Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 207 



datsa, having no comparable ceremony, selected men who had rights 

 in existing buffalo ceremonies. The same association of male sacred 

 bundle owners and a woman's society existing for the Goose society 

 followed for the White Buffalo Cow society. Because of this associ- 

 ation, when one group of women sold out, the sale did not affect the 

 male singers whose positions were held by virtue of their rights 

 in other ceremonies. The songs and rites were identical to those 

 of the Mandan which suggests recent adoption from the Mandan. 

 On the other hand, the Goose society differed slightly in parapher- 

 nalia, songs, and rites from the Mandan — consistent with native 

 traditions that this society was adopted from the Mandan long before 

 the White Buffalo society was purchased. 



According to Mandan accounts, the Bull society formerly met 

 with the White Buffalo Cow society during the winter observances, 

 but in later years this men's society had died out. During the 19th 

 century the Black Mouths met with the women since one of the 

 important duties of this society was to organize the village for fasting 

 when the days were shortest to bring the buffalo herds to the river 

 bottoms near the village. When it was announced that the society 

 was to meet on the invitation of some individual — frequently the 

 man selected as Winter Camp leader — and that goods had been put 

 up for the rites, it was the duty of the Black Mouths to enforce the 

 quiet order in the village. Then the dogs were taken into the lodge; 

 premature and individual hunting was prohibited; women remained 

 near their lodges and cut no wood; and fires were frequently extin- 

 guished unless a strong wind was blowing from the direction the ani- 

 mals were taking. The women met each day at the lodge selected 

 for the rites. During this time other individuals brought goods or 

 horses and asked the women or the singers to pray to the buffaloes, 

 telling them that the society was dancing and that they should come 

 to see their "chUd." The robes belonging to the special officers, the 

 sacred pipe, and the white headbands were smoked in the fumes 

 from wild peppermint stems. If the buffalo herds were late arriving, 

 the women would sometimes meet daily for quite a whUe. Usually 

 their first meeting was when large herds were observed at a distance 

 and the storms had begun. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HIDATSA AGE-GRADE STRUCTURE 



The Hidatsa age-grade societies were organized and named groups 

 comprising, with a few exceptions, persons of approximately the same 

 age and sex. The few exceptions were older men retained as singers 

 by those recently buying a new society, young women engaged by 

 the Bull society to bring them water during public displays, male 



