Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 253 



to the northwest to get six men and one white horse. He thought that he was 

 well paid for his efforts in putting on the ceremony. Then he went to several 

 holy men who had gods that had come down to them generation by generation 

 from the olden times and asked them to be his helpers. There were eight of these 

 holy men who were to help him: Raven Bear had the Big Bird bundle; Crows 

 Paunch had a Long Arm bundle; Bears Heart, Old-Woman-Crawhng, Marries- 

 by-Carrying-Water, and Edge-of-Stone had Grizzly Bear bundles; Red-Buffalo- 

 Cow had a People Above (Mandan) bundle; and Boy had a Hawk (Arikara) 

 bundle. 



He invited these and enough young men to make up a party of about 40. As 

 was the custom, he did not announce what he was looking for until they went into 

 camp 1 day's distance from the villages. Then he told them that he was out 

 looking for the six men and a white horse promised by the Wolves. They went 

 on and passed the mouth of the Yellowstone, traveling westward. Raven Bear 

 and Marries-by-Carrying- Water were appointed leaders of the scouts to take 

 young men and go ahead to look for the enemies. Just before they came to their 

 trail, they camped, and Raven Bear stood up with the sword that belonged to the 

 Big Bird ceremony and began to cry. He said to the Big Birds, "Have pity on 

 me. When we surround an enemy, I want to strike one." 



The scouts went ahead and saw the trail which the Assiniboin had followed. 

 They reported to Four Bears and the next day the party followed the trail until 

 they came to a post with a sign carved on it. There was a picture of the Rocky 

 Mountains with an arrow showing that they were going there; Sitting Wolf as 

 leader with the pipe was shown; the moon with 15 cuts below it showed that they 

 had left on the 15th day after the new moon; the human head with 100 gashes 

 told that there were 100 in the party. Four Bears came to the post and saw that 

 it had been put there by the Assiniboin. They followed the trail, watching both 

 ways, for they knew that the sign had been put there so another band of Assin- 

 iboin would know where to find the head band. In 3 days, the scouts reported 

 that they had found the camp. Seeing the scouts coming back howling, the Old 

 Wolves put out a robe for them to jump over. Sometimes they put up a mound 

 of dirt, buflfalo manure, or a robe to jump over. When they had done this and 

 then kicked the mound down, it was a sign that they would overcome their 

 enemies. 



Then Four Bears stood, holding the wolf hide which he had given to the leader 

 of the scouts to carry, saying, "My father's gods, when I had your ceremony, I 

 stood before the four holy women of the four winds ^* suffering while thinking 

 that someday I would meet my enemies. I became dizzy and fell to the ground; 

 then I saw a trail leading westward and I saw six persons and a white horse at 

 the end of that trail. For that reason, the scouts have seen the camp and I want 

 to take what has been promised me. I want you to lead ofif six men from that 

 camp so my men can get them without any bad luck coming to us. I want that 

 white horse you promised me too." 



Raven Bear stood up and told what he had seen in his dreams. He said, 

 "My gods, the eagles, the big birds, and thunder, you came to me from my 

 father and I have taken good care of you. When we have those enemies sur- 

 rounded, I want you to help me to be the first to strike one of them. I have 

 come to the enemy this day and I want to hit that man you promised me." 



Bears Heart stood up and said, "My god, the yellow grizzly bear, I got you 

 from my father. I got the arrow that came from Two Men back at the beginning 



w See " WoU Ceremonies," given below, for their role in thiB ceremony. 



