Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi

by David I. Bushnell

Caddoan tribes.

The ancient habitat of the many small tribes which evidently later became confederated, thus forming the principal groups of this linguistic stock, was in the southwest, whence the Pawnee and Arikara, and those gathered under the name of the Wichita, moved northward.

The Caddo proper, the name of a tribe later applied to the confederated group of which they formed the principal member, formerly occupied the valley of the Red River of Louisiana, the many villages of the several tribes being scattered along the banks of that stream and of its tributaries in northern Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas, and eastern Texas. Although usually included in the same linguistic group with the Pawnee, Arikara, Wichita, and others, several notable authorities are inclined to regard the Caddo as constituting a separate and distinct linguistic group. This may be established and recognized in the future.

pawnee.

Soon after the transfer of Louisiana to the United States Government several expeditions were sent out to explore the newly acquired domains and to discover the native tribes who claimed and occupied parts of the vast territory. Of these parties, that led by Capts. Lewis and Clark was the most important, but of great interest was the second expedition under command of Lieut. Z. M. Pike, which traversed the country extending from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and reached the Pawnee villages near the North Platte during the month of September, 1806. How long the Pawnee had occupied that region may never be determined, but they had evidently migrated from the southwest, probably moving slowly, making long stops on the way. As a tribe they were known to the Spaniards as early as the first half of the sixteenth century, and appear to have been among the first of the plains tribes to be visited by French and Spanish traders.

Unfortunately Pike did not prepare a very extensive account of the Pawnee as they appeared during the autumn of 1806, but wrote in part: "Their houses are a perfect circle, (except where the door enters) from whence there is a projection of about 15 feet; the whole being constructed after the following manner, Viz: 1st. there is an excavation of a circular form, made in the ground, of about 4 feet deep and 60 diameter, where there is a row of posts about 5 feet high, with crotches at the top, set firmly in all round, and horizontal poles from one to the other. There is then a row of posts, forming a circle of about 10 feet width in the diameter of the others, and 10 feet in height; the crotches of those are so directed, that horizontal poles are also laid from one to the other; long poles are then laid slanting, perpendicularly from the lower poles over the upper, and meeting nearly at the top, leaving only a small aperture for the smoke of the fire to pass out, which is made on the ground in the middle of the lodge. There is then a number of small poles put up round the circle, so as to form the wall, and wicker work run through the whole. The roof is then thatched with grass, and earth thrown up against the wall until a bank is made to the eves of the thatch; and that is also covered with earth one or two feet thick, and rendered so tight, as entirely to exclude any storm whatsoever, and make them extremely warm. The entrance is about 6 feet wide, with walls on each side, and roofed like our houses in shape, but of the same materials as the main building. Inside there are numerous little apartments constructed of wicker work against the wall with small doors; they have a great appearance of neatness and in them the members of the family sleep and have their little deposits. Their towns are by no means so much crowded as the Osage, giving much more space, but they have the same mode of introducing all their horses into the village at night, which makes it extremely crowded. They keep guards with the horses during the day. They are extremely addicted to gaming, and have for that purpose a smooth piece of ground cleared out on each side of the village for about 150 yards in length." (Pike, (1), Appendix, p. 15.)

Although Pike's account of this interesting tribe is very brief and unsatisfactory, it was soon to be followed by a more complete and comprehensive description. This refers to the notes prepared by members of the Long expedition, 14 years later.

The expedition under command of Maj. Stephen H. Long arrived at Council Bluff, "so called by Lewis and Clark, from a council with the Otoes and Missouries held there, on the 3rd of August, 1804," during the early autumn of 1819. Winter quarters were established at a point about 5 miles lower down the Missouri and at a short distance north of the present city of Omaha, Nebr. This was called Engineer Cantonment, and during the ensuing months many Indians visited the encampment to treat with Maj. O'Fallon, the commissioner.

Leaving the majority of the party in quarters at the cantonment, Maj. Long and others of the expedition, on October 11, "began to descend the Missouri in a canoe, on their way towards Washington and Philadelphia." Returning from the east they reached Engineer Cantonment May 28, 1820, having arrived at St. Louis April 24, "from Philadelphia to Council Bluff, to rejoin the party."

During the absence of the commanding officers some members of the expedition made a short trip to the Pawnee villages, and the following brief account appears in the narrative on May 1, 1820:

"At each of the villages, we observed small sticks of the length of eighteen inches or two feet, painted red, stuck in the earth in various situations, but chiefly on the roofs of the houses, each bearing the fragment of a human scalp, the hair of which streamed in the wind. Before the entrance to some of the lodges were small frames, like painter's easels, supporting each a shield, and generally a large painted cylindrical case of skin, prepared like parchment, in which a war dress is deposited. The shield is circular, made of bison skin, and thick enough to ward off an arrow, but not to arrest the flight of a rifle ball at close quarters.... The lodges, or houses, of these three villages, are similar in structure, but differ in size. The description of those of the Konzas will apply to them, excepting that the beds are all concealed by a mat partition, which extends parallel to the walls of the lodge, and from the floor to the roof. Small apertures, or doors, at intervals in this partition, are left for the different families, that inhabit a lodge, to enter their respective bed chambers." (James, (1), pp. 367-368.)

After the return of Maj. Long the reunited party left Engineer Cantonment, June 6, 1820, and soon reached the Pawnee villages, situated about 100 miles westward, on the Loup River, a branch of the Platte. The narrative of this part of the journey is most interesting: "The path leading to the Pawnee villages runs in a direction a little south of west from the cantonment, and lies across a tract of high and barren prairie for the first ten miles. At this distance it crosses the Papillon, or Butterfly creek, a small stream discharging into the Missouri, three miles above the confluence of the Platte."

After advancing for several days over the prairie, on June 10, "At sunset we arrived at a small creek, eleven miles distant from the village of the Grand Pawnees, where we encamped. On the following morning, having arranged the party according to rank, and given the necessary instructions for the preservation of order, we proceeded forward and in a short time came in sight of the first of the Pawnee villages. The trace on which we had travelled since we left the Missouri, had the appearance of being more and more frequented as we approached the Pawnee towns; and here, instead of a single footway, it consisted of more than twenty parallel paths, of similar size and appearance.... After a ride of about three hours, we arrived before the village, and despatched a messenger to inform the chief of our approach. Answer was returned that he was engaged with his chiefs and warriors at a medicine feast, and could not, therefore, come out to meet us.... The party which accompanied Major Long, after groping about some time, and traversing a considerable part of the village, arrived at the lodge of the principal chief. Here we were again informed that Tarrarecawaho, with all the principal men of the village, were engaged at a medicine feast.

"Notwithstanding his absence, some mats were spread for us upon the ground, in the back part of the lodge. Upon these we sat down, and after waiting some time, were presented with a large wooden dish of hominy, or boiled maize. In this was a single spoon of the horn of a bison, large enough to hold half a pint, which, being used alternately by each of the party, soon emptied the dish of its contents."

An excellent example of an old spoon similar to the one mentioned in the preceding paragraph is shown in plate [42], a (U.S.N.M. 12259). It is about 10 inches in length and much worn from long use. Unfortunately it is not known when or where it was collected, but without doubt it came from the Upper Missouri Valley.

Continuing the narrative: "The interior of this capacious dwelling was dimly lighted from a hole at the top, through which the sun's rays, in a defined column, fell upon the earthen floor. Immediately under this hole, which is both window and chimney, is a small depression in the centre of the floor, where the fire is made; but the upper parts of the lodge are constantly filled with smoke; adding much to the air of gloominess and obscurity, which prevail within. The furniture of Long-hair's lodge consisted of mats, ingeniously woven of grass or rushes, bison robes, wooden dishes, and one or two small brass kettles. In the part of the lodge immediately opposite the entrance, we observed a rude niche in the wall, which was occupied by a bison skull. It appeared to have been exposed to the weather, until the flesh and periosteum had decayed, and the bones had become white....

