HEADDRESSES
Algonquian
Blackfoot.
meaning, ritual, social category, use.
The primitive clothing of the Blackfeet was made of the dressed skins of certain animals.
Women seldom wore a head covering. Men, however, in winter generally used a cap
made of the skin of some small animal, such as the antelope, wolf, badger, or coyote. As
the skin from the head of these animals often formed part of the cap, the ears being left
on, it made a very odd-looking head-dress. Sometimes a cap was made of the skin of
some large bird, such as the sage-hen, duck, owl, or swan (Grinnell 1962:196).
In the evening of the day preceding a drive of buffalo into the pis kun a medicine man,
usually one who was the possessor of a buffalo rock, In-is -kim, unrolled his pipe, and
prayed to the Sun for success. Next morning the man who was to call the buffalo arose
very early, and told his wives that they must not leave the lodge, nor even look out, until
he returned; that they should keep burning sweet grass, and should pray to the Sun for his
success and safety. Without eating or drinking, he then went up on the prairie, and the
people followed him, and concealed themselves behind the rocks and bushes which
formed the V, or chute. The medicine man put on a head-dress made of the head of a
buffalo, and a robe, and then started out to approach the animals. When he had come near
to the herd, he moved about until he had attracted the attention of some of the buffalo,
and when they began to look at him, he walked slowly away toward the entrance of the
chute. Usually the buffalo followed, and, as they did so, he gradually increased his pace.
The buffalo followed more rapidly, and the man continually went a little faster. Finally,
when the buffalo were fairly within the chute, the people began to rise up from behind the
rock piles which the herd had passed, and to shout and wave their robes. This frightened
the hindermost buffalo, which pushed forward on the others, and before long the whole
herd was running at headlong speed toward the precipice, the rock piles directing them to
the [page 230] point over the enclosure. When they reached it, most of the animals were
pushed over, and usually even the last of the band plunged blindly down into the pis kun.
Many were killed outright by the fall; others had broken legs or broken backs, while
some perhaps were uninjured. The barricade, however, prevented them from escaping,
and all were soon killed by the arrows of the Indians (Grinnell 1962:229-230).
Origin of the Small Medicine Pipe Bundle by Atsitsina
At the Sun Dance saw a head dress, Buffalo with trailer, also a 'war pipe.' There are two
small pipe bundles on Blood Reserve—used on war trails carried 'tied at back of the head'
(A. Hungry Wolf 1977:162).
SOCIETY TRANSFER CEREMONY 1891
After a rather extended rest, they all got up and the closing dance was performed. "Little
Shield," the wearer of the war bonnet with the arrow in it, not being an active man,
handed his [page 210] head-dress to Spotted Bull, because the final dance had to be led
by the regalia. Around the circle they rapidly hopped. The Leader was closely followed
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by two of the other large war bonnets, the 4th one along circling in the opposite direction
and outside the rest (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:208, 210).
Fig. 12. A "straight-up" Head-dress, from a Piegan Drawing. The feathers are tipped and
the construction otherwise like that employed among the Dakota and elsewhere. The
"horn bonnets" have no tail feathers, but bear a pair of horns and weasel fur fringes.
Some of the horns are shaved thin and a specimen in the collection has horns cut from
rawhide. One peculiar type has a single horn projecting from the front. The two distinct
general types are shown in Piegan drawings, Figs. 11 and 12 (Wissler 1912:114).
Origins of the Bear-Knife
Now it was the old woman's turn to give the man something, and she gave him a painted
lodge. This lodge is still among the Northern Blackfoot. On it is a picture of a bear. The
owner of the lodge wears bear-claws for anklets, wristlets, and ornaments on his head. He
also wears a feather head-dress and a bear-robe. The smudge song for the bear-lodge is
as follows:— "On the earth I want to sit. It is powerful" (Wissler 1908:96).
How Medicine-Hat got its Name
Now the husband of the wife was looking for her. He knew what had happened. He
followed their trail, found their camp, and watched from a distance. He had another wife,
whom he told of his discovery, and promised her that he would not kill the runaways, but
steal up and catch them. The runaway woman had taken a young child. This was the
reason he hunted for her. So he stole quietly up to the camp and saw that they were
cooking meat. He came quietly to the door and stood there looking in. Then he spoke,
saying, "You have many eagles." At this, Eagle-Bull and the woman sprang up badly
frightened; but he called to them, "Do not run. I shall not do you any harm. You, my
wife, can have this person for your husband; but I want the child." Then Eagle-Bull said
to him, "My friend, if you want your wife back for a time, it is all right with me. Then she
can come to me again." "No," he replied. "Well," said Eagle-Bull, [page 137] "you see
there are a great many eagles inside and outside. Take your choice." The man chose those
on the outside. "Now," said Eagle-Bull, "I will give you this power also." So he
transferred it to him. He said, "You must kill a coyote and use it for bait; when so used,
you must turn the head to the sun and the feet to the north. (Before this time, antelopes
were used.) Before you go into the trap, you must sing my song, and, standing on the
south side, call out, inviting the wolf to eat and smoke; also the ravens, the crows, the
magpie, the eagle, and other birds, to come and get something to eat.1 " Now when Spider
did all this he caught many eagles2 (Wissler 1908:136-137).
Note 1: The names given to the birds in this invitation call are descriptive of their
feathers, and not the usual names of the birds. A similar mode of speaking is often
employed in prayers to the spirits of former medicine-men and other distinguished men.
Note 2: Eagle-Bull just saw the medicine head-dress. It was not given to him because he
did not kill his wife, as directed. He did offer some of the woman's skin after the dog was
refused. I forgot to tell you that at the time.—Narrator's Note.
RELIGION
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Medicine bundles also were used by the various secret societies of the Blackfoot. Most
common of these were the warrior societies, discussed earlier. Each member of a warrior
society had his own bundle, which was simply a packet of paints and the costume he
needed for his society's dances and ceremonies. A society had one or two leaders, each of
whom had a distinctive headdress and face paint. For example, a head man in the Raven
Carriers society wore a coyote skin and had an eagle feather in his hair; while he danced,
he carried a long red stick trimmed with cloth and feathers (Dempsey 1986:414).
The primary function of the "Motoki" was to acknowledge the importance of the buffalo
to the Blackfoot people. In their rituals the women took the roles of buffalo killed by
hunters and paid homage to the power of the buffalo spirit. The primary intention was to
appease the spirits so that the tribe would have [page 415] good luck in its future hunts.
Among the costumes worn by the women were headdresses made of scalps from old
buffalo bulls and worn by leaders of the society (Dempsey 1986:414-415).
The three brothers had an impressive list of religious affiliations, holy objects, and songs.
Among them they belonged to the Horn Society, Crazy Dog Society, Crow Carriers
Society, Parted Hair Society, and Black Soldiers Society; they had songs to go with their
painted tepee designs; they owned medicine pipes, fringed war shirts, sacred belts and
headdresses, and, of course, Charcoal's fearsome Bear Knife (Dempsey 1978:136).
HEAD ORNAMENTS:
Among the valuable possessions of the second chief of the North Blackfoot, Old Sun,
seen by Wilson in 1887, was— a very elaborate headgear for a horse to wear when going
into battle. One part of it covered the head like a mask, holes being left for the eyes, and
was fitted with a pair of horns; the other part was a sort of banner, to be suspended to the
[page 100] lower jaw; both parts were profusely decorated with red, yellow, and blue
feathers. We were told that such a headdress as this was, in Indian estimation, worth a
couple of horses (Wilson, 1887:190) (Ewers 1955:99-100).
BLACKFOOT USES OF THE BUFFALO
Headdress ornaments (hair and horns) (Ewers 1955:150).
Beaver bundle headdress (hide with hair) (Ewers 1955:151).
Matoki (Woman's Society) headdresses (hide with hair) (Ewers 1955:151).
VALUES IN INTRATRIBAL TRADE/ ARTICLES OF MEN'S CLOTHING
In my informants' youth the Piegan gave a horse for a horned bonnet obtained in
ceremonial transfer, while three sets of eagle tail [page 220] feathers, enough to make a
feather bonnet, were worth "the best buffalo horse," or several common horses63 (Ewers
1955:219-220).
Note 63: Tabeau (1939, p. 90) reported that the Mandan gave a horse for the plumage of
an eagle in 1804. Three decades later Maximilian (1906, vol. 23, p. 289) found the
Mandan frequently gave "one or two horses for a feather cap." In midcentury Hayden
(1862, p. 430) quoted the value of two eagle tails at one horse among the Mandan. In the
1870's the Hidatsa valued a single set of eagle tail feathers at "a buffalo horse" in their
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trade with neighboring tribes (Mathews, 1877, p. 27). However, Denig (1930, p. 589),
writing of the Upper Missouri tribes in general in 1854, stated "Usually the value of the
tail feathers of this bird among any of the tribes of whom we write is $2 each in
merchandise of this country, or 15 feathers for a horse." But when made into a bonnet
"two tails of 12 feathers each would be worth two horses." Kurz (1937, p. 269) reckoned
a Crow headdress of 36 eagle feathers at three packhorses in 1851 (Ewers 1955:219220).
SHAM BATTLES
The Indians had been in a state of excitement all the morning, and while we were
attending to our duties five or six hundred mounted warriors, stripped with the exception
of a blanket round the loins and in war paint and feather headdresses, staged a mounted
war-dance round our camp. These men armed with loaded Winchesters and on the dead
run, circled the tents, their rifles exploding and the bullets whistling over our heads. The
blood-curdling whoops accentuated the unpleasantness (Ewers 1955:238).
Feather Bonnet Making
The old style feather bonnet of the Blackfeet has a crown of vertical feathers, in contrast
with the Dakota type of feather bonnet in which the feathers point upward and backward
from the wearer's head. The traditional Blackfeet type is known as the "straight-up
bonnet." In former times only acknowledged leaders were privileged to wear it.
Headdresses of this type were part [page 60] of the ceremonial paraphernalia of a society
of older men known as the Bulls. Other "straight-up bonnets" were known to have had
their origin in the dreams of powerful men who therein received instructions to make
them. They were worn in ceremonies, on dress occasions, and in war. It took a very brave
man to go into battle in a "straight-up bonnet," for his conspicuous headdress made him
a marked man, a desirable target for enemy fire (Ewers 1945:59-60).
The Staff of Life
Women who dressed thousands of robes for the fur trade each year also prepared hairy
buffalo robes for the winter overclothing and bedding of their own families. Robes were
cut up to make hair-lined mittens, winter caps with ear flaps, winter moccasins, and
ceremonial headdresses (Ewers 1958:75).
Buffalo horns made practical powder flasks for Blackfoot warriors. Horns were also
fashioned into spoons, cups, and ladles. The long, shaggy hair of the head, beard, and
shoulders was braided into rope halters and bridles. Hair supplied the soft stuffing for pad
saddles and balls used in games. Hair ornaments hung from lodges, headdresses, and war
clubs. The buffalo's tail also was used for tipi ornaments. Mounted on a stick, the tail
served as a fly brush. Buffalo hoofs strung on rawhide cords made noisy rattles. The
scrotum of a bull provided a durable stirrup cover. The Blackfoot Indians derived their
best glue from a bull's phallus, cut into small pieces and boiled (Ewers 1958:75).
The smaller fur-bearing animals were caught in traps and deadfalls during the winter
months when their furs were prime. As early as 1833 the American Fur Company was
lending steel beaver traps to the Piegans to encourage them to trap these animals.6 Mink,
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muskrat, and otter also were trapped. Wolves and foxes were caught in baited pits or
deadfalls. The clever weasel, whose white winter skin was in demand for decorating
headdresses and men's dress suits, was taken in an ingenious series of sinew snares
arranged inside a cylindrical wooden frame. One end of the cylinder was placed over the
weasel hole. When the curious animal poked his head out of the hole to see what was
there it was caught in the snares (Ewers 1958:85).
Note 6: Maximilian, Travels, II, 162.
Camp Life
There was a women's society among the Blood and Northern Blackfoot tribes which was
unknown among the Piegans. Its members were wives of the most highly respected men
in their tribes. Prior to the sun dance in summer, members of this Matoki society built a
ceremonial lodge which resembled a buffalo corral, and on the final day of their four-day
ritual re-enacted the drive of buffalo into the corral. Some of the members wore buffalo
headdresses and mimicked the actions of buffalo12 (Ewers 1958:106).
Note 12: Ibid., 430-35.
Raiding for Horses and Scalps
Of more than fifty Blackfoot war medicines known to me, the great majority were single
feathers or bunches of feathers worn in the hair. Perhaps feathers were favored because
they were light and compact—practical articles for carrying on long journeys afoot. But
there were other war medicines—necklaces, bandoleers, headdresses, shirts, knives, and
lances. Running Wolf's war medicine was a moon-shaped brass necklace with pendant
[page 128] feathers. The figure of a horse was incised on the brass ornament. Before
going into an enemy camp to capture horses, Running Wolf sprinkled water on his
necklace. "In a short time clouds would gather and cover the moon, making it easier to
take horses from the enemy without being seen" (Ewers 1958:127-128).
The Old Time Religion
Many articles associated with successful achievements in war came to be regarded as
medicine bundles. Among them were headdresses, shirts, shields, knives, and lances.
These more important war medicines were usually the property of the well-to-do
members of the tribe1 (Ewers 1958:165).
Note 1: War medicines are described on pages 127-28 of this book.
Slowly and deliberately the natoas bundle was opened and its sacred contents revealed. A
long series of prayers and songs accompanied the opening. The most important articles in
the bundle were the sacred garments and accessories of the medicine woman. One by one
her assistants helped her to put them on. The garments included an elkskin dress, a robe
of the same material, and an elaborate headdress. This was a buffalo-hide headband in
the form of a lizard, with pendants of weasel skins and upright feather plumes. Attached
to the front of the headband [page 178] was a crude skin doll containing tobacco seeds
and a weasel skin stuffed with human hair. A flint arrowpoint hung from the doll's head.
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The Blackfoot Indians believed this peculiar bonnet and the elk garments had been given
to a beaver medicine man long ago by a bull elk. The elk, in turn, had received them as
presents from another elk who had run off with his wife. The primary costume accessory
was a sacred digging stick similar in form to the ones commonly used by Blackfoot
women for unearthing prairie turnips. Another legend tells of the origin of this religious
symbol. A woman married the Morning Star and went to live with him in the lodge of his
father, the Sun. One day the woman used this tool to uproot a sacred turnip. She looked
down through the turnip hole, saw her own people on earth, and became homesick.
Morning Star then permitted her to descend to earth through the turnip hole (Ewers
1958:177-178).
It was late afternoon when this private ceremony in the medicine woman's lodge ended.
In single file the occupants emerged from the tipi, led by the master of ceremonies.
Following him in order were the medicine woman's husband, the former medicine
woman who had transferred her bundle, the medicine woman herself, wearing her sacred
headdress, elkskin dress, and robe and carrying the sacred digging stick on her back,
and, finally, her assistants, carrying the parfleches containing the buffalo tongues. The
procession slowly moved halfway around and back through the unfinished medicine
lodge, the members halting and praying as they went, to an open-faced sun shelter set up
west of the medicine lodge (Ewers 1958:179).
Travelers Far Afield
On August 7, when within two days' journey of the Blackfoot trading post of Fort
McKenzie, Maximilian's keelboat party met two Blood Indians, a man and his wife, who
were returning from a visit to the Hidatsas and Mandans. The German Prince recalled
having seen them in the Hidatsa villages earlier that summer and observed that "the man
was well made and both were very neatly dressed."15 This handsome couple must have
been Seen-From-Afar and his wife, whose visit to the Mandans and Hidatsas in the early
1830's is still known to elderly Blood Indians. Seen-From-Afar is credited with having
brought back the Mandan pipe and its ritual, a medicine bundle still owned by the Blood
tribe. His wife brought back a buffalo headdress of a Mandan or Hidatsa women's
society and introduced it into the buffalo-calling ceremony of the Blood Indian women,
the Matoki (Ewers 1958:202).
Note 15: Maximilian, Travels, I, 363-64; II, 82-83.
Biographical Sketches
The Women:
Marcia has little interest in sex today. At forty-five, she is beautiful, soft voiced, and
charming. She wears good clothes, her children are handsome and well dressed; her
house is well appointed. She still helps her husband run his farm. She is Blood enough to
know that the rich gain in prestige if they show no jealousy. She has permitted her
husband's mistress and her impoverished husband who helps on the farm to live with
them. She has plied her with fine presents. She says, "Jim is a sick man and should have
his fun." At the transfer ceremony of the Horn Society into which her husband was
buying for the first time, she raised her cool blue eyes to meet [page 69] he admiring
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glance of a male onlooker, and asked with disarming innocence, "What am I expected to
do here?" But a few minutes later she did not hesitate or stumble when she walked down
the calico aisle to receive her husband's ceremonial headdress. They say that he has hired
a substitute to act for Marcia in the wife exchange that completes the purchase of the
painted sorcery root. Was he too jealous to permit his wife to participate, or was she
unwilling today to grant her favors—even ceremonially (Goldfrank 1966:68-69)?
STORIES OF ADVENTURE/ TWO WAR TRAILS
His father gave his son his own war horse, a black horse with a white spot on its side—a
very fast horse. He offered him arms, but the boy refused them all, except a little trapping
axe. He said, "I think this hatchet will be all that I shall need." Just as they were about to
start, his father gave the boy his own war headdress. This was not a war bonnet, but a
plume made of small feathers, the feathers of thunder birds, for the thunder bird was his
father's medicine. He said to the boy, "Now, my son, when you [page 83] go into battle,
put this plume in your head, and wear it as I have worn it" (Grinnell 1962:82-83).
CEREMONIAL AND RELIGIOUS USES OF PLANTS
The mediating nature of plants can be seen in the important function of the Holy Turnip
of the Natoas bundle. The turnip (symbolized by a plumed headdress) was the plant that
was pulled from the ground by the woman who married Morning Star and went to live in
the sky. It was through the hole left by the plant that she saw her people once again; then
she became homesick and at length returned, bringing with her the Natos bundle as a gift
from the supernatural realm: The turnip had quite literally become a gate through which
the connection between man and the supernatural was realized (Hellson 1974:8).
CEREMONIAL USES OF PLANTS/ SWEET GRASS
Hierchloe odorata
Braids of sweet grass were tied vertically around the base of the Horn Society staffs.
Braids were also strung on the inside of headbands of the Motokiks headdresses
(Hellson 1974:13).
SAGE
Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt
Participants in the sweat-lodge ceremonies wiped the sweat from their bodies with this
sage. Sage was used to cleanse the headdresses of the Horn Society before they were
transferred to new owners. In that transferral the headdress was laid on a bed of man
sage. The singers of the All Smoking ceremony cleansed themselves with it. When
ceremonial moccasins were put away they were packed with man sage (Hellson
1974:24).
YELLOW ANGELICA
Angelica dawsonii S. Wats
The Pigeon Society used the same root during the ritual of body-painting and in the same
manner as did the Horn Society. The root was tied to the headdresses of all members of
this society (Hellson 1974:44).
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BALSAM ROOT
Balsamorhiza sagittata (pursh) Nutt (Hellson 1974:51-55)
Ceremonial headdresses
Round Dance headdress
Half-white headdress
Half-red headdress
Split-horn headdress
Snake Horn headdress
[page 53]
Bull headdress bundles
Buffalo-scalp headdress bundles
Straight-up headdress bundles
[page 54]
Leader's headdress bundle
Horned-bonnet headdress bundles
Arrow headdress bundle
Kit Fox headdress bundles
[page 55]
Kit Fox-skin headdress bundle
Snake headdress bundles
Scabby-bull headdress bundles
Lame-bull headdress bundles
Bird headdress bundles
PLANTS USED IN CRAFTS AND FOLKLORE
Oxytropus sericea
Children made headdresses with the stems, lined up (alternating boys and girls) and
danced single-file to different spots while singing this song in unison: "there's nothing
behind my back". The seeds would rattle [page 116] in their pods. Then the leader would
suddenly stop and look behind him while the others dropped to the ground. The leader
struck whoever remained standing with a smoking stick which he carried. Then he took
some of the seeds of the plant, chewed them and applied the mixture to the burn. Shortly
the irritation stopped and the game continued with changing leaders (Hellson 1974:115116).
Pinus spp.
The resin of Pinus contorta was boiled with buffalo phallus and used as a glue for
headdresses and bows. It was also applied to moccasins for waterproofing (Hellson
1974:117).
BLOOD OKAN 1892
The holy woman's sacred headdress is the most important item in the rawhide case. Like
our other tribal Medicines of ancient origin, this one is made up of things symbolic of the
natural world. The base of the headdress is a rawhide band of buffalo skin, shaped like a
lizard. Plumes and feathers of eagles and other birds are fastened to it so that they stand
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up. Skins of weasels are attached so that they hang down, and an ancient (Hungry Wolf
1977:26).
Mrs. Rides-at-the-Door is the last Blood Holy Woman. She is seen wearing her Natoas
headdress as she entered the last Blood Medicine Lodge ten years ago. arrowhead hangs
from one side. A tiny image-doll stuffed with sacred tobacco seeds is attached to the
rawhide band to represent mystical Spirits known as the Little People. Back when our
Old People still grew sacred tobacco, the Little People would mysteriously come and give
it their Power to be sacred (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:26).
Wilson made these observations during the transfer ceremonies of these sacred
headdresses: Simultaneously, the initiation rite was performed in '92 in all four of the
lodges. I witnessed that in which three women were initiated at once in Running Wolf's
lodge. The front had been enclosed and poles of the lodge had been spread far apart and a
second lodge pitched in front, so [page 27] that when their canvas was joined a double
lodge was formed. At back end of the lodge proper, sitting in a row, were the old and new
O-Kon women and the master of ceremonies [Wilson means the holy women and the
priest]; also the husbands of the women about to be initiated. In middle of lodge a hole
had been dug 2½ by 3 feet square and 4 inches deep; the sod taken from it was piled
around three sides and covered with pine boughs [actually, boughs of creeping juniper—a
species commonly found in our country; it grows close to the earth and is the sacred
incense for Medicine Lodge ceremonies]. Bottom of hole was covered with white clay in
which had been drawn, an inch deep, this design [showing the main symbols of the
Universe]; the bottom of all the marks was painted black by sprinkling in them black
paint, the edges yellow. A cottonwood tree was planted in ground to the left of hole. Tree
7 or 8 feet high. Upon the tree were hanging the head dresses to be disposed of (A.
Hungry Wolf 1977:26-27).
The hole Wilson describes was the incense altar, representing our Mother Earth. The
designs indicated Moon, in the shape of a crescent; Sun; Morning Star; and Sun Dogs.
The black paint was for Night Sky, the yellow paint for the Powers represented. The
small cottonwood tree stood as a symbol of the Old People's main source of firewood,
without which they would have perished. In the midst of these spiritual symbols, the
sacred headdresses were hung. In addition, the leader of the sacred ceremonies regularly
made incense on the altar, for its sweet smell symbolized the presence of the Holy Spirits
(A. Hungry Wolf 1977:27).
When the 1892 ceremonial transfer and painting were done, and the women were dressed
in their holy headdresses and elk robes, they were ready to go outside and perform the
main ceremonial functions. From within the tipi in which Wilson was an observer, came
a procession led by No Chief, who was the priest. Behind him came the three blackpainted husbands, wearing black blankets over their heads. And behind them came the
holy women, each one following the woman whose Natoas she had just taken over. From
the other holy tipis came similar processions (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:28).
BIRD RATTLER
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For many years a pictographic history of Bird Rattler's adventures was on display in one
of the chalets in Glacier National Park. Among the exploits illustrated was the time he
stole the Crows' best horse, as well as a headdress, shield, and other goods. Also
illustrated was his theft from the Cheyennes; he took off with horses, travois, and some
women—a complete household on the move (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:64).
What Has Become of Our Medicines?
Mrs. Walters took a special liking to the Motokiks, the Old Women's Society. In the
long-ago, that society had about forty Bundle-owning members. As with the Horns
Society, each member was required to have a headdress and Bundle. When either was
lost, that membership became lost and were not renewable. Thus, as you probably have
guessed, Mrs. Walters's interest in the society diminished the society itself (A. Hungry
Wolf 1977:82).
Mrs. Walters's notes reveal this interesting anecdote about her introduction to the
Motokiks Society. She recorded it on June 18, 1936. "When I was there [Sun Dance
camp] I was told a headdress of the women's society was for sale, but did not see it and
had no idea until I saw the Buffalo Dance how remarkable they were. I have regretted
ever since but at the moment I was rather startled by the price of $100 and some Indian
promptly bought it" (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:82).
Mrs. Walters learned quickly. A few years later she wrote: "Our informant states that the
total number of Matoki Snake Women was ten. [The society is divided up into groups,
each with its own style of headdresses. One of these groups was known as the Snakes.]
So far but four of these have been acquired" (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:82).
There were eight buffalo headdresses in the society at the time. Some of them are
mentioned in the various notes (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:82-83):
August 28, 1936....Buffalo headdress from Red Crow with eagle plumes...belonged
[page 83] to her mother...Long Time Pipe. She cried and prayed and kissed this
headdress before she parted with it.
September 1, 1936....Buffalo headdress with white beads.
October 4, 1936....Referring to buffalo headdress with feathers...Percy Creighton
writes...I sent you a Matoki H.D. oldest one yet....Owned by old woman—Awl Body....It
is called The Bulls Scalp Headdress, because in the first place it belonged to the Bulls,
and that society died out, and it was taken into the Woman's Society as far back as I could
trace it.
October 4, 1936....Referring to buffalo headdress with feathers...Percy Creighton
writes...I sent you a Matoki H.D. oldest one yet....Owned by old woman—Awl Body....It
is called The Bulls Scalp Headdress, because in the first place it belonged to the Bulls,
and that society died out, and it was taken into the Woman's Society as far back as I could
trace it.
December 24, 1937....Arrival from Little Dog [Percy Creighton] of 3rd buffalo
headdress.
January 21, 1938....Little Dog has found the other buffalo headdress.
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January 4, 1939....I have been offered two more buffalo headdresses, one of the
Mahtokiks that we do not have, a Head Woman.
Beaver Bundles
In the Old Days, a Beaver Bundle contained examples of the most important parts of all
our other sacred Bundles—a Medicine Pipe, a Natoas headdress, a sacred tobaccoplanting outfit, as well as all the various skins. As a result, Beaver Men usually knew all
the ceremonies for these other Bundles, and, therefore, could give Teachings to the
People about them (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:90).
LAST BEAVER BUNDLES
Percy Creighton was incorrect in 1939 when he wrote Mrs. Walters, "There is no longer a
beaver bundle in the tribe." There were still more than half a dozen at that time. But by
1965 there remained only two Beaver Bundles on the Blood Reserve. One belonged to
Stealing-Different-Things-Woman, the old widow of Rides-at-the-Door, and our last holy
woman. This Bundle was scorched a few years ago when the house it was kept in burned
down. The old lady managed to escape the fire safely with her sacred Natoas Bundle, her
holy woman's headdress, and, somehow, the Beaver Bundle. She and her husband had
received it from a South Piegan family to whom they had transferred a Natoas Bundle
during a Piegan Medicine Lodge ceremony. This Beaver Bundle was last opened by old
Calling Last (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:101).
MOTOKIKS WOMEN'S SOCIETY
Each member cares for a sacred Bundle, kept in a rawhide container. The main contents
are headdresses and sacred paints. Anyone in camp may see the members dressed in
their headdresses and paints, so I can tell you more about them (A. Hungry Wolf
1977:111).
In 1936 Percy Creighton asked the oldest man on the reserve, who was ninety-four years
old, if he had ever heard about the time when the Motokiks were first organized.
Creighton wrote Mrs. Walters that the old man "in his boyhood days...saw the society
dancing, and he don't know when this society formed together." We know that the
Motokiks had been formed at least as early as 1832, when most of the Bulls Society
members, very old men who had been outstanding chiefs and warriors, died in a smallpox
epidemic. After the epidemic, the Bulls Society ceased to function and the surviving
members gave all the society's ancient headdresses to the Horns and Motokiks (A.
Hungry Wolf 1977:112).
Some of the Motokiks Bundles Mrs. Walters bought contained Bulls headdresses. Her
notes, which follow, describe a Snake headdress and the contents of a Bundle whose
former Owner was Small-Faced Woman (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:112).
The Bundle was kept in a cylindrical rawhide case for protection. The case had "fringe on
side—triangular painted design—green and red—much worn and warped." The contents
included the following (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:112):
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1. one unused clam shell and one clam shell used to mix green paint in, along with a
mixing stick, all wrapped in a bladder and kept inside a small bag of cheesecloth.
