Part 16

The explanations of the counts are far from complete, as the recorders who furnished them could in many instances recall nothing except the name of the year, and in others were loth to speak of the events or else their explanations were vague and unsatisfactory, and, again, the interpreters were sometimes at fault. Many of the recent events are fresh in the memory of the people, as the warriors who strive to make their exploits a part of the tribal traditions proclaim them on all occasions of ceremony--count their _coups_, as it is called. Declarations of this kind partake of the nature of affirmations made in the presence of God. War-shirts on which scores of the enemies killed are kept, and which are carefully transmitted from one generation to another, help to refresh their memories in regard to some of the events. By testing many Indians I learned that but few could interpret the significance of the figures; some of them could point out the year of their birth and that of some members of their families; others could not do so, or pretended that they could not, but named the year and asked me to point it out and tell their age.

In the following explanation of the winter counts, [figured on Plates XXXIV-LI,] No. I refers to that of American-Horse and No. II to that of Cloud-Shield.

1775-’76.--No. I. Standing-Bull, the great-grandfather of the present Standing-Bull, discovered the Black Hills. He carried home with him a pine tree of a species he had never seen before. (In this count the Dakotas are usually distinguished by the braided scalp-lock and the feather they wear at the crown of the head, or by the manner in which they brush back and tie the hair. It will be noticed that the profile of most of the faces is given, whereas Battiste Good gives the full face. The Dakotas have of late years claimed the Black Hills, probably by right of discovery in 1775-’76; but the Crows were the former possessors.)

This is also the first winter of White-Cow-Killer’s count and is called “Two-warriors-killed winter.”

1776-’77.--No. I. Many of their horses were killed by some of their own people, who were jealous because they were fatter than their own.

1777-’78.--No. I. It was an intensely cold winter, and the Man-who-has-no-skin-on-his-penis froze to death. The sign for snow or winter, i. e., a cloud with snow falling from it, is above his head. A haka-stick, which, in playing that game, they cast after a ring, is represented in front of him.

Battiste Good’s record is that a Dakota named Skinned-Penis was killed in a fight with the Pawnees, and his companions left his body where they supposed it would not be found, but the Pawnees found it, and as it was frozen stiff, they dragged it into their camp and played haka with it.

No. II. A war party brought in the lone pine tree from the enemy’s country. They met no enemies while out. This event is also the first in No. I, in which it marks the winter of 1775-’76.

1778-’79.--No. I. The Ponkas came and attacked a village, notwithstanding peace had just been made with them. The people repulsed and followed them, killing sixty. Some elk-hair and a feather represent Ponka. Horse tracks are used for horses. Attack is indicated by signs which were said to represent bullet marks, and which convey the idea that the bullet struck. The sign seems to be derived from the gesture-sign for “it struck.”

No. II. Many of their horses were killed, but by whom is not known. The same event is recorded in No. I, 1776-’77.

1779-’80.--No. I. Long-Pine was killed in a fight with the Crows. The absence of his scalp denotes that he was killed by an enemy. The wound was made with the bow and arrow.

No. II. Skinned-his-penis was used in the ring-and-pole game.

1780-’81.--No. I. Many died of small-pox.

No. II. “The policeman” was killed by the enemy.

1781-’82--No. I. Many died of small-pox.

No. II. Many people died of small-pox. They all record two successive winters of small-pox, but No. I makes the first year of the epidemic one year later than that of Battiste Good, and No. II makes it two years later.

1782-’83.--No. I. A Dakota named Stabber froze to death. The sign for winter is the same as before.

No. II. Many people died of small-pox again.

1783-’84--No. I. The Mandans and Rees made a charge on a Dakota village. The Dakotas drove them back, killed twenty five of them, and captured a boy. An eagle’s tail, which is worn on the head, stands for Mandan and Ree.

No. II. The-Stabber froze to death. The man’s name is suggested by the spear in the body over his head, which is connected with his mouth by a line.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Big-fire winter,” possibly because big fires were required to keep them warm.

