CAPTURE OF A WANDERING BUFFALO

Enlarged from a sketch in Report of the Bureau of Ethnology

(Indian drawing)

A buffalo has wandered near an Indian village, and is being captured. The dotted lines indicate footprints. One Indian, having secured the buffalo by his forefeet, tells his companion of his success—indicated by the line drawn from his mouth to its feet. Another, having secured the buffalo by the horns, gives a companion a chance to kill it with an axe. This he intends to do—indicated by the line from his mouth to its head, as well as by his attitude. The Indian in the upper corner is told by his squaw to take an arrow and join in the capture. He turns his head to inform her that he has an arrow—indicated by holding it up, and by the line from his mouth to her.

Enlarged from a sketch in Report of the Bureau of Ethnology

Omaha

Iwent three times on the buffalo hunt. When I was there the first time, I was small; therefore, I did not shoot the buffaloes. But I used to take care of the pack horses for those who surrounded the herd. When they surrounded the herd at the very first, I spoke of shooting at the buffaloes. But my father said, “Perhaps the horse might throw you suddenly, and then the buffalo might gore you.” And I was in a bad humor.

My father went with me to the hill. We sat and looked on them when they attacked the buffaloes. And notwithstanding my father talked to me, I continued there without talking to him. At length one man was coming directly toward the tents in pursuit of a buffalo bull. And the buffalo bull was savage. He attacked the man now and then.

“Come! Go thither,” said my father. I tied a lariaton a large red mare that was very tall. And taking a very light gun which my father had, I went over there. When I arrived the buffalo bull was standing motionless. The man said he was very glad that I had come. The buffalo bull was savage. The man shot suddenly at him with a bow and wounded him on the back. And then he attacked us. The horse on which I was seated leaped very far four times, and had gone off, throwing me suddenly. When the buffalo bull had come very close, he wheeled around and departed. So I failed to shoot at him before he went. I reached home just as my mother was scolding my father about me. When the horse reached home with the bridle sticking to it, she knew that I had been thrown. My father said nothing at all, but sat laughing. Addressing me, he said, “Did you kill the buffalo bull?” And I did not speak.

FOOTNOTE:[G]The author, Frank La Flèche, an Omaha Indian, was about twelve years old when this occurred.

[G]The author, Frank La Flèche, an Omaha Indian, was about twelve years old when this occurred.

Sioux

When whippoorwills sing together at night, “Hohin, hohin,” one says in reply, “No.” If the birds stop talking at once, then the person will die soon. But if the birds continue talking, then the man will live a long time.

The gray screech owl foretells cold weather. When the night is to be very cold, then the owl cries out; it sounds just as if a person’s teeth chattered. When the owl cries out, all people wrap themselves in their thickest robes; and they put plenty of wood on the fires.

The Ski-bi-bi-la is a small gray bird, with a black head, and spotted on the breast. It lives in the woods, and it answers a person who calls to it. When this bird says, “Has it returned?” people are glad. They know that spring is near. When a boy hears the bird ask this question, he runs to his mother; she tells him he must answer, “No; it has not yet returned.”

When the people first hear the cry of the nighthawk in the spring, they begin to talk of hunting buffalo. This is because when the hawk returns, the buffaloes have become fat again and the birds bring the news.

Omaha

All the birds were called together. To them was said, “Whichever one of you can fly farthest into the sky shall be chief.”

All the birds flew to a great height. But Wren got under the thick feathers of Eagle and sat there as Eagle flew. When all the birds became wing-tired, they flew down again; but Eagle flew still higher. When Eagle had gone as far as he could, Wren flew still higher.

When all the birds reached the ground, Eagle alone returned, after a great while. Behold! Wren only was absent. So they awaited him. At last he returned. Eagle had too highly been thinking of himself, being sure of being made chief; and behold! Wren was made chief.

