The Pawnees were in a woeful plight. As the sun rose and tra

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PRAIRIE SMOKE

(SECOND EDITION, REVISED)

BY

MELVIN RANDOLPH GILMORE

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA

1921

A COLLECTION of LORE of the PRAIRIES

COPYRIGHT 1922

By MELVIN RANDOLPH GILMORE

[Illustration: {Map to Show Distribution of Tribes}]

MAP TO SHOW THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE NATIVE TRIBES IN WHAT IS NOW THE

STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA AND ADJACENT STATES.

The native tribes of North Dakota are of three different linguistic

stocks or races. These are the Algonkian, Siouan and Caddoan. The

Algonkian race is represented in North Dakota by one nation, the

Chippewa or Ojibwa. The Siouan race is represented within our state

boundaries by three nations, the Dakota (sometimes called Sioux), the

Mandan, and the Hidatsa (who are also called Gros Ventre and

Minnetari). The Caddoan race is represented by one nation, the

Arikara. Other nations of the Caddoan race are the Pawnees, the

Wichita and the Waco farther south.

The domain of the Dakota nation comprised southern Minnesota,

northwest Iowa, almost all of South Dakota, part of northwest

Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, and the southern part of North Dakota.

The Chippewa domain was around the west end of Lake Superior in

northern Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, and part of northeastern North

Dakota.

The Mandans, Hidatsas and Arikaras were three nations allied together

for mutual protection against the encroachments of their common

enemies who pressed upon them from all sides. The Mandan as an

independent nation held domain along both sides of the Missouri River

in what is now the central part of North Dakota. The Hidatsa were to

the east of the Mandan. The Arikara were, some centuries ago, in

northern Nebraska, but migrated gradually up the river. Finally they

were so pressed by the incursion of the Dakotas from the east that

they joined forces with the Mandans, who allowed them place in their

country in exchange for the added strength which their numbers gave

against the common enemy. The Hidatsas and the Mandans had already,

before this, made alliance, so now the three nations were allied in

the region of the upper Missouri River within what is now North

Dakota, extending westward a little into what is now Montana.

The several domains of the various native tribes or nations within

North Dakota and adjacent states are represented on this map as

follows:

Dakota by horizontal lines,

Chippewa by vertical lines,

Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara alliance by oblique cross hatching,

Ponka by oblique lines slanting to the left,

Omaha by oblique lines slanting to the right,

Pawnee by horizontal and vertical cross-hatching,

Oto by cross-hatching of lines horizontal, oblique left and right.

DEDICATION

To the Real Pioneers of the Great Plains: to those whose questing

spirit first sought out the wonders and the beauties of this

land;--its vast reaches, league upon league, of grassland, verdant in

springtime, sere and red and brown in autumn; its inviting valleys and

its forbidding buttes;--to those whose moccasined feet made the first

human footprints upon the turf of these prairies and upon the sands of

these river margins; whose self-reliance made them the first to breast

the current of these streams; whose humble footpaths over the land

have now become the transcontinental highways of the world's travel

and trade; to those who first slaked thirst at these cool, clear

watersprings, whose hunger was first satisfied by the fruits of this

land, and who, in eating and in drinking, devoutly gave thanks to our

tender Mother Earth for her bounties, receiving them gratefully as

sacred gifts to be prudently used and thankfully enjoyed, and never to

be wasted; who knew and loved this land in all its spacious extent,

east to west and south to north; who reverenced its sacred places, the

holy watersprings, the grand and silent hills, the mysterious caves,

the eery precipices,--all places where their fathers had with prayer

and fasting sought and obtained the favour of the gods, and where the

gods had granted revelations and given wisdom to their fathers; to

those whose eyes first beheld this land in its virgin beauty, fresh

and joyous, unscarred and unspoiled, clean and wholesome, animated

with exuberance of life of many species of both plant and animal in

wonderful balance and adjustment, spontaneously replenished; and who

held it a form of sacrilege to violate or in any way endanger the

overthrow of that delicate balance of nature;--to those first

inhabitants of this land which we now inhabit.

That something of their appreciation, of their love and reverence for

the land and its native life, something of their respect for its

sacred places and holy associations; that something of their sense of

its charm, of its beauty and wonder, may come to us; that we may the

more worthily occupy and more sympathetically enjoy our tenure of this

land.

To these ends and purposes this book is hopefully and earnestly

dedicated.

INTRODUCTION

Many persons are ever seeking outside of themselves and in some

distant place or time for interest and cheer. They are always

discontented and complaining. They fancy if they were but in some

other place or other circumstances they would be happy. But this is a

vain fancy. Each of us carries with him the germs of happiness or of

unhappiness. Those of unhappy disposition will be unhappy wherever

they may be. Cheer is not in environment, but in the individual. One

who is of a cheerful, understanding disposition will find interest and

cheer wherever he may be.

