,the ,university of ,minnesota ,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,social ,,sciences ,,number #i ,,agriculture ,,of ,,the ,,hidatsa ,,indians ,,an ,,indian ,,interpretation ,,by ,,gilbert ,,livingstone ,,wilson1 ,ph4,d4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,minnesota ,,minneapolis ,bulletin of the ,university of ,minnesota ,november #aiag ,,price3 #ge ,,cents ,,research ,,publications ,,of ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,minnesota ,these publications contain the results of research work from various departments of the ,university and are offered for exchange with universities1 scientific societies1 and other institutions4 ,papers will be published as separate monographs numbered in several series4 ,there is no stated interval of publication4 ,application for any of these publications should be made to the ,university ,librarian4 ,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,social ,,sciences #a4 ,,thompson ,,and ,,warber1 ,social and ,economic ,survey of a ,rural ,township in ,southern ,minnesota4 #aiac4 #j4ej4 #b4 ,,matthias ,,nordberg ,,orfield1 ,federal ,land ,grants to the ,states1 with ,special ,reference to ,minnesota4 #aiae4 #a4jj4 #c4 ,,edward ,,van ,,dyke ,,robinson1 ,early ,economic ,conditions and the ,development of ,agriculture in ,minnesota4 #aiae4 #a4ej4 #d4 ,l4 ,d4 ,h4 ,,weld ,,and ,,others1 ,studies in the ,marketing of ,farm ,products4 #aiae4 #j4ej4 #e4 ,,ben ,,palmer1 ,swamp ,land ,drainage1 with ,special ,reference to ,minnesota4 #aiae4 #j4ej4 #f4 ,,albert ,,ernest ,,jenks1 ,indian-,white ,amalgamation3 ,an ,anthropometric ,study4 #aiaf4 #j4ej4 #g4 ,c4 ,d4 ,,allin1 ,a ,history of the ,tariff ,relations of the ,australian ,colonies4 ,in press4 #h4 ,,frances ,h4 ,,relf1 ,the ,petition of ,right4 ,in press4 #i4 ,,gilbert ,l4 ,,wilson1 ,agriculture of the ,hidatsa ,indians3 ,an ,indian ,interpretation4 #aiag4 #j4ge4 #aj4 ,,notestein ,,and ,,relf1 ,editors1 ,commons ,debates for #afbi4 ,in press4 #aa4 ,,raymond ,a4 ,,kent1 ,state ,aid to ,public ,schools4 ,in press4 ,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,physical ,,sciences ,,and ,,mathematics #a4 ,,frankforter ,,and ,,frary1 ,equilibria in ,systems ,containing ,alcohols1 ,salts1 and ,water4 #aiab4 #j4ej4 #b4 ,,frankforter ,,and ,,kritchevsky1 ,a ,new ,phase of ,catalysis4 #aiad4 #j4ej4 ,,studies ,,in ,,engineering #a4 ,,george ,,alfred ,,maney1 ,secondary ,stresses and ,other ,problems in ,rigid ,frames3 ,a ,new ,method of ,solution4 #aiae4 #j4be4 #b4 ,,charles ,,franklin ,,shoop1 ,an ,investigation of the ,concrete ,road-,making ,properties of ,minnesota ,stone and ,gravel4 #aiae4 #j4be4 #c4 ,,franklin ,r4 ,,mcmillan1 ,shrinkage and ,time ,effects in ,reinforced ,concrete4 #aiae4 #j4be4 7,continued inside back cover7 ,illustration3 ,maxidiwiac1 or ,buffalobird-woman ,photographed in #aiaj ,the ,university of ,minnesota ,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,social ,,sciences ,,number #i ,,agriculture ,,of ,,the ,,hidatsa ,,indians ,,an ,,indian ,,interpretation ,,by ,,gilbert ,,livingstone ,,wilson1 ,ph4,d4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,minnesota ,,minneapolis ,bulletin of the ,university of ,minnesota ,november #aiag ,,copyright #aiag ,,by ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,minnesota ,,preface ,the field of primitive economic activity has been largely left uncultivated by both economists and anthropologists4 ,the present study by ,mr4 ,gilbert ,l4 ,wilson is an attempt to add to the scanty knowledge already at hand on the subject of the economic life of the ,american ,indian4 ,the work was begun without theory or thesis1 but solely with the object of gathering available data from an old woman expert agriculturist in one of the oldest agricultural tribes accessible to a student of the ,university of ,minnesota4 ,that the study has unexpectedly revealed certain varieties of maize of apparently great value to agriculture in the semi-arid areas west of ,minnesota is a cause of satisfaction to both ,mr4 ,wilson and myself4 ,this fact again emphasizes the wisdom of research work in our universities4 ,when1 now and then1 such practical dollar-and-cent results follow such purely scientific researches1 the wonder is that university research work is not generously endowed by businesses which largely profit by these researches4 ,it is the intention of those interested in the anthropological work of the ,university of ,minnesota that occasional publications will be issued by the ,university on anthropological subjects1 although at present there is no justification for issuing a consecutive series4 ,the present study is the second one in the anthropological field published by the ,university4 ,the earlier one is number #f in the ,studies in the ,social ,sciences1 issued ,march1 #aiaf4 ,,albert ,,ernest ,,jenks ,professor of ,anthropology ,,contents ,,pages ,foreword #a-e ,chapter ,i--,tradition #f-h ,chapter ,,ii--,beginning a garden #i-ae ,turtle #i ,clearing fields #i ,dispute and its settlement #aj ,turtle breaking soil #aa ,turtle's primitive tools #ab ,beginning a field in later times #ac ,trees in the garden #ae ,our west field #ae ,burning over the field #ae ,chapter ,,iii--,sunflowers #af-ba ,remark by ,maxidiwiac #af ,planting sunflowers #af ,varieties #af ,harvesting the seed #ag ,threshing #ah ,harvesting the mapi-naka #ah ,effect of frost #ah ,parching the seed #ai ,four-vegetables-mixed #ai ,sunflower-seed balls #ba ,chapter ,,iv--,corn #bb-fg ,planting #bb ,a morning's planting #bc ,soaking the seed #bc ,planting for a sick woman #bd ,size of our biggest field #bd ,naxu and nucami #be ,hoeing #bf ,the watchers' stage #bf ,explanation of sketch of watchers' stage #bh ,sweet ,grass's sun shade #cj ,the watchers #cj ,booths #ca ,eating customs #cb ,youths' and maidens' customs #cc ,watchers' songs #cc ,clan cousins' custom #cd ,story of ,snake-head-ornament #ce ,green corn and its uses #cf-da ,the ripening ears #cf ,second planting for green corn #cg ,cooking fresh green corn #cg ,roasting ears #cg ,mtua-lakapa #ch ,corn bread #ch ,drying green corn for winter #ci ,mapdi 7corn smut7 #db ,mapdi #db ,harvest and uses #db ,the ripe corn harvest #db-dg ,husking #db ,rejecting green ears #dd ,braiding corn #de ,the smaller ears #df ,drying the braided ears #dg ,seed corn #dg-di ,selecting the seed #dg ,keeping two years' seed #dh ,threshing corn #di-eh ,the booth #di ,order of the day's work #eb ,the cobs #ec ,winnowing #ed ,removing the booth #ee ,threshing braided corn #eg ,amount of harvest #eg ,sioux purchasing corn #eh ,varieties of corn #eh-fj ,description of varieties #eh ,how corn travels #ei ,uses of the varieties #fj-fg ,atki tsoki #fj ,mpi nakapa #fj ,mnakapa #fa ,atki #fb ,boiled corn ball #fb ,tsdi tsoki and tsdi tapa #fb ,mdpozi i'tia #fc ,other soft varieties #fc ,maikadicak #fc ,mp mpi'kiuta1 or corn balls #fc ,parched soft corn #fd ,parching whole ripe ears #fd ,parching hard yellow corn with sand #fd ,mdpozi pkici1 or lye-made hominy #fd ,general characteristics of the varieties #fe ,fodder yield #ff ,developing new varieties #ff ,sport ears #fg ,names and description #fg ,na'ta-tawoxi #fg ,wida-akata #fg ,ita-caca #fg ,okijpita #fg ,iticakupadi #fg ,chapter ,v--,squashes #fh-ha ,planting squashes #fh ,sprouting the seed #fh ,planting the sprouted seed #fi ,harvesting the squashes #fi ,slicing the squashes #gj ,squash spits #ga ,spitting the slices #gb ,in case of rain #gc ,drying and storing #gc ,squash blossoms #ge ,cooking and uses of squash #gf ,the first squashes #gf ,boiling fresh squash in a pot #gf ,squashes boiled with blossoms #gg ,other blossom messes #gg ,boiled blossoms #gg ,blossoms boiled with mdpozi i'tia #gg ,blossoms boiled with mpi nakapa #gh ,seed squashes #gh-ha ,selecting for seed #gh ,gathering the seed squashes #gh ,cooking the ripe squashes #gi ,saving the seed #gi ,eating the seeds #hj ,roasting ripe squashes #hj ,storing the unused seed squashes #hj ,squashes1 present seed #ha ,squash dolls #ha ,chapter ,,vi--,beans #hb-hf ,planting beans #hb ,putting in the seeds #hb ,hoeing and cultivating #hc ,threshing #hc ,varieties #hd ,selecting seed beans #he ,cooking and uses #he ,amaca dih1 or beans-boiled #hf ,green beans boiled in the pod #hf ,green corn and beans #hf ,chapter ,,vii--,storing for winter #hg-ig ,the cache pit #hg ,grass for lining #hh ,grass bundles #hi ,the grass binding rope #hi ,drying the grass bundles #hi ,the willow floor #hi ,the grass lining #ij ,skin bottom covering #ij ,storing the cache pit #ij ,the puncheon cover #ic ,cache pits in ,small ,ankle's lodge #ie ,first account #ie ,a second account on another day #if ,diagram of ,small ,ankle's lodge #ig ,chapter ,,viii--,the making of a drying stage #ih-ajd ,stages in ,like-a-fishhook village #ih ,cutting the timbers #ih ,digging the post holes #ii ,raising the frame #ajj ,the floor #ajj ,staying thongs #aja ,ladder #aja ,enlarging the stage #ajb ,present stages #ajb ,building1 women's work #ajb ,measurements of stage #ajc ,drying rods #ajd ,other uses of the drying stage #ajd ,chapter ,,ix--,tools #aje-ajf ,hoe #aje ,rakes #aje ,squash knives #ajf ,chapter ,x--,fields at ,like-a-fishhook village #ajh-aab ,east-side fields #ajh ,east-side fences #ajh ,idikitac's garden #aaj ,fields west of the village #aaj ,west-side fence #aaa ,crops1 our first wagon #aab ,chapter ,,xi--,miscellanea #aac-aah ,divisions between gardens #aac ,fallowing1 ownership of gardens #aac ,frost in the gardens #aae ,maxidiwiac's philosophy of frost #aae ,men helping in the field #aae ,sucking the sweet juice #aaf ,corn as fodder for horses #aaf ,disposition of weeds #aaf ,the spring clean-up #aaf ,manure #aag ,worms #aag ,wild animals #aag ,about old tent covers #aah ,chapter ,,xii--,since white men came #aai-abj ,how we got potatoes and other vegetables #aai ,the new cultivation #abj ,iron kettles #abj ,chapter ,,xiii--,tobacco #aba-abg ,observations by ,maxidiwiac #aba ,the tobacco garden #aba ,planting #abb ,arrow-head-earring's tobacco garden #abb ,small ,ankle's cultivation #abb ,harvesting the blossoms #abc ,harvesting the plants #abd ,selling to the ,sioux #abe ,size of tobacco garden #abf ,customs #abf ,accessories to the tobacco garden #abf-abg ,fence #abf ,the scrotum basket #abg ,old garden sites near ,independence #abi ,,hidatsa ,,alphabet a as a in what e 0 ai 0 air i 0 i 0 pique o 0 o 0 tone u 0 u 0 rule 0 a 0 father 0 ey 0 they 0 i 0 machine 0 u 0 hut 0 e 0 met 0 i 0 tin c 0 sh 0 shun x 0 ch 0 machen 7,german7 j 0 ch 0 mich 7,german7 z 0 z 0 azure b1 d1 h1 k1 l1 m1 n1 p1 r1 s1 t1 w1 as in ,english b1 w1 interchangeable with m n1 l1 r1 interchangeable with d ,an apostrophe 7'7 marks a short1 nearly inaudible breathing4 ,native ,hidatsa words in this thesis are written in the foregoing alphabet4 ,this does not apply to the tribal names ,hidatsa1 ,mandan1 ,dakota1 ,arikara1 ,minitari4 ,,agriculture ,,of ,,the ,,hidatsa ,,indians ,,an ,,indian ,,interpretation ,,foreword ,the ,hidatsas1 called ,minitaris by the ,mandans1 are a ,siouan linguistic tribe4 ,their language is closely akin to that of the ,crows with whom they claim to have once formed a single tribe2 a separation1 it is said1 followed a quarrel over a slain buffalo4 ,the name ,hidatsa was formerly borne by one of the tribal villages4 ,the other villages consolidated with it1 and the name was adopted as that of the tribe4 ,the name is said to mean 8willows10 and it was given the village because the god ,itsikamahidic promised that the villagers should become as numerous as the willows of the ,missouri river4 ,tradition says that the tribe came from ,miniwakan1 or ,devils ,lake1 in what is now ,north ,dakota2 and that migrating west1 they met the ,mandans at the mouth of the ,heart ,river4 ,the two tribes formed an alliance and attempted to live together as one people4 ,quarrels between their young men caused the tribes to separate1 but the ,mandans loyally aided their friends to build new villages a few miles from their own4 ,how long the two tribes dwelt at the mouth of the ,heart is not known4 ,they were found there with the ,arikaras about #agfe4 ,in #ahjd ,lewis and ,clark found the ,hidatsas in three villages at the mouth of the ,knife ,river1 and the ,mandans in two villages a few miles lower down on the ,missouri4 ,in #ahcb the artist ,catlin visited the two tribes1 remaining with them several months4 ,a year later ,maximilian of ,wied visited them with the artist ,bodmer4 ,copies of ,bodmer's sketches1 in beautiful lithograph1 are found in the library of the ,minnesota ,historical ,society4 ,catlin's sketches1 also in lithograph1 are in the ,minneapolis ,public ,library4 ,smallpox nearly exterminated the ,mandans in #ahcg-h1 not more than #aej persons surviving4 ,the same epidemic reduced the ,hidatsas to about #ejj persons4 ,the remnants of the two tribes united and in #ahde removed up the ,missouri and built a village at ,like-a-fishhook bend close to the trading post of ,fort ,berthold4 ,they were joined by the ,arikaras in #ahfb4 ,neighboring lands were set apart as a reservation for them2 and there the three tribes1 now settled on allotments1 still dwell4 ,the ,mandans and ,hidatsas have much intermarried4 ,by custom children speak usually the language of their mother1 but understand perfectly the dialect of either tribe4 ,in #ahgg ,washington ,matthews1 for several years government physician to the ,fort ,berthold ,reservation ,indians1 published a short description of ,hidatsa-,mandan culture and a grammar and vocabulary of the ,hidatsa language4#a ,more extensive notes intended by him for publication were destroyed by fire4 ,in #aijb the writer was called to the pastorate of the ,presbyterian church of ,mandan1 ,north ,dakota4 ,in ill health1 he was advised by his physician to purchase pony and gun and seek the open2 but spade and pick plied among the old ,indian sites in the vicinity proved more interesting4 ,a considerable collection of archaeological objects was accumulated1 a part of which now rests in the shelves of the ,minnesota ,historical ,society2 the rest will shortly be placed in the collections of the ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history4 ,in #aijf the writer and his brother1 ,frederick ,n4 ,wilson1 an artist1 and ,e4 ,r4 ,steinbrueck drove by wagon from ,mandan to ,independence1 ,fort ,berthold reservation4 ,the trip was made to obtain sketches for illustrating a volume of stories1 since published4#b ,at ,independence the party made the acquaintance of ,edward ,goodbird1 his mother ,maxidiwiac1 and the latter's brother ,wolf ,chief4 ,a friendship was thus begun which has been of the greatest value to the writer of this paper4 ,a year later ,mr4 ,george ,g4 ,heye sent the writer to ,fort ,berthold reservation to collect objects of ,mandan-,hidatsa culture4 ,among those that were obtained was a rare old medicine shrine4 ,description of this shrine and ,wolf ,chief's story of its origin have been published4#c ,in #aijh the writer and his brother1 both now resident in ,minneapolis1 were sent by ,dr4 ,clark ,wissler1 curator of anthropology1 ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history1 to begin cultural studies among the ,hidatsas4 ,this work1 generously supported by the ,museum1 has been continued by the writer each succeeding summer4 ,his reports1 preparations to edit which are now being made1 will appear in the ,museum's publications4 ,in ,february1 #aiaj1 the writer was admitted as a student in the ,graduate ,school1 ,university of ,minnesota1 majoring in ,anthropology4 ,at suggestion of his adviser1 ,dr4 ,albert ,e4 ,jenks1 and with permission of ,dr4 ,wissler1 he chose for his thesis subject1 ,agriculture of the ,hidatsa ,indians3 ,an ,indian ,interpretation4 ,it was the adviser's opinion that such a study held promise of more than usual interest4 ,most of the tribes in the eastern area of what is now the ,united ,states practiced agriculture4 ,it is well known that maize1 potatoes1 pumpkins1 squashes1 beans1 sweet potatoes1 cotton1 tobacco1 and other familiar plants were cultivated by ,indians centuries before ,columbus4 ,early white settlers learned the value of the new food plants1 but have left us meager accounts of the native methods of tillage2 and the ,indians1 driven from the fields of their fathers1 became roving hunters2 or adopting iron tools1 forgot their primitive implements and methods4 ,the ,hidatsas and ,mandans1 shut in their stockaded villages on the ,missouri by the hostile ,sioux1 were not able to abandon their fields if they would4 ,living quite out of the main lines of railroad traffic1 they remained isolated and with culture almost unchanged until about #ahhe1 when their village at ,fort ,berthold was broken up4 ,it seemed probable that a carefully prepared account of ,hidatsa agriculture might very nearly describe the agriculture practiced by our northern tribes in pre-,columbian days4 ,it was hoped that this thesis might be such an account4 ,but the writer is a student of anthropology2 and his interest in the preparation of his thesis could not be that of an agriculturist4 ,the question arose at the beginning of his labors1 ,shall the materials of this thesis be presented as a study merely in primitive agriculture1 or as a phase of material culture interpreting something of the inner life1 of the soul1 of an ,indian8 ,it is the latter aim that the writer endeavors to accomplish4 ,but again came up a question1 ,by what plan may this best be done8 ,the more usual way would be to collect exhaustively facts from available informants2 sift from them those facts that are typical and representative2 and present these1 properly grouped1 with the collector's interpretation of them4 ,but for his purpose and aim1 it has seemed to the writer that the type choice should be human2 that is1 instead of seeking typical facts from multiple sources1 he should rather seek a typical informant1 a representative agriculturist--presumably a woman--of the ,indian group to be studied1 and let the informant interpret her agricultural experiences in her own way4 ,we might thus expect to learn how much one ,indian woman knew of agriculture2 what she did as an agriculturist and what were her motives for doing2 and what proportion of her thought and labor were given to her fields4 ,after consulting both ,indians and whites resident on the reservation1 the writer chose for typical or representative informant1 his interpreter's mother1 ,maxidiwiac4 ,the writer's summer visit of #aiab to ,fort ,berthold ,reservation was planned to obtain material for his thesis4 ,his brother again accompanied him1 and for the expenses of the trip a grant of #ejj was made by ,curator ,wissler4 ,this trip the writer will remember as one of the pleasantest experiences of his life4 ,the generous interest of ,dr4 ,jenks and ,dr4 ,wissler in his plans was equaled by the faithful coperation of interpreter and informant4 ,the writer and his brother arrived at the reservation in the beginning of corn harvest4 ,as already stated1 ,maxidiwiac was the principal informant1 and her account was taken down almost literally as translated by ,goodbird4 ,models of tools1 drying stage1 and other objects pertaining to agriculture were made and photographed1 and sketched4 ,before the harvest closed notes were obtained which furnished the material for the greater part of this thesis4 ,in the summers of #aiac1 #aiad1 and #aiae1 additional matter was recovered4 ,previously written notes were read to ,maxidiwiac and corrections made4 ,in addition to the museum's annual grant of #bej1 ,dean ,a4 ,f4 ,woods1 ,department of ,agriculture1 ,university of ,minnesota1 in #aiad contributed #fj for photographing1 and collecting specimens of ,hidatsa corn2 and ,mr4 ,m4 ,l4 ,wilson of the ,agricultural ,experiment ,station1 ,bozeman1 ,montana1 obtained for the writer a grant of #ej for like purposes4 ,a few words should now be said of informant and interpreter4 ,maxidiwiac1 or ,buffalobird-woman1 is a daughter of ,small ,ankle1 a leader of the ,hidatsas in the trying time of the tribe's removal to what is now ,fort ,berthold reservation4 ,she was born on one of the villages at ,knife ,river two years after the 8smallpox year10 or about #ahci4 ,she is a conservative and sighs for the good old times1 yet is aware that the younger generation of ,indians must adopt civilized ways4 ,ignorant of ,english1 she has a quick intelligence and a memory that is marvelous4 ,to her patience and loyal interest is chiefly due whatever of value is in this thesis4 ,in the sweltering heat of an ,august day she has continued dictation for nine hours1 lying down but never flagging in her account1 when too weary to sit longer in a chair4 ,goodbird's testimony that his mother 8knows more about old ways of raising corn and squashes than any one else on this reservation10 is not without probability4 ,until recently1 a small part of ,goodbird's plowed field was each year reserved for her1 that she might plant corn and beans and squashes1 cultivating them in old fashioned way1 by hoe4 ,such corn1 of her own planting and selection1 has taken first prize at an agricultural fair1 held recently by the reservation authorities4 ,edward ,goodbird1 or ,tsakakaskic1 the writer's interpreter1 is a son of ,maxidiwiac1 born about ,november1 #ahfi4 ,goodbird was one of the first of the reservation children to be sent to the mission school2 and he is now native pastor of the ,congregational chapel at ,independence4 ,he speaks the ,hidatsa1 ,mandan1 ,dakota1 and ,english languages4 ,goodbird is a natural student2 and he has the rarer gift of being an artist4 ,his sketches--and they are many--are crude2 but they are drawn in true perspective and do not lack spirit4 ,goodbird's life1 dictated by himself1 has been recently published4#d ,indians have the gentle custom of adopting very dear friends by relationship terms4 ,by such adoption ,goodbird is the writer's brother2 ,maxidiwiac is his mother4 ,for his part in the account of the ,agriculture of the ,hidatsa ,indians1 the writer claims no credit beyond arranging the material and putting the interpreter's ,indian-,english translations into proper idiom4 ,bits of ,indian philosophy and shrewd or humorous observations found in the narrative are not the writer's1 but the informant's1 and are as they fell from her lips4 ,the writer has sincerely endeavored to add to the narrative essentially nothing of his own4 ,agriculture of the ,hidatsa ,indians is not1 then1 an account merely of ,indian agriculture4 ,it is an ,indian woman's interpretation of economics2 the thoughts she gave to her fields2 the philosophy of her labors4 ,may the ,indian woman's story of her toil be a plea for our better appreciation of her race4 ,,chapter ,i ,,tradition ,we ,hidatsas believe that our tribe once lived under the waters of ,devils ,lake4 ,some hunters discovered the root of a vine growing downward2 and climbing it1 they found themselves on the surface of the earth4 ,others followed them1 until half the tribe had escaped2 but the vine broke under the weight of a pregnant woman1 leaving the rest prisoners4 ,a part of our tribe are therefore still beneath the lake4 ,my father1 ,small ,ankle1 going1 when a young man1 on a war party1 visited ,devils ,lake4 8,beneath the waves10 he said1 8,i heard a faint drumming1 as of drums in a big dance40 ,this story is true2 for ,sioux1 who now live at ,devils ,lake1 have also heard this drumming4 ,those of my people who escaped from the lake built villages near by4 ,these were of earth lodges1 such as my tribe built until very recent years2 two such earth lodges are still standing on this reservation4 ,the site where an earth lodge has stood is marked by an earthen ring1 rising about what was once the hard trampled floor4 ,there are many such earthen rings on the shores of ,devils ,lake1 showing that1 as tradition says1 our villages stood there4 ,there were three of these villages1 my father said1 who several times visited the sites4 ,near their villages1 the people made gardens2 and in these they planted ground beans and wild potatoes1 from seed brought with them from their home under the water4 ,these vegetables we do not cultivate now2 but we do gather them in the fall1 in the woods along the ,missouri where they grow wild4 ,they are good eating4 ,these gardens by ,devils ,lake ,i think must have been rather small4 ,i know that in later times1 whenever my tribe removed up the ,missouri to build a new village1 our fields1 the first year1 were quite small2 for clearing the wooded bottom land was hard work4 ,a family usually added to their clearing each year1 until their garden was as large as they cared to cultivate4 ,as yet1 my people knew nothing of corn or squashes4 ,one day a war party1 ,i think of ten men1 wandered west to the ,missouri ,river4 ,they saw on the other side a village of earth lodges like their own4 ,it was a village of the ,mandans4 ,the villagers saw the ,hidatsas1 but like them1 feared to cross over1 lest the strangers prove to be enemies4 ,it was autumn1 and the ,missouri ,river was running low so that an arrow could be shot from shore to shore4 ,the ,mandans parched some ears of ripe corn with the grain on the cob2 they broke the ears in pieces1 thrust the pieces on the points of arrows1 and shot them across the river4 8,eat60 they said1 whether by voice or signs1 ,i do not know4 ,the word for 8eat0 is the same in the ,hidatsa and ,mandan languages4 ,the warriors ate of the parched corn1 and liked it4 ,they returned to their village and said1 8,we have found a people living by the ,missouri ,river who have a strange kind of grain1 which we ate and found good60 ,the tribe was not much interested and made no effort to seek the ,mandans1 fearing1 besides1 that they might not be friendly4 ,however1 a few years after1 a war party of the ,hidatsas crossed the ,missouri and visited the ,mandans at their village near ,bird ,beak ,hill4 ,the ,mandan chief took an ear of yellow corn1 broke it in two1 and gave half to the ,hidatsas4 ,this half-ear the ,hidatsas took home1 for seed2 and soon every family was planting yellow corn4 ,i think that seed of other varieties of corn1 and of beans1 squashes1 and sunflowers1 were gotten of the ,mandans#e afterwards2 but there is no story telling of this1 that ,i know4 ,i do not know when my people stopped planting ground beans and wild potatoes2 but ground beans are hard to dig1 and the people1 anyway1 liked the new kind of beans better4 ,whether the ground beans and wild potatoes of the ,missouri bottoms are descended from the seed planted by the villagers at ,devils ,lake1 ,i do not know4 ,my tribe1 as our old men tell us1 after they got corn1 abandoned their villages at ,devils ,lake1 and joined the ,mandans near the mouth of the ,heart ,river4 ,the ,mandans helped them build new villages here1 near their own4 ,i think this was hundreds of years ago4 ,firewood growing scarce1 the two tribes removed up the ,missouri to the mouth of the ,knife ,river1 where they built the ,five ,villages1 as they called them4 ,smallpox was brought to my people here1 by traders4 ,in a single year1 more than half my tribe died1 and of the ,mandans1 even more4 ,those who survived removed up the ,missouri and built a village at ,like-a-fishhook bend1 where they lived together1 ,hidatsas and ,mandans1 as one tribe4 ,this village we ,hidatsas called ,mua-iduskupe-hicec1 or ,like-a-fishhook village1 after the bend on which it stood2 but white men called it ,fort ,berthold1 from a trading post that was there4 ,we lived in ,like-a-fishhook village about forty years1 or until #ahhe1 when the government began to place families on allotments4 ,the agriculture of the ,hidatsas1 as ,i now describe it1 ,i saw practiced in the gardens of ,like-a-fishhook village1 in my girlhood1 before my tribe owned plows4 ,illustration3 ,an earth lodge ,note ladder at right of lodge entrance4 ,drying stage before entrance lacks the usual railings4 7,photograph by courtesy of ,rev4 ,george ,curtis47 ,illustration3 ,like-a-fishhook village in process of being dismantled 7about #ahhe7 ,drying stage in foreground is floored ,arikara fashion with a mat of willows4 ,the ,arikaras at this time had joined the ,hidatsa-,mandans4 7,photograph by courtesy of ,rev4 ,george ,curtis47 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,beginning ,a ,,garden ,turtle ,my great-grandmother1 as white men count their kin1 was named ,atkic1 or ,soft-white ,corn4 ,she adopted a daughter1 ,matatic1 or ,turtle4 ,some years after1 a daughter was born to ,atkic1 whom she named ,otter4 ,turtle and ,otter both married4 ,turtle had a daughter named ,icawikec1 or ,corn ,sucker2#f and ,otter had three daughters1 ,want-to-be-a-woman1 ,red ,blossom1 and ,strikes-many-women1 all younger than ,corn ,sucker4 ,the smallpox year at ,five ,villages left ,otter's family with no male members to support them4 ,turtle and her daughter were then living in ,otter's lodge2 and ,otter's daughters1 as ,indian custom bade1 called ,corn ,sucker their elder sister4 ,it was a custom of the ,hidatsas1 that if the eldest sister of a household married1 her younger sisters were also given to her husband1 as they came of marriageable age4 ,left without male kin by the smallpox1 my grandmother's family was hard put to it to get meat2 and ,turtle gladly gave her daughter to my father1 ,small ,ankle1 whom she knew to be a good hunter4 ,otter's daughters1 reckoned as ,corn ,sucker's sisters1 were given to ,small ,ankle as they grew up2 the eldest1 ,want-to-be-a-woman1 was my mother4 ,when ,i was four years old1 my tribe and the ,mandans came to ,like-a-fishhook bend4 ,they came in the spring and camped in tepees1 or skin tents4 ,by ,butterfly's winter count1 ,i know they began building earth lodges the next winter4 ,i was too young to remember much of this4 ,two years after we came to ,like-a-fishhook bend1 smallpox again visited my tribe2 and my mother1 ,want-to-be-a-woman1 and ,corn ,sucker1 died of it4 ,red ,blossom and ,strikes-many-women survived1 whom ,i now called my mothers4 ,otter and old ,turtle lived with us2 ,i was taught to call them my grandmothers4 ,clearing ,fields ,soon after they came to ,like-a-fishhook bend1 the families of my tribe began to clear fields1 for gardens1 like those they had at ,five ,villages4 ,rich black soil was to be found in the timbered bottom lands of the ,missouri4 ,most of the work of clearing was done by the women4 ,in old times we ,hidatsas never made our gardens on the untimbered1 prairie land1 because the soil there is too hard and dry4 ,in the bottom lands by the ,missouri1 the soil is soft and easy to work4 ,illustration3 ,figure #a ,map of newly broken field drawn under ,buffalobird-woman's direction4 ,the heavy dots represent corn hills2 the dashes1 the clearing and breaking of ground between1 done after hills were planted4 ,in the lower left hand corner is the ground that was in dispute4 ,my mothers and my two grandmothers worked at clearing our family's garden4 ,it lay east of the village at a place where many other families were clearing fields4 ,i was too small to note very much at first4 ,but ,i remember that my father set boundary marks--whether wooden stakes or little mounds of earth or stones1 ,i do not now remember--at the corners of the field we claimed4 ,my mothers and my two grandmothers began at one end of this field and worked forward4 ,all had heavy iron hoes1 except ,turtle1 who used an old fashioned wooden digging stick4 ,with their hoes1 my mothers cut the long grass that covered much of the field1 and bore it off the line1 to be burned4 ,with the same implements1 they next dug and softened the soil in places for the corn hills1 which were laid off in rows4 ,these hills they planted4 ,then all summer they worked with their hoes1 clearing and breaking the ground between the hills4 ,trees and bushes ,i know must have been cut off with iron axes2 but ,i remember little of this1 because ,i was only four years old when the clearing was begun4 ,i have heard that in very old times1 when clearing a new field1 my people first dug the corn hills with digging sticks2 and afterwards1 like my mothers1 worked between the hills1 with bone hoes4 ,my father told me this4 ,whether stone axes were used in old times to cut the trees and undergrowths1 ,i do not know4 ,i think fields were never then laid out on ground that had large trees on it4 ,dispute and ,its ,settlement ,about two years after the first ground was broken in our field1 a dispute ,i remember1 arose between my mothers and two of their neighbors1 ,lone ,woman and ,goes-to-next-timber4 ,these two women were clearing fields adjoining that of my mothers2 as will be seen by the accompanying map 7figure #a71 the three fields met at a corner4 ,i have said that my father1 to set up claim to his field1 had placed marks1 one of them in the corner at which met the fields of ,lone ,woman and ,goes-to-next-timber2 but while my mothers were busy clearing and digging up the other end of their field1 their two neighbors invaded this marked-off corner2 ,lone ,woman had even dug up a small part before she was discovered4 ,however1 when they were shown the mark my father had placed1 the two women yielded and accepted payment for any rights they might have4 ,it was our ,indian rule to keep our fields very sacred4 ,we did not like to quarrel about our garden lands4 ,one's title to a field once set up1 no one ever thought of disputing it2 for if one were selfish and quarrelsome1 and tried to seize land belonging to another1 we thought some evil would come upon him1 as that some one of his family would die4 ,there is a story of a black bear who got into a pit that was not his own1 and had his mind taken away from him for doing so6 ,turtle ,breaking ,soil ,lone ,woman and ,goes-to-next-timber having withdrawn1 my grandmother1 ,turtle1 volunteered to break the soil of the corner that had been in dispute4 ,she was an industrious woman4 ,often1 when my mothers were busy in the earth lodge1 she would go out to work in the garden1 taking me with her for company4 ,i was six years old then1 ,i think1 quite too little to help her any1 but ,i liked to watch my grandmother work4 ,with her digging stick1 she dug up a little round place in the center of the corner 7figure #a72 and circling around this from day to day1 she gradually enlarged the dug-up space4 ,the point of her digging stick she forced into the soft earth to a depth equal to the length of my hand1 and pried up the soil4 ,the clods she struck smartly with her digging stick1 sometimes with one end1 sometimes with the other4 ,roots of coarse grass1 weeds1 small brush and the like1 she took in her hand and shook1 or struck them against the ground1 to knock off the loose earth clinging to them2 she then cast them into a little pile to dry4 ,in this way she accumulated little piles1 scattered rather irregularly over the dug-up ground1 averaging1 perhaps1 four feet1 one from the other4 ,in a few days these little piles had dried2 and ,turtle gathered them up into a heap1 about four feet high1 and burned them1 sometimes within the cleared ground1 sometimes a little way outside4 ,in the corner that had been in dispute1 and in other parts of the field1 my grandmother worked all summer4 ,i do not remember how big our garden was at the end of her summer's work1 nor how many piles of roots she burned2 but ,i remember distinctly how she put the roots of weeds and grass and brush into little piles to dry1 which she then gathered into heaps and burned4 ,she did not attempt to burn over the whole ground1 only the heaps4 ,afterwards1 we increased our garden from year to year until it was as large as we needed4 ,i remember seeing my grandmother digging along the edges of the garden with her digging stick1 to enlarge the field and make the edges even and straight4 ,i remember also1 that as ,turtle dug up a little space1 she would wait until the next season to plant it4 ,thus1 additional ground dug up in the summer or fall would be planted by her the next spring4 ,there were two or three elm trees in the garden2 these my grandmother left standing4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #b ,figure #b4 ,drawn from specimen in author's collection4 ,length of specimen1 #cg inches4 ,illustration3 ,figure #c4 ,figure #c4 ,drawn from model made by ,buffalobird-woman1 duplicating that used by her grandmother4 ,specimen is of full size4 ,length of wooden handle1 #ce inches2 length of bone blade1 #h inches4 ,the blade is made of the shoulder bone of an ox4 ,it must not be supposed that upon ,turtle fell all the work of clearing land to enlarge our garden2 but she liked to have me with her when she worked1 and ,i remember best what ,i saw her do4 ,as ,i was a little girl then1 ,i have forgotten much that she did2 but this that ,i have told1 ,i remember distinctly4 ,turtle's ,primitive ,tools ,in breaking ground for our garden1 ,turtle always used an ash digging stick 7figure #b72 and when hoeing time came1 she hoed the corn with a bone hoe 7figure #c74 ,digging sticks are still used in my tribe for digging wild turnips2 but even in my grandmother's lifetime1 digging sticks and bone hoes1 as garden tools1 had all but given place to iron hoes and axes4 ,my grandmother was one of the last women of my tribe to cling to these old fashioned implements4 ,two other women1 ,i remember1 owned bone hoes when ,i was a little girl2 but ,turtle1 ,i think1 was the very last one in the tribe who actually worked in her garden with one4 ,this hoe my grandmother kept in the lodge1 under her bed2 and when any of the children of the household tried to get it out to look at it1 she would cry1 8,let that hoe alone2 you will break it60 ,beginning a ,field in ,later ,times ,as ,i grew up1 ,i learned to work in the garden1 as every ,hidatsa woman was expected to learn2 but iron axes and hoes1 bought of the traders1 were now used by everybody1 and the work of clearing and breaking a new field was less difficult than it had been in our grandfathers' times4 ,a family had also greater freedom in choosing where they should have their garden1 since with iron axes they could more easily cut down any small trees and bushes that might be on the land4 ,however1 to avoid having to cut down big trees1 a rather open place was usually chosen4 ,a family1 then1 having chosen a place for a field1 cleared off the ground as much as they could1 cutting down small trees and bushes in such way that the trees fell all in one direction4 ,some of the timber that was fit might be taken home for firewood2 the rest was let lie to dry until spring1 when it was fired4 ,the object of felling the trees in one direction was to make them cover the ground as much as possible1 since firing them softened the soil and left it loose and mellow for planting4 ,we sought always to burn over all the ground1 if we could4 ,before firing1 the family carefully raked