"Our visit to this village seemed to excite no great degree of attention. Among the crowd, who surrounded us before we entered the village, we observed several young squaws rather gaily dressed, being wrapped in clean and new blankets, and having their heads ornamented with wreaths of gnaphalium and the silvery leaves of the prosalea canescens. On the tops of the lodges we also saw some display of finery, which we supposed to have been made on account of our visit. Flags were hoisted, shields, and bows, and quivers, were suspended in conspicuous places, scalps were hung out; in short, the people appeared to have exposed whatever they possessed, in the exhibition of which, they could find any gratification of the vanity. Aside from this, we received no distinguished marks of attention from the Grand Pawnees." (James, (1), I, pp. 427-437.)

The camp of the expedition was a little more than a mile from the village of the Grand Pawnee, and the intervening prairie must have presented an animated sight, being "covered with great numbers of horses, intermixed with men, women, and children." Nearer the village were groups of squaws "busily engaged in dressing the skins of the bison for robes." During the afternoon many Indians arrived at the camp, men wishing to trade horses, the women endeavoring to trade various articles. And on the following morning, June 11, 1820, many groups of women were seen leaving the village, accompanied by their dogs, bound for their fields of corn situated a few miles away.

The expedition next arrived at the village of the Republican Pawnee, 4 miles from that of the Grand Pawnee. Both villages stood on the immediate bank of the stream. Remaining there but a short time, they continued on to the Loup village. Here they encamped during the night of June 12, leaving early on the following morning. On the morning of the 13th many squaws were again observed making their way to the cornfields, with their small children. Some stopped to admire the "novel appearance" of the members of the expedition, many brought various vegetables, jerked buffalo meat and tallow to exchange for whatever they could obtain.

"The three Pawnee villages, with their pasture grounds, and insignificant enclosures, occupy about ten miles in length of the fertile valley of the Wolf river. The surface is wholly naked of timber, rising gradually to the river hills, which are broad and low, and from a mile to a mile and a half distant." (James, (1), I, p. 447.)

During the latter part of the summer of 1833 the small party under the leadership of Commissioner Henry L. Ellsworth reached the Pawnee towns, and in the narrative of the expedition are to be found many references to the customs of the people whose habitations were the primitive earth-covered lodges. The second morning after arriving at the village of the Grand Pawnee several members of the party walked about among the lodges, and at that time, so wrote Irving: "The warriors were collected in small knots of five or six, and by their vehement gestures, were apparently engaged in earnest conversation. The children were rolling and tumbling in the dirt; the squaws were busily engaged. Some were bringing from their lodges large leather sacks of shelled corn; others were spreading it out to dry, upon the leather of their buffalo-skin tents, which had been stretched out upon the ground. Others were cleansing from it the decayed kernels and packing it up in small sacks of whitish undressed leather, resembling parchment. These were then deposited in cache-holes for a winter's store.

"At a distance from the village, a band of females were slowly wending along the top of the low prairie ridges, to their daily labour in the small plantations of corn. These are scattered in every direction round the village, wherever a spot of rich, black soil, gives promise of a bountiful harvest. Some of them are as much as eight miles distant from the town." (Irving, J. T., (1), II, pp. 44-45.)

Later the same day a council was held at the lodge of the chief, attended by the principal men of the village, and it is interesting to read the description of the gathering of those who were to participate: "The lodge had been swept clean; a large cheery fire was crackling in the centre. The rabble crowd of loungers and hangers-on had been routed; and besides the family of the chief, we were the only occupants of the spacious building.

"At mid-day the chiefs and braves began to assemble. They were full dressed; many of the young warriors had spent the whole morning in preparation, and now presented themselves, fully ornamented for the meeting.

"As the hour for the opening of the council grew nearer, the tall, muffled warriors poured in, in one continuous stream. They moved quietly to the places allotted them, and seating themselves in silence round the chief, according to their rank.... The crowd continued flowing in until the lodge was filled almost to suffocation. As they came in, they seated themselves, until five or six circles were formed, one beyond the other, the last ranging against the wall of the building. In the ring nearest the chiefs, sat the principal braves, or those warriors whose deeds of blood entitled them to a high rank in the councils of the nation. The more distant circles were filled by such young men of the village as were admitted to its councils. The passage leading to the open air, was completely blocked up with a tight wedged mass of women and children, who dared venture no nearer to the deliberations of the tribe." (Op. cit., pp. 48-50.) When all had gathered the chief filled a large stone pipe, took a few puffs, then handed it to the members of the commissioner's party, who in turn passed it to the other Indians. The addresses were then made and the council deliberated on the several questions presented.

The expedition moved on from the Grand Pawnee to the village of the Republican Pawnee, which stood on the bank of the Loup Fork of the Platte, some 20 miles distant from the former, with the rolling prairie between. Approaching the river they could see, on the far side, "a high bluff, on which was situated the dingy lodges of the Republican village." They were welcomed by the people of the village, and soon reached the lodge of the principal chief, Blue Coat, which they entered. Then "it was not long before the lodge became crowded. The old warriors moved with a hushed step across the building, and listened to our conversation." Soon an invitation was received to attend a feast at the lodge of the second chief. Entering that lodge, he was seen seated upon "a small leather mat.... Around him were lounging about a dozen Indians. Some, reclining with their backs against the pillars supporting the roof, with their eyes half closed, were smoking their stone pipes. Some were lying half asleep upon the clay floor, with their feet within a few inches of the fire; and others were keeping up a sleepy song.

"At a short distance from the fire, half a dozen squaws were pounding corn, in large mortars, and chattering vociferously at the same time. In the farther part of the building, about a dozen naked children, with faces almost hid by their bushy, tangled hair, were rolling and wrestling upon the floor, occasionally causing the lodge to echo to their childish glee. In the back ground, we could perceive some half dozen shaggy, thievish-looking wolf dogs, skulking among the hides and bundles, in search of food, and gliding about with the air of dogs, who knew that they had no business there." (Op. cit., pp. 96-99.) Such was a domestic scene within a Pawnee lodge.

A very clear and concise description of the interior arrangement and fittings of an earth lodge, one standing in the village of the Grand Pawnee during the autumn of 1835, has been preserved in Dunbar's journal. On October 22, after referring to the construction of the lodge itself, he wrote: "Within these buildings the earth is beat down hard, and forms the floor. In the center a circular place is dug about 8 inches deep, and 3 feet in diameter. This is the fireplace. The earth that is taken from this place is spatted down around it, and forms the hearth. Near the fireplace a stake is firmly fixed in the earth in an inclined position, and serves all the purposes of a crane. Mats made of rushes are spread down round the fire on which they sit. Back next the walls are the sleeping apartments. A frame work is raised about two feet from the floor, on this are placed small rods, interwoven with slips of elm bark. On these rods a rush mat is spread. At proper distances partitions are set up, composed of small willow rods interwoven with slips of bark. In front of these apartments, either a partition of willow rods is erected, or rush mats are hung up as curtains. But this is not always the case. In some lodges the simple platform alone is to be seen, without either partitions, or curtains. In others there is not even the platform, and the inmates sleep on the ground.

"In these lodges several families frequently live together. I believe there are as many as three different families in the lodge where I stop. Each family has its particular portion of the dwelling, and the furniture of each is kept separate." (Dunbar, (2), p. 600.) Comparing the two preceding accounts it is easy to visualize the interior of Pawnee earth lodges as they were nearly a century ago.

The preceding references to the women of the villages going early in the morning to their fields of corn recall a note in Fremont's journal a few years later. He wrote when returning from the mountains, on September 22, 1842, "We arrived at the village of the Grand Pawnees, on the right bank of the river [the Platte] about thirty miles above the mouth of the Loup fork. They were gathering in their corn, and we obtained from them a very welcome supply of vegetables." (Fremont, (1), p. 78.)