Robert Louis Stevenson well said "The world is so full of a number of

things I think we should all be as happy as kings." When there are so

many interesting things in the world, so many in any given place, so

many more than one can ever fully know or enjoy in the short span of

human lifetime, how can one ever be overtaken by dullness? If dullness

seem to enfold us, be sure it is we that are dull; it is because our

minds are lazy and our eyes unseeing. There is enough of interest

about us wherever we may be to engage our attention if we open our

eyes to it. If we have initiative and independence of mind we shall

find interest everywhere; but if we depend upon others or neglect

what is about us in desire for what is distant we shall never be

content. One greater than Robert Louis Stevenson said "The Kingdom of

Heaven is within you."

It is with the purpose of calling attention to some of the many

fascinatingly interesting things which we have all about us on the

prairie plains and in the hills and valleys of our own state, and

perhaps in our own neighborhood, that this volume is produced. The

myths which pertain to the hills, valleys, springs and streams in our

own state and in our own neighborhood must be of interest to us when

we look with our own eyes upon the actual places to which these myths

pertain. And these myths of the country in which we live are at least

equal in beauty and interest to the myths of the Greeks, and to the

old Teutonic myths of Thor, Odin, and Freya; or even to our own old

British myths which we have from our Druidic ancestors. And however

beautiful and interesting in itself a native tree or flower or other

plant may be, however engaging to the attention may be a native bird

or beast, how much more so when we think of what this bird or beast or

flower or tree has been in the lives of generations of our fellow

creatures who have lived here and loved this land and its teeming

native life long before we ever saw it.

So, it is with the purpose of directing the attention of our people to

the wealth of lore, of legend and story and myth, and of wonder and

beauty which lies all about us here if we but look and listen, that

this little volume is presented.

The title of this book is suggested by one of the popular names of

the flower which is the subject of one of the stories of this volume.

This flower, the earliest of all to bloom in springtime over all the

northern prairies, has a number of popular names, among which are

Pasque flower, Gosling flower, and Prairie Smoke flower. The latter

name is suggested by the nebulous appearance presented by a patch of

the bluish flowers blooming upon a prairie hillside in early spring,

while all other vegetation is still brown and dead. At such a time,

with all their blossoms tremulous in the spring wind, they appear to

the view like a pulsing cloud of grayish-blue smoke hovering low over

the ground.

Besides the reference to this dearly-loved prevernal flower the term

"prairie smoke" also connotes a number of other engaging conceptions.

To one who has lived upon the prairie this term will recall lively

recollections of both sight and scent. It will recall to the

imagination memories of rolling billows of smoke which he has seen

covering miles of advancing lines of prairie fire; he will see again

in memory the tiny blue spirals of smoke showing where some solid

particles still smoulder hours after the line of fire has passed on

leaving behind a vast blackened waste. It will recall to him also the

rare, intangible blue haze which for days after such a fire lay like a

veil over all the plain, and through which the sun appeared like a

great red disk hanging in the sky, while the air was redolent with an

indescribable tang. Again, it brings to mind the wisps of smoke which

once curled upward in the quiet summer air from stovepipes projecting

from the roofs of prairie sodhouses, or which on snowy winter mornings

hung above them like thin white scarfs against a vast background of

blue overhanging a white world.

It will bring to mind also other days and other scenes of this same

prairie country, when there might be seen wreaths of smoke issuing

from the domes of the hemispherical-shaped houses of villages of

Mandans, Pawnees, or Omahas, upon the hills and river terraces, their

laboriously tilled cornfields and gardens in the fertile alluvial

valleys near by. Or, again, it will recall the scene of an encampment

of some of these people out upon the prairie on a buffalo hunt in

quest of their meat supply. The encampment is a circle of conical

tents, a circle of perhaps a half mile in diameter. Before each tent

the evening fire is twinkling in the dusk upon the green of the

prairie, a circle of friendly lights, each the centre of a family

group, while a few stars begin to twinkle in the blue of the sky

above, and the sunset colours glow in the horizon.

Some or all of these sights and scents, and others also, will present

themselves according to the experience of the one who comprehends the

title "Prairie Smoke."

So it is hoped that to each one who reads this little volume it may

indeed be as a "wisp of prairie smoke," and shall bring a real savour

of the prairie and at least a slight realisation of what the Prairie

was before it was swept by the destructive Fires of Change.

Land and People

NATURE AND HEALTH

The philosophy of health and wholesomeness of the native Americans,

the Indians, was to live in accordance with nature and by coming as

much as possible into direct physical contact with the elements in

nature, such as the sunshine, the rain and snow, the air and earth.

They felt the need and desire to be in frequent and immediate contact

with "Mother Earth," to receive upon their persons the strong rays of

the sun, the restorative efficacy of the winds from the clean sky, and

to bathe daily in living streams.

The priest of a certain ritual of the Pawnee nation visited

Washington. He admired the Washington monument as he viewed it from

the capitol. When he went over to visit the monument he measured the

dimensions of its base by pacing; then he stood up and gazed toward

its summit, noting its height. Then he went inside; but when he was

asked whether he would walk up the stairway or go on the lift, he

said: "I will not go up. White men like to pile up stones, and they

may go to the top of them; I will not. I have ascended the mountains

made by Tirawa." (Tirawa is the Pawnee name of God.)

