M. R. HARRINGTON — SACRED BUNDLES OF THE SAC AND FOX INDIANS. 167

WAR BUNDLES.
Contents. — After tabulating the contents of the twenty- two Sac and Fox war bundles, it was seen that twenty of them contain parts of the buffalo; eighteen of them eagle feathers of one kind or another; twelve of them pieces of the downy skin of the young swan; seven, parts of the hawk (several species); six, parts of woodpeckers; four, parts of snakes; three, parts of weasels; and three, parts of small swallow-like birds. The animals represented in one or two bundles only were the wolf, bear, lynx, beaver, crow, wild duck and probably wild goose. In many cases the exact species is almost impossible to determine — in some cases quite impossible — owing to the alterations made by the Indians in preparing the skins and other parts for use as amulets, and to the ravages of time and insects.
Seventeen of the bundles contained war whistles made of cane, in one case as many as five in a single bundle; four- teen had fawn skin covers for the amulets; thirteen had pack- ages of cedar leaves burned as incense; seven, Indian tobacco, and three, braids of sweet grass for the same purpose. Pack- ages of magic herbs and roots were found in sixteen of the bundles, sometimes as many as twenty-three such packages in one; seven contained ground mixtures of herbs, and twelve, packages of magic war paint. Other articles occurred in lesser proportion.
The reasons given by different Indians to explain the presence of the more common kinds of animals and other things in the bundles agree to such an extent that it will be unnecessary to repeat them in enumerating the contents of each bundle, so they will be given here as general informa- tion; leaving for the descriptions of the separate bundles only such explanations as vary from the generally accepted ones, and explanations of unusual objects.
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168 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM — ANTHROPOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS VOL. IV.
The popularity of the buffalo as a patron of war can be easily understood when we look at him from the Indian’s standpoint. Unrivaled by any creature that roamed the prairies in strength, endurance and courage, this mighty war- rior of nature, whose very appearance is enough to terrify, found his only dangerous foes in rivals among his own kind, and in man.
No wonder the budding warrior looked upon him with admiration, and craved a share of his awe-inspiring powers — his strength, endurance and bravery — in preference to all others. To this end the amulets were made from parts of the buffalo’s body. A bit of the mane to tie on the warrior’s scalp lock (PI. XXXI), or a shaggy head band with the horns attached (PI. XXX, A), arm bands (PI. XXXIV, A, D, E) made of the skin of the forelegs, and a buffalo tail to hang from the belt behind (PI. XXIV, F, G, H, I), all helped him to imper- sonate the mighty animal. The very fact that only two bundles out of the twenty-two were without some relic of this remarkable creature, would have told the story, even if several Indians had not explained the facts.
The warlike powers of the eagle are even better known, and to a lesser degree those of the hawk as well. Both are keen-sighted, quick and can take their victims by surprise. Both are notably successful raiders. And so, the Indian placed their feathers or skins in his war bundle, and wore them in battle, in the hope that he too would become imbued with eagle-like or hawk-like power — could surprise his foes just as if he had dropped out of the sky upon them, eagle fashion. Feathers dyed red symbolized blood and war.
Hawk and woodpecker skins were made into magic head bands by splitting the skins from shoulder to tail, strengthen- ing the parts with buckskin or cloth, and arranging tie-strings so that the skin could be worn with the head of the bird pro- jecting above the forehead of the warrior, the tail at the back of his head and the wings and feet at the sides (PI. XXX).
Of course only the largest species of woodpeckers, the
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