Part 13

He entered his house and saw his wife. He sat down and told her that he regarded as nothing all the wounds he had received from the men who tried to kill him. The woman was surprised, and was much afraid of him. The man ordered his wife to go after some tobacco from one of the councils that was being held in the village. She went at once and entered one of the councils. She asked the head men for some tobacco for her husband. The men were much agitated and afraid, so they gave her some tobacco. The woman returned and the man was much pleased. The men in the council decided to send a messenger to see if the man had returned. One young man went and peeped in and saw the man, all naked, sitting in his tipi. He returned to the council and told what he had seen. The men were more afraid. From that time on, the man committed worse crimes than before, yet the people were afraid to make another attempt to kill him. The man’s relatives gathered with the woman’s relatives and they separated from the village, to return no more. They went in the night, and before morning they camped. Some young men and the famous one came to the village and killed a man and a woman. The people knew who it was and yet they did not dare to fight them. This was a separation where the people never meet again, which happened because the man did the bad deeds.

FOOTNOTES:

[35] Told by Strike-Enemy.

35. THE FIVE TURTLES AND THE BUFFALO DANCE.[36]

In olden times, while the people had their village upon the Missouri River, five soft-shell Turtles came out from the river and went into the village. The two on each side of the middle one received a bunch of eagle feathers on the head. They were placed with the fifth, which had black feathers. When this Turtle saw that its feathers were black, it was mad. It told the people that it was going away, and it marched back into the river. The people gave it smoke from their sacred pipes. The Turtle paid no attention to it, but went into the river, so there were but four left. These four Turtles were to remain with the people.

These Turtles died. The people made them into drums. Some years afterwards they changed these drums into rawhide drums, making them in imitation of the Turtle drums. They organized a dance known as the “Buffalo dance.” These Turtles were drums. They danced four days and four nights, and although this was a Buffalo dance, there was one mysterious being in the crowd who had a bunch of feathers of the magpie growing up all over his head. Pieces of skins of animals were strapped over his back, and he had a buffalo beard about his ankles, also about his waist. His face was painted with all colors. Sub eius inguinibus palus erat qui penem simulabat. Ex illo autem, dum saliebat et quasi equus acer huc et illuc currebat, palus semper pandebat. Ubicumque mulierem videbat, eam circumibat motusque dabat quasi cum ea concumberet.

Now, in this village there was a young girl who was never permitted to be out of the lodge while this Buffalo dance was going on and this being was dancing around. The girl asked her parents to place a buffalo rawhide in front of the lodge, over the entrance, that she might be permitted to peep out and look at the being. She became bold, and went out from behind the hide. She was seen by this being. Ille motus dedit quasi cum ea concumberet. Puella in domicilium rediit; posteaque per menses magis atque magis gravida fiebat. Iam tandem puerum parit. Anum comitem habet, quæ autem reperire non potest. The mother told them that the child had been born, so the people looked around with lights, trying to find the child. They looked everywhere, but could not find the child. After a while they found the child standing under the altar, grinning. The child looked to be about two years old, and had teeth. It walked about constantly, just as its father did, and was like him in appearance. Finitimi repperunt eam numquam virum cognovisse, sed ab eo monstro per eius motus gravidam factam esse. The people caught the child and killed it. They put it into a bag and threw the bag into the river.

The father of the child heard about this. He went to another wonderful man who could see better in the night than in the day and asked him to help him find the child. The man consented. He took his medicines, put them upon himself and led the man to the very spot where he had danced and where he had made the motions. Then the medicine-man led the mysterious being into the lodge of the girl who had given birth to the child. He showed where the boy had been born, where he had run, where he had stood under the sacred bundle, how the people caught him and killed him, and how the people had taken him to the river and thrown him in. They went down to the river. The medicine-man took a big rock and told the strange being that when he should throw the rock into the waters, the waters would part, and that he must be quick to jump in and get the boy. The man threw the stone up into the air, and as it fell into the water, the waters parted, and they could see the boy lying there. The man jumped in and pulled him out. When the boy was pulled out the father cried, and said that he wanted this wonderful man to select a place to bury him, for he was a strange child. The man led this mysterious being about the hill on the Missouri River, and there the man took his club, and striking the largest stone that the people knew of, he split it in two. They buried the child between the two stones, and then went home. The mysterious being then married the girl who had given birth to the mysterious little boy who, immediately after his birth, got to dancing and running around as his father had always done in dances.

