Part 18

One night as the medicine-men were having their ceremony this man who had been put upon the scaffold came into the lodge. All the medicine-men ran out of the lodge. Word was sent to the man who was the keeper of the wonderful robe.[72] He went into the lodge and found the dead man lying upon a buffalo robe. The man wrapped the dead man in the robe and packed him to the river. He threw him into the river, saying, “You wonderful man, I throw you into the river, and your bones shall stay here.” The man went to the lodge. Sweet grass and wild sage were burned in the lodge. The medicine-men then resumed their performances. In about a month the medicine-men’s ceremony was over. Each medicine-man took his medicine things to his lodge and wrapped them up.

The month came to an end and the Indians looked for the enemy. One fine day the Indians saw the Sioux coming from over the hills. There were so many that the people became scared. The keeper of the holy robe sat down in his lodge. The men were going out to meet and fight the enemy. The enemy were so numerous that the medicine-man with the holy robe and the robe’s belongings made medicine-smoke, then laid down the gourd [rattle]. He took the robe and wrapped it about his body, the hair side turned out. The inside had the sun, moon, and stars upon it. He then took an eagle wing in his left hand, the gourd in his right hand, went out and climbed upon the top of his lodge. By this time the enemy were close to the village. This man upon the lodge then shook himself, and shook the robe towards the sun, then he closed the robe. While he was doing this the enemy noticed some of their men fall off from their horses, bleeding from their lungs and seeming to be out of their heads. The enemy saw the man upon the lodge. They became scared. A shout was heard. The enemy gave way and ran; for the power of the man was so great that whoever came under his power ran into the village, powerless to defend himself. The enemy gave way, and there was great slaughtering. The village was saved.

The wonderful man went into his lodge and made sweet-smelling smoke, passed his robe over the smoke several times, then wrapped it and hung it up. The gourd was then passed over the smoke and hung up by the robe. The medicines were then passed over the smoke and put away. The man had red clay all over his body while going through this performance. He also passed smoke all over his body, and said: “I am satisfied. Our village is saved. The enemy are killed. Scalps will be brought in, so we can have great rejoicing.” Scalps were brought, and there was great rejoicing. There were three different kinds of scalp dances given by the women. One was a dance learned from the Cheyenne, another from the Grosventre, and another from the Pawnee. Of course, they had their own scalp-dance, but these three were the best dances.

Some years after, some of the Sioux visited the Arikara, and they told of the strange man, and that he was a Wichita. The Sioux also said that at that time many tribes had got together to annihilate the Arikara.

FOOTNOTES:

[71] Told by Sitting-Bear.

[72] The tribal medicine of the Arikara.

71. THE MEDICINE BEAR SHIELD.[73]

I was fourteen winters old when my father died. I did not go to see him buried, for I was feeling very bad. After the people had come away from where my father was buried I went to the place. There was the grave. The people had stuck two forks in the ground and placed a pole across the forks. Then some poles were placed on the sides, and instead of piling stones and dirt over the grave a buffalo robe was spread over it, so that there was no dirt. Stones were placed on the robe where it touched the ground. I cried and cried, and in the evening I fell asleep. I dreamed I had seen a Bear standing by my father’s grave, and I was scared. The Bear spoke, and I always believed that it was my father who spoke to me, and said: “My son, the shield was upon the grave; some one has removed it. Find it; it is yours.” I slept a long time, for when I woke it was nearly daylight. I stood up and cried again, and stood by the grave all day. I was young. There were many enemies in the country, but I did not care. In the evening I saw clouds coming from the west. Soon a rain storm came, but I did not go home. When it began to pour I ran to a steep bank. There was a crevice. I crawled in there and lay down. It was now dark. I did not go to sleep, for I kept my eyes upon the grave. There was a lightning flash. The flash struck near the grave. I saw standing by the grave a Bear, its paws upward toward the sky. It became dark again. I kept my eyes upon the grave. Again the lightning flashed and again the lightning struck by the grave, where I saw the lightning come together and form a circle with a black mark upon the center. On each side of the black mark were black spots, as if the circle had eyes and nose. I watched the circle, and I was satisfied that the black center mark was a Bear. The two marks I saw were Bear’s ears. On each ear I saw branches of cedar and pine. As it was dark the circle gradually disappeared, and I saw in its place a rainbow. Then it disappeared. The rain storm passed, and I crawled out from the place and went to the grave and began to cry. I cried all night, and also the next day. In the evening I fell asleep. In my dream I saw my father, who told me that a shield was placed upon his grave, and that Howling-Wolf had taken the shield from the grave. My father further told me that the shield belonged to me and that I must get it and make another one such as I had seen the night before. He further told me to go home and get the shield.