Pawnee

All around the birds in flocks are flying.Dipping, rising, circling, see them coming.See, many birds are flocking here,All about us now together coming.Yonder see the birds in flocks, come flying;Dipping, rising, circling, see them gather.Loud is the sound their winging makes.Rushing, come they on the trees alighting.From the flock an eagle now comes flying;Dipping, rising, circling, comes she hither.Loud screams the eagle, flying swift,As an eagle flies, her nestlings seeking.It is Kawas coming, Kawas flying;Dipping, rising, circling, she advances.See! Nearer she comes, nearer comes.Now, alighted, she her nest is making.Yonder people like the birds are flocking;See them circling, this side, that side coming.Loud is the sound their moving makes,As together come they, onward come they.

All around the birds in flocks are flying.Dipping, rising, circling, see them coming.See, many birds are flocking here,All about us now together coming.

Yonder see the birds in flocks, come flying;Dipping, rising, circling, see them gather.Loud is the sound their winging makes.Rushing, come they on the trees alighting.

From the flock an eagle now comes flying;Dipping, rising, circling, comes she hither.Loud screams the eagle, flying swift,As an eagle flies, her nestlings seeking.

It is Kawas coming, Kawas flying;Dipping, rising, circling, she advances.See! Nearer she comes, nearer comes.Now, alighted, she her nest is making.

Yonder people like the birds are flocking;See them circling, this side, that side coming.Loud is the sound their moving makes,As together come they, onward come they.

FOOTNOTE:[H]Rendition by Alice C. Fletcher.

[H]Rendition by Alice C. Fletcher.

Pawnee

O’er the prairie flits in ever widening circles the shadow of a bird about me as I walk;Upward turn my eyes, Kawas looks upon me, she turns with flapping wings and far away she flies.Round about a tree in ever widening circles an eagle flies, alert watching o’er his nest;Loudly whistles he, a challenge sending far, o’er the country wide it echoes, there defying foes.

O’er the prairie flits in ever widening circles the shadow of a bird about me as I walk;Upward turn my eyes, Kawas looks upon me, she turns with flapping wings and far away she flies.

Round about a tree in ever widening circles an eagle flies, alert watching o’er his nest;Loudly whistles he, a challenge sending far, o’er the country wide it echoes, there defying foes.

FOOTNOTE:[I]Rendition by Alice C. Fletcher.

[I]Rendition by Alice C. Fletcher.

Cherokee

Once a hunter in the mountains heard a noise at night like a rushing wind. He went outside his tepee, and found an eagle was sitting on the drying pole, feasting at the deer he had shot. So he shot the eagle.

The next morning the hunter took the deer back to the village. He told how he had shot the deer and then the eagle. Therefore the chief sent out men to bring in the eagle, and have an Eagle dance.

That night when they were dancing, there was awhoopoutside. A strange warrior walked into the circle. He was not of that village. They thought he had come from one of the other Cherokee villages.

This warrior told how he had killed a man. At the end of the story, he yelled, “Hi!” One of the men with rattles, who was leading the dance, fell dead. The stranger sang of another deed. At the end he yelled, “Hi!” Another rattler fell dead. The people were frightened. But the stranger sang of another great deed. Then again he yelled, “Hi!” Again aman with the rattles fell dead. So all seven men who had rattles and who were leading the dance fell dead. And the people were too frightened to leave the lodge where they were dancing.

Then the stranger vanished into the darkness. Long after they learned that the stranger was the brother of the eagle that had been killed.

Cherokee

Humming Bird and Crane were both in love with a pretty woman. She liked Humming Bird, who was handsome. Crane was ugly, but he would not give up the pretty woman. So at last to get rid of him, she told them they must have a race, and that she would marry the winner. Now Humming Bird flew like a flash of light; but Crane was heavy and slow.

The birds started from the woman’s house to fly around the world to the beginning. Humming Bird flew off like an arrow. He flew all day and when he stopped to roost he was far ahead.

