40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



contests for adults and games of skill for the children, but in the sum- 

 mer village the population was intermixed so that an outsider would 

 scarcely have been able to detect the existence of different social 

 groupings. 



Under the direction of the council, the village was fortified. A 

 large bell was obtained and rung each day by a Black Mouth to 

 announce that the gates were open for the horses to go to pasture. 

 The bell was again rung in the evening to announce that the gates 

 were soon to be closed and that the people should come in from their 

 work. Once the gate was closed, all sections of the village were 

 guarded to keep out intruders, and only those who could be identified 

 were admitted. Unauthorized war parties were forbidden to go 

 out and the rewards of their successful expeditions were depreciated. 



LEADERS 

 War 



It was in this atmosphere that Fishhook was first built and ad- 

 ministered until the last Mandan village group and the Arikara 

 settled at the village after 1860. Prior to that time, the people at 

 Fishhook were largely at the mercy of the Assiniboin and Sioux 

 whose war parties against the Arikara and Nuptadi Mandan living 

 below the Knife were harbored and fed both going and coming and 

 the group felt obliged to tolerate them — even though it was common 

 for a young man to be sent out on the sly to warn the people down- 

 stream. During this time several large-scale attacks were made on 

 the village, each of which was driven off under the skillful leadership 

 of Four Bears who is today still considered one of their most dis- 

 tinguished v/ar chiefs. The role of the village or religious leaders 

 has been largely obscured by the numerous exploits and the bravery 

 of this military leader. His prestige was so great that all respected 

 him as the savior of the village. Before his death in 1861, he had 

 convinced the Nuptadi Mandan and the Arikara that their position 

 would be more secure if they came to Fishhook to make their per- 

 manent home away from the Yanktons who greatly outnumbered 

 them and were determined to extend their range northward from the 

 Heart River to include the large Painted Woods bottoms admirably 

 suited for winter camps. 



The role of the council has been largely obscured by the social 

 stature of this Hidatsa leader, but numerous incidents reflect the 

 influence of the bundle owners expressed in the objective acts of the 

 war chief. At the time the Arikara were invited to move north and 

 join the other earth lodge people at Fishhook, they chose to build 

 instead on the opposite bank in two separate villages and with that 

 end in view "planted" their medicines there. That is, they had 



