Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-11-08

his medicine. This he procured and kept
for all time.
Near the lodge were kept the dog
sleds, upon which were piled the shields,
saddles and parfleches, While from a
tripod hung meat out of the reach of
dogs, fifteen or twenty of whom usually
belonged to the head of the family and
were employed to draw his baggage when
camp was moved. What first struck the
visitor to a Blackfeet camp was the mum
Der of animals which resembled more
the wolf than the dog. The Blackfeet,
however, rarely initiated the Sioux in
eating the flesh Of this animal.
Chief Greeted Visitor
When a visitor arrived at the Black
feet village, he was Immediately led to
the tent of a leading chief: his horse
was taken care of and his baggage con
sidered sacred. He entered the lodge in
silence. The pipe was Their introduced;
the master OF the house taking a Whit,
handing 1t to the stranger h smoked
and then passed it to his lefthand neigh
Dor, and in this 1t circulated the
group but was never permitted to pass
the flap opening Of the lodge. The chief
would first hold the pipe with both
hands; raise it to the sun. then to the
earth and then to the fire. The tobacco
in common use until the coming of the
white man was dried kinnickinik. On
very important occasions such as the
signing Of a treaty, or a festival, a large
medicine pipe was used. This was known
among the whites as a calumet n was
adorned with the red heads Of the wood
pecker and a large fan made OF feathers.
Like all other tribes of the northwest,
the Blackfeet occupied themselves at
wal or hunting, leaving to the squaws
the making Of lodges and garments and
attending to household duties. Many
chiefs and leaders had six or eight
wives, according to their wealth Of
horses. Usually one of these was a ia
vorite; the other the warrior was willing
for but a small consideration.
When q Blackfeet warrior desired to
take a wife, he sent a friend to the fathe
to make the bargain. A price of several
head OF horses was generally fixed on,
and when this was paid the lover took
the maiden where he next found her.
She was taken to his lodge and became
his wife without ceremony. When the
husband wished a divorce, he had only
to send his wife back to her parents,
sending with her property sufficient for
her keep, the children remaining behind,
and seldom did a dispute ever arise in
consequence OF the reputation. But,
although thus indifferent to their wives,
infidelit- on the part of a wife was
punished very severely.
Nose Cut Off
The offenders nose was first cut off,
and then she was thrust from her hus-
bands lodge. No one, after this, would
ever marry her, and she was condemned
to exc out a miserable existence by per-
forming the most mental offices Of the
village. Often the wife was killed in the
first moments OF rage, on the discovery
OF her faithlessness, In this case, no one
interferred; and II the husband avenged
himself on the paramour by taking away
his horse or other valuable property, the
offender vas forced to quietly submit.
The Blackfeet did not bury their dead
In the ground II 1t could be avoided,
but sewed the corpse up in q buffalo
robe, after dressing 1t In it's best clothes
and painting the face red. 1t was then
laid in some retired place, in a ravine
or in the branch of a large tree, some
times in the cleft OF q rock, and often
on a high, steep bank, where 1t would
be safe from the wolves. Weapons were
never buried with the dead. When a
warrior died, however, his favorite horses
were killed at his grave. At the funeral
of a distinguished chief. Sach -Ko-Ma-
Poh, who was said to own between 1000
and 5000 horses, $50 were shot with ar
rows. After the funeral, the relatives of
the deceased cut off their long hair,
smeared their faces with a whitish clay,
and wore their worst clothes in token of
mourning. Sometimes they severed a
joint Of a finger. These relatives would
assemble at the lodge OF the departed,
n even the men would lament and
wall the death dirge. The corpse was
usually inferred on the first day; In
case of death during the night. 1t was
removed on he following morning.
All Nature Sacred
The Blackfeet worshipped the sun, and
all the celestial bodies and all OF Nature
were sacred to them. To them, the sun
was divine because the sun made warmth
and rain and sunshine and without these
there could be nc grass, no trees and
no buffalo. Without these there could
be no life. Consequently the sun must
be the Great Spirit Tor Manitou). The
sun was the Great Spirit that walked
across the sky by day and the moon his
helper that walked across the sky by