Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-10-27
ton and asked the cooperation O.
the seminary.
Work of the Summer.

the seminary.
Work of the Summer.
There were three interesting fields
in which the society were particular
ly anxious to work the past summer.
Locating, mapping, and studying the
Indian villages along the Missouri;
locating and studying the evidences
of the Sheyenne Indians in the Shey-
enne river valley; and study of the
old crossings where the white man
first came into the state.
The fact that many of the Indian
villages along the Missouri river were
in danger of being destroyed by the
building of railroads and the influx
of settlers, made it particularly i'm
portant that these villages be studied
and mapped at once For that reas-
on most of the work Of the summer
was done along the Missouri river.
The Procedure.
Dr. Libby would ask the Indians.
where are the villages?" and the
Indians would lead the way to the
village. what is it's manner" would
be the next question. After having
given it's name they would walk all
around the village and over it. Fin
ally they would locate the Holy
House and enter it, saying the same
words, singing the same songs, and
going through the same ceremonies
that they did when they lived in the
village. After entering the Holy
House they would feel around with
their feet until they found where the
Holy Post, the symbol of the Creator,
stood. Frequently, though not invar-
iably, the next stop would be to light
their pipes, hold them to the east. to
the west, to the north, to the south,
and up and down, to precipitate the
gods, for Holding Eagle at least was
an out and out pagan. After this
ceremony they would sit around the
Holy Post and smoke and then talk.
Finally after much talking had been
done, the interpreter would tell the
party what had been said and it
would be written down. Then the
village would be mapped, the Indians
pointing out the locations Of all the
places of interest.
Character of the Ruins.
We have been talking about the
villages as though they were actu-
ally standing. In reality they were
nothing but rings of earth. The Man
dan houses were huge dome-shaped
structures, varying in size up to 80
or 40 feet in diameter. They were
built Of dirt, supported by wooden
r. Ac 10
frame work decayed and fell in. The
bottom of the walls were much thick
er than the top, hence when the tim
bers gave in, ring of dirt was left
where the base of the outer walls
had been. When the study of one
village had been completed, the In
dams would be asked: where is
the next village?" Perhaps they
would mention one far down the river
and DR.. Libby would say mo-" and
show them on the map-for the So
ciety in previous years has located
many Indian villages. They would
reply: eve know nothing about it. -
The party would then explore the viii
lage as before described.
The Indians of the party were sur
prised at the number of villages Wis.,
tied of which they had no previous
knowledge. To these villages they
gave names, and to quote DR.. Libby,
this winter among the Indians,
There will be heart searches, there
will be head searches Careful rec
ords have been kept by James Hold
ing-Eagle of these villages and all
the Indians will reco1lect or find out.
In fact he kept a note book contain
ing all the details Of the trip as care
fully as any member of the party.