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

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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.

No sooner had the boy entered the lodge than the old woman on the man's back became scared. She did not talk much. The boy walked up and said: "Woman, you did wrong. You were sent for a purpose, and instead of doing what you were told, you turned into a woman and became fast upon the young man. You came from the Buffalo with a message and now you are an old woman stuck upon the back of this young man. I shall take you off. These arrows are from my father, Lightning. These flint points will be the ones that will take you off." The boy then ran around the lodge. Taking the black arrow, he shot at the woman under the shoulder. The arrow struck the woman and split her in two, taking off a part of the boy's flesh. The boy ran around again. This time he took the red arrow and shot the woman under the chin, taking her entirely off from the boy. The boy then ran around again, taking a white arrow. He placed the arrow upon the back of the boy. Again he ran, and this time the boy took the yellow arrow and placed it upon the sore place of the boy's back. He ran again, and took the arrow off. He also took the other two arrows, and said: "People, take the old woman outside and place her upon a big fire!" The boy went out and went to his grandmother's. They made a big fire, placed the old woman upon it, and burned her.

The people took some gifts to the poor boy. The next morning an old woman went out of the lodge and heard a woman crying at the entrance. It was near where the woman was burned. A voice was also heard to say: "Your father threw you away. He burned you. You must not cry." The young man heard it, and began to think. He would say to himself: "I have never been with any woman. I do not understand this talk." The next night the child was again heard crying, and towards morning the young man again heard the talk. The young man now felt for the ring he had, and it was gone. The next night the boy thought of the woman's voice and lay awake. He did not hear her any more, so he went to sleep. In his dream he saw himself playing with the stick, and every time he hooked the ring he thought he was with a woman.

When they arrived at the hill he saw the Buffalo bull sitting upon the hill. When the Buffalo bull saw them coming he stood up, stretched, and said: "So you people have come at last. I have been waiting here for you." The man then took two eagle feathers and tied them upon the horns of the Buffalo bull. He shook his head and jumped around to see the feathers wave. "Go," said the Buffalo bull. "This is what we want. You will see two bulls sitting on yonder hill. Give them presents and they will be glad to get them." So they went on, and when they got to the hill they saw the two bulls. The young man went up to the bulls and put his feathers upon their shaggy heads. They also ran and jumped about, shaking their heads. "Go," they said. "On yonder hill sit three bulls who are waiting for you. Make them glad by giving them presents." So they went on again. They came to the hill and the three bulls sat there. The young man put feathers upon their shaggy heads. They also jumped around and were thankful. "Go," they said. "On yonder hill sit four Buffalo bulls, who are chiefs of the Buffalo camp." The young man took his feathers and put them upon the heads of the Buffalo. The Buffalo jumped around and shook their shaggy heads, each looking at the other's feathers, until they finally locked horns.

The man, the Buffalo cow, and the boy were told to go and enter the village of the Buffalo. They went and entered and drove off Buffalo, but as the man did not have enough feathers to go around, the Buffalo became mad. Some said, "We can not kill him, for he has not enough." But others said, "We must kill him, for he burned our messenger." Some said, "We can not kill him, for the messenger did wrong by turning to an old woman and sticking onto the young man." The Buffalo were angry. They told the woman to tell the man to sit upon the hill until it was decided what should be done with him. The young man went upon the hill, took from his buffalo belt a flint stone knife and stuck it in the ground. As he did so he called upon the gods in the ground to form stone around where he sat. The young man seemed to know what was coming.

