Part 15

The warriors entered the lodge of the priests, and there they told the story, from the time they had left and from the time Young-Eagle overtook them, and the capturing of the ponies and the killing of the enemy. This was all true. Scalps were brought to Young-Eagle’s lodge, and the old man put them upon a long pole, and stuck the pole in the ground outside of the entrance of his lodge. The ponies that were left over after dividing them up between the warriors were given to Yellow-Calf’s father, who took only so many. Then Young-Eagle went out and gave the remainder of the ponies to the poor people.

Some people went to the other village, and reported all that Young-Eagle had done, and the father of Young-Eagle was ashamed, for he thought they were making fun of him, for when Young-Eagle had been at home he would never go out on the war-path. He did not believe the story; he believed the boy to be dead, for he had been away for some time. So all the sisters of Young-Eagle had cut their hair and mourned, as had also his father and mother.

Every time a war-party came to attack the village Young-Eagle was there to save the village. Once in a while, when a war-party went out, Young-Eagle followed. He did the same as he had done before. On one of these occasions he made up his mind that he would go and get his own likeness; for, although he had changed once, when first he had gone on the war-path, he still retained his big belly. One evening he went with his wife to the lake. He went into the lake. When he came out he had on his fine leggings, a fine robe and a mountain-lion quiver, and he was fine-looking, with long hair. The girl was proud of him now. They went home.

In a few days, Young-Eagle told Yellow-Calf to take all the scalps that he had taken, and saddle the ponies; for they were going to visit his father’s village. His father’s name was “Black-Sun.” They went south to Black-Sun’s village. One evening they came to the village. Young-Eagle left his wife outside of the village, and went to his father’s lodge. He told his father that he had come back. His father got up and made a fire. He told his woman to get up, for their son had come back. The four sisters got up from their beds and hugged their brother, for they had been mourning for him as dead. Young-Eagle told his sisters to go out and to bring their sister-in-law. They went out, and they found Yellow-Calf sitting outside of the lodge, holding three ponies. The girls embraced their sister-in-law and led her into the camp, took in the things that belonged to Young-Eagle and his wife, but led the ponies away. The stick with the scalps was fastened upon a long pole and stood up in front of the lodge.

Early on the next morning, Black-Sun got up and went through the village singing scalp songs, thus letting the people know that his son had returned with many scalps. The people heard it. They went out, and they saw the pole that had the scalps upon it. The people rushed into the lodge, and that very same day the braves and warriors decided that this Young-Eagle should lead the people to the girl’s village.

So the people of the other village went north, and the north and south tribes of the Arikara came together and became one tribe again.

FOOTNOTES:

[48] Told by Yellow-Bull.

48. THE GIRL WHO BECAME A WHIRLWIND.[49]

Many, many years ago the Arikara left their village and went west on a buffalo hunt. They left behind a family, the woman of which was leading a pony that dragged a travois with two children on it—a girl seven years old and a boy of five. As these people were crossing a little stream of water the pony jumped across the stream, and the children fell off. The woman, supposing the children still to be on the travois, never looked behind, and did not miss the children until she came into camp.

The men were then sent back to try to find the children, but they could not be found; for when they fell off, instead of following their parents they had gone back in the direction of their village, but instead of going into the village they had gone into the timber west of the village. There they wandered through the timber, and at last they came to a cave, where they stopped. The girl left the boy there while she went about trying to find something for him to eat. While the girl was gone, a Whirlwind came and took her far away. It was not long before the girl returned; but often after that she would go away for days. When she returned she was always very happy. Now, the boy told his sister that he wanted a bow and arrows; that he was all the time going around through the timber seeing rabbits and smaller game. The girl disappeared, and when she came back she had a bow and four blunt arrows. For many days the girl would disappear and then would return. One day the boy said: “My sister, I wander through the woods, and I am getting older; I think I ought to have a larger bow and many arrows.” So the girl said, “All right.” She went away, and when she came back she brought the bow and quiver filled with arrows for the boy. The boy was thankful for this. The girl disappeared very often. Every time she came home the boy would hear the storm coming, then, all at once, the girl would appear.