FOOTNOTES:

[36] Told by Yellow-Bear.

36. THE NOTCHED STICK AND THE OLD WOMAN OF THE ISLAND.[37]

When my people held the medicine-men’s ceremonies, the leading medicine-man, who sat in the west of the lodge, had a roll of dried buffalo hide and a long stick with notches upon it. The leaders of the medicine-men’s lodge had sticks that they rubbed on this notched stick so that the dried buffalo hide made a noise sounding something like that of a drum. When this noise was begun they began to rattle the gourds. At the end of the ceremony of the medicine-men the lodges inside of the big lodge were taken down to the river, and the notched stick and the dried buffalo hide were taken and placed upon an island. We were told not to go to the island; but knowing the place, one man went, and he saw in place of the hide and stick an old woman sitting there. He saw her plainly. Her ears hung down with great, big cuts in them. She had a very long face. When he took a look at her she turned her nose up. He was scared and ran away towards the village. He met some other boys and told them about the old woman. They would not believe him, so they went back, and when they came to the island, sure enough, it was no longer the old woman, but the hide and stick.

When the man went home he told his father all about it, and he said: “True, my son; that is the reason that they put the objects upon the island, because really they are an old woman.” Other boys also visited the island, and they saw the same old woman. When several went to the island another time, it was again a stick.

FOOTNOTES:

[37] Told by White-Owl.

37. THE MAN WHO MARRIED A COYOTE.[38]

A long time ago there was a war-party that started out from the Arikara country toward the south. They were found by the enemy and attacked. One man was killed and the others all returned home. After many years this man who was killed rose from where he was lying, for he had not really been killed, but was simply stunned by falling onto hard ground. He had not been scalped. After this man came to, he wandered over the prairies and fell in with the Coyotes. He finally married a Coyote, and lived with her for several years.

One day some men went hunting, and they saw a mysterious being crossing the Missouri River. The warriors went down and surrounded this mysterious being and caught him. He was not scalped, nor wounded, but he had changed his ways so that he could live with the Coyotes, and he was almost like an animal. The people begged him to go home, saying that his wife and children were well and that his wife was not married again. But he said: “I know; but I cannot, for I am married.” They took him notwithstanding, and they gave him medicines. He became well, and he entered the medicine-lodge. The man asked permission to do some sleight-of-hand, and the medicine-men gave him the privilege to do so. He took a man, went around the lodge and vomited up a lot of hair, white clay, and other things. After all this had come out of him he was cleansed from being a Coyote. He continued with the sleight-of-hand, and he told the people that he was going to call his wife; that his wife was the one that he was afraid of, and this was the reason he had not returned home. So he went up onto the top of the lodge and shouted and shouted; then he went around to the west and shouted; then to the north and to the east; then he came into the lodge, and said, “My wife is far away.” He went out again and shouted to the northwest, and after a while the people heard the Coyotes away off. They kept coming nearer and nearer, and the people ran away. The Coyotes kept on coming, and the people ran into the lodge. The Coyote whom the man had married came into the lodge. When she entered the lodge she went around to the northeast of the fireplace, by way of the south, west, and north, and then to the northeast, and there she took her place. “This,” said the man, “is my wife.” The men called her names, saying: “You long-nosed thing! Why did you not come? Why do you run off so far away?” The leading medicine-man now arose. A pipe was given to him filled with native tobacco. He made some smoke to the Coyote woman. After the smoke the Coyote woman left the lodge and went off to join the other Coyotes. The people saw this female Coyote, and now knew that this man did have a Coyote woman.

Many years afterwards this same man was roaming over the prairies, when a blizzard blew up. Just a little before sunset he came to a bank of snow, and there lay one of his baby Coyotes. He went to pick up the baby, but as he was so cold, he let the baby Coyote stay in the snow, and he went home. After he had warmed himself he went out to see if the baby was still in the snow, but when he got there, there was no baby at all.

FOOTNOTES:

[38] Told by Many-Fox.

38. THE MAN WHO TURNED INTO A STONE.[39]

Once upon a time there was a big village on a prairie. In the village there was an old man who was respected by all. Because he was well-known as a medicine-man he had one of the sacred bundles, and he used to call councils and many other meetings. If there was sacrifice to be offered to some of the gods it was brought before this old man, because the gods seemed always to make returns for all his offerings. For this reason, he was above all other medicine-men in the village.

