116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194 



A sister would fast and pray for her brother's success when he was 

 away on a war expedition and she should be the first to meet him 

 outside of the village when he returned. Then he was expected to 

 give her the horses he had taken.. All his war activities were directed 

 toward the enrichment of his mother's household and, in return, his 

 sisters were expected to inflict the most severe personal self-torture 

 and to mourn longest were he to be killed. 



Mother's Brother-Sistee's Son; Mother's Brother-Sister's Daughter 



There is no distinction in the terminology for a mother's brother; 

 he is an "older brother" or "younger brother" depending on their 

 relative ages. The sister's children are "brother" and "sister," older 

 or yoimger, depending on their relative ages. In the Hidatsa matri- 

 lineal system the mother's brother is a very important relative even 

 when married and living in a different household. The most distin- 

 guished mother's brother was usually considered the head of the 

 mother's household and the actual direction and supervision of the 

 "younger brothers" was his responsibility. It was his chief duty to 

 direct their interests so that they would bring honors to themselves 

 and distinction to their household. He advised, punished, and praised 

 them; he organized their fasting and games of skiU and instructed them 

 in tribal lore. 



He would advise a "younger son" in marital matters and give 

 material assistance if he approved of the match; rarely would a 

 young man marry someone of whom his mother's brother disap- 

 proved. He would condemn a "sister's son" for being derehct in 

 his ceremonial duties while offering assistance with goods and horses. 

 Until a young man had made considerable advancement in the cere- 

 monies he would not tease a "mother's brother," but should he have 

 the good fortune to exceed his adviser in amassing war honors, he 

 would invariably tease his "mother's brother" saying "I went in 

 where the fighting was heaviest and see aU the honors I have, but 

 you must have been somewhere else for I see you do not have as 

 many honors." 



Unlike the Mandan, who transmitted most of their tribal bundles 

 from mother's brother to sister's son or ones standing in that rela- 

 tionship (except those owned by the clan or reserved for women), 

 sacred bundles passed from father to son. Therefore, the sister's son 

 or daughter did not look to the mother's brother for ritual training. 



The relations of a girl to her mother's brother were less restrained. 

 He would give assistance at her wedding or settle domestic quarrels 

 in the household, but the role he took depended on the assistance 

 asked of him by his sister. 