off the dry grass and leaves from the edge of the field1 and cut down any brush wood4 ,this was done that the fire might not spread to the surrounding timber1 nor out on the prairie4 ,prairie fires and forest fires are even yet not unknown on our reservation4 ,planting season having come1 the women of the household planted the field in corn4 ,the hills were in rows1 and about four feet or a little less apart4 ,they were rather irregularly placed the first year4 ,it was easy to make a hill in the ashes where a brush heap had been fired1 or in soil that was free of roots and stumps2 but there were many stumps in the field1 left over from the previous summer's clearing4 ,if the planter found a stump stood where a hill should be1 she placed the hill on this side the stump or beyond it1 no matter how close this brought the hill to the next in the row4 ,thus1 the corn hills did not stand at even distances in the row the first year2 but the rows were always kept even and straight4 ,while the corn was coming up1 the women worked at clearing out the roots and smaller stumps between the hills2 but a stump of any considerable size was left to rot1 especially if it stood midway between two corn hills1 where it did not interfere with their cultivation4 ,my mothers and ,i used to labor in a similar way to enlarge our fields4 ,with our iron hoes we made hills along the edge of the field and planted corn2 then1 as we had opportunity1 we worked with our hoes between the corn hills to loosen up the soil4 ,illustration3 ,figure #d ,drawn from specimen made by ,yellow ,hair4 ,length of specimen1 following curvature of tines1 #cf inches4 ,illustration3 ,figure #e ,drawn from specimen made by ,buffalobird-woman4 ,length of wooden handle1 #db inches2 spread of tines of antler1 #ae inches4 ,although our tribe now had iron axes and hoes from the traders1 they still used their native made rakes4 ,these were of wood 7figure #d71 or of the antler of a black-tailed deer 7figure #e74 ,it was with such rakes that the edges of a newly opened field were cleaned of leaves for the firing of the brush1 in the spring4 ,illustration3 ,in the field with a horn rake ,illustration3 ,hoeing squashes with a bone hoe ,trees in the ,garden ,trees were not left standing in the garden1 except perhaps one to shade the watchers' stage4 ,if a tree stood in the field1 it shaded the corn2 and that on the north side of the tree never grew up strong1 and the stalks would be yellow4 ,cottonwood trees were apt to grow up in the field1 unless the young shoots were plucked up as they appeared4 ,our ,west ,field ,the field which ,turtle helped to clear1 lay1 ,i have said1 east of the village4 ,i was about nineteen years old1 ,i think1 when my mothers determined to clear ground for a second field1 west of the village4 ,there were five of us who undertook the work1 my father1 my two mothers1 ,red ,blossom and ,strikes-many-women1 my sister1 ,cold ,medicine1 and myself4 ,we began in the fall1 after harvesting the corn from our east garden1 so that we had leisure for the work2 we had been too busy to begin earlier in the season4 ,we chose a place down in the bottoms1 overgrown with willows2 and with our axes we cut the willows close to the ground1 letting them lie as they fell4 ,i do not know how many days we worked2 but we stopped when we had cleared a field of about seventy-five by one hundred yards1 perhaps4 ,in our east1 or yellow corn field1 we counted nine rows of corn to one naxu2 and ,i remember that when we came to plant our new field1 it had nine naxu4 ,burning ,over the ,field ,the next spring my father1 his two wives1 my sister and ,i went out and burned the felled willows and brush which the spring sun had dried4 ,we did not burn them every day2 only when the weather was fine4 ,we would go out after breakfast1 burn until tired of the work1 and come home4 ,we sought to burn over the whole field1 for we knew that this left a good1 loose soil4 ,we did not pile the willows in heaps1 but loosened them from the ground or scattered them loosely but evenly over the soil4 ,in some places the ground was quite bare of willows2 but we collected dry grass and weeds and dead willows1 and strewed them over these bare places1 so that the fire would run over the whole area of the field4 ,it took us about four days to burn over the field4 ,it was well known in my tribe that burning over new ground left the soil soft and easy to work1 and for this reason we thought it a wise thing to do4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,sunflowers ,remark by ,maxidiwiac ,this that ,i am going to tell you of the planting and harvesting of our crops is out of my own experience1 seen with my own eyes4 ,in olden times1 ,i know1 my tribe used digging sticks and bone hoes for garden tools2 and ,i have described how ,i saw my grandmother use them4 ,there may be other tools or garden customs once in use in my tribe1 and now forgotten2 of them ,i cannot speak4 ,there were families in ,like-a-fishhook village less industrious than ours1 and some families may have tilled their fields in ways a little different2 of them1 also1 ,i can not speak4 ,this that ,i now tell is as ,i saw my mothers do1 or did myself1 when ,i was young4 ,my mothers were industrious women1 and our family had always good crops2 and ,i will tell now how the women of my father's family cared for their fields1 as ,i saw them1 and helped them4 ,planting ,sunflowers ,the first seed that we planted in the spring was sunflower seed4 ,ice breaks on the ,missouri about the first week in ,april2 and we planted sunflower seed as soon after as the soil could be worked4 ,our native name for the lunar month that corresponds most nearly to ,april1 is ,mapi-oc-midi1 or ,sunflower-planting-moon4 ,planting was done by hoe1 or the woman scooped up the soil with her hands4 ,three seeds were planted in a hill1 at the depth of the second joint of a woman's finger4 ,the three seeds were planted together1 pressed into the loose soil by a single motion1 with thumb and first two fingers4 ,the hill was heaped up and patted firm with the palm in the same way as we did for corn4 ,usually we planted sunflowers only around the edges of a field4 ,the hills were placed eight or nine paces apart2 for we never sowed sunflowers thickly4 ,we thought a field surrounded thus by a sparse-sown row of sunflowers1 had a handsome appearance4 ,sometimes all three seeds sprouted and came up together2 sometimes only two sprouted2 sometimes one4 ,varieties ,of cultivated sunflowers we had several varieties1 black1 white1 red1 striped1 named from the color of the seed4 ,the varieties differed only in color2 all had the same taste and smell1 and were treated alike in cooking4 ,white sunflower seed when pounded into meal1 turned dark1 but ,i think this was caused by the parching4 ,each family raised the variety they preferred4 ,the varieties were well fixed2 black seed produced black2 white seed1 white4 ,harvesting the ,seed ,although our sunflower seed was the first crop to be planted in the spring1 it was the last to be harvested in the fall4 ,for harvesting1 we reckoned two kinds of flowers1 or heads4 ,a stalk springing from seed of one of our cultivated varieties had one1 sometimes two1 or even three larger heads1 heavy and full1 bending the top of the stalk with their weight of seed4 ,some of these big heads had each a seed area as much as eleven inches across2 and yielded each an even double handful of seed4 ,we called the seed from these big heads mapi-i'tia from mapi1 sunflower1 or sunflower seed1 and i'tia1 big4 ,besides these larger heads1 there were other and smaller heads on the stalk2 and wild sunflowers bearing similar small heads grew in many places along the ,missouri1 and were sure to be found springing up in abandoned gardens4 ,these smaller heads of the cultivated1 and the heads of the wild1 plants1 were never more than five inches across2 and these and their seed we called mapi-naka1 sunflower's child or baby sunflower4 ,our sunflowers were ready for harvesting when the little petals that covered the seeds fell off1 exposing the ripe seeds beneath4 ,also1 the back of the head turned yellow2 earlier in the season it would be green4 ,to harvest the larger heads1 ,i put a basket on my back1 and knife in hand1 passed from plant to plant1 cutting off each large head1 close to the stem2 the severed heads ,i tossed into my basket4 ,these heads ,i did not let dry on the stalk1 as birds would devour the seeds4 ,my basket filled1 ,i returned to the lodge1 climbed the ladder to the roof1 and spread the sunflower heads upon the flat part of the roof around the smoke hole1 to dry4 ,the heads were laid face downward1 with the backs to the sun4 ,when ,i was a girl1 only three or four earth lodges in the village had peaked roofs2 and these lodges were rather small4 ,all the larger and better lodges1 those of what we deemed wealthier families1 were built with the top of the roof flat1 like a floor4 ,a flat roof was useful to dry things on2 and when the weather was fair1 the men often sat there and gossiped4 ,the sunflower heads were dried face downward1 that the sun falling on the back of the head might dry and shrink the fiber1 thus loosening the seeds4 ,the heads were laid flat on the bare roof1 without skins or other protection beneath4 ,if a storm threatened1 the unthreshed heads were gathered up and borne into the lodge2 but they were left on the roof overnight1 if the weather was fair4 ,when the heads had dried about four days1 the seeds were threshed out2 and ,i would fetch in from the garden another supply of heads to dry and thresh4 ,threshing ,to thresh the heads1 a skin was spread and the heads laid on it face downward1 and beaten with a stick4 ,threshing might be on the ground1 or on the flat roof1 as might be convenient4 ,an average threshing filled a good sized basket1 with enough seed left over to make a small package4 ,harvesting the ,mapi-naka ,the smaller heads of the cultivated plants were sometimes gathered1 dried1 and threshed1 as were the larger heads2 but if the season was getting late and frost had fallen1 and the seeds were getting loose in their pods1 ,i more often threshed these smaller heads and those of the wild plants directly from the stalk4 ,for this ,i bore a carrying basket1 swinging it around over my breast instead of my back2 and going about the garden or into the places where the wild plants grew1 ,i held the basket under these smaller1 or baby sunflower heads1 and beating them smartly with a stick1 threshed the seeds into the basket4 ,it took me about half a day to thresh a basket half full4 ,the seeds ,i took home to dry1 before sacking them4 ,the seeds from the baby sunflowers of both wild and cultivated plants were sacked together4 ,the seeds of the large heads were sacked separately2 and in the spring1 when we came to plant1 our seed was always taken from the sack containing the harvest of the larger heads4 ,in my father's family1 we usually stored away two1 sometimes three sacks of dried sunflower seed for winter use4 ,sacks were made of skins1 perhaps fourteen inches high and eight inches in diameter1 on an average4 ,sunflower harvest came after we had threshed our corn2 and corn threshing was in the first part of ,october4 ,effect of ,frost ,because they were gathered later1 the seeds of baby sunflowers were looked upon as a kind of second crop2 and as ,i have said1 they were kept apart from the earlier harvest1 because seed for planting was selected from the larger and earlier gathered heads4 ,gathered thus late1 this second crop was nearly always touched by the frost1 even before the seeds were threshed from the stalks4 ,this frosting of the seeds had an effect upon them that we rather esteemed4 ,we made a kind of oily meal from sunflower seed1 by pounding them in a corn mortar2 but meal made from seed that had been frosted1 seemed more oily than that from seed gathered before frost fell4 ,the freezing of the seeds seemed to bring the oil out of the crushed kernels4 ,this was well known to us4 ,the large heads1 left on the roof over night1 were sometimes caught by the frost2 and meal made from their seed was more oily than that from unfrosted seed4 ,sometimes we took the threshed seed out of doors and let it get frosted1 so as to bring out this oiliness4 ,frosting the seeds did not kill them4 ,the oiliness brought out by the frosting was more apparent in the seeds of baby sunflowers than in seeds of the larger heads4 ,seeds of the latter seemed never to have as much oil in them as seeds of the baby sunflowers4 ,parching the ,seed ,to make sunflower meal the seeds were first roasted1 or parched4 ,this was done in a clay pot1 for iron pots were scarce in my tribe when ,i was young4 ,the clay pot in use in my father's family was about a foot high and eight or nine inches in diameter1 as you see from measurements ,i make with my hands4 ,this pot ,i set on the lodge fire1 working it down into the coals with a rocking motion1 and raked coals around it2 the mouth ,i tipped slightly toward me4 ,i threw into the pot two or three double-handfuls of the seeds and as they parched1 ,i stirred them with a little stick1 to keep them from burning4 ,now and then ,i took out a seed and bit it2 if the kernel was soft and gummy1 ,i knew the parching was not done2 but when it bit dry and crisp1 ,i knew the seeds were cooked and ,i dipped them out with a horn spoon into a wooden bowl4 ,again ,i threw into the pot two or three double-handfuls of seed to parch2 and so1 until ,i had enough4 ,as the pot grew quite hot ,i was careful not to touch it with my hands4 ,the parching done1 ,i lifted the pot out1 first throwing over it a piece of old tent cover to protect my two hands4 ,parching the seeds caused them to crack open somewhat4 ,the parched seeds were pounded in the corn mortar to make meal4 ,pounding sunflower seeds took longer1 and was harder work1 than pounding corn4 ,four-vegetables-mixed ,sunflower meal was used in making a dish that we called dopatsa-makihik1 or four-vegetables-mixed2 from dopatsa1 four things2 and makihik1 mixed or put together4 ,four-vegetables-mixed we thought our very best dish4 ,to make this dish1 enough for a family of five1 ,i did as follows3 ,i put a clay pot with water on the fire4 ,into the pot ,i threw one double-handful of beans4 ,this was a fixed quantity2 ,i put in just one double-handful whether the family to be served was large or small2 for a larger quantity of beans in this dish was apt to make gas on one's stomach4 ,when we dried squash in the fall we strung the slices upon strings of twisted grass1 each seven ,indian fathoms long2 an ,indian fathom is the distance between a woman's two hands outstretched on either side4 ,from one of these seven-fathom strings ,i cut a piece as long as from my elbow to the tip of my thumb2 the two ends of the severed piece ,i tied together1 making a ring2 and this ,i dropped into the pot with the beans4 ,when the squash slices were well cooked ,i lifted them out of the pot by the grass string into a wooden bowl4 ,with a horn spoon ,i chopped and mashed the cooked squash slices into a mass1 which ,i now returned to the pot with the beans4 ,the grass string ,i threw away4 ,illustration3 ,figure #f ,drawn from specimens in author's collection4 ,to the mess ,i now added four or five double-handfuls of mixed meal1 of pounded parched sunflower seed and pounded parched corn4 ,the whole was boiled for a few minutes more1 and was ready for serving4 ,i have already told how we parched sunflower seed2 and that ,i used two or three double-handfuls of seed to a parching4 ,i used two parchings of sunflower seed for one mess of four-vegetables-mixed4 ,i also used two parchings of corn2 but ,i put more corn into the pot at a parching than ,i did of sunflower seed4 ,pounding the parched corn and sunflower seed reduced their bulk so that the four parchings1 two of sunflower seed and two of corn1 made but four or five double-handfuls of the mixed meal4 ,four-vegetables-mixed was eaten freshly cooked2 and the mixed corn-and-sunflower meal was made fresh for it each time4 ,a little alkali salt might be added for seasoning1 but even this was not usual4 ,no other seasoning was used4 ,meat was not boiled with the mess1 as the sunflower seed gave sufficient oil to furnish fat4 ,four-vegetables-mixed was a winter food2 and the squash used in its making was dried1 sliced squash1 never green1 fresh squash4 ,the clay pot used for boiling this and other dishes was about the size of an iron dinner pot1 or even larger4 ,for a large family1 the pot might be as much as thirteen or fourteen inches high4 ,i have described that in use in my father's family4 ,when a mess of four-vegetables-mixed was cooked1 ,i did not remove the pot from the coals1 but dipped out the vegetables with a mountain-sheep horn spoon1 into wooden bowls 7figure #f47 ,sunflower-seed ,balls ,sunflower meal of the parched seeds was also used to make sunflower seed balls2 these were important articles of diet in olden times1 and had a particular use4 ,for sunflower-seed balls ,i parched the seeds in a pot in the usual way1 put them in a corn mortar and pounded them4 ,when they were reduced to a fine meal ,i reached into the mortar and took out a handful of the meal1 squeezing it in the fingers and palm of my right hand4 ,this squeezing it made it into a kind of lump or ball4 ,this ball ,i enclosed in the two palms and gently shook it4 ,the shaking brought out the oil of the seeds1 cementing the particles of the meal and making the lump firm4 ,i have said that frosted seeds gave out more oil than unfrosted2 and that baby sunflower seeds gave out more oil than seeds from the big heads4 ,in olden times every warrior carried a bag of soft skin at his left side1 supported by a thong over his right shoulder2 in this bag he kept needles1 sinews1 awl1 soft tanned skin for making patches for moccasins1 gun caps1 and the like4 ,the warrior's powder horn hung on the outside of this bag4 ,in the bottom of this soft-skin bag the warrior commonly carried one of these sunflower-seed balls1 wrapped in a piece of buffalo-heart skin4 ,when worn with fatigue or overcome with sleep and weariness1 the warrior took out his sunflower-seed ball1 and nibbled at it to refresh himself4 ,it was amazing what effect nibbling at the sunflower-seed ball had4 ,if the warrior was weary1 he began to feel fresh again2 if sleepy1 he grew wakeful4 ,sometimes the warrior kept his sunflower-seed ball in his flint case that hung always at his belt over his right hip4 ,it was quite a general custom in my tribe for a warrior or hunter to carry one of these sunflower-seed balls4 ,we called the sunflower-seed ball mapi1 the same name as for sunflower4 ,sunflower meal1 parched and pounded as described1 was often mixed with corn balls1 to which it gave an agreeable smell1 as well as a pleasant taste4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,corn ,planting ,corn planting began the second month after sunflower-seed was planted1 that is in ,may2 and it lasted about a month4 ,it sometimes continued pretty well into ,june1 but not later than that2 for the sun then begins to go back into the south1 and men began to tell eagle-hunting stories4 ,we knew when corn planting time came by observing the leaves of the wild gooseberry bushes4 ,this bush is the first of the woods to leaf in the spring4 ,old women of the village were going to the woods daily to gather fire wood2 and when they saw that the wild gooseberry bushes were almost in full leaf1 they said1 8,it is time for you to begin planting corn60 ,corn was planted each year in the same hills4 ,around each of the old and dead hills ,i loosened the soil with my hoe1 first pulling up the old1 dead roots of the previous year's plants2 these dead roots1 as they collected1 were raked off with other refuse to one end of the field outside of the cultivated ground1 to be burned4 ,this pulling up of the dead roots and working around the old hill with the hoe1 left the soil soft and loose for the space of about eighteen inches in diameter2 and in this soft soil ,i planted the corn in this manner3 ,i stooped over1 and with fingers of both hands ,i raked away the loose soil for a bed for the seed2 and with my fingers ,i even stirred the soil around with a circular motion to make the bed perfectly level so that the seeds would all lie at the same depth4 ,a small vessel1 usually a wooden bowl1 at my feet held the seed corn4 ,with my right hand ,i took a small handful of the corn1 quickly transferring half of it to my left hand2 still stooping over1 and plying both hands at the same time1 ,i pressed the grains a half inch into the soil with my thumbs1 planting two grains at a time1 one with each hand4 ,illustration3 ,figure #g ,i planted about six to eight grains in a hill#g 7figure #g74 ,then with my hands ,i raked the earth over the planted grains until the seed lay about the length of my fingers under the soil4 ,finally ,i patted the hill firm with my palms4 ,the space within the hill in which the seed kernels were planted should be about nine inches in diameter2 but the completed hill should nearly cover the space broken up by the hoe4 ,the corn hills ,i planted well apart1 because later1 in hilling up1 ,i would need room to draw earth from all directions over the roots to protect them from the sun1 that they might not dry out4 ,corn planted in hills too close together would have small ears and fewer of them2 and the stalks of the plants would be weak1 and often dried out4 ,if the corn hills were so close together that the plants when they grew up1 touched each other1 we called them 8smell-each-other02 and we knew that the ears they bore would not be plump nor large4 ,a ,morning's ,planting ,we ,hidatsa women were early risers in the planting season2 it was my habit to be up before sunrise1 while the air was cool1 for we thought this the best time for garden work4 ,having arrived at the field ,i would begin one hill1 preparing it1 as ,i have said1 with my hoe2 and so for ten rows each as long as from this spot to yonder fence--about thirty yards2 the rows were about four feet apart1 and the hills stood about the same distance apart in the row4 ,the hills all prepared1 ,i went back and planted them1 patting down each with my palms1 as described4 ,planting corn thus by hand was slow work2 but by ten o'clock the morning's work was done1 and ,i was tired and ready to go home for my breakfast and rest2 we did not eat before going into the field4 ,the ten rows making the morning's planting contained about two hundred and twenty-five hills4 ,i usually went to the field every morning in the planting season1 if the weather was fine4 ,sometimes ,i went out again a little before sunset and planted2 but this was not usual4 ,soaking the ,seed ,the very last corn that we planted we sometimes put into a little tepid water1 if the season was late4 ,seed used for replanting hills that had been destroyed by crows or magpies we also soaked4 ,we left the seed in the water only a short time1 when the water was poured off4 ,the water should be tepid only1 so that when poured through the fingers it felt hardly warmed4 ,hot water would kill the seeds4 ,seed corn thus soaked would have sprouts a third of an inch long within four or five days after planting1 if the weather was warm4 ,i know this1 because we sometimes dug up some of the seeds to see4 ,this soaked seed produced strong plants1 but the first-planted1 dry seeds still produced the first ripened ears4 ,if warm water was not convenient1 ,i sometimes put these last planted corn seeds in my mouth2 and when well wetted1 planted them4 ,but these mouth-wetted seeds produced1 we thought1 a great many wida-akata1 or goose-upper-roof-of-mouth1 ears4 ,planting for a ,sick ,woman ,it was usual for the women of a household to do their own planting2 but if a woman was sick1 or for some reason was unable to attend to her planting1 she sometimes cooked a feast1 to which she invited the members of her age society and asked them to plant her field for her4 ,the members of her society would come upon an appointed day and plant her field in a short time2 sometimes a half day was enough4 ,there were about thirty members in my age society when ,i was a young woman4 ,if we were invited to plant a garden for some sick woman1 each member would take a row to plant2 and each would strive to complete her row first4 ,a member having completed her row1 might begin a second1 and even a third row2 or if1 when each had completed one row1 there was but a small part of the field yet unplanted1 all pitched in miscellaneously and finished the planting4 ,size of ,our ,biggest ,field ,when our corn was in1 we began planting beans and squashes4 ,beans we commonly planted between corn rows1 sometimes over the whole field1 more often over a part of it4 ,our bean and squash planting ,i will describe later2 and ,i speak of it now only because ,i wish to explain to you how a ,hidatsa garden was laid out4 ,the largest field ever owned in my father's family was the one which ,i have said my grandmother ,turtle helped clear1 at ,like-a-fishhook village1 or ,fort ,berthold1 as the whites called it4 ,the field1 begun small1 was added to each year and did not reach its maximum size for some years4 ,the field was nearly rectangular in shape2 at the time of its greatest size1 its length was about equal to the distance from this spot to yonder fence--one hundred and eighty yards2 and its width1 to the distance from the corner of this cabin to yonder white post--ninety yards4 ,the size of a garden was determined chiefly by the industry of the family that owned it1 and by the number of mouths that must be fed4 ,when ,i was six years old1 there were1 ,i think1 ten in my father's family1 of whom my two grandmothers1 my mother and her three sisters1 made six4 ,i have said that my mother and her three sisters were wives of ,small ,ankle1 my father4 ,it was this year that my mother and ,corn ,sucker died1 however4 ,my father's wives and my two grandmothers1 all industrious women1 added each year to the area of our field2 for our family was growing4 ,at the time our garden reached its maximum size1 there were seven boys in the family2 three of these died young1 but four grew up and brought wives to live in our earth lodge4 ,naxu and ,nucami ,in our big garden at ,like-a-fishhook village1 nine rows of corn1 running lengthwise with the field1 made one naxu1 or ,indian acre1 as we usually translate it4 ,there were ten of these naxus1 or ,indian acres1 in the garden4 ,illustration3 ,figure #h ,some families of our village counted eight rows of corn to one naxu1 others counted ten rows4 ,the rows of the naxus always ran the length of the garden2 and if the field curved1 as it sometimes did around a bend of the river1 or other irregularity1 the rows curved with it4 ,in our garden a row of squashes separated each naxu from its neighbor4 ,four rows of corn running widthwise with the garden made one nucami2 and as was the naxu1 each nucami was separated from its neighbor by a row of squashes1 or beans1 or in some families1 even by sunflowers4 ,like those of the naxus1 the rows of the nucamis often curved to follow some irregularity in the shape of the garden plot4 7,see figure #h47 ,hoeing ,hoeing time began when the corn was about three inches high2 but this varied somewhat with the season4 ,some seasons were warm1 and the corn and weeds grew rapidly2 other seasons were colder1 and delayed the growth of the corn4 ,corn plants about three inches high we called 8young-bird's-feather-tail-corn10 because the plants then had blunt ends1 like the tail feathers of a very young bird4 ,corn and weeds alike grew rapidly now1 and we women of the household were out with our hoes daily1 to keep ahead of the weeds4 ,we worked as in planting season1 in the early morning hours4 ,i cultivated each hill carefully with my hoe as ,i came to it2 and if the plants were small1 ,i would comb the soil of the hill lightly with my fingers1 loosening the earth and tearing out young weeds4 ,we did not hoe the corn alone1 but went right through the garden1 corn1 squashes1 beans1 and all4 ,weeds were let lie on the ground1 as they were now young and harmless4 ,we hoed but once1 not very many weeds coming up to bother us afterwards4 ,in my girlhood we were not troubled with mustard and thistles2 these weeds have come in with white men4 ,in many families hoeing ended1 ,i think1 when the corn was about seven or eight inches high3 but ,i remember when my mothers finished hoeing their big field at ,like-a-fishhook village1 the corn was about eighteen inches high1 and the blossoms at the top of the plants were appearing4 ,a second hoeing began1 it is true1 when the corn silk appeared1 but was accompanied by hilling1 so that we looked upon it rather as a hilling time4 ,hilling was done to firm the plants against the wind and cover the roots from the sun4 ,we hilled with earth1 about four inches up around the roots of the corn4 ,not a great many weeds were found in the garden at hilling time1 unless the season had been wet2 but weeds at this season are apt to have seeds1 so that it was my habit to bear such weeds off the field1 that the seeds might not fall and sprout the next season4 ,with the corn1 the squashes and beans were also hilled2 but this was an easier task4 ,the bean hills1 especially1 were made small at the first1 and hilling them up afterwards was not hard work4 ,if beans were hilled too high the vines got beaten down into the mud by the rains and rotted4 ,the ,watchers' ,stage ,our corn fields had many enemies4 ,magpies1 and especially crows1 pulled up much of the young corn1 so that we had to replant many hills4 ,crows were fond of pulling up the green shoots when they were a half inch or an inch high4 ,spotted gophers would dig up the seed from the roots of young plants4 ,when the corn had eared1 and the grains were still soft1 blackbirds and crows were destructive4 ,any hills of young corn that the birds destroyed1 ,i replanted if the season was not too late4 ,if only a part of the plants in a hill had been destroyed1 ,i did not disturb the living plants1 but replanted only the destroyed ones4 ,in the place of each missing plant1 ,i dug a little hole with my hand1 and dropped in a seed4 ,we made scarecrows#h to frighten the crows4 ,two sticks were driven into the ground for legs2 to these were bound two other sticks1 like outstretched arms2 on the top was fastened a ball of cast-away skins1 or the like1 for a head4 ,an old buffalo robe was drawn over the figure and a belt tied around its middle1 to make it look like a man4 ,such a scarecrow would keep the crows away for a few days but when they saw that the figure never moved from its place1 they lost their fear and returned4 ,a platform1 or stage1 was often built in a garden1 where the girls and young women of the household came to sit and sing as they watched that crows and other thieves did not destroy the ripening crop4 ,we cared for our corn in those days as we would care for a child2 for we ,indian people loved our gardens1 just as a mother loves her children2 and we thought that our growing corn liked to hear us sing1 just as children like to hear their mother sing to them4#i ,also1 we did not want the birds to come and steal our corn4 ,horses1 too1 might break in and crop the plants1 or boys might steal the green ears and go off and roast them4 ,our ,hidatsa name for such a stage was adukati ikak-matsati1 or field watchers' stage2 from adukati1 field2 ikak1 watch2 and matsati1 stage4 ,these stages1 while common1 were not in every garden4 ,i had one in my garden where ,i used to sit and sing4 ,a watchers' stage resembled a stage for drying grain1 but it was built more simply4 ,four posts1 forked at the top1 supported two parallel beams1 or stringers2 on these beams was laid a floor of puncheons1 or split small logs1 at about the height of the full grown corn4 ,this floor was about the length and breadth of ,wolf ,chief's table--forty-three by thirty-five inches--and was thus large enough to permit two persons to sit together4 ,a ladder made of the trunk of a tree rested against the stage4 ,such stages we did not value as we did our drying stages1 nor did we use so much care in building them4 ,if the posts were of green wood1 we did not trouble to peel off the bark2 at least1 ,i never saw such posts with the bark peeled off4 ,the beams in the forks of the posts often lay with the bark on4 ,the puncheons that made the floor of the stage were free of bark1 because they were commonly split from old1 dead1 floating logs1 that we got down at the ,missouri ,river2 if the whole stage was built of these dead logs1 as was often done1 the bark would be wanting on every beam4 ,a watchers' stage1 indeed1 was usually of rather rough construction2 wood was plentiful and easy to get1 and the stage was rebuilt each year4 ,as ,i have said1 it was our custom to locate our gardens on the timbered1 bottom lands1 and when we cleared off the timber and brush1 we often left a tree1 usually of cottonwood1 standing in the field1 to shade the watchers' stage4 ,the stage stood on the north1 or shady1 side of the tree4 ,cottonwood seedlings were apt to spring up in newly cleared ground4 ,if there was no tree in the field1 one of these seedlings might be let grow into a small tree4 ,cottonwoods grew very rapidly4 ,the tree that shaded the watchers' stage in our family field1 and which ,i have indicated on the map1 was about as high as my son ,goodbird's cabin1 and had a trunk about four inches in diameter4 ,the cottonwood tree standing in ,wolf ,chief's corn field this present summer1 is perhaps about the height of the trees that used to stand in our fields at ,like-a-fishhook village4 ,explanation of ,sketch of ,watchers' ,stage ,my son ,goodbird has made a sketch1 under my direction1 of a watchers' stage 7figure #i74 ,the stage was placed close to the tree shading it1 about a foot from the trunk4 ,holes for the posts were dug with a long digging stick2 and the posts were set firm1 like fence posts4 ,the stage was made nearly square1 so that the watchers could sit facing any side with equal ease4 ,the beams supporting the floor might be laid east and west1 or north and south2 but as the tree stood always on the south side of the stage1 the floor beams lay always in one of these two ways4 ,illustration3 ,figure #i ,redrawn from sketch by ,edward ,goodbird4 ,in the sketch a skin#aj is seen lying on the stage floor4 ,this is a buffalo calf skin1 folded fur out1 to make a seat for the watcher4 ,the skin might be folded tail to head1 or side to side2 and sometimes it was folded flesh side out4 ,it never hung down over the edges of the stage floor1 but was folded up neatly to make a kind of cushion4 ,the puncheon floor1 at best never very smooth1 was rather hard to sit upon2 and letting a part of the skin hang down over the side would have been waste of good cushion material4 ,the three poles on the right of the stage support another calf skin1 used as a shield against the sun4 ,the poles merely rested on the ground2 they were not thrust into the soil4 ,they could be shifted about with the sun1 so that the watcher had shade in any part of the day4 ,the calf skin used for a sun shade hung on the poles head downward2 whether it lay fur or flesh side down did not matter4 ,skins dressed by ,indians have holes cut along the edges for the wooden pins by which they are staked out on the ground to dry4 ,the poles upholding the skin shade we cut of willows2 and we were careful to trim off the branches1 leaving little stubs sticking out on the trunk of the pole4 ,these little stubs we slipped through some of the holes in the edge of the skin shade to uphold it and stay it in place4 ,it was not necessary to bind the skin down with thongs2 just slipping the stubs through the holes was enough4 ,poles for a sun shade were cut indifferently of dry or green wood2 and they lasted the entire season4 ,the ladder by which we mounted a watchers' stage rested against either of the corners next the tree1 against one of the two beams supporting the floor2 however we did not consider a watchers' stage to be sacred1 and we placed the ladder anywhere it might be convenient4 ,the ladder was a cottonwood trunk1 cut with three steps2 more were not needed1 as the stage floor was not high4 ,sweet ,grass's ,sun ,shade ,if the tree sheltering a stage had scant foliage1 we often cut thick1 leafy cottonwood boughs and thrust them horizontally through the branches of the tree to increase its shade4 ,it was a common thing for the watchers to tie a robe across the face of the tree for the same purpose4 ,if no tree grew in the garden1 a small cottonwood with thick1 leafy branches was cut and propped against the south or sunny side of the stage4 ,there was an old woman named ,sweet ,grass who had no tree in her garden4 ,she built a stage just like that in ,goodbird's sketch 7figure #i74 ,to shade it ,i remember she cut several small cottonwood trees and set them in holes made with her digging stick1 along the south side of her stage4 ,they stood there in a row and shaded the stage quite effectively4 ,her stage stood rather close to the edge of her garden4 ,the ,watchers ,the season for watching the fields began early in ,august when green corn began to come in2 for this was the time when the ripening ears were apt to be stolen by horses1 or birds1 or boys4 ,we did not watch the fields in the spring and early summer1 to keep the crows from pulling up the newly sprouted grain2 such damage we were content to repair by replanting4 ,girls began to go on the watchers' stage to watch the corn and sing1 when they were about ten or twelve years of age4 ,they continued the custom even after they had grown up and married2 and old women1 working in the garden and stopping to rest1 often went on the stage and sang4 ,two girls usually watched and sang together4 ,the village gardens were laid out close to one another2 and a girl of one family would be joined by the girl of the family who owned the garden adjoining4 ,sometimes three1 or even four1 girls got on the stage and sang together2 but never more than four4 ,a drum was not used to accompany the singing4 ,the watchers sometimes rose and stood upon the stage as they looked to see if any boys or horses were in the field1 stealing corn4 ,older girls and young married women1 and even old women1 often worked at porcupine embroidery as they watched4 ,very young girls did not embroider4 ,boys of nine to eleven years of age were sometimes rather troublesome thieves4 ,they were fond of stealing green ears to roast by a fire in the woods4 ,sometimes--not every day1 however--we had to guard our corn alertly4 ,a boy caught stealing was merely scolded4 8,you must not steal here again60 we would say to him4 ,his parents were not asked to pay damage for the theft4 ,we went to the watchers' stage quite early in