Read Ebook: Traditions of the Arikara by Dorsey George A George Amos

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 468 lines and 63076 words, and 10 pages

let him remain with them he would let the boy know. The boy put the Snake into the lake. The Snake swam about the lake and there was a great commotion in the water. The fishes in the lake did not seem to like this Snake which had come among them. The Snake came out again, and the boy took it and put it upon his back and carried it to another lake. There was a great noise again in the lake. The Snake came out again, and said: "Carry me to the Missouri River and put me in. That is where I am to stay." So the boy took the Snake down to the Missouri River and put it into the river. The Snake swam around in the river and came out and said: "My brother, I am to rest in the middle of the Missouri River. Whenever the people cross the Missouri River they must say, 'My brother, let me step over you.' They will then always cross over the river without any danger of drowning. If they do not say anything, there will be danger of their getting drowned. Let them also give me presents, throwing them into the river. Now go home and tell my friends to bring me some presents of pounded corn and dried buffalo meat."

The boy went home and told his friends what had happened. The people brought blankets, tobacco, pounded corn, and dried meat. The boy and some other people went to the river and there they gave presents. The Snake boy received the presents, showing himself, so the people knew that the idiot had turned to a Snake. Every time the men went on the war-path they said: "My brother, we want to step over you. We are upon the war-path. See that none of our young men get lost in the river." To-day these people say to this river: "Brother, I am about to cross over you. See that I do not drown." Presents used to be given to the Snake boy by warriors when upon the war-path.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Yellow-Bear.

A long time ago, when the Arikara were in a village on the Missouri River, the chiefs notified the people that they were going hunting, and that they were all to get ready to go. So all the people went to their caches and placed there all the things that they did not care to carry with them on the journey. Then they packed their ponies and moved on towards the west.

One of the young men stayed behind and went from one lodge to another and finally stayed over night in the village. The next day he went through the village again, and he heard a woman crying. He went to the place where the crying came from. He looked into the lodge, and there was a woman sitting down crying. This woman had a buffalo robe wrapped around her and her hair was hanging loosely over her shoulders. The young man went in to see who it was. He wanted to know what she was crying about. She said: "I know that you are here, and I cried to bring you here. I have been crying for some time, for when the people left this lodge they took my children with them. I would like very much for you to go after my children. If you will bring my children back, I shall call my people together and they will give you some kind of power that will make you a great warrior." The young man wanted to know where her people were. The woman said her children were in the sacred buffalo robe; that all he had to do to get the robe was to go to a man who had the robe and ask him to let him see the robe, and upon opening the robe he would see a nest in the robe, and there her children would be.

It was customary among the Arikara to untie the robe when anybody asked that he might see it, so the young man knew that he would have no trouble in finding the children, and he promised the woman that he would have her children back as soon as he could. The young man ran in the direction where the people had gone, and on the second night he came to the camp which they had made. The young man went to his mother's tipi and told her to give him a little meat; that he was in a hurry; that he could not stop; that he had to go back to the village. The mother gave the young man some meat. He ate and then he went to the tipi of the white buffalo robe. The young man begged the keeper of the white buffalo robe to let him see it. The keeper of the robe took it down and untied it. While the man was untying it the young man was watching for the nest. When he saw the nest the young man began to cry, as if praying to the white Buffalo, but he put his hands upon the robe, and upon the nest, so that the man would not take any notice of it. The young man stopped crying, took the nest with the young ones, put them in his blanket and left the tipi.

The next day, the young man arrived at the village where the woman was. She was still sitting where he had left her. The young man gave the nest over to her. The woman was thankful, and said: "Now you have returned my children. Go now and return in the night." So the young man left the lodge.

The woman took her nest and went to the edge of the lodge and placed it there. She then turned into a Mouse and nursed her young ones. She went to the different holes of the Mice and Rats, telling them of what the young man had done for her, and asked that they give him power. The largest Rat in the village consented to give the young man power. He told the woman that he would have the Rats and Mice come into the lodge in the night, and that the young man should be there, for they would talk to him. The woman thanked the Rat for what he had said.

