Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 151 



At that time I was afraid that she would tell lies to the Indian judges at the 

 Agency and they would criticize me. I went to my good friend Major Clapp and 

 said, "I am married to Moves Sweetgrass but she does not attend to my cooking. 

 She runs around all the time to the dances. I tell her you do not want the Indians 

 to dance. She wants to give away all of our things at the dances. She dances 

 and comes back late. You are the agent and if you say I must keep her, I will." 

 Major Clapp asked me to bring her to the Agency for the next issue of Govern- 

 ment rations. He asked her, "Does your husband refuse to go to dances? Do 

 you ask him to give away property? When he comes in from work, do you tell 

 him to cook his own meals? Do you ask others to dance and to take you to 

 dances?" Without waiting for her answers the agent said that she was wrong to 

 demand so much and that people should not dance all the time. Then he divorced 

 us. But the three Indian judges. Good Bear, Sitting Bear, and Black Eagle 

 wanted me to take her back and try it again. 



I said to them, "I can't. If you want to know her better, you should marry her, 

 yourselves." Then I walked off, for I knew that the Agent was on my side. [End 

 of Wolf Chief's narrative.] 



From Wolf Chief's narrative, something of the range of marriage 

 patterns can be observed. In some instances there vt^ere no rites 

 whatsoever, the wife moving in with Wolf Chief. In other instances 

 there was an exchange of horses and other property. He avoided 

 giving horses or enlisting the assistance of his relatives in completing 

 the marriage whenever possible, and openly boasted of his extra- 

 marital adventures. We note that he avoided marrying those with 

 children. He expressed sadness only when separated from Otter 

 because of his love for his son, Standing Coyote. AU through the 

 narrative we see him referring to his dream of a long life promised 

 him if he gave his wives four times in the "walking" ceremony to caU 

 the buffaloes. Having assisted him in the rites, his wives are cast off 

 with little show of emotion. When he gave the "walking" ceremony 

 with Looks-for-Sweetgrass, he concluded that his social stature was 

 so much higher that he could get a better wife and tried to marry a 

 woman who had never been married before, the daughter of a Mandan 

 chief. We see that when Wolf Chief locks Looks-for-Sweetgrass out 

 of his lodge because of an affair with White BeUy, separation is accepted 

 by both parties. A few years later, however, when Wolf Chief 

 steals Kubs Herself, White Belly does not accept the situation and 

 threatens to kiU Wolf Chief, his own clan brother. 



He also had his eyes on a captive, while with the Sioux on Sand 

 Creek, but was unwilling to buy her from the man who had captured 

 her because he disliked putting up horses. He did not dare steal her, 

 for he considered that equivalent to stealing a man's horse or gun, 

 which to Wolf Chief was different from eloping with another man's 

 wife. In no instance did the aggrieved man's clan destroy property 

 of Wolf Chief's household or clan, for most women with whom Wolf 

 Chief was involved had themselves been involved in numerous 



