444 TRIBES OF THE UPPER MISSOURI [etu. ann. 46 



dinary conversation, principally on account of their talent in reciting 

 fables and creating mirth for the rest. They also sing for the doc- 

 tors and cry for the dead when paid, are poor, not respected, and 

 manage to rub through the rest of their days the best way they can. 

 They never sit in council when very old, are neglected, and serve for 

 a butt and ridicule for the young. They stay at home, make pipes, 

 smoke, and eat constantly and are ready at all times to offer their 

 services when something is to be gained. 



12. Young women, We-kosh-kap-pi, do little work before they are 

 married and have their first child, after which time they commence a 

 laborious life. Before this they go for wood and water, garnish 

 with beads and porcupine quills, and other light work. They gather 

 berries, assist in dances, paint, and show themselves. 



13. Middle-aged Women, We-yah-pe. These are the wives of the 

 soldiers or middle-aged men, and their time is employed in dress- 

 ing skins, cooking, drying meat, taking care of their children, mak- 

 ing cloth for their family. They are always busy, but can not be 

 said to lead a too laborious or miserable life. 



14. Very Old Women, We-noh-chah (Sioux). Wa-kun-kun-ah (As- 

 siniboin). On these fall all drudging and scullionry, some of their 

 occupations being too disgusting to relate. They also pound meat 

 and berries, make pemmican, carry burdens, and are used pretty 

 much as one of their dogs. They are thrown into the fort or left 

 on the prairie to die by their own relatives. 



15. Boys and Girls, Och-she-pe wechin chap-pe. The boys hunt 

 rabbits, set traps for foxes, play, but they seldom quarrel; they are 

 great pests and nuisances, both in camp and in the fort; they are 

 spoiled by their parents — forward, officious, tormenting, and impu- 

 dent. The girls are modest, timid, and exceedingly well behaved. 



Very Small Children, Yaque-ske-pe-nah, are carried about on the 

 backs of their mothers, or packed on dogs; they stand severe cold 

 well, do not cry much, and are suckled for two or three years. The 

 children are as well taken care of as they can be in the roving mode 

 of life of their parents, but being subject to exposure in all weather 

 and accidents. About two out of five are raised. 



The ahkitchetah regulate the hunt. The buffalo are not hunted by 

 a large camp as each individual chooses, but surrounded by the whole 

 camp at one time, which we will describe in that part of the report 

 which refers to hunting and to game laws. The dogs for these hunts 

 are determined by the chief and soldiers in the soldiers' lodge, and 

 the people are individually forbidden to hunt or in any manner to 

 raise the buffalo before that time. The reason is that by going in a 

 body and hemming in or surrounding them, some hundreds of the 

 animals are slain in a short time, whereas by one man's individual 



