went to the hole and they told him that he must give his clothing
to them. He took his things off, and the girls each took a little
basket, dropped it down, and received in it a piece of clothing.
Then each girl dropped her basket, and asked the young man to spit
in it, promising that if he did what they asked they would take
him out. As each basket received the spittle the girl would pull it
out and lick the spittle. After each girl had got the boy’s spittle
and licked it, they said, “You must give us your loin-cloth.” This
he gave to them. They tore it in seven pieces, so that each had
one piece. Iamque puer nudus erat. Deinde puellæ dixerunt si sibi
glandem penis ostenderet eique limum aspergeret, se eum sublaturas.
Hoc puer abnuit. Tum dixerunt puellæ, “Si vis nos omnes in
matrimonium ducere polliceri, te tollere volumus.” Puer pollicitus
est. But all the girls spoke out, and said: “You have always been
mean; you have had a dislike for us; we will leave you in this hole
and let you die; we are not going to take you out.” So the girls
went away and the boy commenced to cry.
Soon after the girls had gone away a gray Wolf looked down upon the
boy, and said, “I am sorry for you, and I will help you.” The Wolf
went away, and while he was gone a Bear came to the hole. The Wolf
came back and a dispute arose over the ownership of the boy. The
Bear claimed that the boy belonged to him; but the Wolf said, “He
is mine.” The Bear said: “He is mine, too. I shall eat him up.” So
the Bear and the Wolf began to quarrel to see who should have the
boy. The Wolf whispered to the boy, and said: “I shall dig with
this Bear, and you must dig on this side; for if he digs through
first he will eat you; but if I dig through first and reach you
before he does I shall save you, and you shall be my son.” So it
was agreed between the Bear and the Wolf that they each should dig
through the earth, and whosoever should first dig through to where
the boy was should claim him.
The Bear and the Wolf began to dig. Where the Wolf and the boy were
digging there was nothing but sand, while on the side where the
Bear was digging it was hard dirt, mixed with stones and gravel; so
the Wolf was the first to dig through. When the Bear came through,
he found out that the Wolf had already dug through. The Bear stood
up, and said, “You have beaten me, but this young man shall be my
son, and I shall help him whenever he calls upon me.”
The Wolf took the boy among the Wolves. The boy soon ceased to care
to walk, and began to crawl upon his hands and knees, and to eat
raw meat, just as the Wolves did. He came to act like a Wolf. The
skin upon his haunches was now so thick that he could slide on them.
In the village, the boy’s father mourned for him for many years.
But in a chase for buffalo somebody saw a drove of Wolves with
this human being among them. He told other people about it. After
the hunt was over, all the men in the camp went out where they
had killed the buffalo and there they found the Wolves, and this
human being among them. They ran their horses after the Wolves,
but this human being ran so fast that he beat all the Wolves and
escaped; but they knew that it was the young man. For a whole year
they planned to catch the human Wolf, but he was so swift that they
could not catch him.
Now, there was a man in the tribe who had medicines for catching
the human Wolf and for taking the Wolf feeling out of him. This
man agreed to try to catch the human Wolf. So the man went and
selected a place in a hilly country. There was a steep bank on the
west side, another on the south side, and another on the east side,
and there was an opening at the north side. Having selected this
place, the man told the people to make their village about three
miles east from there. He ordered the women to go to this place,
and dig a deep hole on the south side of the banks, so that the
Wolves could not climb out. The women also cut long poles and set
them on the top of the banks, so that, in case the Wolf did crawl
up, these poles would be in his way. At the opening, long poles
were set up, so that there was left only a little opening. They
also strung a lot of willows, which was to be a doorway to close up
the entrance. The man now ordered a certain number of young men to
go and kill buffalo. These young men went out, and they killed the
buffalo, brought the meat, and placed it inside of this enclosure.
The Wolves followed them up, and then the men on horseback circled
the Wolves and ran them into this trap, the human Wolf among them.
There were four strong men who put on rawhide leggings, and caps
with holes in them, so that they could see, and these four men
were put into the trap. They ran after the Wolf man. Every time
the Wolves ran around by the doorway the door was removed, and the
Wolves went out. At last they had the man Wolf by himself. The
entrance was stopped. The four men finally succeeded in catching
the Wolf man. Then they tied him and took him out. He tried to
bite them, but the rawhide was so dry that he could not hurt them.