I awoke in the morning and went home. I asked my people who took the shield from my father’s grave, and they told me that some one had taken it from the grave. I told them who had it, and my mother went to the lodge of the man, who said, “Yes, I took it, but I threw the cover away, for I intended to make a new cover for it.” The frame of the shield was given up by the man to me. I took it home, and I had my people make another cover, a cover I had seen myself upon my father’s grave. You see the picture of the Bear as I saw it. It is throwing up white-dust. The left side of the shield is a Bear’s ear. Inside of it are cedar berries. The right ear has pine cones in it. I hunted, and I killed a deer. The deer skin was tanned and these things were put upon the tanned buckskin—the picture of the Bear and Bear’s ears. On a buffalo hunt I killed a buffalo bull and made the inner shield. This I did by getting the whole breast hide of a bull. After I got it I spread it upon the ground. I took all of the meat off. I then dug a hole and made a big fire in it. When the fire went down and there were only coals and hot stones I spread the hide over the bed of coals and drove stakes around the hide, so that the hide when it shrunk pulled the stakes up. As the hide shrunk it became thick. While hot, I cut around the rim until I got it of the right size. Now a ceremony was in order. Songs were sung while the covering of the shield was being painted as you now see. The red, downy eagle feather was put there for the first lightning, which was very red. The ears were put upon the shield, so the shield would have understanding. There are three songs that are sung when the shield is being made. The shield was made, and I hung it up. In the night I took it into the lodge. Before sunrise I would take the shield and hang it up so that it faced towards the east.

When I saw fifteen winters I joined a war-party. After we had gone several days we saw a Sioux coming. We hid away in a ravine and as he came near where we were I jumped up, holding the shield in front of me. Another man in our party shot and hit the Sioux in the breast. I struck the Sioux with my bow and counted my first coup. I returned to where the Sioux fell, for I had run beyond. I jumped upon the Sioux and took only his scalplock. This I took to my grandfather, who took the scalp to the lodge of the holy bundle. The ceremony of offering the scalp to the gods was performed. After this ceremony the chiefs had their ceremony, and I was made a chief. I was invited to sit among the great chiefs. An old man arose and, taking up a buckskin shirt, called me to him. He put the buckskin shirt upon me. He said: “My son, I put upon you a dress that is white; there are no marks upon the shirt. It is fringed upon the sleeves and body with ermine. You are now a young chief. See that you are always brave and as you strike enemies and scalp them make marks upon your shirt, so that these chiefs who are present here will be proud that you wear their shirt. When you come to old age this shirt will be covered with many marks, representing your deeds in battles.” After this ceremony I again joined other war-parties. I gave many scalps to my grandfather. When the enemy attacked our village I wore my shield, and though the enemy shot at me I was never hit. When the battle would be over there would be young men brought in from the battlefield wounded.

Another time my people had what is now known as the “sun dance.” My grandfather took me in and placed me upon the ground. He spoke to the old warriors, and said: “Medicine-men and warriors, I bring this young man into this lodge. I want you, medicine-men, to paint him and place this lariat rope upon the pole, and cut upon his back so that he will swing. Warriors, in cutting upon his back, tell of your great deeds, so that my grandson will overtake your great deeds in his life and become a great man. I have many ponies to give you, and his mother and relatives will give you presents.” Two of the medicine-men arose and painted my body. Then one of the medicine-men spoke, and said: “Warriors, the young man is ready to be cut upon the back.” One warrior arose and came to where I lay. This warrior told of his great deeds, then cut me upon my right shoulder-blade. It hurt, but I kept courage. The next man then came and put a stick through the cut and tied it with the buckskin string. The next warrior came and told of his great deeds, then cut upon my left shoulder and ran the stick through, tying the buckskin. Each of these men received a fine pony from my friends, also all the gifts brought in by my friends. The warriors now pulled the lariat rope, so that I now swung about four feet from the ground. I swung there one day and one night. One of my related warriors seeing me swing there so long arose, and said: “Medicine-men and warriors, this is the youngest man ever brought into such a lodge as this. I have a present of a fine racing pony for him. Now cut these strings.” When he said this, many of my friends came in and spread presents of robes and other presents. No sooner would the giver place the presents than some one would come and take them away. A warrior arose and came where I hung. He told of fighting a duel with a Sioux and how he had cut him up with a knife. This man’s name was Bloody-Knife. He cut the strips of skin, and I fell to the ground. I was taken out of the lodge. Then I was fed with pounded corn and tallow. A few days after, the Sioux attacked our village and again I counted coup and also struck the enemy. I had an easy time in battle; I think it was because of the sufferings I went through in the ceremony. I danced the sun dance many times after that, but always suffered, for the old medicine-men had died and young men took their places.

FOOTNOTES:

[73] Told by Strike-Enemy.

72. THE CRUCIFIED ENEMY.[74]

Many years ago there stood a village made of earth-lodges. In the village there were some people who wanted to go on a buffalo hunt. They were mostly young men and young women. The older people were left in the village. After many days the enemy were seen in the distance.