One day when the boy was out hunting, an Owl came to him, and said: “We have taken pity upon you. We have an animals’ lodge close by. We have taken pity upon you because your sister is now a wonderful being—a Whirlwind. She goes from one place to another, killing people. She has planned to kill you, that she may be the Whirlwind always. She thinks that you are in her way, for she has to look after you. Now, the girl travels far over the land. She visits places where people have food, and there she finds bows and arrows, knives, axes, and hoes, and she brings them here to your place. Testes autem moribus excidit, domumque adfert; eos frictos, dum dormis, dentibus frangit et mandit. To-night when she comes home, stay awake, for she intends to kill you soon. You will find out what she eats.” That night, when the boy lay down, he watched and waited for his sister. She came at last. She looked down and saw that her brother was sleeping, then she took some of her special meat and placed it upon hot coals, took it off and began to eat. When she got through eating, the boy arose and said, “Sister, I am glad you are back.” She said, “Well, I am going away, far away from here to-morrow, and I want you to stay here until I come back.” The next day the girl was gone. The Owl came to the boy, and said: “Make haste! Come!” So the boy followed the Owl, and as they traveled along the Owl said: “Do you see that cloud coming? That is the Whirlwind coming to destroy you. Make haste and come with me!” They ran, and as the Whirlwind was near, the boy was taken into the den of the Owls.

The Owls told the boy that when the Whirlwind should come it would make threats, but that they had taken pity upon him and would keep him there; but that there was something that this girl wanted, and they were going to tell him what it was. They said: “Your sister wants a woman. You tell her that the first woman you marry you will give her.” So the Whirlwind came to the side of the hill where the Owl’s den was. The wind blew and the girl spoke, and said: “You big Owl, turn that boy loose! He is mine! I must kill him!” But the Owls would not turn the boy loose. They said, “He is here under our protection.” The girl kept on demanding the boy. At last, the boy said, “My sister, if you will let me go, the first woman I marry I shall give to you.” The girl said: “That is what I want; I shall let you go.” So the boy was turned loose, and traveled towards his people.

When the boy came to his people, he saw that they were very poor. He entered his father’s lodge and told his father that he had come back. His father arose and built a big fire. He saw the boy sitting there and recognized him. The father asked about the sister. The boy said that his sister was well, but that she was far away. Then the boy told his father to tell the chief to come to their lodge. The boy told the chief that he had come to tell them that the buffalo were not very far away and that the people must go and kill these buffalo. The people sent hunters out and they found the buffalo as the boy had said they would. In a few days the enemy attacked this village, and they saw that the boy was a wonderful boy, for he made a way for his people to kill the enemy. The people cried through the village, and said that they should give him a nice young woman to marry. The chief’s daughter was the one to be given to him.

That night the boy went out and called for his sister. The sister came that night into the tipi and sat down by her brother, and said, “I have been far away.” The boy said: “My sister, I am now to marry. Here is the girl that I promised you.” The boy’s sister said, “That is what I want.” She went to the girl, and the sister and the boy’s wife were together. The boy went out. The next day the brother came into the lodge, and his sister said: “My brother, I give you this club and this medicine, and I give you the power that I possess—that of the Whirlwind. You will have power to kill the enemy. They will try to shoot you, but they can do you no harm. For many days I shall now go towards the southwest, where I shall always stay. When the wind comes you must know that I am the Whirlwind. I will listen to the prayers of our people. When I am coming do not let my people be afraid of me, for I shall always hear their prayers and shall always heed them. I shall not destroy them, but will always comfort them.” The young man became a famous warrior, and finally became a chief.

FOOTNOTES:

[49] Told by Many-Fox.

49. THE COYOTE AND THE MICE SUN DANCE.[50]

While the Coyote was wandering in the evening he heard dancing, but he could not see the dance anywhere. He went on walking around and hunting for the dance. He was about to give up, when he found that the noise of the dancing came from an elk skull in the bushes.

