Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 231 



responsibilities himself nor were there any understandings with others 

 that they would assist him. He recognized the good reputation of 

 others by selecting four of them as coleaders and Crows Breast as 

 leader of the scouts although, at this tune, Crows Breast held the 

 highest military position in the village, being the village war chief. 

 We see that one ritual activity after another was performed while 

 out from the village. At first the party knew nothing about his 

 plans other than that he had a dream shortly after giving the Wolf 

 ceremony. Their confidence in his leadership and supernatural powers 

 was indicated by the size of the party. Although the others assumed 

 that the purpose of the expedition was to test the supernatural powers 

 of his recently acquired bundle, in his first ritualistic performance, 

 we find him first employing the painted hawk, then the little black 

 bear belonging to his eagle trapping bundle before introducing the 

 wolf hide to the party gathered around hmi. Thus, he expressed 

 his wealth of supernatural property which should collectively add to 

 his supernatural powers. We see that the scouts have the most 

 difficult duty, traveling far out ahead of the main party, but that they 

 have prior claim to all the horses they first see. In this case, however, 

 the scouts interpret Kidney's "sign" in which he saw a crippled horse 

 as a prior claim. In this connection also, it would be well to note 

 that very specific rules defined ownership of horses taken on these 

 raids. The horses belonged to the first person seeing them, irrespective 

 of the persons executing the capture of them. This was an incentive 

 to those who were active in getting about and finding horses. Occa- 

 sionally this rule did not work; one might have discovered fresh tracks 

 and be following them only to meet one of the party in actual possession 

 of the horses. It was then necessary for the leader to decide whether 

 the man finding the horses had seen them before the other had discov- 

 ered their tracks, for the discovery of fresh tracks was equivalent to 

 seeing the horses. On one occasion, the possessor of the horse proved 

 that the tracks were not made by the horses he brought back because 

 one of them had a broken hoof which did not show in the tracks 

 the other was following. 



Note that Hard Horn called on Wolf Chief to supply thongs so 

 that he might be tortured near a hawk's nest, hoping that he would 

 get a vision from that bird. We have here a case of deliberate effort 

 to acquire this particular bird as a guardian spirit. By the clan 

 kinship extension, Wolf Chief was Hard Horn's "father." Wolf 

 Chief, due to closer relationships with the Mandan, considered 

 Dancing Flag of the Mandan Speckled Eagle clan, which was at this 

 time being absorbed by the larger Mandan Prahie Chicken clan, his 

 "brother." So he invites Dancing Flag, an older person, to assist him. 

 The two men assisted Hard Horn in his self -torturing and prayed for 



