Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee

In Powell s linguistic classification of the North American races, the Pawnee form one of the five independent groups of the Caddoan stock. The Arikara form another independent group. The other groups of this stock, according to this classification, are the Wichita, Kichai, and Caddo. The Pawnee proper, according to this same classification, are subdivided into the Chaui or Grand, Pitahauirat or Tappage, Kitkehahki or Republican, and Skidi or Wolf Pawnee. Those of the Skidi who have been consulted upon this question consider themselves more closely related to the Arikara than to the other three bands of Pawnee. At any rate, there is evidence to lead to the belief that the distinction between Pawnee and Arikara, as made in this classification, is misleading.

A classification based upon the testimony of the Skidi would place the Skidi and the Arikara in one group, and the Chaui, Kitkehahki and Pitahauirat in another group. The three tribes last named speak a common dialect, which more nearly approximates that of the Skidi than does the tongue of the Arikara ; but both Skidi and members of the other three bands have no difficulty in understanding the speech of the Arikara. The Skidi claim that the Arikara are Skidi, while, in turn, the Arikara look upon the Skidi as part of themselves.

The Skidi traditions point clearly to a time when the Arikara and Skidi lived together and formed a single tribe. They also ascribe a date for the time when the Arikara separated from the Skidi and went north, while another date, 1830, is given as the time when the Arikara rejoined the Skidi. They lived together for a period of two or three years, at the end of which the Arikara separated from the Skidi, moved north, and have ever since remained as a distinct tribe. In the matter of customs, and especially of religious ceremonies and traditions, the Skidi and Arikara are intimately related, and, indeed, have much more in common than have the Skidi, or the Arikara, and the other three bands. The ancestral home of the Skidi, according to their own traditional belief, was in central Nebraska on the Loup River, though their range may be said to have extended from the Niobrara to the Arkansas. It was here, and while the Arikara still formed

XIV

Introduction.

an intrinsic part of the band, that they held their first great ceremonies. And here it was, indeed, that human beings were first placed upon this earth. It is said that the embankments of the old earth lodges may still be seen in this vicinity. Near this ancestral home the Skidi remained till 1858, having in the mean time made permanent habitations in other neighboring localities. In the year just mentioned the Skidi were joined by the other three bands of Pawnee and placed upon a reservation, with the Loup as its eastern limit.

In 1873 a small band of the Kitkehahki (see Fig. 1) visited their Wichita relatives in Oklahoma. There they met with a friendly reception and remained. This was the beginning of a movement which led to the complete transfer of the four bands of the Pawnee to Oklahoma, where, in 1874, they were placed upon a reservation, the boundaries of which correspond to the present County of Pawnee and four townships in Payne County. On that reservation the four bands lived in groups, the boundary of each group being virtually that of the band. In 1893 these four bands were allotted in severalty, and since that time have been citizens of the United States.

The Pawnee, throughout their existence, so far as we have any information, and up to within a comparatively recent time, dwelt upon the Great Plains. The country about their ancestral home in Nebraska is of considerable elevation, somewhat broken, and dry and sandy, with a scant growth of timber, except along the watercourses. The country to the west grows rougher as the mountains are approached. This region is often referred to in the tales. Throughout this entire region abounded buffalo, as well as deer, antelope, otter, beaver, mink, wolves, coyote, and foxes, and to the west, bears and mountain lions. So far as may be inferred from the tales, the Pawnee did not venture beyond the Rocky Mountains. Nor did they extend their travels to the north for any considerable distance. Their range extended on the east as far as the Missouri River, and it is known that they ranged over a very extended territory to the south.

According to tradition, the first house structure of the Skidi was a conical tipi of buffalo hide, which afterwards was replaced by the wellknown earth lodge, one of the most interesting types of house structure among the aborigines of North America. Their tipi did not differ in any essential particular from that of other tribes belonging to the Plains. The use of the earth lodge was not confined to the Skidi, but extended to the Chaui, Kitkehahki, Pitahauirat, and Arikara. It was also used in a somewhat modified form by the Mandan and the Omaha. The earth lodge (see Fig. 2) consisted of a dome-shaped structure, about forty feet in diameter, fifteen feet in height from the level of the floor to the edge of the smoke hole. The lodge was extended on the eastern

Introduction.

xv side by means of a covered passageway about twelve feet in height, seven feet in width, and eight feet in length. The roof was supported by two concentric rows of uprights, the outer row rising just in front of a banquette about a foot and a half high, which entirely surrounded the inside of the lodge. These uprights, which varied in number according to the size of the lodge, were about seven feet in height and about the same distance apart. The inner row stood about halfway between the outer wall of the lodge and its centre, and were from eight to ten in number and twelve feet in height. All these uprights were forked, and bore a row of cross-beams, which supported rafters extending from the outer uprights to a point just over the centre of the lodge, where an opening about two feet in diameter was left for the free exit of the smoke. Over these rafters was laid transversely a course of long willow poles of small diameter. Over these, in turn, was placed a thick layer of long bunch-grass. This supported a thick layer of sod and earth. The passageway was built in a similar manner, and was also covered with earth. The sides of the lodge, that is, from the end of the rafters down to the ground, were built up solidly with earth, held in place by a row of timbers which rested in a trench entirely surrounding the lodge, and leaned against the cross-bars of the outer uprights. Consequently the walls of the lodge were much thicker than the domed part.

In the centre of the lodge was an excavation about eight inches in depth, surrounded by a slight embankment. This served as the fireplace. At the west side of the lodge a space was always reserved, which was considered sacred, and was called wiharu (place-for-thewonderful-things), this being the name which is applied to the garden of the Evening-Star, where the corn is always ripening and where are stored many parfleches of buffalo meat. Here rested a buffalo skull, so placed that it faced the entrance of the lodge and, consequently, the rising sun. Above this, and suspended from one of the rafter poles, was the sacred bundle and other religious paraphernalia.

Around the north and south sides of the lodge were platforms, upon which slept the occupants of the lodge. In constructing these platforms, forked upright posts were placed firmly in the ground, at regular intervals of about seven feet, and about six feet from the outer wall of the banquette. Resting upon these forks were hewn cottonwood timbers. These supported poles, the other end of which were carried by the banquette. Over these poles were transversely placed long, slender willow rods, which, in turn, supported mats made of a coarse reed, the bed itself consisting of buffalo robes which had been especially tanned, and trimmed for the purpose. One of the necessary parts of the bed was a pillow made of smoke-tanned hide filled with deer or antelope hair. These pillows, which were often elaborately

XVI

Introduction.

decorated with symbols in colors, were also used as cushions upon which the inmates sat during their waking hours.

In an ordinary sized lodge there would be from eight to ten such platforms on each side. These were separated, one from another, by means of willow mats, made of slender decorticated rods, bound together by means of sinew passing through their centres. Projecting from the rafters, and falling down, when unrolled, to the level of each bed, were additional willow mats, corresponding in construction, though not in shape, to the so-called “ lean-back ” of other Plains tribes. In former times, a game was in vogue among the boys somewhat similar to the so-called “snow-snake,” common in the central region of the United States. The prize in this game was the javelin itself ; and when an individual had won a sufficient number of these long willow javelins they were made up into a mat for him by his grandmother.

The places of honor, and consequently the beds of honor in the lodge, were those on each side of and nearest to the altar. These were occupied by the older children. Next were the beds of the uncles or the aunts, while those next in the series were used by the parents, and those nearest the entrance by the old people of the lodge. At times ten or more families occupied a single lodge, — all, of course, being closely related.

Just inside the lodge and to the north of the entrance was built, in winter, the sweat lodge, while at the corresponding position on the south side was an excavation used as a storage cellar for provisions, such as corn and meat, intended for service in the near future. The surplus stock of provisions was cached in excavations generally outside and to the north of the lodge. Just north of the area occupied by the sweat-lodge was reserved a space for the corn mill, which may be regarded as a permanent fixture within the lodge, and which consisted of a hackberry log firmly implanted in the ground and hollowed in its upper half. The corn was crushed by means of a long pestle of the same material, the upper end of which was large, with its lower end terminating in a rounded point.

A few paces to the east of the lodge was to be found a structure, open at the sides, and with a flat roof of cottonwood boughs, which served both as a shelter during the summer and as a platform upon which could be dried corn, pumpkins, etc. (See Fig. 3.)

While the earth lodge was the permanent home of the Skidi, all families possessed, in addition, the skin tipi, which was used by them as a summer home while upon the hunt. These tipis bore heraldic devices not unlike those of other Plains tribes. The use of these two structures was largely confined to the richer classes. The poorer people among the Skidi us$d both of them as a permanent habitation,

Fig. 3

Summer Arbor

Fig. 2

Earth Lodge

PAWNEE HABITATIONS

Introduction.

XVII

and as a temporary abode while upon the march used also an improvised structure consisting of four forked uprights connected by transverse beams, against which were leaned cottonwood boughs, which, in turn, were rudely thatched with grass ; the structure thus formed somewhat resembled the grass lodge of the Tonkawa. Another structure, employed by the poorer classes upon the summer hunt, was in the shape of a half-dome, and was made by bending willows which supported a covering of boughs or skins. This was also used by the well-to-do, for it obviated the necessity of carrying with them on the march the cumbersome tipi poles.

As the tales will give abundant proof, the Skidi were a nation of warriors and hunters, devoting much time both to pursuit of the enemy and to the chase. The time given to agricultural pursuits, however, was considerable. Corn, in the mythology of the Skidi, holds a higher position than does the buffalo ; and a necessary feature of each permanent village was the fields, carefully prepared and cultivated. Here, not only corn, but squash, pumpkins, and beans were raised in large quantities, and formed a very large part of their food. Many of the most interesting rites of the Skidi bear directly upon these planting ceremonies.

The routine of their daily life did not differ materially from year to year. Their year may be said to have begun in the early spring, when Tirawa, their Creator, first spoke to them from the thunders. Then, in rapid succession, followed a number of ceremonies which had to do largely with the ceremonial preparation of the seed-corn and with the fields, after which ensued the planting. Next came the great summer buffalo hunt, with the return to the village for the gathering of the crops in the fall, after which the tribe again went upon the hunt in order to lay in their supply of winter meat and robes. This hunt was often prolonged until late in the winter, or, if successful at the outset, the hunters returned to the permanent village, where they remained throughout the winter.

The dress of the Skidi did not differ materially from that of other Plains tribes. (See Figs. 4, 5, and 6.) The men, as a rule, during the summer, wore only the loin cloth and moccasins. This they supplemented in winter by leggings and a buffalo robe. The shirt seems to have been introduced among the Skidi in comparatively recent times. The dress of the women formerly consisted of a buffalo robe, tanned on both sides, gathered about the waist and held in position by a buffalo hair string. The women wore upon the feet moccasins of buckskin and leggings, which extended above their knees, made of buffalo hide, the hair side being worn next to the skin. The Skidi did not

XV111

Introduction.

tattoo. Both sexes pierced the ears, in which they wore earrings, often in very large numbers. The hair of the men, in former times, was shaved close to the scalp, except for a ridge which extended over the top of the head, terminating in a point at the back of the head. In former times, the eyebrows and hair of the face were plucked out. Except upon ceremonial occasions, no covering was worn upon the head.

The Skidi understood the art of making pottery, and, in former times, it no doubt played a considerable part in their domestic life. They also made baskets, which served for various purposes ; those used for the transportation of the crops from the fields being especially well made, and of unusual construction. Such baskets are in use to-day among the Arikara and Mandan. The ordinary domestic utensils were the wooden bowl or platter, beautifully carved from a knot, and spoons made of the buffalo horn, of many shapes.

The social organization of the Skidi was based upon rank rather than upon clan. In fact, no trace of the clan has been found. The basis of the organization seems rather to have been the village. Thus, among the Skidi there were nineteen of these so-called “villages,” each possessing a sacred bundle. Marriage within the village was endogamous. Each member of the village was considered a lineal descendant of the original owner of the bundle. In each village was a head Chief whose tenure of office was hereditary. Next to the chief in authority and position were the Nahikuts, or Braves, four in number, who served to police the village under the direction of the chief. Next to the Braves in rank were the Kurahoos, or Priests, usually four in number. Next in rank were the Kurau, or Medicine-Men, no restriction being placed upon their number. (See Fig. 7.) Next to these in rank were the Narawiraris, or Warriors, or those who had achieved distinction upon the warpath, and who were the owners of the bundles known as the “warrior bundles.” Then came the remaining inhabitants, who had no particular rank, and numbered among them were the poorest in the village.

The religion of the Pawnee in certain respects seems to have reached a higher development than that of any of the Plains tribes. In the Pawnee pantheon, Tirawa reigned supreme. To him the lesser gods, both of the heavens and of the earth, as well as the people themselves, acknowledged authority. Tirawa rules from his position beyond the clouds, and both created and governs the universe by means of commands executed by lesser gods who are subject to him. Next to Tirawa and his spouse, the Vault of the Heavens, is the Evening-Star

Fig. 4

SUN-CHIEF, SON OF PITALESKAR

(Head-Chief of Pawnee after 1858)

Introduction.

xix or Tcuperikata (Bright-Star). She not only had the privilege of giving birth to the first being upon earth, through her connection with the Morning-Star, Opirikata (Great-Star), but through her four assistants, Wind, Cloud, Lightning, and Thunder, transmits the mandates of Tirawa to the people upon earth. She also maintains a garden in which are fields of ripening grain and many buffalo, and from which spring all streams of life. Second only in rank to her is the Morning-Star, the father of the first being upon earth, a girl, to whom alone the Skidi formerly offered sacrifice of a human maiden.

Next in rank to these two deities are the gods of the four world quarters, who stand in the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest, and support the heavens, and to whom the task was assigned of dividing up the earth into the different divisions which we find to-day. To these gods was assigned also the creation of all beings, other than the first pair. Next to these gods in rank are the three gods of the north, supreme among whom is the North-Star, Karariwari (Onewho-Does-not-Move). Associated with him are Hutukawahar (Wind- Ready-to-Give) and Hikus (Breath). The North-Star is not only symbolic of the chief, but presides overall the councils of the gods in the heavens, and he it was who gave the ceremony for the creation of the chief, while his assistants, equally beneficent, sent the buffalo and the breath of life.

Next was Sun, Sakuru (Light-Bringer), and Moon, Pah (Disappearing). These deities played the important part in the creation of the earth of furnishing it with the first male being, who should execute the commands of the gods as directed by Tirawa, and it was the Sun who also gave to mankind the bow and the arrow. He also furnishes light during the day, the fire for which must be renewed each night in the garden of the Evening-Star in the west.

Lesser deities there are, such as the second Morning-Star, who acts as assistant to the Morning-Star ; the Great Black Meteoric Star, the patron god of the medicine-men ; the Star of the South, Operikahuririwisisu (Midway-Star), who stands at the southern end of the Milky Way and receives the spirits of the dead, over which he presides in the Spirit Land.

Another of the gods in the heavens, but one who felt slighted during the early councils of the gods, is Skiritiuhuts (Fool-Wolf), who, from his anger at his supposed slight, defeated the plans of Piwaruxti and introduced death into the world.

Only less powerful than the gods in the heavens were the gods of the earth, ruled over by lodges of Nahurak or Animals, supreme among which were the gods of the four animal lodges, — Pawhuk (Bad-Land), Ketcawetsak (Water-upon-the Mound), Pakaochtu (Mountain-Covered-with-Eagle-Down), and finally, the Great-Cave-of-the-

XX

Introduction.

Rears. In these lodges the animals were wont to gather together in council and to make or mar the fortunes of men. To these lodges, individuals favored by the gods of the earth were conducted from time to time, and were instructed in the mysteries of earth-craft. They, especially, are the patron gods of the medicine-man, and often of the warrior. In each of these lodges were leaders, and errand men or messengers who obeyed the mandates of the lodge and served as intermediaries between the earthly gods and men, and who also could place themselves in direct communication with the messengers of Tirawa, and at times conveyed his message to men.

Equally highly developed among the Skidi was the ceremonial side of their religion, in which the element of ritual occupied a high plane. Indeed, it is not known that the ritual reached as high a state of development in any other tribe in America as it did among the Pawnee, and more especially among the Skidi. The ceremonial system may be divided into two parts, that which pertained to the so-called bundles, and that which related to the dances. In each of the nineteen villages of the Skidi, as has been stated, was a bundle received by the village direct from its god. The arrangement of the Skidi villages when they came together for certain purposes, as for instance in a great ceremony, was based upon the relationship in space which the gods or stars, the givers of the bundles, sustained in the heavens. Thus it may be said that in this arrangement of the villages was mirrored upon the earth the stars of the heavens in their proper relationship. Hence this phase of Skidi religion forms a star cult of the very highest order, and one which was probably carried out to its logical conclusion with greater exactness than by any other tribe in America of which we have any knowledge.

The bundles and their accompanying ceremonies collectively regulate and make provision for all the necessities of life during the calendar year. The bundles themselves were known as “ chuhraraperu ” (rains-wrapped-up). While the contents of the bundles vary, they have a general similarity, each containing at least one pipe, tobacco, paints, certain birds, and the Mother-Corn. These are carefully encased in a buffalo hide wrapper, and when not in use the bundle is suspended from the wall of the lodge. (See Figs. 8 and 9.) In connection with each bundle are certain taboos, which are rigidly enforced, even today.

When the time has arrived for the performance of the ceremony connected with the bundle, the priests gather in an appropriate lodge where the ritual of the bundle is sung, and various offerings are made of smoke or food, the nature of the offering depending upon the

DOG-CHIEF, SON OF CROOKED-HAND

Introduction.

xxi nature of the bundle itself. Thus, in the case of the Morning-Star bundle, the sacrifice was a human maiden ; for the Evening-Star bundle, the sacrifice was the heart and tongue of a buffalo, and tobacco. Unlike many of the rituals which are still sung by various tribes of North America, the Skidi rituals are full of meaning, and the priests are able to interpret virtually every word, and to explain its significance. In both the open and the hidden meaning of this great volume of songs constituting these rituals, and in the manner of their presentation, is exhibited a phase of culture much higher than that ordinarily conceded to exist in North America.

Ownership in the bundles is hereditary ; but ownership does not carry with it a knowledge of the ritual. This is in the possession of the four priests of the village, and may only be learned by one becoming their pupil, beginning as an errand man, and continuing in their service through a period of many years. Thus, while the ownership of the bundle may not ordinarily be transferred, except in a direct line of descent, the ownership of the ritual may be and is transferred, for which payment is demanded and received.

Of the so-called “dances,” the Skidi had many. Among the most prominent was the One-Horn-Dance given by Pahokatiwa ; the Medicine-Men’s-Dance, taught by the Water-Monster; the Bear-Dance, taught by the wonderful Bear, who presides over the fourth of the animal lodges ; the Buffalo-Dance, taught by the South-Star ; and the Lance-Dance, which was taught by Paruxti, the Wonderful. In addition to these were other dances, of minor rank, which have virtually disappeared from the tribe. Through these dances were exerted influences of various supernatural elements, which resulted beneficially to the people. Thus, to cite an example, in the Medicine-Men’s-Dance, the people were instructed concerning the ways of the animals ; or in the Buffalo-Dance, the buffalo were called. These dances were usually of four days’ duration, the time being occupied in the construction of a proper lodge or booth, the singing of certain rituals, the songs being accompanied by dancing, in which the performers executed movements in keeping time with the songs as originally taught them, and which were efficacious in bringing about the result toward which the dance itself aimed. Leadership in these dances was hereditary, while the knowledge of the ritual, like that of the bundles, was personal and could be transmitted from one priest to another.

Each bundle ceremony and each dance was accompanied, not only by its ritual, but by its tale of origin. This tale was generally the personal property of the keeper or owner of the bundle or dance, and, as a rule, was related immediately after the recitation of the ritual

XXII

Introduction.

or at the time of the transmission of the possession of the bundle or the ceremony to the next owner. Thus, each of these tales was esoteric, and was concerned only with that part of the origin which related directly to the bundle or the dance. Hence it is that only with the greatest difficulty can anything like an origin myth of the Skidi as a whole be obtained.

/ As has been stated, these traditions, along with the rituals, are regarded as personal property. They have been paid for by the owner, and consequently, according to his belief, now form an intrinsic part of his life. As he tells them he gives out from himself a certain part of his life, levying a direct contribution upon its termination. Thus, as one middle-aged individual exclaimed, “ I cannot tell you all that I know, for I am not yet ready to die ; ” or, as an old priest expressed it, “ I know that my days are short. My life is no longer of use. There is no reason why I should not tell you all that I know.”

Naturally, these myths of the origins of bundles and dances do not always remain the exclusive property of the priesthood ; they find their way among the ordinary people, where, when told, they lose much of their original meaning. Thus, by a gradual process of deterioration, they come to be regarded as of no especial religious signi- \ ficance, and are told as tales are told.

In addition to these origin myths and their degenerate counterparts is a vast number of other tales, known collectively among the Skidi as “ Coyote tales,” although an individual story may not concern itself in the slightest with Coyote. Such tales are spoken of as Coyote tales, for, as the Skidi say, “Coyote is a wonderful fellow ( waruxti ). He knows all things, and is virtually indestructible. Moreover, he is full of wild conceits and is very tricky and is overcome only with the greatest difficulty, and rarely ever finally vanquished.” Therefore, when, for example, a story is told in which Coyote, or some culture-hero overcomes his enemy, the teller thereby indicates his desire that he also may be equally successful in some venture which he has in hand.

Coyote tales are told whenever men assemble during the winter months, both at home, upon the hunt, and upop the warpath. In such gatherings it is not usual for one individual to tell more than one story at a time. The individual next him continues the storytelling. As the tale is finished it is the custom for the teller to say, “We na netsu ut" (Now the gut passes), referring to the custom of an individual passing his dried fat buffalo entrail to the one next to him after he has satiated his hunger by chewing upon it, when upon the march. Such tales are not told during the summer months, or rather during those months when the snakes are visible ; for it is supposed that the tutelary god or star of the snakes is in direct communication with the star of Coyote, for during these months the

SKIDI IN FRONT OF EARTH LODGE

(From left) Eagle-Chief, Brave-Chief, Pipe-Chief, Big-Medicine-Man, Lone-Chief, Roaming-Spotted-Horse

'

Introduction. xxiii

Coyote-Star is early visible in the eastern horizon, and, not liking to be talked about, directs the Snake-Star to tell the snakes of those who talk about him that they may bite them.

An attempt has been made to classify the tales here presented, but only, it is feared, with partial success. In the first group, under the heading “ Cosmogonic,” are included such tales as relate to origins, rituals, especial ceremonies, or to the life beyond the grave. The majority of these myths, it will be readily noticed, have not been obtained at first hand ; in other words, they represent the myth in a more or less degraded form.

In the second group, and under the heading “Boy Heroes,” are a number of interesting tales which have a certain element in common. The basis of all these tales is a boy, generally poor and often an orphan, who through the intervention of one of the worldly gods arises to a position of honor and renown, and often transmits to his people the mysterious powers which he has obtained through his benevolent friend, some animal or other minor god. In a few instances the parentage of the boy is of a miraculous origin ; more often he is a typical neglected outcast from the lowest rank of the Skidi social organization. Such tales are not only told by the Skidi in great numbers, but are evidently in great favor. Moreover, these
tales inculcate the belief that no matter how humble or lowly may be the origin of the individual, the path to renown is open to him through certain homely virtues, chief among which are fixity of purpose and a humble spirit.

In the third group, and under the heading of “ Medicine,” are arranged those tales which, while having certain elements in common with the Boy Hero tales just referred to, yet make a direct contribution to that phase of culture which has to deal directly with the medicine-man or with the powers of the medicine-man. The story of “ The Gambler and the Slain Enemies,” one of the most beautiful in the collection, presents an example of devoted and constant friendship of the highest merit.

In the next group, and under the heading “Animal Tales,” are brought together those tales which are concerned directly with the encounters of animals. Naturally, in these stories, Coyote plays the most important part, and, in fact, the majority of the tales relate directly to Coyote.

The tales of the fifth group, given under the heading “ People marry Animals or become Animals,” have certain elements in common with the animal tales just referred to; yet, in each instance, there is actually a marriage between the human being and the animal, or the transformation of a man into an animal.

XXIV

I ntroduction.

Finally, in the sixth group, and under the heading of “ Miscelaneous, have been assembled those tales which do not seem properly to fall in any of the groups above mentioned. The final tale in this group entitled “ Black and White, a Love Story," as a traditional narrative is perhaps not of equal value with some of the other tales, but as a pure love story not only has no rival in the collection, but is one of the most beautiful love-tales ever obtained from any tribe in America, and will bear favorable comparison with similar stories of sincere devotion between man and man and between men and women, to be found in any language.

enabletht'Ln°ten n°V on!y haVe such points been gained as will enable the reader the better to understand the tale, but the more sinking resemblances have been pointed out which exist between tribes eS’ °r Par'S °f the takS’ “ ‘hiS coUectioni and those of other

It may be stated that the traditions as a whole bear perhaps more ! ’ resemb‘ance to those of the Arapaho and other Plains tribes ibesth0fythde° Cadd °rf 'S' a"d A*»a, the only oth is familiar W“h the traditi°ns of which the author

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Bureau of Ethnology, 1898.

Morice, Father. Transactions of the Canadian Inst. vol. v.

Petitot, E. Traditions Indiennes du Canada Nord-Ouest. Societe Philologique, actes 17. Paris, 1888.

Rand, S. T. Legends of the Micmacs. New York, 1894.

XXV1 Introduction.

Riggs, S. R. Dakota Grammar, Texts, and Ethnography. Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. ix.

Russell, Trank. Athabascan Myths. Journal of American Folk- Lore, vol. xiii. (1900), pp. 1 1 — 1 8.

• Explorations in the Far North. Published by University of Iowa

• Jicarilla Apache. Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. xi.

(1898).

Schoolcraft. The Myth of Hiawatha. Philadelphia, 1856.

Simms, S. C. Traditions of the Crows. Anthropological Series, Field Columbian Museum, vol. ii. pp. 227-325.

Smith, E. A. Myths of the Iroquois. Second Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 51-116.

Stevenson, M. C. The Sia. Eleventh Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 146-157.

Teit, J. Traditions of the Thompson River Indians. Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society, vol. vi. (1898).

Turner, L. M. Ethnology of the Ungava District. Eleventh Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

TRADITIONS.

WONDERFUL-BUFFALO AND CROW-FEATHERS (MEDICINE-MEN)

i. DISPERSION OF THE GODS AND THE FIRST PEOPLE.1

In the beginning heaven and earth are unseparated. Tirawa, chief of deities, stations the gods in the sky, as Stars, Sun, and Moon; toward the western paradise, as ministers of the Evening Star, he places Cloud, Wind, Lightning, and Thunder ; by these, in tempest, the earth is animated. Of the Evening and Morning Stars is born a girl, and of the Sun and Moon a boy ; these are put on earth, receive intelligence from the spirits of the storm, cohabit, and give birth to a first man ; for the sake of the infant they begin to study clothing, food, and shelter; the boy makes arrows in imitation of those carried by his grandfather the Sun ; in vision, the Evening Star gives directions for preparing a sacred bundle. The people multiply, and discover the existence of other peoples, who also have received bundles, the use of which they do not yet know. All the peoples are brought together for a great ceremony, their camps being arranged according to the relative celestial positions of the particular stars on which they severally depend ; rites are communicated after the revelation of the Evening Star. The first man dies, and his skull is placed in the bundle ; after a time, it is accidentally broken, and replaced by the skull of a successor.

In the beginningwas Tirawahut2 (the Universe-and-Everything-Inside) ; and chief in Tirawahut was Tirawa, the All-Powerful, and his spouse was Atira3 (Vault-of-the-Sky). Around them sat the gods in council. Then Tirawa told them where they should stand. And at this time the heavens did not touch the earth.

Tirawa spoke to the gods,4 and said : “ Each of you gods I am to station in the heavens ; and each of you shall receive certain powers from me, for I am about to create people who shall be like myself. They shall be under your care. I will give them your land to live upon, and with your assistance they shall be cared for. You (pointing to Sakuru, the Sun) shall stand in the east. You shall give light, and warmth, to all beings and to earth.” Turning to Pah,5 Moon, Tirawa said : “ You shall stand in the west to give light when darkness comes upon the earth.” — “ Tcuperekata, Bright-Star (Evening-Star), you shall stand in the west. You shall be known as Mother of all things ; for through you all beings shall be created.” Turning to Operikata, Great-Star (Morning-Star), Tirawa said : “ You shall stand in the east. You shall be a warrior. Each time you drive the people towards the west, see that none lag behind.” — “You” (pointing to Karariwari, Star-that-does-not-Move, North-Star) “shall stand in the north. You shall not move ; for you shall be the chief of all the gods that shall be placed in the heavens, and you shall watch over them.” — “ You ” (pointing to another star), “you shall stand in the south. You shall be seen only once in a while, at a certain time of the year. You shall be known as the Spirit-Star.” — “You, Black-Star, shall stand in the northeast. You shall be known as the Black-Star ; for from you shall come darkness, night.”

Then Tirawa said, “You (turning to Opiritakata, Yellow-Star) shall stand in the northwest, toward the place where the Sun sets ; for there you stand where the Sun himself makes all things yellow.” Pointing to another star, Tirawa said : “You shall stand in the southwest. You shall be known as the Southwest, who stands by the Moon.” Turning to another god, Tirawa said : “ You shall stand in the southeast.” Tirawa spoke then to the stars of the Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast, telling them to move closer to him. “You four shall be known as the ones who shall uphold the heavens. There you shall stand as long as the heavens last, and, although your place is to hold the heavens up, I also give you power to create people. You shall give them the different bundles, which shall be holy bundles. Your powers will be known by the people, for you shall touch the heavens with your hands, and your feet shall touch the earth.”

Then Tirawa said to the Sun : “Now, when you have taken your place in the heavens, I give you my permission for you to overtake the Moon, so that you can be with the Moon. At this time she will disappear. In the years to come a boy shall be born unto you, Sun and Moon. You shall call upon the gods to help you place these children upon the earth. You, Warrior-in-the-East, Great-Star, shall, on your journeys from the east to the west, stay with the Bright-Star in the west. I promise to give you a girl. The gods will assist you to place this girl upon earth.”

Then Star-that-does-not-Move was told that in after time, when the people should be upon the earth, he should communicate with the chief of the people, so that the people should have a chief among them, who should resemble the Star-that-does-not-Move presiding over his people. The Northeast-Star was told that although he was the Darkness and Night, he also should be a god who would create people, and animals who were to be gods on the earth ; that the animal gods were to be given power from the Black-Star to communicate with mankind, so that people would understand the mysteries and powers of the animals. The Northwest-Star was told that it should have power to send the buffalo by means of the Winds ; that it should control the Winds who should stand in the north ; that it also should be able to create people ; and that it should give them the holy bundle. To the Southwest- Star, Tirawa said, that he also should have power to create people ; that he should be able to look after the people, and should also give them a bundle. To the Southeast-Star Tirawa said: “You also shall create people. You shall give them a holy bundle, so that they will know that the things you shall give them are from you.”

After all had received instructions from Tirawa, he commanded the gods to take their different stations in the heavens. The Stars of the hour Directions still remained with Tirawa. Tirawa then turned to the west and said to Bright-Star: “I will send to you Clouds, Winds, Lightnings, and Thunders. When you have received these gods, place them between you and the Garden. When they stand by the Garden, they shall turn into human beings. They shall have the downy feather in their hair. Each shall wear the buffalo robe for his covering. Each shall have about his waist a lariat of buffalo hair. Each also shall wear moccasins. Each of them shall have the rattle in his right hand. These four gods shall be the ones who will create all things.”

Now Tirawa sent these gods to the Bright-Star. She placed them between herself and her garden. Tirawa looked, and he was pleased. Now Tirawa told the Bright-Star that he was ready to make the earth ; that she should tell the gods to sing, for he was going to drop a little pebble. So these gods began to rattle their6 gourds and sing. As this was done the Clouds came up. The Winds blew the Clouds. The Lightnings and Thunders entered the Clouds. The Clouds were placed over the space, and as the Clouds were now thick, Tirawa dropped a pebble7 into them. The pebble was rolled around in the Clouds. When the storm had passed over, there was in the space all water. The four world quarter gods who still sat around Tirawa were now given war-clubs,8 and were told that as soon as they touched waters they must strike them with their clubs.

So they were directed now to go down to their different stations. They went. As each touched the waters they struck the waters with their war-clubs. This striking of the water separated the waters. So now the earth was made. After the earth was made, Tirawa commanded Bright-Star to tell these gods to sing, and the song was to be about the formation of the earth. So the four gods sang, and the Clouds came up, and the Winds and Lightnings and Thunders. While the four gods sang about the formation of the earth, the storm passed over the earth, and as the Winds blew, it rained, the Lightnings striking in the ground, to put life in the earth.9 Then the Thunders shook the earth, so that in parts where the earth was not level the dirt slid down into the valleys.

Then Tirawa commanded Bright-Star again to instruct the gods to sing another song. This time the song was to be about the timbers and underbrush that make the land gray. Again the Winds, the Clouds, the Lightnings, and the Thunders passed over the earth. There had grown from the earth plants, but there was no life in them. When the Winds blew through them and the Rains fell upon them, when the Lightnings struck them and the Thunders sounded over them, then was there life in the timber.

After this was done, Tirawa commanded Bright-Star again to tell the gods to sing. At this time the streams of water that ran through the earth were not good. Tirawa commanded that the Winds, the Clouds, the Lightnings, and Thunders should pass over the land, along the creeks, rivers, ponds, and lakes. As the wind passed over the streams of water it cleansed the bottoms of these streams. It rained. The waters filled the streams. The Lightnings struck upon the streams and the Thunders sounded into them, so that, replying, was heard the sound of the streams flowing from the lands, and Tirawa knew that the streams were now sweet.

After this, Tirawa commanded Bright-Star again to instruct the gods to sing and to send the Winds, the Clouds, the Lightnings, and the Thunders upon the earth, so that the seeds that had been dropped upon the earth by the different gods in the heavens should now take root and grow. This was done. The Winds, the Clouds, the Lightnings, and the Thunders passed over the earth, and wherever there was scattering of seeds by the gods, here the Lightnings and Thunders worked, so that life was put into the seeds, and they at once sprouted and came up from the ground. After this was all done, Tirawa was glad. Then he hid himself for a time.

In the mean time, the Great-Star, as he followed the stars to the west, came to the home of the Bright-Star. He found her by Bright- Star’s garden. He talked with her and finally they lay together. Great-Star went on.

Some time after this had happened, the Sun overtook the Moon, and they also lay together. Afterwards, in the winter-time, was born to Great-Star and Bright-Star a female child. The Evening-Star said : “ When I give the people buffalo, a female calf shall be born in the winter-time, who shall be a holy calf. The people may kill this female calf, and offer it as a sacrifice, for this buffalo calf will be made a sacrifice, to remind the people that a girl was created first.”

About this time, another child was born to the Sun and Moon. It was a male. This child was now formed as a sacrifice, for it was the son of the Sun and Moon. The child was born in the summer-time.

Now the time had come for the female child to be put upon the earth. So Tirawa spoke to Bright-Star and said: “You must now place the girl upon the clouds, in order that she may be taken and placed upon the earth.” So Bright-Star spoke to the gods, telling them to sing about making the storm. As the Clouds arose, she took her little girl, and placed it upon the Clouds. As the old men rattled their gourds and sang about the storm travelling downwards to the earth, the Clouds moved toward the earth. The storm passed over the earth, and all at once a funnel-shaped Cloud 10 touched the earth. Then the Clouds arose, and there stood the little girl upon the earth. Hence the Pawnee got the name “Tcuraki,”or Rain-Standing, the name for the girl.

She wandered about the land, not knowing where she was. Now when the girl was placed upon the earth, Tirawa again commanded Bright-Star to speak to the four gods, telling them to send the storm, and bidding the Moon place her child upon the Clouds, so that the Clouds should go to the earth and place the child on the earth. So the four gods rattled their gourds and sang once more. As they sang, the Winds arose. The Clouds came up. The Lightnings and Thunders entered the Clouds. The Clouds rose up to where the Moon was standing. She placed the child upon the Clouds, and the Clouds moved downwards to the earth. In a funnel-shape, the Clouds again touched the ground, and the boy was dropped upon the earth. Piruski (Closed-Child11) stood upon the earth.

The boy wandered over the land, and after a while he and the girl came together. When they came together they did not know anything. They did not seem to care for anything. But Tirawa spoke to Bright-Star, and said : “Tell the four gods to sing about putting life into the children.” So the Evening-Star commanded the four gods to sing and send the Winds, Clouds, Lightnings, and Thunders to put life into these children, and to give them understanding. As the four gods rattled their gourds, the Winds arose, the Clouds came up, the Lightnings entered the Clouds. The Thunders also entered the Clouds. The Clouds moved down upon the earth, and it rained upon' the two children. The Lightnings struck about them. The Thunders roared. It seemed to awaken them. They understood.

After this they lay together. After many months a child was born! to them. When the child was born they seemed to understand all ; that they must labor to feed the child and to clothe him. Before this time they had not cared anything about clothing or food, nor for shelter. They began to build a little grass lodge. The man needed bow and' arrows. The woman needed certain things. So Tirawa, seeing that they were in need of these things, told Bright-Star to tell the four gods to sing about the storm giving certain things to the woman, — such as earth, timber, and water. Seeds had already been given her. Now the next thing to give her was the dew, fog, rain, mist, wind, and night. These things were made by the storm that came ; the Winds, Clouds, Lightnings, and Thunders made all these things.

After these things were made the storm whirled around the lodge that the woman had built. The storm passed over the lodge. The woman knew that her lodge had been visited by the gods. She had her lodge, the altar in the lodge, also the holy place in the west of the lodge. Then she also remembered the pathway from the west to the centre of the earth, where she had been put. This she was to remember always — that above, in the centre, dwelt Tirawa, who had spoken all these things for her. The rim of the fireplace was also given to her, and the fireplace itself. Then the use of fire-sticks was taught her by the Lightning. She was taught that by the use of the firesticks a blaze would come up from them.12 Then she should enter the lodge through an entrance. She also remembered that when leaving the lodge she was to speak ; that the speech she now had was from the gods. Then she knew that there was space around the lodge. This was all given to her by the gods. Not only was the pipe-stone given to her, but to the man also was given the string that was on the pipe. Then were given the pipe-stems for the pipes. All things mentioned were to be given to the woman by the gods.

After all this singing by the different gods in the heavens they remembered the man, — that they had not given him anything. So these gods sang in the west and said : “ Let us now give him the moccasins to wear upon his feet, so that he may journey over the land upon which we have placed him. Let us now give him strings to tie his moccasins with. Let us now give him a robe to cover his body. Let us now let him know that we have made it possible to be present with him. Let us now let him know that Atira 13 shall be present with him. Let us now let the man know that he shall become a warrior, and that upon his back he shall wear the Swift Hawk,14 to tell him of the office of a warrior. We also shall give him a downy feather to put upon his head, to remind him that Tirawa is above us. In his scalp-lock shall he put the standing feather.15 We also shall now give him the war-club, to remind him that with the war-clubs given us the earth was divided from the waters. We shall also give him the Swallow, who is the messenger bird for the gods in the west. We shall also give him paints, — burnt grass to turn into black paint, the red paint and yellow paint. We shall also tell to him the names of the animals. He must know them — the otter, bear, mountain lion, wolf, and wildcat. Now we shall give him the bow, for there is on the arrow the flint-stone, tied on with sinew; the notch of the arrow for the bow-string to go in ; the pipe-bowl ; also gifts that shall be put upon the pipe. He shall also take a scalp and put it on the pipe-stem,16 to make it holy. There shall be a certain string to run through the bowl of the pipe-stem.17 The pipes that he shall have shall be offerings to the gods.” 18 These were what the gods gave to these two people at this time. The things were not given to them at once, but the gods sang and mentioned these things that they were to have.

As each star came over the land, the young man went to the place where the Lightning had struck upon the mountains. He found flintstones with bows and arrows, and even good-sized pieces of axes, so that he now made bow and arrows. When the gods had sung the songs about giving these things to these two people, the boy had seen the bow and arrows held up by his father, the Sun.

Now the young man began to kill game with his bow and arrows. The buffalo came from the west. The young man killed them with arrows. At one time, the young man took the shoulder-blade of the buffalo, stripped the meat from the shoulder-blade, and put a handle on it, so that he made a hoe for his wife.19 This was of course told to him by the Moon, in a dream.

They began to have many things. They began to increase. There were now several tipis of his own people. The Bright-Star came to the man, in a vision, and told him that a time was coming when she should give him a holy bundle ; 20 that whatever the things were within it she would give to them. Now these things were not given by the gods of the heavens directly to these people, but they were placed in the earth by the gods, and they made it possible for these people to find these things. The Bright-Star told the man that the gods in the west had promised them a sacred bundle. She told the man that when the winter weather set in the buffalo would come amongst them ; that he would find among them a female yellow calf. This yellow calf he should kill to make it holy, take it to his lodge, skin it, and offer the heart and tongue to Tirawa. The yellow calf-skin he must tan, so he could place in it the holy corn ; that she, Bright-Star, had given him the flint-stone, the skins of owls,21 hawks, paints, pipe, tobacco, and sweet grass. So the man brought these. When the cloudy weather set in and it snowed, these gods drove the buffalo. The man went out, and saw among the buffalo the yellow calf. He killed it and made it holy.22 He took the yellow calf to his lodge, skinned it, took the tongue and heart and offered them as a sacrifice to Tirawa.23 This was the first offering of the tongue and heart to Tirawa. The calf sinew was taken. The ear of corn was placed at the altar, skins of owls and hawks had been gathered, sweet grass, flint-stones, and paints ; all these were put into the bundle. This bundle was hung up in the lodge.

After this ceremony, in the night, Bright-Star visited this man in a vision.24 From her garden in the west, she brought with her the four gods in the west, and there the four gods sang the songs of the different ceremonies that were to be given to the people. Night after night, this man saw and heard these things, so that now he knew them.

That very winter he was to make these offerings of the tongue and heart of Yellow-Calf that he killed.

The people now increased, so that a man went far out into the country to hunt game. This man, while hunting, met another man.25 They talked together, and they found out that they could understand one another. Now the man went, and reported to the chief or Closed- Man that there were other people in the earth. This hunter told Closed-Man that he had met another man who could understand their language, and Closed-Man told the hunter that he always had understood that there were other people in the world. At one time Bright- Star came to Closed-Man again, in a vision, and told him that the people that had been created by the other gods were now numerous. These other gods, when they had created these people, had also given them bundles. So these people had the bundles, but the ceremony they did not know.

So Bright-Star told this man to get the people together, and that a man would be sent to them, who would teach them the different ceremonies of the different bundles. Bright-Star then said to the man : “ Each of these bundles contains a different kind of corn, given by the gods. The Southwest people have the white corn ; the Northwest people have the yellow corn ; the Northeast people have the black corn ; the Southeast people have the red corn.” (At this time Closed- Man and his people were upon the Platte River.) When this was told him he journeyed towards the north, crossing the Loup River. They made their village on Beaver Creek. Here they selected a place where the people were to get together, each set of people to receive their ceremony from this unknown man, who was to teach them these ceremonies.

Closed-Man now sent the errand man to invite the neighboring people to come and receive their ceremonies. The errand man went to the west. He found a village of four large-sized lodges — one built in the northwest of the village, one in the northeast, one in the southwest, and one in the southeast. This man went to these lodges and invited them to come. One of these men said: “We will come, for we were told by our god that a certain man was to gather the people together, who would become chief of the tribes.” The errand man went north and found some more people. He knew them. They said they would come. The errand man kept on finding people here and there, and he invited them. At last he came to the Elk Horn River, and here the medicine-men were having their performance. They refused to take part in the ceremonies, for they said that their god had given them certain powers, so that they could hold their ceremonies themselves. The errand man went east and found another people, who were living in earth lodges, the entrance of which faced west.

They had a man who could call the buffalo. The man found that these people had been slaughtering buffalo, and the buffalo were killed upon the ice. The coyotes and the wolves stood upon the ice in the water eating the carcasses of the buffalo. As the coyotes and wolves stood eating these carcasses, when night-time came, they were fast in the waters, which had frozen, so that they stood in the water all night. So the people called themselves Skirirara (Wolves-Standing-in-Water). These people also had a bundle that had a wolf skull on it. So this bundle was known as Paxskawahar (Head-Ready-to-Give). Their ceremony they knew, so that they did not go. The errand man went south and invited the southern people. Then he went on around the southwest, and invited all the people that he found.

The day came when these people were to come, and great clouds of dust were seen rising up in different directions, for the people were now coming to the centre village, where the ceremony was to be held. When the people got together, the Yellow-Calf bundle was not to be used in this ceremony, but another bundle was to be used. A man came forward, who told the chief, Closed-Man, that Bright-Star had come to him in a vision and that he had learned the different ceremonies and songs belonging to the bundles ; that the Yellow-Calf bundle was not to be used or to have anything to do with the cere-, mony ; that it should only be hung up on a tree. So now, really, Mother Bright-Star told this man that now they were to hold a ceremony in imitation of Tirawa, when he first made up his mind to make earth, people, and animals to live on the earth ; that the gods who sat in council with him had been given certain stations in the heavens ; that each of these bundles was to be dedicated to those certain gods, stars in the heavens ; and that in this ceremony they were to have the same relative positions as the gods in the heavens, who had given them the bundles. The people made their camp around the circle where the ceremony was to be had, according to their stations — northwest of the bundle, southwest of the bundle, etc. A day was set for the people of the four world quarter gods to go into the timber to bring up their poles. They brought them with great rejoicing, singing, shouting, and they placed the poles upon the ground where it had been cleared for the purpose of holding the ceremony. The northeast pole was painted black ; the northwest pole was painted yellow ; the southwest pole was painted white ; the southeast pole was painted red. Each of these Four-Direction people had their ceremonies, erected their own pole, and they shouted and rejoiced at the time. The bundles were all brought in. A day was set when the priests caused the errand man to bring the water from the running stream and place it in the north of the lodge. The priest went up, dancing around the pole, and made several movements over the bowl of water, to teach the people how the gods had struck the water when the land was divided from the waters. At this ceremony were five animals’ skins at the northeast of the entrance of the lodge. They were the otter, the bear, the mountain lion, the wildcat, and the coyote.26 In the evening certain young men crawled into these skins. They went around the circle, scaring the people.

The messenger had found two bands of people which had not accepted the invitation. He had now returned. Closed-Man was now a chief, and was told by Bright-Star that she would select another man to be known as Kuruhoos27 (priest), and that this priest would know the ceremony. This priest had been selected by the Bright-Star from among the men in the village which contained the four bundles. Now they were about to do something very great, — to perform Tirawa’s commands.

When the village which contained the four bundles came from the west, they put their village to the north of the village of Closed-Man. The bundle which contained the yellow calf-skin wrapper had been hung up by itself, for it had nothing to do with the ceremony which was about to be performed. When the priest arrived he stood up in the circle and said: “We are about to have a certain ceremony. This bundle (pointing to the bundle) which is to bear the skull of Closed- Man is to take the lead.” Closed-Man now held his hand toward the priest, thus expressing the thanks of the Bright-Star for the ceremony ; for now he saw that though he was chief of all the tribes, the new ceremony was in the hands of the priest.

The people of the different villages had now arrived, except the two which had refused to participate in the ceremony. In the centre was the village Turi'kaku (Centre-Village). In this village was the Aripahut or Yellow-Calf bundle. West of this, in four groups, were the villages of the bands which owned the four direction bundles. Each of these four groups contained a bundle, and the village bore the name of the bundle ; in one was Atiratatarfwata (Mother-Born-Again) ; in another was Skauwahakitdwiu (Leading-Woman-Ready-to-Give) ; in another was Liwidutchok (Round-on-Top) ; in another was Akarakata (Yellow-Tipi) ; in the southwest direction was the village Tuhkitskita (Village-on-Creek) ; in the west, and between the first and the Four- Direction villages was Tuwhahukasa (Village-Standing-over-Hill), which contained the Morning-Star bundle ; in the east was Tuhftspiat (Village-in-Bottom) ; in the northwest direction was Tohochuk (Village-in-Ravine) ; also in the northwest was the village of Turawiu (Half-on-Hill-Village) ; in the west was Akapaxsawa (Skulls-Paintedon-Tipi); in the southeast was Tcaihi'xparuxti (Wonderful-Man), in which was the Skull bundle ; in the northwest was Ari'kararfkuts (Big- Elks) ; also in the northeast was the village of Arikarai'kis (Standing-

Fig. 9

Anpahut and Skidi

Fig.

Arikara-Rikis ( Bundle of Standing Elks)

BUNDLES

Elks) ; in the north was the village of Haricabahakata (Red-Calf), where was the bundle of the North-Star; in the northeast direction was the village of Stiskaatit (Black-Corn-Woman).

Now, all the villages being in proper position, they made a fireplace c ltre of the village, where they were to have their ceremony. Then, on the west side, they put the buffalo tipi and hung up the Calf bundle. Then the priest of the village said : “ I have come to tell you what to do. The Yellow-Calf bundle is from Tirawa. Tirawa placed the different gods in the heavens. You are to be made a chief. You are to have power similar to that of Tirawa. Hang up your bundle in the west. As these tribes have come together, they have pitched their tipis according to the directions from which they have come. We shall receive them. The northeast people have come first.”

Now these people from the northeast were told by the chief and the priest to go back and fill their parfleches with meat. And so the people of the other villages were told to return and bring parfleches of meat. Then the people of the different villages returned, the old man in front of them, with parfleches of meat on their backs. Then the people were told to go into the timber to cut willows.

Now all the people of all the villages except two, which had refused to come,28 had arrived and were in their proper places. When the men were all in a circle, the priests stood up and explained the nature of the ceremony. Now in this gathering was performed the first great ceremony, under the direction of the first priest, and the owners of the various bundles were taught the ceremonies which were there performed in connection with other bundles.

After this ceremony, each band of people was told to come to the priest with their bundle. Songs and ceremonies were taught them, and then they were sent out into the world. If they wished, they could remain with Closed-Man. But now they scattered out.

After Closed-Man died, his skull was taken up, two or three years afterwards, and placed upon a bundle ; for before he had died he had told the people that Tirawa had told him, through Bright-Star, that when he should die his skull should be placed upon the bundle, so that his spirit should have power, and be ever present with the Skidi people.

Many years after his death, and after his skull had been placed upon the bundle, another chief had taken charge, and he was chief of the people. The people had liked him, for he was kind. Now in one of their journeys, while a woman was putting up a tipi, one of the poles slipped from her hands, and the pole fell upon the skull, breaking it in pieces.29 The chief who was keeper of the bundle said that he knew that it was going to break, for he had been commanded by the gods to change the skull, but he had neglected it.

So the ceremony was held, and they opened the grave of the second man, and placed his skull upon the bundle.

2. LIGHTNING VISITS THE EARTH.80

Antecedently to the creation of mankind, Tirawa sends the giant Lightning to explore the earth. Lightning carries his sack (the tornado), in which at the suggestion of the Evening-Star, the Morning-Star places the constellations whom at dawn he is accustomed to drive before him. After making a circuit, and in order to satisfy his desire for companionship, Lightning releases the stars, who encamp on earth in celestial order. Here they would have remained, and an immortal race existed, had it not been for the jealousy of the Wolf-Star, rival of the Evening-Star, who sends a wolf to steal the sack of Lightning. The wolf is killed, and mortality introduced into the earth ; Lightning wishes to offer a wolf as expiatory sacrifice, but the essay fails, and earth remains subject to warfare and death.

Tirawa placed the gods in the heavens, and gave them power to create people on the earth. But before he did this he selected one of his gods to visit the earth ; and that god was the leader of the four gods who dwell in the west and are controlled by the Bright-Star (the Evening-Star). It was none other than Piwaruxti (Lightning).

So the Bright-Star commanded Lightning to visit the earth. The Wind rose. Clouds came. The Thunders sounded and Lightning came.31 As the storm arose Bright-Star commanded Lightning to go into a cloud, so that he could be placed upon the earth.

Now Lightning was a giant. His hair did not grow low on his forehead, but only far back on his head. He was given a covering for his feet, of buffalo hide, with the hair inside,32 and certain strings with which to tie his moccasins. Then a robe was given him, and a lariat to tie about his waist, a fold of which hung down his back.33 Thus he represented a priest. A downy feather was given him to place in his scalp-lock.

Then Bright-Star entered the garden in the west and picked up a sack and said, “ I must put something in this sack for you to take down to the earth ; — but where shall I get it ? ” About the time that she was meditating upon this, Great-Star (the Morning-Star) came to her assistance, and said : “ I have two warriors, who stand in the east and guard the entrance ; 34 I give them to you to take to the earth.” — These two warriors, guardians of the earth, were the Dawn and the Night. These two warriors were each given a lance, the weapon of a soldier. — “I also have a girl that I will send to earth with my bundle,” said Great-Star. He then called upon the other gods for other things, but the other gods said, “No.” Then, as the next day approached, and as he was driving before him the other stars, he captured them and took them to Bright-Star, and said to her, “These are my people.” Bright-Star opened her sack, and all these stars

Cosmogo?iic. 1 2

rushed in. Then Bright-Star commanded her four gods to enter the sack.

As soon as they had entered, the girl entered, with the bundle of the Morning-Star upon her back. Then the two soldiers, with their lances, entered — one representing the chief, the other the warrior. Bright-Star then took the sack and pulled the tie-string, saying, “ Live in this sack. You must do as Lightning commands you. He is your god, and he will look after your wants.”

Then, turning to Lightning, she said : “ Come ! ” She had tied the sack with a black lariat rope. Lightning now picked up the sack, and placed the loop of the lariat on his breast, so that the sack was upon his back. Then Bright-Star said : “ I have given you the wonderful 35 moccasins, so that you may travel in space, as well as upon the ground. Go now! Travel in space! Sit on the clouds that you see yonder ! By my power I shall send Winds, Clouds, the Rain, and the Lightning, and you shall now descend upon the earth that is completed. When you have reached the ground, travel throughout the east, and see if the ground is dry, and see if the bushes and grass are growing. From the east go toward the northeast ; from there, toward the north ; from the north, face toward the Sun, and walk toward the south. When you have reached the south, go toward the west ; from the west, travel toward the north again, and on, down the centre of the earth, toward the south ; from there go toward the east ; from the east, go west ; and thence, face the east. And at this time, if you feel lonesome, put the sack upon the ground and untie it.” This sack was shaped like a whirlwind.

When Lightning got on the cloud the sack was a mist of clouds, and so it was when he got on the ground. The cloud was now shaped like a whirlwind. As it touched the earth it was really Lightning himself, — a great giant. The cloud evaporated, and there stood Lightning. He had come in the dark clouds, as if in a black robe, and upon his head was the white cloud. The black lariat about his waist was the lightning or the power which is in the whirlwind. He was wonderful. As he touched the ground with his feet there were moccasins on his feet. He was like those clouds which look like hills of corn, like dark clouds hanging down below the white clouds.

Now he found that he had five things, — a downy feather, reminding him of Tirawa above the heavens, a rope or covering for his body, the black lariat rope, the moccasins, and the sack. Now he began his journey, as Bright-Star had commanded him. As he was doing this, he was spying out the earth for the people ; at the same time he was making a pathway for the thunderstorm.

Now he had completed his journey. He returned to the west, upon high mountains. His journey had taken many days. As he sat upon the lofty mountain he remembered the words of Bright-Star : “ If you feel lonesome, open the sack.” So he let down the sack. He sat down, untied the string from his body, and put the sack on the ground, turning the opening toward the east. He placed his robe about his waist and his knees. He sat up straight, and he thought of all that Bright- Star had told him. He thought : “ I am lonesome. I will see the people.” (When Great-Star had brought these people to Bright-Star, he had turned all of them into clouds, so they could be put into the sack.)

He then threw the robe over his knees and put it upon his lap. He untied the sack. He was sitting upon a high mountain, with a mountain at his side, a stream of water in front, with a grassy valley. As he opened the sack he took the robe, and again wrapped it about his knees. He stayed and watched. As the air entered the sack, the two men with the lances jumped out and passed down the mountain and took their places in the valley. Then the girl left the sack, and took her stand behind the lance men. Then the four priests, who stood behind the girl, marched into the valley over the stream, followed by the other people. The two lance men walked ahead and then stopped. The girl then advanced, and stepped just behind and between the two lance men. Now the four priests advanced ; two stopped on each side of the girl, and two just behind the other two. Now the people advanced, and the two lance men divided them in pairs, — the first pair going to the south, the second to the north, and so on until they had completely surrounded the four priests and the girl. As they did this there was great shouting.

Thus the camp-circle was complete, with the two lance men standing towards the east at the opening.36 Some were crying for others to climb the mountains, to see if buffalo were in sight. As soon as those who went upon the hills to look for buffalo had arrived at the top of the mountains, they threw their robes in the air.37 The people saw the signal, and went out to kill the buffalo. While they were out, others erected a tipi for the girl, which was placed between the two priests standing to the west. As soon as the tipi was erected, the girl entered and hung up her bundle, and sat down beneath it. Then the four priests entered, — two sat on her north and two on her south side. Then they said : “ Call the lance men. Let them go after Lightning. Bring him down, for the tipi is ready.” The two lance men went up the mountain, and they said : “ Lightning, we have come after you. The place is prepared for you in the camp.” Lightning tied up the sack, stood up, put the robe about his waist, and went down the mountain. The two lance men followed him.

As he entered the tipi, the two lance men moved on to their places. As Lightning entered* the priests arose, took the sack from his back and hung it above the sacred bundle. The priests sat down, two on the north and two on the south side of the girl, beneath the bundle.

Now the people had killed the buffalo. They began to return with the meat. The boys were playing the hoop and javelin game, in front and to the south of the tipi. The old men were playing the large hoop game at the south of the tipi, while still others were playing the other hoop game at the north of the tipi. Here and there in the circle women were playing the dice game.

This crowd of people remained in the camp four days. Lightning said : “ This is what I want. I am satisfied. My thoughts have been travelling over the land. I feel happy now, for I have seen you people. I must travel in all parts of the earth. Now, as I feel better, I shall move on.”

He then took down his sack and opened it ; the people began to remove their tipis and got their things together. As soon as they approached the sack they disappeared within it. After the people had entered, the four priests entered. The girl arose. The tipi disappeared, and she entered the sack with her bundle. Then, finally, the two lance men entered. Lightning tied up the sack, placed it upon his back, and continued his journey.

Lightning did not do this once or twice, but many times. He felt pleased with his people in the sack. He travelled toward the east, sat down on a high mountain, and here the people went through the same movements that they had done when in the west. Then he went to the north and then to the south, where again the same performance took place. Indeed, he went to as many points as there are gods in the heavens, opening his sack and permitting the people to erect the camp-circle and hunt the buffalo.

The gods in the heavens saw him, and they were satisfied, and they wished that Lightning should remain upon the earth, and all the Stars in the heavens wished that things could be as they were, save one Star in the southeast. This Star, Skiritiohuts, Fool-Coyote,38 was jealous of the power of the Bright-Star. And so he thought, as the gods had placed beings upon the earth, why could not he also place one on the earth. So he placed a wolf on the earth. He commanded the wolf to travel until he found Lightning’s tracks. Now the reason that Skiritiohuts had done this was because he was jealous of Bright- Star, and especially because he had not been consulted by the other Stars. When the wolf reached the earth, he travelled around until he came to the camping ground. There he saw Lightning’s tracks. He saw that they led toward the east ; for, as Lightning walked, his steps were very far apart, and as he lifted his feet the buffalo seemed to jump out from his moccasins. The wolf followed on and found Lightning sleeping on a high mountain. Then wolf crept closer, and saw that Lightning was asleep. He approached yet nearer, and saw that Lightning had something under his head for a pillow. Then Wolf went to Lightning, raised his head, and removed the sack. He then placed Lightning’s head gently on the ground. He then took the sack and returned to the south, across valleys, and came to bottom land, where there was much thick grass.

There he sat down. “ Well,” he thought to himself, “ I was lucky to get the sack. I must hurry and eat it up. I will untie it, and see what there is of good in it to eat.” As he untied it, the two lance men jumped out. The wolf saw them, and was about to run, but as they paid no attention to him he remained sitting and watched. Soon out jumped the girl with her bundle, then the four priests, then the people. The people at once began to prepare their camp-circle, while the old men began to shout for others to climb the hills to look for buffalo. They paid no attention to the wolf. Some of the men went on the hills, but made no signs of having seen the buffalo. So some said : “ Go and find Lightning. He may be hungry. Something is surely wrong.” So some took meat to Lightning, as they thought. As they put the meat in front of the wolf, he snapped at it and ate it up.

In the mean time the girl’s tipi had been set up, and they went as they supposed, to Lightning, — but really to Wolf. Some of the people noticed that things were not as they should be. One of the men on the hill cried: “Men, come! See some one up on the hill,” and there they saw Lightning coming. So they ran back to the camp, and told the people to watch the being who was in the girl’s lodge, for the real Lightning was coming. Then the men guarded the tipi, for they noticed that the wolf was trying to get away. When the wolf found that Lightning was coming, he jumped up, and as he came to the edge of the village, the people caught him and killed him.

Lightning went into the lodge and took a seat, but first he put his hands on the girl’s head, passed them down her shoulders, and arose. Then Lightning talked to the men and said : “ This other being is different. He comes from another power. You have killed this being without my consent. Skin it. Dry the skin, tan it, and hereafter let it be placed on the sacred bundle. By your killing of the wolf you have made yourselves liable to death.39 If you had not killed this being, I might have carried you on my back forever, as my people. When you have skinned this being, lay the carcass so that it will rest with its head toward the east. When you have taken the hide, put it upon the bundle, so that its head shall point toward the north. Beings like this creature that you have killed will multiply, and they will be called Skirihk (Thief), and you shall be known as Skiri40 (Carry - Wolf’s-Hide).”

Now the reason that Lightning had told them that the carcass of the wolf should point toward the east, was because the being that had sent the wolf stands a little south of the east, while the skin on the bundle was to be turned to the north because the North-Star is the leader in all things, and because they would thus be reminded that from the north they derived long life and old age, but from the south, death.

After Lightning had said these things, the priests took buffalo fat and rubbed it over Lightning’s body. Then they rubbed over him hair from the buffalo. Next, the priests smeared Lightning’s body with red clay and fat, mixed. That made Lightning happy again. Then Lightning told them to get sweet grass, and put it on the southwest of the lodge. Then Lightning turned over where he sat, and smoke began to rise from the sweet grass. Then the priest removed his robe, and bathed it in the smoke of the sweet grass, and put it upon his back. Then they bathed in the smoke his moccasins, his feather, and all other things which he wore, shaking them first, before they put them over the incense. Thus these cloud-beings were to learn what they should do in a future life. Then Lightning told the people that it was now time that they should enter the sack, which they did, in the same way as before. When they had entered, Lightning tied the string, shouldered the sack, and went westward.

But Lightning was not satisfied. He was angry with the wolf : now death had entered the world and people would quarrel and would kill one another. So Lightning began his journey toward the north. There he found his brother Kauwaharu (Ready-to-Give 41).

He said to his brother: “I want you to select a wolf. I want to give one to them. I do not want them to fight and kill one another.”

Lightning and Ready-to-Give journeyed to the earth again. They got to the high mountain and went from that mountain to another. Then they went upon a hill, where they faced south. At the base of the hill they halted. As they had wonderful power, they could see a long distance. Lightning said : “ Look, do you see yonder that gray wolf. That is the one I want.” Ready-to-Give said: “That other wolf of bluish color looks better.”

While they were talking, a little wolf was lying near by, under the precipice. This little wolf knew that these beings had great power, and when they talked about the gray wolf, he said : “ Why, they mean me ; I am gray. It is surely myself.” Then, turning to Lightning and his companion, he said: “You people there, what are you talking about ? Do you want to kill me ? I am as powerful as you are.” That frightened them, and they ran; Lightning toward the west, Ready-to-Give toward the north. Then the wolf ran toward the south. He ran until he was exhausted. He lay down and died.

Then Lightning went toward the north, and found his brother

Ready-to-Give. He said to him : “ You shall stand here forever, while I shall go to the west, where I shall stand forever. In winter you shall have power over the land. Hereafter you shall be known as Hutukau, Wind-Ready-to-Give (buffalo to the people). You shall have power over the land in the winter. I shall follow you. Toward spring, when you hear my voice as I travel east by way of the south, then your power shall be behind me ; for at these places a wolf drove us, turned south, and died. There shall be a land of the dead. The people will die of sickness.” So in all ceremonies the old man recites the ritual to proclaim to the gods, to let them know that Lightning is now to control the earth, and that all bundles are to be turned toward the south.

Although these two men ran, they never died, and thus they show that the gods in the heavens were never to die ; but people, like wolves, were to grow sick and die.

Lightning still carries his sack with the Clouds in it and the Rain ; and the rain that we get is from the people in the clouds. The girl who was carried in the sack was the daughter of Tirawa. When Lightning was on his travels and was about to open his sack, he would say: “My Father, I feel lonesome. I am about to open the bundle for the people to come out.” The girl is seen before the new moon, and her name is Rain-Girl.

3. THE ORIGIN.43

The first boy, the son of celestial parents transiently resident on earth, is led by a meadow-lark to the lodge of underground people, learns their sacred songs, and receives a holy bundle, containing seeds of cultivable plants. He returns, as he thinks speedily, but finds he has been absent many years. He marries his sister) and becomes high priest. The people multiply and scatter abroad.

When we used to live in Nebraska, and in our earth lodges, one night as we sat around the fireplace in our lodge, Irisa,43 one of the high priests, told this story : —

Nobody knows where we came from, but the old men told us that Tirawa first created a girl, then a boy. They met and then they went together ever after that. They grew to be woman and man. They wandered over the country a long time, until the woman gave birth.

The baby was a boy. The man at this time had a grass lodge,44 and had bow and arrows. The boy grew fast. As soon as he could walk, the man made a bow and some blunt arrows for the boy. The boy used to play with his bow and arrows about their grass lodge.

One beautiful morning the little fellow went out of the lodge. He saw marks upon the ground. He went in and .told his father that he had seen marks upon the ground. The marks were forked. The father and mother never paid any attention to the boy.

The next day the boy went out and saw the same marks upon the ground. He followed the marks, for this time the boy had his bow and arrows. At last he came upon a bird. It was a meadow lark.45 So the boy shot at the bird. The bird flew away and lighted not far off, so the boy followed it up, trying to shoot it. At last he shot it, and he went and tried to pick it up, and the bird kept moving on, a little at a time, until night came, when the bird stopped.46 The boy lay down beside the bird and went to sleep. The next day he followed the bird again. For many days the boy followed the bird on and on. In the nights he lay down by the bird and slept. For many days he followed the bird, trying to catch it ; but the bird would move on. At last they came to a steep bank of earth. The bird flew up against it and the boy jumped and fell into a lodge.

The lodge inside was like an earth lodge. There were four men sitting at the west end of the lodge. There was a boy sitting at the entrance, who was a meadow lark. The bird was the errand boy for the four old men. Around the lodge were many parfleches filled with dried buffalo meat. Around the wall were many sacred bundles. On each bundle were dried bladders filled with seeds. The old men called the boy and one of the old men said : “My son, your father and mother came from the heavens ; they are not to stay upon the earth very long. Tirawa put us here to watch over you all the time ; he gave us all things to give you, so you can go back to your home, and make things that you are to see while you are here. The bird we sent to bring you here ; he is our errand boy.” So the old man sang many songs, for they had unwrapped one of the bundles hanging upon the wall. The boy listened and learned the songs. Every day and night the old man taught the boy what he was to do when he went home. Also, he taught him when he should pray, to say: “You, Kurahoos, who sit with your words and songs in the west, help me to have plenty of buffalo and good crops;47 the buffalo are here, and when you leave us, the buffalo shall follow you ; there are very bad people near by, who have been keeping the buffalo from going upon your land.”

The boy watched the movements and listened to the sayings of the old men. Once the old men sang all night. By daylight the old men talked to the boy and said : “ All you have heard we have told you, for we were commanded by Tirawa to tell you ; now you must go. Carry this bundle upon your back ; you will find seeds done up in the bundle ; you are to make something to dig with ; you will get the shoulder-blade from the buffalo, dry it, and tie it to a wooden handle that you shall make. Get the gristle from the neck of the buffalo and tie it to the handle ; let it dry in the sun, so that when it becomes hard you can dig into the ground. Then clear a place and dig into the earth and make hills. Put the seeds into the digging, then cover them up.” The old men told the boy many things, and at last they said : “ Now you must go ; our errand boy will take you back, and the buffalo will follow you.” So one old man took down one bundle, and said : “ This bundle you are to take ; we also put this dried meat upon the bundle. As soon as you get to your father’s place, open the bundle, sing some of the songs we have taught you, and after singing, take a piece of meat and some fire, go outside, make a fire, and put the meat upon the fire, so that the smoke will go up to Tirawa, and he will know that we have given the bundle to you as Tirawa commanded us to do.” So the bundle with meat upon it was put upon the boy’s back, and the errand boy led him out of the lodge. The boy and the errand boy both started to walk. As they went on, the errand boy told the boy to look around. The boy looked around, and he saw many buffalo following them. So the two boys went on and on, until at last they came to the boy’s home. The errand boy pointed out the lodge to the boy, and the errand boy turned to go back. The other boy looked and he saw the bird that he had followed, flying away. So the boy went to the lodge and entered.

The father and mother were both glad to see him ; they had given up searching for him. The boy had been gone for several years, although it seemed only a few days to him. There had also been born a girl, so that the boy had a sister. The boy told his father where he had been, and was permitted to hang up his bundle.

The next day, the young man untied the bundle and sang the songs he had heard, and also made the meat offering. After the meat offering the boy told his father that the buffalo were coming ; that they were to kill the buffalo for their food. The boy also said : “ I also have seeds that we are to put in the ground, and they will grow, so that we shall get something to eat.”

The girl grew fast, and the mother gave birth to another boy, and again she gave birth to a girl. So the parents had children. The oldest boy and girl married ; so they made another grass lodge. The youngest boy and girl, as they grew up, also married. So the people multiplied. The oldest young man became a high priest.48 Every spring he would open his bundle and give out the seeds, telling the people how to put them in the ground. In the fall, when the fields had plenty, the people gathered the harvests and took them to the priest, and he kept the seeds until the spring time, then he would distribute the seeds again. For several years this was done, then, at last, seeds were given to all the people, and each was to plant, and keep the seeds when the harvest should be gathered.

People were glad, so they prepared their fields and planted many seeds. They now became very numerous. The young man taught the songs to the people.

Now the people scattered, some going in different directions. For a long time they were separated, but at last they came together again.

4. THE DELUGE.49

The gods create men, who grow presumptuous, and insult the sun. Tirawa destroys them, as well as the monsters, by a deluge ; a new race is created to people the earth.

The kurahoos say that in olden times Tirawa had created all things ; and that, with the consent of the minor gods, he had placed upon the earth monsters and all kinds of animals. The men and women were giants. They were wonderful ; they were like gods ; they could perform miracles ; they felt that they were just as good as any of the gods in the heavens. When the Sun came up from the east, they called it names — they even turned their backs toward the Sun, and would expel flatus at it, and when the clouds came up they would act in the same way toward them.

Tirawa was displeased, and said to the gods : “ What shall I do ? ” The minor gods said: “We have nothing to say; they are yours; you made them.” Then Tirawa said: “I shall destroy them. You, Paruxti, in the west, send a cloud to visit this place.” A cloud went over the people, and that cloud burst and sent a heavy rain upon the people. But the people did not care, and Tirawa told Paruxti to send another cloud over the people, and this cloud burst. The people did not seem to care. So the third time, Paruxti was directed to send a cloud and drown everything that was upon the earth. So when the cloud came, it burst, the rain fell upon the earth, and the water that was already in the earth came up from the ground, and the people saw it was getting serious, and they ran up on high hills, but it did not do any good ; the water covered all the hills and high trees, and killed all the people upon the earth at that time — not only all the people, but all the monsters.

Now after the people were drowned, Tirawa sent a little messenger, a bird,50 to visit the earth, to see if the ground was all hard. Then Tirawa sent another bird, the crow, to visit the earth, saying: “Now you will find creeks, people, and animals upon the earth, but don’t touch them ; I will take care of you while you go down there.” But when this bird came down to the earth it saw the dead people, and ate of the people. Tirawa was displeased, and when the bird tried to fly back to Heaven, Tirawa said: “Stop, you shall stay there forever!

You have disobeyed my order ; you shall hereafter live upon dead carcasses ; ” so the crow was ordered to stay upon the earth.

Now Tirawa had sent another bird, and this bird went down. Tirawa said to the bird when it came back : “You shall be chief of all the birds ; you did not do as the other bird did.” The little bird was told that as he had done right, he would be known as the messenger bird between Tirawa and the people ; that when the people were put upon the earth, it would always be present with them ; that it would be tied close to the mouth-piece of the holy pipe-stem ; so, to this day we have this little bird upon the pipe-stem of the pipe that belonged to the bundle ceremonies.61

Tirawa, knowing that the land was good, that the trees had grown again, that the waters and the lakes were restored, sent Lightning, 62 who packed the people upon his back.

The people went in a wonderful sack. After he had travelled over the earth and had seen that all was now good, he returned to Tirawa ; and Tirawa commanded the different gods in the heavens to create mankind upon the earth, according to their likeness.

The Evening-Star, who is represented by Paruxti, was the first to create ; then the other gods created ; but just how many, and in what order they created, we do not know.

5. DEATH OF THE FLINT-MONSTER: ORIGIN OF BIRDS.63

A child of the Sun, living in the wilderness, resolves to destroy a monster who carries off warriors of the Skidi. Accompanied by his sister, after a long journey, he reaches the people, is well received, and agrees to marry any maiden who can guess his thought; the task is accomplished by an ugly girl, who afterwards is made beautiful. He sets out, assuring his sister that his victory or defeat will be indicated by the color of the sky at dawn. He kills the monster, a fiery creature covered with flint-armor, and brings home the paw, by means of which the people are transformed into whatever shape they prefer; the boy and his sister elect to be red birds.

A long time ago there lived upon the earth only people and animals. There were no birds.54 The people divided into two villages. One village was far in the east ; the other village was far in the west.

Now there were living between the two villages a boy and his sister. Nobody knew of them. The boy was a wonderful boy, and used to travel far through the country.

One day he was sitting in his tipi. He turned around to his sister and said : “ Sister, I know that there is an animal far in the southern country, that comes up and carries people away ; I know that I ought to go, for I have wondered if this animal could carry me away as he does the other people.” The boy said, too : “ I find that there are people in the east and also in the west. We are halfway between the two villages.” “Now,” said the boy, “sister, make twin balls ; have them connected by a string tied to one, then to the other ; 55 then make a shinny ball of large size.” So the girl made the balls. When the balls were completed, then the boy said : “ Sister, we are now going to a far-away country ; pack these balls, grass, and wood upon your back, and we will now start.”

They left all they had behind. When they started, the girl kept looking back to see if her tipi was still standing where she had left all of her things. As they journeyed, the boy saw that his sister was tired, and said : “ Sister, are you tired ? ” The sister said : “Yes.” So the boy said : “ Sister, take down the balls,” and the sister took the balls from her bundle. The boy took the balls, placed the single ball on the ground, and the double ball he placed on the side of the single ball. The boy said: “Sister, stand upon the double ball, and I will stand upon the shinny ball.” So the girl stood upon the double balls, and the boy upon the single ball. Now the balls moved on, but the girl did not feel the motion.56 In the evening the boy stopped the balls, and then put them back in the bundle.

The boy now told his sister to clear a space, and to make a fireplace in the centre of the cleared space. This was all done. Then the boy told the girl to take some of the grass, and to place the grass upon the fireplace, with some of the dry limbs upon the grass. The boy now told his sister to blow her breath upon the grass. As she blew, she noticed smoke coming from the grass.57 At last a fire blazed and went up, so that everything was lighted up, and the girl looked around, and there she was, in her own tipi, and all her things were in the tipi.

She was glad. She cooked and they ate, and went to bed. Before the sun was up they again started on their journey. For many days they travelled, until at last, as they neared a village, the boy informed his sister. The next day they travelled, and again they stopped over night to rest.

The next morning it was foggy. Their tipi was close to a village. Early in the morning, as the sister was cooking, a man came in and said: “ Nawa, Iradi,” — “Now, brother, have you come?” The boy said : “Yes, my sister, I just came ; we have been a long time coming.” The man saw many things to eat, so the man said : “ My brother, I have eaten, I am satisfied : give me a little meat to take to my children, that they may eat too; they are very hungry.” So the boy said : “ Sister, give the man some meat.” So the sister gave the man some meat. The man went to his tipi and gave the meat to his wife and said: “Wife, I have found my brother. He has plenty to eat now. Feed the children. I will go to the chief and tell him of my brother.” So the man went off and entered the chief’s tipi.

The man sat down and said : “ Chief, my brother, who has been away for some time, has now come home. I think he will invite you to his tipi.” The man then went to the boy’s tipi and said : “The chief would like to come and see you, my brother. Could you invite him, and he will then know you.” The boy said: “Tell the chief to come.” So the man went and said: “Now, chief, my brother asks you to come to his tipi.” The chief arose and followed the man to the boy’s tipi. The chief ate with the boy, and was pleased with him. The man went through the village and told the people of his brother. This man was no kin to the boy, but wanted the people to believe it any way. So the people found out that the boy and his sister were there.

The boy waited to see when the mysterious animal would come and carry away some one. A war-party was started out, but the boy did not go. It was not long before the warriors came back. The people had dances, and while they were dancing in the night, one of the warrior leaders was taken by this animal and carried off.

The young man now invited several young men, and they sat down and made up their minds to go on the warpath. So the boy led a warparty. This war-party was successful, for they came back with many scalps. People began to dance, as usual, in the night. Early in the morning one of the warriors was carried off. The boy was angry, for he always had thought, “Could the animal carry me off?” the boy thought a long time what he should do, for a war-party had failed to catch up with the animal.

So the boy went into the timber, and thought and thought. At last he made up his mind what to do. The boy came to a willow-tree that was forked, and he cut it. He cut the forks at the ends. This he took up to his tipi. - When he got there, the man came, and the boy sent the man to tell the chief to come to his tipi. The boy told the chief that he (the boy) wanted all the girls and women to dress and get in line, and come to the place where he was lying upon a willow bed.68 The forked stick was stuck in the ground by the boy’s bed. The boy was lying upon the willow bed with his elbow resting on the bed, so that his head was up, and he could see what was going on. All the women dressed up and went by the young man, the chief’s daughter being the first to guess what the forked stick was for. She began to say something about the stick. So the boy said : “ Pass on ; you do not seem to know what you are talking about.” Girls came, and all said nearly the same. The boy had something in his mind, and whoever should tell him what was in his mind was to become his wife.

There was a family, and in the family was an ugly looking girl. Her hair was bushy, for a hair brush knew not her head. She also had a sore neck. Matter was running down the sides of her neck.

She was also the least of the girls in a family. All her sisters were in the line. This ugly looking girl said : “ Father, I want to go and stand in the line with the other women.” But the father said : “ My poor girl, you are not fit to be in the line ; I cannot let you go.” But the girl begged hard and said : “ Father, let me go.” The father at last said : “ My poor girl, I will let you go. There is plenty of time. Go wash your face, brush your hair with the grass brush,69 take this paint, put the red paint over your body and this black paint dimly over your eyes, then come to me.” So the girl did as she was told ; then she went to her father. The father was pleased with the girl, for she looked clean, and he then said : “ My daughter, what the boy wants is a long story. Now you must listen, so that you can learn the story, and can tell the story to the boy.” The father told the story about the young man and his sister living between the two villages, and how the young man had wondered if the animal could carry him away ; how the young man had requested his sister to make double balls and a shinny ball ; how the young man had also told his sister to gather grass and dry limbs ; how they had travelled ; how in the night their tipi was brought to them. The father told all that the young man did during his journey ; how they found a village ; how the fog had set in, the Coyote-Man finding them. In fact, the father told the life of the young man from the time when he first sat down and thought and thought if the animal could carry him away. For several days the young man had thought, until at last he made up his mind to go to the village where the animal carried the people off. The father went over the story, and related the particulars, — how the young man came to the forked stick ; how he intended to kill the animal ; how he was to place the paw upon the forked stick ; that people were to pass the paw and were to make their request to the young man — what kind of birds they wanted to be.

The girl said the story over several times, until she could say every word. The father then sent the girl to the place where the line was. She was among the middle-aged women, for the girls had all passed by. When the girl’s time came, she walked up and stood before the young man : “ I know what you want : you want some one to tell you what is in your mind ; you want to save people from that animal, so I will now tell about you.” So she said : —

“ You and your sister lived far away from here ; your tipi was set between two villages.” — When she had said this, the young man raised his head and listened. Women stopped and looked at the little girl, who went on with her story. She said : “ You are a wonderful young man; you know many things ; you travel all over the country; you found out that a wonderful animal was carrying the people away from this village ; you wondered if the animal could carry you away ; several days you were thinking, and at last you made up your mind to come to this village. So when you made up your mind, you said : ‘ Sister, make double balls and one shinny ball, then gather some grass and dry limbs.’ Then you and your sister started to come here.” Now as the girl was telling all of this, the boy was imitating her, trying to get her to lose her story ; but she went on with the story, and said: “Your sister did not like to leave her tipi, for all her things and food were in the tipi. As you and your sister walked, she became tired ; you asked her if she was tired, and she said, ‘ Yes ’ ; then you placed the double balls and you told her to stand upon the balls ; you stood upon the shinny ball ; you swung your shinny stick ; in that way you and your sister travelled fast. When night came, you stopped ; you told your sister to clear a space and also to make a fireplace. When your sister blew her breath upon the dry grass and dry limbs that were upon the fireplace, it blazed, and when it blazed, your sister, on looking up, saw her own tipi, and all her things that she had left behind. You and your sister travelled several days upon the balls, and when at last you stopped, the next morning was foggy. The Coyote-Man found you; he called you his brother. You invited the chief to eat with you. A few days after your arrival, a victorious warparty came home ; dances were arranged by warriors and women. The people danced for several days and nights ; the last time the people danced, the animal came, and carried off the leading warrior. You then went on the warpath with another man as your partner ; when you found the enemy you conquered them. Then you came home ; you watched at the dances to see if you would be carried off by the animal ; the animal did come ; your partner was carried off. You sat and made up your mind to go and cut that forked stick setting in the ground there. You had an idea as to what you got the forked stick for, so you stuck the stick in the ground, and you lay down. You asked the girls and women to come and tell you if they could tell your idea, so the women have passed and I am now telling you. You are to find the animal, kill it, and cut off its paw, so you can place the paw upon the forked stick.”

The girl had no sooner said this than the young man stopped repeating, and said : “ Nawa, pass on into my tipi. My sister will take care of you.” So the girl went into the tipi, and there the sister of the boy met the girl and gave her a cushion to sit on. She then gave the girl some ointment, so that the girl, in putting the ointment upon her, was cured of all her sores. She became a beautiful woman, and the wife of the young man.

The young man said : “ Now I am going far away, with my forked stick. While I am gone, let my wife stay in the tipi, never going out.” He then told his sister that she must look toward the dawn every morning, and if she saw red streaks in the east she was to know that he was dead ; but if she should see blue streaks in the east she would know that he had killed the animal and that he was coming.

So the boy went south. He travelled many days, and came to a path. The path was that of the animal’s, and the boy looked at the path and said: “That animal knows I am going after it, and wants to lead me away from its home.” The boy went on, and again came to another path. This time the path was fresh, for there was a hollow along the middle of the road. The boy stopped and again said : “ I will not follow this path either.” Now these different paths the boy came to were paths east and west. Instead of following the paths, the boy crossed them and went on farther south. Again the boy came to another path. This time the path was fresh. The young man could see dust falling on the sides of the hollow. The boy went on, and there he saw where the animal had gone, for even rocks were cut where the animal had gone. The grass was burned, and even the ground was red, and seemed to be baked. The boy went on, and he saw a smoke ; as he went on he came to a hill. The boy climbed the hill, and as he got on top of the hill he saw the animal coming.

The animal came and spoke, and said : “ Boy, you must go away from here ; this is my place.” But the boy went on. As the boy went on the animal began to tell the same story the girl had told, and about the marriage. The animal told everything. The boy had the forked stick upon his back. As the animal got through telling the story the boy pulled out the stick from his back. As he pulled the stick the animal fell over, and as it fell over the boy took his bow and arrow and shot the animal under the arm and shot it through the body, killing the animal.

The boy went to the animal, and it did not look like any animal he had ever seen, for this animal was clothed with flints all over. The flint flakes looked like fish scales, but they were really flint. The boy cut off the paw, and tied the paw upon the forked stick. Then the boy started back home.

The next morning the sister went out, and just before the sun came up she saw the blue streaks. She knew that her brother was coming ; and also she knew that he had killed the animal. The girl was happy.

Just as the sun came up, the Coyote-Man came to the sisters tipi and the girl told Coyote-Man that her brother was coming, and that her brother had killed the animal. The Coyote-Man went to the chief’s tipi and told that his brother was coming. The sister also told the boy’s wife that now she could go out of the tipi.

The boy came into the village carrying the forked stick with the paw of the animal upon the stick. The boy went into his tipi and sent for the chief. Coyote-Man came with the chief, and the boy told the chief to send the Coyote-Man through the village to tell all the people that they must all stay home ; that the next day they should all come in families and see the paw of the animal. So the chief sent the Coyote-Man through the village, and the Coyote-Man told the people what the boy said. Early the next morning the people were ready to see the paw of the animal. The boy went out of his tipi and sat down, sticking the forked stick into the ground. As the people came in families and saw the paw, the boy told them to wish what each family wanted to be. The chief came first, with his family, and wished that he and his family might still remain people; so they passed and saw the paw of the animal. Different families came and passed, and were turned into birds, animals, or anything they wanted to be. The Coyote-Man came with his family, and he wished that he and his family might be coyotes ; so this family became coyotes and went away. The boy’s wife’s people came, and the boy said: “Your family shall be owls, for you found out my thought, but my wife will stay with me.” So each family came and turned into whatever kind of birds they wished to become. The monster which had been killed was totally destroyed.

When the people had all passed and everything was done, the boy said : “ Come, sister, and wife, go with me to the timber, where we will now stay ; my father is the Sun, so we will be red.” As soon as the boy said “Sun,” the boy and the two girls turned into red birds. The boy bird was very red, with two black streaks down from the eyes ; the two girl birds were brown, with the two black streaks down from the eyes. They flew to the timber, and there is where we find the red birds.

6. CONTEST BETWEEN HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY GODS.60

Wishing to destroy mankind, the animal gods make a beautiful but pernicious woman, who imposes on her suitors requirements of such nature that they perish in the essay. At the suggestion of the Morning-Star, a poor boy undertakes the courtship, which is accomplished through the aid of the god and of a helpful animal. Her evil qualities are removed, and the human race saved.

There was a time when there was only a birth here and there, and there were not many people. There was one man who was married, but he had no children.

One day, while he was hunting, he met a mysterious 61 looking being, who led him down under the ground, and there the man saw that he was in a lodge of the animals. “We sent for you,” said the beaver,62 “for we want you. We are to give you a girl and she is to be a wonderful63 girl. We are to give her power so that other girls will be as she is to be ; so that people will get into trouble and die. The women will be plentiful. When men are killed by this woman, then she will turn them over to the animals and the animals will devour them. Now when your girl is born, bring her to us. Leave her on the prairie, and we will take care of her.”

So the man was put upon dry land again, and he went home. Soon after, his wife gave birth to a girl. For a long time the man did not take his girl to the place. The girl was now quite a good-sized girl. Then the man took the girl to the place and placed her where he was told to put her. The next morning the man went, and the girl had disappeared.

When the girl was taken into the lodge, they told her that she was to belong to the animals ; that if any man wanted to marry her, she must first get the consent of the animals. A lodge was to be put up purposely for her. On the south side of the lodge were to be cedartrees,64 and bears, three in number ; they were to be placed there to guard her. At the entrance it was to be freezing cold whenever anybody approached her ; and it was to be very slippery, and if a young man tried to enter the lodge he would slip and fall and kill himself. If he succeeded in passing this place, then he was to meet two large rattlesnakes. If these two were passed, then all kind of snakes were to be encountered. If these were overcome, then the bears were to come upon him. If the bears were overcome, then, at* the bedside, was to be a great snake, which was very poisonous. His superatis, circa vulvam dentium infrenatio esse debuit. There was also to be in the north of the lodge a witch-woman, who would keep a baby-board for the girl. Vesicam quoque puella habere debuit, menta aliisque herbis aquaticis suavi odore impletam, inter crura suspensam. Cum humi sederet, supra foramen causa ejus factum sedere debuit. The old woman who had the baby-board was given several logs to lay on her fire, but these were spirits of men, and they were to guard the baby-board. All these things the girl was instructed to carry out, and to sing songs that they should teach her. Animalia etiam earn capere et prosternere debuerunt, maxillas crotali horridi dentes habentis obtinere, et supra vulvam ponere. Ad se rediit puella, et certas res circa earn sensit, quos dentes crotali esse invenit.

She stayed in the lodge for some time, and the animals went to work and built her a lodge. They placed the bears in the south ; the snakes at the inner entrance ; ice at the first entrance ; et foditum erat foramen ubi sederet vesicam-que suspenderet. Everything was prepared for her. Then they took her out and placed her in the new lodge.

People did not know anything about the lodge, but when they saw the girl going in and out, they thought she was very pretty. She was dressed in buckskin ; her hair always hung loosely over her shoulders ; and her moccasins were made from a rattlesnake hide. There were many feathers on her dress. As she grew, she became pretty.

Young men came from all over the country and tried to marry her, but she would not marry them. One young fellow, Hawk-Man, thought he would try and marry the girl. So he selected an old man to lead him, and when they came in sight of the girl’s lodge, there arose in front of them two trees with many thorns, so that they could not pass. They went back ; but the young man turned into a hawk and flew over the trees, and sat on a limb. The girl knew it, and she sang this song : —

“ I want you to hunt a baby-board With wildcat hide mat Fringed with deer-hoof rattles.

Then you may marry me.”

The hawk went, and was told of the old woman who kept the babyboard. The old woman always slept soundly, so there was no danger of getting caught. So when the boy (hawk) went, he caught the baby-board and ran, and was about halfway out when the old woman woke up. Seeing her baby-board gone, she caught up the wood in the fire and stirred the coals with it. “ Why didn’t you watch, you sleepyheaded people ! ” she said. The sticks (spirits) 66 got up and ran to the open place, and there were the footprints of the hawk upon the ground. They ran after him, and as they caught up with him, they threw live coals at him ; so that he had to throw away the baby-board and other things. He gave it up, and would not try any more.

Another young man tried it and failed. Every one failed who tried it, and people were being killed by the mysteries and powers of the girl. People wanted to get away from the girl.

Now it happened that there was a poor boy, whose mother was poor, and they had their tipi outside of the village. People, especially men, went there and urinated upon their tipi. Their tipi had a bad odor.

One night, as the boy lay in the tipi, an old man came to him and said, “Nawa,66 my son, I have come to see you. Do go up on that high hill to-morrow, and you will see who I am. At that time you are to see and know who I am. Be sure and be there, for I want you to come. I shall do something for you that you will be proud of. The earth-gods have done something that is bad for your people. The animals want to destroy the men and have only women. I will not allow it. Come up to the hill.

So in the night the boy went, and there he stood upon the hill, praying and sending his prayers to different gods in the heavens. Toward morning, in tfie west, he saw many people travelling. They were shouting and yelling for others to travel fast, for their soldier, or leader, was coming.

Presently there appeared a bright red star, and an assistant with him who was a smaller star. The leading star gave the assistant his belongings and trinkets, — even his sacred bundle. And who was this being with the robe turned inside out, and a red feather in his head ? Who was the other, his assistant, whose robe was white, his downy feathers being white ? Who can tell ? But as the poor boy lay upon his bed of earth and grass, he looked and saw this special being, who seemed all red. He had a club, and he seemed to drive the other people. And who were the other people ? They were stars, while this being, driving them, was none other than the Great-Star (Morning- Star), and his assistant, his brother, who stands back of him.

After all the stars had passed, these two stopped, and the leader said: “You see I am the Bright and Great Star. Tirawa gave me more power than any other star. I am the only God who can receive a human sacrifice,67 and Tirawa is pleased with me. Now I am going my way. I have seen you. You are poor. I have seen people come to your tipi and urinate upon it, so that your tipi has a strong odor. Now I will come to this place this afternoon, and I will lead you to the lodge of the young girl. You shall marry her, and the first-born shall be mine. If it is a girl she shall be mine ; if it is a boy he shall become a great warrior. Stay here upon the hill, and I will come and lead you to the lodge of the girl.”

Now the poor boy lay down and went to sleep. He lay there until in the afternoon ; then he was touched, and when he awoke he saw the same men he had seen in the morning, who were now standing before him, and they were the Great-Star and his assistant.

They at once sent the boy to the creek to wash ; but when he got there, he found that instead of water the creek was full of black snakes ; they were thick ; large fish were swimming around ; the beavers and otters swam around with fire in their mouths.68 He was scared and would not go in, till finally these men came, and said, “ What are you afraid of ? ” then the Great-Star raised his club and struck the water, and all the animals disappeared or died. So the boy went into the water and this man told him to dive several times. When he came up he had on a fine robe, fine leggings, with all kinds of birds attached, and he was a fine-looking man.

So they went to the girl’s lodge, and as they neared they heard the girl singing about getting the baby-board with the cat-hide and the deer-hoof rattles. The thorns came in the way, but the man waved his club and they disappeared. So they entered the grounds, and the girl kept on singing that there was no use of their coming ; that they must get the baby-board first. So they went to the old woman, and they found her sleeping ; so they got the board. The wood in the fire did not run after these men and throw coals at them, for they were dead, — their spirits were taken from them. The old woman could not do anything ; so she gave it up, and the boy left the baby-board with the girl.

In the evening the two men talked to the boy and said they had to go, but that they would be back the next day ; so they disappeared. And the next day they came back. So they went again to the lodge. As they drew near, the girl sang and was calling them names, for she saw she was being overpowered. She sang on, and said : “ Bring a tree and set it in front, and bring mockingbirds, that they may sing to the child which we may have.” So the three went, and they brought a tall tree and set it in front of the lodge, and one of them told the boy to make a motion on the leggings where the birds were hung, as if to throw them upon the tree. The boy made the motion, and there was at once heard fine singing by the birds. The birds returned to the leggings, and the tree stood in front of the lodge.

The girl was angry, and said this man must have been wonderfully powerful. These men went away ; the next day they came again to the lodge, and this time the girl sang, and said : “ Now you must go and get water from a spring to wash the baby.” These three men went and sat on a hill. The men, who were stars, then called all the birds that knew how to find things. The hawk, crow, and ducks were selected to find the spring, but they returned, for they did not find it. So the two men called on the animals, but they seemed not to wish to help. So the next thing they did was to visit another old witchwoman,69 who lived far away.

Veterem invenerunt cum progenie magna. Rem dixerunt, et ilia puellam maledixit, atque locuta est : “ Ille fons ubi sit, mihi certum. Ex ipsa fluit, effunditque in tenuem pellem, inter crura suspensum. Nunc mea causa volo ut petiatis duos arundines parvos, atque vesicam.” Haec obtinuerunt.

Then the old woman got these men among her children, and they stood in a circle. Then they sang this song : —

“ Girl with round face,70 I will find water,

And will take possession.”

♦

“ Dance hard, my children ; make the ground soft for me,” said the old woman. “ Do not stop dancing, but keep it up ! ” So they danced and danced ; and in their singing they were calling the girl names. They kept dancing, until the old woman began to go into the ground — until she disappeared. But they kept on dancing, and after awhile the dirt began to heave where she disappeared, and then the old woman came out again with the water. She turned the water over to the men and she fell, for she was tired. She was a gopher, and she had digged through the ground until she reached the place where the girl was sitting, and she had cut the skin bag that contained the water, and had inserted the reed in it, and the other end in the wash tLSchildeM' S° ‘hiS iS thC ^ they g0t the Spri"S water t0

Tunc discederunt homines, et puellae aquam dederunt ; olfecit ilia, et aquam sui ipsius novit ; itaque movit et saccum tentavit, sed viduus erat Cecimt, dixitque : “ Hac nocte veni, mecumque concubare licebit.” So these men said : “ My son, take this club, and if anything comes in the way, strike it, and it will die.” So the two stars went back into the heavens.

a nocte lvit puer, et dum iter fecit, lapis longus exilisque de cmlo cecidit, et juxta eum vox dixit : “ In puellam primum utaris, dentes emm m vulva habet.” So the boy picked up the stone, and went to the entrance of the lodge. When he got there, he saw the slippery place, so he waved his club, and the slippery place disappeared. He went on in, and at the second entrance he heard snakes rattling and hissing. He struck the ground near them with his club, and they died. So he went on in. This time, the bears began to growl, and as they came to attack him he struck at them with the club and they were only skins. Now he went to the bedside, and there was another great noise, made by a snake, but the boy killed the snake with his club.

Hoc facto,, puer audire potuit dentium stridorem crepitumque, et de vulva venit. Insanire ilia visa est, medio corpore hue illuc moto, velut aliquam rem morsuro. Sed ad eum venit puer, et longum lapidem cepit ; contra lapidem mordebat vagina, et puer lapidem hue illuc movit, dum. dentes omnes velut lima ablati sunt. Aliquam partem aquae ex vesica cepit, et earn lavit, dum munda erat facta ; turn uxorem duxit.