While the four men were catching him the medicine-man had built a
sweat-lodge. The hot stones were taken into the lodge quickly and
the man was taken in there and tied. The man poured water upon the
hot stones, and sweated the Wolf man. The medicine-man kept pouring
water on the stones, until the Wolf man begged for some water. Then
the medicine-man gave him some medicine that he had prepared, and
the Wolf man began to vomit. The Wolf man vomited hairs of Wolves,
white clay, also froth and raw meat. All this time the people were
rubbing wild sage upon his body, especially upon his knees. The
Wolf man became exhausted and finally said, “I feel better now.”
The medicine-man continued to give him medicine until the Wolf man
could vomit no more. They then untied him and took him into his
lodge, and he finally recovered.
The Wolf man stayed in bed all night and the next day. Then, in the
night, he sent for his father. He told his father that he wanted
him to build a tipi, and that towards evening he wanted him to go
through the village and invite the bravest men in the tribe to come
to his, the father’s, tipi—not to the tipi he had built for the boy.
Now, the seven girls who had put the boy into the hole were
invited. They were told to dress up in their fine clothes, and as
he had promised to marry them he wanted them to come to his tipi
that they had put up for him. These girls came to the tipi, and
the young man gave them seats. The young man left the lodge, and
told his father to place the brave men around the lodge; that he
was going out, and as soon as he should come back the guards were
to leave their stations. The boy went to the north, and cried,
“Father, my father, come and help me!” The Wolves came up, and
said: “We will help you. What is it you want?” The boy said: “The
girls who were the cause of my being with the Wolves are in my
tipi. I want you to devour them.” The Wolves promised that they
would. Then the boy went to the west, among the cedars, and there
he cried: “Father Bear, make haste. I have something for you to
eat.” The Bear came, and said, “My son, what is it?” The boy said:
“The girls who put me into the hole are now in my tipi. I want you
to go with your friends and devour them.” The Bear said: “We will
do this gladly; we will come.” The boy went back to the village,
and stood a little distance from his tipi. Soon the Wolves came on
his left, and the Bears came from behind. He led them up to his
tipi. He told the Wolves to stand on the north side, and the Bears
to stand on the west and south side. After this was done, the young
man went into the tipi, and said: “Girls, you put me into a hole,
and you left me there to die. The Wolves took me out, and I was
with the Wolves for some time. Those same Wolves are now to eat you
up.” The girls begged for mercy, but there was no mercy shown them.
Each girl tried to crawl out from where she was sitting, but the
Wolves ate them.
At the same time the old man, the boy’s father, went through
the village, telling the people that the seven girls were being
devoured by wild animals, because they had dug the hole and placed
his son there to die. The old man told the story of the taking off
of the young man’s clothing, and of the girls’ promise to take the
boy out of the hole if he would do certain things which he had
refused to do, and of their leaving the boy in the hole to die.
When the people heard the story they were angry at the girls, so
that the relatives of the girls did not offer to save them, as the
girls had done wrong.
The next day the people broke camp and went away from the place.
This young man became a great warrior and a brave, and finally
became a chief. He married and started a dance among the Arikara
that is known as the “Wolf dance.” This was a young man’s dance,
but the people do not dance it any more.
FOOTNOTES:
[31] Told by Snowbird.
31. THE MEDICINE DANCE OF THE BEAVER, TURTLE, AND WITCH-WOMAN.[32]
In olden times the animals met in a lodge to have sleight-of-hand
performances. All the medicine-animals and all the birds who had
magic power went to this lodge. The animals decided that only the
leading animals should perform—the Beaver, the soft-shell Turtle,
and the old Witch-Woman.
First, the crowd arose where sat the Medicine-Beaver. The Beaver
arose and began to sing, telling his followers to sing. Then the
Beaver went to the first post, which was supporting the lodge at
the southeast, and began to gnaw it. The post was gnawed until only
a small piece of it remained. The Beavers still sang. The Beaver
then went to the next post and gnawed away at the base. He gnawed
until just a little was left. The Beavers still sang and the Beaver
went to the next post and gnawed until he had nearly gnawed through.
