Section 19

This flute (Fig. 54, lower specimen) is cat. no. 12/6399. I^ is a wooden tube 15" long, with a single hole in the top. The surface of the tube has been lightly rubbed with green paint ; and mean- dering Hnes, filled with red paint, are incised on both top and bottom surfaces. To the front of the tube is tied a buckskin cord strung with 14 identical, large, speckled trade beads and an eagle- feather pendant. The base of this feather is wrapped in light blue and red seed beads. — JCE]
LONG tail's love MEDICINE FLUTE FIGURE 54
[A love-medicine flute which Wildschut obtained from Long Tail in 1927, appears to resemble more closely the one described in the story of Standing Elk. (cat. no. 15/3268).
This flute (Fig. 54, top) is a wooden tube 40" long, with a wrapping of otter fur extending for a distance of 11" from a point 6^" from the front of the tube. This flute also has a single hole, which is wrapped with sinew on either side of it to prevent the tube from splitting. A buckskin cord with eagle-feather pendant hangs from the front of the flute. — JCE]
*® Another version of this story is told in Lowie's Myths and Traditions of the Crow Indians. (Lowie, 191 8, pp. 196-199). The hero of that story was All-the-Time-Coming, he was given both an elk flute and a painted elk skin robe as his love medicine, and the ugly woman who gained power over him temporarily was a Crow of another band. Otherwise the story is much the same as the one told to Wildschut by The Trail.
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LONG tail's love MEDICINE EFFIGY AND HEADDRESS FIGURES 55 AND 56
[With Long Tail's love-medicine flute (Fig. 54, top) Wildschut collected a rawhide elk effigy and a love medicine headdress. His correspondence of May 22nd, 1927, the date on which these three items were forwarded to the museum, states: "When used, the Indian goes about naked except for his breech cloth and paints his arms and hands from the elbow down with black paint, simi- larly his feet and legs, from the knee down."
The elk effigy (cat. no. 15/3260) is cut from a piece of rawhide and measures 9 J" long. One surface is painted dark blue and yellow. There is a buckskin loop at the top center of the figure for suspension or attachment of the cut-out. Although this raw- hide effigy definitely represents a bull elk, the style of figure varies somewhat from that of the painted elks on the two robes previously described. It resembles most closely the elk painted on robe, cat. no. 12/7781. It is noteworthy that the same colors, blue and yellow, are used in the painting of this effigy and in the coloring of the elk figures on both of the elkskin robes.
The elk headdress (cat. no. 15/3258) accompanying the effigy consists of a skin cap (hair side out) to which are tied a pair of antlers which are rubbed with green paint. (Fig. 56). The brow band of the cap is of trade ribbon with an edging of red flannel. Small brass bells are attached to the top of the cap. — JCE]
OLD crow's LOVE CHARMING BELT FIGURE 57
[On December 26, 1922, William Wildschut forwarded to the museum a belt used as a love medicine> which he obtained from Old Crow. (cat. no. 11/6611).
This belt is 52" long and 3^" wide. The base is of red flannel. It is covered with the leg skins of an elk with the hoofs attached. Pendant buckskin cords, strung with large trade beads and a vertical row of pearl buttons (center) decorate this belt. — JCE]
ELK LOVE MEDICINE OF SHORT'S WIFE NOT ILLUSTRATED
A Crow story tells of the success of the wife of an unfaithful husband in regaining his love through her use of elk medicine.
LOVE MEDICINE BUNDLES I3I
An Indian named Short left his wife and children to live with another woman. Sometime later Short and his new wife joined a party of buffalo hunters. The herd was at some distance from the village so that the hunters camped away from it. Short's former wife followed the hunters, notwithstanding the warning of many people who told her that it was a disgraceful act, and, should her former husband see her, he undoubtedly would scold her. Short's wife would not listen to them.
When evening came and the buffalo hunting party built a big fire, she walked into their camp. As soon as her former husband saw her he began to scold her. All the others in the hunting party left the fire and Short's wife remained there alone. When she left she became lost in the dark and did not find her way back to camp until late the next day.
When fall came her former husband again went out with a small hunting party away from camp. Again Short's discarded wife walked into their camp by the evening fire. Her husband called her many bad names, and the others left her alone. This time, however, she stayed by the fire, fell asleep, and had a dream. In her dream she saw a male elk who gave her the pitch of a pine tree and yellow moss for her medicine and incense. The elk told her to take the pitch, put part of it on herself and part on her beloved husband. "If you do this, you will never be separated from him until death."
The elk carried a flute. He faced north, sang a song, blew on his flute, and her husband appeared in front of her. The elk turned in every direction, repeating this ritual, and each time her husband came toward her.
