noRsEY.) MANDAN AND UIDATSA MYSTERY 015JECTS, ETC. 509 



tliemsclves, iiud tlieu present llicpi)ie to the stone; after wliicli tlioy retire to an ail- 

 .joininj,' wooil for tlii^ ni.nht, (lnriii^ which it may lie safely prosiimed that all tlio 

 embassy do not sleej). In the morning' they read the destinies of the nation in the 

 white marks ou the stone, whi<h those who made them are at no loss to decipher. 



The same stone, as worshiped by the Hidatsa, is thus described by 



James:' 



The Me-ma-ho-pa or medicine stone " * " is a large, naked, and insulated rock 

 situated iu the midst of a small prairie, about a two days' journey southwest of the 

 village of that nation. In shape it resembles the steep roof of a house. The Minne- 

 tarees resort to it for the i)uri)ose oi propitiating their Man-ho-pa or (jireat Spirit by 

 presents, by fasting and lamentation, ilnring the space of IVom three to live d.-iys. 

 An individual who intends to i)eribrni this ceremony takes some presents with him, 



* * ' and also provides a smooth skin U))on which hieroglyjihics uiiiy be drawn, 

 and repairs to the rock aeconii)anied liy his friends and the magi. ( )n his arrival he 

 deposits the presents there, and, aftcM' smoking to llic> rock, he washes a jiortion of its 

 face clean, and retires with his fellow devotees to a si)ecilied distance. During llie 

 principal part of his stay, he cries aloud to his god to have pity on him, to grant him 

 snceess in war and hunting, to favor his endeavors to take prisoners, horses, and 

 scalps from the enemy. When the time for his * ' ' |)rayer has elapsed ho re- 

 turns to the rock; his presents are no longer there, and he believes them to have 

 been accepted and carried ofi' by the Man-ho-pa himself. Upon the part of the rock 

 which he had washed he tinds certain hierogly i)liics traced with white clay, of which 

 lie can generally interpret the meaning, jiarticularly when assisted by some of the 

 magi, who are no doubt privy to the whole transaction. These representations are 

 supposed to relate to his future fortune, or to that of his family or nation; he copies 

 thcni off » * ' upon the skin which he brought with him for that pur])Ose, and 

 returns honu' to read from them to the people the destiny of himself or them. If a 

 bear be represented with its head airected toward the village, the approach of a war- 

 party or the visitation of some evil is ajipreheuded. If, on the contrary, the tail of 

 the bear be toward the village, nothing lint good is anticiiiatcd, and they rejoice. 

 They say that an Indian on his return from the rock exhibited • * " on his 



• * * chart the representation of a strange building, as erected near the village. 

 They were all much surprised and did not jierfectly comprehend its meaning; but 

 four months afterward the prediction was, as it happened, verified, and a stockade 

 trading house was erected there by the French trader Jessaumo. 



Matthews refers thus to this "oracle" of the Hidatsa and Maiidan:^ 



The famous holy stone or medicine rock {Mihopas, or Maudan, Mihopini.s) • » « 

 was sonu' two orthrce days' journey from their residence. The Hidatsa now seldom 

 refer to it, and I do not think they ever visit it. 



§ 330. According to Maximilian:^ 



The Mandans have raany other medicine establishments in the vicinity of their 

 villages, all of which are dedicated to the superior powers. ' * * Of those 

 near Mitutahankus, one consists of tour poles placed in the form of a 8((uare; thetwo 

 foremost have a heap of earth and green turf thrown u]i ri>und them, and fonrliuli'alo 

 skulls laid iu a line between them, »vliile twenty-si.\ human skulls are placed iu a row 

 from one of the rear ])oles to t he other, and on some of these skulls are painted single 

 ri "i stripes. iSehind the whole two knives are stuck into the ground, and a bundle 

 of twigs is fastened at the toji of the pides with a kind of comb, or rake, painted red. 

 The Indians repair to such places when they desire to make ofl'erings or petitions ; 



' JaniPs's Account of Lord's Export, to Rocky Mouut.aina, Vol. i, p. 273. 



'V. S. Geol. aiirt Ocni;r. Suiv.. Huyrtcii, Miscell. riil>., No. 7, 1877: EtUnog. ami I'liilol. iil' nirtat.-s,i 



Indians, pp. 50. 51. 

 'Travels - * * iu North Ainerica, pp. :W1, 382. 



