258 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 104 



lists the Old Wolves whom Four Bears invited to assist him. They 

 are selected entirely from his own, the Four-clan moiety, and hold 

 rights in several of the tribal bundles. By means of drawings on a 

 post, the Hidatsa learn that one band of Assiniboin under Sitting 

 Wolf has gone farther west. 



The purpose of the expedition, as explained by Four Bears after 

 the party has left the village, was to take possession of the six enemies 

 and the white horse which his gods had promised him. Had he failed 

 to take possession of his rightful property at that time, we learn from 

 other case histories that his claim still stood. Should he have been 

 unable on this or subsequent trips to have taken possession of them he 

 could have sold or given his rights to another as in the following 

 narrative by Wolf Chief. 



The recitation of one's bundle rights before going into battle has 

 been described before. It served a useful purpose in stimulating 

 young men to buy their fathers' bundles and to give them courage in 

 the immediate battle. In this instance, the Old Wolves reciting their 

 ritualistic rites are of both the Mandan and Hidatsa villages, although 

 at this time the union of the population into a single village had not 

 occurred. In selecting coleaders, he has selected from the equivalent 

 moiety as well. 



In this instance we find a group of "brothers" cooperating to bring 

 honor to one of their number. Four Bears took possession of the six 

 scalps and white horse for which he received credit, whUe the others 

 shared the 24 honors of striking coup. This raises the question of the 

 disposal of other honors, had the group been able to kill and strike 

 additional enemies or possess additional horses. By the rules. Four 

 Bears would have taken only those horses which he saw first, since 

 additional horses went to those first seeing them. As leader of the 

 war party, he would have received credit for all additional enemies 

 killed and struck, with the right to show this accompHshment on his 

 clothing. Those who struck the enemy could wear feathers. One 

 seeing a number of horses rarely took possession of them, for he was 

 expected to make gifts according to the membership of the group. 



Four Bears' second expedition to the north for one enemy promised 

 to him brings out the point that the Hidatsa fasted in many situations. 

 Here a clan brother assisting him finds an eagle nest under which he 

 decides to fast. Some of the young men think it very funny when 

 Bluestone tells how in his dream he has been promised the first honor 

 of striking the enemy Four Bears is seeking, since Bluestone was not 

 a fast runner. One wonders if fear caused the one in the lead to 

 stumble, permitting Bluestone to strike first. Crows Heart told the 

 writer of an instance when young men going into battle found it 