The people began to get scared. The animals also became scared, so
they called upon the errand man to ask the Beaver not to gnaw the
post through, for the lodge was about to fall. The errand man arose
and begged the Medicine-Beaver to stop. The Beaver stopped, and
then ran around the lodge, repaired all the posts again, and said:
“This was only sleight-of-hand. It is not real.” The animals and
lookers-on rejoiced to see the trick, for now the lodge stood solid
as usual.
Now came the Turtle, who was mad because the Beaver fooled the
people. So he called for his followers, and they gathered around
him and sang:
“Let me stand where my fathers stood.
Let a flood pour forth from my throat!
I am doing something wonderful.
Let all people look!”
So the people looked. The Turtle took his knife and stuck it close
to his left collar-bone. Water began to pour forth from the cut,
until there was water all over the lodge. Then the people began to
get scared. The errand man was requested to beg the Turtle to stop
pouring forth water in the lodge. The errand man begged the Turtle
and the Turtle inhaled and drew all the water back into himself.
The people all took their places again. Stawi, a Witch-Woman, came,
and said:
“Gun given me by old medicine-men.
Gun given me by old medicine-men.
Gun given me by old medicine-men.”
The old woman had a buffalo robe over her shoulders, and she held
in her hands a mysterious-looking thing dotted with spots of white
clay and painted in black. At the top of it were red feathers.
The object was a gun, a thing to kill with, to shoot medicine.
Now, at this time, the old woman wanted to show the power of this
mysterious object. She ran around the lodge and then placed the
object upon the ground. She ran to it. She wrestled with it. She
covered it with her robe. Now she lifted it. She ran around, and
all at once she began to groan—as if in pain. At last she called
for help, for she was in misery. The people went to her, and there
they found the old woman in travail. She was cared for, and she
gave birth to a child, who was to become a great medicine-man among
the people and a leader in the medicine dance. The medicine-animals
rejoiced and sang their songs again with joy.
FOOTNOTES:
[32] Told by White-Bear.
32. THE VILLAGE-BOY AND THE WOLF POWER.[33]
In olden times there was a village, and in this village was a man
who had five children—four girls and a boy. In the dances, the
girls would go out and take part, although the boy never went on
the war-path, and never left the village. For this reason the
people called the boy “Village-Boy.”
After a time the people began to make fun of the girls for dancing
when their brother had never gone out on the war-path nor taken
part in the battle, fought near the village. The girls were sorry.
The boy saw that the girls were being made fun of for dancing when
he had not gone on the war-path. The young man told his father
that he was going up on a high mound where there was a graveyard.
The father was glad of this. The boy put black soot upon his face,
and he stuck some grass arrows in his hair. He went up into the
graveyard, and there he stood, mourning.
While he was there, a big white timber Wolf came to him and asked
him what he was crying about. The boy told him that he was a poor
boy; that he had never been on the war-path, nor taken a scalp;
that he had four sisters who danced in the scalp-dance and were
ridiculed for dancing when their brother had never been on the
war-path. The Wolf told the boy not to cry, for he would take care
of him. The Wolf then told the boy that he would look after him;
that he should go into the village; and that the first time there
was a war-party he should join it and start out with it; that he,
the Wolf, would find him and lead him to the enemy’s camp.
One day it was noised through the camp that the people were going
on the war-path. Village-Boy then told his friend that if after
they had been gone for three days the scouts should kill any
Buffalo, he should get some of the knee-caps of the Buffalo and
keep them for him, as he would follow close after them.
The war-party started out, and after they had been gone three days
Village-Boy told his father that he was going to start out to
overtake the war-party. He also told his sisters to make him some
moccasins. So the young man started out on the journey; but before
this happened the Wolf had been coming to visit the young man, and
had taught the young man the secret powers of the Wolf. So the
young man started out, and when he had come to a ravine he rolled
himself upon the ground, and when he got up he was a Wolf.
The Wolf followed the trail of the warriors. Some time in the night
he came to their camp. He did not go right into the camp, but
stayed behind, and some time in the night he barked like a Wolf.
His friend said, “There is my friend, Village-Boy.” He took up the
burned bones and took them to him. When he got there it was the
Village-Boy. He threw the bones at the boy. The boy gnawed at the
bones, just like a Wolf. When Village-Boy got through eating, he
told his friend to go back to the camp where the others were and
to watch out, for the next day he should see him, and that then he
should tell the people that it was Village-Boy. The boy went to the
camp, while Village-Boy went on ahead.
