Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGAlSriZATION 47 



ceremonies promised than it was possible to perform adequately. 

 In these situations, the older men could postpone the performance of 

 a particular rite until the succeeding year simply by informing the 

 pledger that "since you have pledged the ceremony, it is the same as 

 though you had gone through with it." The postponement had the 

 sanction of the group and the authority of the council was never 

 questioned. Informants say that to question the authority of the 

 council would have brought bad luck which was just what the pledger 

 was endeavoring to avoid by pledging the ceremony. Village esti- 

 mations of young men's bravery and fortitude were made largely on 

 the basis of observations of the older men at the important summer 

 ceremonies. When the population occupied the three villages at the 

 Knife River, there was a large measure of competition between 

 youths of different villages to outdo each other in the endurance of 

 pain and the old people would encourage this competition by telling 

 their young men that they should be brave and not show any signs 

 of fear in the presence of their people from the other villages or of 

 enemy groups who might be present. 



The summer camps were situated on grassed terraces above wooded 

 bottoms and out of the reach of floods. The construction and mainte- 

 nance of these villages was a greater task than was necessitated by 

 the winter villages. The large summer earth lodges, large drying 

 scaffolds, and the storage pits all demanded a great deal of labor. 

 During later years there were fortifications to build and maintain. 

 In time, fuel became a problem and it was necessary to rely more on 

 driftwood or trees and branches cut from timber farther upstream 

 and floated down to the villages. Nevertheless, the stability of, 

 and the long residence in, these summer villages is indicated by native 

 traditions substantiated by travelers' accounts, the depth of refuse 

 accumulation, and the concentration of lodges on their village sites 

 at the Knife River and downstream along the Missouri to the vicinity 

 of Square Buttes. 



Intertribal Visits 



Both intratribal and intertribal contacts were most numerous during 

 the period of summer village occupation. Visits were both economic 

 (alien groups came to trade for garden products) and social in char- 

 acter. At this time it was necessary to watch the hotheads to prevent 

 quarrels, and to protect the village should trouble threaten. The 

 Black Mouths met continuously during the visiting period, forbade 

 young men to leave on war expeditions lest the village be left defense- 

 less, and frequently recalled parties outside the village when word 

 was received that an ahen group was approaching. There were 

 also continuous contacts with other Hidatsa village groups and the 



