300 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



High Bird fed the large snake four corn balls to reach shore where the snake 

 was killed by Thunderbird. High Bird cut up the snake and Thunderbird called 

 the other large birds to a feast. [This feast is reenacted by those performing 

 rites to White Fingernails' bundle.] These big birds then gave High Bu-d advice 

 on overcoming the magical powers of Owns-Many-Dogs and the Sharp Noses. 

 Thunderbird decreed that the village where the two young brothers lived would 

 be destroyed unless Hungry Wolf gave High Bird enough tobacco for one pipe's 

 filling. Then High Bird started for home. 



Northeast of Devils Lake he overcame the Sharp Noses and when he was 

 nearer to Devils Lake he encountered 0\\Tis-Many-Dogs and sent her northward 

 beyond the great fire which was to destroy the village. Far to the east, where 

 the rivers flow southward, High Bird heard a man weeping and discovered that 

 it was his friend, the orphan. They reached home and found that a Mourners 

 Camp has been set up, for his relatives had concluded that he was dead. Each 

 day the people from the other camp came there to mimic them by singing victory 

 songs. [The Mourners Camp was often set up by the Hidatsa and Awaxawi. 

 It was not customary for either the Mandan or Awatixa to establish a separate 

 camp of hide tipis as did the other village groups.] 



High Bird sent his mother to Hungry Wolf four times for tobacco and each 

 time he refused so the people of the Mourners Camp dug deep holes in which 

 to protect themselves from the celestial flames. Each day the mourners would 

 go to Hungry Wolf's camp to sing under the dii-ection of seven singers. They 

 sang the Tobacco songs. [Here we find the first reference to an institution highly 

 developed with the Crows which also was traditionally a part of the original 

 Hidatsa and Awaxawi culture.] 



One day a fire came down from the sky. High Bird's people were in deep 

 cellars and were saved. All of the others were destroyed except Hungry Wolf's 

 wife who was the cause of the quarrel. She was given the name Calf Woman 

 after the fire. She described the destruction by the fire and it was then decreed 

 that from this time there would always be women who would make trouble 

 between married couples. Because the seven Tobacco singers were with the 

 mourners, the Tobacco rites were saved. Even today one sees the results of this 

 fire, for there are no trees to the east except along the Red River and its tributaries 

 where the fire could not burn. 



After this fire the survivors separated, the Awaxawi lived to the south of 

 Devils Lake where they planted corn while the Hidatsa and the Crow with their 

 Tobacco rites stayed farther north near the large lakes. There Magpie dis- 

 covered an approaching flood, the penalty for sticking a feather through Fat Bird's 

 nostrils and ordering a buffalo calf to carry its mother's entrails. Those Awaxawi 

 who beheved Magpie escaped to Square Buttes on the Missouri River where they 

 were joined by Magpie, his mother named Yellow Woman who represented corn, 

 and Spring Buffalo. The buffaloes of the other three seasons drowned on the way 

 to establishing three important hunting areas between the Missouri and Devils 

 Lake. [Bears Arm explained that the linguistic differences between the Hidatsa- 

 River Crow and the Awaxawi developed as a result of the separation after the 

 celestial fire. He interpreted this flight from Devils Lake as evidence that the 

 Awaxawi brought gardening to the Missouri and did not adopt the practice from 

 the Mandan. He believed the flight northward to avoid destruction from the 

 flood involved only the Hidatsa and River Crow. We see that the traditional 

 migrations are intimately associated with magical beliefs. It would appear from 