The next morning there were snakes scattered around the lodge. The bears robes were lying on the ground. People came and cleaned the lodge. The girl never gave birth, but turned black and died.

So it is that women are not that way now. Had the girl and animals won, then there would have been women who would be as this girl was.71

7. HOW THE BUFFALO WENT SOUTH.72

The original buffalo, who stands at the gate of heaven in the north, is refused passage by the Spider-Woman who spins webs in the centre of the earth ; the buffalo trample the Spider-Woman, and she is changed into a squash-vine ; in this manner the buffalo reach the south.

At the creation of all things, Tirawa made a buffalo to stand in the north, which was to be the home of the buffalo. The buffalo was given a mate. Here they increased, so that when the buffalo became old, it was given a place to stand, at the north entrance where the heavens touch the earth, where it was to let pass in and out whoever Tirawa wished to send out and call in. For many years the buffalo was standing at this place, and each year it would drop off one of its hairs, so that when all the hair had dropped off from it, the world should come to an end. This buffalo was the father of all buffalo.'3

Now the buffalo were numerous, and it was cold in the north, and there was not much grass. The buffalo asked their father if they might be permitted to go south where it was warmer and where they could get plenty of grass. Their father said : “I govern the north, I was placed here by Tirawa ; another person was set in the centre of the earth, and she has the right to let one pass there, so that you may scatter out and over the country. You were made to dwell in the north and not in the south, and until you get permission, you may not pass this being.”

So some buffalo were selected to visit this being and find out what it was and what it looked like, and what power it had. They travelled for many days, and after a while they reached the centre of the earth, and there was a tipi, and in this tipi was a little girl, who came out and saw the buffalo. She ran back into the tipi and told her mother that the buffalo were standing outside. She told her mother that there were some buffalo close to their tipi. The mother said : “You need not mind, they are sent on purpose to see me ; I have built my cobwebs in the centre of the earth, so that they cannot pass.” So she went out and told the buffalo to go back home ; that she had no use for them and that they could not come into her country ; that she was Spider-Woman 74 (she was one of those great red spiders, a tarantula), the daughter of Sun and Moon. The buffalo returned into their country. They reported to the buffalo who was the being, and said that it was Spider-Woman in the centre of the earth, who had stretched cobwebs all along so that the buffalo could not pass, and the buffalo said, “We cannot go.”

After a while the chief had born unto him a son, and when he looked at the calf that was born to him he saw that it had a white

Cosmogon ic. 3 7

spot on the forehead. This young calf the bulls called Bakissurikakkatskatak, Young-Bull-with-White-Spot-on-Forehead.76

A few years afterwards another son was born unto this same chief buffalo. This son had hair all about the eyes ; so they called him Hahrikikariwi (Young-Calf-with-Curly-Hair-about-Eyes). The buffalo called him Curly- Eyes.

Several years passed, and the buffalo were anxious to get into the southern country. So they thought that by getting some buffalo to go to Spider-Woman she would permit them to pass. So the chief buffalo called all the male buffalo, and told them to go and say to Spider-Woman that they had been told by the main buffalo at the entrance of the heavens that Sun and Moon had given seeds to her, and that she had planted corn, pumpkins, squash, and beans, and that among the seeds were some tobacco seeds, so that she had much tobacco ; that the buffalo at the entrance wanted the buffalo to ask her to give them some of this tobacco, so that the buffalo could smoke. All the buffalo said that it was well, that they would have to give some of their number to Spider-Woman, in order that she might send them some tobacco. The chief sent them as a messenger his oldest son, Young-Bull- with-White-Spot-on-Forehead, and told him to tell Spider-Woman that the chief of the buffalo had sent him to get some of the tobacco ; and that he had promised to give Spider-Woman one valley full of buffalo in return for her gift. Young-Bull-with-White- Spot-on-Forehead started on his journey, and for many days he travelled. At last he arrived at the home of Spider-Woman, and he stayed outside of the cobwebs. He then sang a song.

The old woman came out and said : “ No, go tell your father that we shall not accept one valley full of buffalo ; that I have much tobacco, but that I will not give him any.” When the boy got to where the buffalo were gathered, he told them that he had asked of the woman some tobacco ; that he had told her the buffalo would give her one valley full of buffalo, but that she had refused, saying she would not give them any tobacco, although she had plenty.

The chief of the buffalo said that he would send for that tobacco again, — and he was to send as messenger this time his younger son, Curly-Eyes. So Curly-Eyes went, and he, also, got to the home of Spider-Woman, and he, also, sang a song, saying that the buffalo would give her two valleys full of buffalo if she would only give them a handful of tobacco. The old woman came out, and said : “ No, I will do nothing of the kind. I have much tobacco, but I will give you none.” So the little fellow went back.

Now the chief of the buffalo sent his other son again, and told him to tell Spider-Woman that they were willing to give her half of all the buffalo. So Young-Bull-with- White-Spot-on-Forehead went again to Spider-Woman, but brought back the same report.

The buffalo selected Curly-Eyes again to go to Spider-Woman, and told him to tell her that she should have the whole drove of buffalo ; at the same time the buffalo had made a march toward her place from the north, so that the whole place where they were was covered with buffalo. On the north side it was covered with buffalo, but not on the south side, so they marched southward ; and they met this Curly- Eyes, who said that Spider-Woman was going to own all the buffalo, so she could give them orders what to do. But the chief of the buffalo was angry with Spider-Woman for refusing several times ; so he gave orders that the buffalo should make a rush for her camp, and destroy it and trample it ; trample all her tobacco and her fields, so that she would be known only as being trampled in the ground ; that the fields she had of corn, squash, and pumpkins the buffalo should destroy, and scatter the seeds all over the earth, that they might grow, and that the people might gather them and get their seeds from there ; that they should trample the old woman into the ground and turn her into a large root, so that a vine should grow from it, and the people might be reminded that the old woman was trampled in the ground, and that her cobwebs were trampled also ; that they were to pull them down from the sky ; that the vines should represent her webs ; that there should be fruit on the vines which would be round, to show that the bag of webs was from Spider-Woman, that the people might not eat it ; but the roots were to be in the shape of a human being, to be dug up by the people and used for medicinal purposes.

So the buffalo made a rush at her tipi. The old woman came out and tried to give orders to them, but they would not listen to her- They kept on making a rush, and she had in her hand a piece of head, waving it, to get them to go to some other place, but they would not go. She was so excited that she finally took off her dress and waved it at the buffalo, but they kept on coming and trampled her tipi, her corn fields, and everything that she had ; and they tramped on her until she went into the ground and disappeared, so that the cobwebs were taken down, and the buffalo passed the centre of the earth. Then they went by ; so now the southern part was covered with buffalo.76

By doing this the people everywhere obtained buffalo, where they had not been known. Spider-Woman was trampled into the ground and turned into a root, and in time a vine grew up from her, so that when the people saw it they said : “ Why, this is the vine that used to be the cobwebs of Spider-Woman, who used to be seated in the centre of the earth. So some people digged it, and they found that Spider-Woman had turned into a large root — it had legs, head, and shoulders, — so it makes squash 77 medicine.

Cosmogonic .

8. THE DEATH OF SPIDER-WOMAN.78

Spider-Woman poisons stray hunters, whose ears she strings on a cord. Tirawa sends down the Sun-Youths, who withstand her wild beasts, her poison, and the storm she evokes ; by incantation the boys cause heat, and bring grasshoppers which carry to the sky Spider-Woman, who becomes the Woman in the Moon. The seeds of edible plants, intrusted to her, are distributed among mankind.

There were many villages in a country, and the people were enjoying plenty of buffalo and plenty of corn ; but there lived the Spider- Woman northeast from the villages, so that if a hunter started away from the village and got near to this Spider-Woman’s place, she would feed him and put some kind of poison on the food she gave, so that he would die. She would then cut his head off, place it in her lodge, take the body and cut it up, or sometimes throw it into the creek which was near her, so that the animals in the stream ate up the body. She would then take the head, take out the brains, put them apart so that they would dry in the sun, cut the ears off, string them on a cord and set them out in the sun, so that the ears would then dry and look like dried bits of pumpkins or squash.

People disappeared. Others wanted to know something about the place whither they went. So some men followed other hunters, who fell in with this Spider-Woman and never came back. These men went back to the camp, and told the people that the Spider-Woman was the one that was killing the people.

The people then decided that the hunters should never go that way. When the people stopped going that way, she made her way to the villages and captured many and took them home. She seems to have had power from some mysterious animal in the earth.

Tirawa looked down upon these people, and felt sorry for them and took pity on them. So he commanded the Sun and Moon to send their two boys to the village, saying that he wanted the Sun and Moon to help the people by destroying this Spider-Woman ; for some mysterious animal had taken the old woman to their home and had taught her their mysteries. Tirawa had given the seeds to this Spider-Woman to plant and reap, and when she had many seeds she was to have divided them among the people. Instead of this, whenever she planted, she put the seeds in sacks, dug holes in the ground, and put them in the holes. She would not give a kernel to anybody, but kept all to herself.

Now these boys were brought down from the heavens in the night, and were placed on the east side of the village. They rambled about through the woods for several days, when one day they were found by one of the leading men of the village. They were such nice-looking young men that he took them to his lodge. The boys stayed with this man, and they rambled about through the country, hunting all the time. They were told that in the northern country lived a mysterious old woman who was all the time killing men. These young men never said anything, but stayed with these people till they had become full-grown men.

So they asked the man who had charge of them to give them each a bow of hedge79 and a quiver full of arrows. These the man got for the boys, and they started at once for the northern country, slinging their quivers over their shoulders. The old woman knew that they were coming ; so she sent her snakes to meet these young men. When the young men saw the snakes they were scared ; for the ground was covered with snakes. In the centre was a huge rattlesnake, that seemed to be the leader of all the other snakes. The oldest of the two boys took his bow and arrows and shot at the snake and killed it. After the snakes saw that the chief was killed, they all ran to their holes and disappeared.

The young men then proceeded, and the next day they were met by mountain lions, which the old woman had sent to destroy them. The younger man was scared, but the older told him not to be afraid, for he would kill them. So he shot at the largest mountain lion and killed it. The others ran into their dens.

They travelled again, and they were met by the bears which the old woman had sent ; and these boys killed the bears ; and when they had killed the bears the old woman knew it. She said : “ They must be wonderful boys ! ” The boys went on, and they came to a thickly timbered country ; they went through the timber, down the hills into a valley, and there was the old woman standing outside, waving at them to come.

She met them, and said : “ My grandsons, I have been looking for you for the last few days. How long have you been on the way to this place ? and did you meet any wild animals ? ” And the boys said : “ Yes.” “ Did you kill them ? ” asked the old woman. The older boy said : “We came over them. We did not meet them.” The old woman did not say anything expressing vexation, but she said: “I am glad that you boys have come. I want you to do some work for me.” She then turned around and said : “ Girls, make fire and cook something for my grandchildren ; they have come a long way and they must be hungry.” So the girls went into their lodge and put pots on the fire, put something in the pot and cooked it.

The boys were taken into the lodge, and the old woman said that she had some mush she wanted them to eat. The boys could see human heads around inside the lodge, and the older boy whispered to his younger brother and said : “What she offers us is human brains.” He handed him a little piece of root to chew while sitting there, and said : “When she hands us that bowl, do not be afraid of it.” So the old woman then handed the bowl of brains to them, and they ate, and all this time the old woman was sitting, talking to herself, saying, “What fine-looking lads they are. They will make nice corn sacks for me. I shall take their heads off, place these in the lodge, and blow the other part with my breath, so that they will turn into sacks, and I shall fill them up with corn and stand them up in my lodge.”

After the boys had eaten and given the bowl back to the old woman she sat there and thought, “ Well, this is a long time ; I don’t see why the medicine does not work.” She kept on thinking, “ I wonder what is the matter ; I wonder if my medicine is failing.” But the older brother said : “ Grandmother, we are going out a little while into the brush to urinate. We shall presently be back. We are anxious to help you along in different work you have for us to do.” So they went down into the timber, out of sight of the old woman, and the older boy took a little bag with some powdered roots in it. This he untied, took a little of it, put it on his younger brother’s nose so that he inhaled it ; and as soon as this powder reached his stomach he began to vomit, until his stomach was empty. The older brother did the same thing, and vomited all his food.

They went back into the lodge, and the old woman was surprised. Said she : “These must be wonderful boys.” Then she turned around and said to her daughters : “ Cook some of this dried pumpkin for these young men ; they must be hungry.” But the boys said : “No, grandmother, for we have just eaten.” “Yes,” said the old woman, “but we must have another meal ; these pumpkins80 are very fine.” So the girls put the mock dried pumpkins in the pot and boiled them for a long time. All this while the old woman was talking to herself about what she would do with the boys. So she dished up the mock pumpkins in a bowl and handed them to the boys, but she had put some powdered root in the bowl. Then the boy did the same thing as before to his younger brother, and they went out and vomited again.

When they came back, they told the old woman that they thought they had made their visit long enough, and they thought they would go home. She said : “No, no, my grandsons, stay with me; I shall give you plenty to eat and a good place to sleep ; stay with me ! Tomorrow we shall have the Skull bundle ceremony and dance.”

So the boys went to bed, and the old woman made her bed across the entrance, so that if the boys should go out she would know it. When the boys wanted to go out they got up and went to the old woman at the entrance and asked her to let them pass, saying they wanted to go out and urinate ; and she jumped up and said: “Well, my grandchildren, you shall go.” So they went out, and she followed.

When they got ready to return to the lodge she followed them, all the while saying how nice the weather was, and how glad she was to have her grandchildren visit her.

The next day the old woman said : “ I want you young men to go out with me and dance this dance that we are about to have. I will do the singing, and I will help you dance. There will be a song sung for the women to dance. But you boys can dance with me.” She now went out and prepared a place east of the lodge. In the mean time the older of the brothers took another sack of medicine, rubbed it all over his brother and upon himself, and said : “Now she is about to do something, and we want to be prepared to meet whatever it is that is coming.” The old woman then came and told them that she was now ready for them. So they all went out together, and they came to a place where there was a steep bank. Here she placed the two brothers, right on the edge of the bank, which was very steep. So in making them dance in a circle she thought they would get dizzy and fall over this steep bank and be killed. She began singing, and when she stopped she would say : “ What fine fellows I have here. When they fall over I shall go down to the creek and blow their mouths till their skins come off from their bodies ; then I will dry the skins and make sacks, which I can stand up in my lodge.” Now she sang : —

“ I want the clouds to rise,

I want the dark clouds to come ;

I want the snowstorm to come,

So that it will freeze everything.”

She was singing about the dark clouds coming, — and presently they saw the clouds coming in the north. The old woman seemed to have power to call the cold weather. When she sang about the dark clouds nearing, the dark clouds were at hand. She sang about the snowstorm, and it began to snow ; she sang about the wind, and the wind blew. Then when she sang about freezing, everything seemed to freeze. When she first began singing the song, she danced in the way the tune was sung ; the boys never became dizzy, but were turned into snowbirds, and here the snowbirds danced ; the old woman could see the young men standing there dancing. They did not get dizzy, but faced the north and kept on dancing. The old woman found out that she could do nothing with them, that all her medicines and even her storm had failed to kill the young men. So she finally gave it up.

She stopped. She said : “You shall have the best I have. I shall be good to you. My girls have prepared our meal for us.” But the boys said : “ No, grandmother, you have had your time, now let us have our turn, and we will sing and dance with you.” She said : “All right, we will dance ; but boys, try and make the dance as short as possible, for I am hungry, for we have been working hard this morning.” Then the young men began to sing, and they sang : —

“ We want the storm to pass over,

We want the clouds to pass away,

So that our father Sun will shine upon us.”

The clouds passed over, and the sun came out. It shone upon them. The boys sang on, and the old woman was dancing. The next song they sung was : —

“We want our father to come closer to us,

So that his head will come upon us.”

And so the sun did that, and it grew so hot that the old woman finally pulled off her sack to wipe the sweat from off her face. She stopped singing and said : “ Let us go home.” But the boys would say : “ Let us continue dancing.” The third song that was sung was : —

“ Now our father is shining down upon us with all his heat.

Let the people who make our father hotter come down in a drove.”

And as they were dancing they saw a flight of grasshoppers coming down from the sun, and the old woman told the boys to stop them, but they continued singing : —

“ We want our father to call these grasshoppers again to himself,

And then to our mother Moon, where our grandmother shall hereafter make her home.”

The grasshoppers flew down, and there were so many under the Spider-Woman’s feet that as she jumped up and down the grasshoppers lifted her up. The young men kept on singing, and she tried to make them stop singing, and hopped up and down, and the grasshoppers flew under her feet, and they lifted her up in the sky. Then, on the way up to the sky, she tried to whip the grasshoppers away with her sack ; but it was so small that she finally took off her dress. She trip to whip them away, but they were so thick that they could not let her down. The boys continued singing their song until the old woman disappeared in the heavens.

The grasshoppers took her up near the sun, but the sun was so hot that they could not take her there ; so they took a different course and flew on, so that the old woman finally stopped talking, and they reached the moon and placed her on the moon, and that is the old woman that you see upon the full moon, dragging her dress, which you see at the bottom of her feet.

The boys then went up to the old woman’s lodge and gave the girls their freedom. Each picked up all the seeds they could, went to the different camps, to the four villages, and there each girl went to a different village, taking these seeds that the old woman had with her, and the seeds were given to the people.

The girls were good. They had not known the doings of the old woman ; so they were married into the four tribes, so that each band of the Pawnee had seeds.

9. THE GOD-OF-WIND.*1

In time of hunger, an apparently idiotic but wonderful boy brings buffalo. He is sent for by another village, and performs a successful ceremony ; the buffalo arrive, but when killed by the unbelieving, change into coyotes. The boy vanishes, and becomes the Wind-God in the north.

A long time ago, when the Skidi band of the Pawnee was living upon the Platte River, they started on a buffalo hunt. Most of them followed up the Platte River, while a few went up the Loup River. There were three tipis who followed the Loup River. They went for many days, and there were no buffalo in sight. They became very hungry, for their corn and squash had now nearly given out.

There was one boy who was not known very well, but who was quiet and was considered foolish, for he was one time lost in a snowstorm. When this boy saw children crying, he would reach under a mat 82 close by the fireplace, pull out a piece of meat and give it to his mother, and tell her to roast it for the children. But they became more hungry.

So the boy went out and dug some mud and made a mud calf.83 He stood the mud calf west of the tipi and lay down. Toward evening he reached and tapped the tipi several times with his hand, and the mud calf turned into a buffalo calf, so that it ran. People saw it, and they thought it wonderful.

About the fourth day the boy told the people to watch, that they would again see the calf upon a high hill, and that they were not to try to kill it, for it was the one he had made, and that it was to bring buffalo to them.

People were starving. Men went out, but they never saw anything. The boy then told a certain man to get up early and to look toward the hill, and if he saw anything to report to him. This the man did, but he could not see anything. He became discouraged, and as he turned around to go home, he saw the wonderful boy near him. The boy said, “ Nawa ! Do you not see the calf on the hill?” The other man looked, and there, on top of the hill, was the calf. The calf was facing east. The man saw it, and with thankful heart put his arms about the wonderful boy.

The wonderful boy then told the man to go down and tell the people to get ready ; that the calf had brought buffalo. The man went down to their camp and cried with joy to the people that the buffalo had come and for them to get ready to attack and kill.

So the people went out and met the wonderful boy, who told them all to travel out ; that at a certain hollow they would find the buffalo sitting down. At this time the people had no ponies, so they all travelled out, and finally came to the hollow, and there they found the buffalo. A signal was given and the people all ran toward the buffalo with their bows and arrows, ready to shoot. The buffalo jumped up and ran, but the people came from all directions. The buffalo kept going around in a circle. There were not very many, for these were sent that the people might kill them and eat them. They killed and skinned all, and took the meat home. The calf on the hill disappeared. For several days they did not see any buffalo, and the wonderful boy told them that in four days they would kill again.

On the fourth day people again saw the calf upon the hill, and they again knew that buffalo were near them. Again the same man cried through the village to get ready, that again they were to kill buffalo. The wonderful boy did not go out, for the other people divided with him. The people again attacked the buffalo, and again they killed all. The old women went out and brought in everything, so that only blood was left upon the ground.

A third time they killed, and the women had plenty to do. They dressed the hides for their tipis and also made robes. They boiled the bones and made tallow, so that now every woman had two or three buffalo sacks of tallow.84

A fourth time the buffalo became numerous all over the land ; the calf was in the lead. They went all over the village. People killed many buffalo, and now they had plenty of meat.

Winter was about to set in. The buffalo disappeared, but the people now had plenty. They knew they had a boy who was wonderful, for he could call the buffalo.

Now at the other village, that was upon the Platte River, the people were starving. The chiefs sent scouts out, but there was no sign of buffalo. Even antelope, deer, and all kinds of game had disappeared ; children cried for something to eat ; old women cried, for they felt for their children. Although scouts were sent out, they came back with no news.

One man strayed off and went north. When he came to the Loup River he saw smoke going up from the timber. He was so nearly starved that he made up his mind to enter the village, even if it were an enemy’s, so that he could be killed ; if not, it would be well with him. He entered the village, and the women were afraid of him, for he was so poor. He spoke, and as he spoke, people knew that he was one of them. They took him in and fed him, and he was astonished, for they had plenty to eat. He told them that the other people were starving, and that he had wandered away, for he did not want to see his own children starve. He had gone north, and had kept on and on, until he had found them. Now he was happy, for he knew that the people would feed his children and the other people. People told him of the wonderful boy, — how he had made a mud calf and it had turned into a live buffalo calf when he tapped on the tipi, and how the calf had brought buffalo to them four times.

People broke camp and went south to relieve the other people. When they got there, they gave meat to the other people, so that they ate meat. This was not enough. People did not know what to do. Children were crying for something to eat. Men and women were thin, for they had given all to their children.

Now the man who visited the north village told the other people that he was told that a certain young man could call the buffalo. The chief sent for a crier,85 who was told to go through the camp and notify the chiefs and braves to meet him. This was done. The chief filled his pipe and passed it on to the next chief, who smoked. The head chief told them of their wish for something to eat ; that he felt badly to see children cry for meat ; that he had been told that there was a certain young man in the new camp who could call the buffalo. “ I want all of you to go and get presents of robes, wampum, arrows, pipes, and any other things that you may have,” said the chief. So the chiefs went out and brought presents to the lodge. Now the chiefs painted themselves and turned their robes inside out,86 for they were feeling badly. So the chief led with the pipe, while the others followed with presents for the wonderful boy. The wonderful boy was lying down when he was told that the chiefs were coming to visit him. He arose and wept,87 then seated himself on the west side of the tipi. Now the chiefs entered the tipi and the head chief stood with the pipe in his hand, for the boy either to accept or reject. For a long time they stood, and at last they saw the boy move ; then he reached and took the pipe. The chief then blessed him by passing his hands over his head and down his arms. He then took a seat. The others came up and gave presents, then blessed him. Each exclaimed, “ Nawa ! Nawa iri ! ” The pipe was lit ; so they all smoked. The boy then told the chiefs that he was a man and not a god, and that he would try to help them ; that if the god who was present with him was willing, they would have plenty to eat. Now the god he referred to was one of the gods in the north, — Hutukawahar,88 Wind-Ready-to-Send.

“ Now, chief,” said the boy, “ go bring us two otter hides, two black handkerchiefs, and two clam shells and much tobacco.89 We shall meet in my tipi, when we shall sing and dance. By our singing the wind will grasp our songs. By our dancing the earth will be made to shake, so that^ buffalo will come and we will kill them. When we dance the earth shakes, and the buffalo will feel the shaking and be inclined to travel.”

The chiefs selected a spot west of the village, and there they put up a new tipi, for now they were to have a ceremony that meant a great deal to them. The boy went there alone, and there, on the tipi poles on the north, was tied a silver piece and a headdress made of magpie feathers90 for the young man. The chief sent men through the camp, and they found two otter skins and the other things.

Now the first thing done was to fix these things upon long poles, so that the gods in the heavens would see their presents and would help drive the buffalo. Now these things — otter skins, black handkerchiefs, shells, and tobacco — were tied up on the two long poles, which were of cedar, and which were set up, side by side, on a high hill. The otter skins had been decorated.

The boy went into his lodge and sang a song. The people danced. He had several pairs of moccasins with him, or near him. As they sang on, the boy would rise and leave the lodge, making a grunting noise outside. When he came in, his moccasins were worn out.91 He changed them and put on another pair. Once in a while he would reach behind and pick up meat, handing it to the people, who were now his servants. They cooked it and fed the people who came in.

Once this boy went out, and when he again entered the tipi he told them that he had been a long way off, but now the buffalo would come ; that a certain calf had followed him ; that the calf would be seen on the hill on the north side of the village. Indeed, the calf was seen on the hill.

Four unmarried young men, who had never known a woman,92 were selected, and they went out and killed the calf. They did not cut it up, but brought the whole calf home. The old men were told to cut the calf up after it was taken in the lodge where the boy was having the ceremony.

The calf was laid on the south side of the fireplace, the head facing north.93 Now one old man who had a flint knife arose and walked to the calf and cut the tongue out. Now he cut open the breast and took the heart out. The wonderful boy then went and took the tongue. He cut it at the root, and then cut it up in pieces. Then he took the heart and cut off the small end, which he cut up into pieces. He then took some tobacco and mixed it up with the tongue and heart. Now he had a small fireplace set west of the lodge, outside, and on the east side he had a hole dug, where he was to place the meat. Then he took the meat and went out by way of the south and stood east of the hole, the fireplace being west of the hole. He offered the meat to the gods in the west, and to the north, each time dropping meat in the hole. He then covered up the hole, so that the meat was buried, and went into the lodge by way of the north. The boy then had the tongue and heart put in the fire to the god who gave him power to call the buffalo. Fire was made with fire-sticks.

Now the boy sang songs, and as he sang them he told the people to dance, in order to shake the ground and awaken the buffalo so that they would come. As they continued, the same men who killed the calf were told to cut it up and boil it ; for everybody in the lodge must eat. They kept up the dance. Then the boy would go out. When he came back into the lodge he would say, “ I have been a long way off.”

Now the meat was all cooked and they divided it among themselves, being careful not to drop any bones. The bones were piled up. The earth, where stained with blood, was all taken up and placed in a pile with the bones. Now the same four men were again sent to the hill where the gifts were, and east of the place the bones were buried, the head facing south. This was done, for the buffalo were coming from the west, so the calf must be buried east of the presents.94

The fourth day the people danced harder and harder. Especially, as night came on, they danced harder. By daylight the men sent out scouts. The scouts returned and said there were many buffalo coming. The crier went through the village telling the people that they were to attack the buffalo ; not to be afraid, for the buffalo were to be driven by Wind-Who-Stands-in-the-North, or Ready-to-Give.

The men went out, and many were weak, but they went. Some of them had to get others to kill for them. They killed and brought the meat home.

But there was one man who did not believe the boy ; and when he shot the buffalo it turned, as it fell, into a coyote. The man was angry. He went after another, and as he was about to shoot at it, it waved its tail and it was a coyote. He gave up.

People took the best meat to the boy’s tipi, where they were dancing. The men told them that he offered tongue and heart to the different gods in the heavens, and the meat was burned, for he did not want the crows and coyotes to smell the meat, lest they might scare the buffalo away. The other part of the tongue and heart was for Tirawa and was burned, so that smoke should go up to him, and he might know that he was to receive offerings from the people, for now the minor gods had helped to send buffalo.

The people killed again, and again they killed. About the fifth time the buffalo just went upon the hill where the presents were hung. They made several circles, then moved eastward. People began to kill and slaughter. They had so much meat that they decided to make a permanent village. This place was known as Young-Calf-Standingon-Hill. This boy was known as Stitakau,95 Womb, for when this boy wanted to call buffalo, he seemed to make the ground open so that buffalo came forth.

Womb disappeared, but before he disappeared, he told some old man that he would now stand in the north ; that they must call him Hikusu, Breath or Wind. So in all the offerings of meat and smoke they make offerings to him as one of the minor gods. So he disappeared, and the people knew that he did not die, but is living and stands in the north, where he said he would stand.

10. READY-TO-GIVE AND HIS WONDERFUL FEATHERS.96

A warrior, Ready-to-Give, is killed in battle, but revived by the gods, save that in place of brains he has only feathers. He appears to the people, counsels and assists them, grants their wishes, and teaches them rites ; he disappears, and becomes a star in the north.

A long time ago, while the Skidi were upon the Platte River, four men went west to hunt. They came to a ravine. In the ravine was a great thicket of willows and high grass, and here the men made a little grass house. While they were there, Pahukatiwa went out by himself to hunt. The Sioux attacked Pahukatiwa and killed him. They unjointed his body, and scattered the pieces all over the prairie. The three others hid and ran along the ravine until they got away from the place.

They went home and told the people that Pahukatiwa was dead, that he had been killed by the enemy. , So the people went up to the place, and they saw nothing but feathers, arrows, long sticks, and many arrows. The people could not find the body of Pahukatiwa. They sought everywhere, but could not find him.

There was one young man who was a great friend of Pahukatiwa, who, for many years afterwards, was visited by a strange spirit. In the first place, there was a noise at the back of the tipi that sounded like rapping. Afterwards the being came into the tipi and spoke to the man, saying, “Fill up your pipe with native tobacco, that I may smoke.” The man thought to himself, “ Who can this be thaf is speaking to me, for I cannot see any one ? ” The being again told him to fill his pipe. Then the being said to the man : “ I am Pahukatiwa, the man who was killed upon the prairie and cut into pieces ; my brains were scattered, so when the animals took pity on me they could not find my brains, for the small insects had eaten them. It seems that when I was killed and the other man ran home, the gods in the heavens and the gods in the earth all joined together and agreed that they should bring me to life again and give me power to travel all over the country. So the animals got together, and each brought back what they had taken and replaced it upon my body ; my brains were not found, but the downy feathers of the duck were obtained and placed in my head, — this is the reason I cannot speak plainly to you.” So the man filled up the pipe and lighted it and passed it to this mysterious being that he could not see. The mysterious being got hold of the pipe and gave but one whiff, when he said : “ Why ! Fill up the pipe again, for you did not put in any tobacco.” Then the man saw that the spirit had drawn all the smoke out of the pipe, so that there was nothing but ashes in it, and the man had to fill it up again. The mysterious being smoked four times, bid the man good-by, and told him he was going away.

For many days the man who had been talking with the mysterious being went out from the village, and as the night was coming on he saw flashes of light around the village. The man knew that the mysterious being was around again. So he went into the tipi and sat down. After a while he heard the noise on the back of his tipi. The next time he heard the noise it was very close to him. It was now night. Then they again smoked together and the mysterious being told the man to tell the people that the enemy were coming to attack them. The mysterious being gave the man a pair of leggings, not to wear upon his legs, but to put up on a long pole, for the enemy who was coming had his buffalo robe. So the man told the crier to go through the camp and tell all the people to keep still, that Pahukatiwa had brought him a good message ; that in the morning the enemy would attack them ; also to bid them lariat their ponies close to their tipis ; for Pahukatiwa had left his own leggings with the man who was talking with him. That night, when all was quiet through the village, again this man bade the crier tell the warriors and braves of the village to come to his tipi. When they came they had great dancing. The mysterious being was sitting amongst them, telling them how they were to dance and how they 'were to fight. He told the warriors and braves that they must dance, and if they wanted to capture enemies, to ask it of him in their dance. Some of the young men asked that they might kill an enemy and some would ask differently, according as they wanted to do certain things, and so it was, that whatever they asked they had.

The next day the enemy attacked the village, and when the people went out to fight the enemy they found one man wearing a buffalo robe, and then they knew that it was the one that Pahukatiwa had had. So the Pawnee did their best to kill the man with the buffalo robe. This man had the buffalo robe wrapped around his body. The Skidi with the leggings, instead of putting them on his legs, had tied them on a long pole, and had them upon the battlefield.97 The Skidi overtook the enemy aijd slaughtered many.

Sometime afterwards another man began to communicate with this mysterious being, and the mysterious being came to this particular man and took him far away into the southern country. There the mysterious being led the young man around, trying to teach him the different powers he possessed. In the first place, the mysterious being led the man to a steep bank. There, at the bottom of the steep bank, were mountain lions, fighting. The mysterious being told the man to jump in between the two lions and he would be secure. But when the man looked down there and saw the two lions he did not jump. Then the mysterious being took the man to another place in a hill country with many cedar-trees, and there he told the young man to go into the timber and there he would learn some of the mysteries. The man went there and saw two bears. He turned back and never went any more, so that he did not learn. The mysterious being tried in every way to do something for the man, but the man would not accept anything.

While the mysterious being and the man were sitting down, the mysterious being handed him seven feathers, and told him that whenever he should go on the warpath he should take these feathers with him. When they captured many ponies and there was danger of the warriors being caught, the man was to sit down and stick the seven feathers in the ground and sprinkle a little water upon them, when the clouds would come up from all sides of the horizon ; then it would be dark with dust all over the land and the enemy could not find them.98

The mysterious being also took the same man into a ravine and showed him an old elk that was about to die. The mysterious being sent the man to the elk and the man learned the secrets of the dying99 elk.

This mysterious being introduced a dance among the Pawnee known as the “One-Horn-Buffalo-Dance.” The dance was among only the greatest warriors of the Skidi band.100

This mysterious being helped the Pawnee in many ways, and one time he visited the Pawnee, going to the different men that he used to talk with. As every one of them refused to smoke with him, he became angry, and said that he was going far away ; that he was going to stand in the north, just under the North-Star, and there he would stand as one of the stars.101 Other tribes of Indians had treated him well, but as his own people refused to have anything to do with him, he thought it was best to go and to take his place where the people in the north were. So he disappeared and was never heard of more.102

Traditio7is of the Skidi Pawnee.

II. THE MORNING-STAR BUNDLES.108

The two Morning-Stars, at the bidding of Tirawa, live on earth as blind old men ; the Crow and Coyote steal their meat, but Coyote is killed. The stars choose a boy from the village, convey him into their lodge, give him a ceremonial bundle, and instruct him in secret rites.

A long time ago, when people were first created, the different stars in the heavens gave certain things to certain people.104 Tirawa wanted to give certain bundles to the people, and through these bundles human sacrifices were to be made to the Morning-Stars, and more particularly to the Great Star.

Tirawa did not know how he could reach the people directly, so he consulted the two Morning-Stars, and asked if they could transform themselves into old men and go down to earth and live somewhere near the people, take certain things in a bundle and hang them up in a lodge that he should give them. Being stars, they were not to see in the daytime, but were to be blind, though they were to see at night. The sacrifices that would be offered should be to these two stars. So they consented to go down to earth and live. Tirawa and the two stars debated together how they should dwell, whether in an earth lodge, or in a tipi, or in a hollow log, or in a kind of stone cave. The two Stars reminded Tirawa that as they were to be blind they must have a lodge that must be solid, and the outside must be such that no bad animals or people could get inside without their knowledge.

So Tirawa told them that he was going to give them a stone lodge ; that the lodge would have a large opening on the top, and in the east would be the entrance. When they should want to go out, they were to say (to the stone), “ Grandfather,105 move.” The stone was then to move at the east side, just far enough for one man to go out. On returning, they were to say, “ Grandfather, close.” They agreed to live in such a house.

So these Stars were transformed into human beings, and they were blind in the day, and could see in the night. Here in this lodge they hung their bundles, and on each side of the bundles they planted spears, which were to be their weapons, if anybody should attack them.

Coyote was going along, when he saw a crow flying overhead, with a great piece of meat in his mouth. Coyote .then stopped and said : “ Grandchild, where did you get that meat? ” The crow told Coyote if he would come at the same time the next day, he would take him to the place where he got the meat. So the next day Coyote was present, and the crow came. The crow told Coyote to follow him. So he followed toward the east, until they came to the side of a hill ; they climbed that hill, and when they got on the top of the hill the

Fig. io

LEADER (OWNER OF MORNING-STAR CEREMONY)

crow jumped over and sat on a stone. Coyote went up and jumped over the place where the crow had sat down. The crow said : “ Now I want you to see ; here are living two wonderful blind men.” One was sitting on the north side and one on the south side. Now Coyote said to the crow: “Wait a little while, and you will see when they move, and you will see that one of them will put his hand behind him ; and there he has a parfleche filled with dried buffalo meat. He will take that ; he will go to the fireplace, where- the pot is hanging, and he will put it in the pot. The meat will cook, and then this man will take the meat out of the pot, and they will divide it. He will give the other man half of the meat, and he will take the other half, and that is the way they eat.”

Coyote watched, and he saw the man reach for the parfleche, and he took therefrom the dried meat, went to the fireplace where the pot hung, and put the meat in it. After the meat was cooked the pot was taken down, the meat taken from it, and the meat was divided equally in wooden bowls, and one of the bowls was passed to the second man, the first man keeping the other.

While they were talking, the crow flew down and took a piece from one of the blind men, came up, and gave it to Coyote, flew down, took another piece from the other man, and they both ate. Coyote wanted more, and asked the crow to go down and get more. So the crow went down and got more. After they had eaten the crow flew away, but Coyote made his home there, on the side of the hill, and watched all the time. Whenever he saw the crow come he would go to him, for he knew that he was going to get some more meat from these blind men.

The crow and Coyote kept this up until one day Coyote was hungry and told the crow to take him down into that place. So the crow got hold of Coyote’s ears and he flew down into this place with Coyote. The crow stayed on the top, but Coyote was inside with these men.

Now every time they ate one man would accuse the other of stealing his meat. One day the man put some meat in the pot, and it was boiling, and when it was done he took it out, divided the meat, gave one bowl to his brother, while he himself took the other. When he put his hand in the bowl the meat was gone. He said nothing, but the second one put his hand in his own bowl, took a little of the meat, and when he reached again for the meat it was gone. So he accused the first one of taking his meat. “ Why, ” said the first man, “ no, you have taken my meat, and I have said nothing.” Now they accused each other, and Coyote, being in the lodge, was becoming uneasy and wanted some way to escape, and thought if he could get the old men to fighting he could do so.

Coyote went to one of the old men and struck him on the side of the face with his paw ; then he kept looking up and motioning with his hand, trying to get the crow to assist him ; but the crow would not do this, and he laughed at Coyote. One of the blind men said to the other : “ Why do you hit me on the side of the face with your hand ? ” Coyote then ran up by the side of the other man and struck him on the side of his face. This man said : “ Why do you strike me?” Then Coyote ran up to the other one, and struck him again, and they kept on.

So each accused the other of striking him. At last one of them said : “ Well, whatever that was that struck me, if it is not your hand, it seems to have hair on it, for I felt it when it struck me.” Then the other one said it was the same when it struck him ; when it struck him there was hair on it. One of them said : “Well I think there is some kind of an animal here ; let us get our spears, and see if we cannot find out.” One of them said : “ Do you go round by way of the east, and I will go round by way of the west.”

One of them got up, and was going out. He said, “ Grandfather” (meaning the stone), “move,” and the stone moved and the man went out ; as he went out, the stone door was opened just a little, so that Coyote tried to get out, but the stone moved in such wise that it gave Coyote no chance to get away. So they went around the lodge, sticking their spears into the side of the lodge ; just as they were about to give up, they heard Coyote jump about to keep from getting hit, and he was also breathing hard, on account of his jumping so many times. Then they said : “ Surely there is something in here.” So they kept on going around, until one of them struck Coyote in the side, and held him there so that he was killed. Coyote gave one loud yelp and died.

Then they both said : “ There is one thing lacking in our bundle, and it is a coyote quiver.” So they both sat down, skinned Coyote, and threw his carcass away and kept the hide. This hide was made into a quiver for the bow and arrow, but they had no bows nor arrows, and this quiver never did contain any, although they put the quiver on their sacred bundle, for it had been tanned and dried.

One of these old men went to the stone in the night and said, “ Grandfather, move,” and the stone moved. This man went out, went to the village of the people and brought upon his back a young boy, who was still asleep, and as he came into the place he said, “ Grandfather, close,” and the thing closed.

The boy was awakened, and was told that he had been brought there by these mysterious beings ; that they were to teach him the secrets of the bundle ; and the boy ever afterwards waited on these two blind men and stayed with them for many years, until he learned the ceremony of the bundle. After he had learned the ceremony of the bundle he was told to perform all that he saw there when he should get home, and to have those ceremonies once a year. The bundle was put upon his back and he was sent home.

These blind fellows continued to stay in the rock till it was time that they should be rising in the east again, when they were taken up into the heavens, and placed at their places by the side of Tirawa.

So it is that some of these sacred bundles have coyotes in them, and some have coyote quivers in them ; for these two men ordered that such things should be in the bundles.106

12. THE SKULL BUNDLE.107

When the first man dies, his skull is put in his holy bundle, but is subsequently replaced by another.

Among the Pawnee is a bundle with a human skull tied upon it. The first man created was the man who first owned the bundle and taught the songs and ceremony to other people ; and this first man told the people that when he should die they must get his skull from his grave and put it upon the bundle ; that his spirit should always be present with the people.

So when the man died they buried him. About a year afterwards his skull was taken up and a wooden skull was put in its place. The skull was taken to the lodge where the bundle was. Old men were sent for, the skull was decorated 108 and tied upon the bundle. Four days afterwards the skull was removed, and the decorations were all taken off. The skull was present with the people for a number of years.

The owner of the bundle had a vision ; was told to change the skull ; that there was a certain chief buried at a certain place, and that they were to get his skull and put it upon the bundle. The man was afraid to change the skull.

One day, while the people were putting up a tipi, one of the tipi poles fell and hit the skull. No sooner had the skull broken to pieces than the day was turned into darkness. People were scared, the priests gathered together, and it was decided to get the other skull. So the priests opened the bundle, sang songs, went out and took the pieces of the old skull, and went to the grave of the other chief. The skull was dug up, and the pieces of the old skull were put in its place. The new skull was brought, placed in the lodge, and songs were sung while the skull was decorated with red paint, with sky-blue around the face. A black tanned buckskin was tied around the head, and many downy feathers were placed on the head. As soon as the sky-blue circle was put upon the head, a white spot was seen in the heavens. The decoration of the skull being completed, the Sun appeared, and all was clear again.

A soft eagle-feather stood erect from the top of the skull ; a semicircle of sky-blue encompassed the forehead ; a black tanned buckskin encircled the top of the head ; the whole of the face was painted red, and downy feathers were thrust into the cheeks.

13. THE WARRIOR BUNDLE CORN.109 An ear of holy corn is stolen from the bundle, but recovered, and the stealer is lost.

Once a company of warriors went on the warpath to capture ponies. On their travels there was one warrior who was always trying to lead. The leader, who carried the warrior bundle,110 was slow. One night the warrior who was always trying to lead lay awake. He thought if the leader should go to sleep he would-crawl up and take the ear of corn from the bundle and hide it ; then the leader would turn back and go home.

It happened that as the man stole the ear of corn the leader had a dream. He thought that he saw, in his dream, some one tearing his bundle. He woke up. He felt for his bundle. He opened it, and the corn was missing. He then got up and looked around, and all the men were there. So he woke one man up, and told him that something had happened, and that he should wake up the other men. The other men sat up in a circle, and the leader questioned each closely, and told them that the holy corn, their protector, was missing ; if they did not find the corn they would all have to turn back. So all the men looked at one another. The leader further said that he woke up, for he had a curious dream — he dreamed that some one was trying to open his bundle.111 So the warriors all arose and scattered over the prairie, for it was now daylight. They did not find the corn.

The leader spoke and said : “ We now have nothing to protect us and to lead us ; there is but one way for us, and that is, to go back to our home.” The leader again spoke and said : “You stay here and I will go out yonder and urinate.” So the leader went out, and when he had got a certain distance he came to a gopher hill. He sat down by it, and he saw finger-marks upon the hill. So he began to remove the dirt, and there the mother corn was lying. He picked the corn up and went back to where the men were sitting. He sat down, filled his pipe, then he laid the mother corn down in front of him. He gave a few whiffs to the ear of corn, then to the heavens, to Tirawa. All were glad to have the corn back. So the man tied the corn on the otter skin worn by the leader.

So the leader started out with his little party. The man who had hid the corn stayed away by himself. The other party went on, until they came to a Comanche camp. The leader selected scouts to go and capture ponies. These men went into the village, took many ponies, and drove the ponies to the leader. They each lariated a pony and then drove the ponies towards home.

They got home, and reported that one man had strayed away from them. This stray man never came back. People said he must be the one who stole the corn and hid it away. The leader, after getting home, had the old priests change the ear of corn,112 and the old ear was given to the wife of one of the priests, that she might again plant the corn so that they could get more for the warriors’ bundle, for it had brought luck to the warriors.

14. THE MILKY WAY.118

The dead go to a star in the north, at the end of the Milky Way, and thence southward, to another star at the southern end.

It is related by the Indians that the star who receives them after they are dead stands at the end of the Milky Way, in the north. He receives them upon the earth, takes them with him on a long journey to the north, and after he gets to this place he places them upon the Milky Way. If the dead man had been a warrior, he was put on the dim Milky Way ; if he died of old age, or if it was a woman, they were put upon the wide travelled road. Then they started on the journey toward the south. There, at the end of the Milky Way, in the south, stands another star, who receives the spirits of the departed, and there they make their home.

Another story is told, of a horse and a buffalo that ran a race. The horse jumped farther than the buffalo, making dust here and there, so that he beat the buffalo ; the buffalo, taking quicker steps, made more dust ; their course is the Milky Way.

Paruxti said: “This is the way the men will run after you; they shall go on the right side of you, so that they can shoot their arrows right under your shoulder, the arrows going through your heart.”

15. THE CHILDREN-OF-THE-SUN SOCIETY.114

The youths of this society have no homes, and use language expressing the reverse of their intent. The two chiefs assist an eagle against a serpent, and are given eagle-feathers. One is slain, and the other dies from grief.

In olden times there was a. society known as the Saru,115 or Children-of-the-Sun. They were all young men. These men were supposed to be children of the Sun. They had no home. They went into different lodges and ate their meals. If there was no eating going on, they helped themselves to any meat they saw hanging up, and they ate it. In this way they lived.

The two oldest were the most powerful. They did not care for anybody ; they talked backwards. When they came into the lodge, people said : “ Do not go after water.” The two men would look at one another and say : “ Let us not go after water.” Then they would take up the vessels and go after water. When they took anything people said, “Take it, Saru,” then the Saru would drop the things they had taken. But when people said, “Do not take it, Saru,” they were sure to take the things, and would carry them off.

They were always ready to fight ; they carried their quivers upon their backs, filled with arrows, and their bows in their left hands, all the time. When the enemy attacked the people, the people said to the Saru : “ Do not go where they are fighting.” Then the Saru would speak to one another and would say : “ Let us not go where they are fighting.” Then they would go in a line and walk right into the battle, and never look one way nor the other ; but they would walk straight ahead, shooting their arrows at the enemy. They would walk on right into the enemy’s line, and sometimes one or two of them were killed. They would fight until some one spoke to them, and they had to speak backwards, saying, “ Fight, kill them ! ” Then the Saru would stop fighting. They fought in battle in unconcerned ways, so that most of them were killed. At one time there were only two of them left, and these two stayed together all the time.

On the buffalo hunt the people came to a mountainous country. The two men were going along shooting their arrows when the people saw a peculiar kind of snake. The people said it was the chief snake. It was very short and of many colors. The people said : “ Do not kill it.” But these two men went on until they came to the place where the snake was. They stopped, and one of them said : “ Saru, let us not kill this snake.” Then the two men commenced to shoot the snake until they shot it to pieces.

Up on the side of the hill there was dust rising. These two men said, “We have not killed the snake ” (they meant that they had killed the snake and they must run), for now the snakes had found out, and were coming from every direction, for their chief had been killed. So the people ran away, while others went to the village and climbed up on arbors that were built in the village. People took clubs and sticks so that when a snake crawled up on a post they killed it. But the two Saru kept on going toward the hills from which the snakes were coming, and they killed many snakes. They were bitten, but the poison did not seem to harm them. They kept on killing until they got to the side of a hill where they killed a large snake. As soon as this snake was killed, all the snakes that had spread over the country disappeared, and the two Saru returned to their village. This is why we find snakes everywhere upon the land.

Soon after this had happened the Saru disappeared. They were gone many days, when they came to a lake. On the west side of the lake was a high hill. The Saru climbed up the hill. A cloud came over the hill, and one of them said : “ Saru, let us not go on.” So they went on, for these two men talked contrariwise.

When they got to the top of the hill, they saw an eagle flying around and they looked around and found a nest with some young eagles in it. They went to the side of the hill where it sloped to the lake and there they saw a large water serpent crawling up from the water. They felt sorry for the eagle, so one of them said : “ Saru, let us not kill this serpent ” (let us kill the serpent). So they ran down and commenced to shoot the serpent with their arrows. When their arrows gave out they said : “ Now let both of us not throw our bows in the mouth of the serpent ” (let us throw our bows into the mouth of the serpent). Now these bows had stones upon the ends, which had power from lightning. So they ran and threw their bows into the mouth of the serpent, and as soon as the bows struck the inside of the serpent a noise sounded, as if it were of lightning, and the serpent burst open, and its tail flew out into the lake, so that it made a great noise, and the water splashed up high. The serpent was killed.116

The Saru walked to the eagle that was now sitting upon the edge of the nest. When the men got there, the eagle spoke and said : “You have saved my children ; take these feathers that I give you, put them upon your head and wear them always.” The men took each a feather, then went home.

People asked the Saru where they had been, and the Saru told them. Some of the people went to the place and saw the serpent. The men again made bows from ash, and many arrows from dogwood. When their bows and arrows were completed they again went from the village.

While they were away, they were attacked by the enemy. They were alone. They could not run, for they did not believe in running. They fought the enemy, killing many. They were wounded in many places, but kept on fighting. Toward evening their arrows gave out, and as the sun was going out of sight one of them was killed. The other fought, and at last he was given up. He followed the enemy, but they were afraid of him.

Now he went back to the village alone. He would not eat anything ; he was lonesome ; at last he died, and thus ended the Saru society.

16. THE GIRL WHO MARRIED A STAR.111

A girl who wishes to marry a certain star is taken up to heaven, where she lives with her celestial husband. In digging roots she makes a hole in the sky and sees the earth, which she desires to revisit. She makes a rope, descends, but perishes in the attempt ; her baby is protected by the clouds. The boy has wonderful power, escapes the machinations of enchanters, arrives at a village of the Skidi and chooses a boy friend, grows up to be a mighty warrior, and carries a bow which is the rainbow. In a storm he disappears, and is now seen to shine as a star in the heavens.

There was a village, and in this village were two girls who always slept upon an arbor that was built especially 118 for them. One night they were lying there and were talking and telling stories, and they were about to go to sleep, when one of the girls sat up and called to the other one to sit up in bed. The first girl who sat up asked the other girl which, if any, of the stars she liked best. The other girl spoke and, pointing to a certain star in the southeast, said : “ Do you see that big bright star ? I like that star ; every time I look at it I wish that star was my husband.” The other girl pulled the first girl down to the bed and they said nothing more about it.

The next morning the girl was missing. Nobody knew where she was or where she went. All seemed to have forgotten her.

When the girl who said she would like to marry the star woke up she found herself in another country. She knew nobody where she was. She was frightened and she cried. There were some people there who told her that she must be satisfied ; that the place were she was, was the home of the star she had liked. The star came to her in human form. He was middle-aged, and was not a young man. He told the girl that she must stop crying ; that while the stars were journeying west he had heard her say that she liked him, and that he had made up his mind that he would take her up there, which he did.

The girl cried and begged the man to take her back to her home, but he said he could not do so ; for it had been her wish to live with him, and now he had her, and she must make her home with him. For many days the girl cried, but she finally yielded and lived with the star.

The girl noticed that every evening, just before sunset, the people where they were living brought out a wooden bowl of water and washed their faces and heads, then put buffalo ointment over their heads and bodies. Then the man returned and told the girl to stay at home, since he was going on a long journey and the people would disappear, but by morning the people would return. And they all seemed to be asleep. The girl asked the man why he took these journeys, and the man began to tell her that the people who were living with them were a certain group of stars, and that they had to go out every evening to show themselves. So the girl knew that this was really the star that she had seen in her talk with the other girl.

The girl was now satisfied and had forgotten about her people. She asked permission of her husband to go and dig wild turnips. He gave her permission to dig these turnips. Every day she went out to dig, and the man noticed that she was going into valleys to dig them. On her return home one time he told her that she should never dig the turnips in a valley, but she must always dig them upon the hills, and if she did dig them in a valley she must be sure and not dig too deep.

So the woman went out one day and made up her mind that she would dig deep in the valley and see why her husband did not want her to dig deep. So when she came to the valley she dug at a place until her buffalo shoulder-bone hoe went through the ground. She pulled her hoe out, then dug the hole larger, being careful, and she found that she had dug through the heavens. Then she made a hole, so that she could look down. When she looked down she knew that she was above her home. She saw far down on the earth, as if there were little black strings stretched across the country, which were wooded streams. She saw animals crawling around that looked like ants. She knew then that that was her home ; that the place where she was, was not her home.

She closed up the hole tight, filling it up with dirt, then went home. She told the servants of the star, when they killed buffalo, to remove the sinews and bring them home to her. When they brought the sinews she took them to a stream of water that was timbered, and there she placed them. Every day she told the men to get the sinews for her, and she would take them down to the place. After a while the girl went down to the place where she had the sinews, and began to make a rope out of the sinews ; and every day after she went home she told the people to get more sinews for her. When they brought them she would take them to the place where she had the other sinews.

Now at this time she was pregnant, so that she did not do any other kind of work but gc and make the rope.

When her baby was born, it was a boy. The woman stayed at home until the child grew strong enough to crawl around, then she went back to her work. For many months she worked, making the rope, until she had a pile of it. Then she went, dug a hole in the valley, and placed a stick across the hole, then tied her rope of sinew to the stick. She let the rope down, and she knew by the way the rope hung that it would not touch the ground ; so she pulled it up. Then she began to make more rope. At last she thought that she had enough. She made up her mind to make two or three shorter ropes to put round her neck as she went down.

Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee .

After it was time for her to go down she dug another hole that was larger. She got a large piece of wood and laid it across the hole, tied on the sinew rope, and let it hang down. When this was done she went home. When night came, and the people washed and prepared to stand out as stars, she went to the place where the hole was, with her baby on her back. She took her buffalo robe and wrapped her hands with it. She seized the rope and began to slide down. She kept on sliding slowly. In making the rope, she had made two loops at the end, so that in case the rope was too short she could rest on them. All night she continued to descend the rope. The next day she still kept on. At some hour in the daytime she came to the end of the rope, to the place where the loops were. She put her feet in them, reached down and caught the end of the rope, then took the other rope that she had about her neck, and tied the short rope on the long one. Then she began again to crawl down, and still the rope was not long enough. Then she tied on her other piece of rope.

She was still hanging there when the star people found out about her. The star-man was very angry. He sent a rainstorm through the hole, which descended by the rope, and when lightning came from the clouds it struck the woman and killed her, so that she fell to the ground. The boy was struck by the lightning upon the forehead ; it did not kill him, but made upon his forehead the picture of a star.

As the woman fell to the earth, the boy crawled away from the woman and walked about, once in a while going up to his mother and nursing from her breast. The boy was at this time old enough to walk around. The boy stayed by his mother, and when wild animals or birds tried to harm him, the clouds would come and drive away the wild beasts.

One night while the boy was walking around (for his mother was now in such a state that he could not nurse from her any more), he came across a bow and some arrows. The boy jumped at the bow and arrows and picked them up. The boy then went through the timber, killed some rabbits and little birds, and ate them raw. Once in a while he would come to plum-trees and grapes, and these he would eat. The boy kept travelling on toward the west, until he came to a place he thought very beautiful.

He went through the “beautiful place,” as he called it, found corn, beans, and squash, and ate them raw. Again, he left the field and went into the timber, and about the time he left, the owner of the field, who was a witch-woman, came into the field with her sack upon her back, to carry home some pumpkins, corn, and beans.

The old woman saw in her field the prints of a child’s foot. She was so diappy to see the footprints of the child that she threw her bag upon the ground and called: “Grandchild, come to me; I have been looking for you these many years.” The boy heard the woman and went up to her. The woman was so happy to find the child that she took him up in her arms and told him that he must call her grandmother, and that he must go to her home ; that his grandfather was at home. So the child went to the old woman’s home. When they neared their tipi, the old woman called for her husband to come out, as she had found their grandchild, and she was bringing him home. The old man came out and was glad ; but it seems that these two people were glad to find the boy because they thought when he should grow up they would kill him and eat him.

So the boy made his home with the old woman. The boy became fat. One day the old woman said : “ Well, my husband, I think it is time that we kill the boy. You stay at home, and I will send the boy before me with some corn and squash, and as the boy enters the tipi you can kill him.” The old man said it was well. So the old woman and the boy went into the fields and gathered corn, pumpkins, and beans. The old woman tied up the bundle and said : “ Now, grandchild, take this bundle home to your grandfather, so that he will eat some of this corn, for he must be hungry.” So the boy put the bundle of corn upon his back and went toward the tipi. The boy stopped before he got to the tipi ; something within him told him that the old man intended to kill him. So he took the bundle, and as he lifted the entrance, instead of going in, he threw the bundle of corn in front of him ; and as he entered there was lying close to the entrance a great snake, and the snake had bitten the bundle that the boy had thrown in. The boy then took his bow and hit the snake upon the head many times, so that the snake’s head began to bleed ; as it was dying it began to turn into the old man, and as the snake died it turned completely into the old man, his grandfather, so that the boy knew that his grandfather had turned into a snake to kill him.

The boy then sat down by the fireplace. After a while the boy heard the old woman coming. “ Old man, old man ! Why don’t you come out and tell me that you have killed me some good game ? Old man ! old man ! Why don’t you come out and tell your wife that you have got something good for her?” The old man never came out. The old woman went into the tipi and found the boy sitting there, and she was surprised. She found her husband lying dead, with his head broken to pieces.

Now the old woman whispered to herself and said : “ This boy must be a wonderful boy ; but I will have my revenge. I will have my animals devour him, so that I shall avenge myself on him.”

So the old woman told the boy that he must not go to a certain rocky place ; but the boy went, and as he came to the rocky place he saw nothing. Finally he came to a place where here and there were human skeletons. The boy turned around and was going back, and as he was going home he heard a noise behind him. When he turned, four mountain lions were pursuing him. He killed three, and struck the largest upon the head, so that the animal was stunned, and could not bite, but was subdued so that the boy could do anything with it. The boy went to the tipi of the old woman, and she was now very much alarmed. When the boy called her, she saw the mountain lion following him, but the boy said : “ Grandmother, this animal you shall keep on the north side of the entrance, and it will guard all things for you.”

The old woman whispered to herself and said : “ This must be a wonderful boy; but I will have him killed.” Then she told the boy not to go to a certain mountainous place that was covered with cedartrees, but the boy went. He noticed nothing and heard nothing, but saw many skeletons here and there. As he was turning to go back, he heard somebody behind him, and when he had turned he saw four bears coming after him. He killed three and struck the other with his bow, so that the bear was subdued. The boy then made the bear follow him to the woman’s tipi, and he called out the old woman ; she was frightened when she saw the bear, but the boy told her that the bear would watch all things for her on the south side, and guard her place. So the bear was stationed without the entrance of the tipi.

The old woman said to herself : “Now I will have that boy killed.” Then she told the boy not to go to a certain rocky place. The boy went to the place. On the way he picked up a little round stone, and this he carried in his hand. When he reached the place where the old woman told him not to go, he noticed that near the place where he was were many snakes, coming from all directions. He did not know which way to run or what he could do, but his father, the star, saw that his boy was about to be devoured by the snakes. The star then made his boy sit upon a little stone, which grew to be of large size, so that the boy was raised from the ground. When the snakes came close, they tried to bite him ; then they would bite the stone and their teeth were broken off. Meantime the star had sent a storm and had asked the Sun to help him kill the snakes ; so it came to pass that the Star was sending rain, and it was raining hard, and at the same time the Sun shone out brightly. The Sun shone upon the pools of water with all its heat, and made the water boil, so that all the snakes were killed.

There was one large snake that came close to the boy, and the boy touched it with his bow, subdued it, and took it home to the old woman. The boy said : “ This is yours ; you must make a sack of it and put your seeds in it, for you can never make a sack out of me, which in the first place you intended to do.” Then the old woman knew that the boy was wonderful, and that he knew her thoughts. The boy then told the old woman that he was going to leave her. So the boy went off ; the old woman turned the animals loose, and she rose and followed.

The boy went to a village of his own kind. He met a poor boy, who took him to his home, and when the old mother of the latter saw the boy she said : “ My son, you must not stop here ; your relatives might not like it, — your stopping here.” The boy said : “ I have no relatives. I have no home. I have just come, and I am glad to be with your boy.” So the boy made his home with the poor boy, and every day they went out hunting. The star-boy killed rabbits and other animals, while the other boy never could kill anything. The star-boy got to killing deer and other larger game that people took notice of, and they wanted to know who he was.

Now the chief sent for the boy and asked him whence he came. The boy said that he came down from heaven ; that his mother was killed, and he was left all alone in the world. The people knew that this was the boy whose mother one night had disappeared mysteriously, and that this was her son. So the boy came to be a great man among the people, and all the time kept the poor boy close to himself.

If there were any wild animals in the country, the boy went and killed them. He told the people that the bow he had was not like other people’s bows ; that it really was the rainbow up in the heavens. The four arrows he carried were also from the heavens, for they were stars, and they had come to destroy the wild animals. He also told the people that he must now return to his father in the heavens.

One stormy night the boy disappeared ; nobody knew where he went, but the people thought that his father had taken him back, and to this day they believe that the boy is one of the stars, and shines out in the night.119

17. THE BOY WHO DISOBEYED THE STARS.120

A poor, ugly, and neglected boy is pitied by the stars, taken to their lodge in the heaven, and endowed with strength and beauty, but forbidden to take a wife until he has been four times successful. He returns to his village, and is accepted as a beautiful stranger, but neglects the injunction, and is transformed into his former self.

There was a poor, lame, one-eyed boy, whose hair was bushy, for he never had anybody to brush it. He had many lice. People hated him, for he was very dirty.

Therefore one day he made up his mind to go off to some other place and die. He went up on a high hill, and there he lay down. While he lay, some one spoke to him, and he looked up, but did not see anybody. So he lay down again. The second time some one spoke to him, and when he looked up he saw a fine-looking man standing by him. The man’s hair fell down over his shoulders, and wrapped around his body he had a fine buffalo robe. “Come, my boy, I came to take you to my home.” So the boy arose, and they went down on the side of the hill, where they came to a tree.

When they came to the tree the man said : “Watch. What I do, you do.” So the man jumped at the tree, and he disappeared. The boy did the same thing, and also disappeared. Then the boy found himself standing in a lodge.

Around the lodge he found men seated in a circle ; one, who seemed to be the errand man, was standing by the fireplace. The leader, who was sitting in the west, spoke and said : “ My son, look among the men who sit in a circle121 around this lodge. They all know you are poor and needy. We feel sorry for you, for you are poor. Now take a look at these men, and choose which of them you wish to resemble.” The boy looked around among the men, to make his choice. They were all good-looking. When he looked at the man who brought him in, he liked him. So the poor boy said: “This man I choose.” So they all said : “ Nawa ! ” Then the man chosen said : “ Now rise and walk.” The poor boy arose and walked. The lameness went from him; he could walk. “Now,” said the chosen man, “close your eyes,” and the boy closed his eyes. Then the chosen man said : “ Now open your eyes and look.” The poor boy opened his eyes, and his eyes were good. The chosen man said, “ Feel of your hair with your hands,” and as the boy felt of his hair, his hair was long, and was like that of the chosen man. The chosen man then gave his robe to the poor boy.

The leader in the west then spoke again to the boy and said : “My son, the men of this circle are what your people call ‘chiefs sitting in the heavens , we are the stars that you see circled in the heavens ; the errand man you see yonder is the central star in the heavens.”

You shall not stay, continued the leader ; “ you are to go underneath the ground to the land where are your people ; as soon as you arrive, make preparation to go on the warpath to capture ponies, and also to kill. You will be successful. When you return, bring us an offering of a pony and a scalp, to this hill where you first came. If you desire to marry, you will become lame and blind in one eye as you were before. A second time go on the warpath ; after this, if you desire to marry, you will not be lame, but will become blind in one eye ; after you go and are successful a third time, you may take a wife to yourself and be as common men ; the fourth time, should you return successful, you may take to yourself a woman, and you will be as you are now.”

So the boy found himself upon the hill, and it was nearly morning.

As he walked toward the village the sun rose, and the boy went to the nearest lodge and entered. People did not know him, but as he spoke their language they gave him a seat. People looked at him, for he was fine-looking. Some of the people went out of the lodge and said that there was a young man in their lodge who was fine-looking. People outside heard of the young man. Some of the women gathered together, and they sent two women to look at the young man. When the two women returned, they told the rest that it was all true ; that there was a fine-looking young man in the lodge.

Now the women agreed to try and capture the young man, so that he might not go off to any other village, for there were several villages. But as the presence was noised through the village of a finelooking young man, two young girls arose and went in to see him, and when they saw him they went to his place and sat down, one on each side. The chiefs and warriors were invited to come to the lodge where the young man was, and when they entered the young man spoke and said : “ I am a warrior, and am ready to start out on the warpath.”

The warriors were glad to hear the young man, so they said : u Let us join him and go with him on the warpath.” The warriors went to their lodges and gathered their bows and arrows and moccasins, and they went back to the lodge where the young man was. Now the young man arose, and said, “ Let us now start at once.” So the warriors arose and followed the young man out of the lodge. When the warriors had come up with the young man outside the village, they set out to the enemy’s country.

After they were a good way from the village, the young man kept thinking of the nice-looking girls who had seated themselves by him. He could not keep the girls from his mind. As the company sat down for lunch at noon, the young man said : “ Proceed ; I will overtake you.” So the company arose and went on. The young man turned back, and went again to the village. He entered the same lodge, and it was again noised through the village that the young man had returned. The girls heard it. The girls went into the lodge again and sat by him. In the night the people of the lodge spread robes upon the ground, and told the young man to lie down on them when he got ready. Recubuit juvenis, et puellae experrectae sunt, atque-ad lectulum juvenis ierunt. Sic cum puero jacuerunt. Cum ambabus puellis concubuit puer, turn dormivit. He bent his leg where he had been lame. In the morning one of the girls woke up and found the poor boy lying with her; the girl arose quickly and went out of the lodge, not telling the other girl. The other girl tried to get part of the robe the young man had about him. The robe felt hard and dry. She sat up and looked at the boy. The boy was a poor lame and blind boy. His face was the same as it was before — covered with scabs. She also ran away. The young man woke up and he found that the girls had left him. He arose, and when he tried to straighten his leg he could not. He was again the poor boy.

He arose and went out, went to the hill again and lay down. The same man came to him and said : “Rise! Go home ! You are not poor, we cannot pity you any more. You thought more of women than of what we told you. There is no use for you to lie here any more.”

So the poor boy went home. The two girls met, and they both agreed not to say anything about the young man whom they had captured. The company of warriors came home, and asked if the man had returned. “Yes,” the people said, “he came, but we don’t know where he went.” So the young man remained as the poor boy, dirty, scabby, blind, and lame.

18. ORIGIN OF THE FEW-BUFFALO-DANCERS SOCIETY.122

A man, in consequence of a vision, goes out as an ascetic, has a revelation from the celestial eagle, and forms a secret society.

In olden times there was a man who was well-to-do. He had a dream, and was told to put mud upon his head, and to go upon a certain hill and to stand there for many days and nights. So the man went upon the hill and stood there mourning.123

On the fourth day he heard a loud noise coming from the heavens. The man kept mourning. When the noise came to where he was, he looked around, and there were many eagles sitting all about him ; there was one large eagle, and it was red, and was sitting in front of the place where he was standing.

The red eagle spoke to the man and said : “ I am a woman who stays up in the heavens, goes to the people in the night, and gives them dreams. I am going to send some one to you and you must place my feathers upon a stick, which shall be a wand for you. You must stay here four days.” Then the red eagle flew up ; all the other eagles did the same and disappeared in the heavens. The man continued to cry, and after four days a buffalo came to the man from the west and spoke to him and said : “ The eagle which you lately saw is the bird which controls all animals. That eagle spoke to me and bade me come to you, to tell you that you are to get a buffalo skull from the prairie, paint the skull up and down with streaks of red, and you are to place the skull in your tipi, then put the wand with the feathers in front of the skull, so that the skull will speak to you in dreams.” The buffalo spoke again, and said : “Now go home and do as I have told yop, and we will talk to you in your dreams.” Then the buffalo wheeled round and disappeared. The man went home. He stayed home for several days, then went out upon the prairie, picked up an old skull, brought it home, painted it with red paint, made an eagle-feather wand and set it in front of the skull. From that time forward the man learned songs from the wand, and also from the buffalo skull. After a while, the man formed a society known as the “ Few-Buffalo-Dancers.”

19. THE MAN WHO VISITED SPIRIT LAND.124

A young man relates how he died, travelled on the path of spirits, sees Tirawa in eagle form, meets his relatives, and is sent back to the world of the living.

There was a village, and in this village was a sick young man. He had been sick for many months. At last, toward evening, he died.

Women entered and mourned over him. The mother took a new robe in which she wrapped him ; they kept his body over night, and the next morning the women went up on the hill to dig the grave. After digging the grave, they came back, and took the man out to bury him.125 This was in the forenoon. They laid him upon the edge of the grave, and all at once he moved and rose.

He was surprised to see the people standing around him, and to learn that his grave had been dug. After he was untied from the robe he stood up, very thin in flesh. Then he went home. For many years this man lived, and he became well-to-do, a great warrior, a medicineman, and a chief.

One evening several men were seated together around the fireplace, and among them was this man. These men were smoking, and took to telling stories about their experiences on the warpath. It came to be this man’s turn to tell his story; all the men agreed that they should ask him what experience he had at the time he died and came back to life, whether he saw anything in Spirit Land, and if he went to Spirit Land. He consented to tell his story, and said that he had never liked to tell it, but, as he was getting old, he wished the people to know that their relatives were living in Spirit Land.126 He said : “ When I died I found myself walking toward the east, and I came to a big path, a very big, wide path. The road was very dusty, for it seems that the path was travelled all the time. I saw plainly the footprints of men, women, and children. I followed this path till a voice from above told me to stop, and I stopped. I looked, and hanging down from above there seemed to be something that looked black. After a while the thing came nearer ; I saw what appeared to be a brass kettle, covered with soot, and the black kettle had a black lariat rope tied to the centre of the bale, by which it was suspended.

jo Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee.

A voice from above said : ‘Get inside; cover your head, and neither look up nor down, but keep your head covered.’ I did as I was told, and then the thing went up, and went and went and went, and all at once I heard somebody say, * Now look.’ And I looked, and I was in a different country.

“ There were four men standing here with buffalo robes on. About their waists they had black lariat ropes ; they were anointed with red paint, and they had downy feathers scattered over their heads. This man said : ‘ Go yonder to that point. You will see some swans swimming there, and they will tell you where to go.’ One of the swans spoke to me and said : ‘ You will come to a fork in the road ; the one to the left is bloody, and is a warrior’s path ; you are not yet a warrior, so you have no right to travel on that ; but the other will lead you to the place where Tirawa sits, and he will tell you where to go. Do not be afraid when you are near the place where he is sitting, but go right up.’ I got up and took the path and followed it.

“ As I walked along, I saw, on each side of the road, all kinds of flowers growing, and here and there I would find a ring made of flowers. I would pick it up and put it on my head. Then I would throw the first one away and pick up another one.

“ I went on, and at a distance I saw a knoll. I saw fire coming from it ; as I came closer, the fire seemed to grow, and as the fire increased it seemed to come toward me. But I kept on, and when the fire came toward me it seemed to get under my feet and all around my legs and on my body ; but I kept on going. I did not get frightened. I stood on the west side of the place, and the fire seemed to go down ; I took a good look at the place where the fire came from, and there sat a large golden eagle.

“This, I was told, was Tirawa.127 The bird spoke to me and told me to take the eighth path on the south side, and that it would lead me to the village where all my relatives lived ; that it was a path that the chiefs travelled on, and that I had a right to travel on it.

“ I went to a village which seemed to extend from northeast to southwest. I was going on the west side of the village. I saw a great crowd of people, and I knew they were playing with game sticks.128 The young men were outside of the village, shooting arrows ; others were playing different kinds of games. I saw close to the village many ponies. These ponies were some that I knew, which died some years ago, and as I neared the village I also saw plainly our women scraping the buffalo hides, so that I knew that they must be killing buffalo. The tipis were all new and white. I saw a man come out and salute me with, ‘Nawa, my nephew, have you come.’ I said: ‘Yes, uncle, I have come.’ The man said: ‘You don’t smell good. That robe you havq on you throw aside. I give you my robe, my beads, my title as a chief. You are too young to come. You have not been a warrior, nor a chief. All this you will have to go through, then you shall come.’

“ He put the robe on me, and the robe had pictures of buffalo and horses’ hoofs, deer hoofs, and a quirt. He also gave me strings with feathers on them. Said he : ‘You have to learn the mystery of these feathers. Now go back to your people.’

“ I turned to go back, and they had got hold of my head and feet to place me in the grave, so that I moved. They untied me quickly, and I stood up a well man, although I was thin in flesh ; and I said : ‘ My uncle sent me back. I am sick no longer, but a well man.’ ”

This man became a great warrior, a medicine-man, and chief of the Pawnee.

20. THE WOMAN WHO RETURNED FROM SPIRIT LAND.129

A youth, guided by rainbow-bearing beings who have the form of skunks, is conducted to Spirit Land, and there revives his betrothed, with whom he returns to earth.

There was a village and one day a young man was taking some ponies down to water, and he met a young girl coming up with a vessel of water. They met and talked. The young boy was poor, but the girl’s parents were well off. They met on the outskirts of the village and talked.

As they grew up the girl thought it was time to marry, and the young man said no, for he had to make a name for himself. He would have to go on the warpath and capture ponies, and when he had captured ponies, then he would learn how to kill a buffalo. When he could do that, he would be able to take care of a family. So he joined the first war-party that went out. He told the girl that he was going, and she begged him not to go, but he went notwithstanding.

The war-party was successful, but while the young man was gone the girl became sick and died. Her father and mother buried her in the tipi, and the father and mother moved out and left the tipi.130 The people then moved away from this village and went on a buffalo hunt. On the way they met this war-party.

The first thing the young man asked was about the girl, and they told him that she was dead and that she had a tipi over her grave. The boy went to his mother’s tipi and ate there. He then asked his mother for some meat, which he got. Then he started back to the village where the girl was buried.

When he entered the village he turned the pony loose, and he walked to the tipi and found the grave, and he stayed in the tipi and made his home there. He mourned for the girl for several days and nights. One night, while he was sitting in the tipi, he saw something like a rainbow standing over the grave. He watched, and after a while he saw a man standing there, d his man spoke to the young man, and said : “ I have taken pity on you. You are poor. I am going to help you get this girl back, so that you can live with her and be happy.” When this being said this, he went toward the entrance and disappeared, and the man saw nothing but a skunk 131 going out.

The next night the same rainbow shone, and then the man was there again, and the boy smelled the scent of a skunk. This man talked to him again, and said that he had the power to go to the dead land, and that he wanted to ask the Wind to help the man get the girl back, and that he would be back the next night. Now the boy cried the more.

On the third night the boy saw several rainbows in the tipi, and he found out that whenever these rainbows shone in the night they were made by skunks. Now the boy was told that the Wind had given his consent to help take him to the Spirit Land ; that he should make preparation for the next night ; and that he should not pay any attention to things that were walking about in the tipi (skunks) : for they were the ones that were to help take him to the Spirit Land.

The boy went to sleep that night, but the next night the skunk came to him and said : “ Rise, we are ready to start. So the young man arose ; he was taken out of the tipi, and they found a path, and this path they followed. For several days they journeyed, and at last they came to a valley where there was a tipi.

The skunk said : “ I will stand here as a rainbow. I shall remain here till you come back, and we will go back together. You ought to go to this tipi. On the south side there are many pillows, and on the west side there are pillows, and on the north side there are pillows. On the north side there is one pillow that is black, all the rest being white. When a person dies, he comes to this tipi and walks in, and if he sits on one of these white pillows in the southwest or in the north, he has come to stay, and he is dead : if he makes a mistake and goes to that black pillow which is covered with lice, and sits on it, he is covered with lice, and the lice bite him. You are to go into this tipi and sit on that black pillow, for you are a live man, you are not a ghost. You will see lice crawling upon the pillow. Do not take the white lice, for they are body lice. You will see two large black ones, which are head lice ; take them, and, as they feed on you, you are then to leave the tipi and continue your journey, going west. When you get to the village you will find the girl’s tipi, where she was buried. She is there. She is anxiously waiting for you. She will meet you. She is in spirit. She is not in her body. When you go into her tipi, ask her to let you try to find lice in her hair, and, as you look in her hair, drop upon her head these two lice. When the lice are dropped they will crawl over her and they will breed and make more lice, and she will scratch herself until her flesh will begin to live, and the blood will again flow through her veins. Then you are to bring her back, and, instead of going to the tipi, you are to go on the south side of the tipi, and come directly to the place where I shall be.”

So the boy went to the tipi, and entered. He went to the black pillow and sat down. The people within said : “ That man knows just where to go. I wonder who told him to sit there.” So the man sat down, and while he was sitting he looked down upon the pillow and he saw these lice, and among them the two that he was told to take. He took them up, put them in a little piece of buckskin that he had, and wrapped them tightly, so that they would not get loose from him. He fed them, and then he was allowed to go to the village of the dead.

On the east side he found the tipi of the girl, who was there alone. So one day he told the girl that he would like to examine her head, to see if she had lice. While he was looking he dropped on her head the two lice.

The girl told the young man that she had ponies, and that he must go and help kill buffalo for her. He was to go and come on a pony. But she had told him that when he ran after the buffalo, he must kill them on the prairie, and not in the brush ; whenever they got into the brush he must stop. On one occasion he did not believe this, and followed the buffalo into the brush ; as soon as the boy entered the brush, the pony he was riding turned into a skeleton, and the buffalo all turned to skeletons, so that the boy now believed her. He went back to the tipi of the girl. The girl scratched, and the flesh came on her again, and the blood began to circulate through her veins. Then he mounted one of the ponies and drove them to water, among the brush, and all her ponies turned to skeletons. He went back and said : “It is time that we returned to the land of the living ; you are now like myself, and your feelings are such as mine and the girl found that it was so.

They went to the place where the rainbow was standing. They saw the rainbow in the east. They went under it, and as they went under it somebody spoke to them, and there was the man who had advised him. They all started back toward the tipi where the girl had been buried.

When they came to the tipi they dug into the grave and found that the body was gone, so they levelled the place where the grave was, and then the boy and girl went to living there. They lived happily.

When the people came back from hunting they found these two living together. The father and mother were thankful to the boy.

21. SCALPED-MEN AND SPIRIT LAND.132

A man who has lost his only son wanders over the earth, and falls in with spirits; these plead his cause with Tirawa, who consents that the dead may encamp with the living, and all may be allowed the choice whether to remain on earth or dwell in Spirit Land. The meeting takes place, but contrary to command the father embraces his son and refuses to release him ; the spirits then disappear, and death continues to prevail on earth.

There was a village, and among the people was a man who had a beautiful wife. He thought much of her and spent his time in hunting game, so that they might have plenty to eat.

After a time they had a son, who grew up. When he was about twelve or thirteen years old his mother died. Then the man took good care of the boy, for he was his only son. The boy became sick and died.

The man did not know what to do, whether to kill himself or to wander over the country. He decided to wander over the country. He mourned four days at the grave of his son ; now he was to roam over the country. He went many days, and after a while he came to some timbered country. He went through it. He had his quiver filled with arrows and a bow. While in this timber he heard people talking in his language, and he stopped.

After a time they came nearer to the place where the man was, and he heard one say, “ Leader, what a fine tree this is ; ” others called each other by the way their hair was left on their heads, for these people were scalped people. The man then stood by a large oak-tree, took his quiver from his back and stood with his back against the tree, his quiver standing in front of him. His robe was turned, the hairy side outwards. Now they came closer, and one yelled: “One-Hairon-the-Back-of-Head, come here ; here is a curious tree.” Others called themselves according to the way the hair was left on their heads. If hair was left on the forehead, they called one by that name. There was a great company of them.

Finally one came to him and said : “What a wonderful tree ! One- Hair, Forehead-Hair, Hair-Back-of-the-Head, all of you, come ! I have found a wonderful tree. It looks like a man.” The man stood still, and the others came and said : “ Truly this is a wonderful tree. Look, it has eyes, nose, and hair ! Look, here is a quiver and bow ! ”

At this saying the man shrieked, and said : “ I thought you were all dead ! Here you are wandering over the country ! ” As soon as he spoke they ran away. He could hear some of them say, “He has caught me!” Another would say, “He has caught my foot,” when the creature was caught by briers or grapevines. They ran a long way, then they stopped ; and they began to tell how narrowly they had escaped from the man.

While they were talking, the man came upon them again, and away they went. The man followed them up. This time they disappeared on the side of a hill, and, as it was now late in the day, the man made up his mind to follow and to try and stay with them. He thought, as he was wandering, “ Why not remain with these people ? ” He got to the place where they had disappeared, and under a thick grapevine found an entrance, large enough for a man to crawl in ; there, far within, was a cave. He saw a sacred bundle hung up on the side of the cave. He knew the leader. He had carried the sacred bundle and had led the war-party ; but he now saw them and knew they were lost ; that they had been attacked by enemies, and that they had been scalped. He sat there looking at them. They were talking about him. The man did not go entirely inside, for he himself was afraid. While they were talking, some one shrieked, “ There he is ! ” and they would pile themselves one on top of another. Now he went in and sat near the entrance, where the wood was piled ; and as one came to get wood he saw this man. He ran and shrieked, “He is here! He is here by the wood ! ” The man then stood up ; then they piled on top of one another, each trying to get beneath the others.

The leader, who was sitting under the bundle, said : “ Boys, keep quiet ! This man is of our people. He will not know you. Get up and make a fire, and we will hear what he has to say.” Fire was made, and each took his place where he belonged in the circle. The leader spoke to the man, and told him to sit by him ; so the man got up and went over, and sat by the leader. Now the leader said: “Lads, get some dried meat and cook it, so that we can all eat.” The young men rose and issued ; they got two vessels and went to fetch water. Another went toward the wall of the cave and brought out a parfleche filled with dried meat. He untied it and took out meat, which he prepared by cutting it in large pieces. Vessels were put on the fire, the meat was put in, and then the leader asked what brought him there.

“Nawa,” said the man, “I lost my wife. We had a son, and he died, too. I was left all alone. I have mourned for him a long time, longing for death, so that I might join my wife and son. I wandered from home until I am here. I am here, and am glad I can now make my home with you, my brothers ; for I do not care to be with our people any more.”

The leader spoke and said : “ It is good, but we cannot let you live with us. We are dead. What you see are spirits. We should have gone to the Spirit Land but for this bundle which you see. It belongs to our people, and Tirawa released our spirits, so that we could wander back and return the bundle. Brother, I am glad you came to us. We will teach you the ceremony of this bundle ; then take it home, and let our people know that the bundle is again found.”

The man sat a long time, for he knew that to accept what this man said was to become a power among his people and be a leader. But at last he spoke and said : “ My people, I am poor in heart. I cannot accept what my brother has offered, for I am never to return to my people. I am wandering with the hopes of seeing my son, who died.

I care not to go back to my people. If I cannot see my son, I am ready to die.” Here he stood up and continued : “ My brother, take pity on me ; take me with you to Spirit Land, that I can see my boy.

I cannot take the bundle to my people, for I am not happy.” He passed his hands over the leader’s head, and on down the arms. “Take pity on me,” he continued. “For these many moons I have been wandering, in the hope either to meet the enemy so that they could kill me, or else to find some god who would lead me to Spirit Land, where are my wife and son.”

The leader sat with downcast head. Then he stood up, took down the bundle, took out sweet grass and put it in the fire, then opened the bundle. He looked at all things in the bundle ; he took them outside, so that the gods who gave them might look at them. When he came in he said : “ My brothers, I must help this man to remain here. I will go to the gods in the west, who will receive this man’s w'ords. I pity him. I think the gods will pity him. I go.”

He disappeared ; the others watched and watched. At last they heard the wind descend. The leader had come back. He went to the bundle, took out native tobacco and burnt it, offering it to the gods. Then he spoke : “ My son ” (for this leader was now considered a god, and so addressed the man as his son), “ the gods in the west have received your words. All the gods sent their words to Tirawa, and Tirawa has given his consent for the people in Spirit Land to come and see the living. They are to camp with them four days and four nights, without speaking one to another. You are to be allowed to be near your son and to speak with him, but not to touch him. The bundle will be hung up between the two people. The fifth day we will give the ceremony, where offerings will be made of buffalo tongue and heart, also of human flesh and hair. After the ceremony, the living high priest will receive the bundle from the one in the spirit. Then people can meet, and those who wish to remain with their relatives as well as those who wish to go to Spirit Land will be permitted to do so. Now, my son, go. Get your people. Let them come and make their camp in the neighborhood, for the gods in the heavens are making all these things come to pass.”

So the man left that same night. He noticed that he was very swift. Why, he could not understand ; but it was the leader who gave him power to travel fast. For many days he went, and finally reached the village. A crier was called and told to go through the camp, and let people know that they were wanted at a certain place ; that he had seen their friends who had been so long lost \ that they were living and were well ; that they wanted the people to come to the place where they were ; that they were to meet their dead friends ; that when that happened they must obey every command given them by the leader ; that the gods were anxious that they recover the bundle that had been lost. This was told them in such manner that the people understood it.

The next day they broke camp and went south. For a long time they travelled, until finally they came to a timbered country. Here they halted and pitched their camp. The man went to the cave of the spirits and was welcomed by them. He was told that the dead people were also on the way, and that the next morning they would arrive. The man went to the camp, and notified the crier to go quietly and tell the people to be ready to see their friends the next morning. Some mocked and others believed. The man went back to the cave of spirits, and they told him to tell the people to be on the north side, and not call or shriek at their friends. The man was permitted to be on the south side, for he had been with spirits.

The next day people began to make preparation to meet their dead friends. Medicine ointment 133 was put upon their heads, faces, and hands. Some time in the afternoon they saw a great dust which reached the heavens. People began to get frightened ; others rejoiced, for they were again to see their dead friends. As the troop approached, they saw one old man leading, with a long pole, and on the pole, high up in the air, was tied the bundle. People rejoiced with song. As the old man came between the people and scalped-men, he set up the tipi pole. Then the spirits began to pass through, going toward the east, then back to the south. As they passed, the people saw their dead friends, but they did not dare to touch or speak to them.

As they kept up the marching, the man’s son came. He caught his son. Now he was told to be there and to seize his son, but not to speak to him ; but he was to feel him and then release him. He did not do this, for as soon as he caught his son he spoke to him and hugged him, and in his heart he said, “I will not let you go! ” He held on to his son, so that the people shrieked to release him.

As soon as this was done the spirit went off. The other spirits also disappeared ; but the people got the bundle. The man went away broken-hearted, for the spirit man had disappeared with the spirits. The people returned home, and the man never came back. The people said : “ He is with the scalped-men.” But afterwards he was seen, and had over him a horse robe. He was wild, did not seem to care to be with people. So he was forgotten ; for had he not caught his son and held him so long, then the spirits and the people were to have lived once more together, and death was to have been unknown.

22. SCALPED-MAN LOSES HIS WIFE.184

A spirit living in a cave seizes a girl whom he wishes to make his wife, but is deceived in such manner that she makes her escape.

Scalped-Man had a den alongside of a creek ; and one day he thought, “I will go and hunt a woman, so she can live with me.” So Scalped-Man went toward the village, and he saw a young girl coming from the village. He sat down until she came close to him. He jumped up and seized her. The girl tried to get away, but he carried her off. She saw that it was no use to resist, so she told Scalped- Man to put her down, for she would go with him.

Now they came to the stream where Scalped-Man had his den ; and Scalped-Man was calling the girl all kinds of pet names. They came to the creek and the girl said : “ Where are we going ? ” Scalped-Man said : “We are going to my home. You are to be my wife.” “Well,” said the girl, “ if I am to be your wife, you must first wash all those sores from your head ; then I can live with you. Dive and rub your head under the water, so that the scales will come off. I will sit here on the bank and wait for you.” This Scalped-Man agreed to do. He went down and jumped into the creek and dived. He did not stay long, and came up again, and said : “ Yes, there she is.” “ Yes,” said the girl, “you did not stay long.” So he dived again, this time staying longer, and he came up. “Yes, she is there still,” said he. “ You do not stay under the water long enough to get off those scales,” said the girl; “the sores need much water so that they will get well soaked, and will drop off.” He dived and stayed a long time. When he rose, he saw her still sitting there. “ Good,” he said, “ you are a good girl.” “Well,” said the girl, “ stay longer this time, and when you come up we will go to your home.” “Very well,” he said ; so he dived, and as he went under the water the girl got up and ran as fast as she could for her home. About halfway she fell in with some hunters, and she told them about Scalped-Man. They took her home.

Now when Scalped-Man came up from the water she was gone. He ran out of the water to the place where the girl had sat, and knelt down and said : “Here is where she sat.” He felt of the place and rolled over, then stood up and cried, and said : “ Only for the sore head.” He kept on saying this, and after a time came upon the hunters, and saw the girl among them. He shrieked for her and said : “ Come ! the scabs are off.” But the girl would not go back.

Cosmogonic.

23. BELIEF IN GHOSTS.186

Disbelievers learn by experience that tales respecting the spirit world are true.

In olden times the Skidi lived upon the banks of the Platte River. There they prospered. The priests held their annual meetings for religious ceremonies. They offered meat and native tobacco in these meetings to Tirawa. These priests taught the people that there was a Tirawa in the heavens, and that he ruled over all. He also took care of the dead people. There were some people who mocked at the teachings respecting Tirawa ; Tirawa was nothing to them.

Among these people was one man who did not believe that the dead people lived. So once, after their hunt, on return to their village, this particular man went on ahead. Arriving at the village, he went to the cornfields, and there he found matured cbrn. So he gathered some and went to his lodge. He made a fire and roasted some of the corn. In the evening he lay down to sleep, and as it became dark, he heard mysterious noises all about the lodge. Some of the noises came from the inside of the lodge, and some from the top of the lodge. He could hear people talking. Some of them spoke out and mentioned his name, and said : “ White-Hawk has come back to the village. He says that there are so many bundles of dried meat for sacred bundles, and so many bundles of dried meat for the medicine-men’s dance.” They went on and told all the different dances, and how many bundles of dried meat there were. This man listened and said to himself : “These are the spirits of my people; I will not pay any attention to them.” But he did, for they seemed to come closer to him. At last he cried and said : “ I now believe the story of the old man ; I now know that you live.”

Then the spirits went away. So the man went to sleep. When the people came to the village he told them. There were two women who did not believe him. These women were out gathering their corn, and they stayed late in the field. When they started for home it was dark. On the way they were overtaken by two women ; one of them had a baby in her arms and the other one had a baby-board, with a baby tied on it. They sat down in front, and one of them began to put the baby on the board. When they were near they disappeared. The women were frightened. When they reached the village they became sick. So their friends sent for a doctor, who made sweet smelling smoke, and they became well. These women then believed that dead people lived.

24. BLOOD-CLOT-BOY.189

A man and his wife, who live alone, are carried off by a she-bear and cruelly treated. From a slain buffalo the man takes a clot of blood, which turns into a boy. For the boy are made arrows which are breathed on by the animals, and with these he kills the bear. Fie goes alone to the village, and chooses as friend a poor boy, Burnt-Belbf. He returns to his father and mother, brings these to the village, and makes a lodge ; by shooting at the ring he attracts the buffalo. A witch who tries to drown him is destroyed by the animals whose skins are on his cap and quiver. He is loved by the chief’s daughter, but vanishes in the shape of a young buffalo bull, leaving his raiment and the maiden to his friend, who impersonates him.

A long time ago there were people in the south who lived in a village. The women cultivated the fields and looked after their crop, while the men hunted and brought meat into the camp.

In this village was a poor man and a poor woman. They were living together as man and wife. One day the man said to the woman : “ Let us go from this village ; the people do not care for us. I shall make my arrows, and I will hunt game and buffalo, so we can have plenty to eat and plenty to wear.” The woman said : “ It is well, let us go.” So the man made many arrows. They started and went north. They came to a stream of water and made a grass lodge.

Here they lived, and the man found plenty of game. They now had plenty to eat and wear. So they left their lodge and went to another place. Now they made another grass lodge, and here they stayed. The man found plenty of buffalo, so he did not have to go far. He killed many buffalo, so that now they had many parfleches filled with dried meat.

One day, when they were happy, a visitor came to their lodge. It was a bear. The man was about to fight, when the bear said : “No, you must not fight me, for you cannot kill me. All I want is some of the meat you have.” So the man said : “You can have the meat.” But the bear said : “You must carry the meat for me, for I have young ones to feed.” So the man had to carry the dried buffalo meat on his back for the bear. The bear and man now walked on to a cedar country. Now they came to a den of bears. These bears were the children of this bear with the ipan. The bear told the man to cut the dried

8i

Boy Heroes.

meat and give the pieces of meat to the bears. This the man did ; and then the man was told to sit down. After the bears had eaten all the meat, the man was told to lead the bears to his home, the bear following. The bear had told the man that he himself was the one who had been killing the people; that he did not like the people. Now the man and the bears had arrived at the man’s home.

The man was then made to build a grass house for the bears. The bear was cruel to the man, and would not let him eat. The man made the grass lodge for the bears. Then he was told to bring all of his meat to the bear’s lodge. So the man took all of his meat over to the bear s lodge, d he man and the woman became very hungry ; they had nothing to eat. Every day the bear would come to the man's lodge and would say : “ Get your bow and arrows ; I want you to go hunting with me.” The man would go with the bear. When they came to a buffalo, the man would kill it, skin it, and would have to pack all the meat to the bear’s lodge. The bear never divided any meat with the man. The bear did not even give them a small piece of meat, so that they might eat. The woman and man were both alarmed, for the bear seemed to know their thoughts. If they talked of flight, the bear would say : “You cannot run away from me.”

One day the bear took the man with him on a hunt. While they were gone the least of the bears came to the woman and said : “ Woman, are you hungry ? I have brought you meat that my mother gave me to eat ; if you desire, you may save a piece for your husband.” The woman patted the young bear upon the head. Every day the young bear used to bring a little meat to the woman. The man was now getting thin, for he got but little meat. The man and woman felt badly, for they could not get any meat, and they could not escape, as the bear was watching them all the time.

One day the bear came and said to the man : “ Come, get your bow and arrows and we will go hunting together, for my children are hungry ; they have nothing to eat.” So the man took his bow and arrows, and the man went with the bear to hunt buffalo. They came to a drove of buffalo. The man crawled to the place where the buffalo were and saw one fat cow. This he picked out, and shot an arrow at her. He hit the cow in the side, so that the arrow went through the heart. As the buffalo staggered and was ready to fall, the man saw it throw up a large-sized clot of blood. He ran and pulled up some grass and took up the blood, saying to himself, “ My wife will boil this blood, and we can have blood soup.” 137 So he placed the blood in his robe before the bear noticed what he had done. So the man skinned the buffalo, while the bear sat at one side watching him, to prevent him from taking any of the meat. The man now packed the meat, and they went home. After the man threw the meat upon the ground in front of the bear’s lodge, he walked fast to his own lodge.

As he entered his lodge he said : “ Woman, set this blood back of the lodge and cover it with grass. To-night, when the bears have gone to sleep, you can boil this blood, and make blood soup.” The woman took the blood and set it back in the lodge at the south side. The woman divided the meat the young bear had brought to them. In the night the woman reached after the blood, and, instead of a blood-clot, the blood had turned into a baby. The woman called her husband and he saw the child, but he was afraid that the bear might hear its crying and would kill it ; so the woman hid the baby away.

The next day, while hunting with the bear, the man took courage, and when he killed a cow took the cow’s bag and hid it. This he took home to his woman, and she let the child suck the bag.138 The child grew up fast. The man was thin and looked badly. The bear kept telling the man to hunt with him.

One day, as the man returned, he noticed that the child had grown to a good size. So he said : “ I will make the boy a bow and arrows, so that he can play and not cry.” So the man made a little bow and arrows for the boy. When the man and bear were absent the boy would go out to play, and the young bear would come and play with the boy. The boy would ride the bear around, and the other young bears would say, “Mother, our brother lets Straight-up-Person 139 ride him,” but the bear-mother would say, “ Let them alone, they are poor : let them play.” The little bear used to steal meat for the boy, so that the boy grew up fast. Blood-Clot-Boy said one day to the man : “ Father, I know we are poor. I want you to make me a strong bow ; a bow that will be as strong as the tail of the mountain lion ; make the sinew stout, so it will not break when I pull it ; the arrow must be made of the finest dogwood ; do not put anything at the ends of your arrows, but just sharpen them. When you make the bow, let it stand in the sun for several days to harden ; get sumach leaves and boil them, and pour the liquid upon the bow, so that it will turn black.140 The arrows must all be red. I am not human. I am the child of all the animals. The animals know the treatment the bears gave you. They are sorry for you and your woman, so they sent me to help you. I am going to kill the bear, so make the bow and arrows, and do as I have asked you.”

