Part 7

The next day the boy started out on the prairie for game. He met a camp of Snakes, mostly deadly Rattlesnakes, and there were all the other kinds of Snakes. They were glad to have him come. They invited him in. They gave him the best seat. He knew what danger there was to meet. So as he sat down he took out a smooth stone which he used for sharpening his knife, and placed it in his anus. The room was clean and there was a ridge around the fire for a pillow. Time and again he noticed a Snake disappear and attack him where he had defended himself. He knew it. They said: “He must be hungry. Give him something.” They gave him a spleen. He took it and looked at it. He replied that he could not eat it raw; so he poked up the fire and threw the spleen in. It cracked and made the audience wild. The spleen was the teeth of all these Snakes. The boy knew the secret and could not be fooled so easily.

The Snakes, resting on the square pillow-like structure, demanded of the boy that he relate some happenings or stories, to pass the night pleasantly. He refused to be first. He agreed to take his turn with them. They began. Each Snake had for his subject the life of their guest and that of his grandmother. When all were through with their stories the boy began his story: “Nesaru commanded the winds to blow; at evening they stop, the trees stop rustling, the grass keeps on for a while, but they all fall asleep.” This much of the story put a part of them to sleep. “Nesaru sends hurricanes of trials and hardships in our lives; the same to all kinds of trees and to large, deep rivers; they rage and beat against their banks, the water gets dirty, there comes on the gentle night, soft breezes, the trees quiet down, the rivers are calmed, the waters clear up and they are asleep.” This was the end of the boy’s story. The remainder of them fell asleep.

The boy thought of how he was to have been treated, and he decided to be avenged. He took from his belt his sharp knife and cut along a straight line on the square structure, cutting off the head of every Snake until he came to the last one, which slid away, saying as he went, “Old-Woman’s-Boy, I will remember all.”

As the boy left he was very particular as to how he should carry himself. Having gone many miles he thought all danger was over. He placed his arrows around him, bidding them to awaken him when danger was near.

While he was sleeping his enemy came. Before the arrow could give the alarm the Snake entered his body. Grasping his knife he cut his stomach open. Up went the snake’s head to his breast. He cut his breast open. Up it went to his throat. He cut his throat open. Up it went, into his head, and rested there. His father above knew all of this. He sent a great wind which turned the boy’s head over, so that his opened œsophagus turned toward the wind. Then came a hard rain, filling every corner of his head. The Snake’s head would peep out of the boy’s head, but the boy would say, “Old-Woman’s Grandson is still alive.” There came a scorching heat, and the water began to make the Snake peep out its head, but the boy would say, “Old-Woman’s-Grandson is still alive.” It got too hot for the Snake. It fled, and the boy sprang to his feet and caught it. “You will suffer punishment, and you will always be ashamed and crawl on your body in the dirt, your head down, avoiding all decent creatures that Nesaru made.” He took the Snake and knocked his head on a flat rock until it was flat and its eyes were close to its mouth.

The reason the boy was afraid of the fœtus was that it was the time of the year when all young animals are as yet unborn, and the cluster of stars to which the boy’s father belonged is never seen at this time to come up with the rest. The boy knew that his father could not be present to help him, and so he did not dare to do anything to help himself.

FOOTNOTES:

[16] Told by White-Bear.

16. NO-TONGUE AND THE SUN AND THE MOON.[17]

There was a young man in a village who wanted to be great. In olden times the chief thing among the people was to be a great warrior. The young men in those times used to go out among the hills, and then find a place to stand and mourn. They used to stay away from home four or five days without drinking or eating.

