HIDATSA CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 

 The Individual and the Supernatural 



Hidatsa ceremonial organization was highly formalized and exceed- 

 ingly complex. In theory, all supernatural powers have their origin 

 at the beginning of time when the earth or "in between" land was 

 made over by the mythological beings for man's occupation. At 

 that time First Creator, with the assistance of other mysterious 

 persons, created numerous gods from whom the Hidatsa could acquire 

 supernatural powers and thus survive by performing various rites. 

 In the beginning all of nature was created for the benefit of the people 

 but certain rules were laid down which the people must obey if they 

 were to survive. The society theoretically survived by virtue of 

 the supernatural powers acquired by various means: fasting; ritual 

 performances; feasts; ceremonial purchases from other tribes; and 

 rigid conformance to the tribal rules of individual and group conduct. 

 At the base of aU Hidatsa religious activities and concepts is the 

 belief in individual and group-owned supernatural powers which are 

 controlled according to long-standing rules. 



Supernatural power was thought of as a "force" above and beyond 

 the physical capacities of man. When a man lost his supernatural 

 powers, death occurred; contests were won by those with the greatest 

 supernatural powers. All death, however, was not the residt of such 

 loss. In the beginning of time, when the land was first created by 

 virtue of a contest between Lone Man and the First Creator and the 

 latter established his immortahty for aU time, it was decreed that 

 in the future people would live no more than one hundred years after 

 which they would leave for the Village of the Dead where they would 

 live the same life and with the same status and honors as when they 

 died. So we observe, as I have on a number of occasions, old people 

 still able to get around quite well praying to their sacred bundles 

 that the long fife promised them be given to younger people, and 

 accepting approaching death calmly, their chief concern being that 

 their bodies be properly dressed and painted, and that adequate 

 goods and food be collected for the funeral feast. 



The death of younger males actively engaged in military or eco- 

 nomic pursuits, or of younger females occupied with the rearing of little 

 children or providing for the wants of their old people, had a more 

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