The man was glad to hear what the boy said, and when the bow and arrows were made he said : “My son, here are the bow and arrows.” So the boy took the bow and arrows and went far away into a thickly timbered country. There in the timber he found many animals and birds. The animals talked to the boy and told him how to kill the bear. The arrows were breathed upon by the birds ; the bow was taken by the mountain lion ; the mountain lion then took it to a large black snake ; the bow \yas breathed upon by all the animals. The birds decked the boy with downy feathers. From the creek the beavers brought up sweet grass to the boy. The otters brought up flagroot stems. These stems and grasses the boy twisted, and put them about his neck.141 The boy went home, for it was now night.

When he arrived he found his father and mother both at home. He woke them, and told them that he was now prepared to kill the bear. The boy told the man to sit up and hear what he had to say. Then he said : “ Father, to-morrow the bear is coming for you to go hunting , accompany him as usual. When you take your choice from the herd, kill it ; do not be afraid. When you skin and cut up the meat, pretend that you want the bear to carry the meat. The bear will not like it, and will threaten to kill you ; do not mind, for I will be with you. As soon as the bear raises his paws toward the Sun, I will shoot one of my arrows into his right paw, then another into his left ; he will be conquered, but I shall shoot him again, in the side, so that he will die.”

The next morning the bear came and said : “ You man sitting within, 14-j come, go with me and hunt buffalo ; my children have no meat. So the man went out, leaving the boy and woman at home. The bear and the man went a long way from their lodge. Finally they came to a drove of buffalo, and the bear said : “ Kill this bull ; ” but the man said : “ No, I want to kill a cow.” Finally the bear yielded. They went on, until they came to a drove of buffalo cows, when the man shot at a cow and killed it. Then he cut it up. The bear would try to make the man cut the meat in a different manner, but the man would not listen. “ Why,” said the bear, “ you do not do as I tell you.” “ You have had your way since we came out, now you must carry this meat,” said the man.

The bear was angry and stood on his hind legs, as if to tear the man to pieces, but the man was not alarmed. Close by was a thicket, and here the boy lay hid, for he could travel and not be seen. As the bear raised his paws a second time, the boy came out from the thicket, took aim, and the arrow struck the bear’s paw ; another arrow was sent, and this time it struck the bear’s other paw.143 The bear gave a squeal and rolled over, and as he did so the boy was upon him, and sent another arrow into the bear’s side, killing him.

The man went up to the boy and hugged him. The man then put the meat upon his back and they went home. The she-bear and the young ones went away as soon as they found out that the bear was killed. The bear that was killed had been feared all over the land, for he killed not only people, but also animals.

When the man and the boy came home they told the woman that the bear had been killed, and she was glad. The young bear returned to their lodge and made its home with them. These people remained at the same place and killed many buffalo, so that they had plenty of meat. As soon as all became fat, they packed their meat and started for their village, taking the young bear. The young man said : “Father, I will go in advance, so that I can find a place for us to live.” The man said : “ Very well, you may go on.” So the young man disappeared. The young bear then left, and went back to the cedar country. The young man arrived at the village and went about it.

Every one who saw him took him to be Burnt-Belly, a boy who lived with his grandmother outside of the village. (The name “ Burnt- Belly ” was given to the boy because he had no shirt, and, as he sat by the camp-fire all the time, his belly was burnt.) But this young boy went on, noticing nobody. He was poor, wore no clothes except a piece of robe, and his hair was never combed. He went to a tipi that was at a distance from the village. Burnt-Belly went out and saw the strange boy coming. He went into the tipi, and told his grandmother that a strange boy was coming into their tipi. So the old woman went out and said to Burnt-Belly : “You must tell the boy to go elsewhere, for we have little to eat.” But the boy said : “No, grandmother, I want this boy to stay with us.” So Blood-Clot-Boy was allowed to go into the tipi.

The old woman asked the boy whence he came, and the boy said : “ I am poor, I have no home.” So the old woman let the boy stay. Every day the boy used to go out with Burnt-Belly and hunt rabbits. The boys finally made bows and arrows, so that they killed small game. Blood-Clot-Boy then said that he was going to make a ring, and bade Burnt-Belly tell his grandmother to go through the camp and pick up rawhide scraps. The boy told his grandmother what Blood-Clot-Boy had said. So the old woman went through the village, and found trimmings of a buffalo hide. These she brought to the boys. Blood-Clot-Boy then boiled the trimmings, so that the hide became soft. Then he cut them into a long string. Then Blood-Clot- Boy hung the strings up. Now he went and cut an ash-tree and brought it home. He peeled off the bark, then twisted the stick, so that the stick became a ring where the ends met. Now he took the string and wound it around the ring, so that the ring looked like a spider’s web. In th*e centre was an open space. The boy then took from his belt a sack, from which he drew a pinch of dry maw-ball 144 taken from the paunch of a buffalo bull. He pounded this into dust, then got water, which he sprinkled on the dust so that it became mud, This he put all over the ring ; then he hung it up on a tree outside the tipi.

Blood-Clot-Boy said : “ Now let us go into the timber ; I want a better bow than this.” So the boys went into the timber. Blood-Clot- Boy found a large a^h-tree, cut it, and took it home. He worked on the stick several days, until at last he finished the bow. The bowstring was now made. The arrows were to be the same they had used before.

One day Blood-Clot-Boy bade Burnt-Belly tell his grandmother to roll the ring out toward the entrance. The old woman took down the ring and rolled it out, and as it came rolling, Blood-Clot-Boy shot, and the arrow went through the ring. As the arrow passed through, Blood-Clot-Boy gave a war-cry. The other boy went out of the tipi, and lying outside he saw a young buffalo calf with Blood-Clot-Boy’s arrow through the flank.145 The boy came running out, shouting, “ Grandmother ! My brother has killed a young buffalo calf ! ” When the old woman heard her grandchild, she said : “ My poor boys, how could they kill a young buffalo when there are none near ? ” But as she thrust her head out of the tipi, she saw the calf lying ; then she went out. She asked where it came from, and Blood-Clot-Boy said nothing, but went and got the ring, and hung it in the tipi. Blood- Clot-Boy said : “ Grandmother, skin the calf and get me tallow to grease my ring, so that it will not harden.” So the old woman went to work and skinned the calf. The meat they took into the tipi, and roasted most of it, for they had no large pot in which to boil it.

Every fourth day the boy would say : “Tell grandmother to take the ring down and roll it out again, and I will stand outside, so that I can shoot at it.” When the boy bade his grandmother roll the ring she did so ; and when she heard the boy give the war-cry she knew that the boy had shot at the ring. Then she would thrust out her head, and there, in front of her grass tipi, would be a buffalo, larger than the one killed before. The old woman would then skin it and cut up the meat. Then she would pile the meat in her tipi. Every time the boy killed a buffalo, the first thing the old woman did was to get tallow, then grease the ring. She now had many hides, so she made a skin tipi. She had no tools to tan the hides. The old woman now knew that the boy was wonderful. He kept on killing buffalo, so that they had plenty of meat.

While they were having plenty, the people in the village were starving. One day a man was passing by the old woman’s tipi, and he smelled burnt meat. He walked quietly, and saw the three eating meat. So he went in, and a piece of roasted meat was given him. The man went home, and told nobody, but every day would visit the tipi.

One day, when the man was at the tipi, Blood-Clot-Boy commanded the old woman to roll the ring outside. This she did, and as the boy gave a war-cry, the old woman went to see what he had killed. The boy brought the ring and said: “Grandmother, go skin the buffalo, and when you cut up the meat give some to this man, for he is of my kin.”

Therefore the man asked the boy why he called him a relative. So the boy told the story, about the man and woman far away, about his father picking him up (as blood) when he was born, and how he scratched him on the side of the face.

The man received his meal, then invited the chief to eat with him. So the man told the chief of the wonderful boy. The chief invited the poor Blood-Clot-Boy, and asked him to help the people kill buffalo, so they might get meat. Blood-Clot-Boy said : “ Chief, I can help the people. My kindred are far away. I shall go after them, and when I return, I will help the people.”

So the boy went, and found the man and woman. There were all his things, — robe, leggings, quiver, and cap. The cap was made from the heads of red-headed woodpeckers.146 He now put on his clothing, and told the father and mother that he had come after them, for he had found their people. So they all set out.

When they reached the village they went to the place where the old woman and grandson lived, and here they made their tipi. When Burnt-Belly saw them he invited them to his tipi. But Blood-Clot- Boy said : “ No.” So they made a new tipi of grass. The poor boy kept the ring which the boy gave to him.

A few days after, Blood-Clot-Boy said to his father and mother : “ Build me a lodge, for I shall try to help the people.” So the father and mother went to work, and built a great lodge. The boy entered and sat there. Every day he bade the poor boy hang up the door cover so that he could shoot. This time there was no rolling of the ring. Now Blood-Clot-Boy told Burnt-Belly that he himself was a buffalo ; that his mother had vomited him up ; that it was done for a purpose ; that he had turned to a child ; he was picked up by the man, who was under fear of the bear all the time ; that he was to kill the bear so that the man and woman might go back to their people.

Now as he killed one buffalo after another, at the entrance, he was calling the buffalo to the people. One day the boy put on his leggings, his moccasins, his cap of woodpeckers’ heads, and sat down in his lodge with the poor boy. Blood-Clot-Boy then sent his father after the chief. The chief came, and when he saw the boy dressed up with birds and other animals he begged him to help the people. So the boy said : “ Do you stay here ; sit down by me.” The chief sat down, and the boy arose and went out to his father’s tipi. There he took down his quiver and slung it over his breast. He started to travel over the country. In a little while he came into the tipi, where sat the chief. Blood-Clot-Boy reached under his robe and brought out a piece of kidney covered with fat. “ Eat this,” said Blood-Clot-Boy. “ As you eat this (and I have brought it from far) the buffalo will come from a long distance, so that the people will be fed.” The chief ate the kidney. While he did so the boy said : “ Send men out upon the hills in the west and try if they can see anything.” So the chief sent for his men, and he told them to go out upon the hills and see what they could see. The men went, and when they returned they reported that they had seen many buffalo and killed many.

Blood-Clot-Boy was upon the hill. When the people found out what he had done they said : “ Chief, the boy should marry one of your daughters.” So the chief said: “I am willing.” But the boy would not go anywhere, so the girls never had a chance to see him.

One day Blood-Clot-Boy dressed up, slung his quiver over his shoulder, and went out. He came to a stream of water where sat a poor woman, who said : “ My son, take pity on your poor grandmother ; take me across.” So when he went across the boy put her upon his back. The woman stuck on the boy’s back. He tried to get her off, but could not. The birds upon the boy’s cap began to peck at her head. The bow turned into a large black snake. The arrows were all snakes. The birds upon the leggings began to make a noise, but the old woman did not mind the snakes. At last the quiver became alive, and turned to a mountain lion. The lion ran, then turned quickly, and before the woman could turn her head, had wound his tail round her neck, and pulled off her head and breast. The lion then took the other pieces — her arms and legs — and scattered them over the timber, turning them into weeds covered with burrs.147

The chief’s youngest daughter was going after water, when she met Blood-Clot-Boy. The girl loved him ; so when she went home she took her robe and went to Blood-Clot-Boy’s lodge. Blood-Clot- Boy would not let her stay. But every day she came. So Blood-Clot- Boy said to the girl : “ You must not look at me, for I am not a man ; I shall soon depart ; look at my brother, who belongs here ; when I am gone he shall have my clothing.” The girl said: “I wish to be with you, to see for myself that what you say is true.” So Blood-Clot- Boy said : “It is well, you shall go with us.”

So one day Blood-Clot-Boy told Burnt-Belly that he should accompany him to a certain lake, saying : “ It is now time for me to return to my own people. I have killed the bear, and brought home the man and woman. I have fed the people and killed the old witch-woman, so that now the people may live happily.”

One day the girl came to their tipi, and Blood-Clot-Boy said : “Come, my brother, and you, my sister; go with me.” So they all went, Blood-Clot-Boy, Burnt-Belly, and the girl. Burnt-Belly kept asking Blood-Clot-Boy where they were going, but he would say nothing. They came to a large pond. Blood-Clot-Boy said : “Now let us sit down.” So they sat down by a high cliff by the lake.

Traditio7is of the Skidi Pawnee.

Blood-Clot -Boy said : “ Burnt-Belly, you are to take my place. I am going to throw into the lake this clothing, my leggings, my robe, my cap, and my quiver ; you are to dive after them. If the animals favor you, you will find these clothes ; your hair will be like mine ; and you shall also receive a scar as you dive.” 148 So Blood-Clot-Boy threw the clothing into the lake. Burnt-Belly leaped into the lake. For a long time Blood-Clot-Boy and the girl watched ; but Blood-Clot-Boy said : “Nawa, there he comes, on the other side of the lake.” The girl looked, and she saw Burnt-Belly coming, all dressed up. Blood-Clot- Boy and the girl went and met the boy. Then they went home.

Blood-Clot-Boy now sent for the chief, and said to him when he had come : “ This young man whom you see shall now take my place. He has my clothing. Send your men again upon the hills to see what they can see.”

The men went, and when they returned they said : “ We saw many buffalo.” So the people were ordered to surround the buffalo. Therefore the people went out. Blood-Clot-Boy, Burnt-Belly, and the girl went upon the hill. As the people attacked the buffalo, Blood-Clot- Boy disappeared ; the girl and boy looked at the place where he had been standing, and there was a clot of blood instead of the boy. The boy and girl glanced at one another, and when they looked again there was no blood, and from them was running a young buffalo bull. They knew it was the young man, so the boy and girl went home.

The boy took the girl to her home, promising to ask for her. The boy did ask the father for the girl, and the chief gave her to him. The boy called the buffalo several times, and the people all believed that he was Blood-Clot-Boy. He died soon after, leaving no children.

25. LONG-TOOTH-BOY.14*

From the body of a dead mother is taken a child, while from the afterbirth, thrown into the river, is formed a marvellous boy named Long-Tooth. The two become comrades, venture into forbidden regions, destroy monsters, and ensure the safety of mankind ; after these exploits they retire to a cavern below the waters in which Long-Tooth originated.

People journeyed toward the west, hunting buffalo. They came to a hilly country, with a fine deep stream running through it, where they made their camp. One man, a good hunter, went hunting, and was gone several days. He killed a deer, and packed it on his back to the camp.

Arriving there, he found that the village had been destroyed by fire. He threw the deer to the ground, and quickly ran through the burnt village, seeking his wife, who was soon to give birth. He found her dead, but saw that her body was moving ; and, thinking that the child lived, he cut open the womb and took out the child and the afterbirth. He washed the child and wrapped it with fur. He took the afterbirth and threw it in the creek. The man made a grass lodge, then sought a fresh buffalo cow. He found it and killed it, cut off the whole bag, and took it home to the baby. The baby sucked the bag until there was no more, and then he went and killed another fresh cow. So he continued to do, until the boy could run about. He then made for the boy a bow and arrows ; he also gathered a bunch of sinew, tying it at each end, so that the boy could shoot at it on the ground. The arrows were sharpened at the end, so that the arrows could go through the sinew. The boy played alone for several days.

At one time, when the father was about to go, meat was prepared for the boy, so that he could eat whenever he was hungry. After two days had passed, the boy was out playing, when some one spoke to him and said : “ Where is your father ? Can I play with you ? ” “ Yes, you can play with me,” said the boy. They played a long time, until all at once the strange boy sniffed, looked around, and said : “ Your father is coming.” He ran away with the boy’s bow and arrows, and jumped into the water.

When the man arrived he had plenty of meat. The boy related how the strange boy came and played with him, how he sniffed, and ran away with his bow and arrows, and jumped into the water. “ Well, my son, I shall make you another bow, and when he comes, tell him to stay, so that you can play with him.” The bow and arrows were made and the sinew prepared. Then the man made ready to go on his hunting trip. This time he was to be gone several days. The man prepared for the boy pounded dried meat, mixing it with fat. He went off.

He had gone only a little way when the little boy again came. They played a long time, then went and ate the meat. The boy said : “ My father wants you to stay and play with me. Stay with me, and we will have fun together.” “No,” said the strange boy, “I cannot, for your father loves you, and he does not love me. He washed you and took care of you, feeding you with animal’s milk, while he threw me into the river.” For several days they played together, and the boy slept with the wonderful boy, who told him many things about his animal friends in the water. One day, as they were playing, the boy sniffed and said : “ I must be going ; your father is coming.” He took the boy’s arrows and his own, and leaped into the stream.

The man arrived with meat, and asked about the strange boy. The son told his father that the strange boy was his brother, and how the afterbirth had in it another child. “ My son, what does he look like ? Tell me about him.” “Father,” said the boy, “he had a long tooth, a buckskin string around his neck, with a stone looking like flint at the go Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee.

end. He told me that the stone formed after lightning struck the water.” The father said : “ We must catch the boy. He must not live in the water. I will hide in the lodge, and when he comes, tell him I am gone.” The man hid, and after a time the strange boy came out, saying, “ Have you anything to eat ? Ah ! your father is hid in the house,” and away he ran and leapt into the water. “ I will now roll myself in the dried buffalo hide, and I will stand on one side of the lodge ; if he comes, tell him I am gone,” said the father. The strange boy came out of the water and said : “ Where is your father ; is he gone ? Let us go into the lodge and eat.” They went in, and the strange boy stopped. “ I see your father standing inside that buffalo hide,” said the strange boy, and he ran to the stream and jumped in. The man came out and said : “ He is a wonderful boy. I must catch him.”

Now the boy had no bow and arrows, and the man had to make another set. He then told the boy to play on the bank of the creek. The strange boy did not come. The next day the man turned himself into a pole, — such as stands over the fire for pots to hang on. The boy came, and they played together. When they were hungry, they went inside the lodge, and the boy said : “ That pole is your father,” and he ran out and jumped into the creek. The man came out and said : “ What does he do ? Does he like to do what you do ? ” “ Yes,” the boy said. “Then I must catch your brother.”

The man went off and stayed many days, and the boys played together. The man came home, and brought two bladders of buffalo, — one a small one, the other a large one. The smaller one he inflated and tied fast to the boy’s scalp-lock ; the other he also inflated and tied up, then hung on the pole inside of the lodge. “ Now, my boy,” said the man, “if he asks you for this thing, tell him you have one for him. Do you go into the lodge and take this, and tie it fast on his head. I shall be on the hill, watching.” So the man went off. The strange boy came up and waited and waited, and said : “ Your father is near; I shall not come and play with you.” The man saw that the boy kept away, so he went farther off. The boy then came close, and saw the thing on the son’s head. “ Brother, let me wear that on my head. It looks handsome.” “ No, I cannot give it to you, for it is mine, There is one inside, if you want it. I can put it on for you.” They went in ; the son got the large bladder, and put it on the strange boy’s head, and tied it fast. They then went out and playfed. All at once the boy looked up and said : “ Your father is coming.” He turned to fly, but the boy seized him. “ Brother, stay with me. Do not go,” said he. But the boy got away and jumped into the creek. He tried to dive, but the bladder kept him up. He tried and tried, and every time failed. The man jumped into the river and caught the boy.

The boy screamed and kicked, and bit the man with his long tooth. The man carried him up and bound him. He then took two stones and with these managed to break the tooth. The boy then submitted and promised to remain. He stayed with them, and the man was glad of it, for now he could go off and stay a long time.

The boys were now large, and, as they grew older, they made larger bows and arrows. Their arrow-points they got from the fish. They ceased playing around their lodge, went into the timber, and killed game.

One day the father said that he was about to go, and told them not to venture very far ; there were monsters and wild animals that would eat them up. They wandered through the country, but found none, and what wild animals they saw they killed and brought home.

The man wondered how they could do all this. As he got ready to depart, he told the boys not to go to a place in the south, which was hilly and timbered, for there people were eaten up by a monster, which in reality was a snake, but which looked like a lizard. The man went off. Long-Tooth-Boy said : “ Brother, let us go where father told us not to go. I want very much to see that animal.” They went, and as they went, they shot arrows in front of them to see who could shoot nearest the first arrow. In this manner they travelled on and on, until all at once they were among timber and rocks. They kept on until they came to the hillside, where they saw the monster, with eyes wide, and mouth opening as if to swallow them. “ Give me your bows,” said Long-Tooth-Boy, “ I must breathe on them, for we shall have to kill many smaller snakes before we can reach their chief.” As they neared a valley, they saw, as it were, a sheet of snow, for there were many snakes, which they began to shoot. They picked out small-sized stones, on which they stood 160 and shot the snakes. They killed many, and many of the snakes perished trying to bite the stones, while some died as they ran up so that their noses came in contact with the stones. The sun grew hot ; the snakes seemed to become numerous, but the boys kept on killing.

The boys now called on the gods, and a hailstorm came, which made the snakes hide, for it thundered and lightened very strongly. As the rain passed, on the side of the mountain where the monster had lived they saw dust which looked like smoke. They watched, and perceived that it was a monster coming to swallow them. Long-Tooth-Boy was laughing, while the other boy was frightened and could not move, but scolded his brother for bringing him. As the monster came nearer, the boy kept going toward it, while Long-Tooth-Boy laughed. The boy was charmed, for he desired to go to the monster. Long-Tooth- Boy hallooed and screamed to his brother, but he did not stop. Long- Tooth-Boy then threw his breath at the monster, and the skin flew to one side, while the flesh was at another place. The monster was killed. The skin they kept. Long-Tooth-Boy screamed and laughed at his brother. Long-Tooth-Boy then made fast to one end of the monster and dragged it. When they neared home, he said that his father was there, and they would amuse themselves with him. He then blew his breath into the skin, so that it looked large, then tied it. They dragged the monster and yelled and cried, calling on their father for aid ; they acted as if they were scared. The old man came out and saw the monster coming after them. He cried and screamed, and scolded the boys for going to the place. He ran away, for he was frightened. The boys yelled and called for him, but he would not return. They came to the camp and untied the skin, then hung it on a free. The old man saw it and said : “ What a wonderful boy ! ”

This time the man was about to seek another village of their people, and intended to be gone several days. As he started, he said : “ Now, my boys, do not go to yonder hills where are the cedar-trees. There our young men went hunting, and never returned. An animal lives there.” They played and played, and when they were hungry, they ate meat. Long-Tooth-Boy said : “ Let us go where our father told us not to go.” The other boy said : “ No, for I am afraid of those animals.” But Long-Tooth-Boy coaxed him until they went. As they drew near, Long-Tooth- Boy said : “This is the home of the bears. They are all away, but the most powerful, their chief, is at home. We will take him, and ride him to our camp.” As they neared the den of the bears, the bear came out with a sniff and made the dust fly. The bear also threw breath at them, and each breath was of a different color.151 Long- Tooth-Boy walked on, and by touching the bear with his bow the bear submitted, and became his slave. The boy then called his brother, and they tied the bear, while they went into the den. Finding nothing, they both mounted the bear and started for home. As they neared the village, the boys got off the bear and ran in front, feigning that the bear was after them. They cried for help, and when the man saw them he also ran. The boys called and called, and, on turning, the old man found the boys riding the bear. Long-Tooth-Boy laughed, and said : “ Father, you must not get scared so easily ; I brought this animal to pull roots for you, and to carry wood for us. Tie it to a tree.” The man was so frightened that, when the boys were not watching, he killed the bear.

The father then told them that they must not go to a certain place, where lived an old witch-woman who was in the habit of killing people and eating them. The boys went, and found the old woman.

She got them to run a race with her, but, when the people ran, they were made to go foremost, in order that they might come to a deep precipice, jump over, and kill themselves. Long-Tooth-Boy made his brother run first. He jumped and was killed. Then Long-Tooth- Boy made the old woman run and jump over the precipice. She begged him to run and jump first. He would not, but made the old woman take the lead. After starting, he told her to stop, saying that he had forgotten something. She stopped. He now told her to lift up her dress as close as she could to her legs, and that he would run with her. The young boy ran with the woman ; he was first to jump over the precipice, stood upon the ground, and sang a song, as the old woman came behind. She leaped over, and while she was jumping the boy was singing a song ; as she came to the place where he was standing, he blew his breath, so that her skin with her dress flew to one side, while her flesh and bones blew to another.152

The boy then went to the skin of the woman, and raised it and blew his breath into it, so that it stood up, as though it had been alive. Then the boy went to her tipi and got her ball of spider-web. He took one end, and tied it around her waist. Then he started, and the woman followed him, as though alive, running after him.

He then went where his brother lay and said : “Brother, you have been sleeping long enough; awake.” The boy became alive again, and the two brothers went home, the old woman (it was the web that was pulling her) following them.

They came near their tipi and cried for help. The father came out and was very much frightened, for the old woman seemed to be running after the boys. The father was about to run, but Long- Tooth-Boy screamed and bade his father stop, saying that it was only the skin of the woman ; that he had killed her, and now she could stand in their tipi, as a sack to hold their corn, or anything they cared to put in.

The man again made ready to depart, and said : “ My boys, do not go yonder ; mysterious animals are there.” While the man was talking, Long-Tooth-Boy said : “ Let us go and visit the place.” They started, and, as they went, they shot their arrows ahead, not paying any attention to anything. Finally they came to the place, and it was a prairie, with several high rocks or stones ; here was the home of a young buffalo bull, who was thought much of by all buffalo. They played on, and after a time the buffalo came and said : “ Boys, you must not play here ; this is my home ; my people left me here, and this is my home.” The boys paid no attention, but kept on shooting. The buffalo disappeared, and the boy said : “ Come, brother, we must get on top of these high stones, for many buffalo are coming to kill us.” They climbed the rocks and saw the buffalo coming. “We must kill them,” they said, and the buffalo came and tried to hook the stones, but lost their horns. When they knocked off a piece the buffalo hallooed and said : “ We are getting them ! ” After a time they knocked off so many pieces that the stones became small at the bottom,163 and the younger brother was scared and began to cry. The elder said : “Do not cry, we will leave our bows and arrows, and do as I do.” He stretched out and flew over the buffalo, and the younger brother did the same thing, and they flew over the buffalo as snow-birds. They lighted at a distance, and they were again boys. They walked home, and their father was looking. “ Father, we have been to that place, and many buffalo lost their horns. We flew over, and are here, safe.”

“ Boys, you have been to hard places, where are bad animals, and have come out all right. Now this time, do not go to yonder steep bank ; there, an animal lives who killed our people and your mother. That animal's breath is wonderful fire. You must not go there.” “Father,” said Long-Tooth-Boy, “we are going.” The man said nothing, and stood still, watching the boys as they went along. As they neared the place, they could see smoke coming from the place, and Long-Tooth-Boy said : “ Stay behind, brother. If I can only reach yonder mark, I will kill it. It is an elk. It spits wonderful fire, and whatever comes in contact with the fire will burn.164 Now I go. I must walk fast. You see this flat -looking stone hung at the end of the string around my neck ; it is thunder. The thunder-bird gave it to me, to kill this animal.” He ran, and just as he came to the mark fire began to issue ; but as the boy was near the animal's den and it came out, the boy threw the flint at the feet of the animal, and as the flint fell, it exploded like thunder, throwing the elk into the flame, where it took fire and burned up. The boy returned and said : “ Now we will go home and live in peace. We will seek our other people, and we shall live here.”

They went home, and found their father missing. They sought and sought, but could not find him. The next day he came and said : “ Well, boys, what about the animal ? ” “ The animal is dead,” said the boy. The man cried for joy, and held Long-Tooth-Boy in his arms. They went away and found the other people, and they brought them to this place, and here they lived and made a permanent village. So all the wild and mysterious beings were killed, and people were happy, for they could go anywhere and were safe.

Long-Tooth-Boy then took his brother into his den under the water, and there they found many of their bows and arrows. The den was covered with wild sage, and had a pleasant smell. They played on the dry land and sometimes under the water.

Boy Heroes.

26. THE BOY WHO TALKED WITH LIGHTNING.166

A poor boy leads a solitary life in order to obtain power from the gods. After long failure he is struck by lightning, taken within the clouds, receives a rainbow, and becomes a priest.

A long time ago there was a family which prospered and had many children. All at once these people seemed to have ill fortune, for the father and mother died, and the boy had only one sister left.

The boy was poor. He left his sister with one of his aunts and wandered over the country. He made up his mind that if there was any power to be obtained from animals he would try to get it from them by making himself poor in heart. He climbed high hills, and cried until he was very weak. He gave up, then tried along rivers and ponds, but there were no signs of any animals. He went to places where he understood that mysterious human beings dwelt, such as scalped-men and wonderful dwarfs. These mysterious and wonderful beings did not seem to care for him. He was angry ; he called the gods names ; the animals he called hard names.

One day he climbed a high hill and stayed upon the top for many days. As the boy was lying down he heard the storm coming up. He stood up ; then he saw dark clouds coming over him, and gave bad names to the storm, rain, lightning, and wind ; for he had been wandering over the land, and the gods in the heavens had refused to listen to his cry. The animal gods had also refused to hear his crying, so he was angry. The storm passed over him, although it thundered over his head, the lightning striking around him. Still he stood there, pleading with the gods in the clouds to kill him.

A few days afterwards another storm came up, and by this time the boy’s heart was softened, and he cried hard. He spoke and said : “ Whatever you are, Lightning, take pity upon me. I am poor.” All at once the boy was struck by Lightning. The people in the bottom had been watching the boy. After the storm the people went up the hill to see the boy ; but when they arrived there was no boy. They sought and sought for his body, and at last they found it.

Some wished to take him to the village in order that they might bury him ; but one man, who seems to have been related to the boy, came and said : “ Let us go and look at him.” So the people went, and found him with his face downward. One man said : “Turn him over.” They did so, and saw on his face many streaks of red, yellow, blue, and green. The streaks were like lightning. The same colors and streaks were upon his hands. The same man who had spoken before said : “ Let us leave him, for he is not killed.” So they left him.

When they had left him, the boy saw a man who said : “ Well, you now see me ; lam that being who makes lightning in the clouds. I am that being whom you wish to see. My face is lightning, as also are my hands. I touched you with my lightning, and I put marks upon your face and hands, as on mine. You can now travel with me in the clouds. When it thunders you must listen, for it is my voice ; you can hear me speak.”

So the boy joined the man, and they journeyed far into the heavens, within the clouds. They came back, and Lightning said : “ There you are ; go home to your people.”

The boy seemed to awake. He looked around, but could see nobody. He sat up ; he looked at his hands ; he saw the different colors, and knew that all he had seen was true. So he went to the village. His sister’s home was with his aunt; so he went to this place.

The people all looked at him, for he had been struck by lightning but was not killed. He entered the lodge. Then people began to go into the lodge to see him. He did not have much to say. The people saw the marks upon his face. The man, after that, was known as Thunder-Man.

Thunder-Man was wonderful ; he did not stay at his home. Every time a rainstorm came he would sit still, and when it thundered he would make a motion with his head, as much as to say, “ Yes, I hear you.” Then the man would leave the lodge and would be gone several days. He became a great warrior, but never doctored the people.156 The witch-people were afraid of him ; for they were the ones who had killed his father. The man never touched them.

Another poor boy in the village made friends with Thunder-Man. One day Thunder-Man said to the poor boy : “ I know what you want, but I cannot give you power, though I can place you on the hill and call on the Thunders to take pity upon you. But I know your heart is weak, and you will give up.” But the poor boy said : “ No, I will go with you, and I will stay where you put me.” So the man took the poor boy and placed him upon the hill.

The day was clear, but all at once it became cloudy. It stormed and thundered ; lightning flashed all around the boy ; he became frightened, stood up, and left the place. Thunder-Man came and stood before him and said: “I knew you would run away. You are not poor, as you thought you were. Lightning, by his thunders, will not speak to you, nor will you understand the thunder. I, myself, will give you a little power.” “ These paints I give you,” he said, “and a rainbow you will draw upon your forehead, so that you will always remember that you became afraid of the Lightning, and that it was I who gave you the rainbow and the picture of it to be upon your forehead.”

Boy Heroes.

Of this old Thunder-Man 157 it is related that he used to climb up on the earth lodge and sit on top, his robe turned with the hair side outward. When it thundered he would speak loud, and tell the people what the Thunder said. They used to listen, for there were times when this old man told them that the god wanted the people to sweep out their lodges and to clean the ground outside ; that disease was certainly coming. The people always did what the old man said. At other times, in spring or summer, the old man used to tell all the people to take their children to the creek and bathe them, for the gods were to visit them in the clouds.

This man was a medicine-man.158 Once, in the dance of the medicine-men, he wished to cause thunder and make the lightning strike, but the other doctors forbade him, for they were afraid he would go beyond the powers given him by Lightning. The old man was also a priest of all the rain bundles.

The poor boy became a great warrior. Thunder-Man died of old age, and always told the people that there would never be any more flood upon earth, for so said "the Thunders. The other young man died a few years afterwards, so the people did not know much about him.

27. THE BOY AND THE CRUEL CHIEF.169

A cruel chief causes children to be confined and deserted ; the boy is fed by a mountain lion, and taken to the lodge of the animals, who initiate him in their mysteries. After the destruction of their enemy, the children rejoin their people and the boy becomes a chief.

There was a village, and the people had killed buffalo, and were drying their meat. One day the chief went through the camp crying and shouting for the people to break camp the next morning. He also said that he did not wish any of the people to be outside their lodges while he was going through the camp, nor to laugh. He went round the north side of the village, and as he turned to go south he saw three little children playing with their puppy, and they were laughing.

When the visit was ended the chief entered the lodge of a brave man, whom he ordered to bring the crier, who was old. The crier came, and the chief told him to go through the camp and tell the people that three little children had laughed at him. So the old man went through, crying and shouting that the children had disobeyed the chief and were to be punished ; that they were to be left in camp alone ; and that all scraps of meat, sinews, knives, and all other things were to be burned. The old father of the children was ordered to make no resistance ; he was to be whipped for not preventing his children from laughing.

The man was whipped, and that night people talked about their chief. They were all afraid of him, so they did not say anything. The next morning the chief had willows cut and brought, sharpened, and driven in the ground in a circle ; then they were bent over so they looked like a sweat-lodge frame.

Now the children were put in this place, then a rawhide was spread over it, and pins were driven in on all sides, so that the children could not get out. The crier then went through the village and gave orders for them to break camp, to burn everything, and pour water over the coals so that there would be no fire. People broke camp, and the father and mother of the children were whipped away. The children’s puppy was taken by the legs, thrown upon the hard ground, and killed.

For one whole day the children stayed, crying. The next day something came to their place and gnawed the hide, and finally it ate through. There were two girls and one boy : a girl, the oldest, the boy next, and the youngest a girl. The older girl put her fingers up to the hole and spread them, so that the hole became larger. Every day the creature, whatever it was, came and ate at the hole, until they saw it. It was their dog. For four days they stayed in the lodge, and on the fourth day the dog had eaten such a large hole that the little girl could get out.

The older girl told her to go and seek something to eat. The little girl went through the camp, but found nothing. She came to a place where the grass was spread around the fireplace and was not burnt, and she removed the grass and found an old knife. This she took to her sister, and the sister cut the hole larger, so that they got out.

They picked up their dog, for when thrown down it had not been killed, but only stunned. They went from one lodge to another until they came to a place where there was a great pile of ashes, which they stirred and found live coals. They got dried wood and made a fire. They sought something to eat, and now and then would find sinew. This they roasted and ate. The older girl went to their lodge, scraped, and got meat from it. This they ate. In the night they would go into their tipi.

For several days they lived in this manner. Finally, as there was nothing to eat, the older girl took them into the timber and cut ash wood and made a bow ; then she cut dogwood and made several arrows. Now they went back to the camp, and she saicl : “ Seek again for sinew. Bring me all you find.” So they went through the camp, and found just enough to make a string for the bow. So she made the string and put it on the bow.

“ Now, she said, “ we must go into the timber and make a grass lodge, for it is getting colder.” So while the girls were making the shelter, the boy would go into the timber and kill small birds. These they ate until he became able to kill rabbits and turkeys.

One day, as the boy was going through the, timber shooting birds, he saw something carrying a deer ; he followed, and when the animal saw the boy it threw down the deer and ran into the timber. The boy went for his older sister, and they brought the deer home. They cut it up and had plenty of meat and sinew. So the sister made a better string, bow, and arrows. She also scraped the antlers, so that she had points for the arrows. She tanned the deer hide, and made a shirt for her brother.

Now the boy again went hunting, and saw a man who had killed a deer and was about to pack it on his back, when he looked round and saw the boy. He said : “ My son, take this to your sisters. I know that you children are here. Afterwards come back ; I will take you to our home, where you will see my friends. They all know that you and your sisters are here. We have agreed to take care of you. I am a mountain lion. I killed that deer the other day and left it for you.”

So the boy went home with the deer ; then he returned to the man. They went together, and came to an island. The man told the boy to watch, and do whatever he himself should do, in order to enter the animals’ lodge.

The man climbed a tree that stood on the island and jumped down into the water. The boy did the same, and found himself in a lodge. “ This is the lodge of Nahurac (Animals),160 my son,” said the Beaver. “ We have sent for you, for we are sorry for you. We have sent some of our fowls, especially our errand bird, the Magpie, to tell the buffalo to move, and bid some approach, so that we and our animals can kill them for you. This is now your home. Come whenever you desire, and stay with us. Your people are far away. They are hungry; for the gods in the heavens and the animals are angry with the chief for what he did to you and your sisters. Here are many things your people offered to us ; take them, and make use of them.” There were knives, awls, blankets, robes, and many other things. So the boy carried these home. He also got a fine bow and many arrows with flint points. These had been offered to the animals.161

When the boy got home with the things, the girl asked him where he got them, and the boy told her. The girl said no more, for she knew that the animals had taken pity on them. The boy, after this, had an easy time. Deer came to their tipi, and he killed them. Raccoons, beavers, and otters came near their lodge, and he killed them.

Now he stayed with the animals most of the time, and learned their mysteries, so that when he returned the girls did not know him. Buffalo came, and he shot them close to their tipi, and the girls helped him to skin them and cut up the meat.

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Now the girls had made a tipi covering and got long poles, so that they had a fine big tipi. They also had plenty to wear. The boy had killed many animals, so they had plenty of dried meat. Whenever the boy went to the animals’ lodge he was told how the people were starving, and how angry the people were with the chief.

Thus they lived during many years, until the boy was a young man ; the girls, too, were grown to be women. One day the boy was taken up on the hill, and was told that the people were coming back, for they were starving. So the boy went home and told his sisters. In a few days the animals told him that a man was coming, whom he must meet. He went and told his sisters, and they all went out of the tipi, then out into the timber. They saw the man walking about in the place where the children had been left, but he could find no bones. The boy went up and called to him. The man was frightened, but the boy told him that he was the boy who had been left behind. The man was thin and hungry. So the boy took him down to the camp, and left him at a distance, for the boy’s sisters did not like his smell.

They fed the man and asked him about the people. He told what suffering they had endured, and how the people wished to kill the chief, but were afraid of him. The man was glad to find them, for he was their kinsman.

When the man grew strong he was given meat, and sent to the people. The boy told him where they lived, and bade him invite the braves and the father, give them something to eat, and tell them that he and his sisters were still alive, but that the people must not come until they had killed the chief.

The man took the meat and hurried to the village. When he arrived he told his wife to send for the father of the boy, whom he told that his children were living, and how much meat they had. The man did not believe until he had received a share of the meat. He heard what his son had said and replied: “It shall be done.” So they quietly invited the braves, and when these entered they were told what the boy had said.

It was agreed that they should kill the chief. So they went through the camp notifying the people, and all at once there was a war-whoop, and a cry, “Kill the chief!” So everybody ran to the chief’s tipi, killed him, and burnt his tipi. That night they were rejoicing.

The next morning they broke camp and went to the old village. Here they were met by the boy, who now wore a robe, fine elk leggings, and black moccasins. He told them to camp at a distance, and to send men, so that they could carry meat to their camp. The girls would not come out, for they did not like the people. When the people saw the boy in the camp, they did not know how he got so much meat. They were fed, and he told them that in a few days they must go to

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Boy Heroes.

a certain place, where they would find buffalo. They went and killed them, so many that the people had plenty to eat.

Winter set in, and they made a permanent camp at this place. Buffalo came. They killed them, and the young man made offerings, so that the people knew that he was wonderful. By means of the medicine-men’s dance, which he led, he brought the buffalo and led the enemy astray, so that the people slaughtered them. He married, and the animals were glad, for the woman he married was a good woman. The people learned from him many wonderful things, and the girls at last became accustomed to them, so that they also married. The boy at last became a chief.

28. THE BOY AND THE MOTHER-MOUSE.162

A boy, who assists a mother-mouse to recover her lost young, is taken to the lodge of mice and rats, receives their magic power, and hairs which insure their presence, becomes famous and a priest.

People left their earth lodges to journey west and hunt the buffalo. On the second evening, as they pitched their tipis, one woman thought of her antler-scraper, and knew where she had left it in her lodge. She did not know what she was going to do to scrape her hides when they were brought to camp. So as soon as her son, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, got through eating, she said : “ My son, do what I am going to ask you. I forgot my hide-scraper ;163 it is within our lodge. Please go and get it, for I shall need it.” So the boy started back the same night, and the next night arrived.

When he entered the village he heard crying. “ Well, some one has stayed behind,” he said to himself, and he went into the lodge and saw a woman sitting by the altar,164 crying. He went up and&asked what was the trouble. The woman said : “ Boy, I am troubled. I am not a woman, I am a mother-mouse. I am crying, for the people who lived in this lodge took away my children. Can you help me ? Yes, take pity on me. Get my children and bring them to me.” “ I will,” said the boy. “ I will bring them to you. Where are they ? ” She said : “They are in the Rain-bundle of this man’s lodge. I made my nest in the folds of the bundle, and there you will find my children. Bring them to me ! ”

So the boy went to his own lodge, found the hide-scraper, and began his journey back to the camp. For several days he travelled, and at last reached the camp. He handed the scraper to his mother, and, after eating, said : “ Mother, I must go back to the village. Do not be uneasy, for I shall soon return.”

He went direct to the tipi of the owner of the Rain-bundle, and went up to it. There he stood and felt for the nest ; he found it. He removed the nest with its tiny, hairless mice, and put it inside his robe ; then he started for the village. This time it took him longer to arrive. But as he entered the village he could hear the woman crying. As he came in the woman looked up and said: “Have you my children?” The boy answered, “ Yes,” and she thanked and blessed him. She said : “ My boy, I am the mother of these mice. Call me mother, and these children your brothers. Now, my son, I have the consent of the priest of the mice to tell you that he will come and talk with you. I must go and feed my little ones, for they will be starving.” She disappeared, and in her stead there was sitting an old man. He said : “ My boy, you took pity on one of my children. Now I shall have pity on you. You can enter the enemy’s camp, and they will not know it. You may stay around them, and they will not know it. Here are a few hairs from the back of my head, which you shall tie on the string you wear around your neck. Whatever you wish, make it known, and I shall be near to help you.” The boy took the bunch of hair, and the old man ran out, and the boy saw that he was a large rat.165 The rat soon returned with a company of others, and they gave the boy power to become a rat whenever he desired. The mothermouse returned, and told the boy that he could travel very far and never grow tired. “ Now, you may get ready to go,” said she. “ When you people return, you must come and see us. Tell those who lived in this lodge not to hurt or kill us. Now you must go.”

The boy then set out for the camp, and went to the place where were the hunters. He came up with them. There were no suspicions, for the boy had told his mother that he should return to the village. The hunt ended, and the people had plenty of dried meat and pemmican. They then set out to go to the village.

Before they arrived the boy went to his mother and said : “ Mother, I am going in advance. Give me your best dried meat, with some fat.” The mother gave it, and the boy started. He arrived after he had travelled four days. He went into the lodge where was his mothermouse. The mice came out and he gave them some of the meat. In the night many people came into the lodge, among them the old man, the rat, who was painted with red ointment. The boy gave them the meat and fat. They were very thankful. They also gave him more power. He was with them several nights ; as soon as the people came, he went to his own lodge, but visited the mother and' her children the mice. For a long time he remained with them, and even when he was at home, sitting by the fireplace, mice and rats would be seen running about him, and people would say, “ Why, mice and rats seem to have a liking for that boy.”

One day the boy decided that he would go on the warpath, and try to capture some ponies. So he called three other boys, his relatives, and told them that he wished to go far, in order to capture some ponies. They started. When they found the camp the boy would go alone, and bring each of the other boys a pony. They came home and told other young men what had happened. Of course these boys did not know what he had done : only the ropes were chewed, as if rats had been gnawing them.

When next the boys went on the warpath, some other boys joined them. They travelled far, and when the village was in sight the leader made them stay behind while he went into the camp alone. For a long time he did not return, but at last came with many ponies, which he divided among his companions. When the party returned to the village the boy went where the mice stayed and gave a fine horse to the keeper of the lodge. It was rumored in the camp that the boy had wonderful power ; that he never failed to capture ponies. People all through the camp knew this.

Instead of getting ponies, the boy made up his mind to attack a village. When people heard that he was going they flocked around him, but he would not take many. When they found the enemy’s camp, he again left his companions and proceeded alone. While he was sitting near the village a rat came to him and said : “ Brother, we know you. Tell me what you want, and we will help you.” “ Well, my brother,” said the man, “ I want to attack these people, and I wish you to go into their tipis and eat their bow-strings. When you have done this let me know.” The rat came at last and said : “All is done.” So the boy went back to the main body. The next morning they attacked the village, and when the enemy tried to shoot their bow-strings broke. They slaughtered them. Some counted coup, and some of the others took scalps. They went home victorious, and told how the boy made the strings break.

The next war-party decided to kill more enemies ; so the boy gave his consent, and whatever a young man wanted to do, he was told it would be done. The boy told the old rat ; everything turned out as he wished.

Now this party went out and slaughtered more than ever. Upon their return, the boy found that the people had killed the old rat and he could learn no more. So he ceased going on the warpath, but people came to him and begged of him for help. He helped them so they had many ponies.

The boy learned rituals and ceremonies, and became a priest instead of a chief. But he soon died. The people mourned for him. The people in the lodge where the old rat was tried their best to get the mice to pity them, but the mice and rats left the lodge and went elsewhere. All the things the man had from the rats were buried with him. So ended the rat power.

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29. THE BOY AND THE THISTLES.166

An orphan boy devotes himself to the gods, wanders abroad with his sister, obtains the magic power of the thistles, by this means overcomes human and supernatural enemies, conquers the cedar-tree and the button-weed, subdues bears, and reconciles mankind to the animals.

A long time ago there was a village of people who had many wonderful ways. In this village lived a boy and girl, who were brother and sister. They were orphans without relatives, and therefore poor. They had hardly anything to eat. The sister used to go out and beg. By begging they lived.

One fine morning this young man arose and looked about him. His sister was gone, so he took his robe, wrapped it about himself, and wei^t out. As he did so he said : “ I see that I am poor ; I have only my sister. I am young, so I cannot help her.” Looking up to the sky, he said : “You who made everything, you see that I am poor in spirit ; you put gods in the heavens and earth. I now give myself to the Sun, or to any god that is willing to take me.” So he wandered over the prairie, until he came to a small stream of water. He followed this stream of water until he reached low land, in which was a little mound.

Here the boy lay down, for he was tired and hungry. He went to sleep, and when he awoke found himself in a village of strange people, who all seemed to be painted with white clay, and sharpelbowed. The boy was invited to the village, and followed the messenger, until they came to a large tipi.

Here sat several men who were covered with white, and whose hair seemed to have a bluish color. They spoke to him, and one of them said : “ My son, your sister is crying for you ; she misses you. We know you are poor. We will teach you certain things, so that when people dislike you you can kill them. We are not people ; we are weeds that have thorns ; we are not afraid of anything.” So the beings taught the boy, and gave him a dry thistle. He got to the village where the people lived, and went to his sister’s tipi. He went to her bed and touched her ; then she woke, and sat up. It was long before she would believe that it was her brother ; but when she felt of him, she knew it was he. Then she made a fire. The boy told his sister that he was not going to stay long, for he h*ad to go on the warpath. She begged of him to stay, but the boy said : “You know that by bravery, and by great deeds in battle and capturing ponies, one gets to be somebody. I wish to be somebody,” said the boy.

So a few days after, he went to the lodge of a man who was friendly, whom he told that he was thinking of going on the warpath, not to capture ponies, but to kill people. The man invited several young men, and when they came, all agreed to follow the youth. The youth went home, and told his sister that he was going into the enemy s country to take some ponies, so that they could have them.

When the young men had gathered their things the youth led them. For many days they travelled, until at last scouts came in and reported two tipis in the creek bottom. The youth now told all the young men to get ready their bows and arrows, for they were to attack the two tipis. At midnight one scout went out, and brought back news that there were many men in one of the tipis. The young man told his men to surround the tipi, and that he would go first and see how many men it contained, d hey did so, and the young man went straight up to the entrance. He made several motions with his hand, and then gave the war-whoop for the men to charge. They went straight to the tipi, and those who were inside came staggering out. There were several women who were captured.

The young man with his party encamped at this place, for not a single man had escaped them. Next morning they examined the dead, and found that they were not shot, but their throats were swollen. One was cut open, and it was found that thistles had been thrown into his throat. The men now knew that the youth must have done this.

Scalps were taken and the ponies divided. The women were also taken, but the youth did not take any woman.

When these young men returned to their village the people gave dances and made songs about the youth. When the people heard of his power they were astonished, for he was poor. Several times he led war-parties, and always returned with scalps and ponies.

There was now a time when the young man said : “ I cannot go on the warpath any more. So the people said: “Take a woman for a wife, then, and stay at home.” But the man did not like to do so, for he cared for his sister more than for any one else. However, the sister begged her brother, and he finally married a poor girl.

He now had a good-sized tipi, and one day a young girl came to his tipi and said : “ I came after you.” “ Who wants me ? ” said the young man, and the girl replied : “ My grandfather wants you.” So the young man followed the girl, and they came to a large stone, which was round. The stone said : “ Son, I have heard of your powers;

I am going to kill you.” But the young man said nothing. So the stone moved toward the young man ; and as it did so, the thistles at their home knew it. The thistles made the wind blow hard, so that the youth ran fast. The youth ran, but the stone was gaining on him. As he climbed a hill he saw a steep bank, and at the bottom a river. The youth made a jump, and turned into a thistle, which the wind blew across the creek. The stone also jumped. As it struck the water, it broke in pieces, and to this day is found in the beds of all streams. By rolling the stone became hot, and when it struck the water it broke to pieces ; so the young man went home.167

A few days afterward the same girl came again, and said : “ My grandfather wants to see you. ” The youth said : “ Who is your grandfather? ” The girl said : “ He dwells upon the side of a hill.” So the young man went to see. As he came near the place, where she disappeared, he saw a great dust issuing from a dark hole on the side of a hill. The youth walked fast, for he wished to see what it was. As the dust arose he saw it was a large snake. As the snake approached the boy stopped and said : “ What is it you want ? ” The snake answered : “ I want you; come into my lodge and sit down with me.” The youth felt a strange sensation coming over his whole body ; he could not resist, but he wanted to do what the snake had told him. So he went into the snake’s den. The snake then told him to lie down with his face and belly upon the ground, and to put his legs together. The thistles on the prairie knew all this, and made preparation to help the boy. As the boy lay down, the snake crawled slowly up to him, and began to swallow him, first the feet, then the body and head.

The snake was satisfied. So it lay awhile, and the girl came back and said : “ Well, grandfather, you killed him, now the sister must be put away.” So the snake said : “ Go and tell the girl to come, and you will see me dispose of her, as I have of the boy.” So the girl went to the boy’s sister and said : “Your brother wants you.” The sister was glad to hear of her brother, so she rose and followed the girl to the den of the snake. The girl led the sister into the den and went out. The snake lifted up its head and opened its eyes wide ; it spoke, and ordered the girl to lie down. The girl lay down in the same position as that which the boy had taken. The snake now crawled up, and began to swallow her, beginning at her -feet. The girl also was swallowed.

Then the snake crawled out of the den toward a large pond. This snake lived in the water. It was a water-monster. As the snake crawled, two thistles began to grow upon its back. These two plants grew out of the back, and out from the plants went the youth and his sister.

Before seeing the snake, the youth had taught his sister his secret power. As they fell off from the back of the snake, the boy and his sister found many dry thistles, and of these each took an armful and pursued the snake. When the boy threw he flung a whole thistleweed, so that when it struck the snake the weed went through, leaving a large hole. When the girl threw the round top came off, and went through the snake, also leaving a hole. The snake kept on, and the brother and sister continued to throw thistles at the snake. As the snake reached the pond it stopped and died. They had killed the snake.

Now they went to their tipi. The people were thankful, for this snake had been killing people. The young man and his wife now had a baby boy. Strange people came to the young man’s tipi and took the baby, keeping it in their camp several days; then these strange people would bring back the baby. The strange people were the thistles, who claimed the baby. As the baby grew up, the thistles taught the little boy more of their power. The father also taught the boy what he knew.

One day strange girls came to the man’s tipi and called for him. So he followed them. They tried to kill him, but he defended himself with dried thistles. Finally he turned into a dry thistle, and the wind blew him away, so that the power of the girls could not reach him.

The man went back to his tipi by a round-about way. Then he returned to the place where he was attacked, and found a vine of wild pumpkins. On the vines were the pumpkins. These had been the girls. So the man ran thistles through them, and then set one thistle on top of the root, so that the vine and pumpkins dried up. The root was still alive, and so the man set another thistle on top of the root. The root, instead of growing on top, grew downward, as if with legs and without arms, but only the shoulders. The head was worn off on account of the thistle being placed on top. So these beings were destroyed.

The man went home, and for some time did not have any more strange visitors. One day, however, two strange girls came into his tipi, and they both said : “ Go with us to our home; our people want to see you.” The man was afraid, for these girls were pretty, and also had certain things upon them. One had a piece of a cedar limb on her hair ; the other a button-weed upon her head. The man would not go with them. So one came up to the man and touched him upon the breast. The other came and also touched him upon his breast. The two girls now went off.

A few days afterward the man became sick. There were two pains in his breast. Another day came, and the man saw that there were two sprouts coming through his breast, — one a cedar, the other a button-weed. Each day these sprouts were longer and higher, and grew every night. Now the man became frightened; but about this time his son returned. The son had been with the thistles, who had sent him to the father. So the boy said : “ Father, I can take these away ; this girl that has been coming to you is the Button-Weed-Girl ; she was angry at you, for you had the power of a thistle. She took you to the different powers, — the stone, the wild pumpkins, and to animals, for she wanted you to be killed. The last time she was here she treated you thus. The girl with the cedar limb was the one who wanted to see you, so that she could kill you ; the other girl is the button-weed. She also, by touching you, brought you to your present state. What pains you are the roots growing within your veins. To kill these I must go to the timber, where is the cedar-tree. I will run many of my thistles through the bottom of the tree, so that it will be killed and not grow any more. It will pain you, but consider your state. When I have killed the cedar-tree, I must seek the buttonweed, for this it is that made other people desire to kill you. I shall not touch the weed with my hands, but I shall put the power of the thistles upon the weed, so that it will die. When these two have died, wherever you are, you will get better.”

So the son went into the timber and saw a cedar-tree. He knew the tree. He broke the limbs, then placed thistles on them, so that the sap caught the dry dust of the thistles, and its life was taken. The youth also placed thistles at the base of the tree, so that the roots died. The youth also went and found the button-weed. He also cut the button-weed, put the thistle-dust upon the place where the weed was broken, and killed the weed. Then he said : “ I have finished, now, for this was my work, to subdue the button-weed, so that it may be used by the medicine-men.” This particular weed contained poisonous matter, and wished to remain poisonous, but, the thistleweed killed the poison.

Now it was noised through the village of the animals that a certain cedar-tree had died, for the thistle-boy had used powers upon the tree. The bear family heard of the doings of the boy, and of the killing of their cedar-tree. So the bears assembled, and ran toward the boy. The boy saw them. He ran. The bears were gaining on him, when the boy called on the gods to send wind. The boy turned to a dry thistle, which the wind blew away from the bears. The bears kept on, until the people in the camp saw them and gave an alarm. The men took up their quivers and went out. The man also rose and went out. He met the bears, and killed them, one at a time, by throwing the thistles into their throats. All the bears were killed.

The man then went up on to a high hill, where he stood for several nights. On the fifth night some one addressed him, and said : “ Go home. You have subdued all herbs and roots. Your people shall use them for medicine ; from this time on animals shall talk with the people, and they shall teach the people their mysteries. They will not dislike the people any more.168

So the young man went home. His power from the thistles went from him ; and this is the reason why a thistle grows by itself with

Boy Heroes.

thorns on it, for it subdued all other roots, herbs, and plants. The man died, and the son took his place as a wonderful man.169

30. THE BOY WHO CONQUERED THE BUFFALO.170

A boy who kills buffalo becomes the object of vengeance on the part of the buffalo ; through their device is solicited by girls who are transformed buffalo calves ; is captured by buffalo and transported to a desert, but succored by birds who assist him to win the victory.

In a village lived a boy who had a fast-running spotted pony. The boy liked to kill buffalo, and he was always successful in killing many buffalo. The buffalo did not like the young man to kill them and not take home the meat. So they grew angry and said : “Let us kill the boy.” — “ What shall we do ? ” they asked. One old bull said : “ Let us send four girls to bring the boy, so that we may kill him.” So the bull sent for four young calves, who were told to go to the young man’s village, hide there, and turn themselves into girls. So the buffalo girls went to the land of the people. When they got to the village of the people they hid in the brush and turned themselves into young girls. While they were there in the brush, the girls saw the boy go to the watering-place. So the oldest went to the young man, and when she went up to him she said : “ I have come after you.” But the boy said : “ I do not know you, so I will not go.” So the girl went back to the brush. She told the others that she was refused. So the next girl went, and she also was refused, for the boy had always lived with his father, who kept him very strictly. Nunquam feminas cognovit, pater enim lectum altum pro puero fecerat, ut feminae eum appropinquare non possent.171 Now the third girl went, and she was also refused. Then the last girl said : “ I will bring him ; this is what my father told me to do. I have dried maw-stone 172 here that I will sprinkle upon my robe, so that it will make the boy come.” So the girl went to the boy. The girl said : “ I have come after you.” But the boy at first would not go. As the girl passed the young man the wind blew toward him the odor of the maw-stone, and he finally yielded, for the smell from the robe was fine. Sic puer puellam secutus est, et concubuerunt ; tunc ierunt ad locum ubi erant alise puellae.

When the boy arrived he found that the girls were the same who had come after him. When they got there the girls stood up and said : “ We came after you. We want you to go with us to our home.” So the girls walked, and went on. As night came the girls turned into buffalo and ran, the boy keeping up with them. For several days they went. When at last they arrived where the buffalo were, the buffalo were glad, for they desired to kill the boy.

I IO

T raditio7is of the Skidi Pawnee.

One of the buffalo said : “ I will hook the boy when the time comes to kill him.” The three buffalo girls wanted the boy to be killed at once ; but, as the old buffalo met in council, it was decided to leave the matter to the girl who brought the boy. The girl came and said : “ Take the boy across the big water, and leave him on the other side, so that he will die.” The bulls were pleased with this, and selected eight strong bulls. Then the buffalo took the boy, who lay across their backs, and carried him over the water, each buffalo taking his turn. The boy was taken across the water and placed upon a high hill. Some of the buffalo returned, and some stayed to rest.

The boy remained upon the hill several days, until he became thin in flesh. He cried, and one day two birds came, who said they were messenger birds, and that the birds felt sorry for the boy. So the boy was glad. He heard a noise, as if a storm were coming, looked up in the sky, and saw something black descending. At last the bird alighted. It was a red-eagle.173 The eagle spoke to the boy and said: “ My son, this mound is my home. You can see my feathers scattered over the mound. I feel sorry for you. All the birds feel sorry for you. The buffalo brought you here to die. I cannot let you die here, for you would smell badly, and I should not like it.” All the birds came, and lit all over the mound. The eagle said : “ My son, we want you to kill a buffalo, so that these buzzards can eat, and will grow strong enough to carry you across the lake.” The eagle then told the boy to stand up. As the boy stood up a hawk flew down and struck the boy’s legs with his wings, so that the boy became strong. The hawk now flew around, as also did a young eagle. These two birds circled round the mound, and then came together, so that a feather dropped. Again the hawk and the young eagle flew around, and again came together, dropping several feathers, which turned into bow and arrows. The boy took the bow and arrows and killed two buffalo. He cut up the meat and scattered it over the ground, so that birds came and ate. Several days passed before the buzzards ate the carcass of the buffalo. When the buzzards ate, they soon found themselves fat, so that they were strong enough to carry the boy across the great water. Four buzzards sat down, and let the boy lie across them. They then began to fly across the great water.174 When they became tired, they turned the boy over to the geese, who carried him across the great water. The boy was taken up by the eagles, who set him on a fine rolling prairie.

The boy took the feathers that had been bow and arrows, and tied them with a piece of bark. As the boy went along he was happy that he was again close to his own home. An old buffalo bull happened to be sitting 176 on the prairie, and as it was going back to the herd, saw th’e tracks of the young man. The bull made a loud noise, so that the

1 1 1

Boy Heroes .

buffalo heard it a long way off. The boy also heard it, and began to travel faster. But as he looked back he saw dust rising in every direction, and knew that the buffalo had discovered him. He ran as fast as he could, but the dust came nearer and nearer, until he was almost overtaken. The buffalo thought that they had caught the boy, who came to a tree and climbed it. The buffalo then began to hook the tree. Upon a limb sat a bird on its nest. The bird flew away, and returned with another, which was a kingfisher, errand bird for all the animals. The kingfisher then flew away, and brought many blackbirds. These flew about the boy, until they turned him into a blackbird, so that he flew away with them.

The buffalo saw the boy go with the birds, and ceased their efforts, so that the tree was no longer molested. The boy was set down again, and again the buffalo found his tracks. Once more they chased him, but the boy gave them a race. The people in the camp, who had mounted their ponies, came and slaughtered many buffalo, and the buffalo began to run. The boy reached his home, took his spotted pony, his quiver and bow, joined the men charging the buffalo, and killed many. Finally, the buffalo came to a muddy pond, where they were mired. The boy got off his pony and said : “ My fathers, you tried to kill me. I killed your people, for I wanted meat and skin ; meat to eat, skin to cover my body. You did not succeed in killing me ; the birds helped me. The blackbirds will fly around you and will sit upon your backs, and you cannot help yourselves ; my people will hunt you, and when they find you, you will be driven until you are run down, killed, or mired, as you are now. Men and birds of all kinds will have the best of you. I now go home, but as long as I live I shall hunt you, for I need your skin and meat.” The boy left the buffalo and went home.

31. THE BOY WHO SLEW YOUNG-BULL-WITH-WHITE-SPOT-

ON-FOREHEAD.178

A chief’s son falls into the under-world, where he is the guest of wonderful beings, is given a magical bow, and conducted to the subterranean abode of a malicious buffalo, whom he kills, secures the hairs in which lie the buffalo’s magic power, rescues and obtains in marriage the maiden promised as a recompense to the destroyer of the monster, and becomes a teacher of sacred rites.

There was a place where dwelt a buffalo bull with a white spot on its forehead. This buffalo was wonderful. Close by was a village of people. Every time a chief’s wife had a female baby, the latter would disappear as soon as she grew to be a young girl.

In the village was a great chief, who had a beautiful daughter, and did not want to lose her. So he sent a crier through the camp to tell the people that whosoever should kill Young-Bull-with-White-Spot* on-Forehead might marry his daughter.

Soon after the girl disappeared. The chief became very unhappy, and again sent the crier through the village, to announce that he was going to depart, and those who wished might follow him. So he left the village and went southwest. Half the people packed up their ponies and followed. The rest stayed in the village, for there was another chief who remained behind.

Now this second chief had a son who was growing fast ; therefore he had a bow and arrows made for the boy. One day the boy was out playing with his bow and arrows. He saw a bird, and shot at it. As he did not hit the bird, he went to get his arrow, but could not find it. So he returned to the place where he stood when he shot at the bird. Then he took another arrow and said : “ This is the way I shot my arrow. I will watch this arrow, for it will surely stop near the other.” Then he shot the second arrow and watched ; he went, but that arrow also had disappeared. Then he tried his third arrow, which also vanished. Then he shot his fourth arrow, which also disappeared. Then he began to cry. He looked into a little hollow, where he saw a hand holding his arrows. The boy jumped at the hand, but instead of getting his arrows he fell into a hole, and when he opened his eyes he was in an underground world.

The boy saw men sitting there. These were known as wonderful. The boy cried and cried, but these men said : “ My boy, we have brought you here ; you are to live with us. Here are your arrows ; you must play with them.” The boy got his bow and arrows, but cried just the same, for he was in an under-world. When the boy became hungry one of the men took down a whistle made from a deer’s leg. The wonderful man blew the whistle, and the deer who belonged to the under-world came and stood, some passing by the wonderful man. The man then would kill one, skin it, and cook the meat for the boy. Many times the boy tried to run away, but could not, for he did not know where was the opening. There was no opening ; these men made the ground open for them whenever they pleased.

The boy became of good size in the under-world. The men gave him a bow that was made from hedge, so that it was black, for it was very old. Arrows were also given the boy. The boy went out shooting every day, and always brought game. Birds he killed of all kinds, and brought them to the men ; he also skinned the birds, and hung the skins up in the cave.

One day one of these men called the boy and said : “ My son, all your people are gone ; they think you are dead. My son, we brought you here, for we wished to save your people. There is an animal near that has been killing your people. Not long ago he took from your chief the prettiest girl. The chief, you know, went off. You can now shoot with this wonderful bow. My brother will go with us to where this animal dwells. This animal is known as Young-Bull-with- White-Spot-on-Forehead. He lives under the ground, and draws people underground with his breath. Now, as we go toward his place, he will thrust his head up out of the ground. You must then shoot the bull on the forehead where is the white spot, — if you miss the spot, then he will capture you and us.” So they went on, and as they came to a certain place, the man bade the boy walk fast. Now the dust came out from the hole, then the horns, then the head. The bull was now about to draw in the boy with its breath ; but the boy pulled the bow-string, the arrow sped, and the two men watched the arrow strike the white spot. The bull was killed.

Now these two men said : “ Come, son, let us go into the place where we shall find the girl and some other people.” So they all went to the opening ; the two men took a lariat rope, tied the boy, and let him down first. One of the other men then made preparations to let the other one down. In the meantime, when the boy was let down, he looked around and he saw a war-club. This he took and handled ; it was heavy. The club was so old that it had a sharp edge on one side, like a sword. So the boy placed himself by the hole. As the man came down through the hole and landed by the boy, the boy lifted the club and struck the man several times, killing him. Now the other man descended, and the boy killed him also. The boy went through the cave. At the end he found another cave, where he saw a young girl who belonged to his people. He went up to her and said: “Girl, I have killed Young-Bull- with- White-Spot-on-Forehead.” The girl leapt up and asked if it was true. So he took the girl to the place the bull lay. She went up to the bull, and took a piece of wool from the forehead near the white spot. “ This is where the power was,” she said ; “ it may do something for us.” Then the boy guided her to the place where he had killed the wonderful men. He took the club, but the girl said: “I have a wonderful bow and arrows. You had better take them, for I know you will need them.” So they went back into the cave, and the boy took down a fine mountain-lion quiver.177

Now the girl said,: “Come, we will get out of this place.” So they started and kept going underground, the girl telling the boy to close his eyes, and as they travelled along through the cave, both had their eyes closed. As they went through the cave it seemed to slant upward. So they went through the cave. As they emerged, the girl said: “ Now open your eyes.” The boy opened his eyes, and they were on the ground.

They looked toward the place where their village had been, but there was no sign of a village. However, they went thither, and when they had arrived saw where half the people had gone, and where the other half had gone. So the girl stood and said : “I have something that will tell us which way my people went. I will loosen some of this buffalo wool, and if it returns to us, they are your people ; if it does not return, the wool will be at my father’s tipi.” So the girl untied her bundle and took out the buffalo wool. She set it free, and it travelled, for now the wool blew away fast. It soon came back, and the girl said : “ Those are your people ; I see that my people must have gone this other way. Now you can go your way or with me.” The boy said : “ No, I will go with you. I cannot live without you any more. I want to be with you all the time, so let us go together.” The girl was glad to hear what the boy said, for she liked the boy.

For many days they travelled along the path where the people had travelled. In the daytime they used to rest and the boy would go out and shoot at small game ; then they would make a fire and roast whatever he had killed. At last they saw the village, so they walked slowly. The people in the chief’s lodge had found buffalo wool in their lodge, and they did not know what to make of it. So they rolled it up and laid the wool away. The people saw two persons coming from a distance, and told their young men to get upon their ponies and see who they were. The boys rode their ponies, and they went and met them. The girl let the boys know who they were, so the boys let the boy and girl ride the ponies.

When they got back to the village the girl’s father came out and welcomed the boy to his lodge. The girl told her father that the boy had killed the animal which was taking girls under the ground. The girl said : “ I took off the wool, and I sent it here.” The father now knew where the wool came from. The girl also said : “ Father, the boy shall live with us all the time ; he is to become my husband.”

The girl then told her father that they must at once abandon their village, and move toward the north again, for now the buffalo would come. So in a few days the people broke camp, and went north. Four times they killed buffalo. The girl then said : “ I shall now call this boy my husband.” So the boy was married to the girl. Now the people moved on toward the north, while runners were sent all over the country to find the boy’s people. The people were found, so the two bands came together, and then they made a big village upon the banks of the Platte River. People did not have to 'go hunting, for the buffalo came in large droves, and the people killed them. The people had so much dry meat and corn that they had to dig cellars in the ground to put their meat and corn in.

The people increased and were happy. The boy taught the people many wonderful things. He also taught them the songs of the bun-

Fig. i i

FOX (SKIDI WARRIOR)

.

dies. The priests put the buffalo scalp upon the bundle, which represents the Great-Black-Meteoric-Star.1"8

32. THE BOY WHO PUT AN END TO CANNIBALISM.179

A hunter in love with a rival kills his wife, and gives her flesh to his children, whom he abandons. The children are pursued by the head of the murdered woman, but rescued by gods and birds. They are adopted by a kindly couple, but again deserted, and live alone, devoting themselves to agriculture. The people return, find the children prosperous, and learn to till the soil. The cannibalistic father is put to death.

In the early days, after the creation and multiplying of the people, there was a large village, and in it a famous hunter, who had a wife and two children, — a boy and a girl.

This hunter brought into the camp deer and other game, so that the people in the village came and ate all that he fetched. So he made up his mind to get away from the people, and decided that he would try to live alone, so that he might have something for himself and his family.

So he and his family went east from the village, and they came to a little stream of water with some timbered banks, and east of the place was a knoll, where the man made a stopping-place. They made a tipi of grass. Every day the man brought in deer meat. The woman went to the creek where they crossed, and here she made a garden. For several years they planted, and had corn, beans, and squashes, and other things which they put in the ground. In these times it was not customary for the people to have buffalo ;180 so the woman went alone and took care of her garden.

The man, on his hunting trips, had visited the village, and had seen a nice-looking girl, a daughter of one of the braves ; so he made up his mind that he would either leave his wife or get rid of her by killing her. So he went back, and ever afterwards he was cruel to the woman and his children. At this time began unfaithfulness of men to their wives.

One morning the man told the woman to cook food for the children to eat, saying that he was going on a long hunt, and that she must hasten and go work in her field. The man went off, hid himself under the bank of the creek, and waited until the woman went to work. He came out from his hiding-place, met his wife, and spoke loving words to her, lay down with her, and satisfied his desire. Then he took his knife out and cut off her head. This he took, went to a tree, climbed it, got in the top where it forked, and set the head between the branches of the fork. Then he cut her open, threw away the entrails, cut her waist in two, and cut off her arms. The waist and breast he put on one side, and began to take off the skin. He made a fire, took pieces of her flesh, procured sharp sticks, which he ran into the meat, and stuck these in the ground, slantwise over the fire, so the meat roasted.

Then he took the other meat from which he had taken the skin and carried it home ; the girl and the boy ran up to their father, and the father said : “ Has your mother yet returned ? ” They answered : “ No.” Then he said : “ I am sorry.” He told them that he had killed a deer, and had come home quickly, for he had a long journey to make, as he was going on a hunt, but he must first find out where was the mother. So he cut up the meat, put it in the pot, and set it on the fire. While it was cooking, the girl asked her father where was the skin of the animal. He said that he had skinned it, but mutilated the skin so that it was of no use, and had thrown it away. After a while he took off the pot, took out the meat and the soup, poured it in a bowl, and gave it to the children. The children ate of it. The girl would say: “Father, why don’t you take some of the meat ? ” He said he was anxious about his wife, and that he must go and find her ; that the children must stay where they were. So he went to the bundle, took his moccasins and other valuables, and went away.

The children stayed at home, and in the evening their mother did not come. They did not know what to do. All night they stayed alone, and also the next day and night. On the morrow the boy began to cry, for they had nothing to eat. So the girl said : “Now, brother, we must go where our mother worked, and we shall see where she went.”

When they arrived they saw where she had been walking. They came to a place where there had been a fire. There were sticks in the ground and roasted meat on them, but no signs of any one having eaten. So the girl took some of the meat and gave it to her brother, for the boy was starving.

This done, they stood talking to one another about their mother, and suddenly something spoke to them from the tree and said : “ You are bad children to eat your mother; I shall now kill you.” The girl looked up, and there was the head of their mother, the mouth wide open, trying to get down from the tree, but it was caught in the forks ; the children ran, and as they were running, saw that the head had descended from the tree and was rolling after them, and all the while talking.181 The head was about to overtake them, and constantly saying that it was going to kill the children, who had been cruel to eat their mother. So the girl caught hold of the boy’s hand, and they ran ; it seemed that Tirawa had taken pity on these poor children, and that he made a steep bank in front of them, so that they seemed to have been blown over this steep bank, while the head was obliged to descend slowly. It was a long time before it got down, and a long time climbing up the steep bank, so that the children had gone far. Finally the head got across, and set out in pursuit of the children ; as it was gaining on them, they came to thick timber, locust-trees with their thorns pointing outward. The children seemed to be taken up by some mysterious power and set on the other side, where they resumed their flight. The head came to the trees, where the thorns pricked it and held it, so that it took a long time to get away ; but finally it escaped from the thorns, passed on one side of the trees, and went on. There were three or four lines of these trees, and this seems to have happened for the benefit of the children. Again the head was gaining on the children, and this time called them all sorts of names and said it was going to kill them, and the children were terribly alarmed. Now they came to a place filled with wild rosebushes covered with thorns. These were very thick, but the children again seem to have been lifted and placed on the other side of the thicket, and as the head came up they heard it say: “These children must have been wonderful, but I shall overtake them, and I shall kill them.” The children ran as fast as they could, but were getting tired, and the head again worked its way through the rosebushes. It again gained on the children.

The next time, the children came to a pond, and close by the edge found two long-legged cranes. The children cried and asked help ; the birds said that they were sorry for the children, and the children kept on begging. At last one of the birds said : “ What shall we dp ? Shall we help them ? ” They turned and asked the girl what was the matter. She answered that their mother had been killed, her throat had been cut, and the head was now pursuing ; if they looked, they would see the head coming over the hill. The birds made up their minds that the children needed help, and that they would aid them. So one flew across the pond and alighted on the opposite bank. It said to the other bird: “Stretch across, and I will do the same.” Both the birds stretched their legs across the pond, so that their feet met in the middle, their bodies, necks, and legs making a bridge. The bird which was upon the same side as the children said : “ Now walk across the pond.” Now this was very deep. So the children got on the breast of the one on their side, walked over on the breast and belly, then on the legs, then on the legs of the second one, on his body and neck, and so crossed the pond. After they had crossed, the head came down and saw that there was a bridge of logs over the water. The head got on the bridge, but the bird on the side where the children were said: “You need run no further, for we shall destroy this head ; you may watch and see in what manner.” So the girl and the boy walked on, and once in a while the girl turned to look. As soon as the head came to the place where the two birds held their feet together, they separated them, and the head dropped into the water ; although it sank, it rose again, still calling the children names ?md crying that it was going to kill them, but the head could not swim in deep water, and finally sank.

Now these tall birds flew and caught up with the children, and told them to have no more fear, for the head had been drowned. Said they : “You children will have two days to travel, when you will reach the village and your people. We shall not be with you, but our spirit will be with you, so that we shall help you at all times.” Then the birds flew away.

The girl and the boy then walked over the hills, and after travelling two days and three nights, walked into the village. They were nearly starved ; so they went from one lodge to another, but each lodge was fastened, so that there was no entrance. They finally came to one lodge where they found that the outer entrance was not closed. They walked in, and came to the inner entrance, when the girl removed the robe that covered it and entered. The man who was sitting there said : “ See there ! What is it ? ”

The girl said : “ We are come, my brother and I.” The man invited them to enter, and the people were so sorry for the girl and the boy that the old woman took them in her lap and hugged them, while the others told her to get some fat, for the children had not had anything to eat ; that they looked badly, and their skin was sore all over. Then the. old man asked them to tell their story, and the children related how the father had gone out and told the woman to go away to her field, how he had murdered her, taken part of the flesh, carried it home, and given it to them ; how they had waited at their tipi for their father and mother, who did not come ; how they went to seek their mother, and found more roasted meat fastened on sticks ; how, while they were eating this, one spoke to them from the tree, and they looked up and found the head of their mother in the crotch, and how it had pursued them ; how the cranes had taken pity on them ; how they had passed through different places that were mysterious, where the head had met obstacles ; how all this seemed to have been done to help them ; and how at last they had come to the pond and the two long-legged cranes had crossed themselves over it, allowing them to pass over, but had separated at the middle of the pond and allowed the head to drown, and that in this .way they had come through.

So the old man bade his wdfe get them something to eat, and told them that the people had departed from their old village and had gone to a new one ; that they had left only on the day before, but were to reach their village at a short distance, and there await him. He also said that he was soldier for the tribe ; that he was known as Man-with- Bloody-Horn ; and that as he had no ponies and had to carry his tipi and some of his children on his back, he could not well take them, but would stay another day to help them make a little tipi in the timber, and there they must remain until they should return from their hunt. The children asked about their father, and when they told their story, it was so pitiful that Man-with-Bloody-Horn asked them if they wished him to kill this man, and they said : “Yes, but we desire to see him once more before you kill him.” Now the children said : “We wish to call you our grandfather, and this woman our grandmother, and we will call your girls our mother ” (there were three of them). The old man said that it was well. So the people went into the timber and selected a thickly wooded place, where they cut many poles and made for the children a grass lodge, so that it was warm. Then Man-with-Bloody-Horn gave them implements, such as hoes, knives, axes, hide-scrapers, pots ; everything he gave to the children. He also gave them a mortar and pestle to pound their corn in, and a sack of corn. Then he took his sacred bundle and opened it, and out of it he took seeds, gave them to the girl, and told her to put them in the ground, saying that they would grow. That night they went to the old man’s tipi and stayed there.

Next morning he tore down his tipi, and with his family set out for the place whither the people had gone, while the boy and girl started toward their tipi in the timber. The old man and his family got to the village and told why they had been detained, saying that two children had come to their tipi, very poor; that they had a pitiful story to tell ; and that he had stayed with them. He now told who was the father of these children.

The people went on a hunt, and the buffalo seemed to have disappeared ; but the children had told the old man who was now their grandfather that their own father would no longer be lucky killing animals, that his luck would be stopped.

So the girl and the boy were left behind. With the help of the boy the girl worked every day making a garden, and the corn and other seeds that the old man gave to the girl they put into the ground. This seems to have happened early in the spring, when the people’s corn was beginning to sprout.

When they had nearly finished making their garden the corn which the old man had given them was almost gone. So the boy told the girl to make him a bow and arrows. This she did. The boy would go hunting, while the girl would run up to the village, enter each lodge, and pick up the corn that was left on the ground by the people. Then she took it home, pounded it in the mortar, and made mush for her brother. Sometimes the boy came home with several birds.

One day the girl went to the village to pick up corn, and the boy went into the timber, where he found a rabbit. This he killed, he picked, and tied it to his belt. He went on and found another rabbit. This he also killed. So he went home and threw down the rabbits, and told his sister that he had killed two rabbits. She was then cooking the mush. She ran out, and when she saw the rabbits she took hold of her brother and thanked him and said that he was learning to kill game. So he cleaned them and cooked them, and they ate them. The girl went up to the village each day and the boy went into the timber hunting. As each day came the boy went hunting and the girl brought corn from the village. In this way they lived.

In the fall the girl’s corn had grown up ; squashes were plentiful and beans also. They brought in the corn and all the things which they had put in the ground, dug a hole in the ground, and put them away. That fall the boy killed a fawn and brought it home. The next time he brought in a deer, and afterward a larger animal. One day he went out and he saw buffalo standing on the prairie. He hid, and as the buffalo passed by, shot at a calf and killed it. He took it home, and his sister was very thankful. After that, the boy went out every day and killed a buffalo. The buffalo seemed to be plentiful around them. The whole winter long he killed buffalo, so that the girl now had eight or nine tanned hides, which she sewed together, and made a better tipi than the former one. The other hides she scraped, but did not tan them, and made little tipis of them ; so in these they stored the meat that they had dried, tied up in parfleches. They were now dressed in buckskin clothing that they had made themselves.

Springtime came again, and they went to work in their garden and made it larger. They put in more corn, more squashes and beans. The buffalo came nearer to their camp, so that the boy did not have to go very far to kill them. Sometimes he killed one or two, and with the help of his sister took all the meat to their tipi. That summer they killed so many buffalo that they had to put up another tipi in which to store their parfleches, filled with dried meat. In the fall they harvested much more than in the previous year. The pumpkins and squashes they cut up and dried and put away for future use.182 The corn was roasted and dried, and they put that away. The boy killed the buffalo, and they both helped to jerk the meat so that it was thin and easily dried. After the meat was dried, the girl made parfleches, and this meat they put in the parfleches and tied them up. That winter the boy killed many buffalo, and they brought them to their camp, jerked the meat, and dried it, so that by summer again the boy had four tipis full of dried meat. In the spring they again went to work in their field and enlarged it. They planted more squashes and pumpkins than ever before. The corn and beans they

I 2 I

Boy Heroes.

put in the ground. By fall they gathered in their crops again, and had so much that they made up their minds that they would dry it and put it away. The boy would go and kill one or two buffalo, then they would bring in the meat, jerk it, and dry it outside, but not put it away as before. They just left it on the trees to dry.

So the young man said to his sister : “ Our people are coming back, they are starving.” The people had been gone from their village for nearly three years, and once in a while would come upon a bunch of buffalo bulls, but no cows could they find. When they surrounded these bulls they killed them, but it was not much for the people. So they kept moving, till the people were in a starving condition. Then they said they thought it was now nearly time to return ; so they turned and started for home. The father of the children was amongst them. He was a good hunter, but all the deer, antelope, elk, and buffalo seemed to have disappeared, so that he could not kill any.

When they came close to their village they made a camp, and the grandfather of these adopted children, Man-with-Bloody-Horn, started to see if the children were still living. He travelled two days, and the third morning he went to the place where he had left them. When he got into the timber he saw several tipis. He stopped and said : “ Have the enemy been here and killed my children ? I am afraid to go into this camp, but I must go and see if they have killed my adopted grandchildren.” So he took off the wonderful horn that hung by the side of his belt. This horn was a buffalo horn, and had wonderful ways in killing people, so that when this man wanted to kill anybody he would make movements toward the Sun, and then the horn would grow longer ; when he made the motion toward a person, he cut open their head and breast, so that their hearts were torn out. Human blood was left on the horn, and hence the name “Bloody- Horn.” The boy said to his sister : “ Our grandfather is here ; go out and meet him.” She went out, and as soon as she saw him she said : “Grandfather,” and the old man walked into their camp and fell down because of his glad feeling. He fell down because he was so glad to discover the children and to find that they had plenty.

The girl took off fat meat from the poles, and gave a piece of the fat to the old man to grease himself, for he was sore all over, for want of grease and lack of something to eat. The old man took the grease and rubbed it all over his body, head, and face. The girl went, got a pot, and cut a little buffalo meat, with much fat, and put it in the pot and boiled it. In a little while the old man was eating soup. He was drinking it and was very glad of it, and the boy bade the old man tell them how the people were getting along. The old man told them that they were on the point of starvation. The boy told him that he wished him to return at once, invite the chiefs, feed them with this buffalo meat, and tell them that Tirawa had taken pity on the poor children who had been left behind ; that he had sent buffalo to the village ; that the boy in three years had killed many buffalo, and stored the meat in the tipis that he had seen ; that each was filled with dried meat ; and that the people would be welcome to come and eat. The boy also told the old man that the seeds that he had given them they had put in the ground ; that they had much corn and pumpkins, and that fall had gathered so much that they had dug holes, and put these things in the ground to save them.

The old man was so overjoyed that he could not help but speak of his girls, who would be anxious to see them. So, although the old man was tired, he said he would return that same evening. So the girl went and got one of the best parfleches, filled it with meat, and told the old man to take it home.

So the old man started back to meet the people who were coming. He put on his back the parfleche filled with dried buffalo meat. He went to the camp of the people, travelling for two days and one night. He came into the village in the night, but he knew where the old woman always pitched her tipi. So he went there. He found the tipi, and there they were lying down, for they had nothing to eat.

He left the parfleche filled with meat outside the tipi and went in, touched his wife, and told her to bring in something he had left outside. She went out and found the parfleche filled with meat. She went up to the man, whispered to him, and asked him where he got it. The old man told her that their grandchildren were alive, and that they had plenty and plenty of meat, so much they had given her this in order to feed her children. She opened the parfleche and found that it was well filled with good meat. So she went out and gathered a quantity of dried wood, brought it in, and made a big fire in the tipi.

About this time Coyote was going through the camp, trying to find somebody cooking, so he could get something to eat. He came to this tipi with the big fire, and stood outside and listened while the man was telling how much meat the boy had, and how much he had given him for his children. Just about this time Coyote came in and said : “ Can I bring water for you folks ? ” Man-with-Bloody-Horn said : “ Give him the vessel and let him go after water.” Coyote went and got water, brought in a little wood, and made a great fire, so that it blazed up, and he could see the meat sticking out of the vessel, all fat. He wanted some of it, and the man told Coyote to go and tell two of the leading chiefs that he wished to see them. Coyote went and invited the chiefs, and these came to his tipi. They entered, and saw the vessel hanging over the fire, filled with meat. They did not know what to make of it, for there was not a person in the whole camp who had anything to eat. Man-with-Bloody-Horn whispered to them and said : “ I have been to our village. I found my grandchildren who were left when we went hunting. The young man told me to invite you and to give you some of the meat that he has at home. He intends to feed the whole tribe with meat, squash, corn, and beans. ’ He also told the chiefs that before morning he would start for that place, and wished the chiefs to know that the young man had sent a special message to bid them bring the people ; they must not stop on the way, but seek the camp at once. The chiefs took some of the meat, and asked for a little more, so that they could take it home to their children, and the meat was given to them. They went home and summoned the crier, who went through the village, notifying the people that they were to break camp, for the chiefs had heard of something good. The people did not understand what this meant, for they knew that buffalo were scarce, that it was three years since they put their corn in the ground, and they did not expect anything. But as night came and they reached the village, they found that Man-with-Bloody-Horn had already arrived, and he gave each family a little meat, so that they could eat that night.

The next day they selected seven soldiers, who divided the three tipis of meat, and left one for the sole use of the young man and girl. The people were so thankful that they gave presents to the boy. The father came to the young man, ran up, and addressed him : “ My son ! ” but the boy waved his hand and told him to step one side and not touch him. The man asked why. The young man replied that it was he who had killed his mother, cut up her flesh, and cooked it, and had caused him to eat his own mother. Man-with-Bloody-Horn saw the man and told him to stand aside, and leave the camp at once. The man did so, for Man-with-Bloody-Horn was a great medicineman.183

For three days the soldiers divided the meat among the people, so that all the people had plenty, and now and then the chief’s daughter visited the young man’s tipi, where he remained while his sister stayed with the family of Man-with-Bloody-Horn. The girl would try to talk to the young man, but he had nothing to say. When Man-with- Bloody-Horn found that the girl was there, he walked over and drove her away. The first three days were set apart for distributing the meat, corn, and beans, and the fourth was a day of rejoicing ; the people wanted the young man to marry, but he said he would not.

On the fifth day the father of the children was sent for by the chiefs, to come to their tipi ; they found that he had done the things of which his children had accused him, and the chief said : “ We will turn you over to Man-with-Bloody-Horn.” So Man-with-Bloody-Horn took him, and the people all turned out and formed in a circle ; within was a high mound, and on its top Man-with-Bloody-Horn and the murderer. Man-with-Bloody-Horn had taken him there ; now he lifted the horn to the Sun, made motions at it, and the people could see that the horn had grown longer. By his movements the people saw that the man was trying to avoid Man-with-Bloody-Horn, for after the latter had caused the horn to grow long, he aimed at the man, cut him in the side, and cut out his heart. The man fell, while Man-with- Bloody-Horn came down from the hill and gave four loud war-whoops, waving his horn. Then he stopped, and the people rejoiced that the man was killed.

When they entered the village the boy sent for his sister and told her to bid Man-with-Bloody-Horn select a number of people, who should go up on that mound and bury their father.

In olden times, when people died, they threw them on the prairie, so that nothing covered them ; but these children desired their father to be buried and put in the ground, that his deed of killing his wife should be buried with him, so that they might not think of their father, as they would have done had he lain on the open prairie. So the man was to be buried, and as this was the first man to kill a human being and to offer human meat to the people to eat, it was thought that the practice would be ended. The children wanted him to be buried because he had killed their mother, so that henceforth, if any one should kill without cause, he should suffer the same punishment. By burying the man the people would also forget that it was he who offered human meat to the people, so that never again should they partake of human flesh, and by killing him the people would be freed of cannibalism. So they buried the man. The people went up on the hill, dug a hole, threw in the man, and covered him with dirt.

A few days after the death of the father, some of the chiefs were anxious that the boy should marry. The boy sent word to them that he did not wish to marry ; when the right time should come he would let them know. The people prospered, and through this boy and girl they found that it was a good thing to have corn and pumpkins laid away ; that is, to have planted abundantly, so that they might have plenty in time of need.

33. THE BOY AND THE ELK.184

An orphan boy is pitied by the Sun, who sends an elk by which he is carried to the village. As companion he chooses a poor boy; the two go on the warpath, and with the aid of the elk take the requisite number of scalps, which are offered to the Sun through the elk. The boy is painted and exalted by the chief, while the elk returns to the Sun.

In olden times, when the Indians first learned to scalp and to offer scalps to the gods in the heavens, every young man in each village went on the warpath to get a scalp.185 Several young men had become braves, for they had taken a scalp and counted coup.

Now there was one village where there lived an old woman who was very poor. She had with her a boy called by her “grandson,” though he was really not the grandson of the old woman. The boy was an orphan, and he made his home with the old woman, calling her “grandmother. As the people broke camp and moved west to hunt buffalo, the old woman died. The boy stayed around the tipi where the old woman was lying dead. Although he was very small, he made up his mind that he would follow the people. So one day the boy peeped into the tipi and saw his grandmother for the last time ; then he went to where the marks of tipi poles could be traced upon the ground. These marks he followed. At sunset the boy came to a village site, where the people had camped.

The boy went through the camp picking up here and there a piece of dried meat or a piece of sinew. This meat and sinew he would chew until he would at last swallow it. He lay down in the village site and slept. The next morning he started out again. At sunset he came to another village site. This time he did not find any meat, but only some sinew and a few grains of corn. These he ate, then lay down. The next day he went on again. By this time he was getting very poor, for he had but the sinew and the few grains of corn to eat.

When the boy came to the next village he could not find corn or sinew. He came to a tree, and he saw many arrows stuck into the tree where boys must have been shooting wild animals. The boy climbed the tree and took many arrows from it. He then began to take the sinews from the arrows and ate the sinew. He became stronger and went on again. He did not get much to eat, so he became very thin.

One day the boy lay down. He was tired and hungry, and had wonderful dreams. The next day he was so weak he could not walk any further. So he stayed at the village site. Several days went by and he had nothing to eat. He became weaker, so that at last he lay down and was unable to rise. That night he slept. He thought he was dead. But as the sun came up in the morning and the ray of the sun rested on him, somebody seemed to touch him, as if to awaken him. The boy woke up, and over him he saw standing an elk.

The elk, which was large, said : “ My son, I was sent to you by the Sun. The Sun is my father. The Sun has taken pity on you. I came to you and I now woke you up. I am to take you home, and to watch over you until you are a great man among your people ; then I shall leave you. Rise ! ” So the boy stood. Then the elk said : “ I want you to lie across my horns.” The elk now rose and walked on, following the pathway where the people had gone. So the elk travelled along the road. Whenever the elk came to a ravine, it ran fast. When upon a high hill, the elk asked the boy if he was hungry. The boy said : “ Yes.” So the elk took him to nice buffalo grass, then lowered its head and the boy got off. When the boy got off the elk said : “ My son, do as I do. The grass is my meat, so eat until you have all you want, and then you can stop.” So the boy ate the grass until he had had enough ; as he was eating the grass he fancied he was eating dried meat. The elk arranged it so that the boy could eat like an elk. The boy again lay down upon the elk’s horns, then again the elk ran. Every time it came to a ravine or timbered country, the elk ran fast. The elk said : “ My son, I run, for people hide in ravines and thick timber to shoot at me, and that is why I run.” So the elk went on. Whenever the boy became hungry the elk knew it, then the elk would take the boy where there was buffalo grass, so that the boy would have soft grass to eat. For several days they travelled. When at last they came to the camp, the elk stopped on a high hill and said : “ My son, there yonder is your village. Walk straight into the village when you go down, and go to any tipi you desire. The people will be glad to see you. They will feed and take care of you.” The elk continued and said: “My son, I will go along with the people. I will carry you, and drop you wherever the people stop. You must make your home with some poor family, and select for your playmate a poor young boy like yourself.”

So the boy walked down to the village, and as he passed several tipis, he came to one where there was a good fire inside, and heard laughing, as if the people were cooking. So into this tipi he entered and sat down. The man of the tipi was glad to see the boy, and told his wife to give him something to eat. As soon as he was given something to eat the boy left the tipi and went to another. In the other lodge he was also welcomed and fed. He kept going from one tipi to another, until he went into one and was given some meat. He fell over and went to sleep by the entrance of the tipi. Now the people awoke in the morning and cooked their breakfast, giving the boy something to eat. The boy went through the camp, and whenever he thought people were eating he would enter the tipi.

People began to tear down their tipis to travel. So the boy kept on walking around through the camp. All the people now left. So there was only the boy at the village site. The boy lay down. Something touched him, and as he got up the boy saw the elk standing by him. The elk said : “ Well, my son, the people have gone far ; I will now carry you.” So the elk sat down, and the boy again lay across the elk’s horns. The elk then arose and followed the trail of the people. When the elk came near where the people had made their village it dropped the boy. Then the elk told the boy to do the same thing as before, to enter any tipi and he would be fed.

At this place the boy went to nearly every tipi, so that now he was known as the “ poor orphan ” boy. The boy was well thought of by the people, who gave him plenty to eat.

The next day the people again broke camp and went on west, leaving the boy behind. The boy stayed in the village site until he saw the elk. He went up to the elk, who said : “ My son, there are many buffalo near, and the people will have much meat to dry, and will stay in their village for some time.” The elk then told the boy that he himself would stay at a distance from the camp, and that they should go together on the warpath. All these things the elk said to the boy.

So the boy went into the village, from one tipi to another, getting something to eat from the people. The next day scouts came in from the country and said there were many buffalo in sight. The men went out and killed many buffalo. Again the next day they did the same thing. So the people decided to remain at this place. All this time the boys would be out playing, and the poor boy would join them. The well-to-do boys did not like the poor boy. But there was one boy who took a liking to the poor boy, although he himself was poor.

One night, as the boys were playing and it was very late, the boy who had a home invited the poor boy to his tipi. So the poor boy went with the other boy to his tipi. When they entered the tipi the mother of the boy was glad to see them together. She cooked some meat for them, then made them a bed by spreading buffalo robes upon the ground. The two boys now became great friends. The boy who had a mother was several years the older, and formed their plans.

One night, as they lay upon the ground, the poor boy said : “ Brother, let us go upon the warpath. We are both poor, so if we get killed it will be well.” The other boy did not want to go on account of his mother. But as the boy talked to his mother she said : “ My son, go with the poor boy. Your uncles will take care of me. That little fellow has something on his mind.” So the two boys were glad that they were going on the warpath, and the woman began to make moccasins for the two boys. The poor boy said : “ Do not ask your mother for anything to eat.” Each of the boys now received a pair of moccasins. In the night they started out from the mother’s tipi. Nobody knew anything about it.

The orphan boy, although the younger, led the way and acted as leader. For several days they went, going toward the south, and now they were very hungry. The older boy showed signs of hunger. The orphan boy talked to him and told him that he must keep up his courage ; that they would soon find something to eat. Their moccasins were also worn out.

As they were climbing a hill the older boy saw something sitting

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on the top. The older boy kept telling the boy to look, and to see what it was. But the boy paid no attention, and walked on, as if he did not hear. As they came nearer the older boy said : “ Why, that is an elk ! ” The boy did not say anything. When they were near the elk the orphan boy said : "Do you sit here, and I will see what this animal wants.” So the boy went up to the elk and sat down by its head. The older boy could hear the elk rubbing its teeth, but really it was talking to the boy. The elk then stood up, and the boy also rose ; then the boy called the other boy.