Now this particular young man went out alone, upon a high hill, to mourn. In the afternoon a little bird came to him, and said: “This is not the place where you should stand. I will show you where you must stand.” So the little bird flew and the boy followed. The bird stopped at a certain place, and the boy stood there. Late in the evening a man came to the boy. The man was all painted red, and he said to him: “I am glad to see you. You are going to be my son, and I am going to take you with me now. All I want from you is your tongue.” So the young man pulled his tongue out, cut it off and handed it to the man. As he handed his tongue to the man he fell down and died. It was now dark, and as the young man fell the Moon rose and saw this young man fall down, and the Moon said to himself: “That man who has killed this young man is always trying to do something that is not right. I know who that man is; it is the Sun. I know that he has taken this young man’s tongue.” So the Moon went to the young man and touched his feet, and the young man waked and sat up.

When No-Tongue saw the strange man he did not know what to do. He was not the same man who had taken his tongue. This man looked white, because he was the Moon. The Moon asked No-Tongue why he had given away his tongue and to whom he had given it. No-Tongue answered, “How can I talk without a tongue?” The Moon said, “Speak, and tell me.” So the boy spoke, and he found that he was able to talk. So he began to tell what the man looked like. The Moon said he was sure that the man was the Sun. Then the Moon spoke to No-Tongue, and said: “The Sun was trying to kill you. No-Tongue, hereafter you shall be my son; but let your other father, the Sun, come after you first. I must tell you what to say. You will not be killed by the Sun. The Sun is coming for you to-morrow morning, and when you go up to our dwelling place (the heavens) he is going to show you some things that he has. You must now be careful not to take the new things that he has, but you shall take the old things. Take the old weapons. The Sun thinks a great deal of these old weapons.” This is all that the Moon said. The Moon then disappeared.

In the morning, the Sun came to No-Tongue and took him up into the sky to his home, and said, “Now, my son, I want you to choose of these things that I have here.” No-Tongue took the oldest things. When the Sun saw that No-Tongue took the best things—the oldest ones—he came out from his lodge crying, because this would give No-Tongue a long life, and would also make him become great, and this was what the Sun did not want of No-Tongue. He had thought that No-Tongue would surely take the new things. But if No-Tongue had taken the new things, that would have shortened his life and made it impossible for No-Tongue to become great. Then the Sun began to think of some way to kill No-Tongue, but he never could take back the things No-Tongue had taken, having promised them to him. As they came out from the Sun’s lodge the Sun said: “My son, look. There is your home. Look all around you. You can see everything plainly. When you go home, after two days have passed, you must go on the war-path, and you will conquer old enemies. You will have all you want. You are to be great. But when you, my son, go home, give to me a white buffalo robe.” So the Sun went away.

When night came, the Moon came out and spoke to No-Tongue, and asked what the Sun had said to him. No-Tongue told the Moon all that the Sun had told him, and the Moon said, “Do not give him the white buffalo robe, but give that to me, and get a dark-brown robe for the Sun.” The Moon then began to tell No-Tongue what to do. He told him to get some white clay and make powder out of it, and then pour the white powder all over the robe, so that it would look white. So No-Tongue did as he was told to do.

When the Sun received the white buffalo robe, which really was not white, he was proud of it; furthermore, he was proud that his son had obtained it for him. One day he hung the robe out, and the wind was blowing hard. The wind shook all the white clay out of the robe, so that the robe turned to a dark-brownish color. Then the Sun saw that it was not a real white buffalo robe, and did not like it.

When the Moon and the Sun got together, the Sun said, “I am sorry for what my son has done to me, and now my dear son is going to kill him.” The Sun had a son who belonged to another tribe, and this was the son who was to kill No-Tongue. So the Moon heard all that the Sun had to say.

One night the Moon saw No-Tongue, and told the young man all that the Sun had said. The Moon said that the Sun could not do anything to kill him. The Moon said: “The man that you are to fight with is going to try to shake hands with you, because he is your cousin,—not a real cousin, but because you are the son of the Sun and so is he,—so he is your cousin. He is the one who has been selected to kill you. But do not be afraid; I shall be with you and will help you all I can. Do not shake hands with the young man, your cousin, and if you must shake hands, do not shake with your right hand. Be very careful not to let him strike you first. If you should shake hands with him, strike him. You must not let him strike you first; and when you have killed him, cut his head off and put it under a big stone that shall be near you, so that the Sun will not make him live again. By placing the head under the stone the Sun will be prevented from bringing him to life.” The Moon also said, “Be careful to do what I have told you to do.” No-Tongue was glad. The Moon also told No-Tongue that the young man he was to fight with was named Little-Sun.