The Mice ran away as soon as the Coyote came up, but the Coyote begged to see them dance. He addressed them thus, “Uncles, I want to see you dance.” The Mice said: “We are afraid of you, for you may eat us. We would like to see you, but you are very tricky, and you might eat us.” The Coyote begged so hard, saying he had not seen his uncles for many months, and he wanted to see them; so the Mice agreed to let him into the dance. They let the Coyote peep into the back part of the skull, so that he could see the dance. As soon as the Coyote had run his head through the skull the Mice ran away, and the Coyote was held fast with his head in the skull. The Coyote begged the Mice to take the skull off, but the Mice would not listen to him. They told him to go away. So the Coyote went on his way, with the skull on his head.

The Coyote could not see very well, on account of the skull being over his eyes. He heard some noises at a distance. He went straight to a camp. He came to the edge of some water. The people saw the animal coming on the other side of the water, and some of them hallooed, “A wonderful animal coming on the other side of the water!” When the Coyote saw that the people were scared he commenced to make funny noises. Some of the people said, “Make way, so that we may be spared and live.” The Coyote said, “Give me the chief’s daughter and you shall all live.” The people gave him the chief’s daughter. The Coyote swam across the water and the people made a tipi for him. The girl took the Coyote by the horns and led him to the tipi. The Coyote stayed with the girl all night. In the morning the Coyote and the girl were sent for to come and eat. The Coyote was still close to the girl, and some boy saw that it was a Coyote. The boy yelled, “This being that is in the tipi with the girl is nothing but a Coyote!” The people rushed there and the Coyote was forced out beyond the tipi. As he could not see very well he ran into people and dogs. The people struck the skull until they broke it to pieces. They caught the Coyote and brought him home. They tied his legs with strings, drove some pegs into the ground, and tied him fast to the pegs. As the people went out they would go to the Coyote and urinate and defecate on him. One old woman went out to defecate on the Coyote, and as she lifted her dress she wanted to know how she was to do it. The Coyote told the woman that the first thing to be done was to pull the pegs, then pull up her dress, then defecate on him. The Coyote took a long stick, and as the woman lifted her dress and tried to defecate on him he ran the stick into her rectum, then stuck the stick in the ground. He then ran away and defecated as he went. For this reason the Coyote defecates easily and is always running from the people.

FOOTNOTES:

[50] Told by Joe Reed.

50. THE COYOTE BECOMES A BUFFALO.[51]

The Coyote was going along when he saw an old bull sitting down on the side of a hill. The Coyote went up to him, and said, “Well, my grandfather, are you sitting here sunning yourself?” The bull said, “Yes.” The Coyote said that he was hungry; that he would like the Buffalo to give him something to eat. The Buffalo said, “Why are you not like myself, a big Buffalo, eating grass.” The Coyote said, “Well, grandfather, I wish that you would make a Buffalo out of me.” So the Buffalo said: “All right. You will then have to break up your bow and arrows, for you will need them no more.” So the Buffalo placed the Coyote, and said, “Now you must keep a strong heart; do not get scared.” The Buffalo rushed at the Coyote, and just as he was about to hook the Coyote, the Coyote jumped sidewise. Then the Buffalo said: “Why did you get scared? Now stay right at this place, and I will come and make a Buffalo out of you.” But every time the Buffalo ran toward him the Coyote would jump away. The last time the Coyote stayed, and as the Buffalo went up against him there were two Buffalo bulls. They locked horns, then the Buffalo told the Coyote-Buffalo to eat grass. The Coyote-Buffalo obeyed and ate until he was filled. Then the Buffalo said, “We must go to the Buffalo herd, for there is one bull there who has control of all the female Buffalo, and we will fight him, and when we have killed him we can have all the female Buffalo.” So they went to the Buffalo herd. The Buffalo bull was going around among the Buffalo. They were waiting to fight him when it should come time. They fought, and they killed the Buffalo bull.

