Another very remarkable medicine festival is that for attracting the herds of buffaloes, which is usually celebrated in the autumn, or winter. I shall describe this festival, as an eye-witness among the Manitaries, where it is observed precisely in the same manner as among the Mandans. At this festival they leave their wives to the older men, and individual Indians do the same on certain occasions, when they desire to ask good wishes for the attainment of some object they have in view. A man, in such a case, goes, with his pipe, and accompanied by his wife, who wears no clothes except her buffalo robe, to another hut. The wife carries a dish of boiled maize, which she sets down before a third person, and the man does the same with his pipe. The woman then passes the palm of her hand down the whole arm of the person favoured in this manner, takes him by the hand, and he must follow her to a retired spot, generally to the forest surrounding the huts in the winter time; after which she returns and repeats the same process, often with eight or ten men. As soon as the man so favoured has resumed his seat, the person who asks his good wishes presents his pipe to him that he may smoke; whereupon he expresses his best wishes for the success of the undertaking or project in hand. By way of returning thanks, his arm is again stroked.[302]
A third medicine feast is that described by Say, by the name of the corn dance of the Manitaries. He is pretty correct in his account of it, and it is used as well among the Mandans as the Manitaries. It is a consecration of the grain to be sown, and is called the corn dance feast of the women.[303] The old woman who never dies sends, in the spring, the water-fowl, swans, geese, and ducks, as symbols of the kinds of grain cultivated by the Indians. The wild goose signifies maize; the swan, the gourd; and the duck, beans. It is the old woman that causes these plants to grow, and, therefore, she sends these birds as her signs and representatives. It is very seldom that eleven wild geese are found together in the spring; but, if it happens, this is a sign that the crop of maize will be remarkably fine. The Indians keep a large quantity of dried flesh in readiness for the time in the spring when the birds arrive, that they may immediately celebrate the corn feast of the women. They hang the meat, before the village, on long stages made of poles, three or four rows, one above another, and this, with various articles of value, is considered as an offering to the old woman. The elderly females, as representatives of the old woman who never dies, assemble on a certain day about the stages, carrying a stick in their hands, to one {379} end of which a head of maize is fastened. Sitting down in a circle, they plant their sticks in the ground before them, and then dance round the stages. Some old men beat the drum, and rattle the schischikué. The maize is not wetted or sprinkled, as many believe, but, on the contrary, it is supposed that such a practice would be injurious. While the old women are performing these ceremonies, the younger ones come and put some dry pulverized meat into their mouths, for which each of them receives, in return, a grain of the consecrated maize, which she eats. Three or four grains are put into their dish, and are afterwards carefully mixed with the seed to be sown, in order to make it thrive and yield an abundant crop. The dried flesh on the stages is the perquisite of the aged females, as the representatives of the old woman who never dies. During the ceremony, it is not unusual for some men of the band of dogs to come and pull a large piece of flesh from the poles and carry it off. As members of this band, and being men of distinction, no opposition can be offered.
A similar corn feast is repeated in the autumn, but at that season it is held for the purpose of attracting the herds of buffaloes, and of obtaining a large supply of meat. Each woman then has not a stick with a head of maize, as in the former instance, but a whole plant of that grain, pulled up by the roots. They designate the maize as well as the birds, which are the symbols of the fruits of the earth, by the name of the old woman who never dies, and call upon them in the autumn, saying—"Mother, have pity on us; do not send the severe cold too soon, so that we may have a sufficient supply of meat; do not permit all the game to go away, so that we may have something for the winter."
In autumn, when the birds emigrate to the south, or, as the Indians express it, return to the old woman, they believe that they take with them the presents—especially the dried flesh—that were hung up at the entrance of the village, for the giver and protectress of the crop. They further imagine that the old woman partakes of the flesh. Some poor females among these Indians, who are not able to offer flesh or any valuable gift, take a piece of parchment, in which they wrap the foot of a buffalo, and suspend it to one of the poles as their offering. The birds on their return, go to the old woman, each bringing something from the Indians; but, towards the end, one approaches, and says—"I have very little to give you, for I have received only a very mean gift." To this, the old woman, on receiving the buffalo's foot from the poor women, or widows, says—"This is just what I love; this poor offering is more dear to me than all the other presents, however costly." Upon this she boils a piece of the foot with some maize, and eats it with much satisfaction.