the day1 before sunrise1 or near it1 and we came home at sunset4 ,the watching season continued until the corn was all gathered and harvested4 ,my grandmother1 ,turtle1 was a familiar figure in our family's field1 in this season4 ,i can remember her staying out in the field daily1 picking out the ripening ears and braiding them in a string4 ,booths ,there were a good many booths in the gardens that lay west of the village4 ,usually a booth stood at one side of every field in which was a watchers' stage4 ,to make a booth1 we cut diamond willows1 stood them in the ground in a circle1 and bending over the leafy tops1 tied them together4 ,a few leafy branches were interwoven into the top to increase the shade2 but there was no further covering4 ,a booth had a floor diameter of nine or ten feet1 and was as high as ,i can conveniently reach with my hands--six feet4 ,the girls who sang and watched the ripening corn cooked in these booths4 ,i often did so when ,i was a young girl2 for cooking at the booth was done by all the watchers1 even young girls of ten or twelve years4 ,i have often seen my grandmother1 ,turtle1 also1 in her booth very early in the morning1 in the corn season4 ,eating ,customs ,a meal was eaten sometimes just after sunrise1 or a little later2 but we never had regular meal hours in the field4 ,we cooked and ate whenever we got hungry1 or when visitors came2 or we strayed over to other gardens and ate with our friends4 ,if relatives came1 the watchers often entertained them by giving them something to eat4 ,to cook the meal a fire was made in the booth4 ,meat had been brought out from the village1 dried or fresh buffalo meat usually4 ,fresh meat was laid on the coals to broil2 dried meat was thrust on the end of a stick that leaned over the coals2 and when one side was well toasted it was turned over4 ,fresh squashes we boiled in clay or iron pots2 a good many brass or copper kettles also were in use when ,i was young4 ,we were fond of squashes4 ,a common dish was green corn and beans4 ,the corn was shelled off the cob and boiled with green beans that were shelled also2 sometimes the beans were boiled in the pod4 ,illustration3 ,figure #aj ,redrawn from sketch by ,goodbird of specimen made by ,buffalobird-woman4 ,to serve the corn and beans we poured the mess into a wooden bowl and ate with spoons made from the stems of squash leaves4 ,figure #aj is a sketch of such a spoon4 ,the squash stem was split at one end and the split was held open by a little stick4 ,stems of leaves of our native squashes have tiny prickles on them1 but these did not hurt the eater's lips4 ,leaf stems of native squashes ,i think are firmer and stronger than those of white men's squashes1 such as we now raise4 ,my grandmother1 ,turtle1 was a faithful watcher in our family field in the watching season4 ,i remember she used to bring home in the evening all the uneaten corn she had boiled that day4 ,youths' and ,maidens' ,customs ,we always kept drinking water at the stage2 and if relatives came out1 we freely gave them to drink4 ,but boys and young men who came were offered neither food nor drink1 unless they were relatives4 ,our tribe's custom in such things was well understood4 ,the youths of the village used to go about all the time seeking the girls2 this indeed was almost all they did4 ,of course1 when the girls were on the watchers' stage the boys were pretty sure to come around4 ,sometimes two youths came together1 sometimes but one4 ,if there were relatives at the watchers' stage the boys would stop and drink or eat2 they did not try to talk to the girls1 but would come around smiling and try to get the girls to smile back4 ,to illustrate our custom1 if a boy came out to a watchers' stage1 we girls that were sitting upon it did not say a word to him4 ,it was our rule that we should work and should not say anything to him4 ,so we sat1 not looking at him1 nor saying a word4 ,he would smile and perhaps stop and get a drink of water4 ,indeed1 a girl that was not a youth's sweetheart1 never talked to him4 ,this rule was observed at all times4 ,even when a boy was a girl's sweetheart1 or 8love-boy0 as we called him1 if there were other persons around1 she did not talk to him1 unless these happened to be relatives4 ,boys who came out to the watchers' stage1 getting no encouragement from the girls there1 soon went away4 ,a very young girl was not permitted to go to the watchers' stage unless an old woman went along to take care of her4 ,in olden days1 mothers watched their daughters very carefully4 ,watchers' ,songs ,most of the songs that were sung on the watchers' stage were love songs1 but not all4 ,one that little girls were fond of singing--girls that is of about twelve years of age--was as follows3 ,you bad boys1 you are all alike6 ,your bow is like a bent basket hoop2 ,you poor boys1 you have to run on the prairie barefoot2 ,your arrows are fit for nothing but to shoot up into the sky6 ,this song was sung for the benefit of the boys who came to the near-by woods to hunt birds4 ,here is another song2 but that you may understand it ,i shall first have to explain to you what ikupa means4 ,a girl whom another girl loves as her own sister1 we call her ikupa4 ,i think your word chum1 as you explain it1 has about the same meaning4 ,this is the song3 8,my ikupa1 what do you wish to see80 you said to me4 ,what ,i wish to see is the corn silk coming out on the growing ear2 ,but what you wish to see is that naughty young man coming6 ,here is a song that we sang to tease young men that were going by3 ,you young man of the ,dog society1 you said to me1 8,when ,i go to the east on a war party1 you will hear news of me how brave ,i am60 ,i have heard news of you2 ,when the fight was on1 you ran and hid6 ,and you think you are a brave young man6 ,behold you have joined the ,dog society2 ,therefore1 ,i call you just plain dog6 ,these songs from the watchers' stage we called midaxika1 or gardeners' songs4 ,the words of these ,i have just given you we called love-boy words2 and they were intended to tease4 ,there was another class of songs sung from the watchers' stage that did not have love-boy words4 ,i will give you one of these1 but to make it intelligible1 ,i must first explain a custom of my tribe4 ,clan ,cousins' ,custom ,let us suppose that a woman of the ,tsistska ,doxpaka marries a man of the ,midipadi clan4 ,their child will be a ,tsistska2 for we ,hidatsas reckon every child to belong to the clan of his mother2 and the members of the mother's clan will be clan sisters and clan brothers to her child4 ,another woman of the tribe1 of what clan does not matter1 also marries a ,midipadi husband2 and they have a child4 ,the child of the first mother and the child of the second we reckon as makutsati1 or clan cousins1 since their fathers being of the same clan1 are clan brothers4 ,in old times these clan cousins had a custom of teasing one another2 especially was this teasing common between young men and young women4 ,for example1 a young man1 unlucky in war1 might be passing the gardens and hear some mischievous girl1 his clan cousin1 singing a song taunting him for his ill success4 ,from any one else this would be taken for the deepest insult2 but seeing that the singer was his clan cousin1 the young man only called out good humoredly1 8,sing louder1 cousin60 ,i can best explain this custom by telling you a story4 ,story of ,snake-head-ornament ,a long time ago1 in one of our villages at ,knife ,river1 there lived a man ,mapuksaokihec1 or ,snake-head-ornament4 ,he was a great medicine man2 and in his earth lodge he kept a bull snake1 whom he called 8father40 ,when ,snake-head-ornament started to go to a feast he would say to the bull snake1 8,come1 father1 let us go and get something to eat60 ,the snake would crawl up the man's body1 coil about his neck and thrust his head forward over the man's crown and forehead2 or he would coil about the man's head like the head cloth a hunter used to wear1 with his head thrust forward as ,i have said4 ,bearing the snake thus on his head1 ,snake-head-ornament would enter some man's lodge and sit down to eat4 ,the snake however never ate with him1 for his food was not the same as the man's2 the bull snake's food was hide scrapings which the women of the lodge fed to him4 ,when ,snake-head-ornament came home again he would say to the bull snake1 8,father1 get off40 ,the snake would creep down from the man's head1 but before he entered his hole he would roll himself about on the earth lodge floor4 ,snake-head-ornament would say to him1 8,what are you doing8 ,do you think ,i am bad smelling1 and do you want to wash off the smell from your body8 ,it is you who are bad smelling2 yet ,i do not despise you60 ,the snake1 hearing this1 would creep into his hole as if ashamed4 ,snake-head-ornament made up a war party and led it against enemies on the ,yellowstone ,river4 ,the party not only failed to kill any of the enemy1 but lost three of their own men4 ,this was a kind of disgrace to ,snake-head-ornament2 for as leader of the war party he was responsible for it4 ,he thought his gods had deserted him2 and when he came home he went about crying and mourning and calling upon his gods to give him another vision4 ,he was a brave man and had many honor marks2 and his ill success made his heart sore4 ,in old times1 when one mourned1 either man or woman1 he cut off his hair1 painted his body with white clay and went without moccasins2 he also cut himself with some sharp instrument4 ,in those days also1 when a man went out to seek his god1 he went away from the village1 alone1 into the hills2 and thus it happened that ,snake-head-ornament1 on his way to the hills1 went mourning and crying past a garden where sat a woman1 his clan cousin1 on her watchers' stage4 ,seeing him1 she began to sing a song to tease him3 ,he said1 8,i am a young bird60 ,if a young bird1 he should be in a nest2 ,but he comes around here looking gray1 ,and wanders aimlessly everywhere outside the village6 ,he said1 8,i am a young snake60 ,if a young snake1 he should stay in the hills among the red buttes2 ,but he comes around here looking gray and crying1 ,and wanders aimlessly everywhere6 ,when the woman sang1 8he comes around here looking gray10 she meant that the man was gray from the white clay paint on his body4 ,snake-head-ornament heard her song1 but knowing she was his clan cousin1 cried out to her3 8,my elder sister1 sing louder6 ,you are right2 let my fathers hear what you say4 ,i do not know whether they will feel shame or not2 but the snake and the white eagle both called me #8son'60 ,what he meant was that the snake and the white eagle were his dream gods2 and that they had both called him 8son10 in a vision4 ,in her song the woman had taunted him with this4 ,if she had been any one but his clan cousin1 he would have been beside himself with anger4 ,as it was1 he kept his good humor1 and did her no hurt4 ,but the woman had sung her song for a cause4 ,years before1 when ,snake-head-ornament was quite a young man and as yet had won few honors he went on a war party and killed a ,sioux woman4 ,when he came home he was looked upon as a successful warrior2 and he was1 of course1 proud that people now looked up to him4 ,not long after this1 he joined the ,black ,mouth society4 ,it happened1 one day1 that the women were erecting palisades around the village to defend it1 and ,snake-head-ornament1 as a member of the ,black ,mouths1 was one of those overseeing the work4 ,this woman1 his clan cousin1 was rather slow at her task and did not move about very briskly4 ,snake-head-ornament1 seeing this1 approached her and fired off his gun close by her legs4 ,she looked around1 but seeing that it was ,snake-head-ornament that had shot1 and knowing he was her clan cousin1 she did not get angry4 ,just the same she did not forget2 and years after she had a good humored revenge in the taunting song ,i have given you4 ,,green ,,corn ,,and ,,its ,,uses ,the ,ripening ,ears ,the first corn was ready to be eaten green early in the harvest moon1 when the blossoms of the prairie golden rod are all in full1 bright yellow2 or about the end of the first week in ,august4 ,we ate much green corn1 boiling the fresh ears in a pot as white people do2 but every ,hidatsa family also put up dried green corn for winter4 ,this took the place with us of the canned green corn we now buy at the trader's store4 ,i knew when the corn ears were ripe enough for boiling from these signs3 ,the blossoms on the top of the stalk were turned brown1 the silk on the end of the ear was dry1 and the husks on the ear were of a dark green color4 ,i do not think the younger ,indians on this reservation are as good agriculturists as we older members of my tribe were when we were young4 ,i sometimes say to my son ,goodbird3 8,you young folks1 when you want green corn1 open the husk to see if the grain is ripe enough1 and thus expose it2 but ,i just go out into the field and pluck the ear4 ,when you open an ear and find it too green to pluck1 you let it stand on the stalk2 and birds then come and eat the exposed kernels1 or little brown ants climb up the stalk and eat the ear and spoil it4 ,i do not think you are very good gardeners in these days4 ,in old times1 when we went out to gather green ears1 we did not have to open their faces to see if the grain was ripe enough to be plucked60 ,second ,planting for ,green ,corn ,our green corn season lasted about ten days1 when the grain1 though not yet ripe1 became too hard for boiling green4 ,to provide green corn to be eaten late in the season1 we used to make a second planting of corn when ,june berries were ripe2 and for this purpose we left a space1 not very large1 vacant in the field4 ,in my father's family this second planting was of about twenty-eight hills of corn4 ,it came ready to eat when the other corn was getting hard2 but it often got caught by the frost4 ,nearly every garden owner made such a second planting2 it was1 indeed1 a usual practice in the tribe4 ,cooking ,fresh ,green ,corn ,our usual way of cooking fresh1 green corn1 was to boil it in a kettle on the cob4 ,fresh1 green corn1 shelled from the cob1 was often put in a corn mortar and pounded2 and then boiled without fats or meat4 ,prepared thus1 it had a sweet taste and smell2 much like that of the canned corn we buy of the traders4 ,shelled green corn1 in the whole grain1 was also boiled fresh1 mixed with beans and fats4 ,roasting ,ears ,green ears were sometimes roasted1 usually by an individual member of the family who wanted a little change of diet4 ,the women of my father's family never prepared a full meal of roasted ears that ,i remember2 if any one wanted roasted1 fresh1 green corn1 he prepared it himself4 ,when ,i wanted to roast green corn ,i made a fire of cottonwood and prepared a bed of coals4 ,i laid the fresh ear on the coals with the husk removed4 ,as the corn roasted1 ,i rolled the ear gently to and fro over the coals4 ,when properly cooked ,i removed the ear and laid on another4 ,as the ear roasted1 the green kernels would pop sometimes with quite a sharp sound4 ,if this popping noise was very loud1 we would laugh and say to the one roasting the ear1 8,ah1 we see you have stolen that ear from some other family's garden60 ,green corn was regularly taken out of the garden to roast until frost came1 when it lost its fragrance and fresh taste4 ,to restore its freshness1 we would take the green corn silk of the same plucked ear and rub the silk well into the kernels of the ear as they stood in the cob4 ,this measurably restored the fresh taste and smell4 ,we did not do this if the ear was to be boiled1 only if we intended to roast it4 ,for green corn1 boiled and eaten fresh1 we used all varieties except the gummy2 for when green they tasted alike4 ,but for roasting ears we thought the two yellow varieties1 hard and soft1 were the best4 ,mtua-lakapa ,a common dish made from green corn was mtua-lakapa1 from mtua1 green corn2 and lakapa1 mush1 or something mushy2 thus1 wheat flour mixed with water to a thick paste we call lakapa1 even if unboiled4 ,ripening green corn1 with the grain still soft1 was shelled off the cob with the tip of the thumb or with the thumb nail4 ,the shelled corn was pounded in a mortar and boiled with beans2 it was flavored with spring salt4 ,corn ,bread ,we also made a kind of corn bread from green corn4 ,green ears were plucked and the corn shelled off with the thumb nail1 so as not to break open the kernels4 ,boiled green corn could be shelled with a mussel shell because boiling toughened the kernels2 but unboiled green corn was shelled with the thumb nail4 ,two or three women often worked at shelling the corn as it was rather tedious work4 ,when enough of the corn had been shelled1 it was put in a corn mortar and pounded4 ,some of the ears were naturally longer than others3 a number of these had been selected and their husks removed4 ,some of these husks were now laid down side by side1 but overlapping like shingles1 until a sheet was made about ten inches wide4 ,another row of husks was laid over the first1 transversely to them2 and so until four or five layers of the green husks were made1 each lying transversely to the layer of husks beneath4 ,the shelled corn1 pounded almost to a pulp1 was poured out on this husk sheet1 and patted down with the hand to a loaf about seven or eight inches square1 and an inch or two thick4 ,however1 this varied2 a girl would make a much smaller loaf than would a woman preparing a mess for her family4 ,the ends of the uppermost layer of husks were now folded over the top of the loaf1 leaf by leaf2 then the next layer of husks beneath2 and so until the ends of all the husks were folded over the top of the loaf1 quite hiding it4 ,two or three husk leaves had been split into strips half an inch to three quarters of an inch in width4 ,these strips were tied together to make bands to bind the loaf4 ,three bands passed around the loaf each way1 or six bands in all4 ,no grease nor fat1 nor any seasoning1 had been added to the loaf2 the pounded green corn pulp was all that entered into it4 ,the loaf made1 now came the baking4 ,the ashes in the fire place in an earth lodge lay quite deep4 ,a cavity was dug into these ashes about as deep as my hand is long4 ,into the bottom of this cavity live coals and hot ashes were raked1 and upon these the loaf was laid2 a few ashes were raked over the top1 and upon these ashes live coals were heaped4 ,the loaf baked in about two hours4 ,we called this loaf naktsi1 or buried-in-ashes-and-baked4 ,soft white and soft yellow corn were good varieties from which to make this buried-and-baked corn1 as we called it4 ,drying ,green ,corn for ,winter ,every ,hidatsa family put up a store of dried green corn for winter4 ,this is the way in which ,i prepared my family's store4 ,in the proper season ,i went out into our garden and broke off the ears that ,i found1 that were of a dark green outside4 ,sometimes ,i even broke open the husks to see if the ear was just right2 but this was seldom1 as ,i could tell very well by the color and other signs ,i have described4 ,i went all over the garden1 plucking the dark green ears1 and putting them in a pile in some convenient spot on the cultivated ground4 ,if ,i was close enough ,i tossed each ear upon the pile as ,i plucked it2 but as ,i drew further away1 ,i gathered the ears into my basket and bore them to the pile4 ,i left off plucking when the pile contained five basketfuls if ,i was working alone4 ,if two of us were working we plucked about ten basketfuls4 ,green corn for drying was always plucked in the evening1 just before sunset2 and the newly plucked ears were let lie in the pile all night1 in the open air4 ,the corn was not brought home on the evening of the plucking1 because if kept in the earth lodge over night it would not taste so fresh and sweet1 we thought4 ,the next morning before breakfast1 ,i went out to the field and fetched the corn to our lodge in the village4 ,as ,i brought the baskets into the lodge1 ,i emptied them in a pile at the place marked ,b in figure #aa1 near the fire4 ,sitting at ,a1 ,i now began husking1 breaking off the husks from each ear in three strokes1 thus3 ,with my hand ,i drew back half the husk2 second1 ,i drew back the other half2 third1 ,i broke the husk from the cob4 ,the husks ,i put in a pile1 ,e1 to one side4 ,no husking pegs were used1 such as you describe to me2 ,i could husk quite rapidly with my bare hands4 ,as the ears were stripped1 they were laid in a pile upon some of the discarded husks1 spread for that purpose4 ,the freshly husked ears made a pretty sight2 some of them were big1 fine ones1 and all had plump1 shiny kernels4 ,a twelve-row ear we thought a big one2 a few very big ears had fourteen rows of kernels2 smaller ears had not more than eight rows4 ,two kettles1 meanwhile1 had been prepared4 ,one marked ,d in figure #aa1 was set upon coals in the fireplace2 the other1 ,c1 was suspended over the fire by a chain attached to the drying pole4 ,the kettles held water1 which was now brought to a boil4 ,when enough corn was husked to fill one of these kettles1 ,i gathered up the ears and dropped them in the boiling water4 ,i watched the corn carefully1 and when it was about half cooked1 ,i lifted the ears out with a mountain sheep horn spoon and laid them on a pile of husks4 ,illustration3 ,figure #aa ,when all the corn was cooked1 ,i loaded the ears in my basket and bore them out upon the drying stage1 where ,i laid them in rows1 side by side1 upon the stage floor4 ,there ,i left them to dry over night4 ,the work of bringing in the five basketfuls of corn from the field and boiling the ears took all day1 until evening4 ,in the morning the corn was brought into the lodge again4 ,a skin tent cover had been spread on the floor and the half boiled ears were laid on it1 in a pile4 ,i now sat on the floor1 as an ,indian woman sits1 with ankles to the right1 and with the edge of the tent cover drawn over my knees1 ,i took an ear of the half boiled corn in my left hand1 holding it with the greater end toward me4 ,i had a small1 pointed stick2 and this ,i ran1 point forward1 down between two rows of kernels1 thus loosening the grains4 ,the right hand row of the two rows of loosened kernels ,i now shelled off with my right thumb4 ,i then shelled off all the other rows of kernels1 one row at a time1 working toward the left1 and rolling the cob over toward the right as ,i did so4 ,there was another way of shelling half boiled corn4 ,as before1 ,i would run a sharpened stick down two rows of kernels1 loosening the grains2 and ,i would then shell them off with smart1 quick strokes of a mussel shell held in my right hand4 ,we still shell half boiled corn in this way1 using large spoons instead of shells4 ,there were very few metal spoons in use in my tribe when ,i was a girl2 mussel shells were used instead for most purposes4 ,if while ,i was shelling the corn1 a girl or woman came into the lodge to visit1 she would sit down and lend a hand while we chatted2 thus the shelling was soon done4 ,the shelling finished1 ,i took an old tent cover and spread it on the floor of the drying stage outside4 ,on this cover ,i spread the shelled corn to dry1 carrying it up on the stage in my basket4 ,at night ,i covered the drying corn with old tent skins to protect it from dampness4 ,the corn dried in about four days4 ,when the corn was well dried1 ,i winnowed it4 ,this ,i sometimes did on the floor of the drying stage1 sometimes on the ground4 ,having chosen a day when a slight wind was blowing1 ,i filled a wooden bowl from the dried corn that lay heaped on the tent cover2 and holding the bowl aloft ,i let the grain pour slowly from it1 that any chaff might be winnowed out4 ,the corn was now ready to be put in sacks for winter4 ,corn thus prepared we called maadackih1 from adackih1 treated-by-fire-but-not-cooked1 a word also used to designate food that has been prepared by smoking4 ,all varieties of corn could be prepared in this way4#aa ,the ,arikaras on this reservation have a different way of preparing and drying green corn4 ,they make a big heap of dried willows1 and upon these lay the ears1 green and freshly plucked1 in the husk4 ,when all is ready1 they set fire to the willows1 thus roasting the corn2 and they often roast a great pile of corn at one time1 in this way4 ,the roasted ears are husked and shelled1 and the grain dried1 for storing4 ,corn that has been roasted in the ,arikara way1 dries much more quickly than that prepared by boiling4 ,of late years some ,mandan and ,hidatsa families occasionally roast their corn in imitation of the ,arikara way2 but ,i never saw this done in my youth4 ,i do not like to eat food made of this dried1 roasted corn2 it is dirty6 ,,map,,di 7,,corn ,,smut7 ,mapdi ,mapdi is a black mass that grows in the husk of an ear of corn2 it is what you say white men call corn smut fungus4 ,sometimes an ear of corn appears very plump1 or somewhat swelled2 and when the husk is opened1 there is no corn inside1 only mapdi1 or smut2 or sometimes part of the ear will be found with a little grain at one end1 and mapdi at the other4 ,these masses of mapdi1 or corn smut1 that we found growing on the ear1 we gathered and dried for food4 ,there is another mapdi that grows on the stalk of the corn4 ,it is not good to eat1 and was not gathered up at the harvest time4 ,the mapdi that grows on the stalk is commonly found at a place where the stalk1 by some accident1 has been half broken4 ,we looked upon the mapdi that grew on the corn ear as a kind of corn1 because it was borne on the cob2 it was found on the ears the grain of which was growing solid1 or was about ready to be eaten as green corn4 ,we did not find many mapdi masses in one garden4 ,harvest and ,uses ,we gathered the black masses and half boiled and dried them1 still on the cob4 ,when well dried1 they were broken off the cob4 ,these broken off pieces we mixed with the dried half boiled green corn1 and stored in the same sack with them4 ,mapdi was cooked by boiling with the half-boiled dried corn4 ,we did not eat mapdi fresh from the garden1 nor did we cook it separately4 ,mapdi1 boiled with corn1 tasted good1 not sweet1 and not sour4 ,i still follow the custom of my tribe and gather mapdi each year at the corn harvest4 ,,the ,,ripe ,,corn ,,harvest ,husking ,as the corn in the fields began to show signs of ripening1 the people of ,like-a-fishhook village went hunting to get meat for the husking feasts4 ,this meat was usually dried2 but if a kill was made late in the season1 the meat was sometimes brought in fresh4 ,when the corn was fully ripened1 the owners of a garden went out with baskets1 plucked the ears from the stalks and piled them in a heap ready for the husking4 ,the empty stalks were left standing in the field4 ,a small family sometimes took as many as three days to gather and husk their ripe corn2 this was because there were not many persons in the family to do the work4 ,in a big family1 like my fathers1 harvesting was more speedily done4 ,we had a large garden1 but we never spent more than one day gathering up the corn1 which we piled in a heap in the middle of the field4 ,the next day after the corn was plucked1 we gave a husking feast4 ,we took out into the field a great deal of dried meat that my mothers had already cooked in the lodge2 or we took the dried meat into the field and boiled it in a kettle near the corn pile4 ,we also boiled corn on a fire near by4 ,the meat and corn were for the feast4 ,instead of dried meat1 a family sometimes took out a side of fresh buffalo meat and roasted it over a fire1 near the corn pile4 ,having then arrived at the field1 and started a fire for the feast1 all of our family who had come out to work sat down and began to husk4 ,word had been sent beforehand that we were going to give a husking feast1 and the invited helpers soon appeared4 ,there was no particular time set for their coming1 but we expected them in one of the morning hours4#ab ,for the most part these were young men from nineteen to thirty years of age1 but a few old men would probably be in the company2 and these were welcomed and given a share of the feast4 ,there might be twenty-five or thirty of the young men4 ,they were paid for their labor with the meat given them to eat2 and each carried a sharp stick on which he skewered the meat he could not eat1 to take home4#ac ,the husking season was looked upon as a time of jollity2 and youths and maidens dressed and decked themselves for the occasion4 ,of course each young man gave particular help to the garden of his sweetheart4 ,some girls were more popular than others4 ,the young men were apt to vie with one another at the husking pile of an attractive girl4 ,some of the young men rode ponies1 and when her corn pile had been husked1 a youth would sometimes lend his pony to his sweetheart for her to carry home her corn4 ,she loaded the pony with loose ears in bags1 bound on either side of the saddle1 or with strings of braided corn laid upon the pony's back4 ,the husking season1 like the green corn season1 lasted about ten days4 ,the young men helped faithfully each day1 and when they had husked all the corn in one field1 they moved to another4 ,thus all the corn piles were speedily husked4 ,the husking was always done in the field4 ,we never carried the corn to the village to be husked1 as the husks would then have dried1 and hurt the hands of the husker4 ,as we plucked the ears1 we piled them in a heap in the field1 to keep the husks moist and soft4#ad ,rejecting ,green ,ears ,as the huskers worked they were careful not to add any green ears to the husked pile4 ,a green ear would turn black and spoil1 and be fit for nothing4 ,every husker knew this2 and if a young man was helping another family husk1 he laid in a little pile beside him1 any green ears that he found4 ,these green ears belonged to him1 to eat or to feed to his pony4 ,last year a white man hired me to gather the corn in his field and husk it2 and ,i kept all the green ears for myself1 for that is my custom4 ,i do not know whether that white man liked it or not4 ,it may be he thought ,i was stealing that green corn2 but ,i was following the custom that ,i learned of my tribe4 ,i am an ,indian2 if a white man hires me to do work for him1 he must expect that ,i will follow ,indian custom4 ,braiding ,corn ,most of the corn as it was husked was tossed into a pile1 to be borne later to the village4 ,this was true of all the smaller and less favored ears3 the best of the larger ears were braided into strings4 ,as we husked1 if a long ear of good size and appearance was found1 it was laid aside for braiding4 ,for this purpose the husk was bent back upon the stub of the stalk on the big end of the ear1 leaving the three thin leaves that cling next to the kernels still lying on the ear in their natural position4 ,the part of the husk that was bent back was cut off with a knife2 the three thin leaves that remained were now bent back on the ear1 and the ear was laid aside4 ,another ear was treated in the same way and laid beside the first1 also with its thin leaves bent back4 ,and thus1 until a row of ears lay extended side by side upon the ground1 all the ears lying point forward4 ,another row was started2 and the ears1 also lying point forward and leaned against the first row1 were laid so as to cover the thin bent-back leaves of the first row1 to protect them from the sun4 ,as the braiding was done with these thin leaves1 if they were too dry--as the sun was very apt to make them--they would break4 ,when a quantity of these ears1 all with thin husk leaves bent back1 had accumulated1 one of the huskers passed them to someone of the young men1 who braided them2 or one of the women of the family owning the field might braid them4 ,even with care the thin leaves were sometimes too dry for the braider to handle safely2 and he would fill his mouth with water and blow it over the leaves4 ,fifty-four or fifty-five ears were commonly braided to a string2 but the number varied more or less4 ,in my father's family1 we often braided strings of fifty-six or fifty-seven ears4 ,i do not know why this number was chosen2 but ,i think this number of ears was about of a weight that a woman could well carry and put upon the drying stage4 ,when the string was all braided1 the braider took either end in his hand1 and placing his right foot against the middle of the string1 gave the ends a smart pull4 ,this stretched and tightened the string1 and made it look neater and more finished2 it also tried if there might be any weak places in it4 ,we braided all varieties of corn but two1 atki tsoki1 or hard white1 and tsdi tsoki1 or hard yellow4 ,these varieties we reckoned too hard to parch1 and for this reason they were not braided4 ,we did1 however1 sometimes parch hard yellow to be pounded up into meal for corn balls4 ,the strings of braided corn were borne to the village on the backs of ponies4 ,some families laid ten strings on a pony2 but in my father's family we never laid on so many1 believing it made too heavy a load for the poor beast4 ,the braided strings were hung to dry on the drying stage upon the railing that lay in the upper forks2 and if there was need1 poles or drying rods were laid across the rails and strings were hung over these also4#ae ,these drying rods were laid across only where the forks supported the rails 7at the same places the staying thongs were tied71 for at these places the stage could better bear the weight of the heavy strings of corn2 the drying rods were bound at either end to the railing1 to stay them4 ,the ,smaller ,ears ,meanwhile the smaller and less favored ears were being carried home in baskets4 ,it took the members of my father's family a whole day1 and the next day following until late in the afternoon1 to get this work done4 ,each carrier1 as she brought in a basket of corn1 ascended the log ladder of the stage and emptied the corn on the stage floor4 ,here the corn lay in a long heap1 in the middle of the floor2 for a free path was always left around the edge for us women2 having this path for our use1 we did not have to tread on the corn as we moved about4 ,also1 if a pony came in with a load of braided corn1 the heavy strings could be handed up to us women on the stage as we moved around in this free path4 ,as ,i now remember1 our family's husked corn when piled on the stage floor1 made a heap about eight yards long and four yards wide1 and about four feet high in the middle1 from which point the pile sloped down on all sides4 ,this was the loose corn1 the smaller ears2 and besides these there were about one hundred strings of braided corn hung on the railing above the heap4 ,i give these measurements1 judging as nearly as ,i can from the size of our drying stage1 and from our average yearly corn yield1 when ,i was a young woman4 ,i think the figures are approximately accurate4 ,for about eight days the corn lay thus in a long heap upon the stage4 ,at the end of that time the ears on the top of the heap had become dry and smooth and threatened to roll down the sides of the pile4 ,we now took drying rods and laid them along the floor against the posts1 two or three of them1 for the whole length of the stage on either side1 and on the ends of the stage4 ,planks split from cottonwood trunks were leaned against these drying rods1 on the side next the corn4 ,the corn heap was now spread evenly over the floor of the drying stage for the depth of about a foot2 the split planks prevented the dry smooth ears from sliding off the stage4 ,the dry ears had a tendency to roll or slide down the sides of the corn pile1 as fresh ears did not4 ,this spreading out the corn heap evenly had also the effect of stirring up the underlying ears and exposing them to the air4 ,if rain fell while the corn was thus drying on the stage1 it gave us no concern4 ,the corn soon dried again1 and no harm was done it4 ,the corn1 spread thus in an even heap1 took about three more days to dry1 or eleven days in all4 ,then we began threshing4 ,drying the ,braided ,ears ,the strings of braided corn hanging on the rails at the top of the posts of the drying stage1 dried much more quickly than the loose ears heaped on the stage floor4 ,the wind1 rattling the dry ears of the strings together1 was apt to shell out the drying kernels2 it was therefore usual for us before threshing time to tie these braids together so that the wind could not rattle them4 ,to do this ,i would ascend the ladder and make my way along the edge of the stage floor1 making places in the corn with my feet as ,i walked1 so that my feet would be on the stage floor and not tread on the drying corn4 ,i would push ten of the braided strings together on the rail or the drying rod on which they hung1 and tie them by passing around them a raw hide thong4 ,these braided strings1 bound thus in bundles of ten1 hung on the stage until we were ready to store them in the cache pit2 and this we could not do until we had our main harvest1 the loose ears1 threshed and ready to store also4 ,,seed ,,corn ,selecting the ,seed ,i have said that for braiding corn we chose the longest and finest ears4 ,in my father's family we used to braid about one hundred strings1 some years less1 some years more1 as the season had been wet or dry2 for the yield of fine ears was always less in a dry year4 ,of these braided strings we selected the very best in the spring for seed4 ,my mothers reckoned that we should need five braided strings of soft white1 and about thirty ears of soft yellow1 for seed4 ,of maikadicak1 or gummy1 we raised a little each year1 not much2 ten ears of this1 for seed1 my mothers thought were a plenty4 ,hard white and hard yellow corn1 ,i have said1 were not braided1 because not used for parching4 ,for seed of these varieties1 some good ears were taken from the drying pile on the corn stage and stored in the cache pit for the next year with loose grain of the same variety4 ,the ears were not put in a sack1 but thrown in with the loose grain4 ,when ,i selected seed corn1 ,i chose only good1 full1 plump ears2 and ,i looked carefully to see if the kernels on any of the ears had black hearts4 ,when that part of a kernel of corn which joins the cob is black or dark colored1 we say it has a black heart4 ,this imperfection is caused by plucking the ear when too green4 ,a kernel with a black heart will not grow4 ,an ear of corn has always small grains toward the point of the cob1 and large grains toward the butt of the ear4 ,when ,i came to plant corn1 ,i used only the kernels in the center of the cob for seed1 rejecting both the small and the large grains of the two ends4 ,seed corn was shelled from the cob with the thumb2 we never threshed it with sticks4 ,sometimes we shelled an ear by rubbing it against another ear4 ,keeping ,two ,years' ,seed ,corn kept for seed would be best to plant the next spring2 