160 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



residence was patrilocal, the unit was composed of a number of ele- 

 mentary families held together through the female line. 



Except for certain ritualistic practices celebrated by the females and 

 sold to the daughters, the household did not perpetuate ritual prac- 

 tices. A man would secure his ceremonial bundles and rites from 

 his father living in a different lodge, and sell them to his married son 

 residing elsewhere in the village. Thus the sacred bundle rights 

 circulated from lodge to lodge. This was in marked contrast to the 

 Mandan system where bundles were often retained in the same house- 

 hold from generation to generation. 



Until the small log cabins were adopted, the lodge arrangement of 

 families varied little between households. The section to the back of 

 the lodge was reserved for the sacred bundles of the principal male 

 member of the household. He lived in that section of the lodge with 

 his wives. The right side of the lodge on entering and nearest the 

 door was penned off for the horses. Beyond the pens were the beds 

 for the old people and the very young children. The central section 

 contained the firepit and seats for those of the established members 

 of the family. A section next to the door on the left side on entering, 

 and beyond the windbreak and area reserved for the wood, was 

 walled off for the son-in-law and his family. As time passed and the 

 son-in-law became permanently adjusted to the others of the house- 

 hold, while growing in importance in the community, he and his 

 family moved nearer the head of the lodge and took over the favorite 

 and honored position formerly occupied by the father-in-law and his 

 wives. The final shift to the head of the lodge was made when the 

 father-in-law reached old age and no longer participated actively in 

 village matters, or at any other time when the son-in-law had at- 

 tained unusual respect in the village or the father-in-law died. 



The women cared for the lodge and kept it repaired. When the 

 lodge timbers were decayed and it was necessary to rebuild it, the 

 women provided the materials for a new roof cover. They enlisted 

 the assistance of their related households who worked together as a 

 team. The males living in the lodge and those belonging to the house- 

 hold living elsewhere raised the heavier posts, beams, and timbers. 

 It was the duty of the clan to care for its own members. Most of the 

 female clan members assisted in one way or another, if for only a 

 few hours, and also brought food for the workers. 



When camping away from the permanent summer village for short 

 periods during the eagle trapping season, or on other occasions when 

 the campsite was on the river and was to be occupied for only a 

 few months at most, it was customary to build the small "wood 

 lodge." These were small wood-covered tipi-shaped structures built 

 on a four-post central platform. Being smaller than the usual earth 