2. one buffalo skin bag of sacred red paint, wrapped in a piece of canvas and tied with a
thong.
3. a bundle of sweetgrass braids wrapped in calico cloth.
4. a large bundle with calico cloth around it, containing the headdress parts, which were
only assembled when it was used; the parts included the snake, made of stuffed, yellowpainted buckskin with a zigzag line beaded along its body, beads and bells to be attached
at several points, and three plumes, consisting of many small feathers attached to three
main shafts, to be attached to the snake to complete the headdress.
5. a batch of small feathers, some red and some natural white, in a paper wrapping.
6. a bone whistle, also kept inside this part of the Bundle, each member wearing such a
whistle during the ceremony.
The main Bundle also contained a "loose bead trimmed pendant"; a tiny cloth bag, inside
of which was a bladder filled with some kind of roots; and a small "accessory" bundle of
paint bags, more roots and painting shells, and some ancient cloth and scarf wrappings
(A. Hungry Wolf 1977:112).
Robert Wilson was probably the first person to photograph members of the Motokiks
wearing their headdresses and putting up their lodge. In those days, the lodge was still
constructed with a framework of travois. To accompany Wilson's photographs of 1892
scenes, let us read some excerpts from the 1905 notes of David Duvall, a South Piegan
man who collected traditional information for the anthropologist Clark Wissler. These
notes are now in the American Museum of Natural History. Duvall got most of his
information from an old member who was the wife of Heavy Runner (A. Hungry Wolf
1977:112).
There are six men attached to the society, but all the other members are women. Four of
these do the singing. The remaining pair act as messengers and attendants....Each woman
has a red-painted backrest stick planted before her seat to support her headdress. When
they sleep they lie with their feet toward the center. Just to the west side of the center
pole is a fire. When food is brought in and handed to members, they pass what is given
them to members on the opposite side. Each member has an individual smudge altar
before her seat....Along the sides next to the sitter are rows of buffalo chips covered with
sage grass. Sweetgrass is used for smudge. The headdresses must always be smudged
four times before they are placed on the head (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:113).
The ceremonial shelter has two doors, one at the northeast and one at the southeast. In
going out members use the nearest door but return by [page 115] the other. The four
singers use rattles and a rawhide of the same type as accompanies the beaver bundle.
They sit west of the fireplace. [Spiritually, it is thought that Beaver Men in the long-ago
contributed their rawhide and rattles to the society, just as they contributed the Natoas
headdress to the Medicine Lodge and the sacred Pipe-stem to the Medicine Pipe
Bundles] (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:114-115).
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Medicine Pipe Bundles
Fourth Day:
Part of the Motokiks' transfer ceremony is public and part is closed. We walked over to
the lodge to join a crowd of others to see what we could through the two doorways and
the lodge covers, which were opened for all to see. Inside, three women were dancing in
place. They wore Snake headdresses, whistles on leather thongs around their necks, and
shawls over their shoulders. The feather plumes of their headdresses waved in the air as
they danced. Each of the women tooted on small whistles made from eagle bones. The
women's faces were completely covered with sacred yellow paint, which looked greenish
in the subdued lighting of the lodge. Thin red lines were drawn from the corners of their
eyes and mouths (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:136).
The members' beds were lined head to foot around the lodge wall. Members who were
not dancing sat quietly on their beds. Before each bed, a piece of earth was cleared. This
was the altar where the incense was made. Just beyond the altar, toward the center of the
lodge, a short, upright stick had been firmly planted in the ground. Tied to each stick was
a decorated rawhide container. This was where the sacred headdresses were kept when
not worn (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:136).
Fifth Day:
This Pipe had been the first Atsitsina had ever owned. Here is his story of how he got it
(A. Hungry Wolf 1977:144).
"First we had to transfer the Buffalo Tipi to me. Calling Last painted me for the tipi
transfer and led the ceremony. My relatives got out four eagle headdresses. My brother
said, "You will get painted for these. They will be transferred to you" (A. Hungry Wolf
1977:145).
The next morning Heavy Head and Speaks-in-the-Middle [Iron] came with some others
to capture me. They took me to the tipi where the Bundle was transferred. On the way,
we stopped four times; each time there was a headdress for the Owner (A. Hungry Wolf
1977:145).
THE DIFFERENT-PEOPLE PIPE
At Fort Union, Pinukwiim and his wife met a party of Mandan People, who invited them
to their earth lodge village. They were treated with honor and respect during their stay.
The Mandans gave them each a Powerful holy Bundle when they prepared to return
home. His wife was given a sacred buffalo headdress from a Mandan women's society.
This headdress was later taken into our own Motokiks Society. Pinukwiim was given the
sacred Pipe we now call the Different-People Pipe in memory of the Mandans and their
earth lodges (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:157).
BIRDS AND ANIMALS
Hawk: The hawks as a group are aiinnimaiaks, or "seizers." The large rough-legged [page
190] hawk is ishpochsoatsis, or "used as a tailfeather," because its tailfeathers resemble
the larger ones of the golden eagle and were used at the back of headdresses when there
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were not enough real eagle feathers. Hawk skin was included in Medicine Pipe Bundles,
along with the skins of the various eagles. This hawk is also called "little eagle" and is
sometimes mistaken by hunters for a real eagle (Hungry Wolf 1977:189-190).
The Horns Society
Officially, the Horns Society ceremonies could not begin until the Motokiks had finished
theirs. On the fourth morning after the women had put up their lodge they took it down,
signifying the end of their celebration. A few husbands helped with the dismantling. In a
short time only the Center Pole remained standing, an offering to the Holy Powers. The
women gathered around it and raised their headdress sticks toward the top. They prayed
and sang and no doubt asked for strength and good luck so that they might all join
together again the next summer. Then they left their sticks tied to the bottom of the
Center Pole, along with cloth offerings for the Spirits that had been with them during
their ceremonies (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:203).
SOCIETY TRANSFER CEREMONY 1891
As a non-member, it would be improper for me to say much about the activities of the
Horns during our encampment. However, Robert Wilson recorded the public activities of
the Horns Society transfer ceremony of 1891. The events he witnessed were basically the
same as those that took place in our camp (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:204).
"Running Wolf's crook was wrapped with white swan's skin, the others with otter. All the
fur was about one inch in width. All of the long staffs and the spear were wrapped as
described, each with the grass and bladders at the bottom. At the end of each crook and at
three places down its length was tied a bunch of two eagle feathers, the spear alone had a
4 or 5 inch strip of black and white cotton tied loosely to its full length. The wife of the
chief of the outgoing members now took the swan-covered staff, and wearing a small
horned head dress also of white swan skin, she walked over and took up a position near
the entrance but facing inwards. She also carried in her arms a bundle of clothing rolled
in a blanket. Bear Back Bone next got up, wearing nothing but a breech cloth and
moccasins, and stooping low, with a slow and solemn pace, he approached the woman;
close behind him walked Running Wolf, also stooping or rather hiding behind the others.
When Bear Back Bone [the name was actually Bear Shin Bone] reached the squaw, he
straightened up to his height and, after reverently passing his hands from the top of her
head to the shoulders, he kissed her upon the left cheek. She then handed him the pole
and headdress. Running Wolf next lifted his head up and with same solemn pass with the
hands also kissed her and received from her the bundle of clothing. They slowly returned
to their place in the circle, [page 206] stooping as before, the squaw bringing up the rear"
(A. Hungry Wolf 1977:205-206).
HORNS TRANSFER
For some time before last summer's Horns membership transfer ceremony, families of the
new members went around the camp circle, one at a time, displaying their payments for
the membership. Old People walked ahead of each procession, calling out the name of the
new member and singing words of praise for him. Mokakin was the most popular man in
camp for this duty, and before long his voice was so hoarse and broken he could barely
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be heard. Among the processions he led was one for Ponah's nephew, Cyril Red Crow.
To help him with his payments, his sister and her husband, Stabs Down, paid the quarter
horse we had given to them some time earlier when we took our Medicine Pipe. Most of
the horses shown as payments were covered with fine blankets, while those who led them
wore buckskin suits and eagle feather headdresses. All these goods were to be given as
payments (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:210).
When the new members had made their rounds outside the camp circle, they were
preceded by their leaders, one on a black horse and one on a white, just as Wilson
observed. The dance leader wore the ancient headdress with a feather stuck in the front
to represent the arrow once shot into the forehead of a long-ago, similarly headdressed
dance leader. The original arrow remained lodged in its place while the wearer of the
headdress led his party of Bloods to a victory against the enemy. This battle and victory
are reenacted [page 211] during each summer's dance, the symbolic battle ending when
the leader fires his gun into the air and charges through the crowd of children, who are
the "enemy" (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:210-211).
1935 ACCOUNT OF GEORGE FIRST RIDER
"Then we went inside the Horns lodge. There, we untied our Society Bundles and painted
all the Staffs....We bound them, fixed up our headdresses, and painted our faces with
yellow paint....I painted my face with yellow paint and with red painted streaks across my
face" (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:212).
"The leader walked on the South side, behind the rider. He owns the headdress that was
shot in the forehead. [This is the dance leader, not the society leader.] The White-ArchStaff owner rode in front. [This is the staff wrapped with a white swan skin and carried
by the society's leader.] The owner of the Arm Band rode across behind. [This is the
secondary leader of the society.] The riders dismounted and we all danced..." (A. Hungry
Wolf 1977:212).
OTHER SOCIETIES
Within these societies were usually two members known as Bears. These Bears had the
publicly accepted right to appropriate food from someone for the use of all the members.
If they saw a successful hunter returning home they could demand a portion of his meat
to be used as a meal for the society. The Bears could be identified by their painting,
clothing, and other insignias, especially a headdress made from a strip of bear fur with
two claws attached to resemble small horns on the wearer's head. Percy Creighton bought
one of these headdresses from old Gambler and sold it to Mrs. Walters for forty-five
dollars. It had belonged to the Brave Dogs Society (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:215).
Mountain Horse, leader of the Crow Carriers Society, dressed for battle. He wears a
Medicine headdress, as well as a weasel-tail suit of shirt and leggings. Each of these
articles was transferred ceremonially. Symbols of scalps he has taken are tied to his rifle.
The hand on his horse represents an enemy he killed in a hand-to-hand encounter; the two
large spots represent places where horses he was riding were shot in battle. On the horse
behind him is old Bumble Bee, who is holding a staff of the Crow Carrier's Society.
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Bumble Bee enlisted in the armed forces at the same time as did several of Mountain
Horse's sons. However, he could speak no English and refused to cut his hair, so he was
sent back home. Before he left he is said to have told the other Blood soldiers: "Don't be
foolish like these white soldiers. They call off the war every day at mealtime. You boys
want to keep on shooting, even if you see them sitting down to eat" (A. Hungry Wolf
1977:217).
Grass Dancing
Bloods dancing at Fort MacLeod during the visit of Sir Wilfred Laurier in 1910. The
courthouse at the rear is still standing. The dancers wear many sacred articles:
headdresses; shirts; feathers; and shields (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:223).
EARLY DAYS ON THE BLOOD RESERVE/ GEORGE FIRST RIDER:
"Among the Blood Indians, I learned transfer ceremonies from Black Eagle and Dog
Ribs. I [page 234] took them both for my grandfathers. I know all the Horns Society
Bundles. At one time or another they were all transferred to me: the Bundle with a Rattle,
the Associate Staff, the Leader's Headdress, the Yellow-Ochred Staff, the Swan Staff,
the Staff with an Armband, the Lighter's Staff, and the Blackfoot Rider's Staff." [George
only painted for some of these Bundles.] (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:233-234).
"In one day I took four Medicine hats. My face was painted and wiped and then repainted
again, four times, as I went through four ceremonies in one day." [He means that when he
was young, four different Medicine headdresses were transferred to him in one day.
Thus, his parents spoiled their only child in a socially acceptable way.] (A. Hungry Wolf
1977:234).
"When I was a little boy I was taken to the Holy Lodge. I had two grandmothers [older
female relatives, not necessarily biological grandmothers]. They each one gave me a Sun
Dance necklace, my childhood property. I must have been eight years old when a horned
Medicine headdress was given to me" (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:234).
HOW SPIDER GOT HIS NAME
The finest dancer in the memory of most of our People was a man named Spider, who
died a few years back. He was not known for having much interest in our sacred
ceremonies, or for having fancy clothes like eagle headdresses and buckskin suits. Yet
he was always perfectly groomed, kept his face and hair painted, wore pleasing clothing,
and carried an oblong mirror in one hand while he danced (a custom among many Grass
Dancers) (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:282).
SHOT-ON-BOTH-SIDES
Shot-on-Both-Sides was very faithful to the Old Ways. He always wore his hair in braids
and wore shells as earrings. For more than thirty years he and his wife took care of the
Long-Time Pipe. A member of the Horns Society nine times, he also belonged to lesser
societies, including the Pigeons, Mosquitoes, Braves, Crazy Dogs, Crow Carriers, and
Black Seizers. He owned a number of painted lodges at different times, as well as the
famous One-Horn Headdress. He cut the hide for the Medicine Lodge and owned both
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the big drum and a sword from the early Grass Dancers, or Parted-Hair Society (Hungry
Wolf 1977:286).
HEAD CHIEF, JIM SHOT-ON-BOTH-SIDES:
"I was very young when things were first transferred to me, before I went to school.
When I went to school I gave away my weasel-tail buck-skin suit. Bob Big Sorrel Horse
transferred it to me. I think he transferred a horned Medicine headdress to me also.
When I went to school I just gave them away. I was crazy. I should have kept them. I just
gave them to my friend, Leo Crazy Bull. I didn't transfer them. He never did go to
school" (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:333).
The last thing that was transferred to the chief was the rights to the famous One-Horned
Headdress. The original, lost in Europe during the First World War, was given to him by
Big-Faced Chief, a North Piegan. Bear Shin Bone painted him for it. He also had the
Children's Medicine Pipe once, and he belonged to the Pigeons Society twice. He said
that he would like to attend our Nighttime ceremonies if he ever gets enough sacred
songs to do so. At this time he is only allowed to sing twelve songs (A. Hungry Wolf
1977:333).
NIGHTTIME CEREMONIES
The Nighttime ceremony is commonly referred to as a Big Smoke, or Sacred Smoke.
During the night-long ceremony, each participant counts coups—he calls out the
Medicines he has owned and sings the Medicines' songs. Usually each person sings
sixteen songs recalling experiences with Medicine Pipe Bundles, Beaver Bundles, Horns
Society, Medicine Lodges, sacred tipis, sacred necklaces and headdresses, and other
society memberships and Bundle transferals. The singing of all these songs is a summary
of the holy life of our Old Ways (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:345).
Joe Gambler told a story about a Nighttime ceremony to the Provincial Museum: [page
346] "After this they will sing a second round—that will make eight songs. They will
sing of the miscellaneous Bundles, like tipis, that were transferred to them. First they sing
of the Medicine Pipes, the Horns Society, and if a person owned a Beaver Bundle, he will
sing of his Water Pipe Bundle [another name for a Beaver Bundle]. They also sing of
their tipi designs, and Sun Dance necklaces, and Medicine Pipe necklaces, Weasel Tail
suits, Medicine headdresses, All Brave Dog Society. They'll sing of all their
miscellaneous Bundles that were transferred to them. That is why the singing takes so
long" (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:345-346).
Epilogue
A few months before the Old Man's passing, we had lost another one of our ceremonial
leaders—old John Many Chiefs, or White Horns. His death came about the same time as
that of Mrs. Mountain Horse, the lady who prepared medicinal herbs. Shortly after that
came the death of White Horns' eldest son—Ray Many Chiefs, who [page 362] was the
dance leader for the Horns Society and possessed the society's Headdress with an Arrow
in Front. He had also been a minor chief in the tribe (A. Hungry Wolf 1977:361-362).
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HOLY WOMAN/ MRS. RIDES-AT-THE-DOOR
Three times I put up a lodge for White-Shield Woman. I initiated her each time, and she
wore my Natoas headdress, from the sacred bundle that hangs over my bed. Twice my
sister transferred the sacred ceremony and twice I transferred it on my own, and once I
transferred with my brother as a partner. That was after my husband died. Of course,
while he was living he was my partner for the Sun Dances. Twice I have transferred the
ceremony with Mrs. Many-Guns, both times to women of the South Piegans, in Montana
[the Blackfeet]. I have transferred it three more times just in the past couple of years, and
I may transfer it again in the future, if someone makes the vow (B. Hungry Wolf
1980:35).
SUN DANCE/ HOW THE HOLY WOMAN'S HEADDRESS CAME TO BE
It is said that these early holy women wore only wreaths of creeping juniper branches on
their heads. At that time the ceremony was still quite simple, but later on it became very
complex. A major addition to it came with the Natoas, or holy woman's headdress, for
which many sacred songs are sung. This is how the origin story for that headdress has
been handed down (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:42).
The elk walked toward his wife and rival, the moose followed close behind, and the raven
flew overhead. All three were singing their power songs. With each step that the moose
took, his feet went farther into the hard ground. This was proof of his strength. When the
elk got up by his wife he hooked at the large cottonwood tree and knocked chips from it
each time. Then the moose came up and rammed the tree with his horns and gouged it
deeply. At that point the rival elk hooked the big tree and sent it crashing to the ground.
Now the husband and his friend the moose were greatly frightened, and decided to make
friends with the other elk. Only the raven wanted to continue with the challenge. But the
moose told the husband: "This elk has too much power for us, so we had better go ahead
and make friends with him. What can this raven do to help us, since he only has wings to
fly with?" The husband replied: "Yes, you are right. I will present him with my robe and
my headdress." To this the moose said: "I will give him my hooves." The raven
shrugged with disappointment and added: "All right, then I will give him my tail feathers.
If you had agreed with me to continue [page 44] the challenge, I was going to land on his
head and use my large beak to peck his eyes out. You two could have easily won after I
made him blind" (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:43-44).
It is a mystery how this first elk happened to have that headdress, but it was a Natoas
like the holy women wear for the Sun Dance. It had a rawhide band which held large
plumes and feathers to represent the elk's power of hooking with his horns. But since
bulls already have horns, the headdress was made for a cow elk to wear, along with the
robe that was also presented (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:44).
The man to whom this first Natoas was given was a great holy man who also had the first
beaver bundle. He put the sacred headdress in with his bundle and let his wife wear it
whenever the bundle's ceremony was held. He was also the leader of the medicine lodge
ceremony, since he was such a wise man. His wife wore the Natoas for that ceremony as
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well. When the holy women who vowed the Sun Dance learned about the power of the
beaver bundle man's wife's [page 45] headdress, they asked to borrow it for each Sun
Dance ceremony to wear on their own heads. So it came to be that this ceremony was
transferred to the Sun Dance women of long ago, who replaced their simple juniper
wreaths with this powerful and sacred headdress (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:44-45).
The sacred articles for each Natoas are protected inside of a sturdy rawhide cylinder,
which has painted designs on the outside, and a row of fringe along one edge. Only two
of the sacred articles are kept outside of this bag—a special "turnip-digging stick" and a
bunch of moose hooves—and they are tied to the fringe. The rest of the articles are
wrapped in cloth inside of the rawhide case. Typical contents include a badgerskin bag
for the headdress; weasel, squirrel, and gopher skins for the ceremony; bags of sacred
paint, and bags of fat for mixing the paint with; rawhide rattles, and a sheet of rawhide
for beating the rattles on; a forked stick for bringing hot coals to the altar, and bags of
incense for use on the altar; a special elkhide robe for the holy woman to wear during the
Sun Dance; and a tripod to hold up the whole bundle when it hangs outside. Some of the
small bags within the bundle also hold necklaces, feathers, and other articles that are used
during the bundle's long ceremony (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:45).
The Dances of My Grandmothers
Another ceremonial dance in which women imitate the actions of buffalo is done by the
ancient society for women, the Motokiks. I have heard that this society was once active
among all the divisions of the Blackfoot Nation, but today it [page 132] functions only
among the Bloods. Every year, during the Sun Dance encampment, the members of the
group put up a special lodge inside the camp circle. For four days they have their
meetings and religious ceremonies, most of which are private. Men take part during only
certain of these ceremonies,A especially the public dances, when four men with rattles
sing the dance songs. The membersAwear ancient headdresses that they keep inside their
medicine bundles throughout most of the year. These, and the Natoas used in the Sun
Dance, are the only medicine bundles belonging specifically to women, and they are very
highly regarded by all the tribe (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:131-132).
Note A: i.e., of the women's society, Motokiks [Analyst]
An interesting aspect of the Circle Dances was that the women were allowed to wear
their husband's special head-dresses—those with eagle tailfeathers, that stand straight up,
and those with weasel skins and horns. These were sacred headdresses for which the
husbands had been initiated. At the time of transfer they would have their wives painted
and [page 134] blessed as well so they would have the rights to wear them. This custom
was carried over from the old Scalp Dances, when the women wore their men's war
clothes and carried their weapons while dancing with the scalps (B. Hungry Wolf
1980:133-134).
There were even special headdresses, of the men's style, that were transferred only
among women, to be used during the Circle Dances. I have heard that there were four of
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these among the Bloods, but they were probably all buried with their last owners (B.
Hungry Wolf 1980:134).
This discussion of dancing would not be complete without some comments on the dances
today, since these are among the main cultural events still attended by a large number of
my people. When you watch today's Indian dancers and dances you can readily see how
their roots came from the ancient dances I have just described. Like everything else in
life, however, many changes have taken place over the recent generations and times.
Women take part in practically all the dances. A few girls have been seen dressed in
men's fancy clothing, including breechcloths and headdresses, and performing modern
versions of the old-time War Dance. Others have come out on the dance floor with
buckskin miniskirts and similar modern fashions. Even those wearing street-clothes of
pants and blouses are permitted, as long as they have the mandatory shawl over their
shoulders (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:134).
TANNING
The first stage of tanning turns a fresh hide into rawhide. I have heard the term rawhide
used by people to describe all kinds of leather. Actually it should only be used to describe
a hide that is cleaned but otherwise untanned. Rawhide was most commonly used for the
different kinds of storage containers that the people used. For instance, what my
grandmothers used for suitcases were called parfleches (a French word), or "covering for
things," (translated from Blackfoot). A parfleche is made of one solid piece of rawhide,
folded somewhat like an envelope, and sometimes measuring two feet by three feet.
Parfleches were used to hold clothing and dried food. On the outside they were usually
decorated with geometric designs. When they were packed full, properly folded, and tied
with several tie strings, they were nearly safe from bother by mice and bugs. Rawhide
was also made into square bags, to hold holy things; cylindrical bags, to hold
headdresses and special clothing; saddlebags, for being transported; as well as moccasin
soles, drumheads, and rattles (B. Hungry Wolf 1980:232).
ROLE OF WOMEN THROUGH MYTH
The Blackfoot Sun Dance is a more obvious manifestation of the superior spiritual power
of women: the Sun Dance ceremony is led by a woman and cannot be held if no woman
is willing to undertake the arduous fasting and heavy responsibility of the Holy Woman
role. As with the women who open medicine bundles, the costume and positioning of the
Holy Woman is modest, even retiring. She wears a very plain robe, given by the mythical
Elk Woman whose husband suspected her of adultery. With his comrades, a moose and a
crow (or raven), Elk pursued his wife to punish her. When he found her, they agreed to
test their respective power by attempting to butt down the tree at which Elk Woman
stood. Elk hooked his antlers at the tree but [page 117] could not bring it down. Elk
Woman then hooked at it, and it toppled. Elk's comrades gave her tokens—Moose his
hooves and Crow his tail feathers. In the Sun Dance, the Holy Woman in her elk robe and
headdress with moose hooves and crow tail feathers makes butting motions toward the
cut tree that serves as center pole, axis mundi, of the Holy Lodge (Kehoe 1995:116-117).
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The headdress of the Sun Dance's Holy Woman carries a token of a second ancient
woman, Woman Who Married Morning Star. This beautiful young woman gazed on the
brilliant Morning Star and wished aloud that she could marry him. He appeared before
her and took her to the Above World, into the tipi of his parents, Sun and Moon. There
the young couple lived happily, the bride bearing a son to Morning Star, until one day she
disobeyed her in-laws' warning to avoid digging up prairie turnips, a root vegetable
frequently cooked in stews by the aboriginal Blackfoot. Woman Who Married Morning
Star one day noticed an especially large and fine prairie turnip and impulsively dug it up
with her digging stick. Then she could see, through the hole in the sky land, her people in
their camp below. Homesickness filled her heart. Her parents-in-law recognized it and
regretfully sent her and her baby back down. Her prairie turnip and her digging stick are
now in the Sun Dance (Natoas) bundle, carried by the Holy Woman as a sign of the
power of woman to move between the Holy People of the Above World and the people
below. The hide ropes tying the rafters of the Holy Lodge are those along which Woman
Who Married Morning Star slid from the Above World to earth (Ground 1978:20; cited
in (Kehoe 1995:117).
THUNDER LODGE
After lunch, the ceremony continued, and during the afternoon the actual dancing took
place. Only the men danced, and each man danced individually. The dancing of the
American Indian today follows a pretty universal pattern, I think. At least I cannot
distinguish the dancing patterns of the Sioux, the Crow, the Cheyenne, the Arapahoe, the
Shawnee, the Pueblo or the Blackfoot one from the other, and this of course can be
attributed to the same wide cultural [page 157] borrowing which has made the Sioux war
bonnet an ubiquitous addition to the costume of the American Indian generally. Even the
Blackfoots now wear the Sioux-style headdress; the true Blackfoot eagle-feather bonnet
had the feathers standing straight up all around. The feathered trailer on the Sioux-style
bonnet, now seen from coast to coast, and on tribes that formerly never wore a headdress
at all, originally came from the Mandan Indians of the upper Missouri. The Mandans
gave their women to the White Man and their culture to the other Indian tribes, and so
now the Mandans are no more (Lancaster 1966:156-157).
Effects of the Fur Trade upon the Blackfoot
Later Warfare:
Differences between rich and poor were reflected in their participation in war in still
another way. Not owning war bonnets, beautiful headdresses, or medicine pipes, the
poor went to the hills to seek supernatural power for a successful war party, while those
who could afford it bought their charms from renowned medicine men. Despite this
handicap, informants relate that the poor were the most daring on horse-stealing parties,
for they had the least to lose and the most to gain (Lewis 1973:56).
EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF "BRINGS-DOWN-THE-SUN"
"For many years I have helped to support my family by catching eagles. I dispose of most
of the feathers among the South Piegans, who use them for their headdresses and
medicine bonnets. It is very difficult and exhausting work to take eagles alive. When I
was a young man my father taught me his methods, for he was a skilled eagle-catcher. I
Page: 21
camp in an unfrequented place, near the foot of the mountains. After digging a deep hole,
so that I can stand erect inside, I kill a coyote and stretch the tanned hide on sticks, with
raw meat laid along the sides, as if it had just been cut open. Long before sunrise, I enter
the hole, covering the top over with branches and leaves. The coyote bait lies on top, just
over my head. I must stand in the hole all day, not able to eat, nor drink, nor even smoke,
lest the eagles scent the smoke. All day long I chant the coyote medicine song, " I want
the eagles to eat my body" (McClintock 1968:428).
BLACKFEET SOCIETIES
Muto ka-iks (Buffalo Society)
"The Muto-ka-iks is composed entirely of women. Their dances are continued even to
this day among the Bloods. A large lodge is erected, having a centre pole, to which is tied
the sacred 'root digger,' as a cross piece. The women assemble clothed in the costumes of
their society. They wear robes and headdresses of soft tanned buckskin. There are four
leaders, called 'Snake Medicine Hats,' with bonnets of eagle feathers. One of these,
'Lodge-Pole' by [page 451] name, is chief. Four more, wearing bonnets of hawk feathers,
are called 'Hawk Medicine Hats.' Two others, called 'Old Bulls,' wear head-dresses with
red plumes fastened to the horns. Old women and young children come before them and
are painted on their foreheads with a red cross, symbolical of the 'centre pole' and the
'root digger.' A young boy, son of a prominent chief, is chosen to take part in the
ceremonies. He is elaborately dressed and rides a horse to the lodge of the society,
followed by his father and mother bearing presents in return for the honour conferred
upon their son. When the dancers come forth from their main lodge, they walk slowly to
a lake, or stream, like a herd of buffalo going to water. They lie down upon the shore and
wait for the two bulls which follow slowly. When they too lie down, the boy rides to
windward with a lighted buffalo chip, allowing the smoke to blow towards the dancers.