The old people who remained in the village were somewhat confused and frightened. When the enemy approached, the men marched out and fought them desperately. Finally the people of the village retreated. They all got inside of their lodges. The men stood by their doors, fighting the enemy. In one of the lodges sat an old man. He was putting on his medicine paint and costumes. After he had finished he went out, having a gourd in his hand, but no weapon. He went on top of the lodge and sang some of his most sacred songs, that there might come aid from some of the gods. When the enemy saw him they were much amazed, and very much afraid of him. Some one said that he knew the old medicine-man, and that they could not do anything to him, for he was a medicine-man who had the power to mesmerize. So they all ran, crying: “We can not do anything with him! Hurry on, before he works on us!” The old man ran behind them. One young man on the enemy’s side was wounded and brought into the village. He was taken into the medicine-lodge, and they all saw him. He had been one of the bravest men, and had all kinds of medicines on his head and around his neck. Finally it was agreed that he should be tied up to a wooden cross and be placed outside of the village. They did this, and the man died. After a while he lost all of his flesh, but the bones were left on the cross.

Many young men used to go outside of the village near the cross to play at games. One day while they were playing, the bones of the man on the cross fell to the ground, rose up and ran toward the village. Everybody ran away, because of the ghost. The ghost ran toward the medicine-lodge and ran inside, but no one would go in, for everyone was afraid. At last one brave man came forward who dared to go in. He looked all around and found the man from the cross under some blankets upon the altar. He called to the others. They all came in and saw the ghost lying there. They gathered the bones and bundled them up in an old basket, then threw them away. After this had passed, the party that had gone on a buffalo hunt returned with lots of dried meat. Of course, the people who stayed were very glad to see them again. The happenings and results were told to them.

FOOTNOTES:

[74] Told by Hawk.

73. HOW A SIOUX WOMAN’S SCALP WAS SACRIFICED.[75]

In the fall there were five or six of us who went on the war-path. We came to the Pine Ridge Agency, and there hid, close to where the Sioux got their water. Two women came down to the spring to get water. We all ran towards the women. The women ran. One young man caught up with one woman, grabbed at her hair, took his knife, and took the scalp off from the right side of the woman’s head. The woman ran into the camp.

We returned to our leader and gave the scalp to him. The leader then said, “We must hurry home.” We walked all day and all night, and another day and night. The next day we found the thick timber, and there we lay down to rest. When we woke up, the leader took the fat off from the scalp. He then called one of the men. He then cut the fat, making it into five pieces. Facing the east, he placed four of the five pieces in his hand—one on each corner of his palm—and the fifth piece he placed in the center of the palm. He then took the pieces, one at a time, beginning with the one on the southeast corner, then the southwest corner, then the northwest corner, then the northeast corner, and placed them in a similar position upon the ground, which was to show that the scalp was to be offered to the gods. We then went home.

We gave the scalp to one of the high priests, who held the scalp ceremony. At this ceremony we used the fire-sticks to make the fire for burning this scalp. The scalp was burned. After the burning of the scalp the people turned out, passing their holy bundles and medicine bags over the smoke. The priest stood to the west of the burning scalp and recited a ritual, calling on the gods. The young men and children who wanted their names changed gave presents to the priests, who changed their names for them.

FOOTNOTES:

[75] Told by Sitting-Bear.

74. THE WARRIOR WHO FOUGHT THE SIOUX.[76]

When the Indians used to live at the Fort Berthold village a few of them moved about ten miles west of Fort Berthold, on the Missouri River bottom, in the timber. This was in the winter time. Strike-Enemy and some others went to the Fort Berthold village.

When Strike-Enemy was about a mile from the village he was attacked by a hundred or more Sioux. He held them back, for he had a rifle. He reached the fort; then the Sioux surrounded it. The people in the fort all fought the Sioux. It seems that one man had gone out to hunt antelope. He had killed one antelope, and was bringing it towards the fort. He could not see ahead, for he was carrying a whole antelope upon his back; but when he heard a noise he saw that the Sioux had attacked the fort. He threw down the antelope and ran. This all happened in the winter time when the snow was on the ground. The Sioux found the man’s tracks, and they followed him. They caught up with the man about six miles west of the fort. Here he stopped, and the first Sioux he came to he killed. He then jumped on the enemy he had killed and cut him open with his knife, cut his arm off at the shoulder and commenced to hit the man on his head with his own arm. The Sioux were shooting at him from behind with their arrows. The hunter did not pay any attention to the shooting. He stood up, gave a big yell, like that of a bear, and the Sioux ran. Then the hunter again cut the Sioux upon the breast and began to put blood upon his face. When he straightened up, the Sioux saw that he had a piece of liver in his mouth. He chased them and took away all their ponies. He caught one pony, got on it, and ran after them. The Sioux say that they were scared, for they had never seen anybody acting in this way, for the hunter seemed like a bear. He gave them back their ponies, then went away, but the Sioux would not come near him. He took only one pony and went into some timber. That night a blizzard set in. The next day he was found frozen. He still had the arrows in his back. The Arikara and Sioux both tell this story.