1784-’85.--No. I. A young man who was afflicted with the small-pox, and was in his tipi, off by himself, sang his death-song and shot himself. Suicide is more common among Indians than is generally suspected, and even boys sometimes take their own lives. A Dakota boy at one of the agencies shot himself rather than face his companions after his mother had whipped him, and a Pai-Ute boy at Camp McDermit, Nevada, tried to poison himself with the wild parsnip because he was not well and strong like the other boys. The Pai-Utes usually eat the wild parsnip when bent on suicide.

No. II. An Omaha woman who was living with the Oglálas attempted to run away from them, and they killed her. A war between the two tribes was the result.

1785-’86.--No. I. Bear’s-Ears, a Brulé, was killed in an Oglála village by the Crows.

No. II. The Oglálas killed three lodges of Omahas.

1786-’87.--No. I. Broken-Leg-Duck, an Oglála, went to a Crow village to steal horses and was killed. A line connects the name with the mouth.

No. II. Long-Hair was killed. To what tribe he belonged is not known.

1787-’88.--No. I. They went out in search of the Crows in order to avenge the death of Broken-Leg-Duck. They did not find any Crows, but, chancing on a Mandan village, captured it and killed all the people in it.

No. II. A year of famine. They lived on roots, which are represented in front of the tipi.

1788-’89.--No. I. Last-Badger, an Oglála, was killed by the Rees.

No. II. The winter was so cold that many crows froze to death.

White-Cow-Killer calls 1787-’88 “Many-black-crows-died winter.”

1789-’90.--No. I. The cold was so intense that crows froze in the air and dropped dead near the lodges.

No. II. White-Goose was killed in an attack made by some enemies.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Goose-Feather-killed winter.”

1790-’91.--No. I. They could not hunt on account of the deep snow, and were compelled to subsist on anything they could get, as herbs (pézi) and roots.

No. II. Picket-Pin went against the Cheyennes. A picket-pin is represented in front of him and is connected with his mouth by the usual line. The black band across his face denotes that he was brave and had killed enemies. The cross is the symbol for Cheyenne. The mark used for Cheyenne stands for the scars on their arms, or stripes on their sleeves, which also gave rise to the gesture sign for this tribe, given in Sign Language among the North American Indians, etc., First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 465, viz.: Draw the extended right index, or the inner edge of the open right hand, several times across the base of the extended left index or across the left forearm at different heights.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “All-the-Indians-see-the-flag winter.”

1791-’92.--No. I. Glue, an Oglála, froze to death on his way to a Brulé village. A glue-stick is represented back of his head. Glue, made from the hoofs of buffalo, is used to fasten arrow-heads on, and is carried about on sticks.

No. II. The Dakotas and Omahas made peace.

1792-’93.--No. I. Many women died in child-birth.

No. II. The Dakotas camped on the Missouri River near the Gros Ventres and fought with them a long time. The Dakota tipi and the Gros Ventre lodge are shown in the figure.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Rees-house-winter.”

1793-’94.--No. I. A Ponka who was captured when a boy by the Oglálas was killed while outside the village by a war party of Ponkas.

No. II. Bear’s-Ears was killed in a fight with the Rees.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Little-Face-killed winter.”

1794-’95.--No. I. The-Good-White-Man came with two other white men. He promised that if they would let him and his companions go undisturbed he would return and bring with him weapons with which they could kill game with but little labor. They gave them buffalo robes and dogs to pack them on and sent the party off. The sign for white man is a hat, either by itself or on a head, and the gesture-sign indicates one who wears a hat. Draw the open right hand horizontally from left to right across the forehead a little above the eyebrows, the back of the hand to be upward and the fingers pointing toward the left, or draw the index across the forehead in the same manner.

No. II. Bad-Face, a Dakota, was shot in the face.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Long-Hair-killed winter.”

1795-’96.--No. I. The-Man-Who-Owns-the-Flute was killed by the Cheyennes. His flute is represented in front of him with sounds coming from it. A bullet mark is on his neck.

