[10]Po-no-ka-mi-ta (elk-dog). The horse.Back
[10]Po-no-ka-mi-ta (elk-dog). The horse.Back
“‘Said I: “May I have one of those elk-dogs to ride home?”
“‘“No! They are only for the gods to use,” he answered, and told me to go. I came home. I have the robe. Here it is, proof of all that I have told you. Ah! And this crazy youth would know where I went, what I did! It is to laugh to think of his going there!’
“The pipe went a last round, and then the chiefs and medicine men and braves went home. As soon as they were gone Long Arrow said toHeavy Runner: ‘My chief, you know that I am not crazy. I feel that I must go on adventure, and I want to go where Spotted Bear went, and prove to him that I can go as far and face as many dangers as he did. Will you let me go, and keep secret from every one whither I have gone and for what purpose?’
“‘What you propose is just what I want you to do,’ Heavy Runner answered. ‘You shall start to-morrow, taking with you all the moccasins and other things you will need, and your foster mother and I will tell no one anything about you.’
“At break of day the next morning, while all the people of the great camp still slept, Long Arrow started on his journey of discovery. Straight south he went, by day and by night, resting and sleeping at long intervals, and then only for a very short time. On the third day he arrived at the small lake that Spotted Bear had mentioned, and there met the man of that place, even as he had done.
“‘What seek you?’ the man asked.
“‘Knowledge! Medicine! The way to become a chief!’ Long Arrow answered.
“‘I cannot help you. Go on south for seven days and seven nights, and you will come to a great lake, and there you will meet a man who can help you if he cares to do so. It may be that he will not even show himself to you, but anyhow it is worth your while to go there and try to meet him.’
“Long Arrow went on for seven days and seven nights, resting and sleeping less than ever, eating nothing except now and then a piece of dry meat not so large as his hand. Early in the morning after the seventh night, exhausted, hardly able to drag one foot after the other, he came to the great lake, and some distance back from its shore fell down on the grass and fell into a sound sleep. It was late afternoon when he awoke, and, opening his eyes, he was surprised to see a boy standing beside him. He was a beautiful child, by far the most perfect of form and feature that Long Arrow had ever seen; so beautiful that it did not seempossible he could be of this earth, a child of the people of this earth.
“Said the boy to him: ‘I have been waiting here a long time for you to awake. My father invites you to his home.’
“‘I shall be glad to visit him,’ Long Arrow answered, and sprang up, put on his weapons, and was ready.
“The boy led him straight to the shore of the lake, and there cried out: ‘Do not be afraid, follow me!’ And having said that, changed into a snipe, entered the water and disappeared.
“Long Arrow was afraid, terribly afraid of the deep, dark water, and the mystery of a place where a child could suddenly become a snipe. But he said to himself: ‘If I fail in my search for a medicine it shall be through no fault of mine,’ and he entered the water. Lo! it did not wet him; did not touch him. It parted before him and he went on down the sloping, sandy bottom of the lake, and soon saw, close ahead, a large, fine lodge, on which were painted in red and black the figures of two strange animals.The boy, arrived at the doorway of the lodge, changed suddenly from a snipe back to his natural self, and cried out: ‘Follow me! Here you will be welcome,’ and went in. Long Arrow, following him, found himself facing a fine-looking man at the back of the lodge. He was sitting cross-legged on his couch, and wore a beautiful black robe which entirely covered his legs and feet. ‘You are welcome here, my son, be seated,’ said the man, and told his wife to prepare food for his guest.
“Long Arrow looked about him. On all sides the lodge was hung with beautiful shields, war clothes, weapons, handsomely painted and fringed pouches of sacred medicines, and a porcupine-quill embroidered belt of such brilliant colors that it shamed the rainbow.
“The woman of the lodge soon set food before Long Arrow, and, having long fasted, he ate largely. The man then filled and lighted a pipe, passed it to his guest, and said: ‘I knew that you were coming, and I wondered if you would have the courage to follow my son from the shore ofthis lake down here to my lodge. Not long ago a man of your people came here, but he was afraid; he would not follow my son. And there he made a great mistake. I was going to give him the most valuable present ever given by gods to men. As it was, I went out to him where he sat far back from the shore, and gave him the tanned hide of an elk-dog, and sent him home. He was not worthy of a better present. But you are different. I shall give you something of great value. Remain here with us a few days. My son shall show you my band of elk-dogs; you shall hunt and kill meat for us; and when you go, then you shall have the great present.’
