PAINTED TEPEES AND PICTURE WRITING
The circle camp, on the prairies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains,
had a strange and fascinating interest. Even after many years, the
scenes are still fresh in my mind. Night and day there was generally
something going on. Morning was the quietest time, when few people were
stirring. Never did the meadows look fresher or lovelier than in the
golden sunlight of a July morning. Flowers and grass were hung with
sparkling lace and shining gems of dew.
On my way to the stream for my morning bath, I waded through masses of
golden sunflowers and blue and purple vetches up to my knees. Dim on
the eastern horizon, where the sun was rising, were the blue outlines
of the Sweet Grass Hills; and in the west the mighty frontier range of
the Rockies, with glistening glaciers and snowfields. In the long grass
I saw a prairie hare, a pair of kit foxes, and ground squirrels running
about, chirping in the sunlight. Along the shore of the lake were
killdeer, long-billed curlew, and spotted sandpipers.
All the birds were singing, robins, yellow-throats, and lovely mountain
bluebirds; horned larks were fluttering and trilling, hovering like
butterflies against the deep blue sky. Along the stream were thickets
of willows and snowberry bushes in flower, and in marshy places blue
flags, scarlet painted-cups, and blue-eyed grasses.
After a plunge in the cold water of the brook, I went back to my lodge
and had breakfast; looked after my horses, watered them and changed
their picket places, then sat outside in the sunlight.
Health is a wonderful thing. On lovely summer mornings, when nature was
at her best over the prairie, my heart felt light and I was happy; the
civilized world was easily forgotten. With my horses, cameras, and
notebooks, I could always occupy myself and had plenty of work to do.
In the circle camp I counted three hundred and fifty lodges—thirty of
them were Painted Tepees with symbolic decorations. They belonged to
the head men of different bands and were pitched in prominent places on
the inner circle. The owners were proud of them. The ceremonies that
went with them gave a social prestige and a good standing in the tribe.
At first it was hard to find out anything about the Painted
Tepees—about their symbolic declarations, ceremonies, and the legends
of their origin. The owner believed that the divulging of the secrets
weakened their supernatural power. Each Painted Tepee had a sacred
bundle and a separate ceremony. The pictures on the tepee cover and the
ceremony that went with them could not be separated. They came
originally through a dream and belonged exclusively to the founder, who
might transfer them to another; but no one could copy them. They were
believed to have protective power for the owners and their families.
Both men and women made vows to them in time of danger and in behalf of
the sick. If the tepee cover with its decorations wore out, a new one
with the same pictures took its place. But the old one was sacrificed
to the Sun—destroyed by spreading upon the surface of a lake and
sinking it under the water.
I learned about an Otter Tepee by living in one for a week, watching
the owner in his ceremonies and his care of it. The supernatural power
came to the founder in a dream, when he visited the home of an otter.
The top of this Otter Tepee was painted black, with a yellow cross at
the back for the Morning Star. Round the center were four male and four
female otters; above the otters red bands representing ripples on the
surface of the water, which an otter makes while swimming; and at the
bottom of the tepee, a broad red band for the earth, surmounted by
triangular figures for mountains.
The owner had a large otter-skin, which he sometimes took from his
sacred bundle and hung from a pole over the tepee, to float in the wind
like a flag, also a drum and a number of bird and animal skins. These
he kept in a rawhide case, which hung from a tripod outside the tepee
in good weather, but were always brought inside at night, or during a
storm.
For the ceremony, he held the sacred bundle in the smoke of burning
sweet grass, then laid it on the grass. When he opened his bundle and
took out the contents, he sang songs and prayed. He painted his body
yellow to represent the shore of a lake, with red marks for otter
trails and tracks in the soft earth. A circle on his forehead stood for
the home of the otter, another on his breast for a hole in the river
bank through which the otter passes.
In the tribal camp, I counted five different Otter Tepees; also two
Crow Tepees, two Eagle, and one each of the Snake, Water Animal, Big
Rock, Deer, Elk, Mountain Sheep, Antelope, Horse, Rainbow, Thunder,
Snow, Pine Tree, Bear, Buffalo Head, beside many others.
The owners of Painted Tepees guarded them jealously, because of their
supernatural power and value to the tribe. It was long before I could
purchase one. But I finally secured an Otter Tepee, because the owner
lost faith in it. His wife and children had all died and he no longer
believed in its protective power.
