56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



cipal religious expressions while on these summer hunts. In no 

 instances were any of the important village ceremonies performed. 



By contrast with the nomadic tribes, this period was not one for 

 reorganizing the tribal structure, selecting new chiefs, joining military 

 societies, or any of the other group activities. For the Hidatsa, the 

 summer hunt was primarily an economic activity. Even the leader- 

 ship of the summer hunt was in hands other than either the summer 

 village or winter camps. Its internal organization and economic 

 aspects show close similarity to the nomadic groups in that the camp 

 was organized around a recognized leader and a poUce authority and 

 that the camp circle was employed. But the top leadership differed 

 from that of the nomads. The leader was selected for a specific time, 

 that is, from the time the group left the summer earth lodge village 

 until it returned about a month later; the nomadic leadership was, 

 except in a few cases, for no specific period. The summer war chief 

 and village or peace chief seemingly had no greater authority than 

 any other distinguished person and was restricted by the same rules 

 as were other people. For the nomadic groups, there was a leisureli- 

 ness that the Hidatsa could not enjoy since the hunt must be com- 

 pleted in time to harvest the crop. 



As soon as the party returned to the village, the summer camp 

 leader's duties terminated and the established village leaders took 

 over. The summer buffalo hunt thus was one of the outlets for leader- 

 ship to which all aspired as a mark of public esteem. 



Winter Camp 



After the retm^n from the summer hunt, and the completion of the 

 harvest, the group disbanded to form winter camps. These were 

 in sharp contrast to the few but permanent summer villages to which 

 they returned each spring. According to traditions, prior to the 

 appearance of the strong Siouan bands and the Assiniboin, the 

 summer villages were unfortified and the population was widely 

 scattered over a broad site situated to exploit adjacent corn grounds. 

 This is certainly true, for only in the ruins of the later sites do we 

 find evidences of fortifications and ditches. In traditional sites such 

 as Fort Clark Station and the settlements at Sanger, lodges were 

 widely scattered over broad river terraces. The pressure of enemy 

 groups also produced changes in the winter village structure. In 

 contrast to the smnmer village sites, which are still easily identified 

 by deep refuse and lodge pits, winter camp sites are exceedingly 

 difficult to find even when taken to the actual locations by older 

 informants who lived there. These were temporary sites located 

 in the heavy timber for protection from the storms. The wood 

 was used for lodges, fuel, and feed for the horses. The site was 



