off and buried it, eating what remained. The ceremony of burying
the piece of meat was to teach the others that this band was at
first covered up and was under the earth. These last people, the
Awaho, who came out from the earth, knew all the ceremonies and
taught them to the others. As they went on, these people were
attacked by enemies and they were nearly all killed; but the
keeper of the bundle hid it under a bank. The bundle was wrapped
up with calfskin. After the people had gone into camp, the women
begged that they might get the bundle. So a man went with them,
and they got the bundle. A ceremony was performed to purify the
contents of the bundle. A wooden bowl of water and a bundle of
yellow flowers were used to cleanse the sacred objects. The flowers
were dipped into the water; then they shook the flowers over the
fire and dropped a few drops; then the flowers were made to touch
the contents of the bundle. The people then ran down to the river
and bathed. The next day sacrifices of meat were made, for now
the people and the bundle were cleansed. These were the first
ceremonies given by these people.
We are told by old people that Nesaru made the people; that the
people were bad, and that they were destroyed. But Nesaru made some
animals to take kernels of corn under the ground. These kernels
had been people, and were turned to corn by Nesaru. In this way
the people lived under the earth for many years. This is why the
animals brought them out from the ground and why they were led,
with the consent of the other gods, by Mother-Corn, who was sent
by a god in the heavens, who had a field of corn.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Told by Hawk.
9. MOTHER-CORN’S VISIT TO THE ARIKARA.[10]
Many, many years ago the Arikara, according to their traditions,
were journeying west, when they were told by Mother-Corn, who had
led them out of the ground, that in time they must dress her up and
put her into the river; and, as they should put her into the river,
the priest should say, “Mother, make haste and return to us.” For
many years the Arikara continued to journey west, until at last
they made a permanent village of earth-lodges upon the Missouri
River, opposite the city of Washburn.
The old men thought that it was now time to send Mother-Corn down
the stream. She was to go to the place from whence the Arikara
originally had come, and if there were rituals and ceremonies or
medicines that had been left behind, Mother-Corn was taken from the
bundle and painted. A dress of tanned buffalo hide was wrapped and
tied about the middle of the Mother-Corn.
While the painting and dressing of Mother-Corn was going on, the
crier went through the village, telling the people that Mother-Corn
was going to leave them for a period of time; and that she was
going to the place from whence their forefathers had come; and
that the Arikara people must all bring old moccasins for their
little children; and that these must be placed with Mother-Corn,
so that she might carry the old moccasins to the place whence the
people had come, so that the young ones might grow up in life
as the Arikara people had grown through their journey, meeting
different obstacles, and finally settling down into a village;
that the children might grow up; that although difficulties might
beset their daily walks, they might overcome them by the power of
Mother-Corn, and grow up to be strong men and women.
[Rituals were now recited by Standing-Bull, which were the same
as those recited when they were painting the chief.] After the
reciting of the rituals the people took up Mother-Corn and took
her down to the river. All the people turned out to witness the
act. But before the priests threw Mother-Corn into the river, her
head upstream and her feet downstream, the children’s moccasins
were tied about her waist. The people offered their prayers
to Mother-Corn, and after praying they all began to cry. But
Mother-Corn had disappeared in the Missouri River, and had gone
with the current.
Many years afterwards, a woman returned to the village of the
Arikara, and as the bundle ceremonies were being given the woman
visited these ceremonies. At last, when she visited one ceremony, a
man recognized her as Mother-Corn. He placed her under the bundle.
She let them know that she was Mother-Corn, and she taught them
many ceremonies and songs that night, and she said that she always
would be present with them; that she would never forget them; and
that the gods in the heavens had promised her and her people length
of life. That night Mother-Corn disappeared, and she has never been
seen since.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Told by Standing-Bull.
10. MOTHER-CORN’S VISIT TO THE ARIKARA.[11]
In olden times during time of need, it was the custom of the
Arikara to have a ceremony in which some old man would make
offerings to the gods and to the Mother-Corn. It seems that in
this ceremony all the old men who were offering smoke wanted the
Mother-Corn to come, so that they might have plenty of corn, for it
was planting season.