In the night the young man went into the lodge, and the woman was there. She told the young man that the priest was to be there that night and that he was to be the one to give him power. So the young man stayed. The woman told him to make a fire, so that he could see what was done. The young man made a fire, and as he took his seat he heard the Rats running around in the lodge. Finally they came, one by one, in the form of human beings, and took their seats around the fireplace. The man who acted as priest stopped, and said: "My son, you have done a kind act to one of my people by bringing her children back. She wants to help you, and I have consented to do this. I am to give you a war-club, and I am to give you power, so that you can turn yourself into a mouse any time that you want to, and when you attack the enemy and when they try to kill you, you shall disappear, so that you will not be afraid of anybody." The young man was given all these powers. At last the priest arose and called the young man up to him. He took hold of him by the shoulders and drew him to himself. Then the Rat-Man blew his breath upon the sides of the man's cheeks, and there were formed pictures of Mice. The war-club was given to him, and he was told that he was now powerful and that he could go home. The young man took the club and a little box of medicine they had given to him, and started to go out. When he heard noises in the lodge he turned around, but the people had all disappeared. The woman was standing outside the lodge, and she told the young man that he was now her son, and that he should tell his mother that when they returned home to their lodge, if they should see any mice they should not kill them, for they were the young man's relatives. The young man started for the camp. He traveled for many days, and at last he reached the camp. He went into the tipi and lay down, and the next morning the people found out that he had come.

This man became a great warrior. He led many parties out to capture ponies, and when he went into the enemy's camp he turned himself into a Mouse, and when he got to the ponies he would cut the ropes, then drive the ponies out of the camp, and if he was found out he again turned into a Mouse, so that the enemy could not find him. In battles, he was a brave man. He killed many enemies with the club that had been given him. He became so bold that he had his own way about everything in the camp. He had some troubles with some of the men, and killed them. The people grew afraid of him and always let him have his own way. At last he found his equal in another young man, who seemed to have the power of a Bear, and he it was who attacked the Mouse-Man. These two fought until both of them fell down dead, one killed by the other.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Snowbird.

Outside the village there wandered a small boy with his bow and arrows, shooting at small birds and gophers. Day by day he went out looking for game. Once he discovered a hawk's nest with four eggs in it. He went out there every day, fearing that some one might take the eggs away. Finally the eggs hatched and the boy was much pleased to see the young hawks. He brought insects to the young ones for them to eat. He did this every day, and the birds grew and finally began to try to fly. He wanted to take them home, but he thought he would wait two or three days longer.

When he went out to bring the birds home he saw a man in front of him; so he ran, for fear the man would take his nest. But the man reached to the nest first and the boy cried: "Those are my birds. Do not touch them, for they are mine." The man answered and told the boy to come in a hurry, and the boy came. When the boy saw the man he was frightened, for the man was a stranger. The man said: "You have pleased me by taking such good care of my sons, and these birds are your brothers." Furthermore, the man told the boy that he had won much favor and that he would be rewarded, but he told the boy to leave the nest. The boy took some feathers from the young hawks to put on his arrows. He then went home, half believing that he was rewarded.

The boy came to be a good hunter. In the meanwhile he went out on the war-path with some others. When they discovered the enemy, he it was who fought where the arrows were thickest. Thus he became known as a brave.

Some years afterwards he was known far and wide, and even his own people were afraid of him. But finally he turned around and did that which was wrong among his people. Anyone who made any attempt to kill the young man would forget it just as he was ready to. Many a man tried to kill him, but always forgot. He was called "Make-to-Forget." But one man was capable of killing him, and he did so, because he aroused the people so much by doing wrong deeds.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Strike-Enemy.

There were once four strong young brothers. Only the oldest one was married. He had a wife and child. One day the men went to their traps to lie in wait for eagles. The woman stayed at home, where she was busy preparing a hide for clothing. Toward evening the young men returned home, one by one.

The wife of the eldest brother was missing. They looked all around. There was no sign of the woman. The baby was found on the ground, crying, and the tools which the woman had used were there, but the woman was gone. The men believed that the woman had been taken away captive, and they grieved for her as lost. The baby was hungry and cried so piteously that it brought tears to his father's and uncles' eyes. The father tried to comfort him by feeding him deer brain broth, which would quiet him for only a little time. The oldest of the unmarried brothers was so filled with pity for the young one that he cried from eve till morn, trusting that the chief would hearken to his cry and help him and his brothers. He went out to cry near a strip of timber where he had seen an old dry skull of a buck elk. For two nights the young man cried near the skull. On the second night the Elk heard his cry and before sunrise the young man heard a voice saying: "I am well pleased with your earnest manner of pleading for your loss. I will help you. First, I will say that your brother's wife is alive, but captured by a Bear who has already captured three other women. You may think that the Bear is mightier than I, but that is a mistake, as you will see. Go home with the assurance that I have given you all power that the chief gave me. Tell your brothers to go home at once, and in a day or two come by yourself and I will give you all instructions."