They rise slowly to their feet. After sniffing at the wind and tossing their heads, in
imitation of buffaloes, they start towards their lodge. The boy on horseback follows,
imitating the call formerly used by Indians in driving buffalo. When the women reach the
lodge, they run about the centre pole, until they fall exhausted. The old bulls do not join
in the stampede, but walk slowly and deliberately, with heavy tread and bellowing,
sometimes lowering their heads and running at each other like bulls fighting. Finally,
they too enter the lodge and join those about the pole. The actions of the dancers, after
smelling the smoke, are in imitation of buffalo driven by Indians to a piskun. When they
enter the lodge, they are supposed to be driven over a cliff. When they run around the
pole, their [page 452] motions are in imitation of buffalo wounded by their fall, and
caught in the corral at the bottom of the cliff" (McClintock 1968:450-452).
MUTSAIX (SOCIETY OF BRAVE DOGS)
"There were two dancers representing Grizzly Bears. They were stripped, wearing only a
waist band of bear skin. They always painted as hideously as possible to inspire the
spectators with awe. They covered their faces with thick red paint, and made black
streaks downward across their eyes. They made their front hair stand erect with thickened
paint. They carried bows and arrows with large points, and wore headdresses made from
grizzly bears' heads, with the ears on, [page 462] and two buffalo horns added, to make
them look like double ears. The bears were separated from the other dancers, lying in a
Page: 22
hole for a den, and covering themselves over with robes. Wolf-Skin-Man, the leader,
arose first to dance, the entire circle following him. All wore blankets and carried spears.
They also held whistles in their mouths, which were blown while dancing. The two
white-painted dancers pushed into the circle, driving the others away with their spears.
When the black-painted water carriers passed the white dancers in the circle, they
stopped. Then the man with the willow stick entered, but he could not sit down, until
after the bears had stopped dancing. Every time these five leaders arose, the entire society
must dance, with the exception of the bears. They always did as they pleased, lying lazily
in their den, covered with robes. When the spectators, eager to see them dance, threw
things at them, they pretended four times that they were going to begin. After the fourth
feint, they stood up, holding their hands hanging down, just as bears hold their paws.
While dancing, they carried their bows and arrows, pretending to aim at the dancers. The
Brave Dogs kept going around in a circle, just like a dog looking for a place to lie down.
When we had danced four times, the bears held the sharp pointed arrows ready to shoot,
but, changing them quickly to two painted arrows without points, they took aim at the
crowd, as if to shoot them, but the arrows were sent high over their heads. The rest of us
ran off over the prairie, following in the direction the arrows flew, and throwing our
moccasins into the air as we ran. Many boys followed us to pick them up, for we wore
finely decorated dance-moccasins, but no one was allowed to pick up the two painted
arrows, which the Grizzly Bears [page 463] followed to recover. When the bears again
returned to our ranks, we formed into line and marched through camp, singing our society
song. If any of our members held back, the bears shot at them, or at any people, who
might interfere with us. When we had completed the camp circle, we announced the
events that would take place on the following day, and then entered our society tipi and
feasted. After the feast, we went off on a hunt and killed two buffalo bulls. Each member
took two pieces of the meat. One he left in the society tipi, the other he took back to his
family. The Brave Dogs always said the opposite of what they really meant. The people
understood this custom. If we announced that camp was not to be moved in the morning,
we really meant that camp was to be moved. If we returned from a scouting expedition
for game, and reported that there were no buffalo in sight, and that there was no need of
their sharpening their knives and arrows, they felt glad and started at once to prepare for a
hunt, for they knew well that buffalo were near at hand. If one of our members stepped
into a hole and fell, when we were running and throwing away our moccasins, he could
not get up by himself. He had to lie there and wait, until the society came back, when we
lifted him up with our spears (McClintock 1968:461-463).
Battle on Sun River
Told by "Three Suns":
I stepped into Sun Weasel's lodge, owner of the elk-tongue sacred pipe. He was not there.
His sits-beside-him-wife, Antelope Woman, was the leader of the powerful Gathered
Women (Mahtokiks) secret society. She had on her sacred headdress of owl feathers and
was praying Sun to save us. The two other wives were joining in her prayers, their cheeks
wet with tears. Their children were silent, sitting big eyed, frightened. I gave Badger
Woman's message and Antelope Woman said to me: "I am praying. You are from Calf
Looking's lodge. Quickly return there and tell our man that we want him to come to us, to
stay here with us" (Schultz 1980:260).
Page: 23
WHEN MEN AND ANIMALS WERE FRIENDLY
'Come in, come in,' White Eagle feebly called out, and entered, one by one, four
strangers, each with a pouch of food, which he at once laid upon the women's side of the
lodge. White Eagle told them that they were welcome in his poor lodge. He gave them
seats upon the guest side of the lodge, noticing their dress as they took their places. Each
one wore a robe of the animal which [page 51] he really was, and a headdress, too, and
all had necklaces of shells. It was noticed that their faces were rather long and narrow.
Wolf was their spokesman. He told White Eagle that, learning of the trouble he was in,
the chief of his camp had sent him and his companions to aid him. There in the pouches
was food: dried entrails, dried back fat. He advised that the starving ones should eat
sparingly at first. The camp of his people was at Shell Butte, and the head chief, named
Spotted Wolf, wanted the starving ones to move up there, where they would have plenty
to eat (Schultz 1930:50-51).
TAIL-FEATHERS WOMAN MYTH
There was nothing for Morning Star to do but let her go. Sun had a last talk with her; told
her that she must not forget the things that she must have her people do to honor him and
for their own long life and happiness. So was it that Night-Light gave her a headdress
that she said could be worn only by women of pure life. Gave her, too, the sacred digging
stick. Then Morning Star took her to the big turnip hole, tied a spider web to her under
arms, and with it lowered her down to earth and close to the camp of her people. She
went at once to the lodge of her parents, and they cried, they were so happy over her
return; were very proud of her when they learned where she had been, and all that she had
seen and done in the home of the Above Ones. And as Sun had told her to do, she gave
them instructions [page 82] in the various things that he wanted them to do for him and
for their own welfare and happiness (Schultz 1930:81-82).
O-KAN (SUN DANCE)
As soon as the great camp is well settled down for the coming ceremonies, a sweat lodge
is built in front of the red lodge, and within it, with proper [page 86] prayers and songs,
the vow woman and her husband, and her 'mother' and 'father,' purify the dried tongues
for sacrifice to the Above Ones. Following this, the vow woman and her assistant vow
woman begin a fast, in the red lodge, of four days, during which they are taught the
Medicine Lodge rituals, the various and many songs and prayers, by her 'father' and
'mother,' who also open, with proper ceremony, the Natoas bundle which she had
purchased from them. It contains skins of small animals, small sacks of paints, tongs of a
forked willow, seven rattles, and, most important of all, a digging stick, and a headdress,
copies of those that Tail-Feathers Woman had when she returned to the earth from her
stay with the Above Ones. The digging stick is red-painted, and attached to its upper or
holding end is a bunch of the outer shells of moose hoofs. The rawhide band of the
headdress is of rawhide, but in the shape of a lizard, and fringed with white weaselskins. From it rise tall plumes, eagle and raven tail feathers, and attached to the front of it
is a small human image containing seeds of native tobacco. During the opening of the
bundle and the transferring of it to the new owner, the hours' long, interesting rites, songs,
and prayers of the ceremony are carefully observed, and [page 87] afford a most
Page: 24
interesting spectacle. Some of the songs are as effecting and stirring as the more profound
music of Handel and Haydn. In all, there are seventy different songs of the cermony. In
them, Sun is called Old Man, Moon is Old Woman, but their son bears his true name,
Morning Star. The ceremony opens with the burning of incense, the participants purifying
themselves in the smoke of the sweetgrass and singing: "I am searching for sweetgrass.
Powerful it is. I have found it, taken it. Powerful it is" (Schultz 1930:85-87).
LEANING-OVER-BUTCHERING
'We left camp when Sun was in the middle, and stopped for the night on Crooked Creek.
Came day, and, while we were broiling and eating some antelope meat, our leader told us
that he had had a dream, and could not understand its meaning, whether for good or for
trouble for us ahead. He had seen a number of enemies on horseback, charging in upon
us, their leader a [page 194] big, wide-shouldered man, wearing a beautiful, long-tailed
headdress of eagle tail feathers. Well, what did we think it meant (Schultz 1930:193194)?
Medicine Woman
We shall now give our attention to the medicine woman. As previously stated, she is in
most respects the central figure in the whole ceremony, around who centers it more
serious and solemn aspects. On the fifth day, an elaborate ritual is demonstrated in her
tipi, culminating in the procession to the dancing lodge. To this ritual belongs a medicine
bundle with accessories, known as the Natoas, though the name is primarily that of the
headdress which the bundle contains. This bundle is transferred in the ritualistic way to
the medicine woman by the ceremony and thus becomes hers to care for and guard until
used again at another sun dance ceremony. The ritual and the bundle have been discussed
in detail of Volume 7 of this series. In addition to the contents of the bundle, there must
be a special robe of elk skin, a dress of the same material, and wristlets of strong elk
[page 241] teeth. A new travois must be provided for moving the medicine woman outfit.
Sometimes she herself rides on it. This travois is made by the past medicine woman, her
attendant in the ceremonies (Wissler 1918:240-241).
The Weather Dancers
It is stated that there is but one weather dancer, but others may join under certain
conditions. In practice this seems to amount to there being a director or leader in the
dance, at least such was the case in 1903 and 1904. In 1904 the two assistant dancers
went to the medicine woman's tipi to paint themselves and began their procession from
there, while the leader approached in a similar manner from his own tipi, the two forming
one procession before the east side of the dancing lodge was reached. The leading dancer
wore a special ceremonial robe, headdress, and several medicine objects, which have
been described in Volume 7 (pp. 98—99) (Wissler 1918:258).
In 1904 there were two assistant dancers. Both wore headdresses somewhat like that of
their leader. One was fully dressed with a blanket around his waist; the other was nude to
the belt. The latter was painted chiefly in red with a circle in blue on the back and one on
the breast. The former had a pair of horizontal lines on each cheek, those on the right,
black, on the left, red (Wissler 1918:258-259).
Page: 25
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ ALL-BRAVE-DOGS
The two bear-all-brave-dogs are now familiar characters. They are the only ones with
bows and arrows. They wear a peculiar headdress [page 383] (Fig. 7), consisting of a
narrow strip of skin with bear cars and two small horns (bear claws) attached. At the top,
the hair is arranged to suggest the cropped hair of the analogous pair in the pigeons. They
wear shirts made of white cloth which reach the waist, are fringed around the bottom and
have short sleeves with long fringes. On the forearm, just below the sleeve, a narrow strip
of bearskin with a bear claw attached is worn. The shirt is painted red on each shoulder.
A beaded belt, breech cloth, moccasins, a belt full of cartridges and a knife, make up the
costume. For painting they use the bear-face, that is, red ground with black marks down
from [page 384] the eyes and corners of the mouth. When at home, each keeps his
ceremonial bow and arrows tied up near the door of the tipi (Wissler 1913:382-384).
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ FRONT-TAILS
Then the transferrer took the feather which was used as a headdress, spat on it four
times, made four passes over the smudge with it, recounted four more war deeds, and
fastened it crosswise on Big-brave's head. The feather is an eagle tail-feather, wrapped
with colored quills and has a hole in the middle through which is passed a buckskin string
with which the feather is fastened on the hair. Then he took the belt of the front-tails, held
it to the smudge place four times, spat on it four times, told of four war deeds, made four
passes with his knife and cut off a few inches of the tail. After this he fastened the belt
around Big-brave's waist and as he did so all cheered him. The tail of the belt hung on the
right side. A blanket was also given him and a digging-stick was placed near Big-brave's
feet. As he rose and stood by it his foot was held by the transferrer and passed four times
to the smudge; then he stepped over the digging stick, going forward twice and backward
twice. A dog was brought in and placed before his feet and he stepped over it four times
(Wissler 1913:390).
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ RAVEN-BEARERS
The leader carries a long red stick, trimmed with a strip of red cloth, to which feathers are
fastened. His head is thrust through a slit in the back of a coyote skin. The head of the
coyote is still attached. For a headdress he wears a single tail-feather. His face bears the
coyote painting (p. 398).A There is no special costume, he usually wears his best clothes.
According to one informant the leader is said to have worn about his neck the skin of a
raven. One was collected on the Blood Reserve (Fig. 13). The wings have been decorated
with strips of porcupine quill work and from the beak hangs a strip of red flannel,
probably to represent the tongue. We were also given a peculiar necklace made of
imitation bear's claws carved from buffalo horn. This was also stated to have been worn
by the leader. Other informants claim that the bird was worn only by the black-raven.
According to White-man, the leader wore a coyote skin around the neck with pendant
feathers in bunches, consisting of six eagle feathers and one crow feather each. The end
of the crow feather was cut square. A rattle was also carried by the leader (Wissler
1913:392).
Note A: See p.398 [Analyst]
Page: 26
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ KIT-FOX
Owing to reluctance of informants, we were unable to obtain a concise account of the kitfox organization. The main leader wore the entire skin of a kit-fox, with the head before
and the tail behind. Around the neck and legs of the fox skin were strands of beads. Small
bells were tied to the feet. Four eagle tail-feathers were stuck up on the top and one at the
tip [page 400] of the tail. The whole skin was liberally daubed with the "seventh paint."
Brass buttons formed the eyes of the fox. This leader also carried a bow and arrows,
thoroughly coated with the same red pigment. His body was also painted red, a blue band
around each wrist and a band of blue around the face, but of a different form from that
used by the horns (Wissler 1913:399-400).
There was a second, or associate leader, wearing a similar headdress and bearing a bow.
His person and regalia were, however, painted over with yellow with corresponding
marks in red. He is called the yellow fox (Wissler 1913:400).
In closing, it may be noted that we find a tradition that the kit-fox as here described was
the result of an ancient union between two other societies. What these were, we did not
learn. Big-brave says he saw the last kit-fox dance some fifty years ago, but that for many
years several of the lances were kept and transferred as other bundles. The lances and
headdress were often carried to war as individual war bundles. In former times, only
members were permitted to touch the lances or any other part of the regalia (Wissler
1913:402).
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ BULL SOCIETY
Two members were known as the scabby bulls. They wore headdresses made from the
horns and hairy skin of the buffalo; also robes with the hairy side out. Their position in
the dance was at the end of the line, or something like the bears in the brave society
(Wissler 1913:405).
They were the most ancient society. One of the leaders wore a robe hair side out and a
headdress made from the skin of a buffalo's head, with the horns polished. The left horn
was painted blue with a blue plume at the tip. The right horn was painted white. The
other leader wore a straight-up feather bonnet without a tail. Weasel fringes hung from
the sides. On the front was an arrow, about the length of the forearm. This was fastened
crosswise and with weasel fringes at each end of the feathering. The arrow, the bonnet,
and feathers were well daubed with red paint. As to the arrow, it is said that once in a
fight with the Crow Indians the leader of the bulls was wounded by an arrow so he
symbolically painted the headdress red (blood color) and tied an arrow upon it. He also
wore a robe hair side out1 (Wissler 1913:406).
Note 1: Curtis, Vol. 6, 28, says a pointless arrow was worn but our informant is positive
that the arrow had a metal point, in short, a real arrow.
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ BLACK-SOLDIERS
Page: 27
Unfortunately, our information on this organization is meager. The members were said to
carry daggers, wear no clothing (except breech cloth and moccasins) and to paint their
bodies red. Around the ankles were strips of coyote skin. There was also a cap or
headdress, consisting of a band of coyote skin with a pendant tip at the rear (see Vol. 7,
99). An eagle feather is placed on each side of the cap, suggesting horns (Wissler
1913:409).
There are two leaders each wearing an entire coyote skin over the shoulders. Another
important officer is the keeper of the pipe. In the ceremonies he rides a horse, holding the
pipe and wearing the headdress, feathers, etc., making up the regalia of a regular pipe
owner (see Vol. 7, 138). In the dance he rides into the circle and when dismounted (p.
387) joins in the dance (Wissler 1913:409).
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ THE HORNS
After a time they emerge and march entirely around the camp circle, sun-wise. The two
riders now use their horses. Four times they pause and dance, the signal is given by the
two horsemen riding back and forth in front of the column. Having made the circuit, they
proceed to the center of the camp where the mounted bearer of the black lance invites
some one to come forward and recount four deeds with the lance. If the members present
cannot do this, an outsider must be called in. Then they dance once again; after which the
women take the lances and headdresses and dance with them (Wissler 1913:413).
In all dances the man with the arrow on his headdress leads (Wissler 1913:413).
Running-wolf, a very able Blood Indian, is authority for the statement that after the bull
society became extinct the horns took over many of their rites. The headdress of the horn
leader is said to have been worn by the bulls. His very aged mother remembered seeing
the bull dance. He called attention to the large part buffalo conceptions seem to play in
the ceremonies and origin myths, whereas the kit-fox of the Piegan has a different
mythical origin. One of our Piegan informants was positive that the buffalo did not figure
in the kit-fox ritual in any manner whatsoever. It will be noted that this theory of
Running-wolf is consistent with our accounts of the kit-fox. On the whole, we believe
this to be the most probable explanation of the differences between the horns and the kitfox. In a way, this would also account for the unusual prestige now enjoyed by this
organization (Wissler 1913:418).
MEN'S SOCIETIES/ BRAVES
The shirts they wear are long and reach to the feet. They are made from the smoked parts
of tipis. They have a headdress that seems to be a painted cap with holes for the eyes,
nose, and mouth. They have two white lances. The informant claims that formerly there
were but two of these, and that later they added two more. The other features of the dance
are as described by the Piegan (Wissler 1913:424).
WOMEN'S SOCIETIES/ MATOKI:
The tipi pole owner is one of the snake bonnets. Each woman has a red-painted backrest
stick planted before her seat to support her headdress. When they sleep, they lie with
Page: 28
their feet toward the center. Just to the west side of the center pole is a fire. When food is
brought in and handed to members, they pass what is given them to members on the
opposite side. Each member has an individual smudge altar before her seat. For these the
grass is cleared from a small oblong. Along the sides next to the sitter are rows of buffalo
chips covered with sage grass. Sweet-grass is used for the smudge. The headdresses
must always be smudged four times before they are placed on the head (Wissler
1913:431).
Fig. 26. Diagram showing the Ceremony of the Ma toki. Drawn by Mrs. Heavyrunner.
The top of the sketch is north. The positions of the two doors are shown; to the west of
the center pole sit the four male singers; behind these to the north are the six snakeheaddress members, to the south the five feather-headdress members; south of the east
door sit the buffalo-wool headdress members; to the north the four scabby bulls; the
marks above the heads of members indicate sticks for supporting the headdresses when
not in use. The triangular figures outside represent travois (Wissler 1913:431).
The Hair-Parters or Grass Dance
There were two distinct parts, as far as modes of dancing are concerned. In the first men
danced alone, very much as the Shoshone in their ta sayàge. In the second, women took
part, standing either next to each other or, subsequently between two men. This second
part was a round dance quite similar to the Cree dance of the Shoshone, except that the
men did not clasp the women's shoulders, or touch them in any way. The women, for the
most part, wore tall feather headdresses. At the end of the dance, that one of the women
who had danced best and did not yet possess a headdress was selected for receiving one
as a present (Wissler 1913:455).
The regalia employed are almost identical with a Gros Ventre set in the Museum but
instead of a "dog fork," the Piegan use a lance or stick. As has been noted the crow belt
and the spreading hair headdress are used. These have been described by Kroeber.1 A
matter of special interest is that members formerly each had a miniature bundle,
containing a feather or other small ornament which they cared for in the characteristic
Blackfoot way. This was kept in a tiny cylindrical rawhide case of the type used for war
medicines. As noted in the preceding, there was one particular crow belt that was
regarded as a medicine object and which is now owned by a Blood Indian. The face and
body painting of the society is optional as is also the costume aside from headdress and
crow belts. At present, it is customary to give a public ceremony at the sun dance for
which a circle of wagons is made within the southern segment of the camp circle. Many
meetings are held during the winter months but these are now almost entirely social
affairs (Wissler 1913:456).
Note 1: Kroeber, 271.
So far no definite mythical origin for this ceremony has been encountered except that a
Piegan named Three-bears heard that a negro half-breed Dakota was given the dance in a
dream, when he saw some chickens dancing. The roosters wore crow belts and large
Page: 29
combs, the latter now symbolized by the peculiar roached headdress. Perhaps this is an
embryonic myth (Wissler 1913:456).
MEDICINE EXPERIENCES
Medicineman A
Once I dreamed that I saw an old woman facing the sun. Her hair was white with age.
She had her back towards me and at her side stood an old man wearing a headdress like
mine. I had in my hand a fan of feathers and [page 74] the old woman requested me to
give the fan to her. This I promised to do. Then the old woman said, "Look at me, my
son, see how fine I look." Then I looked at her and could see her face through her head.
Her face was painted with a black circle and a dot on the nose. Then the old man sang
four songs. You will remember that in the sun dance I painted the faces of women with
black circles and dots. This is why I did it (Wissler 1912:73-74).
PERSONAL CHARMS AND MEDICINES
On the whole, the preceding charms may be considered as personal war bundles. We pass
now to a class of objects used by medicinemen, though the distinctions are by no means
absolute. The head and neck of an owl (50-4437) was used by a Piegan whose personal
narratives are given on p. 8. There is a beaded band around the neck. It may be noted that
in such objects the neck of the bird usually bears an ornamental band to which a
suspension cord is attached. Medicinemen kept mammals, birds, and other objects with
which special formulae were associated; some of them were for success in war and other
occupations, and some for the treatment of disease. A fairly complete outfit used by a
Piegan (Narrator A, p. 72) was collected: it consists of a robe (50-4507); headdress (Fig.
6), necklace (Fig. 6), wand of feathers (Fig. 7), a whistle (50-4561), an albino magpie
(50-5391), a number of birds (50-5392), and a drum (50-4531). This man was also noted
for his power as a doctor (Wissler 1912:98).
The headdress is a band of running-fisher skin. (Fig. 6.) On the front [page 99-100] is a
brass disc representing the sun and above it an eagle plume. At the back are eagle
feathers and a disc representing the morning star. At one side is a red-winged blackbird,
so placed that he appears to be looking forward. This bird and the plume came from the
thunder and have to do with powers over the weather. At the sides are small tufts of the
ever-present weasel fur, as usual, painted pink. The whole headdress had some power in
war, its late owner having performed some deeds with it but more often loaned it to
young men to whom he temporarily transferred its power and for which he received a
share of the plunder. There are five songs (records 352-6). The one to be used on the
warpath runs: "The people even my children are; pity them. On a high place, I see all
around." Similar words are used in a song referring to the plume. Referring to the
feathers: "My children, pity them. On a high place," etc. The old woman's (moon) song
refers to the two discs and runs, "Look, see if I am not a fine looking woman." Another
song belongs to the bird (Wissler 1912:98-100).
MEDICINE BUNDLES
Headdresses
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An important point is the general belief that all these types of headdresses were once
exclusively the regalia of members of the bull society. The songs used are said to be from
the ritual of that organization. It is said that when the society ceased to exist the regalia
was still transferred from person to person, the ritual and songs of the society being used.
Thus, in a way, the ritual of the order is still in existence. We collected some
phonographic records (nos. 414, 431-2) of the songs (Wissler 1912:116):—
"That above, Man, he hears me.
It is sun.
That below, he hears me.
I want to sit there.
My medicine (bonnet), it is powerful.
Buffalo, he says, on the ground I am looking around for a place to sit.
It is powerful.
It is powerful, where he sits."
The first is the smudge song and a buffalo is supposed to be singing. In the second, the
headdress is held up as if it were a buffalo's head, moved about in keeping with the song
and then put down (Wissler 1912:116).
Shields
A shield secured from the Crow is represented in a native drawing (Fig. 13d). The design
is upon a buckskin covering. The ritual was conferred in a dream by a hawk whose
likeness appears in the drawing. The marks above probably represent clouds and the
waved lines, lightning, strongly suggesting motives seen on some Dakota shields. The
outer cover is undecorated. A lance goes with the shield and is placed as shown in the
[pages 118-119] sketch. A buffalo tail is tied on at the bottom. When suspended, the
relative positions are as drawn. In addition, the bundle contains a small headdress of
feathers and sweetgrass for the smudge. During the day, the shield bundle is tied to the
end of a tipi pole which is leaned against the rear of the tipi bringing the bundle above the
crossing of the regular poles. The ritual contains seven songs. In the transfer, a smudge is
made with sweetgrass and the purchaser painted over body and face with white paint. His
hair is brushed to the left side of his head and the headdress is tied on (Fig. 14). This is
suggestive of a Crow style and is consistent with the asserted origin of the shield. The
face is then marked with black as shown in the drawing. The shield hangs from the lance,
thrust into the earth at the rear of the tipi. The purchaser and the seller dance while others
drum and sing the songs. The latter dances with the shield and pretends to be dodging
arrows. Two horses are brought up and the two men ride around the camps together. The
front and hind quarters of the purchaser's horse are painted with white earth. This ends
the transfer. The fees are a horse, blankets, and clothing (Wissler 1912:117-119).
The shield is of two buffalo rawhides, firmly glued together. It is decorated with feathers
as in Fig. 13e. The face is not painted but entirely plain. At the center is tied a bunch of
many different kinds of feathers; this is to be used in war as a headdress and considered
a very powerful medicine. The dot in the drawing represents the hole made by a ball that
passed through the first layer but not the second and is still in the shield. No one seems to
know how or when this was done.1 There is a single cover but curiously it bears symbolic
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decorations on the outside. Fig. 13c represents the shield as it hangs on its tripod. The
cover is of black-tailed deer and across its middle a narrow fringed band of the same.
When a cover wears out a new one is made and the old one hung in a tree as an offering
to the sun. Over all are dots of red representing stars. The tripod and the [page 120] strap
are painted red. It is kept in the tipi at night but taken out each morning before sunrise
and set up with its tripod on the west of the tipi, so hung that the first rays of the sun will
fall upon the painted cover. At noon, again, it is turned more towards the sun and later to
face the west. After sunset, it is returned to the tipi by the north side, thus having made a
sunwise circuit, and fastened to a tipi pole at the rear (Wissler 1912:119-120).
Note 1: Fig. 13e (shield) was drawn by Heavy-runner son of its former owner. Fig. 13c
was drawn by Mrs. Heavy-runner.
Medicine-Pipe
The headdress is a simple band of white buffalo calfskin (often sheep or goat skin) about
two inches wide. The longest feather from an eagle's wing is tied across the head above
this band (Wissler 1912:138).
A headdress of mountain goat wool in imitation of white buffalo calf (Wissler
1912:139).
Fourth Seven Songs
The headdress representing a white buffalo calf is put on at this time (Wissler 1912:144).
Eighth Seven Songs
Another small pipe recently transferred to a Piegan by a Blood is about twelve inches
long with the fan of feathers and other decorations in corresponding scale. It is kept in a
cylindrical rawhide case.1 A headdress of white buffalo is used with it and in battle the
owner tied the unwrapped pipe crosswise on this headdress. The ritual has but two
songs. This bundle seems to be a war medicine (Wissler 1912:160).
Note 1: Vol. 5, 79.
Moon Songs
9. "The calf 3 I want it, Give it to me" (Wissler 1912:189).
Note 3: This is a headdress made of white buffalo calfskin. The elk refers to the skin
wrappings in the bundle.
Natoas, or Sun Dance Bundle
The most complete bundle in the Museum contains the following:— sacred headdress
for the sun dance woman, bag of badger skin for the sacred headdress, a digging stick to
accompany the headdress, a case of rawhide for the headdress and bag of badger skin, a
shawl for covering the bundle, [page 210-211] bladder bags for feather bunches of the
headdress when in the bag of badger skin, a bundle containing skins of animals, weasel
skin, squirrel skin, another weasel skin, and gopher skin. In addition, the following
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accessories are necessary:—a paint and smudge outfit, bag of rawhide for holding the
same; one bag of red paint, two bags of seventh paint, three bags of tallow for mixing
paint, one bag of yellow paint, two bags of black paint, material for the smudge, a bladder
bag containing scraps of skin, etc., for mending, seven rattles, a Nez Percé bag for the
seven rattles, rawhide upon which rattles are beaten, smudge sticks, straight pointed stick,
a small two-pronged stick, a large three-pronged stick, a tripod for supporting the bundle,
a strap for the main bundle, and a specially decorated elk skin robe (Wissler 1912:209,
211).