Crane flew heavily, but he flew all night long. He stopped at daylight at a creek to rest. Humming Bird waked up, and flew on again, and soon he reached a creek, and behold! there was Crane, spearing tadpoles with his long bill. Humming Bird flew on.

Soon Crane started on and flew all night as before. Humming Bird slept on his roost.

Next morning Humming Bird flew on and Cranewas far, far ahead. The fourth day, Crane was spearing tadpoles for dinner when Humming Bird caught up with him. By the seventh day Crane was a whole night’s travel ahead. At last he reached the beginning again. He stopped at the creek and preened his feathers, and then in the early morning went to the woman’s house. Humming Bird was far, far behind.

But the woman declared she would not marry so ugly a man as Crane. Therefore she remained single.

Omaha

Rabbit was going somewhere. At length he reached a place where there were wild Turkeys.

“Come,” said Rabbit. “I will sing dancing songs for you.”

Turkeys went to him saying, “Oho! Rabbit will sing dancing songs for us!”

“When I sing for you, you larger ones must go around the circle next to me. Beware lest you open your eyes. Should one of you open his eyes, your eyes shall be red,” said Rabbit.

Then he began to sing,

Alas for the gazer!Eyes red! Eyes red!Spread out your tails!Spread out your tails!

Whenever a large Turkey came near, Rabbit seized it and put it in his bag. While he was putting in a Turkey, another one opened his eyes a little, andexclaimed, “Why! He has captured nearly all of us large ones!”

Off they all flew with a whirring sound.

Rabbit took home those he had in his bag, saying to his grandmother, “Do not look at what is in that bag! I have brought it home on my back and I wish you to guard it!”

Then he went out to cut spits on which to roast the Turkeys. When the old woman was alone, she thought, “What could he have brought home on his back?” So she untied the bag, and when she looked in out flew all the Turkeys, hitting their wings hard against the grass lodge, and flying out the smoke hole. The old woman barely killed one by hitting it. At length Rabbit came home.

“Oh I have inflicted a severe injury on my grandchild,” she said.

“Really,” he answered. “Grandmother, I told you not to look at it.”

But that is why Turkeys have red eyes.

Rank is shown by pipe and pouch. The first Cankutanka, Big Road; often called Good Road—big and broad and well traveled. The bird flying through the dusk shows that one may fly rapidly over a good road. Next is Low Dog. The dog figure is “low,” as shown by the shortness of the legs. In the center is Long Dog, as shown by the long legs on the dog figure. Below, to the left, is Iron Crow, the crow painted blue indicating iron. The last is Little Hawk. Each chief has three bands on the cheek, but with variant colors and patterns.

From Report of the Bureau of Ethnology

Line drawing of a horse’s head.Old Horse

Name of an Indian Chief, as shown in Red Cloud’s census.Old age is represented by the wrinkles and projecting lips.

Enlarged from a sketch in Report of the Bureau of Ethnology

Dakota

Unktomi was going along; his way lay along by the side of a lake. Out on the lake there were a great many ducks, geese, and swans swimming. When Unktomi saw them he went backward out of sight, and picking some grass, bound it up in a bundle. He placed this on his back and so went again along by the side of the lake.

“Unktomi, what are you carrying?” asked the ducks and the geese and the swans.

“These are bad songs I am carrying,” said Unktomi.

The ducks said, “Unktomi, sing for us.”

Unktomi replied, “But the songs are very bad.”

But the ducks insisted upon it. Then Unktomi said, “Make a grass lodge.” So they went to work and made a large grass lodge.

“Now, let all the ducks, geese, and swans gather inside the lodge and I will sing for you,” said Unktomi. So all the ducks and the geese and the swans gathered inside and filled the grass lodge. Then Unktomi took his place at the door of the lodge and said, “If I singfor you, no one must look, for that is the meaning of the song.”

Then he began to sing,

Dance with your eyes shut;If you open your eyesYour eyes shall be red!Your eyes shall be red!

