A FEW WORDS RESPECTING THE ARIKKARAS
The Arikkaras on the Missouri are a tribe which, many years ago,
separated from the Pawnees, and settled on the Lower Missouri, where
they inhabited two villages.[352] At the time of Lewis and Clarke's
travels these Indians lived on friendly terms with the Whites; but, in
consequence of subsequent misunderstandings, they became their most
inveterate enemies, and killed all the traders who ventured into the
vicinity of their territory. After they had defeated the keel-boats of
General Ashley, and the unsuccessful expedition of Colonel Leavenworth,
they became more insolent than ever; and, as they had no longer
any prospect of trading on the Missouri, and other circumstances
unfavourable to them took place, they removed, in the year 1832, and
settled at a great distance in the prairie, where they are said to
dwell, on the road to Santa Fe, above the sources of the river La
Platte. Their villages on the Missouri have been entirely abandoned and
desolate since that time.[353]
The Arikkaras are tall, robust, well-made men; some of them are
nearly six feet (Paris measure) in height. Their physiognomy does not
materially differ from that of the neighbouring tribes, especially
of the Mandans and Manitaries, and their women are said to be the
handsomest on the Missouri, but also the most licentious.[354] Their
costume is likewise not very different from that of the Mandans;
their robes are mostly painted of a reddish-brown colour. They have
renounced the costume, and the greater part of the customs of the
Pawnees. At the time when they left the Missouri, they amounted to
between 3000 and 4000 souls, of whom 500 were warriors, and possessed
a great many horses and dogs; they can now bring 600 men into the
field, and are still a warlike people. Ross Cox, in his journey to
the Columbia, calls them a powerful tribe, which is, perhaps, rather
too strong an expression. The most detailed accounts respecting
this people, with which I am acquainted, are in Brackenridge's and
Bradbury's travels;[355] yet they are very meagre, though the former
had opportunities of observing them for {407} some time, on friendly
terms. Perhaps he had not an interpreter sufficiently acquainted with
the language. I will state what I have learned from some Mandans,
especially from Mato-Topé, who lived a long time among the Arikkaras.
Brackenridge gives an imperfect description of the construction of
their huts, which does not much differ from that of the Mandans. This
writer says that the villages of the Arikkaras were very dirty, and
compares them with some old European towns. As it must, however, be
supposed that Brackenridge had never seen European towns, where the
police are more strict than in American towns, his comparison does not
hold good. Both Brackenridge and Bradbury were very well received by
these people, and some white men were living among them, who served
as interpreters. When a stranger was once in their villages he was
hospitably treated, and invited to many of their festivals. When he
left, however, he had to be on his guard, especially against the war
parties, who seldom spared a white man.
The agriculture of the Arikkaras was the same as that of their
neighbours. In the education of their children they are said to have
been more strict, for, when the children behaved ill, they were
severely corrected. Among the more northern nations also, a better
system prevails than among the Mandans and Manitaries: it frequently
happens, among the Chippeways, that, when a boy rudely passes before
the older men, they take him by the arm and give him a good thrashing.
If a young man is idle, and will not go hunting, his father has been
known to drive him before him a mile, beating him all the way, and then
telling him that, if he returns without any game, he shall be punished
still more severely. Like most of the Indian tribes, the Arikkaras
have their bands, or unions, and likewise distinct dances. They are as
follows:--
1. The band of the bears. It consists of old men, who, in their dance,
wear some parts of the bear's skin, a necklace of bears' claws, &c.
2. The mad wolves. They wear a wolf's skin on their back, with a slit,
through which they put the head and arm.
3. The foxes wear fox skins on different parts of their body.
4. The mad dogs carry a schischikué in their hand when they dance.
5. The mad bulls. These are the most distinguished men, and wear, in
their dance, the skin of a buffalo's head, with the horns.
6. The soldiers.
Besides these bands, the Arikkaras have, at least, seven different
dances.
1. The hot dance, or the black arms.
2. The dance of the bird's egg. They wear, on the forehead, the skin of
a screech-owl.
3. The dance of the youngest child. Both the young and the old bands
may have this dance, and wear, at the back of the head, a piece of
swan's skin, with a crow's feather.
4. The dance of the prairie foxes. They wear a kind of apron of red or
blue cloth; behind, {408} the skin of a prairie fox; short leggins,
just above the knee; at the back of the head, two crows' tails crossed;
and on their leggins, bells, which they make themselves out of tin
kettles.
5. The white earth dance. They wear a cap made of ermines' tails,
hanging down; at the back of their head, two war eagles' feathers
crossed; at the small of the back, a piece of leather like a tail,
ornamented with strips of ermine and bells; they carry a large
bow-lance, decorated with the feathers of the war eagles. Their robe is
trimmed with fox skin and strips of ermine.
6. The dance of the spirits. A large cap of owls' feathers hangs down
behind, and goes even round the body. They have a war pipe suspended
round the neck, and in their hands the skin of their medicine animal.