The headdress and the digging stick are the important objects. The latter is painted red
and should have some moose hoofs fastened on the end (Fig. 27). The headdress is built
upon a strip of buffalo rawhide, cut to represent a lizard. In many cases it is painted red
for half its length and blue on the other half. The edge is hung about with strips of white
weasel skin. In front is what is spoken of as a doll, containing tobacco seeds, and a
weasel stuffed with human hair, or scalplocks. At the back should be the tail of a wildcat.
A flint arrow point is hung to the doll's head. On some headdresses there is a small bird
at the back. A pair of tall plumes and a pair of eagle or raven feather tufts, complete the
regalia (Fig. 28) (Wissler 1912:211).
The man who had received the bonnet and other things was the owner of a beaver bundle
and as he had a wife she used the robe, dress, and bonnet during their ceremonies. When
the people gave the sun dance they used to march towards the medicine, or sun dance
lodge in single file going very slowly and stopping four times just as they do nowadays.
The women who made the vow for the medicine lodge in those days only wore a circle
band of creeping juniper as a headdress and when they saw how fine the beaver bundle
owner's wife looked in her dress and bonnet, the medicine lodge women generally
borrowed the bonnet and clothes when they gave the sun dance.1 Later, the medicine
lodge woman bought the bonnet, robe, dress, the elk teeth wristlets, the moose hoofs, and
the raven feathers from the beaver bundle owners and had them transferred together with
the songs. This is how the natoas came to be in the beaver bundle and was later on given
to the medicine woman in the sun dance2 (Wissler 1912:214).
Note 1: It is an old saying that Scar-face brought down the custom of wearing a head
band of juniper for the medicine woman and the tradition that this was displaced by the
natoas is generally regarded as authentic.
Note 2: One informant states: the first beaver bundle was owned by the man who gave
the bundle to Scabby-round-robe; next was the man camped near St. Mary's Lake, whose
wife went into the beaver den; then the natoas was put into the bundle; the next owner
was the man who raised tobacco (Plants-on-the-plains); next the digging stick was added;
later, the natoas was separated from the bundle.
The Ritual. In the transfer of this bundle the woman to receive it and her husband are
taken in charge by a man and wife competent to conduct the ceremony, the man leading.
These leaders are spoken of as the transferrers, and the other couple as son and daughter.
The woman and man giving the bundle are spoken of as mother and father. In addition, a
number of men and women are invited to enter the tipi and assist in the ceremony. As in
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all ceremonies the men sit on the north side, the women on the south. The son and
daughter sit at the rear and next to them the transferrers. It opens with the smudge song
(Wissler 1912:215):—
40. Weasel is running about. He is my headdress. It is powerful. (The skins on the
natoas.) (Wissler 1912:217).
Then the tree is stuck into the ground on the south side of the fireplace toward the rear of
the tipi. The leader's wife takes up the headdress, then the daughter takes hold also, both
making dancing movements with their bodies and then hanging the headdress on the tree
as they sing (Wissler 1912:218):—
51. "I am looking for timber on which to sit."
Then follows a song without words during which the leader's wife takes the headdress
from the tree, puts it on her head, her body swaying with the rhythm of the singing,
makes hooking motions at the tree; rubs her head up and down the limbs and then places
the headdress upon the daughter. During this time the mother makes the whistling sound
of the elk. This is readily understood from the origin myth (Wissler 1912:218).
Painted-Tipis
After they had been there for four days the old man fell asleep. A man approached him
and said, "I come to invite you to my lodge." The old man went with the stranger and
both entered the tipi. The owner, who was one of the winter chief's people, had his face
and body painted with the white dirt paint. The winter man said, "I will give you my tipi
and my headdress feathers." He told him how to use the feathers in war and that he or
anyone else who owned the tipi would soon become a chief. He also taught him all about
the ceremony. He told the old man that he had not intended to freeze him to death but
was only joking with him (Wissler 1912:234).
The headdress feathers are kept in a rawhide bag on tripods on the west of the tipi during
the day and returned in the evening (Wissler 1912:236).
Fig. 30. The Paint and Hair Dress for the Owner of the Winter Painted-Tipi. Morningstar
says, 'Four times I want to smoke.' " As the feathers are tied to the buyer's hair they sing,
"Man says, my headdress is powerful. Rain is my medicine. Man says, hailstones are my
body." The men do not rise to dance but merely go through the motions keeping time
with a rattle. The buyer's face and body are painted. The feathers worn on the hair are a
black plume, eagle tail-feathers, and raven feathers and are kept in a rawhide bag placed
at the west of the tipi. This headdress is used in war. This ends the transfer (Wissler
1912:236).
GENERAL CEREMONIAL FEATURES
The Sweat House
All important bundles and ceremonies require a sweat house, though such seems not to
have been used with shields and headdresses. For the sun dance bundle a special form is
used, one hundred willows entering into its construction. The usual form requires twelve
to fourteen willows twined into an oval frame. When in use, blankets or robes are thrown
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over the frame. A hole is dug in the center for the hot stones, the dirt must be placed at
the west side along the outer wall. These holes differ in shape: [page 258] circular for the
beaver bundle; square for the sun dance bundle; rectangular for some medicine-pipe
ceremonies; heart-shaped or triangular for the pipe transfer, the horns, buffalo tipis, etc.
The circular form when used with the beaver bundle represents the entrance to a den, in
some other ceremonies it represents the sun; the triangular form is usually the buffalo
head. The number of stones is usually optional1 (Wissler 1912:257-258).
Note 1: If at any point a heated stone falls to the ground, it must be left where it lands. It
would bring ill luck to use it.
The Transfer
a. When Bad-old-man was young and unmarried, he bought an otterskin decorated with
weasel tails and small bells on its legs and with its neck wrapped with beads and paid a
horse for it. This was used on the warpath. The same summer he bought a war-bonnet and
also paid a horse for it. About three years later he bought a weasel-tail suit, paid a horse
for it, and about three years after that was presented with another weasel-tail shirt. After
four years, he bought a horn bonnet for which he paid a horse. Then he lost the weaseltail suit in a wheel gambling game and sold [page 274] the war-bonnet for a horse. Later,
he lost the other weasel-tail shirt in a wheel gambling game. Then his father gave him a
feather headdress used in war. A few years later he bought another weasel-tail suit and
vowed to dance with a medicine-pipe for which he paid blankets and other small objects.
Then he sold the horn bonnet for a horse. He bought a war bonnet with trailers which was
used in the horn society (Wissler 1912:273-274).
c. When Bear-skin was about twenty years old he purchased a horn bonnet and paid a
horse for it. Next he bought a shield, paying a horse, kept it five years, then he bought the
Never-sits-down-shield. Some Blood Indians stole the last from its tripod one evening.
Next he bought a disc of brass used as a headdress and war medicine for which he gave a
horse. Four years afterward he sold it and bought a horse bonnet for which he also paid a
horse. Five years later his father died with whose body he placed the horse bonnet. Next
he purchased an otter painted-tipi and later a weasel-tail suit. Next he bought a hair-lock
suit at whose transfer the sun-offering songs were rendered. Some time after this, his
brother-in-law then upon his death bed, gave him a medicine-pipe but he did not go
through the transferring ceremony whence the pipe was sold to Three-bears (Wissler
1912:275).
Returning to the Blackfoot and looking at their whole series of bundle rituals we are
impressed by the uniformity of structure suggesting that all sprang from one parent
conception. Naturally, direct evidence for this [page 282] is lacking. The size, scope, and
functions of the beaver bundle rituals all lead us to the assumption that it was the first
formulated one and that the others have been constructed on the same general plan.
However this may be, a recognized bundle scheme exists and holds for all. Thus, we find
shields, headdresses, and shirts of the common Plains type associated with a bundle
ritual of the Blackfoot type. We believe this is best explained on the assumption that such
objects were conceived of as in some way associated with the supernatural and that their
Page: 35
initial owners were placed in rapport with it, which to them implied the transfer
ceremony. We were told that objects captured in war were often regarded as bundles for
which rituals were subsequently dreamed or perhaps consciously constructed (p. 136).
The bundle scheme is so well known that most every Blackfoot tends to interpret objects
prized by others as bundles and to expect a ritual, whence it follows that in many cases a
ritual will be forthcoming. There can be little doubt that the unusual development of the
social and investment character of the bundle transfer, has been an important factor in the
crystallization of the fundamental transfer conception and its general diffusion among the
whole people (Wissler 1912:281-282).
DRESS
Headgear. To quote from Grinnell:—"Women seldom wore a head covering. Men,
however, in winter generally used a cap made of the skin of some small animal, such as
the antelope, wolf, badger, or coyote. As the skin from the head of these animals often
formed part of the cap, the ears being left on, it made a very odd-looking headdress.
Sometimes a cap was made of the skin of some large bird, such as the sage-hen, duck,
owl, or swan"1 (Wissler 1910:124).
Note 1: Grinnell, (a), 196.
There is some recollection among the Piegan of the rawhide eye shade, painted like a
parfleche, used by the tribes beyond the mountains. This seems not to have come into
general use and to have been regarded as a borrowed custom. With the shirts previously
described, a special headdress seems to have been worn. This consisted of a hood of
cowhide falling low down on the neck, covered completely with strips of white weasel
skins. To the top, a pair of horns were attached2 (Wissler 1910:124).
Note 2: Catlin, 1, Plate 14, 32.
The feather headdress used by many tribes seems not to have found favor among the
Blackfoot. In fact, what the eagle feather seems to have been in the costume of other
tribes, the weasel skin was to them. It should not be inferred, however, that there were no
associations in which eagle feathers were of prime importance (Wissler 1910:124).
Another type of headdress was made of strands of human hair, joined by pieces of gum.
This was hung from the back of the head. There is a fine specimen of this type in the
Museum, attributed to the Nez Perce and we have seen others among the Gros Ventre.
Catlin observed something of the kind among the Crow and in the Museum there is a
Shoshone piece made of buffalo hair (Wissler 1910:124).
Special forms of headdress are associated with ceremonies and therefore belong to
another part of our subject. In general, however, they are of one type, a head-band to
which the accessories are fastened (Wissler 1910:124).
As to hair dressing for men, three features may be taken for comparison: the fore lock,
the lengthened tresses, and hair painting. The trailing back ornament of quill-covered
Page: 36
strips of rawhide and later a beaded ornament, general among the Assiniboine, Gros
Ventre, Dakota and the village Indians seems not to have been adopted by the Blackfoot.
Taking the drawings by Bodmer and Catlin as probably correct, we find the fore lock
among the following: Assiniboine, Yaukton (Dakota), Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara,
Kootenai, Nez Perce and Kiowa, suggesting a wide range of distribution. Lengthening the
hair by sections held on by gum has been mentioned among the Mandan, Arikara,
Hidatsa, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Dakota, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne and
Nez Perce.1 It is probable, however, that some of these observers have mistaken the
detached headdress used by the Blackfoot and of which there is a specimen in the Nez
Perce collection. Painting the hair was usual among the village Indians, Henry stating that
"they daub it afresh every morning" with "red earth."2 The Cree used paint sparingly and
the Assiniboine regularly.3 Though information on this point is not definite, it seems that
the disinclination of the Blackfoot to paint their hair differentiates them somewhat from
the tribes to whom they in other respects bear great resemblance (Wissler 1910:152).
Note 1: James 1, 161: 3, 46; Maximilian, 259; Henry and Thompson, 342, 347; Clark,
134.
Note 2: Henry and Thompson, 325.
Note 3: Henry and Thompson, 515, 517.
Delaware.
meaning, ritual, social category, use.
DRESS, AND ORNAMENTING OF THEIR PERSONS
As I was once resting in my travels at the house of a trader who lived at some distance
from an Indian town, I went in the morning to visit an Indian acquaintance and friend of
mine. I found him engaged in plucking out his beard, preparatory to painting himself for
a dance which was to take place the ensuing evening. Having finished his head-dress,
about an hour before sun-set, he came up, as he said, to see me, but I and my companions
judged that he came to be seen. To my utter astonishment, I saw three different paintings
or figures on one and the same face. He had, by his great ingenuity and judgment in
laying on and shading the different colours, made his nose appear, when we stood
directly in front of him, as if it were very long and narrow, with a round knob at the end,
much like the upper part of a pair of tongs. On one cheek there was a red round spot,
about the size of an apple, and the other was done in the same manner with black. The
eye-lids, both the upper and lower ones, were reversed in the colouring. When we viewed
him in profile on one side, his nose represented the beak of an eagle, with the bill
rounded and brought to a point, precisely as those birds have it, though the mouth was
somewhat open. The eye was astonishingly well done, and the head, upon the whole,
appeared tolerably well, showing a great deal of fierceness. When we turned round to the
other side, the same nose now resembled the snout of a pike, with the mouth so open, that
the teeth could be seen. He seemed much pleased [page 197] with his execution, and
having his looking-glass with him, he contemplated his work, seemingly with great pride
and exultation. He asked me how I liked it? I answered that if he had done the work on a
piece of board, bark, or any thing else, I should like it very well and often look at it. But,
asked he, why not so as it is? Because I cannot see the face that is hidden under these
colours, so as to know who it is. Well, he replied, I must go now, and as you cannot know
Page: 37
me to-day, I will call to-morrow morning before you leave this place. He did so, and
when he came back, he was washed clean again (Heckewelder 1819:196-197).
BUFFALO DANCE CEREMONY
The equipment for the dance is the pot drum or kettle drum. Adams refers to a drum
consisting of a dried skin, stretched over poles, upon which to beat. The performers wear
a special dress for the head, known as the horned fur headband, a wide band of fur, otter
or buffalo preferably, having short polished horns attached to each side over the ears of
the wearer. The male performers smear the forelock and the parting of their hair with
moistened clay. This is to symbolize the bulls disporting themselves in the mud wallow
which I imagine needs no further description to readers. They also paint their faces
yellow and smear clay on their bodies as far down as the belt. The informant also added
that the men could wear the feather bonnet of the Plains type with buffalo horns attached
to the sides. Both informants, Wi·tapano'xwe and Adams, mention the cleared and hard
beaten dance-space, the preparing of a fire in the center, the erection of a cross-pole upon
two forked posts driven into the earth at each side of the fire, from which are suspended
two large kettles full of boiled hominy. The drummers and singers are seated on a log
bench on the north side of the dancing space (Speck 1937:68).
CLOTHING AND ADORNMENT
The Seventeenth Century
The Delawares went lightly clad, even in winter, the minimum clothing being a skin
breechclout for men and a lapped but unsewed skirt for women. Belts were ordinarily
leather and decorated with wampum, but snakeskin belts and decorations of "whalefins"
and "whalebones" are also mentioned. For the aboriginal untailored deerskin upper
garment the Indians soon substituted large blankets, about 10 feet long, called matchcoats
or duffels. When not drawn around the shoulders or used for bedclothes these were worn
over the right shoulder with the ends loosely knotted at the left side to hang below the
knees, or with one end hanging loose from one shoulder and the other tucked into the belt
in front, or tucked under the belt all the way around. The corresponding garment in cold
weather was of bear, raccoon, beaver, or other skins sewed or skewered together, worn
fur side in (fur side out in warmer temperatures). Cloaks of turkey feathers, painted or not
and tied into hemp backing, are frequently mentioned. Moccasins were generally of deer
or moose skin, apparently with ankle flaps and thongs for tying them on; temporary
footwear of cornhusks was also made. In winter skin leggings and snowshoes were used.
Skin clothing was decorated by painting and by sewing on wampum beads and tassels
and fringes of wampum. For dress, wampum was worn in string necklaces and in
patterned headbands, waistbands, and crossbelts (fig. 3). Copper ornaments and long
tassels of red-dyed hair were strung to hang from the neck. Metal rings and short strings
of wampum were used as earrings and as bracelets, and porcupine quills might be worn
through the nose. Men wore on their heads bands of snakeskin, feathers or feather-crown
headdresses (large feathers erect in a circle), and roaches of dyed deer hair tied to a
hemp base. Hanging from around their necks they would have tobacco pouches, made of
the whole skin of a small animal, in which to carry pipes and other small objects. Some
men (perhaps warriors) shaved the head except for a long scalplock at the crown;
otherwise the hair hung loose, with wampum braided or tied in for decoration. Chin hairs
Page: 38
were plucked out. The women braided their hair behind (one source says in four braids),
the braids sometimes being tied in a club and covered with a square pouch decorated with
wampum. Face painting and the tattooing and painting of the body were often elaborate.
Animal grease (especially of bears and raccoons) was applied liberally to the body,
against the cold, the sun, and mosquitoes, and also to the hair (Van der Donck 1841:164,
185, 190, 194-196; Anonymous 1909a:301; Juet 1909:18; Wolley 1902:34-36, 57; De
Rasieres 1909:106; Hesselius 1735, 1735a; Lindeström 1925: 195-200, 221-222, 224226; De Vries 1909:217; Danckaerts 1913:35; Penn 1912:230-231; Campanius Holm
1834:119, 129) (Goddard 1978:218).
After this first seclusion a girl indicated her marriageability by going decked with
wampum and wearing a special headdress that permitted partial covering of the face. A
suitor is variously said to have approached the girl herself, or her friends, or her parents
with a gift of wampum, but there is one explicit statement that this was only after the
marriage had been arranged by relatives of the prospective couple. A betrothal period
followed lasting a year, during which the girl continued to wear her special attire. The
end of this period may have been marked by a feast, but there was no other marriage
ceremony. Divorce was by mutual consent and frequent, and remarriage was not formally
marked. Premarital chastity was not valued, but adultery was proscribed except when
consent was given. For example, a polygamous man, who would typically be a chief,
might lend a visitor one of his wives for the night. One source mentions formal
procedures for accusing an adulterous husband or wife before the chief and publicly
shaming those found guilty. Sexual continence was practiced during menstruation,
pregnancy, and lactation (Goddard 1978:219).
After the Seventeenth Century
NAA, Smithsonian. Fig. 9. George T. Anderson
(kw&schwa;[ccaron]kipahkí·kam&schwa;n) and J.C. Webber (wi·t·a·p·anó·x·we),
Registered Delawares, in fancy dress that combines old and new elements. They have
acculturated hairstyles and hence must tie on deer-hair roaches with leather strings under
the chin, rather than to the traditional pigtail. Both gave ethnographic information about
Delaware culture to Frank G. Speck. Photographed in Philadelphia Oct. 1932 at a pageant
celebrating the 250th anniversary of the landing of William Penn.buffalo-horn
headdresses (known from the Ohio period and later), turbans (in Kansas and Texas) (fig.
11), and later, otterskin caps. Tall hats with ostrich plumes, silver bands, and ribbons
were worn by women in ceremonies in Kansas and Oklahoma (Goddard 1978:229).
Girls were dressed with a small skirt as soon as they walked, but boys went naked except
for a belt until given a breechcloth when they began to practice hunting at the age of six
or so. From the start they were encouraged to make and feather their own arrows. For a
few mornings in the early winter, when the first ice had formed at the edge of the water,
children were made to take a dip in a frigid stream; this was thought to provide lifelong
protection against colds. At or before puberty, boys were made to feel unwanted and
driven out of the house, in hopes that some supernatural being would take pity on them
when alone in the woods and give them power, with which to perform some useful
occupation in life. Such beings could also appear spontaneously to lost or troubled
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children and adults, and hence an individual could have power from several visions. In
the early twentieth century, conservative Munsees still isolated a girl at her first menses,
though in a darkened room rather than a hut. Partial menstrual isolation was also
practiced by some Oklahoma Delaware women, in particular by cooking over a separate
fire and eating alone. There is a tradition that when the Delaware lived in villages a single
large house was built at a distance for all the menstruating women of the community to
use together. Zeisberger mentions the special face-concealing headdress of newly
marriageable girls but says it was worn for only two months. Traditional marriage
involved a series of formalized gift exchanges between the two families, but
unformalized marriages and divorces were common. There are indications of the
presence of berdaches, but no information on their social role (Goddard 1978:231).
ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICS
Sun and Moon as Deities
CAPTAIN PIPE—The Sun they suppose to be a human being, and they call him their
brother. Tradition says that in early days the Sun was in the habit of devouring twelve
Indian children each day at noon, as a kind of compensation for his labors; but the
inhabitants of the earth becoming incensed at his voraciousness remonstrated. He then
proposed to reduce the number to six but they still refused, and at length agreed upon
two, which number they suppose he now receives every day. The light of the Sun is
occasioned by the brightness of a feathered headdress which he wears. They think that
the Indians once possessed the same general character with the Sun, that he has retained
his original powers and they have degenerated to their present degraded situation. He is
supposed to go under the Island at night for rest. The moon is supposed to be the brother
of the Sun, and they formerly had numerous relatives who warred against each other and
were all killed, and these wars occasioned the present employment of the younger
brother, the moon (Kinietz 1946:86).
BUFFALO DANCE CEREMONY
The procedure in the Buffalo Dance is to emulate the behavior of the buffalo as the
animals are conceived as congregated [page 69] around their wallow, shoving and
pushing the weaker bulls and cows aside as they attempt to feed. The men dancers
personify the bulls, the women performers the cows. The dance is begun by the men, who
have gone off some distance from the dancing space to prepare themselves with
headdress and clay coating. They come charging up to the dance-ring where they form in
line on the south side, opposite the drummers and singers. Throughout the performance
they grunt and snort like bulls. When the men are in the formation to begin, the women to
take part form another line outside that of the men. There is a leader for the men, or bulls,
and one for the women, or cows. When the accompaniment has begun, both lines
commence to move counterclockwise around the posts supporting the hominy pots. The
men gallop and stamp like bulls. Suddenly, while circling the enclosure as they come
near the hominy pots, one of the men will attempt to help himself to a portion of the
hominy, using either his hands or a mussel-shell spoon. This is the moment for one of his
neighboring dancers to charge to his side and using the horns of his headgear as the
buffalo does his horns to thrust and try to push the feeder away from the food, as the
jealous bulls are described as doing when crowding around the feeding place. All the
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time they are grunting hun hun hun! This act typifies the attempt of the strongest bull to
ward off the herd while he gets his fill. This action is repeated each time that one of the
bulls attempts to feed. The women, or cows, also try to get a taste of the hominy. At this
moment one of the bulls comes charging up to drive her away from the pot, thrusting at
her with his horns, whereupon another bull to protect her will attack the first and attempt
to horn him to one side that the cow may feed. Thus the Buffalo Dance progresses amid
great excitement and confusion among the dancers, though all the time some semblance
of order of dance is maintained while the assigned songs are being rendered (Speck
1937:68-69).
Ojibwa.
meaning, ritual, social category, use.
The "hurdle" is their favorite game; not only their young men, but men advanced in life
sometimes engage in it. On this occasion they strip naked, save their breech clouts, head
dress, a few silver ornaments on their arms and a belt around their waist; their faces and
bodies are painted in the highest style. Each man is provided with a hurdle, an instrument
made of a small stick of wood about three feet long, bended at the end to a small circle, in
which a loose piece of net work is fixed, forming a cavity big enough to receive a leather
ball, about the size of a man's fist (Grant 1890:337).
I now began to attend to some of the ceremonies of what may be called the initiation of
warriors, this being the first time I had been on a war-party. For the three first times that a
man accompanies a war-party, the customs of the Indians require some peculiar and
painful observances from which old warriors may, if they choose, be exempted. The
young warrior must constantly paint his face black; must wear a cap, or head dress of
some kind; must never precede the older warriors, but follow them, stepping in their
tracks. He must never scratch his head, or any other part of his body, with his fingers, but
if he is compelled to scratch, he must use a small stick; the vessel he eats or drinks out of,
or the knife he uses, must be touched by no other person. In the two last mentioned
particulars, the observances of the young warriors are like those the females in some
bands use during their earliest periods of menstruation. The young warrior, however long
and fatiguing the march, must neither eat, nor drink, nor sit down by day. If he halts for a
moment, he must turn his face towards his own country, that the Great Spirit may see that
it is his wish to return home again (Tanner 1830:108).
WAR BETWEEN THE OJIBWAYS AND ODUGAMIES
The Ojibways arrived at the head of the St. Croix Falls (a distance of two hundred and
fifty miles from their starting point), early in the morning, and while preparing to take
their bark canoes over the rugged portage, or carrying place, the scouts who had been
sent in advance, returned with the information that a very large war party of Odugamies
and Dakotas were landing at the foot of the falls, apparently with the intention of crossing
over their wooden canoes. Now, commenced the hurry and excitement of approaching
battle. The "novices," or those of the party who were on their first war path, were forcibly
driven back into the water by the elder warriors, there to wash off the black paint which
denoted their condition of initiates into the mysteries of war. This customary procedure
on the eve of an attack or battle, being performed, the warriors grasped their medicine
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bags, and hurriedly adorned their faces and naked bodies with war paint, those that
earned them planted the eagle plumes on their head-dress, which denoted enemies they
had slain or scalps taken, and the pe-na-se-wi-am, holding the charms of supposed
invulnerability, were attached to different portions of their head-dress, armlets, or belts
(Warren 1885:244).
(h) Care and arrangement of the hair.—The young men had handsome hair and took
great pride in it, using ointments of various sorts. Sometimes they cared for their hair
themselves, but more often this work was done by a sister. Their hair was kept smooth by
greasing with bear's grease or deer tallow. It was usually cut in a fringe across the
forehead and the remainder braided in two braids. Sometimes a fillet of beads was worn
across the forehead to keep the hair in place. Older men often wore a short braid at each
temple, the rest of the hair being in two braids, either hanging or tied on top of the head.
They also wore the hair at the temples in small braids, each with an ornament at the end.
Red and yellow paint was often put in stripes on the hair. Men wore feather headdresses
of various styles, but feathers were never worn in the hair by women. In this connection it
is interesting to note the manner in which the Chippewa regarded the long hair of the
men. It is illustrated by the following incidents: Mrs. English said that she once went into
a wigwam where a young woman was combing her brother's hair. The young man had
long, handsome hair, and Mrs. English jestingly said, "Give me some of your hair." The
young man replied, "No; I would lose all my strength if I cut my hair." His manner
implied that he believed it. At a later time, when Mrs. English was connected with the
Government school at Red Lake, a boy with long hair was brought to the school. Mrs.
English asked whether she could cut the boy's hair and the mother objected. It was,
however, a requirement of the school, and after the mother had gone home the boy's hair
was cut, much against his wishes. When the mother returned some weeks later and saw
the boy, she wept and refused to be comforted. Mrs. English said she could scarcely have
showed more grief if the boy had been killed (Densmore 1929:38).
Anishinaabeg Removal to White Earth 1868
The Gull Lake band's migration to the White Earth Reservation might have occurred
rather uneventfully had it not been for the murder of Hole in the Day the Younger, a
controversial figure. His father, Bugonaygeshig, or Hole in the Day the Elder, a respected
civil and war leader, and uncle, Strong Ground, a war leader, both originally from Sandy
Lake and then Gull Lake, were not above advocating a militaristic course of action when
circumstances warranted. Increasingly, this approach worked in the mid-nineteenth
century; contests first with the Dakota and then with the ever-unreliable U.S. government
brought honor and respect to successful young warriors above and beyond that which
they would normally have been accorded. Hole in the Day the Younger, a charismatic
man typically clad in a green blanket, black waistcoat, pink calico shirt, beaded leggings
and moccasins, and feathered headdress, parlayed the skill of combining civil leadership
with militarism into what amounted to a career (Meyer 1994:43).
Early Expansion 1780-1804
The institution of the trading captain and the ready acceptance of the symbols of that
office — the chief's red or blue stroud military-style coat, the top hat with feather plumes,
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and the flag — as prestige items among Native people, provides an excellent example of
the complexity of the changes amongst Native cultures engendered by the fur trade. On
the one hand, the clothing and gifts given to trading captains conformed to some extent to
Native aesthetics and social structures (the feather headdress, worn by men of status,
translated into the trading captain's plumed, silver-banded top hat) and clearly stimulated
the creativity of Native women: witness the development of quilled hide coats cut and
decorated to resemble European military dress, right down to the quilled epaulets. A
number of such coats exist in museum collections and are attributed to the area north and
west of the Great Lakes from the 1780s on. By the 1820s they were in use at Red River,
Leech Lake, and throughout the Northwest, suggesting that Ojibwa who moved west
brought their value system with them.51 On the other hand, such acceptance speaks of the
fur trade's role in the development of a spiraling wealth and status complex among Native
peoples, and the tensions thus engendered between the desire to own such signs of
affluence and the moral imperative to share and to gain status by giving (Peers 1994:37).