When he said and sang this, the geese, ducks, and swans danced with their eyes shut. Then Unktomi rose up and said,

I even, even IFollow in my own;I even, even I,Follow in my own.

So they all gabbled as they danced, and Unktomi, dancing among them, commenced twisting off the necks of the fattest of the geese and ducks and swans. But when he tried to twist off the neck of a large swan and could not, he only made him squawk. Then a small duck, called Skiska, partly opened his eyes. He saw Unktomi try to break the swan’s neck, and he made an outcry:

Look ye, look ye!Unktomi will destroy us all.Look ye, look ye!

At once they all opened their eyes and attempted to go out. But Unktomi threw himself in the doorway and tried to stop them. They rushed upon him with their feet and wings, and smote him and knocked him over, walking on his stomach, and leaving him as though dead. Then Unktomi came to life, and got up, and looked around.

But they say that the Wood Duck, which looked first, had his eyes made red.

Then Unktomi gathered up the ducks and geese and swans he had killed and carried them on his back. He came to a river and traveled along by the side of it till he came to a long, straight place where he stopped to boil his kettle. He put all the ducks and geese and swans whose necks he had twisted into the kettle, and set it on the fire to boil, and then he lay down to sleep.

As he lay there, curled up on the bank of the river, he said, “Mionze [familiar spirit], if anyone comes you wake me up.” So he slept.

Now a mink came paddling along on the river, and coming close to Unktomi’s boiling place, saw him lying fast asleep. Then he went there. While Unktomi slept, he took out all the boiling meat and ate it up, putting the bones back into the kettle. Then Unktomi waked up. He sat up and saw no one.

“Perhaps my boiling is cooked for me,” he said.

He took the kettle off the fire. He poked a stick into it and found only bones. Then he said, “Indeed, the meat has all fallen off.” So he took a spoon and dipped it out; nothing was there but bones.

This is the story of Unktomi and the Bad Songs.

Cherokee

Once Pheasant saw a woman beating corn in a wooden mortar in front of her lodge.

“I can do that, too,” said Pheasant.

“I don’t believe you,” said the woman.

“Yes, I can,” said Pheasant. So Pheasant went into the woods behind the lodge. He flew to a hollow log and drummed with his wings until the people thought he really was beating corn.

That is why the Indians have the Pheasant dance, as a part of the Green-corn dance.

Cherokee

In the old days, Grouse had a good voice and Turkey had none. Therefore Turkey asked Grouse to teach him. But Grouse wanted pay, so Turkey promised to give him some feathers for a collar. That is how the Grouse got his collar of turkey feathers.

So the Grouse began to teach Turkey. At last Grouse said, “Now you must try your voice. You must halloo.”

Turkey said, “Yes.”

Grouse said, “I’ll stand on this hollow log, and when I tap on it, you must halloo as loudly as you can.”

So Grouse climbed upon a log, ready to tap on it, but when he did so, Turkey became so excited that when he opened his mouth, he only said, “Gobble, gobble, gobble!”

That is why the Turkey gobbles whenever he hears a noise.

Omaha

Song was an integral part of Omaha life. Through song, the Omaha approached the mysterious Wakoda; through song he voiced his emotions, both individual and social; through song he embodied feelings and aspirations that eluded expression in words. In one of their ceremonies, the Wa´ wa, “to sing for somebody,” songs are one of the chief characteristics.

In this ceremony, the eagle is “Mother.” She calls to her nestlings and upon her strong wings she bears the message of peace. Peace and its symbol, the clear, cloudless sky, are the theme of the principal songs. The curlew, in the early morning, stretches its neck and its wing as it sits on the roost, and utters a long note. The sound is considered an indication that the day will be cloudless.

Green represents the verdure of the earth; blue is the color of the sky; red is the color of the sun, typifying life. The eagle is the bird of tireless strength. The owl represents night, and the woodpecker theday and sun. These two birds also stand for life and death.

