130 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194 



younger one, seeing that he did not get hurt or stray away, pulling 

 him back when approaching too close to the horses or when in danger 

 of falling into an open cache pit. A younger sister would be given into 

 the care of one of the older sisters of the lodge. Those a little older 

 would teach the younger ones games which they had learned from 

 those a little older than themselves. Thus the knowledge possessed 

 by the older siblings was passed down to the younger ones. Most 

 of a boy's economic training came from the maternal grandfather and 

 the older brothers — less frequently a brother-in-law — while his 

 ritualistic training was reserved for the father and the people of the 

 father's clan. Except for ritualistic training, most of the cultural 

 heritage was transmitted informally. A girl received most of her train- 

 ing from her mother and the older women of the lodge. Although her 

 own mother was closest to her, as a rule, all lodge females would give 

 advice and training directed toward her welfare and upbringing. 

 The household was sharply divided as far as its child-training func- 

 tions were concerned; one looked to the mother's lineage for economic 

 and social training while the father's lineage assumed the responsi- 

 bility for ritualistic training. 



A boy was discouraged from playing with toys usually used by 

 girls while, to a lesser degree, girls were not encouraged to play with 

 boys' toys. "Spin the top" was the first game played by very small 

 boys while the girls of the same age would play with marbles and 

 beads. Usually the maternal grandfather would make the top and 

 show the little boy how to spin it. The maternal grandmother or 

 some other old woman of the lodge would supply the toys for the 

 little girls and show them how to string the beads or roll the marbles. 

 Even though men had firearms, the boys had bows and arrows. 

 It was said that a Hidatsa boy grew up with a bow and arrows. He 

 was given a bow and blunt arrows as soon as he was able to use them. 

 At first he would use them around the lodge, shooting into the coals 

 or at targets made of grass set up against one of the lodge posts. 

 Girls of the same age would have a ball to roll and kick. Gambling 

 was common and encouraged by the adults. A boy would invite 

 another of an adjoining earth lodge to come over and shoot at a 

 target, usually a stuffed rabbit skin, and the one who hit it would 

 take both arrows. The old men of the lodges would join in the 

 contest, betting things for their lodge members, and pitting lodge 

 against lodge. It would not be long until the young boys of the 

 same age were shooting at moving objects with greatly improved bows 

 and arrows. Wolf Chief said that he was not more than 6 years of 

 age when he began testing his skill with other boys in the game of 

 "tied up," one involving shooting arrows into a stuffed bird thrown 

 into the air by some old man. Each contestant would usually have 



