Part 11

Some of the Winnebago say that there is an Omaha gens among the Winnebago of Wisconsin, but James Alexander knew nothing about it. It is very probable that each Winnebago gens was composed of four subgentes; thus, in the tradition of the Winnebago Wolf gens, there is an account of four kinds of wolves, as in the corresponding Iowa tradition.

The Winnebago lodges were always built with the entrances facing the east. When the warriors returned from a fight they circumambulated the lodge four times, sunwise, stopping at the east just before entering.

THE MANDAN

The Mandan tribe has not been visited by the author, who must content himself with giving the list of gentes furnished by Morgan, in his "Ancient Society." This author's system of spelling is preserved:

1. Wolf gens, Ho-ra-ta'-mu-make (Qa-ra-ta' nu-mañ'-ke?).

2. Bear gens, Mä-to'-no-mäke (Ma-to' nu-mañ'-ke).

3. Prairie-chicken gens, See-poosh'-kä (Si-pu'-cka nu-mañ'-ke).

4. Good-knife gens, Tä-na-tsu'-kä (Ta-ne-tsu'-ka nu-mañ'-ke?).

5. Eagle gens, Ki-tä'-ne-mäke (Qi-ta' nu-mañ'-ke?).

6. Flat-head gens, E-stä-pa' (Hi-sta pe' nu-mañ'-ke?).

7. High-village gens, Me-te-ah'-ke.

All that follows concerning the Mandan was recorded by Prince Maximilian in 1833. Polygamy was everywhere practiced, the number of wives differing, there being seldom more than four, and in general only one. The Mandan marriage customs resemble those of the Dakota and other cognate peoples.

When a child is born a person is paid to give it the name chosen by the parents and kindred. The child is held up, then turned to all sides of the heavens, in the direction of the course of the sun, and its name is proclaimed. A Mandan cradle consists of a leather bag suspended by a strap to a crossbeam in the hut.

There are traces of descent in the female line; for example, sisters have great privileges; all the horses that a young man steals or captures in war are brought by him to his sister. He can demand from his sister any object in her possession, even the clothing which she is wearing, and he receives it immediately. The mother-in-law never speaks to her son-in-law, unless on his return from war he bring her the scalp and gun of a slain foe, in which event she is at liberty from that moment to converse with him. This custom is found, says Maximilian, among the Hidatsa, but not among the Crow and Arikara. While the Dakota, Omaha, and other tribes visited by the author have the custom of "bashfulness," which forbids the mother-in-law and son-in-law to speak to each other, no allowable relaxation of the prohibition has been recorded.

THE HIDATSA

Our chief authority for the names of the Hidatsa gentes is Morgan's "Ancient Society." Dr Washington Matthews could have furnished a corrected list from his own notes had they not unfortunately been destroyed by fire. All that can now be done is to give Morgan's list, using his system of spelling:

1. Knife, Mit-che-ro'-ka.

2. Water, Min-ne pä'-ta.

3. Lodge, Bä-ho-hä'-ta.

4. Prairie chicken, Scech-ka-be-ruh-pä'-ka (Tsi-tska' do-hpa'-ka of Matthews; Tsi-tska' d¢o-qpa'-ka in the Bureau alphabet).

5. Hill people, E-tish-sho'-ka.

6. Unknown animal, Ah-nah-ha-nä'-me-te.

7. Bonnet, E-ku'-pä-be-ka.

The Hidatsa have been studied by Prince Maximilian (1833), Hayden, and Matthews, the work of the last writer(8) being the latest one treating of them; and from it the following is taken:

Marriage among the Hidatsa is usually made formal by the distribution of gifts on the part of the man to the woman's kindred. Afterward presents of equal value are commonly returned by the wife's relations, if they have the means of so doing and are satisfied with the conduct of the husband. Some travelers have represented that the "marriage by purchase" among the Indians is a mere sale of the woman to the highest bidder, whose slave she becomes. Matthews regards this a misrepresentation so far as it concerns the Hidatsa, the wedding gift being a pledge to the parents for the proper treatment of their daughter, as well as an evidence of the wealth of the suitor and his kindred. Matthews has known many cases where large marriage presents were refused from one person, and gifts of much less value accepted from another, simply because the girl showed a preference for the poorer lover. Marriages by elopement are considered undignified, and different terms are applied to a marriage by elopement and one by parental consent. Polygamy is practiced, but usually with certain restrictions. The husband of the eldest of several sisters has a claim to each of the others as she grows up, and in most cases the man takes such a potential wife unless she form another attachment. A man usually marries his brother's widow, unless she object, and he may adopt the orphans as his own children. Divorce is easily effected, but is rare among the better class of people in the tribe. The unions of such people often last for life; but among persons of a different character divorces are common. Their social discipline is not very severe. Punishments by law, administered by the "soldier band," are only for serious offenses against the regulations of the camp. He who simply violates social customs in the tribe often subjects himself to no worse punishment than an occasional sneer or taunting remark; but for grave transgressions he may lose the regard of his friends. With the Hidatsa, as with other western tribes, it is improper for a man to hold a direct conversation with his mother-in-law; but this custom seems to be falling into disuse.

The kinship system of the Hidatsa does not differ materially from that of any of the cognate tribes. When they wish to distinguish between the actual father and a father's real or potential brothers, or between the actual mother and the mother's real or potential sisters, they use the adjective ka'ti (ka{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED H~}t{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}i), real, true, after the kinship term when the actual parent is meant.

THE CROW OR ABSAROKA

As this tribe belongs to the Hidatsa linguistic substock, it is very probable that the social laws and customs of the one people are identical with those of the other, as there has been nothing to cause extensive differentiation.