ORDEALS OR MODES OF SWEARING.
§ 305. While there are no oaths or curses as we have them, the Teton can invoke higher powers. Thus one may say: “The Thunderers hear me” (Waʞiŋ´yaŋ namáḣuŋwe ló, The Flying one really hears me!), and if he is lying the Thunderers or one of their number will be sure to kill him. Sometimes the man will put a knife in his mouth, and then if he lies he will be stuck by a knife thereafter, and death must follow. Or, he will say, “The horse heard me” (Śuŋ´kawakaŋ´ namáḣuŋ we ló), knowing that the penalty for falsehood will be certain death from a horse that will throw him and break his neck. When one says, “The Earth hears me” (Maká kiŋ lé namáḣuŋ we ló), and he lies, he is sure to die miserably in a short time, and his family will also be afflicted.
Smet says:[214]
The objects by which an Assinniboine swears are his gun, the skin of a rattlesnake, a bear’s claw, and the wah-kon that the Indian interrogates. These various articles are placed before him, and he says, “In case my declaration prove false, may my gun fire and kill me, may the serpent bite me, may the bears tear and devour my flesh, and may my wah-kon overwhelm me with misery.” In extraordinary and very important affairs, which demand formal promises, they call upon the Thunder to witness their resolution of accomplishing the articles proposed and accepted.