No. II. The Dakotas camped near the Rees and fought with them.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Water-Stomach-killed winter.”

1796-’97.--No. I. They killed the long-haired man in a fight with the Cheyennes while on an expedition to avenge the death of The-Man-Who-Owns-the-Flute, who was killed by the Cheyennes the year before.

No. II. Badger, a Dakota, was killed by enemies, as shown by the absence of his scalp.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “War-Bonnet-killed winter.”

1797-’98.--No. I. Little-Beaver and three other white men came to trade, having been sent by the Good-White-Man. Their goods were loaded on three sleds, each drawn by six dogs.

No. II. The-Wise-Man was killed by enemies.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Caught-the-medicine-god-woman winter.”

1798-’99.--No. I. Owns-the-Pole, the leader of an Oglála war party, brought home many Cheyenne scalps. The cross stands for Cheyenne.

No. II. Many women died in child-birth.

White-Cow-Killer says, “Many-squaws-died winter.”

1799-1800.--No. I. The-Good-White-Man returned and gave guns to the Dakotas. The circle of marks represents the people sitting around him, the flint-lock musket the guns.

No. II. A woman who had been given to a white man by the Dakotas was killed because she ran away from him. [See No. I, 1804-’05.]

White-Cow-Killer says, “The-Good-White-Man-came winter.”

1800-’01.--No. I. Nine white men came to trade with them. The covered head with short hair stands for a white man and also intimates that the eight dots over it are for white men. According to this count the first whites came in 1794-’95.

No. II. The Good-White-Man came. He was the first white man to trade and live with the Dakotas.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Don’t-Eat-Heart-makes-a-god-house winter.”

1801-’02.--No. I. The Oglálas, Brulés, Minneconjous, Sans Arcs, and Cheyennes united in an expedition against the Crows. They surprised and captured a village of thirty lodges, killed all the men, and took the women and children prisoners. The three tipis stand for thirty; the red spots are for blood.

No. II. A trader brought them their first guns.

White-Cow-Killer says, “All-sick-winter.”

1802-’03.--No. I. The Ponkas attacked two lodges of Oglálas, killed some of the people, and made the rest prisoners. The Oglálas went to the Ponka village a short time afterward and took their people from the Ponkas. In the figure an Oglála has a prisoner by the arm leading him away. The arrow indicates that they were ready to fight.

No. II. The Omahas made an assault on a Dakota village. Arrows and bullets are flying back and forth.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Brought-in-horse-shoes winter.”

1803-’04--No. I. They made peace with the Gros Ventres.

No. II. Little-Beaver, a white trader, came.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Plenty-of-woolly-horses winter.”

1804-’05.--No. I. An Indian woman who had been unfaithful to a white man to whom she was married was killed by an Indian named Ponka. The symbol for Ponka indicates the name.

No. II. The Omahas came and made peace to get their people, whom the Dakotas held as prisoners.

1805-’06.--No. I. The Dakotas had a council with the whites on the Missouri River, below the Cheyenne Agency, near the mouth of Bad Creek (the Lewis and Clarke Expedition?). They had many flags, which the Good-White-Man gave them with their guns, and they erected them on poles to show their friendly feelings. The curved line is to represent the council lodge, which they made by opening several tipis and uniting them at their sides to form a semicircle. The marks are for the people. American-Horse’s father was born this year.

No. II. Nine white men came to trade. The three covered heads represent the white men.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Eight-Dakotas-killed winter.”

1806-’07.--No. I. Black-Rock, a Dakota, was killed by the Crows. A rock is represented above his head. He was killed with a bow and arrow and was scalped.

No. II. The Dakotas killed an Omaha in the night.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Killed-while-hunting-eagles winter.”

1807-’08.--No. I. Broken-Leg was killed by the Pawnees. His leg had been broken by a bullet in a previous fight with the Pawnees.