Mother-Corn was pleased to have smoke with the people. She started
from the east to visit these people, and came to many other camps,
and finally came to these people. She went into the medicine-lodge,
and all the people followed her in. She spoke to them and the
people cried for joy. The woman was pretty. The people brought her
all kinds of food, but she would not eat. She told them the only
thing she could eat was a bird, such as a chicken or duck. She
stayed with the people many days and taught them many lessons. But
the people were now hungry for meat, for the buffalo roamed far
away from them. They had plenty of corn, and yet they liked to have
meat, but all the animals were now scarce. One wise old man took a
sacred pipe and laid it before the Mother-Corn for an aid, because
he knew that she had all power from Nesaru.
Mother-Corn was much pleased to smoke with them and to offer smoke
offerings to the father. Then she asked certain women to make
moccasins for her, and they did so. The people gathered together
in the medicine-lodge, while Mother-Corn sat on the altar. She put
on one pair of moccasins and arose. She walked very slowly and
when she had gone about twenty steps her moccasins were worn out.
Then she sat down, put on another pair and walked again. When she
had walked about twenty steps her moccasins gave out again and she
tried the third pair, but they too wore out. She put on the fourth
pair, and that pair brought her back to the altar. Her walk around
the fireplace meant that she had walked a long way off in the west,
and that the way was very hard. At last she told the people that
she had seen some buffalo; that in four days they were to be seen.
The men watched every day after that, and early in the morning of
the fourth day the buffalo were seen.
The men went out and killed many buffalo on that day and there
was plenty of meat. Thus, much respect and honor was paid to
Mother-Corn. After some days another party went on a buffalo hunt,
but Mother-Corn stayed with those who stayed in the village. It
was not many days until enemies attacked the village. But what few
men were there fought very hard, and at last they were driven out
of the village. They took Mother-Corn out of the medicine-lodge,
but before she escaped she was killed, causing great grief among
the people. The Arikara were defeated on that day. They took
Mother-Corn and buried her. From the place where she was laid,
grass, weeds, bushes, trees, and almost everything sprang up. When
the people who had gone out on the buffalo hunt came back they were
much grieved and troubled on account of the loss of Mother-Corn.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] Told by Hawk.
11. HOW THE PEOPLE ESCAPED THE BUFFALO.[12]
A long time ago, when the people came out through the ground,
a woman led them through the country. This woman was known as
“Mother.” The people were human beings, and they had among them all
kinds of animals, except the buffalo. The people traveled over the
land, and as they went by a large lake a monster came out from the
lake, which looked like a buffalo, for it had horns.
The people ran, crying that this animal was coming. They said this
animal was what they called “Cut-Nose”. The animal kept coming, and
at the same time there seemed to come out from under him buffalo.
The buffalo caught up with them and they killed some of the people.
The people made canyons behind, so that the buffalo could not
cross, and thus they escaped the buffalo at this time.
While they were going on, a Whirlwind came. The people prayed to
Mother to help them, and she turned around and told them to give
presents and smoke to the Whirlwind. The Whirlwind scattered some
of the people over the country. The crowd went on again.
While they were going on, again a noise was heard from behind
and the people said, “The buffalo are coming after us again, and
Cut-Nose is in the lead.” The people ran until they came to a big
timber, which was very thick. The Owl came, and tried to make a
path for the people through the timber, but he failed. The people
cried for help. The Badger worked a little, digging through the
ground, but it also failed. The people then looked around for help.
The Coyote and the Dog came, and they opened a way through the
timber.
These people went on, and again they looked around, and they saw
the buffalo coming on again. The buffalo ran after the people,
Cut-Nose with them, and they began to kill the people. The people
came to deep water. There was no crossing, and the buffalo were
killing them. They called on the Mother for help. The Dogs came,
and said, “We will try to make a pathway through this water for the
people,” but the Dogs failed. The Loons came. They made an opening
through the waters, and the people passed through, and the buffalo
were left on the other side.
