ORIGIN OF STRAWBERRIES

A woman in traditional dress.Woman’s Costume

(Omaha)

Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

An older man in traditional dress.An Elderly Omaha Beau

Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Cherokee

When the world was new, there was one man and one woman. They were happy; then they quarreled. At last the woman left the man and began to walk away toward the Sunland, the Eastland. The man followed. He felt sorry, but the woman walked straight on. She did not look back.

Then Sun, the great Apportioner, was sorry for the man. He said,

“Are you still angry with your wife?”

The man said, “No.”

Sun said, “Would you like to have her come back to you?”

“Yes,” said the man.

So Sun made a great patch of huckleberries which he placed in front of the woman’s trail. She passed them without paying any attention to them. Then Sun made a clump of blackberry bushes and put those in front of her trail. The woman walked on. Then Sun created beautiful service-berry bushes which stood beside the trail. Still the woman walked on.

So Sun made other fruits and berries. But the woman did not look at them.

Then Sun created a patch of beautiful ripe strawberries. They were the first strawberries. When the woman saw those, she stopped to gather a few. As she gathered them, she turned her face toward the west. Then she remembered the man. She turned to the Sunland but could not go on. She could not go any further.

Then the woman picked some of the strawberries and started back on her trail, away from the Sunland. So her husband met her, and they went back together.

Omaha

In the beginning the people were in water. They opened their eyes, but they could see nothing. As the people came out of the water, they first saw the daylight. They had no clothing. Then they took weeds and grasses and from them wove clothing.

The people lived near a large body of water; it was in a wooded country where there was game. The men hunted the deer with clubs; they did not know the use of the bow. The people wandered about the shores of the great water. They were poor and cold. The people thought, “What shall we do to help ourselves?” So they began chipping stones. They found a bluish stone that was easily flaked and chipped; so they made knives and arrowheads out of it. But they were still poor and cold. They thought, “What shall we do?”

Then a man found an elm root that was very dry. He dug a hole in it and put a stick in and rubbed it. Then smoke came. He smelled it. Then the people smelled it and came near. Others helped him to rub. At last a spark came. They blew this into a flame.Thus fire came to warm the people and to cook their food.

After this the people built grass houses; they cut the grass with the shoulder blade of a deer. Now the people had fire and ate their meat roasted. Then they grew tired of roast meat. They thought, “How shall we cook our meat differently?”

A man found a piece of clay that stuck well together. Then he brought sand to mix with it. Then he molded it as a pot. Then he gathered grass until he had a large heap of it; he put the clay pot into the midst of the grass and set it on fire. This made the clay hard. After a time he put water into the pot; the water did not leak out. This was good. So he put water into it and then meat into it, and put the pot over the fire. Thus the people had boiled meat to eat.

Now their grass coverings would grow fuzzy and drop off. It was hard to gather and keep these coverings. The people were not satisfied. Again they thought, “What can we do to have something different to wear?”

Before this, they had been throwing away the hides from the game which they killed. But now they took their stone knives to scrape down the hides and make them thin. They rubbed the hides with grass and with their hands to make them soft. Then they used thehides for clothing. Now they had clothing and were warm.

Now the women had to break the dry wood to keep up the fires. They had no tools. So the men made a stone ax with a groove. Then they put a handle on the grooved stone and fastened it with rawhide. This was used. Then they wanted something better to break the wood. So they made wedges of stone.

Now the grass shelter came to pieces easily. Then the people thought, “What shall we do? How can we get something that will not come to pieces?” Then they tried putting skins on poles.

First they tried deerskins. But they were too small. They tried elk skins. But they became hard and stiff in the rain and sun. Then they did not try skins longer. They used bark to cover the poles of their tepees.

But the bark houses were not warm. Then the people took the leg bone of the deer and splintered it So they made sharp pieces for awls. Then they took buffalo skins and sinews, and with the awl they fastened the skins together. So they made comfortable covers for their tepees.