Wakoda gives to man the sunshine, the clear sky from which all storms, all clouds are absent; in the Wa´ wa ceremony, they stand for peace. In this connection, black storm clouds with their thunder and lightning are emblematic of war.

Pawnee

At the creation of the world, lesser powers were made, because Tira’wa-tius, the Mighty Power, could not come near to man, or be seen or felt by him. These lesser powers dwell in the great circle of the sky. One is North Star; another is Brown Eagle. The Winds were the first of the lesser powers to come near man. Therefore, when man calls for aid, he calls first to the Winds. They stand at the four points, and guard the four paths down which the lesser powers come when they help mankind. The Winds are always near us, by day and by night.

The Sun is one of these powers. It comes from the mighty power above; therefore it has great strength.

Mother Earth is another power. She is very near to man. From her we get food; upon her we lie down. We live and walk on her. We could not exist without Mother Earth, without Sun, and without the Winds.

Water is another lesser power. Water is necessary to mankind.

Fire made by rubbing two sticks together is sacred.It comes direct from the power granted Toharu, vegetation, in answer to man’s prayer as he rubs the sticks. When the flame leaps from the glowing wood, it is the word of the fire. The power has come near.

Blue is the color of the sky, the dwelling place of Tira´ wahut, the circle of powers which watch over man. As a man paints the blue stick he sings.

Red is the color of the sun. Green is the color of Mother Earth.

Eagle is the chief of day; Owl is chief of the night; Woodpecker is chief of the trees; Duck is chief of the water.

The ear of corn represents the supernatural power that dwells in the earth, which brings forth the food that sustains life; there corn is spoken of ash’Atira, “mother breathing forth life.” The power which dwells in the earth, which enables it to give life to all growing things, comes from above. Therefore, in the Hako, the Pawnee ceremony, the ear of corn is painted with blue.

The wildcat was made to live in the forest. He has much skill and ingenuity. The wildcat shows us we must think, must use tact, must be shrewd when we set out to do anything. The wildcat is one of the sacred animals.

Trees grow along the banks of the streams; we cansee them at a distance, like a long line, and we can see the river glistening in the sunlight in its length. We sing to the river, and when we come nearer and see the water and hear it rippling along, then we sing to the water, the water that ripples as it runs.

Hills were made by Tira’wa. We ascend hills when we go away alone to pray. From the top of a hill we can look over the country to see if there are enemies in sight, or if any danger is near us. We can see if we are to meet friends. The hills help man, so we sing to them.

Sioux

I am mashing the berries,I am mashing the berries,They say travelers are coming on the march,They say travelers are coming on the march,I stir [the berries] around, I stir them around,I take them up with a spoon of buffalo horn,I take them up with a spoon of buffalo horn,And I carry them, I carry them [to the strangers],And I carry them, I carry them [to the strangers].

“Word comes that travelers are approaching ... on the march with their children, dogs, and household property. She stirs them around with a spoon of buffalo horn and goes to offer them to the strangers. The translation is an exact paraphrase of the rhythmic repetition of the original.”

FOOTNOTE:[J]James Mooney.

[J]James Mooney.

Sioux

Now set up the tipi,Now set up the tipi,Around the bottom,Around the bottom,Drive in the pegs,Drive in the pegs,In the meantime I shall cook,In the meantime I shall cook.

“To those who know the Indian life it brings up a vivid picture of a prairie band on the march, halting at noon or in the evening. As soon as the halt is called by some convenient stream, the women jump down and release the horses from ... the travois, in the olden times, and hobble them to prevent them from wandering away. Then, while some of the women set up the tipi poles, draw the canvas over them, and drive in the pegs around the bottom and the wooden pins up the side, other women take axes and buckets and go down to the creek for wood and water. When they return, they find the tipis set up and the blankets spread out on the grass, and in a few minutes fires are built and the meal is in preparation.”

FOOTNOTE:[K]James Mooney.

