THE HEAD-CHIEF AND HIS WIFE
White Calf, head-chief of the tribe, and Mad Wolf lived near each other
on Cutbank River. They had been friends for many years. Mad Wolf
secured his sacred Beaver Bundle from White Calf; and the ceremonies
brought the two chiefs and their wives into close relations. Their
families, too, were on intimate terms and continually visited each
other. Dives-under-Water, granddaughter of White Calf, and Anatapsa,
granddaughter of Mad Wolf, were bosom companions; and the four stalwart
sons of the head-chief, Wolf Tail, Cross Guns, Two Guns, and Night Gun
came often to our camp.
White Calf was then over seventy. But, in spite of his years, he still
stood erect; rode horseback and walked with brisk step. For nearly
thirty years he had been head-chief and was a real father to his
people. He was called upon to settle all manner of disputes; and to
make peace with those who quarreled. He had a gentle and benevolent
spirit, and his kindness of heart showed in his benign countenance. He
gave freely to the poor and helped widows and orphans. He was brave in
war, deliberate and sound of judgment. But his most prominent trait was
his love for fellow tribesmen. All his life he strove for their welfare
with an earnestness and devotion rarely equaled by rulers of civilized
peoples. In the defense of his tribe, he had a sturdy earnestness and
devotion which the bullying threats of United States Government
officials could not sway.
I remember a band of Sioux Indians who came as visitors to our camp.
They had been on the way for over a month—a journey of more than six
hundred miles over the arid plains. As soon as they arrived, our Indian
agent ordered them home; he refused to allow them time to rest their
tired horses.
Then White Calf went to the Sioux camp and told them to remain. He
warned the Government agent that his tribe would go on the warpath if
their visitors were not allowed to stay; and the venerable head-chief
had his way.
For sixty years White Calf roamed the plains, happy in his freedom. His
tribe were free to wander from the Saskatchewan River to the
Yellowstone in the south. Their hunting-grounds extended over thousands
of square miles, and their war expeditions roamed as far south as
Mexico. The conquering white men came. The herds of buffalo suddenly
disappeared; and the Indians were confined to a reservation by the
white men. Then White Calf advised his people not to fight, but to
adapt themselves to their new conditions of living.
White Calf had three wives who were sisters. When I first met him, two
of his wives were living, Catches-Two-Horses and Black-Snake-Woman. His
first wife, the oldest of the sisters, was dead. Her grave was on a
high hill near his home.
One day I went with Little Creek to White Calf’s lodge and found
Catches-Two-Horses. She was a fine type of Indian woman, a good mother,
industrious and conscientious. She had been sacred woman in the Sun
Dance and was beloved by all for her generosity and kindness of heart.
When we entered the lodge, Little Creek said: “Our white brother wants
you to tell about the past.” And Catches-Two-Horses answered: “Tales of
the past should only be told after dark. I might become blind if I tell
them in the daytime.”
Her son Two Guns and his wife, a daughter of Little Dog the war chief,
were also at home. She was young and lively; like her father, she was
always smiling. There were also visitors present from the north—a Blood
Indian and his wife whom they called Sarcee Face. She was a wit and
kept them laughing. She told about a swarm of bees attacking her while
in the middle of a river; her face was still swollen from their stings.
So I advised her to go to the river bank and cover the wounds with soft
mud. She came back astonished at the success of my strange remedy. Then
she made the rest laugh by saying: “I have a brother who is always
being stung by bees. I am going to roll him in the mud when I get
home.”
I asked Catches-Two-Horses to tell about the Sun Dance. The lively
young wife of Two Guns laughed and said:
“He wants to find out about the Sun Dance, because he thinks of taking
an Indian wife and will want to give the ceremony himself.” Sarcee Face
made them laugh again by saying to me:
“You would make a funny medicine man. They would take off your clothes
and paint you black all over; your white skin would show through and
you would be a pink-looking medicine man.”
By this time Catches-Two-Horses was ready to talk. She made an end of
the joking when she said:
“I was seven years old when I became the wife of White Calf. My older
sister was already his wife. I remember my age, because I had lived one
year with my husband before I lost my first teeth. I have never cared
for any other man, nor did I have a secret lover. My father was
Black-Snake-Man. He was head-chief of the tribe many years ago. I
remember when he first told our people they were going to get food from
the Government. At that time we were camped at the place where the
Yellowstone River flows into the Missouri. Then many Indians were
starving, because the buffalo had disappeared.
“During my life I have given three sun-dance ceremonies. I was a young
girl when I saw my first Sun Dance; and looked for the first time upon
a medicine woman. I wanted to be like her, to live a good life and be
honored by all the people.