The people after crossing this big water went on, and again they
looked, and there was Cut-Nose coming with the buffalo. The people
ran. They came to a canyon. The people prayed to Mother to make a
pathway. She called on the Kingfisher, who struck the bank on each
side, but failed. The Mole came, struck the bank, and failed. The
Badger then came and dug on each side of the bank. The banks fell,
and thus a pathway was formed for the people. They went across, and
by this canyon they made their village.
There Mother held ceremonies for the different bundles. Other
people had also received bundles, but no ceremony. The Awaho bundle
people were the last to come, and they were the last to receive all
the ceremonies from Mother, so that these people understood all the
ceremonies. They were known as “Awaho” (Left-Behind), for these
people, it seems, had been left behind when the people had come
out from the ground. So, as the Awaho people went west, following
up the trail, they found, when they reached the camp sites of the
other people, meat offerings to the different gods. There was
nothing left behind by the other people that the Awaho people were
afraid to pick up, for they claimed to be under the protection of
the gods, and therefore had a right to all the things that are
offered to the gods. So the word “Awaho” means “Left-Behind.”
Also, it means that they may take and cook again, and eat any meat
offering to the gods that has been left behind. Other people who
had bundles could not do this. They were afraid to touch meat that
had already been offered to the gods.
FOOTNOTES:
[12] Told by Hawk.
12. WHY THE BUFFALO NO LONGER EAT PEOPLE.[13]
A young man went into a village in the night, and he heard the
people talking. He could understand their talking, and by peeping
into their tipi, he found out that they were Buffalo people.
They were talking about killing the people. So the young man
investigated. He climbed up on a high arbor that was in front of
the tipi, and there he took hold of a human head. He felt around
over the place and he found human meat. He climbed down from this
place, and went to one of the large tipis, and here the people
said, “We will soon do what we are to do. We will get these people
out of the ground, and we will kill them.” Now the young man hid.
By the side of the hole where the people were to come out there
was a cut in the side of a steep bank, so that, as the people were
coming out of the hole, the bulls circled around them and drove the
people up into the cut, where they hooked them and killed them. The
young man saw the people, men, women, and children running to the
cut, and as they went they were singing and crying. The people were
coming out from the ground.
The young man felt sorry for the people, so that he went up among
the hills. A strange man met him, and told him all about what was
going on. He said: “These Buffalo have just started to eating
people. I do not like it. Take this bow and these arrows, go to
your home, select many young men and tell them to make bows and
arrows. Lead them to this place, and kill and scatter the Buffalo
so that they will not kill or eat any longer.”
The man took the bow and arrows, and the strange man stopped
talking. The man found out that the strange man who was talking to
him was the bow and arrows themselves. The young man then went to
the village. He called many young men together and told them to
make bows and arrows.
When the people had many bows and arrows the man led them to the
place where the people came out from the ground. There the Buffalo
were just trying to make the circle again around the hole, when
these men attacked the Buffalo and commenced to kill them. Some of
the Buffalo ran on to where the human meat was, and cried: “Get
some of the meat and place it under your arm so that we can eat it
whenever they let us alone.” But the people kept on killing, till
they had scattered the Buffalo out. So they became buffalo and
never ate the people any more.
The young man saved the people, and these people came out from the
ground and made their home close to the village; but finally the
last people who came out from the ground went south, away around
by the mountains. Later they came back to Dakota, and joined their
brothers again, where they have been ever since.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Told by Star.
13. WHY THE BUFFALO NO LONGER EAT PEOPLE.[14]
A long time ago, while the Arikara lived together in the village,
it was customary to hunt in the spring. The story I am about to
tell was told to me by my father; for I was very small when this
story was told by the priests:
On one of these hunts, the people failed to find any buffalo. Women
and children began to cry from hunger. The men took long journeys
hunting buffalo, but they could not find any buffalo. At last the
chief was approached by the women and asked to call on the priests
for aid.
The chief then took the sacred pipe from his bundle, filled it
and took it to the lodge of the priests of the Knot-in-the-Tree
(Critatao) bundle. The chief priest took the pipe, smoked it, and
offered the smoke to the gods. After smoking, he said: “It is
well. We will open the bundle and call on the gods to help us get
buffalo. We will make an offering of gifts to the gods, so they
will send buffalo.” The chief was glad, and went to his own tipi.