The calf soon came and told the man that the Buffalo intended to kill him, for the people had burned his mother. The calf told him that there were Buffalo who took his part, but as they were few in number they could do nothing; that the woman had done wrong by turning into an old woman and causing him trouble, but this story was of no avail, for the Buffalo were determined to kill the young man. The man took his seat upon the hill as he was requested. The calf said: "Father, I am to run a race with three other calves. I have a friend here who says that he will help me." The man looked at Yellow-Calf standing by his son. He knew Yellow-Calf was a wonderful calf, that was liked and loved by all of the Buffalo. So the man knew that the calf was safe. The calves went far away, and ran. The two calves beat the others. The Buffalo were furious, hooking the ground here and there. Again the Buffalo gathered in council and it was decided that the man should hunt his wife. There were four other Buffalo cows placed with the boy's mother, who looked like them all. The boy placed a burr upon his mother's head, so that his father would know her. The man passing the Buffalo knew the woman cow and picked her out.

The Buffalo bulls decided to kill the man by rushing upon him where he sat and stamping him to death. If not, then they were to hook him. The boy went to his father and told him what was to happen. He took a downy feather and placed it in his father's hair. The Buffalo came and stamped about the man, around whose head waved the downy feather. Four times the Buffalo rushed upon the man, but when they scattered he was always found sitting upon the hill. The Buffalo became furious. They ran to hook him, but every time the Buffalo hooked the ground their horns were knocked off. The ground around the boy had spread and formed flint rocks, for the boy had stuck his flint stone into the ground and formed flint rock. Four times the Buffalo attacked the man, but they could not reach him. At last they gave up, and returned to their places in the herd.

The Buffalo now again sat in council. They decided to send the man, Buffalo cow, and calf to the Indian village for presents, such as eagle feathers, and native tobacco. The Buffalo said to the man: "Your people are hungry. You must go home and we will follow you. When the presents have been brought to us, then we will send to your people a bunch of buffalo so that they may kill and have meat to eat." The man was glad, and started on his homeward journey; but a Buffalo bull got in his way. It had also been decided to turn the man into a Buffalo, and the bull was the one to turn him into a Buffalo. The bull attacked the man, but the man stood his ground and met the Buffalo, so that the man was run over by the Buffalo. The next thing he knew he was locking horns with the other Buffalo and to his surprise he found that he was now a Buffalo.

After the man had become a Buffalo he and his wife and the son started for their country, the main herd of Buffalo following. After several nights' travel the man told the Buffalo that he and his wife and child would start for their country at once. The Buffalo were glad. The three, as Buffalo, started on ahead, the rest following slowly. They traveled very fast, until at last they came in sight of the village. The Buffalo rested in a hollow and the next morning turned themselves into human beings and walked on into the village. The man found his lodge. People flocked into the lodge to see them, for they were fine-looking beings. Their robes were all new. The man told the people to keep their distance, for they smelled very badly. The man told of his errand and the people began to come in with eagle feathers and native tobacco. The man took all the things, and with his wife and son went out. People watched them, and as the three went over a hill they became Buffalo again. The three ran until the Buffalo came up, and the man gave many presents. Those who received presents were willing to go with the first bunch to be slaughtered by the people. So the three ran back to the village, and got there in the night. A big fire was made in the Buffalo man's lodge, chiefs were sent for, and the man told them to be ready to go out the next morning; that the people would find a bunch of Buffalo on the other side of the hills. The people went out and found the Buffalo. They surrounded them and killed all of them. Again the young man told them to go out and kill Buffalo. Four times they killed. The whole drove came to the village.

The leader of the Buffalo now sat upon a high hill, with a Buffalo skull in front of him. The Buffalo man was sent for, and the Buffalo leader said: "I am satisfied. The people are happy. This day I give you sticks to play with. The two sticks are people. The ring is a kind of people--the Buffalo. When you play, the sticks which you ring are the enemy, whom you conquer. The ring is the Buffalo. The people will become very jealous of their hunting-ground. You will be at war with other people in the country." These sticks were placed in the priests' lodge, so that when a bundle ceremony was given the sticks were placed before the people. The sticks were people. Two sets of people who became jealous of the Buffalo then fought. The ones who caught the ring were conquerors. The man went home and lived a long life. The Buffalo calf started the Buffalo ceremony among the people.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Hawk.