“The boy went out with Long Arrow and showed him the elk-dogs. They came running from the timber out upon the open prairie at the foot of the lake, and were a wonderful sight. They were far larger than an elk, of shining black color, had tails of long hair, and there was long hair all along the top of their necks and hanging down their foreheads from between their restless ears. They were of all sizes, from sucklingyoung to old males and females, and all were very fat and playful, even the oldest of them.
“‘Young man of the earth,’ said the boy, ‘if you are wise and watchful, these animals and my father’s black robe and his many-colored belt may be your present: the three go together. You have noticed that my father always keeps his feet covered with the black robe; that when he arises and goes out of the lodge he is very careful to keep the robe lowered around him, like a dragging woman’s dress, so that his feet cannot be seen. Well, you have but to see those feet, and anything that you ask for will be yours.’
“‘I shall do my best to see those feet,’ said Long Arrow.
“Several days passed. The old people of the lodge were very kind to Long Arrow, and he in turn did his best to please them, hunting most all of the time and bringing in much meat. And what time he was not hunting, he would sit close to the herd of beautiful elk-dogs and watch them feed and play. When in the lodge he watchedclosely for a sight of the old man’s feet, but he ever kept them closely covered.
“At last, one evening, the old man started to go out of the lodge, keeping his robe well down upon the ground about him, but as he stepped over the low front of the doorway his right knee raised the robe and Long Arrow saw his left foot; and lo! it was not a human foot: it was the hoof, the round, hard hoof of an elk-dog! He gave a cry of surprise at the sight, and the old man, realizing what had happened, exclaimed: ‘Hai-yo! How careless of me! Well, it cannot be helped, it must have been fated that he should see it!’
“He went on out, and upon returning took no pains to conceal his feet: both of them and the ankles were those of the elk-dog.
“‘Well, you have seen my feet, so you can now tell me what I shall give you,’ said the old man, as he resumed his seat.
“‘Now, don’t hesitate; speak right out; ask for the three things,’ whispered the boy.
“And Long Arrow, taking courage, answered:‘Give me three things: your black robe, your many-colored belt, and your elk-dogs.’
“‘Ha! You ask a great deal,’ the old man cried, ‘but, because you are brave and good-hearted and not lazy, you shall have the robe and the belt and a part of my band of elk-dogs. The robe and the belt are the elk-dog medicine. Without them you could never catch and use the animals. There are many prayers and songs and a long ceremony that go with them, and I have to teach it all to you. When you have thoroughly learned them, then you shall go home with your presents.’
“Long Arrow was many evenings learning them all, but at last he could repeat every one of them perfectly, and dance the dances as well as the old man himself, and finally the latter told him one evening:—
“‘You have done well. I am glad that my elk-dogs and my medicines are to be in your hands. You may start for home to-morrow. And now, listen! Take good heed of what I am about to tell you.
“‘When you leave here, wearing the black robe and the belt, you are to travel for three days and three nights and never once look back. When you rest, you are to face the north. Be sure, now, that, traveling or resting, you never once look back. The elk-dogs will not at first follow you, but on the third day of your homeward journey you will hear them coming behind you. Even then you must not look back, but keep on walking. After a time they will come on right beside you, and with a rope that I shall give you, you will catch one of them and mount and ride it, and all the others will follow you. They will always do that so long as you have the black robe. Lose that, and you lose your animals; they will become wild, and you will never be able to catch and train them.’
“‘As you say, so shall I do,’ Long Arrow answered.
“And early the next morning the old man gave him the robe, the belt, and a rope made from the head hair of buffalo bulls, and he started for home, keeping ever in mind and obeying carefullythe old man’s instructions. At times he had his doubts of the old man. Perhaps a big joke was being played upon him; the elk-dogs would not come on the third day, nor any other day! But he would soon cast off such thoughts, and go on with renewed faith that all would be well with him.