At one time a very large party went out from the village on a buffalo hunt. A few were left in the village. For many days one young man kept coming and reporting that the people were coming not very far away. The next day they saw them coming, but away in the distance. It was the custom for these people to go out to meet them before they reached the village, so many, including the old medicine-man, went out to meet them. The old man came to a hill, and there he sat down. The people traveled on foot in those days. As the party came to the old man they only saluted him. There was another custom of bringing some dried meat to some medicine-men, especially to this famous old man, and offering up sacrifices to the gods. This was the old man’s reason for going up there. Finally most of them passed toward the village, but none of the young men had any dried meat to present to the old man for him to give thanks to his sacred bundle. They all passed, save one young man who came last. When he saw the old man sitting there he saluted him and gave him a dried buffalo tongue. The old man did not seem thankful for it, but sat there with his head down.

When they all reached the village they made many feasts, and councils were held in many places. The next day it was noticed that the old medicine-man was missing. They looked for him, but could not find him. One young man told that he had seen him sitting on the hill. So they went to the hill and asked the old man to come down, but he would not. One medicine-man took a sacred pipe from his bundle and offered it to the old man to smoke, so that he might forget his sorrows. The old man would not accept it, because, he said, it was too late. The people begged him to come, but still he sat there with his head cast downward. After a while he raised his head and said to all, that it was too late to get up, that he was to sit there always. He removed his blanket, and the people saw that his legs had already turned to stone. The people all wept and went away. They came the next day, and they saw a rock in the form of a man, and they all cried again for the loss of the old medicine-man, because there had been no one to give him any dry meat to offer up as sacrifice to the gods.

FOOTNOTES:

[39] Told by Hawk.

39. THE WOMAN WHO TURNED INTO A STONE.[40]

In the village there was a nice-looking young woman, daughter of one of the chiefs. They all liked her and had much admiration for her. Many young men made great efforts to get the young girl to marry, but she would not consent. After many failures on the men’s side the young woman’s father tried to persuade her to marry some young man. After all their advice the young woman refused to marry. Again the old mother related to her daughter that it was most enjoyable to live with a man, to have a man to support her, to cherish her, and to protect her from all troubles. The young woman accepted the mother’s advice at last, and she said she would marry.

One young man, a very good hunter, came to the young girl, and after a long conversation persuaded her to promise that she would marry him. The young woman told her mother, and she was glad, and willing that her daughter should marry him; for the young man was capable and qualified to support a family. Finally the young man was called, and came to their lodge. Puellam in matrimonium duxit. Cum nox esset, ad lectum genialem venerunt. Iuvenis gavisus est quod tandem puellæ amore potiturus esset. Cum autem cum uxore sua concumbere conaretur, non poterat. Per noctem totam frustra conabatur. Postridie puella ad matrem venit, eique ostendit cur virum habere noluisset. Deinde tunicam sustulit ostenditque se helianthes pro volva habere. Mater autem vidit quo iuvenis helianthi nocuisset dum cum uxore concumbere conabatur. So the young woman took her bundle on her back, journeyed to a certain place, sat down and turned to stone, because she was ashamed.

FOOTNOTES:

[40] Told by Hawk.

40. THE POWER OF THE BLOODY SCALPED-MAN.[41]

There was a young man in the Arikara village who wanted to have some mysterious power. He went through the different places, over high mountains, and steep banks. He had heard of a place to the west of the village where young men had been scared away. He went to the place and stood upon a hill which was close to the Missouri River. He stood there for three days and nights, and during the third night he heard a mysterious noise from the Missouri River. He looked, and saw a man coming. The man approached, and said, “You will please leave at once, for you make too much noise around this place.” The man had a war-club in his right hand. His body was daubed all over with white clay; his head was red with blood and the blood was dripping from his forehead. The boy became scared, and he ran home. He told one of his friends what had happened to him and his friend laughed at him for running away from the place where he had gone to get some power.

