Nov. 2^, 1903.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
418 
The Lodges of the Blackfeet. 
(Concluded from page 895.) 
On the southern side of the circle is a lodge belonging 
to Head Carrier, an old man of some importance and 
possessed of some spiritual power. The painting of this 
lodge is very old, and I have no adequate explanation of 
it. The black band close to the ground is unmarked, but 
above, and resting on it, are a number of black, roughly 
circular paintings, which represent the heads of enemies. 
On the front and on the back, and so with their extremi- 
ties almost touching at the ground on either side, are 
two rainbows in three colors, red, blue, and black, from 
below. Each runs from the black band at the ground 
nearly to the smoke-hole, and so forms a high, narrow 
arch. Within the rainbow, at the back, is the full-faced 
figure of a naked man, about three feet high. The figure 
is painted in reddish brown, but the hair, heart, life-line, 
and kidneys are bright blue. The man holds in his left 
hand a pipe, which he is filling in order to give the sun 
a smoke. In his right .hand he holds, by its handle, an 
rurnrrr 
HEAD CARRIER S LODGE. 
object with the outlines of an ordinary palm-leaf fan, 
■from the outer border of which project a number of eagle 
tail-feathers. These tail-feathers he is about to present 
to the sun. The butterfly cross is below the smoke-hole, 
"in the usual place. 
Growing Buffalo's lodge shows on the south side a male 
mule-deer, and on the north side a female mule-deer. The 
color of each is bright yellow ; the life-line is red and 
green in alternating blocks. The kidneys, knees, hoofs, 
and rum.p patch are green, the teats and genitals red. 
White Dog's lodge shows the usual band with the 
"dusty stars" at the ground, and resting on this band are 
conical or oval figures, the conventional signs for moun- 
tains. Besides these, at the back of the lodge, and resting 
on the band, is another conventional sign — that for a pine 
WHITE DOG S LODGE. 
tree, a broad, sharp cone, from the sides of which project 
slender, upright lines a few inches long; this is yellow. 
Almost half-way up the lodge, on the south side, is a male 
snake, and on the north side a female snake; these are 
red, yellow, and blue, in sections. At the top of the lodge, 
'below the smoke-hole, are three narrow red and three 
• narrow yellow bands alternately; these represent red and 
■yeliow clouds. The very top of the lodge and the wings 
are black (the night), wnth six stars (the Pleiades) on 
the wings. 
Red Head's lodge has the base-band red, and resting 
on it are the conventional mountains. At the back and 
front of the lodge, rising well toward the smoke-hole, are 
great red paintings three or four feet wide, six or eight 
feet high, rounded above and resting on the band below. 
These represent the great masses of rock often seen on 
the prairie, and against which the buffalo used to rub 
the'mselves— erratic bowlders dropped by_ the glacier. 
Hanging down from the smoke-hole behind are four 
claws. The claw to the south is blue, and the one to the 
north, yellow. The wings show stars — the north wing the 
Great Bear, the south wing the Pleiades. At the back, 
below the smoke-hole, is a representation of the sun with 
a horse-tail tied to the center. Above, and on either side 
of the door, is a blue painted circle, in the center of each 
of which are bells and a bunch of raven feathers, and 
trom the center of these circles run the strings by which 
the door hangs. This door must be a calf skin with the 
fur left on it. 
This lodge was discovered in the following way: Once 
a man with his son was out in winter hunting buffalo, and 
as they were returning to the camp, the two were over- 
taken by a severe snowstorm and lost their way. They 
made a shelter for themselves from the green hides tha't 
they were carrying, and lay down in it and slept. In his 
sleep the man dreamed that a person came to him and 
said, "Friend, I invite you to come to my camp." He 
accepted the invitation and his host told the lost man that 
he wished to make him a present of a lodge. In front uf 
RED HEAD S LODGE. 
horse-taiis. They represent four horses stolen by the 
maker of the lodge. 
Stingy's lodge is old and faded. The band below con- 
t:-tins large circles — stars. Above, about half-way up the 
ledge, an undulating band, twenty inches wide, runs 
aroimd the lodge; it is composed of ihree narrow brown 
and two narrow red stripes, which is believed to represent 
a river. Above this band, on the south side, is seen a 
male eagle eagle in flight, showing one of the wings; and 
cn the north side a female eagle flying, also showing one 
wing. On the north side the lodge-wings bear four stars 
which represent the Pleiades, and on the south side seven 
LONE CHIEF S LODGE. 
Stars — the Great Bear or Dipper. Behind and below the 
smoke-hole is the butterfly cross with the horse-tail hang- 
ing from the middle. The horse-tail brings good luck; 
he who has it on his lodge is likely to be fortimate in 
securing horses, and to have many of them. Also it is 
suggested that the lodge is sold for horses. 
Three Bears' lodge has around the bottom a yellow 
band showing "dusty stars," and with mountains resting 
upon it. Above that it is unpainted until the smoke-hole 
is reached; about this the lodge is painted yellow, and 
hanging down from this yellow painting, the border of 
which is horizontal, are pairs of conventionalized eagle- 
YELLOW-PAINTED LODGE. 
bis own lodge the host put down two blocks of wood, 
painted different colors, and requested the lost man to 
take his choice. He did so, and the block which he chose 
v.'as painted as this lodge is painted. When the lost man 
awoke, the storm had ceased and the sky was clear, and 
with the boy he went home to the camp. When spring 
came he made himself a lodge and painted it as he had 
seen the painting on the block of wood. 
After that, no matter how dark the night or how bad 
the storm, this man never lost his way; the lodge brought 
him good luck. 
Old Running Rabbit's lodge is called the Single Circle 
ledge. It has only a single ornamental circle about it. 
It takes its name from the man who designed it. .Single 
Circle Lodge was a beaver priest, and this lodge un- 
doubtedly had its origin from the Beaver society. Its 
glNGLB Craa.F. LOOGS. 
SHORT ROBE S LODGE. 
discoverer dreamed that the otter and the beaver gave 
him the lodge. 
About the lodge, four or five feet above the ground, 
runs a band of red, two feet wide, on which are shown 
six black otters, three on each side, all running from 
back to front. The females are on the north side and the 
males on the south side. The white teeth and red mouths 
are shown, as if half the face had been cut away. The 
life-line is alternately red and green. The kidneys are 
green ; except for this the animals show black. In front, 
extending from the ground up on either si 'e of the door 
and almost to the smoke-hole, three feet wide and round- 
ing off above, is a solid mass of red which represents the 
rock in the bank where the otters lived. At the back of 
the smoke-hole, high up, is a green moon with a narrow 
yellow border, and to the center of the moon is tied the 
luck-bringing horse-tail. Within the lodge, just above the 
door, is a rattle made of calf-hoofs with a calf's tail hang- 
ing down, to announce the arrival or departure of anyone 
