sticks to make arrows with. They sat down and made arrows till
evening; but they never mentioned what had happened. Again the
boys stayed out, and after all the people had gone to sleep the
same thing happened as on the preceding night. Again they saw the
serpent climbing over the inclosure and onto the lodges. Then the
boys shot at the serpent while it had its head inside a lodge,
reaching for food. The boys threw their arrows at the water-monster
as fast as they could. They threw so many arrows at the monster
that he was almost dead. The serpent came out from the lodge and
went down to the river. The waters roared and rose, because the
water-monster was dying, but when it was dead the waters were
silent. When the waters went down the big serpent was found dead on
a small peninsula.
FOOTNOTES:
[21] Told by Antelope.
21. THE BOY WHO BEFRIENDED THE THUNDERBIRDS, AND THE SERPENT.[22]
Among the Arikara lived a young man who was gifted with powers
from the gods in the Heavens—the four-world-quarter gods who
give all power. The boy’s parents were very poor, so that he
would go about and kill so many antelope that people called him
“Antelope-Carrier.” When he went hunting he killed many deer. It
made no difference how far away the animal was, he killed whatever
animal he shot at. People wondered where the boy got his power. The
boy got his power from the timber. The Wood-Rats had taken the boy
and had given him bow and arrows. The arrows were made of dogwood.
The feathered parts were wood-rat hide. The boy had for his bow,
thick hickory wood. One of the arrows was black, another red,
another yellow, and another white. The yellow and the white arrows
had flint points, and the boy used them for killing game.
Antelope-Carrier wandered from home and was lost to the people. His
friends mourned for him as lost. The boy wandered west, until he
came to a lake,—a very large lake. Now the boy thought to himself
that he would stay at this place for several days. He killed game,
made a big fire, ate meat and slept by the lake, where there were
many brushes and reeds. One day Antelope-Carrier killed some birds
and roasted them. After eating the birds he lay down and slept.
While he slept, two Thunderbirds came and carried him high up and
placed him upon a high mountain. When the boy woke up he found
himself in a strange place. The mound was high and had steep sides,
so that he could not get down. When he found that there was no
place to get down he cried. He walked around and found a nest. It
contained four young Thunderbirds. The nest was built of sticks and
covered with soft, downy feathers. He walked to another place and
he found a hollow in the stone and this was full of clear water. He
did not drink, but went on crying. After a while he became tired
and sat down. He heard above him a noise which sounded like strong
wind. He looked up and saw the mother Thunderbird. She lighted
close to the boy and the bird spoke and said: “My son, do not cry.
I brought you to this place. I watch over you as you go hunting.
I see you kill game. You are wonderful. I brought you up here. I
want you to help me save your young brothers over there” (pointing
to the nest). “Nesaru placed me and my mate upon this high place.
I have been here a long time, and every time I place my young
upon this place a strange animal that lives in yonder lake comes
up and eats my young. I have not raised my young, so I have asked
you to help me; and if you save my children I will give you great
power. The animal that devours my young is a water-serpent. It
has two long heads. It has a very thick covering of flint stones.
When I throw my lightning upon it, it does it no harm. I throw
the lightning in its mouth and it does not die, for the covering
extends beyond its head, so that I do not hurt it. Now, my son, do
not cry, but stay here and help me kill this monster, and you shall
have lightning in your eyes and your mouth and limbs, and you shall
have control of all the birds in the whole world.”
The boy wiped away his tears and said: “I will die with my
brothers. I will stay here and help you.” The Thunderbird flew
away, for she was happy. The boy went to the east slope of the
mound, which he found very steep, but covered with timber. He
clambered down from the crest of the mound and went into the
timber, and there he found many birds. This was the home of all
birds. He found a deer and killed it. He cut it up and carried the
meat to the top of the mound. He carried some wood to the top also,
and made a fire with flint stone. He saw the young birds with their
mouths open. He took some meat to them and fed them. The parents of
the little birds came and saw that the boy was taking care of them
and were glad. The male bird spoke to the boy, and said: “We are
all glad to have you here. Our young are very young, but as soon as
they begin to turn black then it is time for the serpent to come
out from the lake and climb this hill, to kill and eat my birds. We
will go far away, where we will get more power, for it is nearly
time for the serpent to come up. When the serpent comes up we will
be here in time to try to kill it. We are gone.”
