Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 297 



The Legendary Period 



The Hidatsa legends of the creation of the earth as told today 

 differ somewhat in detail from those recorded by Henry in 1806 and 

 Maximilian in 1833, resembling in most details the Mandan myth, 

 whereas the older legends show greater similarities to the Crow 

 creation myths (Lowie, 1918). In the older myths, the creation of 

 the earth was chiefly the work of First Creator who secured the 

 mud from a diving bird. In the Mandan creation myth, through 

 which runs the moiety theme, the earth was made by two culture 

 heroes working on opposite sides of the Missouri. Further evidence 

 that the older creation myth has been modified by Mandan influence 

 is indicated by the general indifference the Hidatsa give to details 

 of man's earlier existence. In the more recent accounts, the Hidatsa 

 myths state quite definitely that the people on the land below were 

 agriculturalists who brought corn and the other garden plants up 

 with them. The Hidatsa had not, however, gone as far as the 

 Mandan in founding sacred bundles and rites associated with the 

 principal leadership of those coming from the land below, although 

 they had made rapid changes in that direction during the 19th 

 century through marriage and sale, whereby the Mandan Corn 

 Skull bundle got into Awaxawi hands. 



FIRST CREATOR MYTH 



It would appear that the sacred myth of the creation of the earth 

 by First Creator, Coyote, from mud brought up by a diving bird 

 represented the older and more widespread version which the Mandan 

 had modified to fit their concepts of moiety or dual organization. 

 Further evidence that the Hidatsa creation myth was probably 

 modified through contacts with the Mandan is suggested by the fact 

 that, in the recent versions, the Hidatsa assign a significant role in 

 creation to Lone Man. He is not mentioned in any of the earlier 

 Hidatsa versions although with the Mandan he is considered one of 

 the principal deities who founded the Okipa, sacred cedar, sacred 

 turtles, and many other sacred objects and practices. 



Matthews likewise assigned great prominence to the First Creator 

 as the maker of all things without mentioning Lone Man as the 

 comaker of the earth. My studies of many Hidatsa myths and 

 ceremonies did not confirm Matthews' accounts that First Creator 

 created everything; there are many myths about spirits of the "sky 

 world" and the "underworld" that were in no way related to the 

 creation of the earth by First Creator. It would appear, instead, 

 that the beliefs relative to First Creator involve only the creation 