The elk and the two boys walked on, and when they came to a place where there was fine buffalo grass they stopped. The orphan boy went up to the elk, put his hand into the mouth of the elk, and got some spittle. He then went to the older boy, told him to open his mouth, and put in the spittle of the elk.186 The orphan boy then told the other now to eat grass. All three now began to eat grass, until they wanted no more. The two sat down while the elk was grazing and the orphan boy said : “ My brother, you now see that the elk is my father. I was talking with the elk, who tells me that he will help us to go straight to the place where the enemy are camped.” The older boy was glad to hear it ; when they were eating grass he was tired ; now he felt better. So the boys started. The elk followed, but finally took the lead.

In the night the boys would lie down, while the elk would graze. When the elk wanted to go to sleep it went to the spot where the orphan boy lay, and there would sit down and sleep.

One day the orphan boy rose, woke the other, and said : “ Do you see the elk walking around ? It is waiting for us, for to-day we shall attack the enemy’s village.” So the two boys got up and followed the elk. The elk went over a hill and stopped in the hollow. As the boys came to the top of the hill they saw the enemy’s village. They were glad, and at the same time afraid that they would be captured. The elk, who was standing in the ravine, said to the orphan : “ Take this paint of red clay and put it all over your body. Take these tanned elk strings and tie them around your wrists. Put this piece of elk skin (taken from the neck and tanned) about your neck.” (Around the skin were elk-hoof rattles, and two elk teeth in the centre, so that the teeth would be upon the boy’s breast when wearing the skin around his neck.) “ Take this flute, which is a war-club when I am angry, and a flute when I am alone.” 187 The boy received all these things. The other boy had gone to sleep, so he did not receive anything.

While the boy was dreaming the elk said : “ Now we are about to attack this village. We will attack it a little before sundown, and do not start until I say, ‘ Now both run,’ then you and the boy must run. Do not look back, nor watch me. Tell the boy to follow you, and do not let him try to kill or do anything.” The boy was now provided. Then the elk said: “Well, my son, tell me what do you want: to kill the people, or capture many ponies ? ” The boy said : “ I want to kill one man, take his scalp, and then I want a few ponies.” So the elk said : “ It shall be as you wish.” The other boy was now called up, and he was told to follow the orphan boy, and not look back. The two boys stood now, ready to run when the elk should speak. It said : “ Now both run.”

The boys ran, but there was a great noise. The people in the village were scared ; they ran. There seemed to the villagers to be many warriors coming, but it was the magic of the elk. The elk had made the spirits attack the village.188 The boys did not see the spirits, and only heard the noise. The orphan boy ran right into the village, the other boy following. The elk went outside of the village, rounded up the ponies, and drove them away from the village. The orphan boy found a man in the centre of the village, whom the man with the flute struck, killing him instantly. Then the orphan boy took his knife and scalped the man. The other boy only counted coup. Now the two boys ran away from the village.

When the boys joined the elk it seems that the people had gotten over their scare, and so they chased the boys. The elk would run up to the boys and blow its breath upon them,189 so that they ran faster. When the enemy came close the elk went between, and by its power made the people stop.

After they had gone over the hills, they made a halt. The elk went to the boy and said : “My son, sleep ; I will watch the ponies.” So the boys slept, and the next day again travelled toward home.

Halfway there the elk took the orphan boy to a ravine, while the other boy was left to watch the ponies. When the elk and the boy were standing alone, the elk spoke and said : “ My son, you did right in taking a scalp; it shall be offered as a sacrifice to the Sun. Before you take the scalp home, you must tie it on my left horn ; tie the scalp on the prong next my head.” So the boy tied the scalp upon the horn of the elk.

Now again they started for their country, and when they came over the hills where the boys had left their village, they saw that the village was still there. Many ponies came over the hills, so that the people could not help but notice them. People stood still and yelled : “The enemy are coming!” Some went up to the ponies, and there the two boys were standing. The elk had disappeared, but first had whispered to the boy and said : “Come on the warpath again, soon ; I will be watching for you.” A man yelled and said: “It is the orphan boy and another boy, who have all these ponies.”

So the people went out to meet them. But the orphan boy had nobody to receive him ; so when the mother came, the orphan boy was glad to see her, and gave her many ponies.

A few days went by, and the orphan boy sent for all the poor people. When the people came he gave them ponies. Whenever the people made their camp, the mother would pitch their tipi on the south side of the village. In the night the boys went out and played the flute. All the boys asked to hear the flute.

It was not long before the orphan boy said : “ Brother, let us go upon the warpath.” The other boy said : “It is well.” So the mother provided the boys something to eat, and also made several pairs of moccasins. They again went south, and again found the elk sitting on the top of a hill. The elk led the boys again to the camp of the enemy. Again the elk asked the boy what he wanted, and the boy said : “ I want to kill one man and to take his scalp, and I want a few ponies.” So the elk said : “ It is well.” This time the elk had the boys paint themselves.

When the boys were ready, the elk stood behind and said in a loud voice : “ All run ! ” The two boys ran toward the village, the orphan boy in the lead, the other following. There was a great noise. The people in the village were frightened. The men ran away. Women and children hid in their tipis. The orphan boy ran straight into the village with the other boy behind him. The elk remained outside, driving the ponies from the camp. The orphan boy again killed a man and took his scalp. The other boy did not kill any one, nor did he try to obtain a scalp. It was not his privilege. The boys ran back where the ponies were and ran with the ponies.

As they neared their village, and the scalp was dried, the elk demanded the scalp from the boy. So the boy tied the scalp upon the second prong of the elk’s horn. Then the boys left the elk and drove the ponies home.

The people were glad to see the boy. The boy now had many kinfolk. The boy gave away many ponies. In the nights the boys went out and played on their flute. The boys in the village liked the sound of the flute, but they could not tell who was playing.

The boys stayed at home but a few days ; then they went out again. Again they found the elk. The elk went with them. Again they came to a village. They attacked it as before. The elk drove the ponies, while the two boys ran into the village. The orphan boy killed a man and took his scalp. The boys ran witty the ponies and the people stopped running after the boys. The poor boy now cleaned the scalp and hung it on the third prong of the elk’s horn. The boys went home, and again the people at home were surprised when it was noised through the camp that the orphan boy was again coming with many ponies.

The orphan boy gave most of the ponies away, but kept enough for the woman who had given him a home. The two boys stayed in the village several days, going out every night playing upon their flutes, for the orphan boy had given a flute to the other boy. The boys in the village followed the noise of the flutes, but never could find out who was playing. When the boys ran the playing was in another direction. It seemed to the village boys that it was done all night.

The boys again went on the warpath, and again found their elk. Again they went together, and when they came to a village the three attacked it. The orphan boy alone killed a man, and also took a scalp. Ponies were driven away by the elk, so the boys ran to where the ponies were running. On the way, again the elk demanded the scalp. The boy now tied the scalp on the fourth prong of the elk’s horn. Now the elk told the boy not to remain at home long, for the boy was about to attain the desired number of scalps. So the boys went home. When they saw the ponies coming the people knew it was the boys. The boys gave away nearly all the ponies.

Again in the nights the boys walked around the village, playing upon their flutes. The boys used to walk till daylight ; then they would goto bed and sleep during the daytime. The elk had told the boy that he should sleep in the daytime, for then the Sun would speak to him while he slept.

In a few days the boys again went away. They saw the elk grazing, and whenever he held up his head they would see the scalps hanging from his horns. When they came to a village the elk called the orphan boy and said : “ I wish you to hasten and get through. What do you desire to do this time ? ” The boy said : “ I wish to kill two, take the scalps, and you to take ponies.” The elk said: “ It shall be done.” So the three made the attack upon the village. The orphan boy ran through the village, the other boy following. The orphan boy struck one man with his flute and killed him. As the man fell, the boy stooped down and scalped him. The boy hung the scalp upon his belt, went on, and killed another, also taking his scalp. The boys now ran back to the hills where the elk was driving the ponies.

The people of the village followed them a short distance, then stopped. The boys went on until in the night, when they stopped and rested. The next morning they started again, and when they came to a valley with timber in it they sat down, and the orphan boy prepared the scalps. Then the boy went and tied one scalp to the fifth prong of the elk’s right horn. The other scalp he tied on the first prong of the left horn. The elk now left them, the boys going on to their home with their ponies.

When the boys got home the orphan boy told the woman to give away ponies and get buffalo hides, so that she might make a tipi for the boys to have to themselves. The woman went and got many skins. The women came and helped the woman tan the hides. The tanned hides were then sewed together and a very fine large tipi was made. The elk bade the boy tell the woman to take the white tipi south of the village and spread it on the grass. The woman did this. The next morning she brought the tipi and set it up. When opened, the tipi had two fine pictures of elks’ heads, and on its back was the symbol of the Sun. Who put these paintings on nobody knew.

The two boys had gone on the warpath seven different times, and now the elk’s horns were filled with scalps. The people went on the buffalo hunt, and when the people killed buffalo the two boys brought in abundance of meat. The mother dried the meat. The boys went out in the nights and played on their flutes. Boys hid and tried to catch them, but could not. Girls followed them into the tipi, but the boys disappeared. The elk would not yet allow the boy to marry, until the boy had become chief of the village.

The orphan boy told the other that he was going off, and would soon return ; so he departed, and met the elk. The elk seated the boy and said : “My son, you are now to become a great man. You are to be a leader of these people. Take these scalps off my horns in the order you gave them to me, fold them up, and take them to your lodge. Have the woman boil some dried meat, and then send for the chiefs and braves. Before they eat, you must ask which have taken many scalps, telling them that only such a one will be allowed to blacken his face with burnt grass and soot from pots.”

The boy did as the elk had told him, and inquired who had taken scalps. No one spoke. Again the boy asked who had taken many scalps. At last the chief arose and said : “ I took five scalps ; I can black across your forehead twice ; one streak with my right hand and one with my left hand, across your face twice, only once across your chin, with my right hand.” The poor boy said : “ It is well, black my face.” As the chief rubbed his hand with the black he told of his deeds,190 and each time put the black line upon the boy’s face. When the chief had finished painting the boy’s face he bade the boy tell him why he did this, and why he, a chief, should blacken the face of a poor orphan. The boy took down the bundle of scalps and counted them out before the chief and the leaders of the people. When the boy had told his story the chief arose, took the boy, and seated him in his place. The people in the lodge now ate, and soon after took their leave.

That night the orphan boy played upon the flute while the other boy had left him. Then the orphan went out and met the elk at a distance from the village. The elk then said : “ To-morrow I leave you forever. I now have you where I wish you to be, here upon the earth.” As the sun was about to come up the elk went off and stood upon the hill. As the sun rose the elk seemed to adhere to the sun, for his picture was upon the sun, and he had disappeared.

The boy went to the hill, and there were his people, who were glad to see him. He lived alone in the colored tipi, but married the chief’s daughter, and only ate at the tipi of the chief. He had many children, and finally died.

34. THE BOY AND THE WONDERFUL ROBE.191

A boy, who lives alone with his grandmother, receives from the Sun a wonderful robe, which has the power of creating buffalo, but of which the use must be kept secret ; through the power of the robe the storm brings game and vegetables, and feeds the starving people.

An old woman and her grandson lived all by themselves, close to the thick timber. West of their tipi was the village. Their tipi was built of timber and grass ; there was no hide covering. They were veiT P00r > they had hardly anything to eat. The woman used to go through the camp, begging for something to eat.

One day the boy wandered off and was gone for several days. The old woman was mourning for him. The boy returned. He told his grandmother to hang up the bow and arrow. The bow was very much bent ; it was more round than is usual for a bow. The boy had four arrows.

Another day the boy went off with his bow and arrows. When he came back he had on a buffalo robe ; this was given to him by the man in the south, who had said : “ You are not to wrap this robe about you, but you are to use it in a certain way.”

In the night the boy had a dream, and he was told what he was to do with the robe. The grandmother was very hungry. So the next day the boy told his dream to his grandmother and she said : “Very well ; let us try it.” The boy told his grandmother to dig a hole within the tipi, on the east, to bring a post about five feet high, and set it firmly in the ground. The old woman did as she was bid. Then the boy got the black lariat, put it around the buffalo robe, and tied it to the post that had been erected. He then stretched the robe across the tipi, and told his grandmother to pull it and shake it. All this time he had his bow and arrow, and as the woman was shaking the buffalo robe the boy was running around the fireplace. After a time the buffalo robe showed signs of life, while the old woman was getting frightened and tired, and shrieked for the boy to do something, — turn loose the buffalo or kill it. The boy ran around the fireplace, went up to the buffalo, and shot it under the shoulder, through the heart, so that it dropped dead.192 He went up and took off the robe, and beneath they found a buffalo. They had made one. So the old woman folded up the robe and put it away. She then got her knife, skinned the buffalo, and took the meat. So they had plenty of meat. The old woman would take pieces of meat off from the buffalo, jerk it, and dry it. When the meat was dry she put it in the parfleche, so that she had meat stored away. She now dug a hole in the ground, about five or six feet deep. The hole was about a foot and a half in diameter, and small ; as she dug down she began to make the hole larger, so that she had a cellar.

Every day the old woman became hungry for fresh meat, so she told the boy that they needed more. Then the boy would take the robe, tie the head to the post, and tell his grandmother to take hold of the tail ; she would shake the robe, the boy would run around the fireplace, and after a time the robe would show signs of life. When the old woman began to scream that there was now a buffalo inside the robe he would run up to it, shoot it, and kill it. They would then skin the buffalo to get the meat.

One day, after they had done this, the old woman was jerking her meat and drying it and the boy was roasting meat on hot coals, when he took the meat off and told the old woman to hide it, for somebody was coming. As soon as the meat had been secreted a person entered the tipi, and it was Many-Claws, or Coyote. As soon as Coyote entered he said : “ My sister, I smelled burning meat as I went by your tipi ; that is why I came in. It smelled good, for the people in the village yonder are starving; they had nothing to eat, and they told me that they had nothing.” So Coyote went off. Every day after that Coyote would come and sit around in the lodge ; for he knew that these folk were having meat.

One day Coyote came and the young boy and the old woman were sorry for him, and the boy told his grandmother to roast meat for Coyote. The old woman did so and he ate. He went off. Early the next morning, before daylight, Coyote was there again, and he said : “ Sister, shall I gather wood for you and bring water so that you can get breakfast?” The old woman said he might do it. So Coyote brought a lot of wood and water. The woman got up and cooked breakfast.

As soon as Coyote went away the boy told the grandmother that they had better kill a buffalo before Coyote returned. She said : “ Very well.” So the boy got the robe, tied the head to the post, and the old woman took hold of the tail. She began to shake the buffalo robe by the tail, and the boy began to run round. The boy ran up and killed the buffalo. Then the old woman took off the robe, and there was a buffalo. She laid away the robe. They skinned the buffalo and cut up the meat. Most of the meat was jerked and put in the cellar ; the remaining meat and the bones were secreted in the tipi.

While the old woman was roasting a piece of meat brother Coyote came in. They gave him the meat. He ate the meat. Then he looked around the tipi to see if he could find more meat piled up, for he was now sure that these people kept fresh meat. He looked about, but could see nothing. So he made up his mind that he would return, for he thought that if the boy was away he could influence the old woman, .But the boy would not go, and when Coyote returned to the tipi he saw a thigh-bone with meat roasting on the hot coals. He was surprised. He said : “ Somewhere these folks must have buffalo.” So Coyote told the woman that he now would make his home with her ; for all his other relatives had died. He stayed with her. The young man told his grandmother to give some meat to Coyote for him to take home to his people. They gave him meat, and he took it home.

Now Coyote returned and made his home with them. They could not get rid of him long enough to kill another buffalo. So the boy said : “ I will now let my uncle know our secret. When we were alone we killed the buffalo by ourselves, but now I shall have to change my custom. Give me my moccasins.” He put on his moccasins and robe, and went out. When he returned he sat down in the tipi, drew his robe tightly about him, and said: “Grandmother, go out and cry around our tipi, saying that I have gone to the red hills yonder, and that I have seen a young buffalo ; then come in, arrange the buffalo hide as usual, and we shall kill.” All this time Coyote was sitting at the entrance, shouting, “ Nawa iri ! ” So the old woman tied the head of the robe to the post and got behind it, seized the tail, pulled it, and shook it ; the boy ran around, and Coyote jumped, until he had to leave the tipi. The old woman began to scream, while the boy jumped to the buffalo and shot it, killing it. They skinned the buffalo, cut up the meat, and some was given to Coyote to take home. Coyote took the meat, but returned to the boy’s tipi, and now made his home with them. Coyote gained flesh, while the other people in the village were starving.

One day the boy told the old woman to go and ask the chief if he might marry one of his daughters. The chief left it to the girls, and the girls asked that the boy come to their tipi. The young man went, and when he reached their tipi one of the older girls said that the youngest should have the boy. So the boy sat down by the youngest girl. The others did not like the boy, for he looked dirty, and they did not wish him to be on their side of the tipi.

Once the boy came to the girl’s tipi, and he knew that his wife was very hungry; he took with him a piece of fat, gave it to the girl, and told her to eat it in the night, and when she should have eaten enough, to lay it away. He also told her that she must not take a great deal at one mouthful, but little bites, and to take her time while eating. Looking at the meat, the girl thought it was a very small piece. She could not get enough. She ate the meat with little bites. Once in a while she would feel the piece and it would be of the same size.193 So the girl kept the meat and ate it in the nights, while her sisters, father, and mother were starving. One night the boy came with a piece of meat and told the girl to give it to her mother, and bid her eat by night, and when she had had sufficient, to give it to her husband and let him eat.

The other girls were always making fun of the boy and his wife. So the boy took his wife to his grandmother’s tipi, and seated her on the south side of the tipi, while he himself sat on the west and the old woman on the northeast. He bade the old woman put a robe about her, while he and the girl did the same thing. A great storm came and blew away their old tipi ; after it had blown away, he told the old woman to get the new tipi and put it over the pole. Another storm came. On the west side there seemed to be a knocking on the tipi at the place where his bow and arrows were hung. The wind came into the tipi, went around it, covered up the boy, and then disappeared. The boy sat there with the robe, and on the robe was a picture of the Sun. On the back of his tipi was also a picture of the Sun. On the poles was hung a sacred bundle, with gourd rattles upon it. This bundle had been made from the bow and arrows that the boy possessed.

The next morning the boy bade his grandmother open the cellar where they had been storing meat, and pile the parfleches with meat on the north side. Then he invited the chief and his warriors to come and eat with him, Crow-Feathers (Coyote) following them. They came. They ate of the meat. Then they returned to their village. The father-in-law and mother-in-law stayed with the boy. Crow-Feathers then went after the other men to bid them come and eat. They came and sat around the tipi. The parfleche was opened, and the meat was cut and handed to the people to. eat. They were filled. They went to their homes. Then the women were invited, and they, too, were fed. The girls were invited, and they ate and went home. Then the boys were asked, and they, too, ate, -and went home. The chief and his wife went home.

The boy told Crow-Feathers to bid the chief have the Crier make proclamation for all to keep still, and not make any noise, as he desired so to arrange it that they might have food the next day. So Crow-Feathers went and told the chief, and the crier went through the village and told the people to keep still. That night the young man and the old woman took the wonderful robe and went to the north side of the village, where there was thick timber. There they threw up the robe. The wind rose from the different world quarters. The winds came up. and blew over the bottom through the timber, so that deer, antelope, and other animals were driven into this timbered country. The rats were made to bring their ground beans to this place and bury them. Hog potatoes were put in this ground. The wind kept blowing all night. By daylight the young man and the grandmother went home with their robe.

Now this night Crow-Feathers went to the chief, telling him to come to the young man’s tipi. The chief went, and he was told to send for his braves and the crier. The young man told them what to do ; that they should surround the bottom, but that his grandmother must cry around the tipi, telling them how to proceed. So Crow- Feathers went with them. They went up to the chief’s tipi and were instructed to cry through the village, as the old woman cried around the tipi, telling them how to surround the bottom. So Crow-Feathers went through the village, crying as he went, bidding the people surround the bottom, and take whatever came in their way. If they found a quantity of hog potatoes, the men and women went to the place and surrounded it. They yelled and made noises. They went through the timber as they surrounded the place, and drew closer about the timber. As they went through the men saw deer, antelope, and other game leap from the timber. Some saw buffalo, others saw raccoons in the trees, the women were digging artichokes and ground beans, and the people slaughtered all kinds of animals. The bqy did not have anybody to go out for him, but they brought much game to his tipi. The people had plenty to eat.

In a few days they again did the same thing, and they brought lots of things home to eat. Four times they did this, and the boy stopped and said : “ Each one must now hunt his own game ; these things that I have given you, which you found in the ground, were given to my grandmother by the Moon. The rest was given to me by the Sun. Now it is upon the ground and in the ground, and let every one hunt these things for himself.”

35. THE BOY, THE BEARS, AND WHITE CROW.194

A poor boy is pitied by grizzly bears, instructed in their magic power, and receives a horse which is a transformed black bear. He returns to his village, kills a cruel chief by assuming bear shape, and is himself elected to be chief. He calls the buffalo, who, however, are driven off by the soul of the defeated chief in the form of a white crow. With the aid of the tarantula, the white crow is meshed and killed, but returns as a snowstorm. The horse receives a blow, assumes bearshape, and disappears, together with the young chief.

There was a village. This village had a chief. The chief was cruel to the people. When they left their village on a buffalo hunt he would scold the people and order them about. If the men attacked the buffalo and killed many fat ones, the chief would come and take away the buffalo. The people did not like it, but could do nothing, for if any man resisted the orders of the chief he was certain to be clubbed over the head.

In this village was a poor boy who lived with his grandmother. They were both poor. The boy had a white pony that was very poor and had swollen ankles. When there was green grass the boy led the pony around, so that it might gain flesh.

One day the boy went up on a high hill, while the pony was grazing. The boy was looking around over the country, and as he looked he saw an animal run up the side of the hill, and thought it was a person. So he watched ; after a while the animal stood up, and it was a young bear. The bear came to the boy and said : “ Brother, you must not be frightened. My brother is coming ; he will try to frighten you, but stay where you are, for you are poor, and I feel sorry for you.” The young bear disappeared, and in a little while came another bear, a larger one, which was a cinnamon bear. This bear tried to scare the boy, but the boy did not become frightened. The cinnamon bear went off and another came, which this time was a black bear. It growled at the boy, but the boy did not become frightened. Another bear came. This one was of another color and tried to scare the boy. The boy did not become frightened, so it went off. The young bear came close and said : “ Brother, this time my father is coming. He will jump at you, and make a grunting noise, but you must be brave. Remain ; he will not kill you.” So the young man disappeared. At dawn the boy saw the bear coming. It was larger than any bear that had come before. The bear crawled and said : “ I see you ! ” The bear acted as if it were furious. It crawled, growled, snorted, and screamed ; then it would jump at the boy. The boy became scared, and was about to run, when some one close to him said : “ Stay, do not run.” So the boy remained, and although the bear jumped at him and snorted, blowing its breath toward the Sun, he remained. Now the boy did not know anything, for he was alarmed. As the boy did not run, the bear straightened itself up and said : “ My son, truly you are poor ; I tried to make you run, but you did not ; now I will take you home.” So the boy followed the bear.

They came to a cedar grove, and went to a clump of trees. In the centre of the clump was an opening. Here the bear entered, and the boy followed. The boy found that he was in a cave, and all the bears that he had seen on the side of the hill were there. The grizzly sat down. It was the father of them all. The grizzly spoke and said : “ My children, through this little bear we have brought in this man. Let us now have pity on him.” So the bears all said : “Nawa.” The grizzly was the bear who spoke, and he gave his power to the man. The grizzly now told the boy to choose which of the bears he preferred as companion. The boy looked at the bears. He saw the black bear and liked it, for it was black and its claws were very white. Now the grizzly began to growl, and all at once snorted and sprang at the black bear. He got under the black bear and threw it over, and instead of the bear there stood a fine black horse. “This, my son,” said the grizzly, “you shall take with you, and you can ride it home. You must go soon, for the people are about to go on a buffalo hunt. A gray horse you will see on the way ; take it also.” The black horse had long strips of bear hide, and this was put around the neck of the black horse.

The boy led the black horse out of the den ; then he went on the side of the hill and there found his gray horse. The gray horse was fine, very fat, and its feet were all smooth and strong. The gray horse had a soft string around its neck that was a strip of hide from the tail of a mountain lion. So the boy took both ponies to the camp.

The boy took the ponies, and when the grandmother saw them she was afraid the boy had stolen them. The horses were never fed, or taken out to graze upon the prairie. The next day after the boy arrived at the camp, the chief went to the boy’s tipi and took the ponies away. The chief had no sooner taken the ponies than they broke loose and ran back to the boy’s tipi. The chief said nothing more, but thought to himself : “The boy may have the ponies ; when he kills buffalo I will take them from him.” So the boy kept his ponies.

One day scouts came in and said there were many buffalo. On attacking the buffalo the boy rode the gray horse. When the run was made the gray pony beat all the others. The boy killed the fattest cow he could find, then he stopped. He began to skin the buffalo. He had cut up the buffalo when the chief came up and told the boy to leave the meat. The boy looked and saw it was the chief. So the boy left.

140 Tvaditions of the Skidi Pawnee.

On their march toward the country where the buffalo went, another chase was planned. In the chase the boy beat all the rest, and was the first to select a buffalo to kill. He killed one. While he was skinning the buffalo the chief came in sight and said : “ Boy, leave that buffalo ; it is mine.” The boy went on skinning, not noticing the chief. The chief came to the place where the boy was and began to scold him with a loud voice. When the boy looked up he saw that the chief was close to him. The boy walked over to his horse and took the rawhide lariat and bunched up some grass and tied it. Then he went up to the chief and said: “You cannot take this buffalo away from me, for I killed it and it is mine.” The chief then took his bow and struck the boy. The boy then struck the chief with his bow. Men heard the loud talking, and ran to the spot where the chief and the boy were fighting. They both tumbled in the thick grass, and when they rose up there were two black bears, ready to tear one another to pieces. The men ran and hid, but watched to see who would come out victorious. The men now saw why the chief was so bold, for he could become a bear. The boy they now knew could also become a bear. The two bears grappled and fought. They tumbled and rolled, and when they stood up were of another color. The two now fought as bears. Again they tumbled and rolled, and when they stood up were again bears of another color. Four times they changed to different bears. The fourth time they were both cinnamon bears. They fought long, and at last tumbled, and when they got up on their legs one was a grizzly, the other a cinnamon bear. The grizzly was fresh and had strength ; the other was weak. The horse broke loose and ran to the cinnamon bear and began to stamp on it with its forelegs. The bear was killed.

The people now came closer to see who was killed. As they came near they saw the Boy sitting up. The people were glad to see that the bad chief had been killed. The people went to the boy and thanked him. The boy did not say anything, but went to work as if nothing had happened, and cut up the meat. He put the meat upon the pony’s back and went toward home.

People had run to the village, and had told the people of the fight. On the way the boy met the black horse, for it had broken loose while the fight was going on. The boy took the meat to his grandmother’s and unloaded it.

When he entered the tipi his grandmother began to 'cry, and asked if it was true that he had killed the chief, of whom every one was afraid. “The people will now kill you,” said the old woman. But the boy did not say anything. In the village everybody was talking about the poor boy, — what wonderful powers he had. People were glad the chief was killed, so the people chose a day to have a council about the boy. Some people said : “ The boy will be worse than the chief, for he killed a man with animal powers.” Others said : “ No, the poor boy knows what it is to be poor ; he will be good to us.”

The day came for the council. Warriors, young men, and chiefs met ; they talked and talked. At last it was decided to select the boy as chief. So the council selected a man to notify the young man that he was wanted at the council. The young man took red paint and painted his entire body.195 Then he took the bears’ claws and put them around his neck. The snow was on the ground ; for it had snowed after the chief was killed. The boy had told the people not to fear the snow ; that the chief just killed received his powers through the storms in the north ; and that the chief had a white Crow,196 which guided him to the place where the buffalo were. The young man said the crow would now scare the buffalo away.

The boy went to the council, and as he entered he stooped down and the bear claws swung inside, frightening the people within. The people all greeted the young man with “Nawa” as he entered the tipi. A pipe was filled with native tobacco and given to the boy by one of the sub-chiefs. The man made a speech, as follows : “I hand you this pipe, which I hope you will take, so that you can first smoke and be our chief.” But the boy refused to take the pipe, saying : "lama poor boy ; I could not be a chief.” So the sub-chief again went and offered the pipe to the boy, saying : “ This pipe is given to you ; smoke first. What you tell us to do we will do ; we will obey you. I have sent the errand man to bring your grandmother, who will make her home with my daughter, whom I also ask you to marry. My new tipi I have set up for your use, my son. You and my daughter must live in it.”

The boy took the pipe. All cried with joy: “Nawa! Nawa iri ! Now ! now ! Thanks ! ” So the boy smoked. Then he made a speech. He said: “ People, pity me ; lam poor; you know that. Can I be your chief ? Yes, I will be your chief, for you asked me to be so. The old chief is no more. The snow will soon go away, for it was from his power we had snow. As to killing buffalo, you will never again be molested by any one ; when you kill your buffalo it is yours.

I shall go with you when you go to attack buffalo, and I will kill my own buffalo. I shall try to be kind to you. All you have to do is to do what I tell you to do. Seeing my ponies upon the hill, never touch or scold them.”

So the boy became a chief, and when the council was over two other chiefs took hold of him and took him to his new home. The girl was already seated to greet her husband. A wooden bowl of dried buffalo meat was placed before them, so that the boy and girl ate together. The grandmother ate and sat at the entrance, where her

*42

place was to be. The men going home were glad to tell their women and children what the young man said.

The people now had good times. They killed many buffalo. The people were happy. But all at once the people began to wonder, for the buffalo disappeared. Every time they saw buffalo and went to attack them the buffalo vanished, and if they ran after them they could not overtake them. People said among themselves : “ What shall we do ? The chief who used to call the buffalo is no more. The poor boy may be wonderful, but he cannot bring us buffalo.” This is the way they talked. At last the people talked among themselves and said : “ Let us try and see if the young man can call the buffalo.”

Pipes were sent to the young chief; presents accompanied the pipes. The young chief did not receive the pipes. But he went to a poor man’s tipi, took their boy from the tipi, and led him outside of the village. The young chief said : “ Boy, are you hungry ? ” The boy said: “Yes, I am hungry.” So the young chief took his bow and arrow. He took the bow in his left hand and the arrow in his right hand. He took the arrow and struck with it upon the bow, breaking the arrow in two. As the two pieces fell to the ground, the arrow turned into a broken dried buffalo gut. The chief gave it to the boy and said : “ Eat.” So the boy ate the gut until he had had enough. The chief said : “ Boy, are you old enough to know what you are doing?” The boy said : “Yes.” “Well,” said the chief, “when they send for me in the council I will go. They will give me pipes and presents to call buffalo. You must come in and come up to the place where I sit. Lay your hands upon my head and say : ‘ Chief, I am poor and hungry. I have no presents to give you. Take pity upon me and your people, who are hungry.’ ” The boy said : “ I will go ; I can say that.”

So the people got together and they sent for the chief. The chief went to the tipi of council. The chiefs now presented the pipe and presents to the young chief. He would not take the pipe nor presents. People crowded about the entrance of the tipi, but the little boy managed^to enter. As he went in he walked toward the young chief. Some of the people tried to stop the boy, but the chief said : “ Let the boy come to me ; he may have something to say.” So the boy was allowed to go to the chief. The boy went up and said : “Chief, I am poor. I am hungry. Take pity on me and upon your people, for we are all hungry. I have no presents to give you.” So the man said : “Nawa, I shall take the pipe and smoke.” When the boy was talking, he laid his hands upon the chief. When the chief took the pipe the people arose, and each touched his head with his hand and talked. The boy had to go out, for there was a great crowd.

So when the crowd dispersed the chief sent out scouts. These went out and found many buffalo. The men now prepared to attack the buffalo. They went to the place where the buffalo were, and as soon as they saw the buffalo, the buffalo stampeded. These people whipped their ponies up, but could never gain on the buffalo. They stopped and watched. They saw a white crow, who scared the buffalo. The white crow would swoop down to the buffalo and would say : “ Kaw ! Kaw ! ” The buffalo would then run.

When the men came home the young chief said : “ I know who did it ; it is the white crow ; it is having revenge upon the people ; if I do not destroy it, we shall die of starvation.” So the young chief went into another country, where he thought the white crow could be killed. The boy turned himself into a dead deer, and lay there. Presently birds came and sat around. After a while some one spoke and said: “You birds, get away from there.” So the birds all flew away and the white crow came to the dead deer. As it lit upon the ground the white crow said : “That deer is not a deer, it is a man ; I go off.” So it flew away.

The boy went on, and he made himself into a dead rabbit. So the boy lay still, but the white crow again found him out, and flew away again. Then the boy went off to another place and made himself into a dead buffalo. The white crow saw the dead buffalo and came to it. As the crow lit close to the buffalo the crow said : “ That is a man, and not a buffalo.” So the crow flew away. The boy now went to another place. He found a fish. So he said : “ I will turn to a fish and lay myself upon the limb, so the crow will think the fish-hawk had it.” So the boy climbed a tree, and turned himself to a fish upon a limb. But the crow found him out and it flew away. The boy tried all kinds of animals, but failed. So he stopped and cried and cried. The boy was upon a hill. As he was crying loud he heard some one speaking to him at his feet.

The boy looked down, and he saw a great tarantula. “ What are you crying about, my son ? ” said the tarantula. The boy said : “ I am crying, for my people are hungry. Every time we find buffalo a white crow comes and scares the buffalo so that we fail to get them. My people are hungry, children are starving, and I am their chief. I try to help them, but I cannot help my people as long as the white crow is around.” “ Well,” said the tarantula, “I can help you. I can give you my strings, and you can tie its feet so you can catch it.” The tarantula disappeared, and came back rolling a ball. “ Take this ball and you can catch the white crow,” said the tarantula.

So the chief went on, and he came to a fine bottom land. He went into the timber and cut three long tipi poles. These poles he tied at one end, as if he were going to set up a tipi. So the chief took these three tied poles and threw them toward the bottom land. As the poles struck the ground there was an old village site. The tipi poles were up at many places. There were marks of grease upon some of the poles where the meat had been spread to dry. There were many arbors also where the best meat was spread. At the places where tipis had been were piles of grease where meat had been set by the fire and the grease had dripped down upon the ground. The chief came to the arbor under which was a limb, and on this was a piece of fine fat. Before becoming a piece of fat the tarantula came and set a cobweb on top of the chief, placing the cobweb ball close beside him. The tarantula then disappeared. The chief could hear birds and coyotes coming to the village, eating at the grease spots. After a while the chief heard the white crow come, cry “ Kaw ! Kaw ! ” and say : “You birds and coyotes, get out of my way; that is my grease.” The birds all flew away and the coyotes ran. The crow then came to the village site, and would look at the grease spots, then pass on. It came to a place where had been a tipi of large size, and much grease was on the ground. The white crow looked at the arbor and saw a piece of fat lying on a limb. The fat was about two inches wide and five inches long. The crow said : “That is my fat, but let me look at it closer.” So it flew up and lit on the arbor. The crow was now caught in the cobweb. It looked at the fat and said : “That is a good piece of fat. I wonder if it is really fat.” It had no sooner said this than the chief reached and caught the crow’s legs. The crow tried to fly, but he was fast.

The chief now took the cobweb ball and tied the crow’s legs. The crow begged the chief to let him go. When the crow promised not to trouble the buffalo, nor drive them away from the people, then the chief freed the crow.

The crow flew away, came where the chief was, and said : “ Ah ! you poor boy ; you thought you had me, but I fooled you. I know you and your grandmother, and you try to be somebody by making believe you can call the buffalo. I know you, and now I am loose you can never get me.” The chief was angry and said: “I can get you if I want you ; you had better not talk in that manner, bird with a long nose ! ” The crow was enraged, and mocked the chief, saying : “ Get me if you can.” The chief said : “I will now get you.” So the boy began to roll the cobweb ball, and the crow felt a kind of power pulling it. The crow could not discover what power it was that was drawing it. The crow was finally pulled down, and the chief took it in his arms and went to the village with it.

The chief tied the crow outside, and bade the crier go through the village and tell the people that their young chief had returned with the crow. People ran to the chief’s tipi and stood around in a circle, looking at the white crow. The crow now begged again to be let loose. The chief would not listen, but the next day the crow again began to beg. So the chief went out, took the crow in his arms, and took the cobweb from one leg and tied it to the other leg. Then he turned the crow loose.

The crow flew far away; then, once in a while, it would move the other claws, to see if the cobweb was still on. It could not feel anything ; there was nothing on the leg. The crow flew over the village, calling people names. As it came over the chief’s tipi the crow spoke loud and said : “ Come out of your tipi, you chief ; you are nothing but a poor burnt-belly boy ; you and your grandmother used to eat rawhide, and anything you could get hold of.” The chief came out and said : “ If you do not stop talking, I will pull you down.” “ Pull me down,” said the crow ; “ I will let you people kill no more buffalo; I will drive them very far.” As the crow said this, the chief began to roll the cobweb ball, and when the crow felt the power pulling it down it began to beg, but the chief was angry, and as he caught the crow he wrung its neck, cut it to pieces, and put it in the fire.

That night the storm came from the north and it snowed all night. The snow covered the entrance of the tipis, so people could not go out. But as soon as the snow went off the chief told them that the crow was the cause of the storm.

As soon as the snow began to melt scouts were sent out, who returned saying that they had seen many buffalo. People went out and killed many buffalo. They were now all happy. The young chief now had many children.

One day the chief told his wife that he did not wish anybody to strike or scold his two horses. The people all knew this. When the people killed buffalo they had no fear, for now they had a good chief, who would not take the meat away from them. But one day, while the chief was sitting in his lodge, his mother-in-law was feeding the ponies. The black horse was standing further away, and the old woman, not knowing the horse, picked up a stick and threw the stick at it, striking it upon the forehead. As the stick hit the horse the chief inside grunted and said: “Did me wrong ! ” He jumped up. The horse, as it was struck, fell over and turned into a bear. The gray horse came up, ran over the old woman, and struck her. The chief came out from the tipi a bear.

Now people began to run in every direction, for the two bears were killing them. They blew their breath at the people and killed them as they went along. There were some who were good runners, and those who did not run were let alone ; the breath of the bears was hot, for the bears were receiving their power from the Sun, so that now the prairie took fire.

The bears now stopped, for it was a prairie fire that was chasing the people. The two bears went back to their father’s den. So the people never heard of their young chief any more, for he had turned to a black bear.

36. THE BOY AND WHITE CROW.197

A poor boy, with the aid of the tarantula, captures the white crow and obtains the chief’s daughter.

People had a village in a valley, and a fine stream of water flowed by. People were happy and game was plentiful. People did not go far to kill the buffalo, and they had plenty. The chief had his tipi in the centre of the village, where he had a high arbor built ; above this arbor were poles, longer than those of the main arbor.

One bright morning the chief saw a white crow sitting on his arbor. Pfe watched it a long time, and the white crow said : “ Chief, I came a long way. I am to drive away all your game and make your people hungry.” After this, whenever people went to kill buffalo, they saw this white crow driving the buffalo. The chief grew angry when he found that the white crow acted as he did. So he gave an order for all to come with their bows and arrows, and whosoever should kill it should be chief. White Crow perched on the chief’s arbor poles. So people went and shot at the white crow, but could not kill him. The crow laughed at them. So the chief said : “ If anybody takes the crow alive, he can marry my daughter and be chief in my place.”

Now there was a poor boy who heard what the chief said ; so he went to see where the crow perched. He looked about, and here and there saw a man trying to bewitch the crow, but the crow was too wise for them.

This young poor boy had powers,198 but he knew that he was lacking in something. So he went far out on the hills and prairies and cried ; and some one spoke to him. He looked around and saw a great spider-web. He cried the harder, and some one called to him and he looked, and it was a tarantula. “ Grandchild, I know what you want, and I will help you. I give you my power. You can take these webs and catch the crow.”

So he took the webs and went to the place. He laid them on the arbor, but when the crow flew around the crow said “ I know you, you want to catch me.” So the crow flew away. The boy then turned into a weed, and when the crow came back it said : “ I know you, you are a weed.” It flew away. The boy tried many ways, but failed. Close by the spot where the boy stood came the tarantula and said : “ I am here to help you.” So it went up to the place where the white crow perched and fixed its webs on the pole. The webs were thin. The tarantula came down and told the boy to keep away, promising to catch the crow for him. So the boy went away, and after a while the crow came and flew around the pole ; seeing nothing, it lit on the pole. The next morning the crow tried to fly, but could not. The boy came, and as he came the crow began to cry and asked to be turned loose, saying that it would bring game. The webs were tight around its feet, and people gathered to see it, for it was wonderful. The crow soon died in the net, and then was put in the fire.

People then hoped for better times. The boy became a chief and married the chief’s daughter. People wanted to break camp, but the boy said : “ No ! ” for he was told by the tarantula that it could hear the hoofs of the buffalo coming on the ground. In a few days buffalo came. They killed so many that the ground where they were camped was covered with grease.

They lived at this place a long time, until the chief died, then they broke camp. The boy, however, took some of his people and went back to the place. The tarantula gave the boy power to be great, and when the tarantula died the boy died also.

37. THE BOY AND THE SNOWBIRD.199

An orphan boy is enticed by snowbirds to the abode of the Wind, from whom he receives power to attract and kill buffalo.

A very long time ago the Skidi were camped upon the Platte River, and as sinews were getting scarce, a band of the Skidi said that they would go north and seek sinew. So these people went north, and were afterwards known as the “ Arikara.”

Many years after they went off a woman gave birth to a son. The boy was an orphan, for his father had died a few months before his birth. The child grew up to be of good size, and when it could talk it would ask its mother if they really were Arikara. She would tell him : “ No ; your father, just dead, belonged to a band of Arikara, but I am a Skidi ; so we are Skidi.”

Once in the winter the child was out shooting snowbirds. The mother had made bow and arrows for the child. In shooting the snowbirds the boy came to one snowbird, shot at it, and, as he thought, hit it. The snowbird would fly up and light again only a few feet away, so that the boy kept following it, when all at once the boy fell down and went to sleep.200 When the boy woke up he was in a strange land.

This boy had been taken by the Wind,201 who stands in the north, and who is always ready to send wind in order to drive the buffalo to the people. It was this god with whom the boy now remained. The boy now received a long talk from the Wind, who also gave him a foxskin, and a covering for his head made from the skin of a magpie. A buffalo robe was also given the boy. Then the boy was sent back to his people.

In the night the boy came back to his mother’s tipi, and his mother was very glad to recover her boy. The boy now stayed with his mother, and grew up to be large, being perhaps eight or nine years old. One day he said: “Mother, we must return to our country.” She said : “Very well ; I will let your uncle know, so that if he wants to come with us he can do so.”

In the mean time the boy would go out hunting and bring in game, such as rabbits and birds, and give these to his mother to cook. There was a time when the boy’s people were hungry, and the boy said: “Let us now go to our people.” So his mother sent for her brother, and told him that she had seen about the boy mysterious things which she thought were wonderful. The brother said that he was willing to go with them, but he was afraid that the enemy might find them. The boy spoke and said : “The enemy are not in the neighborhood; we shall not be troubled by them.” So in the night they started, and the woman put the boy upon her back. They walked to their home, travelling mostly in the night, and hiding during the day.

When they had made their tipi the boy would reach behind him and would say : “ Mother, roast this on hot coals for us,” and it would prove to be a piece of meat. Now this was one of the mysterious things that he did, getting meat when there was no meat elsewhere. They knew that he was a wonderful boy. The boy would tell his mother to go forward, for there was no enemy near. Then they would go on. When they became hungry he told his uncle he was going to let him kill a buffalo, although he was on foot and could not run fast, and for several days in their journey they had not seen a buffalo. The boy told his mother to place the fox-skin around his neck, and to put on his magpie cap. The boy went over the hill and was gone for some time. When the boy came back from over the hill he was followed by several buffalo. When he stopped the buffalo stood around in a circle, and the boy would go up to them, pat them upon the sides of their heads, feel of their nostrils and around under their bellies, while the buffalo did not seem to care. Now the boy called his uncle. His uncle went, and the boy told him to shoot a certain buffalo, which he did, and killed it. The boy’s uncle now thought him wonderful.

A long time they journeyed, until at last the boy told his uncle that they were now approaching the village of the Skidi. When they were in sight of the Slffdi village they sat down, and the boy told his mother to put the fox-skin about his neck, and to put on his head the magpie cap. Now the boy sent his uncle into the village to tell the chief that the boy had come to see them and brought good news from the gods. The chief and some of the priests went out and filled a pipe from the yellow-calf bundle ; when they saw the boy they knew that he was more than a common boy. They gave him the pipe and asked him to come into the village. The boy took the pipe and smoked it.

They went to the village, and the boy told the people that the gods of the heavens knew they were hungry, and for that reason had sent him ; that they should open the calf bundle ; and that he had certain songs which he wished the people to sing. The boy sang the songs while they opened the bundle. In a few days the village was overrun with buffalo. The people killed many buffalo, and many a buffalo they made holy, so that an offering of a whole buffalo was made to Tirawa.

This young boy became one of the priests, and did no more than to call the buffalo whenever the people were starving. Many of the war-songs were given by this boy. He lived to be an old man.

38. THE BOY AND THE OWL.202

An orphan boy in despair flies to the forest, but is pitied by owls, who give him nocturnal visions. He becomes a rich hunter, but retains his magic power only during one month of the year.

In olden times the people wandered south and made their village in a timbered country. Here the people found plenty of game, — deer, turkey, and buffalo. They killed much game, so that they were well off. There were no wars, for all enemies seemed to be far away in the north and west.

Among these people was a poor young boy who was an orphan. He had no relatives. There was also an old woman who lived in a grass lodge ; and this orphan boy made his home with this woman. The boy used to sit outside and watch the men bringing their deer and other game to the village. So this orphan boy thought to himself : “I will go off and leave these people ; if I die it will be well." So he went off from the village.

The boy went through the timber for many days, and expected to be killed by wild animals. His strength gave out, for he had eaten nothing since he had left the village. So he stopped and cried. Here he stood for several days.

One night he heard a peculiar noise from the tops of the trees. Some one spoke to him and said : “ My son, leave this place ; go

150 Traditio7is of the Skidi Pawnee.

toward your home, and on the way you will come to a dry oak-tree, standing by itself. There is an open place, and in the centre is the dry tree. In that tree is our home. Stop there and we will talk to you there, and then you shall see us.” Before anything was said to him, the boy thought of killing himself, and as he was about to stab himself some one spoke to him. Now the boy went back toward the village, and as he went on he looked for this open place. By daylight he came to it. He saw the open place, and a dry oak-tree in the centre. Here he stopped, and cried all day. In the night some one again spoke to him. He looked up toward the dry tree, and there, on a limb, sat two large owls. One was white, as if white clay were spread over it ; the other was red, as if red ointment were spread over it. The one speaking was the white owl. It said: “We know you are poor ; we know that you want to kill yourself ; so we went and brought you here. You can see us plainly, although it is night. We are the leaders of all the owls in this timber. We go out in the night and kill all kinds of birds to eat. I will give you one feather, and my father here will give you another. Start for home at once. Tut these feathers in your scalp-lock, then go out of the lodge, close your eyes, and you will see as plainly as you do in the daytime ; you will see raccoons, otter, and deer walking about, and they will not see you.

“ Now go home, make a bow and some arrows. When you have them ready, then take the two feathers and put them in your hair. Go out and do as I have told you. First you are to kill a raccoon, then a turkey, then an eagle, and after that you are to kill several deer. When you have killed several deer, then you must come back to us, and we will then talk to you again.” He was then told to go home, and he obeyed.

The woman was glad to see him come back, although he was very poor. So the old woman took care of him and fed him. When he became strong the young man said: “ Mother, get me a knife ; I want to make a bow and some arrows.” The old woman gave the boy the knife. The boy went and cut ash for a bow, then he cut four straight dogwood sticks and went home. While he was making the bow and arrows, the boy told the woman to go and beg some sinew, and to make him a bow-string. So the old woman went through the village begging for sinews. She got some, then she put the sinew in the water. When it had soaked she took the sinews and twisted them once, making a long string, then doubled the string and twisted it again. The bow-string was now made. The boy, in making the arrows, sharpened them at one end, and burnt them so that they were hardened. Now he put the string on the bow. So that night the boy said : “Mother, I shall go hunting.”

The boy put the two owl feathers in his hair, then took his bow and arrows and went out of the lodge. He closed his eyes as he was told, and as he walked along he opened them, and he could see plainly. He was now beside the creek, and he saw a raccoon coming along the bank ; he shot at it and killed it. He was very happy. He took the raccoon home, and on the way killed several rabbits. The woman was very thankful, for she always had been obliged to beg meat. The boy was now very proud.

The next night he went out again, killed several turkeys, and took them home. The woman cooked the turkeys, and the boy took the feathers and put feathers upon his arrows.

The next night he went out again, and as he walked along the bank of the stream he saw an otter and he killed it. This he took home. The people at this time wanted otter hides, but could not get them, for they did not trap any. The woman skinned the otter, and the boy told her to exchange the hide for flint-stones. So the woman took the hide to a medicine-man, who gave the woman the flint-stones. The boy began to make another set of arrows, putting flint-stones on the ends.

In the night he went out again, and killed several rabbits, turkeys, and one eagle. These he took home. In the morning people saw the eagle and could not understand how a poor boy could kill.

When his arrows with the flint-stones were finished he went out in the night. He could see very plainly, so he kept on until he saw many deer coming. The boy sat down, and as the deer went by he shot one with antlers, the arrow going through its sides. The other deer stood still, and the boy shot at another and killed it. At one place he killed four. He skinned the deer and took the meat home, a little at a time. The woman was glad. She went to work and tanned the deer hides to make moccasins for the boy and for herself.

The boy went out every night, bringing in the game, so that they now had plenty of meat and many tanned buckskins.

About this time white traders came among them, and the boy sold his furs and tanned buckskins for money. Some he traded for knives and steel to make arrow-points. When he found out that the white traders would trade for his skins he went out more often in the night, and when he got many skins he sold them for a rifle. Now he could go out any time, day or night, for now he had a gun. Again he got many hides and furs, and he traded them with another Indian for a pony. He kept on killing game, until he traded some to other hunters for buffalo hides, so that now the woman had a buffalo-hide tipi.

One night he went again to the place where were the owls, and there he stayed until one spoke to him and said: “ We are glad you are having success. Now get many ponies ; keep them, for you are soon to leave this country to go north.”

So the boy went home and traded his furs and hides for several ponies. He kept on killing all kinds of game, and traded them off for ponies and clothing; now he had many ponies and plenty of buckskin clothing and blankets.

Once he went again to the place where were the owls and stood there. The owls came and lighted on a tree, and one of them said : “We are glad you are now so well off. Go get you a woman, then come to us.” So the boy went home and told his mother that he wanted her to get him a wife. The woman went and spoke to a poor girl, who consented to marry the boy. There was no ceremony, so the boy married the girl.

One night the boy went to the owls, and they came out, and one of them said : “Now you are well off. The power we gave you to see in hunting is over ; but we give you the feathers so that you can wear them. When you try to get ponies from your enemies, you can see clearly. The only time we give you power to see will be in the month of February,203 when all animals are abroad at night seeking their mates. Now go home, and we will come to you in your dreams, so that you will learn to be a medicine-man.”

The boy went home and stayed in the village. He joined a party who broke camp and went north. He became a great warrior, and as he grew older a great medicine-man. After this his power to see in the night left him. He had many children and many horses. He became a power among his people.

As he grew older he became blind. He often told his children how poor he was when young. He died of old age and was buried upon one of the high hills in Nebraska.

39. THE BOY AND THE MUD PONY.204

An orphan boy obtains the sympathy of Mother-Earth, who turns his mud pony into a real one. The chief obtains the pony by barter, but it will not remain with any other master. After the boy becomes a chief the pony turns into mud.

There was a village, and in the village lived a poor boy. The poor boy’s parents were poor, for they had no ponies. The boy was very fond of ponies, and often sat upon the bank when the other boys watered theirs.

One day the boy made up his mind that he would have ponies of his own. So he arose and crossed the creek, brought timber, and made a corral for his ponies. He then dug a quantity of sticky mud, which he took to the corral. He also found a buffalo bladder, and with this carried water to the place where he had left the mud. He then poured water over the mud, which became sticky. Then he

Boy Hei'oes.

made two ponies of mud. He also got white clay, which he put upon one pony, so that it was bald-faced. Every day the boy went and watered the ponies. He would carry them down to the creek, then dip their noses in the water. He would take them back to the corral, get grass and green young cottonwood shoots, and place these before the ponies.

One day the boy went down to see his mud ponies and found only one standing, for the other had crumbled. The boy cried awhile and said : “ I will take good care of the one I have left.” So every day he would go down to the pony and stay there.

One day while the boy was with his pony, the people broke camp and went on a buffalo hunt. The boy’s parents looked for him, but could not find him. So they went on without the boy. The boy left his pony and went up to the village, and found only the village site. No people were there. The boy went through the village, picked up dried meat, and ate it. He cried, but thinking of his horse, went and sat down beside the bald-faced mud pony. The boy cried and cried until he fell asleep. He had a dream. He thought he had a fine pony ; but when he waked he saw none. Again he went to sleep, and in his dream saw a bald-faced pony, which spoke to him and said : “ My son, I know you are poor. The Mother-Earth has taken pity upon you. I am part of the Mother-Earth. I am to belong to you. You must do as I say, and you will be a chief among your people.” The boy woke up, and it was broad daylight. So he went to the place where he had left his pony and there, in front of the little willow corral, stood a fine-looking bald-faced sorrel.

The boy rubbed his eyes to see if the pony were real. He went up to the pony and rubbed his hands over it. The boy went into his little corral and took therefrom a piece of rope. The boy put the rope around the pony’s neck and led the pony to water. The pony now spoke to the boy and said : “ My boy, the Mother-Earth has taken pity upon you. I am one of the mud ponies you had in the corral.” So the boy rubbed the pony, for he was very proud of him. As he went up to the corral again the pony said : “ My son, you and I will now travel to your people, who are far away. You must not try to guide me, for I know where to go. Lead me to the hill ; then you must get upon my back.”

So the boy led the pony, and now and then would turn to see if it were really coming. He was very proud. After crossing the stream and getting upon the bank, he jumped upon the back of the pony, which went on and on. In the evening they came to the first village site. The boy jumped off and led the pony to a pasture where there was grass ; but the pony said : “ Do not mind me ; find something to eat for yourself.” So the boy walked through the deserted camp, picking up grains of corn or pieces of dried meat. He found something to eat and then lay down. In the night he again dreamed of the pony. The boy felt so happy, he found himself walking about in his sleep. He lay down again. In the morning he got up and his pony was standing by him. He jumped upon the pony and rode on.

At noon they came to the site of another village. The pony stopped, while the boy, after getting off, went through the village, picking up here and there a piece of dried meat. The boy ate, mounted the pony, and proceeded.

In the evening they came to the site of a village which had lately been occupied. Then he stopped again. The next day the boy started and by noon came to another site, where the coals were still hot. The boy rested and in the afternoon again set out. This time they found the village. The pony spoke to the boy and said : “ Leave me here. Go to your tipi and wake your mother, so that she will know you have come back. I will stay here, for I will take care of myself. I do not want anything to eat, for I am part of the Mother-Earth. I will not eat.” The pony continued and said: “I shall be here. When the people break camp, stay behind, and I will be ready for you to ride me.” So the boy started for the village. He passed several tipis and came to a small one, which he thought must belong to his parents.

So he went in, sat down, and threw dried grass into the fireplace, so that the blaze of the fire went up. At this he looked around and saw his mother and father lying. He went up to his mother’s bed and woke her, saying : “ Mother, I am nowhere. I came back this night ; ” but his mother would not rise up, for she thought she was dreaming. At last she did rise and was about to talk to herself about her boy, when she reached out her hand and touched him. She drew the boy to herself and said : “Are you my son ? ” He answered : “ Yes, I am your son ; I returned.” The mother woke up the father, who brought in dry limbs and made a fire.

The boy sat down and told his father where he had been. The relatives of the boy entered and were glad to see him. The next morning, when the people broke camp, the boy told his parents to go on and not wait for him.

After the people were gone the boy went over the hill, and there stood his pony. The pony came, and the boy mounted and rode after the people. When they overtook them the pony stopped again, and the boy went into camp. For several days the boy would follow and soon overtake the people. The last time the pony spoke and said : “ My son, as soon as the people discover that you have a fine pony, the chief will send for you. He will wish to give you several ponies for me. Let him take me, and do you take his ponies ; the chief will not keep me long.” Sq the boy rode the pony into camp, and the

Boy Heroes.

people came to look at the pony and said : “ The pony looks like a mud pony, which boys smooth down by spitting and rubbing with the finger.” The chief heard, went to the boy’s tipi, and liked the pony. He returned and told his wife to boil some dried meat ; for he desired to invite the poor boy. The boy was sent for, and as he entered the chief’s tipi the chief saluted him with “ Nawa, tiki ” (Now, my son), “ take a seat upon that cushion.” The boy sat down, and the chief said : “ My son, I sent for you to eat with me. I wish to tell you that I like your pony. I want the pony, and will give you four of my best horses.” The boy said : “ Nawa, I have listened to the great chief. I will let the chief have the pony.” So the chief was thankful.

The wife of the chief then filled a wooden bowl with dried meat and soup. She also put two buffalo-horn spoons into the bowl. She set the wooden bowl before the chief and boy, and they ate together. After eating, the chief had the four horses caught and gave them to the boy.

Now the boy took home the horses, the chief following. The boy turned the pony over to the chief. The chief took the pony and was very proud. “ What a fine pony,” he would say. The chief led the pony to a place where there was good grass, but the pony would not eat it. He also brought young cottonwood boughs, but the pony would not eat.

While the pony was in the keeping of the chief the boy dreamed of the pony, who said : “ My son, while I am here, have a buffalo hide tanned for me, so that when it rains you can put it over me, for I am the Mother-Earth, and must not get wet.” So the boy had prepared a buffalo hide.

A few days after, scouts came into camp and said : “We saw many buffalo.” The chief was glad to hear this report, for he wanted to try the pony and find out if it was fast. So the men got their horses and went out to attack the buffalo. The chief was on the pony, giving orders, and felt very proud. When the command was given to attack, the chief on the pony was far in the lead of all the rest, and was the first to get among the buffalo. After killing his first buffalo, the chief went on and tried to kill a second. But as he rode the pony staggered and nearly fell. The chief jumped off and looked at the feet of the pony. The hind feet had unjointed, and the pony was ruined.

The chief was angry and said to himself : “Why did I give in exchange my four best horses ! I will take them back.” The boy heard and was glad. When the chief returned to the village he took the pony to the boy’s tipi, and bade them tell the boy that he wanted back his horses. So the boy took them to the tipi. In a few days the pony was well again. The chief was again angered and tried to get back the pony, but the boy would not consent.

So the people journeyed on, and at one place were attacked by the enemy. The men went out to fight. The boy stayed behind, and the pony said : “ My son, I am part of the Mother-Earth. Put dust all over your body, that the enemy’s arrows will not pierce through ; when the men shoot at anything the arrows will hit the earth, and they will not go through the earth. So do not be afraid, for they will not be able to kill you or me.” So the boy covered his body with dust and mounted the pony. He went out and gave full rein to the pony, which ran straight among the enemy ; it struck one of the horses, so that it threw the enemy and he was killed. The boy was observed, so that the enemy fled.

The boy was now considered a brave. On their return to their permanent village they were again attacked. This time the enemy had among them a man whose spirit and powers were those of a turtle, so that arrows could not pierce him. The boy noticed him. He knew that the only place the turtle-man could be hurt was under the arm. So the boy attacked the turtle-man, and as the turtle-man lifted his arms to shoot the boy thrust his spear under his arm and killed him.

After the battle the people sat in council and selected the boy for their chief. On fine days the boy used to take many eagle feathers and tie them to the mane and tail of his pony. Among the boy’s herd was a colt that was the very image of the pony. So one night the boy had a dreapi. His pony came to the boy and said : “ My son, my doings are over. You are a chief. You shall rear the colt that looks like me, and it will take my place. I will go back to the place where you got me.” When the boy awoke it was stormy and raining hard. The boy went out hunting the pony, to blanket it, but could not find it. He did not find the pony, so he went home. The next morning the boy went out, and on the side of a hill found a pile of mud, still in the shape of a pony. He cried, and in the night he went to sleep and had a dream. The pony came and said : “ My son, go home. You are now a chief. You are no longer poor. Take care of the colt, for it will take my place, and you will have the same power that you had before, for it was the Mother-Earth gave you the power and not I. Do not cry, but go home and think of me no more.” So the boy went home and told his people that his pony had turned to mud.

Boy Heroes.

40. THE BOY AND THE HORSE.205

An orphan boy. following an intimation given by Tirawain a dream, obtains from a rock a horse, worthless in appearance, but wonderful, in virtue of which he accomplishes feats claimed by others, but is finally recognized and becomes leader of many peoples. In the end he undergoes transfiguration, and turns into a wonderworking statue, which is stolen and is now in the southwest.

Now the people had a village, and in the village was a well-to-do family, which consisted of a man, woman, and their child, who was about four years old. That same year the father and mother died, leaving the poor child to wander through the camps and to beg for his living. For several years they lived in this village, and as hard times came among them the chiefs decided to break camp and move to another place. This was done when the boy was about seven or eight years old. The people did not camp long at any one particular spot, but kept moving, for they could not find any buffalo in the neighborhood.

Every morning when they broke camp, the boy was seen to go through the village, picking up things that the people had left, — moccasins, pieces of sinew, meat, and other things. He followed, and in the night would walk to the chief’s tipi, while he was tired and hungry.

When the chief saw the poor boy enter he would say : “ This little boy is a chief, but I am sorry to see the way he lives.” Notwithstanding all his kindness to the boy, he never would ask him to ride one of his ponies.

They came to a place where there were many buffalo, and here made their village for several years, so that the boy grew older. Again they broke camp, and this time journeyed westward, but could not find buffalo ; they were starving, and had to travel fast and far. At night, when the boy reached the camp he was tired, and at last grew faint. He lay down and had a dream. Some one spoke to him and said : “ My son, to-morrow, when you get up, go to the side of a steep bank of stone. There you will see a black lariat hanging down.” This person, whoever it was, talking to him added : “ Take hold of that rope and pull on it and do not look behind.” The boy woke up and found that the Indians had gone. He went through the village picking up meat and bones and remembered his dream.

So he started, and instead of following the trail saw the side of the hill or steep bank with the stones on the side. He saw the rope hanging down ; he pulled on it ; he started with it. When he had gone for some distance he turned and saw that he was leading a fine white horse. He made a loop, put it on the horse’s nose, and mounted. The horse started, and went so fast that the boy nearly fell off.

When the horse came near the village it stopped. It turned into an ugly horse that was nothing but skin and bones, very old, which told the boy to take off the rope and turn him loose, so that he could graze ; for the horse did not want the people to know him, or see him. So the boy went to the camp and into the nearest tipi. They seated him and gave him something to eat. The people went to bed, and there was an old woman lying by the entrance, and he lay down beside her and slept. In his dream the horse came to the boy and said : “ When the people are gone, stay behind, and you will see me as I was when you first saw me. You shall get on my back, and we will go and overtake them, and I will take care of myself.”

Now a war-party was about to go out and hunt the enemy. That night the horse came to the boy and told him that he must follow, and lead him. The war-party went out and the boy followed. One or two blunt arrows were all the weapons he had. The warriors tried to make him go back, but he would not listen to them. He kept following them. For several days they travelled, until they found a camp. They made preparations to take it, and about forty men were selected for the first attack, while the main body of the warriors were hidden in the ravines. The women were in another place and the boy was still with them. When the forty went out to take the village the young man and the poor horse left the women unnoticed, and as they came into another hollow the horse turned into a fine gray horse and the boy mounted. When the forty were standing, waiting for the command to attack, the boy had come up and was standing beside them, and the order was given for them to charge. When they gave their horses rein the young man galloped, and passed every one until he was in the lead, and he was first to enter the village. The first of the enemy to come out had on a war-bonnet, and the boy attacked him. The horse was not guided by the boy, but always had his own way. So the horse was left to do as he chose ; he made a circle, and got into the ravine where were the women with the ponies ; there he stood in the shape of an old horse, and the boy was present among the women. So the women saw him, and knew that he was not in the battle.

After the warriors returned they started for home. Each night, as they made their camp, the leaders of the war-party would call the warriors together and ask who it was that got first to the village, for when the boy on his fine horse ran over the man with the war-bonnet, another who was close behind struck the enemy with his warclub and counted coup. So, being the first to strike, he claimed the honor. Another, a friend of this man, who was riding a fine gray horse, rose and told the leaders that he was the one who had struck the enemy. So these two moved one or two places further up the line, toward the seat of the chief.

Boy Heroes.

When the party drew near the village they made preparations for a sham battle, to draw the attention of the people, and let them know that they had been victorious and were bringing scalps .of the enemy. When they were ready they gave their war-whoop, sang war-songs, and rode up to the village, while the village turned out to meet them. As the people came the leader of the war-party cried out that such a man had run over the enemy with the war-bonnet ; such a man, another, had struck the man and had counted coup; 200 that these two men had done brave deeds. So the people began singing about these two men and danced for them. Meantime the poor boy and the horse made their camp east of the village, and that night the poor boy went to the tipi of an old man and woman. He knew that these were living alone, and went to make his home with them ; the old man was glad to have him come into his tipi. The boy said nothing of the doings in the battle, and none of the warriors knew of him.

In a few days another party was about to start, and in a dream the horse came to him and told him that he must go ; and before starting he must ask the old man, whom he now called his grandfather, to give him a spear, for this time he was to kill two enemies in the battle. The horse told the boy in his dream that he would go four times with war-parties, and each time kill more than in the preceding combat. So when the war-party started the boy joined and took the lead, and when the warriors overtook him they were not pleased, because he had only his old horse. They wanted him to go back, but he kept on. For several days they travelled, until they came to a village of the enemy. Then they left their women in a hollow with the pack-ponies, took their war-horses, and started. Again they selected forty warriors to capture the village, while the main body was left behind, so that when the village should have turned out and pursued the first forty, the main war-party would come out to terrify them and pursue them. The young man got the old horse and followed by way of a ravine, until he caught up with the forty men ; but these did not see him, for he was hidden, and as they gave the command to attack they whipped their horses and ran up to the village ; the young man gave his horse rein ; it ran so swiftly that it passed the warriors and was far in the lead, when he saw a man coming out from the village. He ran over the man ; as he went behind the village he made a turn, and on coming back saw another warrior belonging to the enemy, charged, took his spear, and struck it into him. Going on and passing the village, he came into a hollow which he followed till he returned to the place where were the women with their ponies and packs, and there the horse stood in the form of the same old horse. The battle continued, and the enemy drove the warriors almost to the place where the women were, when the warriors turned and drove them back ; then the battle was ended. The warriors joined the women and returned home.

In the night the leaders of the war-party called the warriors together and asked who had killed the first enemy, and who had struck an enemy with a spear. Two other men claimed the honors, for they rode gray horses, just like the one ridden by the young man. When they reached their permanent village there was great rejoicing ; it was told that two men had killed the enemies in their own village, and these two moved up toward the seat of the chief. Nothing was said about the young man and his horse.

The grandfather told the grandson that he was sorry he had not been in the battle ; the next time the war-party went out he desired him to take his horse, and leave the old horse at home. That night the horse told the boy to get yellow paint and a downy feather, and to paint the feather yellow ; to take the paint with him when he next went out with a war-party.

In a few days the warriors held a council of war, and decided again to go on the warpath. The boy was present, but said nothing. When they started the young man followed. Some of the young men passed the boy, spoke, and said: “You, young man, will strike the enemy, for you have such a fine horse.” On the way the boys made fun of the young man and his horse. When the village was to be attacked the horse told the boy to take him into the hollow close by, and there prepare himself to be among the fighters. The boy took the horse into the hollow, where it turned into a fine horse ; he took the yellow paint and painted it on shoulders, hips, and ears, and a little at the root of the tail. Then he put the yellow paint over his own body and also on his spear. This done, the boy gave his horse free rein, and, as usual, went by the others and attacked the enemy, killing two close to the village and one in the village itself ; then he and his horse again disappeared, going up to the place where the women and ponies were hidden. The war-party killed several, so that they were satisfied, and returned to the spot where their women and ponies were. They made haste to return to their permanent village.

On the way, each night the leaders were seated, called the warriors together, and asked who had killed the enemies. For a long time none claimed the honors, until they neared the village, when several rose and made their claims. These were spoken of as bravest, for they had pursued the enemy into their village, and there killed them. He who claimed the honor of killing the enemy in the village was given the first place.

When the council of the chiefs who remained at home was called to learn the particulars about the killing, the poor young man sent his grandfather to learn what would be reported about the battle.

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Boy Heroes.

He said : “ Go, grandfather, and tell the chiefs that it was I who killed all these men.” This he did, and the people did not believe it.

At the next war-party the young man was with them. Each night the old horse seemed to gain flesh, and every morning the young man was seen rubbing it with grass. The horse was now fat, so that the boy could ride it constantly. For many days they went, and when they reached the enemy’s country the leaders of the war-party sent scouts in search of the enemy’s camp. The camp was found, and they returned and reported. That night they made preparations to attack. None were to be left behind, and the young man joined them ; he had put yellow paint on the horse and spear. When the command was given and the people gave their horses rein, the boy’s horse went beyond them all ; he killed an enemy here and there, and then went toward the south of the village, when the horse stopped and neighed. All the ponies in the village broke their ropes ; those which were loose ran up to the place where the horse was, and the boy went toward the women with a great drove of ponies. The people all watched him doing this ; now they knew that it was the young man who was doing all these brave deeds. There was no more dispute. They wanted to place him in the centre, but he would not let them do so.

When the warriors neared their village preparations were made to let the people know that they had again been victorious. Word was sent that the poor boy had done great deeds, and that he had captured many ponies for the people. The ponies were driven into the village. There was great rejoicing, shouting, singing, and dancing. The young man delivered the ponies to the chief of the tribe, who divided them among the poor people.

After several days the chiefs again held a council. There were others present who had claimed the honors. The young man told them that they were his honors ; he had said nothing, for he was sure that if he had then spoken, they would not have believed him. So the boy became a great chief. The man who had claimed the honor of killing the enemy in the village, and who had the first place, was sent for, but he never came, for he knew that these honors were not his, and that the young man had a right to them. He would not go, but presently fell sick and died.

The surrounding tribes, when they heard of the wonders of the boy, brought their people and asked him to lead them, for enemies had nearly conquered them, and they would be obliged to seek shelter from some other people. Several times the young man led them to different enemies whom he helped to conquer. The people made him a chief of all the tribes, and now he had many other horses, but it was the old horse which he used in battle.

The horse bade the boy tell the people, and tell the wife whom he had now married, that the people must not mock him, nor go beyond his decisions ; when he chose to break camp they must do so ; when he selected a place they must encamp there.

Once they encamped on the prairie, and the young man had decided that they should break camp on the morrow ; instead of that, the people began to break camp the same day, and his wife came in and told him. He did not like it, but said nothing. Her uncles and relatives had gone, and only the chief was left. The young man said : “Go out and see if all have gone.” She returned and said that all had gone. The young man rose, and sat down in the lodge north of the fireplace. There he drew his blanket about him and sat. Then he began to relate how he was born poor, how Tirawa had given him a horse, and how through this mysterious horse he had become their chief ; that, although the people made him so, it was done through Tirawa. Since he had informed the people that they must not break his commands, and since they had done this, he and his horse would disappear. Then he added: “The horse shall return to the place where I obtained it, and there it will be turned again into rock. I have been with the horse for many years, and it spoke to me, and breathed on me, so that in attacking enemies there was not an arrow that could go through me. Now, my feelings are hurt. I now turninto stone ; but as Tirawa made me a chief, place me in some hidden place, and whatever the people say they can let me know, and if I can help them I will do so.”

About this time it was as though a ray of light had come from the lodge, which fell on his feet, and that ray fell on his body, and he sat with his arms folded, with the right hand over the left, and as he said the last word the ray rose to his neck. Then the ray seemed to come over his face and his head, and he was turned into stone ; the woman ran out and told the old man that the boy had turned into stone, and they sent one of the boys to the people, who came back, and cried and mourned for the boy, and set him out on the prairie.

For several years nothing was done about this stone, but the wife of the stone-man called her brothers and told all he had said. So when they went on the warpath they came to this stone, gave presents to it, and related what they wished to do, how many scalps they desired to obtain, and how many ponies they hoped to capture. When they went, whatever they asked they got.

Other tribes found the stone, and they hid it away from these people ; so the people in their sacred bundle ceremonies, while smoking, when they give whiffs to the different deities in the heavens, add a whiff to this god in the southwest, whither the stone was finally removed.

For many years the Comanche made war on the Pawnee, and they captured a woman. On their return home, in the south, they halted at a place on the Republican River, and there the warriors got off their horses and walked to a certain spot where was this image of the stone-man. Then they spread out their blankets and calico, and on these they set the stone. The woman walked up to it and prayed to it, and asked it to assist her in escaping, saying that she had been captured. The war-party made their camp close to the stone-man. About midnight this stone, through its power, made the warriors sleep soundly and woke the woman. She awoke and sat up, and watched for a long time, until she found that every one was sound asleep. She then rose, stepping between the warriors ; finally she came out of the circle where they had laid her, with the man who captured her in the centre, the rest lying around them. She chose a saddle and went to the chief’s swiftest horse, saddled it, mounted, and went back to her people.

For several years she said nothing about this stone-man ; but as her brothers were about to go on the warpath to capture ponies, she told them to go to the Republican River, and at a certain place they would find this stone-man. So thither they went, and instead of making presents to it they said : “ We are glad we have found you again ; make yourself light ; we shall remove you to some other place where we shall give you new presents.” So they removed it, and hid it away, and made presents to it and offerings of smoke. They went on, and they captured many ponies, and on the way one of the leaders of the war-party made a gift of a pony to this stone-man, and left the pony and proceeded home.

After that these young men would go on the warpath and other warriors would join them. Then when they came close to the stone they would stop, and several of the leaders would go to the stoneman and offer presents and smoke.

Other Indians saw it, and they finally stole the stone and put it elsewhere. So different tribes found it. They saw that it was a wonderful stone, and they stole it one from another, until finally one of the southern tribes obtained it, so that it is now somewhere in the southwest.

41. THE BOY AND THE HORSE.207

A boy pities eaglets, and in requital receives from an eagle a celestial horse, apparently infirm, but which turns into a fine steed. With the assistance of the horse the boy accomplishes feats, the honor of which is claimed by others. The boy is finally recognized and becomes a chief.

People went on a hunt, and whenever they camped, on the east side of the village was put up a little tipi, where lived an old woman and her grandson. They were very poor. When people broke camp the old woman and boy would go where the camp had been and pick up moccasin-soles and sinews for food.

Once, after the camp had been moved, the boy stayed behind, picking up soles and sinews, which he burned and ate. When he reached the new camp he heard a noise and went to the spot. He saw many people, who were shooting at a nest, in which were young eagles. They shot many arrows in vain, for the nest was stoutly built, and although the arrows went straight, they did not harm the eagles.

The poor boy was sorry for the young eagles, and wished he was somebody, that he could help them. On his way to his grandmother’s tipi one of the chiefs overtook him, and invited the boy to eat with him. When the camp was broken up the boy went through it, picking up small bits of sinew, moccasin-sole, and other things, which he ate. Then he lay down and went to sleep. Some one called him, and he looked and saw nothing. Again he was called, but saw nothing. A third time he was called, then a fourth time, and flying over him he saw a large bird. The bird was circling ; it was an eagle and it said : “ My boy, yesterday the people tried to kill my children, but my nest was too high. You felt sorry for my little ones. Now we know it, and we know that you are poor. We made the people do this, for they could not kill my young. Now we take pity on you and we want to help you. Come with me.”

The eagle flew to the tree where the nest was, and the boy followed. As he neared the tree a thunderstorm came up and seemed to blow upon the tree, for the tree rocked back and forth, and after a little while the clouds passed and the winds ceased to blow. “ Now,” said the eagle, “go to the bottom of the tree and you will find something.” Reaching the base he found many arrows, took off the sinews, and burned and ate them. “Now,” said the eagle, “go to yonder hill, and on the other side you will find a horse which I have given you. Take good care of it.” The boy went through the camp and found a string of buffalo hide, with hair and holes in it. He went to the place which the eagle had pointed out and found a bay horse, which was shabbylooking. It was bob-tailed, had swollen ankles, and the hair was worn off the hide. Looking at the horse, he knew at once that it was that the chief once owned, and which formerly had been a swift runner. He talked to it and led it to the camp. People mocked at it and said : “The poor boy has found a fine horse; he will kill many buffalo and many warriors ! ”

In the night the horse came to him in a dream and said : “Do not mind what people say; I am not a common horse. The eagles knew me. I am from the heavens, and I wish to be with you, for you are poor. Wash me every day. Hobble me where there is good dark grass, for that to us is like fat to you. I made myself sick and ugly, for I wished to be turned loose, so you could own me.”

Whenever the camp broke the boy stayed behind with his horse, sometimes for two or three days. Then the horse would tell the boy to start. He would lead the horse for a while, then the horse would say : “ Get on my back and shut your eyes.” The horse would then gallop, and when they neared the camp it would stop and say : “Take me to water. Wash me and hobble me where there is good grass. Then he would go into camp and the people would say : “ There comes the poor boy, and no horse.” Boy and horse would stay behind. The boy took care of the horse, and it looked better the longer he kept it.

After killing many buffalo the people thought it was time to return to their permanent village ; so they began to get ready, when one warrior gave out word that he was going on the warpath, and any one was welcome to accompany him. So when the war-party started the boy followed. The crowd stopped at a certain place, so that stragglers could reach them and all might know who was going. They saw the boy coming, leading the poor horse. The leader of the party called the boy and bade him return home, when the boy said : “ I am poor, and I care not where I go. If I am killed, it is well.” Some of the other men said : “ Let him come, for his horse will give out, and he will stop and be eaten by wild animals.”

They went and the boy followed. When they found a camp they prepared to attack the village, while the boy and horse went to a ravine and the horse said : “ Now watch me ! I am about to turn into the horse I formerly was.” Many times it circled around the boy, then threw itself down, raising a great dust. When the dust had passed away the horse stood there, a fine bay horse without blemish. “Now get clay and mix it with water, and draw symbols of lightning on my shoulders and hips. Now you can cut an ash-tree. Get one of the limbs, and cut it the length of an arm and a half. Rub the stick over me. Now let me breathe on it. This stick represents one of the five lightnings in the north ; four you have marked on me, and the stick is the fifth. When you strike the enemy they will die ; for I am of the heavens, and clouds and lightning will kill the people. Now get on my back. Go straight between the two parties. Do not be afraid. I will protect you. Do not try to guide me. Do not strike any one, for it is your first time in battle. We will go through the line, then we will circle and attack the enemy on the north side. I shall follow some one, and you must know that that will be the one for you to strike.” So it was. The leader wore a war-bonnet with many eagle feathers. The boy struck him and killed him ; then boy and horse disappeared, going at once to their own war-party. The horse, rolling on the ground, turned once more into the old horse.

When the crowd returned the chief asked who it was that broke the line. Many warriors claimed the honor. The boy never said anything. When their camp was reached the boy told of his experience in battle. “I struck the enemy,” he said. “Ah, my poor boy, do not talk that way, people will mock us, and do not give them further reason.”

After many months another war-party went out and the boy joined it. The enemy’s camp was reached, and as the warriors went to attack the village the boy and horse hid themselves. The horse rolled and again turned into a fine horse. Streaks of lightning were again put on his shoulders and hips. Sticks were obtained by the boy, which now had been painted red. Up they came from the hollow, and down they went, not minding the crowd that was pressing their people. He struck one man and then another ; wherever he went enemies fell here and there. Finally they returned to the hollow, and then to the starting-place.

The warriors were successful. Scalps were tied on long poles, as they came singing victorious songs. All gathered, and the same question was asked : “ Who was it had the stick and rode on the fine bay horse ? ” Many claimed the honor, but the boy never said anything. The victorious party went home, and stories were told of one who had struck the enemy and put them to flight. None seemed to know who it was.

Now another war-party went out and the boy and his horse joined them. All the way they were derided, some saying : “ He is the one who strikes the enemy.” The boy did not care. He followed them. When night came the boy was told by the horse that that expedition would be for killing, and for taking ponies. A camp was found. Many were afraid to attack. But they did attack, and this time it did not take long for the boy and horse to prepare themselves. They came out and openly attacked the enemy. They killed and slaughtered, until at last the enemy were stampeded and ran. The boy and horse went through the camp. The horse neighed, and a gray horse came running and followed. Then they turned to the herd, and the horse again neighed and all the ponies ran after. They turned and went to their stopping-place, where there were many ponies. When the warriors returned they found the boy with a great herd. They saw him and knew him. There was no question asked, for they knew it was the poor boy that had been doing so much.

That night the horse told the boy that he must keep the blue-gray horse for warfare, seeing that it represented the heavens. Now came another, a bay horse, which was to be kept for running after buffalo.

The boy was given a new tipi and was made a chief. The boy gave ten ponies to the chief who fed him while he was poor. The other chief then tried to get his horse back, but the horse told the boy not to give him up. But as the horse grew old he said : “ Give me back to the chief. I have made you famous. Now I shall die. The gray horse shall be your principal horse.”

The boy then went and gave many ponies to the relatives of the chief who had been good to him, and he married his daughter. The horse died with swollen ankles, as he appeared when the boy got him. But the boy was now a chief, and the people derided him no more.

42. THE BOYS, THE THUNDER-BIRD, AND THE WATER-

MONSTER.208

Two boys receive from the animals magic arrows, with charge to slay a watermonster ; they accomplish the task, saving the nest of the thunder-birds.

There was a camp of Indians, and among them were two boys who were always hunting. They went to a lake and there remained for some time. They did not kill beavers and otters, or any animals that lived in the water. For many months they lived near the lake, eating plums and grapes, and killing small game.

One night they heard strange noises in the lake, and for a long time they listened and watched. They went to sleep, and when they woke found themselves in a lodge of the animals. These said that they had brought them, because they wished them to kill a monster which was in the lake ; it was killing the young of all the animals ; all the animals had tried to kill the monster and had failed. “ Now,” said the animals, “ we have made for you bows and arrows ; put your own aside. We have two otter quivers for you, in which you can put these arrows. The sharp-pointed ones you can use to kill game. The blunt ones you can use if the monster should come your way. Shoot the monster in the mouth, and you will kill him. Now you can go ; when you have killed this monster return, and we will teach you something else.” The boys took the otter quivers and slung them upon their backs. They stood still, for the animals made a great noise, and the boys did not know anything. When they came to know, they were again upon dry land.

Now the boys lingered about the lake, expecting at any time to see the monster come out. But the monster never showed itself. So the boys left the lake and went toward a high hill, which sloped down to the water. They climbed the hill, and found that the top was flat. It was a small top, for there was a steep bank on the west side, also on the north and south sides. One of the boys went to the edge of the hill and found a rock, and on the rock was a nest, and in the nest were two young thunder-birds. “Come,” said the boy, “here are two birds ; let us take care of them.” So the other boy went and saw the birds. “ Let us alone, our brothers,” both birds said. So they found worms and grasshoppers for them. Once in a while the mother-bird would come with something to eat and seemed pleased with the boys.

For several days they lingered around the top of the hill. Once they saw a small cloud coming, and were afraid of getting wet. But when the cloud reached them it sprinkled a little, and the cloud passed on down toward the lake, thundering and lightening. They saw two thunder-birds flying over the clouds, and when the birds opened their mouths it caused thunder ; waving their wings made lightning. When the cloud got to the lake it lightened and thundered more. The cloud seemed to stand still. But the cloud again moved, and it came to the hill where they were. Now and then the bird came and would look at its young ; then it would scream and fly again into the clouds, causing lightning and thunder. The cloud came nearer, and as it approached they went toward it, and they saw the monster coming. It was something like a reptile ; its tail was still in the lake. The monster did not seem to care for the lightning, for the lightning struck the monster, but seemed not to hurt it. It was climbing slowly, while the mother-bird kept going to its young. All at once the bird cried out and said : “ Boys, help me save my young. Save them, and I will give you power to thunder and lighten. Have pity on me. The monster seeks my children.” So the boys, in their eagerness to help the mother, pulled out their arrows and ran toward the slanting hill, and there they stood and shot at the monster, but the arrows failed to go through it. The bird called again, and one of the boys said: “Brother, the monster is near; pull out the blunt arrow.” They both took out their blunt arrows, and as the monster opened its mouth to swallow the young birds they shot the arrows in, so that it burst, flew backward, and fell on its back, dead.

The arrows, as they were shot, grew to huge trees, with roots, so the monster could not move them. The mother-bird flew around the boys with joy, for now its young were safe. The mother-bird kept its promise, and taught the boys its power to thunder and lighten. The boys did not go to the lodge of the animals, for they knew they were happy, and the power they had they thought was enough. They did many wonderful things, but never told the story until once on a time they prayed for rain and it rained. Then they told the story.

Boy Heroes.

43. THE EAGLE BOY.209

Two orphans, a boy and girl, go to live by themselves; the boy, having stolen his sister’s planting-corn, is beaten and turns into an eagle ; the sister in sorrow pursues and with the aid of friendly animals captures the eagle ; they practise agriculture; the boy prospers and becomes a chief.

There was a great village in which there lived a man and woman who had two children, a girl about seventeen years of age and a boy about three. The father died, and soon after the mother, so that the boy and the girl were left orphans. The father and mother were very poor and had no relatives.

These children lived alone. Every morning the girl would go through the village begging the people to give her a little corn, and they would give her a handful, and she would get another handful from another lodge, until she had a quantity. Then she pounded it in"a mortar and both ate the mush. In this manner they lived for some time.

The people began to mock them. The girl, being now large, was sensitive and did not like it. So when the time came for the people to break camp and go hunting, the boy and girl remained behind, the boy now being about five years old. The girl told her brother that they were not to follow the people, for they mocked them and called them names, and this she did not like. She had made up her mind that she would remain with her brother, go through the village, and pick up kernels of corn that she might use them for seed ; the kernels which were already cracked and had been pounded in the mortar she gathered to use for food. This happened early in the spring.

So they got a bag full of broken corn, and she found a handful of seeds, which she tied in a buffalo robe and took with her. She put the bag of corn upon her back, tying the seed-corn about her belt, and she led her brother by the hand and they went toward the east.

They came to a rich bottom. The bottom was soft and was filled with dried weeds ; if she should clear away the weeds, she would have a nice garden. This place she selected for their home. She went to work, cut timber, and built a little grass house. For her brother she made a bed on the south side, piling up grass which she had cut from the prairie. On the north side she made her own bed. She took the seeds and hung them up in the tipi, and laid the sack of corn on the north side of the entrance. She went to the bottom, cleared it, and made a place to plant. Whenever she came from work, she took some of the pounded corn and boiled it, and she had to be careful that she did not boil too much, for they had nothing else to eat. When the mush was done she gave the larger part of it to her brother, while she herself ate little. When the meal was about to give out she gave her brother a very little. The brother wore half a robe, which was not a whole buffalo, but a half of one.

One day she said she was about to put the seeds in the ground ; when she had done so, in time she would gather much corn, so that they would have plenty to eat. For this the boy would be very thankful. She went to the field, making the hills, meaning soon to get the seeds and put in the corn. While she was in the field working the little boy became very hungry ; he had eaten up all the mush that she had prepared, and now he wanted something more, and he did not know how to cook mush ; so he reached and took the girl’s seeds that were hanging up ; he took hot coals and put on a kernel, and as it cracked, he ate it ; then another and another, until he had eaten up all.

The girl hurried home, for she knew that their food was almost gone, and she feared that the boy might take the kernels and roast them. When she got there to get the seeds they were gone, and the boy was playing outside. She asked him where the seeds were. He said he did not know. She said : “ Well, now, there is nobody else to come and get them.” The boy said he did not know where they were, but they must be somewhere in the tipi. “ Yes,” said the girl, “but they were hung up here, and I believe you have eaten them.” The boy finally said: “Yes, I have eaten them.” Since that time the Indian children are in the habit of stealing other people’s seeds, and when they are caught at it they will lie about it.

“Now,” she said, “I know that you have eaten them, and I am very sorry, for I depended upon these to plant. Now I have done much work, and have no seeds to put in the ground. I shall have to whip you,” and she took a stick and whipped the boy, until he cried and cried. The girl then lay down in the tipi, for she was tired and angry. The boy came into the tipi crying, and he took up his robe, put it upon his back, and cried and cried, and once in a while his sister would try to get him to stop crying, and then she would whip him again. He brought the robe around his body, over his head, hands, and feet, and sat there. Then he sang this song : —

“ My sister, your fine corn will always talk to you when I am gone.

My sister, my toe-nails are to turn into eagle’s claws, the finest of eagle’s.

Now, sister, your fine seeds will always speak to you.

My sister, my feet are to turn into the finest eagle’s claws.” '

Then she said : “ Oh, you poor brother, and are you going to turn into an eagle,” and she tapped him on the head again. But he kept on singing : —

“ My dear sister, your fine seeds will always talk to you,

Now, sister, my ankles are turned into finest of eagle’s.”

The boy kept on singing about the different parts of the body, until he came to the neck and back of the head, when he at last sang the song about the bill and the eyes turning into those of an eagle. When he said that he flew out from his robe, and there flew straight up the finest eagle.

The girl leaped up and screamed, and tried to grasp his legs, but he flew out of the smoke-hole. She ran out of the tipi, crying, but the eagle flew up in the sky, while she cried and followed as he flew. She kept running and crying, and after a while she met a young man.

This young man said: “My sister, why are you crying?” She said : “ My brother turned into an eagle, and he is now above us, flying yonder. We are alone in this world, and if he remains an eagle I shall be left by myself, and that is why I cry.” This young man said : “ Stop crying ; I will arrange it so that you can catch your brother. I will go to yonder brush. You will hide under the brush, and I myself will lie there, and will cut my belly open, and as your eagle has eaten nothing, when he sees me, he will fly down to eat me, and while he is eating me, seize his legs, and the moment you catch him he will turn into a boy again.” The girl hid in the brush, and the man came and lay upon the brush and she lay under him. After a while the eagle came down, alighted near, and sang : —

“ I am not willing to eat of this badger lying here.

I do not believe that he is dead.

There is some sort of a trap set there for me.

I will not eat of the meat.”

So the eagle flew away, and as it flew away the girl got out of the brush and ran toward it ; she turned, and down the hill came a badger, which was the man that had tried to help her.

She followed the eagle till there came another young man. “ What are you crying about, my sister ? ” said he. She said : “ My brother turned into an eagle. We were alone in the world, and he was turned into an eagle, and I am now alone, and I do not like to lose my brother.” “Cease crying, sister,” he said; “we can catch him. He likes to eat me, and I wish you to go yonder toward that log which is hollow. Put your feet in first, with your head toward the opening ; I will lie near, having my belly cut open, and the eagle will come down to eat me. He likes to eat me, as he is very fond of my meat.” So the girl went and crawled into the log, feet first, so that her hands were close to the opening in the log. The man then came and lay down close to the opening, and after a while the girl heard a sound as if a storm were coming. The wind blew hard, and all at once blew downward, but it was the eagle coming down. The eagle alighted by the man, looked at him awhile, and then sang another song : —

“ I do not like eating this meat.

There seems to be a trap set for me.

I must go on.”

So the eagle flew up and went off. The girl crawled out, crying, and there was a deer standing by her, and it said : “ I will now return to my timber, where I belong ; I wanted to help you, but you see I could not.” It was a young fawn, and she cried again, and cried and cried and cried.

Now she met another young man. “ Sister, why are you crying ? ” said he. She said : “My brother turned into an eagle. We were all alone in this world.” “Stop crying, sister,” said he, “I will help you. We can catch him, for he likes to eat me.” And he said : “ Come with me.” He took her away, up a hill, with a coyote hole on the top, and put her in there ; he placed brush over the hole, then laid himself down beside it, and when he lay down his belly was opened, and his inward parts were plainly to be seen. The eagle flew down, alighted near by, and sang another song : —

“ I do not like to eat of this meat.

There seems to be a trap set for me.”

So he flew away, and the girl jumped out and cried, and the eagle saw her for the first time, and he saw that the girl had made herself hoarse from crying, and he turned and flew about her, and she said : “ My brother, I shall follow you wherever you go, and if I drop dead, it is well, for it is not right for me to live all alone, without you.” Then she looked around, and she saw it was a rabbit that had tried to help her.

The eagle felt sorry for his sister, who had no voice, for she had cried herself hoarse. She now again followed the eagle, and he flew over thick timber ; the eagle went into the timber, and after a while she met a handsome young man, who said : “ Sister, why do you cry?” She said: “I am crying because my brother turned into an eagle. We were alone in this world, and he left me, and is turned into an eagle.” The rtian said : “ Stop crying, sister, I will help you catch the eagle. I am the animal that the eagle likes best to eat. Come with me to my home ; there you shall hide ; the eagle will come there, and we shall catch him.” So they came to a steep bank, on which was a great pile of brush, the home of the wood-rats. She took pieces of the brush and laid these across ; over them she put more brush and then leaves ; and she hid below, so that when the woodrat laid itself upon the brush she would be underneath. The rat lay under the brush and she below him. After a while the eagle flew down, but not close to the rat ; he came over and alighted and began to sing : —

Boy Heroes.

“ I am willing to eat of this animal.

There seems to be nothing wrong here.

I shall eat this animal.”

The eagle then hopped over where the rat lay, and he first bit off a piece from the liver ; then the girl with both hands reached and caught his legs, and he tried to fly, but she held on, and he turned into her brother again.

She caught him and held him, for she was so glad to have him back. The boy said : “ Do not hang on to me so tight, for I will not leave you ; I shall be with you all the time.” Then the girl looked around, and she saw the rat as he was going away, so she knew it was the rat that helped her.

They were very hungry, and so they started, and the boy told his sister to sit down, and that he would try and get something to eat. fie went, and, without the girl knowing it, turned into an eagle and got a rabbit, and so they made a fire and roasted the rabbit. They went on, and the next day the boy went out again, and he brought two or three rabbits, and so all the way, until they finally reached their little tipi.

Here they stayed, and the boy would go off, and return with many rabbits and sometimes a young deer. After a time he began to kill larger game, so that they now had plenty to eat.

Then this boy told the girl that he was going to their village to get seeds for her, and would turn into an eagle ; and she did not like it, for she was afraid that he would leave her. But he became an eagle and flew to the village, where the people had gathered their crops, and would steal a bag of corn and take it to their tipi. (So from that time to this, whenever the Indians lose their seed-corn, they say : “The eagle must have been here and carried away my seedcorn.”) The boy brought the seeds to his sister, so that she made a corn-field, and each year she enlarged it, until she had a great field.

So they prospered ; for many years the people wandered over the plains, and after a time came to the camp of this poor couple ; they found that they were well-to-do, that they had plenty of meat and corn, so the people stayed with them ; and one night the chief’s daughter went to this boy’s tipi, for he now had a large tipi, and stayed with him.

When the chief found this out, he sent for the young man and his daughter, and they came in together, and the chief gave his consent for the boy to have his daughter and said : “ My son, I shall move out of this tipi and you shall take possession. Bring your sister and your wife, and you can live here.” So the eagle boy came to be quite a leader among the people, and at last the chief put his son-in-law in his place, and the eagle boy came to be chief of the people.

44. THE YOUNG EAGLE AND HIS GRANDMOTHER.210

An old woman finds and rears an eaglet ; the latter, while still in bird shape, marries a chief’s daughter. In a storm he turns into a youth, in marvellous raiment. He becomes the object of attention, calls the buffalo, but finally disappears, leaving a son who takes his place.

There was a village of people, and on the east side was a little tipi. An old woman lived there. She had no relatives. She was living by herself, and she was very poor.

One day she went out from the village and wandered over the prairie, when she heard somebody whistling. She went to the place where she heard the whistling and there, in the centre of a buffalo wallow, stood a little bird.

This bird was a young eagle. She picked it up and took it home. She called the little bird her grandson, and she also called him her “ Hairy Bird,” because his feathers were so fuzzy. Every day she used to go through the village and pick up pounded qorn that had been dropped from the mortars, which she took home, boiled, and gave to the bird. The bird now became larger, for it was a long time since the old woman had brought the bird home.

The little bird then sang a song, and in the song he said : “ Grandmother, go to the chief’s lodge and ask the chief if I may marry one of his daughters,” — for this chief had four daughters, and the people always called their lodge the “ tipi-of-many-girls.” So the grandmother looked at the little bird and said that she did not like to go, but the bird kept on singing the song. So finally she yielded. The woman entered the chiefs tipi and asked the chief to let her grandson marry one of his daughters. The chief said: “Very well; the girls themselves shall decide which one shall be married to the bird.”

The old woman went back to her tipi, entered, and picked up the bird and said: “My grandson, the chief has given the girls to you, and the girls are to decide which shall marry you.” So she carried the bird in her hand and took it into the chief’s tipi. When the girls saw that it was a young eagle the three oldest all said : “ The youngest of us may have him for a husband ; we do not want him, for he will be dropping dirt around our bed all the time.” The youngest of the sisters said that it was well, that she would take him for her husband.

