370 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



the Hidatsa. My Hidatsa mformants had observed a turtle effigy 

 on the north bank of the Missouri near WilHston to which they 

 went to perform rites while hunting in that area. A large snake 

 effigy of glacial boulders west of Independence was frequently visited 

 for the performance of similar rites. In view of their pecuHar 

 distribution near the Missouri, it would appear that these known 

 effigies were largely Hidatsa-Mandan shrines. However, the 

 Mandan had similar bundle ceremonies which suggests that com- 

 parable practices were observed while they lived near the Heart 

 River even though the actual shrines have not been identified; in 

 the late 1860's, while on a hunting expedition near Williston, Clam 

 Necklace, a Mandan owning a Big Bird bundle performed rites 

 both at the turtle effigy and later elsewhere on the prairie. Con- 

 cerning these practices, Crows Heart related to me that — 



The next night we camped by a circle of stones in the form of a turtle. The 

 gods had arranged these stones, the older men said, for none living had ever 

 seen one of these effigies made. There was a hill nearby and on it was a pile of 

 rocks. The turtle's head was pointed to the river because the turtles stay in the 

 water so the gods must have arranged all the turtle outlines in that direction. 

 This is the only effigy I ever saw but I heard that the old people knew of many 

 others down the river near their old villages and would go there to make offerings. 

 Anyone could make offerings of knives, pieces of hides, or dry meat and other 

 things to eat when asking for rain or other good luck such as living to be old. 

 If they had children, they would ask the gods that go with the turtle to send 

 good luck. To give to the turtle was the same as giving to all the other gods 

 that went with the bundle. 



While we stopped near the turtle, people made offerings to the turtle and the other 

 gods that went with it. Some left knives but in the olden times the flint knife 

 was given, for the flint was a sign of the big birds who go with the turtle and the 

 other gods in the Missouri and the creeks around. 



After we moved on from this turtle it was so foggy one day that the leader could 

 hardly find his way. The hunters had to hold each other's hands to keep from 

 getting lost. An Arikara brought a knife and gave it to Clam Necklace (Mandan 

 with a Thunder or Big Bird bundle) and asked him to try to clear the fog. Clam 

 Necklace took the knife and marked out the shape of a turtle in the ground. 

 When he finished shaping the turtle, he prayed to the turtle, telling him that the 

 people could not go any farther and asked the turtle to clear the fog away. Then 

 he stuck the knife in front of the turtle image, saying that the knife belonged to 

 the turtle and the other six things in the water. It was not long afterwards, and 

 while the men were standing around the image, that the fog cleared away from 

 where the turtle lay. Then it cleared out in a circle around the turtle, growing 

 larger and larger, until the fog entirely disappeared. Those who were connected 

 with the big birds and the snakes of the Okipa were the ones to pray.^^ 



" Mandan major bundle status was expressed by participation rights on Everything-Comes-Back day 

 of the Okipa ceremony. 