7. The dance of the extended robe. If anything is given to them during
this dance, they receive it with their guns pointed at the giver. They
dress as if they were going to battle, and only the bravest warriors
are admitted among them. If any one accepts a present, another, who has
performed more exploits, pushes him away, enumerates his own deeds,
till another comes and treats him in the same manner, and so on, till,
at length, the bravest takes possession of the gift. They imitate in
their dance the various attitudes of fighting, and, with one arm, hold
their robe before them like a shield, as if to defend themselves. All
the wounds they have received are marked on the body with red paint.
These bands and dances are bought and sold in the same manner as among
the Manitaries, Crows, and Mandans. The purchasers are obliged to offer
and give up their wives to the discretion of the fathers, that is, the
sellers.
Their games are nearly the same as among the other tribes. The skin
of a young white buffalo cow is likewise highly valued by them. They
have the same distinctions as the Mandans for their military exploits,
and the partisans observe the same ceremonies, only the Arikkara
partisan has a head of maize at his breast, which they consider as a
great medicine. If they are obliged to retreat they never throw aside
their girdle, as the other nations do, however hot the weather may be.
It is said that when many Arikkaras are together they do not fight
very well, but when there are only a few they show much more bravery.
No tribe has killed so many white men as the Arikkaras. The Pawnees
formerly tortured their prisoners, till their chief, Petulescharu, as
Say relates,[356] abolished the custom,[357] and the Arikkaras likewise
renounced it when they separated from the Pawnees.
Their religious ideas and traditions are in general the same as those
of the Mandans. They give to the first man a name which is likewise
the appellation of the wolf. They formerly reverenced the ark of the
first man, but they have given up that custom. Like all the Indians
on the Missouri, they have their medicine feasts and all manner of
superstitious practices. The Okippe, properly speaking, is not known
among them; they torture themselves, however, though {409} not so
cruelly as their neighbours. All kinds of animals are considered by
them as medicine, and they choose it as the other tribes do. They
never fast so long as the Mandans and the Manitaries; at the most for
one day. When they would do penance and kill buffaloes, they never
load their horses with the flesh of the animals they may have killed,
but often bring home a large quantity, on their head and back, from a
great distance. He who bears the greatest burden sometimes gives the
flesh to a poor old man, who then sings medicine songs for him, in
order that he may have much success in hunting and in war, and by such
actions he acquires great esteem. The lord of life told the Arikkaras
that, if they gave to the poor in this manner, and laid burdens upon
themselves, they would be successful in all their undertakings. It is
said that they have given up all their former religious traditions
except the last. This may, perhaps, be partly ascribed to the influence
of the Whites--a conjecture which occurs to unprejudiced persons
when they consider the simple mythology of the Mandans. The maize is
one of the principal medicines of the Arikkaras, for which they show
their reverence in various ways. One of their greatest medicine feasts
is that of the bird case, which they have faithfully retained; they
esteem this medicine as highly as Christians do the Bible. It is the
general rule and law, according to which they govern themselves. This
instrument is hung up in the medicine lodge of their villages, and
accompanies them wherever they go. It consists of a four-cornered case,
made of parchment, six or seven feet long, but narrow, strengthened
at the top with a piece of wood. It opens at one end, and seven
schischikués of gourds are fixed at the top, ornamented with a tuft
of horse-hair dyed red. See the annexed[358] woodcut, designed by
Mato-Topé. Inside of the box there are stuffed birds of all such kinds
as they can procure; that is to say, only such species as are here in
summer. Besides these the box contains a large and very celebrated
medicine pipe, which is smoked only on extraordinary occasions and
great festivals. If an Arikkara has even killed his brother, and then
smoked this pipe, all ill-will towards him must be forgotten. With
this singular apparatus a ceremony is performed as soon as the seed
is sown and the first gourds are ripe. The blossoms of the gourd are
guarded, that no one may injure them; and, as soon as the first fruit
is ripe, some distinguished warriors are chosen, who must come to the
assembly. Articles of value are presented to them; the first fruit is
cut and given them to eat. For this they must take down and open the
bird case, on which occasion medicine songs are sung, and the large
pipe is smoked. In the summer-time, {410} when the trees are green,
they take an evergreen tree, such as a red cedar, peel the trunk, and
paint it with blue, red, and white rings, and then plant it before the
medicine lodge; the case is taken down, and the ceremony performed.
This bird case is of special efficacy in promoting the growth of the
maize and other plants; and he who carries this magic case to a great
distance, and with considerable exertion, obtains the highest place
in the favour of the lord of life. The strongest men among these
Indians are said sometimes to carry a whole buffalo, without the head
and the intestines, to present it as an offering to the bird case.