When the Arikara lived on the Missouri River, there was a handsome young man in the village, whose father was a chief. The young man had never been on the war-path. He never played with other young men, but stayed around close to his lodge. Many young girls in the village went to him to be married to him, but he would not have them. There was one place that he went and that was upon a high hill, west of the village. He had a certain way of going to that hill.

Now, there were seven beautiful girls in the tribe, each of whom had tried to marry the young man and had been refused. The seven girls got together and planned to put the young man into a hole, which was about ten feet in depth, and larger at the bottom. They spread some weeds over the hole, and when the time came for the young man to come that way they hid. The young man came, stepped over the hole and fell in.

For some time he stood yelling for help. At last the seven girls went to the hole and they told him that he must give his clothing to them. He took his things off, and the girls each took a little basket, dropped it down, and received in it a piece of clothing. Then each girl dropped her basket, and asked the young man to spit in it, promising that if he did what they asked they would take him out. As each basket received the spittle the girl would pull it out and lick the spittle. After each girl had got the boy's spittle and licked it, they said, "You must give us your loin-cloth." This he gave to them. They tore it in seven pieces, so that each had one piece. Iamque puer nudus erat. Deinde puellae dixerunt si sibi glandem penis ostenderet eique limum aspergeret, se eum sublaturas. Hoc puer abnuit. Tum dixerunt puellae, "Si vis nos omnes in matrimonium ducere polliceri, te tollere volumus." Puer pollicitus est. But all the girls spoke out, and said: "You have always been mean; you have had a dislike for us; we will leave you in this hole and let you die; we are not going to take you out." So the girls went away and the boy commenced to cry.

Soon after the girls had gone away a gray Wolf looked down upon the boy, and said, "I am sorry for you, and I will help you." The Wolf went away, and while he was gone a Bear came to the hole. The Wolf came back and a dispute arose over the ownership of the boy. The Bear claimed that the boy belonged to him; but the Wolf said, "He is mine." The Bear said: "He is mine, too. I shall eat him up." So the Bear and the Wolf began to quarrel to see who should have the boy. The Wolf whispered to the boy, and said: "I shall dig with this Bear, and you must dig on this side; for if he digs through first he will eat you; but if I dig through first and reach you before he does I shall save you, and you shall be my son." So it was agreed between the Bear and the Wolf that they each should dig through the earth, and whosoever should first dig through to where the boy was should claim him.

The Bear and the Wolf began to dig. Where the Wolf and the boy were digging there was nothing but sand, while on the side where the Bear was digging it was hard dirt, mixed with stones and gravel; so the Wolf was the first to dig through. When the Bear came through, he found out that the Wolf had already dug through. The Bear stood up, and said, "You have beaten me, but this young man shall be my son, and I shall help him whenever he calls upon me."

The Wolf took the boy among the Wolves. The boy soon ceased to care to walk, and began to crawl upon his hands and knees, and to eat raw meat, just as the Wolves did. He came to act like a Wolf. The skin upon his haunches was now so thick that he could slide on them.

In the village, the boy's father mourned for him for many years. But in a chase for buffalo somebody saw a drove of Wolves with this human being among them. He told other people about it. After the hunt was over, all the men in the camp went out where they had killed the buffalo and there they found the Wolves, and this human being among them. They ran their horses after the Wolves, but this human being ran so fast that he beat all the Wolves and escaped; but they knew that it was the young man. For a whole year they planned to catch the human Wolf, but he was so swift that they could not catch him.

