Next came the Hă′thahu′ha or Star men, consisting of young warriors about 30 years of age. Their dance was called the Ha′thahŭ.
Fig. 94—Dog-soldier insignia—rattle and quirt.
The third order was that of the Hichăä′quthi or Club men. Their dance was called Hichăä′qawŭ. They were an important part of the warrior organization, and were all men in the prime of life. The four leaders carried wooden clubs, bearing a general resemblance in shape to a gun, notched along the edges and variously ornamented. In an attack on the enemy it was the duty of these leaders to dash on ahead and strike the enemy with these clubs, then to ride back again and take their places in the front of the charge. It hardly need be said that the position of leader of the Hichăä′quthi was a dangerous honor, but the honor was in proportion to the very danger, and there were always candidates for a vacancy. It was one of those offices where the holder sometimes died but never resigned. The other members of the order carried sticks carved at one end in the rude semblance of a horse head and pointed at the other. In desperate encounters they were expected to plant these sticks in the ground in line in front of the body of warriors and to fight beside them to the death unless a retreat should be ordered by the chief in command.
The fourth order was called Bitahi′nĕna or Spear men, and their dance was called Bitaha′wŭ. This order came originally from the Cheyenne. Their duties and peculiar insignia of office were about the same among all the tribes. They performed police duty in camp, when traveling, and on the hunt, and were expected to see that the orders of the chief were obeyed by the tribe. For instance, if any person violated the tribal code or failed to attend a general dance or council, a party of Bitahi′nĕna was sent to kill his dogs, destroy his tipi, or in extreme cases to shoot his ponies. On hunting expeditions it was their business to keep the party together and see that no one killed a buffalo until the proper ceremonies had been performed and the order was given by the chief. They were regarded as the representatives of the law and were never resisted in performing their duty or inflicting punishments. In war they were desperate warriors, equaling or surpassing even the Hichăä′quthi. Of the leaders of the order, two carried a sort of shepherd’s crook called nu′sa-icha′tha, having a lance point at its lower end; two others carried lances wrapped around with otter skin; four carried lances painted black; one carried a club shaped like a baseball bat, and one carried a rattle made of the scrotum of a buffalo and ornamented with its hair. In battle, if the enemy took shelter behind defenses, it was this man’s duty to lead the charge, throw his rattle among the enemy, and then follow it himself.
The fifth order was called Aha′känĕ′na or Crazy men. They were men more than 50 years of age, and were not expected to go to war, but must have graduated from all the lower orders. Their duties were religious and ceremonial, and their insignia consisted of a bow and a bundle of blunt arrows. Their dance was the Ahaka′wŭ or crazy dance, which well deserved the name. It will be described in another place.
The sixth was the order of the Hĕthĕ′hinĕ′na or Dog men. Their dance was called Hĕthĕwa′wû′. They had four principal leaders and two lesser leaders. The four principal leaders were the generals and directors of the battle. Each carried a rattle and wore about his neck a buckskin strap (two being yellow, the other two black) which hung down to his feet. On approaching the enemy, they were obliged to go forward, shaking their rattles and chanting the war song, until some other warriors of the party took the rattles out of their hands. When forming for the attack, they dismounted, and, driving their lances into the ground, tied themselves to them by means of the straps, thus anchoring themselves in front of the battle. Here they remained until, if the battle seemed lost, they themselves gave the order to retreat. Even then they waited until some of their own society released them by pulling the lances out of the ground and whipping them away from the place with a peculiar quirt carried only by the private members of this division. No one was allowed to retreat without their permission, on penalty of disgrace, nor were they themselves allowed to retire until thus released. Should their followers forget to release them in the confusion of retreat, they were expected to die at their posts. They could not be released excepting by one of their own division, and anyone else attempting to pull up the lances from the ground was resisted as an enemy. When pursued on the retreat, they must give up their horses to the women, if necessary, and either find other horses or turn and face the enemy alone on foot. They seldom accompanied any but large war parties, and, although they did but little actual fighting, their very presence inspired the warriors with desperate courage, and the driving of their lances into the ground was always understood as the signal for an encounter to the death.
PL. CXXII
DOG-SOLDIER INSIGNIA—LANCE AND SASH