The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture: With Comparative Material from Other Western Tribes

by Ewers, John C.

• ISBN13: 9780898754223
• ISBN10: 0898754224
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Lightning Source Inc

Summary

Much of the factual information on which this study is based was supplied by elderly, fullblood Piegan and Blood Indian informants, whose knowledge of the functions of horses in the late years of buffalo days was solidly grounded in personal experiences. These old people really loved horses and enjoyed talking about them. They were uniformly cooperative and interested in getting the record straight.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
The acquisition of the horse	1	(19)
The northward spread of horses	2	(5)
Sources of the horses of the Plains Indians	2	(1)
Dating the northward spread of horses among the Indians	3	(4)
The process of diffusion	7	(8)
Acquisition of horses by the Blackfoot	15	(5)
Wealth in horses	20	(13)
Blackfoot tribal wealth in horses	20	(2)
Wealth in horses of other Plains and Plateau tribes	22	(6)
Horse wealth of individual Blackfoot Indians	28	(3)
Horse wealth of individuals in other tribes	31	(2)
Care of horses	33	(20)
The Indian pony	33	(2)
Fate of the Indian pony	34	(1)
Means of identification	35	(2)
Daily care of horses	37	(1)
Hobbling	38	(1)
Picketing	39	(1)
Pasturage	40	(2)
Winter care	42	(4)
Rustling	42	(1)
Supplemental winter horse food	43	(1)
Night care	44	(1)
Winter losses of horses	44	(1)
May storms	45	(1)
Spring condition	46	(1)
Common horse remedies	46	(4)
Treatment of saddle sores	47	(1)
Treatment of sore feet	47	(1)
Treatment of colic and distemper	48	(1)
Precautions against chills	49	(1)
A general tonic	49	(1)
Treatment of broken bones	49	(1)
Treatment of unknown illnesses	50	(1)
Losses of horses	50	(1)
Losses from disease	50	(1)
Losses from animal predators	51	(1)
Losses from stock-poisoning plants	51	(1)
Care of old horses	51	(2)
Horse breeding	53	(6)
Important role of horse breeding	53	(1)
Selection of studs	53	(1)
Maintenance of color lines	54	(1)
Magical breeding formulas	55	(1)
Care of gravid mares and colts	56	(1)
Gelding	56	(3)
Training of horses and riders	59	(14)
Capture of wild horses	59	(1)
Breaking horses for riding	60	(4)
Pond or stream breaking	61	(1)
Boggy ground breaking	62	(1)
Surcingle breaking	62	(2)
Pad-saddle breaking	64	(1)
Breaking horses for the travois	64	(1)
Teaching children to ride	65	(3)
Riding and guiding	68	(5)
Mounting	68	(1)
Horse commands	69	(1)
Guiding	70	(1)
Use of whip	70	(1)
Use of short stirrups	70	(1)
Ability as horsemen	71	(2)
Riding gear	73	(29)
Making of rawhide rope	73	(1)
Hackamores	74	(1)
Bridles	75	(4)
Comparative data on bridles	78	(1)
Lariats	79	(1)
The dragging line	80	(1)
Saddles	81	(13)
Saddle making	81	(1)
The pad saddle	81	(2)
Distribution of the pad saddle	83	(2)
Pad saddle variants among the Blackfoot	85	(1)
The ``wood saddle''	85	(4)
Distribution of the ``wood saddle''	89	(2)
The ``prairie chicken snare saddle''	91	(1)
Distribution of the ``prairie chicken snare saddle''	92	(1)
Stirrups	93	(1)
Use of white men's saddles and accessories	93	(1)
Saddle blankets	94	(1)
Saddle housings	95	(1)
Martingales and cruppers	95	(2)
Whips	97	(2)
Horse decoration	99	(3)
Head ornaments	99	(1)
Body paint	100	(1)
Mane and tail ornaments	100	(1)
Decoration of women's horses	101	(1)
The travois and transport gear	102	(19)
The horse travois	102	(5)
Horse travois construction	103	(2)
Travois accessories	105	(1)
Travois adjustment and repair	105	(1)
Care of the travois in camp	106	(1)
Survival of the horse travois	106	(1)
The lodgepole hitch	107	(5)
Distribution of the travois and methods of pole transport	108	(4)