This offering is considered very meritorious; and, when they have
made it four times, it is believed that they will never be in want of
buffaloes. At the beginning of the world, the Mandans, it is said,
inhabited the village of Ruhptare, together with the Arikkaras. At that
time the lord of life came to them in the form of a child, and directed
them to celebrate the Okippe every year, like the Mandans, but not
their ceremony with the bird case. Quarrels and affrays arose on this
subject between the Mandans of Ruhptare and the Arikkaras, during which
the lord of life remained among the former. He thought of going to the
other party, which he was advised not to do, because they would kill
him; to which he answered, "They cannot kill me." He then went to a
stream, took out of it a piece of salt, with which he rubbed his whole
body, and threw a part of it among the Arikkaras, by which a great
many of them were poisoned. The two parties afterwards separated; the
Arikkaras retained their bird case, the Mandans the Okippe, as the lord
of life had enjoined them. In consequence of this event the Arikkaras
were angry with the lord of life, and called him "the prairie wolf."
This bird case is likewise a calendar for the Arikkaras, for they
reckon the seven cold months by the seven schischikués, beginning to
count by the middle one for the coldest month. On the left hand they
reckon three months till the warm weather, which lasts five months,
and which they pass over, to begin at the end of the schischikués with
the other cold months, proceeding to the centre where the greatest
degree of cold recurs. Leaving out the five months of warm weather,
May, June, July, August, and September, those which are reckoned by the
schischikués are--
1. The month in which the leaves fall; October.
2. The month of the nose of the little serpent; November.
3. The month of the nose of the great serpent; December.
4. The month of the seven cold nights; January.
5. The month which kills or carries off men; February.
6. The month in which the wild geese return; March.
7. The month in which vegetation begins; April.
The Arikkaras practise a number of strange tricks and juggleries.
They are remarkably dexterous in sleight-of-hand performances, which
they are said to have learned from a celebrated {412} juggler. They
institute medicine feasts at which entire comedies are performed. One,
for instance, disguised in a bear's skin, with the head and claws,
imitates the motions and the voice of the animal so accurately that
he cannot be distinguished from a real bear. He is shot; the wound
is plainly to be seen, and blood flows; he drops down and dies; the
skin is stripped off, and at last the man appears safe and sound. On
another occasion, a man's head is cut off with a sabre and carried
out. The body remains bleeding, without the head, and this headless
trunk dances merrily about. The head is then replaced, but with the
face at the back. The man continues to dance, but the head is seen in
its right position, and the man who was beheaded dances as if nothing
had happened to him. The bleeding wound is rubbed with the hand, it
disappears, and all is in order again. Men are shot; the blood flows;
the wounds are rubbed, and they come to life again. The Arikkaras
perform all these tricks with such consummate address, that the
illusion is complete, so that most of the French Canadians believe in
the reality of all these wonders. No Arikkara will break a marrow-bone
in his hut; this must always be done in the open air; they believe
that, if they neglect this precaution, their horses will break their
legs in the prairie.
These people have at present a great many enemies. The Mandans, the
Manitaries, the Crows, the Sioux, the Blackfeet, the Assiniboins, the
Arrapahos, and the Pawnees.
The Arikkaras affirm that God said to them that they were made of
earth, and must return to earth; on which account they bury their
dead in the ground. Various things are sometimes cast into the graves
of eminent men; the corpse is dressed in the best clothes, the face
painted red, and sometimes a good horse is killed on the grave. If the
deceased has left a son, he receives his father's medicine apparatus;
if not, it is buried with him in the grave.
The language of the Arikkaras differs totally from those of the Mandans
and Manitaries; there is more harshness in the sound; the guttural
_ch_ occurs frequently, and there are very many German terminations,
such as _natsch_, _ratsch_, _ass_, _oss_, _uss_, &c. &c., which are
much harsher than the terminations of the Manitari language. Germans
pronounce it easily and correctly. Many words again end with the
syllable, _hahn_, _rahn_, _wahn_, pronounced as in German. Their manner
of giving names to their children does not differ from that of the
Mandans and other Indians of the Missouri, and the western plains at
the foot of the Rocky Mountains. They are often harmonious, and are
changed on special occasions, such, for instance, as having performed
some feat of valour, when arrived at manhood.
FOOTNOTES:
[352] For an account of the Arikkara see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our
volume v, p. 113, note 76.--ED.
[353] See _ante_, notes 175-178.--ED.
[354] See Brackenridge's description of the Arikkara, and the chastity
of the young women, in our volume vi, pp. 120-132.--ED.
[355] Volumes v and vi of our series.--ED.
[356] See our volume xv, pp. 150-157.--ED.
[357] From John Irving's Indian Sketches it appears that Petulescharu
did not succeed in wholly abolishing this custom.--MAXIMILIAN.
_Comment by Ed._ John T. Irving, Jr., accompanied United States
Commissioner Henry L. Ellsworth, who was sent (1833) to arrange with
the Pawnee for the well-being of the remnant of the Delaware tribe,
that had been removed to the west of the Mississippi. His adventures,
entitled _Indian Sketches taken during an Expedition to the Pawnee
Tribes_, appeared in Philadelphia in 1835.--ED.
[358] See p. 355 for illustration of Arikkara bird-cage gourds.--ED.
Transcriber's Notes:
Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were
silently corrected.
Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.
Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_.
End of Project Gutenberg's Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, v. 23, by Various