Two days after this some warriors went out on the war-path. Before they had gone far the Sun went to No-Tongue, and said: “My son, I am glad you are going on the war-path; I want you to kill a man for me. He is coming. He thinks he is great, but he is not. So kill him for me.” The Sun said all of this, not meaning it, for he was planning that Little-Sun might kill No-Tongue. So the warriors started on the war-path, and in a few days they came to the place which they thought would be a good place to remain for a while. The leaders selected scouts to go out and look over the country. The scouts went up a high hill, and there they met the spies of the enemy coming up from the other side. These did not stop, but turned straight back again, and went and told the enemy, and of course the other scouts turned back and told their leaders that the enemy was coming. So in the morning, the two sets of people came together, and they fought a battle; but before starting the battle there was a man who stood in front of the enemy’s line, and said, “No-Tongue, I want you to come and shake hands with me, for you are amongst those people.” No-Tongue went to him, and when they were nearly together, everybody saw that the two were dressed so as to look very much alike, but they did not know that they were to fight each other; but the two knew that they were to fight, and that they were both sons of the Sun. No-Tongue did what the Moon had told him to do. He killed Little-Sun. Then No-Tongue’s people defeated the enemy. They took many scalps, and returned home.

The Sun became mad at No-Tongue, because he had killed Little-Sun, for the Sun had expected No-Tongue to be killed. The Sun had tried three times to kill No-Tongue; so the fourth time, the Sun himself was going to scalp No-Tongue, so that the people would make fun of him. Then the Sun told his other son, Big-Sun, to try and kill No-Tongue. No-Tongue was the only one living. He was the one who had not treated his father, the Sun, right, for the Sun had not treated No-Tongue right in the first place. But No-Tongue had been assisted by the Moon.

The third time the Sun tried to kill No-Tongue, he changed himself into a Buffalo, so that the Buffalo ran after No-Tongue, but the young man, No-Tongue, ran into a mud-hole, and the Buffalo fell in too. No-Tongue got out of the muddy place, but the Buffalo could not come out, because he was so heavy. No-Tongue told a lot of men to get some dried willows and to place them upon the back of the Buffalo. This they did. They set the wood on fire, so that the Buffalo burned up.

In the evening, when the Sun and Moon were together in the heavens, the Sun said: “I shall do something to No-Tongue, some way.” The Moon heard the Sun say this. Then the Sun said to the Moon: “Just see what my son No-Tongue has done; he burned my back. To-morrow morning I am going to scalp him, so the people in the village will be afraid to see him, and so they will make fun of him.”

Then the Moon went to No-Tongue in the night, and said: “My son, you always like to be up early in the morning, singing. I want you to get a good scalp to-night—one that has hair, just like this. Then kill a dog and get some of its blood, put the blood inside the scalp, and put the false scalp over your head so your hair will not show.”

The boy got the scalp with the hair on it, killed a dog, put some of the blood in the scalp and hung it over his bed. Early in the morning, before the Sun rose, the boy arose, put the scalp over his head, went out, and sang some songs through the village. As the Sun came up in the east the boy heard a noise, and the Sun took the scalp off from the boy, so that the blood ran down. When the Sun saw that he was satisfied. The boy went into the lodge, washed, came out again, and the Sun saw that the boy had hair on, and that he was not really scalped. When the Sun reached the Moon he told him that he was going to let No-Tongue alone until he was old and great, and that he was then going to take him up to his home.

