Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 137 



included fasting and torturing as a part of the rituals. By partici- 

 pating with the household furnishing the goods and horses as gifts 

 to the ceremonial fathers, one could enhance the status of the person 

 putting on the ceremony. The demands were so great that only 

 those who were married could initiate a ceremony. However, any 

 young man (more particularly, those classified as "younger brothers") 

 was obligated to put up goods and to fast whenever a ceremony 

 involving fasting was being given. The distinguished war leaders 

 would come to watch the young men and to observe their response 

 to hunger and pain in order to get only the most promising ones for 

 their war parties. 



It was considered a great honor to be invited to go out with the 

 higher-ranking war leaders. Parents discouraged their sons from 

 accompanying those leaders with poor reputations. Boys who were 

 alert, good runners, and ambitious were soon invited to go along 

 with war parties to serve as camp tenders. They were expected to 

 care for the fires, bring water, and do the cooking. If there were 

 two or more boys along, the leader would observe their response 

 when camp duties were assigned them. Should he need a green 

 branch to hang sacred objects on and there were four boys in camp, 

 at his request all four were expected to jump up and bring the branch 

 even though one could do it. Boys knew that they were being 

 watched and that those who were lazy would not be invited out again 

 soon. Returning home, it was expected that the leader would 

 praise publicly those who had shown interest and had obeyed his 

 orders. As time passed it became more difficult for the lazy boys to 

 join war parties under the more successful leaders. 



Offensive warfare provided a young man with many opportunities 

 to learn skills in locating horses and attacking or evading the enemy. 

 There were also opportunities to observe and participate in rites 

 not practiced in his own household. The ambitious leaders encouraged 

 fasting by the camp tenders, offering as rewards the opportunity to 

 serve as scouts on future expeditions. At this point in a young 

 man's training, the father's experiences and training were solicited 

 directly by a son. The father would outline in detail his experiences 

 in fasting, the dreams he had received, the ceremonies he had per- 

 formed, and his military achievements. He might even "give" his 

 son those horses and scalps which the former had been promised in 

 his dreams but which, for one reason or another, he had not yet 

 possessed. When a young man had reached the point where he sought 

 advice in ritualistic matters, the "older brothers" became an assisting 

 group, supplying goods, horses, and other necessities as payments to 

 the father or "ceremonial fathers." The Hidatsa believed a young 

 man wishing to get ahead should have many fathers praying for him. 