Principal items of luggage carried by pack animals	112	(5)
The parfleche	112	(2)
Antiquity of the parfleche	114	(2)
The double-bag	116	(1)
Principal items of luggage transported by riding horses	117	(4)
The double saddlebag	117	(2)
Rectangular rawhide saddlebags	119	(1)
Cylindrical rawhide saddlebags	119	(2)
The horse in camp movements	121	(27)
The Blackfoot Country	121	(2)
The Blackfoot yearly round	123	(6)
The winter camp	124	(2)
Spring hunting and collecting season	126	(1)
Summer hunting and Sun Dance season	127	(1)
Fall hunting and collecting season	128	(1)
Movement of a Blackfoot band camp	129	(19)
Preparation for movement	129	(1)
Packing up	130	(1)
Packing the lodge	131	(3)
Packing household furniture	134	(1)
Packing food	135	(1)
Clothing	136	(1)
Household utensils	136	(1)
Society and medicine paraphernalia	136	(1)
Weapons	137	(1)
Children	137	(1)
Weights and loads	138	(1)
Horse needs for the average family	138	(1)
Moving camp on the part of a wealthy family	139	(1)
Moving camp on the part of a poor family	140	(1)
Comparative data on the poor in horses	141	(2)
Formations on the march	143	(1)
The noon stop for lunch	144	(1)
Crossing streams en route	144	(1)
Stops en route because of rain	145	(1)
Arrival at night camp	145	(1)
Making camp without wood or water	146	(1)
Distances traveled per day	147	(1)
The horse in hunting	148	(23)
Buffalo in the Blackfoot Country	148	(1)
Blackfoot uses of the buffalo	149	(3)
Buffalo hunting seasons	152	(1)
The buffalo horse	153	(1)
Methods of buffalo hunting on horseback	154	(1)
The buffalo chase on horseback	155	(16)
Preparations	155	(1)
Equipment	156	(1)
The approach	157	(1)
The run	157	(1)
Number of buffalo killed in a single chase	158	(1)
Boys' hunting of buffalo calves	159	(1)
Hunting accidents	159	(1)
Butchering and packing	160	(1)
Loaning of buffalo horses for hunting	161	(1)
Feeding the poor	162	(1)
Regulation of the summer buffalo hunt	163	(1)
Early winter buffalo drives	164	(2)
Winter hunting on horseback	166	(1)
The winter hunting horse	166	(1)
Winter hunting on foot	166	(1)
Food rationing	167	(1)
Meat consumption of the Blackfoot	168	(1)
Improvident food habits of other Plains tribes	169	(1)
Hunting of other mammals on horseback	170	(1)
The horse in war	171	(45)
Brief history of Blackfoot intertribal warfare	171	(2)
The horse as a cause of intertribal conflicts	173	(3)
The horse raid	176	(15)
Tribal preferences of Blackfoot horse raiders	176	(1)
Organization of the horse raid	177	(1)
Preparations	177	(1)
War medicines	178	(3)
Clothing	181	(2)
Weapons	183	(1)
The pack	184	(1)
Food	184	(1)
The outward journey	184	(2)
The attack	186	(1)
The homeward journey	187	(1)
Distribution of captured horses	188	(1)
Return to camp	189	(1)
Accustoming captured horses to one's herd	189	(1)
Women on horse-raiding expeditions	190	(1)
Boys on horse-raiding expeditions	190	(1)
Frequency of horse raids	191	(1)
White Quiver, the most successful Blackfoot horse raider	191	(3)
The raid for scalps	194	(13)
The riding big dance	196	(1)
The war horse	196	(1)
Equipment: clothing	197	(1)
Tactics in mounted warfare	198	(1)
Use of fire weapons	199	(1)
Use of shock weapons	200	(2)
The shield	202	(1)
Early use of protective armor	203	(2)
Use of the horse as a shield	205	(1)
Postraid ceremonies	206	(1)
Defensive warfare	207	(5)
Defense of the camp	207	(1)
The individual lodge watch	208	(1)
The horse corral	209	(1)
The ambush	210	(1)
Ownership of horses recovered from the enemy	210	(1)
Defensive warfare in the field	211	(1)
Influence of warfare on Blackfoot population	212	(1)
War honors	212	(2)
Pictographic representation of war honors	214	(1)
The Blackfoot warrior ideal	214	(2)