The old woman who never dies has very extensive plantations of maize, the keepers of which are the great stag and the white-tailed stag. She has, likewise, many blackbirds, which help to guard her property. When she intends to feed these keepers, she summons them, and they fall with avidity upon the maize fields. As these plantations are very large, she requires many {380} labourers, and the mouse, the mole, and the before-mentioned stags, perform the work. The birds, which fly from the sea-shore in the spring, represent the old woman, who then travels to the north to visit "the old man who never dies," and who always resides in that quarter. She does not, however, stop there long, but generally returns in three or four days. In former times, the old woman's hut was near the little Missouri, where the Indians often went to visit her. One day, twelve Manitaries came to her, and she set before them a pot of maize, which was so small, that it was not sufficient to satisfy even one; but she invited them to eat, and, as soon as the pot was empty, it was instantly refilled, and all the twelve men had enough. This occurred several times while the old woman resided in that spot.
Serpents, especially the rattlesnakes, are in a greater or less degree "medicine" for these people, who kill them, and cut off the rattles, which they regard as an effectual remedy in many diseases.[304] They chew one of the joints, and wet various parts of the body of the patient with the saliva. They likewise believe in the existence of a colossal medicine serpent, which lives in a lake three or four days' journey from this place, and to which they make offerings. The following is their tradition of this monster:—Two young men were strolling along the bank of the river, and observed a cavern, through which curiosity led them to go. On reaching the further end, they were surprised at beholding a picturesque country, wholly unknown to them, where numerous herds of buffaloes were grazing. Suddenly, however, an immense giant stood before them, who demanded—"Who are you, you little people? I am afraid if I were to lay hold of you, I should crush you!" He then lifted them in his hands very carefully, and carried them into the village, which was inhabited by giants like himself. Accompanied by the two Mandans, they went out to hunt buffaloes. The giants killed the buffaloes by throwing stones, but the Mandans destroyed many with their arrows, which greatly delighted the giants. At that time the giants were at war with the eagles, which were very numerous, and which they slew by flinging stones. The Mandans, however, shot them with arrows, so that they speedily procured a large quantity of eagles' feathers. They then took leave of the giants, and were permitted to depart with all their valuable feathers. On their return they found the cave blocked up by a colossal serpent. At first they were at a loss how to make a passage, but they soon collected a large pile of wood and burnt the monster. One of them tasted the roasted flesh of the serpent, and, finding it palatable, partook of more. They proceeded on their way, when the head of the Mandan who had tasted the serpent's flesh began to swell prodigiously, and an intolerable itching came to his face. He begged his friend not to leave him, but to take him home. On the second day he continued to swell, increased in length, felt an irritation all over, and was soon afterwards transformed into a serpent, upon which he begged his companion to take him to the Missouri, which the latter accomplished in three days. As soon as the serpent reached the water, he dived, but speedily rose to the surface, and said, "There are many like me below, but {381} they hate me, therefore carry me to the long water, three days' journey from the Missouri." This, too, was done, but the serpent not liking his new abode, his comrade was obliged to carry him to a second lake, called Histoppa-Numangka (the place of the tattooed countenance), when the serpent was satisfied, and resolved to remain. He commissioned the young man to bring him four things, viz. a white wolf, a polecat, some pounded maize, and eagles' tails: after this he was to go to war four times, and kill an enemy in each combat. All this accordingly took place. The serpent then added that he would always remain in this lake, never die, be medicine, and, when the Mandans desired anything, they might come hither, do penance, or make offerings, that is to say, hang robes, eagles' tails, and other articles of value, on poles on the banks of the lake, which the Indians sometimes do even to this day.
Another curiosity of a similar nature is the Medicine Stone, which is mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, and which the Manitaries likewise reverence.[305] This stone is between two and three days' journey from the villages on Cannon-ball River, and about 100 paces from its banks. I was assured that it was on a tolerably high hill, and in the form of a flat slab, probably of sand-stone. The stone is described as being marked with impressions of the footsteps of men, and animals of various descriptions, also of sledges with dogs. The Indians use this stone as an oracle, and make offerings of value to it, such as kettles, blankets, cloth, guns, knives, hatchets, medicine pipes, &c., which are found deposited close to it. The war parties of both nations, when they take the field, generally go to this place, and consult the oracle as to the issue of their enterprise. Lamenting and howling, they approach the hill, smoke their medicine pipes, and pass the night near the spot. On the following morning they copy the figures on the stone upon a piece of parchment or skin, which they take to the village, where the old men give the interpretations. New figures are undoubtedly drawn from time to time on this stone, near to which the celebrated ark, in which part of the nation was saved in the great deluge, formerly stood.