I saw Wolf Tail, a son of the head-chief White Calf, take over the
Big-Stripe Tepee. He made a vow to purchase it during the winter. At
the time of the circle camp, he went to Wipes-His-Eyes, the owner, and
made known his vow. Now Wipes-His-Eyes did not want to sell; and his
wife and children were sorry to give up their comfortable home. But
because of the vow, they dared not refuse. So Wolf Tail took down their
tepee and pitched it in another place in the circle camp.
The first lodge I owned had no pictures on the cover. Then I knew
nothing about Painted Tepees—their rules and regulations. I wanted mine
decorated, so I went to Medicine Weasel, a friend of Mad Wolf; he had a
reputation as an artist and was willing to do the work. But, when I
told him to paint otters on my tepee, he was frightened. He said it
might cause his death; he had no right to use the otter design and
asked that he be released from painting my tepee under any
circumstances.
Then I went to White Grass, the medicine man, who was shrewd and more
resourceful. He was not willing to paint the otter design, but found a
way out of the difficulty. He proposed my using the Pine Tree, saying
he could paint that design, because he had dreamed it himself while
sleeping under a pine tree in the mountains.
So White Grass painted my lodge and made it into the Pine Tree Tepee.
It had a black top for the night sky, the Morning Star in blue, also
the constellations of the Great Bear and the Pleiades on both sides. At
the bottom was a red band for the earth, on which were white discs for
fallen stars, triangular projections for mountains and a yellow
pine-cone at the back to symbolize the Pine Tree.
I also had a small traveling-lodge, which my friend Big Eyes gave me
because I was kind to his children. It was decorated with pictures of
both war and hunting—events which had happened in his own career. There
were figures of men and animals and Indian camps in colors, red,
yellow, and black, an attack by a band of hostile Sioux, a hand-to-hand
conflict of Big Eyes with the chief of the Sioux, also battles with
Cree Indians and with the Crows, and an attack they made on a
settlement of white men.
On the north side of my traveling-lodge was the picture of a fight,
which Big Eyes had with a band of five grizzly bears in the Rocky
Mountains—a mother bear with two large cubs and two other grizzlies. In
one of the scenes he was plunging his knife into the breast of the
mother grizzly, and in another she was tearing him with her teeth and
claws; and then she left him for dead to attack his horse.
Two of the most prominent tepees on the inner circle were the Yellow
Buffalo and Black Buffalo—the oldest of all the Painted Tepees; and
they were believed to have the greatest supernatural power; their
bundles and the secrets of their ceremonies had been handed down
through many years. Their founders were two warriors, who once looked
down into a river and saw two lodges with decorations. Both had black
tops, on which were white discs for stars, and a black band round the
bottom with fallen stars; each had a pair of buffaloes painted about
the center, using yellow for one tepee and black for the other, and the
skins of buffalo calves for door-flaps. Their rituals were associated
with power to call the buffalo in time of need or starvation. There
were taboos against allowing dogs to come inside, the fire must not die
out, the door must not be allowed to stand open, nor should any one
strike the side of the tepee.
The founder of the Snow Tepee was caught on the open plains in a bad
winter blizzard. He lay for days under a deep drift, and had a dream in
which the Maker of Storms and Blizzards gave him the decorations and
ceremony. The Snow Tepee was not often pitched in summer camps. It was
a bad-weather-lodge and was believed to have power to bring storms and
cold weather. It had a yellow top, like the color of the sky at
sunrise, with a cluster of seven stars for the constellation of the
Great Bear on the north side, the direction blizzards come from, and
Pleiades on the other. At the back was a red disc for the sun, with a
buffalo tail attached. Under the yellow top, and at the four sides
where stood the four main lodge-poles, were four claws to represent the
Thunder Bird. At the bottom was a yellow band for the earth, with green
discs, the ice color. On both sides of the door were horse tails for
good luck; and bunches of crow feathers, with small bells attached to
tinkle in the wind, were fastened to the tops of the ear-poles. Inside
no drumming was allowed, the fire must not go out, nor moccasins hung
up; dogs were not allowed to enter, nor the tepee cover to be raised.
Medicine Owl was the owner of a large Snake Tepee, with black top for
the night sky and the Morning Star and constellations of stars on both
sides. Two large serpents were painted round the middle, with the male
serpent on the south side and the female on the north. Above the snakes
were four red bands for their trails and their den at the back of the
tepee. No bones should be broken inside, lest the owner’s horses go
lame.
The Crow Tepee had a broad red band around its center, with a
procession of crows holding pieces of meat in their bills. A buffalo
head was painted over the door; at the back was a row of buffalo tails;
and at the top a cross for the Moth, the Sleep Bringer—a symbol that
the tepee had come to the owner in a dream. In the legend of its
origin, the founder slept one night in the Rocky Mountains, where great
flocks of crows came to roost. In his dream the crows gave their
supernatural power which went with the tepee.