The villages described in the accounts already quoted were the permanent settlements of the tribe, groups of earth-covered lodges quite similar to those erected by other tribes in the Upper Missouri Valley. Fortunately several remarkable photographs of the villages and of the separate structures are in existence, having been made by W. H. Jackson in 1871. The most valuable of the early pictures is reproduced as plate [49]. And here it may be remarked that this is a different photograph from the one which was presented as plate 12 in Bulletin 69 of this bureau's publications, and although both were made at the same time, nevertheless they differ in minor details. It is therefore of interest to know two negatives were made at that time. This was the village of the Republican Pawnee. In plate [50] are two of the large earth-covered lodges, showing the tunnel-like entrances, and with many persons sitting on the tops of the structures. The entrance is more clearly shown in plate [51], where a brush mat protects the side. This may be part of a small inclosure.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 48

TRADER CROSSING THE PRAIRIES Page of Kurz's Sketchbook, August 28, 1851

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 49

PAWNEE-VILLAGE WHICH STOOD ON THE LOUPE FORK OF THE PLATTE RIVER Photograph by W. H. Jackson, 1871

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 50

LODGES IN THE PAWNEE VILLAGE WHICH STOOD ON THE LOUPE FORK OF THE PLATTE RIVER Photograph by W. H. Jackson, 1871

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 51

a. Children at lodge entrance

b. Showing screen near same entrance
IN A PAWNEE VILLAGE Photographs by W. H. Jackson, 1871

In addition to the permanent earth-covered lodges the Pawnee made extensive use of temporary skin-covered shelters, unlike the conical lodge of the plains tribes. These served as their habitations during the hunting season, when away from their villages. A most valuable and interesting description of the ways and customs of the Pawnee while occupying their movable villages was prepared by one who, during the summer and autumn of 1835, lived among the people, sharing their primitive ways of life and thereby learning many of their peculiar traits. The English traveler, Charles A. Murray, whose narrative is quoted in part on the following pages, left Fort Leavenworth July 7, 1835, and two weeks later reached the summer camp of the Pawnee: "and a more interesting or picturesque scene I never beheld. Upon an extensive prairie gently sloping down to a creek, the winding course of which marked a broken line of wood here and there interspersed with a fine clump of trees, were about five thousand savages, inclusive of women and children; some were sitting under their buffalo-skin lodges lazily smoking their pipes; while the women were stooping over their fires busily employed in preparing meat and maize for these indolent lords of the creation. Far as the eye could reach, were scattered herds of horses, watched (or as we should say in Scotland, 'tented') by urchins, whose whole dress and equipment was the slight bow and arrow, with which they exercised their infant archery upon the heads of the taller flowers, or upon the luckless blackbird perched near them. Here and there might be seen some gay young warrior ambling along the heights, his painted form partially exposed to view as his bright scarlet blanket waved in the breeze." (Murray, (1), I, pp. 277-278.) Later he described the manner of moving and pitching their large temporary camps: "On reaching the camping-place, which is selected by the grand chief (or, in his absence, by the next in rank), the senior squaw chooses the spot most agreeable to her fancy, and orders the younger women and children, who lead the pack-horses and mules (generally from five to ten in number, according to the size or wealth of the family), to halt; but in making this choice of ground, she is restricted within certain limits, and those of no great extent, as the Pawnees observe great regularity both in their line of march and encampment. I could not ascertain whether these regulations were invariable, or made at the pleasure of the chief; but I believe the latter; and that on leaving their winter, or stationary, villages, he issues the general orders on this subject, which are observed during the season or the expedition; at any rate, they never varied during my stay among them.

"They move in three parallel bodies; the left wing consisting of part of the Grand Pawnees and the Tapages; the centre of the remaining Grand Pawnees; and the right of the Republicans.... All these bodies move in 'Indian file,' though of course in the mingled mass of men, women, children, and pack-horses, it was not very regularly observed; nevertheless, on arriving at the halting-place, the party to which I belonged invariably camped at the eastern extremity of the village, the great chief in the centre, and the Républiques on the western side; and this arrangement was kept so well, that, after I had been a few days with them, I could generally find our lodge in a new encampment with very little trouble, although the village consisted of about six hundred of them, all nearly similar in appearance.

"They first unpack and unsaddle the horses, which are given to a boy to drive off to their grass and water; they then arrange all their bales, saddles, &c. in a semi-circular form, and pile them from two to three feet high. Around the exterior of these they drive into the ground eight or ten curved willow rods, from two to three feet distant from each other, but all firmly bound by leather thongs to four large upright poles, that form the front of the lodge, and along which run transverse willow rods, to which the extremities of the curved ones are fastened. When the frame, or skeleton, is thus finished, they stretch the cover (made of buffalo hides, sewed together) tight over the whole, leaving an aperture for entrance and egress in the centre of the front; and in fine weather, the whole front open.

"This is an accurate description of a Pawnee summer-lodge; but, of course, the dimensions vary according to the number and wealth of the families residing therein; in some tents I have observed the front consisting of six or eight upright poles, to which were fixed more skins, for additional shelter or shade. On the grass, in the interior, are spread mats, made by the squaws from reeds, and skins of buffalo or bear.

"From the foregoing it will be easily understood that the bales of cloth, maize, skins, and whatever other property they possess, form the back of the tent. Each occupant, from the chief to the lowest in rank, has his assigned place; sleeps upon his own blanket, or buffalo robe; has his bow and quiver suspended over his head; his saddle, bridle, and laryettes, &c. behind his back: and thus little confusion prevails, although each individual has only just room to sit or lie at full length.

"Before the tent a kind of shield is raised, upon three poles pyramidically placed, on which is the device of the chief, by which his tent is to be recognised.... In the interior of the tent, and generally about the centre of its concave, is suspended the 'medicine,' which is most carefully and religiously preserved.... Under the head of 'medicine,' the Indians comprise not only its own healing department, but everything connected with religion of superstition; all omens, all relics, and everything extraordinary or supernatural." (Murray (1), I, pp. 282-286.)

Late in the year 1835 Murray left the Pawnee encampment to return to Fort Leavenworth, but, meeting with an accident, was not able to proceed on his way. The Pawnee were likewise moving, and in moving over the prairie made a well-defined trail. Retracing his way, and seeking the Pawnee, he wrote: "About ten o'clock on the following day we found the great Pawnee trail, and, following it, came at mid-day to the place where they had camped the night before, and a most hideous spectacle did it present; the grass was all trodden into mud—hundreds of circular heaps of charred wood attested the number of fires that had been used; and the whole plain was strewed with split heads, bare skeletons, and scattered entrails of buffalo; while some hundreds of the half-starved Pawnee dogs who had lingered behind the village were endeavoring to dispute some morsels of the carcasses with the gaunt snarling wolves, who were stripping the scanty relics of skin and sinew which are left by Indian butchery attached to the bone." (Op. cit., p. 438.) This vivid description of the appearance of an abandoned camp site quite agrees with a reference made by Dr. Grinnell a few years ago. Writing of events during the year 1853, and alluding to an abandoned camp of the Pawnee that year discovered by the Cheyenne, he said: "It was a big camp; and there were many fires. It seemed as if the Pawnees had been camped there killing buffalo for a long time. There were still many dogs in the camp. On one side was a well-beaten trail which led to another camp two hundred yards off where a number of people had been camped, not in lodges but in shelters made of willows bent over, after the fashion of a sweat-house." (Grinnell, (2), p. 86.)

These temporary and easily erected structures of the Pawnee were probably quite similar in form and appearance to that of the Cheyenne, part of which is shown in plate [14]. But in the latter instance the cover is not formed of the primitive buffalo skin, but of canvas, or some other material obtained from the trader.

The Pawnee had a strange method of dealing with their sick or wounded during the movement of a village from place to place, and, so wrote Father De Smet, "if, in the long journeys which they undertake in search of game, any should be impeded, either by age or sickness, their children or relations make a small hut of dried grass to shelter them from the heat of the sun or from the weather, leaving as much provision as they are able to spare, and thus abandon them to their destiny.... If, some days after, they are successful in the chase, they return as quickly as possible to render assistance and consolation. These practices are common to all the nomadic tribes of the mountains." (De Smet, (2), pp. 356-357.) It is more than probable that similar grass shelters were constructed and used by small parties when away from the villages, but such structures would necessarily have been of only temporary use.