Pretty-Voice was surprised to see his brother's wife and three young women who had been missed for a long time. Pretty-Voice said, "Nawa, we will lose no time, but prepare yourselves to run. Understand we are bound for home." They started at a fast pace. When they had gone many miles one turned her head and yelled, "He is coming!" and they began to cry. When the Bear came up too close Pretty-Voice ordered the party to stop. The Bear stopped and sat up on his hind legs, heaving heavily. The Bear was first to speak. He said, "Young man, you will live if you let me have my women." "No, I have captured these women and I claim them. I will not let them go to you. I will defend these women if you are intending to fight," said Pretty-Voice. "Very well," said the Bear, "you will begin the fight if you have any faith in yourself." "That I have," said Pretty-Voice. Throwing off his robe and other things he made his attack with his bow and arrow. The Bear sat up, not minding the arrows. Pretty-Voice had shot all his arrows and the Bear was still looking at him. "Now," said the Bear, "I gave you a chance to live, but you gave no heed to my warning. Now you will die." Pretty-Voice threw himself on the ground and sprang on his feet in the form of a full grown Elk, with antlers like branches of a cottonwood tree. The Bear made a rush and the Elk threw his head down and struck the Bear, picking him up from the earth. The Bear's claws lacked a little of hitting the Elk's head. The women stopped wailing when they saw that Pretty-Voice was their savior. "My friend," said the Bear, "you are true to your faith, and I will admit that you have overcome me and I will say that the women are yours and I beg to be free; but I know that I am going to die." Pretty-Voice pulled up his head with a quick jerk and set the Bear free. After throwing himself on the ground as before, he sprang up a man. He picked up his clothing and started on.

When he arrived at the village the news of his capture of the women spread. There was great rejoicing and the young women were taken to their homes. Pretty-Voice won great honor. He lived among his people, being received in their homes with great respect. He was not yet a warrior, but knew he would have no difficulty in getting a wife.

As he had received all the powers of an Elk, he thought he would use them. One night he painted himself according to the instructions the Elk had given him. Ille, dum summo tumulo terreno stat, pulchram puellam vidit quam habere volebat. Itaque tibia magica canebat, et brevi tempore puellam habebat. Hoc faciebat dum puellas pulcherrimas omnes, quae eum vicum incolebant, habuisset. Deinde matrones illicere incepit. This caused bad feeling among the majority of the men, but a few paid no attention to his doings, thinking that nothing could be done to stop him. The Indians held a large council, and in this council they, including his three brothers, planned and agreed to make an attack and kill him. One day he prepared to practice his power. He stood on an earth-lodge. The people began to flock into the lodge he was standing on, with their robes around them to hide their weapons. Pretty-Voice knew what was coming and gave no heed to them, trusting in his power. All at once the men rushed out and began to shoot at him. A few who favored Pretty-Voice called out that they were foolish, as Pretty-Voice had caused no one bodily pain. The shooting went on and on, but Pretty-Voice stood still. Once in a while he shook his robe and threw off the bullets and arrows. At last the men gave up, seeing that nothing could harm the young man.

One day the village was attacked by a large party of Sioux. The inhabitants were being defeated on every side. Pretty-Voice was tardy in coming to the fight, and the men made remarks about his not making use of his power to fight. He came in his own time, went into the enemy's field, with nothing to defend himself with but his whistle. The Sioux saw that no arrow or bullet could harm him, and knew that he was powerful. They began to retreat. They were thrown back, scalped and stripped of their weapons and ponies. They attempted a second attack, but were again thrown back. When they had been driven back the second time they knew that nothing could be done to destroy the people while Pretty-Voice was living, for he had made himself famous. They gave up trying to fight, but came there on a friendly visit.