“And on the third day he heard behind him the thunder of many hard hoofs upon the hard plain; the occasional whinnying that he had learned to love so well! And then, an old female leading them, the elk-dogs came close up beside him, and he caught and mounted one of them, and rode on. How happy he was! He realized what this would mean for himself and for the people. These elk-dogs would rapidly increase in number; there would soon be enough of them for all the people, and then they would ride instead of walk, and their lodges and all their belongings would be carried by the animals. ‘And now I can do something for those who have been so good to me,’ he said to himself, and rode on, singing the new songs that he had learned.
“It was late in the afternoon on the day that he approached the camp. All the men had returned from the hunt; every one was outside the lodges, resting in the warm sunshine. The first to discover him gave a shout of surprise and alarm. All the people sprang up and stood gazing at the strange sight. They asked one another what the strange big black animals could be? And was it really a man sitting astride one of them?
“‘It is some fierce god bringing his fierce animals to destroy us,’ shouted Spotted Bear, the very man who had so contemptuously used Long Arrow, who had not had the courage to follow the boy-snipe into the water. Again he cried out: ‘Surely it is an evil one coming to destroy us.’ And he fled, and all the people fled with him and took to the brush.
“Long Arrow rode into camp and dismounted at Heavy Runner’s lodge, and all the elk-dogs came up and crowded around him and the one of them that he had been riding. ‘Heavy Runner! Heavy Runner!’ he shouted. ‘Be notafraid! I am only your son, come back to you!’
“Heavy Runner heard the well-known voice and was no longer afraid. He came hurrying from the brush, all the people following him, and they all crowded around Long Arrow and his strange animals. Said the youth then: ‘Only father and mother that I ever knew, I have brought to you, excepting one female and one male, all these strange and useful animals. As you see, they can be ridden; you will no longer have to walk. Also, they will carry for you everything that is yours. I am glad that I can give them to you, both of you who have been so good to me.’
“‘How generous of you!’ Heavy Runner cried. But his wife could say nothing: she embraced Long Arrow and wept.
“‘Where did you get the strange black ones?’ a chief asked.
“‘I will tell you all about it this evening; I am cautioned not to talk about the gods in the daytime,’ Long Arrow answered. And after picketingthe animal he had ridden on good grass, and driving the others out from camp, he went into the lodge and rested.
GOING-TO-THE-SUN CHALET, UPPER ST. MARY’S LAKE
GOING-TO-THE-SUN CHALET, UPPER ST. MARY’S LAKE
“That evening all the chiefs and warriors came into the lodge, Spotted Bear with them, and he told all about his strange adventures, of his life with the Under-Water People, and how the old man had given him the elk-dogs, and the black robe and the belt that he wore. And, of course, he told about Spotted Bear’s cowardice in failing to follow the boy-snipe into the water, and he fled from the lodge, and his chieftainship dropped from him as he fled. Ever afterward he was no more than a woman in that great camp; never again was he allowed to sit with the chiefs and warriors! And when Long Arrow had finished telling them all about his wonderful adventures, the chief cried out: ‘We will move camp to that lake of the Under-Water People. They have more elk-dogs; we will ask for them, give anything to obtain possession of such valuable animals.’
“They moved south to the lake, but, searchas they would, could find no elk-dogs, nor did the boy-snipe nor any of the Under-Water People appear, although the medicine men made sacrifice to them and prayed them to show themselves. They did discover, however, that above this lake was another and a longer one, hemmed in by still higher mountains, and so they named the two the Inside Lakes, and that is the name they bear to this day.”
Last night we all gathered in Stabs-by-Mistake’s lodge, and, while the pipe was filled and refilled, and passed from hand to hand on many rounds, we had more tales, strange and weird, of the people of the ancient days. One that our host told especially interested me, and here it is, literally translated for your perusal. It was the story, he said, of
“It was in the long ago time, when all three of our tribes, the Blackfeet proper, the Bloods,and we, the Pikun′i, whom the whites mistakenly call Blackfeet, were still living in the North country. The camp of the Pikun′i was on Big River, close up to the foot of the mountains. One of the great chiefs of the tribe was One Horn. Very brave he was, and very rich, for his band of horses numbered more than a hundred head. He had two wives, sisters, but no children. Many orphans called him father, for he had poor old couples care for them, and kept them all well supplied with meat and with skins for clothing. He was a peculiar man, was One Horn. He seldom visited in other lodges, and was a man of few words; it was always difficult to get him to tell of his brave deeds.