In addition to the semicircular skin-covered lodge mentioned by Murray, the Pawnee evidently made use of the conical tipi. This was described by Dunbar when he wrote: "Their movable dwellings consist of from 12 to 20 poles (the number varying with the size) about 16 feet long, and a covering. Three of these poles are tied together near the top and set up. The string, with which these poles are tied together, is so long that one end of it reaches to the ground, when the poles are set up. The other poles are now successively set up save one, the top of each leaning against the three, first set up, and forming with them a circle. The string is then wound round them all at the top several times and fastened. The cover is tied to the top of the remaining pole by which it is raised up, then is spread round them all and tied together on the opposite side, where is the entrance formed by leaving the cover untied about three feet from the ground. Over the entrance the skin of a bear or some other animal is suspended. The tents are always set up with their entrances toward the east. At the top the smoke passes out among the poles, a place being left for that purpose. The fire place, crane and hearth are similar to those in their fixed habitations. The furniture is placed back next the cover. Rush mats are then spread down forming a sort of floor. On these they sit, eat and sleep. The large tents are about 18 feet in diameter at the base. The tent covers are made of buffalo skins, scraped so thin as to transmit light, and sewed together. These when new are quite white, and a village of them presents a beautiful appearance. Some of them are painted according to Pawnee fancy. They carry their tent poles with them during their whole journey. From three to six of them, as the case may be, are tied together at the larger end, and made fast to the saddle, an equal number on each side, the other end drags on the ground." (Dunbar, (2), pp. 602-603.)

From these various records it will be understood the Pawnee made use of several forms of temporary and comparatively easily transported and erected structures when away from their permanent villages of earth-covered lodges. And what is true of the Pawnee would probably apply to other tribes of the upper Missouri Valley.

The Pawnee, as did other tribes of the region, made long journeys away from their villages in quest of the buffalo, and an interesting account of their annual hunts, as conducted about the year 1835, has been preserved. Then it was told how "The Pawnees make two hunts each year, the summer and winter hunt. To perform the winter hunt they leave their villages usually in the last week of October, and do not return to them again till about the first of April. They now prepare their cornfields for the ensuing season. The ground is dug up with the hoe, the corn is planted and well tended. When it has attained to a certain height they leave it, and go out to their summer hunt. This is done near the last of June. About the first of September they return to their villages. Formerly the buffalo came down to and far below their villages. Now they are obliged to travel out from ten to twenty days to reach them. The buffalo are rapidly diminishing and will in time become extinct.

"When they leave their villages to hunt the buffalo, they take every man and beast with them, and the place of their habitations is as desolate and solitary during their absence as any other spot on the prairie. When the time of departure arrives all the furniture and provisions they wish to carry with them are packed on the horses. The residue of their scant furniture and provisions are concealed in the earth till their return. As each family gets ready they fall into the train, which frequently extends some miles." (Dunbar, (1), pp. 329-330.) The narrative continues and relates many of the mannerisms of the people, and tells of their peculiar traits. And it is difficult to realize the great distance traveled during the hunting trips away from the permanent earth-lodge villages. Dunbar accompanied them on several of their hunts and wrote (Op. cit., p. 331): "The first hunting tour I performed with them they traveled, from the time they left their village till they returned to it again in the spring, about 400 miles. During the first summer hunt I was with them they traveled 700 miles before returning to their village. During my second winter hunt they traveled 900 miles, second summer hunt 800 miles."

The moving about over the vast rolling prairies of the people of an entire village, while on their distant hunts, covering many hundreds of miles, and carrying with them practically all of their belongings, with innumerable dogs and horses, stopping now to kill the buffalo and again pushing on in quest of more, constituted one of the most interesting and characteristic phases of primitive life on the prairies. But within a few decades all has changed, and now many towns and villages occupy the region once traversed by the roving bands.

arikara.

When or where the Arikara separated from their kindred tribe, the Pawnee, may never be determined, but during the years which followed the separation they continued moving northward, leaving ruined villages to mark the line of their migration. Sixty years ago it was said: "That they migrated upward, along the Missouri, from their friends below is established by the remains of their dirt villages, which are yet seen along that river, though at this time mostly overgrown with grass. At what time they separated from the parent stock is not now correctly known, though some of their locations appear to have been of very ancient date, at least previous to the commencement of the fur trade on the Upper Missouri. At the time when the old French and Spanish traders began their dealings with the Indians of the Upper Missouri, the Arikara village was situated a little above the mouth of Grand River, since which time they have made several removals and are now located at Fort Clark, the former village of the Mandans." (Hayden, (1), pp. 351-352.)

The beginning of the last century found the Arikara living in three villages, all on the right bank of the Missouri. In the journal of the French trader Le Raye are brief references to the villages, together with some notes on the manners and customs of the inhabitants. April 22, 1802, he wrote: "The Ricaras or Rus have three villages, situated on the south bank of the Missouri, in the great bend of the river. The lower village is on a large bottom covered with cotton wood, and contains about fifty huts." He then describes the manner in which the earth-covered lodges were built and refers to the structures being "placed with great regularity," a statement which does not seem to have been borne out by later writers. Continuing, he said: "The town is picketed with pickets twelve feet high and set very close, to prevent firing between them. There is one gate way, which is shut at night." On May 27, 1802, he left the lower village, "crossed Missouri, and arrived the same evening at the upper village. This village is situated on an Island in the Missouri, and is fortified in the same manner as the lower village, containing about sixty huts.... The next morning we proceeded, and soon left the Missouri, travelling a northwest course, in a well beaten path." (Le Raye, (1), pp. 171-180.)

Although the preceding notes may not be very accurate, nevertheless they are of interest on account of the period they cover, just before the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, and two years before the most important expedition ascended the Missouri.

To trace the sites of early Arikara villages as mentioned by Lewis and Clark, and as seen by them when the expedition under their command passed up the Missouri during the early autumn of 1804, is most interesting. On September 29 of that year they reached the mouth of a small creek which entered the Missouri from the south, "which we called Notimber creek from its bare appearance. Above the mouth of this stream, a Ricara band of Pawnees had a village five years ago: but there are no remains of it except the mound which encircled the town." This would have been in the present Stanley County, South Dakota. Two days later, on October 1, they "passed a large island in the middle of the river, opposite the lower end of which the Ricaras once had a village on the south side of the river: there are, however, no remnants of it now, except a circular wall three or four feet in height, which encompassed the town." Two miles beyond was the mouth of the Cheyenne River.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 52

a. Arikara carrying basket. (U.S.N.M. 8430)

b. Wooden mortar. "Witchata Inds. Dr. E. Palmer." Height of body 13½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 6899)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 53

"RICCAREE VILLAGE" George Catlin

On the third day after passing the mouth of the Cheyenne they reached "Teal creek," and "A little above this is an island on the north side of the current, about one and a half mile in length and three quarters of a mile in breadth. In the centre of this island is an old village of the Ricaras, called Lahoocat; it was surrounded by a circular wall, containing seventeen lodges. The Ricaras are known to have lived there in 1797, and the village seems to have been deserted about five years since: it does not contain much timber."

On October 6, two days' travel beyond Teal Creek, and at a distance of about 32 miles above it, "We halted for dinner at a village which we suppose to have belonged to the Ricaras: it is situated in a low plain on the river, and consists of about eighty lodges, of an octagonal form, neatly covered with earth, and placed as close to each other as possible, and picketed round. The skin canoes, mats, buckets, and articles of furniture found in the lodges, induce us to suppose that it had been left in the spring. We found three different sorts of squashes growing in the village; we also killed an elk near it, and saw two wolves." On the following day, after advancing about 4 or 5 miles, they encountered "another village or wintering camp of the Ricaras, composed of about sixty lodges, built in the same form as those passed yesterday, with willow and straw mats, baskets, buffalo-skin canoes, remaining entire in the camp."

The baskets may have included many similar to two rare examples now in the National Museum, Washington, one of which is shown in plate [52], a (U.S.N.M. 8430).

On October 9, 1804, after passing the mouth of the river called by them the Wetawhoo or Wetarko, soon to be known as Grand River, which flows into the Missouri from the west in the present Corson County, South Dakota, the expedition stopped and held a council with the Indians. There they remained until October 11, when "At one o'clock we left our camp with the grand chief and his nephew on board, and at about two miles anchored below a creek on the south, separating the second and third village of the Ricaras, which are about half a mile distant from each other.... These two villages are placed near each other in a high smooth prairie; a fine situation, except that having no wood the inhabitants are obliged to go for it across the river to a timbered lowland opposite to them."