[K]James Mooney.

B. Tent of Little Cedar, belonging to the order of Sun and Moon shamans. The circle represents the sun in which stands a man holding deer rattles.

C. Those persons who belong to the Inke-sabe sub-gens known as Keepers of the Pipes, paint their tents with the pipe decorations.

D. Used by a member of the order of Grizzly Bear shamans. “When they have had visions of grizzly bears, they decorate their tents accordingly.” (George Miller.) The bear is represented as emerging from his den. The dark band represents the ground.

E. Sketch furnished by Chief Dried Buffalo. The circle at the top represents a bear’s cave. Below there are lightnings, then prints of bears’ paws. E also represents the grizzly bear vision.

Enlarged from plate in report of the Bureau of Ethnology

An unrolled bed, with decorative edges and loop at the top.An Arapahoe Bed

Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Kiowa

That wind, that windShakes my tipi, shakes my tipi,And sings a song for me,And sings a song for me.

“To the familiar, this little song brings up pleasant memories of the prairie camp when the wind is whistling through the tipi poles and blowing the flaps about, while inside the fire burns bright and the song and the game go round.”

FOOTNOTE:[L]James Mooney.

[L]James Mooney.

Mandan

In the sun lives the Lord of Life. In the moon lives Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. She has six children, three sons and three daughters. These live in the sky. The eldest son is the Day; another is the Sun; another is Night. The eldest daughter is the Morning Star, called “The Woman who Wears a Plume”; another is a star which circles around the polar star, and she is called “The Striped Gourd”; the third is Evening Star.

Every spring Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies sends the wild geese, the swans, and the ducks. When she sends the wild geese, the Indians plant their corn and Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies makes it grow. When eleven wild geese are found together, the Indians know the corn crop will be very large. The swans mean that the Indians must plant gourds; the ducks, that they must plant beans.

Indians always save dried meat for these wild birds, so when they come in the spring they may have a corn feast. They build scaffolds of many poles, three orfour rows, and one above the others. On this they hang the meat. Then the old women in the village, each one with a stick, meet around the scaffold. In one end of the stick is an ear of corn. Sitting in a circle, they plant their sticks in the ground in front of them. Then they dance around the scaffolds while the old men beat the drums and rattle the gourds.

Afterwards the old women in the village are allowed to eat the dried meat.

In the fall they hold another corn feast, after the corn is ripe. This is so that Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies may send the buffalo herds to them. Each woman carries the entire cornstalk, with the ears attached, just as it was pulled up by the roots. Then they call on Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies and say,

“Mother, pity us. Do not send the cold too soon, or we may not have enough meat. Mother, do not let the game depart, so that we may have enough for winter.”

In the fall, when the birds go south to Old-Woman, they take back the dried meat hung on the scaffolds, because Old-Woman is very fond of it.

Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies has large patches of corn, kept for her by the great stag and by the white-tailed stag. Blackbirds also help her guard her corn patches. The corn patches are large, therefore the OldWoman has the help also of the mice and the moles. In the spring the birds go north, back to Old-Man-Who-Never-Dies.

In the olden time, Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies lived near the Little Missouri. Sometimes the Indians visited her. One day twelve came, and she offered them only a small kettle of corn. They were very hungry and the kettle was very small. But as soon as it was empty, it at once became filled again, so all the Indians had enough to eat.

Arikara

The Arikara were the first to find the maize. A young man went out hunting. He came to a high hill. Looking down a valley, he saw a buffalo bull near where two rivers joined. When the young man looked to see how he could kill the buffalo, he saw how beautiful the country was. The banks of the two rivers were low, with many trees. The buffalo faced the north; therefore he could not get within bowshot of him. He thought he should wait until the buffalo moved close to the banks of one of the rivers, or to a ravine where there were bushes and shrubs. So the young man waited. The sun went down before the buffalo moved.