Note 51: For examples, see: Brasser, Bo'jou Neejee!, p. 98; and The Spirit Sings: A
Catalogue of the Exhibition (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987) pp. 74, 75. For
Native re-interpretations of the meaning of such coats, see Burnham, To Please the
Caribou.
1821-1837 PLAINS OJIBWA
In the end, the questions surrounding the garments sketched by Catlin make it virtually
impossible to use them as evidence of the type of change in material culture to which the
Fort Pelly trader was referring. Similar problems come with the few other earlynineteenth-century objects identified as being western Ojibwa in origin. There are simply
no garments clearly identified as being made by Ojibwa people in these years that are
northern plains rather than western Great Lakes in style. One early collection of plainsstyle clothing identified as being "plains Ojibwa" in origin serves only to further
underline the difficulties of using material culture as documents of cultural change. This
collection was made by trader Joseph Klinger of Gorz, or an agent of his, and attributed
on the original accession documents to the "Chippeways Indians." Gorz presented the
material in 1825 to Emperor Franz I. Some of the objects have been identified by James
Howard, on the basis of their style and their original documentation, as being "plains
Ojibwa" in origin. The collection includes Great Lakes—style ball-headed war clubs, a
spreading eagle-feather headdress, several pairs of quilled moccasins, and a plains-style
leather shirt and leggings. The association of the Great Lakes clubs with the plains
clothing suggests that the collection may, indeed, have come from a plains-oriented
Ojibwa band. However, the total dissimilarity between the two decorative styles makes it
seem likely that the clothing, at least, may well have been acquired in trade rather than
being produced by Ojibwa women. (One set of moccasins from this collection has been
identified by another researcher, on the basis of style, as being Crow.) Further research
on the collector is needed to support the identification of this collection as plains Ojibwa
in origin83 (Peers 1994:118).
Note 83: Part of the collection has been published in Christian Feest, Indianer
Nordamerikas (Vienna: Museum für Völkerkunde, 1968); and a smaller selection in The
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Spirit Sings: A Catalogue of the Exhibition, p. 74, figures P13 (shirt) and P14 (leggings).
The clothing is in the collections of the Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna: Klinger 421
(shirt), 422 (leggings), 428, 429 (moccasins).
1837 to 1857
In addition to Kane's portrait, and Finlayson's sketch of a plains Ojibwa family in similar
robes, artist Rudolf Kurz sketched a group of some 100 Ojibwa who visited Fort Berthold
in mid-summer of 1851. Kurz's tiny, preliminary sketch of the arrival of the Ojibwa party
shows, as he described in his journal, several mounted men flanking a line of men on
foot, and the chiefs going before, five abreast. Though the figures are small and only
roughed out, he shows the chiefs as wearing plains-style shirts, one of which has a
triangular neck flap. Several wear [page 147] either feathers or headdresses, and they
carry their long pipe stems as they advance towards the Mandan.21 In his journal entry
describing the trading session that followed between the Ojibwa and the Mandan, Kurz
also notes that the Ojibwa were given clothing, "magnificently ornamented," by the
Mandan22 (Peers 1994:146-147).
Note 21: 21 Kurz, Journal, plate 21; and see Kurz, Journal, pp. 84-85.
Note 22: Ibid., p. 85. In a footnote to this (p. 85, n. 25), Kurz notes that the clothing
received on that occasion was "for the most part... gay-colored military coats of red, blue,
or green cloth and shirts of soft white deerskin, either laced or richly embroidered with
colors."
1858 to 1870
Like Big Bear, the men with whom Skinner worked noted that on his return from a war
party a leader would give away all the horses and trophies he had captured, "thus
acquiring great reknown" — and fulfilling the expectations held of a plains Ojibwa man,
a value system acquired from the plains Cree.25 Objects such as the full-length trailing
eagle feather headdress and bonnet collected by Alexander Morris from a Manitoba
Ojibwa also underscore the attraction of plains-oriented symbols and behaviours to men26
(Peers 1994:189).
Note 25: Skinner, "Political and Ceremonial Organization of the Plains Ojibway," pp.
484, 490; Penney and Stouffer, "Horse Imagery in Native American Art," pp. 40-51.
Note 26: Headdress: Royal Ontario Museum no. HK 469, Morris collection (collected
ca. 1900-14); and see Howard, The Plains Ojibwa or Bungi, p. 63 ("The chiefs,
councilors, and members of the okitsita were exempted from all camp work").
PARTIALLY SCALPED OJIBWAY WOMAN
Commissioner McKenney, on the 31st of July, went to an island in the St. Louis River
opposite the American Fur Company's post, to visit an old woman named Oshegwun,
whose career had been quite remarkable. When about fourteen years of age she went with
a band of sixty men, women, and children, to the vicinity of the Falls of Chippewa River,
which were surprised by the Sioux who rushed down the hillsides and fired into their
lodges. Oshegwun ran toward the woods, and was pursued by a Sioux who caught and
bound her. Another Sioux then approached and struck her with a war-club, partially
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scalped her and was about to cut her throat when he was shot. In the contest for the girl
each warrior had taken a portion of her scalp, and, while they were disputing, her father
came up and killed both. When night came the parent went to the spot where he had seen
his daughter, found the pieces of scalp, and by the blood on the snow reached the place to
which she had crawled. The daughter survived and lived to have three husbands, all of
whom were unkind, and to be the mother of ten children. Her son Okeenakeequid
appeared at the council in a Sioux dress, which he obtained at the treaty of Prairie du
Chien [page 473] in 1825, where the Sioux and Ojibways smoked together. At that time a
Sioux warrior proposed to exchange clothing with him, and after they had made the
change the Sioux looking him in the face, and pointing to the headdress, archly said:
"Brother, when you put that dress on, feel up there, there are five feathers, I have put one
in for each scalp I took from your people, remember that" (Warren 1885:472-473).
Caddoan
Pawnee.
meaning, ritual, social category, use.
In order to conclude this section and introduce the next, I will mention a star listed only
by Dorsey in his unpublished [page 142] manuscripts. "Sometimes you will see a star in
the southeast with a downy feather on its head." Elsewhere he wrote, "A star which
stands in the south is said to have a white head dress which gives it somewhat the
appearance of a comet, and is called Opirikiskuhka9 (Star-with-the-Downy-FeatherHead-dress)." This may refer to one of the diffuse objects in the sky that are not stars
and are only dimly seen with the naked eye, and that have become of prime interest since
the invention of the telescope. Some examples are the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda
Galaxy, the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius, and other dim clusters and nebulae along the
Milky Way, particularly those near Sagittarius and Scorpius. Perhaps Dorsey's references
pertained to one of these. The best candidate would seem to be the Orion Nebula or even
the entire Sword of Orion. Anyone familiar with the naked-eye appearance of Orion's
sword, seen under favorable dark-sky conditions, would probably agree that "Star-withthe-Downy-Feather-Head-dress" is an appropriate description (Chamberlain 1982:141142).
Note 9: u:pirikiskuhka, literally "feather headdress star."
Pawnee chiefs and warriors stand beside a village earthlodge in Nebraska, ca. 1871. They
are wearing bear claw necklaces; turbans; decorated fur headdresses; government issued
blankets; buffalo robes (worn with fur inside) with painted designs on the skin side; yard
goods shirts; peace medals; multiple earrings, eagle feathers; beaded necklaces and
leggings; and facial painting. Two men carry pipe tomahawks. Photo Courtesy of
Nebraska State Historical Society (Blaine 1990:24).
A Pawnee camp on the plains. The man in the foreground wearing a peace medal and
eagle feather headdress is probably a chief. The photograph was taken by John Carbutt,
working under the auspices of the Union Pacific Railroad Company in 1866. Photo
Courtesy of The Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka (Blaine 1990:73).
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LIST OF SKIDI SKY FEATURES AND OBJECTS
Husband and son of the girl who married a star and other stars in this story (Chamberlain
1982:245):
1. Star-With-Downy-Feather-Headdress: u:pirikiskuhka/feather headdress star
(Orion Nebula or Sword of Orion)
2. Comet: u:pirikiskuhka/feather headdress star (Comet of 1882)
3. Meteorites: tahu:ru/meteorite, flint, scalp, projectile, projectile point
PAWNEE GLOSSARY
u:pirikiskuhka , literally, feather headdress star; the name is reported to have been used
both for comets and for a star in the south (Chamberlain 1982:256).
SKIRI
Ceremonial Cycle
TABLE 2.—Celestial objects and their Pawnee names (Murie 1989:41):
u:pirikiskuhka , literally, feather headdress star (comet of 1882)
Bundles of the South Bands
The organization of the South Band divisions was relatively simple. Thus, while the Skiri
were at one time composed of 131 villages, the Pitahawirata had but two villages and the
Chawi and Kitkahahki had only one each. However, about 1882 after the removal of the
Pawnee to Oklahoma, the Chawi separated and formed two villages.2 There were,
however, some intervillage groups, the nature of which we do not fully understand. Thus,
in one of the Kitkahahki villages there were four of these family(?) groups: the Real
Kitkahahki, the Little Kitkahahki, the Black Heads (who wore a crow feather headdress),
and the Leaders (karikisu)3 (Murie 1989:183).
Note 1: Although Murie says here that the Skiri were at one time composed of 13
villages, he in fact meant 15, as discussed earlier in the manuscript (p. 31). He may have
had in mind only the 13 confederated villages. [DRP]
Note 2: The author's statement that the Chawi separated after their move to Oklahoma
and formed two villages is apparently an error and probably was meant to refer to the
Kitkahahki division. [DRP]
Note 3: Two of these groups were villages: the Little Kitkahahki was a group that
separated from the Real Kitkahahki and set up a new village. The Black Heads was a
warrior, or lance, society of the Kitkahahki band; its members were responsible for
policing the buffalo hunts (Murie 1914:577). It is not clear who the leaders were. Later in
the discussion (p. 198) they are called karikisu, which Gene Weltfish identified as a
women's dance or ceremony (page 198 and note 11). [DRP]
PAINTING AND DRESSING OF DOCTORS
Raruhwaku smears his own body with red earthen dust. He makes several long streaks of
red paint upon his arms and body. Taking otterskins decorated with ribbons and small
bells, he ties them around his legs, the ends hanging in front. He takes up a buffalo-hair
rope decorated with small soft down feathers and places it about his neck. He places upon
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his head a bunch of soft down feathers with two eagle feathers stuck through them, and
through this a sharp stick is passed by running the stick through his scalplock. His
costume is complete. Beaver wears the same headdress and buffalo rope around his
neck, but is daubed with the white clay mixture (Murie 1989:226).
SOUTH BANDS
Wissler's reference here to the similarity to the Sioux heyoka, a contrary society, is not
clear on the basis of this statement. Members of the Oglala Elk Cult, however, did wear
an elkhorn headdress with otter trimming (Wissler 1912b:85-88). Perhaps Wissler had
this society in mind rather than the heyoka [DRP] (Murie 1989:461).
BUFFALO DOCTORS
Another important society found among the Skidí and Chauí is known as kura taraha,
buffalo doctors. On their altar is a buffalo skull, one half white, one half red; also a wand
with seven eagle feathers, at the top a tiny bag of native tobacco and four strings of blue
beads hanging down. The [page 605] dancers wear headdresses made of buffalo wool
and stick buffalo tails in their belts. In former times the full buffalo head was worn. They
carry rattles of buffalo hoofs. Each paints with earth from a buffalo wallow mixed with
the urine of male and female buffaloes (Murie 1914:604-605).
MEDICINEMEN'S SOCIETIES/ IRUSKA
Originally, the society consisted of leaders of various animal medicine societies. Among
the members was one who was not a medicineman until he had a curious experience. The
story follows (Murie 1914:608):—
"When the birds had taught me they wished me to return home and teach our people what
I had learned. When I told them I could not return because I lost my scalplock they said
they would give me a headdress which was even more important than a scalplock. The
deer furnished the hair for weaving; the turkey, feathers from his breast to edge the deer
hair (also the roots for dyeing it); and the eagle a single feather for the center of the
headdress. The bone spreader for the hair I was told to get from the shoulder blade of a
deer. They told me to get a two-inch shank bone to set on this. The eagle feather was to
be passed through this and tied to the scalplock. When I had procured the materials for
the headdress I was ready to make it but did not know how to proceed. I slept and in a
vision, saw myself preparing the headdress. The next day I knew how to make it. When
it was completed, with the strings on the bones and eagle feathers, I found I could not
wear it, I had no scalplock. The animals were distressed at this. They met again and gave
me materials for a belt: deerskin, crow feathers, and a wolf tail. I made this. Now I will
give them to you to take home" (Murie 1914:610).
He went to the altar and took from the wall the headdress and the bustle. The belt
consisted of a strip of deerskin to the middle of which were fastened three sticks about
two feet long and decorated with deer hair. At each end of the opposite side hung two sets
of crow feathers with wolf tails between each two feathers (Murie 1914:611).
Page: 47
He gave these to Crow-feather with instructions to take them home and return the next
day with his pipe and tobacco. When he returned to his lodge the people asked where he
had been, but he did not reply. When his mother offered him food, he asked for a piece of
tanned hide in which he placed the bustle and headdress and tied the bundle to the lodge
wall (Murie 1914:611).
After thirty days Crow-feather had his tipi prepared, all its furnishings were moved out.
Two poor boys, Blue-bird and White-fox, were selected as assistants. White-fox made a
fire for the new dance. The boys sat near the entrance and Crow-feather sat at the altar.
The bustle and headdress hung from posts. When he had smoked, he said, "Blue-bird
and White-fox, each of you take a pony and bring a lot of dry willows and some
cottonwood. I will also send six women for wood." They did as they were told. The wood
was placed inside the lodge on either side of the entrance (Murie 1914:613).
.
The leader of the singers said, "Chief, soldiers, those of you at stations, and iruska.
Something is now at hand. We will begin to sing and all dance. Watch Crow-feather and
do as he does. The spectators came in. Crow-feather was the only one who had the bustle
and headdress; the others were simply painted. When the singers had sung the third set
of songs the assistants made a big fire. They hung the kettle over it. When the last [page
616] set of songs was sung the dancers attacked the fire. Finally, Crow-feather danced up
to the kettle which was full of boiling soup and took a piece of meat out with his bare
hands. He gave it to one of the spectators who burned his hands with it. The rest of the
members also did this. At length the dancers dipped bunches of corn husks into the kettle
and whipped each other with them but did not burn. The dancing ended when the fire
went out (Murie 1914:615-616).
This was the first ceremony of this kind. After the dance Crow-feather said, "You must
now make the headdresses and bustles. Some day we will give a public dance when all
must bring spears, bows and arrows, war clubs, and shields so that you can imitate the
attack on an enemy in your dance. It shall be known as iruska (fire inside of you). The red
headdress represents fire, the black hair fringe represents smoke.1 This will not be a
social dance, neither will the members act as soldiers for the chiefs. We shall be known
as medicinemen" (Murie 1914:616).
Note 1: The headdress is the imitation of fire, the red for the blaze, the black hair for
smoke. The feather represents the iruska man who understands the fire. He is standing in
the fire or has placed the fire about his whole body. The headdress represents the
fireplace, the bone tube the medicine, and the feather, the man himself standing in the
center of the fireplace. According to tradition, man came from an ear of corn and corn has
life and life is fire. The original word for iruska is iriska (singular), iruska (plural), they
are inside fire. The wood used for the iruska fire was cottonwood and willows.
WORK IN BONE AND HORN
PLUME HOLDERS.—These are short, cylindrical sections of animal bone, not more
than 1 inch long, with four conical perforations near one end (fig. 11). They are well
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polished and are represented by specimens in various stages of manufacture (Wedel
1936:84).
According to information secured by Mr. A. T. Hill from old Pawnees, these objects were
used as plume holders in the headdresses. They were lashed, by means of the
perforations, to a thin plate of bone about 2 inches wide by 4 or 5 inches long, bent so as
to fit the top of the head longitudinally. Plumes were then set into the cylinders, which
held them upright; a single plume and plume holder were used by each individual, [page
85] as a part of the deer-tail headdress. Similar devices are used by the Dakota and other
Plains tribes. One complete specimen and a few in various degrees of completion have
been recovered, all from the Hill site. They are in the Hill collection at the Hastings
Museum (Wedel 1936:84-85).
ROACH SPREADER.—This piece, from the Hill site, is carved of thin bone or antler
and is about 5 inches long (fig. 12). It bears several rows of tiny pits filled with red
pigment and is pierced by 8 small holes, 5 of them at the round end. It was undoubtedly
used to spread the deer's hair crest or roach sometimes worn as a headdress by the men;
the 5 holes at the smaller end were for attachment of a plume holder of the type above
described. In 1933 the present writer saw similar objects in use near Walters, Okla.,
among the Comanche, who claimed to have borrowed the idea from the Pawnee or Osage
(cf. Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, pl. 55 (Omaha); and Skinner, 1921, a, p. 113 and fig.
2 (Menominee) (Wedel 1936:85).
MAKING LEATHER AND FURS
In 1738 the Mandans to the northeast of Pawnee territory, gave the Assiniboine
middlemen painted buffalo robes, clusters of feathers, headdresses, garters, and girdles
in exchange for muskets, axes, kettles, powder, bullets, knives, and bodkins which they
had gotten from the British at Hudson's Bay (Weltfish 1965:367).
NOTES AND COMMENTS
375-376 The comet of 1882, upirik-kiskuxka, "feather headdress," was so named to
indicate the identification of the traditional Plains war bonnet with a comet (Weltfish
1965:478).
Iroquoian
Iroquois.
meaning, ritual, social category, use.
MAN'S COSTUME
When the first explorers reached this continent the Iroquois man wore only a skin breech
cloth, adding a fur robe of bear skin for necessary warmth. In early historic times his
costume consisted of a breech cloth, a bear or deer skin robe consisting of two skins
joined at the upper corners, worn one in front and one in back, tight deer skin leggings
that went above the knees, moccasins, and a turban or skull cap. The costume was often
enriched by the addition of dyed hair and feathers on the head dress, fringes of ermine
on the sleeves and front of the coat, and knee bands, wrist bands, arm bands, necklaces of
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bear claws, leg ornaments of deer hoofs, knee rattles, and ornamental belts embroidered
with porcupine quills. A service belt of deer skin to which necessary possessions could be
attached was wound twice around the waist and tied in front. The war club and scalping
knife, worn in the [page 24c] front of the belt, completed the warrior's attire. Face and
body painting and tattooing were practiced (Lyford 1945:24b-24c).
National Dances
Upon the head-dress,Gus-to -weh (see plate, I. 254), the most conspicuous part of the
costume, much attention was bestowed. The frame consisted of a band of splint, adjusted
around the head, with in some instances a cross-band arching over the top, from side to
side. A cap of net-work, or other construction, was then made to enclose the frame.
Around the splint, in later times, a silver band was fastened, which completed the lower
part. From the top a cluster of white feathers depended. Besides this, a single feather of
the largest size was set in the crown of the head-dress, inclining backwards from the
head. It was secured in a small tube, which was [page 254] fastened to the cross-splint,
and in such a manner as to allow the feather to revolve in the tube. This feather, which
was usually the plume of the eagle, is the characteristic of the Iroquois head-dress
(Morgan 1901:253-254).
Iroquois Culture as Caricature and Cliché
For example, in many curricular materials, in both public schools and the Freedom
School, I found Iroquois culture reduced to a list of cultural items, as in a coloring book
for young children, published by the North American Indian Traveling College, which
pictures on each page an item from the Iroquois lexicon of traditional themes: a clan
animal, a gastoweh (traditional headdress), a lacrosse stick, a cradleboard, a cornhusk
doll, a longhouse, people in traditional dress. As another example, a recent article in
Indian Time describes a celebration of "heritage and culture" in one of the public schools
at Akwesasne (Ciborski 1990:52):
The children in grades Pre-K and Kindergarten, wrapped up culture week with a
traditional meal of corn soup and fried bread along with traditional songs and dances.
Students from each grade were chosen by their peers to act as clan mothers and
chiefs.....Throughout the school year, the teachers have kept the culture and language
alive by setting aside at least one day a week specifically for that purpose. The children
have responded by becoming totally involved, wanting to learn and actively participating
in the songs and dances. They were amazing in their show of respect and dignity in
themselves and in their culture. The hours spent with them, joining in the celebration of
our Mohawk Culture, has made it seem as though our culture will never die because of
these little elders who are keeping the spirit alive27 (Ciborski 1990:52).
Note 27: Indian Time, June 2, 1988, 8.
SENECA EAGLE DANCE/ ROLES AND PARAPHERNALIA
Here the dancers entered, coming downstairs in full costume with a round red spot
painted on each cheek. Instead of wearing the old Seneca headdress with the single
revolving feather, they wore quasi-Plains Indian headdresses, which they wear on the
road with "Indian shows," and leggings similar to chaps. All the old Seneca costumes
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have long since either gone into graves or they have been sold to museums. Now,
although the old people know what they should wear, the dancers wear makeshift "play"
Indian costumes. The old people disliked my raising this question because it revealed a
spurious element in the modern ceremonies which Wood-eater likes to regard as genuine
(Fenton 1953:24).
ORIGIN LEGENDS/ TWO BROTHERS LEARN SONGS FROM BIRDS
There is also the story of the Two Brothers living alone in the forest. The younger does
the thinking and planning for both. He directs his older brother to shoot a turkey, and he
devises the two-feather headdress with revolving socket and chin band. He repairs to the
forest, learns songs from birds whom he does not shoot, and directs his brother to practice
them. He makes a rule that people of his tribe should wear feathers as insignia, and he
invents the war song (Fenton 1953:82).
ORIGIN LEGENDS/ PIT TRAPPING
Feathers are to make a headdress. Anyone may wear it. Any male could wear the feather
cap. The feather whirls, looks about. Tie on red ribbons for decoration (Fenton
1953:100).
ORIGIN LEGENDS/ DEW EAGLES
All these mythical birds rank above their smaller earthly counterparts. Bald Eagle (do
nyonda') is the totemite of all the Iroquois. The eagle perches atop the great tree of peace
which is symbolic of the Confederacy. Warriors seek his feathers for their headdress.
The revolving feather, like the totemite which it represents, looks in all directions,
protecting the wearer. So Yankee Spring explained the relation of his people to Bald
Eagle: The Eagle is the symbol of the Confederacy (Fenton 1953:117).
One feather he deemed enough for his people's headdress. In ceremonies they added to
the single large whirling eagle feather by wearing a cap which had at the forehead a
cluster of split feathers from which the quills had been removed. The one feather is worn
as nearly straight up as possible. There was never any coup system. The feather was
merely a means of recognition, a symbol of membership in the League (Fenton
1953:117).
ORIGIN LEGENDS/ FORM AND CONTENT OF SPEECHES
Dancers still wear the full dancing costume, which is no longer truly Seneca, but is an
adopted Plains "show" costume. They paint a red spot on each cheek, but all the members
used to dress for meetings. Snorer says the old costume consisted of leggings,
breechcloth, moccasins, [page 149] headdress with whirling feather, shirt, usually white
but sometimes brown. He has never seen them dance stripped to the waist. "They paint a
daub on each cheek of red paint." He designated each cheek by marking his in turn with
his index finger (Fenton 1953:148-149).
Figure 1. Jesse J. Cornplanter, Seneca, of the Tonawanda Reservation; author and
informant on Seneca customs, wearing the white shirt and sash of a Long House Speaker
and the whirling feather headdress of the Senecas (Fenton 1941:137a).
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FOUR SPEECH TYPES/ GREAT FEATHER DANCE
The Great Feather Dance (ohstowa?kó:wah 'great headdress,' also calledstaos ) is one of
the most sacred expressions of thanksgiving in the Longhouse repertoire. Though
structurally quite different from the other three speech types, it is unquestionably a
hierarchic rite. In long versions, the songs which make up the dance single out the whole
range of spirit forces. The total number of songs, including those consisting of burden
syllables only, can reach well over a hundred (Fenton, 1963: 27; Shimony, 1961: 14344), although there are few singers today that know more than about 30.5 There is an
unfortunate lack of data on the dance generally, a fact no doubt related to its highly
sacred character. Shimony (1961: 143-44, note 7) obtained an English outline of a
lengthy version by Joshua Buck. This is reported as consisting of 155 songs, 63 of which
are burden syllables only, with the remainder devoted to the spirit forces: [page 147]
Earth, Grasses, Medicines, Foods [Our Sustenance], Birds, Deer, Wind, Flowers, Forests,
Bushes, Creeks and large bodies of water, Sap, Maple sugar, Strawberries, Raspberries,
Cherries, Blackberries, Peaches, Faith-keepers, People in general, Children, Thunder,
Sun, Moon, Stars, Four Messengers, Handsome Lake and the Creator--in that order, with
a few interspersed songs on the dance itself and relatives "in the Sky World." If the items
mentioned are to be taken as standing for separate songs then there has been a
considerable proliferation of the hierarchy in this case--assuming that each song
corresponds to a section in the other rites. The songs themselves consist only of brief
elliptical phrases of the sort "Grass grows," "The children are dancing now," "The Great
Creator taught us the songs," etc. These are more like labels than the developed
"arguments" found in sections of the other rites (Foster 1974:146-147).
Note 5: It is difficult to evaluate the figures given by these authors, however, since not all
singers and ethnologists agree on exactly what constitutes a "song," i.e., how many lines
make up a song. The question of verse structure will be examined further below.
HEADDRESS SYMBOLISM
Another meaning read into the scrolls is that they denote horns of chieftancy, those
curving outward denoting a living chief (life, living, light), those curved inward being
emblematic of a dead chief (sleep, death). In more cases the curves in the Iroquois
designs turned outward rather than inward. The antlers of a deer were the emblem of
chieftainship. Anciently a chief wore horns in his headdress as the insignia of his rank or
office and he "wears the horns" was a figurative expression for a chief. The chief who
was deposed was spoken of as having been "de-horned" (Lyford 1945:78a).
DEGANAWIDAH LEGEND
Cusick's variant uses the analogy of the Great Tree of Peace with its many branches. It
gives the seat of the Confederacy as Onondaga and makes Tododaho (Atotarho) the
lawgiver. Interpreted to mean that Tododaho was the first chief of the League, then he
was, in a sense, the first law-giver, But more puzzling is the reference to snakes. Müller's
explanation of the origin of myths from a "disease of language" might well apply in this
instance.14 Cusick's vivid, poetic imagination is apparent throughout the book. "His head
was ornamented with black snakes" could well be poetic imagery [page 33] for evilness,
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but ever since Cusick's statement appeared, Tododaho has been pictured as a male
Gorgon. From this time on, every reference to Tododaho gives him writhing snakes for
hair and puts him in the realm of myth (Selden 1965:32-33).
Note 14: Max Muller, Chips from a German Workshop , 5 vols. (New York, 1881), pp.
53 - 97. "... after a while he requested the people to change his dress, the people
immediately drove away the snakes," could indicate that the snakes were a part of his
costume or headdress. A figurative interpretation of these lines is also possible. Despite
this reference to the snakes, it is clear that we are still dealing with a legend. Not until
Clark and Schoolcraft retell the legend does it become a myth.
Principles of Iroquois Ritualism
Just before a Feather Dance is to begin, the men who have brought their costumes leave
the longhouse to put them on and after the conclusion of the dance, or of the
Thanksgiving Dance if that is also given, leave again to change back to ordinary dress.
Women and small children, if they have chosen to wear a special costume, however, do
not retire to change, but wear the same dress throughout the entire morning or evening as
the case may be. For the costume [page 30] dances, the men often now wear a Plains-type
feathered headdress. This idea, which is the white notion of what Indians should wear,
was adopted by the Iroquois after some had worked in "Indian shows" in various parts of
the United States. The feather Sioux-type of bonnet now often worn by the Iroquois are
made by them from feathers ordered from Oklahoma and decorated with beadwork they
make themselves. Formerly, more men wore the Iroquois twirling-feather headdress, a
cap with a single long feather set in a socket so that it rotates. Leggings, and occasionally
trousers with fringes down both sides; two aprons, one in front and the other in back,
attached to a belt or a breechcloth, decorated with beadwork; a shirt; and shoes, and
sometimes moccasins complete the costume. Women, if costumed, usually wear leggings
that are tied below the knee, a skirt that covers the knee, and a long overblouse--all made
of cloth and often decorated with beadwork--and moccasins. This style of dress has
changed less than that of the men during the past hundred years. Since colonial times, the
principle change in Iroquois dress has been the substitution of cloth for skin, of shirts and
overblouses for fur robes worn over the shoulders, and of glass beads and silver brooches
for shell ornaments. On rare occasions, Indian costumes of other tribes are seen in the
longhouse. Although "Indian costume" should be worn for the costume dances, some of
the men dancers and most of the women wear ordinary dress (Tooker 1970:29-30).