“One summer night One Horn had an uneasy dream about his horses, and with the first faint light of coming day arose, washed and dressed himself, and took up his weapons and went out to see if his herd was anywhere in sight. He climbed to a little rise on the edge of the plain, saw them quietly feeding at a distance, and then saw something else: two men asleep in acouléeclose under the little rise. They were, he thought, young men of the camp, watchers of the horse herds, and he concluded to surprise them and scold them for sleeping when they should be watching the plains for the approach of enemies. More from habit than anything else, he drew his bow, fitted a war arrow to it, and then, creeping close to the sleeping ones, shouted: ‘Awake! You lazy ones, awake!’
“To his great surprise they were two enemies, who sprang up at the sound of his voice, and he shot one of them in the breast, and he fell, and as the other turned and ran, he fired an arrow at him and struck him in the back, but he kept on running, the arrow dangling and swaying from his back, and he soon disappeared in the thick brush bordering the river. One Horn went back to camp and sent the warriors out to look for the wounded man, but they never found him.
“Although a very brave warrior, One Horn’s voice was always for peace. He thought much about the wars of tribe against tribe and the great loss of lives they caused, and wished that hecould put an end to it all. He counted up the different tribes with whom his people were at war—the Sioux, the Assiniboines, Cheyennes, Pawnees, Snakes, Bannocks, Pend d’Oreilles, Flatheads, Nez Percés, Kootenai, and Crows. And the worst of them all were the Crows. He determined to go to the Crows and try to make peace between them and his people.
“Another thought came to him: It was best to say nothing to his people about his plan, for many would make serious objection to it. If he succeeded, they should know all about it upon his return. If he failed, he would never tell them where he had been. So, one evening, he gave his women orders what to do, and kept his horses close in around his lodge. Late that night, when all the camp was asleep, down came the lodge, the pack and travois horses were quietly loaded, and he and his women headed southward, he driving his big herd in the lead. The next morning the people found that they had a mystery that they could not solve: One Horn was gone with all his belongings, gone without telling themone word of his intentions! Why had he left them so secretly, and whither had he gone? They never ceased talking about it and wishing that he would return; they felt safe when he was at their backs.
“Traveling south day after day along the foot of the mountains, One Horn and his women at last struck the River-of-Many-Chiefs-Gathering, and, following it up, came in sight of the big prairies at the foot of the lower one of these Inside Lakes. It was then dusk, but not so dark but what they could see that there was a big camp of people at the edge of the timber bordering the lake shore. Said One Horn, ‘They must be the ones I seek, the Mountain Crows. As soon as they sleep, we will go on and put up our lodge near theirs.’
“Early the next morning an old man stepped out from his lodge, and saw a strange lodge standing by itself just outside the circle of the big camp. He looked at it a long time, and the growing light at last enabled him to see that there were two huge bears painted on its new whiteleather skin. He turned and hurried to the lodge of the head chief of the camp, aroused him, and cried: ‘Here is a mystery; something to be looked into: just outside the circle of our camp a strange lodge is standing. It belongs not to us Mountain Crows, nor to our brothers, the River Crows. I know that, for it has painted upon it two big bears, and neither of our tribes has that medicine.’
“The chief hurried to get up and dress, and so did others, and they soon left their lodges and approached the strange lodge. There was a fire within it. Voices were heard in low-toned conversation. Close around a few horses were picketed, and farther out grazed a large band of them, mostly grays and blacks. It was evident that the owner of the lodge was a chief, a bear medicine man, a very rich man. The Crow chief thrust aside the door curtain of the lodge, and entered, the others following. A fine-appearing man at the back of it gave them the sign for welcome, and motioned them where to sit. He lifted a big filled pipe and lighted it, and passedit. The Crow chief smoked first, and then one by one those with him.
“Having passed on the pipe, the Crow chief signed to the stranger: ‘You are a Blackfoot?’
