DENSMORE] MANDAN AND HIDATSA MUSIC 67 
better go right away. When you go back to the lodge and they ask 
when you are going you had better say “ Now,” for if you say “ To- 
morrow” they will make you stay a year, and if you say “In two 
days” they will make you wait two years, and so on.’ 
“ So they started back to the lodge, and when they reached there 
the old man said ‘I understand that you want to go home. Your 
home is not far away. When do you want to start?’ Black Wolf 
replied ‘Now.’ The old man said ‘ All right,’ and told the little 
wolverine to select some nice eagle tails for Black Wolf to take 
home with him, as his people valued them. The little animal spread 
the eagle tails on the ground and made a big heavy bundle of them 
for Black Wolf. 
“The old man said, ‘ There is a certain chief in your village who 
has two daughters. They will offer you these two girls for your 
wives.? I want them for my daughters-in-law and you must be sure 
to get them. I will help you prepare the medicine necessary to 
secure them.’ 
“When Black Wolf was ready to start the next morning, the old 
man took white sage and tied it in four bundles, which he gave to 
Black Wolf, saying that two were to be used as ‘stepping bundles’ 
and the other two were to be carried in his arms. He told Black 
Wolf to lay one bundle on the ground and step on it, then lay down 
the other, step on it, and pick up the one which lay behind him, say- 
ing that when he had performed this action four times he would be 
at the top of the village. He said, ‘And when you come back you 
are to give the other two bundles to my daughter-in-law and she 
must come back in the same way.’ 
“The last night that Black Wolf slept with the little wolverine they 
talked of Black Wolf’s journey and the littie wolverine told him what 
to do. He said,‘ When you come back be sure to bring with you a 
corn ball* and a pipe. I will get the corn ball and we will always be 
together.’ He also said, ‘When you see my father, on your return, 
you must cry and say, “I want madawanusgi mawahéts.”’™ 
“Black Wolf started the next morning and did as he had been 
instructed. After stepping four times from one bundle to another 
he found himself in his own village. As soon as he entered the vil- 
lage everyone remarked on the fact that he was not starved, that 
he had good clothing, and had brought home many eagle feathers. 
4 Black Wolf was supposed to get two wives, but the narrative later mentions only one. 
71 These corn balls were much liked by children of the tribe. The shelled corn was 
dried in the sun, parched over a fire, and then pounded in a mortar, after which it was 
mixed with grease and made into rolls about 3 inches long and 1% inches in diameter. 
72 Freely translated, this means “I. want to place the hide of a small animal on a 
frame for drying.” 