Then a man wandered around a long time. One day he found some small pieces of something which were white, and red, and blue. He thought they must be something of great value, so he hid them in a mound ofearth. Now one day he went to see if they were safe. Behold! When he came to the mound, green stalks were growing out of it. And on the stalks were small kernels of white, and red, and blue. Behold! It was corn. Then the man took the corn, and gave it to the people. They tried it for food. They found it good, and have ever since called it their life.

Now when the people found the corn good, they thought to hide it in mounds as the first man had done. So they took the shoulder blade of an elk and made mounds. Then they hid the corn in it. So the corn grew and the people had food.

Now as the people wandered around, they came to a forest where the birch trees grew. There was a great lake there. Then they made canoes of birch bark. They traveled in them on the water. Then a man found two young animals. He carried them home. He fed them so they grew bigger. Then he made a harness which he placed upon them and fastened it to poles. So these animals became burden bearers. Before that, every burden had to be carried on the back. Now the dogs helped the people.

Omaha

The people came across a great water on logs tied together. They pitched their tents on the shore. Then they thought to make for themselves certain bounds within which they were to live and rules which should govern them. They cleared a space of grass and weeds so they could see each other’s faces. They sat down and there was no obstruction between them.

While they were holding a council, an owl hooted in the trees near by. The leader said, “That bird is to take part in our council. He calls to us. He offers us his aid.”

Immediately afterward they heard a woodpecker. He knocked against the trees. The leader said, “That bird calls to us. He offers us his aid. He will take part in our council.”

Then the chief appointed a man as servant. He said, “Go into the woods and get an ash sapling.” The servant came back with a sapling having a rough bark.

“We do not want that,” said the leader. “Go again and get a sapling with a smooth bark, bluish in color at the joint where a branch comes.” So the servant went out, and came back with a sapling of the kind described.

When the leader took up the sapling, an eagle came and soared about the council which was sitting in the grass. He dropped a downy feather; it fell. It fell in the center of the cleared space. Now this was the white eagle. The chief said, “This is not what we want,” so the white eagle passed on.

Then the bald eagle came swooping down, as though attacking its prey. It balanced itself on its wings directly over the cleared space. It uttered fierce cries, and dropped one of its downy feathers, which stood on the ground as the other eagle’s feather had done. The chief said, “This is not what we want.” So the bald eagle passed on.

Then came the spotted eagle, and soared over the council, and dropped its feather as the others had done. The chief said, “This is not what we want,” and the spotted eagle passed on.

Then the imperial eagle, the eagle with the fantail, came, and soared over the people. It dropped a downy feather which stood upright in the center of the cleared space. The chief said, “This is what we want.”

So the feathers of this eagle were used in making the peace pipes, together with the feathers of the owl and woodpecker, and with other things. These peace pipes were to be used in forming friendly relations with other tribes.

When the peace pipes were made, seven other pipes were made for keeping peace within the tribe. One pipe was to prevent revenge. If one man should kill another, the chief took this pipe to the relatives and offered it to them. If the relatives of the dead man refused to accept it, it was offered again. It was offered four times. If it was refused four times, the chief said, “Well, you must take the consequences. We will do nothing, and you cannot now ask to see the pipes.” He meant if they took revenge and any trouble came to them, they could not ask for help or for mercy.

Each band had its own pipe.

Lenni-Lenapi

In the days of the old men, far to the north there lived a nation with many villages. Their warriors were as many as the buffalo herds on the plains toward the Darkening Land. Their tepees were many on the shores of a beautiful lake and along wide rivers.

Then the Mysterious One, whose voice is in the clouds, told the chiefs of a great nation, also of many villages, which hunted through all the country from the Big Water in the sunrise to the mountains in the Darkening Land.

Then the chiefs and the old men held a council. Runners came from many villages to the great council. And the council voice was to go to the great nation to the south, the nation with many villages, and bring back scalps and horses.

So the chiefs and warriors went out, one by one. Then runners were sent to all the villages, ordering the chiefs to dance the scalp dance.