The Thunderbirds flew away and for many days the boy did not see
them. He was told that when the serpent was ready to come out from
the lake he would see a fog rising from the lake, and by that would
know that the serpent was coming.
One fine morning when the boy was sitting down, with his bow and
arrows lying in front of him, looking at the sun as it came up
in the east, something seemed to move his head towards the lake.
He saw a small roll of fog coming up from the middle of the lake
and the fog seemed to spread as it went up. After a while the fog
seemed to cover the hills around, and to reach up into the heavens.
The boy saw something crawling out from the lake. Something came
out from another place. These were the two heads of the monster.
Gradually it came crawling up the hill. A storm came from the
west. The boy saw the rain storm, but no bird. He knew that the
storm was brought by the powers of the Thunderbirds. The storm
went by the boy. No rain was there where he was. It lightened and
thundered under the boy. Presently he saw the two Thunderbirds
spreading out their wings, making lightning, and every time the
lightning struck the serpent the boy could see a flash of lightning
in every direction, but it did not kill the monster. At last the
monster came upon the rock where the nest was. The birds flew
about, the mother squealed, and as the monster opened its mouth the
Thunderbird sent its lightning into the mouth of the monster. The
monster was thrown back, but again it crawled up, and the female
Thunderbird said: “It is all over. We cannot do any more. We have
failed, so we will fly up, and you, my son, will have to die with
my children.”
The boy now picked up his bow and arrows. He took the black arrow.
This he placed upon the bow-string ready to shoot into the mouth
of the monster as soon as it should crawl upon the rock. As the
monster came up and opened its mouth to swallow the boy he pulled
his bow-string and shot into the mouth of the monster. A noise like
that of a falling tree was made. The monster fell over and burst
open, for the arrow was really a sycamore tree with sharp limbs.
The birds flew downward and were glad. Now the other head of the
monster came up from another side of the hill. The boy again ran,
and as it opened its mouth the boy shot the red arrow into its
mouth and another sound was heard. The arrow lifted off the head of
the monster and the head fell again upon the rock, breaking it into
pieces.
The Thunderbirds now came and flew around the boy, screaming with
joy. The two birds flew away to where all kinds of birds dwell. The
birds all flew up where the boy and the nest were, and the mother
Thunderbird said: “My son, to-day you are chief of all birds. You
shall have power as I have. Lightning shall be in your breath and
eyes. I give you a stick that shall have lightning, so that you can
kill anything you strike. These birds shall follow you wherever you
go. They will bring you news of bad animals. They will give you
their power. Let us now go down where the serpent is.” The boy and
the birds all went down to where the serpent was. It was broken in
two. The birds all took hold of one side and turned the serpent
over. When the serpent fell, the flint rock upon it had fallen off
and scattered. The boy cut the serpent open and the birds feasted
upon the serpent. As each bird was filled it spoke to the boy and
gave him power. The power given to the boy was in the nature of
objects, and he swallowed them.
The lake grew smooth after the serpent was taken out. The boy was
now chief of all birds, and wherever he went the birds followed
him. Wherever there was a bad animal the birds told the boy and the
boy went and killed the animal. The boy made it his aim to kill all
bad animals. He never went to his people, but roamed over the land
as chief of all birds, but still kept the name “Antelope-Carrier.”
While this young man was roaming about, two young boys from the
village went to shoot birds. They were joined together with
rawhide. When they had gone far away from the village they came
to a bottom land. Here they found an object that looked like a
mushroom. It was white. It was moving up and down. One of the boys
said, “Let me shoot at this thing.” The other boy said, “No, it is
wonderful.” But the first boy shot at the object and as soon as the
arrow hit the object a strong wind came up and took both boys up,
carrying them far away, and they were left on an island out in the
great waters near where the sun comes up.