The Mandans have many other medicine establishments in the vicinity of their villages, all of which are dedicated to the superior powers. Mr. Bodmer has made very accurate drawings of those near Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush, one of which consists of four poles placed in the form of a square; the two foremost have a heap of earth and green turf thrown up round them, and four buffalo skulls laid in a line between them, while twenty-six human skulls are placed in a row from one of the stakes at the back to the other; some of these skulls are painted with a red stripe. Behind the whole a couple of knives are stuck into the ground, and a bundle of twigs is fastened at the top of the poles with a kind of comb, or the teeth of a rake, painted red.[306] The Indians repair to such places when they desire to make offerings or put up petitions; they howl, lament, and make loud entreaties, often for many days together, to the lord of life, which the French Canadians call weeping, though no tears are shed. A similar medicine establishment is represented,[307] where a couple of human figures, very clumsily made of skins, {382} were fixed upon poles, representing, as we were told, the sun and moon, probably the lord of life and the old woman who never dies. Wormwood, of which they generally fasten a bunch to the poles, is a sacred medicine herb, to which they ascribe various effects.
Dreams, as I have before said, afford the usual motives for such actions, and for the penances which they impose upon themselves, and they believe all that appears in their dreams to be true. They were not yet acquainted with fire-arms, when one of the Indians dreamt of a weapon with which they could kill their enemies at a great distance, and soon afterwards the white men brought them the first gun. In the same manner they dreamt of horses before they obtained any. Even the Whites who live among them are infected with this belief in dreams, and other superstitions. They frequently promise, on undertaking anything, the joint of a finger, which they cut off at once, and keep in a handful of wormwood; this I myself saw among the Blackfeet, where, at that time, it was a sign of mourning. It is also done at the time of the Okippe in May and June. Almost all the Mandans and Manitaries have lost one or two joints of the fingers, and several of them more. There are numerous superstitious ideas and prejudices among these Indians. Thus, they believe that a person to whom they wish ill must die, if they make a figure of wood or clay, substituting for the heart, a needle, an awl, or a porcupine quill, and bury the image at the foot of one of their medicine poles. When a child is born, the father must not bridle a horse, that is to say, he is not to fasten the halter to the lower jaw, otherwise the child would die in convulsions. If the wife be pregnant, this circumstance is often the cause of much ill fortune to the husband, and he is frequently unsuccessful in hunting. If an Indian, in such cases, wounds a buffalo, without being able to kill it quickly, he endeavours to carry the heart of a buffalo home, and makes his wife discharge an arrow at it; he then again feels confidence in his weapons, that they will speedily kill. The Indians affirm that a pregnant woman is very lucky at a game called billiards. Many consider it a bad omen when a woman, while several Mandans are smoking together, passes between them. If a woman is lying on the ground between the men who are smoking, a piece of wood is laid across her, to serve as a communication between the men. The strongest man now living among the Mandans, who has been the victor in several wrestling matches with the Whites, always takes hold of his pipe by the head, for, were he to touch it in another part, the blood would suddenly rush from his nostrils. As soon as he bleeds in this manner, he instantly empties his pipe, and throws the contents into the fire, where it explodes like gunpowder, and the bleeding immediately stops. Nobody, they say, can touch this man's face, without at once bleeding at the nose and mouth. A certain Indian affirms that, whenever another offers him a pipe to smoke, out of civility, he immediately has his mouth full of worms, handfuls of which he throws into the fire. The medicine of another man consists in making a snow-ball, which he rolls a long time between his hands, so that it at length becomes hard, and is converted into a white stone, which, when {383} struck, emits fire. Many persons, even Whites, pretended they had seen this, and it is utterly useless to attempt convincing them to the contrary. The same man pretends that, during a dance, he plucked white feathers from a certain small bird, which he rolled between his hands, and formed of them, in a short time, a similar white stone. Sometimes an Indian takes it into his head to make his gun medicine, or to consecrate it, which he does not dare afterwards to part with. With this view he generally makes a yearly feast in the spring. The crier (kettle-tender, or marmiton) must invite a certain number of guests, and receive an equal number of small sticks, which he delivers to them, as a sign of their being invited; nay, now, European playing cards are actually sent round for this purpose. The guests appear, lay their guns aside, and take their places, on which the drum and schischikué go round, and every guest sings, and plays the drum and rattle. While this music is going on, they eat the food which has been dressed, nor are they allowed to leave any of it. The host then takes his gun, cuts a piece of flesh, and with it rubs the barrel, and flings the meat into the fire; this is repeated thrice. He then takes up some of the water in which the meat was boiled, rubs the whole length of the barrel with it, pours the rest of the broth into the fire; and, lastly, takes fat, with which he rubs the whole of his gun, and then throws the remainder into the fire.