J. V. H. CLARK'S DESCRIPTION/ ONONDAGA MIDWINTER CEREMONY
All was gone through with in the most solemn and affecting manner. Their stories were
told with much gesticulation and earnestness. After the preceding ceremony commenced
the War Dance, which, for singularity and effect, and the thrilling animation it imparts to
the actors, cannot be surpassed by any rite of modern times. The fantastic figures and
devices painted on their almost naked bodies, the rude headdresses and ornaments,
consisting of bells, brooches, rings, a profusion of ear and nose jewels, with deers' hoofs
dangling about their ankles, gave the performers a most singular and grotesque
appearance. Each warrior held in his hand a hatchet, a war-club, or a bow and quiver full
of arrows. One of the party was firmly bound to the stove pipe as if to a tree, and
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personified a prisoner. A young brave, with long false beard and hair of perfect
whiteness, represented by his appearance and movements an old and wrinkled man. He
approached the supposed prisoner, and with great vehemence and earnestness of manner,
addressed him, saying, "his glorious deeds were now at an end--that he must prepare
himself for torture by fire--that no mercy could be shown him--that his character for
heroism should be established by the fortitude with which he withstood his sufferings."
After the old man had finished his speech, the whole party gave the tremendous warwhoop. It seemed as if the lower regions had been suddenly broken up, and that the
inhabitants thereof had made a hasty and unceremonious ascent to the earth. The
substitute beheld all their mock preparation for his manifest destruction with as much
apparent seriousness as if the whole had been real, and appeared as perfectly unconcerned
and indifferent to all their movements, as the coldest stoicism could make him. Their rude
music now struck up, consisting of blows with a stick upon a barrelhead and a kind of
half-drum, accompanied by the voice. It would be utterly impossible to describe the
various attitudes in which they presented themselves, and the rapidity of the transition of
one posture to another was so sudden, that the eye could not follow them. Look at a man
in one position, and instantly his form would be imperceptibly changed to another.
During the dance the prisoner was frequently menaced as if to be instantly dispatched
with a war-club or hatchet. At another time a bow would be drawn with its arrow to the
head, as if death was to be the immediate consequence (Tooker 1970:167).
Muskogean
Seminole.
ritual, social category, use.
Perhaps the most distinctive and widely recognized thing about the Florida Seminole is
their colorful dress, worn at least on occasion by women, men and children. Commonly
called patchwork it is a brightly colored, intricate style manufactured by the women,
formerly on hand turned sewing machines, while they now greatly prefer more modern
electric ones. It is not an ancient form of dress but something uniquely Seminole,
constantly changing as the women develop new styles. The basic dress of the women is a
long skirt, reaching nearly to the ground and quite full. Over the bodice they often wear a
cape over the shoulders, extending to the waist, usually of a solid color and often of thin,
transparent cloth. Small girl babies are usually dressed in a tiny version of this basic,
horizontally banded dress. Some especially prized skirts have more than forty horizontal
[page 72] bands, each composed of many different elements. The older women still wear
a great number of bead strings around the neck, often covering the area from shoulders to
chin, sometimes weighing as much as 25 pounds. Younger women now seem often to
prefer a triangular scarf, tied at the back. Older women sometimes still wear the
traditional elaborate hair arrangement that is rapidly disappearing among young people.
To prepare this elaborate head dress the long hair is combed forward over the face. Then
a large disc is tied around the head with most of its expanse extending toward the front.
The hair is then pulled back over the frame and fastened at the back. The whole is usually
covered with a hairnet. The result is a helmet-shaped creation that has a brim-like
extension over the forehead (Fairbanks 1973:71-72).
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Indian Alliance Against the United States
In the meantime he paid close attention to Indian ceremonial practices, and made an
impressive entry at the daily meetings. He and his thirty followers from the land north of
the Ohio marched into the square every morning, with faces painted black, naked
warriors except a loin cloth and waist band for dragging [page 54] a buffalo tail behind
them, and a head dress of splendid eagle feathers. The Creek chiefs were met by the
visitors with a friendly grasp of both arms and a ceremonial exchange of tobacco. All of
the assembled Creeks reacted in cordial fashion except Captain Isaacs, Chief of
Coosawda, who shook the buffalo-horns of his head dress at Tecumseh, refused tobacco,
and declared that he, Isaacs, was as great a chief as the visitor (McReynolds 1957:53-54).
GREEN CORN CEREMONY
[page 144] Two men selected by the chief for their dancing ability lead the dance. In
former times they were naked except for a breechcloth [page 146] and wore headdresses
made of bison scalps with horns.2 Today they dress like other male dancers, except they
wear a face painting consisting of three or four horizontal lines of red paint on either
cheek. They are followed by a pair of women wearing leg rattles, then a second pair of
male dancers known as yvnvsv impehkv ("buffalo," "whoopers"), then another pair of
women with leg rattles, another pair of men, and so on. On musical cue the leading
dancers cry out "Whe,whe,yo,yo," bend low, shake their heads, and turn to the right or
left, imitating bison bulls. As they do this, the whoopers lead the male dancers in a series
of piercing yells. This is repeated at intervals as the dance continues (Howard 1984:144,
146).
Note 2: General E. A. Hitchcock, quoted in Swanton, Religious Beliefs, pp. 573-74.
PRELIMINARIES OF MATCH GAME AS DESCRIBED BY WILLIE LENA
Match or Inter-Town Stickball Game
PLATE 59. The captain of a match game team "shaking hands with the fire" (leading the
man's ball play dance) on the evening before a match ball game. He thinks to himself "I
will be here next year. I won't be hurt in the game." Note the ballsticks in his right hand
with his rolled-up breechcloth, roach headdress, and "tigertail" attached, and the balls and
scorekeeper's tally sticks attached to the stick in his left hand. Pen and ink sketch by
Willie Lena, 1982 (Howard 1984:187).
CEDAR RIVER TULSA GROUND AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 1, 1980
PLATE 63. A Seminole ballplayer's regalia. Above: roach headdress with two pendant
hawk feathers. Center, left to right: tigertail ornament, buckskin arm cinctures, necklace
of fringed red trade cloth. Below: Breechcloth. All items secured from Willie Lena, 1969
(Howard 1984:194).
COSTUME OF THE MEN
The next article of the man's ordinary costume is the turban. This is a remarkable
structure and gives to its wearer much of his unique appearance. At present it is made of
one or more small shawls. These shawls are generally woolen and copied in figure and
color from the plaid of some Scotch clan. They are so folded that they are about 3 inches
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wide and as long as the diagonal of the fabric. They are then, one or more of them
successively, wrapped tightly around the head, the top of the head remaining bare; the
last end of the last shawl is tucked skillfully and firmly away, without the use of pins,
somewhere in the many folds of the turban. The structure when finished looks like a
section of a decorated cylinder crowded down upon the man's head. I examined one of
these turbans and found it a rather firm piece of work, made of several shawls wound into
seven concentric rings. It was over 20 inches in diameter, the shell of the cylinder being
perhaps 7 inches thick and 3 in width. This headdress, at the southern settlements, is
regularly worn in the camps and sometimes on the hunt. While hunting, however, it
seems to be the general custom for the warriors to go bareheaded. At the northern camps,
a kerchief bound about the head frequently takes the place of the turban in everyday life,
but on dress or festival occasions, at both the northern and the southern settlements, this
curious turban is the customary covering for the head of the Seminole brave. Having no
pockets in his dress, he has discovered that the folds of his turban may be put to a
pocket's uses. Those who use tobacco (I say "those" because the tobacco habit is by no
means universal among the red men of Florida) frequently carry their pipes and other
articles in their turbans (MacCauley 1884:484).
Ancestral Creek Pattern
Figure 2. The Seminoles as southeastern Indians: top, reconstructed prehistoric
headdress from the Mississippian site of Cemochechobee; bottom, the Long Warrior's
headdress in 1774. Source: After Schnell et al. 1981 and Bartram 1955 (Weisman
1989:22).
Tribalism and the Seminole Archaeological Record
The archaeology of Powell's Town emphasizes how an individual can be a source of
considerable variation in the material culture record. Another example is provided by an
eyewitness drawing of a group of Seminole men performing a dance in 1838 (Sturtevant
1962) near the St. Johns River. The drawing, done by Hamilton Wilcox Merrill of the
Second Dragoons, depicts a dance group of eleven men circling around a fire. The leader
of the dance has his arms outstretched, is bare headed, and is evidently chanting or
singing (this is dancer number ten in Sturtevant's designation). Two of the men are
unclothed except for breechclouts, while others are dressed in several styles of the
Seminole hunting coat, or "long shirt." Several men wear patterned (probably beaded)
garters, while the others do not. Four men wear plumed headdresses, one appears to be
wearing a turban, two are depicted wearing crescentic gorgets (silver), and two wear
earrings. These items appear to be typical of the day, to judge from various portraits and
drawings reproduced in Fundaburke (1958) and from the archaeological assemblage
recovered from the cemetery at Fort Brooke (Piper and Piper 1982). On the outskirts of
the dance circle are two naked infants, a naked juvenile, and three other young men
dressed in the long shirt. The individuality of all the participants is clearly expressed—all
are identifiable as "Seminole," yet no person is dressed exactly like any other. Do the
differences reflect ethnicity (in this case it is possible that all were Mikasuki, based on
historical references; see Sturtevant 1962:75), personal preference and/or position, or
clan? The fact that these questions can be raised suggests the complexity of the issue and
the difficulty of finding an answer (Weisman 1989:169).
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Siouan
Assiniboine. meaning, ritual, social category, use.
CHIEFS
We take the custom of wearing medals to be a modern one, at least they say so,
introduced by the whites. The ancient mark of distinction was, and still is, the feathers of
the eagle's tail, wrought into headdresses of various forms, which to this day is the badge
denoting the chief and great warrior, and are not allowed the ordinary class to wear.
Tattooing also is a mark of dignity (Denig 1930:449).
WAR
According to the orders of their leader they proceed slowly, scatter in different directions
for miles around, lie about on the tops of the hills covered with their wolf skins, or
headdresses made of bunches of wild sage, examining the country in every direction for
hours [page 546] before they move. If nothing is seen they signal to each other the result
by imitating the howling of wolves, the barking of foxes, or the hooting of owls, as the
signals agreed upon require. Assembling in some hollow, they compare notes, receive
new directions, and proceeding a few miles, separate again and reconnoiter as before.
They now shoot very seldom, and only when meat is absolutely wanted, and the wind
blows in a direction to carry the report away from their enemies, or toward that part of the
country already explored. By observing the movements of crows and wolves, in which
direction they travel, where they stop and light, they will find out the carcass of some
animal killed by the hunters of the camp. The state of its decay, tracks, and other signs
around will determine the probable direction of their enemies, and they steer for that
point (Denig 1930:545-546).
COSTUME OF A WARRIOR.—The ordinary costume of a mounted warrior of known
bravery has already been described. The headdress, however, differs in form according
to the fancy and standing of the individual. The tail feathers of the war eagle are the only
mark of rank. These are attached to scarlet cloth or otter skin in many ways, sometimes
merely encircling the head, at others extending in a ridge along the back, reaching below
the horse's belly when mounted. The shirt and leggings are made of clean white dressed
deerskin, antelope, or bighorn skin, with black stripes painted around the arms and legs
and fringed with the hair of the scalps taken by him, occasionally also with ermine skins,
or horsehair. The horse's head and tail are adorned with the same kind of feathers, as also
his lance and shield. The latter is a piece of dried raw bull's hide, very thick, round, and
about 18 inches in diameter. The feathers are sewed or tied on around near the edge, and
two or three in the center. Frequently this is painted with the figure of some animal, either
real or imaginary, and is impervious to arrows, though a ball will perforate within the
distance of 100 yards if it be held steadily (Denig 1930:553).
The back dress, if not a continuance of the headdress, is mostly a wolf skin thrown over
his robe, the tail trailing on the ground and the snout on his shoulder. Crow-skin
headdresses are also worn by young warriors, and owl feathers are worn by new
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beginners. No portion of their war dress is constructed so as to emit jingling sounds,
though such are worn on other occasions. Every Indian has either a blanket, buffalo robe,
or dressed skin of some kind covering the whole person, and these are painted with their
battle scenes or garnished with beads and porcupine quills in many ways. His robe is his
bed by night and his cloak in the day, under which in the winter is worn a blanket capot,
made with a hood to cover the head. In the large summer war parties, portions of lodges
of two to four skins each are taken along with which they make cabins to protect
themselves from the rain, but in the winter no shelter is made. When parties are too small
to admit of proceeding without fear of night attacks from their enemies while in their
country, they make small forts every night of dry timber along some stream, or of rocks
when timber is not to be had (Denig 1930:554).
FOX DANCE (TO-KAH-NAH WAH-CHE)
A headdress of foxes' teeth, bored and strung, is stretched across the middle of the head
from ear to ear, a lock of their hair is tied in front, which projects out several inches, and
the rest, combed straight down behind, to which at about the middle is attached four war
eagle feathers. Their lances are wrapped with fox skins cut in strips, and the tails of that
animal sewed on the handle every 12 inches or so. Some also carry their bows and
quivers of arrows at their side during the performance (Denig 1930:561).
BULLS' DANCE (TAH-TUN-GAH WAH-CHE)
The kin called Bulls is perhaps the most numerous among them, and a good many
middle-aged men and chiefs are found in this dance who do not figure in the others. Their
headdress is the skin of a buffalo bull taken off as low as the shoulders of that animal,
and dressed with the head, horns, hair and snout complete. Around the holes where the
eyes were and in the nostrils and mouth are sewed pieces of scarlet cloth. The skin is then
sewed up along the back of the neck. The head of the man is thrust in this, and the rest of
his body being naked except the breechcloth and moccasins, is painted with black and red
stripes. They carry guns and powder horns in the dance, moving without any order,
jumping about, snorting, and shaking their horns at each other, and firing among their
feet with powder. The song is the Bull Song. They usually are attended by six or eight
drummers and singers, all males, who are not dressed in any remarkable manner (Denig
1930:562).
WOMEN'S DANCES
Before the next song is sung, the four officers give articles away as an expression of
gratitude for being honored with the bonnets. While this is being done, the next four
dancers stand in their places wearing the bonnets. At the end of each song [page 123]
period, the four bonnets are passed to the next four, and always, during this intermission,
the four who have worn the bonnets give things away. Everyone dancing in the circle is
obliged to do this. If a man dancer already has a headdress on (which is fastened
securely to his head), he merely holds the bonnet in front of him while performing and
passes it to the next person at the end of the song period and then gives something away.
No one is overlooked. When everyone dancing has been honored with a bonnet, the
dance ends and the bonnets are returned to the owners. While the Bonnet Dance is in
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progress, no one is allowed to leave the circle, because when some people see that a
dance is going to be a Bonnet Dance, they attempt to stay out of it (Long 1961:122-123).
When a band camped near a wooded creek, the women of this society went into the
timber and changed their garments to short dresses with short sleeves. Then they would
cover their exposed legs from the knees down and their arms to the elbows with white
clay. Headdresses of leaves were placed over their hair. An older woman, who was the
Medicine Woman, led the group in which young women and girls were considered as
young female elk, with the older women representing older female elk (Long 1961:124).
THE GRASS DANCE
Men fortunate enough to possess one, now dress in the present-day costume common to
all celebrations—the full buckskin suit. A bonnet made of eagle tail feathers or of white
weaselskins with buffalo or steer horns is worn for a headdress. A shirt or coat of
buckskin, either beaded or decorated by quillwork, with very long fringes on the sleeves
and short ones across the back, is considered a correct dress coat, although a few wear
all-beaded vests over a muslin shirt with long sleeves (Long 1961:127).
In an older type of costume, the tail of a white-tailed deer was used for the headdress,
made to resemble the double comb of a rooster. The hair was first clipped close to
resemble a hair brush. Then the stiff, long top hairs of the porcupine were woven butt-end
first into the outer edge of the tailpiece. Several rows with bristles four or five inches
long were thus woven in to create a wide-top headdress. The center of the headdress,
where the hair was clipped short, was dyed in many colors. Sometimes the downy piece
of a feather was attached to the tip of the rib. The butt was [page 128] then fastened
securely to the center of the headgear in such a way as to stand upright. A whole feather
sometimes was used (Long 1961:127-128).
The few remaining very old men try to dress in a manner becoming their age and
indicating the reputation they may have had in past war achievements. One who owns a
full-dress buckskin suit and an eagle tail-feather headdress wears such a costume.
Another may wear such a suit, but on his head only a long eagle tail feather, tied slightly
back on top of the head with the tip hanging down the back. Now and then, an old one
may imitate the Sioux tribe by sticking the feather into the hair in the back or just to the
side of the head in an upright position, with the tip above the top of the head. Some old
men wear leggings made of dark blue woolen material with beadwork below the knees
and a white cotton store shirt. Some decorate their white shirts with red paint, showing
picture stories of war achievements. A red dot or dots show location of wounds,
sometimes with extra red splashes below the dots to indicate a serious wound. Sometimes
an old man will place the location of a wound right over his heart (Long 1961:128).
Hunting. Buffalo were either hunted by the whole tribe in the great ceremonial chase
(wana'sabi), or, like other game, by small parties and single hunters (wata'pabi). In the
tribal chase, the herd was either surrounded by the hunters, or driven into a large pen
(unxpa'jaxa) constructed with the aid of the entire community. The latter method was
especially characteristic of the Assiniboine. At the foot, or on the declivity, of rising
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[page 11] land, stakes were driven into the ground to the height of about four or five feet,
forming a circular enclosure of about an acre in area, and the intervening spaces were
filled up with logs, dry boughs and rocks. Small openings were left to allow dogs to feed
upon the abandoned carcasses of the bulls. From the sides of the entrance two barriers
diverged up the inclined plane and were extended for a considerable distance. In the
centre of the pen there was planted a medicine-pole with charms suspended from it.1
After the favorable report of scouts sent out by the medicine-man in charge of the hunt to
reconnoitre the country for bison herds, foot soldiers hid along the oblique lines walling
the passage to the pen, or continued them by spreading at distances of from ten to fifteen
feet from the extremities of the fences. The two lines were further prolonged by mounted
men, or, if necessary, by women and children, until the farthest guard was about two or
three miles from the pen, and nearly as far from the corresponding member of the other
line. One, or more men disguised in a buffalo robe and wearing buffalo horn headdresses
were next dispatched to approach the herd of buffalo, and, by imitating the cry of a calf,2
to decoy them into the funnel-shaped passage. As soon as the bison had passed them, the
horsemen cut off the retreat in the rear, and drove the animals towards the circular
enclosure. The decoyer rushed into the pen and out at the other side by an opening left for
that purpose. The buffalo followed, sometimes breaking their legs in jumping in, as the
descent might be six or eight feet and stumps were left standing there. Those uninjured
began to circle around inside. If any attempted to run out, skins were shaken at the
entrance to scare them back. Only if some managed to make their escape, were guns
fired; otherwise, the ensnared bison were dispatched with arrows. In the hunt witnessed
by De Smet six hundred bison were captured in this way (Lowie 1909:10-11).
Note 1: Cf. the story of the Wakan' Girl, p. 206. The account in the text is based partly on
field-notes, but principally on De Smet's (pp. 1027-1032), the older Henry's (p. 295 f.)
and the younger Henry's (Coues, pp. 518-520) descriptions. Franklin (pp. 100-101)
describes a Cree buffalo-pound.
Note 2: This mode of luring the game, was, of course, not restricted to the time of the
tribal hunt. De Smet, p. 658.
CEREMONIAL ORGANIZATION
Owing to the complete break-down of the social organization of the Canadian branch of
the tribe, very little could be learned with regard to Stoney dances. The prairie-chicken
dance (ciy '-wagadji`bi) seems to have [page 57] been adopted from the Cree,—a
supposition confirmed by the fact that the Indians of Ft. Belknap, who have preserved
native customs to a much greater extent, knew of it only as a Cree dance. In position, the
men's feet formed an acute angle; in dancing, one foot alternately crossed the other. From
time to time, the dancer bent down low, his hands resting on his thighs. A rattle is
supposed to imitate the sounds made by prairie-chickens. In the war-dance (kitci'sabi
wagadji'bi) the dancers carried scalps and knives painted red to symbolize the blood of
the slain foes. Some painted half of their club handles in one color, and the remainder in
another color. In a dance simply called wagadji'bi (dance) only men participated. They
wore breechclouts and eagle tail-feather headdresses. Half their faces were painted red,
and the other half black. In addition to these, a squaw-dance, in which men and women
danced in a circle towards the left, was performed within recent years. A skunk-dance
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was also mentioned, but without any further information. In the dances, both large drums
and hand-drums were employed. Of regalia suggesting the ceremonial organizations of
the Plains tribes, I only saw a porcupine headdress said to have been obtained from
Sioux visitors and, in the Indian agent's private collection, two feathered spears with bone
points (Lowie 1909:56-57).
The ceremonial dress common to all members consists of a porcupine headdress,
otherwise the costume of the rank and file may vary ad libitum. They commonly wear
buckskin leggings with a fringe of weasel-skins or human hair. A few formerly bore
shields with pictographic representations of their exploits. It is customary for a grassdancer, to indicate his martial achievements in a definite way. If he has slain an enemy,
he wears an eagle-feather. If the victim was a Sioux, a skunk-skin is sewed to the heel of
the dancer's moccasin; two such skunk-skins denote two Sioux slain by the wearer. An X
painted on the dancer's body, or — more distinctive still — an acute angle pointing
upward with a small circle resting on the apex, represents a wound. Some men put these
designs on their shirts. The angular horseshoe design (an inverted U) indicates
participation in a horse-raid, and may be repeated indefinitely in a vertical column,
according to the number of expeditions. The representation of a pipe on the dancer's back
shows that he has been captain of a successful war-expedition. Only the four headdancers are distinguished by feather-belts, one of which, belonging to the leader
(itan'tca), is dyed red. These officers are assisted by two "whippers"1 (Lowie 1909:67).
Note 1: In an account of the buffalo-hunt, two leaders and four criers are referred to.
Other Dances. The no-flight dance (nampe'c owa'tc) is said to have originated with the
Sioux. An Assiniboine was once captured by the Sioux. His friends thought he had been
killed, but after a long time he returned and introduced the no-flight dance. According to
another account, the dance was derived from the Xe 'ktukta, an unidentified Plains tribe.
A woman is also credited with having dreamt the dance. After giving the ceremony to the
people, she told her son that her husband was going to be killed by the Sioux in the young
man's presence. While the dance was being performed, she sang this song:—"I loved my
husband, but now I don't want him" (Lowie 1909:70).
Her husband was killed, as she had predicted. The regalia of this dance consisted of
rawhide rattles decorated with feathers and flannel, two spears wrapped with otter-skin,
and buffalo-horn headdresses. There were sometimes as many as thirty members. In
battle, they were never supposed to flee; if they attempted to do so, their leaders could
kill them. The spear-bearers were obliged to plant the spears in the ground and thereafter
were not permitted to abandon them. However, if another man removed the spear for
them, the officers were absolved from this obligation (Lowie 1909:70).
The buffalo-dance (tatañga watci'bi) is said to have been derived from the Xe 'ktukta
tribe. Before starting a dance, one man was appointed to gather up the members'
headdresses. These consisted of the skin of a buffalo-head with the horns and nose left
on and a stuffing of grass. Two tents were joined to form the dance-lodge, outside of
which all the headdresses were tied to a big pole. A feast was prepared inside, and after
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the entertainment the dancers put on their costume, namely, flannel clouts decorated with
beaded buffalo-hoof designs, and the horned headgear. Four leaders were chosen for
distinction in war, such as having been wounded, having killed an enemy while wearing a
buffalo headdress, etc. One of these [page 74] chiefs had one of the horns painted red,
and tied to it an eagle-feather. If one of them had carried a shield in battle, he displayed it
now; if anyone had killed an enemy with a spear, he held it in his hand during the
ceremony. There were four singers without headdresses, who beat hand-drums while the
performers danced in the lodge. After a while, one of the four chiefs rushed out of the
lodge and ran off some distance, followed at intervals by the rest of the dancers and by
the four singers. The last one to follow was a boy called Buffalo-Boy, who wore a
buffalo-calf headdress. They trotted to the first halting-place and performed their dance
there. Here a recital of martial deeds took place. As a token of bravery, one of the horns
of a headdress might be painted white. Each man carried a muzzle-loader, loaded with
powder, and while dancing they shot at one another. At a second site, the same
performance was repeated1 (Lowie 1909:73-74).
Note 1: I do not find it definitely stated in my notes that there were four open-air
performances, but from analogy this seems exceedingly probable.
AGE-SOCIETIES
On the other hand, the Dog society of the Cheyenne presents indubitable indications of a
close connection with the Arapaho Dog lodge. In both [page 88] organizations, four men
wear trailing scarfs and are obliged to disregard danger in war. Both also share hoofrattles, feather headdresses, and eagle-bone whistles. In addition, the identity of name,
rarely presumptive, but always good corroborative, evidence, speaks in favor of a
common origin. If this theory is adopted, the question arises whether the society defined
by the traits enumerated originally formed one of a consecutive series of age-societies, or
whether it existed independently of such a series and was secondarily graded. There is
very little direct evidence of an ungraded society becoming incorporated into an ageorder. Mooney states that the biitahanwu of the Arapaho was originally derived from the
Cheyenne,1 in which case it would be an illustration of this process. But I fail to find any
Cheyenne society from which it could be derived in a satisfactory way. Maximilian states
that the hot-dance, performed by the youngest band of the Hidatsa and Mandan was
obtained by purchase from the Hot Dance society of the Arikara, which is not connected
with the age-societies.2 This is very meagre evidence, though, so far as I know, there is
none whatsoever for the degeneration of an age-company into an ungraded society, —
which of course, does not disprove the assumption that such a transformation has taken
place. It is entirely possible that within recent times the ceremonies of age-societies may
have repeatedly become the property of ungraded societies, while precisely the reverse
process was taking place in the case of other organizations. From a more general point of
view, however, the remarkable efflorescence of ceremonial life all over the Plains as
compared with the very narrowly circumscribed area of distribution of the age-societies
renders it almost inconceivable that the various ceremonial bodies coexisting with ageorders in the same tribe, or found in tribes without the age-series, should all be merely
degenerate forms of age-societies (Lowie 1909:87-88).
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Note 1: Mooney, (a), p. 988.
Note 2: Maximilian, II, pp. 144, 217-219. Among the Cheyenne, the dance is the property
of a medicine, not of a warrior, society. Mooney, (c), p. 415.