The young man’s friend made up his mind that he would go to the hill. He went to the hill, and there he stood and cried for three days and three nights. On the fourth night a being came up, and sure enough, it was the very same being that the first young man had seen. The boy became scared, but he closed his eyes and thought, “Well, I came here to see this being, and if he wants to kill me he can do so.” The young man made up his mind not to run. He looked at the man as he approached. Drops of fresh blood were dripping from his head, so that he looked as if he had just been scalped. The young man closed his eyes and the man came up to him, and said, “If you do not run, I will hit you with this club!” The boy did not move, but the man did not strike him with his club. At last the man said: “Come with me. I am the errand man of the men who live under this hill.” So the man took the boy down towards the Missouri River, and there, under the bank, was an entrance. They went into this entrance, and there they found a long passageway along which they traveled, and finally they came to a cave. There the men were seated around in a circle; but not one of them was scalped. The man who took the young man into this place now took off the headdress that he had on, and his hair fell over his shoulders. He placed his war-club and the bloody headdress that he had had on his head, before the leading man. The man took his seat at the entrance, and the young man was given a seat in the lodge. The leader of the men in the lodge said: “You are the first young man who has not run from our errand man, and now we will give you the power that we possess. When you want to perform the same thing that you saw that man do, take wild sage, put it on hot coals, and smoke yourself over your body. Then take this sweet grass and spread it all over yourself. Then take this paint and put it in the water and after putting this skin over your head, place this paint, mixed in water, on your head, so that you will look like a scalped-man. This war-club you shall take. This root you shall put into your mouth, so that you can run swiftly. When you have killed an enemy and taken his scalp, bring that scalp to us.” The young man took the things and went home. The next morning, the people found a war-club hanging over the young man’s head, and the young man was lying upon his bed.

Many days after this there was a cry in the camp, “The enemy is coming to take the village!” The young man sent all the people out of his lodge, and told them to tell the people not to be in a certain pathway that he had to go through, for he wanted to go that way. The young man took up some coals from the fireplace and placed them west of the fireplace. On these he placed the sage, and let the smoke pass over his body. He took the white clay and put it all over his body. Then he twisted his hair, put the skin over his head, then took the red paint and put it in water. He dipped his hands into the water and put it on top of his head. He took the war-club and ran out of the lodge, and some of the people were scared when they saw him, for he looked like a man that had just been scalped. He ran to where the battle was going on, and the people saw him on the west side of the battlefield. He ran towards the enemy and killed one. He went around his own people, and went on the west side again and attacked the enemy, killing another one with his war-club. He scattered the enemy, because he looked so fierce on account of the blood which was dripping from his head. As soon as the enemy retreated and his people ran after them, he went back to his lodge, took the skin off from his head, put some medicine upon the fire and smoked all over his body. He then went to a creek and washed. He came back into his own lodge, and by this time the people had returned. The scalp which he had taken he put upon a long pole and placed it outside of the lodge. In the night he disappeared, for he went to the place where he had received his power.

The people did not know who he was, but after several battles they found out. They also learned that he had great powers. He became a great man through attacking the enemy, for he had power to go out on the war-path and bring home many scalps. They were not really scalps, but were pieces of scalps which he had made himself. He would not be a chief, but became a great medicine-man.

FOOTNOTES:

[41] Told by Antelope.

41. THE BOY WHO CARRIED A SCALPED-MAN INTO CAMP.[42]

In olden times the Arikara went on the war-path. They came to a lake where they made their camp. In the night the enemy attacked them, and ran them into the lake, killing all the warriors and taking their scalps.

Another party of brave warriors started out from the same village, and went on the war-path. As they journeyed towards the east they came near to the lake. There they made their camp. Among these last warriors was a very poor young man who had joined them. In the night the leader asked the young men to go after some water; but all the young men refused. The poor boy took up the vessels and went down to the lake. As he tried to dip the vessel into the water, some one spoke close by him, and said, “Go a little beyond and dip up water.” The young man waded into the water, and as he was about to dip the water, again some one else spoke to him, and said: “Go beyond. Go further into the lake and get your water.” The young man went on into the lake, and just as he was about to take up the water, again some one else spoke to him, and said, “Do not dip up the water there, but go further into the lake to dip it.” The young man turned around, and said, “Who are you that speaks to me?” The man said: “I am the leader who took the young men out on the war-path. We ran into this lake and were killed, and we were all scalped. All around the edge of the lake the water is colored with our blood, and that is why I am telling you to go further into the lake to dip your water.” About this time the moon appeared. The night was windy and cloudy, so that every once in a while the clouds passed over the moon and hid it. The boy looked around, and he saw sitting near him a man whose head was all bloody, and whose hands and feet had been cut off. He had been stabbed in several places.

So the boy dipped his water, and said to the Scalped-Man: “I want to carry you upon my back to where we are camped, for the people will not believe me when I tell them that you were killed.” The Scalped-Man said, “Very well.” So the poor boy sat down and put the dead man upon his back. The poor boy carried the dead man to where the other men were. The poor boy placed the Scalped-Man outside of the tipi. He went into the tipi with the water.