“‘Yes, I am a Blackfoot,’ One Horn answered. ‘You are wondering why I, an enemy, have come here and set up my lodge beside you. You shall know! I have come to try to make peace between your people and my people. I am tired of all this war, and its wasting of men’s lives, and making women and children mourn.’
“‘You say well. Your talk deserves attention. Peace between us would be good for us both. I will talk to my people about it,’ said the Crow chief.
“And just then One Horn’s women set before him and the other Crows dishes of rich berry pemmican, the best of dried meat and back fat, and they ate with the outside chief. Then they smoked again and went home, the Crow chief saying that he would soon give a call for a council, and would send for the Blackfoot to join in it.
“It was not until near sunset, however, that ayouth came to invite One Horn to the Crow chief’s lodge. He found assembled there all the head men of the tribe, and the chief told him that, after long talk, they had decided that they, too, were tired of war, and would be glad to make peace with the Blackfeet.
“‘But be not in a hurry to return home,’ the Crow chief concluded. ‘Make us a long visit, and during it we will decide together where and when our two tribes shall meet to make this lasting peace treaty.’
“Answered One Horn: ‘I shall be glad to camp here with you for the rest of this moon.’ And all those present signed to him: ‘Yes. Remain here with us for a time.’
“One Horn and the Crow chief became friends. They hunted together, visited often in each other’s lodge, and together were invited to other lodges to feast and smoke, and join in the warriors’ tales of raids and battles and adventures along far trails.
“The River Crows were at this time encamped just over the ridge from the Inside Lakes, onLittle River, and some of them came frequently to visit their Mountain brothers at the foot of the lakes. Among others came a man who was always counting hiscoups. In a gathering of the warriors he would wait until all had told what they had done in war against their enemies, and then he would count onecoup, only one, that was far greater than any of theirs.
“On a day when One Horn was visiting in the Crow chief’s lodge, this man was one of the guests. The talk was of war, and after many there had told what they had done, he said that, with a friend, he was approaching the Blackfeet camp, and they were discovered and surrounded by all the warriors of the tribe. His friend soon fell, as full of arrows as a porcupine is full of quills, but that he, charging this way, that way, shooting arrows fast and killing many Blackfeet, made them give way before him and he escaped from them, although wounded in the back. Later on, when safe from pursuit, he had drawn out the arrow, and still had it, proof enough of the truth of his tale.
“This man then turned to One Horn, and said, by signs, of course, ‘We have all of us here told about our fights, and now it is your turn: tell of your brave deeds.’
“‘I have nothing to say that will interest you; mine have been just the common experiences of those who go on raids. No, I have nothing to say,’ he answered.
“‘But you must tell us one great thing that you have done,’ the River Crow insisted.
“And again One Horn answered: ‘What I have done would not interest you. I have nothing to say.’
“The man then turned to the Mountain Crow chief and said: ‘This is a poor kind of a friend for you to have! He has done nothing; he is no chief, he is a woman!’
“‘I do not know for sure, but I think that he is a chief, that he has a big war record,’ the host answered him.
“And then the guests went their several ways, the River Crow laughing shrilly, contemptuously, as he left the lodge.
“It was not long after this that the River Crow came over again from Little River, and again was one of a party of guests in the lodge of the chief of the Mountain Crows. Once more the talk was of war, and when it came this man’s turn to talk, he drew an arrow from his quiver, laid it on the ground in front of him, and said: ‘There! No one here, nor in the camp of the Mountain Crows and the camp of the River Crows, has ever equaled what that stands for. That is the arrow that I drew from my back after my partner was killed, and I fought my way single-handed through the hundreds of Blackfeet warriors, killing many of them, and so frightening them that they dared not pursue me.’
“One Horn leaned over, looked at the arrow, and gave an exclamation of disgust: ‘That is my arrow,’ he signed. ‘I know this man now. At dawn, one morning, I discovered him and his partner asleep near our camp. I crept up to them and shouted, thinking that they were our horseherd watchers, and when they sprang up, I saw that they were enemies. I shot one of them dead.This man turned and ran, never even firing at me, and I shot an arrow into his back, but he kept on going and escaped from me in the brush! Yes. That is the very arrow I shot into him!’
