THE MAKING OF A DRYING STAGE
_Stages in Like-a-fishhook Village_
There were about seventy lodges in Like-a-fishhook village, when I was a
girl. A corn drying stage stood before every lodge.
That before Small Ankle’s lodge was a three-section stage, of eight
posts. White Feather, or his wives, owned two of these big eight-post
stages, one before each of their two lodges; for White Feather had four
wives. Many Growths—a woman—had a big eight-post stage. There were a few
other eight-post stages in the village, but they were small, with narrow
sections and posts placed relatively rather close to one another.
The rest of the stages in the village, as I recollect, were all six-post,
or two-section, stages.
In all cases, whether of a six-post or eight-post stage, the floor was
upheld by two long, but narrow beams, that ran the whole length of the
stage.
The description I shall now give of the making of a drying stage, is of
an eight-post stage, such as always stood before my father’s lodge.
_Cutting the Timbers_
The timbers we used for building a drying stage were all of cottonwood.
Being thus of a soft wood, the timbers did not last so very long when
exposed to the weather; and a stage built of cottonwood timbers lasted
only about three years; the fourth year, unless the stage was rebuilt,
the posts rotted and the stage would fall down. Unlike the posts of a
watchers’ stage, those of a drying stage were always carefully peeled of
bark, as they rotted more quickly if the bark was left on.
My mother’s drying stage, as I have said, had eight posts; and these
posts we cut with forks at the top. If we could find them, or if we had
time to hunt for them in the woods, we cut double-forked posts, like
that of figure 32. But it was much easier to get the smaller posts, of
the height of the stage floor. Such a post had but one fork at the top,
in which lay one of the beams that supported the floor; and a companion
post, longer and not so heavy, stood by it to support the railing at the
top of the stage. However, in reckoning the number of posts of a stage, I
count a single-forked post and its companion as but one post.
For the two long beams on which the floor of the stage was to be laid, we
cut two rather slender logs, the longest we could find in the woods.
All these timbers we cut in the summer time, peeling off the bark and
letting them lie until winter, to dry. Then when there was snow on the
ground, we hitched ropes to the seasoned timbers and dragged them into
the village.
The stage was built the following spring or summer, to be ready for the
fall harvest; so that we commonly cut the timbers for a stage nine months
or a year before they were to be used in building it.
_Digging the Post Holes_
When we were ready to begin building, the first thing we had to do was
to mark the post holes. We laid the two long floor beams parallel on
the ground, at such a distance apart as to enclose the space necessary
for the stage. We then marked the places for the post holes, at proper
distances along the inside of the two beams; there were eight of these
post holes, four on a side.
These post holes were dug with a long digging stick, and the dirt
removed, to the depth of a woman’s arm from the shoulder to the hand;
that was as far as one could reach down to lift out the dirt. To get the
post holes all of a depth, I took a stick and measured on it the length
of my arm from shoulder to fingers; this stick I used to probe the holes
to see that they were of a proper depth.
We now laid down all the posts in a row, and so adjusted them that the
forks that were to receive the floor beams lay all in a straight line;
that is, if the posts were two-forked posts, all the forks _C_ (figure
32) would lie in a straight line; and if the posts, or some of them, were
single-forked posts, their tops would lie in a line with fork _C_ of the
double-forked posts.
[Illustration: Figure 32]
On all the posts a charcoal line was now drawn at _A_ (figure 32). The
distance from _A_ to _B_ (figure 32) should be the length of a woman’s
arm, which also was the depth of the post hole. But in cutting the posts,
no matter how careful we were, there was always some irregularity in
lengths so that the part from _A_ to _B_ upon the various posts might
slightly vary.
All having now been marked with the charcoal line, the posts were rolled
each to its proper post hole and the part _AB_ on the post was carefully
measured and compared with the hole’s depth. For this purpose the stick
used to probe the post holes came again into use. If the length of the
part _AB_ on any post happened to be an inch or two longer than my arm
its post hole was deepened to the same extent. All this was necessary in
order that when the posts were dropped into their holes, the forks that
were to receive the floor beams would lie all at the same height.
I have said that a charcoal line was drawn around each post at _A_
(figure 32). The position of this line, after the first one was drawn,
was obtained by measuring from the fork _C_; and care was taken that the
measurements on all the posts should be exactly alike. The charcoal line
quite encircled the post.
_Raising the Frame_
The posts were now raised and dropped into the post holes; raising was
by hand. The posts were turned so that the forks lay in proper position
to receive the floor beams and upper rails; a two-forked post was placed
with the prong _C_ (figure 32) turned inward.