Among the Arapaho, it is the leader with his four associates in the dog-dance, as well as
the holder of the second degree in the biitahanwu, that are pledged never to flee from an
enemy. In the dog-dance this feature is associated with the wearing of a trailing scarf,
which is fastened to the ground in battle to prevent the possibility of flight; while the
biitahanwu warrior plants his lance-crook in the ground and must not desert this standard,
unless it be plucked out and presented to the owner by a fellow-tribesman. Parallel
regulations applied to the scarf-wearers of the Gros Ventre Dog society. Among the
Mandan, the old men who had once been united with the young men in the lowest
(Foolish Dog) society were not permitted to retreat; the bearers of two fur-wrapped
spears played the part of the biitahanwu warrior; and in the Buffalo society two leaders
wearing a buffalo mask assumed parallel risks. Leaving the age-societies, we find among
the Blackfoot a Brave Dog couple — not to be confounded with the Braves or Dogs of
the All Comrades, with which order there was no connection whatsoever —
"characterized by the fact that these individuals were never permitted to turn back from a
danger of any sort."2 Obviously related to this sodality is the Crazy Dog brace of the
Crow, who, according to information gathered by the writer, deliberately courted danger,
wore trailing sashes, expressed the reverse of their intended meaning, and in some ways
imitated dogs.3 The Inverted Warriors of the Cheyenne either repel a hostile charge or die
on the spot; the four scarf-wearers of the Dog society must expose themselves to danger
in defence of their mates.4 Of the ten Kiowa Dog warriors, no one was expected to flee,
and the leader anchored himself to the ground by means of a sash fastened with an arrow;
the Blackleg warriors substituted a lance-crook for the arrow.5 From what little we know
of the Skidi Saru association, membership seems to have involved the obligation to speak
backwards and to defy danger in battle. The Assiniboine nampéc dancers bore furwrapped spears akin in function to the biitahanwu warrior's spear. The Dakota No-Flight
society was a similar association; it united young men who had not yet distinguished
themselves on the battle field [page 92] under the leadership of a war captain.1 In 1804
Lewis and Clark discovered a Sioux society, of which the members had vowed never to
retreat from danger. In crossing the ice-covered Missouri, the foremost member of the
association once deliberately walked into a hole and perished, while his followers had to
be dragged out of the path of danger. In a battle with the Crow, eighteen of the twentytwo members were killed, the survivors being dragged back to safety by their fellowtribesmen. "This society is in imitation of the societies of the de Curbo or Crow
Indians."2 The last statement is at first not quite clear, as the Crazy Dog couple of the
Crow is apparently an old institution, from which so large an association as that of the
Sioux could hardly have been derived by direct imitation. But it is highly probable that
the notion of votive bravery was, in several of the Plains tribes, not monopolized by a
single society, but that several organizations strove to outdo one another in defiance of
danger. Several such instances have already been cited above. Among the Crow, the Big
Dogs and the Foxes attempted to get ahead of each other in striking the first blow at any
enemy. Though there is no evidence that this implied the deliberate foolhardiness of the
Crazy Dogs, such may well have been the case, so that Lewis and Clark's Sioux society
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may have been patterned after either of these rival Crow organizations. Several rival
warrior organizations have been noted by Curtis among the Teton. The Brave Hearts of
the Ogallala had four lance-bearers who incurred the usual risks connected with their
regalia.3 Several bravery dances were performed by the Omaha, though, for some obscure
reason, they are generally not classed with "military societies." The T'e'gaxe dancers
always went prepared to fall in battle; two men bore a feathered staff. The No-Flight
society corresponded to its Dakota namesake. "The members vowed not to flee from a
foe. They blackened themselves all over with charcoal. About fifty years ago two
members went into a fight armed only with deer's claw rattles that had sharp iron points
at either ends of the handles. They rushed among the foe and stabbed them before they
could draw their bows."4 In another ceremony, characterized by the use of buffalo
headdresses, only very brave men were allowed to participate.5 The feature of
obligatory, or votive, bravery is thus of very wide distribution; it is connected with some
age-societies, some "military societies," and other organizations not usually included in
either category. Even in the Crow sun-dance, certain individuals brought in by [page 93]
the police to sit on the lodge-poles are thereafter obliged never to flee from an enemy.
Obligatory bravery is thus not characteristic of any one type of ceremonial organization,
but appears in various combinations of ceremonial traits (Lowie 1909:91-93).
Page 91
Note 2: Wissler, (b), p. 174.
Note 3: cf., Curtis, IV, pp. 13-14.
Note 4: G. A. Dorsey, (b), pp. 21, 25.
Note 5: Mooney, (b), p. 284.
Page 92
Note 1: Riggs, p. 225.
Note 2: Lewis and Clark, I, p. 130.
Note 3: Curtis, III, pp. 15-16.
Note 4: The Flathead were led by one or two unarmed men who dauntlessly walked
straight into the enemy's camp with their rattles and medicines (Clark, p. 356).
Note 5: J. O. Dorsey, (a), p. 352.
MYTHOLOGY/ TRICKSTER CYCLE #46
Inkton'mi was living in the forest. He made a lot of songs, packed them on his back, and
set out traveling. After a few days, the load got so heavy, that he could only walk very
slowly. He set the songs down, and considered what to do next. At last he decided to call
the birds and beasts. He called the buffalo, the peh 'rin (crane?), ixa'tat 'n (a dark bird),
the crow, the cock, the fox, the wolf, the horse, the owl, and the coyote. He told them he
was going to divide his songs among them. The buffalo received the first song and the
powers that went with it; he was told that people would dream of him, and get the
appropriate song, dance, and costume from him. The peh 'rin, ixa'tat 'n, crow and cock
received corresponding instructions. The cock was given the grass-dance, the porcupine
headdress representing his crest. The other animals each received his own ceremony.
Then Inkton'mi bade them separate. "Wherever people live, appear to them in their
dreams and give them your dances." They separated, each bearing his song; they spread
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over the whole world. The songs kept by Inkton'mi himself were those relating to the
women's dance and the medicine men's practices (Lowie 1909:130).
MYTHOLOGY/ TRICKSTER CYCLE #50
Sitcon'ski wanted to marry the daughter of a chief, but she refused to have him. He
planned a scheme to get her. The people had broken camp. He went to the old camp-site
and found a piece of a white robe. Shaking it, he said, "I wish I had the whole robe." He
thus secured a whole robe. He picked up some red cloth, and similarly transformed it into
a large piece. In the same way he got a weasel skin and an otter skin headdress. He then
tracked the people. He met one of the chief's sons, who conducted him to his father's
lodge. The girl liked Sitcon'ski in his disguise. "I am going home soon," said Sitcon'ski,
"my people live far away." The girl said she would get some wood. Sitcon'ski waited for
her. She called out to him, "I'll go with you." He stood still and said, "Get your things and
we'll go together." The girl got her dress and ran back to Sitcon'ski, but he was gone. She
only found a weasel-skin legging on the road, which turned into excrements. The girl
returned to camp and told her father how Sitcon'ski had fooled her. The chief said to the
people, "We had better move camp, my daughter is ashamed" (Lowie 1909:133).
MYTHOLOGY/ THE BUFFALO-BOY
After a while he returned home. His parents thought he had died. They had cut their hair,
and were lamenting his loss. He came upon them and asked, "Why are you crying?" They
recognized him. They erected a lodge for him, and placed some grass within. He ate the
grass like a buffalo. His father noticed it and bade his wife cut more grass for their son to
eat. The young man's wife was frightened. She thought her husband also snorted like a
buffalo, but he quieted her. For four days he continued to eat grass, then he ate the food
of ordinary men1 (Lowie 1909:190).
Note 1: A Stoney tale presents a combination of elements found in this and the preceding
story. A baby boy, strapped to a travois, is lost, raised by a buffalo and ultimately
recaptured by the Indians. He puts on a buffalo-robe with a horn headdress, eats grass
for a long time, and expresses his preference for a buffalo life. In another Stoney version,
the buffalo present the boy with a buffalo-scalp and a medicine pipe. The pipe would turn
every night so as to indicate the direction he was to follow for his next day's journey. By
putting on the scalp and rolling on the ground he could transform himself into a buffalo
and thus flee from enemies. Returning to his parents, he eats grass in the night. He
becomes chief of the buffalo-pen, and his descendants inherit the office.
MYTHOLOGY/ PIQUED BUFFALO-WIFE
When Magpie found that the buffalo-woman had deserted him, he followed after her. The
buffalo-calf was lingering behind his mother. When the man got near him, he said,
"Look, my son, I am thirsty and exhausted." The calf said, "Follow my footsteps and you
will get to a good spring." The man obeyed and found good water. The calf said, "You
will get thirsty three times before we reach the buffalo camp." The man continued
following his wife and got thirsty again. Again his son directed him to a spring. After
drinking, he ran after his wife, thinking he might catch her, but he never even caught
sight of her. At last they got to the buffalo camp, where there were many lodges. The
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buffalo-woman went to her father's lodge. "What is the matter, my daughter? Why do you
come back?" "I had a race with the moose-woman, and got stuck in a mudhole. She has
my husband all to herself now." The man was afraid at first, but finally he went to his
father-in-law. The old buffalo said, "We are going to have a war dance now. Put on your
headdress and your best clothes. Watch the buffalo and act like them." Before dancing,
Magpie said, "I am hungry." The old buffalo said, "I'll give you something to eat." Then
he allowed him to eat one of his brothers-in-law, but ordered him not to cut his legs and
to pile up the meat after skinning him. After the man had eaten, the dance began. They
danced three times without hurting him, the calf dancing beside his father. The fourth
time all the buffalo jumped up, hooked him, threw him continually in the air, and killed
him (Lowie 1909:197).
MYTHOLOGY/ BIG-FROG
Long ago, there lived a crazy old man named Big-Frog, who used to play tricks on all the
other Indians. Half of the Indians were going in one direction, and the remainder in the
opposite direction. Big-Frog hid his two sons at the parting of the roads and killed his
son-in-law. He said to his son, "Some one has slain my son-in-law." Another man seized
the dead man's headdress and Frog went after him and his people. He slew his brotherin-law, though his sister begged him to spare her husband's [page 227] life. Then she
asked the other people to kill Frog. One man, named Buffalo, seeing his brother killed,
approached Frog. "You bad man, you have slain my brother." Frog replied, "I fear no
one, he slew my son-in-law." Buffalo proposed to fight in the plain. Then he shot off
arrows, killing Frog's sons. Frog pretended to have been killed himself. Two boys passed
his supposed corpse. One of them said, "Aha! that is the way you ought to lie dead in the
road." He struck an arrow into Frog's eye, and, seeing it move, he said, "I think he is not
dead yet." The boys went to tell Buffalo. Buffalo said, "He is a tricky old man, perhaps
he is merely counterfeiting death." As soon as Buffalo approached, Frog ran away, and
his wife stealthily seized an ax to kill Buffalo. She approached Buffalo, saying, "Kiss me,
I love you." But Buffalo was not deceived, and when she approached he killed her. All of
Frog's friends were slain. Some old people are still living who witnessed this. Before this
happened, the Frog and the Buffalo people were wont to camp together (Lowie 1909:226227).
MYTHOLOGY/ PUNITIVE EXPEDITION
A man was living with his six sons and a boy adopted from another tribe. He told his
sons, "We have no feathers, you had better go and get some from my younger brother."
His brother lived with another tribe. The boys set out. They crossed a big lake, from the
middle of which they could see many lodges. They asked their uncle to get feathers for
them, and he did. It was in the winter, and the tribe was moving camp. One man in the
tribe had three wives and a great deal of mysterious power. One of the visitors wished to
steal his youngest wife. The other boys warned him, but he seized the woman as she was
carrying her husband's headdress. The other wives tried to hold her back, but could not,
so they merely wrested away the headdress and told their husband when he came home.
The old man was in a fury. He called on all his spirits to destroy the boys. They were
paddling in the middle of the lake, and got stuck in it by the old man's magic. They asked
the fastest among them, who wore a jack-rabbit tail, to run home and ask their father for
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help. They were shooting all their arrows against the enemy and were in need of more. At
last, they had only their bow-spears left. The fast runner at first did not want to go, seeing
that his brothers were being killed, but finally he ran off. The enemy shot at him, but he
was not hurt. He ran for two days before he reached his father's camp. At first he would
not speak at all. When his father begged him to speak, he at last announced his brothers'
death and told how it had come about. He also brought back the feathers (Lowie
1909:233).
With the exceptions of the Sun-Dance and the Horse Society Dance, which were
primarily religious in function and will be treated later on under the section on religion,
the following were the various societies as remembered by my informants and recorded
by Denig (Rodnick 1938:39):
2. Tatang WaciBi, or the Buffalo Dance. The membership of this society was mainly
composed of middle-aged men and chiefs, formerly warriors of note. My informant,
Returning Hunter, was invited to join this society when he was younger, but he refused,
as did most young men, for this society was supposed to bring bad luck in warfare to its
members, in the sense that its members were easily wounded in war. Membership in this
band was usually confined to the men of the Canoe Band. The rights of membership
carried with it permission to paint the buffalo head and horns on shields, drums and robes
and the ability to perform rites for the increase of the buffalo (Rodnick 1938:40).
In dancing, members wore a headdress of the heads and shoulders of a buffalo bull, with
pieces of red cloth sewn over its eyes, nostrils and mouth. The body was painted with
black and red stripes, as far as the breech-clout. The dance steps were intended to imitate
the motions of the buffalo and the dancers snorted and bellowed and shook their horns at
one another. Toward the end the dancers shot at one another's feet with their guns (61)
(Rodnick 1938:40).
6. The Crow Dance was given by the members of the Crow, or war society. The
membership was restricted to young warriors who danced with headdresses composed of
the entire skin of the crow, including the head and wings. Lances, bows and shields were
carried in this dance, all these adorned with crow feathers (65) (Rodnick 1938:40).
Stoney.
meaning, use.
The Old Path
Oral History of the Stoneys:
The word Sioux conjures up the whole of the rich history and culture of the Plains —
Sitting Bull, the Custer battle, great buffalo hunts, magnificent eagle-plume headdresses,
and beautiful quill-decorated, buckskin clothing. This is the heritage we share with the
Dakota and the Assiniboine and the Oglala through our language-family connections. Our
other neighbors were the Algonkian-speaking people — the Ojib-way, the Cree, and the
Blackfoot — with whom blood feuds were a continual fact. Nearby, too, were smaller
groups, such as the Athapascan-speaking Sarcee. To the west our contacts were with the
people of the mountains, the Kootenay, the Shuswap, and occasionally the Flathead; our
Page: 67
relations with these were somewhat more cordial, but not always peaceful (Snow
1977:2).
Rediscovering the Path
Indian Religious Movement:
The sun rises with a blood-red headdress of prairie clouds throwing fiery colours to the
mountains. Smoke rises lazily from the teepee fires. All the living things awake around
the Indian religious camp in the foothills. A lonely eagle rides the air currents, almost out
of sight. Half a mile away a buffalo bull welcomes the day as he calls to his herd. A
magpie announces his arrival with his chatter as he teases an old dog lying beside the
teepee entrance. Below the huge teepee encampment, the rustling mountain streams can
be heard. A tethered horse whinnies and stamps his hooves, and a grasshopper joins in
the medley of sounds and activity of a new day (Snow 1977:142).
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blaine, Martha R.
1990 Pawnee Passage, 1870-1875. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Pawnee NQ18. No Field Date. Skidi (Skiri), Chawi (Chaui), Kitkahahki, and Pitahawirata
bands; northern Kansas and Nebraska, 1870-1875.
This book attempts to broaden the reader's view of the Pawnees during the years 18701875 '...by adding to existing evidence in archives and to other printed sources original
selections from Pawnee oral history containing views of events of that time' (p.xi). The
author believes that the inclusion of primary source material from Pawnee speakers and
descendants of people who actually lived during those years will enrich, and sometimes
modify the perspectives expressed in documentary and published sources. Much of the
oral history material presented in this document comes from the author's late husband
Garland J. Blaine, who himself was a Pawnee. Topics discussed in detail in this work
relate to traditional economic pursuits, horse stealing, the 'sacred' relationship between
the buffalo (bison) and the Pawnee, Sioux-Pawnee relationships and warfare, U.S.
government attempts at acculturation, the reservation system, and the final removal of the
Pawnee from Nebraska to a reservation in Indian Territory in Oklahoma (1874-1875).
Chamberlain, Von Del
1982 When Stars Came Down to Earth: Cosmology of the Skidi Pawnee
Indians of North America. Ballena Press, Los Altos; Center for
Archaeoastronomy, University of Maryland, College Park.
Pawnee NQ18. No Field Date. Skidi (Skiri) band; Nebraska.
This is a study of Pawnee ethnoastronomy. The work attempts to describe the objects and
phenomena of the sky as they were perceived by the Skidi (Skiri) Pawnee, and the effect
that they had on religious beliefs and practices. In general the book attempts to
consolidate materials written about Pawnee ethnoastronomy scattered through various
sources , many of which were written around the beginning of the twentieth century.
Page: 68
Other ethnographic topics deal with native concepts relating to sky phenomena, an
annotated list of sky objects referred to in the records, the Skidi earth lodge as a model of
Pawnee cosmology, the Skidi observational system, and the unique star chart inscribed on
buckskin used by the Pawnee over the ages in their study of the heavens.
Ciborski, Sara
1990 Culture and Power: The Emergence and Politics of Akwesasne
Mohawk Traditionalism. Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New
York, Albany.
Iroquois NM09. Field Date: 1985-1986. Mohawk, Akwesasne (St. Regis
Reserve/Reservation), NY and Quebec.
This dissertation presents an interpretive study of the efforts of the Mohawk Iroquois
traditionalists to build cultural and political awareness in the community of Akwesasne
(St. Regis Reserve/Reservation) situated on the U.S.-Canadian border. Ciborski notes that
Mohawk conceptions about Iroquois culture, their relationship to the dominant (nonIndian) society, and the continuing struggle to solve serious social and economic
problems in the community, are significant contributing factors to the continuance of
Akwesasne traditionalism. 'The author argues that the cultural expression and national
aspirations of Akwesasne Mohawk traditionalists are a form of cultural nationalism
insofar as they are responses to the experience of internal colonialism, a structural
relationship to the dominant society suffered by other U.S. racial minorities ' (p. ix).
Dempsey, Hugh A.
1978 Charcoal's World. Prairie Books, Saskatoon.
Blackfoot NF06. No Field Date. Blood Indians, southern Alberta, ca. 1850-1907.
This is a moving biographical narrative of Charcoal, a Blood Indian, as told to Hugh
Dempsey by Native American informants in conjunction with the data obtained from the
Public Archives of Canada and the Horace Harvey Papers (MG-30). The document
describes Charcoal's killing of his wife's lover, his flight from the reservation, the
relentless pursuit of the fugitive by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the
leadership of Major Samuel B. Steele, the many hardships encountered by Charcoal in
the Canadian wilderness, the killing of one of the pursuing police officers by Charcoal,
and his eventual capture (as the result of the betrayal of his brothers), trial, and execution.
Since the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the time of the events described here were
responsible for keeping law and order on the reservation data relevant to their policing
action in the pursuit and capture of Charcoal has been indexed for category 657.
1986
The Blackfoot Indians. In Native Peoples: The Canadian Experience,
edited by R. Bruce Morrison and C. Roderick Wilson, pp. 404-435.
McClelland & Stewart, Toronto.
Blackfoot NF06. No Field Date. Alberta, Saskatchewan, ca. 1600s-1970s.
Page: 69
This document presents a summary sketch of Blackfoot ethnography dating from precontact days (ca. 1600s) to the 1970s. The work provides information on the environment
and economy, social and political organization, religion, the Sun Dance ceremonial,
myths and legends, warfare, family life, culture history, the fur trade, treaties and
reservations, and recent trends in cultural development. This study provides the reader
with an excellent overview of Blackfoot society without getting too specific on details.
Denig, Edwin T.
1930 Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri. In Forty-sixth Annual Report of
the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution 1928-1929, edited by M.W. Stirling, pp. 377-628. U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington.
Assiniboine NF04. Field Date: 1850. Upper Missouri River late 18th to mid 19th centuries.
This monograph presents a general ethnography of traditional Assiniboine society as it
existed in the mid 1850s. The author lived with the Indians for an entire year, (probably
around 1854), gathering information and confirming the data obtained from his
informants. A wide range of subject coverage is presented in this work, but some of the
major topics discussed are: history, geography, fauna, pictographs, astronomy, medicine,
social and political organization, warfare, property, religion, courtship and marriage,
hunting, dancing and amusements, and games and gambling. Denig notes that much of
the ethnographic data on the Assiniboine contained herein also applies to the Sioux,
Arikara, Mandan, Gros Ventres, Cree, and Blackfoot. These groups are designated by the
author as 'prairie roving or wild tribes', reflecting the general attitude of his day regarding
Native American populations.
Densmore, Frances
1929 Chippewa Customs. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 86.
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington.
Ojibwa NG06. Field Date: 1905-1925. MN, WI, Ontario.
This is a study of almost all aspects of the material culture of the Chippewa. The author
visited the people for the purpose of studying tribal songs, and this collection of data
concerning their customs was gathered during their research. Her study was conducted on
Chippewa reservations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario, and here she presents a
well organized account of Chippewa customs.
Ewers, John C.
1945 Blackfeet Crafts. Branch of Education, Indian Service, U. S.
Department of the Interior, Washington; Haskell Institute, Lawrence.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1941-1944. northern Montana, southern Alberta.
Page: 70
This monograph provides thorough coverage of both traditional and modern Blackfoot
techniques of the preparation and sewing of leather skins, painting, quillwork, beadwork,
embroidery designs, and some minor crafts such as pipe, utensil, and feather bonnet
making. The text is richly illustrated.
1955
The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture with Comparative Material from
Other Western Tribes. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 159.
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1941-1951. northwestern Montana, southern Alberta, ca.
1750-1952.
The influence of the horse on Plains Indian culture is the subject of this monograph. John
Ewers, who was the curator of the Museum of the Plains Indian, did archival research and
interviewed elderly informants to gather this data on the horse in pre-reservation
Blackfoot culture. A great deal of information is presented including chapters on care,
breeding, gear, the use of the horse in such activities as camp movements, hunting, war,
trade, recreation, and religion. Comparative data from other Plains cultures is presented.
Ewers concludes that "...the influence of the horse permeated and modified to a greater or
lesser degree every major aspect of Plains Indian life" (p. 339).
1958
The Blackfeet: Raiders of the Northwestern Plains. University of
Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1941-1951. northwestern Montana, southern Alberta.
This is primarily a general memory ethnography focusing on the Piegan and Blood ca.
1850. Ewers also presents a great deal of historical data from 1700-1950. The
ethnographic subjects covered are buffalo hunting, community life, arts and crafts,
warfare, leisure time activities, religion, and missionary activities. Most of the data was
gathered while Ewers was the curator of the Museum of the Plains Indian on the
Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana.
Fairbanks, Charles H.
1973 The Florida Seminole People. Indian Tribal Series, Phoenix.
Seminole NN16. No Field Date. Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp, Florida, ca. 19201970.
The major focus of this source is on the culture history of the Florida Seminoles,
particularly those living in the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. The author discusses
the early contacts with the Spanish, English, and later Americans, the resulting wars, and
their final conquest and confinement to reservations. A less detailed section presents
information on the contemporary 20th century Seminoles, mostly in terms of their
economic development. Traditional ethnography is given only superficial treatment in
this source, with some data presented on political organization, the camp group, house
Page: 71
styles, food and food preparation, the clans, marriage, clothing and clothing manufacture,
religion, the medicine man, and processes of socialization. The work concludes with a
short section on the author's speculations about future cultural and economic
development of the Seminole.
Fenton, William N.
1941 Iroquois Suicide: A Study in the Stability of a Culture Pattern. Bureau
of American Ethnology Bulletin 128. U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington.
Iroquois NM09. Field Date: 1935. Seneca Tonawanda Reservation, NY.
This paper discusses the frequency, causes, and methods of suicide that Fenton observed
among the Tonawanda Seneca in 1935. The author goes on to explore the cultural pattern
of the behavior through descriptions in historical documents.
1953
The Iroquois Eagle Dance: An Offshoot of the Calumet Dance. Bureau
of American Ethnology Bulletin 156, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington.
Iroquois NM09. Field Date: 1933-1950. NY and Ontario.
This monograph is a reworking of Fenton's doctoral dissertation at Yale. This work
describes and analyzes the variations of the Eagle Dance at different Iroquois
communities. These data are marshaled in such a way as to show their bearing on the
ethnological problem of individual variation in behavior. Sections of the monograph
discuss the Seneca Eagle Dance at Allegany and Tonawanda Reservations, the Onondaga
Condor Dance, and the Eagle Dance and Six Nations Reserve, Grand River, Ontario. The
Iroquois Eagle Dance is then discussed as a cultural phenomenon, including data on
origin legends, sacrifices, dream experiences, ritual equipment, organization, and pattern.
The monograph concludes with a long section on the documentary history of the Eagle
Dance including a survey of the literature and a distribution and comparative study.
Foster, Michael K.
1974 From the Earth to Beyond the Sky: An Ethnographic Approach to Four
Longhouse Iroquois Speech Events. National Museums of Canada,
National Museum of Man, Ottawa.
Iroquois NM09. Field Date: 1970. Six Nations Reserve, Ontario.
The Longhouse Iroquois of New York State and southern Ontario are carriers of the
ancient tradition of political and religious oratory of which part is devoted to speeches,
chants, and songs associated with the calendric round of ceremonies (e.g., the Midwinter
Festival and Green Corn Ceremony). The first part of this study presents an analysis of
four structurally related rituals which are performed in conjunction with the ceremonies,
these being the Thanksgiving Address, the Great Feather Dance, the Skin Dance, and the
Page: 72
Tobacco Invocation. The rituals are divided into sections devoted to one or more of the
cosmological spirit forces -- the terrestrial (earth, plants, animals); the celestial (sun,
moon, stars); and the forces beyond the sky (the Creator and other spirits). Each of the
rituals is accompanied by a prescribed formal speech which may vary somewhat between
speakers. The second part of this work presents a detailed structural analysis of the
contents of these speeches as well as a description of the background and qualifications
of the speakers themselves. The transcribed and translated texts of these speeches appear
in the appendices.
Goddard, Ives
1978 Delaware. In Handbook of North American Indians: Northeast, v.15,
edited by Bruce G. Trigger, pp. 213-239. Smithsonian Institution,
Washington.
Delaware NM07. No Field Date. Eastern PA, southeastern NY, northern NJ, OH, KS,
OK, and Ontario,1600-1970.
This article, from the Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15, is a comprehensive
survey of Delaware ethnography from the seventeenth century to the 1970s. The autor
describes the westward movement of the Delaware from the east coast of the United
States through the present states of Indiana, Ohio, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma,
and to Ontario, Canada. The summary is very compactly written and covers a wide range
of topics such as political organization, subsistence, technology, clothing and adornment,
structures, life cycle events, religion, warfare, and culture contacts with other societies.
This document provides an excellent general background for a more intensive study of
Delaware ethnography.
Goldfrank, Esther S.
1966 Changing Configurations in the Social Organization of a Blackfoot
Tribe during the Reserve Period (the Blood of Alberta, Canada).
University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1939. Publication Date: 1966. Blood Reserve, Alberta,
1877-1940.
This monograph focuses on the changes wrought in the economy and in the social and
religious institutions of the Blood of Alberta since their confinement to a reservation in
1877. It contains detailed consideration of the relative ranking of various statuses in the
society, as well as of limitations on and opportunities for social advancement. The range
of personality types found among the Blood is discussed and related to the differing
strategies employed by individuals in adapting to the changing society. A series of life
histories at the end of the source serve to illustrate aspects of Blood culture and daily life
discussed in the body of the text.
Grant, Peter
Page: 73
1890
The Saulteux Indians about 1804. In Les bourgeois de la Compagnie
du Nord-Quest, edited by L. R. Masson, pp. 303-366. De
L'Imprimerie Generale A. Cote et cie, Montreal.
Ojibwa NG06. Field Date: 1791-1804. Southern Canada.
This is one of the earliest general accounts on any one group of the Ojibwa. Considering
the time that it was written it is extremely good in both content and sympathetic
understanding of the customs of the Southern Salteaux. The material is best on material
culture, marriage and family life, hunting, games and religious beliefs and customs. The
author was one of the early traders and trappers.
Grinnell, George B.
1962 Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story of a Prairie People. University of
Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: ca. 1888. Blackfoot Indian Reservation, Montana.
This book opens with a series of English translations of Blackfoot texts, divided by
Grinnell into adventure stories, origin myths, and accounts of the travels and doings of
the culture hero, Na'pi ("Old Man"). This section is followed by an ethnographic sketch
incorporating material on all three Blackfoot subdivisions (Sík-si 'kau, Kaínah or Blood,
and Pikuni or Piegan), that includes data on daily life, social organization, hunting,
warfare, religion and ritual, and curing.
Heckewelder, John G. E.
1819 An Account of the History, Manners, and Customs, of the Indian
Nations Who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States.
Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of the
American Philosophical Society v.1. Abraham Small, Philadelphia.
Delaware NM07. Field Date: 1800. Eastern US. ca. 1750-1818
The basic source on the Delaware, this paper was written by a missionary on the basis of
thirty years of contact with the Indians. A considerable amount of the work is devoted to
a consideration of relations between the Indians and the whites, the author attempting to
show that the Indians were often not understood, and unfairly treated. Social and political
structure, the life cycle, clothing, medicine, warfare, magic, cookery, and other aspects of
Delaware life are described, the author omitting only religious ceremonies which he felt
has been adequately covered by a previous work. Information is given on several other
groups of eastern Indians, particularly the Iroquois.
Hellson, John C.
1974 Ethnobotany of the Blackfoot Indians. National Museums of Canada,
Ottawa.
Page: 74
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: ca. 1970-1973. Alberta, Canada; Montana.
This monograph describes the use of nearly 100 botanical species in Blackfoot Indian
culture. The authors' classification of plants has the merit of taxonomical exactness and
yet is presented from a Blackfoot point of view which stresses the application rather than
systemization of botanical knowledge. It is thus an indispensable guide, best consulted
along with other, more ethnographically detailed sources, to plants as used in Blackfoot
religion and ceremony, birth control, medicine, horse medicine, diet, crafts, and folklore.