There was another Crow Tepee, which had a strip of fringed buckskin
round the center part for a trail. A row of crows were walking in
single file towards the front of the lodge, holding pieces of red
flannel in their bills for meat. Under the top of this tepee were red
and yellow bands, to represent the color of clouds at sunrise.
The Thunder Tepee was believed to bring fair weather. Its ceremony gave
protection from storms and had power to clear the sky. Near the ground
and at the back was painted a large yellow disc; the north half dotted
with small blue spots for hail, the south half with yellow spots for
rain. Near the top of this disc the Thunder Bird was represented with
outstretched wings and flashes of lightning coming from its beak. At
the time of the first thunder in the spring, a ceremony and feast were
given.
The Rainbow Tepee had a red band at the bottom, surmounted by figures
representing the heads of enemies. At the back was a figure for the
founder of the tepee, with a pipe in one hand and a shield in the
other, which he held as an offering to the Sun. The rainbow was
represented by two curved lines in the form of an arch, and a red band
for the color of clouds at sunrise.
The Beaver Tepee had a beaver painted at the top, with its chief organs
in different colors—the kidneys, liver, brain, and life-line. Under the
black top, with the groups of star constellations, were four bands to
represent beaver trails. A ceremony was given at the end of the winter,
the time beavers are accustomed to leave their winter dens.
The Big Stripe Tepee had a broad red band round the center. Its founder
said it had been given to him by both the beaver and the otter. On the
red band were figures of six otters going towards their home in the
river bank. Their den was painted in red over the door. Inside this
tepee was a string of buffalo hoofs, which rattled whenever any one
entered.
The Water Monster Tepee came from the Sun. It had two serpent-like
figures in red and blue round the center, with yellow and green plumes
extending from their heads. Figures were painted on the back, to
represent the crescent moon and the Morning Star; and on its altar were
symbols for the Moon, Morning Star, Mistake-Morning-Star, sun dogs and
the rays of the sun.
There were two Eagle Tepees, one for the bald-headed eagle, with red
top and yellow band for the color of the sky and clouds at sunrise; the
other had a pair of eagles and a band round the center to represent a
river. The Deer Tepee had figures of a buck deer and a doe, with two
red bands for deer trails and hoof marks, with mountains at the bottom.
The Mountain Sheep Tepee had a procession of rams and ewes going from
the rear of the lodge towards the door; at the bottom were triangular
figures for mountains, and under the black top four red bands for
mountain sheep trails. There was also an Elk Tepee, another covered
with stars; and a Big Rock Tepee, representing a sacred rock on the
prairies.
But the most interesting of all these decorated lodges was the War
Tepee, covered with pictures of war and adventure. It belonged to an
old chief named Running Rabbit; the men who had been associated with
him on raids and hunts were also joint owners. The records represented
the deeds of the owner and his nearest friends. Some of the songs they
used in the ceremony were their individual war songs.
At the back of the War Tepee was the figure of a person holding a pipe,
which was symbolic of the vision of the founder. On the left side of
the door was a circle enclosing four figures surrounded by many others,
to represent Running Rabbit as leader with three companions, standing
in a pit and holding back a number of enemies. A series of crossed
lines, representing picket stakes to which horses were tied, recorded
the capture of a number of horses. There was one symbol for the number
of times Running Rabbit was leader of war expeditions, and another for
his being detailed as scout. The sign for scout was a curved line to
represent the waiting warriors; and a zigzag line going off, to show
his irregular course while scouting, in order to hide the position of
his followers from the enemy.
Other brave deeds recorded were the cutting loose of a horse picketed
close to the lodge of a Gros Ventre Indian and a dog barking; the enemy
pursuing and their narrow escape; the seizing of a gun from the hand of
an enemy; also the taking of a war bonnet, a lance, and a shield; there
was the picture of a brave warrior who saved the lives of two wounded
comrades, carrying one on his own horse and leading the horse with the
other; their wounds were marked by dashes of red for blood; another
picture showed Running Rabbit taking part in the making of a treaty
with the white men.
In these pictures, the travois mark was used to indicate the direction
taken by a war party; stops by day and traveling by night were marked
by different colors—yellow for day and black for night. Mountains were
marked, also lakes, streams, and rivers; a long crooked line ending in
a fork represented a river; a red mark in the bend of this river showed
where a fight took place with a war party of Crow Indians.