We saw the Blackfeet ride to battle half naked, but some, too, in their finest dresses, with the beautifully ornamented shield obtained from the Crows, and their splendid crowns of feathers,[101] and, on these occasions, they all have their medicines, or amulets, open and hung about them. The battle, of which we were witnesses, and of which I shall give an account in the next chapter, enabled us to form a pretty correct notion of their mode of fighting, which does not differ from that of the other North Americans. Small parties, almost naked, approach the enemy by stealth, and endeavour to gain the advantage of him by stratagem, ambuscade, or surprise; and the attack is generally made at daybreak. They formed long lines, and fired from a great distance; but they are indifferent marksmen. The women and children were very attentive to the wounded, over whom they cried and lamented, as we shall see in the next chapter. The enemy, with guns, arrows, spears, and knives, killed and wounded men, women, and children indiscriminately, and scalped even the women, who are often taken prisoners, and carried off as slaves, but afterwards not usually ill-treated. I shall have occasion to speak also, in the next chapter, of the fury with which they mutilate the dead, every one, as he passes, venting his rage by firing his gun, or throwing stones at them, or by blows. No trace is now to be found, at least among the Blackfeet, of the tortures inflicted on the prisoners, as formerly practised by the American Indians.
When the warriors come near their camp, after a battle, they sing; and one rides or runs before, often in serpentine lines, backwards and forwards about the tents, holding up and shaking the scalp, and displaying it at a distance. If any one has taken a weapon, he displays it in the same manner, loudly proclaiming his name as having taken it. After a successful engagement, the men sing the song which they call aninay, that is, "they are painted black." On these occasions, they assemble in the open air about their tents, with their faces painted black, their leggins and robes spotted with black, and then sing, without the accompaniment of any instrument, nor are the scalps displayed. There are no words to this song, which consists only of the usual notes.
The weapons of the Blackfeet do not much differ from those of the other Indians on the Missouri; but they are not so handsome and well made as those of the Crows, Manitaries and Mandans. They do not themselves make bows of the horn of the elk, or of the mountain sheep, which are consequently not common among them. Their country does not produce any wood suitable for bows; and they endeavour to obtain, by barter, the bow wood, or yellow wood (Maclura aurantiaca), from the River Arkansas. For their quivers, they prefer the skin of the cougar (Felis concolor, Linn.), for which they give a horse. The tail hangs down from the quiver, is trimmed with red cloth on the inner side, embroidered with white beads, and ornamented {258} at the end or elsewhere, with strips of skin, like tassels. I saw few lances among the Blackfeet, but many war clubs, most of which they had taken from the Flatheads. Many have thick leather shields, which are usually painted green and red, and hung with feathers and other things, to which some superstitious belief is attached. When they are going to battle, they twist the leather case of their gun round their head, like a turban. Wolf skins are then useful to them, especially when they want to observe the enemy. They wear them across their shoulders, and, when they wish to approach the enemy unperceived, they throw them over their head, and lie down behind an elevation, or rising of the ground, in such a manner as to have the appearance of a white wolf.
The medicine men or physicians of the Blackfeet are very unskilful. We always saw them take water in their mouths, which they spit out over the wounded. They never wash or cleanse the wounds, and the coagulated blood was still on them on the second day. The recovery of all the severely wounded, without any proper care, shows the vigorous constitutions of these men, of which, indeed, there are many other proofs. Drums and rattles (schischikué) were daily used in their attendance on the sick, in the closed tent. Children mortally wounded lay on the ground without covering, and without any kind of attention, exposed to the burning sun, and they all died in a short time. These Indians are said to have successfully healed some severe wounds; but, as far as my observation goes, those cures were chiefly to be ascribed to the good constitutions of the patients. Among almost all the tribes of the Missouri there were individuals who had been scalped, and cured, and who wore caps; and we were told that there were some such among the Blackfeet. These Indians have some efficacious remedies derived from the vegetable kingdom, one of which is a whitish root from the Rocky Mountains, which is called, by the Canadians, rhubarb, which is said to resemble our rhubarb in its effect and taste, and likewise to act as an emetic. Another root is esteemed to be a powerful remedy against the bite of serpents. In all cases they have recourse to the drum and the rattle, and have great confidence in the intolerable noise caused by those instruments. The Blackfeet make their rattles of leather, wood, or bladder, because they do not grow any calabashes. It is well known that this remarkable instrument is in use among most of the different tribes or nations of the American race, as well in the northern as the southern half of this vast continent. They have great confidence in the medicines of the Whites, and often apply for them; but many were in such a desperate state from diseases of long standing, that a cure was quite out of the question. If Indians are cured by their doctors (which sometimes happens), they make them considerable presents, or the medicine man makes a heavy charge. Last spring several Blackfeet died very suddenly from colic, accompanied with vomiting, and the disease appears very closely to have resembled the cholera.