No. II. Many people camped together and had many flags flying.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Red-shirt-killed Winter.”

1808-’09.--No. I. Little-Beaver’s trading house was burned down.

No. II. A Brulé was found dead under a tree which had fallen on him.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Blue-Blanket’s-father-dead winter.”

1809-’10.--No. I. Black-Rock was killed by the Crows. His brother, whose name he had taken, was killed by the Crows three years before.

No. II. Little-Beaver’s house was burned.

White-Cow-Killer says, “Little-Beaver’s (the white man) house-burned-down winter.”

1810-’11.--No. I. Red-Shirt, a Dakota, was killed by the Crows while looking for his ponies near Old Woman’s Fork.

No. II. They brought in a fine horse with feathers tied to his tail.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Came-with-medicine-on-horse’s-tail winter.”

1811-’12.--No. I. They caught many wild horses south of the Platte River.

No. II. They had very little buffalo meat, as the empty drying pole indicates, but plenty of ducks in the fall.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Catching-wild-horses winter.”

1812-’13.--No. I. Big-Waist’s father killed.

No. II. Big-Owl killed.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Big-Belly’s-father-killed winter.”

1813-’14.--No. I. Many had the whooping-cough. The cough is represented by the lines issuing from the man’s mouth.

No. II. Food was very scarce and they had to live on acorns. The tree is intended for an oak and the marks beneath it for acorns.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Six-Rees-killed winter.”

1814-’15.--No. I. The Dakotas went to a Kaiowa village, about 6 miles from Scott’s Bluff, and near the mouth of Horse Creek, to treat for peace; but their intentions were frustrated by one of their number, who drove his hatchet into a Kaiowa’s head.

No. II. They made peace with the Pawnees. The man with the blue forehead is a Pawnee, the other is a Dakota, whose body is smeared with clay. The four arrows show that they had been at war, and the clasped hands denote peace.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Kaiowa-hit-on-head-with-axe winter.”

Young-Man’s-Horses-Afraid, _i. e._, whose horses are afraid, was born this year. He is now called “Old-Man-afraid-of-his-Horses” by the whites, and his son, the present chief of the Oglálas, is known as “Young-Man-afraid-of-his-Horses.” [The present writer has heard another interpretation about “afraid-of-his-horses,” _i. e._, that the man valued his horses so much that he was afraid of losing them. The present representative of the name, however, stated to the writer that the true meaning was “The-young-man-whose-horses-they-fear.”]

1815-’16.--No. I. The figure is intended to represent a white man’s house.

No. II. Some of the Dakotas built a large house and lived in it during the winter.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Made-a-house winter.”

1816-’17.--No. I. They made peace with the Crows at Pine Bluff. The arrow shows they had been at war.

No. II. They lived in the same house that they did last winter.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Made-a-house winter.”

1817-’18.--No. I. The Oglálas had an abundance of buffalo meat and shared it with the Brulés, who were short of food. The buffalo hide hung on the drying pole, with the buffalo head above it, indicates an abundance of meat.

No. II. The-Brave-Man was killed in a great fight. The fight is shown by the arrows flying to and from him. Having been killed by an enemy, he is scalped.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Plenty-of-meat winter.”

1818-’19.--No. I. A large house was built.

No. II. Many died of the small-pox.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Little-small-pox winter.”

1819-’20.--No. I. Another house was built. The Dakotas made medicine in it.

No. II. In an engagement with the Crows, both sides expended all of their arrows, and then threw dirt at each other. A Crow is represented on the right, and is distinguished by the manner in which the hair is worn.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Made-a-house-of-old-wood winter.”

1820-’21.--No. I. The Dakotas assaulted and took a Crow village of a hundred lodges. They killed many and took many prisoners.

No. II. A Dakota, named Glue, froze to death.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Two-arrows-made-a-war-bonnet winter.”

1821-’22.--No. I. They had all the _mini wakan_ (spirit water or whisky) they could drink. They never had any before. A barrel with a waved or spiral line running from it represents the whisky, the waved line signifying spirit.