Suddenly there came through the sky a great white bird. It came from the forest, and flew into the villageof the great chief. It rested above the head of the chief’s daughter.

Then the chief’s daughter heard a voice in her heart. The voice said, “Call all the chiefs and warriors together. Tell them the Mysterious One is sad because they seek the scalps of the Lenni-Lenapi, the First People. Tell the warriors they must wash their hands in the blood of a young fawn. They must go with many presents to the First People. They must carry to the First People Hobowakan, the calumet.”

Thus the First People and the mighty people with many villages on the shore of the lake smoked together the pipe of council. So there was peace.

Tattooing, Showing Conventional Design of the Peace Pipe

Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

A small circular boat, pulled on shore, with one oar resting inside.Bull Boat

Made of the hide of the buffalo bulls.The only boat used by the plains Indians.

Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Omaha

Ayoung man who had been wandering came back to his village. When he reached his home he said, “Father, I have seen a wonderful tree.” Then he told his father about it. The old man was silent because all was not yet settled between the tribes. The Cheyenne, the Arikara, the Omaha, Ponca, and Iowa were having a great council, so as to adopt rules concerning the hunting of game, and of peace, and war.

After a while, the young man went to visit the tree. When he reached home, he told his father again of it. The old man was silent, for the chiefs were still holding their council. At last, when the council was over and the rules decided upon, the old man sent for the chiefs. He said, “My son has seen a wonderful tree. The Thunder Birds come and go upon this tree. They make a trail of fire which leaves four paths on the burnt grass that stretch towards the Four Winds. When the Thunder Birds alight upon the tree, it bursts into flame. The fire mounts to the top. Thetree stands burning, but no one can see the fire except at night.”

When the chiefs heard this tale, they sent runners to see what this tree might be. The runners came back and told the same story. In the night they had seen the tree burning as it stood. Then all the people held a council as to what this might mean. The chiefs said, “We shall run for it. Put on your ornaments and prepare as if for battle.”

The warriors painted themselves as if for war. They put on their ornaments. They set out for the tree, which stood near a lake. They ran as if it were a race to attack the enemy. All the men ran. A Ponca was the first to reach the tree and he struck it as if it were an enemy.

Then they cut the tree down. Four men, walking in a straight line, carried it on their shoulders to the village. The chiefs for four nights sang the songs made in honor of the tree. They held a council about the tree. A tent was made for it, and it was set up in the circle of lodges. The chiefs worked upon it; they trimmed it and called it a human being. They made a basket of twigs and feathers and tied it half way up the tree. Then they said, “It has no hair!” So they sent out to get a large scalp lock and they put it on top of Pole for hair. Afterwards the chiefs told the criersto tell the people that when Pole was completed they should see it.

Then they painted Pole and set it up before the tent. They leaned it on a crotched stick. Then they called all the people and all the people came. Men, women, and children came.

When they were all together, the chiefs said, “This is a mystery. Whenever we meet with trouble, we shall bring all our prayers to Pole. We shall make offerings to him. We shall ask him for what we need. When we ask anything, we must make gifts. If anyone desires to become a chief, he shall make presents to the Keepers of the Pole, and they shall give him authority to be a chief.”

When all was finished the people said, “Let us appoint a time when we shall again paint Pole; when we shall act before him the battles we have fought.” So they fixed the time in the moon when the buffaloes bellow.

Teton

Ikto once stood on the bank of a stream across which he could not swim. He stood on the bank and thought. Then he sang:

I stand,Thinking often,Oh, that I might reach the other side.

Just then a long Something passed, swimming against the current. When it reached Ikto, it said,

“I will take you across, but you must not lift your head above the water. Should you notice even a small cloud, warn me at once, as I must go under the water. If you see a small cloud, you must say, ‘Younger brother, your grandfather is coming.’”

Before the other bank was reached, Ikto looked up. He saw a small cloud and said, “Younger brother, your grandfather is coming.”

There was a sudden commotion. When Ikto became conscious again, the Thunder Beings were roaring, and the water was dashing high, but the monster had vanished.

