﻿FLETCHER-LA 
  ll.I'SCHK] 
  WARFARE 
  441 
  

  

  struck 
  the 
  enemy 
  first 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  man 
  struck 
  the 
  bow 
  with 
  his 
  gun 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  

   strike 
  the 
  enemy. 
  Other 
  witnesses 
  to 
  the 
  action 
  gave 
  their 
  testimony 
  and 
  all 
  agreed 
  

   that 
  the 
  man 
  with 
  the 
  bow 
  struck 
  the 
  enemy 
  first 
  and 
  not 
  the 
  man 
  with 
  the 
  gun. 
  

   Twice 
  the 
  keeper 
  bade 
  the 
  two 
  men 
  repeat 
  their 
  stories, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  one 
  that 
  was 
  in 
  

   the 
  wrong 
  might 
  have 
  a 
  chance 
  to 
  withdraw 
  his 
  false 
  statement 
  and 
  so 
  escape 
  punish- 
  

   ment; 
  but 
  both 
  men 
  held 
  to 
  their 
  original 
  story. 
  The 
  slick 
  was 
  not 
  dropped. 
  The 
  

   keeper 
  then 
  said: 
  " 
  I 
  shall 
  leave 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  truth 
  of 
  this 
  story 
  to 
  the 
  Thunder 
  

   god 
  to 
  decide. 
  We 
  shall 
  know 
  within 
  the 
  year 
  which 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  men 
  has 
  spoken 
  

   the 
  truth." 
  Summer 
  came 
  and 
  during 
  the 
  tribal 
  buffalo 
  hunt 
  a 
  horse 
  fell 
  on 
  the 
  

   man 
  who 
  claimed 
  to 
  have 
  struck 
  the 
  enemy 
  with 
  his 
  gun, 
  and 
  he 
  was 
  killed. 
  

  

  The 
  old 
  narrator 
  mentioned 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  disputants 
  and 
  it 
  

   was 
  believed 
  that 
  the 
  man 
  on 
  whom 
  the 
  horse 
  fell 
  had 
  been 
  supernat- 
  

   u 
  rally 
  killed 
  because 
  he 
  had 
  spoken 
  falsely. 
  

  

  "the 
  crow" 
  

  

  A 
  man 
  who 
  had 
  attained 
  mure 
  than 
  once 
  to 
  honors 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  

   three 
  grades 
  became 
  entitled 
  to 
  wear 
  a 
  peculiar 
  and 
  elaborate 
  orna- 
  

   ment 
  called 
  "the 
  Crow." 
  This 
  was 
  worn 
  at 
  the 
  back, 
  fastened 
  by 
  

   a 
  belt 
  around 
  the 
  waist; 
  it 
  was 
  made 
  with 
  two 
  long 
  pendants 
  of 
  

   dressed 
  skin 
  painted 
  red 
  or 
  green, 
  which 
  fell 
  over 
  the 
  legs 
  to 
  the 
  heels. 
  

   On 
  the 
  skin 
  were 
  fastened 
  rows 
  of 
  eagle 
  feathers 
  arranged 
  to 
  hang 
  

   freely 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  flutter 
  with 
  the 
  movements 
  of 
  the 
  wearer. 
  An 
  entire 
  

   eagle 
  skin, 
  with 
  head, 
  beak, 
  and 
  tail, 
  formed 
  the 
  middle 
  ornament; 
  

   from 
  this 
  rose 
  two 
  arrow 
  shafts 
  tipped 
  with 
  hair 
  dyed 
  red. 
  On 
  the 
  

   right 
  hip 
  was 
  the 
  tail 
  of 
  a 
  wolf; 
  on 
  the 
  left 
  the 
  entire 
  skin 
  of 
  a 
  crow. 
  

   This 
  composite 
  decoration 
  illustrated 
  certain 
  ideas 
  that 
  were 
  funda- 
  

   mental 
  to 
  native 
  beliefs, 
  namely: 
  That 
  man 
  is 
  in 
  vital 
  connection 
  

   with 
  all 
  forms 
  of 
  life; 
  that 
  he 
  is 
  always 
  in 
  touch 
  with 
  the 
  super- 
  

   natural, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  life 
  and 
  the 
  acts 
  of 
  the 
  warrior 
  are 
  under 
  the 
  

   supervision 
  of 
  Thunder 
  as 
  the 
  god 
  of 
  war. 
  This 
  relation 
  was 
  believed 
  

   to 
  be 
  tin 
  individual 
  one 
  and 
  any 
  war 
  honor 
  accorded 
  was 
  the 
  recogni- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  an 
  individual 
  achievement. 
  Such 
  a 
  bestowal 
  was 
  the 
  outcome 
  

   of 
  the 
  native 
  method 
  of 
  warfare, 
  for 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  military 
  organization, 
  

   like 
  an 
  army, 
  in 
  the 
  tribe 
  and, 
  strictly 
  speaking, 
  no 
  commanding 
  

   officer 
  of 
  a 
  war 
  party; 
  when 
  the 
  battle 
  was 
  on, 
  each 
  man 
  fought 
  

   for 
  and 
  by 
  himself. 
  A 
  valorous 
  deed 
  was 
  therefore 
  the 
  man's 
  own 
  

   act 
  and 
  the 
  honor 
  which 
  was 
  accorded 
  the 
  kind 
  of 
  act 
  performed 
  was 
  

   accredited 
  by 
  Thunder 
  through 
  the 
  representative 
  birds 
  associated 
  

   with 
  Thunder, 
  and 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Pack. 
  

  

  "The 
  Crow" 
  decoration 
  (pi. 
  55) 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  symbolize 
  a 
  battlefield 
  

   after 
  the 
  conflict 
  is 
  over. 
  The 
  fluttering 
  feathers 
  on 
  the 
  pendants 
  

   represented 
  the 
  dropping 
  of 
  feathers 
  from 
  the 
  birds 
  fighting 
  over 
  the 
  

   dead 
  bodies. 
  Sometimes 
  the 
  wearer 
  of 
  "the 
  Crow" 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  

   realism 
  by 
  painting 
  white 
  spots 
  on 
  his 
  back 
  to 
  represent 
  the 
  drop- 
  

   pings 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  as 
  they 
  hovered 
  over 
  the 
  bodies 
  of 
  the 
  slain. 
  The 
  

   two 
  arrow 
  shafts 
  had 
  a 
  double 
  significance: 
  they 
  represented 
  the 
  stark 
  

   bodies 
  and 
  also 
  the 
  fatal 
  arrows 
  standing 
  in 
  a 
  lifeless 
  enemy. 
  The 
  

   eagle 
  was 
  associated 
  with 
  war 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  destructive 
  powers 
  of 
  

  

  