FOOTNOTES:

[76] Told by Strike-Enemy.

75. THE CAPTURE OF THE ENEMY’S BOWS.[77]

In olden times the young men in a village went on the war-path. While they were gone the Sioux came down to the village and captured all their old women and children, killing many. A young man returned to the village and found out what had happened. He found his brother coming from a thickly timbered place, who told him that his father was in hiding in the timber. These three were the only ones around the village. The young man was angry. He told his father and brother that he wanted them to follow him to the Sioux. This they did.

One evening they came up with the enemy, who were in camp by a creek. The young man said, “We will attack this camp.” The three went through the timber. They saw the big campfires, mostly of their people, but there were some Sioux warriors stationed out, watching. The young man looked up at the stars, then at the trees, and at everything. Then he said to the two—his father and brother—“We must make an attack, give a big war-whoop, and make it sound as if there were many people.” So the three gave the war-whoop and attacked the camp. The oldest man, at the same time, yelled: “My people, do not run, but pick up your bows! We are here!” When they gave the war-whoop the trees all seemed to give the war-whoop—even the grass gave the war-whoop. The stars seemed to give the war-whoop. War-whoops sounded all through the timber. The birds and everything seemed to give the war-whoop. The enemy were frightened. They ran. The people stayed behind. They captured the enemy’s bows and several of their people. Then they followed the enemy. The next day they came up with them and killed a great many. The people then took the enemy’s bows and arrows and took them up on a high hill. They set them up, with one bow in the middle and all the other bows resting on it. So all the bows and arrows were set upon the high hill. The hill was known after that as “Enemy’s-Bows-Upon-a-High-Hill.”

FOOTNOTES:

[77] Told by Yellow-Bear.

76. THE WOMAN WHO BEFRIENDED THE WARRIORS.[78]

When the Arikara had their village on the Missouri River there were two boys who started out on the war-path. They went away up on the Missouri River. They went down to the fields and found a little earth-lodge. They went in and found an old woman, who was glad to see them. She gave them something to eat. She told them where to go. There they went, and found the enemy. They killed one or two, then went home. Again they went on the war-path. They visited the old woman’s place again, and she fed them. After they had eaten she told them where to go to find the enemy. They went and found the enemy. They killed the enemy and took scalps home. At another time several other young men joined their war-party. They went up to the old woman’s place and there they were again fed, and they were told by the old woman where to find the enemy. They found the enemy, killed several, took their scalps, and went home. After this, whenever the two young men wanted to go on the war-path, many young men joined them. They found that these two young men had a grandmother, who was helping them. In one of these war-parties against the enemy there were so many young men in the party that when the old woman saw them she felt ashamed; but she told the people to go on; that they would find the enemy and would kill and scalp them. The people did kill the enemy, took their scalps, and went home.

Again, another war-party went out to find the old woman, but the old woman had disappeared. The men came and told the two boys. The two boys hunted for her, and at last found her in the side of a cliff in the Bad Lands. Here the two boys visited her, and she helped them. Other men found out where she was and a great company of them went there, but she had again disappeared. Another party of warriors went out. They came to a big lake. The warriors made their camp there. In the night they heard a woman singing scalp-dance songs, and she danced and laughed. The warriors were scared. They wanted to return home, but the leader said, “No, she is rejoicing, for we are to kill the enemy.” The warriors went on, found the enemy’s camp, and they killed several and took their scalps. They took the scalps home, and they had a scalp-dance. Again, another war-party went out. They went and stopped opposite the lake. The dancing and singing was again heard. The leaders were glad to hear this. They went and killed the enemy and scalped them.

Another war-party went out. They stopped opposite the lake. The woman, instead of singing and dancing, began to mourn. But the warriors went on, notwithstanding, and when they attacked the enemy the enemy got the best of them, killed several of them, and only a few of them reached home to tell the story. After that, when a war-party went to the lake, whenever the old woman sang scalp-dance songs and danced, they knew that they were going to be successful. If the woman began to cry and yell, they knew that if they went on, the enemy would get the best of them. It was found out afterwards that this was the same old woman who had lived upon the Missouri River, and she had gone away from the people and had gone to the Bad Lands; and when she was found out there she went off to dwell in the lakes. The people used to give the old woman blankets, tobacco, and other things.

FOOTNOTES:

[78] Told by Enemy-Heart.

77. THE ATTACK UPON THE EAGLE HUNTERS.[79]