Now each bull took many cows to look after. When they all came together they lay down in a hollow for the night. The next night the Buffalo all jumped and traveled toward the western country. When the Coyote-Buffalo got up he saw that he had been left behind, all alone. He arose, but did not follow the other people. The Coyote-Buffalo came across a Coyote, and said: “Why are you not as I am? I was a Coyote once, but now I am a Buffalo.” The Coyote-Buffalo told the Coyote to throw his bow and arrows away, for he was going to make him into a Buffalo. He set the Coyote in a certain place and made a rush at him. The Coyote jumped sidewise. Three times did the Coyote-Buffalo try to run into the Coyote, but every time the Coyote jumped sidewise. The last time, the Coyote-Buffalo said, “Now you must close your eyes and let me run over you.” The Coyote obeyed and the Coyote-Buffalo ran into him, and there were two Coyotes instead of the Coyote-Buffalo and the Coyote. So the Coyote-Buffalo turned back into a Coyote.

FOOTNOTES:

[51] Told by Antelope.

51. THE COYOTE AND THE ARTICHOKE.[52]

The Coyote was going along through thick timber. He saw an Artichoke plant, which he dug up. He asked it its name. The Artichoke said, “Cososit,” meaning artichoke. The Coyote wanted to know if he had any other name. The Artichoke said, “Take-a-Bite.” When it said that, the Coyote took a bite. The Artichoke repeated this name four times, and every time it repeated it the Coyote took a bite of the Artichoke. Finally, the Coyote had eaten the Artichoke.

The Coyote went on, and again and again he expelled flatus, moving his feet each time. Every time he expelled flatus he seemed to grow worse. Once it threw him up in the air. Now, before expelling flatus, he got hold of a tree, and he said, “Now let me expel flatus.” The flatus threw him up in the air, tree and all. Again he went on, and he came to a stone, and when he knew he was to expel flatus, he said, “Now let me expel flatus.” This he did, and the stone went up with the Coyote. The stone fell on the Coyote and killed him. This is the reason we find coyotes lying beside stones.

FOOTNOTES:

[52] Told by Cut-Arm.

52. THE COYOTE RIDES THE BEAR.[53]

The Coyote was going along through the timber, and he met a Bear. The Coyote made all kinds of threats against the Bear, and finally got on his back and rode him. All at once the Coyote jumped off and said, “You can go your way, and I will go mine!” The Coyote went up on the top of a hill, to see if the Bear was still going, but he did not see him. Then the Coyote yelled, and said, “You Bear, you claim to be a fierce animal, and here I have ridden upon your back!” The Bear, hearing this, became mad. He turned around, and said: “I will kill that being, whoever he is. No matter where he goes, I will follow him.” So the Bear ran up the hill, and when the Coyote saw the Bear coming he ran. The Bear caught up with the Coyote on the next hill, and killed the Coyote and tore him up.

FOOTNOTES:

[53] Told by Antelope.

53. THE COYOTE RIDES THE BUFFALO.[54]

There was a village, and in the village lived one young girl who was very pretty. All the young men courted her, but she did not care to marry. A Buffalo came who wanted to marry her. Once in a while he would turn into a young man, nicely dressed and smelling very fine. The girl became very much attached to the Buffalo.

The Coyote came to visit the girl, and he talked to her. The girl said she did not care to talk to anybody now, because she had a young man, and that young man was the Buffalo. The Coyote said: “Why, that Buffalo is my horse. I ride him.” The girl said, “If you will ride that Buffalo here I will marry you.” The Coyote went home, took a club and hit himself very hard on the knee, so as to make it sore. The Buffalo came to the girl to talk with her. The girl told the Buffalo what the Coyote had said. The Buffalo was mad, and said, “I am going to bring the Coyote here and kill him.” The Buffalo pawed the ground and threw up the dirt. The Coyote saw the Buffalo coming. The Buffalo called to the Coyote to come out. He said: “I want you to go with me to the girl’s tipi; I am to kill you.” The Coyote said, “I am a cripple, I can not go.” “It is not true,” said the Buffalo. “Come out, uncle, can’t you? Come on.” Said the Coyote, “If you want me to go, and can carry me to the girl’s tipi, I will go.” The Buffalo agreed to carry the Coyote. The Buffalo got down on his knees and the Coyote got on top of him and sat upon him. The Coyote had a cane that he was to hit the Buffalo with.

