152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



marital adventures. We see that when Wilham Bell has an affair 

 with Bird Woman, Wolf Chief bravely moves in with Bell's wife. 

 He is unwilling, however, to defend Rubs Herself from a beating 

 infhcted by White Belly because of public opinion which gave a man 

 the right to take back his wife if he was willing to face the ridicule of 

 his joking relatives. 



We must not infer that Wolf Chief's record is characteristic of his 

 time. Wolf Chief lived in a prominent household with parents who 

 stood high in the estimation of the tribe, for Small Ankles had not 

 only distinguished himself in warfare but had obtained numerous 

 sacred bundles. His wives were also prominent in various ceremonies 

 in their own right. Small Ankles had also been honored by being 

 selected as chief of the winter village. During his youth. Wolf Chief 

 had older brothers and a brother-in-law who provided for the house- 

 hold. He usually dressed up and walked through the village when the 

 other young men were preparing for war. His early efforts at fasting 

 were not very ambitious. He showed so little interest that, at one 

 time, his father criticized him sharply in public for his indifference to 

 fasting. It was indeed an extreme measure for a father to reprimand 

 a son. By Hidatsa standards, Wolf Chief would not be considered a 

 good son-in-law so we see that most families did not invite him to 

 live with them. 



Further understanding of Hidatsa famUy relations is brought out 

 by a study of Bear-Looks-Out's family. He was one of the "village 

 builders" or "protectors of the people" when Fishhook Village was 

 built in 1845. At that time he was married to Corn Woman, a Man- 

 dan, who had assisted him in purchasing the Mandan Corn Bundle 

 years before. A few years later he married four girls who had lost 

 their parents in the smallpox epidemic of 1837 and who had been 

 raised as sisters by Swan. Bear-Looks-Out maintained their separate 

 household and the five women assisted him in purchasing Old-Woman- 

 Who-Never-Dies and other ceremonial rites. Bear-Looks-Out was 

 a good hunter and the women were good workers. He also got many 

 things for helping in the ceremonies. He would invite in many 

 people to eat with him. Corn Woman died first but he preserved the 

 Mandan SkuU Bundle which had come from her father. With this 

 background, we will examine the later family life of this household of 

 four sisters occupying two different earth lodges, as related by Crows 

 Heart: 



People liked to go to Bear-Looks-Out's lodges for he always had good things to 

 eat. It was not known that the women were not getting along, for their lodges 

 were used for the White Buffalo and Goose Society dances and the women were 

 officers. When their children were nearly grown and my mother's brother 

 named Bears Heart had grown children, he ran away with Bear-Looks-Out's two 