Comanche

In the olden times, a hunter once shot at a large bird which was flying above him. It fell to the ground. It was so large he was afraid to go to it alone, so he went back to the camp for others.

When they came back to the place where the bird had been shot, thunder was rolling through the ravine. Flashes of lightning showed the place where the bird lay. They came nearer. Then the lightning flashed so that they could not see the bird. One flash killed a hunter.

The other Indians fled back to the camp. They knew it was the Thunder Bird.

Once the Thunder Bird, in the days of the grandfathers, came down to the ground and alighted there. You may know that is so, because the grass remains burned off a large space, and the outlines are those of a large bird with outspread wings.

Assiniboin

The Sioux, or Dakotas, of whom the Assiniboins are a branch, pretend that thunder is an enormous bird, and that the muffled sound of the distant thunder is caused by a countless number of young birds! The great bird, they say, gives the first sound, and the young ones repeat it; this is the cause of the reverberations. The Sioux declare that the young Thunders do all the mischief, like boys who will not listen to good advice; but the old Thunder, or big bird, is wise and excellent; he never kills or injures any one!

Omaha

Ye four, come hither and stand, near shall ye stand,[B]In four groups shall ye stand,Here shall ye stand, in this place stand.[The thunder rolls]Turned by the wind goes the one I send yonder;Yonder he goes who is whirled by the winds;Goes, where the four hills of life and the four winds are standing;There in the midst of the winds do I send him,Into the midst of the winds standing there.[The thunder rolls]

FOOTNOTES:[A]By Alice C. Fletcher.[B]The “four” are the four winds.

[A]By Alice C. Fletcher.

[B]The “four” are the four winds.

Sioux

The whole world is coming,A nation is coming, a nation is coming,The Eagle has brought the message to the tribe.The father says so, the father says so,Over the whole earth they are coming.The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming,The Crow has brought the message to the tribe,The father says so, the father says so.[C]

FOOTNOTE:[C]“This fine song summarizes the whole hope of the Ghost-dance—the return of the buffalo and the departed dead, the message being brought to the people by the sacred birds, the Eagle and the Crow.”

[C]“This fine song summarizes the whole hope of the Ghost-dance—the return of the buffalo and the departed dead, the message being brought to the people by the sacred birds, the Eagle and the Crow.”

Sioux

He!They have come back racing,[E]He!They have come back racing,Why, they say there is to be a buffalo hunt over here,Why, they say there is to be a buffalo hunt over here.Make arrows! Make arrows!Says the father, says the father.Give me my knife,Give me my knife,I shall hang up the meat to dry—Ye´ ye!I shall hang up the meat to dry—Ye´ ye!Says grandmother—Yo´ yo!Says grandmother—Yo´ yo!When it is dry I shall make pemmican,When it is dry I shall make pemmican,Says grandmother—Yo´ yo!Says grandmother—Yo´ yo![F]

FOOTNOTES:[D]Songs and comments as given by James Mooney.[E]“When going on a buffalo hunt, it was customary among the Sioux to send out a small advance party to locate the herd. On finding it, these men returned at once at full gallop to the main body of hunters, but instead of stopping on reaching them, they dashed past and then turned and fell in behind. It is to this custom the first line refers.”[F]“In the old days an Indian camp during the cutting up of the meat after a buffalo hunt was a scene of the most joyous activity.... Preparations were made for days and weeks ahead. Couriers were sent out to collect the neighboring bands at a common rendezvous, medicine men began their prayers and ceremonies to attract the herd, the buffalo songs were sung, and finally when all was ready the confederated bands or sometimes the whole tribe—men, women, children, horses, dogs, and travois—moved out into the buffalo grounds. Here the immense camp of hundreds of tipis was set up, more ceremonies were performed, and the mounted warriors rode out in a body to surround and slaughter the herd. The women followed close after them to strip the hides from the fresh carcasses, and cut out the choice portion of the meat and tallow and bring it into camp.”

[D]Songs and comments as given by James Mooney.

