DORSEY.; GUARDIAN SPIRITS. 507 



corn feast of the women. They haug the meat before the village on long soaft'olds 

 made of poles, three or four rows, one above another, and this, with other articles of 

 value, is considered as au ofi'ering to the Old Woman who Never Dies. The elderly 

 women of the village, as representatives of that old woman, assemlde about the scaf- 

 folds on a certain day, each carrying a stick, to oue end of which an ear of corn is 

 fastened. Sitting in a circle, they plant their sticks in the ground before them, and 

 then dance around the scaffolds. Some old men beat the drum and shake the gourd 

 rattles. The corn is not wetted or sprinkled, as many believe, but on the contrary, 

 it is supposed that such a practice would be injurious. While the old women are 

 ])crf(>riniug their part, the younger ones come and put some dry pulverized meat 

 into their mouths, for which each yonng woman receives in return a grain of the con- 

 secrated corn, which she eats. Tliree or four grains of the consecrated corn are put 

 into their dish, and arc afterwards carefully mixed with the seed corn, in order to 

 make it yield an abnndant crop. The dried meat on the scaffolds is the perquisite 

 ol the aged females, as the representatives of the Old Woman who Never Dies. But 

 members of the Dog Society have the privilege of taking some of this meat from the 

 scaffolds without opposition from anybody. 



A similar corn least is held in the autumn, but at that season it is held for the pur- 

 pose of attracting the herds of buffaloes and of oi>taining a large supply of meat. 

 Each woman then carries an entire cornstalk with the ears attached, pulling up the 

 stalk by the roots. They designate the corn as well as the birds by the name of the 

 Old Woman Who Never Dies, and call on them saying, " Mother, pity us; do not send 

 the severe cold too soon, lest we do not gain enough meat. Prevent the game from 

 departing, so that we may have something for the winter!" 



In autuuni, when the birds migrate to the south, or, as the Indians say, return to 

 the Old Woman, they believe that they take with them the dried meat hung on the 

 scaffolds, and they imagine that the Old Woman partakes of it. 



The Old Woman who Never Dies has very large patclie.s of corn, kept for her by 

 the great stag and the white-tailed stag. She has, too, many blackbirds wliichhelp to 

 guard her property. When she intends to feed these keepers, shq summons them, and 

 tliey fall on the corn, which they devour with greediness. As these corn patches are 

 large, the Old Woman requires many laborers, hence she has the mice, moles, and 

 stags to perform such work for her. The birds which tly from the seashore in the 

 spring i-epreseut the Old Woman, who then travels to the north to visit the Old Man 

 who Never Dies, who always resides there. She generally returns to the south in 

 three or four days. In former times the Old Woman's hut was near the Little 

 Missouri River, where the Indians often visited her. One day twelve Hidatsa went 

 to her, and she set before them a kettle of corn, which was so small that it did not 

 appear sufficient to satisfy the hunger of oue of the party, liut she told them to eat, 

 and, as soon as the kettle was emptied it was filled again, and all the men had 

 enough.' 



GUARDIAN SPI1!IT.S. 



§ 325. The Maiidan undertake uotliiug without first invokiug their 

 guardian spirits, which appear to them in dreams (see § 236). When 

 a man wishes to choose his guardian spirit, he fasts for three or four 

 days, and sometimes longer, retires to a solitary phice. does penance, 

 and sometimes sacrifices joints of his fingers. He howls and cries to 

 t'l.e Lord of Life, or to the First Man, beseeching him to point out the 

 guardian spirit. He continues in this excited condition until he 

 dreams, and the first animal or other object which appears in the dream 

 is th(.' guardian spirit. Each man has such a spirit. There is on the 



'Maximilian, Travels * " * in North America, pp. 378-380. 