A single-forked post had to have a companion post beside it, also forked,
to support the railing at the top of the stage. This companion post was
not so heavy, but of course was longer. It stood just beside the main
post and was carefully adjusted to receive the upper rail properly. It
was lashed to the main post by a green-hide thong.
This thong might pass around the shorter post just below its fork; or it
might bind the companion post to one of the prongs of the fork itself.
If I had several two-forked posts and several one-forked posts with
companion posts beside them, it required some little bit of fitting to
adjust them all so that the floor beams and rails would lie properly. To
better permit this to be done, it was not my custom to firm the earth
about the post, until the frame had been set up and adjusted; for little
irregularities in the fitting could be cured by slightly moving the posts
as they stood unfirmed, in their holes. When the frame was properly
adjusted, I took my digging stick—it was always a long one that was used
for digging holes—and rammed the earth around the foot of each post,
firming it.
It was the custom of my tribe when digging the post holes, to dig each
one just the diameter of its post, or as nearly to it as we could; then
the posts when raised fitted snugly into the holes.
The two long floor beams having been raised into position, the two poles
that were to make the top railing were also raised. These rails were of
the same length, but were not so heavy, as the floor beams. We were now
ready to lay the floor.
_The Floor_
The floor of the stage was of cottonwood planks. Cottonwood logs, nine
to twelve inches in diameter, had been cut of proper length. Out of the
center of each was split a plank, or board, with ax and wedge. These
planks were laid to make the floor, the ends of the planks resting on the
two floor beams that lay on the forks of the posts. We took care to make
the floor as snug as possible. The planks were carefully fitted together,
and if there was any little crooked place in a plank that left a crack in
the floor, we stuffed a dry cornstalk into the crack so that no ear of
corn could fall through.
The planks that made the floor were not bound to the floor beams, nor
weighted down in any way; their own weight stayed them in place.
I have said that the drying stage had to be rebuilt about every three
years because the posts rotted down in that time. This was not true of
the floor planks; they lasted much longer and were used year after year.
_Staying Thongs_
The eight posts of the stage stood in pairs, a post on either side of
the floor; and between the tops of each pair of posts a green-hide thong
was bound, and left to dry. These thongs stayed the stage and made it
stronger and firmer; often they were also made to bind down the upper
rails to the forks of the posts.
_Ladder_
The stage stood always in front of the earth lodge with its longer side
to the door. A ladder stood at the right hand nigher corner post—as one
comes out of the lodge—with the foot of the ladder resting a little way
from the stage. The top of the ladder leaned against the end of the floor
beam on the side next the lodge.
Of course if the ladder were left here with nothing to stay it, it would
fall against the loose planks of the stage floor and force them out of
position. To prevent this a pole was bound firmly to the two posts _A_
and _B_ (figure 12) and resting on the two floor beams just outside the
posts. The ladder rested against this pole. To receive the pole, the
floor beams were made to project a little bit forward at the ladder end
of the stage.
The ladder was made of a cottonwood trunk, about ten inches in diameter,
with notches cut in it for steps. At its lower end it was brought to
an edge that it might more firmly rest on the ground and not turn when
someone stepped on it. At the upper end a notch was cut in the back to
receive the end of the floor beam against which the ladder rested. (See
figure 33.)
[Illustration: Figure 33]
The ladder had always one fixed place; or, if for any reason it had to be
moved during labors, we took pains to warn our friends. A woman in our
village once moved her ladder to another place on her stage and forgot
about it. When she started to come down she stepped in the old place and
fell and broke both her arms. We did not like to have a ladder removed
from its accustomed place for fear of just such accidents.
When the owner descended from her drying stage, she took down her ladder
and laid it on the ground beside the stage. It was not proper for
strangers to go up on the drying stage, nor were children allowed to go
up there.
Neighbors sometimes came in and borrowed the ladder; but when not in use,
its proper place was on the ground by the stage.
You ask me how we Indian women ascended and descended a ladder. I never
thought of our having any particular custom in this; but now that you
call my attention to it, I remember that a woman ascended and descended a
ladder with her face toward the stage, giving her the appearance of going
up sidewise, and coming down in the same manner.
In going up a ladder I usually placed my left foot on the lowest step;
brought my right foot around in front and over my left to the second
step; then my left foot past and behind my right foot, with my face
toward the drying stage. My left hand might or might not touch the
ladder, as I was used to ascending it and felt no fear.
In descending a ladder I placed my right foot on the highest step, and
overlapped with my left; and so until the bottom was reached.