The chief then called on the crier to tell all the people to be
silent. The priest had his tipi cleaned and the bundle was taken
down and the other priests were sent for. After the priests were
seated and all the chiefs had entered, the priests took up the
gourds and began to recite a ritual that had been given to the
people by the Buffalo. After the giving of presents—native tobacco,
black handkerchiefs, robes, and blankets—the priests stopped
singing. The chief priest then went out and cut a long pole,
brought it to the lodge and tied gifts upon the pole. The pole was
then set in front of the lodge. Gifts were placed upon the pole for
the southeast God, the southwest God, the northwest God, and the
northeast God.
Again a ritual was recited for the buffalo to come. As they recited
the ritual the errand man stood by the pole and would strike at the
pole with an ash stick that he had in his hand. “Come, buffalo,” he
would say, at the same time striking the pole. “You spoke to our
people and promised to come when the people were in need of food.”
After reciting the ritual the priests recited other rituals.
The buffalo came about three days after the ceremony. The chief
ordered the crier to go through the village and let the men know
that a whole buffalo was needed for the ceremony. The men went out,
and a whole buffalo was brought into the ceremonial lodge. All the
people were then invited, and the old priest told the people the
following story:
There was a village of Buffalo. They were human, but had horns.
When the Buffalo wanted meat they met in a tipi where there was the
sacred bundle known as Knot-in-the-Tree. In this tipi a ritual was
recited. It took them four days and four nights. The third night,
the Buffalo gathered about the tipi where the ritual was recited.
The fourth day, the four Buffalo who sat singing the ritual arose
and went to the side of a hollow cottonwood tree that stood by the
side of a steep bank. By the tree was an ash pole. Here the whole
village of Buffalo stood around the hollow tree. Another ritual was
recited, then the pole was taken up and the tree was struck three
times. The fourth time, the people were heard crying, and some were
singing. The first to come out was a man by the name of Cut-Nose
(Kritstaricuts). This man seemed to be wonderful, for he always
escaped his enemies. Next came a multitude of people. They escaped
and ran over the prairie, the Buffalo killing them. Cut-Nose ran
and returned to the hollow tree and crawled in, when the flood of
people stopped coming out. The people were killed, and were taken
to the tipis, where they were cut up, and their meat was placed
upon the arbor they had built.
In one of these runs there was one boy among the people who was
very handsome. A Buffalo cow chased the boy away out among the
hills, but finally gave him up. The boy kept on running until he
came to a deep ravine. There was a thick bush of dogwood covered
with grapevines, in which the boy hid. Now and then the boy would
go hunting, killing small birds for his food.
One day, as the boy was crossing a ravine, he saw sitting on the
side of a hill a fine-looking woman. The woman’s hair was not
braided, and she wore a buffalo robe. The robe looked white. There
was a peculiar look about her that attracted the young man. The
woman arose and started west. The young man followed. Towards
evening the young man came to a bottom land, and there he saw a
fine tipi. The young man went to the tipi, and there in the tipi
sat the same woman. The woman spoke to the young man, and said,
“Come in.” The young man went into the tipi and sat down. The young
man was hungry, and looked at the woman pitifully. The woman put
her hand under her robe and pulled out a lump of pemmican. She
handed the pemmican to the boy, and the boy ate the pemmican. When
he was filled he hid the pemmican under his arm. The woman spoke to
the boy, and said, “You may lie with me; cover yourself with part
of my robe.” So the boy lay down and went to sleep. When he woke up
the woman was sitting by him, but there was no tipi. The woman then
talked to the boy, and said: “I ran after you, but I did not intend
to kill you. My people are Buffalo, and there is a way for them
to become real animals. I selected you to be the one to turn them
to buffalo, and then my people will not eat your people any more.
My father is the chief of the Buffalo, and I learned by listening
how your people can be saved. I want you to go with me to where
my people are, and you will learn how my people kill your people.