The next day Village-Boy was seen coming. Village-Boy’s friend
told the other warriors that he was Village-Boy. So he ran up to
Village-Boy. Village-Boy then told his friend that the enemy’s camp
was a short distance away. The warriors then stopped and sang some
songs for Village-Boy. Village-Boy departed. The next day they saw
him again, driving many ponies. He brought them to the people. Then
he led the warriors into camp. The war-party then attacked the
enemy’s village. Village-Boy was in the lead. He killed one enemy
and took his scalp. He left, and hid out while the battle was going
on. After a time the warriors came back where the horses were, and
Village-Boy came there. He gave the scalp to the leader of the
war-party, also all the ponies, telling him that he was going ahead
of them.
Village-Boy now returned to his home. Not a word was spoken by him,
nor was anything said by him about the battle. He just lay upon his
bed.
A few days afterward the war-party returned home and near the
village had a sham battle. The people went out to meet them. It
was announced by the leader of the war-party that Village-Boy had
done all the killing, and capturing of the ponies. Village-Boy’s
father thought that the warriors were making fun of his son
because he had come back several days before without anything.
But when the warriors came into the village and showed the scalp
that Village-Boy had taken and given to the leader, and also when
the ponies he had captured were brought to the village, then all
the old men believed. Village-Boy’s father scolded him because he
had said nothing. Scalp dances were made throughout the village.
The young man’s sisters now danced the scalp-dance without fear
of ridicule. Whenever the young man went out to dance the women
surrounded him. He married and became one of the great men of the
village.
One day he took several warriors and went east. He came to a
village that was known as the “Village-of-the-Dumb-People.” He
left the war-party behind and went into the village by himself. He
killed their medicine-man, cut his throat, and carried the head
away. As he carried the head away it kept mumbling. The people
became excited when they found out that their prophet was dead.
They began to talk in a peculiar language. These warriors were
followed by the Dumb-People, who did not catch up with them.
The head of the medicine-man was placed in the village. When the
head dried it turned into a kind of wood. The people used this head
for medicinal purposes. When they wanted to give it to a patient
they scraped a portion from the head and gave it to the person for
certain sicknesses. It cured many people. The same head is still
among our people, only it is about the size of a hen’s egg now.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] Told by Yellow-Bear.
33. THE RABBIT-BOY.[34]
In olden times there was a village upon the Missouri River. In this
village the young men were all the time going on the war-path, and
there were many dances going on. There was a young man who took no
part in their dances, nor in their war-parties. The people made
fun of him, but he did not care. Each morning he would sleep until
after the sun was high. When he ate he would climb up and sit upon
the top of the lodge; but the girls did not seem to care for him.
His father scolded him, and wanted to know what was the matter with
him. So the young man said, “I have never been anywhere, and I have
never felt like going anywhere, but to-day I feel like going upon
the graveyard hill, to stand and mourn, and to see if the gods will
help me.” The old man took out his white clay. He put it upon the
boy, and told him to go up to the graveyard. He said that he hoped
the gods would help him. The boy went up on the hill and stood by
the graveyard. In the afternoon it stormed. The boy huddled himself
against a grave mound. The boy’s father came up and tried to coax
him to come down, but the boy was determined to stay there. The old
man and the old woman took a piece of buffalo hide and stretched it
over the boy, and there he remained during the storm, which lasted
several days.
As soon as it cleared up there was a noise overhead that sounded
like big wind. The boy did not know what it was, but he could hear
whistling coming down from above, then it would come up again.
While he was there wondering what it was, there came a Jack-Rabbit.
It crawled under his robe. Then an Eagle swooped down and sat by
the boy, and it said, “My son, I have run that animal down, and I
want you to give it to me, so that I can eat it.” The Rabbit said:
“My son, do not give me up! Do not listen to the Eagle! Just now
he has the best of me. If you save me I will give you powers that
I possess.” The Eagle said: “Give him to me; I want to eat him! If
you give him to me I will give you as many scalps (stretching out
his right wing) as there are feathers in this wing.” But the young
man would not turn the Rabbit loose, for the Rabbit begged him, and
said, “I will make you a great warrior.” Then the Eagle said: “Turn
that thing loose, so I can eat it, and when I am satisfied, I will
give you powers that I possess. I will give you as many scalps as I
have feathers on both wings.” But the Rabbit begged hard, and said:
“No, do not turn me loose; he will do nothing of the kind. He will
take me and eat me and tell you nothing of his power.” The Eagle
spread out its wings, and said: “Now see. So many scalps will I
give you.” Then the Eagle spread out its tail, and said: “As many
feathers as are in my tail—as many of the enemy you shall strike,
counting coup. Now give me that which you have there and let me eat
it.” The boy said, “No, the Rabbit came to me, and I will take care
of him.” The Eagle flew up and away.
