The Manitaries appear to have but a very slight acquaintance with medicine; they mostly have recourse to the drum, the schischikué, and the singing of the medicine men, for the cure of diseases. As a remedy for wounds they burn scented grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), hold their hands in the smoke, and then, at some distance, over the wound, after which they lay tallow upon it. The cure of some men who recovered after being scalped, and many large scars on the bodies of these Indians, are proofs of the natural vigour of their constitutions. The medicine men have a particular song, without words, which is employed as the last resource to recover a person at the point of death. The magician alone then sings, accompanied by his schischikué.
The Manitaries always lay their dead upon stages or scaffolds. As the lord of life is displeased when they quarrel and kill each other, those who do so are buried in the earth, that they {405} may be no longer seen. In this case a buffalo's head is laid upon the grave, in order that the buffalo herds may not keep away, for, if they were to smell the wicked, they might remove and never return. The good are laid upon stages, that they may be seen by the lord of life.
The language of the Manitaries is very different from that of the Mandans, and is far more difficult to pronounce correctly. Like that, it has many gutturals, especially the ch, as in Dutch and German. The difficulty of the pronunciation lies chiefly in the accent. What may in German be expressed in a few words, requires several; a proof of the poverty of the language. Lewis and Clarke say—"the dialect of the Mandans differs widely from those of the Arikkaras and Manitaries; but their long residence near each other has insensibly blended their manners, and occasioned some approximation in language, especially in objects of daily occurrence." This is correct, for I was assured by both nations that, when they first lived together, their languages were totally different, and respectively unintelligible to each other.
FOOTNOTES:
[335] Consult Matthews, Hidatsa, pp. 33, 34, on the origin of these names. The Minitaree tradition relates that when they reached the east bank of the Missouri, the latter inquired who they were. Not understanding, the newly-arrived tribe supposed they were asked what was wished, to which they replied "minitari"—to cross the water. Thereupon the Mandan gave the new-comers this name. See also Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, v, p. 348.—Ed.
[336] For the Crow and Minitaree legend of the separation of the two branches of the tribe, see Matthews, Hidatsa, pp. 39, 40. The Minitaree name for the Crows signified "They who refused the paunch" (i. e., of the buffalo). According to Lewis and Clark (Original Journals, v, p. 297), "they quarreled about a buffalo, and two bands left the village and went into the plains, (those two bands are now known by the title Pounch [Paunch] and Crow Indians.)" See also Original Journals, vi, pp. 103, 104, where the Paunch Indians are made a separate band. This was probably the division of the Crows known as Aelekaweah. See Smithsonian Institution Report, 1885, part ii, p. 113.—Ed.
[337] For the site of these villages see our volume xxii, p. 300, note 326.—Ed.
[338] For the Botocudo see our volume xxii, p. 219, note 132.—Ed.
[339] See his portrait, which Maximilian calls "a striking resemblance," in Plate 57, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.
[340] See Plate 59, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.—Ed.