and it would be fertile1 and good to plant1 the second spring after harvesting4 ,the third year the seed was not so good2 and it did not come up very well4 ,the fourth year the seed would be dead and useless4 ,knowing that seed corn kept good for at least two years1 it was my family's custom to gather enough seed for at least two years1 in seasons in which our crops were good4 ,some years1 in spite of careful hoeing1 our crops were poor2 the ears were small1 there was not much grain on them1 and what grain they bore was of poor quality4 ,we did not like to save seed out of such a crop4 ,also1 frost occasionally destroyed our crop1 or most of it4 ,when1 therefore1 we had a year of good crops1 we put away seed enough to last for two years2 then1 if the next year yielded a poor crop1 we still had good seed to plant the third season4 ,in my father's family we always observed this custom of putting away seed for two years2 and we did this not only of our corn1 but of our squash seeds1 beans1 sunflower seeds1 and even of our tobacco seeds2 for if ,i remember rightly1 the tobacco fields were sometimes injured by frost just as were our corn fields4 ,not all families in our village were equally wise4 ,some were quite improvident1 and were not at all careful to save seed from their crops4 ,such families1 in the spring1 had to buy their seed from families that were more provident4 ,saving a good store of seed was therefore profitable in a way4 ,in my father's family we often sold a good deal of seed in the spring to families that wanted4 ,the price was one tanned buffalo skin for one string of braided seed corn4 ,illustration3 ,corn stage of ,butterfly's wife ,this stage lacks railings1 and is floored ,arikara fashion with a willow mat4 ,a pile of drying corn is seen on the stage floor4 ,in the ancient villages1 where the lodges were crowded together1 the railings were always present4 ,illustration3 ,owl ,woman pounding corn into meal in a corn mortar ,even to-day1 families on this reservation come to me to buy seed corn and seed beans4 ,a handful of beans1 enough for one planting1 ,i sell for one calico--enough calico1 that is1 to make an ,indian woman a dress1 or about ten yards4 ,,threshing ,,corn ,the ,booth ,the threshing season was always a busy one1 for all the families of the village would be threshing their corn at the same time4 ,corn was threshed in a booth1 under the drying stage4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ab ,the figure has been redrawn from sketches by ,goodbird4 ,the original is a stage now standing on the reservation1 but with mat of willows for floor2 to this ,goodbird added a threshing booth as he saw used by his grandmother when he was a boy4 ,goodbird's sketches are closely followed1 excepting that the floor of slabs is restored4 ,the figure tallies in every respect with ,buffalobird-woman's description1 and the model made by her for the ,american ,museum of ,natural ,history4 ,to make the booth1 ,i began with the section at one end of the stage4 ,as is shown in figure #ab1 on the posts ,a and ,d1 and ,b and ,c1 were bound two poles1 e and f1 at about two feet below the stage floor2 upon these were bound two other poles1 g and h2 the poles e1 f1 and h were bound outside of the posts that supported them4 ,a long raw hide thong was used for the corner ties4 ,the first pole was raised in position and bound firmly to the post2 and if a second pole was to be laid over the first--as was done at two of the corners--the thong was drawn up and made to bind it also to the post4 ,we always kept a number of these raw hide thongs in the lodge against just such uses as this2 they were strong1 and served every purpose of ropes2 we oiled them to keep them soft4 ,a tent cover was now fetched out of the lodge4 ,tents were of different sizes1 from those of seven1 to those of sixteen buffalo cow hides4 ,a woman used whatever sized tent cover she owned2 but a cover of thirteen skins was of convenient size4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ac ,around the curved bottom of the tent cover was a row of holes1 through which wooden pins were driven to peg the tent to the ground4 ,the tent cover was bound to the four over-hanging poles1 inside of the four posts1 by means of a long thong woven in and out through the holes1 as shown in figure #ac4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ad ,bound thus to the poles1 and quite enclosing the space within them1 the tent cover made a kind of booth4 ,the upper parts of the cover1 including the smoke flaps1 that now hung sweeping the ground1 were drawn in and spread flat on the ground to make a floor for the booth2 and stones laid upon them weighted the cover against the wing4 ,in figure #ab the four posts1 ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 and ,d1 enclose one section of the drying stage2 the booth did not enclose the whole ground space of this section1 but about three fifths of it4 ,figure #ad1 ,i think1 will explain the arrangement of the booth4 ,the end corners1 ,x and ,y1 were bound to opposite posts1 ,m and ,n1 respectively1 the lapping edges1 at ,o1 forming a door through which the threshers entered the booth2 ,p and ,p were bound to posts at p and p2 the final corner1 ,m1 was left untied until the threshers had entered and were ready to begin their task4 7,compare with figure #ab1 in which1 however1 the posts are differently lettered47 ,before they did this they went above and removed the planks and drying rods laid around the edge of the stage floor1 and pushed the corn back toward the middle of the floor into a long heap again1 that it might not fall over the edge1 now that the planks were taken away4 ,one of the floor planks was now removed1 at ,r4 ,through the aperture thus made1 corn was pushed down to left and right of ,r2 this was continued until there was a pile of corn just under the aperture1 and running the width of the booth1 about eighteen or twenty inches high4 ,the threshers now entered the booth and tied the corner at ,m1 closing the door4 ,in my father's family there were usually three threshers1 women2 and they sat in a row on the floor of the booth1 facing the pile of corn4 ,each woman had a stick for a flail1 with which she beat the corn4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ae ,flails were of ash or cottonwood4 ,an ash flail would be about three and a half feet long and from three quarters of an inch to an inch in diameter1 and was cut green4 ,a cottonwood flail was seldom used green2 and as it was therefore lighter than the green ash1 a cottonwood flail was a little greater in diameter1 but of the same length4 ,we were careful that a flail should not be too heavy1 lest it break the kernels in the threshing4 ,kinikinik sticks were sometimes used for flails4 ,a diagram 7figure #ae7 has been drawn to illustrate how ,i worked in a threshing booth when ,i was a young woman4 ,as shown1 ,i sat on the extreme left2 one of my mothers and my sister sat as indicated1 on my right4 ,more than three seldom worked in a threshing booth at the same time1 at least in our family2 however1 ,i have known my sister1 ,not-frost1 to make a fourth4 ,i have even known five to be threshing in the booth of some other family in the village1 but never more than five4 ,to thresh the corn1 ,i raised my flail and brought it down smartly1 but not severely1 upon the pile of corn4 ,the grain as it was thus beaten off the dry cobs would fall by its own weight into the pile1 and work its way to the bottom2 while the lighter cobs would come to the top of the pile4 ,beating the ears with the flails caused many of the kernels to leap and fly about2 but the tent cover1 enclosing the booth1 caught all these flying kernels4 ,it was1 indeed1 for this that the booth was built4 ,as the cobs1 beaten empty of grain1 accumulated on the pile1 we drew them off and cast them out of the door of the booth upon a tent cover1 spread to receive them1 under the middle section of the stage4 ,many of these cobs had a few small grains clinging to them2 and these must be saved1 for we wasted nothing4 ,having paused then to throw out the cobs1 we returned to the pile and thrust our flails in under it1 drawing them upward through the corn1 thus working the unthreshed ears to the top4 ,as much as we could1 we tried to keep the unthreshed ears in the middle of the pile1 and the threshed grain pushed to right and left1 as will be seen by studying the diagram4 ,to thresh one pile1 or filling of corn in a booth1 took a half day's work4 ,order of the ,day's ,work ,our habit was to begin quite early in the morning1 enclose the booth with the tent cover1 and set to work threshing2 finishing the first filling1 or pile1 about midday4 ,in the afternoon we began a second pile1 first heaping the already threshed grain to right and left1 and behind the threshers4 ,i have said that on the ground under the second section of the stage1 a second tent cover was spread to catch the cobs4 ,a part of this tent cover was drawn in under the edge of the booth to help carpet the floor of the booth4 ,at the end of the day we turned our attention to the pile of cobs2 and with our thumbs we shelled off every grain that clung to the cobs4 ,from the cobs of a day's threshing we collected about as many grains of corn as would fill a white man's hat4 ,this was taken into the booth and thrown on the pile of threshed grain4 ,we now disposed of the grain for the night4 ,if we had gotten through threshing rather early in the day1 we bore the newly threshed grain in baskets into the lodge1 and emptied it into a bull boat4 ,if we had gotten through our threshing rather late in the day1 we made the door of the booth tight1 and left the grain on the booth floor throughout the night4 ,the ,cobs ,the day's threshing over1 we attended to the cobs4 ,i have said that we shelled off any kernels that clung to them after threshing1 so that they were now quite clean of grain4 ,all day long1 as we threshed1 we had watched that no horses got at the cobs to trample and nibble them1 or that any dog ran over them1 or any children played in them4 ,then1 in the evening1 if the weather was fine1 and there was little wind1 one of my mothers or ,i carried the cobs outside of the village to a grassy place and heaped them in a pile about five feet high4 ,a pile of cobs of such a height ,i usually gathered from a day's threshing4 ,in our prairie country1 on a fair day1 the wind usually dies down about sunset2 and now1 when the air was still1 ,i fired the cob pile4 ,as the pile began to burn1 ,i could usually see the burning cob piles of two or three other families lighting up the gathering dusk4 ,i had to stay and watch the fire1 to keep any mischievous boys from coming to play in the burning heap4 ,children of from ten to fifteen years of age were quite a pest at cob-firing time4 ,they had a kind of game they were fond of playing4 ,each would cut a long1 flexible1 green stick1 and at the edge of the ,missouri he would get a ball of wet mud and stick it on his stick4 ,he would try to approach one of the burning piles1 and with his stick1 slap the mud ball smartly into the burning coals1 some of which1 still glowing1 would stick in the wet mud4 ,using the stick as a sling1 the child would throw the mud ball into the air1 aiming often at another child4 ,other children would be throwing mud balls at one another at the same time1 and these1 with the bits of glowing charcoal clinging to them1 would go sailing through the air like shooting stars4 ,knowing very well that the children would get into my burning cobs if ,i even turned my back1 ,i was careful to stay by to watch4 ,at last the fire had burned down and the coals were dead2 and nothing was left but a pile of ashes4 ,it was now night1 and ,i would go home4 ,early the next morning1 before the prairie winds had arisen1 ,i would go out again to my ash heap4 ,on the top of the ashes1 if nothing had disturbed them in the night and an unexpected wind had not blown them about1 ,i would find a thin crust had formed4 ,this crust ,i carefully broke and gathered up with my fingers1 squeezing the pieces in my hand into little lumps1 or balls4 ,sometimes ,i was able to gather four or five of these little balls from one pile of ashes2 but never more than five4 ,these balls ,i carried home4 ,there were always several baskets hanging in the lodge1 ready for any use we might want of them2 and it was our habit to keep some dried buffalo heart skins1 or some dried buffalo paunch skins1 in the lodge1 for wrappers1 much as white families keep wrapping paper in the house4 ,the ash balls ,i wrapped up in one of these skins1 into a package1 being careful not to break the balls4 ,i put the package in one of the baskets1 to hang up until there was occasion for its use4 ,these ash balls were used for seasoning4 ,i have explained elsewhere how we used spring salt to season our boiled corn2 and that every day in the lodge1 we ate mdkpa1 or pounded dried ripe corn boiled with beans4 ,but in the fall1 instead of seasoning this dish with spring salt1 or alkali salt as you call it1 we preferred to use this seasoning of ash crust4 ,in my father's family1 for each meal of mdkpa we filled the corn mortar three times1 two-and-a-half double handfuls of corn making one filling of the mortar4 ,each time we filled the mortar1 we dropped in with the corn a little of the ash crust1 a bit about as big as a white child's marble4 ,finally1 a piece about as big1 or perhaps a little larger1 was also dropped into the boiling pot4 ,we ,indians were fond of this seasoning2 and we liked it much better than we did our spring salt4 ,we did not use spring salt1 indeed1 if we had ash balls in the lodge4 ,we called these ash balls mdkpa isp1 or mdkpa darkener4 ,we did not make ash balls if the dogs or horses had trampled on the cobs2 or if children had mussed in the fire2 nor would we make ash balls if the day had not been rather calm1 for a high wind was sure to blow dust into the cobs4 ,we burned cobs and collected ash balls after every threshing day1 unless hindered by storm or high wind4 ,but even if the harvest was a good one1 the ash balls that we got from the burned cobs for seasoning never lasted long4 ,we were so fond of seasoning our food with them that every family had used up its store before the autumn had passed4 ,winnowing ,i have said that after the day's threshing we stored the newly threshed grain for the night1 either in the booth or in a bull boat in the earth lodge2 and that we then fired the cobs that had accumulated during the day4 ,the next morning we spread an old tent cover outside the lodge1 near the drying stage2 and we fetched the loose grain of the previous day's threshing out of the booth1 or the earth lodge and spread it evenly and thinly upon the tent cover4 ,the grain was here left to dry until evening4 ,a little before sunset1 and before the prairie wind had died down1 we fetched baskets and winnowed the grain4 ,the basket was half filled with grain1 held aloft1 and the grain poured gently out in the wind4 ,wooden bowls were often used for winnowing1 instead of baskets2 but they did not hold as much grain4 ,the winnowing over1 ,i would take up a few grains of the corn to test with my teeth4 ,if1 when ,i bit a kernel in two1 it broke with a sharp1 snappy sound1 ,i knew it was quite dried2 if it broke dull and soft1 ,i knew the grain needed another day's drying2 but at the most1 this second day's drying was enough4 ,illustration3 ,figure #af ,the winnowed grain1 now well dried1 was borne into the earth lodge and stored temporarily in bull boats4 ,in the diagram 7figure #af71 is shown where the bull boats full of grain used to stand in my father's lodge4 ,some years our harvest filled three bull boats of threshed grain2 some years it filled five4 ,in the year illustrated by this diagram1 there were three bull boats standing between the planks at the left of the door1 and the fire2 and two bull boats on the other side of the fire1 all full of grain4 ,the threshed grain1 ,i have said1 received its final drying and winnowing upon a tent cover 7or covers7 spread on the ground near the earth lodge4 ,it was my own habit always to spread these tent covers beside the drying stage on the side farthest away from the lodge4 ,however1 the particular spot where the winnowing was done1 was determined by the convenience of the household4 ,we did not usually thresh consecutive days4 ,we threshed one day2 dried the grain and winnowed it the second2 and threshed again the third day4 ,removing the ,booth ,during these days the booth did not remain always in one place4 ,when the corn on the floor of the first section had all been threshed1 the booth was removed to another section4 ,i will now explain how this was done4 ,in figure #ag my son has diagramed the floor plan of my mothers' stage and threshing booth1 as ,i remember them4 ,the stage stands in front of ,small ,ankle's lodge1 which faces toward the west4 ,the stage is divided into three sections1 ,a1 ,b1 ,c4 ,the posts upon which the floor of the stage rests are d1 e1 f1 g1 h1 i1 j1 k4 ,the booth was first raised under section ,a1 based upon fg and enclosing ground space lmfg4 ,sometimes we got up early1 bound the poles to the posts and erected our booth before breakfast2 then after we had eaten1 three or four of us would go out to thresh1 one first going up to push down the corn4 ,she raised a plank along the side1 fg1 just within the booth2 this1 if the door of the booth was on the side lm4 ,the corn on the floor of the stage in section ,a was then shoved down as wanted4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ag ,ground plan of earth lodge here accompanies that of stage to show relative positions of the two structures4 ,the stage always stood1 as here1 directly before the lodge entrance4 ,the figures are drawn to scale4 ,the corn pushed down for one threshing1 made a pile running the width of the booth1 and about forty inches wide and twenty inches high4 ,when the pile was threshed one of the women went up and shoved down another pile4 ,the corn in one section was threshed in about three such piles4 ,sometimes1 if we worked hard and had plenty of help1 we threshed one whole section in one day2 but the beating1 beating1 beating of the corn was hard work1 and we more often stopped when wearied and rested until the next day4 ,i have already said that we often spent the next day at the lighter work of drying and winnowing4 ,when the corn in section ,a was all threshed1 the booth was moved over under the floor of section ,b1 enclosing fgno2 and again a plank was taken up to let down the corn4 ,now this plank was always taken up above the side of the booth opposite the door2 and the door was always placed down wind4 ,thus1 if the wind was from the north1 the door would be placed on the south side of the booth1 and the plank was taken up on the north side1 just within the booth4 ,corn was always threshed in the booth on the side opposite the door4 ,sections ,a and ,b of my mothers' stage1 as shown in diagram 7figure #ag7 contained only yellow corn4 ,section ,c1 or a part of it1 contained white corn4 ,braided strings of corn were also hung all around the railing above1 but these were not to be threshed4 ,section ,b having been threshed1 the booth was removed to section ,c1 enclosing hiqp4 ,i have said that this section had white corn4 ,now this white corn was piled toward the south end of the stage2 and between it and the yellow corn was left a narrow vacant place on the floor4 ,above this vacant place1 meat was often dried2 but this meat was removed when we were ready to thresh4 ,placing the booth to enclose hiqp1 directly under the vacant place1 made it easy for us to raise a plank here to push down the white corn4 ,if we had placed the booth on the south end of this section1 we should have had to dig into the corn piled here1 in order to raise a plank4 ,our family's threshing lasted about five days in a year of good yield2 if the year was a poor one1 threshing lasted only two or three days4 ,threshing ,braided ,corn ,the strings of braided corn were stored in the cache pit 7which ,i will describe later7 in the whole ear4 ,if1 during the winter1 or the following spring1 ,i wanted to thresh a string of braided corn1 ,i put the whole string into a skin sack2 and this sack ,i beat and shook1 turning it over and around until all the grain had fallen off the cobs4 ,the sack was then emptied4 ,amount of ,harvest ,our harvested corn1 in a good year1 lasted my father's family until the next harvest1 with a small quantity even then unused4 ,some years we ran out of corn before the harvest came1 but not often4 ,we ate our corn as long as it lasted1 not husbanding it toward the last1 because we knew there were elk and buffalo and antelope to be had for the hunting4 ,if we ran out of corn at all1 it was about the first of ,august2 sometimes a little earlier4 ,sometimes when we had eaten all our last year's harvest there was a small quantity from the previous season's harvest with which we eked out our shortage4 ,my mothers1 however1 were industrious women1 and our shortage1 if any1 was never for long4 ,some families1 not very provident1 had consumed all their harvest as early as in the spring2 but such never happened in my father's family4 ,sioux ,purchasing ,corn ,the ,standing ,rock ,sioux used to buy corn of us1 coming up in midsummer1 or autumn4 ,they came not because they were in need of food1 but because they liked to eat our corn1 and had always meat and skins to trade to us4 ,for one string of braided corn they gave us one tanned buffalo robe4 ,,varieties ,,of ,,corn ,description of ,varieties ,we raised nine well marked varieties of corn in our village4 ,following are the names of the varieties3 ,atki tsoki ,hard white 7,white hard7 ,atki ,soft white 7,white7 ,tsdi tsoki ,hard yellow 7,yellow hard7 ,tsdi tapa ,soft yellow 7,yellow soft7 ,makadicak ,gummy 7,gummy7 ,doohi ,blue 7,blue7 ,hici cpi ,dark red 7,red dark7 ,hitsiica ,light red 7,light-red7 ,atki aku hitsiica ,pink top 7,white1 kind of light red7 ,our ,hidatsa word for corn is koxati2 but in speaking of any variety of corn1 the work koxati is commonly omitted4 ,in like manner1 atki means white2 but if one went into a lodge and asked for 8atki0 it was always understood to mean soft white corn4 ,of the nine varieties1 the atki1 or soft white1 was the kind most raised in our village4 ,the makadicak1 or gummy1 was least raised1 as almost its only use was in making corn balls4 ,in my father's family1 we raised two kinds of corn1 tsdi tsoki1 or hard yellow2 and atki1 or soft white4 ,the names of the varieties suggest pretty well their characteristics4 ,the atki aku hitsiica1 or white-with-light-red1 was marked by a light red or pink color toward the top or beard end of the ear4 ,the name pink-top which you suggest for this variety will1 ,i think1 do for an ,english name1 if the literal translation of the ,indian term is1 as you say1 rather clumsy4 ,we planted each variety of corn separately4 ,we ,indians understood perfectly the need of keeping the strains pure1 for the different varieties had not all the same uses with us4 ,how ,corn ,travels ,we ,indians knew that corn can travel1 as we say2 thus1 if the seed planted in one field is of white corn1 and that in an adjoining field is of some variety of yellow corn1 the white will travel to the yellow corn field1 and the yellow to the white corn field4 ,perhaps you do not understand what ,i mean by corn traveling4 ,well1 let us suppose that there are two fields lying side by side1 the one in yellow1 the other in white corn4 ,when the corn of the two fields is ripe1 and the ears are opened1 it will be found that many of the ears in the yellow rows that stand nearest the white field will have white kernels standing in the cob2 also1 in the rows of white corn that stand nearest the yellow field1 there will be many ears with yellow kernels mixed in with the white kernels4 ,we ,indians did not know what power it was that causes this4 ,we only knew that it was so4 ,we also knew that when a field stands alone1 away from other fields1 and is planted with white corn1 it will grow up in white corn only2 there will not be any yellow grains in the ears4 ,and so of any other variety4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ah ,sometimes two women1 owning adjoining fields1 would make an agreement2 they would divide their fields into sections and plant the corresponding sections on opposite sides of the division line alike4 ,thus in the diagram 7figure #ah71 ,a and ,a may be planted in a variety of yellow corn2 ,b and ,b may be planted in beans and squashes2 and ,c and ,c may be planted in a variety of white corn2 but even this did not make so very much difference2 still the corn traveled4 ,we thought that perhaps the reason of this was that the ground here was soft1 or mellowed and broken by cultivation4 ,we thought corn could not travel readily over hard1 or unbroken ground2 and as you notice in the diagram1 although the two patches of yellow corn are separated from the white corn by the two patches of squashes and beans1 yet the beans and squashes are in soft1 or cultivated ground4 ,we thought corn traveled more easily over soft ground4 ,however1 we really did not know what made corn travel2 we just knew that it did4 ,,uses ,,of ,,the ,,varieties ,atki ,tsoki ,i think that perhaps at first1 there was but one variety of corn1 atki tsoki1 or hard white2 and that all other varieties have sprung from it4 ,i know that when we plant hard white seed1 ears often develop that show color in the grain4 ,sometimes ears are produced bearing pink grains toward the beard end of the cob2 such ears we call iputa 7top7 hitsiica 7pink72 that is1 pink top1 or light-red top4 ,in color these ears differed in no wise from atki aku hitsiica4 ,hard white was very generally raised1 nearly every family in the tribe having a field of it4 ,there were two chief dishes chiefly prepared from hard white corn2 these ,i will now describe4 ,mpi ,nakapa4 ,i put water in a pot1 and in this ,i dropped a section of a string of dried squash1 with some beans4 ,dried squash was always strung on long grass strings2 and having1 from one of these strings1 cut off a piece ,i tied the ends together1 making a wreath1 or ring1 four or five inches in diameter4 ,it was this ring of dried squash slices that ,i dropped into the pot4 ,when well boiled1 ,i lifted the squash slices out by the string and dropped them into a wooden bowl1 where ,i mashed them and chopped them fine with a horn spoon4 ,the mashed squash ,i dropped back into the kettle again1 with the beans2 the now empty string ,i threw away4 ,meanwhile corn had been parched1 and some buffalo fats had been held over the coals on a stick1 to roast4 ,the parched corn and roast fats ,i pounded together in the corn mortar2 and the pounded mass ,i stirred into the kettle4 ,the mess was now ready to be eaten4 ,this dish we called mpi-nakapa1 or pounded-meal mush2 from mpi1 something pounded1 and nakapa1 mush1 something mushy4 ,the dish was especially a morning meal2 after eating it we started to work4 ,mnakapa4 ,a second way of preparing hard white corn was as follows3 ,i pounded the corn in a mortar to a meal1 but without first parching it4 ,most of this meal was fine1 but there were many coarser bits in it1 some of them as big as quarter grains of corn4 ,water was put in a kettle2 ,i added the pounded meal1 and when it boiled put in beans4 ,no fats were added4 ,as the mess boiled4 ,i stirred it with a wooden paddle to prevent scorching2 ,i did not stir with a horn spoon as the hot water softened and spoiled the horn4 ,when well boiled1 the mess was served4 ,we called this dish mnakapa4#af ,a seasoning of spring salt1 as we called it1 was often added4 ,a small palmful of the salt was mixed with a little water in a horn spoon2 this dissolved the salt and let the sand and dirt drop to the bottom4 ,the dissolved salt was poured off through the fingers1 held to the mouth of the horn spoon2 this strained out the sand and dirt4 ,the salt turned the mush slightly yellow4 ,as the soft mush boiled up in the cooking1 we were fond of dipping a horn spoon into it1 and licking off the back of the spoon4 ,this was especially a children's habit4 ,also at morning and evening meals we ate hard white corn parched and mixed with fats2 or mdpozi i'tia1 boiled whole corn4 ,atki ,this is a soft1 or as you call it1 a flour corn1 and was perhaps the favorite variety grown by us4 ,the word atki means white2 but when applied to corn we translate soft white1 to distinguish from atki tsoki1 or hard white4 ,the use of atki1 or soft white1 was very general1 since it could be made into almost every kind of corn food used by us4 8,it is the one variety10 we used to say1 8that can be used in any and every way40 ,soft white corn1 parched and pounded into a meal1 was boiled with squash and beans to make mpi nakapa4 ,the unparched grain was pounded for meal to make mnakapa2 but although good1 we did not think the mush made from soft white meal was as good as that from the hard white corn meal4 ,boiled ,corn ,ball4 ,a less frequent dish made from soft white corn was boiled corn balls2 it was made only from the dried ripe grain4 ,i pounded a quantity of grain into meal1 and poured the meal into a pot having hot water--but not too much water--stirring it well about4 ,i now lifted out some of the mass into my left palm and patted it down with my right1 making a cake about as big around as a baking powder biscuit1 but not so thick4 ,this cake ,i dropped into a pot of boiling water1 where it sank to the bottom4 ,i continued until the pot was full1 or until ,i had all ,i wished to cook4 ,no salt or other seasoning was added4 ,as the pot boiled1 one could see the corn cakes move around in the water2 but they never floated1 nor did they break apart4 ,the boiling lasted about an hour4 ,in olden days we ate these corn balls alone2 now we more often eat them with coffee4 ,tsdi ,tsoki and ,tsdi ,tap ,the two varieties of tsdi1 or golden yellow corn1 could be pounded and boiled to make mush1 or mdakapa2 or they could be boiled whole1 to make mdpozi i'tia4 ,mdpozi ,i'tia4 ,for this dish ,i put the shelled ripe grain1 with fats1 in a pot and boiled them until ,i saw the kernels break open2 then ,i added beans1 and when these were boiled1 the mess was served4 ,this dish we called mdpozi i'tia4 ,i do not know the derivation of mdpozi2 i'tia means large4 ,i think you can translate 8corn boiled whole40 ,hard yellow and soft yellow corn1 roasted in the green ear1 tasted sweet1 as if a little sugar were in them4 ,especially was this true at the time when kernels were beginning to turn yellow4 ,at this time each kernel shows a little yellow spot on the very top4 ,for this reason this season was called tsidotsx1 or yellow-drop time2 for the little yellow spot looked like a drop on the top of the kernel4 ,other ,soft ,varieties ,doohi1 or blue1 hici cpi1 dark red1 and hitsiica1 light red1 were all soft corns and were cooked and prepared and stored just like atki2 these four varieties tasted exactly alike1 if cooked in the same way4 ,maikadicak ,maikadicak1 or gummy corn1 is of different colors2 some is of a light red2 some yellow flaked with red2 and some is in color like hard white2 but all these slightly differing strains are alike in this1 that when the kernels dry they shrink up and become rough1 or wrinkled4 ,the name1 maikadicak1 comes from kadicak1 or gum-like4 ,maikadicak was the least grown of our five principal varieties of corn2 however1 a good deal of this variety is still raised on this reservation4 ,maikadicak was sometimes roasted green1 when the kernels chewed up gummy in the mouth2 but the one recognized use of this variety was to make corn balls4 ,mp ,mp ,i'kiuta1 or ,corn ,balls4 ,into a clay pot while yet cold1 ,i put shelled corn and set it on the fire4 ,as the grain parched1 ,i stirred it with a stick4 ,the heat made the kernels pop open somewhat1 but not much4 ,meanwhile fats were roasted over the coals on the point of a stick2 and these and the parched grain were dropped into the corn mortar and pounded together4 ,i then reached into the mortar and took out a handful of the meal1 which being oily with the fats1 held together in a lump4 ,this lump ,i squeezed in my fingers and then tapped it gently on the edge of the mortar1 making a slight dent or groove1 lengthwise1 in one side of the lump4 ,the lump or ball--it was not exactly round--,i dropped into a wooden bowl4 ,the process was repeated until the bowl was full4 ,our native name for corn ball is mpi mp i'kiuta1 from mpi1 something pounded1 mp1 mortar1 and i'kiuta1 hit or pressed against2 that is pounded meal pressed against the mortar2 but we translate1 just corn ball4 ,corn balls were an acceptable present for a woman to give her daughter to take to her husband2 the son-in-law might himself eat the corn balls1 or share them with his parents or sisters4 ,as ,i have said1 the one recognized use of gummy corn was for parching to make corn balls2 but any of the soft corns could be used to make corn balls1 as soft yellow1 soft white1 blue1 light red1 and the like4 ,parched ,soft ,corn4 ,corn of any of the soft varieties parched in a pot as just described1 was often carried by hunters or travelers to be eaten as a lunch4 ,the corn was carried in a little bag made by drying a buffalo's heart skin4 ,parching ,whole ,ripe ,ears4 ,we parched the whole ears1 sometimes1 of ripe soft white and soft yellow corn4 ,we had many squash spits piled up in the rear of the lodge behind the beds2 these made excellent roasting sticks4 ,the ear was stuck on the end of the stick and held over the coals4 ,parching ripe corn on the ear was a winter custom2 but boys herding horses in the summer also parched whole ears sometimes for their midday lunch4 ,we did parch other kinds of corn thus1 besides soft white and soft yellow1 but they were not so good4 ,the gummy was not cooked in this way4 ,parching ,hard ,yellow ,corn with ,sand4 ,we sometimes parched hard yellow corn in a clay pot of our own make1 with sand4 ,down on the sand bars by the ,missouri we found clean1 pure sand2 if ,i wanted to parch hard yellow1 ,i put a handful of this sand in my clay pot4 ,the pot ,i now set on the coals of the fire place until the sand within was red hot4 ,with a piece of old tent skin to protect my hand1 ,i drew the pot a little way from the coals and dropped a double handful of corn within4 ,i stirred the corn back and forth over the sand with a little stick4 ,when ,i thought the corn was quite heated through1 ,i put the pot back on the coals again1 still stirring the corn with the stick4 ,very soon all the kernels cracked open with a sharp crackling noise2 they burst open much as you say white man's popcorn does4 ,hard yellow corn parched in this way was softer than even the soft corns parched in a pot without sand4 ,no variety of corn was good cooked in this way1 except hard yellow2 no other kind would do4 ,mdpozi ,pkici1 or ,lye-,made ,hominy4 ,there was another way in which we prepared hard and soft yellow and hard and soft white2 this was to make it into hominy with lye4 ,i collected about a quart of ashes2 only two kinds were used1 cottonwood or elm wood ashes4 ,when ,i was cooking with such wood and thought of making hominy1 ,i was careful to collect the ashes1 raking away the other kinds first4 ,i put on an iron kettle nearly full of water1 and brought it to a boil4 ,into the boiling water ,i put the ashes1 stirring them about with a stick4 ,then ,i set the pot off to steep for a short time4 ,when the ashes had settled ,i poured the lye off into a vessel and cleaned the pot thoroughly4 ,in earlier times the ashes were boiled in an earthen pot as indeed ,i have often seen it done when ,i was a girl4 ,i was not quite twenty when we bought an iron pot for cooking4 ,before that we used only earthen pots for cooking in our family4 ,having cleaned the pot ,i poured the lye back into it1 put the pot on the fire1 and added shelled1 ripe1 dried corn4 ,this ,i boiled until the hulls came off the grain and the corn kernels appeared white4 ,i added a little water1 and took the pot off the fire2 ,i drained off the lye4 ,i poured water into the pot and washed the corn1 rubbing the kernels between my palms2 ,i drained off the water4 ,i poured in water and washed the corn a second time1 in the same way2 ,i drained off the water4 ,again ,i put water in the pot and boiled the corn in it4 ,as the corn was already soft1 this boiling did not take long4 ,i now added fats1 and beans1 and sometimes dried squash1 all at the same time2 and the pot ,i replaced on the fire4 ,when the beans and squash were cooked1 the mess was ready to eat4 ,corn so prepared we call mdpozi pkici1 or boiled-whole-corn rubbed4 ,it is so called because the hulls of the kernels were rubbed off between the palms at the time the corn was washed in water after the lye was poured off4 ,general ,characteristics of the ,varieties ,we ,hidatsas thought that our five principal varieties of corn1 hard and soft white1 hard and soft yellow1 and gummy1 had characteristics that marked them quite distinctly one from the other4 ,for one thing1 they had each a distinct taste4 ,if at night ,i were given to eat of hard white corn1 or hard yellow or soft yellow1 ,i could at once tell each from any of the others4 ,if ,i were given mush at night made from these three varieties1 each by itself1 ,i could distinguish each variety1 not by its smell1 but in my mouth by taste4 ,meal made by pounding ripe hard white corn became thick and mushy when boiled in a pot4 ,tsdi tapa1 or soft yellow corn1 was quite soft to pound when we made meal of it2 and the boiled meal1 or mush1 seemed to contain a good deal of water in it--that is1 it seemed thin and gruel-like when we came to eat it4 ,to pound tsdi tsoki1 or hard yellow corn1 into meal took a long time2 but when it had been pounded and the meal boiled into food1 it was very good to eat and had an appetizing smell4 ,of the nine varieties ,i have named1 the atki1 or soft white1 was the earliest maturing4 ,if seeds of all nine varieties were planted at the same time1 the soft white would always be the first to ripen in the fall2 and the tsdi tsoki1 or hard yellow1 would be the last to ripen4 ,although the blue1 light red1 dark red1 pink top1 and soft white were all soft or flour corns1 yet the soft white was the earliest to ripen4 ,i reckon the soft white1 also1 to be the softest of all our varieties of corn4 ,i also rate the hard yellow and hard white as equal in value4 ,both are equally hard1 and can not be pounded up into the fine flour or meal which we get from the soft varieties4 ,the hard yellow and soft yellow we thought were the best varieties from which to prepare half-boiled dried corn for winter storing4 ,the dark and light reds were also used1 and if not quite so good1 were but little inferior4 ,indeed1 for half-boiled dried corn1 all varieties were used1 even the maikadicak1 or gummy2 but this last we did not think a good variety for this way of putting up corn4 ,our gummy corn had but one well recognized use2 it was good for parching to make corn balls4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ai ,illustration3 ,figure #bj ,fodder ,yield ,i do not think there was any perceptible difference in the fodder yield of the various races of corn which we ,hidatsas cultivated2 but the fodder yield was always much heavier in rainy years4 ,in a dry season1 the stalks of the corn would be small and weak2 and the leaves would be smaller than in seasons of good rainfall4 ,developing ,new ,varieties ,we ,hidatsas knew that slightly differing varieties could be produced by planting seeds that varied somewhat from the main stock4 ,a woman named ,good ,squash used to raise a variety of corn that tasted just like soft white4 ,this corn had large swelling kernels with deep yellow1 almost reddish1 stripes running down the sides of the grain4 ,we called it ,adaka-dahu-ita koxati1 or ,arikaras' corn1 though it was not ,arikara corn at all4 ,good ,squash's daughter1 ,hunts ,water1 lives on this reservation2 she may have some of the seed of this variety4 ,,sport ,,ears ,names and ,description ,quite often ears of corn appear that are marked by some unusual form2 and for the more marked of these forms1 we had special names4 ,following are some of them3 ,na'ta-tawoxi4 ,from na'ta1 grain2 and tawoxi1 a name applied to youth1 or the young1 and conveying the idea of small4 ,this is an ear of corn having seventeen or eighteen rows of very small kernels4 ,our largest ears of corn had usually but fourteen rows of kernels of normal size4 ,in the old legends of my tribe appear many women bearing this name ,na'ta-tawoxi4 ,wida-,akata4 ,from wida1 goose2 and akata1 roof of the mouth4 ,this is an ear having two rows of corn on either side1 with vacant spaces on the cob between the double rows2 often1 toward the larger end of the ear1 the two rows will expand into three4 ,goodbird has made a drawing of such an ear 7figure #ai74 ,a wida-akata ear1 we thought1 looks like the roof of the mouth of a goose4 ,ita-,caca4 ,forked face1 or cloven face2 from ita1 face4 ,a kind of double ear4 ,goodbird has made a drawing of one 7figure #bj74 ,okijpita4 ,from ok1 or oki1 head-ornament1 plume2 ijpu1 top2 and ita1 fruit4 ,this is a small ear that sometimes appears at the top1 on the tassel of the plant4 ,okijpita ears1 if large enough1 we gathered and put in with the rest of the harvest2 but smaller ears of this kind1 hardly worth threshing1 we gathered and fed to our horses4 ,sometimes1 if the harvesters were in haste1 these ears were left in the field on the stalk2 a pony was then led into the field to crop the ears4 ,iticakupadi4 ,iticakupadi1 or muffled head2 so called because the kernels come down and cover the face or bearded end of the cob quite to the point4 ,we thought such an ear looked like a man with his head muffled up in his robe4 ,muffled-head ears were more numerous in good crop years than in poor years2 and we thought such ears1 if otherwise well favored1 made good seed corn4 ,,chapter ,v ,,squashes ,,planting ,,squashes ,sprouting the ,seed ,squash seed was planted early in ,june2 or the latter part of ,may and the first of ,june4 ,in preparation for planting1 we first sprouted the seed4 ,i cut out a piece of tanned buffalo robe about two and a half feet long and eighteen inches wide1 and spread it on the floor of the lodge1 fur side up4 ,i took red-grass leaves1 wetted them1 and spread them out flat1 matted together in a thin layer on the fur4 ,then ,i opened my bag of squash seeds1 and having set a bowl of water beside me1 ,i wet the seeds in the water--not soaking them1 just wetting--and put them on the matted grass leaves until ,i had a little pile heaped up1 in quantity about two double-handfuls4 ,i next took broad leaved sage1 the kind we use in a sweat lodge1 and buck brush leaves1 and mixed them together4 ,at squash planting time1 the sage is about four inches high ,into the mass of mixed sage-and-buck-brush leaves1 ,i worked the wetted squash seeds1 until they were distributed well through it4 ,the mass ,i then laid on the grass matting1 which ,i folded over and around it4 ,finally ,i folded the buffalo skin over that1 making a package about fifteen by eighteen inches4 ,we called this package kakui kidakci1 squash-thing-bound1 or squash bundle4 ,this squash bundle ,i hung on the drying pole near one of the posts4 ,the bundle did not hang directly over the fire1 but a little to one side4 ,sed si femina in domo menstrua erat1 she should tell it so that the package of seeds could be removed to the next lodge1 or they would spoil4 ,after two days ,i took the bundle down and opened it4 ,from a horn spoon ,i sipped a little tepid water into my mouth and blew it over the seeds4 ,i took care that the water was neither too hot nor too cold1 lest it kill the seeds4 ,i rebound the bundle and hung it up again on the drying pole4 ,at the end of another day the seeds were sprouted nearly an inch and were ready to plant4 ,i took a handful of the grass-and-leaves1 and from them separated the sprouted squash seeds4 ,a wooden bowl had been placed beside me with a little moist earth in it4 ,into this bowl ,i put the seeds1 sprinkling a little earth over them to keep them moist4 ,i was now ready to begin planting4 ,planting the ,sprouted ,seed ,usually two or three women did the family planting1 working together4 ,one woman went ahead and with her hoe loosened up the ground for a space of about fifteen inches in diameter1 for the hill4 ,care was taken that each hill was made in the place where there had been a hill the year before4 ,i am sure that in olden times we raised much better crops1 because we were careful to do so2 using the same hill thus1 each year1 made the soil here soft and loose1 so that the plants thrived4 ,one woman1 then1 as ,i have said1 with her hoe1 loosened up the soil where an old hill had stood1 and made a new hill1 about fifteen inches in diameter at the base4 ,following her came another woman who planted the sprouted seeds4 ,four seeds were planted in each hill1 in two pairs4 ,the pairs should be about twelve inches apart1 and the two seeds in each pair1 a half inch apart4 ,the seeds were planted rather under1 or on one side of the hill1 and about two inches deep in the soil4 ,a careful woman planted the seeds with the sprouts upright2 but even if she did not do this1 the sprouts grew quickly and soon appeared through the soil4 ,we had a reason for planting the squash seeds in the side of the hill4 ,the squash sprouts were soft1 tender4 ,if we planted them in level ground the rains would beat down the soil1 and it would pack hard and get somewhat crusted1 so that the sprouts could not break through2 but if we planted the sprouts on the side of the hill1 the water from the rains would flow over them and keep the soil soft4 ,likewise1 we did not plant the sprouted seeds on the top of the hill because here too the rain was apt to beat the soil down hard4 ,we ,indian women helped one another a good deal in squash planting2 especially would we do turns with our relatives4 ,if ,i got behind with my planting1 some of my relatives1 or friends from another family1 would come and help me4 ,when a group of relatives thus labored together1 four women commonly went ahead making the hills1 and two women followed1 planting the sprouted seeds4 ,harvesting the ,squashes ,the squash harvest began a little before green corn came in4 ,it was our custom to pick squashes every fourth morning2 and the fourth picking--twelve days after the first picking--brought us to green corn time4 ,the first picking was1 naturally1 not very large--three or four basketfuls1 ,i think1 in my father's family2 and these we ate ourselves4 ,the basket used for bringing in the squashes was about fifteen inches across the mouth and eleven inches deep4 ,the second picking was about ten basketfuls1 enough for us to eat and spare a little surplus to our neighbors4 ,after this each picking increased until a maximum was reached1 and then the pickings decreased in size4 ,the fifth or sixth picking was usually the largest4 ,the pickings were made before sunrise4 ,in my father's family1 one of my mothers and ,i usually attended to the actual picking4 ,it was her habit to get up early in the morning1 go to the field and pluck the squashes from the vines1 piling them up in one place in the garden4 ,she returned then to the lodge2 and after the morning meal1 the rest of us women of the household went out and fetched the squashes home in our baskets4 ,squashes grow fast1 and unless we picked them every four days1 we did not think them so good for food4 ,moreover1 squashes that were four days old we could slice for drying1 knowing that the slices would be firm enough to retain their shape unbroken4 ,if the squashes were plucked greener1 the slices broke1 or crumbled4 ,we could tell when a squash was four days old4 ,its diameter then was about three and a quarter inches2 some a little more1 some a little less2 but we chiefly judged by the color of the fruit4 ,a white squash should just have rid itself of green2 a green colored squash should have its color a dark green4 ,we could judge quite accurately thus1 by the state of the colors4 ,the hills yielded some three1 some two1 some only one squash at a picking4 ,i have made as many as six trips to our family garden for the squashes of a single picking2 our garden was distant as far as from here to ,packs ,wolf's cabin--three quarters of a mile4 ,we picked a good many squashes in a season4 ,one year my mother fetched in seventy baskets from our field4 ,i have known families to bring in as many as eighty1 or even a hundred baskets1 in a season4 ,the baskets1 as they were brought in1 were borne up on the drying stage1 and the squashes emptied out on the floor for slicing and drying2 squashes not cooked and eaten fresh were sliced and dried for winter1 excepting those saved for seed4 ,slicing the ,squashes ,slicing squashes for drying began about the third picking4 ,sometimes1 in good years1 a few squashes might be sliced at the second picking2 but at the third picking1 slicing and drying began in earnest4 ,when the squashes1 emptied from the baskets1 made a great heap on the floor of the drying stage1 the women of the family made a feast1 cooking much food for the purpose2 some old women were then invited to come and cut up the squashes with knives1 into slices to dry4 ,we regarded these old women as hired2 and ,i remember that in my father's family we hired sometimes eight1 sometimes ten1 sometimes only six4 ,i think that at the time ,i was a young woman1 when my mothers made such a feast1 about ten old women came4 ,these old women ascended the drying stage1 and sat1 five on either side of the pile of squashes4 ,each of the old women had a squash knife in her hand1 made of the thin part of the shoulder bone of a buffalo1 if it was an old-fashioned one2 butcher knives of steel are now used4 ,the squashes were cut thus3 ,an old woman would draw a robe up over her lap1 as she sat ,indian fashion1 with ankles to the right1 on the floor of the stage4 ,she took a squash in her left hand1 and with her bone knife in her right1 she sliced the squash into slices about three eighths of an inch thick4 ,the squash was sliced from side to side1 not from stem to blossom4 ,an old woman slicing squash would take up a squash1 cut out the stem pit and the blossom1 then turn the squash sidewise and slice1 beginning on the side nearest her4 ,the cut was made by pressing the bone blade downward into the squash as the latter lay in her palm4 ,the first three slices and the last three of a large squash2 or the first two and the last two of a smaller squash1 the old woman put beside her in a pile1 as her earnings for her work2 upon this pile also went any squash thought too small to be worth slicing4 ,these end slices we thought less valuable than those from the middle of the squash2 and unlike the latter1 they were not spitted on willow sticks1 but were taken home by the old woman worker in her blanket1 or her robe1 or in something else in which she could carry them4 ,about three sacks of these inferior slices would be carried home at one time by an old woman worker4 ,these less valuable slices being cut close to the rind were of solid flesh4 ,the better slices had each a hollow in the center1 caused by the seed cavity4 ,the old women did not spit their solid slices on willows1 but dried them on the ground1 carefully guarding them against rain2 for if wet1 the drying slices would spoil4 ,squash ,spits ,all the better slices1 the ones to be retained by the family that hired the old women workers1 were spitted on willow rods to dry4 ,these rods we called kakuiptsa2 from kakui1 squash2 and iptsa1 spit1 stringer4 ,the word may be translated squash spit4 ,squash spits were usually made of the small willows that we call mida hatsihici1 or red willow2 from mida1 wood2 and hici1 light red4 ,when the outer skin of one's finger1 for example1 is peeled off1 the color of the flesh beneath we call hici4 ,this red willow however is not kinikinik1 which white men call red willow4 ,a squash spit should be about half an inch in diameter2 and its length should be measured from the center of my chest to the end of my index finger1 as ,i do now2 or about two feet1 six1 or two feet1 seven inches4 ,a spit was sharpened at one end to a point4 ,at the other end there was left about an inch of the natural bark like a button1 to keep the squash slices from slipping off4 ,the rest of the rod was peeled bare4 ,small ,ankle used to make our drying spits for us4 ,he cut the rods in ,june or early ,july when the bark peeled off easily2 he peeled off the bark with his teeth4 ,it was his habit to cut quite a number of rods at a time and after peeling them1 he would tie them up in a bundle of about three hundred rods1 so that they would dry straight--would not warp1 ,i mean1 in drying4 ,in seasons when they were not in use our squash spits were made into a bundle as big as ,i could hold in my two arms and bound about with two thongs4 ,the bundle was stored away on the floor of the lodge1 under the eaves1 or in the atuti1 as we called the space under the descending roof4 ,the next year1 in harvest time1 the bundle was unbound and the spits examined to see if any had warped4 ,such warped ones were thrown away1 and new ones were made to take their places4 ,spitting the ,slices ,each of the old women hired to slice our squashes worked with a pile of these squash spits beside her2 and as she sliced a squash she laid aside those slices which she retained as her pay2 and taking the others up in her right hand1 she spitted them with a single thrust1 upon one of the willow spits4 ,the spitted slices were then separated about a half inch apart1 so that the first two fingers of the hand could be thrust astraddle the spit between each slice and its neighbor4 ,this was to give the slices air to dry4 ,one willow spit held the slices of four squashes1 and two slices from a fifth squash1 if the squashes were of average size4 ,sometimes an old woman brought her granddaughter along to help her1 the little girl spitting the slices as her grandmother cut them4 ,drying rods1 which ,i have already described1 were laid across the upper rails of the stage2 and each spit as it was loaded was laid with either end resting on a drying rod4 ,the spits were laid with a certain method4 ,each projecting end bore two squash slices1 which acted as a button to stay the spit from being blown down by the wind4 ,as the drying rods rested transversely on the upper rails1 the spits which the rods bore lay parallel with the rails1 and therefore lengthwise with the stage4 ,the spits were laid with the heavier1 or bark covered end toward the front1 or ladder end of the stage1 which in our family1 was the right1 as one came out of the lodge door4 ,illustration3 ,owl ,woman putting squash slices on a spit ,illustration3 ,squash slices drying ,are on squash spits and on stage built to resemble the top of an old time corn stage4 ,when a pair of drying rods was quite filled with these loaded spits1 they made what we called one itski--one walking stick1 or one staff4 ,we counted the quantity of squash we dried as so many staves4 ,we never laid the loaded spits on the floor of the stage1 as the weight of the load caused the drying squash slices to warp1 thus making them hard to handle4 ,in ,case of ,rain ,if a sudden rain came up the day we began drying squash1 we felt no concern1 for the slices having just been cut1 were still green and would not be harmed4 ,but if rain threatened the second day1 or thereafter1 we women ran up on the stage and drew the loaded spits toward the middle of the drying rods2 and over them we spread hides1 upon which we laid poles1 or unused drying rods to weight the hides against the wind4 ,sometimes we even lashed the poles down with thongs4 ,if the drying squash got wet after the first day1 the slices swelled up1 and the fruit spoiled4 ,drying and ,storing ,when the squash slices had dried for two days1 two women of the family went up on the stage2 and working1 one from the front1 the other from the rear end of the stage1 they took the spits one by one1 and with thumb and fingers of each hand slipped the drying slices into the middle of the spit1 thus loosening them from it2 and for the same purpose1 the spit itself was turned and twisted around as it lay skewered through the slices4 ,when well loosened1 the squash slices were again spaced apart as before1 and the spit was replaced on the rods1 to be left for another day4 ,on the evening of the third day the slices were dry enough to string4 ,the strings1 three to six in number1 had been prepared from dry grass4 ,each string was seven ,indian fathoms long2 we ,hidatsas measure a fathom as the distance between a woman's two outstretched hands4 ,each grass string had a wooden needle about ten inches long1 bound to one end4 ,all the slices on one spit were now slid off and the worker by a single thrust skewered the wooden needle through them and slid them down the long string to the farther end2 this end of the string was now looped back and tied just above the first three or four slices of the dried squash that fell down the string2 doing thus made these slices act as a button or anchor to prevent the rest of the squash slices from slipping off the string4 ,in stringing the squash slices1 the spit was held in the right hand1 the left hand straddling the spit with the index and second fingers4 ,the slices were slid down the spit toward the right hand1 the spit being then drawn out and cast away4 ,the squash slices were held firmly in the first two fingers and thumb of the left hand and the needle was run through the hole left by withdrawing the spit4 ,as the spit had a greater diameter than the grass string1 the slices easily slid down the string4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ba ,when stringing slices of squash myself1 ,i always sat on the floor of the drying stage with a pile of loaded spits at my left side4 ,as ,i unloaded a spit1 ,i dropped it at my right side4 ,the grass string hung over the edge of the stage floor1 on the side nearest the lodge4 ,on the ground below ,i had spread some scraped hides1 so that the squash slices1 falling down the string1 would not touch the ground and become soiled4 ,when a string became full1 ,i tossed the end over the edge of the floor1 letting it fall down upon the heap on the scraped hides4 ,the needle used to skewer the slices was bound to the end of the grass string two inches or more from its extremity1 as shown in figure #ba4 ,when the string was filled1 one had but to turn the needle athwart1 and it became a button or anchor1 preventing the slices from slipping off4 ,the strings filled with dried squash slices1 were now taken into the lodge4 ,between the right front main post of the lodge and the circle of outer posts and near the puncheon fire screen at the place it bent in toward the wall1 a stage had been built4 ,two forked posts1 about as high as my head1 supported a pole ten or twelve feet long2 and over this pole the strings of squash were looped1 care being taken that they hung at a height to let the dogs run under without touching and contaminating the squash4 ,i speak of the right front main post2 ,i use right and left in the ,indian sense1 which assumes that an earth lodge faces the doorway2 the door indeed is the lodge's mouth4 ,on sunny days these strings were taken outside4 ,several of the long poles1 or drying rods1 already described1 were brought down from the top of the stage and lashed to the outside of the stage posts on either side4 ,if the harvest was a good one1 a row of these rods might extend the whole length of either side of the stage1 and even around the ends4 ,on the railing thus made the squash strings were taken out and hung on a fair day2 in the morning1 on the east side2 in the afternoon1 on the west side of the stage4 ,on wet days1 the squash strings were left inside the lodge2 and if the rain was falling heavily1 a tent skin1 or scraped rawhides1 dried and ready to tan1 were thrown over them to protect from dampness4 ,the air in the lodge was damp on a rainy day2 and sometimes the roof leaked4 ,when the strings of squash were thought to be thoroughly dried1 they were ready for storing4 ,a portion was packed in parfleche bags1 to be taken to the winter lodge1 or to be used for food on journeys4 ,the rest was stored away in a cache pit1 covered with loose corn4 ,several seasons1 as ,i recollect1 the women of my father's family were a month harvesting and drying their squashes4 ,squash ,blossoms ,besides our squashes1 we also gathered squash blossoms1 three to five basketfuls at a picking2 and they were a recognized part of our squash harvest4 ,on every squash vine are blossoms of two kinds2 one kind bears a squash1 but the other never bears any fruit1 for it grows1 as we ,indians say1 at the wrong place among the leaves4 ,we ,indians knew this1 and gathered only these barren blossoms2 if we did not they dried up anyway and became a dead loss1 so we always gathered them4 ,these blossoms we picked in early morning while they were fresh1 but not if rain had fallen in the night1 as the rain splashed dirt and sand into the blossoms1 making them unfit for food4 ,the blossoms we took home in baskets4 ,on the prairie there is a kind of grass which we ,indians call 8antelope hair40 ,we chose a place where this grass grew thick and was two or three inches high1 to dry the blossoms on4 ,they were taken out of the basket one by one2 the green calyx leaves were stripped off and the blossom was pinched flat1 opened1 and spread on the grass1 with the inside of the blossom upward1 thus exposing it to the sun and air4 ,a second blossom was split on one side1 opened1 and laid upon the first1 upon the petal end1 so that the thicker1 bulbous part of the first--the part indeed that had been pinched flat--remained exposed to dry4 ,this was continued until quite a space on the grass was covered with the blossoms4 ,they remained all day drying4 ,in the evening ,i would go out and gather them1 pulling them up in whole sheets4 ,splitting them open and laying them down one upon another1 caused them to adhere as they dried1 so that they lay on the grass in a kind of thin matting4 ,i always began pulling up the blossoms from one side of this matting1 and as ,i say1 they came away in whole sheets4 ,we put away the dried blossoms in bags1 like those used for corn4 ,these bags were made with round bottom and soft-skin mouth that tied easily4 ,bags were usually made of calf skin4 ,in my father's family we always put away one sack full of dried squash blossoms for winter4 ,,cooking ,,and ,,uses ,,of ,,squash ,the ,first ,squashes ,the first squashes of the season that we plucked were about three inches in diameter2 that is1 they were gathered as soon as we thought they were fit for cooking2 and that same day we picked blossoms also4 ,there might be three or four basketfuls of squashes at this first picking4 ,these squashes we did not dry1 but ate fresh2 as they were the first vegetables of the season1 we were eager to eat them4 ,we cooked fresh squashes as follows3 ,boiling ,fresh ,squash in a ,pot4 ,i took a clay pot of our native manufacture1 partly filled it with fresh squashes and added water4 ,the smaller squashes ,i put in whole2 larger ones ,i cut in two4 ,i did not remove the seeds2 left in the squash they made it taste sweeter4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bb ,redrawn from sketch by ,goodbird4 ,i now took big leaves of the sunflower and thrust them1 stem upward1 between the squashes and the sides of the pot2 the leaves then stood in a circle around the inside of the pot1 with the upper surface of each leaf inward4 ,i added more squashes until the pot was quite full1 even heaping4 ,the sunflower leaves ,i then bent inward1 folding them naturally over the squashes4 ,i now set the pot on the fire4 ,under my direction ,goodbird has made a sketch of a pot of fresh squashes 7figure #bb72 the sunflower leaves are placed and ready to be folded down4 ,squashes thus prepared were boiled a little longer than beef is boiled4 ,the sunflower leaves were put over the pot merely as a lid or covering4 ,it is hard to cook squashes without a cover1 and this was our way of providing one4 ,blossoms were not added when squashes were thus prepared4 ,when the cooking was done1 the green sunflower leaves1 used as a cover1 were removed with a stick1 and thrown away4 ,i had a bowl of cold water near by4 ,i dipped my hand into the water and lifted out the squash pieces one by one1 and laid them on a bowl or dish4 ,the cold water protected my hand2 for the squashes were quite hot4 ,most of the water in the pot had boiled out1 only a little being left in the bottom of the pot4 ,the pieces of squash immersed in this hot water ,i lifted out with a horn spoon4 ,not much water was ever put in the pot anyhow1 for it was the steam mostly that cooked the squashes4 ,the pot was quite heaped with squashes at the first1 but the cooking reduced the bulk1 making the heap go down4 ,the squash pieces in the bottom of the pot were apt to be a little burned or browned2 and so were made sweeter1 and were very good to eat4 ,this was the way we cooked fresh squashes in my father's family until ,i was eighteen years old2 at that time we got an iron dinner pot1 and began to boil our food in it instead of the old fashioned clay pot4 ,fresh squashes1 to be at their best1 should be cooked on the day they are picked2 left over to the next day they never taste so good4 ,squashes ,boiled with ,blossoms4 ,fresh squashes were sometimes boiled with fresh blossoms and fats4 ,sunflower leaves were not then used as a covering4 ,squashes so cooked were usually small2 and when done1 they were lifted out of the pot with a horn spoon4 ,cooking this mess was really by boiling1 not steaming1 as in the mess above described4 ,other ,blossom ,messes ,when ,i wanted to cook fresh squash blossoms1 ,i plucked them early in the morning1 stripping them of the little points1 or spicules shown as a1 a1 and a in figure #bc4 ,these spicules ,i stripped backward1 or downward4 ,i do not know why we did this2 it was our custom4 ,then ,i broke the blossom off the stem at the place in the figure marked with a dotted line4 ,the green bulbous part of the blossom ,i crushed or pinched between my thumb and finger1 to make it soft and hasten cooking2 for the yellow1 blossom part soon cooked4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bc ,i will now give you recipes for some messes made with these fresh1 crushed1 spicule-stripped blossoms2 however1 dried blossoms were often used in these messes instead1 and were just as good4 ,boiled ,blossoms4 ,a little water was brought to boil in a clay pot4 ,a handful of blossoms1 either fresh or dried1 was tossed into the pot and stirred with a stick4 ,they shrunk up quite small1 and another handful of blossoms was tossed in4 ,this was continued until a small basketful of the blossoms had been stirred into the pot4 ,into this a handful of fat was thrown1 or a little bone grease was poured in2 and the mess was let boil a little longer than meat is boiled1 and a little less than fresh squash is boiled4 ,the mess was then ready to eat4 ,blossoms ,boiled with ,mdpozi ,i'tia4 ,mdpozi i'tia was made1 the pot being put on the fire in the early afternoon and boiled for the rest of the day4 ,in the night following the fire would go out and the mess would get cold4 ,in the morning the pot was set on the fire again1 and if ,i was going to use fresh blossoms ,i went out to the field to gather them1 expecting to return and find the pot heated and ready4 ,the newly gathered blossoms1 crushed as described1 ,i dropped in the rewarmed mess1 and boiled for half an hour1 when the pot was taken off1 and the mess was served4 ,sometimes this mess was further varied by adding beans4 ,blossoms ,boiled with ,mpi ,nakapa4 ,the blossoms were first boiled4 ,meal of pounded parched corn and fats were then added and the whole was boiled for half an hour4 ,like the previous mess1 this was sometimes varied by adding beans4 ,,seed ,,squashes ,selecting for ,seed ,seed squashes were chosen at the first or second picking of the season4 ,at these pickings1 as we went from hill to hill plucking the four-days-old squashes1 we observed what ones appeared the plumpest and finest2 and these we left on the vine to be saved for seed4 ,we never chose more than one squash in a single hill2 and to mark where it lay1 and even more1 to protect it from frost1 we were careful to pull up a weed or two1 or break off a few squash leaves and lay them over the squash2 and thus protected1 it was left on the vine4 ,there was a good deal of variety in our squashes4 ,some were round1 some rather elongated1 some had a flattened end2 some were dark1 some nearly white1 some spotted2 some had a purple1 or yellow top4 ,we did not recognize these as different strains1 as we did the varieties of corn2 and when ,i selected squashes for seed1 ,i did not choose for color1 but for size and general appearance4 ,squashes of different colors grew in the same hill2 and all varieties tasted exactly alike4 ,in later pickings1 while we continued to gather the four-days-old squashes we did not disturb the seed squashes4 ,they were easily avoided1 for if not plainly marked by the leaves ,i have said we laid over them1 they could be recognized by their greater size1 and their rough rind4 ,a four-days-old squash is smaller and has a smoother rind than a mature squash4 ,gathering the ,seed ,squashes ,the time for plucking the seed squashes was after we had gathered the first ripe corn1 but had not yet gathered our seed corn4 ,it was our custom to pluck our corn until the first frost fell2 then to gather our seed squashes2 and afterwards our seed corn4 ,some years the first frost fell very early1 before we had plucked our first corn2 in such seasons we gathered our seed squashes first1 for we never let them lie in the field after the first frost had set in4 ,on this reservation the first frost falls at the end of the moon following this present moon4 ,we ,indians call the present moon the wild cherry moon1 because ,june berries ripen in the first half1 and choke-cherries in the second half of the moon2 and we reckon ,june berries as a kind of cherry4 ,our next moon we call the harvest moon2 and in it wild plums ripen and the first frost falls4 ,the seed squashes when plucked1 were all taken into the earth lodge and laid in a pile1 on a bench4 ,the bench was made of planks split from cottonwood trunks1 laid lengthwise with the lodge wall4 ,the squashes were piled in a heap on this bench2 they were bigger than four-days-old squashes and their rinds were rougher and hard1 like a shell4 ,cooking the ,ripe ,squashes ,when now we wanted to have squash for a meal1 ,i went over to this heap of ripe seed squashes and brought a number over near the fire4 ,there ,i broke them open1 carefully saving the seeds4 ,i would lay a squash on the floor of the lodge2 with an elk horn scraper ,i would strike the squash smart blows on the side1 splitting it open4 ,the broken half rinds ,i piled up one above another1 concave side down1 until ready to put them in the pot4 ,ripe squashes were less delicate than green four-days-old squashes1 and did not spoil so quickly4 ,i was able to boil about ten ripe squashes in our family pot2 but it took three such cookings of ten squashes each to make a mess for our family1 which ,i have said was a large one4 ,we boiled these ripe squashes like the four-days-old1 in a very little water4 ,saving the ,seed ,always near the fireplace in our lodge there lay a piece of scraped hide about two feet square4 ,it had many uses4 ,when boiling meat we would lift the steaming meat from the pot and lay it on the hide before serving4 ,we also used the hide for a drying cloth4 ,this piece of hide ,i drew near me when ,i was breaking ripe squashes2 and as ,i removed the seeds ,i laid them in a pile on the hide4 ,squash seeds1 freshly removed from the squash1 are moist and mixed with more or less pulpy matter4 ,to remove this pulp ,i took up a small handful of the fresh seeds1 laid a dry corn cob in my palm and alternately squeezed and opened my hand over the mess4 ,the porous surface of the cob absorbed the moisture and sucked up the pulpy matter1 thus cleansing the seeds4 ,as the cleansed seeds fell back upon the hide ,i took up another handful and repeated the process4 ,if there was a warm autumn sun1 ,i often carried the hide with the cleansed seeds upon it1 and laid it on the floor of the drying stage outside for the seeds to dry2 but if the day was chill or winter had set in1 ,i dried the seeds by the fire4 ,when quite dried1 the seeds were put in a skin sack to be stored in a cache pit4 ,the storing bag was often the whole skin of a buffalo calf1 with only the neck left open for a mouth2 or it might be made of a small fawn skin2 or it might be made of a piece of old tent cover and shaped like a cylinder4 ,eating the ,seeds ,sometimes we boiled ripe squashes whole1 seeds and all2 and we then ate the seeds4 ,they tasted something like peanuts4 ,these seeds of boiled squashes were eaten just as they came from the squash4 ,i would take up two or three seeds in my mouth1 crushing them with my teeth2 and with my tongue ,i would separate the kernels from the shells which ,i spat out4 ,i was rather fond of squash seeds4 ,i have also heard of families who prepared squash seeds by parching or roasting2 but ,i never did this myself4 ,roasting ,ripe ,squashes ,i have heard that in old days my tribe used to roast fall-kept ripe squashes4 ,they were buried in the ashes and roasted whole4 ,i never did this myself1 however4 ,there is a story that an old man who was blind1 was handed a squash thus roasted4 ,he found the squash to his liking1 but did not know how it had been cooked4 8,girl10 he cried1 8let me have the broth this was boiled in60 8,the squash was roasted in the ashes2 it has no broth10 answered the girl who had handed it to him4 ,the blind man laughed4 8,i thought it was boiled in a pot10 he said4 ,i judge from this story that several squashes had been roasted1 and that the blind man got one as his share4 ,storing the ,unused ,seed ,squashes ,it was our custom to remove to our winter village in the mida-pxdi widic1 or leaf-turn-yellow moon2 it corresponds about to ,october4 ,i remember the leaves used to be falling from the trees while we were working about our winter lodges1 getting ready for cold weather4 ,when moving time came in the fall1 any squashes left over in the lodge1 uneaten1 were stored in a cache pit until spring4 ,but it was a difficult thing to store these squashes so that they would keep sound2 and when spring came many of them would be found to have rotted4 ,some families were more careful in making ready and storing their cache pits than were others4 ,squashes kept best when stored in carefully prepared pits4 ,on the family's return the next spring the cache pit was opened2 and the squashes that had kept sound could be used for cooking1 and their seeds could be planted4 ,the number thus stored over winter was not large4 ,the seeds of rotted squashes were just as good to plant as were the seeds of the sound squashes4 ,we carried no squash seeds with us to our winter village4 ,for our spring planting we depended on the seed we had left stored in the cache in our summer lodge1 in my father's family4 ,the seeds of a ripe squash are swelled and plump in the center2 those of a four-days-old squash are flat4 ,we could tell in this way if squash seeds were ripe4 ,squashes1 ,present ,seed ,i grew our native squashes in my son ,goodbird's garden until four years ago4 ,i stopped cultivating them because my son's family did not seem to care to eat them4 ,last year a squash vine came up wild in my son's garden4 ,the squashes that grew on it were of two colors4 ,i saved some of the seed and planted them this year4 ,it is from their yield that ,i have given you seed4 ,as ,i have said1 squashes were of different colors and varied a good deal in shape2 yet we recognized but one strain of seed4 8,we plant but one kind of seed10 we said1 8and all colors and shapes grow from it1 dark1 white1 purple1 round1 elongated40 ,squash ,dolls ,there is one other thing ,i will tell before we forsake the subject of squashes4 ,little girls of ten or eleven years of age used to make dolls of squashes4 ,when the squashes were brought in from the field1 the little girls would go to the pile and pick out squashes that were proper for dolls4 ,i have done so1 myself4 ,we used to pick out the long ones that were parti-colored2 squashes whose tops were white or yellow and the bottoms of some other color4 ,we put no decorations on these squashes that we had for dolls4 ,each little girl carried her squash about in her arms and sang for it as for a babe4 ,often she carried it on her back1 in her calf skin robe4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,beans ,planting ,beans ,bean planting followed immediately after squash planting4 ,beans were planted in hills the size and shape of squash hills1 or about seven by fourteen inches2 but if made in open ground the hills were not placed so far apart in the row4 ,squash hills1 like corn hills1 stood about four feet apart in the row1 measuring from center to center2 but bean hills might be placed two feet or less in the row4 ,beans1 however1 were very commonly planted not in open ground1 but between our rows of corn2 the hills were arranged as shown in diagram 7figure #h1 page #be74 ,corn hills1 ,i have said1 stood four feet1 or a little less in the row1 and the rows were about four