When the boys were landed they cried. All this time they were still
joined by the rawhide string. The boy who shot began to make fun of
the other, because he cried the most. So the boy who cried the most
tried to shoot the other with his bow and arrow, claiming that it
was through him that they were now far away from home. The other
boy said, “No, do not kill me, for we will go back home. We will
first go to the setting of the sun, for that is where our home is.
If we do not reach home then we must go east, where the sun rises.”
So they went west. As they neared the big water they saw a patch of
corn and squash. They went on and saw an earth-lodge. They stood
outside, and after a while an old woman came out and called them
“grandsons” and asked them to enter her lodge.
They went in and she fed them. They stayed with the old woman one
moon. Then the old woman said: “My grandchildren, you are far away
from home. You were brought here by a strong wind, because one of
you shot it with your arrow. I will help you so that you can go
back to your people. I will pound much corn and I will make dried
mush for you. I will make five large cakes. You must do as I tell
you. It takes four days to cross the big water. Four of these
cakes will be for your grandfather, who will take you across; one
cake will be for you boys.” She made the cakes and gave them to
the boys, and said: “Go to the bank, and both of you must say,
‘Grandfather, my grandmother says that you are to take us across.’
A large serpent will come first, and you must say to it, ‘My
grandmother says you are not the one.’ It will go away. Then call
for another one. The second one will come. Send it away. The third
one will come. Send it away. The fourth one will come. It is your
grandfather, for he carries land upon his head, with trees growing
upon it. Get on the serpent’s head and give the serpent one cake.
Your grandfather has lice. Take one off of his head and give it to
your grandfather; he likes to eat them.” These lice were soft-shell
turtles.
The fourth serpent came, and the boys got upon it with their cakes
of mush. The boys took one cake and told their grandfather to open
his mouth. When he opened it the boys put one of the cakes into it.
Their grandmother came and told the boys to get the big serpent a
louse and to throw it into its mouth. This the boys did. The boys’
grandmother told them not to jump when the serpent was within three
or four feet of the bank, but to stay on it until it was up to the
bank. One of the boys now said to his grandfather: “Grandmother
says that you are to start for the other side of this big water.”
So the serpent started and went all day. At noon of the next day
the serpent stopped, and said, “I want something to eat.” So the
boys gave it another cake, and also one soft-shell turtle. Then the
serpent started again. The next day the serpent stopped and the
boys gave it another cake and turtle. The serpent started again,
and the third day it stopped and the boys fed it with another
cake and turtle. The fourth day, the boys saw land. The wild boy
jumped before the serpent came to the bank, and was swallowed by
the serpent. The other boy waited until it landed, then got off,
and said, “Grandfather, grandmother said you were to stop here and
rest.” When the boys had got on the serpent they untied themselves,
and this is why only one of them was swallowed.
Now the boy on dry land said: “Grandfather, I am about to leave
you. Grandmother said that I was to feed you with your own lice”
(turtles). The boy took turtles from the monster and gave them
to him. “O, grandfather, open your mouth. I must see your teeth.
Grandmother said I could see your teeth.” So the serpent opened its
mouth, and there the other boy was, sitting inside the serpent. The
boy asked the serpent to open its mouth wide, so he could see how
long his teeth were. He then reached in the serpent’s mouth and
dragged out the other boy.
The two boys thanked the serpent and went west, hunting their home.
They traveled many days, until at last they came to the Missouri
River bottom. This river they followed up until they came to some
lakes close to the river. Here they wandered until they came to
drift wood, and there was a good large-sized log among the drift.
Here they made a big fire. The large log was among the burning. The
boys noticed drops of grease falling from the log. The wild boy
noticed and reached up to the log and he found that the log was a
serpent. The foolish boy then took his knife out and cut a chunk of
meat and ate it. He tried to get the other boy to eat some of the
meat, but the boy would not eat it.