No. II. A large roaring star fell. It came from the east, and shot out sparks of fire along its course. Its track and the sparks are shown in the figure. See also page 111.

White-Cow-Killer says, “One-star-made-a-great-noise winter.”

Battiste Good, alias Wa-po-ctan-qi (Brown-Hat), historian and chief, designated this year as that of his birth. Omaha bullets were whizzing through the village and striking and piercing his mother’s lodge as she brought him forth. Red-Cloud also was born.

1822-’23.--No. I. Dog, an Oglála, stole seventy horses from the Crows. Each of the seven tracks stands for ten horses. A lariat, which serves the purpose of a long whip, and is usually allowed to trail on the ground, is shown in the man’s hand.

No. II. A Brulé, who had left the village the night before, was found dead in the morning outside the village, and the dogs were eating his body. The black spot on the upper part of the thigh shows he was a Brulé.

White-Cow-Killer says, “White-man-peels-the-stick-in-his-hand-broke-his-leg winter.”

1823-’24.--No. I. They had an abundance of corn, which they got at the Ree villages.

No. II. They joined the whites in an expedition up the Missouri River against the Rees.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Old-corn-plenty winter.” For further explanation of the record of this year, see page 111.

1824-’25.--No. I. Cloud-Bear, a Dakota, killed a Dakota, who was a long distance off, by throwing a bullet from his hand and striking him in the heart. The spiral line is again used for _wakan_. The gesture-sign for _wakan_ (holy, supernatural) is: With its index-finger extended and pointing upward, or all the fingers extended, back of hand outward, move the right hand from just in front of the forehead spirally upward nearly to arm’s length from left to right. [See “Sign Language N. A. Indians,” p. 380, by the present writer, in the First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.]

No. II. Cat-Owner was killed with a spider-web thrown at him by a Dakota. The spider-web is shown reaching to his heart from the hand of the man who threw it. The blood issuing from his mouth and nose indicates that he bled to death. It is a common belief among them that certain medicine men possess the power of taking life by shooting needles, straws, spider-webs, bullets, and other objects, however distant the person may be against whom they are directed.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Killed-the-women-picking-cherries winter.”

1825-’26.--No. I. Some of the Dakotas were living on the bottom-lands of the Missouri River, below the Whetstone, when the river, which was filled with broken ice, unexpectedly rose and flooded their village. Many were drowned or else killed by the floating ice. Many of those that escaped climbed on cakes of ice or into trees.

No. II. Many of the Dakotas were drowned in a flood caused by a rise of the Missouri River, in a bend of which they were camped. The curved line is the bend in the river; the waved line is the water, above which the tops of the tipis are shown.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Great-flood-and-many-Indians-drowned winter.” [See page 113.]

1826-’27.--No. I. The brother of the Good-White-Man came.

No. II. Held a commemoration of the dead. The pipe-stem and the skull indicate this.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Long-Whistle-sick winter.”

1827-’28.--No. I. The snow was very deep.

No. II. In a fight with the Mandans, Crier was shot in the head with a gun.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Snow-shoe-making winter.”

1828-’29.--No. I. They provided themselves with a large supply of antelope meat by driving antelope into a corral, in which they were easily killed.

No. II. They drove many antelope into a corral and then killed them.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Many-Rees-killed winter.”

1829-’30.--No. I. Striped-Face stabbed and killed his son-in-law for whipping his wife.

No. II. Spotted-Face stabs his son-in-law for whipping his wife.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Spotted-Face-held-on-long winter.”

1830-’31.--No. I. They saw wagons for the first time. Red-Lake, a white trader, brought his goods in them.

No. II. The Crows were approaching a village at a time when there was a great deal of snow on the ground and intended to surprise it, but some herders discovering them the Dakotas went out, laid in wait for the Crows, surprised them, and killed many. A Crow’s head is represented in the figure.

White-Cow-Killer calls it “Killed-many-white-buffalo winter.”