracized. 

 A note on this point west of the mountains will be 

 found in Ross, The Fur Hunters of the Far West, 

 Vol. i, p. p. 



41. Now known as Piegan postoffice. 



42. The flesh of the bull elk during the rutting 

 season is tough, strong and hardly fit to be eaten, but 



284 



