Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 241 



selected as the great medicine man in spite of his repeated military 

 reverses because the Earthnaming bundle had great potential powers 

 even though Guts had not heretofore been able to manipulate them. 

 Nevertheless, the powers were there according to tribal traditions. 



We find the leaders instructing the younger men to make trilling 

 noises, whenever an enemy was killed, to prove their bravery. The 

 Gun rites performed by Black Shield are interesting because the same 

 rites were frequently practiced in exactly the same manner by others 

 as a result of identical vision experiences and were bought and sold in 

 a "father-son" relationship as were the long-established tribal rites. 

 The only reference Four Dancers makes to "signs" is in the case of 

 one man who, when he saw a prairie dog owl flying over him, was 

 prompted to manifest unusual bravery since the bird was his god. 

 We are told something of the formal character of Plains warfare ex- 

 pressed in the desire of Guts and his friend to sing their war songs for 

 the benefit of the Sioux women and the prompt response by the Sioux 

 women who sang their victory songs for the Hidatsa because of their 

 bravery. 



A significant role of Hidatsa offensive warfare was expressed by 

 the reaction of the Hidatsa to the appearance of the Bear medicine 

 man. Here we find revealed the concept of the measurability of 

 supernatural power. Each side believed its supernatural power to be 

 greater and endeavored to test this power by a contest. One wonders 

 if the Bear impersonator was actually the Bear medicine man or some 

 young man selected to play the role. If the same pattern prevailed as 

 with the Hidatsa, we would more likely find the Bear bundle owner 

 dressing some young man, addressed as "son," in the paraphernalia, 

 singing the sacred songs for the young man, and sending him forward 

 with the assurance that when the battle was over his honors would 

 elevate him to chief. We see the demoralization of the Sioux when 

 their Bear impersonator was killed and their unwillingness to engage 

 in hand-to-hand combat by overrunning the Hidatsa defenses in a 

 gully. Four Dancers expressed regrets that no scalps were taken as 

 proof of an engagement with the enemy and symbols to be carried 

 during the victory dances. He indicated that even when a war leader 

 lost a man, the victory dance was sometimes performed after an ap- 

 propriate period of mourning. He does not say so, but we know from 

 other case histories that the relatives were compensated with property 

 and other valuables, after which the dances were given. In this in- 

 stance it was not possible because no scalps were taken and no coups 

 were struck. 



Even though Guts was believed to possess potential supernatural 

 powers by virtue of his inheritance of the Earthnaming bundle, bad 

 luck continued to plague him. In his village duties he showed 



