Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 415 



Wolf dance and said that it was good for the tribe. When men wanted to go 

 on the warpath, they would give her elkskin dresses, robes, and moccasins to 

 bring them good luck and she would say, "I will pray for you to get many horses 

 without being seen." 



Everything would happen just as she predicted. One time a large war party 

 was going out and the leader came to her and asked for good luck. She said, 

 "Go on your way. Start tonight. On the fourth night I will come to you. 

 Have a fat cow butchered, and camp in the timber near good water. Roast 

 the ribs and at sundown I will be there. Just on the other side of the hill you will 

 hear a wolf howl so you will know I have come." 



They did what she said. Just as the full moon was coming up she howled and 

 the leader said, "The Wolf Woman is here." 



She had been working in her gardens for 4 days but on the last day she sang 

 the war party songs saying, "I will be there when the ribs are cooked." Suddenly 

 she changed into a wolf and all the people of the village saw her run away. She 

 reached the war party that night and asked for the short ribs. Others brought 

 her roasted ribs, asking for luck. 



She said to the leader, "I told you I would be here to tell you what to do. 

 Move your camp three times. The fourth time you will be near your enemies. 

 Run a little and they will chase you; turn and you will kill many. Doing that 

 several times you can take the whole camp. You will find the chief's lodge in the 

 middle of the camp. Save everything in that lodge for those things belong to 

 me. Now I am going home." They did as she instructed. They killed the men 

 and took the women and children prisoners. 



Meanwhile her brother, Walks-at-Dusk, had grown up and was quite prominent 

 for he had a full knowledge of the Snake Indian medicine rites but he often dreamed 

 of his own father's Wolf bundle. He was the leader of many war expeditions. 

 In his dreams the wolves told him to go east towards the Killdeer Mountains 

 where he could kill seven men. He knew he was Hidatsa so he was afraid they 

 might be his own people. The Wolves sent him dreams every night until he 

 decided to go. Each time he dreamed of seven men and one spotted horse. At 

 the same time a Hidatsa living on the Knife River dreamed that he should go 

 toward the Elldeer Mountains where he would find seven men and a spotted 

 horse. 



The Knife River party started out with seven men and a pinto horse at the 

 same time Walks-at-Dusk came east with six men and a pinto. The Hidatsa 

 sent two men ahead as scouts and the Snakes did likewise. The Snake Indians 

 were run onto a high butte and were surrounded. One Hidatsa was sent back on 

 the spotted horse to bring warriors from the village. Before the warriors arrived, 

 one of the Hidatsa said, "I am going to talk to them and see if they know what I 

 say. Are you up there, Walks-at-Dusk? If you are, you better be brave because 

 we sent for a large force. We are about to kill all of you." 



Walks-at-Dusk replied, "Come along" and he sang the Wolf songs. The 

 Hidatsa heard a wolf howUng to the west. That night the Snake Indians went 

 out between the Hidatsa sentinels but they were not seen. 



The war party arrived from Knife River the next day but none of the enemies 

 could be found. When Walks-at-Dusk returned he told how he had nearly lost 

 his life because of the great supernatural powers of the Hidatsa wolf leaders. 

 After that the Snake Indians never led war parties against the Hidatsa. 



Sunset bundle rites were transmitted from father to son. As was 

 the case for other bundle transfers, it was not necessary for the father 

 to be living. Since some bundle owners had rights in both the Sunrise 