During their visit, Pretty-Voice saw a pretty Sioux girl whom he thought he would take for his wife. So he went through his ceremony and secured the girl. He kept her for his wife. When they had lived together for a long time, loving each other in their lodge, the girl began to question Pretty-Voice about his great power. She said she wanted to know how he could destroy, and she said that if she could be trusted to perform some duty for him she would be glad to do so. Pretty-Voice told all that had happened to him, and said that he could be killed by scraping off a little elk horn and elk hair and making a little incense for arrows and bullets. "When this is done," he said, "the bullets will go through me." The Sioux girl began to get ready to desert her husband and to stir up her people to make another attack and kill Pretty-Voice. When Pretty-Voice had gone off somewhere she started out toward her country.

On her arrival she told her story and stirred up her people to make war and kill Pretty-Voice, saying that she knew his secret. She collected the necessary things and started out at the head of a war-party. The people of Pretty-Voice were moving for their future welfare when they heard that Pretty-Voice's wife was missing. Pretty-Voice knew what was going to happen. He had told his mother long before when in trouble with his own tribe, that if anything should happen to him, even if he should be torn to pieces, she must collect his flesh and throw him into a stream near some timber and then she would see him again.

The girl camped near the village and there prepared the arrows and bullets as she had learned. A fierce battle began. The inhabitants of the village were defeated, and in a short time Pretty-Voice appeared. "There he comes! To-day you are lost!" cried the enemy. Pretty-Voice started after them as usual and drove the enemy a great distance, but his body looked like a porcupine tail with arrows. The bullets and arrows had so loaded him that he fell. The enemy turned around and scalped many of them. They mutilated the body of Pretty-Voice. The battle ended. The people went out to bury their dead, and especially Pretty-Voice. His poor mother, crying for her son, came out with a robe to collect his flesh and do as she had been told. The men noticed what she was intending to do. They asked her what she was going to do. She told all that Pretty-Voice had said, but the men would not hear of his coming again, as he had done enough mischief. The old mother insisted, but the men would not let her. As the brothers disapproved of her plan she gave in, and instead of burying his body they made a big fire and destroyed the body entirely. A number of days after his body had been burned to ashes a pure white fog was seen to arise daily from that place.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by White-Bear.

There was a young man who fell in love with a certain girl in a village. This girl was the daughter of a chief, and she was very pretty. The young man was poor. He had no ponies, no relatives, but was often looking for them. The young girl fell in love with the young man, and so they planned to run away. The young man took some flint stones, bow and arrows, a knife and some robes, and went to the girl's lodge. He took the girl out, and they rode on ponies. They went off into a wild country by themselves. There they stayed. They made a tipi. The young man went out every day to kill deer, so that now they had plenty of meat all the time. The young man thought a great deal of his wife. The only time he left her was in the daytime. The young man killed so many deer that the woman made buckskin dresses for herself, and also buckskin leggings for the man. The young man killed many elk, and the teeth of the elk were put upon the buckskin dresses. They made a big new tipi. They had much dried meat.

One day the young man said: "I will stop hunting. I will now go to yonder hill, and I will try to catch some eagles." So the young man went up on a hill, and he caught many eagles. He took them to his home. One time while he was in a den, waiting for an eagle to alight so that he could catch it, somebody came to his camping place and took away his wife. This being was a Bear. The Bear had turned into a man and had come to the camp. He had a robe about his shoulders, bear's claws about his neck, and he smelled so fine that the woman could not help but like him. When the man started to go the woman wanted to follow him. She finally left everything that she had and followed the man. This man was a Bear, and he led her into a den where there were a dozen or more women that he had taken from their husbands. In the evening, the young man got out from his cave, went to his camp, and found his wife gone, but everything else was in its place. The eagles that he had killed were there. He knew by this that if the enemy had taken her they would have taken the eagles too. So he hunted and hunted and yelled. At last he gave out. He went along the timber and finally an Elk found him.

The young man told the Elk that he had lost his wife; that he thought a great deal of her; and that now he was about dead from hunting her. The Elk told him that he was going to help him to get his wife back, but that he would have to fight. The Elk taught the man how to transform himself into an Elk. He also gave him a whistle, and told him that he whistled when he wanted female Elk to come to him, and that when he whistled they all rushed to him. The Elk told the young man to remain in the timber; that he would go and watch for the Bear; and that when the Bear should be gone, he would come and let him know, so that the young man might go and blow the whistle, while the Bear was gone. The Bear left his den and went out for a long distance. The Elk knew this. It came and told the young man. The young man went up close to the place where the den was and blew the whistle. As soon as his wife heard the whistle she said, "Women, let us go; that is my husband." Some of the women were afraid to go, for they were afraid of the Bear; but the young man kept on whistling, and when the women heard it again they all rose and walked out of the den. They followed the young man's wife, who was now running to where the young man was standing. The young man saw his wife and was happy. He embraced her, and said, "Go, I will remain behind, for the Bear will surely come after you."

