BADiN] MATERIAL CULTURE 113 



in one tree, but a really large tree would hold even more. The pigeons were hunted 

 in the following manner: Long poles were taken and the pigeons poked out of their 

 nests. In this manner many would be killed very easily in one day. They are 

 then either broiled or steeped, when they have a delicious taste. Often it is unnec- 

 essary to hunt for them after a storm because large quantities die from exposure to 

 inclement weather. 



Method of slaughtenng animals. — According to most of the author's 

 informants, all larger animals were opened by making two long in- 

 cisions, one on each side of the chest. This information may be 

 accepted as correct with respect to the bear, but there is less certainty 

 as to other large animals. There are two considerations, however, 

 which seem to make the question of agreement among informants of 

 secondary importance: First, the considerable differences in this and 

 kindred matters among the settlements of the Winnebago, due to 

 the large extent of territory they inhabited and the diverse influences 

 potent at various places; and secondly, the fact that the distribution 

 of food was entirely a matter of courtesy between individuals, so that 

 considerable variation in custom was both possible and probable. 



According to one informant the man who killed an animal had the 

 least to say about its distribution and generally got the poorest share. 

 This unquestionably does not give a very accurate impression of the 

 custom, because subsequent questioning brought out clearly the fact 

 that the maiuier of distribution depended entirely on the number of 

 individuals present at the kUling of the animal, and also on the age of 

 these individuals and their social standing. Remembering that there 

 is no ' ' typical ' ' division which an Indiaii thinks of in the abstract, 

 but that he always has in mind particular instances of distribution, 

 in order to ascertain definite rules it would obviously be necessarj^ to 

 obtain an adequate number of representative cases in which all the 

 possibilities based on the factors of age, number, and social standing 

 would be duly considered. 



From another individual the following information was obtained : 

 When two people went hunting the man who killed the animal 

 received the head, breast, feet, lungs, and heart; his companion, 

 the hide and the rest of the animal. A feast was given afterwards, 

 however, at which the bravest warrior received all that was properly 

 the share of the man who killed the animal. When four went out, 

 the eldest always got the hide; he was granted also the right to 

 apportion the animal. This last instance seems significant in view 

 of the fact that at the tribal hunt the rights of the individual who 

 killed the animal were subservient to many other rights, as those 

 pertaining to seniority and social standing, and suggests that only 

 when one or two individuals took the rather great risks of hunting by 

 themselves was actual killing of the animal deemed of predominating 

 importance in the apportionment. 