“I gave my first Sun Dance because of a battle with the Assiniboines. I
made a vow in order that the Sun might keep some of my relatives from
being injured in the fight. I gave my second, to fulfill a vow by my
son Cross Guns. He made it in battle when surrounded by enemies. He
looked up to the Sun and prayed:
“‘Great Spirit in the Sun, have pity and spare my life. If I escape
from this danger, I promise that my mother will give a Sun Dance in
your honor.’
“Cross Guns escaped and came home. When I saw him I ran out to meet
him. He kissed me and said:
“‘Mother, I have made a lot of trouble for you. In a fight with the
Crows, I was surrounded and thought I was going to be killed; I made a
vow to the Sun; I promised that if I came through alive, you would make
a medicine lodge (Sun Dance). I know this means suffering for you—to
starve yourself and become thin and weak.’
“But I was glad. Quickly I made my vow; I kept praying day and night:
“‘Sun Above! Pity me!
May I be pure and lead a straight life.
May I be kind-hearted and good to every one.
May my children and relatives live to be old.’
“Another time I was ill; the doctors said I was going to die. A
messenger carried this news to my son Cross Guns who was camped on
Badger Creek. It was midnight when he was told. He looked up to the sky
and prayed:
“‘Moon and Stars! Have pity on my mother.
May she live!
If she recovers from this night,
I promise you she will give the Sun Dance.’
“Cross Guns generally prayed to the Sun. But that night he prayed to
the Moon and Stars, because they were in the sky. Next day he came to
my tepee and made known his vow.
“We began our preparations in the early spring, before the snow was
gone. We gathered tongues for the food and purchased a sacred
headdress. I fasted and prayed day and night. On our way to the circle
camp I had three travois, for the sacred tongues and my clothes.”
Then the old woman changed from the subject of the Sun Dance and began
to tell about her first experience with a Medicine Pipe. She said:
“Many years ago our people had a big camp at the lower end of the
Cypress Hills. It was midsummer. The four tribes, Bloods, Piegans,
Sarcees and North Blackfoot, came together in the same camp. It was so
large that our chiefs formed two great circles, instead of one as was
our custom. My father, Black-Snake-Man, and Lone Chief were head men;
Little Dog was war chief and Four Bears head medicine man. I was then a
girl of fourteen; and in that camp I first learned about the Medicine
Pipe.
“One day White Calf had visitors at our tepee. He ran short of tobacco
and asked me to borrow from his friend Four Bears, the medicine man. A
large crowd was about his lodge, and inside many men dressed in fine
costumes. I wondered what was going on; but I never thought it was a
medicine-pipe ceremony. I stood at the door and asked Four Bears for
the tobacco. At first he said he had none. Then I started to go away
and he called me back. He left his seat at the back of the tepee and
took some tobacco from a bundle hanging over the door. I saw him burn
some incense and hold the tobacco in the smoke. He also made a prayer
and said:
“‘Here is tobacco. With it I give you the sacred bundle that hangs over
the door. From it you can take tobacco whenever you want.’
“I felt proud of his having given such a fine present. I took the
tobacco to White Calf and gave him the message. He looked at me
strangely and said:
“‘Go back to Four Bears and tell him: “White Calf made a vow in his
youth, that if any one ever offered him a Medicine Pipe he would take
it.”’
“I was frightened at these words and the way my husband looked. But I
went back and told Four Bears before his guests. Then they all began to
sing and to beat on their drums. They came forth and marched towards
our tepee, singing and drumming and shaking their rattles. Four of them
put a robe about White Calf and took him back to the lodge of Four
Bears.
“Then came the ceremony of transferring the pipe. Four Bears pitched a
large lodge near the center of the camp. His wife came and dressed me
for the occasion. I wore a buckskin dress with beaded leggings and
moccasins to match, and a robe of soft tanned elkskin. My husband had a
buckskin suit fringed over the shoulders and arms with scalp-locks
taken in battle, and a fine buffalo robe decorated with a band of
colored beads. Four Bears gave us a bay horse with the Medicine Pipe, a
saddle, whip, and painted rawhide rope. When we were ready to start for
the big dance lodge, Four Bears led this horse bearing the Medicine
Pipe and White Calf, with the buffalo robe over his head and extending
back over the horse’s flanks. I followed with my sister,
Black-Snake-Woman, carrying the sacred bundles. In the dance lodge we
had a pile of presents which our friends and relatives gave to help us
pay for the pipe. We had to give Four Bears many horses, besides robes
and blankets. Then he taught us the chants, prayers, and dances that go
to make up the ceremony, and the rules we must follow in the care of
the pipe.
“Soon after this ceremony five Gros Ventres attacked our camp and took
some horses. White Calf followed with a band of our warriors and killed
all of them. He took their scalps and we had a Scalp Dance. After that
Four Bears, the former owner of the Medicine Pipe, and his two wives,
took us to the dance. Because White Calf had taken the scalps, it was
now proper for his wives to take part in the Scalp Dance. And this is
the end of my tale.”