The woman returned to camp overjoyed. She obtained some moss and pitch, built a fire, used the moss for incense, and smud- ged herself and the pitch. She took some young willows, smudged them, and made a bed on the left side of the fire. Shortly there- after Short walked into her tipi and laid down on the bed. She went to him, rubbed part of the pine pitch on him and part upon herself. From that time until this woman died Short remained faithful to her.
ANTELOPE LOVE MEDICINE POWER
Although the elk is primarily the giver of love medicines among the Crows, elk is not the only supernatural being to pro-
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vide these medicines. The giver of Weasel Moccasin's love medicine dolls mentioned earlier is not known, but certainly it was not elk. A medicine headdress owned by White-Man-Runs-Him had love medicine power obtained from the buffalo spirit.
Another small but interesting love medicine bundle was owned by Rock Chief. As brought out in the story of the origin of this medicine, told by Old Coyote, its power was obtained from the antelope.
Rock Chief, a rather fiightly young man, went out hunting and came upon an antelope. He watched it for a while from a distance, saw it urinate, and plainly detected the smell of a cer- tain herb. Then the antelope brayed, and a number of female antelopes came toward it. Rock Chief drew closer cautiously, and when within a short distance from the male antelope, he killed it. Upon examining it he found that it had strangely deformed horns.
Rock chief took the horns back to camp. Then he went to the mountains and obtained some herbs of the kind whose perfume he had smelled when he first saw the antelope. After that he carried the horns on his person wrapped in some of these herbs. Whenever he wished to attract a certain woman he had no diffi- culty in winning her. Rock Chief was not a good-looking man, but he always had very pretty wives. He married several times during his life time. ^°
5" Lowie's brief description of Crow love medicines stresses a man's use of elk power to make himself irresistable to a woman who spurned him, and a woman's employment of songs and odorous herbs to regain the affection of a husband who had deserted her. (Lowie, 1922. pp. 424-425).
WITCHCRAFT MEDICINE BUNDLES
WITCHCRAFT, as practiced quite extensively among the Crows, was closely allied to love medicine practice. Unfaith- fulness usually created a desire for revenge in the heart of the one who had been robbed of the loved one. In such cases witchcraft was most often directed against the one with whom the loved one had eloped or had had secret affairs.
The writer once was shown an herb which was said to have the power to make people bleed to death. Smelling this herb caused the nose to bleed, and once started the bleeding could not be stopped. The owner of this herb would not let me try it on myself.
Witchcraft bundle owners are feared because they are so frequently induced to employ their supernatural powers against weaker members of the tribe. Owing to the great secrecy sur- rounding the use of witchcraft bundles, very little detailed in- formation could be obtained concerning them.
One witchcraft bundle was originally owned by Bear Rectum, also known as Standing Bull, whose medicine was the sun and ghosts. This bundle contained a flat red stone, representing the sun, and a large oblong stone, symbolic of the mouse. The mouse was regarded as an evil spirit, a stealer of things, by whose aid witchcraft was performed. Other stones in the bundle represented skulls or ghosts.
The writer has also found among the Crows medicines which were believed to be able to ward off the evil influence of witchcraft when the owner suspected that witchcraft was being used against him secretly.
Three different practices of witchcraft were noted :
1. Matushtuua, putting something in the body {i.e. hurting someone constitutionally).
2. Matsanatua, getting the arms {i.e. hurting materially, bring- ing bad luck or causing it to happen, not being able to use the arms for work).
3. Makomiriaw, transforming parties {i.e. shamanistic contests).
No. I. was practiced by both men and women. Nos. 2 and 3 were practiced only by men. Dr. Lowie's account in his Religion
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134 CROW INDIAN MEDICINE BUNDLES
of the Crow Indians (p. 344), fully covers the uses of 2 and 3 above. The Crows considered it perfectly legitimate to employ witchcraft in shamanistic contests in which one powerful man sought to test his supernatural powers against those of another Crow thought to possess other strong powers. The Crows considered these contests akin to those in which the supernaturals themselves gambled.
Of the first category of witchcraft, I obtained two accounts. As the parties concerned in the second account are still alive (1927), I have omitted their names.
Mrs. The Trail told of a Crow named Crazy- Sister-in-Law who married a very good-looking young woman called Has- Good- Things. The husband was very fond of his wife and gave her many things dear to the heart of an Indian woman.
However, Has- Good-Things was secretly courted by a young man named Bitter Water. So secretly did these two lovers meet that for a long time no one suspected her, and she was considered a virtuous woman. Then one day the two were caught by Crazy- Sister-in-Law's sister. She immediately told her brother, and Has- Good-Things fled to the tipi of her parents. Her husband, how- ever, still loved her and brought her back, even though this procedure laid him open to ridicule in his tribe.
