276 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



in from pasture immediately upon word that strangers were approach- 

 ing. Herders and hunters kept an eye out for strange movements on 

 the prairie or reported signs of enemies lurking in the neighborhood. 

 Fishhook Village was protected by a wall with a gate until the later 

 years of its occupation. A bell signaled the opening of the gate in 

 the morning, after which the horses were taken to pasture and the 

 people went about their duties in the gardens and on the prairie. 

 One of the important duties of the announcer was to ring the beU to 

 indicate the time for opening and closing the gate and to warn the 

 people whenever scouts or herders signaled the presence of potential 

 enemies. 



Direct attacks on the village were few indeed, chiefly because of 

 the character of Plains warfare; one gained little by killing and strik- 

 ing the enemy if he, in turn, lost several of his own party. But there 

 were several instances of attacks in which efforts were made to burn 

 the village. Lewis and Clark report the near extinction of the Awaxawi 

 prior to 1804 when a surprise attack was made by the Assiniboin. 

 Henry speaks of an attack made on one of the Knife River villages 

 about 1790 in which 600 tents of Sioux cut off the village from water 

 and besieged it for 15 days. In this attack, the Mandan and Awaxawi 

 remained neutral. The vUlage was able to supply itself with water 

 during the night, so the Sioux, after losing 300 men in the various 

 engagements and seeing that the population could not be driven from 

 the village, called off the seige (Henry, 1897, pp. 358-359). 



When Fishhook Village was buUt, large mounted war parties 

 frequently attacked the village from the north or land side which was 

 protected by a wall. When these faUed, as all attacks did due to the 

 strength of the wall, the Sioux tried various devices to entice the 

 Hidatsa from the village to fight in the open. Whether or not the 

 enemy was engaged outside of the village was a matter to be decided 

 by the councU and war chief. During the deliberations and, in fact, 

 whenever war parties were near the village or the village was under 

 attack, it was the duty of the "protectors of the village" to open their 

 respective sacred bundles and perform magical acts designed to give 

 the Hidatsa mastery over the enemy. When the council of older men 

 decided that the group would remain within the village lest the enemy 

 have a trap set for them outside, it was the Black Mouths' duty to 

 see that all obeyed. Disobedience could have led to extreme measures, 

 even the clubbing or killing of an offender. Nor were war honors 

 accumulated when disobeying coimcil orders publicly recognized. 



In later years, with improved guns, the Sioux would often appear 

 on the opposite bank of the Missouri and fire into the village in an 

 effort to entice the Hidatsa to cross in their bullboats. These invita- 

 tions were usually rejected or the Hidatsa went out and, in a round- 



