Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 419 



to the buyer during the period of preparation.** A woman owning 

 rights by public purchase in the Wolf Woman rites was likewise 

 selected to impersonate the Wolf Woman. Since there were usually 

 several women possessing these rights, it was customary to select an 

 individual of the same clan or moiety as the buyer. Informants 

 believed there were several "wolf women" for each of the clans prior 

 to 1837. Bears Arm explained that young men preferred a "wolf 

 woman" of the same clan where possible as it would "raise the record 

 of the clan to perform a successful ceremony." First Creator, the 

 waiter, was represented by one of the buffalo skull owners who 

 selected one from their members. His place in the ceremonial lodge 

 was next to the director of the ceremony. 



Singer rights were not limited to Wolf Bundle owners. Instead, 

 the major bundle owners^ — ^those who had the tribal bundles con- 

 taining sacred buffalo skuUs^ — took turns singing and drumming. 

 When the last rites were performed. Bears Arm counted 42 of these 

 bundle owners and thought there must have been a number of others 

 who were not represented. Fasters lined the wall to the head and 

 sides of the lodge with neither clan nor moiety arrangement (fig. 6) . 



Bears Arm explained that a young man's father never strongly iu*ged 

 him to fast on these occasions but would often, in a roundabout way, 

 hint that it was an honorable thing to do. Older brothers, on the 

 other hand were more direct. Distinguished clansmen were often 

 quite severe in their criticism of younger members who showed in- 

 difference to fasting for it was both their right and duty to speak 

 sharply to younger clansmen. Bears Ann remembered one older 

 clan brother saying to another, "By all means don't fast or make 

 yourself uncomfortable. You have so little time to live, you should 

 enjoy life. And when you die we will put you on a scaffold. Then 

 it won't be long until the ravens and buzzards will have your eyes 

 picked out. While you lie there thinking of the good times you had, 

 those young men who are going in to fast now will be striking the 

 enemy; all you will be able to do about it will be to feed the birds 

 and give off foul odors." Bears Ann added, "Nobody spoke to me 

 about going in to fast. I was 16 years old and saw how the others 

 were doing. I wanted to go in, thinking I might get a good dream." 



After settling at Fishhook VUlage, the Mandan erected a cere- 

 monial lodge for their Okipa and other ceremonies. The Hidatsa then 

 paid to use this lodge for the ceremony. Foniierly the Hidatsa rites 

 were performed in any large lodge since it was considered a great 

 honor to have one's lodge selected. No ceremonial lodge having been 

 built by those Mandans who accompanied the Hidatsa to Fort 



<* A woman might assist her brother and get minor rights in a bundle. 