The Elk now came, and said: "The Bear is coming. Watch. Fix your bow and arrows so that you can shoot the Bear, while I put my head down and thus make a kind of barrier so that he can not get through, on account of my horns." The Bear came, and as he attacked the Elk the Elk put his head down so that the Bear could not get through, and as the Elk began to lift its head up it brought its head and the whole weight of its horns upon the Bear, thus sticking its horns into the Bear's body, while the young man shot at the Bear with his arrows. They killed the Bear. The Elk now turned to the young man, and said, "I shall now go to my place." But the young man said, "No, I shall only take my wife; you take the other women." So the Elk took the other women, and they all turned into Elk. For this reason, when a male elk whistles, all the female elk run to him.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Antelope.

There was a young man in the Arikara village who was very handsome. He tried to marry, but the girls all seemed to hate him. He went off to a hilly country where there was a lake. On the west side of the lake was a skull of an animal. He placed himself by the skull and began to cry.

On the second night an Elk came to the boy, but soon disappeared. In a short time the boy heard the clear, beautiful notes of a flute. The sound of the flute came nearer and nearer the boy, until it came to where he stood. There stood before him an Elk. The Elk now spoke to him, and said: "My brother, that is my skull before you. I know what you are crying for. The women do not like you, and you wish to be liked by them. I now take pity upon you. Take the teeth from this skull. Wear the large ones about your neck. Wear the others in your ears. I give you a flute. Go to the village of your people. Blow this flute, and you will see the young girls coming to you." The young man received the flute and also pulled the teeth from the skull. He went home and did as he was told to do.

He tried his flute, and the young girls came to him. This he tried several times, until he was married. Women also came to him. The men did not like this, so they gathered together and agreed to kill him. In the evening the men went out and sat around with their bows and arrows. The man came out from his tipi and walked outside the camp, blowing his flute. The women started to run to him. The war-cry was raised and the men closed in on the boy, killing him. One of the boy's relatives took the teeth from his neck and ears, and also the flute. The relatives of the boy were afraid to bury the boy, so they left him where he was killed. The boy lay there for several days, but one night he came to the tipi of his mother. He woke her up and told her that he had returned. His mother did not believe it. But when she made a fire she saw her son sitting there. The son then said: "Mother, go to the society of Young-Dogs, and tell them to give me some tobacco, so that I may smoke." The mother went to the tipi and they gave her the tobacco. She gave the tobacco to her son, who smoked, and said, "This smoke is good."

The men in the village were afraid. They thought the man would take revenge and kill some of them. The boy did not go out much, and the people doubted that he was back and alive. Some of the men went to the tipi to see if the boy was home and alive. The men saw the boy, and they became afraid. One day the boy sent for all his nearest kin, and said: "My relatives, my heart is poor, for these people killed me. I do not want to live here any more. Will you go with me where I am going?" All said, "Yes." So the boy went and caught his pony. The others did the same. Men, women, and children followed the boy. He went towards the river and told the people to follow him and they obeyed. They went into the water, and as they got into the water they began to disappear. They all turned into some kind of animal that lived in the water. The young man who had the flute and elk's teeth did not go, so he was the only one who lived.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by White-Bear.

A long time ago there lived a beautiful girl who had her lodge in the center of the timber. She loved nobody, but she always had plenty of buffalo meat, and plenty to eat. She had some wonderful bundles hung up in her lodge.