[E]“When going on a buffalo hunt, it was customary among the Sioux to send out a small advance party to locate the herd. On finding it, these men returned at once at full gallop to the main body of hunters, but instead of stopping on reaching them, they dashed past and then turned and fell in behind. It is to this custom the first line refers.”

[F]“In the old days an Indian camp during the cutting up of the meat after a buffalo hunt was a scene of the most joyous activity.... Preparations were made for days and weeks ahead. Couriers were sent out to collect the neighboring bands at a common rendezvous, medicine men began their prayers and ceremonies to attract the herd, the buffalo songs were sung, and finally when all was ready the confederated bands or sometimes the whole tribe—men, women, children, horses, dogs, and travois—moved out into the buffalo grounds. Here the immense camp of hundreds of tipis was set up, more ceremonies were performed, and the mounted warriors rode out in a body to surround and slaughter the herd. The women followed close after them to strip the hides from the fresh carcasses, and cut out the choice portion of the meat and tallow and bring it into camp.”

Teton

In the days of the grandfathers, buffaloes lived under the earth. In the olden times, they say, a man who was journeying came to a hill where there were many holes in the ground. He entered one of them. When he had gone inside he found buffalo chips and buffalo tracks on all sides. He found also buffalo hairs where the buffaloes had rubbed against the walls. These were the real buffaloes and they lived under the ground. Afterwards some of them came to the surface of the earth and lived there. Then the herds on the earth increased.

These buffaloes had many lodges and there they raised their children. They did many strange things. Therefore when a man escapes being wounded by an enemy, people say he has seen the buffaloes in his dreams, and they have helped him.

Men who dream of the buffaloes act like them and dance the buffalo-bull dance. Then the man who acts the buffalo has a real buffalo inside of him, people say, a little hard ball near the shoulder blade; and thereforehe is very hard to kill. No matter how often he is wounded, he does not die.

People know that the buffaloes live in earth lodges; so they never dance the buffalo dance vainly.

Teton

Once upon a time, a Buffalo Being attacked a party of Indians. He killed one of them, but the others ran away and climbed a tree. The Buffalo Being followed them and rushed at the tree. He rushed many times, knocking off piece after piece of the tree, until very little was left.

Then the frightened Indians lighted some tinder, and threw it far off into the tall grass. The fire scorched the Buffalo Being’s eyes, and injured his horns. The hard part of the horn slipped off, leaving only the softer part, so that he could no longer injure any one.

But the Buffalo Being was still dangerous. At last one of the Indians slipped down the tree, with his bow and arrow. He killed the Buffalo Being. Then all the men came down the tree and skinned the animal and cut up the flesh. Into the buffalo-skin robe they placed the body of the dead Indian. But suddenly another Buffalo Being appeared. The Indians again climbed the tree. But this Being only walked four times around the dead Indian. Then he said, “Arise to your feet.”

At once the dead man came to life. The Buffalo Being said to him, “Hereafter you shall be mysterious. The sun, the moons, the four winds, day and night shall be your slaves.”

Then it was so. The Indian could take the form of a fine plume, which was blown against a tree. It would stick to the tree and wave many times in the breeze.

The German knights are from a sketch in a Ms., dated 1220, in the University of Leipzig. The sketch was copied from Rudolph Cronau’s “Geschichte der Solinger Klingenindustrie.” They are Knights of the 13th century.

The Indian warriors were drawn by an Apache Indian at Anadarko, in 1884, though the insignia is really that of the Cheyenne Indians.

The comparison and contrast are made by the Bureau of Ethnology.

Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution

Omaha

There were some villages which were very populous. The chief’s son and his daughter were unmarried. There were two sons. They surrounded the herds of buffaloes. They used to kill buffaloes.

One of the sons of this chief attacked a buffalo when far apart from the rest. He shot it; but the buffalo had gone out of sight into the ground. The man and his horse, too, went headlong; but the buffalo went down first.

Now the father sent out criers. “He says that his son reached the buffaloes, but he has not come home. He says that ye who have seen his son will please tell it,” shouted the criers.