Nearly all night the hunter lay awake. He had little food. He felt sorry he could not reach the buffalo. Before the sun rose, he hurried to the top of the hill. The buffalo stood just where it had, but it faced the east. Again he waited for it to move. He waited all day. When the sun went down, the buffalo still stood in the same place.

Nearly all night the young man lay awake. He had very little food indeed. The next morning he rose early, and came to the top of the hill, just as the sun came up. The buffalo was still standing in the same place; but now it faced the south. He waited all day. Then the sun went down.

Now the next morning, when he arose early, the buffalo stood in the same place; this time it faced the west. All day the young man waited, but the buffalo did not move.

Now the young man thought, “Why does not the buffalo move?” He saw it did not drink, did not eat, did not sleep. He thought some power must be influencing it.

Now the next morning, the young man hurried to the top of the hill. The sun had risen and everything was light. The buffalo was gone. Then he saw where the buffalo had stood there was a strange bush.

He went to the place; then he saw it was a plant. He looked for the tracks of the buffalo. He saw where it had turned to the east and to the south and to the west. In the center there was one track; out of it the small plant had grown. There was no track to show where the buffalo had left the place.

Then the hunter hurried to his village. He told the chiefs and the people of the strange buffalo and theplant. So all the chiefs and the people came to the place. They saw the tracks of the buffalo as he had stood, but there were no tracks of his coming or going.

So all the people knew that Wahkoda had given this strange plant to the people. They knew of other plants they might eat. They knew there was a time when each plant was ripe. So they watched the strange plant; they guarded it and protected it.

Then a flower appeared on the plant. Afterwards, at one of the joints, a new part of the plant pushed out. It had hair. At first the hair was green; then it was brown. Then the people thought, “Perhaps this fruit is ripe.” But they did not dare touch it. They met together. They looked at the plant.

Then a young man said, “My life has not been good. If any evil comes to me, it will not matter.”

So the people were willing, and the young man put his hand on the plant and then on its fruit. He grasped the fruit boldly. He said to the people, “It is solid. It is ripe.” Then he pulled apart the husks, and said, “It is red.”

He took a few of the grains and showed them to the people. He ate some. He did not die. So the people knew Wahkoda had sent this plant to them for food.

Now in the fall, when the prairie grass turned brown, the leaves of this plant turned brown also. Then thefruit was plucked, and put away. After the winter was over, the kernels were divided. There were four to each family.

Then the people moved the lodges to the place where the plant had grown. When the hills became green, they planted the seed of the strange plant. But first they built little mounds like the one out of which it grew. So the fruit grew and ripened. It had many colors; red, and yellow, and white, and blue.

Then the next year there were many plants and many ears of corn. So they sent to other tribes. They invited them to visit them and gave them of the new food. Thus the Omahas came to have corn.

Ponca

Long ago, the people followed the Missouri River northward to a place where they could step over the water. Then they turned, and were going across the land. Then they met the Padouca [Comanche].

At that time the Ponca had no animals but dogs to help them carry burdens. Wherever they went they had to go on foot, but the people were strong and fleet. They could run a great distance and not be weary. One day when they were hunting buffalo, they met the Padouca. Then they had many battles with them. The Padouca were mounted on strange animals. At first the Ponca thought it was all one animal. The Padouca had bows made from elk horn. They were not very long, nor were they very strong. They boiled the horn until it was soft; then they scraped it, and bound it together with sinews and glue. Their arrows were tipped with bone. They fought also with a stone battle-ax. The handle was a sapling; a grooved stone ax head, pointed at both ends, was fastened to this withrawhides. So the Padouca were terrible fighters. They protected their horses with a covering of thick rawhide cut in round pieces, and put together like fish scales. They spread glue over the outside and then sand. So when the Comanches fought, the arrows of their enemies glanced off the horses’ armor. Then the Padouca made breastplates for themselves like those of the horses.