feet apart1#ag when corn was planted by itself4 ,but if beans were to be planted between1 the corn rows were placed a little farther apart1 to make room for the bean hills4 ,putting in the ,seeds ,to make a hill for beans1 ,i broke up and loosened the soil with my hoe1 scraping away the dry top soil2 the hill ,i then made of the soft1 slightly moist under-soil4 ,the hill1 as suggested by the measurements1 was rather elongated4 ,i took beans1 three in each hand1 held in thumb and first two fingers1 and buried them in a side of the hill1 two inches deep1 by a simultaneous thrust of each hand1 as ,i stooped over2 the two groups of seeds were six inches apart4 ,i have heard that some families planted four seeds in each group1 instead of three2 but ,i always put in three seeds and think that the better way4 ,figure #bd will explain the two ways of planting4 ,i am not sure that ,i know just why we planted beans always in the side of the hill2 ,i have said we planted squash thus because the sprouted seeds were tender and the soil in the side of the hill did not bake hard after a rain4 ,also1 we were careful not to make our bean hills too large1 as the heavy rains turned the soft soil into mud which beat down over the vines1 killing them4 ,hoeing and ,cultivating ,these subjects ,i have sufficiently described1 ,i think1 when ,i told you how we hoed and cultivated corn4 ,threshing ,threshing was in the fall1 after the beans had ripened and the pods were dead and dried4 ,sometimes1 when the weather had been favorable1 the bean vines were quite dry and could be threshed the same day they were gathered4 ,but if the weather was a little damp1 or if1 as was usually the case1 the vines were still a little green1 they had to be dried a day or two before they could be threshed4 ,to prepare for this labor1 ,i went out into the field and pulled up all the corn stalks in a space four or five yards in diameter2 this was for a drying place4 ,i pulled up the vines of one bean hill and transferred them to my left hand1 where ,i held them by the roots2 ,i gathered another bunch of bean vines in my right hand1 as many as ,i could conveniently carry2 and ,i took these vines1 borne in my two hands1 to the drying place1 and laid them on the ground1 roots up1 spreading them out a little4 ,i thus worked until ,i had pulled up all the vines that grew near the drying place4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bd ,redrawn from sketch by ,goodbird4 ,i made several such drying places1 as the need required2 and on them ,i put all the bean vines to dry4 ,at the end of about three days1 when the vines were dry ,i took out into the field half of an old tent cover and laid it on the ground in an open space made by clearing away the corn stalks4 ,this tent cover1 so laid1 was to be my threshing floor4 ,we never laid this tent cover at the edge of the field on the grass1 because in threshing the vines1 some of the beans would fly up and fall outside the tent cover1 on the ground4 ,we always picked these stray beans up carefully1 after threshing4 ,this could not be done if we threshed on the grass4 ,my threshing floor ready1 ,i took up some of the dry vines and laid them on the tent cover in a heap1 about three feet high4 ,i got upon this heap with my moccasined feet and smartly trampled it1 now and then standing on one foot1 while ,i shuffled and scraped the other over the dry vines2 this was done to shake the beans loose from their pods4 ,when the vines were pretty well trampled ,i pushed them over two or three feet to one side of the tent cover2 and having fetched fresh vines1 ,i made another heap about three feet high1 which also ,i trampled and pushed aside4 ,when ,i had trampled three or four heaps in this manner ,i was ready to beat them4 ,we preferred to tread out our beans thus1 because beating them with a stick made the seeds fly out in all directions upon the ground2 when the vines were trampled1 this would not happen4 ,however1 after the treading was over1 there were always a few unopened pods still clinging to the vines2 and to free the beans from these pods1 we beat the vines at the end of every three or four treadings4 ,this beating ,i did with a stick1 about the size of the stick used as a flail in threshing corn4 ,i always threshed my beans on a windy day if possible1 so that ,i might winnow them immediately after the threshing4 ,if the wind died down1 ,i covered over the threshed beans and waited until the wind came up again4 ,a small carrying basket or a wooden bowl1 was used to winnow with4 ,after the beans were winnowed1 they were dried one more day1 either on a tent cover in the garden1 or at home on a skin placed on the ground near the drying stage4 ,at the end of this day's drying1 they were ready to be packed in sacks4 ,our bean harvests varied a good deal from year to year2 in my father's family1 from as little as half a sack1 to as much as three barrels4 ,the biggest harvest our family ever put up1 that ,i remember1 was equivalent to about three barrelfuls4 ,of course we did not use barrels in those days4 ,bean threshing never lasted long2 it was work that could be done rapidly4 ,gathering up the vines1 threshing1 and winnowing took about a day and a half2 the actual threshing lasted only about half a day4 ,but this does not take into account the time the vines and the threshed beans lay drying4 ,i remember that one year1 when our crop was of good size1 for the whole work of threshing and labor of getting our bean crop in1 ,i spent but three days4 ,in this time ,i had gathered up the vines1 threshed them1 and winnowed the threshed beans4 ,however1 the time necessary for these labors varied much with the crop1 the weather1 and the greenness of the vines4 ,varieties ,there were five varieties of beans in common use in my tribe1 as follows3 ,amaca cipica ,black bean ,amaca hici ,red bean ,amaca puxi ,spotted bean ,amaca ita winaki matuhica ,shield-figured bean ,amaca atki ,white bean ,these varieties we planted1 each by itself2 and each kind1 again1 was kept separate in threshing2 also1 only beans of the same variety were put in one bag for storing4 ,black1 red1 white1 shield-figured1 spotted1 each had a separate bag4 ,besides the foregoing varieties1 there were some families who raised a variety of yellow beans4 ,i once planted some seed of this variety1 but did not find that they bred very true to color2 ,i do not know if this was because ,i did not get very good seed4 ,i do not think these yellow beans were in use in my tribe in very old times4 ,whether they were imported to us by white men1 or1 as seems likely1 were brought from other tribes1 ,i do not know4 ,the white beans now raised in this part of the reservation1 seed of which you have purchased1 is from white man's stock4 ,the seed was brought to us1 ,i think1 when ,i was a little girl1 or about sixty years ago4 ,but we ,hidatsas and ,mandans had white beans before this4 ,the two strains are easily distinguished4 ,in the white man's variety1 the eye is a little sunken in the seed4 ,in the native white beans1 the eye is on a level with the body of the bean4 ,selecting ,seed ,beans ,in the spring1 when ,i came to plant beans1 ,i was very careful to select seed for the following points3 seed should be fully ripe2 seed should be of full color2 seed should be plump1 and of good size4 ,if the red was not a deep red1 or the black a deep black1 ,i knew the seed was not fully ripe1 and ,i would reject it4 ,so also of the white1 the spotted1 and the shield-figured4 ,did ,i learn from white men thus to select seed8 7,laughing heartily47 ,no1 this custom comes down to us from very old times4 ,we were always taught to select seed thus1 in my tribe4 ,white men do not seem to know very much about raising beans4 ,our school teacher last year raised beans in a field near the school-house2 and when harvest time came1 he tried to pluck the pods directly into a basket1 without treading or threshing the vines4 ,i think it would take him a very long time to harvest his beans in that manner4 ,cooking and ,uses ,of the several varieties1 ,i like to eat black beans best4 ,especially ,i like to use black beans in making mdakapa4 ,however1 all the other kinds were good4#ah ,i have already described to you some of the dishes we made1 and still make1 with beans4 ,following are some messes ,i have not described3 ,amaca ,dih1 or ,beans-,boiled4 ,the beans were boiled in a clay pot1 with a piece of buffalo fat1 or some bone grease4 ,if the beans were dried beans1 they were boiled a little longer than squash is boiled--a half hour or more4 ,spring salt1 or other seasoning1 was not used4 ,green beans1 shelled from the pod1 were sometimes prepared thus1 boiled with buffalo fat or bone grease2 but green beans did not have to be boiled quite as long as dried beans4 ,green ,beans ,boiled in the ,pod4 ,green beans in the pod we boiled and ate as a vegetable from the time they came in until fall2 but we did not plant beans1 as we did corn1 to make them come in late in the season1 that we might then eat them green4 ,green beans in the pod were boiled in a clay pot1 with a little fat thrown in4 ,pods and seeds were eaten together4 ,but a green bean pod has in it two little strings that are not very good to eat4 ,at meal time the boiled pod was taken up in the fingers and carried to the eater's mouth4 ,at one end of the pod is always a kind of little hook2 the unbroken pod was taken into the mouth with this little hook forward1 between the teeth2 and the eater1 seizing the little hook between thumb and finger1 drew it out of his mouth with the two little strings that were always attached to the hook4 ,green ,corn and ,beans4 ,pounded green shelled corn was often boiled with green beans1 shelled from the pod4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,storing ,,for ,,winter ,the ,cache ,pit ,we stored our corn1 beans1 sunflower seed and dried squash in cache pits for the winter1 much as white people keep vegetables in their cellars4 ,illustration3 ,figure #be ,redrawn from sketch by ,goodbird4 ,a cache pit was shaped somewhat like a jug1 with a narrow neck at the top4 ,the width of the mouth1 or entrance1 was commonly about two feet2 on the very largest cache pits the mouth was never1 ,i think1 more than two feet eight1 or two feet nine inches4 ,in diagram 7figure #be71 the width of pit's mouth at ,,bb should be a little more than two feet1 narrowing to two feet a little higher up4 ,in my father's family1 we built our cache pits so that they were each of the size of a bull boat at the bottom4 ,other measurements were1 as ,i here show with my hands1 one foot eight inches from the top of the mouth1 where it is level with the ground1 down to the puncheon cover that lay in the trench dug for the purpose2 and two feet and a half from this plank cover to the lower part of the neck1 marked ,,bb in the diagram4 ,descent into one of these big cache pits was made with a ladder2 but in a small one1 such as ,i have made you in vertical-section model1 in a bank by the ,missouri1 and which you have photographed1 the depth was not so great4 ,in one of these smaller pits1 when standing on the floor within1 my eyes just cleared the level of the ground above1 so that ,i could look around4 ,when such a pit was half full of corn1 ,i could descend and come out again1 without the help of a ladder4 ,at other times ,i had to be helped out2 ,i would hold up my hands1 and my mother1 or some one else1 would come and give me a lift4 ,usually1 two women worked together thus in a cache pit1 one helping the other out1 or taking things from her hands4 ,one of my mothers was usually my helper4 ,the digging and storing of a cache pit was women's work4 ,for digging the pit1 a short handled hoe was used2 of iron1 in my day2 of bone1 ,i have heard1 in olden times4 ,i have dug more than one cache pit myself4 ,i began by digging the round mouth1 dragging the loosened earth away with my hoe4 ,as the pit grew in depth1 the excavated earth was carried off in a wooden bowl4 ,i stood in the pit with the bowl at my feet and labored with my hoe1 raking the earth into the bowl4 ,when it was full1 ,i handed the bowl to my mother1 who bore it away and emptied it4 ,it took me two days and a good part of a third to dig a cache pit1 my mother helping me to carry off the dirt2 such a cache pit1 ,i mean1 as we used in my father's family1 and which1 as ,i have said1 was large enough for a bull boat cover to be fitted into the bottom4 ,a trench for the puncheon cover of the mouth was the very last part of the cache pit to be dug2 but ,i will describe the use of this trench a little farther on4 ,grass for ,lining ,when the cache pit was all dug1 it had next to be lined with grass4 ,the grass used for this purpose1 and for closing the mouth of the cache pit1 was the long bluish kind that grows near springs and water courses on this reservation2 it grows about three feet high4 ,in the fall1 this kind of grass becomes dry at the top1 but is still green down near the roots2 and we then cut it with hoes and packed it in bundles1 to the village4 ,this bluish grass was the only kind used for lining a cache pit4 ,we knew by repeated trials that other kinds of grass would mold1 and did not keep well4 ,grass ,bundles ,i remember1 one time1 ,i went out with my mother to cut grass4 ,i took a pony along to pack our loads home4 ,i loaded the pony with four bundles of grass1 two on each side1 bound to the saddle4 ,a bundle was about four feet long1 and from two and a half to three feet thick1 pressed tight together4 ,one bundle made a load for a woman4 ,besides the four bundles loaded on my pony1 my mother packed one bundle back to the village1 and three or four dogs dragged each a bundle on a travois4 ,we reckoned that three of these bundles would be needed to line and close a large cache pit2 and two and a half bundles1 for a smaller pit4 ,a hundred such bundles were needed to cover the roof of an earth lodge4 ,long established use made us able to make the bundles about alike in weight1 though of course we had no scales to weigh them in those days4 ,the ,grass ,binding ,rope ,each bundle was bound with a rope of grass4 ,in a bed of this grass as it stands by the spring or stream1 there is often found dead grass from the year before1 or even from two years previous1 standing among the other grass stems that are still somewhat green at the roots4 ,to make a binding rope ,i must use only dead grass4 ,i did so in this manner3 ,i stooped1 took a wisp of grass in my hands1 twisting it to the left and at the same gently lifting it1 when all the dry stems would break off at the roots4 ,i took a half step forward1 laid the twisted end of the strand on the ground1 and grasped another wisp of grass1 which ,i twisted to the left and broke off as before2 but ,i twisted the new wisp in such manner that it made part of the continued twisted strand4 ,i continued thus until ,i had a strand long enough to tie my bundle4 ,figure #bf is a sketch made after my description of a grass bundle1 showing the grass rope and the tie4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bf ,exact reproduction of sketch by ,goodbird4 ,the tie is pronounced accurate by ,buffalobird-woman4 ,drying the ,grass ,bundles ,these grass bundles we fetched home and laid on the drying stage until we were ready to use them4 ,just before using1 we took the bundles up on the roof of the earth lodge1 broke the binding ropes and spread the grass out to dry1 for one day4 ,the ,willow ,floor ,the walls of the cache pit were left bare for the grass lining2 but a floor was laid on the bottom4 ,this was rather simply made by gathering dead and dry willow sticks1 and laying them evenly and snugly over the bottom of the pit4 ,the ,grass ,lining ,over this willow floor1 the grass1 now thoroughly dried1 was spread evenly1 to a depth of about four inches4 ,grass was then spread over the walls to a depth of three or four inches1 and stayed in place with about eight willow sticks4 ,these were placed vertically against the walls and nailed in place with wooden pins made each from the fork of a dead willow1 as shown in figure #bg4 ,the ends of the sticks should reach to the neck of the cache pit1 at the place marked ,b1 in diagram 7figure #be1 page #hg74 ,we were careful to spread the grass lining evenly over the walls2 and we were especially careful not to let the root ends get matted together1 as they were very apt to do4 ,it will be noticed that the willow flooring of the pit1 the willow staying rods1 and the wooden pins that held them in place1 were all made of dead and dry willows2 this was done that everything within the pit might be perfectly dry4 ,it did not take long to place the grass lining of the cache pit4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bg ,skin ,bottom ,covering ,if the cache pit was a small one1 we covered the bottom with a circular piece of skin1 cut to fit the pit bottom1 and laid it directly on the grass matting that covered the willow floor2 but if the cache pit was a large one1 we fitted into the bottom the skin cover of a bull boat1 with the willow frame removed4 ,storing the ,cache ,pit ,the cache pit was now ready to be stored4 ,my mother and ,i--and by 8my mother0 ,i mean always one of my two mothers1 for my mother that bore me was dead--fetched an old tent cover from the earth lodge1 and laid it by the cache pit so that one end of the cover hung down the pit's mouth4 ,upon this tent cover we emptied a big pile of shelled ripe corn1 fetched in baskets from the bull boats in which it had been temporarily stored inside the lodge4 ,we also fetched many strings of braided corn1 and laid them on one side of the tent cover4 ,lastly1 we fetched some strings of dried squash and laid them on the tent cover4 ,of dried squash1 ,i fetched but one string at a time1 doubled and folded over my left arm4 ,a string of dried squash1 as ,i have said1 was always seven ,indian fathoms long2 and ,i have described an ,indian fathom as the distance from the tips of the fingers of one hand to the tips of the fingers of the other1 with both hands outstretched at either side4 ,as these measurements were made by the women workers1 an ,indian fathom averaged about five and a half feet in length4 ,a string of dried squash1 seven ,indian fathoms in length1 we knew by experience to be just about the weight that a woman could conveniently carry4 ,a string eight fathoms long would be too heavy2 and one six fathoms long would be rather short4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bh ,plan of cache in horizontal section3 ,a1 floor ready for storing2 ,b1 the first series of braided strings2 ,c1 loose corn2 ,d1 first squash string4 ,in vertical section3 ,e1 the first series of braided strings of corn2 ,f1 adding loose corn2 ,g1 the first squash string2 ,h1 loose corn filled in around squash4 ,all being now ready1 my mother descended into the cache pit4 ,leaning over the mouth1 ,i handed her a string of braided corn4 ,in my father's family1 we usually braided fifty-four1 or fifty-five ears1 to a string2 and a woman could carry about three strings on her left shoulder4 ,these braided strings1 as ,i have said1 my mother and ,i fetched from the drying stage2 she stood on the stage floor and handed me the braided strings1 and ,i bore them off to the cache pit4 ,leaning over the pit then1 as ,i have said1 ,i handed my mother one of the braided strings that now lay in a heap on the tent cover4 ,my mother took the string of corn1 folded it once over1 and laid it snugly against the wall of the cache pit1 on the skin bottom covering1 with the tips of the ears all pointed inward4 ,folding a string thus kept the ears from slipping1 and stayed them more firmly in place2 and the ears1 laid husk end to the wall1 were better preserved from danger of moisture4 ,my mother continued thus all around the bottom of the pit1 until she had surrounded it with a row of braided corn laid against the wall1 two ears deep2 for the strings1 being doubled1 lay therefore two ears deep4 ,my mother now started a second row1 or series1 of strings of braided corn doubled over1 laying them upon the first series2 and like these1 with the ears all pointed inward4 ,when this series was completed1 the bottom of the cache pit was surrounded by strings of braided corn1 which1 because doubled1 now lay four ears deep4 ,my mother now called to me that she was ready for the shelled1 or loose1 corn4 ,obeying her1 ,i pushed the shelled corn that lay on the tent cover1 down the overhanging end of the skin into the cache pit1 until the floor of the pit was filled up level with the top of the four-tiered series of strings of braided corn4 ,it will be seen now how necessary it was that a hide or bull boat cover be put in the bottom of the cache pit1 to receive this shelled grain4 ,i next passed down a string of dried squash1 seven fathoms long2 and this my mother coiled and piled up in the center of the cache pit upon the shelled corn4 ,this loose corn1 ,i have already said1 lay level with the topmost row of ears laid against the pit's wall1 but did not quite cover the ears4 ,i remember1 as ,i looked down into the pit1 ,i could see these corn ears lying in a circle about the loose corn within4 ,figure #bh1 drawn under my direction1 shows in a series of rough sketches how the cache pit was filled4 ,again ,i passed down strings of braided corn to my mother4 ,these she doubled1 as before1 and laid them around the wall of the cache pit1 until they came up level with the top of the squash heap coiled in the center4 ,we did not have any fixed number of rows of corn to place now2 my mother just piled the doubled braids around the wall until they came even with the top of the coiled squash string4 ,my mother then called to me1 and again ,i shoved loose corn into the cache pit1 until it just barely covered the coiled squash pile and the topmost row of braided ears4 ,the object of our putting the squash in the center of the shelled corn was to protect it from dampness4 ,the shelled ripe corn did not spoil very easily1 but dried squash did4 ,we were careful1 therefore1 to store the strings of squash in the very center of the cache pit and surround them on every side with the loose corn2 this protected the squash and kept it dry4 ,we continued working1 my mother and ,i1 until the cache pit was filled4 ,in an average sized cache pit we would usually store four seven-fathom strings of dried squash1 coiled each in a heap in the center of the cache and hidden as described1 in the loose corn2 and as ,i recollect it1 ,i think it took about thirty or more strings of braided corn to lie around the wall of an average sized pit2 but my memory here is a little uncertain1 and this estimate may not be quite accurate4 ,we filled the pit about up to the point marked ,b in the diagram 7figure #be71 the last two feet being filled with shelled corn only2 thus the last string of squash put in the cache pit should be covered with at least two feet of loose corn4 ,over this shelled corn1 at ,b in the diagram1 we snugly fitted a circular cover1 cut from the thick skin of the flank of a buffalo bull4 ,a bull's hide is thicker than a buffalo cow's1 and for this reason was seldom made into a robe2 but there were purposes for which a bull's hide was preferred4 ,thus the heavy thick-haired parts of a bull's hide were much used for making saddle skins1 because the heavy wool protected the horse's back2 and the short haired parts were much used for making cache pit covers4 ,using these parts of the hide for covers1 we did not have to bother to scrape off the hair1 which in summer is very short on a buffalo's flanks4 ,the skin cover was laid hair side up1 so that the flesh side would come next to the loose corn4 ,on this hide cover my mother and ,i laid grass1#ai of the same kind as used for lining the cache pit wall4 ,illustration3 ,figure #bi ,redrawn from sketch by ,goodbird4 ,the ,puncheon ,cover ,upon this grass1 if the pit was one of the smaller ones1 we laid puncheons2 and these puncheons1 as ,i have said1 rested in a trench4 ,the puncheons1 split from small logs1 were laid in the trench flat side down1 so that they would not rock4 ,there were about five main planks1 or puncheons1 the middle one being the heaviest1 the better to sustain the weight of any horse that might happen to walk over the cache pit's mouth4 ,on either side of these main puncheons were two shorter ones1 laid to cover the small area of the pit's mouth not covered by the main puncheons4 ,figure #bi by ,goodbird1 drawn from the small model ,i made for you in ,wolf ,chief's yard1 will explain this4 ,the puncheons shown in the figure exactly fit the trench2 and their circumscribed outline represents also the shape of the trench4 ,the dotted circle represents the pit's mouth1 now hidden by the over-lying puncheons4 ,upon the puncheons we now laid grass1 quite filling the pit's mouth1 and even heaped1 it might be1 a foot high above the level of the ground2 this we trampled down hard1 well into the mouth of the pit4 ,over this grass we fitted a second cover1 cut as was the first from a buffalo bull's hide2 and upon this we heaped earth until the pit was filled level with the ground4 ,lastly1 we raked ashes and refuse dirt over the spot1 to hide it from any enemy that might come prowling around in the winter1 when the village was deserted4 ,i have said that puncheons1 resting in a trench1 were used to cover the mouth of a cache pit of smaller size4 ,if the pit was of the larger size1 ,i dug about two feet down in the neck or opening1 a rectangular place on either side1 with my knife4 ,puncheons were thrust down into one of these rectangular openings and drawn through into the other1 covering the mouth of the pit2 and as in the smaller pit1 there were several main puncheons1 with one or two smaller and shorter ones at either side4 ,grass was stuffed into the two openings1 above the ends of the puncheons1 to firm the latter4 ,above the puncheons1 the mouth of the pit was filled in1 as was that of the smaller pit1 with grass1 a circular skin cover1 and earth4 ,the two rectangular openings which ,i dug with my knife in the neck of the larger pit1 were1 as will be noted1 a little farther down than was the floor of the trench of the smaller pit4 ,this was because the neck was longer in a pit of the larger size4 ,,cache ,,pits ,,in ,,small ,,ankle',s ,,lodge ,first ,account ,in diagram 7figure #cj71 ,i have marked the positions of the cache pits we had in use in my father's family1 when ,i was a girl4 ,cache ,a was used for hard yellow shelled corn2 but the braids piled against the wall of the pit were of white corn2 so also of ,b and ,c4 ,in cache ,d were stored dried boiled corn and strings of dried squash4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cj ,sometimes in one of the cache pits outside of the lodge we put a bag of beans1 or sometimes two bags4 ,each bag was of skin and was about as long as one's arm2 its shape was long and round4 ,in the fall1 when we went to our winter lodges1 corn1 squash1 beans1 and whatever else was needed1 we loaded on our horses and took with us4 ,as soon as we came to our winter lodge we made ready a cache pit at once and stored these things away4 ,we opened a cache pit whenever we got out of provisions4 ,when should this be1 you ask8 ,when we got out of provisions4 ,this might happen at any time4 ,one winter1 ,i remember1 we got out of provisions and a number of our people left the winter village and went to the lodges at ,like-a-fishhook village1 to open a cache4 ,the ,sioux surrounded them there4 ,our people took refuge in a kind of fort that belonged to the traders and fired down from an upper room2 they killed two of the ,sioux4 ,cache pit ,f in the diagram1 we made afterwards4 ,pit ,e was also of later make2 we dug it after we got potatoes2 it was inside the lodge and near the corral for horses4 ,cache pit ,c we had to abandon because mice got into it and we could not get rid of them4 ,so we filled it up with earth and dug pit ,d4 ,we stored gummy corn in cache pit ,d and used it for two years4 ,the third year the ,sioux came against our village in the winter time and stole our corn and burned down my father's lodge4 ,i have been telling you how the cache pit was used for storing things for winter2 but ,i do not mean that it was of no use in summer time4 ,in early spring we put into a cache pit two big packages of dried meat and a bladder full of bone grease4 ,we did not take them out until about ,august or a little earlier4 ,the meat would still be good1 and the bone grease would be hard and sweet1 just as if it were frozen4 ,a cache pit lasted for a long time1 used year after year4 ,a ,second ,account on ,another ,day ,we had four cache pits to store grain for my father's family2 one held squash1 vegetables1 corn1 etc4 ,a second held shelled yellow corn4 ,in this cache the usual strings of corn laid around to protect the shelled grain from the wall1 were of white corn4 ,we did not braid hard yellow corn4 ,it was corn that we did not often use for parching4 ,a third cache held white shelled corn1 protected by the usual braided strings of white corn4 ,a fourth cache pit was a small one inside the lodge2 here we stored dried wild turnips1 dried choke-cherries1 and dried ,june berries2 and any valuables that we could not take with us to our winter village4 ,our cache pits were for the most part located outside the lodge1 because mice were found inside the lodge1 and they were apt to be troublesome4 ,in the cache pit where we stored our yellow corn1 we stored the grain loose1 not in sacks4 ,i knew of course where each cache pit was located4 ,the ,sioux sometimes came up against us in winter and raided our cached corn4 ,one winter 7about #ahgg7 they came up and burned our lodges and stole all that was in our cache pits4 ,we returned from our winter quarters to our permanent village a little before ice breaks on the ,missouri1 or in the latter part of ,march4 ,diagram of ,small ,ankle's ,lodge ,illustration3 ,figure #ca ,redrawn from sketch by ,goodbird4 ,a4 ,bed of ,small ,ankle and ,strikes-many-women4 ,b4 ,bed of ,wolf ,chief and wife4 ,c4 ,bed of ,bear's ,tail and wife4 ,d4 ,bed of ,son-of-a-,star and his wife ,buffalo-bird-woman4 ,e4 ,bed of ,flies-low1 ,yellow ,front ,hair and ,fell-upon-his-house1 three boys4 ,f4 ,bed of ,turtle4 ,g4 ,place for storing ax1 hay1 wood1 or any thing that could be piled or laid away4 ,h4 ,bed of ,small ,eyes1 elder sister of ,strikes-many-women2 the bed here by the fireplace being the warmest was commonly reserved for an elderly person4 7,small ,eyes is probably the same as ,red ,blossom74 ,k4 ,corn mortar and pestle4 ,l4 and ,m4 ,cache pits4 ,n4 ,platform of slabs on which were stored food1 utensils1 etc4 ,p4 ,lazy-back or native chair4 ,,xxx4 ,small ,ankle's medicines1 or sacred objects4 ,figure #ca is a diagram of ,small ,ankle's lodge1 as ,i remember it4 ,my three brothers slept in bed ,e1 but often ,wolf ,chief or ,bear's ,tail and their wives would be away1 staying at some other lodge1 perhaps at the wife's mother's2 sometimes they visited thus for a long time4 ,the boys might then make use of the vacant bed of the visiting couple4 ,all beds were covered with skins1 as ,i have before described to you4 ,small children slept with their parents4 ,i do not know why my father put his medicine shrines in the rear of the lodge4 ,ours was a big family and there was not room enough for all the beds on one side4 ,probably ,small ,ankle wanted the medicine objects near his bed and not where the children were4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,making ,,of ,a ,,drying ,,stage ,stages in ,like-a-fishhook ,village ,there were about seventy lodges in ,like-a-fishhook village1 when ,i was a girl4 ,a corn drying stage stood before every lodge4 ,that before ,small ,ankle's lodge was a three-section stage1 of eight posts4 ,white ,feather1 or his wives1 owned two of these big eight-post stages1 one before each of their two lodges2 for ,white ,feather had four wives4 ,many ,growths--a woman--had a big eight-post stage4 ,there were a few other eight-post stages in the village1 but they were small1 with narrow sections and posts placed relatively rather close to one another4 ,the rest of the stages in the village1 as ,i recollect1 were all six-post1 or two-section1 stages4 ,in all cases1 whether of a six-post or eight-post stage1 the floor was upheld by two long1 but narrow beams1 that ran the whole length of the stage4 ,the description ,i shall now give of the making of a drying stage1 is of an eight-post stage1 such as always stood before my father's lodge4 ,cutting the ,timbers ,the timbers we used for building a drying stage were all of cottonwood4 ,being thus of a soft wood1 the timbers did not last so very long when exposed to the weather2 and a stage built of cottonwood timbers lasted only about three years2 the fourth year1 unless the stage was rebuilt1 the posts rotted and the stage would fall down4 ,unlike the posts of a watchers' stage1 those of a drying stage were always carefully peeled of bark1 as they rotted more quickly if the bark was left on4 ,my mother's drying stage1 as ,i have said1 had eight posts2 and these posts we cut with forks at the top4 ,if we could find them1 or if we had time to hunt for them in the woods1 we cut double-forked posts1 like that of figure #cb4 ,but it was much easier to get the smaller posts1 of the height of the stage floor4 ,such a post had but one fork at the top1 in which lay one of the beams that supported the floor2 and a companion post1 longer and not so heavy1 stood by it to support the railing at the top of the stage4 ,however1 in reckoning the number of posts of a stage1 ,i count a single-forked post and its companion as but one post4 ,for the two long beams on which the floor of the stage was to be laid1 we cut two rather slender logs1 the longest we could find in the woods4 ,all these timbers we cut in the summer time1 peeling off the bark and letting them lie until winter1 to dry4 ,then when there was snow on the ground1 we hitched ropes to the seasoned timbers and dragged them into the village4 ,the stage was built the following spring or summer1 to be ready for the fall harvest2 so that we commonly cut the timbers for a stage nine months or a year before they were to be used in building it4 ,digging the ,post ,holes ,when we were ready to begin building1 the first thing we had to do was to mark the post holes4 ,we laid the two long floor beams parallel on the ground1 at such a distance apart as to enclose the space necessary for the stage4 ,we then marked the places for the post holes1 at proper distances along the inside of the two beams2 there were eight of these post holes1 four on a side4 ,these post holes were dug with a long digging stick1 and the dirt removed1 to the depth of a woman's arm from the shoulder to the hand2 that was as far as one could reach down to lift out the dirt4 ,to get the post holes all of a depth1 ,i took a stick and measured on it the length of my arm from shoulder to fingers2 this stick ,i used to probe the holes to see that they were of a proper depth4 ,we now laid down all the posts in a row1 and so adjusted them that the forks that were to receive the floor beams lay all in a straight line2 that is1 if the posts were two-forked posts1 all the forks ,c 7figure #cb7 would lie in a straight line2 and if the posts1 or some of them1 were single-forked posts1 their tops would lie in a line with fork ,c of the double-forked posts4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cb ,on all the posts a charcoal line was now drawn at ,a 7figure #cb74 ,the distance from ,a to ,b 7figure #cb7 should be the length of a woman's arm1 which also was the depth of the post hole4 ,but in cutting the posts1 no matter how careful we were1 there was always some irregularity in lengths so that the part from ,a to ,b upon the various posts might slightly vary4 ,all having now been marked with the charcoal line1 the posts were rolled each to its proper post hole and the part ,,ab on the post was carefully measured and compared with the hole's depth4 ,for this purpose the stick used to probe the post holes came again into use4 ,if the length of the part ,,ab on any post happened to be an inch or two longer than my arm its post hole was deepened to the same extent4 ,all this was necessary in order that when the posts were dropped into their holes1 the forks that were to receive the floor beams would lie all at the same height4 ,i have said that a charcoal line was drawn around each post at ,a 7figure #cb74 ,the position of this line1 after the first one was drawn1 was obtained by measuring from the fork ,c2 and care was taken that the measurements on all the posts should be exactly alike4 ,the charcoal line quite encircled the post4 ,raising the ,frame ,the posts were now raised and dropped into the post holes2 raising was by hand4 ,the posts were turned so that the forks lay in proper position to receive the floor beams and upper rails2 a two-forked post was placed with the prong ,c 7figure #cb7 turned inward4 ,a single-forked post had to have a companion post beside it1 also forked1 to support the railing at the top of the stage4 ,this companion post was not so heavy1 but of course was longer4 ,it stood just beside the main post and was carefully adjusted to receive the upper rail properly4 ,it was lashed to the main post by a green-hide thong4 ,this thong might pass around the shorter post just below its fork2 or it might bind the companion post to one of the prongs of the fork itself4 ,if ,i had several two-forked posts and several one-forked posts with companion posts beside them1 it required some little bit of fitting to adjust them all so that the floor beams and rails would lie properly4 ,to better permit this to be done1 it was not my custom to firm the earth about the post1 until the frame had been set up and adjusted2 for little irregularities in the fitting could be cured by slightly moving the posts as they stood unfirmed1 in their holes4 ,when the frame was properly adjusted1 ,i took my digging stick--it was always a long one that was used for digging holes--and rammed the earth around the foot of each post1 firming it4 ,it was the custom of my tribe when digging the post holes1 to dig each one just the diameter of its post1 or as nearly to it as we could2 then the posts when raised fitted snugly into the holes4 ,the two long floor beams having been raised into position1 the two poles that were to make the top railing were also raised4 ,these rails were of the same length1 but were not so heavy1 as the floor beams4 ,we were now ready to lay the floor4 ,the ,floor ,the floor of the stage was of cottonwood planks4 ,cottonwood logs1 nine to twelve inches in diameter1 had been cut of proper length4 ,out of the center of each was split a plank1 or board1 with ax and wedge4 ,these planks were laid to make