One said he had seen him. “I saw him very distinctly. He went in pursuit. Perhaps he went headlong into a sunken place, for when on very level ground he vanished altogether. I did not see him again,” he said.

The father commanded the people to join him inseeking his son. When the man who had seen him said, “It was just here,” the people scattered far and wide, seeking the chief’s son. All the people sought him. Behold, he had gone down the pit some time before. The buffalo had gone down, having kicked off a piece of the soil. The horse, too, had gone down, having kicked off a piece of the soil.

There was no trail beyond the pit. All the people went directly to it, without hesitation.

The pit was very large and extended far downward. The chief spoke of removing the village there, at once. So there they camped. They camped around the pit.

Then the chief implored the young men and those who had been his friends. If there was one man who was stout-hearted, one who had a firm heart, the father wished him to enter the pit and go after the young man. So he implored them.

At length one rode round and round the village. Then he promised to enter the pit and go after the missing son.

“Tell his father. He must also collect cords,” he said.

Having cut buffalo hides in strips, he collected the cords.

“Make a round piece of skin for me, and tie the long line of cord to it,” he said. So they finished it.

“Now it matters not to what place I go, I will put the body in the skin bucket. I go to take hold of him. When I reach the ground at the bottom, I will pull suddenly on the cord. When I pull on it many times, you will draw it up.” Thus he said.

At last he reached the ground inside the pit. It was very dark. When he felt around in the dark, the buffalo was lying alone, being killed by the fall. The horse, too, was lying by itself, having been killed by the fall. And the man lay apart from them, having been killed by the fall.

Picking up the body of the chief’s son, he put it in the hollow skin. Then he pulled many times on the cord.

But when the young man went down, strange to say, he did not ask favors for himself. And they rejoiced because he had put the chief’s son in the hollow skin. Having brought up the dead man they forgot the living one.

Though he sat waiting for the hollow skin to come down again, he was not drawn up. So he sat wailing.

Now the chief had promised him his daughter to go down into the pit. “If you bring my son back, you shall marry her,” he had said.

The young man wandered about in the darkness. Atlength when walking along the trail, he came suddenly upon an old woman.

“Venerable woman, though this land is very difficult to reach, I have come hither. I came to the hole in the ground above. One person came hither, having fallen into this pit. I came to take him back. They have not drawn me up; and I have no way of going back. Venerable woman, help me.” So he spoke.

“There is nothing that I can do to help you,” she said. “A person is in that place, out of sight. Go there. He is the one who will do it for you.”

He went there. When he arrived, he knocked repeatedly on the door. Though he stood hearing them speaking, they did not open the door for him.

The woman said, “Fie! A person has come. Open the door for him.”

Behold! The man’s child was dead, and therefore he sat without speaking. He sat still, being sad. Then the young man arrived within the lodge, the woman having opened the door for him. Yet her husband sat without speaking. The young man was impatient from hunger. The husband questioned him:

“From what place have you walked?” he asked.

The young man told his story. “I walked up above, but a man headed off the herd, and having fallen, he came here. I came here to take him back. They didnot take me back; I have no way of going back. Help me,” he said.

The man said, “We had a child, but it died. We will treat you just like the child who died.” He meant he would adopt him. “All things which I have are yours,” said the father.

The young man did not speak. He wished to go homeward.

“Whatever you say I will do it for you,” said the father. “Even if you desire to go homeward, it shall be so,” he said.

At last the young man spoke of going homeward.

“If you say, ‘I will go homeward riding a horse of such a color, O father!’ it shall be so,” said the father.

“Fie!” said the woman. “Heretofore we were deprived of our child. The young man who has just come home is like him. Give him one thing which you have.”

“I make you my child. I will give you something. Whatever I desire I always make with it, when I wish to have anything,” said the father. He had a piece of iron and when he wished anything he used to point at the iron.

“O father, I wish to go homeward riding a horse with very white hair. I also desire a mule with very white hair, and a good saddle,” said the young man.