The expedition left the Arikara during the afternoon of October 12, and on that date in the narrative appears an interesting account of the then recent migrations of the tribe: "They were originally colonies of Pawnees, who established themselves on the Missouri, below Chayenne, where the traders still remember that twenty years ago they occupied a number of villages. From that situation a part of the Ricaras emigrated to the neighborhood of the Mandans, with whom they were then in alliance. The rest of the nation continued near the Chayenne till the year 1797, in the course of which, distressed by their wars with the Sioux, they joined their countrymen near the Mandans. Soon after a new war arose between the Ricaras and the Mandans, in consequence of which the former came down the river to their present position. In this migration those who had first gone to the Mandans kept together, and now live in the two lower villages, which may be considered as the Ricaras proper. The third village was composed of such remnants of the villages as had survived the wars, and as these were nine in number a difference of pronunciation and some difference of language may be observed between them and the Ricaras proper, who do not understand all the words of these wanderers. The villages are within the distance of four miles of each other, the two lower ones consist of between one hundred and fifty and two hundred men each, the third of three hundred." (Lewis and Clark, (1), I, pp. 92-104.) Following this, on page 106, is a brief description of the earth-covered lodges of the Arikara, which were of "a circular or octagonal form, and generally about thirty or forty feet in diameter," but a rather better description was prepared by one of the members of the expedition, Patrick Gass, who wrote on October 10: "This day I went with some of the men to the lodges, about 60 in number. The following is a description of the form of these lodges and the manner of building them.

"In a circle of a size suited to the dimensions of the intended lodge they set up 16 forked posts five or six feet high, and lay poles from one fork to another. Against these poles they lean other poles, slanting from the ground, and extending about four inches above the cross poles; these are to receive the ends of the upper poles that support the roof. They next set up four large forks, fifteen feet high, and about ten feet apart, in the middle of the area; and poles or beams between these. The roof poles are then laid on extending from the lower poles across the beams which rest on the middle forks, of such a length as to leave a hole at the top for a chimney. The whole is then covered with willow branches, except the chimney and a hole below to pass through. On the willow branches they lay grass and lastly clay. At the hole below they build a pen about four feet wide and projecting ten feet from the hut; and hang a buffalo skin at the entrance of the hut for a door. This labour like every other kind is chiefly performed by the squaws. They raise corn, beans and tobacco." (Gass, (1), p. 52.) And five days later Gass entered in his journal: "At 7 we saw a hunting party of the Rickarees, on their way down to the villages. They had 12 buffalo-skin canoes or boats laden with meat and skins; beside some horses that were going down the bank by land. They gave us a part of their meat. The party consisted of men, women, and children." (Op. cit., p. 54.)

Two years later, on the return of the expedition, they again passed the villages of the Arikara, arriving opposite the upper village August 21, 1806, at which time there was an exchange of salutes of four guns each.

In 1812 Cutler wrote regarding the Arikara: "They live in fortified villages, claim no land, except that on which their villages stand, and the fields they improve." (Cutler, (1), p. 125.)

It is quite evident, from the preceding references as well as from the observations of later travelers, that the Arikara villages were usually, if not always, surrounded by palisades. But to have surrounded the area occupied by the lodges by stout posts placed close together would have required some time and, with the primitive implements and methods of collecting the necessary number of timbers, would have been a laborious undertaking. However, they appear to have had another way of protecting their towns. This was told by a French trader who was at the Arikara village in 1795. During the early part of June of that year several Indians arrived among the Arikara and told that three Sioux villages "had assembled and formed an army of five hundred warriors, intending to attack the village of the Ricaras." Fearing this attack, the narrative continues: "The Ricaras have fortified their village by placing palisades five feet high which they have reinforced with earth. The fort is constructed in the following manner: All around their village they drive into the ground heavy forked stakes, standing from four to five feet high and from fifteen to twenty feet apart. Upon these are placed cross-pieces as thick as one's thigh; next they place poles of willow or cottonwood, as thick as one's leg, resting on the cross-pieces and very close together. Against these poles which are five feet high they pile fascines of brush which they cover with an embankment of earth two feet thick; in this way, the height of the poles would prevent the scaling of the fort by the enemy, while the well-packed earth protects those within from their balls and arrows." (Trudeau, (1), pp. 454-455.) Undoubtedly many embankments found east of the Mississippi owe their origin to this method of protecting the villages which they once surrounded.

The most interesting and comprehensible accounts of the Arikara villages were prepared during the month of June, 1811. Two travelers that spring ascended the Missouri with rival parties of traders, but they were acquainted and again met on the upper Missouri on June 3. Brackenridge arrived at the village on June 12, and wrote:

"The village appeared to occupy about three quarters of a mile along the river bank, on a level plain, the country behind it rising into hills of considerable height. There are little or no woods anywhere to be seen. The lodges are of a conical shape, and look like heaps of earth. A great number of horses are seen feeding in the plains around, and on the sides of the hills. I espied a number of squaws, in canoes, descending the river and landing at the village. The interpreter informed me, that they were returning home with wood. These canoes are made of a single buffalo hide, stretched over osiers, and are of a circular form. There was but one woman in each canoe, who kneeled down, and instead of paddling sideways, placed the paddle before; the load is fastened to the canoe.... About two o'clock fourteen of us crossed over, and accompanied the chief to his lodge. Mats were laid around for us to sit on, while he placed himself on a kind of stool or bench. The pipe was handed around, and smoked; after which, the herald, (every chief or great man, has one of them) ascended the top of the lodge and seated himself near an open place, and began to bawl out like one of our town criers; the chief every now and then addressing something to him through the aperture before mentioned. We soon discovered the object of this, by the arrival of the other chiefs, who seemed to drop in, one after the other, as their names were called.

"When all were seated, the pipe was handed to the chief, who began as is usual on solemn occasions, by blowing a whiff upwards as it were to the sky, then to the earth, and after to the east and west, after which the pipe was sent round. A mark of respect in handing the pipe to another, is to hold it until the person has taken several whiffs." (Brackenridge, (1), pp. 245-246.)

Bradbury, who was also present at the gathering on June 12, entered in his journal:

"I quitted the feast, in order to examine the town, which I found to be fortified all round with a ditch, and with pickets or pallisadoes, of about nine feet high. The lodges are placed without any regard to regularity, which renders it difficult to count them, but there appears to be from 150 to 160, and they are constructed in the same manner as those of the Ottoes, with the additional convenience of a railing on the eaves: behind this railing they sit at their ease and smoke. There is scarcely any declivity in the scite of the town, and as little regard is paid to cleanliness, it is very dirty in wet weather." (Bradbury, (1), pp. 114-115.) Later he wrote (pp. 165-166): "I am not acquainted with any customs peculiar to this nation, save that of having a sacred lodge in the centre of the largest village. This is called the Medicine lodge, and in one particular, corresponds with the sanctuary of the Jews, as no blood is on any account whatsoever to be spilled within it, not even that of an enemy; nor is any one, having taken refuge there, to be forced from it. This lodge is also the general place of deposit for such things as they devote to the Father of Life."

