94 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 80 
MANDAN WOMEN’S SOCIETIES ® 
Songs of three Mandan women’s societies are here presented, these 
being the Skunk, Enemy, and Little River Women Societies. The 
Goose Women Society is considered in a previous section (see pp. 
39-47). The Skunk and Enemy Societies are said to have been of 
Hidatsa origin, but organizations appear to have existed independ- 
ently in the two tribes. The Little River Women Society is admit- 
ted to have been Mandan in its origin. 
SxunxK Sociery 
This was said to include little girls betwen the ages of 8 and 13. 
After the return of a successful war party they went at evening and 
“serenaded the warriors,” for which they were rewarded with gifts. 
One singer usually led the society in these serenades. Lowie** 
amplifies this information by stating that the faces of the girls 
were “painted black with charcoal except for a triangular area 
tapering from the center of the forehead toward the nose, which 
was daubed with white clay. An eagle plume was stuck upright 
in the back of the head. There was a single male singer with a 
drum.” He states further that the painting of the face was intended 
to represent the appearance of skunks. Admission into the society 
was purchased from a “ mother” by many gifts, and a four nights’ 
dance followed by a feast signalized the recognition of girls as mem- 
bers of the organization. 
Four songs of this society were recorded, but only one is tran- 
scribed. 
82 Cf, Lowie, Societies of the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians, pp. 323-354. 
83 Tbid., p. 325. 
