48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



Mandan. In later years such visits were deemed a necessity in the 

 winter camps also, occasioned by the proximity of enemy winter 

 camps attracted by nearby trading posts. 



The Hidatsa visited alien groups a great deal, even those groups 

 against whom they conducted intermittent warfare. There were 

 numerous friendships between individual Hidatsas and members of 

 alien bands who customarily came to the villages to trade for corn. 

 In return, a prominent Hidatsa would pledge a return visit at some 

 future date at a rendezvous out on the prairies. As far as I know, 

 these smaU group visiting trips were only to those bands which 

 came regularly to the villages to trade. A Hidatsa would select 

 as a "son" a prominent member of the visiting band, usually the 

 leader of the band, and announce that he would come to visit some- 

 time during the summer. In the interim both "father" and "son" 

 would prepare the goods and paraphernalia necessary for the adoption 

 ceremonies. The father would first prepare, or have prepared by 

 some member of the Adoption Pipe fraternity, the principal ceremonial 

 object; a wooden pipestem decorated with redheaded woodpecker 

 scalps, eagle feathers, and horsetail hair hanging as a scalp. He 

 would also secure a good buffalo horse, complete sets of clothing 

 for the son and family, and other fine presents such as robes, guns, 

 and bows and arrows. In the accumulation of the necessary things, 

 he received assistance from his own and related households, and 

 from the members of his own clan and age-grade groups. 



When the time came for the adoption rites to be given, frequently 

 a large part of the village indicated a desire to go along for the purpose 

 of trading corn for robes, horses, and other things. The father in 

 the adoption rites became the leader of the party since it was his 

 ceremony. If a large number of families were involved, including 

 small children, and the trip would take them through enemy territory, 

 the party was organized in essentially the same manner as the summer 

 buffalo hunt. Since the party was burdened with sacks of corn and 

 other garden products, they traveled slowly. The leader was re- 

 sponsible for the safety of his party and invariably employed those 

 Black Mouths in the party to assist in the policing of the group. 

 If the leader was especially popular and the group represented most 

 of the village population, the Black Mouths accompanied them 

 as the recognized police force while the defense of the village was 

 left to those left behind and the men of an adjacent village. 



One adopting a son of an alien group endeavored to make a good 

 display of wealth, and his relatives would feel obliged to go along 

 and assist him in his efforts lest the enemy groups think little of 

 the Hidatsa. If a man had little following and the others thought 

 that his trip was unwise, it was usually canceled on the advice of 