The boys now went on, and in the night lay down. The next morning
the boy who ate the serpent woke and saw that his feet had turned
red, blue, and white. The wild boy was glad to see the colors upon
his feet. The next night, the boy’s legs became colored. Another
night passed, and the boy’s body was colored. The next morning
the boy’s legs were joined together and were like a serpent. The
other boy talked to the part-serpent boy, and said, “I will stay
with you.” The serpent boy then said: “My brother, carry me to
the Wonderful (Missouri) River and put me in the water. I am now
wonderful. You must come down to the river, so that I can speak to
you, and I will give you powers.” The fourth morning the boy was
a Serpent. The other boy packed the Serpent boy to the river and
turned him loose in the river.
The boy went home. Antelope-Carrier was informed of the Serpent and
learned that it was wonderful. Antelope-Carrier came and told all
the birds to hunt up and down the river, so that they might find
the Serpent. The Serpent knew that Antelope-Carrier was coming,
and became scared. The Serpent had his brother dig a hole in the
sand for it. He went into the hole and was all hidden but the head,
which was covered with willows. Antelope-Carrier with all his birds
hunted the Serpent. At last he saw the place where he thought the
Serpent was. While examining the place the Serpent used its power
and carried Antelope-Carrier into the water and into its den. There
Antelope-Carrier was put into the sweat-lodge and was made to vomit
up all his powers which he possessed except the lightning in his
eyes. “Now,” said the Serpent, “your powers are all gone. You are
no longer wonderful. Go now to our people and live with them.”
Antelope-Carrier went home. He had to wear something over his eyes
all that time, for they were like lightning. He lived with the
people, but never showed to them any powers that he had possessed.
The Serpent remained in the river and would sometimes swim around
in the waters. It gave its powers to the people and gave them songs
and the Medicine-men’s ceremony.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] Told by Antelope.
22. THE BOY WHO TURNED INTO A SNAKE.[23]
A long time ago there was a young man in the village who was an
idiot. All the boys plagued him except one whose father was a chief
and who took a liking for the boy. This chief’s son used to take
the boy to his lodge and feed him. One day the poor boy said to his
friend: “Let us go on the war-path. Let us go alone, for we can do
as well as the warriors.” They started out and went south, crossing
the Missouri River. After they had crossed the river they went
west. For several days they continued their journey, but as they
did not have much to eat they became exhausted and turned back.
When they were going over the prairie they saw something in the
distance that looked like a log. They came to it and saw that it
was a water-serpent. This water-serpent seemed to have no end.
The boys walked one way, then another, until they finally gave up
trying to find the end, and there was no way to go around it. The
foolish boy said: “I know what I will do. I will make a big fire
upon the serpent, so that it will burn up and we can cross over.”
This they did. They gathered many dry limbs and placed them upon
the serpent, then set it on fire. The serpent burned in two. Before
crossing over, the idiot said, “My brother, that meat looks very
nice, let us eat it.” “No,” said the other boy, “we must not eat
it; the serpent is wonderful.” But the idiot was hungry and took
some meat from the serpent and ate. He tried to get the other boy
to do the same, but the boy would not eat of it, although he was
very hungry. After the idiot had enough of the meat he went across
the serpent. The other boy followed.
The boys now traveled down the Missouri River until night overtook
them, when they lay down. The next morning the boys woke up. The
idiot looked at his feet and he saw that his feet were colored with
red and blue stripes. “Look,” said the idiot, “I have colored feet.
I will not have to paint my feet when we dance at home. People will
like it.” But the other boy did not say anything, for he knew there
was something wrong. They went on until they reached another stream
of water, where they lay down again and slept. This time, when they
woke, the idiot looked at his legs and he found his legs also were
colored. He was pleased, for he thought that he would not have to
paint when dancing. The next night they lay down, and when they
arose in the morning the idiot’s body also was colored. They kept
on journeying. The fourth morning the boy found his legs had grown
together and had turned into the tail of a snake. The other young
man promised to take care of him as long as he could. He carried
the boy upon his back to the nearest lake. The idiot now turned
into a Snake.
