Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 363 



bundles, these tended to die out with the death of their owners and 

 were disposed of by placing them at the grave of their owners. These 

 supernatural experiences were of a wide variety but, in the final 

 analysis, show rigid conditioning induced by the general knowledge 

 the people had relative to the big birds. 



BIG BIRD 



The most important ceremonial periods were during the spring 

 at the time of the northwestward flight of the big birds — eagles, 

 hawks, ravens, and crows — to their summer nesting grounds along 

 the streams, in the badlands, and on the high peaks of the Rocky 

 Mountains. At this time of the year the bundle owners and others 

 who had received individual dreams would place meat and pieces of 

 hide on short "bird sticks" which were stuck into the ground on high 

 hills adjacent to the villages. It was believed that these offerings 

 would cause the birds to pass near the village and bring rains for the 

 gardens. It was customary to have these offerings out prior to the 

 first spring thunder. On the day following the first thunder, each 

 bundle owner would take his sacred bundle to some isolated spot near 

 the village, there to offer incense to the sacred objects and to pray 

 for good crops. Similar rites of making offerings placed on "bird 

 sticks" out on the prairie were performed during the autumn when 

 the leaves began to fall. The spring rites were performed somewhat 

 later than the Old- Woman- Who-Never-Dies rites; the water birds 

 normally came north while some snow was on the ground but the 

 eagles and other large birds arrived afterward. The fall rites were 

 likewise performed somev/hat earlier since the big birds were believed 

 to fly leisurely southward along the Missouri, hunting as they went, 

 while the water birds remained north until driven out by cold weather. 



Although there is a close psychological association between the 

 Big Bird rites and those of eagle trapping, the bundle lines were en- 

 tirely independent and originated traditionally from quite different 

 mythological experiences. 



Seven recognized bundle lines survived the smallpox epidemic of 

 1837: two from Hidatsa (Smells and Big Coat); three from Awatixa 

 (Big Black, Young-Man-Chief, and Bobtail Wolf); and two from 

 Awaxawi (Negro and Dry Squash-Wolf Eyes). The greater number 

 of bundle lines from Awatixa, even though the population surviving 

 the epidemic was less than half that of the Hidatsa village, indicates 

 the traditionally greater importance of the Packs Antelope rites at 

 this village. The prior rights of those of the Low Cap clan, due to 

 the importatit role of Packs Antelope ijn founding the rites, is expressed 

 rituaUy by placing meat and other offerings on the right side of the 

 lodge for the people of the clan. The rites provided the supernatural 