On the following day, June 13, 1811, Brackenridge "rambled through the village," which he found "excessively filthy," with innumerable dogs running about. Then he proceeded to describe the habitations: "The lodges are constructed in the following manner: Four large forks of about fifteen feet in height, are placed in the ground, usually about twenty feet from each other, with hewn logs, or beams across; from these beams, other pieces of wood are placed slanting; smaller pieces are placed above, leaving an aperture at the top, to admit the light, and to give vent to the smoke. These upright pieces are interwoven with osiers, after which, the whole is covered with earth, though not sodded. An opening is left at one side, for a door, which is secured by a kind of projection of ten or twelve feet, enclosed on all sides, and forming a narrow entrance, which might be easily defended. A buffalo robe suspended at the entrance, answers as a door. The fire is made in a hole in the ground, directly under the aperture at the top. Their beds elevated a few feet, are placed around the lodge, and enclosed with curtains of dressed elk skins. At the upper end of the lodge, there is a kind of trophy erected; two buffalo heads, fantastically painted, are placed on a little elevation; over them are placed, a variety of consecrated things, such as shields, skins of a rare or valuable kind, and quivers of arrows. The lodges seem placed at random, without any regularity or design, and are so much alike, that it was for some time before I could learn to return to the same one. The village is surrounded by a palisade of cedar poles, but in a very bad state. Around the village, there are little plats enclosed by stakes, intwined with osiers, in which they cultivate maize, tobacco, and beans; but their principal field is at the distance of a mile from the village, to which, such of the females whose duty it is to attend to their culture, go and return morning and evening. Around the village they have buffalo robes stuck up on high poles. I saw one so arranged as to bear a resemblance to the human figure, the hip bone of the buffaloe represented the head, the sockets of the thigh bones looked like eyes." (Op. cit., pp. 247-248.)

On June 14 they walked together to the upper of the two villages, which were separated by a narrow stream. They entered several lodges and were always pleasantly received by the occupants and offered food, which included fresh buffalo meat served in wooden dishes or bowls, and "homony made of corn dried in the milk, mixed with beans, which was prepared with buffalo marrow." This latter, according to Bradbury, was "warmed on the fire in an earthen vessel of their own manufacture." Later, when he returned to the same village, he wrote (p. 158): "I noticed over their fires much larger vessels of earthenware than any I had before seen, and was permitted to examine them. They were sufficiently hardened by the fire to cause them to emit a sonorous tone on being struck, and in all I observed impressions on the outside seemingly made by wicker work. This led me to enquire of them by signs how they were made? when a squaw brought a basket, and taking some clay, she began to spread it very evenly within it, shewing me at the same time that they were made in that way. From the shape of these vessels, they must be under the necessity of burning the basket to disengage them, as they are wider at the bottom than at the top. I must here remark, that at the Great Salt Lick, or Saline, about twenty miles from the mouth of the Wabash, vast quantities of Indian earthenware are found, on which I have observed impressions exactly similar to those here mentioned. From the situation of these heaps of fragments, and their proximity to the salt works, I am decidedly of opinion that the Indians practised the art of evaporating the brine, to make salt, before the discovery of America."

It was the custom of the people of the village to gather in the evenings on the tops of their lodges, there to sit and converse, and "every now and then the attention of all was attracted by some old men who rose up and declaimed aloud, so as to be heard over the whole village." Within the village women were often seen busily engaged in dressing buffalo robes, stretched on frames near the lodges. Men, playing at various games, or sitting in groups smoking and talking; children and dogs innumerable. Such was the appearance of an Arikara village a little more than a century ago.

On the 18th of June Bradbury visited the bluffs southwest of the village and on one discovered 14 buffalo skulls placed in a row, and in describing them said: "The cavities of the eyes and the nostrils were filled with a species of artemisia common on the prairies, which appears to be a non-descript. On my return I caused our interpreter to enquire into the reason for this, and found that it was an honour conferred on the buffaloes which they had killed, in order to appease their spirits, and prevent them from apprising the living buffaloes of the danger they run in approaching the neighbourhood." (Op. cit., p. 125.)

An interesting observation was made at this time by Brackenridge concerning a temporary encampment of a small party of Arikara when away from their permanent, well-protected villages. He said (Op. cit., pp. 254-255): "To avoid surprise, they always encamp at the edge of a wood; and when the party is small, they construct a kind of fortress, with wonderful expedition, of billets of wood, apparently piled up in a careless manner, but so arranged as to be very strong, and are able to withstand an assault from a much superior force." Many such inclosures were discovered and mentioned by the early explorers of the Upper Missouri Valley, and several instances have been cited on the preceding pages when treating of the Siouan tribes.

In 1832 Catlin went up the Missouri, and when he arrived at the Arikara village he made a sketch of the town as it appeared from the deck of the steamboat. The original painting is now in the National Museum, Washington, and is reproduced in plate [53]. This was engraved and presented as plate 80 in his narrative. Writing of this sketch he remarked: "Plate 80, gives a view of the Riccaree village, which is beautifully situated on the west bank of the river, 200 miles below the Mandans; and built very much in the same manner; being constituted of 150 earth-covered lodges, which are in part surrounded by an imperfect and open barrier of piquets set firmly in the ground, and of ten or twelve feet in height. This village is built upon an open prairie, and the gracefully undulating hills that rise in distance behind it are everywhere covered with a verdant green turf, without a tree or a bush anywhere to be seen. This view was taken from the deck of the steamer when I was on my way up the river." (Catlin, (1), I, p. 204.) At this time the Arikara were very hostile to all the traders who passed and repassed along the Missouri. They had attacked many canoes and caused the death of their occupants. Fearing the outcome of their actions they soon left the banks of the Missouri and moved westward. One year after Catlin passed the villages Maximilian arrived there while on his way to the far upper waters of the Missouri. On June 12, 1833, Maximilian wrote: "Moreau's River ... is called the southern boundary of the territory of the Arikkaras, though they often make excursions far beyond it.... On the morning of the 12th our cannon, muskets and rifles were loaded with ball, because we were approaching the village of the hostile Arikkaras. We came to Grand River, called in Lewis and Clarke's map Wetarko River. As we here touched the bottom, we crossed to the east bank, and in half an hour reached Rampart River, which issues from a narrow chain of hills, called Les Remparts; and soon afterwards an island covered with willows, which, on the large special map of Lewis and Clarke, has an Arikkara village, of which there are now no traces. From the hills we had a fine prospect over the bend of the river, on which the villages of the Arikkaras are situated, and which we reached after a short run of only two miles. The two villages of this tribe are on the west bank, very near each other, but separated by a small stream. They consist of a great number of clay huts, round at the top, with a square entrance in front, and the whole surrounded with a fence of stakes, which were much decayed, and in many places thrown down. It was not quite a year since these villages had been wholly abandoned, because their inhabitants, who were extremely hostile to the Whites, killed so many Americans, that they themselves foresaw that they would be severely chastised by the United States, and therefore preferred to emigrate. To this cause was added, a dry, unproductive season, when the crops entirely failed; as well as the absence of the herds of buffaloes, which hastened their removal.... The principal chief of the Arikkaras, when they retired from the Missouri, was called Starapat (the little hawk, with bloody claws)." (Maximilian, (1), pp. 166-167.) The Arikara at this time appear to have left the banks of the Missouri and removed to the vicinity of the Pawnee.

Fort Clark, on the upper Missouri, at the villages of the Mandan and Hidatsa, was erected by the American Fur Company during the year 1829.

In 1837 the Mandans suffered from the dreaded smallpox, losing more than 90 per cent of their number, and the few who survived abandoned their large village below Fort Clark and settled a short distance above. And, so wrote Hayden in 1855, "About the time that the Mandans left the lower village, the Arikaras came and took possession, the former readily consenting to this arrangement, because it placed a large body of strangers between them and the Dakotas, with whom, in their now feeble state, they were unable to contend." (Hayden, (1), p. 434.)

A brief description of the Arikara village as it appeared early in June, 1850, is to be found in Culbertson's journal. On the 12th of that month the steamboat, ascending the Missouri, reached Fort Clark, "a small fort, about one hundred feet in length on each side." Just above the fort was the village of the Arikara. "The village is composed of two hundred lodges, as near as I could learn from the interpreter, and is built upon the top of a bluff bank rising about seventy-five feet perpendicular from the water. The huts are placed very irregularly, sometimes with very narrow, and sometimes with quite broad spaces between them. A number of platforms of poles, as high as the lodges themselves, are interspersed among them for the convenience of drying meat and dressing robes. I noticed a number of squaws busily employed in dressing robes." (Culbertson, (1), p. 117.) The typical earth lodge is described, one similar to those mentioned on other pages of this sketch, but his account of the interior of a habitation is most interesting. He, with others, stopped at a large lodge, when, so he wrote: "We were conducted to the place of honor, opposite to and facing the door. To our right, along the wall, were arranged several bedsteads, rudely made, while to the left, a part was cut off by a couple of poles, for the accommodation of the horses; the chickens had a coop in one corner, but roam at large on most occasions, and the centre is used for a fireplace. The lodge was clean, airy, light and comfortable, and there was plenty of room for more than those, who I suppose, inhabit it. Behind us were hung bows with spears on the ends, and two rude instruments of music, made of a number of pumpkins.... Near the fireplace a small wooden mortar was sunk in the ground, for pounding corn. The large and high room appeared rather scarce of furniture." Many burials were encountered when passing between the village and Fort Clark, and there "were little patches of corn and pumpkins, generally enclosed by a slight bush fence," these probably being the gardens belonging to the people of the near-by town. The mortar, "sunk in the ground," as mentioned by Culbertson, was evidently similar to the example shown in plate [52], b, a form which was indicated by Bodmer in his sketch of the interior of a Mandan lodge, plate [40].