So the three oldest sisters went to work and arranged a bed, close to the entrance of the tipi. Here the young sister lay and cared for her bird, close by her bedside. When she lay down she held the bird out on her hand, where the bird went to sleep. In the mornings when the girl awoke she woijld always find the bird pecking about. When she got up she would wash her hand, for she would have in it much dirt that the bird had dropped during the night.

The three sisters mocked at their young sister and made fun of the bird. Whenever the bird tried to go through the village they would scare it, and drive it back to their sister’s bed.

One night as the girl lay down and held the bird, she heard the bird speak, and it said : “ I shall be gone for some time ; I will return before morning ; I want you to be strong, and I will do the same thing.” This meant that she must not go away, thinking that the bird was dead or had gone ; that she must wait for him, and when he did come back he would be strong, would not let her sisters bother him, and would not trouble the girl’s sisters.

So the bird went out and disappeared. It went back to its grandmother’s tipi. Now the bird spoke to the old woman and said : “ I desire you to set out as many sticks as you wish.” When that was done he came in and said : “ Now, make a circle of posts, as large as you want the tipi.” Then he said : “ Now, I desire you to sit on the north side of the entrance. There is to be a great storm, so do not be frightened, for I now wish to be changed into a man. I am now an eagle. I carry messages for Tirawa. I saw that you were poor, and came to you and took pity on you. Now sit there and cover yourself with your robe. Do not look out or try to peep, but keep still and keep your eyes closed.”

The storm came from the north. It blew away their grass tipi. The ground shook. The trees bent over, for the wind was very strong.

When the storm passed away the old woman was sitting there, a middle-aged woman, anointed with red ointment. She opened her buffalo robe, that looked as though it had just been finished ; it was white, without any paintings. The young man sat in the west of the tipi. He was dressed in fine leggings and fine shirt, made out of wildcat hide, with eagle feathers. The robe he had wrapped around him had painting upon the back ; the painting was that of the Sun. There lay a pipe beside him and a tobacco pouch. There was a bundle hung up in the west. This young man was very handsome and had long hair.

He now told the grandmother to open her eyes. She obeyed, and saw a fine large tipi made of buffalo hide. She saw that there were paintings upon the back of the tipi, symbols of the Sun. Around the tipi was hung a circle of downy feathers. At one side she saw many parfleches filled with dried buffalo meat. At the entrance were many pots. She went out. Where she had stuck the stakes for lariat pins she saw that many ponies had been driven and were standing. She went back and perceived that the little bird had turned into a fine young man. The young man told her to lie down ; saying that he was going to his wife. So the young man rose up and went through the village. The people were quiet, for the storm had driven them into their tipis, and most of them had gone to bed.

He went into the chief’s tipi and sat down by his wife’s bed ; he pulled off his moccasins and leggings and hung them up, then his shirt. He then touched the girl and told her to make room for him. The girl said: “No, my husband went out.” He told her that he himself was her husband ; that he had turned into a man and she should not be afraid. So she made room, and he lay down, putting his robe over them, with the painted side up. As he lay there by his wife she would not touch him, for she was afraid that he was a stranger.

Early in the morning one of the older girls got up, made the fire, and turned to her younger sister’s bed. She saw this robe with the paintings on it. She saw the leggings with many feathers on them, and the shirt made out of wildcat hide with the eagle feathers on it. She looked at them as they lay for a long time, but they had their heads covered up with the robe so that she did not see them.

She went and awakened her father and mother, and told them that somebody was lying with the younger sister. The man and the old woman rose up and they looked, and they saw the man lying with the girl. All his fine clothing was hanging up. They said: “You may learn whoever they may be.” They suspected that it was the young bird. The older sisters now awoke and were watching. They helped to cook, for they were anxious to see who this young man could be and what he looked like. One of the older sisters went to the bed, awakened the sister, and told her to tell -her husband, or whoever it was, that they were now ready for them.

The young girl knew that it was her husband, for he had before told her not to feel badly, for he was going to his grandmother’s. So the younger sister got up, put on her pot, and made the same mush for her husband as she had been in the habit of doing. When she had cooked it she told him to rise, take a seat by the fire, and eat his breakfast. On rising he was careful not to show himself, for he had the robe over his head. He washed his face, then took his leggings and put them on, and came and sat down by the fireplace beside his wife, still having the robe over his head, so that his face could not be seen.

♦

When the oldest girls got their food cooked — such as meat and corn — they put the mess in a nice bowl and they would say : “ Skawit ” (the youngest of the sisters), “give this to your husband to eat ; pass it on. You never would feed my husband.” And the younger sister would say : “ No, I would not, for before this you would never feed my husband.” Then she would pass the things back to the older sisters.

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Boy Heroes

Now the young man ate his mush, arose, and let the robe slip from his head so that his face shone, and the girls saw him. He had long hair. He went out of the tipi and went direct to his grandmother’s tipi.

Now at this time the people had awakened, and had gone out from their tipis, and they saw this beautiful tipi in the distance, with many ponies around it. “ Who may that tipi belong to ? ” they would say, “ it must be some one who came last night and pitched his tipi there.” Some of them knew that the tipi was at the place where the old woman had her tipi, and they said it must be the old woman’s. When they saw the young man come out from the chief’s tipi, dressed up, and go toward the old woman’s tipi, they knew then that it must be the little bird which the old woman had kept.

The young man went to the tipi of his grandmother, and she told him that she had meat cooked for him. He told her to rise, go through the village, and invite his wife to her tipi.

While the boy and girl were gone from their tipi, the three older sisters went to work, tore the younger girl’s bed down, and made her bed on the west side of the fireplace, where their bed had always been, so that now their bed would be in the most prominent part of the tipi.

The young girl went to the tipi of the old woman, and there they ate the meat that the old woman had cooked. They stayed there, and in the night, they went back to their own tipi, and as they entered, one of the oldest girls said : “ Skawit, we have made your bed at this other place; go over and lie there.” Uxor non voluit ; sed dixit juvenis, “ Ibi recumbamus.” Tunc iverunt, atque recubuerunt ; sed statim soror maxima natu juxta juvenem recubuit. Secunda soror quoque in lectulum repsit, uxoremque repellit, ita ut juvenis inter duas sorores nunc remansit. Quietus jacuit, nec voluit duas sorores perturbare, quibus antea ludibrio fuerat. Uxor sedit, valde irata ; experrecta est, stragulas vestes cepit, et prope aditum tipi deposuit ; maritum appellavit, et iterum recubuerunt ; nihilominus duae sorores semper sequi voluerunt ; turn uxor maritusque ad suum tipi profecti sunt, ibique remanserunt.

The next day the young man sent for the runner of the camp, who was no other than Coyote-Man. He came, and he was told to invite the chief and several of the leading men. The chief with his leaders came to the tipi of the young man, where they ate, and the young man told them that he was now married among them ; that he was from the sky ; that he now was going to make them happy, for the people were starving.

He had the chiefs send scouts out to a certain place, and there they found buffalo. They returned, and reported to the chief with the leaders and the young man, and they sent their men out to attack the buffalo. They killed many and the people ate plenty ; after that they did not have a hard time finding buffalo, but always had plenty, so that they knew that this young man was wonderful, and that it was he who had done this to help them.

The young man’s wife gave birth to one child, and when the boy grew up he was taught by his father to do many wonderful things. The father went off, disappeared, and was heard of no more. So the young man was given the place of his father as a prophet.

The old woman was now happy, for although her little bird-man had disappeared, she had a grandchild to care for.

45. THE CHILD OF THE ANIMALS.211

A girl becomes miraculously pregnant and throws her child into the water. The infant is nursed by birds and receives the dress and name of Woodpecker. The chief’s daughter is offered as prize to the captor of a red coyote ; Woodpecker essays the task, but falls into a hole; he is robbed by Crow-Feathers (a coyote), who dons Woodpecker’s plumed cap, claims the prize, and obtains the maiden. Woodpecker is rescued by Spider-Woman and her grandson ; he shows magic power, kills Crow-Feathers, calls the buffalo, and marries the younger daughter of the chief ; the elder daughter, wife of Crow-Feathers, gives birth to a litter of coyotes.

There was a village in a bottom. There were several lakes around this village. The largest of the lakes was on the west side. There was a beautiful maiden among the people, and many young men tried to marry her, but she would not marry.

At last she found out that she was pregnant,212 although she had had no connection with any man. She was in trouble. She left the village. She went to the lake west of the village. She sat down under a bank and stayed there for many days, until she gave birth ; and when she did so, she threw the child into the water. When she became able to walk she went back home.

In her dream she saw a woodpecker 213 sitting on a limb, which asked her to come to look every day so that she could nurse the child. It told her that the birds of all kinds had taken the child in charge, and they wanted the mother to come and nurse it ; that not only the birds, but the bears, otters, muskrats, minks, and other animals that stayed in the water had taken the child, too. She woke up, and the next day she went to look, and there she found her . baby lying on the bank of the lake. She nursed it, laid it back, and went home. This she did for several years, and then the child disappeared. It was never brought to the bank of the lake again.

Once in a great while they would see this child going through the village. It wore a little robe, leggings with live birds on them, and moccasins with porcirpine quills, and its cap had woodpeckers all

Boy Heroes.

around it. It was made out of a piece of buckskin to go around the head. The woodpeckers were placed on the inside of the band with the tails sticking up, while the necks were turned around the bottom of the band with the heads pointing upward, so that the red parts of the heads were turned outside and could be seen.

When they saw the young man the people tried to talk with him, but he generally disappeared from them ; and if they saw him and followed him, he disappeared on the bank, and they would afterward see him on an island.

One day he came to the camp and met his mother, who asked the boy about the island. The boy told his mother that the island was covered with sweet-smelling grass and herbs, and that all roots were fine smelling ; that all things on the island were his ; that he could eat grass, or eat the water plants that grew in the pond ; that if he wanted anything to eat, all he had to do was to get a bow and an arrow that he had, such that when he shot at anything (as for example a bush), he would kill a rabbit or something that he could use for meat. The boy told the mother that he was sorry she did as she did ; but as it was now, it seemed to have been done for his good, that he might be the child of the animals.

The people knew that this young man’s name was Raktihatsiriwis, Woodpecker. So the boy made his home on the island ; he never stayed in the village.

One bright, beautiful morning, as the people arose and went out, they saw many coyotes leaving the village, and among them was a beautiful red coyote, something unusual. People talked about it. It got so it was a usual thing for the people to get up early and see the coyotes leaving the village and see this red coyote amongst them.

The people took such an interest in it that finally the chief came out, too, and wanted to see the red coyote. When he saw it he entered his lodge, and sent his servants to gather the people. When they were gathered the chief told them that whosoever should capture the coyote and kill it should have his daughter to marry. So the young men and the old men all went out and set to planning how to capture the red coyote. So they found a plan : Each man was to dig a hole seven feet deep, and that hole was to be his. They spread coverings over these holes and tied weights to them, and then spread a little hay over that, so that if a coyote went over it it would fall through.

Each morning the men went out to see their holes, but they found nothing in them. So instead of looking into their holes every morning when they got up, if they saw the red coyote among the coyotes that were going out and leaving the camp, they did not bother about going to see into their holes.

On the west side of the village there lived a woman and her grandson. The woman’s name was Spider-Woman, and the boy’s name was Burnt-Belly, — he had no shirt on, and his belly was burnt on account of sitting by the fire all the time. They were very poor. Each morning the boy would run into the village and enter a lodge, and would go direct to a mortar, and he would find many grains of corn around the mortar that had dropped out while the old women were pounding their corn ; and he would get four or five handfuls, so that it made quite a pile. Then he took it home to his grandmother, and she pounded it up and made mush, and that was the way they lived. There were a number of young men that used to make a practice of getting out in the morning and standing by the tipi of the old woman and the boy, and yelling, “It is raining,” at the same time urinating on the tipi and making fun of the inmates.

One day it was noised through the camp that this man who had on the woodpecker cap was coming from his island to the village, and was now to marry one of the chief’s daughters. So one night he came over, and on going close to this old woman’s tipi he came to one of these holes, and not knowing there was a hole there, he fell in. There he stayed for several days.

Some mean fellow made it a practice to visit the holes, in order that if by chance the red coyote had fallen in, he would have the first chance to take it out, when he would take it to the chief and would marry the daughter of the chief. This man’s name was Crow- Feathers (coyote). While he was going around visiting these holes, he came to the place where the man had fallen through. Crow- Feathers looked down, and he saw the man in the hole. He said: “ Hallo, are you down there ! How long have you been there ? ” The man said : “ I have been here for several days, without anything to eat. I fell in.” When he spoke Crow-Feathers knew the man from the cap he wore on his head. He saw the woodpeckers and they made quite a noise. He said : “ Do you want to get out ? ” The young man said : “ Yes.” “ Well,” said Crow-Feathers, “ I shall help you to get out, but you must remember that I am by myself ; that I cannot very well take you out with all your clothing on. First of all, hand me that thing you have on your head ; now take off your moccasins and hand them to me.” Each time Crow-Feathers asked for something the man handed it to him. Then the man said : “Take off your moccasins and hand them to me.” The man did so. Then Crow- Feathers asked for the robe the man had on. Crow-Feathers then said : “Now wait a minute while I get my strings untied.” He sat down and put on the moccasins and the leggings and the robe, and the head-dress he put on his head, then he started for the village and left the man in the hole.

So the man with the things on now went and asked the chief to let him marry his daughter. It had been understood through the village that this mysterious being was to marry the chief’s daughter. He had disappeared, but he had now arrived, and they knew that he had come to marry the chief’s daughter. Now the chief gave his consent, but the younger girl did not like it, for she noticed that the birds, instead of hooting and singing for the boy, were pecking at his head, so that his head was getting sore. Anyhow, he married the chief’s daughter and made his home with the chief.

The people in the village were now starving for something to eat, and the chief sent scouts out all over the country to find some kind of game for the people to eat, but they were unsuccessful.

One morning, about five or six days after the man had fallen into the hole, the little boy, the grandson of the Spider-Woman, was going along, and he went by the hole where the man was, and he heard a noise and looked down in the hole, and there stood a man who was in a poor condition. He never said anything to the man, but ran to his tipi and told his grandmother that he saw a man in a hole, who was very poor. She picked up her pack-strings, went to the hole, looked down, and saw this man. She said : “ My son, how long have you been there?” The man said: “For several days; I am nearly starving.” She now let her pack-strings down, and the man was so weak that he could not stand ; so he raised himself a little, put the head-piece under his legs, and held on to the strings. The old woman and the boy pulled the man up. As soon as they got him up she put him on her back and carried him to her tipi. Then she sent the boy through the village to pick up corn, so that she could make mush for him. She fed him on this for several days, until he got a little stronger, and when he was stronger he asked the old woman to go to the timber and cut two good-sized ash poles and five or six dogwood poles. She went and brought the sticks. The boy told the old woman to make two bows out of the two ash poles, and of the dogwood she must make arrows. She made the bows and arrows, one bow for the man and one for her grandson.

One day, when he was strong enough to walk, he asked the boy to go into the timber with him to try and kill small birds for food. So this young man took aim at a great pile of brush, which was a rat’s nest. He shot at it, and told the other boy to run and to see what he had shot. The boy went, and he found the wood-rat with an arrow through its body. They picked up the rat, took out the arrow, carried it home, and the old woman cooked the rat. They ate it for their dinner.

The next day they went out again. This time they killed a rabbit. They went home and cooked it. A third day they went, and they came to a thicket, and the young man shot at the thicket ; they heard the scream of a fawn, and the little fellow ran and killed the young fawn. They took out the arrow, the boy threw the fawn upon his back, and they took it home. The old woman cooked it and they ate it.

On the fourth day they went again, and instead of going through the timber, he took the little fellow upon the island, and there they killed an elk. They cut up the meat, and each packed half of it upon his back and took it home. The old woman cooked some of the meat ; and after the boys had come in, one of the chief’s younger daughters came in and saw this young man, and thought she knew him. After that she came in and visited them every day.

Now the young man had grown strong, and they had plenty of meat. He told the old woman to go into the timber, to cut a goodsized ash bough, and bring it to him. He told her to peel off the bark and to cut it at the ends, at one end to make a handle, and shave it down, so that a person could grasp it.

The people in the camp wondered why Crow-Feathers, who had all this fine clothing and the woodpecker head-dress, did not bring game, for they understood that he had wonderful powers. When the boy rescued by the old woman had become well and strong, one morning he picked up the club that had been made for him and went to the chief’s lodge ; he went in, and saw his things hung up, and the man who left him in the hole was sitting by the chief’s daughter and had a long piece of meat which he pulled with his teeth. So he went up to him and tapped him on the back with his club, and the fellow begged that he would not kill him, but the young man kept on pounding him ; the people in the chief’s tipi did not know what this was for, but the man kept on pounding Crow-Feathers until he drove him out of the lodge ; then he crushed his head, killing him.

Then he went into the lodge, and as soon as he entered the lodge the birds upon the head-dress and leggings began to sing, for they were glad to see the owner of the things. The other man had laid them aside, for they continually pecked at him, until they had made his head sore. The man put on the things, and the people watched him, and he entered the old woman’s lodge.

That night the young man, the boy, and the old woman were sitting in their tipi, when the young man told the old woman to go outside and to make a circle round the tipi, as far as she wanted to go, and as large as she wished the tipi to be. She went about the tipi in a circle. She came in, and the boy told her to put her robe over her head and to close her eyes. In a few minutes he told the old woman to open her eyes, and she did so and found herself in a nice buffalohide tipi ; the young man told the old woman again to close and to open her eyes, and there she was, a middle-aged woman, and Burnt- Belly had also grown to be a fine young man.

The next day, when the people came out, they saw this new tipi in the west, and they asked to whom it belonged, and wondered if any new people had come to their village. Some of the people said that it was not so, but that it was the doing of the mysterious boy who used to live upon the island.

When the people saw that there was plenty of meat they went there ; the younger of the chief’s daughters went, and the old woman was always careful to give her the best place in the lodge, for she saw that the young girl cared for the young man. The young girl and the rest noticed that the mats that were spread upon the ground in the tipi were made from flagroot tops, and the grass that was spread under the mats was sweet grass that grew upon the island, so that the tipi smelt very fragrant.

The girl now made her home with the old woman, and she finally married the young man. The chief invited the young man over to his tipi, but the young man would never go.

The young man told his servant — who, by the way, with his mother used to be made fun of, whose tipi used to be urinated on, and with whom the young man had made his home — to go and tell the old man, the crier, to come to him. The old man came to the young man’s tipi and entered and sat down by the young man, who told him to go through the village, and to cry out that the men were to attack game the next day. That night the people were rejoicing that the next day they were to attack something ; that they would kill, and that they would then have something to eat.

The next morning the people got together on the north side of the village, the old men with them. The young man told them to divide into two parties, one party to go through a lake and to get on the west side of the island, and the other party to cross the lake to the island on the east side. When the two parties were on each side of the island the young man was to give the war-whoop ; after that, all the men were to give the war-whoop, with hooting and all kinds of noises, and each party was to walk straight through the island. They did as they were directed ; the young man gave the war-whoop, when there was a hallooing and hooting by the party on the east and on the west who were going up to the centre of the island. When they got there they made a circle, and there were deer, rabbits, and other smaller and larger game, and the game seemed to go round in a circle, until they had killed all, and they took that home.

The second time the young man sent for the old man. He told them to surround another island as they had the first one ; this time the game consisted of good-sized deer, and they took them home.

The third time they took another island, a larger one, and here the people found elk, which they surrounded and slaughtered.

People thought so much of the young man that they would not allow him to go with them to help slaughter the game; but some of them would kill and take the meat to the young man’s tipi, so that he had meat as well as the others.

The fourth time he told the old man to come, saying that he wapted him to tell the people that it was now time that they should attack buffalo. The people had not seen buffalo for some time, although they had gone out far away into the country. So the old man cried through the village, telling them to make preparation, and that the next day they were to attack buffalo. The next day the party got together on the north side of the village and stood there, waiting orders from the young man. The young man came out from his tipi and led them up into the hills, and the people again divided into two parties, and attacked a certain ravine that was in sight. They were divided, some going west, some standing east. When the command was given to attack, the men ran their horses into the ravine, and all at once the buffalo jumped up, as if they had been sitting in the grass ; but really there had been none, but the young man had called the buffalo for these people to kill. They slaughtered the buffalo and brought home much meat. They took a quantity of meat to the young man, and after that the people found many buffalo close to their village, so that other tribes came, for they had plenty to eat while other people were starving.

The people finally selected this young man for their chief, but he would not accept, for the oldest daughter of the chief had married Crow-Feathers, who had worn his clothes, and as the woman was with child, he wished her to bear, that he might learn what kind of an animal Crow-Feathers was.

This woman became sick and gave birth ; as the thing came out it howled, and they knew it was a coyote. There was a woman sitting by, who struck it on the head and threw it one side. Then another one was born, and it was also a coyote. The chief’s daughter gave birth to seven, but as each came forth the old woman struck them on the head and laid them on one side. The coyotes, after being killed, were thrown outside of the village, where Crow-Feathers, the father coyote, was lying.

The young man then became a chief, and once in a while, when the people were starving, would call the buffalo, so that the people got something to eat.

So ends the story, and the reason for the story is that the people were, in time, to have wonderful men among them, who were to be able to call the buffalo ;so that the people could eat the buffalo.

Fig. 12

CHAUIS PERFORMING CALUMET PIPE-CEREMONY

,

46. THE CHIEF AND MEDICINE-MAN QUARREL.214

A chief and a medicine-man, representing heavenly and earthly powers, quarrel. Each is destroyed by the other’s power.

A long time ago, when the chief was put on earth, he was given a sacred bundle, and he was to represent Tirawa. Now another man was created, who was given a bundle, and he was to be known as the medicine-man, and was to represent the gods of the earth.

One day the chief and the medicine-man began to quarrel. The chief said: “I must say something to you that will hurt you. I represent the power above ; for if I tell the thunders to come and the lightning to strike you, it will so happen.” The medicine-man said : “ If I should speak ill of you, and should say, ‘ Let a stick or some other thing harm you,’ the gods in the earth would listen, and you would meet with some accident and be killed.” They ceased quarrelling.

The same afternoon a cloud came over the village, and it thundered and lightened, and struck the medicine-man, killing him. Three or four days afterward the chief went to the creek, and as he stepped out into the water, something struck him in the side and passed through him so that he died. It was a stick which had been gnawed by a beaver, so that it was sharp at one end.215

47. THE SUN MEDICINE.216

A youth, directed by the Sun in a dream, fasts and receives a divine shield, a new name, and miraculous power ; he is killed, but revives as a bear ; he dies a second time, but still aids those who pray to him.

A long time ago, when the Pawnee lived upon the Platte River, there was a young man who was told in a dream to stand upon a high hill that was on the north side of the village. It was the Sun who made this man have the dream. So the next day the man went through the village and told his relatives that he was going to stand upon a high hill ; and that he was to stand ten days, without anything to eat ; and that he had been commanded by the Sun. The man told his mother to go up on the hill, and to take a long pole and set it in the ground. The young man then went to the creek and washed, then took mud — white clay — and put it upon his face. Then he went up on the high hill and began to cry.

He did not see or hear anything for several days, and he continued to stand and cry for ten days. After ten days people began to look and see if he was still there. He was still there. He stayed four more days, making fourteen days altogether.

The fifteenth day, apparently, he was not there. The boy went up, and the man was found lying down, and looked like a ghost. The boy spoke to him, and the man said that he was so weak that he could not walk down to the village, and that he should tell his people to come after him. His people were told, and they went after him and found him. When the people saw him they cried for him, for they felt sorry for him. When they took him into their lodge they took buffalo fat and made grease, which they poured into his mouth. They also anointed him with red ointment. The first night in the lodge he did not see anything nor hear anything, for the gods did not speak to him while upon the hill.

Two days afterward he had a dream. He saw a man with red ointment all over his body, — even the robe he wore was painted red. This being spoke to him and said : “ I now come to you. Listen to me, and I will give you power. I told you to stand on the hill for ten days. I did not come to you, and you stayed four days longer. You nearly died trying to do what I told you to do. Now I am going to give you power to make a dead bird or animal alive. I am going to give you power to be a medicine-man. I also give you a robe, and upon the robe you must paint the Sun. This robe shall be wonderful, it shall be your life. If you are killed upon dry land, you shall live. If you are killed in water, then you shall die. If you are killed upon dry land, tell your mother she must wrap you up in a robe and you shall live again. No matter how much you are cut up, if the pieces are put together and wrapped in the robe, you shall live. I also give you a shield, which you shall take from the breast of a young bull and shrink over a hot fire. You must draw upon it the image of the Sun. When the shield is complete, each morning you shall have the shield taken out of the lodge and hung up on a pole. As the sun goes around, have the shield moved so it will face toward the sum In the night have the shield taken into the lodge.

“ You are now a medicine-man. I shall come to you often and tell you what the different roots are good for. When you go to battle, have the shield on, and the enemy will never be able to shoot you.

“ Now I also give you something else, and it is a name ; that name is Siaracutskitskaraha, Proud-Painted-Clay-Face. By this name you shall be known, for that is my name. There will be a time when you will be well known ; then we will change your name.”

Now the man grew stronger, and each night this mysterious being came to him and told him many things. This man never told any one, but lived on, as poor as ever. But there was a time when the medicine-men had their yearly medicine-men’s sleight-of-hand performances. This man entered the medicine-men’s lodge and seated himself on the south side. The medicine-men wondered why he came in, for he was not a medicine-man, neither did he have any one to teach him the mysteries of medicine-men.

One night, as the medicine-men were doing sleight-of-hand, one man was dancing with a fawn skin. This man ran up to him, seized the fawn skin, and made a fawn, so that it walked around the fireplace. Then he took it up and it was a skin. The next night he stood on hard dry ground, and he kept moving his leg and foot in the ground until his foot disappeared. When he pulled his leg out, water spouted out. Many wonderful things he performed, and the medicine-men were mystified, for they could not do the things that he did. One night he took a blackbird from an outsider’s hair and made it alive. The bird flew around, and when he caught it it was dead ; so he turned it over to the owner. Another man had an eagle skin, and this man shot it with an arrow, and there was the body of an eagle inside the skin.

When the people saw him do these things the women were all after this man, and he stopped doing these things. With medicine he was very wonderful, — he cured people ; if they were to die he would tell them, for the Sun told him all these things.

One winter the people all left their village and went upon the Platte River to hunt. People killed many buffalo, so they went into camp on an island. Here they stayed for many days, and they hunted deer and beaver. Upon this island the people were attacked by the enemy ; and this man took what was known as “ hah toha.” It was a long crooked stick, with many crow feathers on it. One end was bent into the form of a hook, to the end of which was tied a whole crow, while all the way along the stick were suspended crow feathers. This man had no right to this crook, as it was kept by a certain society, but he took it anyhow. He felt that he was all-powerful ; that he could not be killed. But as he had the crook, the enemy seemed to shoot at him more than at any other one. One man was shot, and this man went to his rescue and he himself was wounded. He did not have his shield. He fell, and the men of his people all stood their ground, for the hah toka was there, and they did not want the enemy to get it. They also knew that if the man should be killed upon the ice, he would never come back. So the people fought hard,

1 88 Traditio7is of the Skidi Pawnee.

and they beat back the enemy. They did not get the man, and some enemy shot him and he died. His younger brother was told, and he, too, went among the enemy and was killed.

The battle was over, and the mother came. She wrapped the two sons in the robe and buried them. People tried to get her to wrap up the body and to place it upon dry land ; but she would not listen to them, for the man told her that if he was killed in water, he would die. Although he was killed on ice, she would not do what he said.

After the battle they broke camp and went to their permanent village further down the stream. In the spring people planted their corn, then went hunting again. In the fall, when they had returned from the hunt and were now at their village, the girl, sister to the dead wonderful man, ran down to her field. She was anxious to see what success she had in her corn, for this was her first time.217 As she ran through the corn-field, a bear jumped up, and, instead of catching her, caught a bunch of corn-stalks, and she slipped away from him and ran to the village. She gave the alarm, and men took up their bows and arrows and went to the field to attack the bear. A man yelled, and told the men to be careful not to say anything out of the way, for bears were human, and could hear what people said about them.

But one young man who was not there when the man spoke said : “ I will attack the bear and grapple with him. I can kill him.” People tried to stop him from talking foolishly, but he said he meant what he said. Anyhow, all the people then went in a line through the cornfield, hunting the bear, the boy being in the centre. As they were nearing a bunch of grapevine, some men stopped and the boy tried to run. All at once they heard something, and it was the bear, for it had jumped on the boy and caught him. The people then went back and they yelled to him, and he yelled back and said: “I am not hurt.” The bear seemed to play with him. But the people surrounded the bear, and the boy tried to get them not to shoot. But the people shot, and hit both the boy and the bear. The bear became enraged and threw down the boy, bit the top from his head, and took off his right arm. The bear was killed.

In the night, as the boy lay in his lodge, for he was not killed, the bear came to the boy and said : “lam dead. You are also to die. I am not a real bear, I am that man that was killed, and I want my sister to know that I was living as a bear. When I was killed I came out from the grave, then a name was given me to be known by, but now my own people have killed me. My name is now Mud-Bear. If people call on me for help, I will help them.” And the bear went off ; then the boy died.

Medicine.

48. THE SUN-BEAR MEDICINE.218

A warrior who is wounded while on the warpath is carried home by a bear related to the Sun ; from the bear he acquires knowledge of mysteries and miraculous power, which he imparts to Roaming-Scout.

When the Skidi lived upon the edge of the Loup River in Nebraska, in olden times, there was a great company of warriors who went out on the warpath to fight any other Indians with whom they might come in contact. They went for many months, but never came across any other Indians. They kept on until they got into a thickly timbered country, known now as Indian Territory.

What tribe they found living there they never knew. They fought them. Few of the Skidi were slain, and the people they were fighting had lost many. Toward evening the battle was ended.

Now the Skidi who were not killed started back for home. As the sun was about to set, one of the men who was left on the field seemed to wake up. He sat up, and he saw somebody sitting behind him, who he saw was not a human being, but a bear. He was not frightened, for he knew that if this animal had been hungry it would have eaten the other men that it had passed over ; if he himself tried to run away, he could not ; and he thought that to be dead was better for him, for he put his hand to the pain, and there he felt an arrow sticking into his back. Trying to pull it out, he broke the arrow, and when he did so the being sitting before him said : “ Do you feel better ? ” The man said : “ Yes.” This being said : “ I have come to take you to your country ; I know you are wounded, but I shall lead you to your country, which is very far away.” So the man stood up and the bear then started on the journey, the man following.

In the night the bear told the man to lie down in the thick grass, and the bear went off and brought many plums and grapes for the man to eat. The man took these things while lying down. Then the bear lay down so that his shaggy coat covered a part of the man. In the morning they arose and started on the journey again. Whenever the bear saw that the man was tired he would sit down, and the man would sit down. When they came to a stream of water the bear would say : “ Lie upon my back.” The man would lie upon his back, and the bear would swim across the river. They journeyed in this way for many days, and in all this travel the bear would lie by the side of the man, and the man would see, in his dreams, the bear in human form. It would tell him the mysteries of the bear, and teach bear-songs to the man. For many, many nights the bear told these things to the man, and they journeyed together for many months.

At last they came to the Platte River ; they crossed the river, the man being upon the back of the bear. They came to the head of the Loup River, where it was mountainous and thickly covered with cedar.

Then the man was left upon the bank of the Loup River, the bear telling him that he was now to go into the timber to make his home. So the bear told the man that when he should get home and get well of his wound, he must come to the timber and visit him.

While the man was sitting there, he saw a young boy coming toward him on horseback, who had been looking for his ponies. He ran to the man, and the man told him to hurry, that he had nearly given out ; to tell them at the village that he was sitting there, and that he could not cross the Loup River ; that he wanted his people to come over and take him home ; that he had part of an arrow in his back. So the boy rode fast to the village, and as he got up on the last high hill, he shouted to the people in the village that one of the men who had been with the war-party was coming, and was on the other side of the creek, nearly dead.

So the people rushed from the village and went to the place, and there they saw the man. He could hardly speak ; he could only whisper. He told them to hurry and take him home ; that he was suffering from the wound and the arrow that was in him. So they put him on a robe ; four men took hold of the corners and carried him across the river ; then four more men took their places, and carried him to their village and into his lodge.

Medicine-men were sent for. They came. They took their knives and opened the wound, and took hold of the arrow and pulled it out gradually, until they had removed the whole arrow. The arrow was covered with matter of a bluish color. The arrow was also bluish, and as they took it out, there ran out matter. They washed the man, put dry dust of roots on the wound, and he lay by the fireplace on the south side.

Early in the morning he told his friends to fill a pipe with tobacco and hand it to him. So he went out of the lodge and sat outside the entrance, looking toward the east. As the Sun came up from the horizon in the east, the man looked at it and smoked the pipe to the Sun, and said : “ My brother, the bear, told me to smoke with you, as his power was from you.” So the pipe was lighted for him, and the man smoked and blew the whiffs to the Sun, then blew toward the west, to the place where the bear stopped in the cedar mountains. He then emptied the ashes upon the ground in front of him. He told the people now to take him back inside the lodge, and he was taken back into the lodge. “ Now Sun and Bear,” he said, “ have smoked, and I am to get well.” From that time the man began to improve, and became well. He could not speak aloud as he used to, for he whispered all the timq.

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He now told the people about the bear bringing him home. He told the father of Roaming-Scout219 to give him presents of robes and dried buffalo meat and ponies. The father of Roaming-Scout had seen this man perform wonderful sleight-of-hand performances in the medicine-men’s ceremonies, and he finally made up his mind to give him presents, so he could be taught these mysteries by this man. In one of the performances, this man selected Roaming-Scout’s father to cut his hand. As this man now lay down upon the ground and Roaming-Scout’s father went up to the man lying down, and as he began cutting his wrist, the hand turned into a bear’s paw. The man dropped his knife, became frightened, and then other men were called to witness the turning of the hand into a bear’s paw. The hand was finally cut off, and was passed around among the lookers-on, for it was a bear’s paw. The bear’s paw was passed back to the man, and they covered him with a robe, and the men sang songs, and after a while the man arose and walked. When he threw off his robe his hand was back upon his wrist, just as good as ever.

After this performance Scout’s father gave presents, and became the pupil of this man. This man did many other wonderful things, and taught all of his bear-songs to Scout’s father. Then this man told Scout’s father of the bear coming with him from the southern country to their home. This man (Bear-Man) died of old age, after teaching all of his secrets to Scout’s father, also teaching him another sleight-of-hand, which was to take a bow and arrows and shoot another man in the mouth with the arrow, the arrow going down into the throat and not killing the man. Another sleight-of-hand was to take a limb of a cedar-tree, take the bark off, then put that into his mouth and shove it down the man’s throat.

These things were done by the present Roaming-Scout, but, as there are no more sleight-of-hand performances among the Pawnee, he has not performed any of these mysteries for many years.

49. THE BEAR MEDICINE.220

A young man kills a grizzly bear, and acquires the skin and the bear power. On account of his warlike propensities, he declines to become a chief.

When the Pawnee lived in Nebraska, many, many years ago, there was a young man who did not believe anything, and talked foolishly all the time. As he grew up, he would sit by the fire while the warriors told of their travels and how they were attacked by enemies, how they ran, and what narrow escapes they had had. Now the young man would pull his robe over his head and say : “And you men ran! In a few days you will again be going off on the warpath. If I were to go, I would never run.” And he would make such talk all the time.

Now his brother became a great warrior. Men and young men liked to go with him, for he was brave and lucky. As the boy grew to be a young man, he thought he would follow his brother. So his brother took out a war-party, and the boy joined it as an errand boy, and also carried on his back a bundle belonging to his brother. His brother had meat, corn, and several pairs of moccasins in the bundle. The boy also carried his own bundle. For several days they travelled, until they came to a hilly country.

Here the company stopped, for they saw at a distance, in the hollow, a grizzly bear. They saw it go into its den. The men were deciding where to go. So it was decided to go where the wind blew, for they did not want the bear to smell them. As they were about to start, the boy came up. He asked what was the matter, and he threw his bundle to the ground. They told him that a bear had been seen, and that it had crawled into the den. “ Where are we going ? ” the boy said. “ Well, we are all going to run away from this place, so that the bear will not smell us,” said one. “No,” said the boy, “I am not going to run, I will go down into yonder hole and kill the bear. Give me a gun.” The brother told them to give him the gun, and if he got killed he would not care ; so the boy went down and entered the cave. After a time they heard the report of the gun. They watched. Finally, the boy came out and called to the men. “ Go,” said the boy, “and drag the bear out ; I have killed it.” They did not believe him. But when the boy entered the cave he saw the bear’s eyes, and shot between the sparkle of the eyes, and hit the bear in the centre of the head, killing it instantly. The men did not believe the boy, so the boy told the men to tie together many lariat ropes, and said that he would go back into the cave and get the bear. The boy went back and tied the lariat to the bear’s leg, then came out and told the men to pull, and the men pulled, and the men dragged the bear out of the cave. The men were afraid, but the boy went and took the rope off. The boy then told the men to skin it, and to leave the claws and the head on. This was done, and as they went along, the boy picked up stones and rubbed on the skin until it was soft. As they travelled on, the boy would put his pack upon his back, then the robe. He carried this for many days.

One day this war-party was attacked by the enemy ; and they stood their ground, but finally retreated. The boy, instead of running away, sat down, took off his moccasins and leggings, and placed them in front of him, also the bundle he had upon his back. He took the bear robe and put it over his shoulders. He took his arrows and spread them out upon the ground. Now he began to fight. He could run fast. They attacked him on all sides, but they could not hit him. Many of those who ran away were killed. His brother was one of

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those who turned back. As the enemy came back, they joined the others in trying to kill the boy. On this other side, where they were attacking the boy, was another crowd of men attacking another man. These two men were the only ones left. The other man kept on fighting, and at last he broke through the line and got in the other ring of men. They greeted one another with war-whoops. The young man had the robe on, with red paint all over his body. The other man had white clay all over his body, with a whistle upon his breast, a downy feather in his scalp-lock, and on a long string another downy feather. As he ran, the men could see the one feather in the air. These two now helped one another. They were both good runners. They were finally given up. The boy sat down, put his leggings on, and they started back toward home.

Now the other men had run for their lives. They all had thrown away everything they had on, only retaining their bows and arrows, lhey were finally given up, and when what was left of them got together, they went to a big timber and hid themselves in a fine bottom. Here they made a great fire.

These other two men went on and on, until they saw a large campfire. They went toward the fire. They came close to the fire, and they stopped. The men were telling of what narrow escapes they had had. One of the leaders spoke up and said : “ Leader, your brother put the bundle down at the same place where he was, and many enemies turned back and attacked the two, and that is what saved us.”

As the man got through talking, the two men entered the camp. All were surprised to see them. The other man told of what the boy had done, so that the boy’s brother was proud. They did not sit down, but went right on in the night. For several days they went on, until they got near the village. Here they rested and waited until night, then went into the village.

The man then told the boy that he wanted to make friends with him. The boy said it was well. The man saw the wonders and bravery of the boy, how he shook the bear robe he had on, and how the bullets fell from the robe. He thought he would get the secret of the boy’s power. The boy was thankful, for he had no power, and this other man had the power of a scalped-man.

The boy went to his lodge and entered. Everybody was asleep, so the boy went to his bed, which was near the entrance. He found it empty, and he took his bear robe and put it over a pole that was stretched across over his bed. He lay down and went to sleep He was very tired.

The next morning the people woke up and found the boy lying in his bed, a bear robe hanging over his bed. They woke him up and gave him a seat by the fire. “Why,” said the father, “did you not let us know you had come back ? Where is your brother ? And what did you do? ” The boy said : “ I have nothing to say.” As the day passed, people talked about the boy, for the boy had been talked about by the other man. The father heard about it ; so he felt very proud of him.

In a few days the brother came home, and he told more. The people did not pay any more attention to the boy’s foolish talks. For a long time the boy stayed in camp, not going anywhere. The other man came, and the two were lying together in the boy’s bed, talking about the wonderful power they both possessed ; and that night the boy told the other that the enemy were in sight and that they would be attacked. Early the next morning the visiting man went to his lodge and put on his paint and feathers. Sure enough, the enemies were seen, and attacked the village. The man with the scalped-man’s power was first to go out and fight. The boy sat down by the fire and did not go out for a long time. At last he put his bear robe on and went out. He attacked the enemy on the south side, running at the foremost enemy, who seemed to be a brave man. He killed him. He ran and killed more. He saw his scalped-man friend on the west side. The enemy became scared and they ran, and the people began to take courage and run after them, killing many. Soon after this battle the boy married. The chiefs met in council and sent for the boy. He would not go, but said that he could not be anointed as long as he had killed many enemies, for he was afraid that he might become angry and might kill some one.221 He declined to be made a chief.

50. THE ELK MEDICINE.222

A boy, deserted by his jealous mother, but reared in the wilderness by his father, is received in the cave of the animals, and acquires the power and insignia of the elk. The father falls in with enemies, and by the aid of women of his own tribe, who are captives, takes scalps, and carries the boy to his people, whom the youth instructs in the elk-dances.

It was years ago when the Pawnee migrated north and, coming to a fine stream of water, made a permanent village. The tribe there prospered, for there were many buffalo. For a long time they lived there, until their chief died.

The people became dissatisfied, so they started 'to the southern country. On the way the sub-chiefs and leading men met, and selected another chief in place of the one who had died. The man selected was a young man, son of the deceased chief. He had just married, and so would make a good chief. As they journeyed south, this young chief married another woman, so now he had two wives.

On one of the journeys the young chief was going behind the peo-

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pie and he caught up with some women. As he caught up, he saw that they were his mother-in-law and his older wife. He stopped, but the women would not speak to him. So he went on and got to where the people made their camp. He went to his new wife’s tipi. The women did not speak to him, but began tearing down the tipi. His wife came to him and threw the baby in his lap. The baby was a boy. The man put the child upon his back and went to the other tipi. He told the people to proceed, that he would follow. So he stayed behind until all had gone.

Now the man thought : “ As the woman threw this baby to me, I will take care of it, and if it dies, I shall die too.” So instead of following the people, who were going south, he went directly west, with the baby upon his back. When night came he lay down, the baby crying. The people in the camp wondered why he did not come. They looked for him, but he never came. The next morning the man got up, put the baby upon his back, and started on his journey.

He came to a stream of water, where he found some buffalo. He wrapped the baby in his robe and hung it on a tree. Then he went and crawled up to where the buffalo were, and he saw a fresh cow. He crawled up to the buffalo, and when he was close to the cow he shot at it, hitting the cow under the shoulders, so that the arrow went through the heart. He killed it. Then he went and got his baby. He now cut the milk-bag and let the child suck the bag. He made a fire and roasted some meat for himself. He roasted more meat, and this he carried, together with the milk-bag. Every day he would kill a fresh cow, would take the bag off, and let the child suck. In this way the child grew and kept on growing. At last he came to a mountainous country, where he sought a good hiding-place for himself and the child.

The first place he found was a cave. He took some grass that he had twisted and went into the cave. He lighted the grass from his flint and dried wood. He saw on the side of the cave drawings of people and animals. He could find no ending to the cave. So he left it. He put the child upon his back and went further. He came to a canyon, and here he found a small cave. He went in and examined the place carefully, and he could see no tracks of wild animals. So he made this his home.

He would go out and hunt, leaving the baby in the cave. When he killed game he brought the meat, and as the child now could eat, he would roast meat for him. For a long time they were here alone. The man had made several robes, and also a buffalo-calf robe for the child. The child grew fast. He could now talk. The man would talk to him and tell him not to go far. The man kept on hunting and bringing in much meat. The boy got to be several years old.

iq6 Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee.

k

He wanted to play. So the man made him a bow and some arrows, and told him to stay close to the cave. One day the man roasted much meat, dried it, then pounded it in a hollow log with a stone. He mixed the meat with fat so that the meat was soft. Now the man called his boy and said : “ I am going far away ; if I do not come back, take some of this meat and eat it.” So the man went off. He went on top of the mountains and looked to see if he could discover any people. He did not see any, so the next day he came back. The boy was well, and did not complain of having been left alone. The father prepared some more meat for the boy, for he wanted again to go off and watch upon the high mountain.

That night, when the man lay down with the boy, he heard a peculiar noise further in the cave. He was troubled, but the boy said :

“ Father, these people within want me to come where they are and dance with them. Whenever you go away they take me in there and I dance with them.” So the boy got up and disappeared. There was now singing and whistling. The man listened and thought : “ I am sorry now that I brought the boy ; what use will it be for him to learn the mysteries of the animals, when he cannot be among his people. I wish now that I had killed the child and myself.” All these things the man thought.

Before daylight the child came back, and had white clay all over his body, with marks of deer hoofs. The man also noticed that the boy had sea berries about his neck, also finely tanned deer-strings with hoofs on tied about his wrists and ankles. The man seemed anxious about his boy. But the boy was happy. The man stayed the next night.

As soon as it was night the man heard singing and noises, as if people were dancing. As soon as the boy heard the noises he jumped up and said: “Father, I must go. Those people want me.” The boy was gone. The man did not like it. He listened to the singing a long time, then went out in the open air. He looked up in the heavens and said : “ Now, Father, I have brought my child a long distance. I fed him on buffalo milk until he grew up. Now, as soon as he has got so that he can walk, those animals have taken him from me. I do not like it. If they would kill him, it would be better for my boy ; then his life would end, and as for myself, I would soon join him in the land of the dead.” He walked around for a long time, thinking of his boy being under the ground with the animals. He made up his mind at last and said : “I will not kill my boy. I will leave him here and will go off. If he should be found by my people, then he could use the knowledge he is receiving from the animals.”

As daylight came the man made a fire to cook some meat, when the boy came out. T}re boy said : “ Father, I had a good time ; the

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people in there are good to me.” So the man was angry in his heart. After they had eaten some meat the father said : “ My son, I am going to prepare meat for you. I shall be gone several days, and you must live upon the meat until I come back.”

So the man brought in a hollow log. He took a stone and split the log in two. Now he took stones and smoothed the inside of the log. Then he placed the log upon high stones, and in this log he pounded meat and mixed fat, so that it made fine food. Then the man left his son and went off.

For many days the man journeyed west, for he wanted to meet the enemy. He got on top of a mountain and lay down. He went to sleep. He slept a long time. Something touched him. He looked up, and he saw an eagle flying from him. He looked in the direction toward which the eagle flew. He saw in the bottom many people coming. “ They must be Cheyenne,” he thought, “ I will go and take some of their ponies and go home. I will then come after my boy, who will then be done with the animals’ lodge.” So he arose and walked down the hill.

He found the great company were only horses. He saw only one tipi. He hid among the hills until the sun set. He went down. While he was hiding, a woman came out, stood outside from the tipi, and cried. The man went up to her, and she spoke just at this time saying : “ Father, you are ruler.” He understood her. She was a captured woman. He touched her and said : “ Do not be afraid, I am of your tribe.” She turned and exclaimed : “ I am glad you came. We are alone. The other woman is of our tribe.” The man said : “Help me. I will kill the man, and we can then go home.” The woman said : “ It is well.” It was agreed that the woman should help to kill the man.

The woman went into the tipi, spoke to the other woman, and said : “ A man of our tribe is here. He is to kill our husband, and we are to make our escape.” The other woman was glad to hear it. The man outside now walked up to the tipi. He looked through a hole the woman had made. He saw the man sitting inside, and the man outside took aim, sent an arrow from his bow, and shot the man in the breast. As the man fell over, the women took their axes and hit the man upon the head, so that he died. The man then went in and took the scalp, and then they dragged the body and left it outside.

The man now told one woman to get on a pony, and to go and tell the bravest man in the camp to come to the chief’s tipi ; for it was a chief that had been killed. The woman went to the other camp, about four miles further. She told the man that he was wanted. So the woman went back and brought word that the brave man was coming.

The man got off his pony, and as he entered the tipi he was struck on the head with a club. He was also killed and his scalp taken.

The man told the women to get their things together, for now they were to start for home. The women did so, brought the ponies, and saddled them, tying their things upon the saddle. They took the best horses, leaving the others at the tipi. They left and went south. They travelled all night, and the next day the man told the women that he had a son in the cave, where they were going to get him. They came to the cave, and the boy went up to the father.

One of the women took the child and loved it. The boy wore a calf robe and was painted with white clay. He also had red berries 223 strung around his neck. He also had strings with deer hoofs tied about his hands and ankles. So the party started again, the women going on ahead, the man following. They travelled through a rough country, so they did not go fast.

On the third day the man saw smoke behind them, and knew that they were being followed. So he rode on and told the women to whip up their ponies, for they were being followed. Now they travelled fast, never stopping to rest. They went on, and as they came upon a high hill, could see the enemy coming. When night overtook them they kept up their journey. The boy was upon the back of one of the women.

The next day the enemy were out of sight. So they stopped and rested. Again they loaded their ponies and started on their journey. They proceeded until they came to a prairie country, where they saw wide streams of water lined with cottonwood-trees. Here they stopped and again rested. The next day they went on, until they came to the Platte River, when they stopped. They made a camp, and here the man killed many buffalo ; so the women prepared many robes and tanned many hides, and made a tipi. In the night the boy would lie and sing songs. The father would listen, but not say anything. Now they again broke camp and went on. Somewhere on the Republican River they found their people in camp. In the night they entered the camp, and made their tipi in the centre.

The man sat in his tipi, and after a fire was kindled, sent for one of his uncles. The uncle came, and was surprised to see his nephew. They ate together, and the uncle went home. The next morning people saw this new tipi with many ponies about, and, scalps hung on a pole outside the lodge. Some one went there, and it was noised through the village that their young chief had returned. People gathered at the tipi. The mother of the child came, but was ordered away. The relatives of the captured women came, but the women would not go to their friends, for they were now wives of this man. The man told how he had killed two enemies and had taken their scalps.

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Women now formed scalp-dances ; they came and danced around the tipi and received presents from the women. The man was asked to take his place as chief, but he would not take it

Now the whole village broke camp and returned to their permanent village further down the river. Here the elk-dance was being carried on, and the boy went in. He taught them the songs he had learned from the animals, and they are sung in this dance to this day.

The boy became a great warrior and medicine-man. He selected several young men and took them into the dance. In one of their battles the young man was seen, dressed as he was when he came out of the cave, and with froth in his mouth ; dipping the points of his arrows in his mouth, he would shoot enemies and kill them. He was very brave and wonderful ; for the arrows would not go through him when shot at him. This young man was sent for by the chiefs and was made a chief while young. He never attended their councils, but gave his whole time to the elk-dances, and taught the songs to others. He lived long, and died of old age.

51. THE MOON MEDICINE.224

In dream a boy is visited by Mother Moon, from whom he acquires womanish ways, yet becomes a mighty warrior ; he relieves a war-party from a dangerous situation. In ceremonies he exhibits in trance the moon-mark.

In olden times people lived upon a stream of water. On the south side of their village was a prairie, where the children were playing, and among them was a young boy who had peculiar ways.

One bright moonlight night the children were playing upon this prairie, and the boy fainted and fell upon his back, so that when he lay on the ground his face was toward the moon. The children picked him up, made him stand erect, and saw one black streak on each corner of his mouth.225 This black stuff was not blood, nor water from his mouth, but a black fluid, and the children were frightened. He was taken home to a medicine-man, who said that he was under the influence of the moon, which had made the black fluid run down the sides of his mouth, and it was a pity that they had picked him up; they ought to have .left him there, for the boy would, in time, have mysterious ways. The boy came to. After that he always acted like a woman and had womanish ways. As he grew up and became a warrior, he led many war-parties and was very successful ; but all this time the men saw that his womanly ways seemed to grow upon him.

Once this particular man, whose name was Taihipirus, led a great war-party. They went into Kansas. They came to a place that is known as “Pawnee Rock.” 226 They were hid in the ravine when they were preparing something to eat. Scouts lay upon the high hills, and the main body saw these scouts making signs that the enemy were coming. The warriors saw that there was no use of running, for if they went away from this ravine, there was no other ravine or timber close by. So they made up their minds to run up on this rock.

There was only one way to get on this high hill. The scouts came down and joined the warriors, and the warriors reported to the leaders that there were many Indians coming. The enemy’s scouts had seen these other men, so they went back and reported to the main body that the enemy (Pawnee) had been found. So the warriors got on their ponies and struck out after the Pawnee. These looked back and saw warriors coming from everywhere, they were so very numerous. So they retreated upon this high hill. There was only one path up to it, and the other side was rough and rugged ; on the north there was a steep bank and a creek running by. The enemies who were after the Pawnee, seeing that they had run up the hill, and knowing that they could not get at them, made a circle around the hill, and sent messengers to the main body of their people to come at once and make their village around this hill ; there was no use in attacking, for they could not get at them in a rush, and going up one by one, the Pawnee would kill them when they arrived. So the main body of the enemy came.

The Pawnee, who were now on the top of the rock, could look down and see the women unpacking their ponies, and some putting up their tipis ; there were ten or eleven different tribes to be seen. There was no way for the Pawnee to get down, for if they attempted it, the warriors were always on guard, and they would be killed. The Pawnee could not get down the hill any other way, to get water or anything to eat. For several days they had been upon the rock ; and there were two brave warriors among them who decided that they would go down, and, if need be, die, rather than perish from starvation. The leader did not want them to go, but they went.

As they descended the rock by the pathway, they met several Cheyenne who knew Pawnee. The Cheyenne spoke and said : “ My father, you must not come down, for you will be killed.” These Pawnee saw that it was a Cheyenne that Pawnee called their son ; for in olden times, the Pawnee had taken the pipe-sticks ,to these Cheyennes, and so this Cheyenne had become the son of the Pawnee.227 He did not wish that they should be killed. He told them that the Cheyenne were few in number, while the other tribes were numerous ; that there were several different tribes ; that they had all come together ; that they were going far west upon a stream, to have the ceremony of the Sun-I~)ance ; that they were to hunt the Pawnee, and

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before the Sun-Dance they had found the Pawnee. The man was powerless to help them, and begged them to stay.

The Cheyenne managed that these two men should shake hands with all the different chiefs and leading braves. These Cheyenne stood in front in a line, so that the two Pawnee were on the other side. So they thrust their hands out, and the other tribes came up and shook hands with them without seeing them. After these people had shaken hands with them they wanted them to come down ; as they had shaken their hands and were now friends, they wanted to take them to their village. The Cheyenne would not let them come, for they were afraid that the different tribes, if they succeeded in getting these two men down from the hill, would take them down into camp and kill them ; so the Cheyenne would not let the two men come down ; so these Pawnee were told to go back on top of the rock.

The men were perishing for water ; so they made a place upon the rock, cleaned it off, and each man would go there and urinate, and there was a big pool of water. There was one man who had the spirit of the buffalo ; he took pounded roots that he had, put them in this urine, and by putting in the medicine it made the water good, so that they could drink.

These people had been on the hill five or six days, when a little fellow who was errand man for them rose up and ran down the hill. The enemy got him and put him upon a pony. The pony was led around the village with the boy on it, a great crowd following. When they got to the end of the village they killed him.

That night the moon was bright. This man, Taihipirus, saw the moon. The moon was a woman, and he saw this woman come down from the moon on a black lariat rope made of buffalo hair, and go up again. This woman spoke to the man and said : “ Do you know what I have been telling you ? I am the one that has control of your spirit. I gave you the ways of a woman and made you a great warrior. I am Spider-Woman.228 I can go down from here to your earth upon my spider web, and I can go up again. You have been upon the rock there for several days. Now gather up the lariat ropes of the warriors and tie them together. You will see a great rock that is loose, resting on the east side of the hill. Let all the men help remove that stone and place it on the edge of the steep bank. Take the lariat ropes and tie one end to the stone ; then throw the other end down, so that the lariat rope will hang. You can then climb down, and if the rope touches the ground you can get up again and tell the warriors to climb down.”

The man who had this vision awoke ; then he aroused all the other men and told them to fetch their lariat ropes. Then he bade the men examine the place and see if they could find a loose stone. They found one that was very heavy, so that one man could not move it. So all the men went, dug up the stone, brought it over, and set it on the edge of the steep bank. When the stone was tied the two ropes were thrown down ; then he climbed up again. Then he put the ropes around this stone and left them there, for it was now nearly daylight. He told the men that he had a certain plan by which they could escape : a number of them were to go down first, go direct to the village and drive from it all the ponies they could. Another party was to go down, and all were to go to the first creek, drink much water, and then vomit, and then go to a certain place that was now selected by the leader.

The leader was the last to get off. He went to the creek, drank much water, and vomited. He felt better. Then he walked on to the place which had been selected, found the other warriors, and after a while those who had gone to get the ponies came with many. The whole herd was given to the leader of the war-party, and then they started out and journeyed until they were about five or ten miles from their village, when they rested, having travelled many days and nights.

Now they rested. The leader then took the ponies which had been driven up, and he divided the ponies among them, leaving the best ones for himself. They started for home. One of them got up on a high hill. They made signs to the village by riding their horses on the ridge of the hills that a successful war-party was coming.

The people turned out from their villages and climbed upon their lodges. Victory songs were sung by the villagers, who gave the warcry, and they went out to meet the war-party. Somebody shouted and said: “These are the men who were left upon the rock; but they have been assisted by Mother Moon, who helped them get down from the rock.”

The people were glad to see them ; for another warrior had arrived, four days before, and had reported that the enemy had surrounded the rock, that there was no chance of their ever getting down, and that they would starve upon the rock. He was one of the scouts, and was farther west than the others when he saw the enemy coming, and so stayed upon the hill ; when he saw the enemy make their village around the hill he had started for home. Now these people had returned home victorious, and all were glad.

Although the leading man had the ways of a woman, he was a great warrior. After that they knew of him doing many wonderful things with ropes. In one of the medicine-men’s ceremonies this man, Taihipirus, came in with a rawhide lariat rope. He passed the rope among the medicine-men and others to examine, and he told four men to go outside and get on top of the lodge at the middle where

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the hole was ; that they should stand up there, taking the lariat rope with them. They threw the loop of the rope down to this man, and he put the loop around his neck and told them to pull. The men on the top of the lodge pulled on the lariat rope with the loop around the man’s neck. They pulled him up, and as he was hanging in the air the two errand men and the medicine-men piled dry limbs of wood upon the fire, so that it made a great blaze, and then the man was let down. Before he touched the fire, other medicine-men went, took hold of him, and placed him on the west side of the fireplace, and laid him down. The medicine-men went to him and lifted him up, and there were two black streaks, one on each corner of his mouth, and they saw him in the same condition as when he had the fit while he was a boy. The medicine-men pressed around him, blew their breath upon him, and finally brought him out of this state ; then a black stream of fluid began to pour from his mouth. After a time he was able to walk around, and finally was well. This was one of the mysterious performances of this man.

52. THE SCALPED-MAN MEDICINE.229

The child of a woman and a scalped-man (demon) is carried off and reared by the father. He exhibits miraculous powers, but is lost.

There was a camp, and as people were getting hungry they broke camp and went hunting. They travelled several days, and as they made a camp one man quarrelled with his young wife. She became angry, went out on the edge of the village, and sat there crying. Some one spoke to her and said : “ Come with me ! ” The woman supposed it was some young man, and as she was willing to go with him she went. They travelled a short distance, when they came to a stream of water. They seemed to crawl under the river-bank, and there they were, in an entrance which led them to a cave. The cave smelled very nice. Wild sage was evenly strewn over the ground. There were many parfleches filled with dried meat. There were also many things around the cave, — brass kettles, corn-pounders, shields, spears, quivers, bows, war-clubs, and on the wall were sacred bundles. All these things this scalped-man had stolen from the people.

The man spoke and said : “ I live here ; I want you to live with me, and you can have all you want.” The woman tried many ways to get away from him ; but she did not succeed. People sought her, but could not find her. So they went on, and left her behind. Scalped- Man would go out and soon come back, and then would call the woman pet names. For over a year these two people were there, and every time he came back after going out he would say : “ The people are coming.” When the woman wanted fresh meat she told him, and he would go out and return with a whole deer. She would eat it. The old man would go and come back quickly, never allowing himself to be away too long.

At this time the woman was about to be confined, and so she told the man to make a baby-board, prepare a wildcat hide, and make some mats for the baby.230 The man went out, and for some time did not come back. When he did come he brought the board. The head part was painted. There was the painting of the Sun. Many brass tacks were upon it. The bow piece was covered with buckskin and porcupine quills upon the skin. The string to tie the baby was of elk, so that it was stout.

The time came for the woman to be delivered, and when she had pain and groaned, the man cried and imitated her suffering. The time came for the birth, so Scalped-Man said : “ I will go after a midwife — some one to wait on you and to take the child.” He went to a certain place in the cave, and it opened wide, so that the entrance was clear to the water in a sloping way. The Woman looked, and there came up from the water a very large turtle. It crawled up and reached where the woman was. Then the turtle would stretch forth his legs and lay them upon the woman’s stomach, then pass them down. The woman gave birth without pain, and the turtle went back into the water. The entrance to this cave was left open.

For many years they lived together, and wherever they went Scalped-Man told the woman where they were. At one time the woman sent the man after some clothing for the child, and the man went. She then put the baby on her back, took one of the sacred bundles, and started away. She went and went, and finally reached the village. She told her brothers that she had been with Scalped-Man ; that she had got the bundle from him. She gave the bundle to her brothers, for the bundle was a warrior bundle. “ He will be here to-night,” she said, “and I want you to make fires around the village, and put horns in the fire. The odor of the horns will drive him away.” So when it was night people made fires around the camp, and put many buffalo horns in the fire.

Indeed, he came to the village, crying and shouting : “My child! My child ! ” He kept his distance, but troubled the people so that they finally agreed to give up the child ; but he kept on troubling the people. Finally the child died. It was not sick. So they tied it on the baby-board and laid it at the edge of the village. The next morning the child was gone, only the baby-board was left.

For many years they heard no more of Scalped-Man ; but one day a young man appeared, and the mother knew him. He had not died, but had been carried off by Scalped-Man.

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The woman’s brothers became powerful in the tribe, for they carried the bundle the woman had brought them. The young man told of his father’s disappearing, and of his return home. The young man led many war-parties, and was successful in killing people and capturing ponies.

When the medicine-men’s ceremony was being performed he entered their lodge. He sang his song when he did a sleight-of-hand :

“ There he came ! There he came ! ”

That meant that a mysterious being took pity on his father and gave him mysterious power. He had a gourd rattle covered with hair ; also his own head was covered with long hair, in order that the spot might be covered where he was scalped. He disappeared and came to another place. He was choked with black lariat rope, and came to life again. He cut people with a knife, and they came out alive. He did many wonderful things, so that he finally became one of the leading medicine-men, and got the name Pitawaruxti, or Wonderful-Man.

After the medicine-men’s ceremony he went off and stayed a long time. When he came home there was much sickness among the people. Among the sick was a woman who fainted and lay as dead for one whole day. The people had had three or four medicine-men to wait on her, but could not help her. The people then went after this man. He went to the place where the woman was and sat down ; for a long time he did not say anything, and the people were anxious. At last he got up, ran around the fireplace, put his mouth on her head, and began to suck. Then for a long time he sucked, until he seemed to be thrust away from her. People had to take hold of him, and he spit out a stone. The woman opened her eyes, but closed them again. Then the man ordered the medicine-men to take her and carry her to the creek. When they got to the creek they took her into the water and kept her under until she began to struggle and try to get loose. They turned her loose, and she walked out of the water a well woman.

A few days after another man came to him and gave him presents to cure his wife. This woman had been sick for some time. So this man went, and when he saw her he said : “ She is not sick, she has the spirit of a horse. Now we shall see ! ” So he opened his medicine bag and brought out a quirt with downy feathers on it. He mixed mud with stallion’s urine and put it upon her body, also across her face on her nostrils. He then put on his black lariat rope. Then he began to whip her, and she began to neigh as a horse. She did not seem to mind it, and got well in a few days.

Warriors came to him and asked him to lead them on the warpath, and he went with them, but never came back.

53. THE OWL MEDICINE.231

A young man protects an owl against a hawk, and receives the power of seeing in the dark.

There was a young man on the warpath with a war-party. The young man started off from the war-party and went through a thickly timbered country in the fall. One misty day he was going through this thickly timbered country, and he thought to himself that he was lost. He was trotting along, when all at once he heard a whizzing noise about him. He did not know what to do, and as he opened his robe to throw it over his head and run, something touched him inside the robe. He looked, and there was an owl looking up at him.232

The owl said : “ Do not turn me loose ! There is a warrior after me. He has a club, and I cannot do anything, so do not turn me loose ! ” While the owl was saying this the man saw another bird flying around him, and it was the swift-hawk. “Turn him loose,” said the hawk ; “ if you give him to me, I shall give you power that will make you a great warrior. I shall give you my war-club, so that at any time you will have power to capture many ponies, and scalps will hang about your wrists ; so turn him away and give him to me.” The owl looked up and said : “ Do not turn me loose ! It is all true that he says. He is a great warrior in the daytime, but as soon as the night comes I have the best of him. I shall follow him, and when I find him sitting on a limb I shall take my club, tap him on the head, and he will be mine. Do not turn me loose, for he will kill me ; and if you save my life I shall give you power to see in the night, so that you can go straight into the enemy’s camp and take their ponies without their knowing it.” The hawk said: “Turn him loose! I shall also give you my black lariat ropes, so that you will capture many ponies.”

The young man made up his mind to keep the owl. So he kept him, and toward evening the hawk left him and went.

As soon as the darkness came about them the owl freed himself from the young man and said : “ Now follow me. The first thing I shall do is to kill the hawk.” So they went to the place where they had been standing, and the owl said : “ Now look.” The young man looked in the air, and there was a wide path made by the hawk. The owl followed that, the young man running under the owl, when finally they came to a tree where sat the hawk, and the young man could see as plain as in the daytime. The owl killed the hawk and said : “ Now you see I can kill my enemies in the night, for they cannot see me.”

After the hawk was killed the young man stayed in the timber, where the owl made his home ; there the owl came to the young man

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in the nights, taught him many things, and made his eyes so that he could see in the night as well as in the day. The owl also told the man that in the month of February all the male animals turned out in the night to seek the females in the timber, for that was their month to get their young. The owl said : “ I told you, for I wanted you to have good eyes in the hunt, so that in that month you can hunt and not be on the warpath, and kill game so that you will have plenty.” The owl then led this man into another country, so that they came upon a camp of the enemy, where he captured ponies and took them home.

After that the young man used to take war-parties, and he would go into the camp and at night see just as well as in the daytime, and would capture many ponies. In the month of February he would take his tipi and friends and go into some timbered country, and there would stay the whole month killing game. The young man killed so much game that he became a great hunter. One of the young men wanted to know the secret of his success in hunting, and he told to him this story.

54. THE SKELETON MEDICINE.283

A youth overcomes a skeleton, from whom he receives power and appropriate decoration. Another youth undertakes the same adventure, but loses courage, and through shame throws away his life in battle.

While the Skidi had their village on one of the branches of the Platte River, one man saddled up his pony and went hunting deer. He went west. For several days he travelled, and at last came to a timbered country. In the centre of the timber was a mound. Close to the mound he found an open place ; then he got off his pony and unsaddled. He lariated his pony, then went hunting for deer. He killed one and took the meat to the place he had selected for his camp. Then he gathered a quantity of dry limbs and made a fire. He then took some of the meat and roasted it.

While the meat was being roasted he heard a mysterious noise, — a sound like a war-whoop, then a grunting noise, then a sharp shrill whistle. The man dropped his meat. He listened, and again heard the noise of a scream, then yelling and whistling. The man thought to himself : “ Well, this is either a ghost or a scalped-man ; I will not listen to the ghost.” So the man continued roasting his meat. The grunting noise came nearer, and the man looked up and saw standing in the timber a skeleton talking and yelling at him. The man made up his mind not to run or leave. The skeleton spoke loud and said : “ Get out of my place ! You make my place dirty ! Move on, or I will come and hit you on the head with my club ! ” The skeleton lifted up a club, which the man saw plainly. The man did not get frightened, but said : “ My friend, come and eat with me ; I have deer meat here.” But the skeleton became angry, and spoke angry words at the man. The man did not get frightened, although the skeleton’s jaws rattled and there was a noise in its joints. The skeleton now was by the fire, and as the skeleton lifted his club to strike the man, the man arose and said : “ My friend, I am not afraid of you, if you are a skeleton. I am now going to unjoint you.” 1 he man reached up, took the skeleton by the wrist where the club was, and took the club from the skeleton. Then the man and the skeleton seized one another. The skeleton was the first to speak, and said : “Now release me, my brother. Let us eat some of the meat. You are the bravest man that ever came to my place.” So the man released him. They sat down. The man ate the meat by himself ; for although the skeleton sat by him and was offered meat, it refused.

After the man had eaten, the skeleton said : “ Fill your pipe.” The man filled his pipe with sumach leaves mixed with tobacco. The man lighted the pipe and made a few whiffs above and to the ground, then he passed the pipe to the skeleton. The skeleton smoked, and after the man took the pipe again spoke and said : “ My brother, you are a brave man. That mound yonder is my home. Many men have come here and I have frightened them away. You came here and made your camp by my home. After night I came out to scare you away. You did not become frightened. Now I will ask you to go to my lodge with me.” The man said he would go.

They went to the skeleton’s lodge, where was a clump of trees ; these the skeleton parted, and they went between the trees and into the opening in the ground. The place was strewn with wild sage. The only opening was at the entrance, and was covered with a growth of willows and cottonwood.

The skeleton now transformed himself into a man. The spirit talked to the man and said : “ My brother, years ago I wandered from our people. Here I died, but the winds blew upon me, and I became a spirit. I travel with the wind. I go far around over the country. I destroy people ; blow my breath upon them, and they become sick and die ; they become spirits, so they wander over the land ; I have nothing to do with our people, for they are frightened. Now you are my brother, I shall give you my power. You shall be like the wind. This whistle you shall wear about your neck. This clay you must spread over your head, face, and body. This club shall be your weapon. You shall never use a bow and arrows except for killing your game. In medicine, your breath only shall be your power to remove sickness. You shall travel swiftly in your journeys, stealing ponies. At this time this is all I will say. Go to your camping-place and lie down. Go to sleep, for you will not be troubled any more.”

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So the man took his things and went out. He lay down, putting his bundle for a pillow. In his dream he again saw the man in flesh, but it was the skeleton. The skeleton-man talked to the man in his sleep. The next morning the man arose, and the first thing he looked after was his bundle. It was there. He knew now that everything was true, and that he had also dreamed about the skeleton-man.

The man now put the saddle upon his pony, then tied the meat upon the saddle. He then started for home. As he arrived and gave his bundle to his wife to hang up, people asked what it was. The man knew their thoughts.

Among his people this young man was very brave, and was not afraid of ghosts. In the night several men came into his lodge and asked him where he got the bundle. For a long time the man would not say anything, but as pipe after pipe was passed to him he finally said : “ Nawa, I will now tell you where I got the bundle, and if after I get through telling you, any of you want to go through the same experience, I shall give you two buffalo robes, a piece of strouding, many beads, and a pair of buckskin leggings.” So the man went on telling his story, and as he got to the time when the skeleton visited him, and told how he wrestled with the skeleton and how he conquered it, a young man said : “ I can go and stay there all night by myself, and if the skeleton comes I will ask it to sit down with me and eat ; if it does not eat, then I will wrestle with it, and throw it down.” All the men then clapped their hands and exclaimed: “Waugh, Ohohu ! ” daring the man to go. The young man said he would go.

The young man now made up his things, and then the other men contributed more. So he went, and on his way killed a deer. He skinned it, cut the meat up, and tied the skin and meat upon his pony. He arrived at the place where the first man had been, and here he took off the meat and unsaddled his pony. He took the pony some distance and lariated it. He went back to where the meat was and then he kindled a fire. When he began roasting the meat he would say : “ When my skeleton friend comes, I will ask it to come and eat with me.”

It was now dusk, and once in a while he would find himself listening and looking around. At last he heard a whistle. Then he listened and said : “ I do not care for that whistle ; if that is all, I can lie down after I eat and go to sleep.” So the young man went on roasting his meat. Again he heard the whistling, then a grunting noise. He looked up, and at a distance saw a skeleton. Then the boy spoke and said : “Come and eat with me.” But the skeleton said : “ Rise ! Move away from this place! This is my place. I cannot allow you to dirty my place.” The young man said to himself : “I am not afraid, I will not run, I will stay here.” But the skeleton came on, and the boy saw that it had a club, which it was moving up and down, saying, as it went toward the boy, “ Go away from my place ; if you do not go, I will kill you.” The boy kept on inviting the skeleton, but as the skeleton came closer and raised the club to strike, the young man said : “I know the bravest man that ever lived could not stand this.” He jumped up and ran from the skeleton. The skeleton followed him, scaring him by grunting noises and by throwing stones and limbs at him. The young man fell several times. He got to where his pony was and jumped upon its back ; then he whipped his pony so he could get away.

The men in the lodge were now laughing, for they said : “He is coming! He has run from the skeleton.” So these men waited, and just a little before daylight the young man came running into the lodge. The men all laughed at him, and the man said : “ Well, did you feed the skeleton ? ” The young man said : “No. How could I, when the skeleton came at me with a club, and I had to run ! Keep your things ; I do not want them.”

Ever after that the young man never said much, but the other reminded him of it and called him a coward. In one of the battles with the enemy this young man rode his pony straight into the enemy’s line, for he did not like to be teased all the time. So the young man was killed.234

55. THE BUFFALO-SKULL MEDICINE LODGE.286

A man follows to a cave a scalped-man in buffalo shape, finds his skull-altar, and learns the secrets of the buffalo-dance.

This was the only medicine-man’s lodge in which they had a buffalo skull for an altar. The two leading medicine-men wore buffalo tails, and had a piece of buffalo wool upon their backs. Their heads were daubed with white clay, so that their hair appeared as if they had been scalped. In their smoke ceremony they offered smoke to a certain being who was supposed to dwell in the south. This being was seen by a certain man who kept up this medicine lodge. The man who saw the being was a man who never stayed at home, but who was always out. While upon the Republican River this man saw the mysterious being. The being was a buffalo, and all at once this buffalo 'was gone and a man stood in his place. It kept doing this several days, when the man made up his mind that if the being should appear again he would follow it.

So while the man was travelling in a hilly country he saw this buffalo. He followed it over a hill and down into a ravine. When the being went up a hillv it was a man. The next time the being was a

Fig. 13

Smoke Offering

Fig. 14

Altar

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'

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buffalo again. As the buffalo went over a hill and into a ravine it disappeared. The man looked around until he found a ravine on the side of a steep bank. He went into this ravine. He kept walking along this ravine until he came to a cave.

The cave was strewn with wild sage, and at the altar was a largesized pile of sage, and upon the pile of sage was a buffalo-skull. The skull had red paint all over it. The man looked around for the man, but could see no one. He then went up to the skull and the man rested his hands upon the skull and said : “ Now, Father, I am poor. I am wandering over the country. I have no friends. Take pity on me ; I am poor in my heart. I saw you coming.” Some one spoke by the man, and he turned around and saw a man standing by him.

This man said : “ My son, I know you are poor in spirit. There is no animal life in you, for your father and mother always stayed at home, and they never saw any animals ; therefore, your spirit is altogether human. If you were to get sick, no animals could help you. If the enemy were to attack you, no animals could give you any feeling to make you brave. I am ugly to look at, therefore did not want you to see me. I have heard your talk to the skull ; that is my altar. I speak to it. Its spirit is ever present with me. If I want to become a buffalo, I become one. Now look at me and you will see why I did not want you to look at me.”

The man looked, and there stood a man with his fingers resting upon his eyebrows, holding them up. His head was covered with scabs. The man had been scalped. A cut had been made across his forehead around by the right ear to the neck and back to the left ear and across the forehead, so that when he let go of his eyebrows the skin dropped over his eyes. “Yes,” said the mysterious being, “I was scalped. I wandered over these hills until I came across a buffalo who knew my spirit. I belong to the buffalo family, and in a battle with the enemy I was scalped, but was not killed. Knowing that our people would be afraid of me, I did not go home. I stayed with the buffalo. When it died it gave me certain powers and told me to take its skull to this place, and that its spirit would be present with me. Take a seat ; make this your home. You shall be my son, so you may be seated.”

So the man sat down, and as he sat down he took out a piece of buckskin that he had and gave it to the scalped-man to tie about his head, so that his eyebrows would not hang about his eyes. The man now made himself a servant ; he worked for the scalped-man. In this way the scalped-man had all the time to teach the man his secrets. He taught him about the herbs and roots — their good. Then the scalped-man made a bundle for him, then sent him back home.

When the man got home he gave the Buffalo Medicine-Men’s-Lodge dance. Great power was manifested. People stood with deep feeling ; presents were given to the medicine-men, and at the altar where the buffalo-skull rested new cloth was placed under it. After dancing, a smoke offering was made by the owner of the dance, then young men who gave presents were called, and each gave a pipe filled with native tobacco. These young men made the offering of the smoke to the skull and also to the scalped-man who dwelt in the southern land.

A few days after the dance warriors formed in groups and each leader who had given presents to the skull and scalped-man went their way, — some north, some to the land of the Sioux, some south to the Comanche, others to the west to the land of the Utes, others southwest to the land of the Mexicans, known as the “ Hairy-Nose ” people.

These different parties went out. They were gone long, when they came back with many ponies. One of these parties started early in the morning, and by noon they found a camp of Ponca. This company took all the ponies the Ponca had. The leader, as he entered the village, cried out : “ I started early this morning with my company, and by mid-sun I return victorious.” This man took some hair from the horse’s mane and offered it to Tirawa, so that his name was changed and he took the name Sakruikarikat, Half-Day.236 Others came back with many ponies ; so they thought the buffalo-skull had great powers.

56. THE DEATH OF THE WITCH MEDICINE-MAN.287

A turkey medicine-man, who in turkey shape is engaged in obtaining organs from the grave of a victim, is compelled to divulge names of accomplices, to whom his flesh is given at a banquet, and who are put to death ; their bundles are found to contain objects from graves.

When the Indians learned the mysteries of the animals they also learned witchcraft from them. The woodpeckers and yellowhammers gave their feathers for decorative purposes and for use in medicines. The feathers were to be placed in the hand and then blown at the man they wanted to kill. If they wanted to kill a man in a house, they put one of these feathers in the hand and blew it toward the man, when it would pass into him. These little feathers used to be found in the hearts of people, and they were looked for when they wanted to learn if the person affected had been killed. The feathers from the outer joints of the turkey’s wing were used in bewitching people. The horned owl gave his claws to the people, and these claws were generally found in the kidneys of the man affected, while the

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turkey’s feathers and also others were found in the heart. Mescal beans were lodged in the duct leading from the bladder so that the people could not pass their urine, and they were witched and killed that way. There were other ways that the animals taught the people in witchcraft ; but these were the most powerful, and were kept a secret among the magicians. Many people were killed by those who possessed these powers.

The people suspected certain persons, but did not dare to speak out, for they were not sure. In their village there was a young man who was powerful. As he grew up to be a man, he was so brave in battle that he became very distinguished, and the people selected him as their chief. So he took the office as chief and held it for many years. This chief had one son and two daughters. The son was very handsome, and although very young had taken part in councils. He was a good speaker, and the people liked him very well. The young girls in the village came to his bedside in the night. He drove them away and did not want them. When his father found out that the girls had been to his bed, he took him and said that he should marry. He also had some uncles who told him he should marry, but he said : “ No, I am not old enough to marry, and I do not know how to kill a buffalo yet.” He told them that if he succeeded in killing buffalo and could support a wife, he would let them know and he would marry ; and they said : “All right.”

The people thought it was now nearly time to go on the buffalo hunt, and they called upon the chief to set a day for them to start. So he invited all his chiefs, braves, and criers. When they had all gathered, the chief spoke and said : “ Chiefs, head men, and young men, you selected me for your chief some years ago, and I have tried to make our people happy and prosperous. I am getting old. It is now time that I leave my seat as chief, and that my place be now at the entrance. I want the chiefs, head warriors, and others to know that I this day will leave my seat, go to the entrance, and place my boy at this place, so that he can give you orders what to do. After he takes his seat he will then decide how many days shall pass before we break camp to hunt.”

The old man got up and sat down by his son, who then got up and took the old man’s seat in the west of the lodge, and the young man then made a speech to the whole tribe ; for the women and children had come to see the boy put in the chief’s place as the chief. The boy made a grand speech to the people, and in the course of his remarks observed that his father in setting so many days had decided in haste and had set only one day, and sometimes two days, and he said that he did not think that to be right ; that they should not be so hasty, but that they should have plenty of time in making preparations for the hunt. He decided that from the day he was made chief they should break camp the fifth day ; that there should be four days that they would be in the camp, and then the fifth day they would break camp for the hunt.

The people went out through the village and told their people that they were to break camp on the fifth day ; that they were going on the hunt ; that the boy was now the head chief of all the people. The people dug holes in the ground, and there they put their corn and other things, and piled dirt over them so that the enemy might not know where to find them. What they could take with them they took, and the rest they left behind.

On the second day after the boy had decided on the time of the hunt he waked up in the morning and felt a pain in his head and in his breast and in his back and at the bladder ; he had a dreadful pain. Medicine-men were sent for and came in, and they tried and tried, but could not help the boy, and some of them thought that he was bewitched, but others said no.

Certain people, four in number, who came in and laid their hands on the boy and said they felt sorry for him that he was sick, were suspected of being witches. The medicine-men could not help the boy, and on the fourth day the boy died. The people wept, because he was a newly-made chief, such a fine handsome young man, and was wise and always looking out for the people. They all went to the tipi and mourned for him. Then the people whom they suspected of being witches came in and laid their hands on his head and drew them down his arms to his hands, with the fingers in the palms and the thumb on the backs of his hands, and said : “ We are sorry you died so soon.” They mourned as much as the others, so there were no suspicions directed toward them or anybody else. So for a half day they kept the boy, and the next day they buried him.

Then three other chiefs decided that they could best show respect for the dead chief by not breaking camp for two days ; so there were two days more that they did not break camp. Then at the end of two days the chief called the others in and told them that he wanted them to decide how many more days they wanted before they would break camp, also that they should select some one to take the place of the boy.

These three chiefs wished to select the old man again, but he would not act as chief any longer. So these three chiefs said they did not want to choose a chief ; that they wanted to wait until the people got back, and then they could select a head chief, but not at this day, and they said that they three would try and manage for the tribe.

When the four days were over they broke camp and went about seven miles out from their camp, and there they made their village.

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All the Indians having gone but the chief and his family, they were the last to pack their ponies and go. When they came in sight of the village the chief told his wife and daughters to keep as far from the village as possible, saying that he did not think it was right to camp with them yet. So he made his camp on the south side of the main body. They pitched their tipi, and after eating their supper he told his wife to get his horse and saddle it ; that he wished to go into the woods and kill some turkeys that would light on the trees. Now the woman told her husband that the pony was saddled, and that it was time for him to go. The man went out and got on his pony. The younger of the two girls hallooed to the father and asked him where he was going. He told her that he thought he would try and go into the woods and kill some turkeys.

It was then full moon, and just about that time the moon came up. As he went along the moon rose higher. The man went back to the other village, tied his pony in the ravine, then walked to the graveyard. He went to one end of his son’s grave and opened it.

The grave was very large, and was made by setting two forked sticks in the ground at the ends of the grave, joined by a long pole resting in the forks, on either side of which leaned poles covered with grass, to which was added a thin layer of dirt. The ends of the grave were closed in, and the dirt underneath was removed to a depth of two feet.

After making an opening in the end of the grave the man crawled in and sat down, after making a hole over his head that he might breathe. He sat there a while, and then reached to his son and took him up; for this was in the winter time, so he had not decayed. He hugged the boy for a while and then let him down. Then he sat down and pulled his blanket over himself, and sat there a long time without mourning or saying anything.

As the man sat there thinking of the death of his son he heard a pecular noise close to the grave. He listened, and it was the hooting of the horned owl. “ Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo,” he said. Close by the grave he heard another sound. Then after a while he heard somebody whistle, and all at once he heard something like the sound of the wind, and the thing flew on top of the grave, and the man sitting inside looked up, and there was a great turkey with huge shanks. The owl hooted again. The turkey said : “ Now, come kill the other man, and be quick about it. I came here to take out this young man, cut him open, and to take the fat off from his heart for our medicines.” And then the turkey said to himself: “You, young man, lying there, wished to become a chief so soon, when you were too young for it. Now you lie here, because my power killed you. I have now come with my friends to cut you open and use you for our medicine.”

About this time the old man reached and put his hand through the hole he had made and seized the turkey by the legs. As he grasped them the turkey tried to fly away and pull the man through the grave ; and when the chief got up he held him, and found that it was the fat medicine-man who had been suspected of being a witch.

The chief had his rawhide lariat rope with him ; this he took off and with it tied the man’s hands and made a loop. Then he made another loop and tied it round the man’s neck. All the while the man was begging the chief to let him go. But the chief said : “No, you have killed my son ; I wish to know who killed him and how they did it ; how many years they were about it. ” So the chief said : “ I will not kill you if you will tell me the names of those who were with you when you killed my son.” He added : “ I am glad to know this, not that I desire to kill you and your friends, but that I wish to learn the secrets of your power, so that some time I also can kill some one. This gives me a chance to learn your secrets, and you will be willing to give them to me.” He further said : “I wish to join your secret meetings ; I wish to be one of you, so when you plot to poison or kill a certain person with your medicines I can be with you.” The man was glad that the chief talked with him, for he supposed that he was going to spare his life. So the man said it was all right. He named over the other men with him, and said that the power was from the owl, that that bird had thrown his claw into the boy’s kidneys ; that the other man who had the mescal threw it into the neck of his bladder so as to stop the passage of urine ; that the woodpecker and yellowhammer had thrown their little feathers in his heart; and the turkeys had thrown their wing feathers into his lungs.

The chief got all the names and found out who they were. There were four men and one woman belonging to these secret meetings. “Well,” said the chief, “now you have told me all.” The man even gave the chief the string he had on. The string contained wood-peckers’ feathers, yellowhammers’ feathers, and turkey feathers, and little medicines tied up in buckskin were hung on the string.238 There were also medicines on the string, and the man had medicines for killing in four ways. The medicines were to be thrown in the air when he wanted to kill anybody. The man was teaching the chief at the graveyard, and the chief was so earnest about it that he thought he was going to learn the secrets. These were the methods of killing : First, where he could throw the medicine and kill the man in a little while; second, where he could throw the medicine and the person would live perhaps two or three days and then die; third, where he would throw the medicine when a person could eat heartily for a while, but keep drying up, and in two or three months would die ; fourth, where he would throw the medicine and the person would live for a long

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time, but would be going down slowly, as in consumption, and, may be, live six or seven months before he died.

“Now,” the chief said, “I will keep my promise. Hold out -your hands, so I may cut the rope that is on them.” It was after dark, in the bright moonlight, and instead of cutting the rope that held the man’s hands, he cut off his head. Then he took off his legs at the joints and threw them away ; then his arms at the shoulders. Then he cut him open, took his insides out and threw them on one side. Then he took the ribs out around to the back on both sides, took the skin off, and made them look like deer meat. Then he got a blanket and wrapped the hide in it, put the meat on the saddle, tied the head one side, got on his pony, and went home.

When he came to his tipi his daughters were asleep. He took his wife outside and told her that he had been to visit his boy, and while there these witches had come there to dig him up in order to cut him to pieces, and he told her that he caught one of them, and had killed him and had some of his meat, and he wanted her to cut it up and boil it; that he was going to send for the other witch medicine-men, who were yet living, and he said : “ I want you to take that little axe and have it close by you, so that I can kill them.” The old woman said : “ All right, we shall do that.” So the chief sent his servant to the camp to call the other witches, and told this man’s sister to come there too ; he also sent his daughters to the sister’s to stay.

When the servant came back they all planned how they were to attack their men : The chief was to sit at one side with his knife in his belt ; the sister was to stand behind one of the men with an axe, as was also his wife ; the servant was put in another place to attack another. So the vessel was put on the fire and this meat was put in, and was set to boiling nicely.

In the morning the first to come to the chief’s lodge was the owlman, who had been at the graveyard with the other man. Owl-Man came in and sat down. After a while another man came, and he was a woodpecker medicine-man. Then another man came who was learning from the man that had just been killed ; also a woman who was learning the medicines from the man that was killed. All four came in. One of them made a speech and told the chief he was sorry that the boy died. The other observed that the chief would still rule the people, and thus that they were honored by being called to dine with him so early in the day. The chief had a large wooden bowl and a lot of this meat, and all the soup was poured in it, and it was placed in the centre of these people for them to eat. Said the chief : “ I was out hunting and killed a young deer, and I thought I would invite you to eat of this young deer that I killed.” They were very fond of it, and ate heartily. The soup they thought was fine. After they had got through eating, one of them started to speak, and the man said : “ Wait. Let my sister remove the bowl and put it on one side.” At the same time he was reaching for some object, and they thought he was going to give them something else ; and all at once the object was wide open so that its teeth showed, and he rolled it up in front of them so that it was against them, and as he did this he said : “ Who is this ? ”

When they saw the head they were so scared they could not move. The chief then called on his servant, and they killed their victims.

When the medicine-witches were attacked they screamed, and the people in the village heard it and turned out to see what was going on at the chief’s tipi, and a great crowd came around ; the chief told them all about what had happened, and how he went to the graveyard, and how these men had come there to take the boy up and how one of them boasted that they would take him up to take some fat out of him. The chief told the people of all that had happened, and said that he did not like it, and he showed the string that this man had on ; and then he sent for their medicine-bundles, and the people went and brought them and opened them, and then they saw many mysterious objects. They saw things in there that had been dug out of graves, taken from human beings. The people said that the chief had done right, that many people had died from the poisonous things that these people had, and that it was time that they were killed ; and no one of the friends of these people who were killed dared to mourn for them ; but the chief ordered that they be buried, and the chief rolled the head of the man to his wife, so that she went and buried it. He sewed up the medicine-string. They were all glad it had happened that way ; for the people were growing afraid of being poisoned, so the medicine-witches were taken away and buried. Their medicinebundles and everything were burnt, and the chief sewed the string, and he let them all look on as he placed it on hot coals, so that it would burn. Everything that they had that pertained to medicine was burned up.

Then the people broke camp. They killed many buffalo. They came home, and then they held a council to select a new chief. The people wanted the old man to be their chief again, but he declined. Then one was selected from the three chiefs to become head chief, and one of the three became chief. So after that witchcraft was no more among the people.

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57. THE DUCK MEDICINE SHIELD.289

A man saves a duck from a hawk, and in return is given duck-power, and wonderful objects, namely, a magic shield, and duck-feathers, which, by causing a mist, can make him invisible. He quarrels with a hawk medicine-man, and the two destroy each other.

There was a man who went hunting, and he followed up a stream. As he walked along he heard a voice behind him. He turned around, and a duck flew into his robe. A hawk flew past him. The hawk flew back to the man and said : “Turn that bird out so that I can kill it. If you turn that bird loose I will kill it. Then I will give you power that I possess.” The duck said: “Do not turn me loose, and I will give you power to be a warrior and a medicine-man. That hawk has but one power, and that is to kill. It cannot give you any power to cure the sick; do not turn me loose.” The hawk kept on begging the man to turn the duck loose ; but the man at last said : “ I will not turn this bird loose, so fly away.” So the hawk flew away.

The duck then spoke and said : “ I am a woman. I am glad you did not turn me loose. Now I will teach you my powers, but we must first go to a certain pond where the ducks stay.” So the man went, still having the duck under his robe. At last they came to a very large lake, where the man saw many ducks.

The duck now flew away and lighted in the middle of the pond where the other ducks were. The ducks all gathered around the one who came among them. The man stayed around the pond until the sun disappeared in the west, then he lay down.

Just as he was about to go to sleep some one touched him, and he raised his head and saw a woman standing by. “ I came after you,” said the woman. “ Everything is ready for you. My people want you to come to their place.” So the man arose and said : “ I will follow you. Go.” So the man followed the woman. The woman walked upon the pond, and the man followed. The man seemed to walk upon the pond, too. As they neared the centre of the pond there seemed to be an open space, and down they went.

There were many grass lodges in the water. The woman was in the lead, and the man followed. They came to a tipi and the woman lifted up the door and went in, telling the man to enter. The man went into the tipi under the ground, and there he saw many people.

The man was given a seat. He noticed a man whose face and head were smeared with mud, and on top of his head were soft, downy feathers. This man spoke and said : “ My son, one of our women strayed off from our place, and our enemy found her and tried to kill her, and she has brought you here. She promised to give you certain powers that we possess. These powers will be given you. Our enemy is only a bird that flies around and kills other birds ; it has no other power. We are medicine people. We can cure sicknesses ; we can also kill people by our mysterious powers.”

“ The first talk from me to you shall be about your having our powers to fight your enemies. Listen : When you go home, make a shield. The shield will be a willow bent around, then tied. Now you must kill a buffalo cow. Let the hide of the buffalo cow be tanned ; then cover this willow with the tanned hide ; there must be nothing hard inside. Now draw a picture of a duck’s head upon the shield. The rim must have our mud around it.” (The mud was given the man, and it smelled very good.) “ My son, these feathers, from wings of the ducks, are yours. When your enemy finds you on the plains, sprinkle water upon the feathers and then run them through your hair. It will either rain hard or it will be foggy, so your enemy will not find you.” So the duck talked to the man for a long time, teaching him the mysteries of ducks. At last the man was told to go home. So the duck-woman again led him out of the waters to the dry land. The man now stood upon the dry land, and watched the duck go back. Now the man went home.

He took the things that had been given to him by the duck-man and he wrapped them up in a bundle. The man used to go off by himself and hunt the herbs and roots. He would gather them, then put them in his bundle. He also practised sleight-of-hand that he had been taught by the ducks.

At last he made up his mind to go on a journey to try and capture ponies from the enemy. He was gone for many days, and at last came over the hills with many ponies. Now that he had ponies, he thought it time to make the shield. So he took one of his best ponies and went on another journey by himself, and for many days he went south, and as he went on top of a high hill he saw many buffalo. He rode among them and saw a young cow. He picked her out and killed her. He skinned her and took just the hide.

Arriving home, he told the women to tan the hide. The hide was tanned and dried, and now he covered the ring with it, then trimmed it. The shield was made. The man then put blue mud upon the rim of the shield. Then he took the head of a duck that he had killed. The shield was now completed, so it was hung up on a pole outside of the lodge.

The first time the enemy attacked the people, this man put his shield upon his back and went out where the fighting was going on. The man went close to the enemy’s line, now putting the shield in front of him. Although the enemy shot at him, the arrows did not go through the shield. The people thought it wonderful, for they had heard that the shield was covered with tanned buffalo hide, without

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anything hard inside.240 The man also roamed over the country and had an easy time capturing ponies from the enemy’s camp. He also joined the medicine-man’s lodge, and he did some wonderful sleightsof-hand. The man was talked about in all the village.

Now there was another man, whose name was Blue-Hawk, and who had the power of a hawk. Blue-Hawk became jealous of Duck-Man. So Blue-Hawk challenged Duck-Man to fight him on the open prairie. Duck-Man accepted the challenge. Word was sent to Duck-Man that they were not to fight with bow and arrows, but with their medicine and the power given to them by the birds. So both men went to their lodges, and each took down his medicine-bundle. Blue-Hawk painted himself with red ointment. He then put some hawk feathers in his scalp-lock. Then he put many hawk claws around his wrists. He also now took down his shield, a plain buffalo shield with hawk feathers fastened upon the rim of his shield. He was now ready to meet Duck-Man.

Duck-Man opened his medicine-bundle, and he took therefrom his blue mud. This he put in a wooden bowl and made mud, which he put all over his body, putting plenty upon the top of his head. He then took soft, downy feathers and put lots of them upon his head. Then he took thistles and other weeds, together with a bunch of flagroot stems, and tied them about his neck.

He now went out, and the two men went out from the village. Many men went out to witness the mysterious powers of the two men. The men fought all day, throwing poisonous stuffs at one another. Neither of them could hit the mark.

As the sun was about to disappear in the west both men showed signs of being hurt. Duck-Man began to stagger. Hawk-Man was vomiting soft, downy feathers. As the sun went down the two men fell over, dead.

Their relatives came and took them away. Each was cut open ; and they found a hawk’s claws in the kidneys of Duck-Man. Hawk- Man’s throat was filled with downy feathers, and dry roots were in his kidneys.

Both men were buried next day, their medicine-bundles and their shields also being buried.

58. THE GAMBLER AND THE SLAIN ENEMIES.241

A gambler who gives away his winnings to clothe scalped enemies is conducted at night to the lodge of the spirits (who are part of the wind), and receives a feather of invisibility; he offers to the spirits captured scalps. His friend, the chief’s son, also visits the spirits, with unflinching courage sustains the ordeal, and receives power ; at his death he imparts the mysteries.

At one time the Indians had their village upon the Platte River, and here they lived for many years. They did not have to go a long way to find buffalo. Their fields were along the Platte River. From here they sent their warriors out to the different tribes in the north or south. The warriors came in with scalps and slaves. They also drove many ponies that they had taken from other tribes into this village. The surrounding tribes gathered together, and made up their minds to make war on these people who lived in this permanent village. They attacked the village, were routed, and many were killed.