the floor1 the ends of the planks resting on the two floor beams that lay on the forks of the posts4 ,we took care to make the floor as snug as possible4 ,the planks were carefully fitted together1 and if there was any little crooked place in a plank that left a crack in the floor1 we stuffed a dry cornstalk into the crack so that no ear of corn could fall through4 ,the planks that made the floor were not bound to the floor beams1 nor weighted down in any way2 their own weight stayed them in place4 ,i have said that the drying stage had to be rebuilt about every three years because the posts rotted down in that time4 ,this was not true of the floor planks2 they lasted much longer and were used year after year4 ,staying ,thongs ,the eight posts of the stage stood in pairs1 a post on either side of the floor2 and between the tops of each pair of posts a green-hide thong was bound1 and left to dry4 ,these thongs stayed the stage and made it stronger and firmer2 often they were also made to bind down the upper rails to the forks of the posts4 ,ladder ,the stage stood always in front of the earth lodge with its longer side to the door4 ,a ladder stood at the right hand nigher corner post--as one comes out of the lodge--with the foot of the ladder resting a little way from the stage4 ,the top of the ladder leaned against the end of the floor beam on the side next the lodge4 ,of course if the ladder were left here with nothing to stay it1 it would fall against the loose planks of the stage floor and force them out of position4 ,to prevent this a pole was bound firmly to the two posts ,a and ,b 7figure #ab7 and resting on the two floor beams just outside the posts4 ,the ladder rested against this pole4 ,to receive the pole1 the floor beams were made to project a little bit forward at the ladder end of the stage4 ,the ladder was made of a cottonwood trunk1 about ten inches in diameter1 with notches cut in it for steps4 ,at its lower end it was brought to an edge that it might more firmly rest on the ground and not turn when someone stepped on it4 ,at the upper end a notch was cut in the back to receive the end of the floor beam against which the ladder rested4 7,see figure #cc47 ,illustration3 ,figure #cc ,the ladder had always one fixed place2 or1 if for any reason it had to be moved during labors1 we took pains to warn our friends4 ,a woman in our village once moved her ladder to another place on her stage and forgot about it4 ,when she started to come down she stepped in the old place and fell and broke both her arms4 ,we did not like to have a ladder removed from its accustomed place for fear of just such accidents4 ,when the owner descended from her drying stage1 she took down her ladder and laid it on the ground beside the stage4 ,it was not proper for strangers to go up on the drying stage1 nor were children allowed to go up there4 ,neighbors sometimes came in and borrowed the ladder2 but when not in use1 its proper place was on the ground by the stage4 ,you ask me how we ,indian women ascended and descended a ladder4 ,i never thought of our having any particular custom in this2 but now that you call my attention to it1 ,i remember that a woman ascended and descended a ladder with her face toward the stage1 giving her the appearance of going up sidewise1 and coming down in the same manner4 ,in going up a ladder ,i usually placed my left foot on the lowest step2 brought my right foot around in front and over my left to the second step2 then my left foot past and behind my right foot1 with my face toward the drying stage4 ,my left hand might or might not touch the ladder1 as ,i was used to ascending it and felt no fear4 ,in descending a ladder ,i placed my right foot on the highest step1 and overlapped with my left2 and so until the bottom was reached4 ,i do not know if other women had exactly this custom1 for ,i never observed or thought anything about it2 but ,i do know that always1 ascending or descending1 an ,indian woman went sidewise1 with her face toward the stage4 ,enlarging the ,stage ,some years1 if our family's corn crop was very large1 we extended our drying stage1 making it five posts long instead of four posts long1 on a side4 ,other families did likewise1 as they had need2 one family might have corn enough to require a stage five posts long1 while another family needed one only four posts long1 on a side4 ,stages1 indeed1 varied in length with the needs of the family1 but they were all of about the same width4 ,present ,stages ,the stage that ,i have been describing is of the kind that was in use in my tribe when ,i was a young girl of twelve or thirteen years of age4 ,at present we no longer use this1 our old form1 but the ,arikara form instead4 ,the ,arikara stage differs in having a floor of willows1 and is easier to make4 ,it took two days to erect a stage of the old fashioned kind1 such as ,i have been describing4 ,building1 ,women's ,work ,building the drying stage was women's work1 although the men helped raise the heavy posts and floor beams4 ,in my father's family1 my two mothers and ,i built the stage2 but my father also helped us1 especially if there was any heavy lifting to do4 ,measurements of ,stage ,i will now give you the measurements of such a stage as we used in my father's family4 ,pacing it off here1 on the ground1 the length of the stage was1 ,i think1 about so long--thirty feet4#bj ,its width was about thus--twelve feet4 ,from the ground to the top of the stage floor was a little higher than a woman can reach with her hand1 or about six feet1 six inches2 there were horses in the village1 and the stage floor must be high enough so that the horses could not reach the corn4 ,from the floor of the stage to the upper railing was about so high 7holding up a stick71 or five feet and nine inches4 ,i will now give you the measurements of the posts and beams2 and for this1 we will use the little model which ,i have made for you4 ,in this model ,i have used double-forked posts on one side1 and single-forked posts1 with companion posts1 on the other side4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cd ,in the diagram 7figure #cd71 ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 ,d1 are double-forked posts2 a1 b1 c1 d1 are single-forked posts2 and xa1 xb1 xc1 xd1 are companion posts4 ,the double-forked posts1 ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 and ,d1 should be about ten inches in diameter between the lower fork and the ground1 but tapering slightly toward the upper fork4 ,this upper fork1 if it was not in the post naturally1 might be cut to receive the upper rail4 ,the posts a1 b1 c1 and d1 should be ten inches in diameter2 and the companion posts1 xa1 xb1 xc1 and xd1 should be1 perhaps1 four inches in diameter4 ,all of these posts are set in the ground with the smaller1 or branch end upward4 ,the floor beams should each be about nine and one-half inches in diameter at one end1 tapering to four or five inches in diameter at the other end4 ,this tapering was the natural growth of the trunk2 it was not1 ,i mean1 cut tapering with an ax4 ,the beams were so laid that the heavy ends were always at the front of the stage as we called it2 that is1 at the end where the ladder stood4 ,the upper rails were about three and a half inches in diameter4 ,they were chosen for strength1 if possible of trunks that were branchless1 or nearly so4 ,these upper rails were also laid with the heavy ends toward the front1 or ladder end1 of the stage4 ,i have said that if the long posts1 ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 ,d1 had no natural fork at the top1 one was cut2 but all other forks1 and those also on the tops of the shorter posts were natural4 ,we took pride in building the stage of well chosen timbers1 and in making the parts fit snugly4 ,the floor especially was laid as smooth and as evenly as possible2 and here and there1 if a crack appeared1 a dry corn stalk was caulked in to make the floor snug and smooth4 ,we were also careful to choose straight1 well formed trunks for posts and floor beams4 ,drying ,rods ,lying across the top of the stage in harvest time1 with their ends resting on the upper rails1 were often a number of drying rods4 ,a drying rod was a pole averaging a little more than two inches in diameter and about thirteen feet long1 its length permitting six or seven inches to project over the rail on which either end rested4 ,these drying rods were much used in harvest time4 ,when old women came to the stage to slice squashes1 they spitted the slices1 as ,i have described1 on willow spits2 and these spits again were laid on the drying rods1 each end of a spit resting on one of the rods4 ,the drying rods had other uses4 ,if the day was warm1 old women working on the floor of the stage would lay two or three of these rods across the upper rails and throw a buffalo robe over them1 and thus have shade while they worked4 ,they bound the robe down with thongs to hold it firm4 ,when not in use the drying rods were laid lengthwise on the floor of the stage that the wind might not blow them about4 ,other ,uses of the ,drying ,stage ,by far the chief use of the drying stage1 was to dry our vegetables1 especially our corn and sliced squashes4 ,firewood1 collected from the ,missouri river in the ,june rise1 was often piled on and under the stage floor1 to dry4 ,the keepers of the ,okip ceremony used to bring out their buffalo head masks1 and air them on the drying stage that stood before their lodge door4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,tools ,hoe ,iron hoes had come into general use when ,i was a girl1 but there were two or three old women who used old fashioned bone hoes4 ,i think my grandmother1 ,turtle1 was the very last to use one of these bone hoes4 ,i will describe the hoe she used1 as ,i remember it4 ,the blade was made of the shoulder bone of a buffalo1 with the edge trimmed and sharpened2 and the ridge of bone1 that is found on the shoulder blade of every animal1 was cut off and the place smoothed4 ,the handle of the hoe was split1 and grooves were cut in the split to receive the bone blade2 this was slightly cut to fit and was so set that the edge pointed a little backwards4 ,raw-hide thongs bound the split firmly about the blade and a stout thong1 running from a groove a little way up the handle1 braced the blade in place4 7,see figure #c1 page #ab74 ,under my directions1 ,goodbird has made a hoe such as ,i saw my grandmother use1 using the shoulder bone of a steer for a blade4 ,you can make necessary measurements from it4 ,hoe handles were made of cottonwood or some other light wood4 ,rakes ,we ,hidatsas began our tilling season with the rake4 ,we used two kinds1#ba both of native make2 one was made of a black-tailed deer horn 7figure #e1 page #ad71 the other was of wood 7figure #d1 page #ad74 ,of the two1 we thought the horn rake the better1 because it did not grow worms1 as we said4 ,worms often appear in a garden and do much damage4 ,it is a tradition with us that worms are afraid of horn2 and we believed if we used black-tailed deer horn rakes1 not many worms would be found in our fields that season4 ,we believed wooden rakes caused worms in the corn4 ,these worms1 we thought1 came out of the wood in the rakes2 just how this was1 we did not know4 ,however1 horn rakes were heavy and rather hard to make2 and for this reason1 the handier and more easily made wooden rakes were more commonly used4 ,all this that ,i tell you of our tools and fields is our own lore4 ,white men taught us none of it4 ,all that ,i have told you1 we ,indians knew since the world began4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ce ,squash ,knives ,squash knives of bone were still in use when ,i was young4 ,i have often seen old women using them but1 as ,i recollect1 ,i never saw one being made4 ,the knife was made from the thin part of a buffalo's shoulder bone2 never1 ,i think1 from the shoulder bone of a deer1 elk1 or bear4 ,the bone of a buffalo cow was best1 because it was thinner4 ,if the squash knife was too thick1 the slices of squash were apt to break as they were being severed from the fruit4 ,bone squash knives1 as ,i remember1 were used for slicing squashes and for nothing else4 ,a squash knife should be cut from green bone2 it would then keep an edge1 for green bone is firm and hard4 ,i do not think ,i ever saw anyone sharpening a bone knife so far as ,i can now recollect4 ,there was no handle to a bone squash knife1 beyond the natural bone4 ,a bone squash knife lasted a long time4 ,old women in our village who used these bone knives1 brought them out each summer in the squash harvest4 ,it was their habit1 ,i think1 to keep the knives in the back part of the lodge1 by the owner's bed4 ,whether it was customary to keep the knives in bags1 or in some other receptacle1 ,i do not know4 ,my mothers used a white man's steel knife for slicing squashes2 but as ,i have said1 there were old women in the village who still used the older bone knives4 ,yellow ,squash1 ,i remember1 was one2 an old ,hidatsa woman named ,blossom was another2 so also was ,goes-around-the-end4 ,this model of a squash knife 7figure #ce7 that ,i have had my son ,goodbird make for you1 is of rather dry bone2 ,i have had him grease it1 that it may be more like green bone4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cf ,,map of ,,gardens ,s4,e4 of ,,village4 ,,chapter ,x ,,fields ,,at ,,like-,a-,,fishhook ,,village ,east-,side ,fields ,figure #cf is a map ,i have made of the gardens east1 or better1 southeast1 of ,like-a-fishhook village4 ,the fields lay1 as indicated on the map1 upon a point of land that went out into the ,missouri river4 ,the map is only approximately correct4 ,there were many other gardens than those represented here on the map2 for ,i have made no attempt to indicate any but those that lay in the immediate vicinity of the field my family tilled4 ,these1 however1 ,i remember pretty clearly1 and believe my map to be1 as far as it goes1 fairly accurate4 ,our family garden is the one marked 8,strikes-many-women's and ,buffalobird-woman's40 ,it lay just south of ,lone ,woman's and ,want-to-be-a-woman's4 ,the field was rather irregular at first2 a corner of it1 as ,i have said1 was claimed by ,lone ,woman and ,goes-to-next-timber1 as they had started to clear it4 ,my mothers bought out the rights of the claimants1 in order to keep our field more nearly rectangular1 so that we could count our ,indian acres more accurately4 ,this corner is marked by a dotted line1 on the map4 ,i remember that when ,i was a little girl1 the boundaries of the field were rather irregular at first2 and my grandmother1 ,turtle1 would go along the edge with her digging stick and dig up the ground to make the corners come out more nearly squared1 and the sides of the field be straightened4 ,the field was also enlarged from year to year toward the sides2 and much of this work my grandmother did with her digging stick4 ,the garden when completed was the largest ever owned in my family2 it was this field whose size ,i measured off for you on the prairie the other day4 ,the village gardens varied in size4 ,some families tilled large fields2 others rather small ones4 ,some families did not work very energetically2 and these were often put to it to have food4 ,other families worked hard1 and always had a plenty4 ,families were not all equally industrious4 ,there were no watchers' stages nor booths in these east-side fields4 ,the ground rose in a shelf1 or bluff1 just north of the gardens2 from this shelf the watchers could watch their fields and sing to the growing corn without the trouble of having to build stages4 ,the soil of the east-side gardens was bottom land and prairie1 with little or no timber4 ,east ,side ,fences ,our fields on the east-side of the village were fenced1 as will be seen from the map4 ,the fences were made thus3 ,posts were cut of any kind of wood two or three inches in diameter and forked at the top4 ,these were set in holes1 at distances about as we now use for corral posts1 or twelve feet from post to post4 ,posts were sunk the length of my forearm and fingers into the ground4 ,holes were made with digging stick and knife1 and the dirt drawn out by hand4 ,rails were laid in the forks of the posts and bound down with strips of bark2 elm bark was strongest1 but other kinds were used4 ,the railing thus made ran about three and a half feet from the ground1 the height of the posts that upheld it4 ,all the rails were peeled of bark4 ,no attempt was made to firm the structure1 as we did our drying stages4 ,our object was but to keep out the horses1 and if the fence was strong enough to withstand the winds we thought that enough4 ,as will be seen from the map1 some of the fields were fenced quite around2 but this was done only when the field was isolated4 ,when several gardens adjoined1 a single fence usually ran around them all1 and not around each individual field4 ,when several gardens were enclosed in a single fence1 each owner looked after that part of the fence that bordered her own land1 and kept it in repair4 ,we did not run our fences close to the boundary of our gardens as white men do4 ,as we built our fences chiefly to keep horses out of the gardens1 we placed them far enough away so that even if the horses approached the fence1 they could not reach over and nibble the growing corn4 ,i think our fences stood twelve or fifteen feet away from the cultivated ground1 as ,i pace it here on the ground4 ,i know no reason why they were run thus1 except as ,i have said1 to keep the horses from nibbling the corn4 ,you see1 fifteen feet is quite a little distance2 and the fence could have stood closer to the cultivated ground and still been far enough away to keep the horses from nibbling the crops4 ,all ,i know is1 that it was a custom of my tribe1 and ,i always followed this custom if ,i had a fence to build4 ,as will be seen by the map1 the corners of the fences were turned rather round2 not built squared1 as white men build their fences4 ,we could not square the corners as white men do when they build wire fences1 because we could not lay the rails in the forks of the posts and bind them down firmly if we did so4 ,perhaps that is the reason we ran the fences so far from the cultivated ground1 that the fence1 turning the corners1 might not invade the cultivated ground--if you will look at the map you will see what ,i mean4 ,however1 ,i do not know if this is the reason or not4 ,horses did not trouble us much1 as we did not permit them to graze near our garden lands2 they were pastured on the prairie4 ,we always had fences around our fields as long ago as ,i know anything about2 and ,i have heard that our tribe had such fences in the villages they built at the mouth of the ,knife ,river1 to protect their fields there from their horses4 ,such1 ,i have heard1 has been our ,indian custom since the world began4 ,at the very first it is true1 we did not own ponies2 but we soon got them4 ,i think my tribe obtained ponies from the western tribes4 ,in my own youth we ,hidatsas got many of our horses from western tribes1 especially from the ,crows4 ,idikitac's ,garden ,on the map there appears a garden marked as belonging to a woman named ,idikitac4 ,she made her garden after all the others had been fenced in4 ,there was a road that went down to some ,june-berry and choke-cherry patches1 in the small timber that stood beyond the gardens2 it was a mere path used by villagers afoot1 by women with their dogs1 and sometimes by horsemen4 ,now1 ,idikitac laid out her field so that it enclosed a small section of this road2 and she built a fence around it and tried to keep the villagers from going across her land4 ,the people did not like this4 ,idikitac would tie up her fence tight1 but the villagers going down to the choke-cherry patch1 would go right through her garden1 following the road that had been there2 sometimes they even went through with horses4 8,you must not make your garden here10 the people said to ,idikitac1 8this is a road60 ,and ,idikitac answered1 8,i do not want you to do damage to my garden60 ,there was quite a deal of talk in the village about this matter1 and quite a bit of trouble came of it4 ,fields ,west of the ,village ,the first field cleared by my father's family on the west side of the village1 is that marked ,a1 on the plot legended with ,turtle's name1 on the map 7figure #cg71 which ,i have had my son ,goodbird draw for you of our west-side fields4 ,a coulee bordered one end of the field2 and in the rainy months the water washed out much of the good soil4 ,willows growing up along the edge of the coulee also gave us much trouble4 ,we therefore extended our field to the other side of the coulee1 to include the part marked ,b4 ,afterwards we added another field1 marked on the map with my name1 ,maxidiwiac4 ,in ,turtle's garden there was a watchers' stage1 ,c1 with a tree beside it4 ,there was also a booth1 ,d4 ,peppermint and ,yellow ,hair had each a watchers' stage and a booth in her garden1 as indicated on the map4 ,another stage and a tree stood in a garden near by1 the name of whose owner ,i have now forgotten4 ,i have marked the position of stage and tree in each field only approximately except in ,turtle's garden2 as this was one of our own family fields1 ,i remember the position of stage and tree very accurately4 ,in this map1 as in that of the east-side gardens1 ,i have indicated only the fields that lay in the vicinity of those cultivated by my own family2 there were many others1 but ,i can not1 after so many years1 accurately mark their positions1 nor tell the names of the owners4 ,illustration3 ,figure #cg ,west-,side ,fence ,a fence protected our west-side gardens also1 but only on the side nearest the village1 probably because the horses could be expected to come from that direction4 ,this fence differed somewhat from those on the east side4 ,the fence was built thus3 ,a heavy stick was sharpened at one end and driven into the ground with an ax2 it was loosened by working it from side to side with the hands1 and withdrawn1 leaving a hole about a foot deep4 ,into this hole was thrust a diamond willow1 butt end downward1 for post4 ,the long tapering top with the twigs and leaves still on it1 was bent over and around a rail 7that was raised into position for the purpose7 and then twisted around the post and tied down with bark4 ,a second rail was bound to the post below the first4 ,the sketch on the map gives an idea of what is meant1 and in figure #ch is sketch and diagram by ,goodbird4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ch ,reproduced from sketch by ,goodbird4 ,on the left is post newly placed with foliage intact4 ,on the right is post with foliage omitted to show how top was bound down over rails4 ,this fence was nearly or quite shoulder high to a woman1 or about four feet2 and the posts were about two feet apart1 so that even a traveller going afoot could not squeeze his way between them4 ,crops1 ,our ,first ,wagon ,the first wagon owned in my tribe belonged to ,had-many-antelopes4 ,my father hired him for a pair of trousers to haul in the corn from our gardens1 one year4 ,had-many-antelopes fetched in three wagon loads from my garden2 the field ,i mean1 marked with my name2 and three more wagon loads from the field ,a1 in ,turtle's garden4 ,from the field ,b1 in ,turtle's garden1 the family fetched the corn that year1 for that field we had planted all to sweet corn2 not gummy corn1 but corn planted to half-boil and dry1 for winter4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,miscellanea ,divisions ,between ,gardens ,when two-fields adjoined the dividing space1 or ground that ran between them1 we called madupatska2 it was always about four feet wide4 ,the word really means1 ,i think1 a raised ridge of earth4 ,we still use the word in this sense4 ,down by the government school house at ,independence1 our agent has run a road2 and the earth dug out of the roadway has been piled along the side in a low ridge to get rid of it4 ,this ridge1 running along the side of the road1 we call madupatska4 ,but the madupatska dividing two gardens in old times was never raised in a ridge4 ,it was nothing but a four-foot-wide dividing line4 ,nothing grew on it4 ,each gardener hoed her half of the madupatska to keep it clean of grass and weeds4 ,we were particular about this2 we did not want to have any weeds in our gardens4 ,i do not mean that ,i1 for example1 was accustomed to hoe exactly one half of the madupatska that bordered my garden1 leaving exactly the other half to my neighbor4 ,i merely hoed as needed1 and my neighbor did likewise2 but the work was pretty equally divided1 each woman recognizing that she should do her share4 ,sometimes1 however1 the owner of a garden would come to her next neighbor and say1 8,i do not want you to have any hard feelings1 nor speak against me2 but ,i want to plant the madupatska that divides our gardens1 in squash20 or instead of squash1 she might want to plant it in sunflowers or beans4 ,permission being given1 she would plant as she had requested2 and thereafter1 of course1 she would hoe all the madupatska1 because she had a crop standing on it4 ,but even then the ground would not be hers1 and her neighbor might refuse the permission asked4 ,i have said that it might be asked to plant squash1 or beans1 or sunflowers4 ,a gardener never asked to plant corn on the madupatska that bordered her field4 ,rows of corn hills should be about four feet apart2 and as this was the width of the madupatska1 even a single row of hills would have crowded the corn2 but beans or squashes or sunflowers planted on the madupatska did not do so4 ,fallowing1 ,ownership of ,gardens ,the first crop on new ground was always the best1 though the second was nearly as good4 ,the third year's crop was not so good2 and after that1 each year1 the crop grew less1 until in some seasons1 especially in a dry summer1 hardly anything was produced4 ,the owners then stopped cultivating the garden and let it lie for two years2 the third year they again planted the garden and found it would yield a good crop as before4 ,during the two years their garden lay fallow1 the family owning it would plant their season's crop elsewhere4 ,in my father's family we owned garden lands both on the east and on the west side of the village1 as ,i have told you in explaining the two maps made for you4 ,this made it easy1 if need arose1 to work one garden while we let the other rest4 ,there were families in the village who owned more fields even1 than did my father's household4 ,sometimes when a woman died1 her relatives did not trouble themselves to work her garden for a couple of years1 but just let it rest2 then they would begin planting it again1 and the ground was sure to bring forth a good crop4 ,i think our custom of fallowing ground may have arisen in this way4 ,when a woman died leaving a garden1 and her relatives did not at once take possession1 it was found that a two years' rest increased the yield2 and so the custom of fallowing1 perhaps1 arose4 ,every one in the village knew the value of a two years' fallowing4 ,ground that was newly broken produced good crops for a long time4 ,our family's west side garden once got to producing very poor crops2 and we let it lie untilled for two years4 ,i do not recollect how long it was before we let it rest again4 ,there was no rule how long we should use land before we fallowed it2 nor was there any rule that we should let it rest for just two years4 ,we merely knew that two years' rest brought a poorly producing field back into good condition4 ,sometimes a woman died and her garden was abandoned by her relatives1 who perhaps had more land than they could use4 ,for this and other causes1 there were always some of the cultivated lands of the village lying vacant4 ,we never had all our fields in use every year2 there were always some lying untilled1 either for fallowing1 or for some other reason4 ,if a woman died and her relatives did not care to till her garden1 it was free to any one who cared to make use of it4 ,however1 if a woman desired to take possession of such an abandoned field1 it was thought right that she should ask permission of the dead owner's relatives4 ,permission might be asked of the dead woman's son1 or daughter1 her mother1 her husband's sister1 or of the husband himself4 ,the woman did not wait two years before asking2 if she wanted the dead woman's field1 she just went to the relatives and asked for it4 ,when the owner of a field died1 ,i never heard that her relatives ever sold it2 if they did not care to use it themselves1 they gave it to some one who did1 or let it lie abandoned4 ,frost in the ,gardens ,the fields that lay on the west side of our village got frosted more easily than those on the east side4 ,indeed1 our west-side gardens suffered a good deal from frost4 ,the reason was that the ground along the ,missouri was lower on the west side of the village2 and fields that lay on lower ground1 we knew1 were more likely to get frosted than those on higher ground4 ,gardens on the higher grounds east of the village were seldom touched by frost4 ,maxidiwiac's ,philosophy of ,frost ,fields lying on lower ground catch frost more easily than those that lie higher4 ,on a warm day1 the ground becomes warmed2 but at night cool air comes up out of the ground1 and we can see that where it meets the warm air above1 it creates a kind of snow hoar frost4 ,also1 some days the wind is high2 and toward evening it dies down4 ,the hot airs are then sucked down into the ground and cause moisture to rise up out of the ground in steam4 ,afterwards1 if the cool air comes up out of the ground and meets that hot air1 it makes a kind of snow on the weeds and corn1 killing them4 ,but you can not see this steam until the cold air arises2 then it becomes visible4 ,men ,helping in the ,field ,did young men work in the fields8 7laughing heartily47 ,certainly not6 ,the young men should be off hunting1 or on a war party2 and youths not yet young men should be out guarding the horses4 ,their duties were elsewhere1 also they spent a great deal of time dressing up to be seen of the village maidens2 they should not be working in the fields6 ,but old men1 too old to go to war1 went out into the fields and helped their wives4 ,it was theirs to plant the corn while the women made the hills2 and they also helped pull up weeds4#bb ,when their sweethearts were working in the fields1 young men often came out and talked to them1 and maybe worked a little4 ,however1 it was not much real work that they did2 they were but seeking a chance to talk1 each with his sweetheart4 ,sucking the ,sweet ,juice ,when the first green corn was plucked1 we ,indian women often broke off a piece of the stalk and sucked it for the sweet juice it contained4 ,we did this merely for a little taste of sweets in the field2 we never took the green stalks home to use as food at our meals4 ,did old men do this1 you ask8 7laughing47 ,how could they1 with their teeth all worn down8 ,old men could not chew such hard stuff6 ,no1 just women and children did this--sucked the green corn stalks for the juice4 ,corn as ,fodder for ,horses ,in the early part of the harvest season1 when we plucked green corn to boil1 we gathered the ears first2 afterwards we gathered the green stalks from which the ears had been stripped4 ,these stalks with the leaves on them we fed to our horses1 either without the lodge1 or inside1 in the corral4 ,we commonly husked our corn1 as ,i have said1 out in the fields1 piling up the husks in a heap4 ,after the corn was all in1 we drove our horses to the field to eat both the standing fodder and the husks that lay heaped near the husking place4 ,horses readily ate corn fodder1 and by the time spring came again1 there was little left in the field2 not only were the husks devoured1 but most of the standing stalks were eaten off nearly or quite to the ground4 ,disposition of ,weeds ,weeds that we cut down in hoeing a field1 we let lie on the ground if they were young weeds and bore no seeds nor blossoms1 but if the weeds had seeded1 we bore them off the garden about fifteen or twenty yards from the cultivated ground and left them to rot4 ,in olden times we ,indian women let no weeds grow in our gardens4 ,i was very particular about keeping my own garden clean all the time4 ,the ,spring ,clean-up ,we never bothered to burn weeds2 but in the spring we always cleaned up our fields before planting4 ,we pulled up the stubs of corn stalks and roots1 and piled them with the previous year's bean vines and sunflower stalks1 in the middle of the garden and burned them2 this was commonly done at the husking place1 where the husks had been piled4 ,there was not a great deal of refuse left from the corn crop1 however1 as the horses had eaten most of it for fodder in the previous fall2 but bean vines they would not eat4 ,i never saw any one fire their corn stalks in the fall4 ,our yearly clean-up was always in the spring1 when every field must be raked and cleaned before planting4 ,manure ,we ,hidatsas did not like to have the dung of animals in our fields4 ,the horses we turned into our gardens in the fall dropped dung2 and where they did so1 we found little worms and insects4 ,we also noted that where dung fell1 many kinds of weeds grew up the next year4 ,we did not like this1 and we therefore carefully cleaned off the dried dung1 picking it up by hand and throwing it ten feet or more beyond the edge of the garden plot4 ,we did likewise with the droppings of white men's cattle1 after they were brought to us4 ,the dung of horses and cattle raised sharp thistles1 the kind that grows up in a big bush2 and mustard1 and another plant that has black seeds4 ,these three kinds of weeds came to us with the white man2 other weeds we had before1 but they were native to our land4 ,our corn and other vegetables can not grow on land that has many weeds4 ,now that white men have come and put manure on their fields1 these strange weeds brought by them have become common4 ,in old times we ,hidatsas kept our gardens clean of weeds4 ,i think this is harder to do now that we have so many more kinds of weeds4 ,i do not know that the worms in the manure did any harm to our gardens2 but because we thought it bred worms and weeds1 we did not like to have any dung on our garden lands2 and we therefore removed it4 ,worms ,our corn1 we knew1 raised a good many worms4 ,they came out in the ears2 it was the corn kernels that became the worms4 ,wood also became worms4 ,leaves became worms4 ,all these bred worms of themselves4 ,i knew also1 when ,i was a young woman1 that flies lay eggs1 that after a time the eggs move about alive2 and that later these put on wings and fly away4 ,whether all flies do this1 ,i did not know1 but ,i knew that some do4 ,many worms appeared in our gardens in some years2 in other years they were fewer4 ,wild ,animals ,did buffaloes or deer ever raid our gardens8 7laughing47 ,no4 ,buffaloes have keen scent1 and they could wind an ,indian a long way off4 ,while they could smell us ,indian people1 or the smoke from our village1 there was no danger that they would come near to eat our crops4 ,antelopes lived out on the plains1 in the open country2 they never came near our fields4 ,rocky ,mountain sheep lived in the clay hills1 in the very roughest country1 where cedar trees and sage brush grow4 ,black-tailed deer lived far away in the ,bad ,lands1 in the little round patches of timber that are found there1 where the country is very rough4 ,they were not found near our village1 nor in such places as those in which we planted our gardens4 ,white-tailed deer1 however1 lived in the heavy timber that lines the banks of the ,missouri river4 ,a few are still found on this reservation4 ,however1 though haunting the woods near our gardens1 these deer never molested our crops2 they never ate our corn ears nor nibbled the stalks4 ,about ,old ,tent ,covers ,i have said that we made the threshing booth under the drying stage of an old tent cover4 ,buffalo hides that we wanted to use for making tent covers1 were taken in the spring when the buffaloes shed their hair and their skins are thin4 ,the skin tent cover which we then made would be used all that summer2 and the next winter1 perhaps1 we would begin to cut it up for moccasins4 ,the following spring1 again1 we could take more buffalo hides and make another tent cover4 ,not all families renewed a tent so often4 ,some families used a tent two years1 and some even a much longer time2 but many families used a tent cover but a single season4 ,it was a very usual thing for the women of a family to make a new tent cover1 in the spring4 ,old tent covers1 as ,i have said1 were cut up for moccasins1 or they were put to other uses4 ,there was always a good deal of need about the lodge for skins that had been scraped bare of hair2 and the skins in a tent cover were1 of course1 of this kind4 ,every bed in the earth lodge1 in old times1 was covered with an old tent cover4 ,skins needed in threshing time were partly of these bed covers1 taken down from the beds4 ,often the piece of an old tent cover from which we had been cutting moccasins would be brought out and used4 ,then we commonly had other buffalo hides1 scraped bare of hair1 stored in the lodge1 ready for any use4 ,buffaloes were plentiful in those days1 and skins were easy to get4 ,we had always abundance for use in threshing time4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,since ,,white ,,men ,,came ,how ,we ,got ,potatoes and ,other ,vegetables ,the government has changed our old way of cultivating corn and our other vegetables1 and has brought us seeds of many new vegetables and grains1 and taught us their use4 ,we ,hidatsas and our friends1 the ,mandans1 have also been removed from our village at ,like-a-fishhook bend1 and made to take our land in allotments2 so that our old agriculture has in a measure fallen into disuse4 ,i was thirty-three years old when the government first plowed up fields for us2 two big fields were broken1 one between the village and the agency1 and another on the farther side of the agency4 ,new kinds of seeds were issued to us1 oats and wheat2 and we were made to plant them in these newly plowed fields4 ,another field was plowed for us down in the bottom land along the ,missouri2 and here we were taught to plant potatoes4 ,each family was given a certain number of rows to plant and cultivate4 ,at first we ,hidatsas did not like potatoes1 because they smelled so strongly6 ,then we sometimes dug up our potatoes and took them into our earth lodges2 and when cold weather came1 the potatoes were frozen1 and spoiled4 ,for these reasons we did not take much interest in our potatoes1 and often left them in the ground1 not bothering to dig them4 ,other seeds were issued to us1 of watermelons1 big squashes1 onions1 turnips1 and other vegetables4 ,some