Now, there was a man in the tribe who had medicines for catching the human Wolf and for taking the Wolf feeling out of him. This man agreed to try to catch the human Wolf. So the man went and selected a place in a hilly country. There was a steep bank on the west side, another on the south side, and another on the east side, and there was an opening at the north side. Having selected this place, the man told the people to make their village about three miles east from there. He ordered the women to go to this place, and dig a deep hole on the south side of the banks, so that the Wolves could not climb out. The women also cut long poles and set them on the top of the banks, so that, in case the Wolf did crawl up, these poles would be in his way. At the opening, long poles were set up, so that there was left only a little opening. They also strung a lot of willows, which was to be a doorway to close up the entrance. The man now ordered a certain number of young men to go and kill buffalo. These young men went out, and they killed the buffalo, brought the meat, and placed it inside of this enclosure. The Wolves followed them up, and then the men on horseback circled the Wolves and ran them into this trap, the human Wolf among them. There were four strong men who put on rawhide leggings, and caps with holes in them, so that they could see, and these four men were put into the trap. They ran after the Wolf man. Every time the Wolves ran around by the doorway the door was removed, and the Wolves went out. At last they had the man Wolf by himself. The entrance was stopped. The four men finally succeeded in catching the Wolf man. Then they tied him and took him out. He tried to bite them, but the rawhide was so dry that he could not hurt them. While the four men were catching him the medicine-man had built a sweat-lodge. The hot stones were taken into the lodge quickly and the man was taken in there and tied. The man poured water upon the hot stones, and sweated the Wolf man. The medicine-man kept pouring water on the stones, until the Wolf man begged for some water. Then the medicine-man gave him some medicine that he had prepared, and the Wolf man began to vomit. The Wolf man vomited hairs of Wolves, white clay, also froth and raw meat. All this time the people were rubbing wild sage upon his body, especially upon his knees. The Wolf man became exhausted and finally said, "I feel better now." The medicine-man continued to give him medicine until the Wolf man could vomit no more. They then untied him and took him into his lodge, and he finally recovered.

The Wolf man stayed in bed all night and the next day. Then, in the night, he sent for his father. He told his father that he wanted him to build a tipi, and that towards evening he wanted him to go through the village and invite the bravest men in the tribe to come to his, the father's, tipi--not to the tipi he had built for the boy.

Now, the seven girls who had put the boy into the hole were invited. They were told to dress up in their fine clothes, and as he had promised to marry them he wanted them to come to his tipi that they had put up for him. These girls came to the tipi, and the young man gave them seats. The young man left the lodge, and told his father to place the brave men around the lodge; that he was going out, and as soon as he should come back the guards were to leave their stations. The boy went to the north, and cried, "Father, my father, come and help me!" The Wolves came up, and said: "We will help you. What is it you want?" The boy said: "The girls who were the cause of my being with the Wolves are in my tipi. I want you to devour them." The Wolves promised that they would. Then the boy went to the west, among the cedars, and there he cried: "Father Bear, make haste. I have something for you to eat." The Bear came, and said, "My son, what is it?" The boy said: "The girls who put me into the hole are now in my tipi. I want you to go with your friends and devour them." The Bear said: "We will do this gladly; we will come." The boy went back to the village, and stood a little distance from his tipi. Soon the Wolves came on his left, and the Bears came from behind. He led them up to his tipi. He told the Wolves to stand on the north side, and the Bears to stand on the west and south side. After this was done, the young man went into the tipi, and said: "Girls, you put me into a hole, and you left me there to die. The Wolves took me out, and I was with the Wolves for some time. Those same Wolves are now to eat you up." The girls begged for mercy, but there was no mercy shown them. Each girl tried to crawl out from where she was sitting, but the Wolves ate them.

At the same time the old man, the boy's father, went through the village, telling the people that the seven girls were being devoured by wild animals, because they had dug the hole and placed his son there to die. The old man told the story of the taking off of the young man's clothing, and of the girls' promise to take the boy out of the hole if he would do certain things which he had refused to do, and of their leaving the boy in the hole to die.

When the people heard the story they were angry at the girls, so that the relatives of the girls did not offer to save them, as the girls had done wrong.

The next day the people broke camp and went away from the place. This young man became a great warrior and a brave, and finally became a chief. He married and started a dance among the Arikara that is known as the "Wolf dance." This was a young man's dance, but the people do not dance it any more.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Snowbird.