“‘It is a lie! A big lie!’ the River Crow said, and signed.
“For answer to that, One Horn went to the door of the lodge and shouted to his women to bring over his quiver of arrows. It was soon handed in to him, and he said: ‘I have here two kinds of arrows: hunting arrows and war arrows. Here are the war arrows.’ And he laid them beside the arrow in front of the boaster. All there saw at once that they were exactly like it in every way, had the same private mark just back of the point. And suddenly, with jeers and cries of ‘Liar!’ ‘Coward!’ they took handfuls of ashes and earth from the fireplace and threw them in the River Crow’s face and on his head, and he ran for the door and was gone, leaving the arrow behind. One Horn picked it up and put it in his quiver, and said: ‘That no doubt ends his lying bragging!’
“Some days after this exposure of his lying, the River Crow, watching his chance, entered the lodge of the Mountain Crow chief and said to him: ‘That Blackfoot has shamed me. I was a chief, but now all people laugh at me. I want revenge. Let me kill that friend of yours and I will give you three of my best horses!’
“‘What you ask is impossible!’ the chief replied. ‘He is my friend! We have smoked together, have eaten together. I cannot allow you to kill him. And for your lying you deserve what you got!’
“The River Crow sneaked away, but on the next evening, when none but the chief and his women were at home, he came again. And this time he said: ‘Let me do what I want to do; you know what that is; and I will give you five of my best horses and my beautiful young daughter.’
“And this time the chief did not give him a short answer. He thought over the offer for a long time. He knew that it would be a terrible thing to betray his Blackfoot friend, but the temptation was great. His women were gettingold. He wanted that beautiful girl. And at last he gave way to the temptation: ‘It shall be as you wish,’ he told the man. ‘All is arranged for to-morrow; we go with the hunters on a big buffalo hunt, and there will be no chance for you to do what you want to do. Come the day after to-morrow and I will help you—if you need my help—to kill the Blackfoot.’
“Very early the next morning the hunters started out after buffalo, One Horn taking with him one of his women to help in the butchering and packing in of the meat. They were no sooner gone than one of the Crow chief’s women hurried to One Horn’s lodge and told his other woman all about the plan to kill him. She told it because she was jealous; she did not want her man to take another wife!
“So it was that, when One Horn came home that evening, this wife ran to him and embraced and kissed him as though she would never let him out of her arms. This strong showing of love was unusual with her, and he asked her the cause for it.
“‘Because to-morrow you are to die, and sister and I are to become slaves. See now what you have done by coming to try to make peace with these Crows!’ And she told him all about the plot to end his life.
“But One Horn just laughed: ‘Wipe away your tears and take courage,’ he told her. ‘These Crows will not kill me, a bear medicine man, and a chief. They cannot kill me. I will show you to-morrow something that will surprise you!’
“That night he kept his favorite war horse picketed close to his lodge, and the next morning he carefully dressed himself in his beautiful war clothes, painted himself and his horse, took his bow and arrows, his shield and spear, and rode into the center of the big camp, and called upon the Crow chief to come out. He did come out, also dressed for battle, and One Horn cried out to him, at the same time making signs, so that he would be sure to understand, ‘Your plot is discovered. So you and that River Crow are going to kill me. Where is he? Call him. I want to fight you both. I am a bear. I fight like a bear. Come!Hurry! Let us fight. Ha! I am going to fight my true friend, the chief of the Mountain Crows, he who smoked and ate with me, he who was going to join me in making a lasting peace between our two tribes. Come! Let us fight! Shall it be on horseback or afoot? I give you the choice.’
“The Crow chief gave him no answer. Some of the people, looking on, were beginning to show their anger and shame at his betrayal of a friend. He turned and went back into his lodge, and would not come out again.
“While this was going on, several men had hurried to the River Crow man, stopping in the far end of camp: ‘Your plan to kill the Blackfoot is discovered, and he is dressed and armed and mounted, waiting to fight you. He is like a raging grizzly, and his, you know, is the bear medicine. What are you going to do?’