of these we tried to eat1 but did not like them very well2 even the turnips and big squashes1 we thought not so good as our own squashes and our wild prairie turnips4 ,moreover1 we did not know how to dry these new vegetables for winter2 so we often did not trouble even to harvest them4 ,the government was eager to teach the ,indians to raise potatoes2 and to get us women to cultivate them1 paid as much as two dollars and a half a day for planting them in the plowed field4 ,i remember ,i was paid that sum for planting them4 ,after three or four years1 finding the ,indians did not have much taste for potatoes and rather seldom ate them1 our agent made a big cache pit--a root cellar you say it was--and bought our potato crop of us4 ,after this he would issue seed potatoes to us in the spring1 and in the fall we would sell our crop to him4 ,thus1 handling potatoes each year1 we learned little by little to eat them4 ,the ,new ,cultivation ,the government also broke up big fields of prairie ground1 and had us plant corn in them2 but these fields on the prairie near the hills ,i do not think are so good as our old fields down in the timber lands along the ,missouri4 ,the prairie fields get dry easily and the soil is harder and more difficult to work4 ,then ,i think our old way of raising corn is better than the new way taught us by white men4 ,last year1 #aiaa1 our agent held an agricultural fair on this reservation2 and we ,indians competed for prizes for the best corn4 ,the corn which ,i sent to the fair took the first prize4 ,i raised it on new ground2 the ground had been plowed1 but aside from that1 ,i cultivated the corn exactly as in old times1 with a hoe4 ,iron ,kettles ,the first pots1 or kettles1 of metal that we ,hidatsas got were of yellow tin brass2 the ,french and the ,crees also traded us kettles made of red tin copper4 ,as long as we could get our native clay pots1 we of my father's family did not use metal pots much1 because the metal made the food taste4 ,when ,i was a little girl1 if any of us went to visit another family1 and they gave us food cooked in an iron pot1 we knew it at once because we could taste and smell the iron in the food4 ,i have said that we began cooking food in an iron kettle in my father's family when ,i was about eighteen years old2 but the great iron kettle that lies in ,goodbird's yard was given us by an ,arikara woman before ,i was born4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,tobacco ,observations by ,maxidiwiac ,tobacco was cultivated in my tribe only by old men4 ,our young men did not smoke much2 a few did1 but most of them used little tobacco1 or almost none4 ,they were taught that smoking would injure their lungs and make them short winded so that they would be poor runners4 ,but when a man got to be about sixty years of age we thought it right for him to smoke as much as he liked4 ,his war days and hunting days were over4 ,old men smoked quite a good deal4 ,young men who used tobacco could run2 but in a short time they became short of breath1 and water1 thick like syrup1 came up into the mouth4 ,a young man who smoked a great deal1 if chased by enemies1 could not run to escape from them1 and so got killed4 ,for this reason all the young men of my tribe were taught that they should not smoke4 ,things have changed greatly since those good days2 and now young and old1 boys and men1 all smoke4 ,they seem to think that the new ways of the white man are right2 but ,i do not4 ,in olden days1 we ,hidatsas took good care of our bodies1 as is not done now4 ,the ,tobacco ,garden ,the old men of my tribe who smoked had each a tobacco garden planted not very far away from our corn fields1 but never in the same plot with one4 ,two of these tobacco gardens were near the village1 upon the top of some rising ground2 they were owned by two old men1 ,bad ,horn and ,bear-looks-up4 ,the earth lodges of these old men stood a little way out of the village1 and their tobacco gardens were not far away4 ,bear-looks-up called my father 8brother0 and ,i often visited his lodge4 ,tobacco gardens1 as ,i remember them1 were almost universal in my tribe when ,i was five or six years of age2 they were still commonly planted when ,i was twelve years old2 but white men had been bringing in their tobacco and selling it at the traders' stores for some years1 and our tobacco gardens were becoming neglected4 ,as late as when ,i was sixteen1 my father still kept his tobacco garden2 but since that day individual gardens have not been kept in my tribe4 ,instead1 just a little space in the vegetable garden is planted with seed if the owner wishes to raise tobacco4 ,the seed we use is the same that we planted in old times4 ,a big insect that we call the 8tobacco blower0 used always to be found around our tobacco gardens2 and this insect still appears about the little patches of tobacco that we plant4 ,the reason that tobacco gardens were planted apart from our vegetable fields in old times was1 that the tobacco plants have a strong smell which affects the corn2 if tobacco is planted near the corn1 the growing corn stalks turn yellow and the corn is not so good4 ,tobacco plants were therefore kept out of our corn fields4 ,we do not follow this custom now2 and ,i do not think our new way is as good for the corn4 ,planting ,tobacco seed was planted at the same time sunflower seed was planted4 ,the owner took a hoe and made soft every foot of the tobacco garden2 and with a rake he made the loosened soil level and smooth4 ,he marked the ground with a stick into rows about eighteen inches apart4 ,he opened a little package of seed1 poured the seed into his left palm1 and with his right sowed the seed very thickly in the row4 ,he covered the newly sowed seed very lightly with soil which he raked with his hand4 ,when rain came1 and warmth1 the seeds sprouted4 ,the seed having been planted thickly1 the plants came up thickly1 so that they had to be thinned out4 ,the owner of the garden would weed out the weak plants1 leaving only the stronger standing4 ,the earth about each plant was hilled up about it with a buffalo rib1 into a little hill like a corn hill4 ,it was a common thing to see an old man working in his tobacco garden with one of these ribs4 ,young men seldom worked in the tobacco gardens2 not using tobacco very much1 they cared little about it4 ,arrow-head-earring's ,tobacco ,garden ,an old man1 ,i remember1 named ,arrow-head-earring1 or ,mai-pokcahec1 had a patch of tobacco along the edge of a field on the east side of the village4 ,he was a very old man4 ,he used a big buffalo rib1 sharpened on the edge1 to work the soil and cultivate his tobacco4 ,he caught the rib in his hands by both ends with the edge downward2 and stooping over1 he scraped the soil toward him1 now and then raising the rib up and loosening the earth with the point at one end--poking up the soil1 so to speak4 ,he wore no shirt as he worked2 but he had a buffalo robe about his middle1 on which he knelt as he worked4 ,small ,ankle's ,cultivation ,my father always attended to the planting of his tobacco garden4 ,when the seed sprouted he thinned out the plants1 weeded the ground and hilled up the tobacco plants later with his own hands4 ,tobacco plants often came up wild from seed dropped by the cultivated plants4 ,these wild plants seemed just as good as the cultivated ones4 ,there seemed little preference between them4 ,harvesting the ,blossoms ,tobacco plants began to blossom about the middle of ,june2 and picking then began4 ,tobacco was gathered in two harvests4 ,the first harvest was of these blossoms1 which we reckoned the best part of the plant for smoking4 ,old men were fond of smoking them4 ,blossoms were picked regularly every fourth day after the season set in4 ,if we neglected to pick them until the fifth day1 the blossoms would begin to seed4 ,this picking of the blossoms my father often did1 but as he was old1 and the work was slow and took a long time1 my sister and ,i used to help him4 ,i well remember how my sister and ,i used to go out in late summer1 when the plants were in bloom1 and gather the white blossoms4 ,these ,i would pluck from the plants1 pinching them off with my thumb nail4 ,picking blossoms was tedious work4 ,the tobacco got into one's eyes and made them smart just as white men's onions do to-day4 ,we picked1 as ,i have said1 every fourth day4 ,only the green part of the blossom was kept4 ,the white part ,i always threw away2 it was of no value4 ,to receive the blossoms ,i took a small basket with me to the garden4 ,there were two kinds used2 one was the bark basket that we wove1 and of which you have specimens2 the other kind was made of a buffalo bull's scrotum1 with hair side out4 ,such a basket as the latter was a little larger than the crown of a white man's hat1 the hat band being about the same diameter as the rim that we put on the basket4 ,it had the usual band to go over forehead or shoulders4 ,i bore the basket in the usual way on my back2 or ,i could swing it around on my breast when actually picking1 thus making it easy to drop the blossoms into it4 ,more often1 however1 ,i took the basket off and set it on the ground when plucking blossoms4 ,i would make a little round place in the soft soil with my hands and set the basket in it1 so that it would stand upright4 ,the basket did not collapse1 for the skin covering was tough and rigid1 not soft4 ,i often used the scrotum basket also for picking choke-cherries or ,june berries4 ,it was more convenient when berrying to carry the basket swung around on my breast4 ,going home with the basket filled with berries1 ,i bore it in the usual way on my back4 ,my father usually worked with us2 and indeed it was to help him1 because he was old1 that we picked the blossoms at all4 ,it was slow work4 ,i did not expect to gather more than a fourth of a small basketful every four days2 and as the blossoms shrunk a good deal in drying1 a day's picking looked rather scant4 ,when we fetched the blossoms home to the lodge1 my father would spread a dry hide on the floor in front of his sacred objects of the ,big ,birds' ceremony2 they were two skulls and a sacred pipe1 wrapped in a bundle and lying on a kind of stand4 ,we regarded these objects as a kind of shrine4 ,nobody ever walked between the fire and the shrine as that would have been a kind of disrespect to the gods4 ,my father spread the new-plucked blossoms on the hide to dry4 ,lying here before the shrine1 it was certain no one would forget and step on the blossoms4 ,it took quite a time to dry the blossoms4 ,if the weather was damp and murky for several days1 my father1 on appearance of the sun again1 would move the hide over to a place where the sun shining through the smoke hole1 would fall on the blossoms4 ,the smoke hole1 being rather large1 would let through quite a strong sunbeam1 and the drying blossoms were kept directly in the beam4 ,when the blossoms had quite dried1 my father fetched them over near the fireplace1 and put them on a small skin1 or on a plank4 ,we commonly had planks1 or boards1 split from cottonwood trunks1 lying in the lodge2 they had many uses4 ,my father then took a piece of buffalo fat1 thrust it on the end of a stick and roasted it slowly over the coals4 ,this piece of hot fat he touched lightly here and there to the piled-up blossoms1 so as to oil them slightly1 but not too much4 ,he next moved the skin or board down over the edge of the fire pit1 tipping it slightly so that the heat from the fire would strike the blossoms4 ,here he left them a little while1 but watching them all the time4 ,now and then he would gently stir the pile of blossoms with a little stick1 so that the whole mass might be oiled equally4 ,this done my father took up the blossoms and put them into his tobacco bag4 ,the tobacco bag that we used then was exactly like that used to-day1 ornamented with quills or bead work2 only in those days old men never bothered to ornament their tobacco bags1 just having them plain4 ,when my father wanted to smoke these dried blossoms1 he drew them from his tobacco bag and chopped them fine with a knife1 a pipeful at a time4 ,cured in this way1 tobacco blossoms were called duatkiducki4 ,they were smoked by old men unmixed4 ,the blossoms were always dried within the lodge4 ,if dried without1 the sun and air took away their strength4 ,harvesting the ,plants ,about harvest time1 just before frost came1 the rest of the plants were gathered--the stems and leaves1 ,i mean1 left after the harvesting of the blossoms4 ,my father attended to this4 ,he took no basket1 but fetched the plants in his arms4 ,he dried the plants in the lodge near the place where the cache pit lay4 ,for this he took sticks1 about fifteen inches long1 and thrust them over the beam between two of the exterior supporting posts1 so that the sticks pointed a little upwards4 ,on each of these sticks he hung two or three tobacco plants by thrusting the plants1 root up1 upon the stick1 but without tying them4 ,when dry1 these plants were taken down and put into a bag2 or a package was made by folding over them a piece of old tent cover2 and the package or bag was stored away in the cache pit4 ,when the tobacco plants were quite dry1 the leaves readily fell off4 ,leaves that remained on the plants were smoked1 of course2 but it was the stems that furnished most of the smoking4 ,they were treated like the blossoms1 with buffalo fat1 before putting into the tobacco pouch2 we did not treat tobacco with buffalo fat except as needed for use1 and to be put into the tobacco pouch1 ready for smoking4 ,i do not remember that my father ever saved any of the blossoms to store away in the cache pit1 as he did the stem1 or plant tobacco4 ,friends and visitors were always coming and going2 and when they came into the lodge my father would smoke with them1 using the blossoms first1 because they were his best tobacco4 ,in this way1 the blossoms were used up about as fast as they were gathered4 ,before putting the tobacco away in the cache pit1 my father was careful to put aside seed for the next year's planting4 ,he gathered the black seeds into a small bundle about as big as my fingers bunched together1 or about the size of a baby's fist1 wrapping them up in a piece of soft skin which he tied with a string4 ,he made two or three of these bundles and tied them to the top of his bed1 or to a post near by1 where there was no danger of their being disturbed4 ,we had no way of selecting tobacco seed4 ,we just gathered any seed that was borne on the plants4 ,of course there were always good and bad seeds in every package2 but as the owner of a tobacco garden always planted his seed very thickly1 he was able to weed out all the weak plants as they came up1 as ,i have already explained4 ,a tobacco plant1 pulled up and hung up in the lodge1 we called oputi3 opi1 tobacco1 and uti1 base1 foundation1 substantial part4 ,the ,mandans and ,arikaras raised tobacco exactly as we did1 in little gardens4 ,selling to the ,sioux ,we used to sell a good deal of tobacco to the ,sioux4 ,they called it ,pananitachani1 or ,ree's tobacco4 ,a bunch six or seven inches in diameter1 bound together1 we sold for one tanned hide4 ,size of ,tobacco ,garden ,my father's tobacco garden1 when ,i was a little girl1 was somewhat larger than this room2 and that1 as you measure it1 is twenty-one by eighteen feet4 ,i have seen other tobacco gardens planted by old men that measured somewhat larger2 but this was about the average size4 ,customs ,if any one went into a tobacco garden and took tobacco without notifying the owner1 we said that his hair would fall out2 and if any one in the village began to lose his hair1 and it kept coming out when he brushed it1 we would laugh and say1 8,hey1 hey1 you man6 ,you have been stealing tobacco60 ,what8 ,you say you got this tobacco out of ,wolf ,chief's garden without asking8 7laughing heartily47 ,then be sure your hair will fall out when you comb it4 ,just watch1 and see if it doesn't6 ,i have said that my father softened the soil of his tobacco garden with a hoe4 ,after the plants began to grow1 the hoe was not used1 either for cutting the weeds or for hilling up the plants4 ,i have said that the weak plants were culled out by hand1 and that the strong plants were hilled up with a buffalo rib4 ,,accessories ,,to ,,the ,,tobacco ,,garden ,fence ,when ,i was a little girl every tobacco garden had a willow fence around it4 ,i remember very well seeing such fences built4 ,post holes were made by driving a sharp stake into the ground with an ax2 the stake was withdrawn1 and into the hole left by it1 a diamond willow was thrust for a post2 on this willow were left all the upper branches with the leaves4 ,a rail was run from the post to its next neighbor1 at the height of a woman's shoulder1 and stayed in place by bending over the leafy top of the willow post1 and drawing it around the rail1 then twisting it down and around the body at the post in a spiral manner4 ,if the leafy top of the post was long enough1 and slender enough1 it might1 after being wrapped spirally about the post1 be even drawn out and woven into the fence4 ,below the top rail at a convenient distance1 there ran a second rail1 bound to the post with bark4 ,besides these rails1 branches and twigs1 and as ,i have said1 the tops of the posts themselves1 were interwoven into the fence to make it as dense as possible4 ,the posts of the fence stood about two and a half feet apart1 making1 with the rails and the interwoven twigs1 a barrier so dense that even a dog could not push through it4 ,there was an opening left to enter the garden1 closed by a kind of stile--bars of small poles thrust right and left between the posts2 against these bars were leaned one or two bull berry bushes1 which were removed when the owner wanted to enter4 ,if a weak place was found in the fence1 it was strengthened with a bull berry bush thrust into the ground and leaned against the fence or woven into it4 ,the ,scrotum ,basket ,i have said that we used a basket made of the scrotum of a buffalo bull1 for picking tobacco blossoms4 ,a fresh scrotum was taken1 and a rim or hoop of choke-cherry wood was bound around its mouth2 choke-cherry limbs are flexible and easily bent4 ,the hoop was sewed in place with sinew passing through the skin and around the hoop spirally4 ,illustration3 ,figure #ci ,reproduced from sketch by ,goodbird4 ,a thong was bound at either end to opposite sides of the hoop1 and the whole was hung upon the drying stage1 or at the entrance to the earth lodge in the sun4 ,the skin was then filled with sand until dry1 when it was emptied1 the thong removed1 and a band1 or leather handle1 was bound on one side of the hoop1 at places a few inches apart1 and the basket was ready for use4 ,the scrotum is the toughest part of the buffalo's hide4 ,when dried it is as hard and rigid as wood4 ,figure #ci is a sketch by ,goodbird showing what the basket was like4 ,illustration3 ,figure #dj ,down in the bottoms along the ,missouri near ,independence school house are the gardens--now abandoned--used by the neighboring families when they first came to this part of the reservation1 about #ahhf4 ,the fields are plainly marked in the underbrush and trees from the fact that they are relatively open4 ,goodbird accompanied me to the several locations and ,i made maps of the fields1 which ,i include in figure #dj4 ,while not accurately surveyed--,i had to pace off the distances--the fields are fairly accurately represented by the maps4 ,figure #dj1 ,i1 is a diagram in vertical section of the land surface in which the gardens lie4 ,toward the right is seen the basin of the ,missouri river4 ,at the extreme left is a bit of the prairie that abuts the foothills4 ,between are two level terraces1 one eighty yards1 the other and lower1 one hundred and seventy-five yards in width4 ,four of the gardens lie in the eighty-yard terrace2 field ,a1 of ,small ,ankle2 ,b of ,big ,foot ,bull2 ,e of ,crow's ,breast1 and ,h1 a small bit of ground used by the ,small ,ankle family for a squash garden4 ,gardens ,c of ,small ,horn2 ,d of ,leggings2 ,f of ,crow's ,breast2 and ,g of ,cedar ,woman1 lie in the lower and wider terrace4 ,with one exception the fields are called by the names of the male heads of the families1 a custom that probably began at the time allotments were first made4 ,the relative positions of the fields are not as shown in the figure1 except of ,a and ,b1 the gardens of ,small ,ankle and ,big ,foot ,bull4 ,these are separated by a wagon road that descends to the lower terrace1 as indicated on the map4 ,doubtless the two terraces have been made by over-flow waters4 ,it is likely that both are still subject to overflow at long intervals1 especially the lower4 ,the soil is light and sandy1 but black and rich4 ,the overflow of the river would seem to suggest that the land would be fertilized by silt deposited upon it2 but my ,indian informants seem to attach no significance to this4 ,fields were located near the ,missouri 8because the soil there is soft and easily worked1 and does not become dry and burn up the crops40 ,,gilbert ,l4 ,,wilson4 ,,footnotes #a ,washington ,matthews1 ,ethnography and ,philology of the ,hidatsa ,indians4 ,u4 ,s4 ,geological and ,geographical ,survey4 #b ,gilbert ,l4 ,wilson1 ,myths of the ,red ,children4 ,ginn and ,company1 #aijg4 #c ,george ,h4 ,pepper and ,gilbert ,l4 ,wilson1 ,an ,hidatsa ,shrine and the ,beliefs ,respecting ,it4 ,memoirs of the ,american ,anthropological ,association1 #aijh4 #d ,gilbert ,l4 ,wilson1 ,goodbird1 the ,indian3 ,his ,story4 ,fleming ,h4 ,revell ,co4 #aiad4 #e 8,in the garden vegetable family are five2 corn1 beans1 squashes1 sunflowers1 and tobacco4 ,the seeds of all these plants were brought up from beneath the ground by the ,mandan people4 8,now the corn1 as we believe1 has an enemy--the sun who tries to burn the corn4 ,but at night1 when the sun has gone down1 the corn has magic power4 ,it is the corn that brings the night moistures--the early morning mist and fog1 and the dew--as you can see yourself in the morning from the water dripping from the corn leaves4 ,thus the corn grows and keeps on until it is ripe4 8,the sun may scorch the corn and try hard to dry it up1 but the corn takes care of itself1 bringing the moistures that make the corn1 and also the beans1 sunflowers1 squashes1 and tobacco grow4 8,the corn possesses all this magic power4 8,when you white people met our ,mandan people we gave to the whites the name ,maci1 or ,waci1 meaning nice people1 or pretty people4 ,we called them by this name because they had white faces and wore fine clothes4 ,we said also #8,we will call these people our friends6' ,and from that time to this we have never made war on white men4 8,our ,mandan corn must now be all over the world1 for we gave the white men our seeds4 ,and so it seems we ,mandans have helped every people4 ,but the seed of our varieties of corn were originally ours4 8,we know that white men must also have had corn seed1 for their corn is different from ours4 ,but all we older folk can tell our native corn from that of white men40--,,wounded ,,face 7,mandan7 #f ,corn sucker1 i4 e41 the extra shoot or stem that often springs up from the base of the maize plant4 #g ,buffalobird-woman says she planted six to eight kernels to a hill4 ,just what pattern she used she could not tell until she went out with a handful of seed and planted a few hills to revive her memory4 ,the three patterns shown in figure #g will show how she laid the grains in the bottom of the several hills4--,,gilbert ,l4 ,,wilson #h 8,twice in the corn season were scarecrows used2 first1 when the corn was just coming up2 and again when the grain was forming on the ear and getting ripe40--,,edward ,,goodbird #i ,in ,august1 #aiaj1 ,buffalobird-woman related the story of 8,the ,grandson10 in the course of which she said in explanation of reference to a watchers' stage3 8,i will now stop a moment to explain something in the other form of this tale4 8,according to this way of telling it1 there was a garden and in the middle of the garden was a tree4 ,there was a platform under the tree made of trunks and slabs2 and there those two girls sat to watch the garden and sing watch-garden songs4 ,they did this to make the garden grow1 just as people sing to a baby to make it be quiet and feel good4 ,in old times we sang to a garden for a like reason1 to make the garden feel good and grow4 ,this custom was one used in every garden4 ,sometimes one or two women sang4 8,the singing was begun in the spring and continued until the corn was ripe4 ,we ,indians loved our gardens and kept them clean2 we did not let weeds grow in them4 ,always in every garden during the growing season1 there would be some one working or singing4 8,now in old times1 many of our gardens had resting stages1 or watchers' stages1 such as ,i have just described4 ,we always made our gardens down in the woods by the river1 because there is better ground there4 ,when we cut off the timber we would often leave one tree standing in the garden4 ,under this tree were erected four forked posts1 on which was laid a platform4 ,this made the stage2 in the tree overhead we often spread robes and blankets for shade4 8,this resting stage was small4 ,it was just big enough for two persons to sit on comfortably4 ,corn was never dried on it2 it was used for a singing and resting place only4 ,it was reached by a ladder4 ,its height was about four and a half feet high4 8,this resting stage or watchers' stage was built on the north side of the tree so that the shade of the tree would fall upon it4 ,robes were laid on the floor of the stage to make a couch or bed4 ,sometimes people even slept on this platform--sometimes a man and his wife slept there4 8,this resting stage we used to rest on after working in the garden2 and to sing here the songs that we sang at this season of the year1 and which ,i have called watch-garden songs4 ,a place to cook in was not far away on the edge of the garden4 ,it was a kind of booth1 or bower4 ,with a stake we made holes in the ground in a circle1 and into the holes thrust willows4 ,the tops of these willows we bent toward the center and joined together to make a bower4 ,over the top we threw a robe4 ,we built a fire beneath to cook by4 8,our gardens ,i am describing were those at ,like-a-fishhook village2 and they were on the ,missouri on either side of the village4 ,they were strung along the river bank for a mile or more on either side of the village40 #aj ,in redrawing ,goodbird's sketch this calf-skin has been omitted1 that the construction of the stage floor might be shown4 #aa 8,my wife is drying half-boiled corn on the ear this year4 ,this way we find makes the dried corn sweeter1 but takes longer to dry it4 ,we cook it in winter by dropping the ear1 cob and all1 into the pot4 ,this method of drying corn was known also in old times40--,,edward ,,goodbird #ab ,buffalobird-woman means that the buskers arrived in the fields in the morning to begin the day's labors4 ,more than one corn pile might be husked in a single day4--,,gilbert ,l4 ,,wilson #ac ,water ,chief having strolled into the cabin while ,buffalobird-woman was dictating1 here interrupted with the following3 8,the owner of a field would come and notify the crier of some society1 as the ,fox or ,dog society1 or some other4 ,the crier would go on the roof of the society's lodge and call1 #8,all you of the ,fox society come hither2 they want you to husk4 ,when you all get here1 we will go to that one's garden and husk the corn6' 8,we young men of the society all gathered together and marched to the field to which we were bidden4 ,in old times we took our guns with us1 for the ,sioux might come up to attack us4 ,as we approached the field we began to sing1 that the girls might hear us4 ,we knew that our sweethearts would take notice of our singing4 ,the girls themselves did not sing4 8,at the corn pile in each garden would be the woman owner and maybe two or three girls4 ,on our way to some field1 if we passed through other fields with corn piles at which were girls1 each young man looked to see if his sweetheart was there2 and if he saw her he would yell1 expecting that she would recognise his voice4 8,sometimes two societies husked at one corn pile4 ,any of the societies might be asked4 ,if the pile was too big for one society1 another society was asked1 if the owner could afford the food for the feast4 8,different societies would be husking in different gardens all at the same time4 8,sometimes a group of young men belonging to different societies were asked to come and husk4 ,this was chiefly at small gardens2 the societies were usually asked to come and husk the big corn piles of the larger gardens4 8,if a society went early1 they got through just after midday4 ,by early ,i mean nine o'clock in the morning4 8,when we had finished husking one pile1 we went to another4 ,we worked late1 by moonlight1 even4 8,some man of the family and his wife would be out all night and watch by the corn if they had not gotten all the husked ears borne in to the village4 ,also while the pile awaited husking watchers stayed by to protect against horses40 #ad 8,corn in old times was gathered in ,september4 ,a basket was carried on the back and the corn was tossed into it over the shoulder1 or the basket was set on the ground and filled4 ,this work was done by the women4 ,the corn having been plucked1 the owner of the field notified people what food she wanted to serve--meat or boiled corn-and-beans--and young men came to husk the corn4 ,a pile might be three or four feet high and twenty feet long4 ,the men huskers sat on one side of the pile and the women on the other4 ,the big ears were strung in braids4 ,a braid was long enough to reach from the thigh around under the foot and up again to the other side of the thigh4 ,a husker would try the newly made braid with his foot as he held the ends in his hands4 ,unless this was done a weak place in the string might escape notice and the braid break1 and all the others would then laugh4 8,small ears were tossed into one place4 ,four or five women would carry off these ears in baskets2 they bore the filled baskets right up the ladder to the top of the drying stage4 ,the braided strings were often borne home on the backs of ponies1 ten strings on a pony4 ,they were hung like dead snakes on the railings above the floor of the stage to dry4 8,boys and young men went to the husking bees because of the fun to be had2 they wanted to see the girls60--,,edward ,,goodbird 7related in #aiji74 #ae 8,sometimes for fun we lads used to take long poles with nooses on the end and snare off one ear of a braid of corn as it hung drying2 for the braids were soft when fresh4 ,an ear broken off1 we would run off and make a fire and parch the corn4 ,this was when we were little fellows1 ten or eleven years old4 ,the owner would run after us1 and if he caught one of us1 whipped him4 ,however1 this was our custom2 and the owner and the boy's father both looked upon it as a kind of lark1 and not anything very serious40--,,edward ,,goodbird #af ,in #aiaj ,buffalobird-woman gave an interesting and detailed account of the making of a clay pot4 ,a newly made pot1 she explained1 was rubbed over with boiled pounded-corn meal2 and she added this rather humorous variation of the recipe above3 8,this mush1 or boiled1 pounded-corn meal was made thus3 8,a clay pot was three-quarters filled with water and put on the fire to boil4 ,meanwhile1 twelve double handfuls of corn were pounded in the corn mortar2 usually we pounded three or four double handfuls at a time4 ,this began after breakfast2 it was work and made us women sweat4 ,the corn was hard1 ripe corn1 yellow or white4 8,these twelve double handfuls were thrown into the pot of now boiling water1 and boiled for half an hour4 ,as there was no grease in the pot1 we had to stir the contents with a smooth stick to keep from sticking4 8,as the corn boiled a scummy substance would rise to the top4 ,to this the woman cooking would touch the point of her horn spoon1 and carry it to her tongue and lick it off4 ,when she could taste that it was sticky enough1 she knew that it was time to add beans4 ,it took1 as ,i have said1 about half an hour for the corn to boil to this point4 8,she now added some spring salt4 ,this is alkaline salt which we gathered about the mouth of springs4 ,it was white4 ,the woman put some of this salt in a cup and made a strong liquor--in old times instead of a cup she used a horn spoon4 ,she now added the salt liquor to the mess4 ,it took about enough of this white salt to make a heaping tablespoonful to one pot of this corn mess4 ,as the salt liquor was poured into the pot1 the woman held her hand over the mouth of the cup1 so that if any pieces of grass or other refuse were in it1 they would be strained out by her fingers4 8,the corn when it is pounded does not pound evenly2 and so when it was put into the pot1 the finer part of the meal was cooked first4 ,this rose to the top1 and in old times was skimmed off4 ,the coarser parts of the meal took longer to cook2 but the skimmed-off part1 when the other was done1 was poured back into the pot again4 8,when the pounded corn meal had now all cooked and the salt had been added1 the beans were put in--red1 spotted1 black1 or shield-figured1 we did not have white beans in very old times2 they were brought in by white men4 ,the pot was now let boil until the beans were done4 ,beans were always added to the pot4 8,a pot of corn meal and beans was almost always on the fire in the lodge4 ,the boys of the lodge liked to come around when the corn was cooking and dip horn spoons into the thick1 rising liquor1 and lick it off as ,i have described the woman doing as she cooked4 8,it was this sticky1 rising liquor taken off the boiling corn to keep and return to it1 that was used to rub over a newly made pot4 ,when this was done1 the pot was ready to boil corn in4 8,after using a pot1 it was usually rubbed over with the residue of the boiled corn meal1 or mush1 because this made the pot look better and last longer4 8,the skimmed-off liquor from a pot of boiling corn meal was also fed to a baby whose mother had died1 and whose family could not hire a woman to nurse it40 #ag ,measuring from center of corn hill to center of next corn hill4--,g4 ,l4 ,w4 #ah 8,i have raised white beans mostly of late years because it is easier to sell them to white men4 ,this summer1 however 7#aiac71 ,i planted several acres also to other kinds of our ,hidatsa beans1 red1 black1 spotted4 8,i find that the black beans have yielded best1 next the red1 then the spotted1 last of all the white4 ,i have observed before that this is true2 that black beans yield the most40--,,wolf ,,chief #ai ,slough grass1 a species of ,spartina4 #bj ,buffalobird-woman here means a three-section stage4 ,a stage of four sections would be forty feet or more in length4--,g4 ,l4 ,w4 #ba 8,the first that rakes are mentioned in the stories of my tribe so far as ,i know1 is in the tale of #8,the ,grandson4' ,there is a little lake down near ,short ,river where lived an old magic woman1 whom we call ,old-woman-who-never-dies4 ,there is a level piece of ground near by1 about five miles long by one and a half mile wide4 ,this flat land was the garden of ,old-woman-who-never-dies4 ,her servants were the deer that thronged the near-by timber4 ,these deer worked her garden for her4 ,all buck deer have horns2 and with their horns the deer raked up the weeds and refuse of ,old-woman-who-never-dies's garden4 8,now deer shed their horns4 ,old-woman-who-never-dies got these shed horns and bound them on sticks and so we got our first rakes4 ,her grandson saw what she did and afterwards taught the people to make rakes also4 8,in later times we learned to make rakes of ash wood instead of horns2 but we still reckon the teeth to mean the tines of a deer's antler4 ,sometimes deer have six1 sometimes seven tines on an antler4 ,so we make our ash rakes1 some with six1 some with seven teeth4 8,if the ,grandson had not seen what his grandmother did1 we ,hidatsas would never have known how to make rakes1 either of horn or of ash wood40--,,wolf ,,chief 7told in #aiaj74 #bb 8,in my tribe in old times1 some men helped their wives in their gardens4 ,others did not4 ,those who did not help their wives talked against those who did1 saying1 #8,that man's wife makes him her servant6' 8,and the others retorted1 #8,look1 that man puts all the hard work on his wife6' 8,men were not alike2 some did not like to work in the garden at all1 and cared for nothing but to go around visiting or to be off on a hunt4 8,my father1 ,small ,ankle1 liked to garden and often helped his wives4 ,he told me that that was the best way to do4 #8,whatever you do1' he said1 #8help your wife in all things6' ,he taught me to clean the garden1 to help gather the corn1 to hoe1 and to rake4 8,my father said that that man lived best and had plenty to eat who helped his wife4 ,one who did not help his wife was likely to have scanty stores of food40--,,wolf ,,chief 7told in #aiaj74 99 99 99 99 99 ,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,biological ,,sciences #a4 ,,herbert ,g4 ,,lampson1 ,a ,study on the ,spread of ,tuberculosis in ,families4 #aiac4 #j4ej4 #b4 ,,julius ,v4 ,,hofman1 ,the ,importance of ,seed ,characteristics in the ,natural ,reproduction of ,coniferous ,forests4 ,in press4 ,,studies ,,in ,,language ,,and ,,literature #a4 ,,esther ,l4 ,,swenson1 ,an ,inquiry into the ,composition and ,structure of ,ludus ,coventriae2 ,,hardin ,,craig1 ,note on the ,home of ,ludus ,coventriae4 #aiad4 #j4ej4 #b4 ,,elmer ,,edgar ,,stoll1 ,othello3 ,an ,historical and ,comparative ,study4 #aiae4 #j4ej4 #c4 ,,colbert ,,searles1 ,les ,sentiments de l',acadmie ,franaise sur le ,cid3 ,edition of the ,text1 with an ,introduction4 #aiaf4 #a4jj4 #d4 ,,paul ,,edward ,,kretzmann1 ,the ,liturgical ,element in the ,earliest ,forms of the ,medieval ,drama4 #aiaf4 #a4jj4 #e4 ,,arthur ,,jerrold ,,tieje1 ,the ,theory of ,characterization in ,prose ,fiction prior to #agdj4 #aiaf4 #j4ge4 ,,current ,,problems #a4 ,,william ,,anderson1 ,the ,work of ,public ,service ,commissions4 #aiac4 #j4ae4 #b4 ,,benjamin ,f4 ,,pittenger1 ,rural ,teachers' ,training ,departments in ,minnesota ,high ,schools4 #aiad4 #j4ae4 #c4 ,,gerhard ,a4 ,,gesell1 ,minnesota ,public ,utility ,rates4 #aiad4 #j4be4 #d4 ,l4 ,d4 ,h4 ,,weld1 ,social and ,economic ,survey of a ,community in the ,red ,river ,valley4 #aiae4 #j4be4 #e4 ,,gustav ,p4 ,,warber1 ,social and ,economic ,survey of a ,community in ,northeastern ,minnesota4 #aiae4 #j4be4 #f4 ,,joseph ,b4 ,,pike1 ,bulletin for ,teachers of ,latin4 #aiae4 #j4be4 #g4 ,,august ,c4 ,,krey1 ,bulletin for ,teachers of ,history4 #aiae4 #j4be4 #h4 ,,carl ,,schlenker1 ,bulletin for ,teachers of ,german4 #aiaf4 #j4be4 #i4 ,,william ,,watts ,,folwell1 ,economic ,addresses4 ,in press4