One day as she was eating in her lodge the Coyote visited her. He saw that she had plenty of meat, so he made his home with her. Every day they had meat. The Coyote was now the girl's errand man, and made fires for her and carried water for her. One day the girl was up early in the morning, and she said: "My uncle , we are out of meat. I want fresh meat. My brothers will be here to-day, and I want you to stay on the north side of the entrance and cover your head up with your buffalo robe, and not to watch." The girl swept out the lodge, placed some hot coals between the altar and the fireplace, and put some sweet grass upon the coals. As the smoke arose from the coals she went to the sacred bundle, and from it took the windpipe of a buffalo, which was round, and small at one end and large at the other end. She waved this over the smoke, then took it and turned it upside down so that dust came out from it, and as the dust fell out it turned into seven young men, who were her brothers. On the north side, where the sacred bundle hung, were several bows and arrows. These bows and arrows the brothers took down. When the boys took their bows and arrows the girl put her buffalo robe about her. She went up on to the lodge. She gave one yell toward the north, moved toward the west, moved toward the south, and then the buffalo came, from the north and from the west. She went back into the lodge, and her brothers began to kill the buffalo. They killed so many buffalo that the buffalo finally ran off. The brothers went into the lodge and stood in a row on the north side. The girl took some hot coals and placed them west of the fireplace, put some medicine and sweet grass upon them, and each brother, when his turn came, passed his bow and arrows through the smoke and laid them by the coals. Then they let the smoke pass through their bows. Then one stepped to the south of the coals and stopped; he finally disappeared. After that all disappeared. The girl took the windpipe, passed it over the smoke, then put her hand on the ground, got the dust together, and put it back into the windpipe. She passed the windpipe over the smoke, tied it, and hung it up in its place again. She even took the bows and arrows, passed them over the smoke and threw them upon the ground. They became tiny bows and grass arrows. These she hung up by the bundle again.

While all this was going on the Coyote had one eye open. After the girl was through with the performance she told the Coyote to come out. She went out with the Coyote and they skinned the buffalo. They brought the meat into the lodge, and left the hides outside. Every day the girl and the Coyote jerked the meat. The Coyote laid the bones around the fireplace and roasted them. When the Coyote ate the roast meat that was cooked he would think of his hungry children far away. At last he decided to steal the windpipe that contained the young men and to take it far away into his country, so that he could call the buffalo and have the young men to kill them. He said to himself: "If I find the enemy's camp I will attack them. I will turn that windpipe upside down and those brothers will come out, and they will fight for me. The people will think that I am a wonderful man." One day the Coyote asked the girl if her seven brothers in the windpipe were the only ones there. She said, "No, for, if I am attacked, I turn that windpipe upside down and there will be many young men, and my seven brothers will lead them out and they will fight for me." The Coyote said to himself, "That is good; I will steal it." So the Coyote made up his mind to steal the windpipe that night. The girl knew what the Coyote was planning all the time, but she allowed him to steal it. The Coyote went up to the windpipe, took it down and went out of the lodge, to the north. He traveled far. He thought, "I am now far away from the girl; I will lie down by the side of this log and sleep." The girl knew just where the Coyote had lain down, and so she had her brothers bring the Coyote back and place him at the ridge just before the entrance of the lodge, on the north side. In the morning the girl got up, went to the Coyote and waked him. When the Coyote awoke he found himself in the lodge. He said: "My niece, I thought the enemy were coming, so I took this thing down, so that I could put the brothers outside so that they could fight for us. I must have gone to sleep here. Put it back." Again the Coyote thought, "Well, I will stay, and I will yet steal this windpipe." So one night he took the windpipe down again and went off. He went until he came to a place where there were some ashes where timber had been burned. He lay down to rest. The girl told her brothers to bring him back and place him outside of the lodge, where there was a pile of ashes. She went out in the morning, waked him, and the Coyote, when he awoke, found himself by the lodge. "My niece," he said, "I took this thing down, for there was a war-party coming to attack us. I went to meet the war-party and they ran away, and I came back and lay down here, for I was tired." The third time he tried to steal the windpipe, but again he failed. The fourth time, the girl let the Coyote carry the thing off. So the Coyote went off, and the girl did not have him brought back. He became hungry, and as he saw a village he thought to himself, "If I do this wonderful thing to these people they will find out that I am wonderful and they will take me from one lodge to another to feed me." So the Coyote went up on the hill. He commenced to howl at the people in the village to come and kick with him. He thought that if he could get them to kick with him he would turn the windpipe upside down and the young men would run. The young men in the village said: "That fellow is howling for us to come and kick with him. Let us go up and kick with him." So several young men went up on the hill where the Coyote was. The Coyote took the windpipe and turned it upside down, but instead of dust and the boys coming out, a swarm of bumblebees came out, and they commenced to sting the Coyote all over. The boys continued to kick him. The Coyote began to beg them not to kick. The young men ran into the timber and the bees left the Coyote and went up into a hollow tree. There they stayed. The Coyote went off as a coyote. The bees stayed in the timber, as bees.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Antelope.

