DENSMORE] MANDAN AND HIDATSA MUSIC 115 
sent them away, or perhaps tied them up and demanded a ransom. 
Upon such men the Stone Hammer Society took its revenge in 
its own way. If the boys were badly treated, but obtained the food, 
they did not give the usual presents to the people from whom the 
food was stolen. 
After a successful raid the food was taken to the lodge and the 
boys had a feast. Blankets and other goods were obtained from their 
_parents, and either that night or the night next following the boys 
made up packs of gifts equivalent in value to what they had stolen. 
These they gave to the people whom they had robbed, and it was 
considered that everything was properly adjusted. 
STONE HAMMER SOCIETY WAND 
Every society had: its insignia in the form of a wand, staff, lance, 
or other object which was carried by members in the dance or in war. 
These were called widawa’he. In designating the insignia of a par- 
ticular society the name of the society preceded this term. Thus the 
Stone Hammer Society wand was called 4/7’¢ mai’ paki, stone ham- 
mers, 2’ta, their, widawa’he, wand. This was in the form of a mallet 
comprising a stone head pointed at both ends and pierced through the 
middle, a handle about 25 inches long being passed through the hole 
in the stone and securely fastened. The stone head was decorated 
in various designs. The specimen illustrated (pl. 19, 6, ¢) was made 
for the writer by Pan (pl. 14, ¢) and is of the type commonly carried 
in the society. A more elaborate wand was “carried by those who 
could afford it,” and differed from the form illustrated in that 
it had three long slender points beyond the stone head, and to these 
were hung feathers, preferably those of the eagle. The wand was 
carried in the dances, held at arm’s length and waved above the 
dancer’s head. The handle must be of cherry or June-berry wood 
and around the handle was usually a band of otter fur. The hawk 
was “the bird of the society,” and the specimen illustrated is deco- 
rated with the entire tail feathers of a white-tailed hawk. Eagle 
feathers could be used if desired. The stone head was colored ac- 
cording to the taste of its maker, the colors being red, black, white, 
green, and blue. A black glazed surface on the stone was secured 
by thoroughly greasing the stone and then wrapping it with grass 
which was burned off slowly. One side of the specimen illustrated 
was blackened in this manner, the other side being painted with 
native vermilion. On the black side of the stone is graven a represen- 
tation of the moon (pl. 19, c) and on the red side is the morning 
star. Other symbols which were placed on the stones were the 
north star (Ikahaga’ta, meaning “ star that does not move”), the 
