denig] THE ASSINIBOIN 475 



or less strongly supported Indians with one or two and some would 

 get none. To do this sometimes two to four will combine against 

 the others and take the largest share, but one or two men seldom 

 carry this so far as to incur the resentment of the rest of the party. 

 It generally depends upon the number of relatives each has with 

 him, or his force in camp, before either of which those not so strongly 

 supported must give way. Quarrels often occur about these divi- 

 sions, and horses in dispute are killed or stolen in the night by those 

 who have few from those who have many before their return home. 



An Indian never gives away anything without some expectation of 

 a return or some other interested motive. If one observes another in 

 possession of a fine horse he would like to have he will take the occa- 

 sion of some feast or dance and publicly present him with a gun or 

 something of value, flattering his bravery, praising his liberality, and 

 throwing out general hints as to his object, though not directly men- 

 tioning it. He will let the matter rest thus for some days, and if the 

 other does not present him with the horse will demand his gift re- 

 turned, which is done. 



One will sometimes give a horse to another for some purpose or 

 equivalent and allow him to keep it; but should the receiver give the 

 horse to a third person the original owner will often claim him and 

 take him back, giving for his reason that he did not bestow him on 

 that person, and although he had presented him to the first, he should 

 have kept him and not given him away to another. Smaller gifts 

 are regarded in the light of loans and generally paid for in some 

 way. They may be considered as exchanges of necessities which they 

 take this way to effect. 



One would think that an article bought by them or of them should 

 be the property of the purchaser, but this is not always the case. If 

 an Indian buys a horse from another and it is stolen the first night or 

 two afterwards, or lamed the first race, part, and sometimes the 

 whole, of the payment must be returned to pacify the loser. 



If a gun is bought and it bursts or is broken shortly afterwards, 

 in like manner a refund of a portion of the purchase money would 

 be required. And worse still if the gun in the act of bursting had 

 crippled the man's hands, which is often the case, the accident would 

 also be paid for by him who sold the gun. These things are so well 

 known and anticipated among them that the vendor immediately 

 after the accident or loss invites the loser to a feast and by the pay- 

 ment of something settles the matter. This has the effect of their 

 having but few bargains or dealings with each other, so much so 

 that a horse bought and paid for by us from them can not be resold 

 to one of their own people if they know it, because the original 

 owner will take it if lie sees it in the hands of one of his own people 

 and that person is in a situation to be thus imposed upon. Most of 



