Bowers] HIDATSA SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION 449 



The man with the snare signaled the progress of the herd with 

 his robe as indicated in the sacred myth. 



The division of the animals after they had been shot was as follows: 

 (1) The tongues belonged to the 3 men who brought the herd to the 

 corral; (2) the man with the snare received one buffalo; (3) the 10 

 men overseeing the corral each got one buffalo ; (4) the 8 men stationed 

 at the rockpiles each received a buffalo ; and (5) each moiety got half 

 of the remaining buffaloes. After the oflBcers had made their selections, 

 the rawhides holding the lower rails were cut and the rails were 

 removed so that the animals could be dragged out. In dividing the 

 buffaloes, an imaginary line was drawn through the middle of the 

 corral as illustrated in the accompanying diagram (fig. 9). The 

 first buffalo on the median line belonged to the four-clan moiety and 

 the next to the three-clan moiety and so forth, alternating to the 

 opposite end of the corral. Each moiety then took all the buffaloes 

 on its side of this line. 



A moiety selected beforehand one of its number to divide the 

 animals among households. Each man knew the number of house- 

 holds in his moiety. The division went by men of the moiety, the 

 wife butchering with her husband on his side of the corral. They 

 tried to give one buffalo to each family when enough buffaloes came 

 into the corral, otherwise one buffalo was given to two related house- 

 holds, such as to two brothers. A widow with children got her meat 

 from the moiety to which she belonged. It was her brother's duty 

 to see that she received her share in proportion to her needs. Officers 

 listed above received their share as heads of families in addition to 

 the tongues and animals which they received as their pay for bringing 

 the animals to the corral. When the corral was only partiaUy filled, 

 it was considered bad taste for the officers to keep too much whUe 

 other families had little. And it was considered foolish to quarrel 

 over the division of meat which all should enjoy. Thus, the households 

 having plenty of help pitched in to assist those in which there were 

 many small children, few men to take hold and direct the butchering, 

 or in which the people were old and feeble. 



Once a corral was buUt, it was necessary only to replace the lower 

 rails when it was ready to be used again. 



The Hidatsa also captured antelopes, but the animals' great speed 

 demanded corrals with waUs less substantial but far higher than were 

 necessary for capturuig buffaloes. The rites, too, differed. Blood Man 

 and his nine helpers were symbolic only of the buffaloes and thus 

 were not represented. Rather, the rites were under the direction of 

 one possessing a sacred snare. The corral was built at a point where 

 a stream undercut a high bank. When a drive was to be made, the 

 able-bodied men usually went out onto the adjacent prairie and drove 



