50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



party was merely a group of individuals accepting invitations to 

 come visiting, usually the most distinguished war leader was selected 

 or the people accepted his leadership without the formality of a 

 selection. More often, however, these visits were for a specific pur- 

 pose ; to invite the alien group to come to trade, to observe ceremonies, 

 to partake in the winter hunts, or to instruct the Hidatsa in some 

 ceremony or dance which appealed to them. Although the group 

 lacked the formal organization and specialization of duties so charac- 

 teristic of the summer camp, the essential features were there: a 

 leader was appointed or one assumed that position by virtue of his 

 personality and prior experiences; the older men were consulted when 

 crises arose; and younger men served as scouts. The principal 

 difference was the absence of an organized police group. Being 

 better able to travel unobserved, the party avoided battle by seeking 

 cover, and prohibiting noises and fires whenever, in the opinion of 

 the leader and the older men, the situation warranted. One wonders 

 why, in view of the teachings of the older men when the youth of the 

 village were seeking supernatural guardians, these measures were 

 taken. Evidently, the Hidatsa were practical about these religious 



matters. 



SuMMEE Hunt 



One of the most important activities of the summer camp was the 

 summer buffalo hunt which, invariably, affected the entire tribe. 

 These hunts were not tribal activities in the manner of the Plains 

 nomadic groups, who assembled as a unit during the summer for the 

 large buffalo hunts and tribal Sun Dance activities, but rather a 

 village activity in which all except the old participated. It was a 

 recognized unit of the total social and economic activities of the 

 village and seems to have been a custom of long standing. After 

 the corn had reached knee-height, and the fixed summer rites such 

 as the NaxpikE and Wolf Ceremonies had been performed, there was 

 a slack period of about a month before the time came to harvest the 

 crops. The summer hunt was designed to come at this time. In 

 former times, it was often customary to go out 100-200 miles from 

 the village to cure meat and hides, leaving behind an older woman 

 of each household, the small children, and enough older men to defend 

 the village from burning. In later years, with reduced numbers and 

 villages closely built for mutual defense, groups cooperated for the 

 defense of the villages and older people. Either the older people 

 would move to one village, or they would keep in close touch with 

 each other, or one village would not go out until the others had 

 returned. 



The older men planned the summer hunt several months in advance 

 from reports of war parties and others who had been out from the 



