DENSMoRD] MANDAN AND HIDATSA MUSIC 65 
“ Black Wolf supposed that his companions were friendly to him, 
but this was not true. They were all jealous of him because they 
were afraid he had been courting their wives, so they decided to lose 
him. They knew that they could do this easily because he had not 
been in the habit of going far from the camp. So as soon as they 
started out one after another ran away from him, dashing ahead as 
fast as possible. They did this to tease him and wear him out. As 
_he did not know the country he was always left behind. At day- 
light they said that they would stop for a little while and rest. Black 
Wolf, never having been on such an expedition nor treated so roughly, 
was tired out and soon fell asleep. The others lay down also, but 
wakened very soon and ran away, while Black Wolf slept long and 
soundly. When at last he awoke he found himself alone in a strange 
place. Rising quickly, he began to walk back and forth and to call 
the names of his companions. He did this for a long time, and then 
he realized that he was lost. He carried a large bow lance, but had no 
weapon, not even a knife. He was well clothed, but had no means 
of getting food. Then he took from his bow the decorations of 
eagle feathers and otter fur and ‘ prayed to the buffalo skull, ® giv- 
ing to this object of his supplication all the decorations from his 
bow and all his clothing until at last he had nothing left except the 
bare bow. Several days passed and the weather grew cold. He 
could get no food and was sitting in a patch of buckbrush thinking 
that his end was near when he looked up and saw an eagle. It was 
the time when the eagles flew south, and looking at it the boy re- 
membered his father. He saw the eagle fly over a knoll and down 
the sheltered side of the knoll; there he saw it flutter and disappear. 
He went to the place and there he found a hole covered with brush, 
and in the hole there was a little animal called 7’sina gont’ga. This 
animal was a little like a bear (supposed to be a wolverine). It had 
caught the eagle and seemed to have drawn it down into the hole by 
‘the feet. When the animal saw Black Wolf it said, ‘ You have 
arrived, my brother,’ and Black Wolf replied ‘ Yes, where is your 
lodge?’ The little wolverine said, ‘ There is my trail, you can see it. 
My father told me to catch only one eagle to-day.’ Black Wolf 
asked ‘ How did you catch the eagle?’ The little wolverine replied, 
‘IT spit on my left hand and held it up through the brush, and when 
the eagle came J caught it with my right hand.’ 
“ Black Wolf and the little wolverine followed the trail and came 
to a lodge made of bark and grass,’° into which they entered. The 
. ® The presence of a buffalo skull in an Hidatsa shrine and of offerings to “‘ the spirit 
of the buffalo skull’ are mentioned by Pepper and Wilson, An Hidatsa shrine, pp. 297-298, 
also p. 314. 
70 A lodge similar to this is used by men in the camp, all the customs of the eagle 
catchers being derived from this legend. 
