226 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 194 



said that he was going to appoint the scouts to go out ahead on horseback. He 

 picked up the sacred bundle and walked a few yards from us, spread it out and 

 said, "Crows Breast, step forward; also Red Robe, Rabbit Head, Crazy Raven, 

 Wolf Chief, Old Dog, and Good Bear. Crows Breast will be the leader of the 

 scouts for he is already a headman. You will go over towards Wolf Den Buttes 

 and see if there are any enemies. We will follow you over that way and build the 

 fire and you will come back and meet us. Crows Breast, I want you to stand in 

 front of me; I will paint you just as I saw things in my dream right after giving 

 the Wolf Ceremony. I will paint you with wliite clay first, for you are the leader 

 of the scouts; then I will paint the other scouts. I will sing a holy song." 



He wet the white clay but before he painted us, he sang one of the Wolf songs. 

 As he painted, he sang and talked to his gods saying, "You are our leaders and 

 we want you to give us good luck." 



Then he sang, "When I look for a horse, I alwaj'^s say this." He sang this song 

 because he wanted to get a horse. 



As he painted the foreheads of the young wolves or scouts, he said to the wolf 

 hide, "I want you to save their lives when they strike the enemy; I want to see 

 them all have good luck." He sang again; then he picked up the wolf hide from 

 his sacred bundle and put it around Crows Breast's neck saying, "You men go a 

 long distance on horseback; then if you think it best, you can go the rest of the 

 way afoot." 



Whenever the chief of the scouts or young wolves wanted us to go faster he 

 always said Huiiii. We rode nearly 60 miles that day, going to the tops of the 

 hills to look around with a telescope. By evening, since we had not seen any 

 signs of the enemy, Crows Breast sent two young wolves out to kill antelopes for 

 our evening meals and they brought in three while the rest of the scouts watched 

 for the enemy. 



After the scouts had been selected that morning. Kidney named four men to be 

 his assistants or coleaders, for they were very holy and could be of much help to 

 him. All were older men who had important sacred bundles and had lead success- 

 ful war expeditions. Spotted Horn was selected because be had a Creek bundle; 

 Loud Walker because he had fasted often in the Mandan Okipa and had many 

 dreams from the buffaloes; Moves Slowly because he was the Hoita in the Okipa, 

 and Porcupine Pemmican because he represented Long Arm whenever the NaxpikE 

 ceremony was given. 



We scouts had just finished eating when the others reached camp. We were 

 sitting in a circle singing about our girls and having a good time teasing each other 

 when Kidney told us to be quiet. Then we knew that the time had come to find 

 out what Kidney was after on this expedition. 



He said, "I want to learn what is going to happen; if we are going to be success- 

 ful, I want to know that beforehand. All you men sit facing the south. One of 

 you young men go out, cut a chokecherry branch, and bring it here." 



It was the custom on a trip like this for the camp tenders to be alert and to 

 jump up whenever the Old Wolf asked for something. If one failed to do that, 

 the older men would see it and say that he was lazy and no good. As soon as he 

 mentioned the branch, from fear of being called worthless, several of them went, 

 although one could have done it. 



Kidney put his saddle blanket down in front of him with the sacred bundle on 

 it. He stuck the branch in the ground in front of the bundle. He took a stuffed 

 hawk, one of his personal sacred objects, lifted it toward the south, sang a sacred 

 song belonging to the bird, and tossed the bird towards the branch. It stuck to 

 the branch and hung there. 