The different tribes went back, and they wanted to get more tribes to help them, so that they could destroy these people. But there was one warrior of the enemy who made up his mind to visit this village and to try and take their ponies ; and if he could not take their ponies, he intended to try and kill women on the outskirts of the village, take their scalps and take them home. He selected twelve other men to join him. He told them to carry their war clothing, such as war-bonnets, shields, whistles, bows and arrows, spears and scalpingknives. They brought in their best horses and struck out for this village.

In this village the men were always playing at gambling sticks,242 everyday. Among the men who played was one young man who was a great gambler, who seemed to have more luck with the sticks than anybody else. If he played with anybody, he won. He had won many robes, leggings, moccasins, buckskin shirts, etc.

At one of these times the gambler went to the place where they played with these sticks, early in the morning. There he found a young man whose father was a chief. The gambler asked this young boy if he would play with him. The chief’s boy said he would. So they got to betting, — robes, leggings, moccasins, quivers, headdresses, tobacco pouches, pipes, — everything they had. The gambler was losing, when all at once the luck seemed to turn to him again and he got to winning and the boy to .losing.

On this particular day, when they were playing, an alarm was given in the village that the enemy was in sight, that they were twelve in number, and that they had taken some ponies. All the other men who were on the gambling grounds left the grounds and went to the village, got their ponies, went into their lodges, put their quivers over their shoulders, some taking their spears and shields on their ponies, and struck out after the enemy. The two boys kept on playing, not paying any attention to the alarm nor to the excitement. They played until nearly sunset, when the chief’s boy had lost everything he had, the gambler winning all his things. The two boys sat down to rest, and as they rose the gambler put all the things that he had won from the chief’s boy upon his back.

They both went into the village. The young gambler took the things into his lodge, put them down upon his bed, then sat down,

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and the other young man and men of the same lodge were telling about the attacking of the twelve enemies ; how they had attacked them ; how easy it was for them to kill the enemy ; and how they had finally killed the leader of them.

Something seemed to impress the gambler as he listened to the young man talking with the men about the killing of the enemy. This young man had never before taken interest in nor cared to join the war-parties that went out. In fighting the enemy he never cared to be in the line of battle. His whole mind was always on playing with the sticks. He liked to tell of the things he had won. He had many other things. He did not know what to do with them, and although he had plenty of all this rich clothing, he was not happy.

So he rose, without eating any supper, took his spear, war-bonnet, a shield, and all the fine buckskin shirts he had, all the leggings he had, moccasins, headdresses, eagle feathers, and put them in one big pile. He took a rawhide rope and tied them together. He lifted this bundle, swung it on his back, and went out of the lodge and started toward the west. He kept on going west until he came near to the place where he was told the enemies were killed.

This was in the night. He put his bundle down, hunted around, and found a man lying on a hill, who seemed to have been the leader of the war-party ; for he could tell by his dress that the man had been a leader. The whole of his scalp had been taken off. So he laid him down, his head pointing to the west. He went and found another man lying at another place. He brought him and laid him by the side of the leader. He went and found another one, dragged him and laid him alongside of the leader, and so he continued until he had brought ten men and laid them in a circle, five on the right side of the leader and five on his left. He also found one boy, whom he laid on the east side of the circle, opposite the leader. The gambler went and got his bundle. He took the best clothing that he had, consisting of a buckskin shirt, buckskin leggings, moccasins, and put them on the leader, standing him up, and putting on first the shirt, then the war-bonnet, then laying him down and putting on him the leggings and moccasins. He took out another suit of clothing and put it on the next man to the right of the leader. He took another suit of clothing and put it on the man to the left of the leader, so that the young man dressed one dead man on the right, then one on the left, and so on, until he had them all dressed.

Now he had a long pipe and tobacco, which he laid before the leader. After all the dead men were dressed and he had laid the pipe in front of the leader, the young gambler faced eastward and cried and mourned. He cried all night. The next day he stayed right at the place, not once looking behind to see if the dead men were still there.

Night came again, and he kept on mourning, when all at once he heard a voice close to him telling him to go home. Seeing that they were all dead, the young man did not pay any attention to the voice he had heard. He did not get scared, but stayed there. Some time toward morning he heard the same voice saying : “ It has been decided by the men whom you dressed that you shall now come to the place where they are sitting.” He looked around, and there stood the young man who had lain in the east opposite the leader.

The gambler followed the young man, who led him into the circle, and the man sat down, the boy taking his seat and his place in the east. The gambler sat in the west inside the ring, in front of the leader, who now spoke to him and said : “Young man, you took pity on us when you found us dead, you put this nice clothing over our bodies. We are glad you did this, and we shall do something for you in return. You brought us to this particular place in a circle, and in order. I was the leader ; these two men, one on my right and one on my left, were my two scouts ; these others were just warriors, who followed us ; the young man was our errand boy. Look, now, at these men who are sitting around you.” The young gambler looked around, and he saw men sitting around him. “ Fill this pipe, so that we may smoke,” said the leader. The gambler took the pipe and tobacco pouch, took some of the mixture in the pouch, put it in the bowl and handed the pipe to the leader and lighted the pipe for him. They smoked. Now the pipe was emptied and laid down in front of the leader.

The leader then spoke to the gambler and said : “ Go home. We are dead. Our spirits are yet upon earth. Whenever you go on the warpath, stop here on your way, and sit down where you are now sitting, fill up your pipe, and, although you may not see us, we will be present with you and help smoke. We will help you to capture ponies, and also get the best of your enemies. Go to your home, and stay there four days, and come out to see us again in the night.

The gambler rose and went home and entered his lodge by daylight. Four times afterwards he went back to the place in the night, and there he met these people again. They talked with him and gave him power such as they themselves had had. He went back to the village, and for a long time he did not go on the warpath.

Hunters and other people went out over the country, and they came to the place where the dead people were. They found them in a circle with fine clothing on, and they knew that the young gambler must have visited them, and given them this clothing.

When the young man made up his mind to go on the warpath,

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very few joined him. He went out early in the night, so that on the way he left his men in a hollow, while he went up on the hill where the dead people were.

When he got there, these people were sitting around in a circle, they having power to become men, although there was nothing now but bones at this place where they had lain. They smoked together with the young gambler, and told him where to go ; that the enemy were camped at a certain place ; and that they would be near him and help him to capture ponies. So the young man left these people and went to where his men were.

He told them it was time to be going on ; so they followed him. When they came to a certain place he sent out scouts, who found the enemy’s camp. Several men were selected to steal horses. They went out, but they could not find any ponies. So the gambler told them to remain where they were ; that he would go and see if he could find the ponies. He went all alone, and found the ponies, and drove them in where the other men were, so that all had a pony to ride. Then they rode back home.

On the way the young man stopped at this place where the dead men’s skeletons were. He stayed with them a while in the night. Then he went , to the place where the other warriors were, and they went home together.

There was great rejoicing in the camp when the people heard that the young gambler was coming with many ponies, for he had never before gone out with war-parties. The boy gave most of the ponies away to his relatives. He gave up his gambling, and never played any more. When the enemy attacked the village he was the first to get on his pony and strike out after them. Several times he struck the enemy and counted coup.

At one of these times, directly after the battle, this young gambler had a dream. In his dream he saw the leader of the dead people. He was dressed up in the clothing the gambler had dressed him in. He knew him. The leader said: “Icame to let you know that we want you to come to our place, and bring some tobacco with you, for we have something to tell you.” The young gambler woke up, took tobacco and went out upon the hills where the dead people were, and he met them. He went to the place where they always sat, and there they were, sitting in a circle.

He entered the circle, and he was given a signal to sit in front of the leader. Now he filled a pipe, and they smoked, passing the pipe from one to another. After smoking, the leader said that they had received power from the winds ; that they were now a part of the wind ; and that they should travel far away. Now they had been given this power by the gods in the heavens, and for this reason they had sent for the gambler, so he could lead a war-party away toward the south, so that he could get some scalps to give them, for they were to offer these scalps to the gods that had taken pity on them and given them power to become winds. So the gambler said : “ Nawa iri, I shall go.” And he went home.

The next day he sent for several young men who were his best friends. When they came into his lodge and he had given them seats, he told them that he had made up his mind to travel far in the south ; that he was going, not to capture ponies only, but to fight the enemy. The young men all said it was good to join him, they would follow him, and they would do anything he might ask them to do. So it was decided to go on the warpath.

After they had eaten with the young gambler he left the lodge, and they told the story among' the other young men, who were glad, for they wanted to join him. All those young men who wanted to go had their mothers or sisters make several pairs of moccasins for them, filled the moccasins with dried meat, corn, and other things, and these were wrapped up in a bundle, so that they could carry it upon their backs with ease.

Now the gambler sat in his lodge waiting for the young men to enter and sit together in the night, so that they might start about four o’clock in the morning. The few young men whom he had called on the first night now entered, took their seats in the west of the lodge, and others began to come in. The young men kept coming in, until there were many in the lodge. The gambler said nothing, did not scold or send any of them away, for he was glad that they came to join him, for he intended this time to attack the enemy if he could find their village. So toward morning the gambler put his bundle upon his back and woke his party, and they in turn woke the others who had gone to sleep, and they called the gambler out.

The gambler led his company toward the place where the dead men lay, and as they neared he left the others behind and went up on the hill by himself. When he entered the circle of the dead men he found them all sitting around him, and spoke to them, saying : “ My brothers, I have come to you to let you know that I am on my way to the enemy’s country. If I find the enemy’s camp and have success, I shall take scalps and bring them to you.” All said “Nawa.” They gave him the dust of white clay, and a little feather, to put upon his scalp-lock when he should go to the enemy’s village. By putting the mud upon his person and a feather upon his head, the enemy would be blinded, so that they could not see him, and he could go into their village in the daytime or in the night. The gambler thanked them and said : “ I shall now leave you,” and they said : “Very well, we will watch and be near you as you go on your journey.”

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The gambler went to his company where he had left them, and told them it was now time to start. So they started, and for many days they went. After a while they came to a village. They were few in number — about seven tipis. So they made arrangements to wait until evening time, when they should attack.

In the evening they went to the village, surrounded the tipis, and as the command was given to attack they gave the war-whoop. The people were so scared that they could not do anything. The men were killed, the women were captured, the children were captured, boys and girls, and all the horses they had were taken. The gambler made his home with the chief’s family. Other men took their tipis, and they brought the whole village to their camp.

When they came to the place where the dead men were, the gambler took the scalps that his party had prepared.243 He took the sticks with the scalps on up the hill and set them around the circle. Nothing was said to him. He saw nobody, and he came down, went to the place where the company was and joined them.

The next day, early in the morning, they made preparation to give a sham battle to the village. So all the men dressed up in their wargear, loading their guns on their horses and mounting them, leaving some of the young men behind with the women. They went to a ravine where there was a hill, where the village was in plain view. So the leader divided the men so that some of them went on the east side of the hill and some on the west side, both parties coming up the hill shooting and giving the war-whoop.

The village saw them, turned out, and climbed up on their lodges. They thought the enemy were coming, but as soon as they saw them meet and pass through one another, they knew that it was a warparty that was returning victorious. So the men in the village got on their ponies and went out to meet the war-party. Before they got to the war-party, some yelled : “ The gambler took the village, killed the men, captured the women, children, and their ponies, and is bringthem all in.” Word was sent to the village, so that the relatives of the gambler came out to meet him.

Just before the gambler had gone out on the warpath another warparty had gone out, and the young chief who had played with this gambler and lost was in the lead. He had been successful, and had captured many ponies ; but the gambler made up his mind that he would turn all the captured people over to the young man who had played sticks with him. As they approached the village, the men from the village went to meet them, while the chief’s son came from another direction on a fine spotted pony, and before the gambler knew it, the chief’s son had come up to him, saying : “ My brother, I was out with a war-party. I had very little success among them, so this spotted pony I have brought to you.” The gambler jumped off his pony and embraced the chief’s son. The gambler took his war-bonnet from his head, put it on the young man, put him upon the spotted pony, and the chief’s son rode the spotted pony he had given to the gambler. As he put the chief’s son upon the spotted pony he said : “ My brother, these captured people are yours. Everything I have brought, as well as the ponies.” From that time these two young men were great friends. The chief’s son, instead of taking the captured people to his lodge at the request of the gambler and his friends, had the gambler keep them, and so the gambler’s relatives divided the women and children among them, the gambler keeping the captured chief’s widow and daughter.

Finally these two young men got to going out with war-parties, and they were leaders. The chief’s son saw that the young gambler had powers that he himself could not understand, and he wanted to learn them from him ; but the gambler told him to go as he himself had done and stand out amongst the dead in the dead of night and mourn.

So the young chief’s son trusted him, and while he was upon the hills mourning the gambler went up there and brought him down, took him to his lodge, gave him something to eat, and told him that he wanted him to go with him on the warpath. Before they started, however, the village was attacked, and the gambler placed the feather and the mud upon the person of the chief’s son and told him to get on his pony and go and fight, not to be afraid of being shot. So the young man went out and the people saw him. They were glad to find that their young chief was so brave and was holding his people at a certain distance from their village, showing to the people and women that he was protecting his village.

After the battle was over there was great rejoicing in the village. The women got together and got drums, ornamented themselves as if they were warriors, and danced around before the chief’s son’s lodge. Among the dancers he noticed one young girl he had not seen before. He liked her, loved her, and wished to marry her. So he inquired about her, and they said that it was one of the gambler’s captured women. So the young man went to the gambler and asked him about the girl, and he found out that it was the chief’s daughter, and that he had no objection, if the chief’s son wanted to marry her. So the young chief sat in his lodge and told his father of his intention. His father called his relatives in to see that the ordeal of the marriage ceremony was gone through. The young chief’s relatives, as they gathered, brought their ponies, so that there were now twenty ponies in front of the young chief s lodge. The young chief was sent over to the lodge of the gambler, and the gambler, knowing that he

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was coming, placed a nice robe at the entrance for a pillow. The young man came in, sat down^and the captured girl was told to sit by him. She showed by her actions that she was satisfied to be the wife of the young chief.

Now the young man had married. Twenty ponies had been paid for this captured girl. He had it in his heart to learn the secret power of the gambler. So he went upon the hill again, and stood for several days and nights, mourning. The gambler went up there again to meet him. While they were talking the young chief’s sister was coming up to ask her brother to go home with her. As she was coming her brother saw her. He touched the gambler, pointed his finger at his sister and said : “ My brother, you are welcome to take care of my sister. Take her home. Be happy with her, and let me remain here.” But the gambler would not listen to it. The gambler told the girl to go home, and to stay there ; that he was to stay with her brother. The gambler stayed with the young man all day, and that night he took the young man to the place where the dead men lay. The gambler told the young man now to have a strong heart and to make up his mind to be brave, saying that he would hear strange noises, but if he was brave and went through it all he might communicate with the dead people and receive power from them.

As they neared the place they heard whistling, groaning, and other mysterious noises, and the gambler led on till they came to the place. The gambler could see the dead people, while the other man could not. The gambler took the young man beyond the place, and there they stood, and both mourned and cried, and the gambler told the young man to remain there alone. So the gambler went to the place where the dead people were and he talked with them, telling them that this was his particular friend from whom he had won the clothing that he had put upon them ; that he (the gambler) wanted the dead people to take pity on the young chief and to help him. The leader of the dead people said it was well ; that they had heard the young man crying ; that he was in earnest. They said : “ Let him remain by himself, and if he stays apart of the night, toward morning we shall accept him.” The gambler was satisfied. So he went to his friend and told him that he (the speaker) was now to return to the village, where he must stay. The chief’s son said that it was all right ; that he himself would remain alone. The gambler went home, while the young man stayed at the place.

Toward morning something spoke to the young man and told him to leave the place ; that he was making too much noise. The young man did not pay any attention to the speaker. Then the mysterious speaker again said : “ Move, go home, or I will strike you and will kill you.” The young man did not move. Then other mysterious groanings were made in different directions from where he was standing. These mysterious beings seemed to be getting ready to attack the young man, and moved, jumped around, groaned, but the young man did not mind all this.

This leader of the dead people then spoke and said : “ My son, you have one mind. I am glad. I am dead. The gods in the heavens gave me power and made me a part of the winds. What power I possess I give you.” The leader of the dead people then called the young man to him, put his arms around him, and said : “Now go to your home. Hereafter, come with your friend to this place : you are welcome.” So the young man went home.

A few days afterwards the chief’s son went to the gambler’s lodge, and there they stayed together and talked. When everybody had gone to bed they arose, went out of the lodge, and went to the hills. They went among the dead people, and there they were, sitting in a circle. The young chief could see them, and he saw the clothing that he had lost the day he was gambling with the gambler. So they talked, and when they had stayed for some time with the dead people they were told to go home.

After this, whenever there was a war-party going out, the chief’s son or the gambler were sure to follow, one after the other. They would both go to the dead people, who would tell them what success they were to have, and if there was to be no success they were told not to go. So the others would go, the two men remaining behind. The two men became very powerful in the tribe, and at last the gambler married the chief’s daughter, the boy’s sister.

The gambler, after he had married, went off with his family to another country, and was heard of no more. The chief’s son now became chief of the people, but he would never let them know about the dead people ; he kept it a secret. He died of old age, and told his wife all about the mysterious power that he had received from the dead people ; and that upon the growing up of one of his sons she must tell him ; for there was a large medicine-bundle, and in the bundle were different mysteries, clothing that the chief’s son had worn, given him by the spirits of the dead people. It fell to the old woman to tell to her children the mysteries that the chief had possessed, the oldest one being the first to learn them.

When the boys learned the stories they went to the place, but were never able to communicate with the spirits as had their fathers ; but the things they received from their mother had mysterious powers in them, so they became great warriors and leaders among their people. They tried very hard to see the dead people, but they never could. So they finally gave up, and as they were now rulers of the people they were satisfied, and they ceased trying to see the dead people.

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59. SCABBY-BULL, THE WONDERFUL MEDICINE-MAN.244

A young man is led by magic music to the lodge of the deer (who live with eagles), and receives and exercises miraculous power. His superiority is owned by a youth initiated in the lodge of the animals. He makes a man of a halfwoman, but in the end dies.

When the Skidi lived in Nebraska there were two young boys who were always hunting and shooting little birds and rabbits. Both of these boys were out one day, shooting at birds, and the one named Scabby-Bull (Scabby-Bull had another name at this time) was shooting at a magpie. Every time Scabby-Bull shot at the magpie the magpie would make a screeching noise and would fly a short distance, as if leading Scabby-Bull away to some other place.

While the magpie was leading Scabby-Bull away from the timber, the other boy had wandered off and had gone down from the timber to the creek ; and the kingfisher was leading him along the bank to a place opposite Pahuk Island, where the animals’ lodge was supposed to be.

About this time the sun had gone down, and the boy sat down crying. As it became dark the boy noticed here and there in the waters mysterious fires coming from the water. Mysterious noises were made in the water. Upon the island a sound of tramping came, noises as if people were having a medicine-men’s dance. The boy listened to all these things and went to sleep. Later he found himself in the animals’ lodge.

While the boy was in the animals’ lodge Scabby-Bull was lying in the timber. He dreamed of mysterious performances. He was not taken into any animals’ lodge, but was moved from where he laydown on the island to where there was a swamp, and there the next morning he woke up.

As he woke up he walked around the island and saw a deer. He followed the deer around the island, and once in a while Scabby-Bull would hear beautiful singing, and then he would find that it was not a real woman that was singing, but that it was the deer that he was following.245 When Scabby-Bull would come upon the deer it would jump out from the bulrushes and reeds, and Scabby-Bull would follow it. The deer would sing again, and Scabby-Bull would listen and follow it, and then he would see a woman who seemed to be naked, but who had a black tanned buffalo robe over her shoulders. This robe was covered with soft, downy feathers. Her hair was loose upon her back, and on the top of her head was a downy feather. When the boy would go up to the woman the singing would stop, the woman would disappear, and there in the place of the woman would stand a cedar-tree. When Scabby-Bull would go up to the tree there would be soft, downy feathers spread out at its base. Scabby-Bull then would lie down and would hear the singing. When he was just about to go to sleep he would jump up and see the deer coming again ; then he would follow it.

Scabby-Bull followed this deer for many days, and finally left the place and went home. He stayed at home for some time, for the people had given up him and the other boy as lost. His relatives did not ask any questions of him, for they saw that he had mysterious ways, so they let him alone.

Scabby-Bull, missing his boy friend, went back to the island where he had been following the deer. There he again found the deer and followed it until it took him to a certain place upon the island and into a place like a cave.

The first boy had been taken into the lodge, and had left the lodge of the animals ; and now Scabby-Bull was taken into another lodge close by that into which his friend had been taken. There was no animal lodge. The deer family and eagle family seemed to be the leading families in this lodge. These two families took pity on Scabby- Bull and taught him the mysteries of the animals. For several days Scabby-Bull was kept there, until he was taken out by the deer that had taken him over the island, teaching him the different roots and herbs upon the island ; once in a while the deer turned itself into a woman and sang songs, teaching them to Scabby-Bull. Finally the deer turned Scabby-Bull free, so that Scabby-Bull now went from the timber toward home. On his way home he met his boy friend, and they went home together.

The people were glad to see their boys come back, but the boys were always disappearing, going off to the island again nearly every day, so that the people ceased to watch them ; for they knew that the boys were having meetings with the animals upon the island. When the boys did not go to the island, but played with other boys, shooting arrows into the ground, they would sometimes dig out a mouse, a mole, or a gopher. The other boys, when they saw them do these things, ran from them. Then the two boys would start off and go into the timber; then they would talk about what the animals had taught them to do ; then they would try sleight-of-hand performances upon their bodies, shooting their arrows into their sides, so that these came out on the opposite side. Sometimes they took their arrows and swallowed them, and it did not hurt them. Sometimes they would sharpen sticks and stick them into their mouths. These different ways of sleight-of-hand they practised by themselves in the timber. The other young man seemed to have had more power at the time the two boys were together, for he was older and had learned more

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than Scabby-Bull ; but as they grew older Scabby-Bull seemed to have more power, and seemed to know more about herbs and roots.

When the two boys became young men there was an attack made by the enemy. Scabby-Bull’s friend was the one who was attacked. He fought against the enemy; he was a wonderful boy, but he was shot several times in the breast, so that he fell down as if dead. The people went out and brought him in. The young man said : “ Send for Scabby-Bull.” Scabby-Bull came, went into the lodge of the young man, and the young man said : “ Scabby-Bull, you know the powers that I possess ; try and get my friends to take me down to the creek and have them throw me into the creek, and I shall come up a well man.” But the relatives of the young man, knowing the wounds the boy had upon his breast, dared not put him in the water, and they told him that they could not let him go down to the creek, so the boy said : “Very well.” Then he said : “ Scabby-Bull, I am going to see if I am going to live. Bring me a certain thing that you know, and I will try it.” Scabby-Bull went out, and brought back a corn cob. He gave the cob to the wounded boy, and the boy took the cob and laid it between his legs, close to his feet, and as he took off his hand the cob turned into a mouse. The mouse crawled till it got to the breast of the young man. The mouse died and turned into a cob. The young man said : “ The secrets of the sleight-of-hand that you saw me do are all yours ; all my medicine bags, roots, and other things I had are yours. I was taken into one lodge, you into another ; they are the same ; what you learned there I learned in the other lodge ; your powers are greater than mine, for the deer guided you around over the island and taught you more than I was taught.” The boy died and was buried. His powers were never known to the people. So Scabby-Bull took all his medicine bags to his own house.

Scabby-Bull was now a young man, and the people erected the medicine lodge in which to have their ceremony of sleight-of-hand, which was to last a month and perhaps two months. Scabby-Bull went in and asked the leading medicine-man to give him a seat among them. The leading medicine-man had for some time expected Scabby- Bull to come into the lodge at any time, and when Scabby-Bull came and asked for a seat they requested of him to choose one for himself. Scabby-Bull told the leading medicine-men that he, being the youngest medicine-man, wished to be nearest to the entrance ; 246 that he was not a medicine-man at all, for he had not learned anything from any person ; that he would like to sit behind the cedar-tree, so that he would be far away from the medicine-men. All said that it was well that he should sit there. But after the medicine-men went into the timber to get their willows and cottonwood, elm and box elder for their animal lodges inside of the big lodge,247 they saw Scabby-Bull with his hair decked with a soft, downy feather, and upon his shoulders was wrapped a tanned buffalo hide, also decked with downy feathers. They then knew that Scabby-Bull was a mightier medicine-man than all the others combined.

When the medicine-men all had their timber to make their lodges, Scabby-Bull brought only cottonwood limbs and willows for his lodge ; his lodge extending from the cedar-tree to the big lodge. At the base of the cedar-tree were spread out soft, downy feathers.

When the animal lodges inside the big lodge were completed, the medicine-men went out to their different lodges, brought in their medicine bags and wonderful things, and Scabby-Bull brought in many things, — among them a little fawn, and upon the fawn was tied an oriole’s nest. Upon the back of his robe was a string of deer tails, and one of deer ears, tied together so that the string of ears and tails hung upon the back of Scabby-Bull. Scabby-Bull went at once to his lodge behind the cedar-tree.

When the medicine-men met that night, some of them did their sleight-of-hand. Scabby-Bull went out from his lodge and did some wonderful things. When the outside people saw what he had done, some of the young men went into the medicine-men’s lodge and begged the leading medicine-men to have pity on them, for they had a pipe that was filled with native tobacco and they had in their lodge presents that they wished to present to a certain medicine-man, so that they might learn the mysteries which that particular medicineman knew.248 One of the young men, after making the speech, walked toward the cedar-tree and handed the pipe to Scabby-Bull. Scabby- Bull received the young man, so that the young man went to Scabby- Bull and passed his hands upon his head and passed them down over his arms to his hands, at the same time thanking him for receiving the pipe. The pipe was to show that Scabby-Bull was to teach his secrets to the young man. Other young men followed in with pipes, and took them to Scabby-Bull. Scabby-Bull refused to take their pipes, for he knew that they were not in earnest in wanting to learn his secrets. But he kept on selecting, until he had four men in his lodge inside of the earth lodge. He had numerous sleight-of-hand performances until the next night, when he took the fawn and made it make a noise like a live fawn, and also made the fawn skin turn into a fawn and walk about. This trick he taught to one of his men. Another man he took in his arms and stabbed with a knife in the side, so that the knife broke and the man was scared so that he cried, but as soon as Scabby-Bull put his hand upon the wounded place it was healed, and the knife was not broken. This trick he taught to another man. Now to the second man he gave a muzzle-loading gun and told him to hold up the gun and shoot. This man shot up through

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the air-hole of the lodge, which was covered over with a buffalo hide, so that the people would know that the bullet had passed through. Scabby-Bull took the gun, ran around the fireplace, and a sheet was spread on the ground. He turned the gun upside down, so that the bullet and powder fell out. When this was done, Scabby-Bull went into the lodge and brought out a bow and arrows, and the smallest of the men he placed on the south side of the lodge ran up to him with his bow and arrows and shot him, the arrows sticking through the man. The man fell over as if dead and was very much scared, but Scabby-Bull went up to him, took the arrows off from him and healed him, so that he was all right again. Now some of these men that Scabby-Bull was teaching he found were true, although they were scared after the sleight-of-hand was performed on them. So he kept these four.

Among these four men there was one that Scabby-Bull was much attached to, and so he let him know, for this man was a great hunter, as was Scabby-Bull.

While the Indians were doing their sleight-of-hand a man came into the medicine lodge with a buffalo robe and blanket and some dried buffalo meat. Then he went around the fireplace, then to the cedartree in the east. Then he put these things at the base of the cedar- tree. He then faced the west, where the leaders of the medicine-men were sitting, and said: “Leading medicine-men and medicine-men, I have brought in a robe and blanket, some meat, presents for Scabby- Bull. I have in my hand six plum-stones that have no marks upon them, and these my daughter wants marked, and she has asked that Scabby-Bull make the marks upon the stones.” Now Scabby-Bull took the stones and told the men that he would try and decorate them with his power. Scabby-Bull took the plum-stones, went around the fireplace four times, waving his hand over the flame of fire, then went out of the lodge and stood outside for some time. When he came into the lodge he handed the stones to the leading medicineman. The leading medicine-man received the stones and saw the marks upon them. He then passed them to the other medicine-men, who passed them on to the people who were looking. One of the stones had a new moon pictured on it, and a little black star on the decorated side. The next stone bore a half-moon in black. The next stone was decorated with a full moon ; and the next one had upon it just one great star, which reached from one point of the stone to the other. The next stone had two stars painted upon it ; while the last one had seven stars painted upon it. According to the people, the man took the stones outside, held them up, and through the power of the moon and the stars the stones were painted black.

Now every night, as long as the medicine-men’s sleight-of-hand was going on, the people went to the lodge and watched Scabby- Bull’s wonderful doings. They talked about it. Other medicine-men became jealous of Scabby-Bull, for he had such great powers. But Scabby-Bull told one of his men that they could not hurt him ; that he had too much power within for their medicines to have any effect. Scabby-Bull became a great friend to one of these men whom he was teaching, and who was called “ Warrior.”

One day Scabby-Bull took Warrior with him to hunt deer. They went upon the Loup River, many miles from the village, and there Scabby-Bull told Warrior that he was going to take him to a holy place of his; that if he wanted to know his secrets he should do as he should tell him to do. They went into a thicket, finally going through some reeds and bulrushes, and there they came to a place that had been cleared off, and was in the form of a circle, with a little fireplace in the centre, and instead of the fire there were soft, downy feathers. At the west of the place Scabby-Bull reached and pulled out a fawn skin. When Scabby-Bull took the fawn skin he ran around in this circle, and Warrior heard noises as if there were many young deer in the circle. Scabby-Bull went outside the circle, brought Warrior into it, and made him stand facing south. Scabby-Bull then went out into the timber and came back with a black buffalo hair lariat rope with soft, downy feathers. This Scabby-Bull put about Warrior’s neck, and then pulled on the ends as if to choke Warrior. Warrior was not scared ; he was willing to be choked. Scabby-Bull said : “ You will do ; you want to learn my secrets, but you must now come with me, for I now know that I am still to live for many years, for the deer have made their noises telling me that I am still to live for some time.”

So they went out from this circle into the timber. Scabby-Bull took the buffalo hair lariat and made a noose at one end, threw it upon a limb, then told Warrior to put his head through the noose. Then Scabby-Bull attempted to draw him up on a limb, telling him he was going to hang him there and leave him there, and asking the animal gods to take pity on him. This was only trying Warrior, to see if he was willing to be hung ; but Warrior was willing, for he knew that if Scabby-Bull could communicate with the animals he would soon send them to take him down and tell him their secrets. Scabby-Bull saw that Warrior meant to stay wherever he should put him. So Scabby- Bull took off the rope, and they went on. Scabby-Bull now ceased to try to frighten Warrior, and they went deer hunting.

They went through some reeds and bulrushes, and Scabby-Bull told Warrior to stay at a certain place, for he was going on a little way and would be back, and he told Warrior that he should not shoot until he (Scabby-Bull) should see him again. So Scabby-Bull went

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off, and in a short time Warrior saw a deer jumping through the reeds and bulrushes. Warrior sat down, took aim at the deer, and was about to shoot when he thought of Scabby-Bull. Then he turned around and looked in the direction where Scabby-Bull had gone, and when he looked again where the deer was, there stood Scabby-Bull, laughing at him, and Warrior now knew that the deer was Scabby- Bull.

Now they went on farther, and came to a great pond. Scabby-Bull then said : “ My friend, sit down upon the bank here, and what I do, you do.” Scabby-Bull rose up and dove into the pond, coming up again with a large-sized catfish in his arms. This he laid down upon the bank, then told Warrior to go down and dive and do as he had done. Warrior went into the pond, dove, felt around in the bottom of the pond, and he found no fish. He had to come up for air. When he came out he sat down with Scabby-Bull, then Scabby-Bull filled his pipe and smoked a few whiffs to the fish, then took the fish and put it back in the water.

When they returned to their village Warrior told of some of the wonderful things that he had seen Scabby-Bull do upon their hunt, and the people heard of Scabby-Bull’s wonderful doings. There was one family where a child had been born, and the child was an idiot when it was born. The people called him “ Half-Man-and-Half-Woman,” and he acted that way as he grew up. About this time he was ten years old. The parents of the boy, on hearing of the wonders of Scabby-Bull, sent for him, promising him many presents of robes, leggings, buckskin shirts, and several ponies, if he would cure the boy. The boy, as he grew up, was getting to be like a woman. Scabby-Bull, with Warrior, went to the lodge of this young man. They placed their medicines on the west side of the fireplace in the lodge, and sat down. They placed the boy on the east side of the fireplace, facing west, where Scabby-Bull and Warrior were sitting. Scabby-Bull told the people to sweep out the lodge and then to leave it. Scabby-Bull and Warrior stayed in the lodge with the boy, and at night, when the man was out, Scabby-Bull and Warrior sang some deer songs. They danced and hopped around in the lodge, so that the boy was soon imitating them. The boy followed Scabby-Bull and Warrior out of the lodge, and they circled around in an open place, and when they entered the lodge again, this young man had many white spots upon his back, with a background of black, all together representing the fawn skin, and also the heavens. These marks upon the young man were to show Scabby-Bull that the deer and the moon had left him and the womanish feelings had gone out of the boy. (It seems that Scabby-Bull had power through the deer, which, it seems, was under the influence of the moon, and thus Scabby-Bull helped the boy.) Now Scabby-Bull, Warrior, and the boy, after entering the lodge, sat down, Scabby-Bull and Warrior singing deer songs all night, while the boy sat by them.

As the sun was about to appear in the east, Scabby-Bull sang one of his deer songs about the sun, at the same time telling the young man now to walk out of the entrance of the earth lodge, and stand facing the east, and look at the sun as it should come up. When the sun was high, Scabby-Bull called the boy into the lodge again, seating him in the west by himself. Scabby-Bull looked upon the forehead of the boy, and there he saw a picture of one half of the sun, which was done by a ray from the sun touching upon his forehead. Scabby-Bull was glad of this, for he knew that his powers had worked, but that the sun had not yet given the boy a man’s feeling, for only a part of the sun was pictured upon his forehead. Scabby-Bull had now done with the boy. He sent for the boy’s relatives and they came in. They saw the paintings upon the boy’s forehead and upon his back. Scabby-Bull told them that the boy would never be made entirely well, but that the process of becoming a woman had been checked. The boy was now told to go out of the lodge and to play. The decorations on his back and on his forehead were to remain until the paint itself came off.

Soon after Scabby-Bull cured this boy, another boy walked over a place where lightning had struck the ground, so that his ankle was sprained and swollen. Medicine-men were sent for, but the boy’s foot did not get well. At last Scabby-Bull was sent for and he cured the boy, taking the power of the lightning away from the boy, so that he could walk again.

Scabby-Bull did many other wonderful things, and as the people say : “ Although he could do many wonderful things, he was like a real animal,” but death took him away.

Scabby-Bull being a prominent medicine-man, his brothers wanted to kill another powerful medicine-man, who they thought was jealous of him and had caused his death. The other medicine-man was not killed, however, for white people told the chiefs that the disease of which Scabby-Bull died was lung trouble.

60. THE STORY OF COYOTE.249

Coyote, a tricky man, lays claim to the achievement of a poor boy who has shot the wonderful red bird, and in the boy’s place marries the chief’s eldest daughter; after the boy has obtained from the animals magic garments, and married a second daughter of the chief, Coyote steals these robes and impersonates him, but is detected and banished ; from animals he learns the art of creating food by self-mutilation, but abuses and forfeits the power ; he ungratefully kills a friendly bear, whose flesh he proposes to eat, but is caught between two hollow trees ; he learns the secrets of a medicine-man whom he puts to death, practises the trade, and kills his first patient ; he seeks power to fly from buzzards, who deposit him in a hollow tree ; he is released by women, in whose village he kills and eats a baby; he returns to the first village, again undertakes to assume the character of the poor boy, but is discovered and burned at the stake ; he revives in the form of a little hairy man, occasionally seen in the timber, and known as “ Mysterious-Being; ” whoever catches sight of him sickens.

There was a big village, and on the west side of the village lived Coyote with his family. Although Coyote was a man, people could see hair upon his breast, so that they knew that he was Coyote, and was tricky.

On the south side of the village lived an old woman and a little boy, her grandson. Coyote, roaming through the woods, would stop and stand, and would go whooping to a tree, to get the attention of some other animal in the timber. He was known all over the country.

Now in the village there were certain days when a red bird flew over and sat on a dry limb of a high tree, when the attention of the whole village would be turned to the red color of the bird. The people would turn out, — men and young boys, — - shoot at this red bird and try to kill him, but the red bird would never be killed. Coyote would be among them, trying to shoot the red bird. Toward evening the red bird would fly up and fly toward the west, when the redness died out as the sun went down.

The old woman and her grandson were very poor ; their tipi was patched up with hide that the old woman had picked up through the village. She used to go through the village picking up things for herself and the boy to eat. The grandmother had a half of a robe that she had picked up in the village. The boy also had a piece of robe about him that she had also picked up in the village. This was foul, on account of the boy’s lying on it nights and urinating on it, so that it had a bad odor. The boy’s hair was never brushed down nor combed. The boy grew up, so that now his grandmother made him a bow and arrows.

The boy went off one day, hunting birds and small game. He came back. He told his grandmother of meeting some mysterious beings in the water. He went away again soon after and stayed for several days. He came back and stayed for some time.

One day, while he was out hunting, a raccoon ran up the tree. The boy climbed the tree after the raccoon, trying to catch him to kill him. The limb that he was on broke. On falling to the ground he fell on another short limb that was sticking out, making a large cut on his thigh.

Now he was laid up for some time. In the night the old woman would hear mysterious noises about the boy, so that she did not know what to make of it. It was not long before the boy was well again, a large scar having been left on his thigh. All this time the old woman was becoming hungry. The boy was hungry. The people in the village were now hungry, for they had nothing to eat. Now and then the people would kill a deer, or small game, and everybody rushed to the tipi where this meat was brought ; now it was very hard for anybody to throw anything away, so that the old woman did not have a chance to pick up any meat or corn.

One day the boy asked the old woman if she was hungry. She said, “Yes.” The little boy said: “Well, grandmother, I will kill some game for you ; hold up the entrance covering.” The old woman went out and said : “ My poor boy, what can I do now for you ? ” But the boy took his bow and arrow and shot the arrow at the entrance. When the old woman closed the entrance the boy inside said : “ Grandmother, look, you will see by my arrow a snowbird that I have killed ; 250 bring it in and cook it, so that you can eat it.” The old woman went hunting the arrow, and sure enough, there was a snowbird lying by the arrow. She picked up the bird and the arrow, and took the arrow back to the boy. The snowbird she took, picked the feathers off from it, and laid it on hot coals and roasted it.

The next day, in the morning, the boy commanded the old woman again to hold up the entrance covering. The old woman held up the covering and the boy shot out again, and this time, when the old woman went to look for the arrow, she found a rabbit lying by. She brought it in, skinned it, and cooked it, so that they ate. For several days the boy killed rabbits this way, so that they had plenty to eat.

One day the boy commanded the old woman to hold up the covering of the entrance, and he shot. When the old woman went to the place where the arrow was shot, she found a fat jack-rabbit trying to

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get away with the arrow, which had pierced through its side. She picked this up, took it in, skinned it and cooked it, and they ate it. The boy then told the old woman that he was about to kill some big game ; that he wanted her to dig a kind of cellar in their tipi ; and that he wanted her to store away a little meat. So the next morning the boy again told the old woman to hold up the covering of the entrance, and before the boy shot he put the point of the arrow in the fire, so that the point became hard. Then he shot out of the entrance, and the old woman went to get the arrow, and she found that the arrow had pierced through the side of a deer. She killed the deer, took it into the tipi and skinned it, boiled it and ate it.

For several days they ate of the deer, and when all the meat was gone except what the old woman had jerked and put away in the cellar, the boy again commanded the old woman to hold up the covering of the entrance, and he shot again, and this time killed a buffalo calf. The old woman took the calf into the tipi, skinned it, cut it up, and they lived on this calf for several days.

When this meat was gone, they again made preparation for the boy to shoot. Again the boy commanded his grandmother to hold up the covering of the entrance. He ran up again and pulled his bow as hard as he could and shot, and as he shot he made a war-whoop. The boy went and sat down, and put his bow and arrows on the side of the tipi. The old woman went and found a large buffalo cow lying there. She dragged it to the tipi, and she and the boy skinned it, taking the meat inside. The old woman took off some of the best meat, jerked and dried it, put it in a parfleche, tied it up and threw it down into the cellar. She would then cook the bones, for there was plenty of meat on the bones, and this they ate.

So the boy would shoot, and each time the old woman would find it was a buffalo he had killed. She would take off the meat, jerk it, dry it and put it away, and the bones they would eat. Now for several days the boy did this, so that they had plenty of meat. They were not hungry. The old woman was preparing to make a new tipi, by taking the buffalo hides that the boy had provided.

One day the boy was sitting in his tipi, when he heard the crier go through the village, saying that the chief had ordered all to be out that afternoon ; that it was the afternoon that the red bird would visit their village again ; and that he wanted all the men, old and young, to come out with their bows and arrows, and if anybody should kill the bird, they might marry his daughter. The young man stood up, reached up to where his bow and arrows were, and said : “ Grandmother, I am going to kill that red bird, so that I shall marry the chief’s daughter, and then we shall have a good home.” The old woman went to the boy, raised her hands and laid them on his head, and then passed her hands down upon his body, crying as she did this, for she felt sad that her grandson wished to kill the red bird and marry the chief’s daughter.261 She did not believe that all this could happen.

Now the boy went, anyhow, and as he went out he saw a great crowd outside, all shooting and yelling, shooting at the red bird, for the red bird had sat upon the limb where it always did, making the village red. The men folks shot at the red bird, but they could not hit it. The other young men all shot at it, but could not hit it.

Then the young boy came close to the crowd. The men turned around and said : “ Here comes this poor boy ; he will be the one to kill this red bird ; make room for him.” So the boy went among the crowd, and he watched, as everybody shot at the bird ; the second time, when they all took aim at the red bird, he also took aim at the red bird. When he let the arrow go, he shot the bird, and everybody rushed after it. The poor boy went to his arrow, and when he picked it up found a few feathers upon it, which he hid at once. The other men piled upon one another where the red bird had fallen, and Coyote jumped in, and, being tricky, got the red bird ; so he claimed the honor of marrying the chief’s daughter. The bird was taken to the tipi, and the chief was told that Coyote had killed the red bird.

Now the red bird was hung up in the chief’s tipi, and instead of giving a bright red color in the tipi, the bird gave a yellow color.

The girl put off the marriage for a few days, but the little boy on picking up his arrow had found feathers, which he had hidden under his robe ; and when he got to his grandmother’s place he said : “ Grandmother, put this red bird that I have killed on the side of our tipi, inside.” The old woman took the bird (for the feathers that were on the arrow had turned into a whole red bird, and the other bird that Coyote had picked up was now mere feathers, and they were yellow). The grandmother hung up the red bird in the lodge, which made the tipi very red inside.

In a few days the oldest daughter married Coyote. One morning, while a man was passing the tipi of the poor boy and the grandmother, he smelt burnt meat. He was very hungry. He went toward it and peeped in, and there were the boy and the grandmother, eating meat. He entered and asked for something to eat, and they gave him something, and he noticed also that inside of the tipi it was very, very red, and he saw that the red bird was hanging there. After he went out, he went to the village, directly to the chief’s tipi, whispered to the chief and said: “ There must be some mistake. This bird that this man has killed you can see is yellow. It is not the real bird. Coyote must have made a mistake. I have just come from the tipi of the poor boy, who has the red bird in his tipi.’-’

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The chief sent his messenger to the boy’s tipi, and the messenger saw that it was the red bird, and he went and reported to the chief. The chief sent for the boy and asked him if he killed the red bird. The boy said: “Yes, I killed it. You can send for it, and have the bird here.” The messenger was sent, and the bird was brought, and as the bird was hung up on a pole in the chiefs tipi it made the- tipi very red. They knew it was the real bird. About this time Coyote was gone ; he had fled.

When the girls saw the poor boy they said : “ Skawit, you can have the boy.” The younger daughter said it was all right, she would take him. Their bed was at the entrance, while Coyote and the oldest daughter had theirs on the west side of the lodge. Coyote became very jealous of the little fellow. He wanted to get rid of him. Although Coyote tried to get the boy out, he could not do it, for the boy was suspicious of him.

One day the young boy told the girl to go home with him. They went home and stayed there until evening. Then the boy told the girl to go with him to a pond close by, which was very deep. The boy told the girl to sit down on the bank. He said : “Now you see my leg ? I have a big scar on my thigh. I am going upon this pond, and shall be gone for some time. If you get tired waiting for me, go home, and I will be there.” So the boy undressed and walked into the pond, and as he went he was asked by the girl if he was in the centre of the pond, and he would say, “ No.” Then she told the boy that he was in the centre of the pond. The boy dived, disappeared, and stayed a long time under the water. After a while she became tired. She stood up and started for home. She heard somebody come up from the water. As he moved his legs she could hear the owls hooting. She hurried to get away from him, but the young man followed her. He came up with her and told her to stop. She stopped. She did not know him, for he was well dressed. He had on fine moccasins ; his leggings were decorated with several different kinds of birds, but the owls were more numerous on the leggings. His robe had fine-smelling grass upon it. The holes along the edge of his robe had sweet grass run through them, so that it made the robe smell good. He had a cap on, made of woodpeckers’ heads, the heads placed in front, and the feathers behind. The young boy had been changed to a fine young handsome man. He had long hair. He tried to make the girl believe that it was he, but she would not believe it. He had to take his leggings down to show the scar that was on his leg. When she saw it, she knew it was he.

They went home together, and when they were near their tipi the owls hooted so much that the folks wondered what it was, but as they entered the tipi they knew it was the boy. When they entered the tipi, they took off their clothes and he hung them up. Once in a while the owls would hoot. In the morning the other birds on the leggings would sing.

Coyote saw that his wife and the other girls liked the young man that was now changed, and it did not please him. He got up a scheme to do away with him and to steal his clothing, so that now he would own the clothing and might marry all the sisters. So one day he asked the boy to go hunting with him through the timber. The boy said that he would go. Coyote always carried a quiver made out of several raccoon hides, so that the coon tails hung down on the quiver all along the side of it ; it had many tails on. So Coyote said that he would go through the timber and see where he could find some game. He came to a big dried cottonwood, without any bark on it, and hollow. He climbed this tree, and the tails he cut off from his quiver and stuck them in the cottonwood-tree, to make anybody believe that there were many raccoons in the tree. When Coyote came back he said: “ My brother, let us go hunting now; I have found a good place.” The boy said : “ All right.” So they went.

On going through the timber they came to this tree, and Coyote said : “Look here. Here is a tree, and there must be some raccoons here.” The boy looked up, and sure enough, there were tails sticking out. Coyote said : “ Climb up and drive them out ; I will stay right here and kill them.” So the boy started to climb, and Coyote told the boy he had better climb without his clothing. So the boy took off his moccasins, leggings, robe, and cap. As soon as the boy commenced to climb the tree he heard Coyote strike the tree with his bow and say : “ Stretch ! I say stretch ! Get along ! ” The boy turned around and said : “ What did you say ? ” “ Oh, I am trying to get my bow to stretch out, so that if the raccoons come jumping down here I can hit them.” So the boy kept on climbing, and when he got to a certain height, old Coyote began to hit the tree harder, saying : “ Grow taller! Tree, I say grow taller ! ” Every time he hit the tree it began to grow high. So the boy was away up on a limb, and no way for him ever to get down.

Coyote sat down, put the leggings on, and the owls stopped hooting. He put the cap on, and the robe, and started for home. On putting on the cap that had the woodpecker’s’ heads, they began to peck, so that he did not like it, for it hurt him, and he begged the birds to keep still, saying he would be good to them. He got home in the night. He said that the boy had gone off, not to return ; that the animals had selected himself to wear the clothing, and that now he was the man that they must all look to ; and that he was to have all the girls, and Skawit with them, for of course the boy had gone off, never to return.

But all this time the boy was up on the tree. An eagle came to

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him and said : “We will take you down. I will first send my errandman to you, who is to take you so far.” So the buzzard came, and told the boy to mount on him ; that he would take him down. So the boy got on the buzzard, and the buzzard went down, down, down, until he was tired and got to his tree again ; then he told the boy to sit on the tree, when another bird would come to help him down. After a while the eagle himself came. The eagle took the boy down a certain distance ; then he stopped. Then a hawk came and carried him down and let him rest on the tree again. Then a crow came, and he took him down to the ground.

As soon as the boy was put upon the ground the owls on the leggings began to hoot. Coyote was lying down with his wife, and when he heard them hooting he would put up his hand and say : “ Keep still! Do not make so much noise! Keep still!” The owls knew that the boy had come back to the ground, and that he would soon be there.

The boy came, entered the tipi, and went to bed with his wife, and the next morning, when the chief rose and was told what Coyote had done, he ordered Coyote away from his tipi and out of his village, and told him he must now go and live somewhere else. So the clothing was returned to the boy, and Coyote was sent away. He returned to his own home, where his children were.

They were starving. So he put his raccoon quiver upon his back and went out into the timber to hunt game. He walked along through the timber, and then he would stop and look around, and make a noise : “ Hoo ! Hoo ! ” to get the attention of some animal.

While he was standing there he heard some one call to him, speaking to him, who said: “ Grandfather, are you here ? ” Coyote said: “Yes, I am here, grandchild, and I am very hungry, and my children are hungry, and I do not know what to do to get anything for them to eat.” He added: “Grandchild, I would like you to help me get something to eat.” As it proved, it was a large male beaver. The beaver said : “ Grandfather, go and get some dry driftwood that is rotten.” Coyote went and got some, and when it was touched it would break easily. The beaver said: “Now come. You must be careful. I know you ; you are tricky.” The beaver said : “Now cut my scrotum.” Coyote cut his scrotum, and there came out a quantity of grease. The beaver now poured the grease over this driftwood ; he told Coyote to stir it up, and it turned into pemmican — a little pounded meat mixed with fat. He told Coyote to eat it. Coyote ate it. It was good. He wanted more, but the beaver told him he could not have any more. Coyote begged the beaver to give him the same power, but the beaver would not do it. “ You are tricky. You might hurt yourself,” said the beaver. Finally the beaver yielded, and told Coyote to do the same thing.

So Coyote went home. When he arrived, he called his children and asked if they were hungry, and they all said, “Yes.” He told them that he had learned something ; that he wanted something for them to eat. He told the children to go and get a lot of dry driftwood, and they brought it. “Now,” said he, “old woman, come here. Get your knife and cut my scrotum.” The old woman obeyed, and cut it ; and a quantity of grease poured out over the dry driftwood, which all turned into fat meat. He said: “Children, eat it.” The children ate it. They ate it all up. Coyote wanted to know what they thought about it. They said that it was fine food to eat. He asked if they wanted any more. They said, “Yes.” “Well,” he said, “get some more dry driftwood.” The old woman got her knife again, cut the old man, and more grease was secured. Then they wanted more again. Coyote got some more, for he wanted them to have plenty. Again the old woman came with her knife and cut his scrotum, and, instead of grease coming out, blood poured out. Coyote began to grow frightened. He yelled and cried and said : “ Old woman, you have hurt me.” So he got up, ran to where the beaver was, cried, and told the beaver that he had made a mistake ; that the old woman had cut him too deep the first time, and made the blood come out. “Yes,” said the beaver, “ I know you. You have done it too many times.” The beaver then got some medicine, poured it on Coyote, healed him, and sent him on. He told him that he should not have the power any more ; that his power was taken from him, for he had exercised it too many times.

Coyote went home and stayed several days, until he got well. After that he took another trip through the timber. While he was going through a hollow there was a sound of “ Hoo ! Hoo ! ” directly above him. Somebody hallooed to him. “ Grandfather, is it you?” said the voice. Coyote looked up and saw a great big male squirrel, eating pecans. So he called him down and told him that he was hard pressed and wanted something to eat. The squirrel came down. He said : “ I can give you something to eat ; but you are very tricky. You must do just as" I tell you.” Coyote said: “All right.” So the squirrel stood at the bottom of the pecan-tree. He put one of his legs up against the tree so that his scrotum hung down, and he told the old man to cut his scrotum. He did so, and out poured a quantity of pecans, all ready to eat. Old Coyote began to eat them. Now he wanted more, but the squirrel would not give him any. Then Coyote wanted him to give him the same power that he had, to make the pecans. So the squirrel told Coyote he could do the same thing that he himself had done, but told him he must not do it often. So Coyote ran to his children and yelled, as he neared the tipi, for the woman to come there, for he was going to make some-

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thing for them to eat. The woman came out, and went to where Coyote was standing. Coyote removed his breechcloth, lifted his left leg, and rested his foot upon a pecan-tree, so that his scrotum hung down. He told the old woman to get under him, get hold of his scrotum and cut it. She cut the scrotum, and as she squeezed it, pecans, all ready to eat, dropped out. He did this so many times that at last the woman, on cutting him, cut him too deep and hurt him, so that the blood came. He ran back to the place where the squirrels were, and he cried to them for help, and told his grandson that the first time he tried it, his wife cut him too deep, so that he bled. The squirrel cured him and took his power from him, so that he could not do that any more.

After getting well, Coyote went through the timber again, and he would stop here and there in the timber and would give a hooting noise. He did not see anybody, so he walked on through the timber, and at last he saw somebody coming. He stopped. He saw it was a bear. He went on. He met the bear, and he said: “Hello, grandfather, which way are you going ? ” The bear said : “ My grandson, I am going home. I have a long way to travel. I live upon the sidehill yonder.” So they passed one another, and Coyote then ran through the timber, then around, on across the creek, then came back where he had travelled before. He crossed the creek and took a handful of mud, put it all over his face and body, mostly on his lips, so that when the sun dried it, his lips were chapped with the dry mud. He then went on and met the bear again. The bear saw Coyote coming, and hallooed at him and wanted to know where he was going. Coyote said he was going through the timber to his home. He asked where the bear was going, and the bear told him he was going home. Coyote then turned to the bear and said : “ Grandson, you ought to take pity on your grandfather, for your grandfather is very hungry. He has had no meat of any kind, and he is starving for want of some grease. You can see his lips — they need a lot of grease.” The bear said he knew he could help him, but, as he knew Coyote was very tricky, he did not like to give him a chance to cut him. Coyote said that he would be very careful. If he would only permit him to cut a little place in the loin, so that he could cut off a little piece of food, he could put the grease on his mouth and it would do him a whole lot of good. The bear did not like to do it, for he knew that Coyote was tricky, but at last he yielded. The bear said: “Now mind, do not cut too deep.” Coyote said he would not, as he wanted just a little piece of the fat from his back, so he could put it on his lips. So the bear lay down, and Coyote took his knife and cut the back of the bear, and the bear would move and say that it was hurting him, and Coyote would say :

“ I have just begun to cut a little bit, not deep.” But Coyote took one of his spiked arrows and ran it into the hole that he had made in the back; he pushed it pretty quick, and as he did so he said: “I thought I could fool you, but now I will kill you.” He ran the arrow into the hole several times and killed the bear.

He then took out his knife and began to skin the bear and cut him up. After he had cut him all up and the meat was piled there, he collected a quantity of dry wood and came to a place where there was an old dead cottonwood-tree, with all its limbs broken off, where he began to pack his meat. He did so, then piled a lot of dry limbs and made a great fire. He then began to set pieces of meat around the fire to roast, and some he put on sharp sticks and stuck them in the ground around the fire. While he was waiting for the meat to cook, he was cutting up the meat, and tying it so that he would have it ready to carry home.

While he was doing this there were two elm-trees standing there, which were rubbing one another, so that when the wind blew these two trees would make a squeaking noise, and that would frighten Coyote. Then he would look up and say : “ Don’t say that any more ! Don’t say that any more ! I have plenty of meat here to take home to my children. Now if you do that again I will come up and punish you, so that you won’t make that noise any more ! ” The squeaking went on. Coyote was angry ; he climbed the tree. He put his hand up in the place where the limbs were rubbing and scratching one another, and said : “ Say, now say it again ! I dare you to say it again ! ” While he was feeling with his hand, the trees came together again and his hand was caught. So he was held fast. He tried to get away, but he could not. Once in a while he would say : “Now, grandchildren, let me loose ; I won’t talk badly to you any more.”

While he was fast he looked, and saw a big pack of coyotes coming along the creek, and he hallooed at them: “You coyotes must not come this way, for I have got something to eat,” said he. One of the coyotes said: “He yells at us, he says something about something to eat.” But he was trying to drive them away. So the coyotes ran to the place where he was, and there they found a big pile of meat, and some of it roasted. They began to help themselves to all that there was around. Coyote made all sorts of movements, trying to scare them away, so that they would leave some meat for him ; but he was held fast, and could not get down, and the coyotes took everything he had ; so the coyotes went off with bellies full.

Just about the time they got out of sight, the trees parted and let Coyote loose. So he went down and talked pretty loudly around the place where he had had his meat, and once in a while he would cry and say : “ I wish I had got loose when those fellows were around

Animal Tales.

here.” Then he would put his fingers on the grease spots where the grease had fallen from the meat that was being roasted, and he would scrape up the grease, and that is all he got, and he would put it on his lips.

Now Coyote went toward the timber again, and he found a man going through the timber. This man wore a cap that was made of an entire buzzard skin. He also carried an eagle wing in his left hand, and a gourd 262 rattle in his right hand. This man had a bundle about two feet long, and this bundle was his medicine bundle, which he carried upon his back ; and Coyote met him. “ My grandson, where are you going ? ” said he. This man said : “ I am a medicine-man ; I am going to a village toward the south, where I am curing a young man who was wounded in a battle ; his father is chief of the village.” Coyote said : “Ah, and what do you do when you approach the village ?” This bundle resting on the back of the man was really a Coyote bundle. Coyote-Bundle said : “ I stop near the village and sing and dance. Then I move on and I stop again and sing and dance again. Again I go on and stop again, and I sing and dance again. Again I go on. I am near the village now, and stop and sing and dance. Then the four men from the chiefs tipi come with a blanket, and they spread the blanket on the ground, and they put me on the blanket and carry me into the chief’s tipi ; they set me on the west side of the fireplace in the tipi, and there I take my bundle off and set it down.” Then he said : “ I am now to cease healing the boy, for he is getting well. I get my pay this afternoon. The people are all to move out of their lodges, and they are to move about half a mile from the village, and I am to have a certain ceremony with only myself and the sick man, then I will let him go, I will finish the ceremony and get my pay for healing the boy.” Coyote said: “And how do you sing that song? and how do you dance ? ” So Coyote-Bundle sang a song. Coyote-Bundle would sing this song, then when he got to the middle of the song, he would sing faster, then he would dance around a circle, spreading his arms out, rattling the gourd. Coyote would say : “ Grandson, sing that again, I like it ; and dance it.” This man would sing and dance again, and Coyote learned the song. “And you, after healing this young man,” he would say, “what else are you to do?” “Nothing,” said he, “ only I am to make a fire in the lodge, and there set a pot of water by the fire, so I can wash his wound, and that is all there is to it.” Coyote said : “ Well, suppose you dance for me again ; let me hear that song again.” The old man sang the song and then danced. “ I like that ; dance again ; sing again and dance, and I will help you,” said Coyote. They both danced. Now when Coyote thought he knew the song, he took his club and hit the old man on the head and killed him.

Coyote now took the buzzard and put it on his head. He took the eagle wing and the gourd, and put the robe around him so as to cover his breast, for he had hair on his breast. He hid his quiver, which was made of raccoon. Then he got the bundle and put it on his back. Then he would look at his shadow, and say : “ I wonder if I look all right ? ” Then he would dance and sing, and then he would say: “I guess that is all right.” He kept on going through the timber, and after a time he came inside the village and he stopped and danced the dance. The people saw him. Then he went on and danced again. He went and danced again. The fourth time he danced, he rested, and sure enough, four men came with a robe, and they spread this upon the ground, and they set Coyote on it. They carried him into the lodge and set him in the west. He set his bundle down. The boy was set by him, with his back toward the fire and his face toward the lodge. Coyote spoke and said: “You all know what I said. This is my last day with this boy. I am to cease using my medicine on him.” And he told the people to move away from the village. They made a big fire, and they set the pot of water by the fire, and the people went off and stood at a distance.

Now Coyote and the boy were left alone in the lodge. Coyote hung the pot of water over the fire to warm up the water. The boy was sitting with his back to the fire. The wound was about to be healed up. Coyote went and got a long pole, and this he put in the fire, then took out his knife and sharpened it at one end, ran around, ran up to the young man with the long stick, and he would lay his hand upon the place where the sore was. Then he would run around the fireplace, then up to the young man. All at once he ran up to him, took his sharp stick and ran it into the wound that was about to be healed, so that the boy bent over and lay down and died, and that is the way Coyote killed him. Then he cut the young man up, put the meat in the pot and boiled it. Then he filled one pot after another, eating the boy.

While he was eating, there was a little snake which came crawling in the entrance, and Coyote said : “ Ah, come this way. I am glad you came ; I am having a good time in here ; I will give you something to eat.” So the little snake crawled up to him and Coyote then took a piece of human flesh, a long strip which he had cut. It was long, and this he made the snake eat, so that it choked him, and a little piece stuck out of its mouth. He then drove' the snake out, and Coyote began eating his meat again. The snake crawled out of the lodge and went where the people were standing, but he was slow about going. He had something in his mouth that was choking him, and he could not travel very fast and he could not speak, so that Coyote took the buzzard cap off and put it down in the lodge with the bundle, and he went off, after eating up the boy, and went into the timber.

Now the snake had crawled up where the people were, and was trying to say something, but they could not hear anything. All they could hear was a whisper ; so one of the men said : “ This snake is saying something. ’ And the people would stop making a noise, and the snake would say in a whisper: “Killed him, long ago.” They could make out finally what he said. Then they struck out for the lodge, and there the poor boy’s bones were found. They followed Coyote, but he was gone, and he had been gone for some time. Then they knew it was not the real Coyote medicine-man, but it was Crow-Feathers, — Coyote.

So Coyote went on, and he knew that the people were all against him, because he had done so much mischief in the different villages, so he thought he would try and go to some birds and get them to give him power to fly ; then he would be up in the sky where people would not be able to find him. He went on, and he came to a high hill. Coyote climbed the high hill, and on the hill he found four buzzards sitting. He said : “ Ah, grandchildren, I am glad to find you here ; I want you to help me. I have been through the timber, hunting game, so that I might take something home to give to my children, but I have not found any game. Will you help me, and take me with you when you fly, and take me up high, so I can look through the timber and see the game, just as well as you can ? ” The buzzards said they were willing to help him, but they wanted him to stay there, for they wanted to look over the country and see where the best place was to fly over with him. So two of the buzzards flew up and flew over the tops of the trees, and for a long time they were gone, and at last they came back and said: “We know the way now where we want to go.” So the two buzzards got together and put their wings together. They made Coyote lie on their wings, one hand holding the neck of one buzzard, the other hand over the neck of the other. Then he would say : “ Now fly.” Then he would say : “ Stop ! Stop ! Stop ! This is too bad ; I cannot bear it.” Then the buzzards would say : “ Well, we knew you would do that. Now you must close your eyes and keep them shut, and when we tell you to look you may look.” So Coyote said : “ All right.” Then the buzzards rose up with Coyote between them, his arms stretched over their necks. They flew up with him, went high up, then they told him to look. He looked a little and closed his eyes, and said : “ I cannot bear it ; I do not want to look.” Then the buzzards told him not to open his eyes till they told him to. The two other buzzards were in the lead, as if to clear the way for the other two, who were flying with Coyote. All at once the two other buzzards in the lead stopped, which was just as much as to say : “ Here we are ; this is where we want you to stop.” The buzzards said : “ My grandfather, we are about to light on a tree. Keep your eyes a certain way, and when we have put you on the tree, open your eyes and then we will give you another ride.” “All right, all right, grandchildren,” he said. The buzzards flew around, and then, all at once, they seemed to fly straight up, and then downward, and then, all at once, the buzzards flew one to the right and the other to the left, dropping Coyote, so that he fell in a hollow log, and down he went, screaming and yelling. The two buzzards who flew away first had selected this hollow tree to put Coyote in, and they had found it and led the others to it. Now the buzzards flew away and left Coyote in the hollow tree, and Coyote was very angry.

The tree was cracked at the base, so Coyote took his knife out and made a hole through it. He listened and looked around and did not hear anything. Then he made another hole in another place, for the tree was not thick. Then at another place he made another hole, so that he had holes all around the tree, so that he could go from one hole to another, where he would look out.

One day he looked out of one of these holes, and he saw a great company of people travelling toward the place where he was. They were people travelling through the country. They made their camp in the timber, and the women took up their pack strings and axes, and went out to pack wood for their fire. Coyote took his quiver of raccoon hide, — for his quiver had many raccoon tails on it, — cut the tails off and stuck the tails in the holes, so that when the women came to this high tree they saw raccoon tails sticking out, and they would try to pull the tails, and Coyote would pull the tails inside. So the women began to shout : “Here are a lot of raccoons in this high tree; let us chop it down.” So one of the women began to chop and call the others to come, saying that the tree was not thick. So the women chopped around the tree, till the tree fell over, and there, to their astonishment, was a man sitting, as dignified as possible. He scolded them for tearing down his tree, but it was just the thing he wanted.

The women ran away, so he got out and went around the village. He found some women that were picking up wood, and he found that a woman had left her baby on a baby-board, leaning against the tree, the baby in it. While the women were picking up wood, Coyote went up to the board, took the baby out and cut its neck off, tied the baby-board up nicely again, placed the head in its place, and the body he took off and roasted, and ate it.253 The woman, after they were through picking up the wood, went back to the board and thought the child was asleep, but as she swung the baby-board to

Animal Tales.

put it on her back, the child’s head dropped out. Now the women knew that Coyote had done this.

Coyote ran away from this place and went around until he came to the place of the grandmother of the poor boy. Coyote talked to the old woman, and she told him that the boy was away ; that he had left his clothing there in her tipi. So Coyote went off. In the night he went to the place and stole the clothing, and, although the owls and other birds hooted at him, the grandmother did not pay any attention to it, for she thought it was her grandson. Coyote took the things out, put them on, and as he went through the village, the owls stopped hooting, so that he had to make the hooting noise himself, to make the people believe that he was the boy. In casam principis ingressus est, nec ad uxorem suam ivit, sicut solitus est, sed cum vestem detraxisset, cum puella concubuit, et initium ludendi fecit, quae res ei mira videbatur, nunquam antea enim puer conatus erat ut ita faceret.

When the boy came back to his grandmother’s he found his clothing gone. The boy went up to the chief’s tipi, and he saw that old Coyote was lying in his bed. He turned around and went out. All this time the owls were hooting, and Coyote would say : “ Oh, do not make this noise, for I want to go to sleep.” But the owls were hooting, for they knew that the boy was near by. Before morning the boy had gone to his grandmother’s and had told his grandmother to go and get the chief. The chief came to his tipi, and as he saw the boy he knew that there was something wrong, for he saw somebody with his daughter. So the boy told the chief that Coyote had played a trick on him and that he wanted him to be punished.

So the chief said it was proper, and he would see to it. So the chief, before sunrise, had a crier go through the village, to tell the people they must bring a quantity of dry wood and leave it before the chief’s tipi. This done, the chief went to the four men who were brave, and sent them into the tipi to get Coyote and to tie him fast. So these men went to the tipi and got Coyote, tied his hands and legs, took him out of the tipi and laid him upon the top of the pile of wood that had been brought. Fire was brought and kindled under the wood, so that the pile of wood now began to burn ; as the wood was consumed Coyote burned up, and as he was burning, his belly burst open — like thunder — and made a loud report. They afterwards saw him as a little bit of a man with hair on. Always afterwards he was known as “ Mysterious-Being ; ” so this kind of people was known to exist in the timber. People on seeing them become sick, some nearly dying.

Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee .

61. COYOTE RESCUES A MAIDEN.264

Through the act of Coyote, a girl who has the power of attracting buffalo is carried off by these and transformed into a ring. Coyote steals the ring, which by the aid of badger, fox, crow, hawk, and blackbird, is carried home, and the ring changed back to a maiden.

A long time ago there were four brothers who lived with their sister in a timbered country. They made an earth lodge, a very, very large earth lodge. The girl was kept in the earth lodge, and whenever the brothers wanted to kill buffalo they used to go to the timber, to cut many dogwood sticks and to pick up flint stones. Then they would sit down and make arrows. Each arrow had a flint at one end, and feathers at the other end.

When they had plenty of arrows they called out their sister and put her in a swing they had outside the lodge, and they would swing her. As soon as they saw the dust rising up in the horizon they knew that the buffalo were coming; one of the boys would take the girl from the swing, take her in the earth lodge, place her in a parfleche, pull the ropes attached to the parfleche on the long pole in the lodge, hoist her up and tie the strings at the bottom of the post. Then he would go to help his brother kill the buffalo. Buffalo became numerous at these times, and the brothers killed many, many buffalo. Finally the buffalo came up, turned around and ran back into their country. These boys had done so much that their lodge was half full of parfleches filled with dried meat.

One day the brothers went off, and*while they were gone Coyote made a visit to the girl. “ Granddaughter, I am very hungry, I want something to eat,” said he. The girl said : “ Grandfather, you shall have all you want to eat.” She went in and roasted some dried meat and put some of the fat over the fire. She put the fat with the meat, so as to make it soft, took it out and offered it to her grandfather. He said he did not want that, but wanted ‘something soft. So the girl went in, set her mortar, and with her pestle pounded the meat up, mixing it with fat. This she offered Coyote, but Coyote said he did not want any ; that he wanted some fresh meat. She told Coyote that she had some which her brothers had killed just before they went away, and he said no, he did not want that kind of meat ; he wanted meat he himself had killed ; and that he would very much like to have her sit in the swing for a while and let him swing1 her just a little. He said that his quiver was filled with many arrows, and he thought he could kill buffalo. But the girl said : “ No, grandfather, you had better wait till my brothers come. They know just how to do this. They can kill the buffalo, but you cannot do it alone. The buffalo might come and carry me off, and then my brothers would be angry if

SKIDI GAMES

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Animal Tales.

I were carried off.” But Coyote insisted, and said that he would not swing her high, but just a little bit.

The girl finally yielded. She got in the swing. Coyote emptied his quiver, poured the arrows out, fixed on his bow-string and placed his protector in place on his wrist. Now the girl consented to get in the swing, and although the old man swung her as slowly as he could, finally the girl was swung very high. Many buffalo came from every direction, and when she was swung low the buffalo would not come. She knew this. She told her grandfather to swing her easily. Now he swung her, and instead of swinging her easily, he pushed her, and she swung, and as she came back, he pushed her again. She hallooed for him not to do so again, but he kept on till she swung very high.

Now he saw many buffalo coming. He picked up his bow and arrows and began to shoot at them. The buffalo did not seem to care for his shooting, and he finally threw away his bow and arrows, turned into a coyote, and ran off. The girl was hooked by the buffalo and was carried away.

When the buffalo had disappeared, Coyote came from his hidingplace. Coyote had found a big drift along the creek, and in this he had hid. When he came up, he saw that the girl had been taken away. Then he did not know what to do next. His bow and arrows were trampled in the ground. So he went down to the creek, found a mud-hole, and in this he wallowed.

About this time the girl’s brothers came. They missed their sister. They knew that somebody had been there and had coaxed her to swing, and they knew also that the buffalo had her. Coyote saw them, and came up from the mud-hole all daubed with mud. He called to the boys and said : “ Grandchildren, I came here and was very hungry, I asked your sister for something to eat ; but you know your grandfather is getting old and he does not like dry meat, but likes fresh meat, so I asked her to swing for me and three times she refused to swing for me. The fourth time she consented, for I told her that I thought I could kill the buffalo as they came near to her; not knowing how high she must swing, and being afraid the buffalo might not come, I swung her high. The buffalo came, I shot at them, and they nearly ran over me. I had to throw my bow and arrows away, and I ran down to the creek and hid. I shall go after the girl, and she will return here to you.”

The young men were angry with Coyote, but he said that he would go and bring her back. They let him alone, to see if he would bring her back. So Coyote started on his journey, and as he went he met a rusty-blackbird, who asked him where he was going. He said he was going to try to attack the buffalo ; that they had taken from him his granddaughter. The bird said he would like to join Coyote, who said that it was well and that the blackbird could go. They went a certain distance, and Coyote placed the bird upon a high tree and told him to stay upon the tree and watch to see what was going on, and when he should come back to that place, to be on hand to receive the girl and carry her on to the brothers ; that he would be the last to take her.

Coyote went on, and he met a hawk, who wanted to know where the grandfather was going. Coyote told him he was going on a long journey ; that the buffalo had taken his granddaughter ; and that he was going to try and bring her back. The hawk said he would like to go with Coyote and help him get the girl back. Coyote said : “All right.” So the hawk went along with him, but instead of taking him along, Coyote took him on a long journey and then at a certain place he stationed the hawk at a certain tree and told him to watch ; that when he came back his company would come that way. So the hawk sat down on a limb.

Coyote went on again, and met a crow, and the crow asked Coyote where he was going. Coyote told him where he was going, and the crow asked Coyote if he might go along. Coyote took the crow along, and after going with him for a distance, Coyote also placed him upon a limb of a high tree, and told him that whoever should carry the girl would bring her to him, and that he must fly to where the hawk was sitting. So the crow sat upon the limb and Coyote went on.

Coyote met a fox, who wanted to know where he was going. Coyote said : “ My grandson, I am going to the village of the buffalo. They took my granddaughter away from me, and I am going to get her back. The fox said : “My grandfather, I would like to go with you and help to get the girl.” Coyote said All right.” So Coyote and the fox went along until they came close to the village of the buffalo, and Coyote stationed the fox upon a little knoll.

Then Coyote started on toward the village and met a badger, who asked Coyote where he was going. Coyote said : “To the buffalo village, for they took my granddaughter, and I am going after her.” The badger asked if he could help Coyote, who said, “ Yes.” A short distance from where the fox was stationed, the badger was placed. Then it was not far to the village of the buffalo, so Coyote went on into the village. He still had the mud all over him, — looked very lean and ugly.

Coyote saw the buffalo playing with sticks and a ring. Really, these sticks were buffalo. Dum currebant boves annulum voluerunt colligere atque virgas jacere, si annulum perforare possent, et si poterant ita facere, ulubabant, tunc enim crediderunt cum puella se conjunctionem habere.

Animal Tales.

Now the buffalo kept playing with the sticks and ring. A lot of the buffalo would line up on the south side of the playing ground. Coyote sat down at the north end of the playing ground. Two buffalo would rise up and take the sticks, one of them taking the ring, and as they ran to the north end, the one with the ring would throw it and both of them would throw their sticks at the ring to see if they could catch it. At the north end they picked up the sticks and the ring, and the one with the ring would throw it again toward the south end of the playing ground, and the two buffalo would throw the sticks at the ring, to try to catch it. The two would sit down, and two other buffalo would rise and take up the sticks and ring, and they, too, would run down to the north end of the ground and throw the ring and sticks. They would shout at Coyote to get away, as they might hit him with the sticks. Coyote would rise and limp around, and then would sit down close to the end of the playing ground.

At one time only two came down toward the north and threw the ring and sticks. The ring ran by Coyote, and Coyote said : “ My granddaughter, I am here. The next time they throw you, run fast to the place where I shall be and I will take you to my brothers.”

One of them picked up the ring and the two picked up the sticks, and they ran back to the south side and threw the ring and sticks. Now two others picked up the sticks, one of them picking up the ring, and they ran toward the north, threw the ring, and then both threw the sticks. As they threw the sticks, the dust rose up from the ground and the ring ran up to Coyote. Coyote saw his chance, took the ring in his mouth and ran away, and the buffalo saw it.

They rushed after him, and just as they were about to catch up with him, he came to the place where the badger was stationed. Coyote turned the ring over to the badger, and the badger took it and began to dig the ground, Coyote following him.255 The buffalo came, and they said : “ Here he disappeared.” They began to cut and stamp the ground, and after a while the badger came out at a distance ; he had dug through the ground, and came out at another place. Coyote stayed in the hole where the badger first commenced to dig. The buffalo saw the badger at another place and rushed after him. Just as they were about to overtake him the badger began to dig in the ground again. The buffalo began stamping the ground and hooked it, tearing up the earth. The badger kept digging, and when he had gone a long way he dug through the earth again and went out, and the buffalo saw him again and they rushed after him again. The badger kept this up, the buffalo running after him all the time, stopping whenever the badger disappeared, stamping the ground.

The badger had now nearly given out ; but he came to where the fox was stationed. The badger turned the ring over to the fox, dug into the ground, and disappeared. The buffalo saw the fox with the ring and struck out after him. They followed the fox, but the fox was a pretty good runner; the buffalo kept the race up, and when they saw the fox was giving out they ran harder, and at last the fox came to the place where the crow was stationed.

The crow came down from the limb, and ran its bill and head through the ring so that the ring was around its neck. He tried to fly in that way, but found it too much, so he threw off the ring and carried it in his claws. The fox now ran, found a hole in the ground and went in there. The buffalo saw the crow with the ring and they followed it. The crow kept flying and the buffalo kept running under it. The crow began to get tired, but he came to the place where the hawk was stationed and turned the ring over to him. The crow sat upon the limb and began to fly away.

The buffalo saw the hawk and kept on and on, and the hawk began to get tired. They were now nearing the lodge of the boys. The hawk became tired, but he reached the place where the rusty-blackbird was stationed and turned the ring over to the blackbird.

So the blackbird put its head through the ring and flew on and on, and the buffalo ran under the blackbird.

The brothers of the girl saw the dust coming up in the distance, and they knew that the buffalo were coming. So the boys went out and spread out their arrows on the ground and were stationed at certain distances apart, ready to kill the buffalo when they should come.

They saw the buffalo coming. The blackbird became tired of flying, so it flew down and nestled itself upon the shaggy head of one of the buffalo bulls. So when the buffalo was running, the blackbird was running ; the blackbird was sitting on it, and the buffalo did not know it. As they neared the place where the boys were stationed, the boys got ready to shoot. They shot. A blackbird flew up from the buffalo, and they saw it fly over the lodge and then into the opening at the top of the lodge, then out at the east of the entrance of the lodge ; then it went up and sat on a limb.

The boys began shooting at the buffalo, and as the ring had disappeared the buffalo finally turned around and went back into their country. The boys had killed many.

As the buffalo disappeared from the hills the boys entered the lodge, and they found their sister in the lodge. She was now a girl again.

So the blackbird went off and went on to seek Coyote. The blackbird found Coyote in the hole the badger had made where he first went in, and called Coyote out. Coyote said he had done his duty, and he wanted now to live in the hole and make it his dwelling-place ;

Animal Tales.

but the blackbird insisted on going on to meet the others who had helped to get the girl.

When they came to the badger, the badger was in his hole, and they sent for him to come out, but he said that he was perfectly satisfied ; that being frightened, he had digged into the ground ; that his claws had come out to a great length, and that now he thought it would be better for him to live in the ground ; that he should stay there, and they should go on.

So the blackbird and Coyote went on, and they met the fox, who said he had run so fast in his fright that he had no more desire to be near other people ; but wanted to be away from everybody, and would make his home in the hills. So he went off.

Coyote and the blackbird went on. The crow was seen and asked to join them on their way to notify the brothers that they were the ones who had helped to get the girl back. But the crow said : “ I am satisfied ; many buffalo died, and I am satisfied to be around here, for I get plenty to eat.”

The hawk had flown away, and was never seen.

The blackbird stopped and said : “ I will now return to the place where the buffalo went, and will stay among them, pick my food from their chips, and sit upon my grandfathers when they sit down and sun themselves. I shall drop my dirt upon their backs, and people will know that it was I who took the girl from the buffalo and turned her over to her brothers.”

Coyote went to the brothers himself, all the others leaving him, so that all animals after that became shy of Coyote, who became a scarce animal among the others.

Coyote told the brothers that he had found their sister, and had been helped by other animals, and that now she was at home, he was satisfied ; and that, as there were many buffalo killed all over the prairie, he would now leave them, never to return and speak to them, but that he would come to their villages in the night for something to eat.

So Coyote went off, and ever since this time he has never been known to come into the Indian camps in the daytime, but only once in a while at night.

Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee .

62. COYOTE AND THE ROLLING STONE.260

Coyote makes a sacrifice to a stone and obtains game. He then reclaims the offering and is pursued by the stone ; after asking help in vain from many quarters, the stone is broken up by bull-bats ; he insults these, and they solidify the stone, which pursues and crushes Coyote.

Coyote was going along, and became very hungry. He climbed up on some hills and came to a big stone. The stone was round and smooth, and Coyote thought to himself that as he understood that stones were wonderful, they could bring him something to eat, and he said : “ I shall now try the stone to see if I can get something to eat.” So he went to the stone, prayed to it, and then said : “ Now, grandfather, I am starving and want something to eat ; I give you my knife as a present, so that you can help me.” He laid the knife on the top of the stone.

Coyote now went to the top of the hill, then went down the slope, and here he saw a large antelope lying on the side of the hill. He said : “Why, it is funny for me to come here and find this deer, for I just came away from the stone, and I should have found the deer without giving any present to the stone, if I had continued my journey. I will go and take my knife back, for I cannot cut the deer without a knife.” So he went, picked up the knife, and went to the place where the deer lay, and when he came near, the deer jumped up and ran, and Coyote turned and called the stone names. Said he: “You old rotten stone, you have taken the deer away, and I was going to give you back the knife ; but now I will keep the knife.”

As he did this the stone moved, and then began to roll after Coyote. Coyote ran toward the hill, for he could see that in running down the stone came pretty fast, but in climbing the hill he gained on the stone. The stone was getting pretty close to him, when he ran to the lodge of a wild-cat. As he ran he cried for help from these people, and the leader of the den of wild-cats came out and said : “Come right in, and we will kill whoever it is that is coming after you. Now tell us what it is, grandfather.” Coyote said : “ It is a stone.” “Well,” said the wild-cats, “that is something that we can do nothing with, so pass on.” So Coyote passed, and the stone after him.

After a while he came to another place where there were mountain lions, and they, too, thought that some animal was after Coyote, and invited him into their lodge ; but when they asked him what was pursuing him, and he told them that it was a stone, they told him to pass on ; that it was something that they could not do any-

Animal Tales.

thing with, but that he should go to a certain place where there was a den of bears, and that these might help him.

So Coyote ran down to the bears, and the stone was close upon him ; as he went in, the bears met him, and told him to go into the lodge ; that they could kill anything that was pursuing him. But when they found out that it was a stone, they told him to go on, that they could do nothing for him. They advised him to go to another place, where lived a man who represented the whirlwind, who might be able to blow the stone up into the heavens, throw it down, and break it in pieces.

Coyote ran out and came to the place, and the man told him to go right into the tipi ; that he did not care what it was that was after him, for he could blow them away ; that he could blow even the waters so hard as to scatter them from the bottom of the creek, and if he blew upon the thick timber it would blow the trees down and would make a wide path wherever he went. “Now,” said the man, “what is it that is after you?” The man said: “Why, it is a stone.” The whirlwind-man said: “Why, that I can do nothing with, so pass on. But I know of an old witch-woman who can help you.”

So Coyote went out over the hills, and here he came to the witchwoman, who took him in ; and she could do nothing for him when she found out that it was a stone that was after him ; so she sent him out and told him to go to the next hill, saying that there, in a valley, there lived a bull-bat 257 with his son, who she thought could do something for him. As Coyote passed out, the stone was close behind him, but, as he had to climb a hill, the stone was left behind, so that Coyote gained. They ran down the hill, and Coyote cried ; there was a young fellow standing out, and he said : “ Here comes a man crying.” So the other man came out from the lodge, and he said : “ Grandchild, I come to you. There is something after me trying to kill me.” They said : “Very well, tell us what it is.” Coyote said: “Why, it is a stone.” They said: “All right, very well, we can control the stone ; so do you go in the lodge and sit down there.”

The stone came running down the hill, and the father of the boy said : “ You, youngest one ” (there were four boys), “ try your power first.” So the youngest of the boys flew up and circled around, and the stone came close to the lodge, and the bull-bat swooped down, came upon the stone, expelled his flatus on the middle, and broke the stone into four pieces, so that it stopped. Then the father said : “ Now you, next boy, try and break this piece.” The two other boys he told to break the other pieces. So they broke up the pieces, the old man breaking the last one into small pieces.

The father then called out Coyote, and said: “Grandfather, you can see that the stone is mashed up now. You need not fear. You can go on your journey, and you will be safe.”

So Coyote took a trip up on the hill. When he got on top of the hill, he thought : “ What a wonderful thing those fellows did ! They expelled flatus on that stone and broke it in pieces. They must have had wonderful powers.” 268 He said, “What do they want such a power for, anyhow ? ” Then he just stood up straight and hallooed at them, and said : “ There you are again ! There you are again ! ” The youngest bull-bat boy said: “ P'ather, that Coyote is saying something.” They went out and they all listened, and Coyote said again : “There you are again.” The bull-bats did not like this. So the old man became angry, and turned all his boys into bull-bats ; they all got to the place where the pieces of the stone were, spread their wings out and scraped up all the rocks, and made it solid again, and the stone started again, and they told it to go and kill Coyote.

The stone ran after Coyote. Coyote was going over a hill just as slowly as he could. All at once he heard something fall from the side of the hill, and he thought : “That sounds like the stone.” He turned, and, sure enough, it was coming. He ran, and tried to run around the hill back to the bull-bats, but the stone headed him off every time ; so finally he took a straight run, and the stone caught up with him ; it ran over his legs so that he tumbled, and then right over him, so that it mashed him and killed him.259

So it is, now, that the stones were made so solid that nobody could do anything with them ; if Coyote had not talked the way he did to the bull-bats, the stone would have been soft and easy to break up ; but as the bull-bats put it together again, they made it so hard that all rocks and stones are solid.

Coyote, now and then, we find running away from the enemy, falling over the stones, sometimes falling on them and killing himself, so that he is found beside the rocks, as in this story.260

63. COYOTE AND THE SEVEN BUFFALO.261

Coyote, in return for pretended succor, receives meat from buffalo; he falls asleep, and at night finds a scalped-man by his fire ; he tries to kill the scalpedman, but instead inflicts on himself a mortal wound.

Coyote was going along over different prairies and hills, and he became very hungry, but kept on travelling. Finally he came to a nice hill, and on the sunny side of the hill he lay down.

While he was lying there he looked and saw seven buffalo coming, and he thought to himself : “ Now, what can I do to these buffalo, so that they will give me something to eat ?” Then he stood up, took his bow and arrows, beat upon his bow with the arrows, and sang this song : —

“You buffalo, you had a narrow escape;

The people were about to surround you.

I ran right among them,

Took my knife out,

Cut their bow-strings,

Went among those who had guns,

Broke the flints so that they could not shoot.

The people, not being able to shoot returned home.

Then I lay down here.”

The buffalo were in single file, and one of them behind spoke to one in the lead, and said : “ Listen ! What is that person yonder singing about ? ” Coyote sang again, and said the same thing, and at the end of each song he would make a quick motion to the tune, and he jumped around to call the attention of the buffalo. Then another buffalo yelled at the one in the lead, and said : “ Listen. That fellow is singing something. Let us stop and listen.” So they stopped. They listened, and he sang the same song, and they said : “Why, we should have been killed if it had not been for that fellow there. He says he went right among them, cut their bow-strings, and broke the flints off from their guns.” One of them said : “ We ought to do something for the fellow.” Then they said : “ Let us call him.”

So they called him, and old Coyote went up and the buffalo asked him about the people, and he said : “ Why there is a big village of them east of here. I did not want you to go that way. I just saved you.” Then the buffalo said they wanted him to accept a little present from them, and a little meat so he could take it home. Coyote called the buffalo his grandfathers, and they called him their grandson. He told them that he and his children were very hungry, and the others said : “ We will help you.” So they selected one of the buffalo, and the buffalo threw himself down on the ground and wallowed on the ground for a while, and when he got up and shook himself, Coyote looked, and there was a great long strip of meat from down the back, lying in the grass. Then another rolled, and there was another fine piece of meat. Then another rolled and there was a fine piece of meat. Then each rolled, and each one made some meat for Coyote, making even entrails, heart, tongue, and liver. The leader of the buffalo said : “ Now, grandson, we have given you a little meat ; take it home to your children and let them eat.” Coyote said : “ Grandfathers, this is all good. Do not go east. Keep right on west. The people are camped on this side.” So the buffalo went off.

Coyote began to prepare some meat, and he boiled it. Then he took a trip to the east, and said : “ What a cheat I am to deceive these buffalo that way, and not a person in sight.” Coyote went on from there and he came to a little bottom with some trees in it, and a lot of cottonwood-trees. So he selected that place to take his meat to. So he took the meat and carried a little at a time, until he had all of it at the bottom. Then he brought wood and made a big fire, and he put ribs close to the fire so that they would roast, took a lot of the meat and cooked it on hot coals. The whole liver he had put in the fire and was baking it. He had got some meat off from the bones, and they were lying along by the fire, also roasting, and he would say : “Well, I will eat for a while. I am thinking about my children, how they shall eat and enjoy it.” He picked up the heart, sliced it and put it on the fire so that it would cook, and he took the covering of the heart and there was blood on it, and he thought : “ Why, I will just take this and stretch the covering over my knee, so that the blood will run down, and let it dry, then I will fold it up and put it away.” When he had got the covering on his knee he lay down, and said : “ I will just take a little nap. Then I will go home with all this meat to my children.” So he lay down and went to sleep.

When he woke up, as soon as he opened his eyes, the fire was still burning brightly, and the meat all cooking, and as he opened his eyes, he looked up in the heavens and saw the stars had come out, for it had become night. He looked toward the fire where the meat was cooking. The first thing he saw was a scalped-man, sitting by him. He was so scared that he could not rise. So he lay back again. He looked at the scalped-man once in a while out of the corners of his eyes. (The Coyote people have a deathly fear of scalped-men.) When Coyote saw this scalped-man he was very much afraid. So he reached down, and thought : “Why, I will do my best to kill this fellow. We are told that we cannot kill them. If I were to beg of him he would make fun of me and he would not give me anything to take to my children ; so I had better kill him and take all the meat.” Now Coyote reached for his little axe which he had, and he raised himself and lifted up his axe ; as he rose, he took good aim and said : “ I will just strike him right in the head, cut his skull in two, and kill him.” So he raised his axe, and down it came, and he said : “ What are you doing here ? ”

When he tapped the scalped-man on the head, he said, raising his hands to his head : “ Aou, I have cut myself, I have cut my knee.” He had put the covering of the heart on his knee, and he thought it was the scalped-man. He had not eaten much of his meat, and he said : “ What did I do this for. I ought to have had better sense than to hit my knee. I ought to have remembered that I put this on my knee.” And he lay there grunting and groaning. So the next morning he died.

So it is with people when they get a good thing like this. They

Animal Tales.

generally do not take what they get, but want a little more, and before they get what they want, not being satisfied with what they have, they die.

64. COYOTE AND THE BLIND BUFFALO.262

Coyote misleads a buffalo over a precipice.

Coyote was going along, and he came to a hilly country, and he went up on the hill, and he saw a steep bank on the east side, and he saw a buffalo on top of the hill, and he said : “ Grandfather, what are you doing ? ” The buffalo said : “ I am sitting here and cannot see.” Coyote sang this song : —

“ Dance, grandfather, dance ;

I will kill you if you do not dance ;

I will not kill you if you dance.”

Then Coyote would say : “ Move over this way a little ! ” So the buffalo kept moving over a little, toward where Coyote was singing. Coyote would move on and then sing again, and the buffalo would dance, and Coyote would say : “Move this way a little ! ” After a while this fellow Coyote was standing right on the edge of a precipice, and he kept on singing for the buffalo to move over a little, calling him toward him so as to get him over the precipice. Coyote succeeded, and the buffalo fell over the precipice, where he broke his neck.

Coyote said : “ Now I cheated him and broke his neck.” He pulled his tongue out and said : “Now I can have some supper.”

65. COYOTE AND THE TURKEYS.268

On a pretence of showing marvels, Coyote attracts turkeys, whom he kills.

Coyote was going along, and he came to a village of many turkeys. “ How am I to get some of these turkeys,” he thought to himself. “ I know,” he said. So he went and found a buffalo horn. He took the buffalo horn and went to the village. He dug a hole and set the large end of the horn in the ground so that the sharp point was upward. He then hallooed : “You people in the village, come and see what a wonderful thing I have found.” So they gathered around Coyote, for they were turkeys and were afraid. They came closer, and saw the horn. So the turkeys all halloed : “ It is wonderful ! ” Coyote sang and the turkeys danced around the horn. Coyote had a club, and as they danced around the horn, Coyote struck several on their necks and killed them. So the turkeys ran away and Coyote picked up the dead ones and packed them home.

66. COYOTE, COUGAR, AND FOX.264

In order to obtain hospitality from the cougar, Coyote dresses as a woman, and disguises the fox as a baby.

Coyote was going through the timber, and he came to a tipi, looked in, and saw that it was a tipi of a cougar. He saw that the cougar had much meat in his tipi and the cougar was asleep. So Coyote stepped back, and he thought to himself : “Now what shall I do to get some of that meat ? ”

So Coyote went out, and as he was going through the timber he met a fox. He said to the fox : “ My son, do you want to get something to eat ? ” The fox said : “ Yes, grandfather, I would like to get something, I am awfully hungry.” “ Well,” said Coyote, “ I have been to the cougar’s tipi, and he has much meat in his tipi, and the only way we can get some of it is for me to strap you on a board, call you my son, put you on my back, and go to the tipi of the cougar, walk right in, take you down from my back and tell him that his baby is hungry, that it is his son.”

So the fox gave his consent to be a baby, while Coyote should be dressed up like a woman. Coyote then got a board and strapped fox on the board. Then he swung the board on his back and walked to the tipi of the cougar. So Coyote walked in and the cougar was awake then.

Coyote said : “ I have brought your son. I have been packing him around through the timber, hunting you, and I have found you at last. This is your son. He is very hungry and I have brought him here for something to eat.” So the cougar thought : “ If that is my son I must feed him.” So the cougar said : “ Sit down, and I will give you something to eat.” So he reached for some meat, cooked it, and placed it before the woman. The woman placed it before Coyote, and the cougar went back to his seat and Coyote began to eat the meat. Once in a great while she would take a small piece of meat and put it in the mouth of the fox, who was playing baby. Coyote had the baby-board in his lap, and now and then he would take a little piece of meat and give it to the fox, and the fox would whisper : “ Give me some more, a larger piece; you did not give me enough.” Coyote would be eating, and would cut a piece and would put it in his mouth. The fox saw it and he wanted to get some of it. Then Coyote would not listen to the fox, but would keep on eating. Then the fox would say : “ If you do not give me a good piece now, I am going to halloo that you are Coyote.” Then Coyote would give him something to eat.

They stayed there all day, and in the night the cougar came and told his woman to make up a bed for Coyote, and hurry, and the wo-

Animal Tales.

man made up the bed ; and the fox was on the baby-board, and they set him up by the side of the tipi, while Coyote and the cougar went to bed. Ut cum femina hie concubuit, et omnia audiebat vulpes, risusque edit, et ille vulpem semper concussit ut quiesceret.

Next day they got something to eat. All day they ate, and that night the cougar slept with Coyote again. Next day Coyote said ; “Well, my husband, I must go. I will go now, and I will bring back the baby some other time.” The cougar said: “All right, take this parfleche that is filled with meat and feed it to the children and come back again some time.” So they went away.

Coyote put the parfleche filled with meat on his back and then the baby-board on top. Then they went out, and as they were going through timber the fox would say : “ Well, grandfather, take me down so I can walk with you.” Coyote would say : “ No, I will put you down yonder ; ” for Coyote was ashamed, and thought that if they should meet some people, the fox would tell what had happened to him.

So they went along till they came to a steep bank. Coyote took the fox down, all wrapped upon the board, and threw him over the bank into the water, and said : “ I want to kill you, so you will not tell people what the cougar did to me.” So the fox went down into the water, but the strings got wet and broke loose, and the fox got out and hid away, and he ran and headed off Coyote, and they both entered Coyote’s lodge, Coyote putting the meat down and telling his wife to cook it.

Fox went in and told the story to the old woman. The old woman drove Coyote off and also the fox. So the fox went his way and Coyote went back to his tipi.

So it is that people must plan some way to make their living.

67. COYOTE AND BEAVER.2'5

Coyote learns from the beaver the art of making food, but errs in the application, and perishes.

There lived a family of Coyotes, and the old man went off to try and kill game. He did not find any, so he went down to the creek and saw a beaver sitting on a bank of the creek. “Nawa, grandchild,” said Coyote, “ could you help me, grandchild ? my children are hungry.” “Yes, I can help you,” said the beaver, “I will go to my home and bring something.” So the beaver dived and went into his den. After a while he came back and had a sharp stick. The stick was white. “ Now, bring me a lot of dried sticks, and they must be rotten,” said the beaver. Coyote went and piled a lot of these dried sticks, and the beaver took the stick and ran it into his scrotum, so that a lot of grease poured out, and he poured it on the dried sticks until the sticks turned into pemmican.266 So Coyote ate all of it, for he was hungry. The beaver told Coyote to do the same thing, and to be sure and not to use any other kind of stick.

Coyote went home, and said : “ Old woman, bring me a lot of dried rotten wood, and pile it here.” So the old woman went and brought in a pile of dried rotten sticks. Coyote sat down, and ran the stick in his scrotum, and grease poured out, and he poured it over the sticks, and it all turned to pemmican. The children ate all, and said : “ Father, give us some more.” So he made more, and more again.