The Moon came to No-Tongue and told him what the Sun, his father, had said. Years went by, and No-Tongue lived peacefully. Finally he became old and blind. At this time the people were about to move away from this place to another place. The Moon came and told old man No-Tongue that it was time his father, the Sun, was coming after him to take him up to his home; and that he himself would come with the Sun to take him up; that he should not be afraid.

While they were breaking camp the old man took his clothes that he used to wear in his early days, and put them on. He also painted himself. He told the people to go on; that he himself would come later. The people went on. The old man went up on the top of a hill, made a circle of red sticks to represent the Sun, and another of white sticks, to represent the Moon, for the west side. While he was doing this the Sun and Moon came. The Sun wanted to know what the Moon was doing there. No-Tongue said, “My father, the Moon is also my father; he has helped me all along.” So the Sun was satisfied, and the Sun took the old man up to his home.

Several days afterwards, four young men went to the place where the old man had sat, and he was gone. The sticks were there as he had left them, but No-Tongue was gone. He was never heard from or seen again after that. He was called “No-Tongue,” for the Sun had taken his tongue, but after he had failed to kill him, he gave him back his tongue.

FOOTNOTES:

[17] Told by Standing-Bull.

17. HOW BURNT-HANDS BECAME A CHIEF.[18]

There was a large village in a beautiful valley near a large tract of timber. It was in the winter time. Around the outside of the village and over a knoll lived Stanapaat, or Burnt-Hands, a boy of about eleven or twelve years, and his grandmother. The boys in the village came over the knoll to urinate on the tipi of these poor people. In this village lived one of the chiefs who had four daughters, the youngest of which was very charitable toward these poor people. Her name was Last-Child. She brought food to these folks whenever she could. Red-Bear and Black-Bear were the first chiefs of this village. They ruled their people as though they were slaves.

One day Red-Bear gave notice that the whole village was to turn out on an elk hunt. The next day, the people complied with the chief’s orders. The people, as they went through the timber in the deep snow, slaughtered the elk in great numbers. Burnt-Hands with other little fellows followed the chase. He watched the hunters butchering their game. He wished he could kill and take home to his grandmother the nice elk meat. He strode off in another direction, looking around as he went. As he went on he struck a fresh track with drops of fresh blood on clean snow, and there were no footprints of a hunter following. He took up the trail and followed it for a long distance. He found, to his great delight, a dead elk with two arrows through its chest. “Ah ho! Ah ho! The great chief knows I am poor. He has had mercy on me.” While he was looking all over the animal he heard a voice. He looked up, and who was there but the two chiefs—Red-Bear and Black-Bear.

Red-Bear gave an angry grunt and struck the boy in the face. “Who are you and how did you find this elk? I never expected to find such a worthless burnt-belly looking fellow as you.” Pulling his arrows out of his quiver, he said, “My father will be glad to have you for his meal,” and he shot two arrows through the boy. He dragged him out on the ice to a large air-hole and said, as he dropped him, “Father, I have done as you bid me.”

In this stream there lived a big White-Bear in a lodge. The young cub heard something drop outside the lodge. He told his father. The old one said, “Go out and see what it is.” The cub saw poor Burnt-Hands in his ragged clothing and with wounds. The cub felt pretty bad for the boy and told his father about him. The father told the cub to bring the boy in. “What a poor boy you are!” said White-Bear. “I know who you are, and how you were treated. I never expected to eat a man from Red-Bear’s tribe. I commanded him to feed me on an enemy. I will have great mercy on you. From now on you shall be my son. You shall treat Red-Bear just as he has treated you. I will enjoy his flesh. I will endow you with all the power I have. I will teach you all, and you shall go back and do as I say.” White-Bear and Burnt-Hands then sat down and began the bear ceremony, Burnt-Hands learning everything and receiving his bundle of medicine and other things. He was then shown the way out by the cub.

