SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, 



93 



of the Arapaho series is exhibited in th* 1 Museum and 

 from the Gros Ventre, a related tribe, is shown the 

 only known specimen of the peculiar shirt worn by a 

 highest degree dog society member. Other regalia is 

 exhibited for the Blackfoot, Crow, and Hidatsa. 



Among the Blackfoot, Arapaho, Hidatsa, Mandan, 

 and Gros Ventre, we find one or more women's societies 



Fig. 32. Headdress of Buffalo Skins. Arapaho Women's Society. 



not in any way performing police functions, but still 

 regarded as somehow correlated with the series for 

 men. Among the Blackfoot and Arapaho, the one 

 women's society is based upon mythical conceptions 

 of the buffalo as is illustrated by their regalia (Fig. 32) . 

 Among the Mandan, where there were several women's 

 societies, we may note a buffalo organization whose 

 ceremonies were believed to charm the buffalo near 