The next morning, the Snake told the boy to place him in the lake;
that if the fishes were satisfied to let him remain with them he
would let the boy know. The boy put the Snake into the lake. The
Snake swam about the lake and there was a great commotion in the
water. The fishes in the lake did not seem to like this Snake which
had come among them. The Snake came out again, and the boy took
it and put it upon his back and carried it to another lake. There
was a great noise again in the lake. The Snake came out again, and
said: “Carry me to the Missouri River and put me in. That is where
I am to stay.” So the boy took the Snake down to the Missouri River
and put it into the river. The Snake swam around in the river and
came out and said: “My brother, I am to rest in the middle of the
Missouri River. Whenever the people cross the Missouri River they
must say, ‘My brother, let me step over you.’ They will then always
cross over the river without any danger of drowning. If they do not
say anything, there will be danger of their getting drowned. Let
them also give me presents, throwing them into the river. Now go
home and tell my friends to bring me some presents of pounded corn
and dried buffalo meat.”
The boy went home and told his friends what had happened. The
people brought blankets, tobacco, pounded corn, and dried meat. The
boy and some other people went to the river and there they gave
presents. The Snake boy received the presents, showing himself, so
the people knew that the idiot had turned to a Snake. Every time
the men went on the war-path they said: “My brother, we want to
step over you. We are upon the war-path. See that none of our young
men get lost in the river.” To-day these people say to this river:
“Brother, I am about to cross over you. See that I do not drown.”
Presents used to be given to the Snake boy by warriors when upon
the war-path.
FOOTNOTES:
[23] Told by Yellow-Bear.
23. THE BOY WHO RECEIVED THE MOUSE POWER.[24]
A long time ago, when the Arikara were in a village on the Missouri
River, the chiefs notified the people that they were going hunting,
and that they were all to get ready to go. So all the people went
to their caches and placed there all the things that they did not
care to carry with them on the journey. Then they packed their
ponies and moved on towards the west.
One of the young men stayed behind and went from one lodge to
another and finally stayed over night in the village. The next day
he went through the village again, and he heard a woman crying. He
went to the place where the crying came from. He looked into the
lodge, and there was a woman sitting down crying. This woman had a
buffalo robe wrapped around her and her hair was hanging loosely
over her shoulders. The young man went in to see who it was. He
wanted to know what she was crying about. She said: “I know that
you are here, and I cried to bring you here. I have been crying
for some time, for when the people left this lodge they took my
children with them. I would like very much for you to go after
my children. If you will bring my children back, I shall call my
people together and they will give you some kind of power that will
make you a great warrior.” The young man wanted to know where her
people were. The woman said her children were in the sacred buffalo
robe; that all he had to do to get the robe was to go to a man who
had the robe and ask him to let him see the robe, and upon opening
the robe he would see a nest in the robe, and there her children
would be.
It was customary among the Arikara to untie the robe when anybody
asked that he might see it, so the young man knew that he would
have no trouble in finding the children, and he promised the woman
that he would have her children back as soon as he could. The young
man ran in the direction where the people had gone, and on the
second night he came to the camp which they had made. The young man
went to his mother’s tipi and told her to give him a little meat;
that he was in a hurry; that he could not stop; that he had to go
back to the village. The mother gave the young man some meat. He
ate and then he went to the tipi of the white buffalo robe. The
young man begged the keeper of the white buffalo robe to let him
see it. The keeper of the robe took it down and untied it. While
the man was untying it the young man was watching for the nest.
When he saw the nest the young man began to cry, as if praying to
the white Buffalo, but he put his hands upon the robe, and upon the
nest, so that the man would not take any notice of it. The young
man stopped crying, took the nest with the young ones, put them in
his blanket and left the tipi.
The next day, the young man arrived at the village where the woman
was. She was still sitting where he had left her. The young man
gave the nest over to her. The woman was thankful, and said: “Now
you have returned my children. Go now and return in the night.” So
the young man left the lodge.
The woman took her nest and went to the edge of the lodge and
placed it there. She then turned into a Mouse and nursed her young
ones. She went to the different holes of the Mice and Rats, telling
them of what the young man had done for her, and asked that they
give him power. The largest Rat in the village consented to give
the young man power. He told the woman that he would have the Rats
and Mice come into the lodge in the night, and that the young man
should be there, for they would talk to him. The woman thanked the
Rat for what he had said.