Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 227 



Then he took out a little black bear skin that belonged in his eagle trapping 

 bundle and spread it out on the ground under the hawk; then he took out the wolf 

 hide and smoked it with "sweetgrass" while he held it toward the west. 



We waited to hear what would happen. He sat there for some time and then 

 he said, "I have had a sign and I think we will be lucky. I was told by my gods 

 that there would be a sign of the future; even though there are no clouds now, the 

 hawk says that after sundown a small cloud will go over and it will sprinkle for a 

 little while. Another sign tells me that tomorrow we will find a horse. The sign 

 is that it will be a cripple. If you scouts find it, you must look for paint for the 

 one who finds it will conquer the enemy. In the morning you scouts will go to 

 Wolf Den Buttes (about a mile southeast of the present town of Dickinson, 

 N. Dak.) and wait for us." So we knew now what the gods had planned for us. 



Next day we went toward Wolf Den Buttes, going to the high places to look 

 around as we traveled. We reached the buttes at noon and hid our horses whOe 

 we looked around. Some killed antelopes, others of us watched for the main 

 party, and I looked for a good place to camp. Soon the main party came along 

 and Kidney sent us scouts on ahead toward Rainy Buttes to find a good place 

 to camp for the night. It was hard to find a good camping place there but we 

 finally found a good camping place and spring on the east side. We came to- 

 gether there late that night. 



Crows Breast had had his foot injured in a former battle and the stirrup caused 

 it to swell, so he told Kidney of it and asked that he be relieved. Kidney ap- 

 pointed me leader of the scouts. Kidney instructed me to take the scouts to 

 the east side of Buffalo Home Butte. I thought that if I did not take too large 

 a party, we could travel faster. So Old Dog, Rabbit Head, Red Robe, and I 

 started ahead thinking that we would get there before the sun came up. We 

 did not get there that early for on the way Rabbit Head and Red Robe wanted 

 to stop to smoke and rest. At the same time we saw many Juneberries. There 

 were some high rocks where we stopped and Old Dog, who was on guard while 

 we stopped, came running howhng like a coyote and we knew he had found 

 something. He stopped and said that there was a horse not far away. 



When we went toward the horse there was not much wind so we thought that 

 it would be a good idea to burn some buffalo manure to make it easier to catch. 

 The wind went down so we decided to surround the animal instead. I said to 

 the others, "We have already found the horse that our leader saw in his sacred 

 signs. Now we should try hard to catch him." 



As we came close, we saw that the horse had hobbles on that had cut into its 

 skin. We knew then that it belonged to the enemy. One said to me, "Kidney 

 saw a crippled horse in his dream. This one is not crippled. It must be that 

 our leader does not have a sharp eye." 



There was spring water on the north side of Buffalo Home Butte so we picketed 

 the horse there and climbed the butte to look around with the telescope. Old 

 Dog saw something in the distance; we thought it might be a bear, elk, or buffalo 

 and kept turning to it. At last we saw that it was a buffalo going to water. 

 Two stayed back on the butte while the rest of us went for the buffalo. By leaving 

 our blankets and leggings we were able to travel as fast afoot as a horse galloping. 

 There seemed no place to approach the animal for it was flat there so I, being the 

 leader, told the others to go to the other side of the buffalo and crawl toward it. 

 If it came my way I would head it off so that someone would get a shot at it. 

 This way we killed it but we teased one warrior because he jumped up when a 

 cactus stuck into his leg. This was the best time for hunting buffalo for they are 

 fat in the summer. We took the best meat and piled it to one side. We took the 

 paunch for a bucket, cleaned out the inwards, and drank the blood that accumu- 