A long time ago there was a village upon the Missouri River. In this village was a young man who was well-to-do. He was handsome, but did not care for women. He seemed to be successful in all his undertakings. In hunting he killed many deer and antelope. He dug holes upon high hills and covered them with willows and placed carcasses of rabbits or some fresh meat on them. Magpies would come there and eat of the meat, then eagles would light there, so that he dragged them in. People got to calling him "Man-Who-Kills-Game-Easily."

One day he went hunting, and as he climbed up on a high hill he saw somebody coming. The boy lay down upon the hill and went to sleep. When he awoke the sun had gone down, and it was night. He lay down again and went to sleep. He saw a buffalo cow sitting upon a prairie and two bulls were standing back of her, and each bull was saying, "I will ring her." The boy thought that he was standing by looking on. When the bulls ran to where the buffalo cow was sitting they turned into sticks and the boy also saw that the cow had turned to a ring. The boy, in his dream, picked up each stick and examined it, so that he knew just how they were made. He also thought he picked up the ring and examined it. The next morning he woke up. He looked where he had seen a person the day before and he saw something there. This time it was not a person, but a buffalo cow. The cow came and stopped on a prairie. She sat down. The boy went down from the hill, for the cow was by it. The boy could see no other cow. Bovi appropinquavit quacum, cum benigna videretur, concubuit. When he stood back the cow disappeared. The boy looked into the grass and there was the ring he had dreamed of. He picked up the ring and went home. He wore it upon his wrist. Every night he dreamed about the sticks, so he went out one day and cut ash timber and made the sticks. Every morning the young man used to go outside the village and call out, "I have sticks here to play with!" The young men of the village came out and played the game. Some of them would rather play the game than eat. This particular man was skillful in playing the game. He seemed to be the only one who could catch the ring. He won many things, such as eagle feathers, wampum, beads and many other things. The game became very popular. Men came from their homes and played all day with the sticks.

One day the boy took his bow and arrows and went hunting for game. The game generally was plentiful, but on this hunt the boy failed to find any game. He kept on going south until he came to a valley where there was a large stream of water. There in the valley he saw a person. He approached and saw that the person was an old woman. The young man spoke to the old woman, and she said: "My grandson, I am weak. Take pity on me. Carry me across the river, that I may go out to the village." The young man told her to walk and that he would hold her while she crossed the river. But the old woman said: "No, my grandson; put me upon your back, take me across, and set me upon that nice grass on the other side." The young man gave in, and he put the old woman upon his back and waded the river. After the boy had crossed the river he said, "Well, you had better get off." The old woman said, "My grandson, take me a little further." So the boy went on. When the boy stopped to put the old woman down she laughed, and said: "No, my grandson; you cannot put me down; I am your wife now." The boy became furious and tried to throw the old woman off, but she was fast to his back. The boy stuck her with his knife and tried hard to get her off, but the old woman stuck on and laughed at the boy. The old woman said: "Grandson, you might as well go home, for I am to stay with you always. Let the young men see you carry an old woman. You are so proud that you do not look at the women." The young man made up his mind to go home. So he went home with the old woman upon his back.

People looked at the young man coming into camp with an old woman upon his back. Children crowded about him and followed the boy through the village. He went into his lodge and told his friends what had happened to him. The people placed the young man in the lodge and medicine-men were sent for. All the medicine-men failed to get the old woman off the young man's back. While the people crowded around, a poor boy came and stood with the people. He spoke out and said, "I can take the old woman from that young man's back." Then he disappeared. The people heard the poor boy speak, and the people told the relatives what the poor boy said. The poor boy was living in a shelter with his grandmother. The boy spoke to his grandmother, and said: "Grandmother, the people are coming after me to take the woman off from the boy. I can take her off." The old woman felt sorry for her grandson, not knowing that the boy had powers to take the old woman off. The relatives of the boy came and brought with them the medicine-men's pipe. The men stood before the boy, holding the pipe before him. The boy reached and took it. The people thanked the boy for taking it. The boy then took his bow and four arrows of different colors. He put his old robe on, holding his bow and arrows in his left hand. He went into the lodge of the young man with the old woman upon his back.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet