The Syce on duty
Buffalo grazing
Hidatsas burial scaffolds
Drums on a summer's evening
Grandfather sacred medicines
At this hour, fires burned before most of the tepees
Winter Camp
To eke out our store of corn and keep the pot boiling, my father hunted much of the time
My father stabled his horses at night in our lodge, in a little corral fenced off against the wall
Turtle, I think, was the last woman in the tribe to use an old-fashioned, bone-bladed hoe
Turtle’s hoe was made of the shoulder bone of a buffalo set in a light-wood handle, the blade firmly bound in place with thong
Inside the lodge
Old Turtle made me a dolly of deer skin stuffed with antelope hair
Winter clothing
A heavy wind blew the snow in our faces, nearly blinding us
I saw that the black-bear skin was bound to one of the posts at the entrance
Gardening
The wild geese had come north, but this fact alone was not proof that winter had gone
Harvesting
Baby-like, I ran my fingers through the shiny grain, spilling a few kernels on the floor
Turtle and her old-fashioned digging stick
Two braves
It had a long curved beak
Life in an Earth Lodge
The beds of the rest of the family stood in the back of the lodge, against the wall
Red Blossom sat on the edge of her bed and finished her toilet
She had a little fawn-skin bag, worked with red porcupine quills
An earthen pot full of water stood by one of the posts near the fire
My mothers dipped each a big horn spoon full of water
Childhood games
They looked very terrible, all painted with the lower half of the face black
My little half sister was my usual playmate. She was two years younger than I, and I loved her dearly
We also had a big, soft ball, stuffed with antelope hair, which we would bounce in the air with the foot
The game was to see how many times she could be tossed without falling
Until I was about nine years old, my hair was cut short
Offering food before the shrine of the Big Birds’ ceremony
As the man sat in his lodge, there came a clap of thunder and lightning struck his roof, tearing a great hole
Big Birds’ ceremony
Kinship
Sing louder cousin, sing louder, that I may hear you
When a man mourned he cut off his hair, painted his body with white clay
Snake Head-Ornament came close to her and fired off his gun
Indian Dogs
In daytime lookouts were always on the roofs of some of the lodges
I would lay the puppy between my shoulders and draw my tiny robe up over his back
She laid the grass thickly over the sides of the little tepee
They ate it greedily. It did not seem to harm them
We Hidatsas loved our good dogs, and were kind to them
Our dogs dragged well-laden travois
Each dog dragged a travois loaded with wood
The harness was of two pieces - a collar, to go around the dog’s neck
Learning to work
They saw two great fires sweeping toward them over the prairie
Buffalo heart skin bucket
My grandmother Turtle made scarecrows to frighten away the birds
A watchers’ stage
At one side of our field Turtle had made a booth
We were fond of squashes and ate many of them
I was too well-bred to look up at him, but I did not always hurry to finish my sweeping
Picking June berries