“Come, go there. Open the door of that stable. When you wish to see us again, you shall see us. When you will go homeward, you will say, ‘Come, O father, I desire to go homeward,’” said the father.

The young man went homeward. He made the rocks open suddenly by pointing at them with the iron. He went up, making the ground echo under the horse’s feet. When he pushed aside a very large rock which was in his way, he found himself again on the surface of the earth. The horse and mule were very sudden in their movements. They shied at every step. They sniffed the odor of a bad land.

The young man found his nation that he had left. Behold! they had recently removed and departed. After they waited some time for him to appear, they had removed their camp and departed. The horse and mule went along, fearing the sight of the old camping ground. They followed the trail of the departing village.

Then the young man saw two people on a large hill, walking in the trail. They were the head chief and his wife who were walking along, mourning for the dead.

They looked behind and said, “Yonder comes one on horseback, following the trail made by the departing village.”

He drew near. They sat waiting for him to appear.The horse and mule feared the sight of them; they sniffed a bad odor.

“Why! Of what nation are you?” asked the chief.

“It is I,” said the young man.

“But which one are you?” said the chief.

“Your son went headlong into a pit when they surrounded the herd,” said the young man. “And I went down to get him. You did not bring me back. It is I.”

As he was very much changed, the old man doubted.

“Fie! Tell the truth about yourself.”

“When they surrounded the herd, your son went headlong as well as the buffalo, and he was killed by falling into a pit. When you commanded them to get him, they drew back through fear. I am he who went to get him when you offered your daughter as a reward,” said the young man. “I have hardly been able to come again to the surface.”

Then they recognized him. The two men stood talking together on the large hill. The chief’s son looked back from the camp.

“Why! The chief and his wife have come as far as the large hill and a man on horseback has come, too. He stands talking to them. I will go thither. Let me see! I will go to see them.”

He went back on horseback and came to his father.

“With what person do you talk?” said the son.

“Why! He who went to get your elder brother has come back!” said the head chief.

They shook hands. And the head chief gave his daughter to the young man.

“Let all the men and chiefs assemble. Let all the stout-hearted young men assemble. They can look at my daughter’s husband,” he said.

They assembled. They came to see the young man and brought the things they intended giving him.

“He says that he who went to get the man who was killed by falling has come back. The chief says that as he has made the young man his daughter’s husband you shall go to see the young man. He says that you will take to him what things you wish to give him. The chief says he will give thanks for them.” So shouted the crier.

All the young men and those who were brave and generous went thither. They all gave him clothing and good horses. His wife’s father made him the head chief.

“Make ye a tent for him in the center,” said the old chief.

They set up a tent for him in the center. They finished it.

“The people did not eat. As they sat waiting for you to appear, the nation did not eat. You came back when they were just removing camp,” said the old chief.

“Ho!” said the one who had just reached home. “Let two old men go as criers.”

So the criers shouted: “The chiefs daughter’s husband says that you will rest tomorrow. He says you will not go in any direction whatever.”

The next day he commanded those who had come back on horseback to act as scouts. And the scouts came back very soon; because by means of the iron rod which he had asked of his father, he made a great many buffaloes very quickly. He spoke of surrounding them. They shot down many of the buffaloes. He went to take part in surrounding them.

His wife said, “I desire to go to see them surround the herd. I must go to see the buffaloes. When they are killed, I will be quite likely to come back.”

When they killed the buffaloes she was coming back; the wife stood on the hill. Her husband came to that place.

“Though I killed the buffaloes, they will cut them up,” he said. They who surrounded them reached home.

Again they spoke of a buffalo hunt. “The chief’sdaughter’s husband speaks indeed of sending them to act as scouts,” said the criers.

Again the herd of buffaloes had come to that country. They surrounded them. Again they shot down many of them.

At last the son of the old head chief was in a bad humor. He was in a bad humor because his sister’s husband had been made chief.

Now at night, the horse used to say to the young man, “O father, a man desires very much to kill us. It is so every night.” And after that at night the young man used to take care of his horse and mule.