In olden times the animals met in a lodge to have sleight-of-hand performances. All the medicine-animals and all the birds who had magic power went to this lodge. The animals decided that only the leading animals should perform--the Beaver, the soft-shell Turtle, and the old Witch-Woman.

First, the crowd arose where sat the Medicine-Beaver. The Beaver arose and began to sing, telling his followers to sing. Then the Beaver went to the first post, which was supporting the lodge at the southeast, and began to gnaw it. The post was gnawed until only a small piece of it remained. The Beavers still sang. The Beaver then went to the next post and gnawed away at the base. He gnawed until just a little was left. The Beavers still sang and the Beaver went to the next post and gnawed until he had nearly gnawed through.

The people began to get scared. The animals also became scared, so they called upon the errand man to ask the Beaver not to gnaw the post through, for the lodge was about to fall. The errand man arose and begged the Medicine-Beaver to stop. The Beaver stopped, and then ran around the lodge, repaired all the posts again, and said: "This was only sleight-of-hand. It is not real." The animals and lookers-on rejoiced to see the trick, for now the lodge stood solid as usual.

Now came the Turtle, who was mad because the Beaver fooled the people. So he called for his followers, and they gathered around him and sang:

"Let me stand where my fathers stood. Let a flood pour forth from my throat! I am doing something wonderful. Let all people look!"

So the people looked. The Turtle took his knife and stuck it close to his left collar-bone. Water began to pour forth from the cut, until there was water all over the lodge. Then the people began to get scared. The errand man was requested to beg the Turtle to stop pouring forth water in the lodge. The errand man begged the Turtle and the Turtle inhaled and drew all the water back into himself. The people all took their places again. Stawi, a Witch-Woman, came, and said:

"Gun given me by old medicine-men. Gun given me by old medicine-men. Gun given me by old medicine-men."

The old woman had a buffalo robe over her shoulders, and she held in her hands a mysterious-looking thing dotted with spots of white clay and painted in black. At the top of it were red feathers. The object was a gun, a thing to kill with, to shoot medicine. Now, at this time, the old woman wanted to show the power of this mysterious object. She ran around the lodge and then placed the object upon the ground. She ran to it. She wrestled with it. She covered it with her robe. Now she lifted it. She ran around, and all at once she began to groan--as if in pain. At last she called for help, for she was in misery. The people went to her, and there they found the old woman in travail. She was cared for, and she gave birth to a child, who was to become a great medicine-man among the people and a leader in the medicine dance. The medicine-animals rejoiced and sang their songs again with joy.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by White-Bear.

In olden times there was a village, and in this village was a man who had five children--four girls and a boy. In the dances, the girls would go out and take part, although the boy never went on the war-path, and never left the village. For this reason the people called the boy "Village-Boy."

After a time the people began to make fun of the girls for dancing when their brother had never gone out on the war-path nor taken part in the battle, fought near the village. The girls were sorry. The boy saw that the girls were being made fun of for dancing when he had not gone on the war-path. The young man told his father that he was going up on a high mound where there was a graveyard. The father was glad of this. The boy put black soot upon his face, and he stuck some grass arrows in his hair. He went up into the graveyard, and there he stood, mourning.

While he was there, a big white timber Wolf came to him and asked him what he was crying about. The boy told him that he was a poor boy; that he had never been on the war-path, nor taken a scalp; that he had four sisters who danced in the scalp-dance and were ridiculed for dancing when their brother had never been on the war-path. The Wolf told the boy not to cry, for he would take care of him. The Wolf then told the boy that he would look after him; that he should go into the village; and that the first time there was a war-party he should join it and start out with it; that he, the Wolf, would find him and lead him to the enemy's camp.

One day it was noised through the camp that the people were going on the war-path. Village-Boy then told his friend that if after they had been gone for three days the scouts should kill any Buffalo, he should get some of the knee-caps of the Buffalo and keep them for him, as he would follow close after them.

