Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 265 



Then he instructed me, saying, "Start tomorrow evening; have your buUboats 

 ready. When you select the scouts, rub dirt on their legs just as Wolf instructed 

 and tell them not to touch each other or their legs will get weak. Sing these 

 two sacred songs before you send the scouts out. Do not travel until it is dark." 



Next morning my father said, "I had a dream of a man coming towards us with 

 a mule and a bay horse with a bald face. He had some meat, too. I am not sure 

 whether you killed him or not. 



When it was getting dark, my father took his medicines all down and stood 

 before us, for we were meeting at my father's lodge. He was praying to his 

 bundles when Poor Wolf, my father's clansman, came in. My father asked him 

 to pray for me, his son, who was going out to seek the enemy. 



Poor Wolf said, "I know that you have had pity on me and fed me when I 

 was short of meat; you are my son, too. In my early days I dreamed that I 

 was to get a roan horse but I never was able to take possession of it. Now I am 

 getting old so I will rehnquish it to you." 



Then he prayed for me and told how he used to fast and pray in his younger 

 days. 



My father said, "I am going to have my son take my wolf hide along. He 

 will see a rabbit run ahead of him. It will stop. That is the sign that they will 

 meet their enemies the same day." 



It was close to midnight when we got into our bullboats and started downstream. 

 At noon we stopped to select the scouts. I took out my father's sacred bundle, 

 prayed to it, and selected Wolf Ghost, One Buflfalo, and Lean Bull to be the 

 scouts. I rubbed the dirt from the pocket gopher mound on their legs and 

 ordered them not to rub their legs together. Wolf Ghost carried the wolf hide. 

 I asked them to go along the rim of the valley not far from the river and we 

 would meet them farther down. 



Before they discovered the horse, a jackrabbit jumped up in front of them and 

 they knew that something would happen that day. They went in the direction 

 the rabbit went and there found the horse. It was the roan horse that had been 

 given to me by Poor Wolf before we left. Wolf Ghost who found the animal 

 brought it down to the riverbank and said, "I have the horse that was already 

 given to you before this happened." 



I wondered how we would manage to float down the river and at the same time 

 look after the horse. I thought that Crows Breast, who had a bad foot, might 

 find it hard to travel if we did not find more horses farther on, so I gave him the 

 horse and told him to go back. 



Our next stop was the big Mandan village ruins north of Bismarck. Then I 

 sent the scouts over to the other bank as we floated down to Bird Bill Butte. 

 The scouts came back and reported seeing three men riding north. They went 

 out again and found a man butchering an elk. He had a bald-faced horse and a 

 mule. They decided to wait until he had butchered before killing him, but, 

 in the meantime, two more came along on horseback so my scouts decided a 

 camp was nearby. They decided not to make the attack even though they 

 had found the bald-faced horse and mule that Small Ankles had seen in his dream. 



Coming back to camp they found a horse which later fell into a ditch and was 

 killed. When they reported, I knew the enemy would learn we were out. Since 

 it was not possible to get the horse and mule, we cut up our bullboats and sank 

 them in the river, returning home afoot. 



Another year passed and I was 24. I told my father that I was going to try 

 it again. 



He replied, "You have enough of it. If you try again, some of your men might 

 be killed; that way you would 'kick the stone' and undo all of your good luck. 



