Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 193 



exceptions to this rule, however. It was one of the Black Mouth 

 society's duties to forbid the young men to leave the village on un- 

 authorized expeditions. In some instances, horses brought back 

 from a successful raid were killed by the Black Mouths when they had 

 been ordered by the council to forbid the raid. These unauthorized 

 raids could start a great deal of trouble when the raid was made 

 against a band with whom peace negotiations were being conducted 

 by the council. In such instances the young men were frequently 

 severely whipped and their weapons destroyed. On other occasions, 

 when enemy war parties were near and the young men succeeded in 

 getting away from the village undetected to return with war honors, 

 victory dances were celebrated and the Black Mouths overlooked the 

 matter. 



These unauthorized war expeditions were a constant cause of 

 friction between age-groups in the Hidatsa villages. The culture 

 provided formal patterns whereby those showing promise as leaders 

 could advance by steps to the status of war leaders, and shortcuts 

 were not sanctioned. Nevertheless, there were those who took short- 

 cuts by organizing war expeditions of their own age-group and were 

 successful. Parents — particularly the older and more conservative 

 people — disapproved strongly of these unauthorized expeditions and 

 endeavored to keep their boys at home by denying them sacred objects 

 to take along. The group feelings toward these unauthorized ex- 

 peditions were reflected in the actions of the Black Mouths. Even 

 in these conflict situations the Black Mouths preferred to avoid 

 displays of force. Learning of some ambitious young man with ideas 

 of organizing an expedition, a member of the Black Mouths standing 

 in the relationship of "father" would go to the young man and talk 

 to him, telling him of the dangers he would encounter, particularly 

 if those he met in battle were older, skilled in warfare, and had many 

 sacred gods protecting them. He would refer to the fasting and 

 ceremonial participation of those in the tribe who had good reputations 

 as war leaders. He would emphasize the self-punishment on return- 

 ing from an unsuccessful expedition he must endure to regain the respect 

 of those whose young men had been killed. He would point out men 

 who had "kicked the stone," a term used to designate those unsuccess- 

 ful leaders who had lost men and were scorned until proper restitution 

 was made. Those who persisted in their ambitions generally met 

 disaster sooner or later, and their military ambitions were no longer 

 supported even by their own age-group. The unsuccessful war leader 

 usually dropped his society membership after "kicking the stone" a 

 second time and took little or no interest in other social or ceremonial 

 functions. 