“The man did not answer them. He mounted his horse, and, hidden from One Horn’s sight by the lodges, struck out for the River Crow camp on Little River, and fear was with him. He oftenlooked back to see if he were being pursued by this dreadful bear medicine man who had once wounded him, and was now so anxious to meet him face to face.
“One Horn rode back to his lodge. ‘Take down the lodge, pack up everything. We will not stay another day with these treacherous Crows,’ he told them, and rounded up and caught what horses were needed for packing and riding.
“Just before they were ready to leave, the Crow chief sent one of his women to say to One Horn that he was sorry for what he had done, very sorry that he had ever listened to the River Crow, and wanted to make reparation. He wanted to give his Blackfoot friend ten head of horses.
“‘Tell him that I will not accept anything from him,’ One Horn answered the woman. And he and his outfit started for the north and were soon out of sight of the Crow camp.
“Some days afterward they arrived at the camp of their people on the Big River of the North, and had no sooner set up their lodge than One Horncalled a council of the chiefs and told them where he had been and for what purpose.
“‘Although I accomplished nothing, I am glad I went,’ he told them. ‘I now know the Crows. They are liars all, and not to be trusted. I advise that we begin a steady war against them.’
“The other chiefs agreed to that. Messengers were sent to the brother tribes, the Bloods and the North Blackfeet, and to the Gros Ventres, friends of the Blackfeet, and the war was started. Little by little, summer after summer, they drove the Crows southward, killing many of them, and were not satisfied until they forced them to the country south of the Elk River,[11]where they have ever since remained. So, because of their treachery, the Crows lost a great and rich country.”
[11]Po-no-ka′-ĭs-i-sak-ta. Elk River; the Yellowstone River.Back
[11]Po-no-ka′-ĭs-i-sak-ta. Elk River; the Yellowstone River.Back
Not in many, many years have I been so affected as I was this morning. For some days I have had a high fever, and have slept but littleat night. In-si-mak′-i (Growth Woman), Yellow Wolf’s wife, had been doctoring me with the good old remedy for fevers, sweet sage tea, but it seemed to have no effect. So Tail-Feathers-Coming-over-the-Hill announced that he would have his Elk Medicine ceremony for my benefit, and that he was sure that it would cure me of my illness. We had it this morning, and to-night I have a normal pulse and the fever has left me. I will not go so far as to say that it was his prayers that cured me,—prayers far better, far more earnest than those of any Christian preacher I ever heard,—but yet, I am well! To me, all religions are nothing more than the codified superstitions of the ages, but of them all, Christian and pagan, I like best the faith of these, my people, faith that the sun is the conservator of all life and the orderly ruler of this, our earth. And what absolute faith they have in their Sun-religion! Should Christians live as closely to their beliefs as the Blackfeet do to the laws of conduct given them by their Sun god, what a different, what a happy world this would be!
Before I relate the details of the ceremony, I must tell something of the medicine itself.
The Blackfeet believe that, when they lie down and sleep, their shadows, or, as we say, their souls, their spiritualities, leave the body and go on far adventure. Their name for this is Ni-pup′-o-kan (my dream; my vision); and when they awake they really believe that they have experienced all the incidents of their dream, and relate them as having been of actual fact.
When men and animals were first created, they had a common language, and the latter had the power to change themselves at will into the form of man. It was in that long ago time that a man seeking knowledge, and praying earnestly for it, was in his vision visited by an elk in the form of a man, whose name was Po-no-kai′-ût-sĭn-in-ah (Elk-Tongue Chief).
“I have heard you praying, asking for help. What is it you want? Perhaps I can help you,” the elk man said.
The man answered: “I seek some way to relievemy people from sickness; some way to give them long life and happiness. Help me if you can do so.”
The elk man answered: “I can help you; I will help you. Through what was given me in my vision I am in great favor with the sun, and all the gods of the earth, the deep waters, and the blue above. That medicine you shall have. I give it to you now!” And having said that, he gave the man a painted lodge, a medicine pipestem, beautifully decorated with a down-hanging set of tail feathers of the sage hen, and wound with strips of the fur of the bear and various water animals. And with it, wrapped in clean buckskins, were the skins of birds and animals, all those that live upon the water and in the water, and feed upon the life in the water, fish, and all the various water insects. And having given the man all this, he taught him how to use it, with all the prayers and ceremonies that go with it. The man took all this to his home, and used it, and found that it was great medicine, and ever since that time the Elk Medicine Lodge and thethings that go with it have been handed down from generation to generation, to this day.
