The next night we camped by a circle of stones in the form of a turtle.  The gods had arranged these stones, the older man said, for none living had ever seen one of these effigies made.  There was a hill nearby and on it was a pile of rocks.  The turtle's head was pointed to the river because turtles stay in the water so the gods must have arranged all the turtle outlines in that direction.

    This is the only effigy I ever saw but heard that the old people knew of many others down the river near their old villages and would go there to make offerings.  Anyone could make offerings of knives, pieces of hides, or dry meat and other things to eat when asking for rain and other good luck such as living to be old.  If they had childen, they would ask the gods that go with the turtle to send good luck.  To give to the turtle was the same as giving to all the other gods that went with the bundle.  

    While we stopped near the turtle, people made offerings to the turtle and the other gods that went with it.  Some left knives but in the olden times the flint knife was given, for the flint was the sign of the big birds who go with the turtle and the other gods in the Missouri and the creeks around.

    After we moved on from this turtle it was so foggy one day that the leader could hardly find his way.  The hunters had to hold each other's hands to keep from getting lost.  An Arikara brought a knife and gave it to Clam Necklace (Mandan with a Thunder or Big Bird bundle) and asked him to try to clear the fog.  Clam Necklace took the knife and marked out the shape of a turtle on the ground.  When he finished shaping the turtle, he prayed to the turtle, telling him that the people could not go any farther and asked the turtle to clear the fog away. Then he stuck the knife in front of the turtle image, saying that the knife belonged to the turtle and the other six things in the water.  It was not long afterwards, and while the men were standing around the image, that the fog cleared away from where the turtle lay.  Then it cleared out in a circle around the turtle, growing larger and larger, until the fog entirely disappeared.   Those who were connected with the big birds and the snakes of the Okipa were the ones to pray.  (Bowers:  1965)