On the next day they surrounded the herd in the land where the deed was done. It was just so again; a great many buffaloes had been coming. At length the son wished the buffaloes to trample his sister’s husband to death. When they attacked the buffaloes, he waved his robe. Turning around in his course, he waved his robe again. When the sister’s husband went right in among the buffaloes, they closed in on him and he was not seen at all.

The people said, “The buffaloes have trampled to death the chief’s daughter’s husband.”

When the buffaloes trampled him to death, they scattered and went homeward in every direction, moving in long lines. And the people did not find any tracewhatever of what was done. They did not find the horse. Even the man they did not find. When the buffaloes killed him by trampling, the horse had gone back to Him Who Made Things.

Omaha

Grizzly Bear was going somewhere, following the course of a stream, and at last he went straight towards the headland. When he got in sight, Buffalo Bull was standing beneath it. Grizzly Bear retraced his steps, going again to the stream, following its course until he got beyond the headland. Then he drew near and peeped. He saw that Buffalo Bull was very lean, and standing with his head bowed, as if sluggish. So Grizzly Bear crawled up close to him, made a rush, seized him by the hair of his head, and pulled down his head. He turned Buffalo Bull round and round, shaking him now and then, saying, “Speak! Speak! I have been coming to this place a long time, and they say you have threatened to fight me. Speak!” Then he hit Buffalo Bull on the nose with his open paw.

“Why!” said Buffalo Bull, “I have never threatened to fight you, who have been coming to this country so long.”

“Not so! You have threatened to fight me.”Letting go the buffalo’s head, Grizzly Bear went around and seized him by the tail, turning him round and round. Then he left, but as he did so, he gave him a hard blow with his open paw.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! you have caused me great pain,” said Buffalo Bull. Bobtailed Grizzly Bear departed.

Buffalo Bull thought thus: “Attack him! You too have been just that sort of a person.”

Grizzly Bear knew what he was thinking, so he said, “Why! what are you saying?”

“I said nothing,” said Buffalo Bull.

Then Grizzly Bear came back. He seized Buffalo Bull by the tail, pulling him round and round. Then he seized him by the horns, pulling his head round and round. Then he seized him again by the tail and hit him again with the open paw. Again Grizzly Bear departed. And again Buffalo Bull thought as he had done before. Then Grizzly Bear came back and treated Buffalo Bull as he had before.

Buffalo Bull stepped backward, throwing his tail into the air.

“Why! Do not flee,” said Grizzly Bear.

Buffalo threw himself down, and rolled over and over. Then he continued backing, pawing the ground.

“Why! I say, do not flee,” said Grizzly Bear.When Buffalo Bull backed, making ready to attack him, Grizzly Bear thought he was scared.

Then Buffalo Bull ran towards Grizzly, puffing a great deal. When he neared him, he rushed on him. He sent Grizzly Bear flying through the air.

As Grizzly Bear came down towards the earth, Buffalo Bull caught him on his horns and threw him into the air again. When Grizzly Bear fell and lay on the ground, Buffalo Bull made at him with his horns to gore him, but just missed him. Grizzly Bear crawled away slowly, with Buffalo Bull following him step by step, thrusting at him now and then, though without striking him. When Grizzly Bear came to a cliff, he plunged over headlong, and landed in a thicket at the foot. Buffalo Bull had run so fast he could not stop at the edge where Grizzly Bear went over, but followed the cliff for some distance. Then he came back and stood with his tail partly raised. Grizzly Bear returned to the bank and peeped.

“Oh, Buffalo Bull,” said Grizzly Bear. “Let us be friends. We are very much alike in disposition.”

(Comanche drawing on a buffalo shoulder blade)

The Indian chase is by arrow; the white man’s by the lasso, gun, and spear. The rivalry is indicated by half the buffalo being drawn as belonging to one race, half to the other. The white men are supposed to be Spaniards. The shoulder blade was found in the Comanche country, in Texas.

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