The war-party started out, and after they had been gone three days Village-Boy told his father that he was going to start out to overtake the war-party. He also told his sisters to make him some moccasins. So the young man started out on the journey; but before this happened the Wolf had been coming to visit the young man, and had taught the young man the secret powers of the Wolf. So the young man started out, and when he had come to a ravine he rolled himself upon the ground, and when he got up he was a Wolf.

The Wolf followed the trail of the warriors. Some time in the night he came to their camp. He did not go right into the camp, but stayed behind, and some time in the night he barked like a Wolf. His friend said, "There is my friend, Village-Boy." He took up the burned bones and took them to him. When he got there it was the Village-Boy. He threw the bones at the boy. The boy gnawed at the bones, just like a Wolf. When Village-Boy got through eating, he told his friend to go back to the camp where the others were and to watch out, for the next day he should see him, and that then he should tell the people that it was Village-Boy. The boy went to the camp, while Village-Boy went on ahead.

The next day Village-Boy was seen coming. Village-Boy's friend told the other warriors that he was Village-Boy. So he ran up to Village-Boy. Village-Boy then told his friend that the enemy's camp was a short distance away. The warriors then stopped and sang some songs for Village-Boy. Village-Boy departed. The next day they saw him again, driving many ponies. He brought them to the people. Then he led the warriors into camp. The war-party then attacked the enemy's village. Village-Boy was in the lead. He killed one enemy and took his scalp. He left, and hid out while the battle was going on. After a time the warriors came back where the horses were, and Village-Boy came there. He gave the scalp to the leader of the war-party, also all the ponies, telling him that he was going ahead of them.

Village-Boy now returned to his home. Not a word was spoken by him, nor was anything said by him about the battle. He just lay upon his bed.

A few days afterward the war-party returned home and near the village had a sham battle. The people went out to meet them. It was announced by the leader of the war-party that Village-Boy had done all the killing, and capturing of the ponies. Village-Boy's father thought that the warriors were making fun of his son because he had come back several days before without anything. But when the warriors came into the village and showed the scalp that Village-Boy had taken and given to the leader, and also when the ponies he had captured were brought to the village, then all the old men believed. Village-Boy's father scolded him because he had said nothing. Scalp dances were made throughout the village. The young man's sisters now danced the scalp-dance without fear of ridicule. Whenever the young man went out to dance the women surrounded him. He married and became one of the great men of the village.

One day he took several warriors and went east. He came to a village that was known as the "Village-of-the-Dumb-People." He left the war-party behind and went into the village by himself. He killed their medicine-man, cut his throat, and carried the head away. As he carried the head away it kept mumbling. The people became excited when they found out that their prophet was dead. They began to talk in a peculiar language. These warriors were followed by the Dumb-People, who did not catch up with them.

The head of the medicine-man was placed in the village. When the head dried it turned into a kind of wood. The people used this head for medicinal purposes. When they wanted to give it to a patient they scraped a portion from the head and gave it to the person for certain sicknesses. It cured many people. The same head is still among our people, only it is about the size of a hen's egg now.

FOOTNOTES:

Told by Yellow-Bear.

In olden times there was a village upon the Missouri River. In this village the young men were all the time going on the war-path, and there were many dances going on. There was a young man who took no part in their dances, nor in their war-parties. The people made fun of him, but he did not care. Each morning he would sleep until after the sun was high. When he ate he would climb up and sit upon the top of the lodge; but the girls did not seem to care for him. His father scolded him, and wanted to know what was the matter with him. So the young man said, "I have never been anywhere, and I have never felt like going anywhere, but to-day I feel like going upon the graveyard hill, to stand and mourn, and to see if the gods will help me." The old man took out his white clay. He put it upon the boy, and told him to go up to the graveyard. He said that he hoped the gods would help him. The boy went up on the hill and stood by the graveyard. In the afternoon it stormed. The boy huddled himself against a grave mound. The boy's father came up and tried to coax him to come down, but the boy was determined to stay there. The old man and the old woman took a piece of buffalo hide and stretched it over the boy, and there he remained during the storm, which lasted several days.

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