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The advent of horses changed the Indians in other ways. Pre- 
viously their most valued possession had been the buffalo-skin tent, 
which required from twelve to twenty-four hides, a number not easily 
procured by a hunter on foot. Now buffalo hides became so common 
as to be almost worthless; but horses gave the natives a new standard 
of value and a new medium of exchange. With them the warrior 
bought his wife, purchased high rank in the societies, or gained 
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Uiaekfoot on tlie watcli. (Phoio hy Canadian National Railways.) 
possession of some sacred medicine-bundle that conferred on its owner 
great prestige. It was almost as honourable to steal an enemy’s 
horses as to kill an adversary in battle, and raids for this purpose 
were a constant feature of camp life. In pre-Columbian days the 
bands of foot-hunters wandering over the plains with their pack- 
dogs were probably too scattered, and too slow of movement, to 
come into frequent contact with one another; but in the strenuous 