Burnt-Hands went on to his grandmother’s little home. When he arrived there he called his grandmother to kindle the fire, as he had come. Before this, when the boys found out that Burnt-Hands’ grandmother was worrying, they would come in, saying, “Grandmother, I have come home,” just to tease her. The old woman thought the boys were teasing her now when Burnt-Hands called. She gave a pitiful cry, saying, “You boys ought to feel satisfied with your teasing now.” “Oh, no, Grandmother! I am here! I was lost on the chase. Following up an elk I strayed off to a place I knew nothing about. I could not find my way home, so I stayed all night.” His grandmother arose. When she had kindled the fire there sat her boy. She rejoiced, for she was glad her boy was alive.

Nobody in the whole village knew what had happened to Burnt-Hands except Black-Bear, who had witnessed what Red-Bear did. He did not like what Red-Bear had done, but he did not say anything.

One day the scouts, on picket duty, saw a large herd of buffalo. The chiefs were notified. They gave notice that everybody should turn out to the chase, and that Red-Bear wanted the hide of the white buffalo that was in the herd. Burnt-Hands heard the call. He told his grandmother to help him make arrows. He also promised her the white buffalo robe. This was a secret surprise to his grandmother, who did not know that he was anything more than a “burnt-belly.”

The next day every one turned out to go on the chase. Burnt-Hands started out on foot with his quiver. A kind young man on horseback caught up with him, and asked him to get on behind him. He did so. While they were riding, the young man told the boy about the white buffalo. The boy asked his friend if he would put the meat and his white hide on his horse for him. They made plans to be together and help each other on the chase. The hunters had all collected on a hill, talking and smoking their pipes. The two arrived and sat around for a long while. Burnt-Hands began to inquire what they were waiting for. They answered they were waiting for the chiefs. “This will not do; if we wait here there may come up a bad storm and we will go home empty handed. Come now, and let us have our chase. Those chiefs will come later, and they will get their share of the meat anyway. I want that white buffalo robe, and when you have taken it off give it to this young man and he will take it home for my grandmother.”

The men were all agreed to what Burnt-Hands said. They thought Red-Bear would kill him and not themselves. They got on their ponies and the chase began. The white buffalo was killed and the chase ended. Burnt-Hands was walking along when his friend came and gave him a ride to where they were butchering. He took him where the white buffalo was and the men were standing around looking at the animal. “What are you waiting for now?” said Burnt-Hands. “Get to butchering and give me the hide!” When they had begun, the chiefs came. They gave them a welcome and told Red-Bear that Burnt-Hands had advised them to start the chase and had already spoken for the hide. Red-Bear and Black-Bear said everything would be all right, and that the boy could have the hide and some meat.

The hunters were all on their way home. Red-Bear ordered them to camp at a certain place. This they did. Burnt-Hands and his friend came to the camp and found the meat cooking, and a comfortable place made for the chiefs. “What is this place for? and are you afraid to sit here?” said Burnt-Hands. “That place is for the chiefs,” said they, “and that meat.” “Come,” said Burnt-Hands to his friend, “sit here with me and enjoy the meat with me.” The young man, with the rest, thought that Red-Bear would surely kill the boy this time. Burnt-Hands and his friend sat down on the robes and ate the meat prepared for Red-Bear. The chiefs came, and Red-Bear ordered another place and food prepared for him. He did not dare to say or do anything to the boy, suspecting his power as he did. Burnt-Hands’ friend and the others thought that Red-Bear had mercy on the poor boy, since he did not hurt him.

Burnt-Hands went home with his friend and pulled off the meat and the white buffalo hide. “Here, grandmother, is what I promised you, and a lot of meat. You now know that I can hunt and bring home game.” His grandmother was at once overjoyed. She thought about the pretty girl who always showed them charity. She sent out for Last-Child, who came in. “You have always been kind to us, and I have always been thankful. I want you to have this hide, and to have a robe made for yourself. You are young yet, and it will become you more than me.” Burnt-Hands was talked about all over the village, but they did not know that he had been blessed by a Bear.