438 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



of clay [hair balls] in there, and according to Mrs. White Duck, 

 Poor Wolf said, "They must have just come out of the cave for they 

 have only clay in their stomachs. Their hoofs are sharp too, but 

 they would have been dull if they had been on the prairies very long." 



A sacred bundle contained two very large rattles made of buffalo 

 hide; the head, two wings, and two claws of the speckled owl; red 

 and black clay; white sage; and a buffalo skull. Swallow and Hawk 

 were represented by feathers from these birds. During a bundle 

 transfer, young men paid to fast and to be tortured as it was believed 

 easy to get dreams from the buffaloes. The Holy Women met at a 

 separate lodge on the last day to receive their pay for the part the 

 Holy Women performed in butchering and curing meat for Raven 

 Necklace when the speckled owl taught him the ceremony during 

 mythological times. The Holy Women and berdaches also prepared 

 the dancing grounds at the edge of the village where the fasters 

 congregated daily, dragging the buffalo skulls. 



The presence of two bundle owners when the three Hidatsa village 

 groups united to build Fishhook Village after the epidemic of 1837, 

 whereas heretofore there had been only one bundle owner in the 

 same village with peace chief status, resulted in endless rivalries 

 between the two factions. This competition was settled only when 

 one group under the leadership of Bobtail Bull, successor to Guts, 

 left the area and built a new village near Fort Buford. 



IMITATING BUFFALO 



These rites, although traditionally of an independent origin, 

 were integrated with the Earthnaming and Painted Red Stick rites 

 in recent times by virtue of common singers. The sacred myths 

 explaining the origin of the rites introduces two characters. Blood 

 (Clot) Man and Buffalo Woman, who worked together to provide 

 buffalo meat for the starving people. Theoretically, both characters 

 went back to the origin of the land when Buffalo (male) was found 

 on the earth by First Creator and Lone Man who concluded that 

 Buffalo, like other things on the earth, came out of caves from the 

 land below, Buffalo Woman was created later by Village-Old- Woman 

 who introduced the female opposites of male living things. There are 

 two important sacred myths to explain the roles of Blood Man and 

 Buffalo Woman in the performance of the Imitating Buffalo rites. 

 One deals with Buffalo Woman's experiences leading to her trans- 

 formation from a buffalo cow to a Hidatsa woman after which she 

 took up residence in the villages and assisted them in various Buffalo 

 ceremonies, particularly the Imitating Buffalo and Painted Red 

 Stick ceremonies. 