We must go and pass between the bulls who are stationed upon high
hills. There are four circles of Buffalo bulls. We will have to
pass through these stations unobserved.”
They began the journey, and they went between the Buffalo bulls
who were stationed as sentinels. They went through all the circles
of the Buffalo, and now the next thing was to enter the tipi where
the ceremonies were held, for this was the place where the woman’s
father lived. The woman covered the young man with her robe and
they entered the tipi. Some of the Buffalo in the tipi, who were
awake, said, “I smell human flesh,” but others said, “It is because
we have just had a killing.” So nothing more was said about the
smell of human flesh. The next day the boy was covered with buffalo
robes, and, as all of the Buffalo went out, the boy felt safe.
In the evening the Buffalo came back to the lodge. They were human,
only they had horns and tails. These people brought in fresh meat
and it was the human meat. Now they cooked the meat and ate. After
eating they lighted the fire. It died out, then the girl said, “Let
us go out, I want to show you something.” So they went out. The boy
saw arbors everywhere in the village. The girl told him to climb
upon one of these arbors, and he did so. There he saw fresh meat
of human and some bodies not yet cut up. The boy was scared. He
told the Buffalo woman that he did not want to go into the tipi any
more. The woman said: “Now you have seen bodies of people. These
people eat your people, and for this reason I have brought you here
to help your people, so they can overcome the Buffalo and kill
them. When your people have killed the Buffalo and have driven
them far, then they will eat of the grass which Nesaru intended
that they should eat.” The woman continued, and said: “Then your
people will come out of the ground, and you will teach them the
ceremony the Buffalo used to sing before they went out to kill
you. Come, go with me into the timber. You must make many bows and
arrows.” So they went into the timber, and the woman said: “Now you
remain here. Do not be afraid, for the Buffalo are now going to sit
and sing the songs, calling your people together where the tree is.
Come, now go with me to where your people come out.”
They went, and there stood an old hollow cottonwood tree. Near its
base was a knot where there was a hole. Lying by the tree was an
ash stick, about six or seven feet long, and about eight inches in
diameter. “Now,” said the woman, “do you see the stick? That stick
is what makes the people come out of that hole. You shall use that
stick, only do as I tell you, and you will be successful. Cut-Nose
is the one who sits at the entrance, so when the Buffalo gather
about the tree, he is the first to come out. He gets away. The
Buffalo do not try to kill him, for he helps the Buffalo.”
So the young man lay down in the timber, while the woman returned
to the camp. When it was daylight he began to make bows and arrows.
He made many. Every night the woman would come to visit him. She
gave him buffalo meat. Thus the young man stayed in the timber and
kept on making bows and arrows. Often the boy went into the village
with the woman and listened to the singing of the Buffalo. The
woman told the young man to hurry in making the bows, for it was
nearly time for the ceremony to be over, then the Buffalo would
march out where the tree stood. The young man now hurried to make
the bows and arrows. For two days the ceremony was kept up, the
singing continuing all night. The third day the boy had many bows
and arrows completed. The woman came in the night and gave the boy
long sinew strings for the bows. The boy put the strings upon the
bows and now the weapons were completed. The woman took the boy
into the camp, and there he heard singing. At the end of every
tenth song the singing was stopped. In a little while the singing
would be resumed. Now the woman told the boy that the next morning
they would have to return to the timber and bring the bows and
arrows.
The next morning they went and brought the bows and arrows and
placed them at the foot of the tree, the bows already strung, and
the arrows with the bows. “Now,” said the woman, “as soon as you
see the Buffalo coming towards the tree, you run up to the tree
three times, and you will hear shouting. As soon as you hear
shouting, wailing and screaming, pick up the bows and arrows and
give them to the men and tell them to shoot at the Buffalo. Do not
give any bows and arrows to the first man who comes out, for his
name is Cut-Nose, and he it is who helps the Buffalo. Give out
the bows and arrows, then pick up your own and go to killing the
Buffalo. As soon as the Buffalo see that your people are killing
them they will run. Keep right after them, and scatter them as much
as possible.” The boy placed all the bows around the tree. Then he
and the woman hid under the bank.