Crazy- Sister-in-Law declared, however, that he would have his revenge upon Bitter Water. He took many presents to Yellow- Buffalo-Bull, one of the tribe's best-known medicine men, and asked him to make medicine against his wife's lover. Yellow- Buffalo-Bull cleared a space of ground and drew on it the picture of a man, saying that it represented Bitter Water. In his ceremony he sang certain medicine songs and gradually erased the picture from the hips down, finishing by building a smudge over the image. ^^
Shortly thereafter Bitter Water became ill, he had difficulty in walking, and he finally became paralyzed from the waist down. When camp was moved he had to be carried on a travois. His appearance changed. From a handsome young man he became old and ugly. His hair became bushy and hard. Within a com- paratively short time he died.
The second story of witchcraft refers to a more recent oc- currence :
^1 Lowie (1922, p. 345) also cited the Crow shaman's custom of drawing a picture of the enemy and subsequent destruction of the picture in the ritual for working evil magic.
WITCHCRAFT MEDICINE BUNDLES I35
The wife of a young Crow eloped with another member of the tribe. Her husband was so grieved that he mourned himself to death. The man who eloped with this woman left her shortly thereafter and married another girl. This wife, however, was secretly courted by another man. When the mother of the man who had mourned himself to death heard that the new wife of the man who had eloped with her son's wife was unfaithful, she called her other three grown sons to her and discussed with them how they might avenge their brother's death.
They decided to see the lover of the woman and to induce him to court her openly, and thus cause grief to the husband. The lover was willing. Next evening he took the woman out, stayed away all night, and brought her back to her tipi in the morning. When the husband saw the wife return with her lover he became so angry that he struck her. But he did not send her away. Therefore he made himself a laughing stock in the tribe.
The husband then took presents to a medicine man and asked him to make medicine against his wife's lover. The medicine man made a smudge, sang his medicine songs, and took out a dish, saying that it represented a wagon. On the dish he placed some wood shavings to represent hay. Then he put a match on top of the shavings, sa5dng that it symbolized the lover. He then tipped the dish until the match rolled from the shavings and told the husband to return to his tipi and await developments.
A few days thereafter the woman's lover was driving a hay wagon along the road. One of the wheels struck a big stone which tipped the wagon. The young man fell off on his head and was killed.52
^2 Lowie (1922, pp. 345-346) listed five kinds of injury that were plan- ned by Crow workers of evil magic : "the shaman would paralyze his victim, strike him with dumbness, deform him, have him killed on a war party, or cause him to lose his property." He found "jealousy on account of a love affair with one's wife" to be a "common motive for the use of evil magic."
HEALING MEDICINE BUNDLES.
MEDICINE bundles used for healing wounds or curing sick- ness were received in dreamsand visions. The snake is the favorite giver of medicine employed in doctoring severe wounds. With it is most frequently associated the otter. A Crow myth tells the story of the Orphan Boy, who successful- ly employed the snake and otter to doctor the dangerously sick brother of his wife.
SLIPPERY EYES SNAKE MEDICINE BUNDLE FIGURES 58 AND 59
The writer was able to obtain from Old Coyote full information regarding a snake medicine bundle purchased from Breast in 1927. (cat. no. 15/3373)-
This medicine originated in the experience of Slippery Eyes who lived during the great smallpox epidemic which carried away many members of the tribe. Slippery Eyes contracted that dread disease. He recovered from it, but his face was so dreadfully pitted that he disliked to stay in camp where everyone would stare at him. The epidemic carried away all of his nearest relatives. It left him a very poor young man, with no one to care for him, and ugly to look upon.
For a time SHppery Eyes stayed close to camp, but never entered it until after dark. He felt his poverty and miserable condition sorely. Finally he decided to fast in the hope of al- leviating his sufferings through the aid of a powerful helper.
The Crows were camped near Pry or Gap. West of the present schoolhouse near Pryor is a rocky ridge, and about half way up this bluff one can see today a large, fiat rock projecting from the side of the hill. Until recent times a spring flowed from the hill adjoining this rock. Slippery Eyes chose this rock for his fasting place.
For three days Slippery Eyes fasted here, while the people in the camp below celebrated some victory. No vision came to him. He almost lost hope. But remembering his deplorable con-
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HEALING MEDICINE BUNDLES I37
dition, he determined to fast another day. During the fourth night Slippery Eyes saw a vision. A voice seemed to call him to come to the spring. His soul left his body in answer to this call, and on reaching the spring he saw the latter turn into a tipi. As Slippery Eyes entered the tipi many snakes inside it rattled. One of the snakes was a male with one eye in the center of its head and a horn on top. It was much larger than the others. One of the other snakes spoke to Slippery Eyes: "This is the one who called you." Then all of the snakes turned into human beings.
A real human being was then carried into the tipi on a stretcher made of buffalo hide. He was ill, and was placed in front of Slippery Eyes. Then some real snakes came forward and began to doctor this sick person, showing Slippery Eyes how to proceed. When these snakes had finished doctoring, the man stood up, stretched, combed his hair, and walked out of the tipi a well man.