The food and clothing of these people are chiefly derived from the herds of buffaloes, which they pursue, and for which they make, in the winter season, large parks, into which they are driven. The antelopes and the mountain sheep, especially the latter, furnish them with leather for their finer articles of dress; but the skins of the buffalo cow are indispensable for their large robes, tents, and for barter with the Whites. They feed on almost every kind of animal except the grizzly bear; the black bear is not found in their prairies, and they have an aversion to amphibious animals. The Blood Indians hunt wolves for the sake of their skins, which they sell. All these Indians are very expert in the use of the bow, and this weapon is dangerous in their hands; with the gun, on the contrary, they are said to be indifferent marksmen, their pieces being by no means good. From the vegetable kingdom they obtain many roots; the pomme blanche, or white turnip, is very common in their prairies. The women and children dig them up with a particular kind of wooden instrument, and bring them in strings to the Whites for sale.
Another root is bitter; it is boiled in broth, and is then very nutritious. It is said that when you are accustomed to the taste, it is not disagreeable. Another turnip-like root, called, by the Canadians, racine à tabac, is buried in the earth with hot stones, and is said to become black, like tobacco, as soon as it is fit to eat; it has a sweetish taste, like parsnips. The other wild fruits of the prairies are gathered by the women and children. Little children are obliged very early, even as soon as they have cut their teeth, to chew meat, or more properly speaking, to suck it; while older children are seen at the mother's breast. The Blackfeet are very fond of their {253} children, and, at their birth, give them names after animals, and other things, remarkable events, and all kinds of occurrences.
Brandy is the greatest luxury of these Indians, as of all the other North Americans, for which they will willingly part with everything they possess, and have about them. They will even offer their wives and children for sale in order to obtain it. It is said that, when intoxicated, they are often less dangerous than other people. Many of the men have often six or eight wives, whom they are very ready to give up to the Whites: even very young little girls are offered. On the other hand, they generally punish infidelity in their wives very severely, cutting off their noses in such cases; and we saw, about Fort Mc Kenzie, a great many of these poor creatures horribly disfigured. When ten or twelve tents were together, we were sure to see six or seven women mutilated in this manner.
The husband also cuts off the hair by way of punishment, and they then avoid showing their heads, which they seek to cover. During our stay, the Whites had punished their Indian wives in the same way. The woman whose nose is cut off, is immediately repudiated by her husband; nobody will take her as his wife; and such women generally work for wages, or for their subsistence, in other tents; attend on the children, tan hides, or perform other household work. There have been frequent instances of a husband immediately killing his wife, when she has had intercourse with others; often he avenges himself on the paramour, takes away his horse or other valuable property, to which he must submit quietly.
There is no particular marriage ceremony among the Blackfeet; the man pays for the wife, and takes her to him; the purchase-price is announced to the father of the girl by a friend or some other man. If he accepts it, the girl is given up, and the marriage is concluded. If the wife behaves ill, or if her husband is tired of her, he sends her home without any ceremony, which does not give occasion to any dispute. She takes her property and retires: the children remain the property of the husband. These Indians often have many children, who generally run and play about quite naked, and swim in the river like ducks. The boys go naked till they are thirteen or fourteen years old, but the girls have a leather dress at an early age. In their domestic life, the Blackfeet, like all the North Americans, are quiet and peaceable; they are said, however, to be more passionate than other nations. Duels sometimes take place, and vengeance is executed in most cases. If an Indian is killed, his relations avenge themselves, if possible, on the murderer; but, if they have no opportunity to do this, they take revenge on the first member of his family that they meet with; often, however, their vengeance is bought off with some articles of value.
In their camp and tents, these Indians, even the dangerous Blood Indians, are hospitable. White men, who visited them in the cold month of October, were immediately lodged in the tent {254} of a chief, while the owner, with his whole family, slept in the open air: nobody dared to molest the guests. The horses were well taken care of, and there was no need to look after them, for, under these circumstances, they were perfectly safe, as well as all the effects of the strangers, which, in other cases, would certainly have been stolen. It is not difficult for the Indians to feed a few Whites; on the other hand, it is impossible for the latter to do the same for their Indian visitors, and yet they expect it. These Indian visits are so numerous, and of such long continuance, that it is absolutely impossible to procure the necessary victuals for them. This is, doubtless, a chief cause of the animosity of the Indians to the Whites; and, though the disproportion in the numbers on both sides is shown them ever so clearly, they never understand it. Mr. Mitchell once received a severe lesson on this subject among the Sioux on the Mississippi. He was invited to a tent, and, though he was very hungry, did not get a morsel to eat. On the following morning, the Sioux came to him and said that, "though he had made him suffer hunger, he had not done so from any ill-will; but that the same thing had lately happened to him in the house of Mr. Mitchell, and, therefore, he meant only to give him a hint, not to be wanting in this respect for the future." The Blackfeet are inveterate beggars, that is, they are frequently troublesome by their constant importunities, but they are inferior in this respect to the Gros Ventres des Prairies. Horse stealing is an eminent art among them, and a dexterous horse stealer is a person of distinction. They have invented many games for their amusement. At one of them they sit in a circle, and several little heaps of beads, or other things, are piled up, for which they play. One takes some pebbles in his hand, moving it backwards and forwards in measured time, and singing; while another endeavours to guess the number of pebbles. In this manner considerable sums are lost and won.
The Blackfeet have various dances; for instance,—1. The mosquito dance. 2. The dog dance. 3. The dance of the buffalo, with thin horns. 4. The dance of the prairie dogs. 5. The dance of those who carry the raven. 6. The soldiers' dance. 7. The old bulls' dance. 8. The dance of the imprudent. 9. The medicine dance. 10. The scalp dance. The first seven are all danced in the same manner, the only difference is in the singing. This is usually sometimes loud, sometimes soft, now high, now low, always consisting of short, frequently repeated tones, and extremely monotonous, often interrupted by loud exclamations of "re, ri," or "hey, hey, hey," repeated three times, nearly the same among all the Missouri tribes, and interrupted by the war cry. The medicine dance of the women does not occur every year. It is a medicine feast for the latter, at which, however, some men likewise appear. A large wooden hut is erected, the women dress themselves as handsomely as they can, and all wear a large feather cap. Some of the women take no part in the dance, and these, with the men, are spectators. Men beat the drum, and shake the schischikué, the last day of the feast; when the dance is finished, the buffalo {255} park is imitated; the men, the children, and the remaining women form two diverging lines, b and c,[98] which proceed from the medicine lodge, out of which the women creep, crawling on all-fours, and endeavour to imitate the manners of the buffalo cows. Several men represent buffalo bulls, and are at first driven back by the women; but then, as is the practice in this kind of hunting, a fire is kindled to windward, and the women, or buffalo cows, as soon as they smell the smoke, retreat into the medicine lodge, which concludes the festival. They sometimes perform this dance in the summer, when the fancy takes them.
Plan of women's medicine dance
