[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 76 _An Assiniboine stabbing a Blackfoot._ _Drawn by an Assiniboine Warrior._ _Fort Union Jan. 16. 1854._] The Mandan, Gros Ventres, and Arikara live in dirt cabins made by planting four posts in the ground, with joists on the top. From this square descend rafters to the ground in angular and circular shape, the interstices being filled with smaller sticks and willows; then grass is laid on, which is covered with mud, over which is thrown earth, and the whole beaten solid. An opening is left in the top for the smoke and a door in the side, which is extended into a covered passage of a few steps and will admit a man upright. These are large and roomy huts, will accommodate 30 or 40 persons each, but are generally occupied by one family, who frequently have their beds and bedsteads, corn cellar, provision room, and often a horse or two under the same roof. They are said to be damp and unhealthy. The figures and representations of animals, etc., painted on their skin lodges are those of monsters seen by them in their dreams; also the hand is dipped in red paint mixed with grease and its impression made in many places over the tent. This denotes the master of the lodge to have struck an enemy. The same impression is also made on their naked bodies in some of their dances and has the same signification. CANOES Skin canoes are the only watercraft used by these tribes, and these are only to be found among the Mandan, Gros Ventres, and Arikara. They are made of the skins of one or two buffaloes with the hair on, not dressed, and stretched over a basketwork of willows. The women make, carry, and propel them with paddles, one person only paddling in front. A canoe of one buffalo skin will contain four persons and cross the Missouri, but they must sit very quiet or they will upset. The women carry these canoes on their backs along the bank to the place where they wish to cross, and on their return bring them to the village and turn them upside down to dry. A canoe of this kind is made in two or three hours and will last a year. Bark canoes are used by the Chippewa, but we are not well enough acquainted with their construction to describe them. When no skin can be found to make a boat war parties will cross any river on a raft. MENTAL AND ETHICAL ADVANCEMENT