It will be recalled that the village mentioned in the preceding notes was the home of the Mandan during the memorable winter of 1804-05, when the expedition of Lewis and Clark encamped a few miles below, and there the Mandan continued to dwell until after the epidemic of 1837.

In later years the three tribes, Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan, were closely associated, living in the vicinity of Fort Berthold, on the left bank of the Missouri and about 60 miles above Fort Clark, the Arikara having arrived at Fort Berthold, during the month of August, 1862. Evidently their ways of life and customs were quite similar, and Matthews, in his work on the Hidatsa in particular, but in which he treats of the three tribes in general, said: "For cleaning the village-grounds, they had rakes made of a few osiers tied together, the ends curved and spreading. Their most important agricultural implement was the hoe. Before they obtained iron utensils of the white traders, their only hoes were made of the shoulder-blades of elk or buffalo, attached to wooden handles of suitable length ... as late as 1867, I saw a great number in use at Fort Berthold, and purchased two or three, one of which was sent to Washington, and, I presume, is now on exhibition in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution." (Matthews, (1), p. 19.) Several rakes of this description are in the collection of the National Museum, Washington. One, bearing the legend "Arickaree," which was obtained at Fort Berthold, is shown in plate [54], a (U.S.N.M. 6353). It measures 4 feet 10 inches in length and is formed of six pieces bound together. It is also of great interest to know that the hoe which was sent by Dr. Matthews to the museum is perfectly preserved. It is here reproduced in plate [54], b (U.S.N.M. 6326). Written on it is this legend: "Ree Indians. Ft Berthold Dacotah Ter. Drs Gray and Matthews." The length of the scapula, that of a buffalo, is about 14 inches. Both handle and blade are worn smooth from use. The specimen is one of much importance.

It will be recalled that Bradbury in 1811 referred to the "medicine lodge," then standing in the center of the large Arikara village. Matthews, more than 60 years later, mentioned a similar structure then standing at the village near Fort Berthold, and said concerning it: "The medicine-lodge of the Arickarees is larger than that of the Mandans, and is used for a greater variety of ceremonies. Some of these performances, consisting of ingenious tricks of jugglery and dances, representative of various hunts, we might be inclined to call theatrical rather than religious. Probably these Indians consider them both worshipful and entertaining. It is often hard to tell how much of a religious ceremony is intended to propitiate the unknown powers, and how much to please the spectators." (Matthews, (1), p. 10.)

From the various quotations given on the preceding pages it is possible to form a good idea of the appearance of an ancient Arikara village. A large number of earth-covered lodges, of varying sizes, were placed without order but rather close together, often with a "medicine lodge" in the center of the group. All were surrounded by a palisade, often reared in connection with a ditch and embankment. The village at Fort Berthold was thus protected until the winter of 1865, at which time the stockade was cut down and used as fuel, and it was never replaced.

As late as 1872 there were 43 earth-covered lodges standing at the Arikara village near Fort Berthold, together with 28 log cabins.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 54

a. Rake marked "Arickaree." Collected at Fort Berthold. Length 4 feet 10 inches. (U.S.N.M. 6353)

b. Agricultural implement formed of a scapula of a buffalo attached to a wooden handle. Marked "Ree Indians. Ft. Berthold, Dacotah Ter. Drs. Gray and Matthews." Length of scapula about 14 inches. (U.S.N.M. 6326)

c. Parfleche box. "Crows, Montana Ter. J. I. Allen." Length 28 inches, width 13½ inches. (U.S.N.M. 130574)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 55

a. Grass-covered structures near Anadarko

b. Grass-covered lodge, about 1880 WICHITA HABITATIONS

In addition to the earth-covered lodges found in the permanent villages, they had skin tents which were occupied when away from their towns on war or hunting expeditions. Like the great majority of the native tribes, the Arikara would move about during certain seasons of the year. Hayden, writing about the year 1855, referred to this custom: "At the commencement of the winter the Arikaras leave their village in quest of buffalo, which seldom approach near enough to be killed in the vicinity of their cabins. They then encamp in skin tents, in various directions from the Missouri or along its banks, wherever the buffalo may chance to range. They pass the winter in hunting, and return to their permanent village early in the spring, bringing with them their skins in an unprepared state, with a great supply of meat." (Hayden, (1), p. 354.) Such were the hunting parties often met by the traders and explorers, as that mentioned by Sergeant Gass on October 15, 1804. That they were skilled agriculturists is attested by a note referring to the time they were still living in the old Mandan village below Fort Clark, October 11, 1853. In the journal of a party at that time descending the Missouri from Fort Benton to St. Louis appears this entry:

"Arrived at Fort Clark, or Aricaree's village. It is situated on the top of a very high bluff on the bank of the river.... The Rees are not friendly to the whites, and are kept from open hostilities only by fear. They are a large tribe, and on the fertile meadows they occupy, raise a great amount of corn and pumpkins, which they exchange with the Crows and Dacotahs for dried buffalo meat and robes. They exported five thousand bushels of excellent corn this year...." (Saxton, (1), p. 265.) And it must be remembered that the principal implement was the primitive hoe, formed of a scapula of a buffalo attached to a wooden handle.

wichita.

Like the other members of this linguistic family, whose villages have already been described, the Wichita had two forms of dwellings, which they occupied under different conditions. One served as the structure in their permanent villages, the other being of a more temporary nature. But, instead of the earth-covered lodges used farther north, their fixed villages were composed of groups of high circular structures, entirely thatched from bottom to top. Their movable camps, when away from home on war or hunting expeditions, consisted of the skin-covered tents of the plains.

The peculiar thatched structures were first seen and described by Europeans in the year 1541, when Coronado crossed the vast rolling prairies and reached the Quivira (the Wichita) about the northeastern part of the present State of Kansas. Here extensive village sites, with innumerable traces of occupancy, undoubtedly indicate the positions of the ancient settlements.

In the narrative of the expedition led by Coronado, prepared by one of the Spanish officers, Juan Jaramillo, appears an interesting though very brief description of the thatched dwellings of the people of Quivira:

"The houses which these Indians have were of straw, and most of them round, and the straw reached down to the ground like a wall, so that they did not have the symmetry or the style of these here [referring to pueblos]; they have something like a chapel or sentry box outside and around these, with an entry, where the Indians appear seated or reclining." (Winship, (1), p. 591.) Castañeda, writing of the same villages, said: "The houses are round, without a wall, and they have one story like a loft, under the roof, where they sleep and keep their belongings. The roofs are of straw." (Winship, (1), pp. 528-529.) This evidently referred to structures similar to that shown on the right of the lodge in plate [55], a.