The children wondered what Coyote was doing by pricking his scrotum, so one of them got the stick and hid it, and replaced it by another stick. It came time for supper, so Coyote told the old woman to bring more sticks. So he took the stick and ran it in his scrotum, but no oil came from it, and he kept pricking it, until he bled. He was scared, and he ran to where he had seen the beaver, but the beaver was gone. So he sat on the bank, bleeding, and died.267

68. COYOTE AND BEAR.268

Coyote befools a bear, but is detected and killed.

Coyote was going along, and as he got into a timbered country, just before he went down a hill where there were many rocks right at the foot of the hill, he saw a bear coming up. Coyote did not say anything. Coyote thought to himself : “What shall I do? that bear will surely kill me. I know ; I shall take this rope that is coiled around my shoulders and put it on this rock (there was a big rock that was sticking out from the ground), and shall make a loop and lie down by it, so that when the bear comes up I will dare him to carry the rock as I have carried it.”

As the bear came up, Coyote drew a big breath, as if he was very tired. The bear looked down and said : “ Well, my grandfather, what are you doing?” Coyote drew a big breath again and said: “I am tired ; I have been carrying this stone.” Coyote got out of the loop and stood one side and said: “Now, grandson, I should like to see you lift this rock up. I have been carrying it, but I want to see if you can carry it.” So the bear got hold of the rope and worked and worked away, but did not move the rock. Coyote said : “ Walk away from here; you cannot move what I can carry.” The bear felt very badly, and went off.

Just as the bear went over the hill, Coyote took off his ropes from the stone and ran away, going over the hills. As Coyote was climb-

Animal Tales.

ing a high hill he looked down and saw the bear going. He said : “There goes the bear that got fooled.” So Coyote went up on the hill, then howled at the bear, and said : “You bear going along there, I am a great cheat ; I never carried that stone.” The bear did not hear this, but took to thinking: “Well, now, I am the strongest animal living; I cannot understand how Coyote could carry that stone and I cannot move it. I will go back and see if he did carry that stone away.” So the bear went back, and there was the stone, the ropes taken off and Coyote gone. The bear then said : “ Well, I was fooled. I will go after that Coyote and kill him.”

So the bear got upon the trail of Coyote, and when the bear was climbing up the hill where Coyote was, Coyote saw the bear coming. So Coyote ran and kept running, but the bear kept on following him. He was about to catch up with Coyote when Coyote ran down the creek, and Coyote rolled himself in the mud and lay down along the bank of the creek, all muddy, trying to make himself appear like a log. The bear followed him after he had gone to the creek, and could not see him. The bear hunted around the bank, and as he was about to give Coyote up, he thought he would drink before he went off. So he went to the log, as he thought, and rested his claws upon it, and just as he was about to take a drink of water, something moved. He looked down and saw that the thing was moving, and said : “Why, this thing moves.”

Coyote then begged. The bear said : “ No ! I have come a long way after you, and I must kill you.” And the bear killed Coyote. And that is the reason why we find, over the prairies, a coyote lying dead, here and there, as if they have been trying to kill some other animal and have been killed by the other animals.

69. COYOTE AND RACCOON.269

Coyote fails in attempting to trick a raccoon.

Coyote was going through the country, and as he came to a stream of water, he saw a raccoon playing along the water’s edge, and said : “Halloo, grandchild, what are you doing ? ” The raccoon replied: “Grandfather, I am playing.” Dixit canis latrans : “Num tecum ludere licet, nepos meus ? ” “Sic,” dixit procyon, “mecum ludere licet.” “Optime,” dixit ille, “pone nos ludere virum et feminam esse.” “ Minime,” dixit procyon, “ mihi forsitan noceres ; sed si primum experimentum mihi dabis, tunc sinam.” “ Optime,” respondit alter, et procyoni initium concessit. Propter os in membro virili procyonis, doloris causa incepit ululare canis latrans. Fluxit sanguis, et procyon dixit : “ Avus, cum mihi idem continget, non exclamabo.” Ad postremum dixit procyon : “ Fraudator sum ego,” et in arborem conscendit. Alter deprecatus est, obsecravitque procyonem, ut de arbore descenderet ; procyon vero eum deridebat, atque dixit : “ In arborem ascende, si experiri vis.” But Coyote begged until he got mad, and said : “ I am going to chop the tree down.” The raccoon laughed at him. So Coyote went to a mud bank and made an axe out of mud and put a stick through it for a handle. He then went to the tree, then looked at the raccoon and said : “ Are you coming down ? I will cut the tree if you do not come ! ” So he lifted the mud axe, but the mud spread out.270 Coyote went off, crying, and never again tried this trick with any one.

70. COYOTE AND EAGLE.371

Coyote learns from an eagle how to make a fish-line of his own hide, but pulls off his scalp ; his children take him for a scalped-man, and run themselves to death.

There was a family of coyotes, and they were very hungry. The old Coyote then swung his quiver over his shoulder and said : “ Old woman, I will travel until I find something for the children to eat.” So Coyote went off and travelled far. He came to a big stream of water, and there he saw an eagle sitting on the bank and pulling out fish. He looked at the eagle a long time, and then said : “ Grandchild, I wish I were like you ; when you get hungry, you sit by the water and catch fish. My children are hungry, crying for something to eat. Could you not help me?” “Yes,” said the eagle, “I can help you. Take the fish I caught, carry them home and let your children eat them.” “No, grandchild,” said Coyote, “I do not want that ; I want to learn your power to catch fish, so when my children get hungry I can come and catch fish, for I may not always find you.” “That is easily done,” said the eagle. “Come now, and sit down here and be brave.” “ Yes, grandchild,” said Coyote. The eagle took out his knife and began to cut the skin over Coyote’s head (Coyote was making all kinds of faces on account of the pain he received from the cutting), and he cut on down his back to the end of the tail. “ Now once more,” the eagle said. So again he cut the skin over Coyote’s head, down his back to the end of his tail. So the eagle had a strip of Coyote’s hide, from his head to his tail, but not cut loose on top of his head. So when Coyote wanted to fish, he could make a motion with his head and the strip would fall into the water. On making another head movement, the string would be pulled back. “Now,” said the eagle, “you have a line; throw it in the water, and when you get a bite, pull your head and you will draw out a fish. In throwing your line in the water, always say, ‘ Fish upstream, bite on

Animal Tales.

my line,’ and they will come and bite. Four times you must catch fish, then put the line down your back, go home with your fish and come some other time.”

This time Coyote caught four good-sized catfish, and went home happy. As he neared his tipi he hallooed for his wife, and told her how he caught the fish. “ I now can catch fish any time,” said Coyote to the old woman. “ A bald-eagle was catching fish in the stream, and I begged him to teach me how, so you see our children will not become hungry any more. Make a fire, boil the fish, and after we eat I will go and get some more.” After the meal he went again, and brought more fish.

Next day Coyote said : “ Old woman, take the children to the timber and gather wood, so we can build a big fire, for I want to get big fish this time.” So he went down to the stream and he threw in his line four times, and each time caught a fish. The fifth time he threw his line in, thinking that there would be no danger, and at the same time he called the fish downstream to bite. He soon got a bite, for something pulled on his line, which seemed heavy. Coyote said, “Wah! Wah ! Wah ! ” And all at once the fish seemed to have pulled, and Coyote pulled too, but the fish pulled, and finally Coyote’s whole scalp was pulled off to the point of his nose. Coyote began to cry, seeing that his teeth were not covered.

He took up his quiver and ran home. On his way home he came to the timber where his people were gathering wood. One of the children saw him and said : “ Scalped-man, mother ! Scalped-man, mother ! ” The mother saw him and said : “ Run, children, that is a scalped-man, sure enough ! ” They all ran, and he would try to halloo, but they could not make out what he meant. He kept on after them, and as they did not stop he thought: “Why, they know my arrows ; I shall shoot one in front of them, so when they pick it up they will know it is I.” So he shot an arrow, and the old woman saw it. “Run, children!” said the woman, “he is shooting at us! Run ! ” So they kept it up, until all died, for they were tired of running. Old Coyote cried and went off to live by himself.

71. COYOTE AND ARTICHOKE.27*

Coyote bites an artichoke, but perishes of the wind engendered.

Coyote was going along a road, and he found an artichoke. He stepped over and went on. He thought to himself and said : “Well, I did not ask that thing what his name is, I will go back and ask.” So he went back and came to it, and said : “ Well, grandchild, I forgot to ask your name, — what is it?” “Well,” said artichoke, “ my name is They-Bite-Him.” “ That is a fine name,” said Coyote. So he went on, and thought : “Why, I ought to have taken a bite of that thing.” So he went back to it and took a bite. He went on, and again he wanted another bite of the thing. So he went back and bit off another piece. He went on again, and again he wanted another bite. This time he liked it so much that he ate it all up.

Now he went on, and he wanted to expel flatus, and he expelled flatus so that it threw up his leg. Then again he expelled flatus, until it began to throw him up in the air. When he wanted to expel flatus he would go to a bunch of grass and would get hold of it, but when he did so, grass and all went up in the air. He tried a bunch of trees, but they, too, went up, Coyote with them. He came to a stone, and said: “Now, grandfather, something is wrong with me; make yourself heavy, so that I do not go up in the air.” He seized the stone, and as he went up the stone went up with him.

So he ran home and said : “ Old woman, tighten up the tipi, drive the stakes down.” The old woman looked around and saw no clouds, but Coyote said : “Old woman, something is wrong with me. Take hold of me.” As they held each other Coyote expelled flatus, and up they went, through the tipi, and came down upon the earth so hard that it killed the old woman. Old Coyote held on to her, and kept expelling flatus, so that he finally killed himself.

The children came home and found their father and mother dead. They cried. Artichoke said : “ I killed your father. He ate me up, and I was trying to get away.”

72. COYOTE AND THE CHOKE-CHERRIES.278

Coyote dies of the wind caused by eating choke-cherries.

Coyote was going along, and it was snowing very hard. He came to a ravine, and here he found many choke-cherries on the trees. So he began to eat, and ate the cherries, until his belly became swollen. Then he went on until he came to a plain, and as he travelled along the plain, had a desire to relieve himself. There were no hollows or ravines where he could go, therefore he sat on the open plain. As he relieved himself the faeces froze so fast that Coyote was soon raised high into the air. The excrement parted at the top, and as he was at a height above the ground, Coyote fell, in such manner that his nose struck the bottom of his own frozen excrement, and he was killed.

Animal Tales.

73. BIG TURTLE.274

The warriors of a war-party mount a huge turtle, by whom they are immersed in a lake ; the drowned persons appear to a boy in a dream. By sprinkling the flintstones of the sacred bundle, a storm is raised, the lake emptied, and the bones of the drowned brought to light.

In olden times there was a company of warriors who went south to try to capture ponies from the enemy. On the way they saw something moving. On top of this moving thing was dirt, covered with buffalo grass. The thing moved on slowly. The warriors saw that it was moving, so some of the young men climbed upon the moving thing ; then they coaxed others to climb on. One at a time, they climbed upon the thing, which kept moving, until the leader, who had the warrior’s bundle upon his back, got on. Now there was only one boy left, the smallest of them all, and he did not climb on, but walked alongside of the moving thing.

When the men tried to get off, they found that their feet had stuck on the back of the thing. The boy ran ahead of the thing, and he saw it was a large turtle. He went behind again and told the men that it was a large turtle. The boy now followed the turtle, while the men upon the turtle sang Haduska songs, others singing more brave songs, to show that they were not afraid to die, for they had made fun of the turtle when they first got upon it.

At last the men saw ahead of them a large lake, and to this lake this turtle was heading. As the turtle neared the lake the men tried to get off, but could not, for they were fast upon the turtle’s back. At last the turtle came to the lake and waded into it.

Now the man who was leader, and had the warrior’s bundle, began to talk to the boy who had not got on the turtle’s back, and said : “ When we have disappeared, go home and tell our people that we were drowned by a large turtle. Come by whenever you go to capture ponies, and stop, and we will help you to get ponies.” The leader kept on talking, until the turtle disappeared with the men.

The boy now cried and cried, until he fell over and was asleep. He had a dream. He saw all the men drowned under the lake, and the leader spoke and said : “ Go home, tell our people that although we were drowned by the turtle, we live. We shall always remain here as you now see us. We shall help you, and sometimes we will let you come and visit us under the water.”

The boy went home and told the people what had happened, and that he was sure they lived. So the people gathered together, and said : “ Let us go and find this big turtle, and our people.” So the people moved to the lake. They made their camp close to the lake, and every day the people went to the lake with their pottery, skins, and anything that would hold water. They would dip water out from the lake. The people thought they could take all the water out from the lake, and so get the turtle. This they failed to do ; so some of the men called on the priests to open the rain-bundle. The priests consented; so the priests had a special tipi put up. The bundle was taken in, and the old priests went in, taking their rattles with them.

Now the priests sat in the west of the lodge with the bundle and gourds in front of them. The bundle was untied. In it were several flint stones. These flint stones were given the people by Paruxti, Lightning, the god who stands in the west, one of the sons of the Evening-Star. As the priests lifted their gourds to sing, the head priest arose, and, taking water from a wooden bowl, he sprinkled water upon the flint stones that had been the property of the Evening-Star. These stones were never to be wet, nor sprinkled with water. Other things in the bundle were not to be wet, for, if they were, it would surely rain ; though the real thought in opening the bundle was to sprinkle water upon the flint stones. The high priest sprinkled water upon the stones, and, as the old man sang, the clouds came and the lightning, and the thunders with it. The lightning struck all around the village. The water was coming all over the ground, so the old men were now sitting in the water, still singing. At one lightning flash everybody fell down. This particular lightning struck the centre of the water, so that it made the waters spread all over the land. The old men were satisfied. They laid down their gourds and now made offerings to the gods in the west, for the gods had heard their prayers. The clouds went back, it cleared off, and people went to the lake and there found a huge turtle in the bottom of the lake. All the water had gone from the lake, so that the bottom was dry.

The turtle was seen. The bones of the men were scattered over the bottom of the lake, and the people believed the story.

The people now moved their camp, and ever after that the Pawnee called their sacred bundles, “rain-bundles.”

74. TURTLE’S WAR-PARTY.278

A turtle intending to go on the warpath, and wishing to select only such as are swift, chooses a knife, awl, and brush. The comrades arrive at a village, and undertake to perform military feats. The people seize the turtle,' and discuss how they shall put him to death ; he begs not to be thrown into the stream, which, however, is done.

A turtle went on the warpath, and as he went along, he met Coyote, who said : “ And where are you going, grandson ? ” The turtle

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27 5

said: “I am on the warpath.” Coyote said: “ Where are you going?” “I am going to a camp where there are many people,” said the turtle. “ Let me see you run,” the turtle said. Coyote ran. The turtle said: “You cannot run fast ; I do not want you.”

The turtle went on, and he met a fox. “Well, brother,” said the fox, “where are you going?” “I am going on the warpath,” said the turtle. “ Where are you going ? ” said the fox. “ I am going where there are many people,” said the turtle. “Can I go with you?” said the fox. The turtle said : “ Let me see you run.” The fox ran, and he went so fast that the turtle could hardly see him. The turtle said : “You cannot run fast ; I do not want you.”

The turtle then went on, and a hawk flew by him, and the hawk heard the turtle say : “ I am on the warpath, I am looking for people to join me.” The hawk said: “Brother, what did you say?” “I am on the warpath,” said the turtle. “Can I join you?” said the hawk. “ Let me see you fly your best,” said the turtle. The hawk flew so fast that the turtle could not see him for a while. When the hawk came back, the turtle said: “You cannot fly fast; I do not want you.”

Again the turtle went on, and kept on saying : “ I am on the warpath, I am looking for people to join me.” A rabbit jumped up and said : “ Can I go along ? ” “ Let me see you run,” said the turtle. The rabbit ran, and ran fast. The turtle said: “You cannot run fast ; I do not want you.”

The turtle went on, saying : “ I am looking for people to join me.” Up jumped a flint knife and said: “Brother, can I join you?” “You may if you can run fast,” said the turtle; “let me see you run.” The knife tried to run, and could not. “You will do,” said the turtle ; “ come with me.”

They went on, and the turtle was saying : “ I am looking for people to go on the warpath with me.” Up jumped a hairbrush. “What did you say?” said the brush. “I am on the warpath,” said the turtle. “ Can I go along ? ” said the brush. The turtle said : “ Let me see you run.” The brush tried to run, but could not. The turtle said : “You will do ; come with us.”

They went on, and the turtle was saying : “ I am on the warpath, I am looking for people to join me.” Up jumped an awl, and it said : “ Can I join you ? ” The turtle said : “ Let me see you run.” The awl tried to run, but could not. “You will do,” said the turtle; “ come with us.”

So the four went on, and they came to a big camp, and the turtle sent the knife into camp. The knife went into camp, and one man found it, took it home, and while trying to cut meat the man cut his fingers, and threw the knife at the doorway. The knife went back to

276 Traditions of the Skidi P awnee.

the turtle and said : “ I was picked up, and while the man was trying to cut meat, I cut his hand and he threw me at the doorway, so I came back.”

The turtle said: “Very well. Now, Brush, you go and see what you can do.” So the brush went into camp, and a young girl picked it up and commenced to brush her hair. The brush pulled the girl s hair out, so that the girl threw the brush at the doorway, and it came back. It said : “Brother Turtle, there is a young girl who has lovely hair. She used me on her head, and I pulled on her hair, so that she threw me away. See, I have her hair here.” “Well done, said the turtle.

“ Now, Awl, go and be brave,” said the turtle. The awl went into camp, and an old woman picked it up. She began to sew her moccasins, and all at once she stuck the awl in one of her fingers. The woman threw it away, and it came back and said : “ Brother Turtle, I hurt a woman badly. She was using me while she was sewing her moccasins, and I stuck one of her fingers ; she threw me away.” “Well done, brothers, now it is my turn,” said the turtle.

The turtle went into camp, and people saw him and said : “ What does this mean ? Look at Turtle; he is on the warpath. Let us kill him.” So they took him, and people said : “Let us spread hot coals and put him in there.” “All right,” said the turtle, “that will suit me, for I will spread out my legs and burn some of you.” People said: “True, let us then put a kettle over the fire, and when the water boils let us put him in.” The turtle said : “ Good ! Put me in, and I will scald some of you.” People said : “ True ! Let us throw him into the stream.” The turtle said : “ No, do not do that. I am afraid, I am afraid ! ” People said : “ He is afraid of water ; let us throw him in there.” But the turtle hallooed the more: “I am afraid ! Do not throw me in the water ! ” So the people threw the turtle in the water. The turtle came up to the surface and said : “ I am a cheat. Heyru ! Heyru ! ” poking his tongue out.

The people picked up the knife, awl, and brush and used them. The turtle stayed in the water, and every time the people went to the water, Turtle would say: “I cheated you; water is my home.” People would throw stones at it, and' it would dive.

75. BUFFALO AND DEER.279

♦

The buffalo and deer dispute as to their relative value to the people.

There was a village of people, and a deer and buffalo came to the village at about the same time. They both went off. Then, when the village broke up and the people had gone away, the deer went

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back to the place where the village was, and here he found the buffalo standing.

The buffalo scolded the deer for following him around, and said : “What are you following me around for? You are no good. The people will not eat you. Your meat is not as good as mine.” The deer turned around and said: “You big black-headed fellow, I am not following you. When the people kill you, they cut you up, eat some of the parts of you, and throw the other parts outside and leave them in the place where they have had their camp, and the wolves and coyotes come and eat these pieces of meat up that are left behind ; but when the people see me, they get on their fast ponies and they strike out after me. When they come up close to me I hear them say : * Let me kill him. I want to make that deer holy.’ They kill me. They take every part of my flesh home, and they take my meat to the holy lodge. They make my meat holy, and they take my tongue and heart and put them in the fire. My smoke goes to Tirawa, for I am made holy. The rest of my meat they eat, but your meat they leave behind.” The buffalo said : “That may be true, but my meat is also made holy, and they get my meat so that the people become strong, and they get plenty to eat from my meat.”

The buffalo drove the deer off, so that the buffalo were more numerous than the deer, — and that is why the people used to kill more buffalo than deer.

76. FOX AND RABBIT.277

The rabbit professes to a girl that he rides the fox whenever he visits her ; the fox insists on a contradiction, but the rabbit contrives to make good his vaunt.

There was a village, and in the village dwelt a pretty girl. All the young men were courting her, but none had been able to marry her. Even the animals were in love with her. So one day a fox thought that he would go and visit the girl. So he started, and on the way he met a jack-rabbit. The fox asked the rabbit where he was going, and the rabbit said : “ I am going to see the pretty girl in the village.” “Well,” said the fox, “I am going there, too, so we might as well go together.” “Very well,” said the rabbit. So they went on together.

When they came to the lodge, the rabbit was the spokesman. They were invited into the lodge. The rabbit did all the talking to the girl. The rabbit whispered to the girl and said: “Do you see yonder fox? I rode him when I came to see you.” So the rabbit soon left and went to his home.

The fox then went up to the girl, and said : “ What did the rabbit have to say?” The girl said : “The rabbit said he rides you whenever he comes to see me.” The fox was mad when he heard what the rabbit had said.

So the fox went to the home of the rabbit, and when the rabbit saw him coming he knew that the girl had told him what he had said and also knew that the fox was mad. So the rabbit lay down and began to groan, as if he were in great pain. When the fox got there he said : “What have you been saying to the girl ? You never rode me, and I want you to go with me and tell the girl that you told a lie ; that you do not ride me.” “But,” said the rabbit, “I cannot go, for I am sick. I cannot walk.” But the fox wanted the rabbit to go. So the rabbit said : “ Let me ride you, and when we get to the girl’s lodge then I can get off.” So the fox let the rabbit ride him. The rabbit kept on falling off, so he asked the fox if he could put a rope around him, and the fox said : “ All right.” So the rabbit went for a rope and got his quirt also. The rabbit rode the fox until he got to the entrance, then the rabbit jumped off and handed the rope to one of the servants.

The girl saw the rabbit, and received him. She took him in. She talked to the rabbit a long time, then said : “ Mr. Rabbit, I refuse to marry you, for you have such a big nose.” So the rabbit went out, and never returned.

The fox then tried to marry the girl, and she refused him, for the rabbit rode him. Then the fox left and went into the timber. The fox felt so badly that he kept on running, and ever after that was afraid of people.

77. MOSQUITOES.278

A man prays mosquitoes for power, but is refused.

A man decided that he would pray to mosquitoes for help. So he stripped himself of all his clothing, and went into a thick timber near a pond. There the mosquitoes swarmed about him, and bit him so that blood ran down on him. His face was swollen, but he would not lift his hand to kill them. He cried and cried, telling the mosquitoes that he was poor in heart and had come to feed them and for them to give him some power which they might have. He stayed and stayed, expecting some of them to whisper in his ear that they would pity him.

All at once he heard some one shouting, and the voice seemed to come near him. So the man cried louder. The object flew around him and said : “I am chief of these people. We have no power to

Animal Tales.

give to any one. The Father made us to suck blood. So you had better go to the creek, wash, and go home. We can do nothing for you. Go home. We can do nothing for you. Go home, or my people will drink all your blood, and you will die.” So the man went home. Mosquitoes can pity nobody.

PEOPLE MARRY ANIMALS OR BECOME

ANIMALS.

78. DEER-WIFE AND BUFFALO-WIFE.2’®

A young man averse to women is attracted by the flute of a deer-maiden, whom he marries, and by whom he has a son. For a time he lives with the deer, and learns their songs and rites. He is allured by a -buffalo-maiden, by whom he has a girl ; the rival wives and their peoples contend with each other. The man and his deer-wife return to the people, while the children live with the animals to whom they are related ; the buffalo-girl leads the buffalo to the village as a calf.

There was a village, and in this village was a young man who disliked women. His father was the chief of the village. The chief once in a while would remind the young man that he was old enough to take a woman. The young man would laugh. In the night, young girls would visit the chief’s lodge, so that the young man could follow them as they went home, but the young man would not follow nor care for them. He had now grown to manhood. His father tried to get him to marry some young girl, but the boy would not listen to his father. Now in this country there were many wild animals going around in groups. East of the village was a resting place they called their village. Among the deer there was a family of males and females and they had a girl. As the deer-girl grew, she began to run around with other deer-girls. It was noised around among the deer that there was a young man among the human family who disliked women. The deer-girl heard of it. She loved the young man, although she had never seen him. So she went and told her father and mother that she was going with some other deer to play. But the girl went to the people’s village, and there she sat upon the hill west of the village.

She then turned herself into a young girl. The people in the young man’s lodge were sitting around the fireplace, telling stories in the night, and all at once they heard a flute.280 None of the people seemed to notice the sound of the flute but the boy, who jumped up and ran out to where the sound of the flute came from. He got to the place. The playing of the flute had ceased. The boy came upon the girl, and he went on by, finally circling the hill. He found no flute nor player. So he went home.

28i

People marry Animals or become Animals.

As the boy was about to enter the lodge the sound of the flute was heard again. He tried not to listen to it, but he could not help but listen. He ran again, and as he neared the place the playing stopped again. So the boy again went by the girl, but finally came up to her and asked her if she heard anybody playing a flute. She said, “No.” The boy started back for home, but as soon as he reached the bottom of the hill the playing of the flute began, and the boy ran up the hill again. This time, going up to the girl, he asked her where the sound of the flute came from. The girl said that she had not heard any flute. The boy then made up his mind to go home. So he started and had not gone very far before the flute was again played. The boy ran and caught the girl and said : “ You have the flute.” She said : “Yes, I have the flute.” The boy asked who she was, but she would not tell him. The boy knew all the girls in the village, and this one was a strange girl, for he had never seen her before.

The boy took her home, and they stayed together all night. The next morning people saw them and said: “The boy has at last brought us a daughter-in-law.” They wondered who it could be. So they watched to see the girl, to find out who she was. But the boy and girl stayed close to the bed. When the people ate, food was taken to the boy and girl, and the bby would eat alone. In the night the girl would leave the lodge and go to some nice place where there was much grass, and she would eat grass until she was filled, then she would go back to the lodge. This is the way they did.

One night the girl told the boy that she was going to give birth, — and indeed she did give birth, and it was a boy.

After the boy had grown so that he could walk, the girl said to her husband : “ Let us go to my home ; I want you to know my people, and I want you to hear my people make the flute sound.” So they started. For one whole day they went, until they came where there was a high hill. There they stopped, and the girl said : “ Yonder bottom, where you see cottonwood, is where my people live ; do you go there, and we shall wait there for you.” She said that she and the boy would go on, and that he could follow. So the woman and boy started. As soon as they got to the bottom of the hill they disappeared. The young man never saw them go up any more, but he did see a deer and a fawn going up the hill. Then he suspected that it was the woman and child. He then thought the woman was a deer. He followed them, and at last he came to a bottom, and there were many deer.

The deer and the fawn were there. The deer-people were very glad to see them. So the young man was received among them. The young girl took the fawn-boy to her grandparents, and they were glad to receive him. When the young man got there he was received among the friends of the deer-woman. The deer father and mother were glad to see their daughter come back, for they had given her up for dead. The deer-people came around the young man, and they all liked him, for he was a fine-looking man.

Now the deer went abroad, and brought in all kinds of deer; the elk, antelope, and different kinds of deer came. A great animal council was held, and it was decided by the animals to give power to the young man, the same power which they themselves had.

An elk came forward, made a peculiar whistle, and said: “You must have a whistle out of cedar. This is what we gave to our daughter, who went and brought you to us, for we want you to learn our powers.” The flute was given him, but not finished.

The other family of deer now selected one of their males to teach the young man. The young man did not know himself. There seemed to him only the thought of following the deer. So he followed the deer, and the deer went from one plant to another, and as the young man came to the plant he had an understanding of what it was for. So the boy was kept by the deer family.

At last the girl said : “ Let us return to your people ; our boy is now anxious to be with your people.” So the deer and the deer-boy started, the young man following.

The deer and the young deer went into a ravine and stayed quite a while. When they came from the ravine they were again like people. The boy was dressed in buckskin, with a fawn skin thrown over his shoulders. The woman was dressed in buckskin, but she had an elk robe over her shoulders. They went home as people. Their people were glad to see them, for they had been gone for some time. The people now knew who the woman was.

Now the man felt he should hunt. So he went west of the camp. He travelled far. He came to a river, and there he saw a tipi set up. The tipi was new. He stood outside. He did not enter. He did not find any game, and so he went home. When he got home he thought about the tipi and wondered who lived there.

The next day he took his bow and arrows and went where he saw the tipi. He got there, and stood outside. Some one inside said : “ Come in, do not stand outside.” So the man went in, and he saw a nice-looking woman sitting in the west. Her hair was not braided, and she had a new buffalo robe wrapped around her. He sat down and asked if he could stay all night. The woman said : u Yes, you may lie by the door there.” So as night came on the man went and lay down by the entrance. Next morning the man went home. He did not stay very long, for he went back to the place where the new tipi was. He got there and there he stayed several nights. Semper caput suum movit ad locum versus ubi jacuit mulier. Ad ultimum caput

People marry Animals or become Animals. 283

prope caput mulieris erat. Tunc cum femina concubuit. Ilia viro imperavit ut cervae uxori ejus diceret se cum alia muliere concubuisse. The next day the man went home. He did not like to tell his deerwife, but he told her, and she said : “ I know what you have done ; do not tell me.”

So the man went to the place again, and there was no tipi. For many years the man visited the place. One day he went by, and he saw the same tipi. He went to it, and as he neared the tipi some one inside said : “ Little girl, your father is coming.” So the girl ran and met the man. The man stayed some time, and this woman said : “ Your deer-wife is angry. Go home and tell your wife to meet me and my people at a certain place and I will talk with her.” So the man went home and told his wife what the other woman had said.

So the deer-woman got her people and the man, and they went to the place. When they arrived they found many buffalo. They fought. But the two women stood and called one another names.

So the buffalo went west and north. The elk went east and south. So the man followed the buffalo where the daughter went, but the bulls, grandfathers of the girl, would not let him come near. They said : “ Your son is a deer. Go to him and he will take care of you.” So the man gave up following.

On his way back he had a vision. He thought he saw an old man, who told him to tell the people that the deer family must be made holy at any time of the year, and offered to Tirawa. The buffalo were to be offered to Tirawa only when people had a dream.

So the man went and followed the deer, and caught up with his wife and child. The boy said : “ Mother, what shall we do ? my father is coming.” So the man stayed with the deer. So the people are related to the deer family and the buffalo.

The man visited his people once in a while, and taught them how to make flutes. The boy (deer) returned to the people and stayed with the people. As the man and woman grew older they returned to the people, and there they died of old age, after teaching people how to do sleight-of-hand performances and songs that they had learned from the deer.

The buffalo-girl is the one who leads all the buffalo around, for she is human, and they follow her around. Many times this calf led the buffalo to the village of the people, so that the people killed many buffalo. If this calf was killed, its skin was used to cover one of the sacred bundles.

79. THE MAN WHO MARRIED A BUFFALO.281

A youth having magical power conferred by the wind unites himself to a female buffalo, with whom, on separation, he leaves a shell gorget. The result of this alliance is a calf, who, when mature, in company with his mother, goes in quest of his human father. The latter, recognizing the shell, follows his child and wife to the buffalo village : he performs the tasks imposed by the leaders of the herd, namely, the recognition of the calf and cow among many similar, and the winning of a race ; attempts to kill him fail ; he is then accepted, and turned into a buffalo ; in this shape he vanquishes a former lover of his wife. He is made to resume human shape, and sent to his people, to arrange terms on which the leaders of the buffalo are willing to surrender a drove ; presents are accepted, and the buffalo sent. His buffalo wife lives with him as a woman in the village until he proves unfaithful, when she deserts him. The calf, being both buffalo and man, acts as mediator between the two.

There was a village of people, where lived a woman and her son. The father had been killed in battle. The little boy had wonderful dreams. In the winter time the woman made bows and arrows for the boy and told him to try and kill snowbirds. They were alone, for the people had moved their camp to some other place. Their relatives tried to get them to go along, but the woman did not care to go.

The boy went out one day and did not come back. The old woman wondered and wondered. For many days he did not come back ; but when he did come, he brought some feathers with him. The woman put them away. The young man grew up, so they finally joined the camp. He was quiet and never played with the boys.

One day they were attacked by the enemy, and the boy borrowed a horse from a man, put on his feathers, and went into the battle. He killed an enemy and took his horse from him. People talked about him, girls in the camp looked upon him, but he would pay no attention to them. He also joined war-parties, and he helped capture many ponies. People talked about him, but he did not care. So it went on. Whenever there was a battle he entered and killed or counted coup. People danced for him and girls went to his tipi, but he sent them away. He knew not a woman. A war-party went out and he joined them. At this time he was a scout. So he would travel far, and make his report to the leader when he returned.

Once he went out by himself and he came to a stream. The stream was muddy and he saw a buffalo cow sitting in the mud. He looked around. Nobody was coming, and the buffalo was fast in the mud. He stripped himself and went to the cow and lay with her. He got out, dressed himself and was about to go, when he took a shell gorget he wore on his'neck and tied it on one of the horns of the cow. No sooner had he done this than the buffalo jumped out of the mud and ran. The man went to the war-party and joined them. The war-party

People marry Animals or become Animals. 285

was successful and returned home. The young man captured more ponies than any one. People sang about him, and young girls danced for him, but he would take none of them.

About a year afterwards a male buffalo calf was born. None of the bulls claimed him. They called the calf “Man-Straight-Up.” When the calf played with the rest of the young calves they said : “Go away from us ! Your father is not here.” The mother cow felt bad about it, for the boy cried. “ But,” said the woman, “my boy, it was done for a purpose. Your grandfather wanted smoke and presents from those people, and the only way to get them was to send one of us to them to have connection, so the two kinds of people would be brought together. You see I was selected to go and stay with this man. Our people especially liked the soul of your father, for he is a good man. He has powers from the gods in the north. The god whose name is ‘ Standing-Wind ’ gave him power to do wonders. Now, my boy, do you want to go and see your father?” “Yes,” said the calf. But the mother said : “We must get permission from your grandfathers, the bulls ; they are the ones who sent me to this man.”

So she went and asked the bulls if she and her son could go to see the man. The bulls said: “Go. Bring him here. Tell him to bring tobacco, eagle feathers, and blue beads.282 Tell him we want him.” The bulls also said : “ We also give you and your child power to turn into human beings, but you must first roll in the dust four times. Round-Eyes, now you are going to see your father. So do not forget to get the things we have spoken to you about. We shall be glad to have your father come and be with us.”

So the mother and calf started for the people’s country. The calf was now quite large, and ran along beside the mother cow. For many days they travelled, and finally came to the people’s camp. They saw the village and hid in a valley.

When the next day came, men went out to their playing ground with the ring and sticks. They came closer to them. The mother cow called the calf, and said : “ Let me breathe over you. After I breathe over you, roll on the ground several times, and you will become a boy.” “ Come, my boy,” she said, “ now rub me down with dust and whip me with your tail.” So the mother and boy both rolled in the dust, — and there was standing in the hollow a lovely woman and a lovely boy. The boy had only the calf robe wrapped around him, but no clothing. The woman had a tanned buffalo robe for a skirt, and a fine white buffalo robe.- with the hair inside, so the white side was outward. They sat down and waited. Men were playing with sticks. There were many men playing. The woman would look and say : “ My son, your father is out there.” The boy was dancing around for joy, for now he was to see his father. He was also glad to be a human being.

The woman looked and saw some one coming from the village. She looked and looked, and said : “My son, there comes your father. He never comes up on these grounds ; but my spirit went out to him, and he now comes. Now stand up. You see that man standing yonder all by himself? He is your father. Go to him. Tell him, ‘Father, I have come after you.’” So the boy went, and as he neared, the man said: “Whose boy is that? He is a fine-looking boy.” So the boy went up to the man and said : “ Father, I have come after you ; my mother wants you.” The man looked at the boy and said : “ My son, you must be mistaken : I have no boy.” “ Yes,” said the boy, “and my mother told me to tell you to come.” “No, my boy,” said the man, “I cannot come; I do not know you.” So the boy went away feeling badly. “Mother,” said the boy, “he will not come ; he says he has no boy.” The boy wept. “ Stop crying,” said the mother; “go again and tell that man to come. Tell him that I want him ; I have a message for him.” So the boy went again, and he said to the man : “ My mother says you are the man, and she wants you to come. She has a message for you.” But the man said : “No, I cannot come, for I cannot make out who you are, or your mother.” Other men said: “ My boy, you must be mistaken; this man is not married, and does not care for women.” So the boy went away with tears rolling down his cheeks. “ Mother, he will not come,” said the boy. So the woman became angry. She sent the boy the third time, and this time other men said : “ Why do you not go ? That is a fine boy. Anybody would be proud of such a boy.” But the man said : “ I cannot go, for I cannot make out who he is, for I have never been with any woman.” So the boy went back to his mother and said : “He does not want to come.” So the mother was more than angry. “Come, my boy,” said she, “you shall go for the last time, and if he does not come we shall start for home, so that he will not see us any more ; neither will his people kill us any more, for we shall travel far, and tell our people not to go near them.” She took a long string with a round shell gorget on it. She tied it around his neck and said : “ Now go. Let him see this around your neck before you come back.” So the boy went and pulled the man’s robe and said: “Father, mother wants you. Come! Let us go!” The man looked at the boy, and with haste said: “No, I cannot go.” Just as the man was about to start away, the man saw the shell around the child’s neck, and said to himself : “That is my shell, and where did I leave it ? ” He thought and thought. All at once he remembered the buffalo cow in the mud, and at the same time he glanced up and he saw a buffalo cow and calf going toward the hills as fast as they could go.

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The man went into camp and to his lodge. He took his feathers and slung them on his back, and started in the direction where he saw the buffalo and calf go. He followed and followed, until he was very tired, and he sat down. In the evening he started again, and at a distance, along a stream, he saw a new tipi set up. So he went to it, and the boy came to him and said : “ Father, you must not come near the tipi; my mother said you must stay here. I am glad you have come, father.” The boy went back into the tipi. In the morning the man woke up, and the tipi was gone. So he started on, and when he got on top of a high hill he saw the cow and boy going along. He followed them. Again in the evening he saw the same tipi up, and the boy playing outside. As he neared, the boy came running up to the father and said : “ I am glad you came, father ; you may come closer to the tipi, but you cannot see mother.” The boy returned to the tipi. The next morning the tipi was gone, and the man went on again. He saw them, and he followed.

At every stream the cow passed she caused the water to disappear, for she was angry at the man, and she did not want him to have any water. One day the man weakened, for he was starving and tired. “Father, keep up courage, I shall look after you. I want you to come with us. Are you tired, father?” said the boy. “Yes,” said the man. The calf then turned and whipped the man with its tail, and the man felt well and could run. For many days they went, and each evening the tipi was up, but in the morning it would disappear.

One day, as they were now travelling fast, the boy stopped, and said: “Father, are you hungry?” The man said, “Yes.” “Well, take this. When you get enough, put it away and eat it when you get hungry.” It was a bit of pemmican. It looked small to the man, and as he ate it, it seemed to remain the same size. The man put it away and he travelled better. They came to a dry stream, and the man looked around for water, but there was no water. The boy came to him and said : “ Father, are you thirsty ? ” The man said : “ Yes, my boy.” “Well, father,” said the boy, “next stream we come to I shall tell mother I am thirsty. She dries every stream we come to. She then can press her hoof in the bed of the creek and there will be water. Drink out of that, father.” So the next stream they came to, the mother pressed her hoof in the bed of the creek and there was water. The mother went on. The boy drank and then the father drank. “Why, this is wonderful. The hole is small and I did not think I could get enough,” said the man. So he covered the place up and went on. By this time the woman had her tipi up. This time the man was allowed to go into the tipi, but he could not sit by the woman. He was told to sit by the entrance. When he woke up the tipi was gone. He opened his feathers and picked out one, put it on his head, and said : “Now I can go as fast as they can, for now I have the power of Standing-Wind at my command.” When he caught up, the boy came to him and said : “ Father, we are nearing the place where my people are. To-day we are to travel fast. Do you think you can bear it? Oh, father, I want you to be with us all the time.” “Yes,” said the man, “ I can keep up ; go as fast as you want to, I can keep up.” So they ran, and in the afternoon they came to a high hill, and they saw many buffalo. Here and there was a stray bull. The woman ran right down and into the herd, the boy following.

The bulls got together to hear what the woman had to say, the boy with her. The man sat at a distance, for they did not want him to come near. In the first place, the buffalo were jealous of him for having a buffalo-woman, and were incensed. In the second place, they were now angry with him for refusing to come when the mother was sent to get tobacco and other things for them, also for trying to disown his son. When they heard the woman, they said : “We must kill him, and we will have nothing to do with these straight-up-people. The sooner we kill him the better.”

So the bulls decided to make the man look for his son. The boy came and told his father that he was to be killed if he did not find him ; that ten little calves about his size were to stand side by side and he was then to pass by them and in front of them. The boy said : “When you pass behind us I shall move my tail so that you may know me. Now I am going. Remember what I have told you.” The man slept by the buffalo, and the next morning they came after him. He went down, and there were ten little calves standing side by side, all of the same age, all alike, so that if he did not have the calf’s help he could not find him. He was told to find his son. So he passed along behind them, and he saw his son waving his tail. So he knew him. Then he went in front and he saw his son with one eye closed. He laid his hand on the boy’s head, and said: “This is my son.” The bulls grunted and said : “ He is a wonderful man, but we will kill him.” The man went back on the hill. The calf was happy, for his father had recognized him.

In the afternoon the bulls decided to get the man to choose, or rather to find his wife. So, many buffalo of her size and age were chosen, and they were placed side by side, and if he did not recognize her they were to kill him. After the boy had heard all, he went to his father and said : “ Father, it is decided by my grandfathers (bulls) that you choose my mother. Now listen. I do not want you killed. I want you to know that I will lick my tongue on my mother’s hips, so you will know her when you see her. On her head I will place a cockle burr, so you will know her. I am gone, for they

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are coming after you.” They came after him, and he saw standing side by side ten cows, alike, that he might not tell the boy’s mother. He went down the line behind, and he saw the tongue marks on the hips and he pointed. Then he went in front, and he also saw the burr. He said: “This is my wife.” The old bulls grunted and said : “Ah, he calls her his wife, but we must kill him.”

That night the bulls got together, and it was decided that the young bulls should run a race with the man ; and that if the man was beaten the man and boy must both be killed. The boy came to his father and said : “ Father, I am sorry. The bulls have decided that you shall run a race with the young bulls, who can run fast. If you are beaten, father, you and I will be killed. I do not know what to do.” “Son,” said the father, “go home and sleep.” “Yes, father, but you must run fast, so they will not kill us,” said the boy. So the boy went home, for the father promised to run fast. That night the man untied his bundle, took out a soft, downy eagle feather, and put it on his head, running the quill through his scalp-lock. He took out a snowbird, tied it on a pole, and set the pole in the ground. The man sat up all night, thinking of what was to happen the next day. That night it clouded up, and the next morning the ground was covered with sleet, so that it was slippery. The man took the snowbird down and put it back in his bundle. The bulls came up to him and said : “You are to run a race with some young bulls. If you are beaten, you and your son are to be killed, so there will be no human beings among us. Then we are to go off, so people will find us no more. If you beat them, then we will not kill you, but we will give you the woman, so that you will be one of us.” The boy was about the father, and would say : “ Father, run fast and beat them ! ” The young bulls came out and the man joined them. They went a long distance, and then they started. The young bulls could not run, for it was slippery. The man ran, and with the aid of the feather he had in his head he beat them. This made the boy glad, but the bulls were angry, so instead of giving him the woman, they said : “We will kill him.”

The boy came to him with tears in his eyes and said : “ Father, they are going to kill you. I am very sorry. Some of the bulls are angry because you did not come when mother was sent to you.” “ Leave it all to me,” said the man ; “what are they to do with me this time ? ” And the boy said : “ They are to seat you in the centre, and the bulls of all sizes are to attack you from all sides, and tramp upon you.” The boy went away, and they came after the man. They took him in the centre. He took the feather off his head and just slipped it in his hair. A grunting sound came from the bulls, for here and there they were locking horns and boasting what each would do to hook the man and crush him. But when the grunting noise ceased, the bulls rushed at the man and there was a great noise, each boasting he had killed him. The dust rose, and on top there was a yellow feather. The bulls dispersed, saying : “ We have killed him.” When the dust had settled, there was the man, sitting unhurt. They saw him and they rushed at him again, and this time the bulls hurt one another. When they dispersed again, the man was still there. The bulls gave it up, and the calf ran to the father for joy. The bulls said : “ Round-Eyes, your father is safe. Take him to your mother.” The little boy led the man through the herd and found his mother. The buffalo then sat down for the night, and the calf gave his father a bit of the pemmican again. So the man ate for the first time.

In the morning the bulls met together and they decided to turn the man into a buffalo. So the bulls called the man. The boy told his father not to be afraid ; that he was now to become a buffalo. The buffalo then surrounded the man, each coming near to him and breathing on him, rubbing him, others urinating and wallowing, grunting and bellowing. All at once they made a rush at him, and rolled and rolled him, until they had him in a buffalo-wallow, rolling, getting some of the buffalo water on him so that he had a buffalo odor. Presently he was also trying to bellow like a buffalo. Now he felt he was becoming one. He could feel the horns coming out on him, and afterwards he knew he had a buffalo head. The buffalo saw it, and made haste in their work, tumbling him over and over in the buffalo-wallow. Then he stood on his four legs and was a complete buffalo.

There was one bull who challenged the new-made buffalo to lock horns. He had to accept, locked horns with the bull, and overpowered him. This was the buffalo bull who wanted the cow before she went off, and it was he who was always trying to make trouble for the man. Every difficulty now out of the way, there was now nothing else to do but let the buffalo cow come and stand by her man. The calf of course was with him all the time. He was now proud. He could go and play with other bull-calves, for now his father was not a straight-upbeing any more.

The old bull, who was their leader, now called them and said : “Children, I am getting old. I want you now to go to your people and tell them I sent you to bring me presents. I want tobacco, black handkerchiefs, blue beads, and eagle feathers. Your people are in need of food ; they are starving. The sooner you go the better.” So the man, wife, and child started for their country. They journeyed for many days. After they came in sight of the village, they hid in a hollow, for here was a buffalo-wallow. Here they rolled and became

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human beings. As night came on and there was no stir in the village, they got up and went into the men’s lodge.

He seated the woman and child at the altar (that is, at the west, where the buffalo skull rests). The woman had her robe over her head, her hair hanging down, loose. The boy was anxious to see some of the people. The man woke his parents up and told them he was back. They made a very small fire, enough to see by, and the man asked for something to eat. They did not have anything, so the man went to his wife, raised her robe, and brought out jerked meat. “ Take this, mother, and boil it so that you can eat it.” People were sent for, but were not permitted to see the woman and boy.

About midnight the man sent for the chief priest, and told him to go and gather many eagle feathers, blue beads, a black handkerchief, and tobacco. He also told him to tell the chiefs that he wanted them to come to his lodge. The gifts were brought and the man was thankful. When the chiefs came in they were glad to see the man, and the man said : “ Chiefs : I came from a long way off ; for many days I travelled very fast. I came to bring you a good message from the buffalo, who are far away. All they asked of you was for you to send presents to them, which I now have here. I shall start out tonight, so I can hasten to where the buffalo are, and if the presents are accepted, they will come, so you can kill them and have plenty to eat for your women and children.” They blessed him by pressing the palms of their hands on his head, and passing downwards to the palm of the hands, with low whispers of “ Nawa iri ! Nawa iri ! ” (Thanks ! Thanks !) The man then folded up the presents and told his parents to put the fire out ; that they were going back, and in four days to look for them. The fire was put out. Everybody was still, and they started out. The people could hear their hoofs rattle, and they went out of the lodge. For a long time the people said nothing. The next morning the crier went through the camp, and the people were told not to make any more noise than they could help, for a promise had been given them that the buffalo were to come. Four days these people travelled. The man was a man, while the woman and boy were buffalo.

They finally reached the buffalo, and the buffalo all seated themselves in the grass. The boy took eagle feathers, and tied one upon each shaggy head. They were very proud. The old bull had the black handkerchief tied around one of his horns, while the blue beads and the tobacco were tied together and were hung on the other horn. Every one was pleased. The man talked to them and told them that the people were starving and that they had sent presents to them so that they could send buffalo to them.

The bulls then decided to send a small drove with the man and boy among them. They started at once, while the rest were to follow. The first drove neared the village. The man went into the village and told the chiefs to tell the people to get ready to make a killing. This was done, and the people were told not to kill the calf, for it was to go after more buffalo. It was the man’s son. People wondered who this man could be, and people said : “ Why, some mysterious child came and took him away. Now, through him we are to be fed.” Scouts were sent out to see if there were any buffalo. They saw none. They came back and the man sent them back, for they were sitting down in a hollow. These buffalo still had their gifts on their heads, — the eagle feathers, bits of tobacco, and blue beads. The people found the buffalo, killed them, and brought home the meat. The people let the calf go. Every few days people saw the buffalo coming with the calf in the lead. They killed and brought meat home. They were very thankful.

After a time the whole drove came, and they stayed at a distance, but the boy offered his prayers and tobacco to them. The bulls finally decided to let the woman go into camp. So the woman and the boy started for their lodge. The people saw them. They offered sweet grass and burnt offerings, so that the smell of the human being would not be great in the lodge. The man knew they were coming. He waited for them. When they entered the lodge the fire was put out. People heard the rattle of hoofs, and they stopped in the west at the altar or holy place. The boy did not like to be in the lodge, so he went out. This was in the night. The next morning the people saw the woman sitting at the altar, her hair hanging down over her face so that they could not see it. For many days she sat there, until she got used to the smell of the people. She then took her place by her husband. One night the man and woman went out to the buffalo, and they offered tobacco and other presents to them. The buffalo then disappeared.

For many years the man and woman lived together. But one day the man went and lay with another woman, and the buffalo-woman got up and bellowed, woke the people, and away she went. They scolded the man, and the man cried and cried upon the hills, and all he heard was : “Go and lie with the other woman ! ” But he could not see any one.

For many years people were hungry, and this man could not do anything for them; but one day they saw the calf,- and they made presents to it, and it brought the buffalo again.

So it was allowed by the buffalo bulls that the people should kill buffalo. Had the boy gone home and turned to a human being, then the buffalo would have disappeared. But the boy was there and was between the people and the buffalo. So the spirits of the people and

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the spirits of the buffalo were on the boy. So the prayer and presents of the people were carried to the buffalo by the boy, and the boy also led the buffalo to the people.

80. THE MAN WHO BECAME A SNAKE.288

A youth, by eating marrow, is turned into a snake, and in that form is able to assist his human brother.

There was a party of Pawnee who went out to visit some other tribes to make friends. Two of the brothers left the crowd, got lost, and started on their return home. On the way back they saw a dead buffalo, nearly eaten up by coyotes. They took the bones and went on and came to a clump of wood. They saw a squirrel, which the younger brother shot with his bow and arrow. They made a fire and broiled the squirrel. So the older brother said to the younger : “ Let us eat this squirrel with this marrow of the buffalo bone.” The younger brother said : “ No, we had better not.”

After they had eaten the squirrel and marrow, and had gone to bed, about midnight the younger brother woke up and said: “Brother, wake up, something has happened to me.” The older brother looked, and the younger brother was half snake, and he said to his brother: “You have done me wrong by getting me to eat the marrow. Go away, but before you leave me, do you see that hole in that hill ? Just thrust me in that hole, and I will be a snake, and any time you come, I will be there and will help you.” When it was morning the old^r brother saw his younger brother with big head and big eyes. He was now a snake and had a big rattle. So he dragged him where the hole was and thrust him in. “ I will see that you have good luck if you come back,” said the snake. When the older brother alone went back to where he had put the snake, the snake said : “ Here I am, brother, come and see me when you desire.”

The man went along the creek and saw two enemies, a man and woman, driving a lot of horses close by. He jumped up, took a bow and arrow and killed the man. Then he caught the woman, got on a horse, and away he went with the woman and horses to the snake. When near the snake he got off, took his buffalo rope, tied the woman to a tree that was standing there, tightly, and said : “Brother, here is your horse, and a woman. I leave them with you.” A great dust came up out of the hole, and the snakes came out, and the woman was frightened to death, and the horse also, by their crawling up to them. The man got on one horse and went on back to his village. A second time he went out, and he took four other men with him and stole more horses, two of which he tied to a tree. Then he went away and the snakes ate the horses. The man was wealthy, and got many horses every time because he went first to his brother, the snake.

81. THE WOMAN WHO BECAME A HORSE.284

A wife whose husband is on the warpath is kind to a horse, who assumes human shape and becomes her lover. She has ponies for children, and is then herself turned into a mare, but is killed by her husband.

There was a village and the men decided to go on a warpath. So these men started, and they journeyed for several days toward the south. They came to a thickly wooded country. They found wild horses ; and among them was a spotted pony. One man caught the spotted pony and took care of it. He took it home, and instructed his wife to look after it, as if it were their chief. This she did, and, further, she liked the horse very much. She took it where there was good grass. In the winter time she cut young cottonwood shoots for it, so that the horse was always fat. In the night, if it was stormy, she pulled a lot of dry grass, and when she put the blanket over the horse and tied it up, she stuffed the grass under the blanket, so the horse never got cold. It was always fine and sleek.

One summer evening she went to where she had tied the horse and she met a fine-looking man, who had on a buffalo robe with a spotted horse pictured on it. She liked him ; he smelt finely. She followed him until they came to where the horse had been, and the man said : “You went with me. It is I who was a horse.” She was glad, for she liked the horse. For several years they were together, and the woman gave birth, and it was a spotted pony. When the pony was born the woman found she had a tail like that of a horse ; she also had long hair. When the colt sucked, the woman stood up. For several years they roamed about, and had more ponies, all spotted. At home the man mourned for his lost wife. He could not make out why she should go off.

People went on a hunt many years afterward, and they came across these spotted ponies. People did not care to attack them, for among them was a strange looking animal ; but, as they came across them now and then, they decided to catch them. They were hard to catch, but at last they caught them, all but the woman, for she could run fast ; but as they caught her children, she gave in and was caught.

People said : “This is the woman who was lost.” And some said : “No, it is not.” Her husband was sent for, and he recognized her. Pie took his bow and arrows out and shot her dead, for he did not like to see her with the horse’s tail. The other spotted ponies were

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kept, and as they increased they were spotted. So the people had many spotted ponies.285

82. THE BOY WHO BECAME A PRAIRIE-DOG.288

A scolded boy lives with prairie-dogs and forgets his past. Through the aid of birds, arrows are put in his way, which revive his memory ; he returns, bringing a prairie-dog wife ; he is unfaithful, and his wife and himself both turn into prairiedogs, who are thus related to the Skidi.

In olden times, when people first got corn, they had to be careful and not waste it. Now there was in the village a woman and her son. This woman worked hard and raised much corn, different kinds of corn, — white, yellow, red, blue, white corn with black spots, blue corn with white spots, speckled corn with red spots, and blue speckled corn.

One day she laid them out, and said to her six-year-old boy : “ My son, come and look at this corn I have laid before me. Now pick out one you like, and we shall call you by the name of that corn.” The boy looked at the corn, and he selected the blue corn. So the mother said: “Your name from this time shall be Lixokonkatit, Black-Eyed-Corn.”

With the springtime came the time for planting; so the woman got the corn out and hung it up. Then she went to the field and prepared a place for the corn. While she was working, the boy became hungry, and he took two ears and roasted them. He ate them up. The mother came and scolded her son for eating the corn. So the boy cried and cried. Then he went off. The mother missed the boy, and called and called him, but no boy came.

At last she started after him. She saw his footprints. She cried where she found the footprints. She came to a creek, and here she saw his footprints plainly. She sat down and sang about the footprints. She then crossed the creek and saw the footprints again. Part of the time she was crying and part of the time she was singing. She kept on travelling, following the footprints, and at last she came to a prairie-dog town. The footprints disappeared.

She sat down and cried and cried and cried, once in a while singing about her Black-Eyed-Corn. She was nearly hoarse. The dogs came out once in a while, the boy among them. Then the dogs would run back into the hole, the boy with them. The woman would cry and beg her son to come back to her, but the boy said as he came out : “ You think more of your corn than of me. Now go home, and stay at home.” But the woman would not go. She kept on crying.

One day a crow came and spoke to her and said : “ I know everything, but I cannot bring your son back.” So away the crow flew and never came back. Another day a buzzard came, but the buzzard also said that he was not able to help her. So the buzzard flew away, promising her to tell other birds. All kinds of birds came, one at a time — even the magpie came, who is a messenger of the medicine-lodge, but he could not help her, and flew away.

Now every bird had come, and at last the woman heard a noise as of a strong wind coming from the sky. The thing lit at a distance from her, and it was an eagle — a red-eagle. Now the eagle spoke to her and said : “ I know you are poor. I am sorry for you. Your son is with the prairie-dogs. I will send you my messenger, who will help you to catch your son. I am gone.” It flew away.

In the afternoon the magpie returned and said : “ My sister, our chief, the eagle, saw you and felt sorry for you. Now I come to you, for he sent me to help you. Now I will place around here these feathers which I have brought, so that when the dogs come out the boy will see them here and there, and will think of human beings again.” Now the feathers were scattered out, and as the dogs came out the boy came out. As soon as the boy came out he saw the feathers and picked one up, then another, and then another, until he was led to where the woman lay. The boy saw her and he threw the feathers away and ran back in the hole. The magpie then came to her and said : “You see I cannot do anything for you; but I will try once more.” So the magpie flew away and went among the birds.

The birds then furnished bow and arrows and gave them to the magpie. “Take these, and go out and tell the woman that now she shall catch him.” So the magpie went and told the woman what the birds said. The bird put the bow and arrows all around the hole, by the woman. The woman was lying down. So the magpie went off and sat on a limb watching. At last the dogs came out, the boy with them. The boy saw one of the arrows, jumped and picked it up. Then he went and saw another arrow, and then another and another. Then he saw the bow, and he jumped at the bow. As he seized the bow, the woman jumped up and caught her boy. The boy begged, and said : “I will go with you, but I want you to go first and fix up our home, then come after me.” So the boy went back and the woman went home. The boy kept the bow and arrows. On the way home, the woman thanked the magpie and the birds.

Finally the boy came back, but he did not stay all the time. He went back, and when he returned he brought with him a wife, a small round-faced woman. The mother was glad. So the boy told the mother that he intended to stay with her all the time. He also told the mother to be careful with his wife, for she was not human, but a prairie-dog. These people lived happily, until at one time the whole village was attacked by the enemy.

People marry Animals or become Animals. 297

They saw the wonders of the boy. He painted his body yellow, and although the enemy shot at him they could not hit him. People began to wonder, and after this looked upon him as a wonderful man. The boy became a very powerful man, and everybody did him honor. The girls went to him and wanted to marry him, but he would not, for the wife told him that if he should ever have connection with any woman they would both turn into prairie-dogs.

One time, after the battle, the boy was going along the edge of the village, when one of the girls stopped him. He did not stop, but went on. Other girls tried to stop him, but he would not. At last he came alongside the bank of a creek, and who should he see sitting by a tree but a girl he thought much of. She called him. He could not resist. He went with her and lay with her. His wife in the tipi grunted, and said : “ Mother, he has done wrong, he has lain with one of your kind.” The boy came home, and the girl scolded him. The girl told the old woman not to mourn, and that they would look after her wants. So the girl turned into a prairie-dog, and the boy also. Then they went to the prairie-dog town. So the Skidi are related to the prairie-dogs and we get our mud village from prairiedogs.

83. THE SNAKE-HAWKS.387

The wife of Hawk elopes with a snake, is transformed accordingly, and goes through a snake-hole to the underground country ; her husband seeks her, retransforms her to a hawk, carries off the snake, and founds the family of snakehawks.

There was a village, and in the village lived a family. The name of the man was Sikutawiwa, Hawk. The wife’s name was Staatawa, Know-Everything. The son’s name was Likutawahari, Young- Hawk. This woman got her name from the people, for she seemed to know everything that was going on. The man was named after the hawk, because he was a great warrior, and had the spirit of the hawk about him, so that he was quite a warrior and leader.

Hawk went on the warpath all the time, and brought captives from other tribes and captured ponies, so that he was getting to be one of the leaders of the tribe. When he went on the warpath he knew all the time he was away whether his wife had behaved herself. She also knew whether or not he was successful. She was a good-looking woman and she was true to her husband. At one time Hawk went on the warpath and was to be gone for nearly a year. In the mean time the woman went out from the village and saw a good looking young man, whose complexion was very light and his hair yellow, different from that of any other person. She went home. She kept thinking about this young man, and so one day the young man was going through the camp, when this woman came to him. She spoke to him and he spoke to her.

Finally the woman invited the boy to her house, and the boy remained with her, and she liked the boy, and she said : “We have done wrong. What shall we do ? My husband knows everything, and he will know that we have done this.” The yellow-haired boy did not care. “ Well,” said he, “ I have a way so that we can escape. You see that old woman by the entrance that has the wooden mortar standing there, pounding corn ? As soon as she pulls up that thing that is stuck in the ground we will turn into my people.” She did not want to do it ; but the boy coaxed her so hard that she finally consented, and so the old woman pulled the mortar up, and the boy turned into a yellow-headed snake (garter-snake), and so did the woman. He went into the hole where the mortar had been and she followed him. There were other holes, so she followed him into that hole, and on through wherever he went. They travelled under ground for a few days, and then, after a while, came up again.

When they came up they entered the village that they found, and this boy told tFe people in the village that his wife’s name was Know- Everything. So the people knew her name, and they stayed there.

Young-Hawk then missed his mother, went through the village asking the people about her, and they did not know where she went. He went to all the different tipis, and could not find her. So he made up his mind that somebody must have taken her away, and he knew that his father would be angry if he came home and found him without his mother. So he made up his mind to hunt for his mother. He started out in search of her. He came to the village and stood on the west side of it, and he thought to himself : “ Now if I will sing a little song to these people, they will understand what I mean, so that if my mother has come by here and is here in this village they will tell me.” So he stood on the edge of the village and sang this song : —

“ I am seeking my mother ;

Her name is Know-Everything.”

He thought he would sing his father’s song all through that country. He sang about his father. He sang his name : —

“ My name is Hawk.”

The people in the village said : “ Listen, there is a young boy singing.” They all listened, and they knew no man with such a name. So they sent for the old men to meet him. The old men told the young boy that they knew of no such woman ; that he had better go toward another village, where they thought the young man could find his woman.

People marry Animals or become Animals 299

So the young man left the village. For several days he went on, and came to another village, and he stood on the edge of the village and sang the same song as before. The people listened to the song, and they said to one another : “ She is the woman who came with the yellow-headed snake.” So they sent for the young man, and the young man went into the camp, and they told him that there was such a woman in the camp. The boy said that he was glad, that it was his mother. So Young-Hawk stayed with his mother.

In the mean time Hawk had returned from his wanderings. He was told at the village that the woman had run away with somebody, and that his son was on her trail trying to find her. He did not stop at his own village, but went right on. He came to the first village and asked about the woman and the boy, and they said the woman was not there, but that the boy had been there and had gone on. So he went on to the next village, and when he got there he was told that the woman and the boy were there.

Hawk sent for his boy, and the boy told him just what he had done, and that he had found his mother, saying that she was living with Yellow-Headed-Snake. So the man went into the tipi and took some strings, caught the snake, and tied it up so it could not run away. The woman he spared, for he said that he was glad his son had gone to seek her, and he knew that he had found her and she had taken him in. But if it had not been for the boy he would have killed her. He said that they were to return to their country, and that from that time they were to be known as the snake-hawks ; that they would take the snake with them ; that they should eat the snake ; and that all of the snake-hawks should be known as such.

So these people turned into hawks and they flew away, the man carrying the snake in his claws. When they got to their country they ate of the snake, and after that they were ever flying around after more snakes.

MISCELLANEOUS.

84. SPEAK-RIDDLES AND WISE-SPIRIT.288

An attempt to guess an insoluble riddle sickens a would-be guesser, who recovers when the riddle is expounded.

There were two persons who lived opposite one another. The one living in the south was named Pakiritsakawa, Speak-Riddles ; the name of the other was Shikstius, Wise-Spirit.

Speak-Riddles once said to Wise-Spirit : “ Where are you going ? ” “To the other side of the village,” said Wise-Spirit. Speak-Riddles said: “I am glad to meet you. I am that Speak-Riddles. I was going over to see you, my grandson, and as we now have met, I want to give you a riddle to make out, for I understand that you know how to solve riddles that are given to you by other people.” Said Wise-Spirit: “All right, give me one.” Speak-Riddles said: “As you saw me coming down toward the ravine you thought there were two of us. Then you saw along the village people coming, grasping their hair as though crying ; and then, close to the village there must have been something flying around, and right at this place there seems to have been a red bird killed ; and close to this place there must have been trees uprooted, — the roots seemed to be turned up. Then, as I looked upon the sides of the hills, I saw as if many black lariat ropes without support, up and down along the side of the hills. Then, as I neared the village, I heard a whistling noise going through the camp. As I came by one lodge, I saw a grandmother bowing, and she seemed to have many skulls about her.”

They stood there for a while, and Wise-Spirit could not make it out. So he asked the riddle-maker to give him a little time, saying, if he should give him time, he thought he could make it out. Wise-Spirit went home, and, instead of making it out, he began to have a headache and got very sick. People thought he was dying, and he thought so, too. “ I want Speak-Riddles to tell me the riddle before I die,” said Wise-Spirit, so that I can die happy.” Speak-Riddles came, and he said : “ Grandfather, tell me what you mean by this riddle, — just tell me, if it is only the first word, what you mean ; then I must die.” Speak-Riddles then said : “ Grandchild, I mean that you are smart and can find things out. I mean that you saw two of us — myself and

Figs.

IMPLEMENTS

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Miscellaneous.

my shadow. As to the crying and grasping of the hair, I mean men carrying their meat upon their backs. Such an one holds the load up close to his ears as if grasping his hair, and he has such a big load that the sweat is running down from his face, and the sweat rolls down as if he were crying. As to something running fast, I mean a stream, and the rippling of the water sounded like the bird. As to the red bird being killed at that place, I mean that as I crossed the stream I saw a plum-tree, and the plums upon the tree were red. Many of the ripe plums had fallen and they had scattered over the ground so that it looked as if a red bird had been killed at that place. As to the roots upturned of the trees, I mean there were many dead buffalo over the prairie, so that when their carcasses dried their bones stuck up as if they were upturned roots.” As Speak-Riddles mentioned each thing, Wise-Spirit thanked the grandfather and got better each time. “ As to the black lariat rope on the prairies,” said Speak-Riddles, “ I mean there was upon a sidehill many rows of buffalo, in single file, so that it was just like a black lariat rope stretched along there. As to the whistling through the camp, I mean the women scraping dried buffalo hides and whetting the points of their knives, which made a noise like whistling through the camp. As to the old woman with many human skulls in her tipi, I mean that I saw an old woman pounding bones and scraping the grease off from the part, and she was making tallow from the bones, so that she got the tallow in the shape of skulls. She had many around in her tipi, so that the people in the distance thought that they were skulls that she had.”

Wise-Spirit said : “ My grandfather, I thank you for this riddle. You are the first one to give me a riddle that I could not make out. I am now a well man. Stay with me, for I want to get strong ; then you shall go to your home.” So Speaks-Riddles did.

85. CONTEST BETWEEN WITCH-WOMAN AND BEAVER.289

A witch-woman who devours all whom she overcomes is worsted by a boy and killed.

There was a village of people, and on the edge of the village was a witch who lived by herself. She lived upon human beings. Whenever a stranger came into the village she sent a challenge to him to dive into the water with her, the conditions being that the one who should come up out of the water first should be killed. In this way she had killed many people ; for it seems that the witch had a cave to go to, under a bank. When she dived, she moved up in the cave and remained there until she thought it was time to come up, then she would come up, and she would surely find that the man had jumped up first, then she would claim his life and kill him.

Once a little boy came to the village, and she sent a challenge to the boy, as she wanted to dive with him. The boy accepted the challenge, and they dove, and the boy turned into a beaver, and went to the beavers’ den. He stayed there a long time. Then he came out and went to the den of the witch, to see if she was still there in the den, and she was gone. Then the boy came up, and the people yelled and shouted, and they killed the old woman, for the people realty were tired of her.

Others say that it was the habit of the witch to challenge to a contest in skating or sliding upon the ice.

A boy once visited the village, and a challenge was sent to him by the witch to slide with her on the ice. The boy sent word that he would be ready the next day, having accepted the challenge.

When they got upon the ice the next day, the boy stood there, and said: “Now I must turn into my own self.” The old woman said it was all right ; that she did not care what he turned into. The boy threw himself upon the ice, and there stood a big otter.

So the old woman went and slid upon the ice, but did not go very far. Then the otter ran and slid, and he went on the ice like an arrow. The people all rushed in, and helped to kill the old woman.

86. THE WOMAN WHO WANTED TO BE CARRIED.290

A woman who sticks to the back of the man who carried her is pulled to pieces by rival enchantresses, and turned into a burr.

There was a village, and the young men were playing with the gambling sticks. Among these young men was a young man whose name was Kiwuk. He was very good at play with the sticks ; he won many objects, — such as blankets, robes, buckskin shirts and buckskin leggings. The young man was well dressed every day. He won so many presents that people came to him to ask him for some of them. He gave presents willingly to the people.

One day he had been to another village, gambling. On his way home he had to cross a stream. He sat down, took off his moccasins, and somebody called to him. He saw a lovely woman, and she asked if he would pack her across the creek. He said he could help her across the creek. He said he could help her across, but he could not pack her. The girl begged hard for him to carry her across on his back. He finally consented. So the boy put the girl on his back and took her across the stream, and she said : “Now keep going, for I am to stay with you now. I am your wife now.” The boy became angry and tried to shake the girl off, but he could not, for she had

Miscella n eous.

grown into the boy’s flesh so that she was stuck to him. The boy took her to his lodge and told his father the circumstances of his condition.

Now medicine-men were sent for to wait on the boy, but they could not do anything. So they sent for the crow, and he sang a song, and the crow said : “ Now, all I can do is to peck the eyes out of the woman’s head.” This girl had turned into an old woman. She was really not a girl, and the crow said : “ But I know of a people who have their tipi west of this village. Send for them ; they are the ones that will take the old woman off.”

So they sent an errand boy after them, and they said they would come and help the boy. At this place there lived a woman who had four girls. She now called her girls and she told them all to comb and braid their hair and put on red ointment that they had received from the Sun ; that now they were going to the village to help a young man who had a woman on his back. So these girls sat down, combed their hair and painted, and the old woman painted herself and combed her hair. Then they picked up sticks that they had, which were gambling sticks.

They went to the boy’s lodge. They went in, and they began to sing. The old woman went around the fireplace first, but did not do anything. She now commanded her oldest daughter to do the same. All this time the old witch-woman was calling them names, because she did not believe that these women could do anything to her. But the oldest girl ran around the fireplace and then stood on the side of the fireplace. Then she lifted up the gambling stick with the crook at one end. Then she sang a song, and the song was for the stick to grow. As she held up the stick, pointing to the old woman, she sang for the stick to grow, and the stick did grow. The hook was commanded to pass around the woman’s neck, which it did, and then the girl pulled on it. The old woman’s head fell off. Then the other girl went and did the same thing and pulled one arm off. Then the other girl went and pulled the other arm off. Now the mother went and pulled one leg off, with the same motions with the stick. Now the oldest girl again took her place, and she put her hook on the right shoulder, and then the other girl came and put her hook on the other shoulder ; one girl put her hook under the right hip and still another under the left hip. Now the mother ran and told the girls to pull, and she kept tapping with her stick between the boy and the witch-woman, to separate them. As the old woman kept coming off from the boy, the mother of the girls kept shouting for them to pull. They all pulled, and threw the old woman off from the boy, dragged her out, and with their hooks threw her into a bunch of grass, and the old woman’s body touched some weeds, and she turned into a kind of burr.291

87. THE HAIRY MAN.292

A hunter in digging out beaver finds a hairy man who lives in similar holes.

In olden times, before the white people were known in this country, the Indians had no way of trapping. They had their dogs trained so that they could find beaver and otter holes along the banks of the rivers. When the dogs found these holes the Indian took his sharpened sticks and buffalo shoulder-blade hoes and dug into the side of the bank, finally getting to the beavers’ den, and then getting them out. In this way the Indians took the beaver and otter.

One day a man was out with his dogs. The dogs went on ahead of the man. The dogs came to a cave, and there the dogs stopped and barked. The man ran to the place, and when he got there he saw that the dogs would disappear in the cave, and then they would run out again. The man knew by this that there must be a wild animal in the cave. So he made the dogs go into the cave, and when they ran out of the cave yelping, he saw that they had cuts upon their ears and bodies. The dogs kept barking, until the animal came out of the cave, and, to the man’s astonishment, the being that came out of the cave was not an animal, but an old man.

The man had short legs. His skin was all wrinkled. His finger-nails were very long, and he had long teeth and gray hair.

The man then talked to the being, called his dogs off, and went off. The man went home, and that night dreamed of an ugly man who was crawling up to his tipi, and who said : “ I live under the bank of the river. I make my home in the place where you saw me come out. I never come out from the ground. You and your dogs made me come out. You saw me. You saw that I had gray hair, skin all wrinkled ; that my finger-nails were long. These finger-nails are to show you that I dig inside of the earth for food, but, as you saw, my skin is wrinkled and my hair is gray. You are to become old.’’

The next day the man took presents of a robe and some tobacco down to the cave and placed them close to the entrance. The man who saw this hairy man lived a long life and died of old age.

88. THE GIRL WHO GRIEVED FOR HER BROTHER.298

An orphan boy is allured by a fawn to the abode of Spider-Woman and loses his memory. His sister, who is under the protection of the chief of the Eagles, blows abroad eagle-feathers, which the boy sees, recovers his senses, and returns to the girl. The latter sends a blizzard which destroys Spider-Woman.

There was a boy with his sister, and the sister was the older. While they were in the village, some mysterious being seems to have come

Miscellaneous. 305

to the girl and told her that she and her brother should not go on a buffalo hunt. So, not having any father or mother, the girl took her brother and they went north. They came to a stream of water, and there they lived.

The mysterious being, who was the chief of all the eagles, gave these children a cedar-tree, which stood in front of their tipi, and he also gave them a cottonwood-tree, the cottonwood representing the boy and the cedar-tree the girl. This mysterious being, the eagle, made a mound for this girl, with the promise that as long as the mound was covered with eagle feathers they should prosper ; that if any monster or spider-woman or anything of the sort should come there, they would be warned by the feathers flying over toward her. So this mound of hers was west from her lodge, and it was covered with eagle feathers. The eagle also said that as long as the boy and girl were together they should prosper, but as soon as they parted, the one remaining would die.

The girl made a garden, and each year she enlarged it, until she had a big field. She used to make the boy climb his tree to look over the field to see if their field was growing nicely, and if anybody was in the field. He would climb the tree and look over the field. Then he would come down and say : “All the crops are doing nicely, there is nothing in the field.” Sometimes the girl would climb her cedar-tree and look over the field. These children not only had plenty to eat of what they gathered from their fields, but also of wild fruits, such as grapes, plums, cherries, and persimmons.

One season their field was looking finely. On the stalk were three and four ears of corn, the stalks were very high. This girl sent her brother up to look over their field. While he was up there a young fawn jumped out from the timber and went by close to the tipi, and the girl said : “ J ump down, brother ! J ump down, brother ! Run after this deer, catch it and kill it, that I may make a sack out of it, so that I can put my seeds in it.” So the boy hurried down from the tree and ran after the deer, and the deer would run just a little, and then it would stop, and the boy followed on. Finally he thought : “ I am very far away from my sister; I had better stop.” But he would see the deer stop, and would say: “Why, I had better kill that for my sister, for she told me to kill it.” So he kept following, till the deer went away over the hills and into the timbers and to the home of the Spider-Woman.

The old woman met the boy and told him that his sister had died, and that she herself had now sent for him, for he was her grandson, and must now make his home with her. The boy seemed to lose his senses. He did not know where he was ; neither did he know what was coming, for he believed everything that the old woman told him.

All this time the sister was very anxious about her brother. She thought about him, nor would she eat anything. She was sick for him, and she also had lost her senses, and was dying from longing for her brother.

The brother stayed at the old woman’s for five days, and all this time the sister had not eaten anything, because of thinking of her brother. And so the seventh day she thought : “ Why, I am going to die, I must find my brother.” So she blew her breath upon the hill where all the eagle feathers were, and when she had blown, the eagle feathers all flew off up into the sky, and were scattered all over the country, so that wherever the boy might go, he would come across one of these eagle feathers and would think of his sister.

That same day the boy picked up his bow and arrows, and the old woman told him not to go far ; that there was a monster close by that might take him in. But the boy went on hunting little birds, and he came across a feather lying on the ground. He took it up and looked at it, and something seemed to strike him as strange, as though he had seen that feather. So he went on, and he picked up another. Each time something seemed to awaken him to the fact that he had a sister. He kept on going, picking up these feathers, and all at once he came back to himself, and he said : “ Why, I am away from my sister. I must at once go to her.”

In the mean time the girl had become sick ; she did not know anything, and she had a fever. And the boy went, and he found his sister in bed, sick. He went up to her and said : “ My sister.” And she said: “That is the way my brother used to come to me. Now it is all a dream. I cannot tell what has become of my brother.” But the boy said : “ Sister, I am here.” The boy held his sister. She became conscious again. The boy cooked some corn for her, and he fed her. She commenced to get better, for she was not really sick, but was grieving. She became better, and after she got well she said : “ I know who did this,” and she blew her breath again, and all the eagle feathers came back to the mound.

Now it was winter-time, and she blew her breath in the north, and she said : “ I will take revenge on that woman.” So she sent a storm, so that it froze everything in the country where the Spider-Woman was, and Spider-Woman also froze and died.

These children lived on happily. In the spring they planted their crops again, and their field looked green. Their cedar-tree was all right again, and the cottonwood-tree, and there were plenty of wild fruits. So they were happy, and ever since that time people, if they have brothers or sisters, or if they like anyone who is absent, get sick through longing for them.

Miscellaneous.

89. THE METEOR’S CHILD.294

A girl who disdains suitors has a child by a meteor. Whoever can stop the child s crying is to be accepted as its father; old Many-Claws succeeds by a trick, till the descent of the radiant meteor, who remains with the people one summer.

There was a large village, and in this village was a young girl who was very pretty. Young men tried to marry her, but her parents would not allow it. When she went out she was accompanied by her parents. She was kept in the lodge all the time. When night came, she lay on the west side of the tipi.295 Her uncles lay one side of her and her brothers on the other side, so that she never knew any man. One night she was taken out to urinate, and while outside, her parents standing by her, a meteor passed through the heavens.

The people watched, to see who should marry the girl, for she had rejected many a fine-looking man, — warriors, young chiefs, and young medicine-men. About six months after the girl had gone out to urinate, at the time the meteor had been seen, she showed signs of being pregnant. She told her parents that she was in this condition, but that she was sure that she had not been with any man. They were sure there had been no young man in camp whom she looked upon with favor.

The child was born, and as soon as it was born the child cried, and cried hard. It seemed to want to find its father. So a crier was sent for, who went through the camp singing a song : —

“ All men, old and young, are requested to make arrows.

Bring your arrows.

He whose arrows stop the child from crying shall be father of the child ;

He shall marry the girl.”

There was a stir in the village, and the men made arrows.

Near the village there was a tipi, and in this tipi lived a woman and her husband, who was known as Spiraaspi, or Many-Claws. The man said : “ Old woman, I am going to make an arrow and I am going to get the girl.” The old woman did not like it, for they lived by themselves. Anyway, the man made the arrow and put feathers on it. Then he boiled a lot of skin and made glue. This he put all over the arrow. The man then went to the lodge where the girl was, and he saw each man pass his arrow to the baby boy, and say : “ My dear, here is your arrow.” The boy kept crying. The old man’s time came around, and he said : “My dear, here is your arrow.” As the boy had its hands out, the man put the arrow in his hands and the child stopped crying, for the glue had stuck to the boy’s hand.

Now people were mad, for the old man had made the child stop crying. Now Many-Claws was given a seat at the west of the lodge, and, as it was now night, the girl with the baby sat by him. All at once a young man rushed in, and as he entered the tipi there was much fire all around him, and he went around and sat down by the woman. The boy looked up and went to the man. Many-Claws jumped to one side of the tipi, then to the other, defecating as he went, for the people saw that this stranger was the father of the child.

When the old man first made the child stop crying and he was given a good seat, some one told the old woman that her old man had married the girl. The old woman became angry. He went back to the old woman. The old woman tried to drive him away, but he said : “ I can stay with my new wife in the daytime and can come and stay with you at night.” So the old woman let the old man stay.

The other man, who was really the father of the boy, was a meteor. He stayed with the people one summer, and he called his boy “ Naruhorihari,” Young-Meteor. In the winter-time the man was away, but he had helped the people a great deal. Buffalo became plentiful. They found ground beans and potatoes in the ground, so people had plenty to eat. The old man never went back, for he was driven away, but he tried to make his wife believe that he was married to the girl.

The boy grew up and was very wonderful. Thus it is that we get the name Naruhorihari, or Young-Meteor.

90. BLACK AND WHITE (A LOVE STORY).296

A chief and his brave have each a boy, named respectively Black and White, and another chief and his brave each a girl. The children meet at a ceremony, and form early attachments. The boys decide surreptitiously to join a war-party, which the girls also succeed in accompanying. They are attacked, and Black is captured. His sweetheart refuses to return, but reaches the village of the enemy, where Black is about to be tortured. There she finds a woman of her own family, stolen in youth, whose sons assist her in effecting a rescue. Black returns in triumph, with scalps and ponies. He marries the girl, and becomes a great man. Meantime White has died of shame and chagrin consequent on the loss of his brother-inarms. After a year, the other girl becomes the second wife of Black.

Many years ago the Pawnee had their village upon the Platte River. They were numerous. Other tribes feared them. They had conquered many tribes. They had brought slaves from Mexico. The head chief’s name at this time was Tirawaresahru, or Tirawa-Chief. Many tribes knew him. He also had a brave who acted as his policeman, whose name was Kiwikotichorish, or Mad-Bull. There was another band whose chief’s name was Retahcotsrariho, or Big-Eagle. His brave’s name was Chahixtiki, or Struck-Enemy. The first two men, the chief and soldier, had children, both boys. The chief’s son was one year older than the soldier’s son. The chief’s son’s name was Tahka, or

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White, for the boy was very light of color. The soldier’s son’s name was Kahtit, or Black.

These boys went together constantly, as if they were brothers. They herded ponies, and at other times took bows and arrows which their grandfathers had made, and they went to shoot birds, for their arrows were blunt. They killed many birds and brought them home to their grandmothers, who cooked them, and would give the boys the heads, bidding them eat only these, for so they would have success in killing more birds. The old people ate the rest. At other times they played with gaming sticks. The people saw that the boys went together, and the grandfathers liked it. At night the boys went to the chief’s lodge, and the grandfather of the chief’s boy would tell war stories. On other nights they stayed in the soldier’s lodge, while the other’s grandfather would tell stories. The boys belonged to the Skidi bands that were known as Pahookstaho, Pumpkin-Vine-Village, and Tuwahokasa, Village-Over-the-Hill. The other bands were Tuhitapiart, Village-in-Bottom, and Skirirara, Coyotes-in-Water. The first two bands joined together and helped one another, while the other two did the same. In the other two bands, the names of the chief and soldier were Reysahruraeihoru, or Big-Chief, and Sakorutiwaruxti, or Wonderful-Son. These two men were very powerful.

At the time of a hunt these bands came together. They went south hunting. They found many buffalo. One young man went to the lodge of the priests, had his pony decorated with feathers, and holy red ointment put upon the nostrils, also the ears, shoulders, hips, and at the root of the tail. Feathers were put upon the tail. The young man was anointed with the red ointment upon his head and over his body. A feather was put through his scalp-lock. Arrows were given him, and a bow that had been taken from a bundle. The arrows were made on the journey by the priests. These were painted with dark blue paint, so that they were black. There were four arrows.

When the young man joined the party which had gone out to attack the buffalo, they knew that he intended to make a buffalo holy. So the other men who had swift horses went with him. If the young man was favored by Tirawa, he would kill a buffalo at the first shot, with one arrow ; if not, then the other men would pay no attention to him. If successful, then the others would do their best to kill fat buffalo cows : for if the young man saw that a slain buffalo was fat, he would lay the black arrow upon it, making that buffalo holy ; so when the owner came he would see and be glad, for it was an honor to be noticed by the priests, and have one’s meat offered to Tirawa.

The two soldiers who carried the lances saw the young man, and did not hinder him. They allowed him to go beyond the line of the attacking party. Suddenly a command was given, and they all whipped up their horses, for each wished to reach the buffalo first. The young man was first, and marked a young buffalo cow. He whipped up his horse, as he came alongside took good aim, and as the buffalo threw out its front leg, the boy pulled his bow-string, loosed the arrow, and shot the buffalo in the soft place under the shoulder, so that the arrow went through the heart. The men saw it, and cheered him, while the buffalo stopped and began to throw up blood. It fell, and was dead.

The boy went on with the rest, and as he came to the place where the dead buffalo lay, he would put the black arrow upon the fattest he found. When all the arrows were laid, the boy went back to his own buffalo, and with a flint knife, given him by the priests, he skinned the buffalo and cut up the meat. He took the whole, piece by piece, until he had all the meat on his pony. The fore legs he placed in front ; the hind legs behind, with the feet upwards. This was to show the people that the buffalo was holy.297 He led the pony into camp and to the lodge of the priests. The other men who found arrows on their buffalo did the same thing, took down the meat, and told the priests that they had brought the arrow and the meat. The young man when he did so gave the arrow to the priests, who were thankful, for they knew that J:he young man was looked upon with favor by Tirawa.

As soon as the meat was brought, the priests met and took down the skull bundle, untied the skull, and set it upon the bow and arrows that were lying in the lodge west of the fireplace. The bundle was untied. The old men took their seats in the west. The young man was sent for. He was seated on the north side of the entrance, for this was his first killing and offering to Tirawa. The old men took up their gourds, and sang songs that belong with the bundle.

When they came to the songs concerning the youth’s arrival at their tipi and the anointing of his horse and himself, the young man was told to go out and remove his feathers. He went out, took off the feathers and brought them in, laying them before the skull. Now more songs were sung, and as they came to that concerning the killing of the buffalo and cutting it up with the flint knife, the youth was told to go and cut the meat. He was told first to cut out the tongue and heart, and hand them to the high priest, who received them, and joined them with a sharp stick.

A great fire had been kindled outside, wood had been fetched, and four large cottonwood logs brought in. These were laid in the fireplace, — in the north, south, east, and west. A bundle of dry willows was brought and kindled in the centre of the fireplace.

The young man was given the heart and tongue, and he took it out, went to the fireplace, and circled by way of the north to the east

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3i i and south, then west. Here he stood facing east, while the old men were singing about the smoke.

Now was to occur the offering, and as the song for the offering was sung, the young man lifted the heart and tongue toward the heavens, let them gradually down, and laid them upon the fire. He then returned into the tipi, and the old men gave him a pipe from the bundle, filled with native tobacco. He went out again to the fireplace, and did not light the pipe, but only poured the tobacco on the offering. He then returned to the tipi, when the old men all greeted him with “ Nawa.”

The old men had laid down their gourds. Now ribs of the buffalo were cooked for the old men and they ate. The youth told the old men that he had it in his heart to have the ceremony in which all the sacred bundles were to be brought together ; that the skull bundle should lead. The old men all thanked the youth, and said: “Jerk the meat and dry it,” — all the meat that was brought by the men, — so that they might have plenty of meat.

Now the people heard what this young man was about to do. All the meat was jerked and dried. Now they went on their hunt, and as they killed many buffalo and had enough meat, they started back to their village.

For some time they made preparations for the ceremony. All the bands got together. The old men sat in their lodge with the skull bundle, then went out westward, and selected a bottom. Here they pitched their temporary tipi, brought the skull bundle, and set it in front of three sticks placed in the form of a tripod.

Women and men were now sent for, and also young boys and girls, for the ground was now to be broken. As the people came, the priests saw the two young boys and the two young girls, — the boys sons of the head chief and his brave, the girls daughters of the other chief and his brave. It was decided that these young people should be given the holy buffalo shoulder-blades and should be the first to dig into mother-earth. Then they were given the hoes, — the chief’s daughter in the southwest, the brave’s daughter in the northwest, the chief’s son in the northeast, the brave’s son in the southeast. Now, many warriors got together in four groups behind the children, and as each dug into mother-earth, beginning in the northeast, a great rejoicing went up, as also in the northwest, southeast, and southwest. The diggings were made four times, then all joined and dug four feet deep. The woman who at this time kept the bundle made the fireplace in the centre.

The next day the people all came to the place. They were now told to get the four long poles. These were obtained ; they were carried by warriors and brought to the place. Again the four young people were brought together, for again they had to dig the holes. Again there was rejoicing. The holes were dug. Now the warriors, who stood back of the children, lifted the poles, and they were set. The four poles represented the four world-quarters. They were raised to show the people that at these different stations were gods, who held up the heavens.

The next day a crier was sent for, to bid the people go to the place, and the keepers of the bundles take them there. All the bundles were taken to the place, and as its turn came around, each was opened with great ceremony j for the priests of each bundle sang their songs and made offerings to the different gods, placing them on the base of one of the poles in front of their bundle ; even warrior bundles were brought. The owners of the warrior bundles opened their bundles, and took out the red paint, anointing themselves. Then they put the eagle feather through the scalp-lock and took the otter hide, which was split in the centre, each warrior putting his head through it, so that the head of the otter hung on his breast, and the tail upon his back. The ear of corn hung upon the otter on the left of the back, and the hawk on the right side. They carried willow limbs. Some of the warriors had the hide of a mountain lion, or a wolf, or a wildcat, upon their body.

Most of the songs were sung in the west, where was placed the skull bundle, which was open. When they came to the songs concerning the decoration of the skull, it was taken up and waved over sweet-smelling grass, then prepared by the priests. Then the skull was washed with water that had been brought from a running stream. The face was now painted with red paint. Now a blue circular mark was drawn from the central part of the forehead, close to the place for the hair, so that the skull had a half-circle mark on the face. Now a black handkerchief was tied around the head. Then soft, downy feathers were put upon the top of the head, and the skull was set between the bundle and the fireplace.298 One of the priests then arose and stood up. He made a speech, telling the people that the skull was now decorated, and it was time for the skull to make paths for the tribe, — two in the north, for the birds and game ; two in the east, for animals and fish ; two in the west, for buffalo and seeds ; two in the south, for deer and other animals, to come to the people.

Outside, people were now numerous around the circle, looking on. The priest took up the decorated skull and carried the skull in the directions mentioned. This priest would dance, holding the skull in his hands ; he would raise the skull in the air, and move up about fifteen or twenty yards. Then he would dance back, still raising and lowering it as he danced back, as if motioning to something to come. While this man was dancing, there was a quiet noise through the lodge : “ Nawa iri. Nawa iri.” After he had gone through this part,

Figs. 22, 23

DECORATED OBJECTS

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3 13

he again made roads to the different directions, for the sake of the warriors.

Now scalps and other things — such as shields and lances — were taken out and put on, as this man kept dancing, keeping time with the singing, the warriors following him and lifting their hands as if to strike the enemy, and making a noise, so that their enemies should be frightened, and be taken or killed. While all this was going on, these four children would meet and talk, for they were well grown. The ceremony proceeded, and the children met and talked. For several days this rite continued.

One day these children met at the ceremony, and the boys invited the girls to their homes. The chief’s son invited the chief’s daughter, and the brave’s son invited the daughter of the brave. The girls would not go. The ceremony was over, and the boys were sorry, for they liked to meet the girls. Now before they separated to go to their tipis, the young men told the girls that their uncles were about to lead a war-party, and that they had decided to join them.

In a few days a bear dance 299 was given. The boys went, and there they again met the girls. They stood together and looked on. For several years these people came together and talked. The young people now knew that the chief’s boy and the chief’s daughter loved each other. They were now grown up.

One day they met at a medicine-men’s dance, and talked together. The chief’s son invited the chief’s daughter to his 'tipi, and the brave’s son invited the brave’s daughter. The chief’s son told the girl that he wanted her to know what he ate ; that his mother always had the best dried buffalo meat. The other young man turned to nis companion and said: “I want you to see what I eat. I only eat dried buffalo tongue and nothing else.” The young people now parted in pairs. The chief’s boy took the girl to his tipi, while the other pair went to the other boy’s tipi. This young man, as they came to his tipi, told the girl to stay at the outside entrance ; he would go in and wake his mother, so that she could get meat for him, then he would call her to enter. His mother awoke, picked up something, and handed it to him. It had the shape of a tongue. On feeling and looking at it, he found that, instead of a tongue, it was a piece from the flank. “ Mother,” he said, “do you give me this ?” He threw it at the entrance. It went outside the entrance, and the girl picked it up. The boy did not invite the girl, for he arose and went out. He took the girl to her tipi.

In a few days the warriors came together, and it was decided that in a few days they should go out. The men went to their homes, told their wives to make moccasins, and fill them with pounded corn and meat. Now the time came for the war-party to start. They met

314 Traditions of the Skidz Pawnee.

in the lodge of one of the leaders, and there they stayed until about four o’clock in the morning. Then they started, with four leaders, — two uncles of the two young men, and two of the girls’.

All this time the girls had been busy making moccasins. Each had also made a rawhide bag, which was filled with the choicest pemmican. The brave’s daughter put into her bag the piece of meat which had been thrown away. These girls had talked, and had decided they would follow, to see which of the boys was the braver. The party had gone in the night, the boys followed later, and the girls went by daylight.

The main body stopped when they came to a timbered stream, and here they made fires and cooked their meals. About the middle of the afternoon the boys were seen coming. The scouts went, and when they were sure who it was, reported to the leaders that the boys were coming. As already memtioned, the names of the two boys were White and Black. When they reached to the circle of men, they were seated next to the leaders, on the south side, although they had never before been on the warpath. The leaders were related to them, so they gave them the seats of the leading scouts. Just before sunset the scouts came in and reported that two more were coming. They were instructed to see who they were. When the scouts went out they met the two, and they were girls. The scouts brought them in, and their uncles asked where they were going, and why they came. They said : “ We followed those young men.” The leaders tried to make the girls go home, but they would not. So they were given seats in front of the leaders, for now they were under the protection of the leaders.

Each morning the boys were missing, for they rose before any one, and would scout through the country to see what was in front, for both were great travellers. During this time they never talked with the girls. The girls slept between the leaders. The young men kept on getting up toward morning and scouting through the country for many days and moons, and there was no enemy in sight.

At last the food in their moccasins gave out. The young men began to show signs of hunger, as did the others. One day they came to a thickly-timbered country where there was thick grass. Here the leaders decided to rest, and sent out the hunters. The hunters went out to kill game. While they were gone the others lay down to repose. The two young men were west of the others, upon their breasts. They lay a long time, and Black said : “ I think the girls have something to eat. Let us send for them and ask them, for women always save something to eat.” The other young man said: “It is well.” So Black called one of the servants, and bade him go and tell the girls that they wished to see them. The young man went and gave the

Afiscel/aneous.

message. The girls picked up their bags and went to the boys. This was the first time the young men had called them, and the girls were glad. When they arrived the young men sat up and bade the girls be seated. Black spoke and said : “ Girls, we are hungry. Have you anything to eat?” “Yes,” both replied, “we will give you something to eat.” The name of the chief’s daughter was Chopisit, or Star ; the name of the other girl was Skiriki, or Little-Eyes. Little-Eyes said : “ Let me feed them first.” So she opened her bag and pulled out the meat which Black had thrown away. She said : “Do you remember this ? ” The young man did, but he said nothing. He took it, cut it up, and sent the pieces to the leaders of the war-party. The leaders were thankful. Now Little-Eyes again opened her bag, took out some pemmican and gave it to Black. The other girl opened her bag and gave pemmican to White. When the young men were satisfied, the girls told the boys to divide the meat among the men. Those who did not get meat received some corn.

All had eaten, and were talking, when there was a shout, — “A war-party ! ” Then an alarm was given. The two young men jumped up, pulled their bows from the quiver, and some arrows, and looked at one another, as much as to say : “ We must defend these girls.” The leaders came and told the young men not to concern themselves about the girls, for all must fight ; and men were selected to run away with the girls, but these told the boys not to mind them, for that they would run on. The girls went off. The scout who gave the alarm came and said : “The enemy are coming. There are many of them. All the different tribes must have joined together to make war on us.” He also said that the hunters had gone out, and while they were shooting buffalo, the enemy, who must have heard the report, came up on the hill, their robes drawn over their horses ; as they wheeled their horses, one saw something shining. He said: “After they went over the hill, we saw dust rise, then we began to run. As we were running, we looked back and saw many coming, whipping their horses.”

They all prepared, and as soon as they were attacked Black fled, as fast as he could run. The other, White, stayed and fought. The enemy were so numerous that finally all ran away, but White was surrounded. He killed several. One attacked him, trying to strike him with a long stick, but the young man shot him with an arrow, so that he fell from his horse. White ran, caught the lariat, and jumped upon the horse’s back. He then went away, the enemy following. He passed all the men, and at last caught up with his uncle.