The researcher is alerted to numerous typographical and spelling errors in this source,
including terms of Linnean binomial nomenclature.
Howard, James H.
1984 Oklahoma Seminoles: Medicines, Magic, and Religion. University of
Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Seminole NN16. Field Date: 1975-1981. Oklahoma, ca. 1850-1981.
This source presents an overview of selected aspects of Oklahoma Seminole culture
based primarily on information obtained from the author's chief informant and
collaborator, Willie Lena. Lena is described as a 'traditional' Oklahoma Seminole and is
also responsible for most of the numerous illustrations of Oklahoma Seminole life
presented in the source. The author's objective in basing his description of Oklahoma
Seminole culture on information provided by Lena and other Oklahoma Seminole
informants is to present that culture 'as it is seen and interpreted by its more traditional
members'. The topics covered in the source include herbal and non-herbal remedies,
witchcraft and magic, ceremonialism, dancing, athletic sports and games, supernaturals,
hunting, childhood, and funeral practices. An introductory chapter also presents a
summary of Florida and Oklahoma Seminole history.
Hungry Wolf, Adolf
1977 The Blood People, a Division of the Blackfoot Confederacy: An
Illustrated Interpretation of the Old Ways. Harper Row, New York.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1972. Blood Reserve, Alberta, ca. 1850-1972.
This is a comprehensive monograph covering many aspects of Blood culture; religion and
ritual, men's and women's societies, and warfare and raiding are especially well
described. Also of value are the numerous narratives of pre- and early reservation life
obtained by Hungry Wolf from a broad spectrum of elderly individuals. This book should
be used with caution, however, since the author (a non-Indian) apparently felt so
immersed in Blood life that he did not think it necessary to clearly distinguish his own
views from those of his informants. Further, it is often difficult to determine the exact
provenance of his factual information, which may derive from documentary sources,
from the testimony of Blood informants, or from his own personal experiences.
Page: 75
Hungry Wolf, Beverly
1980 The Ways of My Grandmothers. Morrow, New York.
Blackfoot NF06. No Field Date. Blood Reserve, southern Alberta.
This monograph is about the lives of Blood women. The author is a young Blood woman
who interviewed elderly women. The book consists of personal narratives of these
women, the author's experiences in learning to live like her ancestors, mythology, and
miscellaneous data on such topics as food preparation and clothing. Many photographs
and text figures are included.
Kehoe, Alice B.
1995 Blackfoot Persons. In Women and Power in Native North America,
edited by Laura F. Klein and Lillian A. Ackerman, pp. 113-125, 251282. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Blackfoot NF06. No Field Date. northwestern Plains, Saskatchewan, Montana, Alberta,
ca. 1600-1900.
This article investigates the differing economic and religious roles of men and women in
Blackfoot society. Given particular emphasis in this work is the woman's role of
NINAUPOSKITZIPXPE (manly-hearted woman) as a representative of wealth and
power in the society, the role of women as presented through myth, and the comparative
roles of men and women.
Kinietz, W. Vernon
1946 Delaware Culture Chronology. Prehistory Research Series 3(1).
Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis.
Delaware NM07. Field Date: 1938. OK.
This volume is a study of Delaware acculturation over the past three centuries. The
author tests the hypothesis that when an ethnic group comes into contact with or is
invaded by a superior or more complex culture its technology is the first part of its culture
to change. Social concepts and behavior are more resistant to change. Religion is the
most resistant to change. His extensive use of documentary materials is supplemented by
his field data gathered among the survivors of the Delaware in Oklahoma.
Lancaster, Richard
1966 Piegan: A Look from within at the Life, Times, and Legacy of an
American Indian Tribe. Doubleday, Garden City.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1958-1966. Blackfoot Indian Reservation, Montana.
During the year 1958 and again in 1962 the author, a linguist by training, lived among the
contemporary Blackfoot on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Montana. While there he
Page: 76
was adopted as a son by Chief White Calf, a 105 year old Blackfoot leader, who
subsequently became Lancaster's primary informant for the bulk of the information
contained in this source. This work is basically a memory ethnography with particular
emphasis on the chief's personal experiences on the warpath, his role in representing his
people in relations with the U.S. government, and in general his reminiscences of how
things were done in the past. Much of the historical information presented by the chief
was later verified by the author. Although a good deal of the source deals with
Lancaster's personal experiences of living on the reservation and his personal
relationships with the Chief and his adopted brother Jim (who also has furnished some
bits of ethnographic information), the true importance of this work seems to lie in that it
represents an eye-witness account of living history as it was actually experienced and
remembered by a Southern Piegan Indian.
Lewis, Oscar
1973 The Effects of White Contact upon Blackfoot Culture with Special
Reference to the Role of the Fur Trade. University of Washington
Press, Seattle.
Blackfoot NF06. No Field Date. Northern Montana, southern Alberta, ca. 1730-1860.
This is a study of the acculturative effects of the American and Canadian fur trade on
Blackfoot institutions (economy, social organization, marriage, religion and warfare) over
a period of more than 100 years (1730-1860), based on the author's analysis of various
historical documents. In the light of the significance of the fur trade, Lewis also reexamines the importance of the horse (and to a lesser degree, the gun) as agents of culture
change. The appendix also contains a summary of important events relevant to the
relationship of the Canadian and American governments to the Blackfoot in prereservation days, which should be of much interest to the cultural-historian.
Long, James L.
1961 The Assiniboines from the Accounts of the Old Ones Told to First Boy
(James Larpenteur Long). University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Assiniboine NF04. Field Date: 1939. Montana, ca.1850-1940.
James Long (b. 1888) was brought up by his Assiniboine grandmother and halfAssiniboine mother and has written an account of the traditional way of life of his people
based on the stories of 25 informants who in 1939 ranged in age from 66 to105 years old.
Long summarizes various aspects of Assiniboine culture and includes the informants own
personal accounts and stories. The major subjects covered are legends, hunting, warfare,
dances, and religion. Stephen Kennedy has written an introduction on the history of the
Assiniboine and the Assiniboine artist William Standing (see document no. 11) drew the
illustrations.
Lowie, Robert H.
Page: 77
1909
The Assiniboine. Anthropological Papers 4(1). American Museum of
Natural History, New York.
Assiniboine NF04. Field Date: 1907-1908. Morley, Alberta; Fort Belknap, Montana. Late
18th to early 20th centuries.
Lowie has divided this document into two major parts. Part 1 describes the ethnology of
the Assiniboine from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries, with a primary
emphasis on history, material culture, amusements, art, warfare, social organization and
custom, and the religious life. Part 2 is a collection of eighty mythological stories dealing
with the trickster cycle as well as a wide variety of other miscellaneous tales. This section
forms the major portion of this book (pp. 99-234). The ethnographic focus of this work is
on the Assiniboine of Morley in Alberta, Canada and Fort Belknap, Montana in the
United States, the two areas studied extensively by the author during his period of field
work.
Lyford, Carrie A.
1945 Iroquois Crafts. Education Division, Indian Service, U.S. Department
of the Interior, Washington; Haskell Institute, Lawrence.
Iroquois NM09. No Field Date. No place specified. No date of coverage specified.
This study describes briefly the dwellings, food, clothing, games, tools, utensils, sports,
and musical instruments of the Iroquois, but places special emphasis on the ancient
handicrafts and decorative arts. The preparation of the various materials used, the
techniques, and the designs are described in detail, with plentiful illustrations. Changes
due to the introduction of new tools and materials by White settlers are shown.
MacCauley, Clay
1887 The Seminole Indians of Florida. In Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-1884,
edited by J.W. Powell, pp. 469-531. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington.
Seminole NN16. Field Date: 1880-1881. Southern Florida.
This source is a brief survey of the ethnology of the Florida Seminole, written by the
author during the winter of 1880-1881. Although the material represents a wide range of
topics, coverage of each is somewhat superficial, and frequently tinged with the author's
negative evaluation of certain aspects of Seminole culture. Initially MacCauley gathered
most of his data from one informant who spoke some limited English, but later as he
acquired knowledge of the Seminole language himself, was able to carry on limited
conversation with other Indians to verify and increase the information already on hand
(p.476).
McClintock, Walter
Page: 78
1968
The Old North Trail, or Life, Legends and Religion of the Blackfeet
Indians. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1896-1910. Piegans, northwestern Montana, southern
Alberta.
This traveler's account, written by Walter McClintock, a member of the U.S. Forest
Service, presents a first-hand descriptive report on the Blackfoot Indians. The data were
collected during the first four years (1896-1900) that McClintock lived and traveled
among the North and South Peigan, Blood and Northern Blackfoot divisions of the
Blackfoot Tribe. Through directed and informal interviews and participant observation,
information was gathered on Blackfoot interdivisional contacts (including the formation
of large camps for ceremonials), history, subsistence activities and religion (including a
number of the medicine ceremonials), as well as life-histories of several prominent chiefs
and medicine men and numerous texts of legends, songs, prayers, myths and stories.
McClintock became the adopted son of Mad Wolf, a prominent chief; this position
facilitated participation by the author in tribal and inter-tribal activities. The concluding
chapter, written after observing the Blackfoot 14 years after the author's first visit,
discusses the rapidity and extent of culture change resulting from, in part, White contact
and the U.S. government's policy. The appendices include Blackfoot music, explanation
of terms used by the author and terminology for and uses of various plants.
McReynolds, Edwin C.
1957 The Seminoles. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Seminole NN16. No Field Date. Florida, ca. 1801-1906.
This is the definitive work on Seminole culture history. The source begins with the early
Indian-Spanish contacts in the l6th century, and proceeds through an orderly progression
of time periods up to the acceptance of the Seminoles by the U. S. government as United
States citizens. Major emphasis in this source is on Seminole-U. S. relations at the
beginning of the 19th century, the subsequent Seminole wars beginning in 1817, and their
removal to Indian territory in the west in 1842 following their defeat. The historical
information is densely packed into every page of the text, but well documented
throughout.
Meyer, Melissa L.
1994 The White Earth Tragedy: Ethnicity and Dispossession at a Minnesota
Anishinaabe Reservation, 1889-1920. University of Nebraska Press,
Lincoln.
Ojibwa NG06. No Field Date. Minnesota, 1889-1920
The White Earth tragedy is the Ojibwa 'Trail of Tears.' It begins with the Ojibwa, or
Anishinaabeg, removal to the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota, following
the assassination of their leader, Hole in the Day, in 1868. The concentration of
Anishinaabeg on the reservation would serve the interests of Métis middlemen and
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traders, and free up northern Minnesota's natural resources. The 1889 Nelson Act
(Minnesota's version of the Dawes Act) privatized reservation land. Well-intentioned
assimilationists sought to transform the Anishinaabeg into Yeoman farmers, however,
unscrupulous Métis sought to defraud the Anishinaabeg of their land in collusion with
state politicians and the lumber industry. Although the property of 'full-blooded' Indians
was supposedly protected under a twenty-five-year trust period, that of 'mixed-bloods'
was up for grabs. A carefully documented genealogical roll identifying 'full-bloods' was
nullified by a 'scientific' study by anthropologists to show mixed phenotypes. Although
the Nelson Act conferred property rights to individual Anishinaabeg, most did not receive
due process under the law, in a clear case of fraud and racism.
Morgan, Lewis H.
1901 League of the Ho-De'-No-Sau-Nee, or Iroquois, v.1. Dodd & Mead,
New York.
Iroquois NM09. Field Date: 1844-1859. New York.
Morgan's extended personal contact with the Iroquois enabled him to produce this work
that many regard the first true ethnography. Book I, entitled 'Structure of the League,'
discusses Iroquois life prior to and during the American Revolution, the formation of the
League, the structure of government, and a comparison of this government with the
nations of antiquity. In Book II, 'Spirit of the League,' Morgan describes the religious
beliefs, burial customs, games, dances, marriage, war customs, etc., of the tribes
comprising the League. The prophet, Handsome Lake, and his successor, Sose-há-wä, are
discussed.
Murie, James R.
1914 Pawnee Indian Societies. Anthropological Papers 11(7). American
Museum of Natural History, New York.
Pawnee NQ19. No Field Date. Skidi (Skiri), Chawi (Chaui), Kitkahahki, and Pitahawirata
bands; northern Kansas and Nebraska.
Murie, a Skidi Pawnee, prepared this discussion of Pawnee societies under the direction
of Clark Wissler. Murie collected and wrote down whatever information he could gather
on a number of topics. After preliminary discussion of Pawnee social and ceremonial
organization, he proceeds to discuss the bundle societies, private organizations,
medicinemen's societies and modern ceremonies, including the Ghost Dance and the
peyote ritual. He closes with a section on miscellaneous. Murie was a primary informant
for most of the earlier field workers among the Pawnee. The introduction and conclusion
are by the editor of the series, Clark Wissler.
1989
Ceremonies of the Pawnee. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Pawnee NQ18. Field Date: 1890-1920. Skiri band; Platte, Loup, and Republican River
areas, Nebraska and northern Kansas.
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'Ceremonies of the Pawnee' by James R. Murie (or Coming Sun -- his native American
name), presents a significant contribution to the study of Pawnee ethnology in its highly
detailed description of nineteenth to early twentieth century ceremonialism. The
introductory portion of the text presents the general background of the manuscript, an
overview of Pawnee society, and a biography of Murie. The remainder of the text is
divided into two main parts. Part I deals in great detail with the rituals and ceremonies of
the Skiri or northern band of Pawnee, while part II provides comparable information on
the south bands -- the Chawi (Grand), Kitkahahki (Republican), and Pitahawirata
(Tappage). Much of the ceremonial data, especially for the south bands, relate to
medicine society rituals (see categories 756 and 796). Song texts which accompany the
various ceremonies, are also to be found scattered throughout this work.
Peers, Laura L.
1994 The Ojibwa of Western Canada, 1780 to 1870. Minnesota Historical
Society Press, St. Paul.
Ojibwa NG06. No Field Date. Prairies, Western Canada, ca. 1780-1870.
The western Ojibwa are the descendants of Ojibwa people who migrated into the West
from their settlements around the Great Lakes in the late eighteenth century. This work
traces their origins, adaptation to the West, and the way in which they coped with the
many challenges they faced in the first century of their history in that region between the
years 1780 to 1870 (p. ix). These challenges, examined in detail in this study, involved
the surviving of epidemic disease, the rise and fall of the fur trade, the depletion of game
in the region, the establishment of European settlements in the area, the loss of tribal
lands, and the Canadian government's assertion of political control over them.
Rodnick, David
1938 The Fort Belknap Assiniboine of Montana. Ph.D. Dissertation,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Assiniboine NF04. Field Date: 1907-1908. Alberta, Montana. Late 18th to early 20th
centuries.
In this dissertation, Rodnick chronicles the loss of Assiniboine culture. The Assiniboine
are the most northerly extension of Sioux-speaking people on the Great Plains. They
signed the Fort Laramie treaty in 1851 and permanently settled on Fort Belknap
Reservation in 1888 after the near extinction of the buffalo forced them to change their
way of life. In the 1890s, compulsory education, wage labor, farming, and stock raising
began a period of assimilation. The total failure of farming and ranching left the
Assiniboine impoverished by the 1930s. Rodnick describes the different dance societies
and relates several Assiniboine life histories.
Schultz, James W.
1930 The Sun God's Children. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
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Blackfoot NF06. No Field Date. Montana, Alberta, Saskatchewan, ca. 1700-1870.
This work is a traditional ethnography of the Blackfoot Indians in the days when buffalo
(bison) roamed the plains (ca. 1700s-1870s). The document discusses the early fur trade
period, foods, food preparation and preservation, folk tales and mythology, ceremonials
(especially in reference to the sacred tobacco rites), and warfare and raiding activities in
which several eyewitness accounts of personal experiences are described. A brief
biographical chapter is also presented on Chief Crowfoot, one of the prominent chiefs of
the Blackfoot.
1980
Blackfeet and Buffalo: Memories of Life among the Indians. University
of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1877-1947. Northwestern Montana, southern Alberta, ca.
1850-1900.
Schultz was a life long participant-observer of Blackfoot Indian life at a time of
transition, when traditional hunting and raiding activities were coming to an end due to
increasing penetration of White settlers and government into their territory and to the
extinction of the buffalo. The book consists of tales and reminiscences of Blackfeet
personally known by Schultz, and thus conveys information about tribespeople with the
vividness of lived experience. The source is rich in data on traditional hunting and
warfare practices, ritual and religious belief. he researcher should note some "seeming
[historical] discrepancies" (pp. x-xi) owing to Schultz's overwhelming sympathy for the
existential dilemmas faced by people who were dear to him.
Selden, Sherman W.
1965 The Legend, Myth and Code of Deganawidah and Their Significance
to Iroquois Cultural History. Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University,
Bloomington.
Iroquois NM09. Field Date: 1963-1965. NY, Ontario, and Quebec.
The material under study in this dissertation involves the legend of the 'culture hero'
Deganaweda, the code of laws he is said to have formulated, and the myth that has grown
up around him in the last century (p. 2). Selden believes that the combination of legend
and laws have not only united the Iroquois tribes into a powerful league, but also have
guided their behavior in both war and peace by specifically stating which actions are
allowed and which are forbidden. This work is divided into three parts: the legend of
Deganaweda and its many variants; the Code of Deganaweda which establishes the rules
and regulations that have been transmitted orally for centuries but were not written down
until the late nineteenth century; and the contemporary lore that clusters about
Deganaweda and which was recorded by the author during his field work in 1963-1965.
Snow, John
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1977
These Mountains Are Our Sacred Places: The Story of the Stoney
Indians. Samuel-Stevens, Toronto.
Stoney NF12. Field Date: 1969-1972. Alberta, 1876-1972.
This is a history of the Stoney people living in and around the Morley Reserve, west of
Calgary, Alberta. It is a description of their way of life prior to white contact and the 100
years following the signing of Treaty No. 7 in 1876. The author is a Stoney Chief,
ordained minister in the United Church of Canada, and great-great grandson of one of the
signatories of the original treaty. This 100-year history is a carefully researched case
against the federal and provincial governments for their failure to honor the original
treaty. Snow recounts the band's failed attempt to get land in the Kootenay Plains, which
was eventually flooded by a hydroelectric project. Snow tells his own life history and the
contemporary pan-tribal ecumenical movement. Royalties from underlying gas reserves
have brought affluence to the band after years of poverty and failed government
programs, spawning a cultural revitalization movement.
Speck, Frank G.
1937 Oklahoma Delaware: Ceremonies, Feasts and Dances. Memoirs of the
American Philosophical Society v.7, Philadelphia.
Delaware NM07. Field Date: 1928-1932. OK.
This study is the result of some eight years' work among the Oklahoma Delaware and the
Munsee residing in Ontario. Using the many historical documents relating to Delaware
ceremonies in the past, the author tries to relate the ceremonies of today to those of the
past, and tries to see how much the ceremonies have changed in the intervening two
centuries. Speck covers family feasts, the Bear and Otter Rites of the Grease Drinking
Ceremony, the Mask Dance Rite, the Buffalo Dance Ceremony, Rain Making Ritual, the
Spring Prayer and Football Ceremony, the Corn Harvest Ceremony, Rite to Avert
Thunder, Mortuary Rites and Procedures, and several other ceremonies. Some material
pertaining to the culture of the Nanticoke Indians, mainly relating to witchcraft, is also
included. At the time of publication, Speck was Professor of Anthropology at the
University of Pennsylvania and a noted authority on the Algonquian Indians of the
northeastern United States.
Tanner, John
1830 A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner (U.S.
Interpreter at the Sault de Ste. Marie), during Thirty Years Residence
among the Indians in the Interior of North America. G.,C., & H.
Carvill, New York.
Ojibwa NG06. No Field Date. Great Lakes, US and Canada, ca. 1789 to 1830
This work is divided into two major parts. Part I is the autobiographical narrative of John
Tanner, depicting his life and adventures during his thirty year's captivity among the
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Ojibwa. First captured at the age of nine from his parents' home in Kentucky by Shawnee
Indians (ca. 1789), he was later adopted into the family of his captors and eventually sold
to a member of the Ojibwa-Ottawa band. The major portion of part I describes his
growing up and assimilation into the band, his travels and experiences as a fur trader, and
his unsuccessful return to White society. Part II of this document presents some limited
ethnographic data on the Ojibwa related primarily to their feasts and fasts, dreaming
experiences, and religion. This section also contains lists of plants and animals known to
the Ojibwa, their clan totems, and the texts of various songs used in hunting and
medicine.
Tooker, Elisabeth
1970 The Iroquois Ceremonial of Midwinter. Syracuse University Press,
Syracuse.
Iroquois NM09. Field Date: 1958-1966. Onondaga, NY, ca. 1800-1966.
Traditionally the Midwinter Ceremonial was the largest and most complex of Iroquois
rituals. This study is divided into three major parts. In part I the author describes some of
the basic principles of Iroquois ritualism, which are then interpreted in terms of the
various components of the ceremonial itself (part II). In this section Tooker discusses
cultural variations between different members of the Iroquois League (e.g., Seneca,
Cayuga, Onondaga), and changes that have been introduced in the ritual during the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Part III of this work presents the Midwinter
Ceremonial in historical perspective. Here, through the eyewitness accounts of Halliday
Jackson, Mary Jemison, Thaddeus Osgood, Lewis Henry Morgan, and J. V. H. Clark the
Midwinter Ceremonial is described in detail as it was originally performed during the
eighteenth through nineteenth centuries.
Warren, William W.
1885 History of the Ojibways Based upon Traditions and Oral Statements.
Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society 5:21-394.
Ojibwa NG06. Field Date: 1850. Lake Superior and Upper Mississippi.
This work is a collection of three monographs on the history of the Ojibwa people from
the seventeenth century to approximately the 1850s, based on oral traditions and
historical documents. The study is divided into three monographs. The first is a
biographical sketch of William W. Warren. The second monograph and largest part,
written by Warren, deals with Ojibwa history based on the traditions and oral statements
of the Ojibwa themselves. This section contains information on various ethnographic
topics such as tribal origins and identification, clans, mythology, religion, migrations,
settlements, cultural change and contacts, missions, the fur trade, and warfare. The third
monograph, written by Edward D. Neill, examines the history of the Ojibwa and their
connections with fur traders from the standpoint of official and other records. In some
cases this section displays some discrepancies between the traditional and documentary
history, particularly in regard to the recording of certain historical events.
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Wedel, Waldo R.
1936 An Introduction to Pawnee Archaeology. Bureau of American
Ethnology Bulletin 112. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington.
This monograph, written by an archaeologist, is a study of Pawnee archaeology and
culture history based primarily on artifacts in the Hill Collection at the Hastings Museum
in Nebraska that were excavated from the thirteen archaeological sites described here in
detail, and from the journals and records of early explorers and adventurers to the region.
Although new archaeological fieldwork makes the archaeological data described in this
monograph outdated, the historical information and analysis of material culture make this
document a useful addition to an understanding of the Pawnee. The monograph is divided
into four major parts, the first of which is introductory, the second, dealing in detail with
the historical background of the Pawnee, the third with Pawnee archaeology as viewed
through the various bits of evidence obtained from the excavation of prehistoric, and
early historic sites, and the fourth, the material culture of the early Pawnees as derived
from a study of the artifacts themselves. Pages 94-102 contain a summary of all data
presented in the monograph.
Weisman, Brent R.
1989 Like Beads on a String: A Culture History of the Seminole Indians in
Northern Peninsular Florida. University of Alabama Press,
Tuscaloosa.
Seminole NN16. No Field Date. North peninsular Florida, Late Prehistoric to late 19th
century.
This book is primarily a study of the historical archaeology of the Seminole Indians of
north peninsular Florida from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. Weisman
integrates archaeological data with that obtained from the accounts of missionaries,
explorers, travelers, and ethnologists to present a well-rounded ethnography of the
Seminole people. Three major historical periods are given special attention in this
document: the colonization period from 1716-1767; the enterprise period from 17671821; and the revitalization period from 1821-1841. The study presents a wide range of
ethnographic topics, but some of the major ones deal with Seminole-United States
government relations, settlement patterns, political and social organization, trade, the
BUSK or Green Corn Ceremony, and associated ball game, and archaeological
excavations in the region of study.
Weltfish, Gene
1965 The Lost Universe with a Closing Chapter on 'The Universe Regained'.
Basic Books, London.
Pawnee NQ19. Field Date: 1928-1936, 1954. Skidi (Skiri), Chawi, Kitkahahki, and
Pitahawirata bands; Pawnee, Oklahoma. Late 1800s - early 1900s.
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This work, the product of a number of years of research among the Pawnee of Oklahoma,
is a sensitive and illuminating portrayal of the Pawnee as they existed in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The information presented is based on memory
ethnography provided by Weltfish's informant, Mark Evarts. Evarts was a Pawnee of the
Skidi band who experienced reservation life during the period of 1861-1875. Weltfish
authenticated this information with ethnographic documents and data that he collected
during his fieldwork. The first part of the monograph provides background on Pawnee
history and culture, followed by a series of brief chapters reconstructing the daily and
seasonal round of life of a group of Pawnee in Nebraska during the year 1867. The book
concludes with a section of end notes, a lengthy bibliography, and an index.
Wissler, Clark
1908 Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthropological Papers 2(1).
American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1902-1907. Montana; Alberta.
This monograph presents Blackfoot narratives "in which the tone of the mythical age
predominate(s)." A good deal of notation on the regional distribution of the tales
accompanies the text.
1910
Material Culture of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthropological Papers
5(1). American Museum of Natural History, New York.
This monograph presents a descriptive survey of the material culture of the Blackfoot,
comparing the Peigan, Blood and Northern Blackfoot with each other and with the
neighboring Prairie, Plains, Plateau, Shoshone, and occasionally Eastern Algonkian
societies. Since Wissler intends "to present Blackfoot material culture in perspective
rather than in isolation" (p. 7) a brief ethnographic summary is included in the
introduction. Wissler concludes, on the basis of distributional evidence, that the
Blackfoot, though linguistically distinct from other groups in the Missouri-Saskatchewan
region, share a large proportion of cultural traits with their neighbors. While the author
collected some data on the Blackfoot while in the field, much additional material is taken
from historical accounts and comparative material comes from both historical accounts
and American Museum collections.
1912
Ceremonial Bundles of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthropological Papers
7(2). American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1903-1911. Northern Montana, southern Alberta.
This monograph, based upon data collected by Wissler, augmented by interviews and
narrative texts recorded by his native field assistant and interpreter, is an extremely
detailed description of the Blackfoot medicine bundles and the associated ceremonials.
Seven case histories of medicine experiences, or power-acquisition experiences, through
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visions and dreaming, are presented, followed by a careful description of the contents of
each of the medicine bundles and of the related ceremonies. A concluding section
discusses the various features or parts of the power and bundle acquisition and transfer
ceremonies and the nature of ownership of such impersonal power and its physical
representation in the bundles. An appendix follows with general notes and new data
interpreted since the writing of the author's monograph series on the Blackfoot.
Throughout the text and appendix, the author compares the Blackfoot to other Plains and
Prairie societies, drawing conclusions about the origins of various ceremonial and
material traits. The index included is for the entire monograph series.
1913
Societies and Dance Associations of the Blackfoot Indians.
Anthropological Papers 11(4). American Museum of Natural History,
New York.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1903-1912. Montana, Alberta.
This monograph written by Wissler on the basis of his own field notes and information
supplied by D.C. Duvall and James Eagle-child, is a descriptive study of the agegraded
men's societies, women's societies, religious cults, and dance associations of the three
Blackfoot subdivisions. The three ceremonies, paraphernalia, dances and songs, and
special behavior of the members of these societies are minutely described, as are the
procedures for transferal of membership from one society to another. However, little
information is included on the function and integration of these groups in Blackfoot
society as a whole.
Wissler, Clark
1918 The Sun Dance of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthropological Papers
16(3). American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Blackfoot NF06. Field Date: 1902-1911. Montana, Alberta.
This is a detailed account of the Piegan Sun Dance that the author saw performed twice
during his stay among the Blackfoot from 1902 to about 1911. Wissler's exact
observations on this ceremonial are further supplemented by data provided by native
informants. In this work various elements of the Sun Dance are discussed at great length,
such as the preliminary preparations for the ceremony, a daily account of events taking
place during the first eight days, the vow (to perform the ceremony), the ceremony of the
tongues, and the medicine woman, (one of the key participants in the Sun Dance). The
monograph concludes with a brief discussion of some mythological notes relevant to the
ritual, and the degree to which the Blood and North Blackfoot participate.
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