DENSMORD] MANDAN AND HIDATSA MUSIC 109 
of wood. The flat ones were trimmed with raven feathers and some- 
times with white feathers. The round ones had feathers in the mid- 
dle. The round ones were made in one piece, a knot or lump on the 
wood being worked into a round end and the rest of the wood form- 
ing the handle.” The translation “ Lumpwood,” being commonly 
used, is continued in the present work. 
_ Good Bear said that the Fox Society, which precedes the Lump- 
- wood in the serial order, was named for “a small animal, not much 
larger than a cat, with a black tip at the end of its tail.” He said 
“these foxes were spry and quick, these being qualities greatly de- 
sired by the young men. They watch in ambush and jump on their 
prey when it is at the right distance.” Societies named for the kit 
fox are common to many tribes of Indians. A similar society existed 
among the Mandan, but the principal informants on this subject 
were Hidatsa, the following singers belonging to the Fox Society: 
Holding Eagle (pl. 18, 6), Old Dog, Good Bear, and Harry Eaton. 
They said the society was still in existence, as the last members had 
never sold their membership. Interesting information on this sub- 
ject was also given by Sitting Crow (pl. 18, a). Young men joined 
the society when about 21 years of age. The headdress worn by mem- 
bers of this society consisted of a row of fox jaws, sometimes painted 
red, yellow, or green, and the men who had “coup feathers” wore 
them erect at the back of the head. The meetings were held by 
special appointment, when food was abundant. They did not steal 
the food for their feast, as the Stone Hammers did. The society was 
chiefly social in character, and there were no leaders except the men 
who carried lances. These lances were wrapped with strips of otter 
fur, placed around the staff of the lance. Pan said that in war a 
man who placed one of these lances upright in the ground could not 
retreat from the spot, but if a friend saw that the man would surely 
be killed he could seize the lance and carry it to a place of safety, 
the lance owner following without disgrace. Sometimes a lance 
owner gave his lance to a girl who sang in the scalp songs and made 
another for himself. If one of the lance bearers were killed in war 
the society elected another in his place. The lance was used in 
touching an enemy to “count coup” and also in stabbing an enemy. 
When the society paraded around the village these lance bearers were 
preceded by a man who was specially distinguished for bravery. 
The men always “ went on a trot” and they selected from among the 
spectators a particularly brave man to go at the end of the proces- 
sion. After completing the circuit of the village they went to the 
feast in their lodge. 
An Hidatsa in explaining the meaning of the term “crazy dog” 
as applied to the society in his tribe, said it meant that the men were 
2118°—23-——-9 