The horse in trade	216	(9)
Intertribal trade	216	(1)
Intratribal trade	217	(1)
The horse as a standard of value	217	(1)
Judgment of horses	218	(1)
Examples of horse values in intratribal trade	218	(3)
Horse values in buffalo robes	218	(1)
Horse values in weapons	219	(1)
Horse values in articles of men's clothing	219	(1)
Horse values in articles of women's clothing	220	(1)
Horse-pipe relative values	220	(1)
Horse payments in transfer of ceremonial paraphernalia	220	(1)
Blackfoot uses of horse materials	221	(4)
The horse as food	222	(1)
Use of horsehide	222	(1)
Use of horsehair	223	(1)
Horse-chestnut perfume	223	(1)
Horse-tooth necklaces	223	(1)
Use of horse hoofs	223	(1)
Use of horse manure	224	(1)
The horse in recreation	225	(15)
The horse in children's play	225	(2)
Horse racing	227	(9)
Race horses	228	(1)
Intratribal and intertribal horse races	228	(1)
Intersociety races	229	(4)
Horse races between Blackfoot tribes	233	(1)
Other intertribal horse races in which Blackfoot participated	233	(1)
Later history of Blackfoot horse racing	234	(1)
Horse racing among other Plains and Plateau tribes	235	(1)
Horse symbolism in intersociety hoop and pole games	236	(2)
Sham battles	238	(1)
Horses as stakes in gambling	239	(1)
The horse as a factor in social relations	240	(17)
Social status	240	(5)
The rich	240	(2)
The middle class	242	(1)
The poor	243	(1)
Changes in social status	244	(1)
Political organization	245	(4)
The band	245	(3)
Tribal chieftaincy	248	(1)
Marriage	249	(2)
Polygamy	250	(1)
The horse in punishment of civil and criminal offenses	251	(2)
The horse in society organization and ceremonies	253	(1)
Personal names	254	(1)
Horses as gifts	255	(2)
The horse in religion	257	(42)
The horse medicine cult	257	(27)
Origin and history of the Piegan horse medicine cult	258	(4)
Transfer of horse medicine power	262	(1)
The horse dance: ceremony of the horse medicine men	263	(7)
Uses of horse medicine	270	(4)
Taboos recognized by horse medicine men	274	(1)
Identification of horse medicines	275	(1)
Comparative data on horse-medicine identification	276	(1)
Relationship of horse medicine to other Blackfoot medicines	277	(2)
The South Piegan Black Horse Society	279	(1)
Evidences of the horse medicine cult among other tribes	279	(5)
Sacrifice of horses after the death of their owners	284	(3)
Comparative data on horses as grave escorts	286	(1)
Disposal of horses after the death of owner	287	(1)
Secondary associations of the horse in Blackfoot religion	288	(2)
In bundle transfers	288	(1)
In the Sun Dance ceremony	289	(1)
Beliefs concerning the supernatural powers of horses	290	(1)
Beliefs regarding the origin of horses	291	(8)
Thunder's gift of horses	291	(3)
Water Spirit's gift of horses	294	(1)
How Morning Star made the first horse	295	(4)
The influence of the horse on Blackfoot culture	299	(24)
The pre-horse Blackfoot Indians	299	(1)
Horse acquisition as a stimulus to cultural innovation	300	(2)
Influence on hunting	302	(4)
Influence on camp movements and possessions	306	(3)
Influence on warfare	309	(3)
Influence on trade	312	(1)
Influence on recreation	313	(1)
Influence on social life	314	(2)
Influence on religion	316	(2)
The horse and the fur trade	318	(2)
Survivals	320	(3)
The Plains Indian horse complex	323	(18)
Elements in the horse complex of the Plains Indians	323	(4)
Origins of the Plains Indian horse complex	327	(4)
The horse complex in Plains Indian history	331	(5)
The natural and cultural setting	331	(1)
Period of diffusion and integration	332	(3)
Period of crystallization and maximum utilization	335	(1)
Period of disintegration	336	(1)
Old theories and new interpretations	336	(5)
Appendix. Use of mules	341	(2)
Bibliography	343	(16)
Index	359