A photograph of a large Wichita dwelling, of the form mentioned, is reproduced in plate [55], b. The picture was probably made about the year 1880. The door in front is open, and there appears to be another on the extreme left, which would be 90° from the former; therefore there were evidently four entrances. This is explained in the following account of the construction and arrangement of such a dwelling:

"Its construction was begun by drawing a circle on the ground, and on the outline setting a number of crotched posts, in which beams were laid. Against these, poles were set very closely in a row so as to lean inward; these in turn were laced with willow rods and their tops brought together and securely-fastened so as to form a peak. Over this frame a heavy thatch of grass was laid and bound down by slender rods, and at each point where the rods joined an ornamental tuft of grass was tied. Two poles, laid at right angles, jutting out in four projecting points, were fastened to the apex of the roof, and over the center, where they crossed, rose a spire, 2 ft. high or more, made of bunches of grass. Four doors, opening to each point of the compass, were formerly made, but now, except when the house is to be used for ceremonial purposes, only two are provided, one on the east to serve for the morning, and one on the west to go in and out of when the sun is in that quarter. The fireplace was a circular excavation in the center of the floor, and the smoke found egress through a hole left high up in the roof toward the E. The four projecting beams at the peak pointed toward and were symbolic of the four points of the compass, where were the paths down which the powers descended to help man. The spire typified the abode in the zenith of the mysterious permeating force that animates all nature. The fireplace was accounted sacred; it was never treated lightly even in the daily life of the family. The couches of the occupants were placed against the wall. They consisted of a framework on which was fitted a woven covering of reeds. Upon this robes or rush mats were spread. The grass house is a comely structure. Skill is required to build it, and it has an attractive appearance both within and without." (Fletcher, (1).)

An interesting photograph made some 30 or 40 years ago, near Anadarko, Caddo County, Oklahoma, is reproduced in plate [55], a. This shows a grass lodge of the usual form, and to the right of it appears to be an arbor or shelter, having a thatched roof but open on the sides. This second structure may be of the form which was seen by the Spaniards nearly four centuries ago, a place "where the Indians appear seated or reclining." It undoubtedly served as a gathering place, out of doors, and gave protection from the rays of the sun.

Waco.

On August 23, 1853, the expedition under command of Lieut. A. W. Whipple camped at some point in the southwestern portion of the present McClain County, Oklahoma, and that evening were visited by two Indians, "the one tall and straight, the other ill-looking. Their dress consisted of a blue cotton blanket wrapped around the waist, a head-dress of eagles' feathers, brass wire bracelets, and moccasins. The outer cartilages of their ears were cut through in various places, and short sticks inserted in place of rings. They were painted with vermilion, and carried bows of bois d'arc three feet long, and cow-skin quivers filled with arrows. The latter were about twenty-six inches in length, with very sharp steel heads, tastefully and skillfully made. The feathers with which they were tipped, and the sinews which bound them, were prettily tinted with red, blue, and green. The shafts were colored red, and said to be poisoned." (Whipple, (1), p. 22.) Unable to converse with the two strangers, the interpreter proceeded to interview them by signs. "The graceful motions of the hands seemed to convey ideas faster than words could have done, and with the whole operation we were highly amused and interested. Our visitors now said that they were not Kichais, but Huécos, and that they were upon a hunting expedition." Referring to the same two Indians another member of the expedition wrote:

"The newcomers belonged to the tribe of Wakos, or Waekos, neighbours of the Witchita Indians, who live to the east of the Witchita Mountains, in a village situated on the bank of a small river rising in that direction. They were now on a journey to the Canadian, to meet a barter-trader there, but having heard of our expedition, had turned out of their way to pay us a visit. The Wakos and Witchitas differ only in name, and in some slight varieties of dialect; their villages are built in the same style, and are only about a thousand yards from one another. Their wigwams, of which the Witchitas count forty-two, and the Wakos only twenty, look a good deal like haycocks, and are constructed with pliable poles, eighteen or twenty feet long, driven into the ground in a circle of twenty-five feet diameter; the poles are then bent together and fastened to one another at the top, and the spaces between filled with plaited willow twigs and turf, a low aperture being left for a door, and one above for a chimney. A place is hollowed out in the centre for a fireplace, and around this, and a little raised, are placed the beds of the inhabitants of the hut; which, when covered with good buffalo skins, make tolerable resting-places. Each of these wigwams is generally occupied by two families; and the Wako tribe is reckoned at about two hundred, that of the Witchitas at not less than eight hundred members. These Indians practise agriculture; and beans, peas, maize, gourds, and melons are seen prospering very well round their villages." (Möllhausen, (1), I, pp. 115-116.)

caddo.

The "Caddo proper," or Cenis as they were called by Joutel, early occupied the southwestern part of the present State of Arkansas, the Red River Valley, and adjacent region to the south and west.

La Salle was murdered near the banks of the Trinity, in eastern Texas, March 20, 1687. Joutel and several others of the party pushed on, and nine days later, when traversing the valley of the Red River, arrived at a village of the Cenis. Fortunately a very good account of the people and their homes is preserved in Joutel's narrative, and from it the following quotations are made:

"The Indian that was with us conducted us to their Chief's Cottage. By the Way, we saw many other Cottages, and the Elders coming to meet us in their Formalities, which consisted in some Goat Skins dress'd and painted of several Colours, which they wore on their Shoulders like Belts, and Plumes of Feathers of several Colours, on their Heads, like Coronets.... All their Faces were daub'd with black or red. There were twelve Elders, who walk'd in the Middle, and the Youth and Warriors in Ranks, on the Sides of those old Men." After remaining a short time with the chief "They led us to a larger Cottage, a Quarter of a League from thence, being the Hut in which they have their public Rejoycings, and the great Assemblies. We found it furnish'd with Mats for us to sit on. The Elders seated themselves round about us, and they brought us to eat, some Sagamite, which is their Pottage, little Beans, Bread made of Indian Corn, and another Sort they make with boil'd Flower, and at last they made us smoke."

They proceeded to another village not far away, and, so the narrative continues: "By the Way, we saw several Cottages at certain Distances, stragling up and down, as the Ground happens to be fit for Tillage. The Field lies about the Cottage, and at other Distances there are other large Huts, not inhabited, but only serving for publick Assemblies, either upon Occasion of Rejoycing, or to consult about Peace and War.

"The Cottages that are inhabited, are not each of them for a private Family, for in some of them are fifteen or twenty, each of which has its Nook or Corner, Bed and other Utensils to its self: but without any Partition to separate it from the rest: However, they have Nothing in Common besides the Fire, which is in the Midst of the Hut, and never goes out. It is made of great Trees, the Ends whereof are laid together, so that when once lighted, it lasts a long Time, and the first Comer takes Care to keep it up." Here follows a brief description of the appearance of the structures of the village, the dwellings resembling those later mentioned as being typical of the Wichita. "The Cottages are round at the Top, after the manner of a Bee-Hive, or a Reek of Hay. Some of them are sixty Foot Diameter." There follows a brief account of the method of constructing such a house. "In order to build them, they plant Trees as thick as a Man's thigh, tall and strait, and placing them in a Circle, and joyning the Tops together, from the Dome, or round Top, then they lash and cover them with Weeds. When they remove their Dwellings, they generally burn the Cottages they leave, and build new on the Ground they design to inhabit. Their Moveables are some Bullocks Hides and Goats Skins well cur'd, some Mats close wove, wherewith they adorn their Huts, and some Earthen Vessels, which they are very skilful at making, and wherein they boil their Flesh or Roots, or Sagamise, which, as has been said, is their Pottage. They have also some small Baskets made of Canes, serving to put in their Fruit and other Provisions. Their Beds are made of Canes, rais'd two or three Foot above the Ground, handsomely fitted with Mats and Bullocks Hides, or Goats Skins well cur'd, which serve them for Feather Beds, or Quilts and Blankets; and those Beds are parted one from another by Mats hung up." (Joutel, (1), pp. 106-109.)

The preceding is probably the clearest description of the furnishings of a native structure standing beyond the Mississippi during the last quarter of the seventeenth century that has been preserved. The large circular structures served as the dwelling place of many individuals. The beds were placed, so it may be assumed, in a line around the wall, each separated from its neighbor by a mat. A large fire burned in the center of the space. In many respects the large dwellings of the Caddo must have closely resembled the great round structures which stood north of St. Augustine, Florida, about the year 1700. (Bushnell, (1), pp. 84-86.)

Brief accounts of the many small tribes living south of the Arkansas River soon after the transfer of Louisiana contain references to the numerous villages, but fail, unfortunately, to describe the structures in detail. (Sibley, (1), pp. 721-725.) The dwellings probably resembled those already mentioned as standing a century and more before.

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