So now we come to the ceremony that was given to-day for the curing of my illness. It was my lucky day! Early in the morning Mr. Herford T. Cowling, chief photographer for the United States Reclamation Service, arrived at the Great Northern Railway Company’s St. Mary’s Camp and I went to him and asked if he would take moving pictures of the ceremony, provided the Indians were willing to have him do it. He enthusiastically replied that he would be very glad to take it all in with his crank-machine, so I went to my people to ask if they would permit it to be done. They objected, saying that the ceremony was so sacred that even the presence of white people, antagonistic all of them to their religion, would profane it. They did not count me. I was one of them!
Said I: “Listen, my relatives, and brothers all! We are all soon to die, and as we pass away the whole of the old life goes with us. Your children, taken away from you by the whites,put in school and taught the white men’s religion and manner of living, will know nothing about the way their fathers lived unless I put it all down in writing for all time to come. That I am doing. And how much more interesting it will be if I can have pictures to go with it! Say yes! Let us have, with this that you are to do to-day, the living pictures of it all!”
There followed a long silence, all considering my request. Finally, my best of friends, Tail-Feathers-Coming-over-the-Hill, wiped tears from his eyes, and said, brokenly: “Ap-i-kun′-i is right. The whites take our children from us and teach them false beliefs. But they teach them to read, and it may be, that, after we have all gone on to the Sand Hills,[12]they will read our brother’s writings and see us as we were, making our prayers to the gods, and, having read and seen the pictures of it all, return to the one true faith. I say, let the picture man come!”
[12]The Sand Hills (Spät-si-kwo). The drear after-life abode of the Blackfeet. Their shadows there had a cold, cheerless imitation of life.Back
[12]The Sand Hills (Spät-si-kwo). The drear after-life abode of the Blackfeet. Their shadows there had a cold, cheerless imitation of life.Back
“Ai! Ai! Let him come!” all cried, and I sent a messenger for him.
During the ceremony he took six hundred feet of it, and so for all time to come is preserved the interesting ceremony of the Elk Medicine.
The ceremony is always given in a closed lodge, but this time we threw the front of it wide open, so that the lens of that moving-picture machine could take it all in.
As I have said, Tail-Feathers-Coming-over-the-Hill is old, feeble, half-blind, and is himself unable to go through parts of the ceremony. So, on the evening before this came off, he sent for Chief Crow and his wife, living near, to help him out. Chief Crow is also a medicine man, his wife, of course, a medicine woman, and he owns the Seizer’s medicine pipe. Four other medicine men were there, all of them taking part in the ceremony. In each of the three tribes of the Blackfeet there is a secret society of the medicine men, and the members help one another in their ceremonies, and they and they only can dance with the sacred symbols of their rites.
When I went into the lodge the sacred medicines were hanging directly over the owner’s couch, opposite the doorway. They were the sacred pipestem and many skins of water animals and birds enclosed in various wrappings, and a buffalo rawhide painted pouch containing sacks of various colored sacred paints. On Tail-Feathers-Coming-over-the-Hill’s left sat his medicine wife. I took my seat close to him on his right. Back of me, and all around the right side of the lodge from me, were a number of women. On the other side, opposite them, were the men and Chief Crow’s medicine wife.
The ceremony opened with a prayer by Tail-Feathers-Coming-over-the-Hill, beseeching the gods to look with favor upon what was to be done. Then his wife arose and undid the fastenings of the medicines, and slowly, reverently, laid them on the couch between her and her husband. The opening song then began, the song of Po-no-kai′-ût-sĭn-in-ah (Elk-Tongue Chief). Oh, how I would like to inscribe that song here! Alice Fletcher says—and I know that she isright—that all Indian music is classical. But their tonal scale is far different from ours; we have not one musical instrument that can reproduce it. Never, never lived a white man who could sing these Blackfeet songs. As a boy, year after year, I tried to sing them, and always failed; one has to take them in with his mother’s milk in order to sing them correctly.