volume xxv.--ED.

[291] The author refers to a letter on this subject, written by Mr. Catlin, and published in a New York paper; but this is by no means so complete as that given in his valuable work published last year.--H. EVANS LLOYD.

_Comment by Ed._ Catlin's letter, dated at the Mandan village, August 12, 1832, was published in the _New York Spectator_, and a German translation incorporated in the first edition of Maximilian's work published at Coblentz in 1841 (ii, pp. 658-667). Upon the issue of Catlin's _North American Indians_, (1841), the fuller account of Okippe therein given caused Maximilian's English translator to omit from his work Catlin's first description. Catlin's veracity in this description was impugned both by Schoolcraft and David D. Mitchell, and their criticism was embodied in an authorized government publication. Catlin thereupon (1866) appealed both to Kipp and Maximilian, who both unhesitatingly endorsed his account as correct. See evidence in Smithsonian Institution _Report_, 1885, part ii, pp. 368-383. Catlin then published _O-kee-pa_ (London, 1867), with colored illustrations of the ceremony.

[292] The ceremony of Okippe was for many years celebrated annually; but as the numbers of the tribe decreased it occurred less frequently, and has now with the progress of missionary work become extinct. See, however, description of the celebration in Henry A. Boller, _Among the Indians, Eight Years in the Far West_ (Philadelphia, 1868), pp. 100-111.--ED.

[293] According to Catlin these drums were supposed to be filled with water enclosed in them at the time of the deluge, and thus were objects of much veneration. For one of them he offered goods to the amount of one hundred dollars, but was refused, they being deemed "medicine" or mystery objects. Captain Maynardier, who witnessed this ceremony in 1860, and thought he was the first to describe it (see _Senate Ex. Docs._, 40 Cong., 1 sess., No. 77, pp. 149-151), also testifies that the drums were supposed to be filled with water; but he believed they were stuffed with hair.--ED.

[294] According to Catlin, "the first man" collects an edged tool from each lodge, since the "big canoe" was made therewith, and in another deluge these would be needed.--ED.

[295] That is, they dance twice to each of the four quarters of the globe, four being a sacred number. See plates of the costume in Catlin, _O-kee-pa_, nos. v, vi.--ED.

[296] See _O-kee-pa_, plate viii, for the rattlesnake man.--ED.

[297] An exact description of the representation by Catlin, _op. cit._, plate ix. According to the painter, this evil spirit does not appear until the fourth day of the ceremony.--ED.

[298] When these Indians fast for three or four days together, they dream very frequently of the devil, and, in this case, they believe that they have not long to live. The narrator had once fasted for a long time at this festival, and suffered himself to be hung up by the back. During the night he dreamed of the devil, who appeared far more frightful and taller than he could ever be represented. His plume of feathers reached to the clouds, and he ran about as quick as lightning. On several other occasions he dreamed of this devil, but now he is resolved not to fast any more, that he might not die prematurely. He added, that he had often looked without apprehension, and with pleasure, on the mask representing the devil; but he now regarded the matter in a different light, for, the more he thought of him, the taller and the more frightful did he appear to him, and, under these circumstances, the spirit had been very near him, and, if he had but once touched him, he certainly should have been dead already.--MAXIMILIAN.

[299] See _O-kee-pa_, plate viii, for a representation of the masker imitating the beaver.--ED.

[300] Represented in _O-kee-pa_, plate vii; also another, intended to symbolize the dawn, or the rays of the morning.--ED.

[301] Catlin's account of the tortures is more detailed than that of Maximilian, but presents similar features. Upon inquiry, the former learned that but one young man was known to have died from the exhaustion consequent thereupon. Consult also the _Henry-Thompson Journals_, i, pp. 364, 365.--ED.

[302] Compare _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, i, p. 245; and James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xv, pp. 129, 130.--ED.

[303] See our volume xiv, pp. 127, 128.--ED.

[304] Compare _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, i, pp. 257, 258, on the use of rattlesnake joints as medicine.--ED.

[305] For the mention by Lewis and Clark see _Original Journals_, i, p. 264; also our volume xv, pp. 57-59.--ED.

[306] See Plate 14, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[307] See Plate 58, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[308] Matthews, _Hidatsa Indians_, pp. 71, 72, takes exception to this list, and from his own observation thinks that the Mandan and Minitaree have no formal names for the lunar periods, and that they are aware that twelve do not quite complete the year.--ED.

[309] For representation of a buffalo hunt, see Plate 64, in the accompanying atlas,' our volume xxv.--ED.

[310] The economy of the buffalo in the life of the plains Indians is well known; its flesh was the staple for food, its skin for shelter, dress, and utensils of many sorts, its horn for implements, and its sinews for strings and thread. The sedentary aborigines of the Missouri were scarcely less dependent upon this animal than their plains kinsmen, their agricultural products forming but a small supplement to the food supply. Hunting the buffalo was thus the chief employment of the male Indians. For this purpose guns were but little used, they being reserved for war or occasional encounters with grizzly bears. Compare descriptions of Mandan buffalo hunts in _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, i, pp. 234, 278; _Henry-Thompson Journals_, i, pp. 336, 337; Palliser, _Solitary Rambles_ (London, 1853), pp. 111-114; and Boller, _Among the Indians_, pp. 78-80.--ED.

[311] H. M. Brackenridge, _Views of Louisiana_, p. 56.--ED.

[312] For this method of taking antelope compare _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_ i, pp. 313, 314; and H. M. Chittenden and A. T. Richardson, _Life, Letters, and Travels of Father De Smet_, iv, pp. 1396, 1397. Frequently Indians pursued the antelope on swift horses, driving them in zig-zags until they were exhausted. See _Original Journals_, ii, pp. 345, 346.--ED.

[313] _Op. cit._, in note 311, p. 56.--ED.

[314] See Matthews, _Hidatsa Indians_, p. 58. This is the eagle sometimes known as _Aquila canadensis_, although it has a wide range of habitat. It is the royal or calumet eagle of Lewis and Clark--one of the two North American eagles, the other being the bald-headed (_Haliætus leucocephalus_).--ED.

[315] See a good description of war-parties led by partisans in our