1920.] Lowie, Crow Tobacco Society. 115 



Otter, Blackbird, and Prairie-dog groups. Comparing Mr. Curtis's 

 series for Pryor with those of nine of my informants representing several 

 of the present districts, I find that all mention the Weasels, all but one 

 the Tobacco group, while the Otters, Ducks, and Wolverenes occur seven 

 times each. The last mentioned group, however, was never mentioned 

 as one of the ancient chapters. Altogether it seems reasonable to 

 assume that the Tobacco chapter represents the germ of the whole 

 society and ' that the Weasels and Otters were among the oldest 

 branches, the antiquity of the Weasels being inferred from their 

 occurrence in every list, that of the Otters from the prominence of 

 the Otter medicine at the planting and of otter emblems (Fig. 1 ) in a 

 number of the chapters. 



The following is a complete list of the names secured. Etymologi- 

 cally the rendering of the ending found in most of the native designa- 

 tions is not quite certain. The suffix bice, mice corresponds to the Spanish 

 hay or French il y a, so that mapuxtamice might be rendered, " There 

 are otters." Sometimes, however, the corresponding forms are recorded 

 with an additional labial, e.g., mapuxtambice, and it is possible that the 

 am is a local prefix giving to the word the meaning, "Where there are 

 otters/' Again the am might represent a decapitated ham, "some," so 

 that the rendering would change to "Where there are some otters." 

 Elisions and contractions are extremely common in Crow. 



My authorities for the list are Curtis, Strikes-both-ways, Little- 

 rump, One-horn, Muskrat, Gray-bull, Old-dog. Shot-in-the-hand, 

 Grandmother's-knife, No-shinbone, and Medicine-crow. 



Weasel (d u tambic) Elk (itsirik'a a ce) 



Tobacco (i'tsi'tsi8miceor6"pamic) Horse (itsire) 



Otter (mapuxtamice) Rattle (i'puxemice) 



Duck (miaxakamice) Ground-bug ? (tsipaxioce) 



Wolverene (mapuxtakbtgramic^) Species of squirrel (icterSctsia) 



Eagle (nakakamice) Pine (batsiamice) 



Crazy Dog (micg'ewara a xe) Wild-cat (icbiaxice) 



Egg (f g-amice) Bear (naxpitse) 



Strawberry (ick'6citemice) Red Paint (awaxuwamice) 



Yellow Tobacco (i'tsi'tseciramice) White Bird (nakaksiamice) 



Blackbird (baxiramice) Species of hawk (ba+ipxaxeambice) 



Prairie-dog (tsi'pe") Meadowlark (ma+uwatciramice) 



Buffalo (bice mice) Crane 



White Man's dance (ba+ictcfndisua) 1 Beaver dance (bira'pdisua) 



Prairie-chicken (tsftsg'e) 



iOld-dog gave ba+ictclrambic4, and my then interpreter translated this "White-hair-owners," 

 literally, White-men-where-there-are. 