When a Blackfoot dies, they do not bury him in the ground if they can avoid it, but sew him up in a buffalo robe, dressed in his best clothes, his face painted red, but without his {259} weapons, and lay him in some retired place, in ravines, rocks, forests, or on a high, steep bank, and often cover the body with wood or stones, that the wolves may not get at it. Frequently, when they cannot find a solitary spot, the corpse remains above ground in a kind of wooden shed, and they were often obliged to bury it, or to give it to the Whites as a desirable present, which cannot be refused. The relations cut off their long hair, smear it, as well as their faces and clothes, with whitish-grey clay, and, during the time of mourning, wear their worst clothing. Often, too, they cut off a joint of a finger. They believe the dead go into another country, where they will have lack of nothing; and that they have often been heard when they were summoned to smoke a pipe together. At the funeral of rich Indians, several horses are often killed upon the spot; and we were told of instances when twelve or fifteen horses were killed in this manner at the funeral of a celebrated chief. On the death of Sachkomapoh (the child), a rich and distinguished chief, who is said to have possessed between 4000 and 5000 horses, 150 were killed with arrows.[102] The relations assemble at the residence of the deceased, and even the men lament and wail. The corpse is generally buried on the first day, and in case of death during the night, it is removed on the following morning.
The Blackfeet, like all the other American Indians, are superstitious, and it is rare to see a man who has not some strange custom or habit which he adopts as a charm, and on which he imagines that the success of his plans and undertakings depends. Many rattle with bells before they smoke; others spit in different directions before they drink; others, again, mutter a certain phrase, or a kind of prayer, &c. &c. We saw one man who never lighted his pipe at the fire, but made use of a stick about two feet long, and twice as thick as the ramrod of a gun, which was ornamented with feathers and bells, and painted red and black.[103] It was hollow at the end to receive another thinner stick, which he always kindled when he wanted to light his pipe. On inquiring the cause of this strange custom, he answered that he was afraid of iron, and must, therefore, light his pipe with this stick. Most of these people have such singular customs, but, unfortunately, they do not like to communicate to others their notions on such subjects, and it is, consequently, very difficult to get at the bottom of them.
{260} Mr. Berger, the interpreter, who was otherwise well acquainted with the Blackfoot Indians, could not give me any information respecting their religious ideas, further than that they worship the sun (Natohs or Nantohs); and it is probable that, like the Mandans, they look upon it either as the lord of life, or his dwelling-place. We did not observe, in their camps, either offerings for the heavenly powers, hung upon poles, as among the Mandans and Manitaries, or any other indications of the exercise of some kind of worship.[104]
FOOTNOTES:
[77] The Sassis, or Sarcis (Sarcees), are a branch of the Chippewans, who live further to the north, and must not be confounded with the Ojibbeways (Chippeways). (See A. Mc Kenzie, pages lxxi. and cxvi.) Tanner speaks of their language; and Captain Franklin, in his first journey (page [109]), says that this tribe had 150 tents. Dr. Morse, in his Report (page [34]), calls the Indians mentioned here, Sursees. According to Captain Bonneville, they are usually included under the name of Blackfeet; which, however, is by no means the case in the part of the country through which I travelled.—Maximilian.
Comment by Ed. The Sarcee are a small but brave and mischievous tribe belonging to the Athabascan family—the Tinneh stock, related either to the Chepewyan or Beaver Indians. Early in the nineteenth century they migrated southward, and joined the Blackfoot confederacy. They have always roamed in British territory, and are now upon a reserve in Alberta, a short distance south of Calgary. In 1901 they numbered 205, and were employed in farming and cattle-herding.