When the Ponca met these terrible warriors, they were afraid. They thought man and horse were one. They named it “Kawa” because they noticed the odor of the horse. Then they knew by this odor when the Padouca were coming. When a man smelled the horses, he would run to the camp and say, “The wind tells us the Kawa are coming.” Then the Ponca would make ready to defend themselves. The Ponca had many battles with the Comanches. They did not know how to use the animals, so they killed the horses as well as the men. Neither could they find out where the Padouca lived.

One day the two tribes had a great battle. The people fought all day. Sometimes the Ponca were driven back, sometimes the Padouca. Then at last a Ponca shot a Padouca so that he fell from his horse. Then the battle ceased. After this, one of the Padouca came toward the Ponca and said in plain Ponca,

“Who are you? What do you call yourselves?”

The Ponca replied, “We call ourselves Ponca. You speak our language, are you of our tribe?”

The other said, “No. I speak your language as a gift from a Ponca spirit. One day I lay on a Ponca grave after a battle. Then a man rose from the grave and spoke to me. So I know your language.”

Then it was agreed to make peace. The tribes visited each other. The Ponca traded their bows and arrows for horses. They knew where the Padouca lived. Then the Padouca taught the Ponca how to ride, and how to put burdens on the horses.

When the Ponca had learned how to ride, and had horses, they went to war again. They attacked the Padouca in their own village. They attacked them so many times and stole so many of their horses that at last the Padouca fled. We do not know where they went. The Ponca followed the Platte River toward the rising sun; then they came back to the Missouri, and they brought their horses with them.

Dakota

The Dakotas have names for the natural divisions of time. Their years they count by winters. A man is so many winters old, or so many winters have passed since such an event. When one goes on a journey, he says he will be back in so many sleeps. They have no division of time into weeks, and their months are literally by moons.

The Dakotas believe that when the moon is full, a great number of small mice begin to nibble on one side. They nibble until they eat up the entire moon. So when the new moon begins to grow, it is to them really a new moon; the old one has been eaten up.

The Dakota mother loves her baby as well as the white woman does hers. When the spirit takes its flight a wild howl goes up from the tent. The baby form is wrapped in the best buffalo calfskin, or the best red blanket, and laid away on a scaffold or on the branch of some tree. There the mother goes with disheveled hair and oldest clothes, the best ones having been given away, and wails out her sorrow in the twilight, wailingoften until far into the cold night. The nice kettle of hominy is prepared, and carried to the scaffold where the spirit hovers for several days. When the kettle has remained there long enough for thewanagi, the spirit, to inhale the food, the little children of the village are invited to eat up the rest.

When a hunter dies, the last act of the medicine man is to sing a song to conduct the spirit over thewanagi tacanku, the spirit’s road, as the Milky Way is called. The friends give away their good clothes. They wear ragged clothes, with bare feet, and ashes on their hands. Both within and without the lodge there is a great wailing. “Micinski, micinski, my son, my son,” is the lamentation in Dakota land as it was in Israel.

The dead hunter is wrapped in the most beautifully painted buffalo robe, or in the newest red and blue blanket. Young men are called and feasted, and their duty it is to carry the body away and place it on a scaffold, for the dead remain not long in the tepee. In more recent times they bury it. The custom of burial immediately after death, however, was not a Dakota custom. The spirit did not bid farewell to the body for several days after death, and so the body was laid on a high scaffold or in some tree crotch where it would have a good view of the surrounding country, and also be safe from wolves.

Teton

In the olden days, the people buried some men on a hill. Then they removed their camp to another place. Many winters afterwards, a man visited the hill; but there were no graves there. So he told the people.

Then many men came and dug far down into the hill. By and by a man said, “There is a road here.”

There they found a road, a tunnel, large enough for men to walk, stooping. Other roads there were. They followed the first road and they came to a place where a strange animal had dragged the bodies of those who were buried in the hill.

Therefore the people refused to bury their dead in the ground. They bury them on scaffolds where the animals cannot reach them.[M]

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