The Coyote jumped up and ran back to the village and married the girl. The Buffalo was so ashamed that he never came back to the village. For this reason, the descendants of the Coyote are bad and tricky. By foul means, they marry.

FOOTNOTES:

[54] Told by Cut-Arm.

54. THE COYOTE AND THE BUFFALO RUN A RACE.[55]

Once when a Coyote was sauntering along he looked up and saw a Buffalo a long distance off. The Coyote ran, and nearly caught up with the Buffalo. The Coyote saw the Buffalo drop chips. He went and ate some of them. The Buffalo looked around and saw the Coyote eating the chips. The Buffalo turned back and asked the Coyote what he was doing. The Coyote said: “O, you shaggy-looking thing; why do you not go on your way and not bother a poor fellow like me? I am eating some pemmican that some fellow must have dropped.” After a while, the Coyote said, “Say, grandfather, can you run?” “Yes,” said the Buffalo, “I can run fast.” “But,” said the Coyote, “I do not see how you can run with such big feet. Then there is danger of your breaking your legs. Ah, grandfather,” said the Coyote, “I think I can beat you. I am a man who has fought in battles, and have killed many people on account of my swiftness. If you are willing to run with me, do not stand there and laugh at me. I can beat you.” So the Buffalo said, “If you want to run a race, I will run with you, and I will show you that my legs can carry me a long way and beat you.” “All right,” said the Coyote, “I will go and measure the ground, and we will run.” So the Coyote went away and selected a place. The place selected was a tableland, and there was a steep bank at the other end. The Coyote set landmarks near the steep bank and winked to himself, and said, “Now I will have a whole buffalo to eat,” for at the bottom of this steep place there was a rock. The Coyote went where the Buffalo stood, and said: “Now we will run. As soon as we get to the two landmarks I have made we will run fast. At this place we will close our eyes. When we have gone a short distance we will open our eyes and see who is in the lead.” The Buffalo agreed. They began the race, and as they came to the landmarks, the Coyote said, “Now run your best and close your eyes.” The Coyote, being on the right side of the Buffalo, closed his left eye. The Buffalo ran with his eyes closed and jumped over the steep bank. The Coyote stopped, looked, and saw the Buffalo lying dead at the bottom of the steep bank.

The Coyote went down and skinned the Buffalo and cut him up. He then took the meat to a place where there was a creek, and there he put up a small lodge for himself. He made a fire and roasted some meat. Then he went out to see if he could see any one. He saw a Fox coming along. He waited for the Fox. When the Fox came up, the Coyote said, “My friend, I want you to come to my lodge and pack water for me.” The Fox said, “I will go with you and pack water for you.” So they went together and entered the lodge. The Coyote fixed the buffalo pouch for a bucket, and said, “Fox, you go after water with this pouch.” The Fox obeyed. Before he got to the creek he had eaten up the pouch. Four times the Coyote gave the Fox a pouch to bring water, and every time the Fox would say, “Coyote, as I dipped water, something came and took away my pouch.” The Coyote was mad, and he took some coals and threw them into the Fox’s face, so that the Fox cried and ran off. The Fox told his story to every animal he met. All the living animals got together, and when the Coyote was fast asleep they went in and ate all he had in his lodge. When he woke up he found all his meat gone, and he went away crying.

When you have plenty, do not trust your friends, or they will get all you have.

FOOTNOTES:

[55] Told by New-Man.

55. THE COYOTE AND THE DANCING CORN.[56]