The Rabbit now crawled out of the boy’s robe and sat down by him.
After a while he said: “My son, I am thankful to you for saving my
life. I will make you a great warrior. I will give you a war-club.
I will give you a rabbit-skin to wear about your neck. I will give
you paint, which you shall put upon your body, and with this club
you will kill many enemies.” So the Rabbit gave the rabbit-skin,
the war-club, and the medicine paints to the boy.
The boy went down into the village in the night, hung his club and
rabbit-skin over the head of his bed, lay down, and went to sleep.
The next morning, when the father woke up, he saw these things
hanging up. He awakened his wife and told her to see the things
that the son had brought back with him. They were both glad to see
that the boy had returned.
At this time there was a war-party starting out. The young man told
his sisters to make him several pairs of moccasins, for he was
going to follow up the warriors. The warriors had been gone for
four days when the boy started to follow them. He overtook them on
the same day. He selected himself as a scout to go on ahead and see
what he could find in the enemy’s country. The young man found the
enemy’s camp. He came back and told the warriors what he had found.
He then sat down among the warriors. The leader took from his
bundle a flint knife and stuck it in the ground in front of where
the warriors were sitting. The leading warrior also took a spear
and stuck it in the ground. He also stuck in the ground an arrow.
“Now,” said he, “warriors, whosoever is going to do hard fighting
will please rise and choose the weapon he wishes to fight with.”
The young man, who was now known as the “Rabbit-Boy,” arose and
took the flint knife. He waited to see if somebody else would take
the other weapons. None of them did, so the boy took up the spear
and arrow.
Among the warriors was a young man who was very poor. Rabbit-Boy
took a liking for him and gave him the spear. He told the young
man to follow him wherever he should go. Rabbit-Boy then rose, and
said: “Leader and warriors! I shall go on ahead. I shall bring all
the ponies belonging to the enemy. I shall hide them in a hollow.”
The leader said, “It is well.” So the young man went and brought
all the ponies from the village and hid them in a hollow. The young
man came and told the leader that the ponies were safe.
The next thing was to attack the enemy in their camp. Rabbit-Boy
took his white clay, put it all over his body, put some rabbit-skins
around his ankles, also upon his wrists, and then he put a whole
skin around his neck, and the two feathers he put on his head to
represent rabbit’s ears. The only weapon that he had was the war-club
that had been given to him by the Rabbit. Rabbit-Boy planned the
attack. The warriors all crawled up to the village just before
daylight, and as the sun was coming up in the east an old man came
out of the village. He went around yelling for the people to wake
and go after their ponies. As he passed in front of where the
Rabbit-Boy was, Rabbit-Boy ran and struck the old man on the head
and killed him. Then Rabbit-Boy went through the village. As he came
to the center of the village he was just about to go by a big tipi,
when out came a pretty young girl, who carried a hide-scraper and a
robe. The girl saw the young man very plainly. She stopped and
watched him. She wished that she might in some way assist him to get
away. The people tried their best to kill Rabbit-Boy, but he escaped
safe. He then went and joined the other warriors, for they had run
away. They reached the ponies, which they divided, and then they
went home. When they arrived the people told of the wonderful powers
of Rabbit-Boy, and there was great rejoicing in his lodge. The
people then recognized him as a great warrior.
Three or four days afterwards the same party of warriors went to
the same village. The boy went through the same movements, killing
the first man that came out from the village, and as soon as the
boy had done these things, the warriors became bold and fought the
enemy.
The enemy never charged their village for a long time. The young
man was never known as Rabbit-Man in the enemy’s camp. Every time
he attacked the village he went through by way of the girl’s tipi.
Each time, the girl came out of the tipi. The girl met the boy. At
one of these times when the boy had attacked the village and killed
a man, he ran by the tipi and saw the girl. The girl cheered him.
The boy went on. In another of these attacks, the boy saw the girl.
He knew that she must like him. He went on through the village and
home.