I do not know if other women had exactly this custom, for I never
observed or thought anything about it; but I do know that always,
ascending or descending, an Indian woman went sidewise, with her face
toward the stage.
_Enlarging the Stage_
Some years, if our family’s corn crop was very large, we extended our
drying stage, making it five posts long instead of four posts long, on
a side. Other families did likewise, as they had need; one family might
have corn enough to require a stage five posts long, while another family
needed one only four posts long, on a side. Stages, indeed, varied in
length with the needs of the family, but they were all of about the same
width.
_Present Stages_
The stage that I have been describing is of the kind that was in use in
my tribe when I was a young girl of twelve or thirteen years of age. At
present we no longer use this, our old form, but the Arikara form instead.
The Arikara stage differs in having a floor of willows, and is easier to
make. It took two days to erect a stage of the old fashioned kind, such
as I have been describing.
_Building, Women’s Work_
Building the drying stage was women’s work, although the men helped raise
the heavy posts and floor beams. In my father’s family, my two mothers
and I built the stage; but my father also helped us, especially if there
was any heavy lifting to do.
_Measurements of Stage_
I will now give you the measurements of such a stage as we used in my
father’s family.
Pacing it off here, on the ground, the length of the stage was, I think,
about so long—thirty feet.[20] Its width was about thus—twelve feet.
From the ground to the top of the stage floor was a little higher than a
woman can reach with her hand, or about six feet, six inches; there were
horses in the village, and the stage floor must be high enough so that
the horses could not reach the corn. From the floor of the stage to the
upper railing was about so high (holding up a stick), or five feet and
nine inches.
I will now give you the measurements of the posts and beams; and for
this, we will use the little model which I have made for you. In this
model I have used double-forked posts on one side, and single-forked
posts, with companion posts, on the other side.
[Illustration: Figure 34]
In the diagram (figure 34), _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_, are double-forked posts;
_a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, are single-forked posts; and _xa_, _xb_, _xc_, _xd_,
are companion posts.
The double-forked posts, _A_, _B_, _C_, and _D_, should be about ten
inches in diameter between the lower fork and the ground, but tapering
slightly toward the upper fork. This upper fork, if it was not in the
post naturally, might be cut to receive the upper rail. The posts _a_,
_b_, _c_, and _d_, should be ten inches in diameter; and the companion
posts, _xa_, _xb_, _xc_, and _xd_, should be, perhaps, four inches in
diameter. All of these posts are set in the ground with the smaller, or
branch end upward.
The floor beams should each be about nine and one-half inches in diameter
at one end, tapering to four or five inches in diameter at the other end.
This tapering was the natural growth of the trunk; it was not, I mean,
cut tapering with an ax. The beams were so laid that the heavy ends were
always at the front of the stage as we called it; that is, at the end
where the ladder stood.
The upper rails were about three and a half inches in diameter. They
were chosen for strength, if possible of trunks that were branchless, or
nearly so. These upper rails were also laid with the heavy ends toward
the front, or ladder end, of the stage.
I have said that if the long posts, _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_, had no natural
fork at the top, one was cut; but all other forks, and those also on the
tops of the shorter posts were natural.
We took pride in building the stage of well chosen timbers, and in making
the parts fit snugly. The floor especially was laid as smooth and as
evenly as possible; and here and there, if a crack appeared, a dry corn
stalk was caulked in to make the floor snug and smooth. We were also
careful to choose straight, well formed trunks for posts and floor beams.
_Drying Rods_
Lying across the top of the stage in harvest time, with their ends
resting on the upper rails, were often a number of drying rods. A drying
rod was a pole averaging a little more than two inches in diameter and
about thirteen feet long, its length permitting six or seven inches to
project over the rail on which either end rested.
These drying rods were much used in harvest time. When old women came
to the stage to slice squashes, they spitted the slices, as I have
described, on willow spits; and these spits again were laid on the drying
rods, each end of a spit resting on one of the rods.
The drying rods had other uses. If the day was warm, old women working on
the floor of the stage would lay two or three of these rods across the
upper rails and throw a buffalo robe over them, and thus have shade while
they worked. They bound the robe down with thongs to hold it firm.
When not in use the drying rods were laid lengthwise on the floor of the
stage that the wind might not blow them about.
_Other Uses of the Drying Stage_
By far the chief use of the drying stage, was to dry our vegetables,
especially our corn and sliced squashes. Firewood, collected from the
Missouri river in the June rise, was often piled on and under the stage
floor, to dry.
The keepers of the O´kipạ ceremony used to bring out their buffalo head
masks, and air them on the drying stage that stood before their lodge
door.