FW: a strange query -- off topic.

[Rankin, Robert L]

I had this query from Sally Thomason, who works with Salish-speaking people in Montana.    Has anyone heard anything like her beetle account from plains tribes?

It sounds to me a bit like some of our local farmers who say you can tell how cold it will be in the coming Winter by seeing how thick the coat is on fuzzy caterpillars.

Bob

-----Original Message-----

Here's a weird question: I've heard that some Plains Indians 
consulted a beetle (or maybe a grasshopper) to decide which
direction to hunt in, by picking it up and seeing how the
antennae waved.  Can you shed any light on this?  Have
you heard it?  Did someone do this, and if so, who?   And if
you haven't heard about it but think it could possibly be a
true account, can you suggest someone else I should ask?

(I'm cc'ing Rich on this message because he claims,
rather improbably, that the answer would help him with
his research -- research which, as far as I know, is not
concerned with Plains Indians.) [Rich is in computer science. Bob]

  -- Sally