5. The white earth dance. They wear a cap made of ermines' tails, hanging down; at the back of their head, two war eagles' feathers crossed; at the small of the back, a piece of leather like a tail, ornamented with strips of ermine and bells; they carry a large bow-lance, decorated with the feathers of the war eagles. Their robe is trimmed with fox skin and strips of ermine.
6. The dance of the spirits. A large cap of owls' feathers hangs down behind, and goes even round the body. They have a war pipe suspended round the neck, and in their hands the skin of their medicine animal.
7. The dance of the extended robe. If anything is given to them during this dance, they receive it with their guns pointed at the giver. They dress as if they were going to battle, and only the bravest warriors are admitted among them. If any one accepts a present, another, who has performed more exploits, pushes him away, enumerates his own deeds, till another comes and treats him in the same manner, and so on, till, at length, the bravest takes possession of the gift. They imitate in their dance the various attitudes of fighting, and, with one arm, hold their robe before them like a shield, as if to defend themselves. All the wounds they have received are marked on the body with red paint. These bands and dances are bought and sold in the same manner as among the Manitaries, Crows, and Mandans. The purchasers are obliged to offer and give up their wives to the discretion of the fathers, that is, the sellers.
Their games are nearly the same as among the other tribes. The skin of a young white buffalo cow is likewise highly valued by them. They have the same distinctions as the Mandans for their military exploits, and the partisans observe the same ceremonies, only the Arikkara partisan has a head of maize at his breast, which they consider as a great medicine. If they are obliged to retreat they never throw aside their girdle, as the other nations do, however hot the weather may be. It is said that when many Arikkaras are together they do not fight very well, but when there are only a few they show much more bravery. No tribe has killed so many white men as the Arikkaras. The Pawnees formerly tortured their prisoners, till their chief, Petulescharu, as Say relates,[356] abolished the custom,[357] and the Arikkaras likewise renounced it when they separated from the Pawnees.
Their religious ideas and traditions are in general the same as those of the Mandans. They give to the first man a name which is likewise the appellation of the wolf. They formerly reverenced the ark of the first man, but they have given up that custom. Like all the Indians on the Missouri, they have their medicine feasts and all manner of superstitious practices. The Okippe, properly speaking, is not known among them; they torture themselves, however, though {409} not so cruelly as their neighbours. All kinds of animals are considered by them as medicine, and they choose it as the other tribes do. They never fast so long as the Mandans and the Manitaries; at the most for one day. When they would do penance and kill buffaloes, they never load their horses with the flesh of the animals they may have killed, but often bring home a large quantity, on their head and back, from a great distance. He who bears the greatest burden sometimes gives the flesh to a poor old man, who then sings medicine songs for him, in order that he may have much success in hunting and in war, and by such actions he acquires great esteem. The lord of life told the Arikkaras that, if they gave to the poor in this manner, and laid burdens upon themselves, they would be successful in all their undertakings. It is said that they have given up all their former religious traditions except the last. This may, perhaps, be partly ascribed to the influence of the Whites—a conjecture which occurs to unprejudiced persons when they consider the simple mythology of the Mandans. The maize is one of the principal medicines of the Arikkaras, for which they show their reverence in various ways. One of their greatest medicine feasts is that of the bird case, which they have faithfully retained; they esteem this medicine as highly as Christians do the Bible. It is the general rule and law, according to which they govern themselves. This instrument is hung up in the medicine lodge of their villages, and accompanies them wherever they go. It consists of a four-cornered case, made of parchment, six or seven feet long, but narrow, strengthened at the top with a piece of wood. It opens at one end, and seven schischikués of gourds are fixed at the top, ornamented with a tuft of horse-hair dyed red. See the annexed[358] woodcut, designed by Mato-Topé. Inside of the box there are stuffed birds of all such kinds as they can procure; that is to say, only such species as are here in summer. Besides these the box contains a large and very celebrated medicine pipe, which is smoked only on extraordinary occasions and great festivals. If an Arikkara has even killed his brother, and then smoked this pipe, all ill-will towards him must be forgotten. With this singular apparatus a ceremony is performed as soon as the seed is sown and the first gourds are ripe. The blossoms of the gourd are guarded, that no one may injure them; and, as soon as the first fruit is ripe, some distinguished warriors are chosen, who must come to the assembly. Articles of value are presented to them; the first fruit is cut and given them to eat. For this they must take down and open the bird case, on which occasion medicine songs are sung, and the large pipe is smoked. In the summer-time, {410} when the trees are green, they take an evergreen tree, such as a red cedar, peel the trunk, and paint it with blue, red, and white rings, and then plant it before the medicine lodge; the case is taken down, and the ceremony performed. This bird case is of special efficacy in promoting the growth of the maize and other plants; and he who carries this magic case to a great distance, and with considerable exertion, obtains the highest place in the favour of the lord of life. The strongest men among these Indians are said sometimes to carry a whole buffalo, without the head and the intestines, to present it as an offering to the bird case. This offering is considered very meritorious; and, when they have made it four times, it is believed that they will never be in want of buffaloes. At the beginning of the world, the Mandans, it is said, inhabited the village of Ruhptare, together with the Arikkaras. At that time the lord of life came to them in the form of a child, and directed them to celebrate the Okippe every year, like the Mandans, but not their ceremony with the bird case. Quarrels and affrays arose on this subject between the Mandans of Ruhptare and the Arikkaras, during which the lord of life remained among the former. He thought of going to the other party, which he was advised not to do, because they would kill him; to which he answered, "They cannot kill me." He then went to a stream, took out of it a piece of salt, with which he rubbed his whole body, and threw a part of it among the Arikkaras, by which a great many of them were poisoned. The two parties afterwards separated; the Arikkaras retained their bird case, the Mandans the Okippe, as the lord of life had enjoined them. In consequence of this event the Arikkaras were angry with the lord of life, and called him "the prairie wolf."
This bird case is likewise a calendar for the Arikkaras, for they reckon the seven cold months by the seven schischikués, beginning to count by the middle one for the coldest month. On the left hand they reckon three months till the warm weather, which lasts five months, and which they pass over, to begin at the end of the schischikués with the other cold months, proceeding to the centre where the greatest degree of cold recurs. Leaving out the five months of warm weather, May, June, July, August, and September, those which are reckoned by the schischikués are—
1. The month in which the leaves fall; October.
2. The month of the nose of the little serpent; November.
3. The month of the nose of the great serpent; December.
4. The month of the seven cold nights; January.