§ 217. The He-watcí.—The concluding part of the He¢ucka was called the "Hé-watcí." It was danced only by one man, a member of the He¢ucka society. After the feast, the head of a dog or deer was generally given to one of the guests, who ate it clean and laid it down after imitating, as he danced, some of his acts in battle. The man arose suddenly of his own accord, taking the head in both hands and holding it in front of him. When no head had been boiled he danced without one. The drum was beaten, but there were no songs. The dancer wore the "crow," and grasped a club or hatchet, which had been purposely placed in the middle of the circle. His acts resembled those of the four visitors when the Égi`an-watcigaxe was danced. (See § [271].) Pointing in various directions with his club or hatchet, with which he struck the ground each time, he said, "Níacinga win gaé`an:" I did thus to a man; "Níacinga win áq¢i," I killed a man; "Níacinga win ub¢an," I took hold of a man; or some other expression. When he finished the He¢ucka dance was ended.
§ 218. The Mandan dance with fallen friends.—When the Omahas lost any of their number in a fight they had the Mandan dance on their homeward way, or after they reached home. If they had the bodies of their dead they placed the latter in the middle of a lodge, making them sit upright, as if alive and singing. And they made them hold rattles of deers' claws on their arms.
In the war story of [P]a¢in-nanpajĭ, recorded in Part I, Vol. VI, Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, the narrator says: "All the people danced in groups, dancing the Mandan dance. I rode the horse which I had brought home. I painted my face and wore good clothing. I hit the drum: 'Ku+!' I said, 'Let Wáqa-nájin take that for himself,' referring to the horse. I presented the horse to one who was not my relation."
§ 219. When the war party return home, whether they have been successful or not, the captains invite the warriors to a feast. The warriors, in turn, invited the captains to a feast. There was no regular order; if the warriors boiled first they were the first to invite (the captains) to a feast.
§ 220. A battle may be ended either by the death of one of the principal captains or by sending a man with a sacred pipe towards the ranks of the enemy. The sacred pipe is a peace pipe, and is used instead of a flag of truce. (See Punishment of a murderer, § [309].)
§ 221. Treatment of the wounded foes.—If they fell into the power of the men of the victorious side they were killed and their bodies were cut in pieces, which were thrown towards the retreating foes, who cried with rage and mortification. Their treatment at the hand of the women has been described in § [184].
§ 222. Treatment of captives.—Captives were not slain by the Omahas and Ponkas. When peace was declared the captives were sent home, if they wished to go. If not they could remain where they were, and were treated as if they were members of the tribe; but they were not adopted by any one. When Gahíge-jiñ´ga, father of Wacúce, of the Iñke-sabě gens, was a small boy he was captured by the Ponkas as they were fighting with the Omahas, who were camped near their adversaries. The Omahas having overcome the Ponkas, the latter sent the aged Hañ´ga-ckáde, whom the Omahas admired, with a peace pipe, and, as an earnest of their intentions, they sent with him the boy whom they had captured that day. He was restored to his tribe, and peace was declared. (See International Law, § [306].)
§ 223. Bravery.—The following anecdotes were told by Mr. La Flèche as illustrating the bravery of his people:
An old man had a son who reached manhood, and went into a fight, from which he returned wounded, but not dangerously so. The son asked his father saying, "Father, what thing is hard to endure?" He expected the father to say, "My child, for one to be wounded in battle is hard to endure." Had he said this, the son would have replied, "Yes, father; I shall live." The father suspected this, so he made a different reply: "Nothing, my child. The only thing hard to bear is to put on leggings again before they have been warmed by the fire." So the son became angry and said, "My father, I will die."
A certain old man had been very brave in his youth; he had gone many times on the war-path, and had killed many persons belonging to different tribes. His only children were two young men. To them he gave this advice: "Go on the war-path. It will be good for you to die when young. Do not run away. I should be ashamed if you were wounded in the back; but it would delight me to learn of your being wounded in the chest." By and by there was war with another tribe, and the two young men took part in it. Their party having been scared back, both young men were killed. When the men reached home some one said, "Old man, your sons were killed." "Yes," said he, "that is just what I desired. I will go to see them. Let them alone; I will attend to them." He found the eldest son wounded all along the back, but lying with his face towards home. Said he, "Wă! kí gan´¢aqti kéana. Gátěʇa úgaq¢e ¢ajan´ te, ehé ¢an´ctĭ."—Why! he lies as if he felt a strong desire to reach home! I said heretofore that you were to lie facing that way. So taking hold of his arms, he threw the body in the other direction, with the face towards the enemy. He found the younger son wounded in the chest, and lying with his face toward the foe. "Ho! this is my own son. He obeyed me!" And the father kissed him.