INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY. 279 
know they cannot return. They place food and articles of clothing on the grave, because 
they think that the spirit continues with the body after death a short period, and then 
departs for the place where all spirits are gathered together. Grass says that the Indians 
often hear the spirits of the dead, and know their presence by various noises, but that he 
himself never saw them, though he has looked for them many times. His own belief is, 
that when an Indian dies that is the last of him: his body goes to the ground, his flesh to 
feed the worms, and his bones to form earth. He says also that the other Indians are 
fools for having any different belief. Is he not an infidel? None of the prairie Indians 
originally believed in a bad spirit, but have derived that idea from the whites. To sum 
up the religious belief of the Indians, it is simply an indefinite idea of a great Creator of 
all things; and farther than that they know nothing. 
“The Great Spirit made half of the country for the whites, suitable for raising all kinds 
of grain, &e. He made the other half for the Indians, mostly prairie, and placed upon it 
an abundance of game; but that the white men were continually intruding upon them, 
and would soon drive them into the sea. He illustrates his remark in this way,—that the 
whites are like ants, and desire to have the whole world for an ants’ nest. 
“There are no special ceremonies connected with the birth of a child. As soon as a child 
is born, it is dipped in cold water and wrapped in a blanket. Presents are made to the 
old woman who acts as midwife. The father desires that the child shall be a boy, to aid 
him in herding the horses and in the hunt, while the mother prefers it to be a girl, to 
assist her in carrying wood and in making moccasins. There is considerable ceremony in 
piercing the ears of the child when it has attained a certain age, say four years. Liberal 
presents are given to the person who performs the act. 
“There is great regularity in the operation of smoking the pipe. The Indians always 
pass around the pipe, the first man puffing a few whiffs, and then handing it to the one 
next to him. One person takes hold of the pipe-stem at a certain place, the next one 
above, and the next below alternately. Should any one fail to observe this order, whether 
white man or Indian, he cannot get the pipe until he takes hold of it in the proper way. 
The reason given is, that it is their ‘medicine;’ that no two men, sitting side by side, 
shall handle the pipe in the same way. It is also very common for a man, on receiving 
the pipe, to point the bowl toward the ground, and the stem toward the heavens. There 
is, perhaps, no more interesting ceremony than that of smoking. It is to them a great 
luxury, and as they sit in groups around, puffing out large volumes of smoke, and con- 
versing in a low, quiet tone of voice, they present the most perfect picture of happiness 
and contentment. 
“The Indians, both male and female, arrive at the age of puberty at from fifteen to seven- 
teen years, occasionally, though rarely, at thirteen or fourteen. Rare instances are known 
of females being married at thirteen years of age.” 
VOL. XII.—36 
