INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY. QT7 
wounded an elk, and pursued it into the mountains, until it became buried in a snowdrift, 
from which place it was impossible for him to carry away the meat. The next day he 
started out again, and found a deer asleep near a little creek: then, too, his gun missed 
fire. Again he took deadly aim at a deer, and the ball stopped within a few feet of the 
muzzle of the gun. He now waits patiently for the next moon, when, he says, he will kill 
an abundance of game. 
“ Rib has a Dakota wife, one quarter white. She presents the only instance that I have 
met with among the Indians, in which the woman ruled the man directly. It is very 
seldom that an Indian allows his wife to gain any power over him, though she may quietly 
influence him; yet any disobedience of his orders is punished, oftentimes with great seve- 
rity. In their domestic affairs each one has his or her duty to perform, and there is no in- 
terference the one with the other, though the tastes and wishes of the man are consulted, 
and have the preference. His is the first or principal place in the lodge, usually the far- 
thest from the door. On one occasion Rib ventured to punish his children for some act of 
disobedience. His wife turned him out of the lodge, and threw all his things out after him. 
He went away alone quite crestfallen. When rallied for his want of heart, and asked why 
he did not whip her, he replied that he loved his wife, and did not wish to strike her. So he 
waited patiently until her wrath cooled, and all was made right again. He says that if 
he were to punish his wife every time she conducted herself badly, he would be com- 
pelled to stand with his whip in his hand all the time, and could not use his gun. 
“The Shyennes are a proud race, large and well formed, more like the Dakotas than 
any tribe | am acquainted with on the Missouri. They are at peace with the Dakotas, 
and have become so intermarried now, that it is hardly probable that they will ever break 
their friendly relations. So many of them speak the Dakota language, that their own lan- 
guage is not used at the present time in diplomatic affairs. I have never heard of but one 
white interpreter for these Indians, and he has long since left them, his knowledge of their 
language being of no pecuniary benefit to him. 
“<The Shyennes, like the Dakotas, are quite rigid in regard to the fidelity of their women. 
When a woman proves false to her husband, which is not common, she is punished with 
great severity, and not uncommonly with death. When a young man sees a woman fair 
to look upon, and one which his heart desires, he .at once commences to apply his arts. 
If he succeeds in seducing the woman to elope with him, he immediately escapes to 
another tribe or band, and if he remains away, nothing is said or done about the matter ; 
but if he returns, in some instances the injured husband kills him, though usually the 
man who decoyed away the wife gives to the former husband a horse and other presents, 
and he and a number of their mutual friends gather together at the lodge of the first hus- 
band, who hands the latter a pipe, and they allsmoke together. The injured husband then 