Now Black was frightened, and ran so fast that he passed the girls. The girls saw him running and gave Black the woman’s war-whoop. He was so scared that he never noticed the girls, and passed them.

White finally caught up with the girls, who were mounted, and said : “Now go.” The girls rode on and they came to a fine bottom land, where they whipped up the horse. Just before they reached another hill, they again passed Black. The girls again gave the woman’s warwhoop, and Black looked up and saw them.

He seemed to awaken. He stopped. He- found himself running and the girls looking at him. He was dragging his bow upon the ground. He stopped. He removed his moccasins and leggings. He piled them up. The girls looked back and saw that he had stopped. They rode on up the hill and rode into a timbered country. Here they halted, tied their horse, climbed trees, and looked back to the place where Black had stopped. They could see a crowd, but as some of the men came up they told the girls to get on their horse and proceed. So the girls got down, mounted the pony, and went on until they came to a timbered country on a river. Here they left the horse and hid themselves in the bushes. They could hear the war-cry and the shooting. Toward evening, when the noises died away, they came out, got on their horse, and rode toward the place where the boy had stopped.

They met the other young man, who said : “ It is no use to go, for my friend was killed. Let us go homeward ; I can walk, and when we get home I can marry you both.” But Little- Eyes said : No, I must go back, and if he is killed I can put something over him. Do you two walk on and let me ride. I can soon catch up with you.” So the other two proceeded, and Little-Eyes rode on. She came to the place. The leggings and moccasins were there, but not the boy. All she found were the bodies of many enemies, blood, broken arrows, and long sticks.300

She sought and sought and found no Black. She made up her mind that he must have been captured. So she followed the enemy’s trail, and there were times when she came close up to them. The enemy finally reached their camp and she was near.

Many of her people had been killed, so that at once war-dances were given by the enemy. Others were mourning, for some of their people had been killed. There was a great fire made on the north side of the village, and the young man, Black, was set before it. His hands were tied and his feet also. She saw him. She was close, but was powerless to help him. So she went off from the camp and lariated her pony. It was now night-time. She cried, and as she cried would ask Tirawa to help her rescue her lover. She also would hold her hands up to different stars and ask them to help her to get her lover back. If she saw a meteor 301 fly through the sky she would raise her hands to it and ask it to help her. The next day they again broke camp, and she followed on her horse. If she happened to go through cedar timber she would stop and talk to the cedar-trees, and ask them to help her. If she saw

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3*7

a hawk, or any kind of bird, she would ask it to help her. For four nights she watched her lover sit by the big fire, the enemy dancing around him. Then she would look up to heaven and again ask Tirawa to help her. She would look at the Moon and ask for help. She seemed powerless, until she would fall down and shed tears upon the ground, and would say : “ Mother-Earth, help me to save my lover ! ” Many times she would go to sleep with her head down to the ground, and as the Sun would come up she would say : “ Father, help me to get my lover back, and if I cannot recover him, give him courage, and let him die a warrior’s death.”

At last the war-party reached their permanent village in the mountains. There was a ridge of mountains on the north side and on the west, extending toward the east. On the south side was a flat bottom where was the village. On this side ran a stream of water whose banks were thickly timbered. On the west side of the ridge were many rocks. The girl rode around the mountain, and in the mountain found a large cave. There was one entrance. She went in and found good grass and water.

She left the horse and went toward the village. It was now night. Half of the village seemed to be mourning and the other half rejoicing. A great fire was lit on the north side, and there again Black was sitting before the fire. She was on top of the hills. She kept going down, hiding among the rocks until she was nearly at the foot of the hill. Now she heard drumming. People had put on their warbonnets, and had their spears, bows, and arrows. Women, dressed like men, came in small parties, and danced as they came to the place where the young man sat by the fire. Now they danced around him, mocking him. Other drums were heard, and she would see another crowd come to dance around the young man. There were many parties with their drums, dancing around the young man. The second night they danced again. This time she saw an old man go up to the fire and touch the young man with the hot coals. The young man did not flinch.

The next day the girl saw old women come from their tipis with wooden bowls, and in these they would urinate, then make the boy drink.

That night, as the girl was about to give up, for she was nearly starved, she saw a meteor fly through the air with another behind it. She raised her hand and asked it to help her.

About this time (those in the tipis close to her did not seem to take part) an old woman came from one of these tipis and stood close to the girl and urinated. Afterwards she straightened herself, and uttered a loud war-cry. She then spoke and said : “Young man, whoever you are, you are brave. If they kill you, they kill you only. You killed many, for the most part chiefs and braves.” The girl heard her. She could understand this woman. So the girl took courage and followed the old woman. As the old woman entered her tipi the girl was close to her. The old woman went in. The girl looked, and saw several young men lying in the tipi. She saw the old woman sitting close to the entrance. She lifted the doorway and entered. As she entered, she squatted down on the ground and crawled up to the old woman. She covered herself up. The old woman spoke to her in the enemy’s language, but the girl did not understand. So she said : “ Mother, I am here, poor. I am of your kind.” The old woman did not give any alarm, but asked the girl what she was doing. The girl said : “I followed the war-party. They captured my lover. Help me to recover him, so that I can take him home with me, and be happy. I followed him with the war-party. We were attacked, and he was captured.” — This was all said in a whisper. — The old woman asked the girl who was the father of the boy. The girl said : “ His father’s name is Mad- Bull.” “ What,” said the old woman, “ that was my uncle, my father’s brother. He is younger. My father was killed when I was captured. Now, my daughter, this young man is of my kin, and he shall live. To-morrow night is his last night. He is to be burned. I shall help you. The band that you see who are not taking part now are my descendants. They are all brave. These men whom you see within are all my sons. I thought you were some girl from the village, come to see one of my boys. The boy shall live.” Now the old woman spoke, and all the young men, as well as the old man, gave a grunting sound. The men all sat up and listened to the old woman. They all seemed pleased.

One of the brothers was sent out, and he invited the other men who belonged to this family. They came, one by one, but the girl had been covered up with a robe and had been given meat to eat. The men now all talked of love, and the old woman said : “ It is now decided to save the young man, for he is related to us.” The men all planned what to do to save this boy. Then they all went out. The next day the girl was laid in the tipi, covered with a robe.

In the night dances began again. So in this tipi the men began to paint and warm their drums. They also brought in their bows and arrows and guns. The old woman now explained to the girl that she was to be dressed up in her oldest son’s clothing, and to dance in front of the party. They were to go to the fire and around it, and as they came close to the boy, the men were to touch her, and she was to walk up to the boy and tell him that she was there. The second time they went around, two men were to follow her with sharp knives, and were to rush at him, cut the hide strings tied on his wrists and feet, and help him walk. Then they were to take him home.

Miscellaneous.

Clothing and a war-bonnet were brought, and the girl put them on. Now all the men armed themselves, so that if they should be caught they might fight. The drumming began, and they went out. As they danced toward the fireplace, where many other parties were dancing, the people said : “Those are dancing over one of their own people.” They were glad of it. They came to the spot and danced round the fireplace. Then they went to the young man. Here the girl was touched, and she went up to the boy and said : “ Keep courage, I am here. We are to save you. Are you still strong ? ” The young man said : “ Yes, I am still strong.” So they went by. The young man at this time was not sitting close to the fire, for he had been removed to make room for the dancers. The second time they danced they went far around until they came to the young man, then the two men made a rush and cut the hide strings tied to his feet and wrists. The two men helped him stand, and each put an arm over his shoulder, so that they helped him walk. The rest closed in and around them, so that the other people did not see him. They kept up the dance and took him to their tipi. A robe was given him.

The girl was now given dry meat, with plenty of fat, and she led him out of the tipi into her cave. Here they were left. The men went home again. There was no suspicion. The dancing continued until morning. When daylight came the young man was gone. People said some mischievous young men must have taken him and killed him in some hollow. So nothing was said. Every night men met in the new chief’s tipi and told about the battle. The new chief was the one who captured the boy, so he was given the chieftainship. His tipi now stood by itself east of the village.

Now when the boy and girl were left alone, she found a nice hidingplace in the cave. She kindled a fire and burned some tallow, and gave it to the boy to eat. She also greased his body, for he was badly burned. The next day the girl went out and found the horse grazing. She took it to water and took it in the cave. In the night she went back to the camp, and they gave her dried meat and clothing for the boy. For several days they stayed in this cave, until the boy began to get strong. One day the boy got up and said : “ I am now strong ; I want to go back to the village and see my relatives.”

So when night came they went down to the village, and the people were surprised to see them, for they thought they would have departed. They were seated. One young man was placed outside to watch while they were being fed. The young man spoke and said : “ My aunt, I want you to tell my relatives that I do not feel satisfied. I do not want to go home and let the man who captured me live. I want to kill him and take his scalp home.” Now the old woman told her sons what he said, and they said : “It is well.” So the old woman’s people were sent for, and were told what the young man desired. They all agreed to help him. So the oldest said : “ I go every night to the chief’s tipi. I have a certain seat, and I sit and say nothing. They give me a pipe which I smoke ; then I lie down ; I keep my robe over my head; I never say anything; I put on my clothes and my robe. Take this knife and use it. We will be near, should they find you.” So the young man put on the clothes and the robe, took the knife and went. He went to the tipi and entered. The seat was pointed out to him, and he sat down. Now the pipe was given him, and he smoked. He saw a little girl watching, and would whisper to the mother, who would strike her. So the man handed the pipe to the owner and he lay down, for he was afraid the woman might look up. He lay a long time, then all went out but the chief, who was now asleep. The boy got up and went to the man, took the knife and cut his throat, throwing the robe over him. He took the scalp with him, and met his friends outside. “No,” the young man said, “one more.” He went to another tipi and found the old man who burned him. He also cut his throat. Now he had two scalps. They were now told to go.

They got their pony and went east. They came to the horses, and the young man drove them. He finally caught one pony and got on its back, then they began to drive ponies faster. For many days they went, resting but a short time. At last they came to the place where the battle had been. They stopped, while the boy looked around, and he found his leggings and moccasins.

Before they had left the enemy’s village, the young man, on going through the village, had taken from poles two war-bonnets and two shields. He was also well dressed, for his relatives gave him all the clothing he wore at the time he went to kill the chief.

Now as they neared their home they saw a hunter on foot. So the young man put on a war-bonnet and took a spear and rode toward the man. As he drew near he gave the war-whoop. The hunter looked around and saw an enemy coming. He ran, dragging his gun, for he was frightened. The boy shouted to him and said : “ Stop ! I am coming back ! My name is Black.” The man stopped, and as Black rode up to him the hunter closed his mouth, for he was frightened. The hunter did not speak for a long time, for the young man was supposed to have been killed, and was not thought of in the village as alive. The hunter spoke and said: “I am glad to, meet you. We thought you were dead. Your parents have been mourning for you all this time. Who are all those people with you ? ” Black answered, and said : “ It is Little-Eyes ; she is with me. We have a great drove of ponies and many scalps. I want you to help me make a pretended attack on our village. I have no gun to shoot and make a noise. I

Miscellaneous. 321

ha\ e oniy a spear, which I took when I left the enemy’s camp. This pony I am riding you shall ride, and it is yours. Come with me to the girl, and put on another war-bonnet which I have.” The hunter said : “ Let it be as you have said, my son ; I go with you.”

As they went along, Black asked the hunter how his friend, the chief’s son, was getting on. The man said : “ He died a few days ago. He was not sick. All the people spoke out loudly against him for not staying with you, his brother friend. Although he had married the chief’s daughter, he felt hurt from what people said of him. He did not go out, nor eat much, and so finally he died, believing his brother friend to be killed, and he had not helped him.”

They came to where the girl was with the drove of ponies. Black took the war-bonnet from the girl’s saddle and handed it to the hunter. The hunter put it on. Black caught another pony and rode it. Now they moved toward the village. As they went over a high hill, the two men advanced with the ponies and the hunter began to shoot. They rode in a gallop, passing one another until the village arose in alarm. Old men and women climbed their lodges to see the enemy ; but when the people saw the movements of the men, they knew that the people coming belonged to a successful war-party. There were many coming, so the people thought, and they wondered who they could be, for all the war-parties had come in. Men rode out, and the first who met them was told that they were Black and Little- Eyes. There were many scalps hanging on the spear that the boy, Black, held in his hand. The girl also had a spear, and scalps were hanging upon the spear. So this first man faced about toward the village and shouted : “ It is Black and Little-Eyes, coming with many scalps and ponies ! ”

The girl’s father heard it. He ran out to meet them, for he was mourning the girl’s death. When he got to them, Black said : “ Little- Eyes, there comes your father. Go home with your father and drive all the ponies home. Send ten of the ponies to my lodge.” The father of the girl went to Black, passed his hands over the boy, and said : “No, my son, send not my daughter away. You have been with her all this time ; you are married to her.” But the young man said : “Father, your daughter is a noble girl. She saved my life. She put grease upon my sores. She helped me take these scalps and ponies.

I know her not, and she knows that I kept away from her all the time we were together.” So the father of the girl was satisfied, and they went home. The boy’s father came, and he cried with joy, “ Nawa iri,” and he cried saying : “ Although you see that I am dressed in mourning, I did not cry, for I knew that I had told you to be brave in battle and to die fighting.” So the boy and the father went home.

Several days afterwards a runner came to the boy’s tipi or lodge and said Black was wanted at the girl’s lodge. The boy went. As he entered the lodge he saw many men sitting around the fireplace in a circle. He was given a seat, on the west side of the fireplace in the lodge, with two cushions. The boy sat down and was told that as they now knew the story, the people were anxious to know more about what he had done. He told them to ask the girl. The young man saw that some doubted the girl’s story. But the chiefs all agreed that the ponies and scalps proved the tale to be correct. The young man ate, and then the chief handed him the chief’s pipe, but he would not smoke. He told them that he was still young, and did not care to be a chief, for he had killed many enemies, and never could be a good kind chief.301

A few days after the village was attacked by an enemy. The men went out to fight. The young man went out on horseback, naked, with only a spear. He was among his own people, when all at once he rode right into the enemy’s side. He had seen some one whom he wished to kill. He broke the enemy’s battle line, for he had chosen his man. He overtook the enemy and speared him. There was an uproar on the young man’s side, for they all yelled, “Nawa! Nawa!” So they whipped up their ponies and the enemy retreated, and thus the young man was saved. There was great talk among the young man’s people ; for some had doubted that he had killed any enemy when he and the girl had returned. The young man knew this, and did not like it.

The battle was over. There was great rejoicing. The enemy was driven from their village. They took several scalps. So the women made up several scalp dances. The young girl danced amongst them in the dresses she had received from the enemy while among them. The young man saw her, and for the first time since they had come back he thought of her, how brave she was to follow the enemy for his sake, how she had prayed to different gods in the heavens to help her rescue him, and had lifted up her hands to the meteors. The young man could not bear it. He walked to the dancers and touched the girl. The girl looked around and saw it was Black. She went to him. As she approached, he opened his arms, embraced her, and put his robe over her. They stood together a long time, neither speaking, when at last the girl said: “ At last you have touched me, and I came to you. Tell me, what is it ? Since we came back you seem to have forgotten me. You never go anywhere. You seem not to see me any more. So I dressed and danced, thinking that I might be able to see you. Now you have come.” The young man said : “What you say is all true. But I thought with shame of my friend who died. Now I have added another notch to my killing. To-night I cease thinking of my friend. You shall take his place, and to-morrow, when

Miscellaneous.

the sun rises in the east, I shall be at your lodge to ask your parents for you. I am going home, and shall tell my father, so he can call my uncles, and they will help about the presents that must be sent to your relatives, if these desire to have me for their son-in-law. This is the only way in which I shall marry you.” The girl was desirous to go with him, but he would not allow her. The young man said : “ I shall now take you home, for I do not wish you to dance any more. I shall think of you until the dawn appears in the east, then I shall enter your lodge.” By this time they were near the entrance of her lodge, and the young man embraced her and sent her in.

The father of the girl was sitting by the fire, and he spoke to her and said : “ Why are you not dancing ? What brought you home so soon ? ” She said : “ Father, some one brought me home and told me to sleep ; for he said that by dawn he would enter our lodge.” The old man called his daughter to himself, and blessed her by laying his hands upon her head, then drawing them down over her shoulders and arms.

The old man understood what was meant by “ dawn.” So he sent for his errand man, and when the latter came, bade him stay in the lodge, for early in the morning he would be needed. The girl went to her bed, spread buffalo robes, and lay down. Black went to his home and told his father that he had mourned for his friend, and now he thought it was time to put him aside : “To-morrow, I desire to enter the lodge of Little-Eyes ; I wish, according to our custom, to marry her.” The father said : “It is well, my son; I am getting old, and before I die wish to see my grandchildren ” So the father sent for his errand man, and bade tell all the young man’s uncles to come at once to his lodge. The errand man went out, and notified all the young man’s uncles. They came in, one by one, and seated themselves in a circle around the fireplace. When they were all seated, the chief (White’s father) came in, and a seat was given him.

Black, when first coming to the village, had met the chief and had given him ponies, and the old chief had said : “From this time you shall be my chief.”

The chief had heard that there was to be a gathering in the young man’s lodge, and had gone. The men were now told that Black wanted to enter the lodge of the girl. “ Nawa,” everybody said. So they all spoke in their turn, giving ponies and robes. Now they had offered more than twenty head of ponies, and many robes. They all stayed in the lodge until dawn, telling war-stories.

Now they woke the young man and said : “ Get ready to go to the lodge yonder.” So the young man arose and sat by the fire. He went to the creek, went into it and washed. He came back to his lodge. A priest was then sitting among the men, and said : “ My grandson, are you ready to go?” The young man said : “Yes, I am ready.” The old man took the lead, the young man following. They went through the village and entered the lodge. The lodge had been swept, and north of the entrance was spread a mat, on which was laid a buffalo robe with two cushions. Here they were seated.

The people in the lodge were all hidden upon their beds, and-no one seemed to be awake. At last an old woman arose to go out. Near the entrance (where the men were seated) she stopped, and said : “ Who are you ? ” The old man whispered to her, “ Black.” She went out. Now these men arose and left the lodge, and went back to their own lodge. The old woman came in and told the girl’s father that an old man and Black had seated themselves near the entrance; this of course they knew, and knew what it meant. Now fire was kindled. The errand man was sent through the village, notifying the girl’s male relatives that they were wanted at the girl’s lodge. They came in, one by one, until now they sat in a circle around the fireplace. The father of the girl spoke and said: “My relatives, an old man and Black entered our lodge early this morning, and sat upon my robe and cushion. What are you to do ? I leave it with you.” So the men sat for some time, until at last one spoke and said: “I shall leave the question with my younger brother, who sits near the entrance. What he says, we will do.” For a long time the young man chosen to decide said nothing.

While he was thinking, the old man and Black again entered the lodge. As before, they were seated near the entrance. The young man now rose and said : “ My brothers and friends, Black has made his path clear to our lodge. He has not sneaked about by night to steal our daughter, but he comes led by the high priest of our tribe. I say, let him be sent for, and be given a seat in our lodge ; let our daughter sit by him, and let them be given food and eat together.” The young man deciding then went where the old man and Black sat. He then held the pipe to Black and said : “ Black, take this pipe, and as you take it, you accept our daughter. I also make you a present of my horse, the spotted pony. Our daughter will always be with you. Take pity upon us, for we are poor. Treat her well. Kill many buffalo for her relatives. Tirawa will give you and our daughter many children.”

Black took the pipe. The young man went to the fireplace, took a coal and put it upon the bowl of the pipe, and Black and the old man smoked. When Black emptied the ashes the young man took the pipe and returned it to the owner. The old man and Black left the lodge again, and returned to their own.

As they entered the old man said : “ Friends, we have smoked the pipe of the girl’s father. A young man gave us the girl and a pony.” The relatives of Black were thankful. The people in Black’s lodge

M iscellaneous.

now made haste and collected robes and presents to be sent to the gill s lodge. The best horse Black owned was brought, and it was saddled. The medicine-bags were put upon the saddle. The war-bonnet was hung on one side of the saddle. Black’s mother put the sacred bundle upon her back. She then led the pony to the girl’s lodge and gave it, together with the bundle on her back, to the boy’s wife ; for now the bundle must be given over to the daughter-in-law.302 The mother now led the procession of the other female relatives, who carried the robes upon their backs, and led the ponies to the lodge of the girl. The girl came out, received the bundle, took it into the lodge, and hung it above the holy place, toward the west. The men went out, and received the ponies and robes. The women now all returned to their lodge.

The people in the girl’s lodge distributed the presents. Some received ponies, others robes. Now they ate, and after dividing the presents all went home.

Early the next morning Black was invited to the girl’s lodge. Black then sent for the old man, who came. Black then took the old man to the girl’s lodge. As they entered they were greeted with “ Nawa ” (meaning, “ Come this way that is, to the west side of the fireplace, the youth being followed by the old man). Black was given a cushion on the girl’s right hand, and the old man a cushion on her left, she sitting between the two. Now they were seated. A wooden bowl of boiled dried buffalo meat was placed before them, and the three ate together. When this was eaten, a bowl of boiled corn was given them, the old man eating the most.

After they had eaten, the girl’s father told Black that the horse the young man had given him was tied outside. The relatives of the girl now came in, and each presented a pony. The young man was thankful. He took the old man out and let him choose a pony. The elder went to the boy’s lodge and told them to send some one to bring the ponies. These were brought, and the relatives of the boy divided them, so that each received one. The boy now remained in the girl’s lodge.

A few days afterwards the widow of Black’s friend, White, came to visit her girl friend, and, as Black was there, they all agreed that this widow should make her home with them. She mourned for her husband one year, and after that time she became the second wife of Black.

Black became a great man among his people, but he never would take the chieftain’s place, for he was quick to anger, and he knew he could not rule his people aright. He had many children, and was happy with his two wives ; and at last he died, and was buried upon a high hill called “ Pakahtie ” (Black-Mountain).

,

'

1. Told by Roaming-Scout. This interesting priest of the Skidi, usually known as “ Running-Scout,” is one of the most influential and perhaps the most learned of the Skidi of to-day. For his portrait, see frontispiece.

2. No satisfactory literal translation of this term has been obtained. It may be considered as referring to the entire heavens in general, and everything contained therein, the animating spirit of this upper world being Tirawa.

3. Literally, Come-from-Corn, or, Born-from-Corn.

4. Such communication is usually considered as taking place between Tirawa and the Bright or Evening-Star, who, in turn, passes on the communication from the 1 hunders, whose voices roll through the heavens from one god to another.

5. A literal translation of this term is not easy. Reference seems to be made to the condition of the waning moon as it stands in the west, just before daybreak; hence the expression “vanishing light ” might perhaps be regarded as an equivalent.

6. In certain Pawnee ceremonies the symbol of the gourd rattle is conceived as lying on the ground, between the altar and the fireplace, to which certain offerings are made. Thus, the rattle symbolizes both the garden of the Evening-Star in the west and the road thither, as well as the road to dead priests, the spirits of whom are conceived as being contained within the rattle itself, and symbolized by the pebbles in the gourds. For a priest in proper costume see Fig. 10.

7. The particular pebble referred to seems to have been a quartz crystal, which, on account of its transparency and hardness, appropriately symbolizes the contribution of Tirawa and the other gods of the heavens toward the formation of the earth.

8. The use of the war-club here is to be taken figuratively ; for it is supposed that these gods used their hands for this purpose. Their movements as they divided up the earth are imitated to-day by the priests in certain rites in the Skull-Bundle ceremony. With each of the Four-Direction bundles is a war-club of wood — by some supposed to have been originally used in dividing up the earth. These clubs are made of hemlock, which is spoken of by the Skidi as “Atira” wood.

9. The idea of fertilization by means of lightning is not confined to the Pawnee. Thus, the Hopi, in referring to lightning striking a field, speak of it as the acme of fertilization.

Notes.

10. Clouds of this shape are known as hatawikatit (black-wind), or whirlwind ; also nanituru (wind-coming-from-the-clouds).

11. “Closed” in distinction from “open,” as applied to a female.

12. The story of the theft of fire found over a wide extent of territory in North America seems to be unknown to the Pawnee. All the bundles are supposed to contain the fire drill. These are used only at special times when scalps are to be sacrificed.

13. Reference is here made to an ear of corn, which is found only in the bundles, and is spoken of as the “ Mother-Corn.”

14. The hawk is sometimes spoken of as the messenger of the Morning- Star, and its skin is generally found in the bundles, especially in the warrior bundles. In the latter bundles is a bandoleer of otter skin, upon which provision is made for the carrying of the Mother-Corn in front and the hawk behind, the hawk being symbolic of one of the highest types of a destroying force known to the Pawnee, and, consequently, a fit emblem for a warrior.

15. In the decoration of the different chiefs an eagle feather is placed above downy feathers, — the whole symbolizing “ Tirawa standing above the white fleecy clouds.”

16. The pipe is conceived as being the property of the gods, and, during ceremonies, is only smoked as a sacrifice to them. The scalp attached to the stem, therefore, is offered to the gods each time the stem is pointed toward the heavens.

17. The string here referred to, and which is found on the pipes in the sacred bundles, was used upon the pipe-stem, and is symbolic of the road between men and the gods.

18. Although not brought out in the tale, reference is probably made here to two pipes, which were to be in certain bundles, — one being red, and devoted to the sun, the other black, and spoken of as the “ moon pipe.” Attached to each of these pipes, as found in the sacred bundles, is generally the skin of a bluebird, which is regarded as the messenger between Tirawa and men, and thus, from its position on the pipe, is able not only to carry the sacrifice to Tirawa, but also the prayers of men. See

Fig- 23-

19. Such agricultural implements as are here mentioned were formerly common among all the bands of the Pawnee, as well as among other Plains tribes. Forming part of the objects belonging to the Four-Direction bundles are the shoulder-blades, which are supposed to have been transmitted to the earth by the gods of the four directions.

20. In the original, “paruxti.” This term, in another tale, is synonymous with the god Lightning, but here refers to the bundle which the Evening-Star was to give to these two First-people, and means, in this place, literally, “Wonderful-Being-Concealed.” This being is synonymous with “ wonderful power,” and is supposed to contain within it Atira. The word “ paruxti ” here is also used in contradistinction from the word “ waruxti,” which refers to the magic or mysterious or supernatural power as derived from earthly sources rather than from on high. All things of the earth not

Notes.

33i readily comprehended are considered “ waruxti.” To carry the distinction further, it may be said that when the word “ paruxti ” is employed it has reference only to the lightning and other mysterious forces of the heavens, which derive their origin either from Tirawa or from other gods ; whereas, “ waruxti ” may refer, for example, to a sleight-of-hand performance, as enacted by medicine-men, or doings of animals or other creatures not human, upon the earth. These are the Pawnee terms rendered “ gods.”

21. The owls symbolize the four powers in the west, who never sleep ; referred to in other places in this and in other tales as the four assistants of the Evening- Star, who are the Wind, Cloud, Lightning, and Thunder.

22. That is, as he killed it, and addressed it as “paruxti,” thus indicating that the animal had been dedicated to the gods in the heavens.

23. Thereby transmitting his prayers and hopes, as well as showing his reverence to Tirawa.

24. The Pawnee make a distinction between dream and vision. The translation for the word “vision ” is “learn by being touched.” From the visit of some power a vision may occur during the day or night, but only when the individual is awake or is in a trance, brought upon through fasting or self-imposed hypnotism. In such a condition he is visited by some being who holds communication with him, and whose person the one in the vision is able to see distinctly. Thus, in a group of priests sitting in silence in a ceremony, one of them may in a vision see clearly some god or supernatural being and hold converse with it, while the other priests present are not aware of the presence of supernatural beings.

25. Referring to one of the men (Skidi) created by one of the four-direction gods or by some other god.

26. The use to which these animals were to be placed was as follows : An otter was to serve as a quiver for the arrows, and was also to be used as a bandoleer to which was to be attached the Mother-Corn and Hawk ; further, to be offered as a sacrifice to the North-Star. The jaw-bone of the bear was to be used later, in the slaying of the maiden to be sacrificed to the Morning-Star. The mountain lion was to be used for a similar purpose. The wildcat and the coyote skin were to be used as coverings for the two men who were to shoot at this maiden with the bow and arrow, when she should have been placed upon the scaffold.

27. This term is applied, in general, to any old individual, but more especially to those who are learned in the rites and ceremonies of the tribe; it means, literally, “more than medicine-man,” — that is, one who has knowledge which transcends that of the medicine-man, and hence may be translated “ priest,” — that is, one versed in the religious affairs of the tribe.

28. The bundles of the two villages are in existence to-day, and in the great ceremony of the Skidi, when all the bundles are .brought together, they have no part.

29. See tale No. 12.

30. Told by Roaming-Scout.

31. Although there seems to be a discrepancy here, inasmuch as the four

Notes.

gods of the west are spoken of as Wind, Cloud, Thunder, and Lightning, and as it was Lightning himself who made the journey, it should be stated that Lightning, in this sense, is symbolic of, or personifies, the combined powers of these four gods.

32. It is believed that with the moccasins worn in this way the power of Lightning would be more closely confined. A similar idea is expressed in another tale, where it is mentioned that a certain individual wore a buffalo robe with the hair side turned toward the body.

33. It is understood that in this fold were fastened the combined elements of the four gods or of the storms. This same idea is carried out in certain Pawnee ceremonies to-day, where the leading priest in the ceremony of the Waving-Sticks or the so-called “ calumet-pipe ceremony,” wears about his waist a black lariat rope, with the same knot hanging down from behind. See Fig. 12. Thus, he represents this same “ Paruxti ” or Lightning; and one of the taboos of the ceremony is that while he is thus decorated no one shall wash his face — otherwise, it would cause rain.

34. These two guardians, in the Pawnee earth lodge, are conceived of as standing at the outer entrance, and are also spoken of as the chief and the warrior, or guardians of the lodge.

35. That is, paruxti, or magic moccasins.

36. It will be noticed that the arrangement of these individuals was now similar to the arrangement which is supposed to exist in the heavens, and which is symbolically represented in the earth lodge: the girl standing at the altar with the bundle in the west, the four priests representing the four uprights, typical of the gods of the four world-quarters, and the two lance men representing the opening of the lodge, toward the east, and also the guardians of the lodge, Day and Night, the chief and warrior.

37. The common method of communication to indicate victory ; used also by returning war-parties to indicate a successful attack on their journey.

38. The explanation given for the name of this star is that it is the star which usually precedes the Morning-Star, in winter-time, and it is supposed that Coyote begins to howl at it, thinking that it is the Morning-Star.

39. Although not plainly brought out in the story, yet the inference may be drawn that the object of the wolf’s visit to the earth was that he might destroy or supplant Lightning, and thus, by means of some agency, cause his return to the west, leaving the people upon the earth where they would continue; this expectation, however, being frustrated by the action of the people. Evening-Star, through the death of the wolf, brought about not only the return of Lightning, but the people as well, and eventually, death itself was thus introduced into the world through the action of the people at this time. This account of the origin of death is not common in American mythologies. Other specialized forms of the origin of death are found among the Cherokee (Mooney, p. 254); Zuni (Cushing, p. 72); Tsimshian (Boas, p. 72); and Cree (Petitot, pp. 114, 115). For the origin of death due to the deliberate decision of some personage, see Dixon, Maidu, pp. 43 and 46; Curtin, Creation, p. 164; Duboise, Dueguehos, p. 183; Gatschet, Klamciih, pp. 1, 103; and Farrand, Quinault, p. in. For the origin of death

Notes.

as determined by choosing of lot, see Matthews, Navaho, p. 77; Russell, Jicanlla, p. 258 ; Kroeber, Cheyenne , p. 161 ; Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , pp. 17, 81 ; and Grinnell, Blackfoot, pp. 138, 272.

40. The term “ Skidi ” is the name used by the Chaui, Kitkehahki, and Pitahauirata for the Skidi band ; the Skidi themselves claim that their proper name is “ Skirihk,” and in this tale is given the origin for the term.

41. Compare tale No. 10.

42. Told by Well-Fed-Captured-Girl, wife of White-Eagle.

43. Irisa, at the time of his death in 1878, was very old, and had been, in Nebraska, the leading priest, knowing the rituals of all the leading bundles. The knowledge and ability to interpret the voice of the thunders was ascribed to him by the Pawnee.

44. The grass lodges referred to should not be confounded with the elaborate grass lodges of the Wichita. These lodges are described in the Introduction.

45. The meadow lark is often spoken of as the messenger or errand boy of the Evening-Star.

46. This idea of a boy being led unconsciously to some definite destination is not uncommon. See also tale No. 39, and Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapho , p. 346.

47. Prayers in this case being transmitted to the Evening-Star by these kurahoos, or four gods, assistants of the Evening-Star. See tale No. 1, where the Evening-Star promises the first couple to send them buffalo, etc.

48. By this is meant the leader of the four priests, or the one oldest in years, and having the most extended knowledge concerning the rituals of the bundles.

49. Told by Well-Fed-Captured-Woman. The idea that in very early times the earth was peopled by monsters who showed lack of reverence toward the gods of the heavens, is widespread in America. The idea of the engulfing deluge is also equally well-known. See Dorsey, Wichita , p. 224; Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , Nos. 5 and 6.

50. Presumably a bluebird, which is usually regarded as the messenger or errand boy of Tirawa.

51. See note 18.

52. See tale -No. 2.

53. Told by Curly-Head.

54. For a similar idea, see Dorsey, Wichita, p. 222.

55. Reference is made to the well-known game of double-ball. In this two small buckskin balls, attached to each other by a string about eight inches in length, are tossed by means of slender sticks slightly curved at one end. See Fig. 18.

56. The idea of magic flight through space by means of the ball or arrow is not uncommon ; for flight by means of the double-ball or shinny-ball or arrow, see tale No. 31, and compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, pp. 159, 160, No. 81 ; Dorsey, Wichita, p. 216; Dorsey, Cegiha , p. 292; Farrand, Quinault, p. 116 ; Russell, Explorations, p. 202 ; Morice, Transactions, p. 5 ; Boas, Sagen, pp. 99, 164, 224, 240, 268 ; Boas, Chinook, p. 78.

57. Such power, of course, is supposed to be derived from the Sun. Compare note No. 154.

58. For description of the Pawnee bed, see Introduction.

59. This type of hair brush is much less restricted in its distribution than the more common hair brush made from the tail of the porcupine. The brush here referred to is made of the stiff ends of a certain grass closely bound at one end by means of a sinew or buckskin thong.

60. Told by Bright-Eyes, wife of Yellow-Calf. Another title of this story is: “The Woman whose Vagina was beset with Teeth.” See note No. 71.

61. Reference is not made here to the “wonderful,” that is, “ waruxti ” being, but rather to one who, from his dress, gave evidence of being the possessor of magic power.

62. The beaver is considered as the leading medicine-man in a certain animal lodge which is generally regarded as a lodge of medicine-men.

63. That is, waruxti, the possessor of superhuman power.

64. The cedar, among the Pawnee, as among other tribes of the Plains, is held in peculiar regard. The Pawnee have a story of the cedar-tree turning into a woman — really, into a female bear. The reason for the erection of the cedar-tree in this lodge was that bears are usually found in a rough country, where the cedars abound, and they are supposed to be especially fond of the shade of the cedar-tree.

65. The spirits here referred to are those of dead people, who are thus assisting other worldly powers, under the control of this animal lodge, to prevent this girl from falling into the hands of men.

66. “ Nawa ” means literally “ now,” and is used very often at the beginning of a sentence, as it is here, but more often as an exclamation of assent, when, as in ceremonies, it corresponds to our “ amen.”

67. Concerning this human sacrifice and the reason that it is offered to the Morning-Star, see Introduction, and tale No. 1.

68. This is not to be taken literally. Reference rather is made to the fact that the beaver and otter, being “ paruxti ” animals, have the power of exhaling magic breath. Reference is also made to the fact that these two animals are among the most powerful medicine-men and have the ability to draw blood from the body of the patient. Thus the breath, through the blood which was exhaled, would be colored red. These animals are also able to perform the office of midwives.

69. The Pawnee word for witch is “ stoo,” meaning a female possessed of wonderful power, as derived from animals. Belief in these witches was widespread, and they were held in a certain degree of awe and fear, owing to the belief that the power which they possessed was rarely if ever used in a benevolent way. These witches were supposed to have their lodges in different parts of the country. Through their power they were able to draw people to their lodges, in order to kill them. They were also regarded as cannibals. It is related in this and stories of a similar nature, how young men, assisted by various animals, were able eventually to overcome the power of the Witch-Women, and so drive them from the earth. The Witch- Woman is not to be confounded with the Spider-Woman.

Notes.

70. The full meaning of this song is that not only did the girl have a round face, but a face so prominent as to be displeasing. In other words, the Witch-Woman is disparaging the girl.

71. For a similar tale of a woman whose vagina was beset with teeth, see Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , No. in; and for a discussion concerning the distribution of this tale, see Bogoras, American Anthropologist (N. S.), vol. iv. p. 667.

72. Told by Fox, usually known as John Box, one of the prominent members of the Skidi band, and, with White-Eagle, an owner of the Skull-Bundle. For a portrait of Fox, see Fig. 11.

73. This is not to be taken literally. Reference is made rather to the fact that this buffalo was the leader or chief buffalo. The father of the buffalo, who figures prominently in certain tales in this collection and in one especially, is known as_Young-Bull-with-White-Spot-on-Forehead, — tale No. 31.

74. Spider-Woman, who figures in several of these tales, was supposed to be a daughter of Sun and Moon, and her actions were under the direct influence of the Moon. There was not only one, but many Spider-Women. Contrary to that of the Witch-Women, their influence was uniformly good, inasmuch as they helped people, giving them seeds, the lariat rope, and teaching them to climb mountains and trees, etc. It was believed that they inhabited the sides of the mountains, where they stayed with their legs far apart, and were the source of springs which furnished sweet water. In such springs, offerings formerly were made, in order that the good-will of Spider- Woman might be maintained, for it was thought, should she become angry, she would leave the spring and hide herself in some other hill. Spider- Women with similar attributes are common to mythologies of many tribes of America. Thus, among the Wichita, in their myth of origin (see Dorsey, Wichita , p. 225) it was Spider-Woman who superintended the erection of the reeds upon which she drew certain favored individuals, together with seeds, and thus saved them from destruction during the flood. Among the Cheyenne and Blackfeet it is the Witch-Woman who, by the side of her great spring in the under-world, guards the buffalo who are supposed to be under her direct supervision. For further information concerning the Spider- Woman, and especially concerning her ability to turn into a human being or deer, see tale No. 51, and notes Nos. 228, 245.

75. For the further history of this important buffalo, see tale No. 31.

76. As explained in the next paragraph, Spider-Woman has been acting in the interests of mankind ; for, at the present time, the buffalo had remained in the north and consequently could be got at only with the greatest difficulty. She succeeded in bringing all of them south, and then scattered them, so that henceforth they could be captured without difficulty.

77. Called “squash medicine ” because the vines are thought to be similar to the squash plant, and because they bear a fruit of similar shape.

78. Told by Fox. Although not apparent from the tale itself, the inference may be drawn that the woman spoken of in the early part of the story was really not a Spider-Woman, but a Witch-Woman, who, by being taken

Notes.

to the moon, as told in the story, became a Spider-Woman. Compare tales Nos. 6 and 7 ; and see note No. 74.

79. The bow in common use among the Pawnee in former times was made from the ash. Those who could obtain it, however, used bows of hedge, or, as it is commonly called “ Osage orange.” Such bows could be obtained by those who travelled far into the south, where only this wood could be found. The bows still used by the Skidi in the so-called “ Elkdance ” are of this wood, and of beautiful color, evidently of great antiquity.

80. As stated in the Introduction, pumpkin and squash were cultivated extensively by the Pawnee. When beginning to ripen they were harvested, cut into long, thin, narrow strips and braided and beaten with a pounder made for that purpose. They were then suspended upon poles or placed on arbors to dry, after which they were stored for winter use. They were then eaten in the form of a stew, sometimes mixed with corn.

81. Told by Fancy-Eagle.

82. Mats were not only used by the Pawnee upon their beds, but also as floor coverings, in both earth lodges and in tipis.

83. See tale No. 39, where the poor boy makes a mud horse.

84. Such sacks of buffalo tallow formed a part of the surplus stock of food of every prosperous lodge. This tallow was drawn upon during the winter, and was used in the manufacture of pemmican and also when the jerked meat was boiled.

85. The crier referred to here was the chief’s crier, in distinction from the crier of the priests. The chief’s crier served as intermediary between the chief and the people, crying out from time to time through the village the instructions of the chief, thus conveying information concerning the time of the removal of the camp or of the time of the beginning of the buffalo hunt, etc. The crier of the priest was even a more important personage. He it was who recited certain rituals during the ceremonies, and it also fell to his lot to carry to the people the announcement of the location by the scouts of the buffalo herd, for the news was not only welcome to the people of the village, but had in it a certain element of religious significance, inasmuch as the buffalo were supposed to have been driven to the village by the gods of the north, in answer to prayers. The priests’ crier, as a rule, was painted with the sacred red ointment.

86. The buffalo robe is usually worn with the hair side out, unless there is reason of special nature why it should be reversed. Such a reason exists, for example, when a warrior, through his conquest, or through a vision, decorates his robe with symbols, in which case the tanned side of the robe, bearing such symbols, would be exposed ; by turning the robe inside out, as mentioned in the text, is meant, that the tanned side of the robe, unpainted, was exposed. Thus they imitated the woodpecker, who symbolizes the priest in the timber searching for the ritual. In this particular instance it is evidence of a humble spirit.

87. This is not to be taken literally. The expanded term would be, “ Weep for mercy,” — a common expression to signify the attitude which a young man, for example, assumes when he goes to the old priest with his offerings and implores him with a lowly spirit to teach him of his mysteries. 3

88. For a better understanding of this important personage, see tales Nos. i and 2.

89. The exact purpose to which these gifts were to be put is not entirely apparent. The two otter hides were evidently for the purpose of sacrifice, for the otter was among those animals which may be sacrificed to the gods of the north, and consequently may be regarded as an offering. The two black handkerchiefs are typical of clouds, which are instrumental in driving the buffalo. The two clamshells are symbolic of the Moon, consequently of rain. Here they probably refer to shell discs or gorgets, formerly worn by the Pawnee and other tribes of the Plains, and presumably used for the purpose of sacrifice, together with tobacco.

90. According to Pawnee belief magpies are the most successful birds in finding food, and are generally associated in their minds with the near presence of the buffalo.

91. The destruction of moccasins on a short journey is not an uncommon incident in tales of the Plains tribes. It is presumably a symbol of an extended journey performed through magic power in an incredibly short time.

92. “ Unmarried ” because a married man would perhaps be contaminated through association with his wife, who, at this time, might be unclean, in which case the odor from his person would be obnoxious to the buffalo and would cause them to disappear. Furthermore, the taboo against the presence of menstruating women in all ceremonial affairs was very strict.

93. The reason for this being that the south of the lodge, and the south in general, is considered the land of the dead ; the head pointed north would remind the people that in the north was the true home of the buffalo.

94. The bones being buried so that the skeleton would face the south is in keeping with the belief that the land of the dead is in the south, and that the spirit of the calf is now travelling in that direction, and thus will cause the buffalo to start from the north, in a southerly direction.

95. Literally, reference is made to the gaping condition of the earth’s womb, from which this man brought the buffalo.

96. Told by Lone-Chief, the hereditary owner of the Morning-Star bundle, and one of the most prominent chiefs living of the Skidi. For another story of the death of Pahukatiwa, see Grinnell, Pawnee , p. 142.

97. The original leggings here referred to are supposed to be in existence to-day, and are in the possession of Lone-Chief.

98. The original feathers here mentioned are supposed to be in existence, and are in the keeping of Lone-Chief.

99. The keeper of this dance to-day is Lone-Chief.

100. Told by Louwak. This dance is still kept up by the Pawnee, a knowledge of its ritual being in the possession of Cheyenne-Chief, a Skidi.

101. He is still known as Pahukatiwa, and, with Hikusu, constitutes one of the three gods in the north.

102. Somewhat different from the statement made by Grinned concerning the Arikara belief about Pahukatiwa is my information obtained from James

Notes.

Murie. He states that the Arikara claim that Pahukatiwa was of their tribe, and profess to know nothing about the tale as here told.

103. Told by Fox.

104. See Introduction.

105. At the time of the flood the giants were turned into stone. Inasmuch as the people of those days are considered the ancestors, not only of the peoples of this earth, but of the gods in the heavens, they are spoken of as “grandfathers.”

106. The Morning-Star bundle here referred to, owned by Lone-Chief and in the keeping of Bright-Star, still bears above it what is supposed to be the original coyote hide quiver, within which, it may be added, are the medicine arrows captured from the Cheyenne about seventy years ago. See “American Anthropologist ” (N. S.), vol. iv. No. 4.

107. Told by Gladdener, a name given to this woman from the fact that she is the keeper by marriage of the Skull-Bundle, and thus is in a position, according to the Skidi belief as illustrated in the tale, to promote the happiness of the band. The author has from Fox another version of the origin of the Skull-Bundle similar to this in all essentials. Regarding the idea of the influence which might be exercised by the bundle and its accompanying skull upon the welfare of the Skidi during times of trouble, the following brief statement, as related by the keeper of the bundle, is appropriate : When Tirawa gave the Skull-Bundle to the people, he promised that he would watch over his bundle, and that if the enemy attacked the people and the Skull-Bundle was in the village, they would be sure of overcoming the enemy ; if the enemy was getting the best of them they must send a man to the Skull-Bundle tipi, and they must set a young girl under the Skull-Bundle and close the tipi door down so it would be dark inside the tipi, then the enemy would be scared and would run from the Pawnee, and they could overcome them and slaughter them. In this way the Pawnee overcame their enemies many times, although outnumbered. The old woman who is now the keeper relates that when she was young she stood under the bundle twice when the Pawnee were fighting the enemy, and that the Pawnee came out victorious each time.

108. The decoration of the skull referred to here and later on in the tale corresponds to the paint applied to the face of the chief among the Skidi on his assumption of office. This decoration consists of a deep blue line drawn around the face, the surface within the line being painted red ; upon the head is placed an eagle breath feather ; the whole being symbolic of Tirawa.

109. Told by White-Crow-Feathers.

no. Warrior bundles similar to the one here referred to were possessed by practically all of the leading warriors of the Skidi. These bundles were made for the warriors by the priests, after the individual had made a certain number of offerings. While bearing a general resemblance to the sacred bundles referred to earlier in these notes, they were neither so large nor did they contain as many objects as the sacred bundles. The most important objects found within them were an otter skin, fashioned in the form of a bandoleer, with provision for the attachment of an ear of corn and a hawk skin. Each bundle also contained a pipe, paints, and tobacco bag, usually the pericardium of the buffalo. Certain important rites were performed in the preparation of the bundle by the priests, such as dedicating the ear of corn to the Evening-Star, by which rite the corn-ear not only became symbolic of the Evening-Star, but was actually looked upon as an ever-present divinity. Ceremonies were held with these warrior bundles, during which the smoke and other offerings were presented, just as in the more important sacred bundles. Unlike the larger bundles, however, the warrior bundles were not accompanied by rituals. Consequently the name for these bundles was “ karus,” meaning, “empty bundle that is, devoid of songs. There exists among the Skidi one so-called “ warrior bundle ” of unusual interest. This bundle is supposed to have been handed down to the earth by the Morning-Star, and is kept with the Morning-Star bundle. This bundle was never used except when the attempt was made to capture a maiden from some tribe of the enemy for the purpose of sacrifice to the Morning-Star, in which case the individual or individuals desiring to make the capture would apply to the owner of the Morning-Star bundle for permission to use it, when the bundle was turned over to him with certain ceremonies. The coyote quiver was also used at this time.

hi. The difference between a dream and a vision has already been explained. The following curious belief regarding dreams is of interest in this connection : When the Indians have a dream in the winter-time of passing through green fields of corn, squash, and beans, they at once on waking tell the dream to their friends, for then their friends will know that that person will live to see again green fields, squash, and beans. If the Indians have a dream in the summer of cold weather or snow, they know they are going to live through the next winter.

112. This refers to the ceremony of making a new corn god. A similar, but even more important ceremony was held annually in connection with the Four-Direction bundles.

1 13. Told by Fox.

1 14. Told by Roaming-Scout. It would seem from the tale that this society has a general resemblance to certain other societies of the Plains Indians, such, for example, as the so-called “ Lime-Crazy ” society among the Arapaho, and the society of the “Opposites” among the Cheyenne. The society referred to was also known as the “ Haduska Epirau ” or Children-of-the-Haduska Society, the Haduska being a war-dance. The name “ Children-of-the-Sun Society ” seems to have been derived from the Son of the Sun.

1 15. “ Saru ” is an appellation often bestowed by old people upon children, to indicate that they are acting in a child-like manner, and consequently foolishly.

1 16. Formerly the belief was common in the great efficacy of flint, not only as points for arrows, but for the magic power which it was supposed to possess, owing to its intimate relation to the lightning. Certain individuals had the right to attach a piece of flint to the upper end of the bow, in

Notes.

which case the bow itself became a weapon of last resort of considerable magic power. The special reference in the text to the bursting open of the serpent after the bow had been thrown into it rests upon the belief that the pow^r of the lightning rests in the flint, and that the flint in turn is able to produce lightning. For the slaying of the water-monster on behalf of the eagle, compare tale No. 42.

1 1 7. Told by Boy-Chief. The story of the ascent to the sky by a woman is widespread, and is here presented in its more common form. This form of the myth is also found among the Micmacs, Gros Ventre, Dakota, Quinault, Lkungen, and Oto. For a similar version of this same tale, see note 1 19, and also Grinnell, Pawnee Star Myth , p. 197. For ascent to the heavens by means of a tree, see Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 134- 138 ; also story of Little-Star, Dorsey, Arapaho Sun-Dance ; Simms, Crow , p. 299; Mooney, Kiowa , p. 238. For descent from the sky by means of a lariat rope, see Cheyenne reference just given ; also Boas, Kathlamet , p. 17; Farrand, Quinault , p. 109; Farrand, Chicoiin , p. 29; Kercheval, Oto and Omaha , p. 201.

1 1 8. The arbors here spoken of have already been described in the Introduction, and were much used in summer. Access to the top of the arbors was had by means of a single cottonwood log, with steps cut in it. Such log ladders still exist among the Wichita. The conclusion to be drawn from the text is that the girls slept upon the top of this arbor, the ladder of which was then removed, while the parents slept beneath.

1 19. In a shorter variant, told by Curly-Head, the preparations of the star-people are related as follows : “ The people where she was would go to bed and rest just before night-time, then they would all get up, go to the creeks and wash ; then they would take their hair brushes, brush their hair, and would put on their paints. Then they would go to travel in the heavens as stars.” It is after the stars have gone for their nocturnal journey that the woman binds the child on her back and descends to earth. The starhusband misses her, and on the fifth day seeks her and finds the orifice through which she has lowered herself. He kills her by dropping a stone on her head. The boy grows up, kills all bad animals, and becomes a great man, but in the end disappears.

120. Told by Curly-Head.

12 x. This council circle corresponds to the circle of stars just overhead (Corona Borealis), called by nearly all of the Plains tribes “the camp circle.” By the Skidi it is spoken of as the “ Council of the Chiefs,” over which the North-Star presides.

122. Told by Wonderful-Buffalo. The narrator of this tale, it is believed, is the only Skidi living who knows the ritual of this dance, and at times when taking part in the so-called “ Medicine-Man’s dance,” sings certain songs and goes through certain movements which belong to this dance.

123. By “mourning” is meant placing himself in the attitude of one weeping or crying with a humble spirit, in order that by this evidence of his sincerity he may gain the intervention of the gods.

124. Told by Bright-Eyes.

Notes.

34i

125. In order that the burial customs, which are referred to in a few instances in the text, together with mourning ceremonies, may be understood, the following account obtained from a Skidi is presented: —

In olden times, when a warrior was about to die, they brought all the things that he had worn when he was on the earth and they put them upon him. When he died a priest was hired to come and take the holy ointment and put it all over the body of the deceased. Then a buffalo robe was put over the dead man. Women were paid to dig a grave about two and a half feet deep. Then the women went to the timber and cut two forks and several poles. These they took up on the hill where the grave had been dug, set the forked poles, one at each end, and laid a pole across the two forks of the end poles. The people then brought the dead man, laid him in the grave and placed all his valuables in the grave. Then the poles were set up on each side of the pole lying across the forks, grass was piled on top of these at each end, and the women piled a lot of dirt upon the poles around the grave, so that it was like a house. Sometimes the grave was dug deeper, so that the person was set in the lodge. If the deceased had any ponies, and the relatives knew that he liked any particular pony, they would kill the pony upon his grave, believing that he would ride the pony to the Spirit Land. If the people were told by the deceased not to kill any ponies upon his grave, then the relatives roached the pony and cut the hair from the pony’s tail ; then they spread the hair over the grave and kept the pony.

There were other ways of burial among the Pawnee. When a poor woman died, the women would go to the side of a hill where they would cut a shallow hole, then they would roll the woman in a buffalo robe, place her in the hole and cover her up with dirt.

If a chief's son died, he was buried in a sort of house, and the war ornaments of the chief were placed at the head of the grave. If the chief had any calumet pipe sticks, they were placed upon the grave.

In olden times, when the Pawnee lost their relations, they mourned for many months, wandering over the country, in order that they might have pain • to increase their pain, so that they would continue mourning, they took a knife and gashed themselves across their legs, arms, and hands. It was customary, however, if one felt sorry for the mourner, for the man in sympathy to tell his wife to boil a lot of dried buffalo meat, and when the meat was ready he went after the mourner and several of his other friends. The mourner went off mourning with old clothes, and never washed, so that he looked unkempt. The one who wished to show sympathy then took a wooden bowl, poured water in it and gave it to the mourner, as he entered his lodge, and asked him to wash his face. The man gladly took the wooden bowl and washed his face, the friend taking the bowl and throwing the water out. The sympathizer then told his wife to give the mourner a robe, leggings, and shirt. These things were passed before the mourner by the woman. The sympathizer then made a talk and told his friends that he had invited them and the mourner, that he now wanted the mourner to eat and that was why he had invited them ; that his dead friend that he was

Notes.

mourning for had gone to the Spirit Land, for all have to go that way. The other friends made speeches and encouraged the mourner, so that at the end of the speechmaking everybody had a good appetite, and they ate with the mourner, then separated ; the mourner laid his mourning clothes aside and put on clean clothes and ceased mourning.

126. In addition to the interesting description of the Skidi Spirit Land, presented in the tale, the following account as told by Gladdener, is of interest. Dekat^aru, Spirit Land, is derived from Dekatga, spirit ; it also signifies a person who has died and is in skeleton form. Dekatgaru is the old term for Spirit Land. There are other expressions now used since the times of the Ghost-dance. The people believe that when they die they take all their belongings with them to Spirit Land. When they get there they will enjoy life just as the living do. The games they play are the same. The people get on their ponies every other day and go and hunt and kill the buffalo, placing the buffalo hide and fat in a peculiar way so that the buffalo will become alive again and walk again to the land where the buffalo are. The people who died are supposed to be happy, with no sickness ; and each family has a great village where all its members go when they die. Each village consists of a family by itself. For instance, in the family of Big-Eagle, all his descendants went to his village when they died ; another chief by the name of Big-Chief died and all his relations went to his village, so that each head of a family had a large village in Spirit Land

We never heard of any Indians speaking of animals beside the buffalo as existing in Spirit Land. It seems that the skunk is the only other animal that can go to Spirit Land ; for the skunk has helped one man to get his wife back from Spirit Land. The skunk has power to make rainbows by its sprays in the night. These rainbows that they make are imitations of the rainbows of Spirit Land.

127. Not all Skidi would agree with the narrator of this tale that Tirawa is the golden eagle. Apparently there is no uniform belief on this subject, some holding that Tirawa is represented in one way and some in another. In this tale is simply presented a single individual belief. The fire referred to in the preceding paragraph of the tale refers of course to lightning.

128. The game of the large hoop and the long javelin. See Fig. 15.

129. Told by Gladdener.

130. A form of burial, expressing on the part of the parents great affection for the girl, — it being supposed that she would take with her to the Spirit Land the spirit of the tipi and its belongings, which were now abandoned for her.

13 1. According to the narrator, the skunk is the only animal which has the power of restoring life after death ; it is spoken of as a “waruxti” animal, and is supposed to be directly concerned in the production of the rainbow. See also last paragraph of note No. 126.

132. Told by Cheyenne-Chief. Belief in the existence of scalped-men was common among the Skidi. The special band here referred to were supposed to have been scalped and slain, having returned to life through the intervention of a certain warrior bundle, which was in their possession.

Notes .

Scalped-men in general, however, may or may not have been killed, according to popular belief, but they lead a somewhat filmy existence, living in remote and inaccessible places, and holding direct communication with the animals. Their influence is often exerted in a harmful way.

133. The ointment here referred to, and sometimes spoken of as “holy ointment ” or “ sacred ointment ” was made from the fat of a buffalo which had been dedicated to Tirawa, mixed with red clay.

134. Told by Newly-Made-Chief-YVoman.

135. Told by Newly-Made-Chief-Woman. Stories of this nature are told by grandparents to the children, presumably to test their bravery; for, according to my informant, it would not be a strange request for the narrator, after telling such a story, to ask the child to go to a spring, perhaps a mile away, for water.

136. Told by Good-Chief. This interesting and extended tale is evidently a favorite among the Plains tribes. See Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , tales Nos. 130 and 131 ; Grinnell, Blackfoot , p. 29 ; Riggs, Dakota , p. 95 ; Dorsey, (pegiha , p. 48 ; Dixon, Maidu , p. 59. According to Kroeber, it is also found among the Gros Ventre.

137. Blood soup is a favorite dish of all Plains tribes. When the buffalo, or deer, is slaughtered, the clotted blood from about the ribs, etc., is caught in a bladder receptacle and taken home. After the meat has been boiled and removed from the vessel, there will be left a broth, into which the blood is now stirred, thus forming blood soup.

138. This idea is a common one in Plains mythology.

139. In the tales assumed to be a common appellation for human beings among the buffalo.

140. In imitation of the black snake.

141. Such necklaces or bandoleers were commonly worn ; in the present instance, the bandoleer, owing to its odor, would easily be recognized by the animals, who would know that the boy was under their protection.

142. The form of address one would employ toward an inferior or toward a slave.

143. This incident is probably founded on the well-known habit of the bear standing upon its hind legs and lifting its paws up, toward the sun as the Skidi believed, in which way he receives through his paws his power from the Sun. Hence, in shooting the bear through the paw, the avenue for the reception of this power from the Sun would be cut off. In a Maidu tale (Dixon, p. 71) the bear’s only vulnerable spot is in his left front paw. See also Boas, Kathlamet , p. 10; and Boas, Tillamook , p. 38. The belief among the Skidi just referred to presumably accounts for the use of the bear paw as a medicine for purposes of war.

144. One of the secrets of the members of the Buffalo society among the Skidi is the belief that this maw-stone of the buffalo is the seat of the “ wonderful ” power of the buffalo. Hence the reason for its supposed efficacy when mixed with medicine.

145. One of a number of ways for the magic production of a buffalo common to the Plains tribes, the significance of this form resting in the fact that

Notes .

the ring represented the spider-web, thus referring to the belief that the Spider-Woman controlled the buffalo and produced them from her web. See note No. 174. For other instances of the production of the buffalo from the ring and javelin game, see Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , Nos. 140 and 1 41 ; and for the magic production of a buffalo from a buffalo robe, see tale No. 34.

The ring and javelin game, according to the Skidi, was originally played for the direct purpose of calling the buffalo, and I have a long account of its origin. According to this account the two sticks represent young buffalo bulls, which turned into the gaming sticks, leaving first full instructions as to how they were to be treated, how the game was to be played, how the songs were to be sung, and how they were to be anointed with the buffalo fat. The ring, according to the story, was originally a buffalo cow, and those in the tribe of to-day are said to have been made from the skin of the vulva of the buffalo. For the two forms of this so-called buffalo game, see Figs. 16 and 17.

146. As mentioned incidentally in note No. 86, the woodpeckers are supposed to interpret the wishes of Tirawa, through their ability to understand the voice of the Thunders. The use of their skins, in the form of a cap as mentioned in the text, was confined to the sons of chiefs, who thus gave evidence that they were under the protection of Tirawa, and likewise showed by wearing leggings with scalps that they were guarded by the gods of the earth.

147. One of the innumerable Witch-Women is referred to here. For another version of this episode, see tale No. 86.

148. One of the four lodges of animals.

149. Told by Good-Chief. A popular and wide-spread myth, though told with many variations. Compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 140- 143 ; Rand, Micmac , p. 65 ; Kroeber, Cheyenne, p. 170 ; Matthews, Hidatsa, p. 163 ; Simms, Crow, p. 303 ; Dorsey, Qegiha, p. 215 ; Smith, Iroquois, p. 84; Mooney, Cherokee, p. 242; Mooney, Jicanlla, p. 197; Russell, jficanlla, p. 255. The tale is also found among the Wichita, and, according to Kroeber, among the Gros Ventre. The more common title of the tale is “ Found-in-Grass,” although there are other titles.

150. The stones here referred to are supposed to have been carried by the boys for such emergencies. Long-Tooth-Boy, on account of his power to foretell impending dangers, took the stone with him, which is supposed to have been a flint stone, and which, through its magic power, is conceived of as ever-growing.

15 1. The bear is supposed to be under the direct protection of the Sun, to have possession of the power of the Sun to make colored breath, that is, colors with which it not only can kill its enemies, but Which it is able to impart to human beings, so that the individual will possess the same power as does the bear.

152. The boy is here making use of the magic power which he derived from the bear, which, as explained in the above note, is in turn derived from the Sun.

Notes.

153. The action of the buffalo in attempting to reduce the size of a stone or tree by means of its horns is common in many tales of the Plains tribes. For example see Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , pp. 38, 157, 160, 176, 180.

154. This is the elk that set fire to a village, as related in the earlier part of this tale, the origin of his power, of course, being the Sun.

155. Told by Buffalo. These colors were supposed to have had their origin from the rainbow. According to the color symbolism of the Pawnee, apart from the sacred bundles, the north is represented by black, east by red, the south by white, and the west by yellow.

156. The power that he had received may be termed warrior-medicine, rather than that of the medicine-man, the additional idea being implied that his medicine or magic was of too powerful a nature to be used in medicine practice ; nor had he at this time learned any of the secrets of roots or herbs.

157. Called “Thunder-Man ” here, because, as is explained in the same paragraph, he possessed the power of interpreting the Thunder.

158. This does not mean that he attempted to cure sickness. His power was rather of the nature of magic, which he exerted in the dance of the medicine-men, where sleight-of-hand performances formed an intrinsic part of the ceremony.

159. Told by Lone-Chief. This tale, often called the “ Deserted Child,” is commonly known among the Plains tribes. See Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , Nos. 127-128; Grinnel!, Blackfeet , p. 50; Kroeber, Cheyenne , p. 185 ; Rand, Micmac , p. 46; Dorsey, Iowa , p. 286, and (Jhegiha , p. 83. Found also, according to Kroeber, among the Gros Ventre.

160. “Nahurac” is the term in general for the animals; it does not refer to any special lodge.

161. It will be noticed from this and other incidents of a similar nature that the sacrifices made to the animals’ lodge were rather in the nature of gifts, which the animals could use, than sacrifice of some object by fire. Thus the favorite contributions made to the animals’ lodge were robes, feathers, black handkerchiefs, and tobacco, although other things of a miscellaneous nature could be offered, just as presents of a miscellaneous nature could be offered to a priest in payment for a ritual.

162. Told by Lone-Chief. This tale is also found among the Arikara.

163. The hide-scraper of the Pawnee was of the form commonly used by the Plains tribes, consisting of an elk-horn handle, curved at one end, to which was attached the scraper. Such implements usually bear rude designs, which serve as records of the ages of the children of the family. See Fig.

164. That is, the sacred place reserved in the west of the lodge for the buffalo skull, and above which were suspended the sacred bundles.

165. According to the Skidi, rats and mice belong to one great family, and it is supposed that the rat here referred to was really the husband of the Mouse-Woman, whose children had been rescued by the boy.

166. Told by Curly-Head. This tale is suggestive of the Navaho inci-

Notes.

dent of the tumble-weeds and bumblebees, in the story of the Great Shell of Kintyel (see Matthews, Legends of the Navaho , p. 195).

167. The pursuit by a rolling inanimate object is extremely widespread. The pursuit by a stone is found in tales Nos. 66 and 67. Compare also Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 33, 34, and 81 ; Grinnell, Blackfeet , p. 165 ; Kroeber, Ute, p. 263 ; McDermot, Flat Head, p. 245 ; Rand, Micmac , p. 316 ; Russell, Cree, p. 210 ; Mooney, Jicarilla , p. 197 ; Turner, Eskimo, p. 337 ; Matthews, Navaho , p. 125. Pursuit by a skull is found in tale No. 34; compare also Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , Nos. 6, 35, and 124; Kroeber, Cheyenne, p. 185 ; Schoolcraft, Hiawatha , p. 265 ; Maurice, Carrier, p. 5 ; Russell, Athabascan, p. 202 ; Curtin, Creatmi Afyths, p. 325 ; Dixon, Maidu, p. 97 ; Petitot, Traditions, pp. 405 and 407.

168. The slaying of a monster is one of the very common elements in tales spread over a wide area in America. In the present instance, it would seem that those four monsters had been slain, which, collectively, represent all elements of the earth which might be antagonistic to man ; so that henceforth whatever of virtue they possessed would be available to mankind through the medicine-men.

169. That is, became a medicine-man and carried on the art of healing, made possible by the deeds of his father.

170. Told by Curly-Head. A variant, by the same narrator, recites the story as follows : —

A witch-woman, who dwells alone on a prairie, has four powerful dogs, and a wonderful son, who is in the possession of magic arrows, on the points of which he can ride. The witch lives on human flesh, which is procured by the boy, who kills men. The buffalo, incensed by this cannibalism, hold a council, and determine to kill the boy ; two buffalo calves, in the form of maidens, are sent to attract him. The girls induce the boy to tell his secrets, and lead him to their people ; but the chief of all buffalo, who comes from the setting sun, takes the boy’s part, secretly appears to him, and gives him advice. Contests of skill (smoking, draining a pond, racing) are arranged between the boy and a buffalo chief, White-Spot-Forehead-Bull; through the counsel of the friendly buffalo, the boy proves the winner. He is, however, obliged to take flight, and finds refuge in a tree ; this the buffalo undertake to destroy, but the dogs hear his cry and rescue him. The buffalo are defeated, the witch learns to substitute their flesh for that of men ; she also learns the art of agriculture. The boy departs, and goes to the Sun Land. White-Spot-Forehead and the two buffalo-girls become gods, and are given a place in the north, whence they send buffalo for the people. Descendants of the boy become warriors, while those of the woman all have seeds.

It is believed that the spirits of these three buffalo (who are not to be confounded with the three gods of the north, mentioned in earlier tales) still exist in the north, and are influential in driving the buffalo south during times of famine.

The descendants of the woman are supposed to be the Pawnee and allied tribes ; in other words, those who practise agriculture : whereas those who

Notes.

34 7

had no fields, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho, etc., are regarded as offspring of the youth.

1 7 1. For an explanation of this arbor for the boy, see note No. n8.

172. See note No. 144.

173. In No. 20 the red eagle is spoken of as Tirawa, but, as explained in note No. 127, this is the opinion of a single individual. By all the Skidi, however, the red eagle is supposed to be the most powerful of all birds.

174. For a similar incident of birds carrying an individual, see tale No. 60.

175. A distinction is made between an animal with its head lifted and one with its head lying down, as in the act of sleeping.

176. Told by Yellow-Calf. For a similar tale, compare Simms, Crow , No. 18.

177. The quiver commonly used by the Skidi was of tanned buffalo. Great warriors, however, owing to certain privileges, used a quiver of the otter, or of the mountain lion, the use of which added much to the efficacy of the warrior.

178. The reason for the buffalo scalp being placed over the bundle devoted to this star is that it may heighten the resemblance of the bundle to the star itself ; that is, the star is supposed to sit in darkness, from the depths of which its bright eyes gleam. From the black depths of this star comes the night. This bundle is still in existence ; it is in the keeping of Woman-Chief-Tipi.

179. Told by Fox. For a similar tale, see Kroeber, Cheyenne , No. 22.

180. Evidently a reference to the time before the Skidi came in contact with the buffalo, and when they subsisted entirely upon the products of their fields.

181. For pursuit by the skull, as well as by other objects, see note No. 167.

182. See note No. 80.

183. That is, the wonderful power which he possessed was used for the purpose of killing the people.

184. Told by Yellow-Bear.

185. The offering of the scalp was one of the most important events of the life of the aspiring warrior, and the rites attendant upon the sacrifice of the scalp were equally important in Skidi ceremoniology. The following account, by Roaming-Scout, is of more than usual interest : —

In olden times it was a great event in the life of a young man when he took a scalp to make it holy. To make it holy a ceremony had to be gone through. The ceremony was this : As the successful party was nearing the village, the people in the village went out to meet them. The men who had taken the scalps had tied them upon long poles, and as the war-party approached the village, each man who had a scalp was crying in a loud voice that his scalp was for Tirawa, and that the scalp was to be taken to one of the seventeen bundles for the sacrifice ceremony.

When the priest who knew the ceremonies heard of the scalp to be offered, he took the red ointment, put it upon his body, and took his buffalo

Notes.

robe, turned it hair side out and put it upon his shoulders. He went out and met the warrior who had the scalp to be sacrificed. The priest took the scalp into his lodge and set the pole at the altar, the scalp resting upon the bundle. Three days afterward the young man went to the priest’s lodge, and told him that his relatives had gathered several bundles and parfleches filled with dried meat.

The priest then invited the four other priests and they sat down at the altar. They then took the bundle and opened it. First there was singing ; then came the sacrifice. The young man was given fire-sticks, a flint knife, and the scalp. He then was told to pass out of the lodge, the priest following him. Then they went about a quarter of a mile east from the village, the priest facing east, with the young warrior by his side. The priest sang a song about the making of the fireplace. The young man was told to thrust the stick in the ground to the east of the fireplace ; then he was told to sit down east of the fireplace and put the fire-sticks down in the fireplace, with some dried grass and shavings under the fire-sticks. The priests then sang concerning the fire and the making of it. The young man was then told by the priests to rub the sticks. The priest watched, and when the shavings began to drop from the two fire-sticks, the priest began to sing concerning the shavings and the fire-sticks. When the smoke came from the fire-sticks the priests sang about the smoke, then they sang of the spark of fire and the blaze. When the blaze came up the young man took the fire-sticks from the fireplace and put some dry willows upon the fire. The people, men, women, and children, now turned out, knowing that the fire had been started. They went in groups, carrying the sacred bundles and medicine bundles upon their backs, some of the women packing their children upon their backs, so that by the time the priests began to sing about the scalp in the fire, all the people had formed in a line, behind the priest.

The priest, when the scalp was put in the fire and the smoke was going straight up to Tirawa, stood by the fire, facing east, and recited a ritual to change the people’s names ; for as an offering had been made to Tirawa it was supposed by the priests that Tirawa was looking down upon the people, and that in changing their names Tirawa would look with favor upon them. All those who wanted their names changed went up to the priest and told him what name they wanted for themselves, or for their women or children.

After the changing of the names, the priests started around the fireplace, allowing the smoke to envelop them. Then the people went around the fireplace. After the people came young girls, about twenty in number, and about twenty old women, and all these carried poles with an ear of corn tied at the top of each pole. They went around the circle of the fireplace and then all around the village. There was another party, of old women only, who were dressed up as men and carried shields covered with corn husks ; they also had eagle feathers upon their backs, headdresses made out of corn husks, and spears made out of dried weeds. These women went around the fireplace as if attacking the enemy. They, too, went

Notes.

around the village, singing victory songs, and after everything had quieted down, they went from one lodge to another, dancing the scalp dance and making all sorts of fun. The well-to-do men gave presents to the old women. The first band of girls and women went in the procession with seeds upon their bundles, to let Tirawa know that they still were holding on to the seeds that Tirawa had given them and that they wanted Tirawa to give them plenty of corn. The last band of women imitated a successful party of warriors ; by acting the way the warriors did, Tirawa would know that the women of the people wanted Tirawa to give success to their young men, so that they would come home with offerings of the same kind to Tirawa, in order that the women might have these ceremonies again.

The priests, returning to the lodge, smoked their pipes, folded the bundle, hung it up at the altar, ate of the meat that was brought in, then departed, each priest going to his home.

186. The saliva of the elk, in common with the saliva of all animals and all beings, is the seat of certain power. In the case of the elk it is the even more than magic power ; it contains within it an element which may be considered destructive to life, and it is explained by the narrator that the boy eventually would draw his arrow across his mouth, thus transferring some of the destructive element of the saliva, which he, in turn, had received from the elk.

187. The instrument here referred to is really the elk’s horn, which was to be used as a war-club. The reference to the flute is not at once apparent. The narrator, however, makes the statement that the elk, during the mating season, raises and lowers its head, making, at the same time, a whistling noise, thus calling its mate ; hence the reference to the flute ; for, as is well known, the flute among the Pawnee and other tribes was used by the young men in courtship.

188. That is, the spirits of many elk.

189. Thus giving them some strength, that is, magic power of flight.

190. This is technically known as “telling the war story.” The chief is really relating his prowess in war, thus both showing that he had the right and authority to assist in the initiation of a new chief, and, at the same time, he is setting an example for the boy to follow.

191. Told by Spotted-Horse.

192. For the miraculous production of buffalo, see note No. 145.

193. The idea of the magic food, or food which retains its size in spite of demands made upon it, is found in many of the Plains tribes. Compare Matthews, Navaho Legends , pp. 87, 165.

194. Told by Yellow-Calf. For another version of this story, see tale No. 37. Also compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 101, 102 ; Grinnell, Blackfeet , p. 145; Petitot, Traditions , pp. 15 1, 379; Russell, Jicarilla, p. 259 ; the Gros Ventre have this tale, according to Kroeber ; found also among the Wichita and Crow.

195. Thus indicating that he had power obtained directly from the Sun, or from an animal or animals which had derived their power from the Sun.

196. From a fragmentary version of the tale it would seem that this

Notes.

White-Crow was originally a human being, which, on account of trouble in the camp, was driven north, where it lived and was not only a harbinger of the storm, but interposed, whenever possible, to prevent the people from getting at the buffalo.

197. Told by Bright-Star. This is a shorter version of No. 35.

198. That is, he was in possession of the power, but lacked knowledge as to how to use it, as well as confidence in his ability.

199. Told by Knife-Chief.

200. For a parallel to this incident, see note No. 46.

201. Hotukawahar (Ready-to-Give).

202. Told by Cheyenne-Chief.

203. The following are the names of the Pawnee months, the year begining in March : —

March, Pahotuwis, Moon-Wind-Is, or Windy Moon.

April, Pahiwfxo, Moon-Grass-Pull-Out, or Fields-cleaning Moon.

May, Pararu-ruxo, Moon-Plant-Done, or Planting Moon.

June, Parariraspio, Moon-Plant-Covered, or Cultivating Moon.

July, Parakiwiruso, Moon-Search-Corn-Complete, or Burning Moon.

August, Pakiritarakatu, Yellow-Horizon-Moon.

September, Parutpuckskari, Moon-Snakes-Heads-Many, or Snake Moon.

October, Kisoti, Geese-Migrate-South.

November, Kimoxki, Little-Duck-Moon.

December, Kimoxkocho, Big-Duck-Moon.

January, Katu, Leave-Something-Behind.

February, Pahowatorfkaht, Moon-Space-Middle ; also called Piraparu, Baby-unknown, or Bastard Moon ; also Rasihakatic, Yellow-Ice-Moon, so called from urine-stained ice.

204. Told by Yellow-Calf. Compare tale No. 9.

205. Told by Roaming-Scout. See also tale No. 41.

206. The Skidi recognize several ways of counting coup ; one of the feats most prized being that of striking the enemy in his own village, and especially in his own house.

207. Told by Spotted-Horse. For another version of this tale, see No.

208. Told by Cheyenne-Chief. See tale No. 41, for the incident of the boy’s rendering assistance to the thunder-bird or eagle.

209. Told by Fox. For a somewhat similar story, see No. 88.

210. Told by White-Crow-Feathers.

21 1. Told by Fox. For certain elements of this tale see No. 60. Also compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, No. 8.

212. For similar ideas of a miraculous conception, see Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , tales Nos. 72-73.

213. See note No. 146.

214. Told by White-Crow-Feathers.

215. The beaver is the leader of the medicine-men’s lodge of the animals. This stick, presumably, had been placed here by the beaver, into which it had transferred some of its poisonous power.

Notes.

35i

216. Told by Roaming-Scout.

217. The planting of the corn, especially for the first time, was a very serious performance, and upon the success of the plants was determined whether or not the individual was favored by the gods of the west, especially by the Evening-Star. The failure of the seeds to mature would be interpreted by the people as an omen of short life. The following belief concerning the foretelling of the span of life may prove interesting in this connection : In olden times, when the Indians killed a badger, the older people took the badger and kept it till in the night, when the moon was bright, then skinned it and poured the blood into a wooden bowl. Then they would call their children to the bowl of blood, and tell them to look at themselves in the blood by the moonlight. When they looked at the blood they saw their image. If the children saw themselves in the blood with gray hair, the people knew that the children would live to old age ; if any child saw its picture in the blood as a very dark and indistinct thing, the older people knew that the child was to die from sickness ; if the child did not see its picture in the blood, then the people knew that that child would live and be killed by the enemy.

218. Told by Roaming-Scout.

219. The father of Roaming-Scout was named “Mud-Bear,” and was a famous medicine-man and priest among the Skidi.

220. Told by Wonderful-Sun.

22 r. Many years of successful warfare does not necessarily lead toward chieftainship among the Pawnee, as it does among the Cheyenne. The chieftainship, as has been stated, was hereditary. The chief was supposed to be a man of peace, especially of kind disposition, and ready with kind acts toward his people. It may be inferred in addition, from the tale, that the belief prevailed that a man who had tasted of the success of war had acquired the habit of dealing with death, and could not, therefore, be a successful chief. It may be added that Crooked-Hand, as an example, who was perhaps the most famous of all Skidi warriors, was never a chief. It is said that he wore a robe which was entirely covered with scalps taken by himself in war.

222. Told by Yellowbird.

223. The red berries here mentioned are used both by the Pawnee and the Arikara and the Wichita in certain performances in the dog-soldiers lodge. See Dorsey, Wichita, p. 236.

224. Told by Roaming-Scout.

225. This black fluid, according to the narrator, came from the boy’s stomach, and its flow was caused by the direct action upon him of the Moon.

226. A well-known landmark near the present town of Pawnee Rock, Kansas.

227. Consequently the Pawnee was considered the father of the Cheyenne and was so addressed.

228. With this direct offer of assistance by Spider-Woman, compare the following: In the first place, Tirawa made the wonderful beings and gave

Notes.

them holy moccasins, gave them strings to tie their moccasins, strings made out of buffalo hair to tie the buffalo robe about the waist, which was also to be used to tie the bundles. It was believed by the old people that Tirawa created people and put them upon the earth by the power of the clouds. There were other people who said that when Tirawa made people in the heavens he called upon the gods to place these people upon the earth. None of the gods knew how to place these people upon the earth.

The Moon, who was a woman, came forward. She said : “ Tirawa, I have made a good lariat rope out of buffalo hair ; turn the people over to me and I will drop them to the earth.” So she put her strings down from her place and she gave the people power to climb down these strings. Many people came down upon the strings, and when the last man had come down and got to the end of the rope he was afraid to jump as the other people had done. The last woman came down, stopped above the man, and the man grew angry. She cut the ropes, and the woman and the man fell to the ground, each holding the rope. When they fell they were turned into large spiders, which rolled the rope under their bellies, so that they went off as spiders. From this time on, the moon sometimes was called “ Spider- Woman.”

This black lariat rope is said to have formed the priests’ lariat rope. This lariat rope is tied with soft, downy feathers so that it has magic powers. The other black lariat ropes worn by the priests are plain.

229. Told by Newly-Made-Chief-Woman.

230. The Pawnee baby carrier consisted of a single flat board about three feet in length and ten inches in width ; its upper third was usually carved. It was provided with a bow to protect the baby’s head.

231. Told by Sitting-Eagle. Compare No. 38.

232. As the beaver is the leader of the fourfooted medicine-men under ground, so the owl is the leading medicine-man among the birds.

233. Told by Spotted-Horse.

234. That sense of shame may make life intolerable is a situation frequent in the tales. This despair may cause suicide ; in a Skidi tale not included in this collection, a youth who bathes in the spring of Spider- Woman becomes a hermaphrodite, and in consequence takes his own life.

In this connection may be introduced the following general information obtained in regard to suicide among the Pawnee : —

In 1878 a Pawnee committed suicide. It seems that he had had five wives. The first wife died soon after he married her. The relatives of the deceased woman then gave him another young woman, who lived but six months, when she also died. The same family as before then gave him another woman for his wife. She also lived only about a year. Another woman was given to him, who also died. The last given him was a young woman, who also died. The man stayed around her grave Several days, and the fourth day the people sent out to the grave, and there he lay. He had shot himself in the forehead with a pistol. This is the first suicide I have heard of among the Pawnee. At this time, I heard the older people remark that it was very bad for a man ; that he would never go to the Spirit Land, for

Notes.

he had taken his own life ; but if he had died in battle he would have travelled upon the bloody road that leads to Spirit Land, where the warriors meet. But, as he had committed suicide, he would go to the place unknown.

About two years after this, another young man contracted consumption. As he lay upon the bed from day to day he became very tired. He asked for a butcher-knife, saying he wanted to trim his finger-nails. He took the knife and stabbed himself in the heart several times, killing himself. At this time I again heard the Indians say that he would wander over the earth ; that they knew that he could not go to the Spirit Land.

In 1881 there were nine young men, aged from eighteen to twenty-five, who committed suicide in one summer. This was caused from the fact that the Indians had no more buffalo, and the warriors had no more road to travel to the enemies’ country. They had nothing to do ; they were discouraged, and they felt that there was no use of living longer. English-speaking Indians brought to bear upon these people that it was wicked to commit suicide, and that it was wrong; that all the buffalo had disappeared; that the Indians were now all friendly, and the next thing for them to do was to get out on their farms and labor, to divert their minds and prevent them from taking their lives. At this time, some of the older people talked to the young men, saying that to commit suicide was unknown to the Skidi band ; that it was understood from the older people that one who committed suicide was not known in Spirit Land ; that such wandered over the earth and would never be received in Spirit Land; they made it clear to the young men that to die by the hand of the enemy gave them a right to the bloody road of the warriors that leads to the home of the brave warriors.

I have heard of no suicides among the Pawnee since 1881.

235- Told by White-Crow-Feathers. For illustration of the altar of a medicine-man’s ceremony, see Fig. 14, and for the smoke offering in this ceremony, see Fig. 13.

236. Literally, “ Sun centre cut in half.”

237. Told by Fox.

238. Medicine strings or strings of buckskin, worn around the neck or over the shoulder and under the arm were commonly worn both by medicine-men and priests of nearly all of the western tribes. In giving the medicine string referred to the medicine-man was giving away, virtually, his power to inflict death.

239. Told by Cheyenne-Chief. For a similar version of this story, see No. 53.

240. Reference is made to the very hard and thick shield frame or “ blank ” made of the shrunken hide of the neck of a buffalo bull.

241. Told by Cheyenne-Chief.

242. That is, the large ring-and-javelin game, or most important of the three forms of the game. See Fig. 15.

243. The method of preparation of these scalps, according to the narrator was as follows : The flesh was taken off first, leaving only skin. Then they made little holes at the edges, and they took a willow stick and bent

Notes.

it around the scalp and tied it through the little holes around the edge of the scalp, thus stretching the scalp on the ring. Then the scalps, several in number, were tied to willows four or five feet long.

244. Told by Wonderful-Sun.

245. The following statement concerning the ability of the Spider-Woman to transform herself into a deer and vice versa will prove of interest in this connection : A long time ago, when the Pawnee were in Nebraska, a man went hunting. He had gone far away out into the country, and he had not seen any game. As he was now nearing a stream of water, his thoughts went back to the village, and he was thinking about a certain woman in the camp. When he looked ahead of him, there stood the woman before him. He stood there and talked to the woman for some time, and he looked at her shadow, and there he saw, not a woman, but a deer, working its ears, so he knew that this woman was a deer. The man pulled out his gun and shot at it, and the deer went hopping off. The man went home, was sick, and the medicine-men had to burn a certain kind of root for the man to inhale, so that the mysterious feeling that was in him would wear off.

There were many other men who had the same experience with the black-tail deer, when the black-tail deer turned themselves into women ; so the people found out that, to know that they were not real women, the first thing to do was to look at the shadow, and if the ears moved, they might know that it was a deer.

This particular deer, the Indians believe, is under the direct influence of the Moon. So they call them “ statatciks ” (Deer-Ears-Spider).

Before this, it seems, when the people were coming down upon the earth, there were two male and female deer turned into women. They were the ones who were known as the black-tail deer. They were supposed to be under the direct influence of the Moon ; they were the ones who communicated with men and gave them the black lariat rope to do sleight-ofhand. So said a narrator.

246. That is, the place of the youngest in the lodge, or the place of the errand man.

247. This refers to the small individual booths or foliage bowers constructed within the lodge by the medicine-men for their use during the ceremony. These booths are supposed to represent those of the animals in their underground lodges.

248. The common method of making the request of a medicine-man to be allowed to become his pupil.

249. Told by Cheyenne-Chief. This tale contains many elements which are told as individual tales. Compare Nos. 67 and 68, also No. 45. See also Kroeber, Cheyenne , pp. 166, 167.

The following statement represents the current Skidi belief concerning Coyote, and was obtained from James Murie : Many years ago, when the Pawnee lived in Nebraska in their earth lodges, a person visiting would hear in many parts of their village the noise of laughing and singing. If one asked what these different noises meant, he would be told that the

Notes.

people were there having coyote story-telling. Having entered one of these lodges, one would hear the men telling stories about the coyote being a lucky man, one who always conquered his enemies, who could call the buffalo, do many miraculous feats, and always got the best of the other animals. Coyote-Man whom the Indians tell about is a coyote, but he can turn himself into a man, and when in the shape of a man he is spoken of as “ Coyote-Man.” He was commonly known all over the country as “Grandfather.” By this it is not to be understood that Coyote really did turn into a man, but it is just supposed by the Indians that he had, and when he was spoken of as a man he received the following nicknames : “Crow-Feathers,” “ Bunch-of-Coyote-Toenails,” “White-Clay-Eater,” and “Cheater.” As a coyote he is nicknamed in story-telling: “ Afraid-of- Everybody,” “ Big-Mouthed-Coyote,” “White-Clay-Excrement,” “ Waving- Bushy-Tail,” and “Wild-Eyes.” The reason the Indians tell about Coyote is that he is lucky. Coyote wanders over the prairies, not knowing where to get anything to eat ; but all at once he comes to a dead buffalo or some other carcass and finds something to eat. Sometimes he is attacked by many buffalo and gets away from them. He wanders over the prairie and waits for birds and other small animals to take them by stealth. For the above reasons the Indians believe that by talking about the doings of the Coyote, the tribe as a whole may be given the same luck that Coyote had in wandering over the prairie. For this reason they talk about the Coyote- Man ; that if they shall happen to meet the enemy they may have the same good luck; or if they are surrounded by the enemy they may have the same good luck in getting away. Coyote seems to be favored by the gods, and once in a while we find a story where the coyote is sitting on his haunches, howling toward the heavens, and the Indians believe that the coyote is sending his prayer to Tirawa. In times when the people were starving, for want of the buffalo, and the Indians had their ceremonies to call the buffalo, when the buffalo did come and were killed, Coyote was always the first to be seen. Then there were many coyotes through the country, and the Indians believed that the coyotes helped the gods to drive the buffalo to the people. In olden times, the Indian warriors wore coyote hide to help to conceal themselves from the enemy, and also for finding out where the enemies were. Putting on the coyote skin, the men would climb upon the high hills and look over the country. It is believed that the Coyote-Man is under the protection of the gods in the heavens, and for this reason stories are told about Coyote which are really untrue. Coyote-Man is looked upon as a wonderful being, and, although he is the Coyote-Man and can be a coyote at any time, he is frequently given the power by other animals, such as the turtle, buffalo, and all other animals, except the buzzard, who, having the same manner of getting his living, does not associate with him. There are two species of this Coyote-Man, the real Coyote, who is known as Red-Leggings, and the Wolf. When spoken of as the Wolf-Man, the Indians know at once that he is the wonderful man. Coyote is more tricky and cunning, but many times overpowers all his enemies, and this is the Coyote-Man. When a story is

Notes.

told that is not true, no matter how good, the people say at once, “ skirichk (wolf) story.” Whether or not the coyote or wolf are mentioned in the story, if the story is untrue, it is a “ coyote story.”

250. For a similar killing of animals through magic, see note 145.

251. Her grief was really not caused so much by sadness due to the fact that her grandson wished to marry the chief’s daughter ; but rather, in the disappointment which she felt he must feel from what would be necessarily an unsuccessful attempt.

252. Emblems of the chief and priest.

253. See Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 49-50.

254. Told by Newly-Made-Chief-Woman. This story is given as the mythologic origin of the large ring-and-javelin game.

255. For a similar rescue by badger, see Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , Nos. 86-88.

256. Told by Spotted-Horse. For a general statement concerning the rolling stone, see note No. 167.

257. Bull-bat is a common name for the night-hawk throughout the south. By the Skidi it is believed that the peculiar noise made by the bullbat is due to the cause mentioned in the text.

258. In the original, “ wonderful anus.”

259. Quite a different ending from that of the usual version. For example see Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , Nos. 32-35.

260. In another version, told by Newly-Made-Chief-Woman, Coyote takes away the knife in order to eat meat, but returns it; he again takes it, and is then pursued and crushed by the stone.

261. Told by Fox.

262. Told by Fox. This relates one of the favorite tricks of Coyote, and tales of this character are widespread.

263. Told by White-Eagle. The killing of birds by causing them to dance with their eyes closed is a common incident among the Coyote tales of the North American Indians. Compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, tales Nos. 26, 27 ; Kroeber, Cheyenne, p. 165 ; Grinnell, Blackfeet , pp. 158, 17 1 ; Leland, Algonquin, p. 186 ; Rand, Micmac, p. 263 ; Turner, Eskimo, p. 327 ; Schoolcraft, Hiawatha, p. 34 ; Hoffman, Menomini, pp. 162, 203 ; Dorsey, f tegiha , pp. 67, and 579 ; Russell, Jicarilla, p. 264 ; Russell, Explorations, p. 212.

264. Told by White-Eagle.

265. Told by Cheyenne-Chief. This tale is also told as one of the incidents of tale No. 64.

266. Compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 60 and 145.

267. In a variant told by Bright-Eyes, Coyote imitates the beaver, whom (according to power of producing food out of one’s own person ascribed to animals) he sees cut off and consume his own paws, then restore the members by bathing ; this Coyote is allowed to do four times, but on the fifth loses his paws.

268. Told by Curly-Hair.

269. Told by White-Eagle. Compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 21 and 32.

Notes.

270. A similar incident is found in an Osage tale.

271. Told by Big-Medicine-Man. Compare also Matthews, Navaho p.

98 ; Dorsey and Kroeber, p. in ; also found, according to Kroeber, among the Gros Ventre. 6

272. Told by White-Eagle. Compare Simms, Crow , No. 8. Also found among the Arikara.

273. Told by White-Eagle.

274. Told by Yellow-Hair. Another version, told by Wonderful-Sun, recites that after the leader of the party becomes fast to the turtle, he bids the youngest warrior carry the news home, and proceeds : —

“ Now at this water was a bad ford, and people had lost many ponies and dogs, and sometimes people were pulled in so they came out of the water no more. The turtle went into this water and dove, with all the men upon its back. The boy stayed around the water, crying. Night overtook the boy and he kept on crying. At last he lay down upon the bank. He slept a long time, then, so he thought, some one touched him. He woke and stood up. He looked toward the water and saw all the men coming toward him. The men sat around the boy and the leader said : ‘ You must go to our people. Teh them we were taken into this big water by a turtle ; that there are many people under there, and that we are now children of the turtle who pulled the people under the water; that people before they cross must throw in presents to the turtle ; and if men come by the big water, they must also take so many ponies, and say to the water, “These ponies we give you. Take them, and let us cross the water safely these things you must tell the people, for you see us and know that we live.’ These people now left the boy and he lay down and slept. The next morning he went home.

“ He told the people what had happened, and the young man told all that was told him to tell the people. So ever after that, whenever people went to this big water, the people threw in native tobacco, robes, feathers, and anything they wanted to give, and after giving presents the people could cross the water safely.

The warriors who had been successful on returning by this big water gave ponies to the water, and as the warriors went into the water, the ponies given to it went under and did not come out. There was one warrior living who thought he gave as many as forty head of ponies to the big water.

“ There was one young man who came and visited this water alone, and the dead warriors came and talked with him, so the boy became a prominent man among his people.”

The tale is found among the Cheyenne , Kroeber, p. 184; and Crow , Simms, p. 23.

2 7 5- T°W by Bright- Eyes. This tale is comparatively widespread over the Plains, but varies in details. See Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , p. 237 ; Kroeber, Cheyenne , p. 189; Dorsey, (Jtegiha ; Hoffman, Menomini , p. 218; also found among the Arikara.

276. Told by Enemy-Fed-Well.

277. Told by Fox. The Osage have a similar tale about Buffalo and Rabbit.

278. Told by Knife-Chief. Another title of this tale is : “ Musquitoes, Do not Pray to Them.”

279. Told by Enemy-Fed-Well. Compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, Nos. 144, 145, 146; Kroeber, Cheyenne , p. 186; Simms, Crow , No. 12; Grinnell, Blackfeet , p. 104; and Dorsey, tfegiha, p. 145.

280. This refers to the five or six hole flute, widely distributed in North America, and used by the men in courtship.

281. Told by Wonderful-Sun. Compare No. 78.

282. Ihe blue beads are symbolic of rain-drops, and consequently of the heavens.

283. Told by Cheyenne-Chief. A similar tale is related by Grinnell for the Pawnee, p. 171, also compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho, tales Nos. 76 and 78; Mooney, Cherokee , No. 57 ; and Dorsey, (Jtegiha , p. 322.

284. Told by Yellow-Calf.

285. In a tale entitled “The Woman and the Horse,” told by Fox, a woman becomes intimate with a horse of which she has charge. Her husband watches and finally kills his wife and the horse ; to the relatives of the woman, who inquire as to her fate, he offers evidence in exculpation. The horse appears to him in a dream and predicts future ill-fortune in war and love ; the prophecy is fulfilled. See Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , No. 107.

286. Told by Bright-Eyes. Compare tale No. 43.

287. Told by Fox.

288. Told by Newly-Made-Chief-Woman. For a similar contest, compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , tales 101 and 102.

289. Told by White-Eagle.

290. Told by Yellow-Hair. This tale is also found among the Wichita and the Arikara. See also No. 24, note 147.

291. Compare Dorsey and Kroeber, Arapaho , p. 109.

292. Told by Cheyenne-Chief.

293. Told by Fox.

294. Told by Yellow-Woman.

295. For the location of the members of the family, under ordinary circumstances, in the lodge at night, see Introduction.

296. Told by Cheyenne-Chief.

297. In olden times when the Indian killed a buffalo and pronounced it holy, he meant that this particular buffalo was to be sacrificed to the gods in the heavens as an offering. When he killed the buffalo he skinned it, cut the meat up, and when all the meat was cut he threw the hide upon the back of his pony with the head part forward and the tail behind. Then the soft parts of the buffalo, the meat for jerking, tongue, heart, etc., were thrown over the back of the pony. Next, the four quarters were tied together with strings fastened to the inner portion and were thrown -over the pony’s withers, the shoulder part hanging downward and the shanks sticking up. Then the hind quarters of the buffalo were placed over the hips of the pony in precisely the same manner. The horse was then led to the village and to the lodge of the priests. The pony was now unloaded at the southeast

Notes.

of the entrance outside of the tipi. The head of the buffalo was placed to the north, and the hind part toward the south. (In the north is the home of the buffalo ; in the south, dead man’s land.)

298. The handkerchief is the darkness that surrounds Tirawa ; the picture upon the face is that of Tirawa ; the downy feather represents Tirawa’s thinking powers. The skull is set before the bundle to show that it contains the power that controls the bundle, which power is Tirawa’s; the skull is painted to represent this power.

299. This dance is held very sacred. The day before the dance they go out and get a cedar-tree and set it up before the bear-lodge. They sing all night. Next morning they paint, put their bear claws around their necks. (See Fig. 22.) Three or four men put the bear robes about their shoulders. The four leaders then take four drums (see Fig. 21) and sing, and as soon as they commence to dance, the outside people rush into the entrance and look on ; this is why the boys and girls have congregated at this place.

300. These long sticks were presumably coup sticks.

301. She supposed Tirawa had sent the shooting stars. She knew that these stars were related to the fixed stars which have power. They were considered as the children of the larger stars. Hence, as the girl called upon them, she believed they would convey her prayers to their fathers who stand in the heavens, who would grant her wishes. _

302. See note No. 221.

The language of the tales follows the form employed by the Indian interpreters, save as respects correction of grammatical errors.