Some years ago Mr. Louis J. Hill took a party of people of the

Blackfoot tribe to New York City as his guests. They were interested

in the sight of the great engineering feats as manifested in the great

structures of the city. But they were unwilling to be cooped up in the

rooms of the hotel, so they made arrangements to be allowed to set up

their tents upon the hotel roof so that they might at least have the

natural sunlight and the outdoor air.

In an ancient Pawnee ritual there is a hymn which begins with the

words, "Now behold; hither comes the ray of our father Sun; it cometh

over all the land, passeth in the lodge, us to touch and give us

strength." And in another stanza of this hymn, referring to the

passing of the sun, it continues, "Now behold where has passed the ray

of our father Sun; around the lodge the ray has passed and left its

blessing there, touching us, each one of us."

So it was ever the aim to live in accord with nature, to commune often

with nature. A word of admonition from the wisdom lore of the Menomini

tribe says, "Look often at the moon and the stars." And the

Winnebagoes have a wise saying: "Holy Mother Earth, the trees and all

nature, are witnesses of your thoughts and deeds." Another admonition

of Winnebago wisdom is: "Reverence the Unseen Forces that are always

near you and are always trying to lead you right."

SPIRIT OF LIFE

In the following verses Dr. A. McG. Beede of Fort Yates, North Dakota,

has translated a prayer he once heard uttered by an old man of the

Dakota nation who had just come from bathing in the river and was

standing upon a hill giving expression to his feeling of adoration:

Spirit of Life in things above

And lovelier in things below,

We pray to Thee, All-being-love,

Spontaneous in our hearts to grow.

Our Father Life, we live in Thee

And pray for glory which is Thine,

And by our living may we be

As Thou art in the Life divine.

The trees and flowers and watersprings

Are singing good old songs of mirth,

So may we sing while music brings

The good old joy o'er all the earth.

Spirit of Life, sing on, sing on;

Sing till our aching hearts find rest

And anxious fear is past and gone,

And like the rivers we are blest.

The earth is singing, hark the song;

The whispering breezes floating by,

The waterstreams gliding along,

Reflecting faces in the sky.

Spirit of Life, we worship Thee,

With waterstreams and trees and flowers;

So may our new-born spirits be

As Thou art, and Thy glory ours.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS NATIVE LIFE

People of European race resident in America, (Americans we call

ourselves) have sentimental regard toward the plants and animals

native to Europe, some of which, domesticated by our ancestors, we

have brought with us to America. But most of our people have not

developed such sentiments toward the plants and animals native to

America. Literary allusions, songs and stories refer to trees,

flowers, birds and other forms of life pertaining to our old home

lands in Europe, but not to those of America. People of our race have

been inhabitants of America now for three centuries, and still we have

not made ourselves at home here; we have not formed sentimental

attachment to the land and to its native forms of life.

It is a pity for a people not to be so attached to the country in

which they live that their sentiments shall be first of all for the

forms of life that are native to their own country. Otherwise there

is a disharmony which lessens happiness and is harmful in many ways.

Lacking friendly feeling for the plants and animals native to America

there has been a tendency to destroy these things in a ruthless

manner; and this can hardly be prevented by law unless we can awaken

sentimental feelings for the native forms of life in America such as

that which our ancestors had for forms of life native in Europe.

Indians, the native Americans, have friendly sentiments, and even

feelings of reverence for the forms of life native to America.

I once asked an old Omaha what was the feeling of Indians when they

saw the white men wantonly killing buffaloes. As soon as he

comprehended my question he dropped his head and was silent for a

moment, seeming to be overcome by sadness; and then in a tone as

though he were ashamed that such a thing could have been done by human

beings, he answered: "It seemed to us a most wicked, awful thing."

Most white men can not comprehend the sense of pain experienced by

Indians at seeing the native forms of life in America ruthlessly and

wantonly destroyed with no compunction on the part of the destroyers.

And this destruction of the forms of native American life by white

people gave to Indians a sense of a fearful void in nature, coupled

with a feeling of grief, of horror, of distress and pain. It was not

fundamentally the thought of the loss of their food supply, but the

contemplation of the dislocation of the nice balance of nature, the

destruction of world symmetry.

White Horse, an old man of the Omaha tribe in Nebraska, said to me in

August, 1913: "When I was a youth the country was beautiful. Along the

rivers were belts of timberland, where grew cottonwoods, maples, elms,

oaks, hickory and walnut trees, and many other kinds. Also there were

various vines and shrubs. And under all these grew many good herbs and

beautiful flowering plants. On the prairie was the waving green grass

and many other pleasant plants. In both the woodland and the prairie I

could see the trails of many kinds of animals and hear the cheerful

songs of birds. When I walked abroad I could see many forms of life,

beautiful living creatures of many kinds which the Master of Life had

placed here; and these were, after their manner walking, flying,

leaping, running, feeding, playing all about. Now the face of all the

land is changed and sad. The living creatures are gone. I see the land

desolate, and I suffer unspeakable sadness. Sometimes I wake in the

night and I feel as though I should suffocate from the pressure of

this awful feeling of loneliness."

Indians generally were shrewd and discerning observers of the life and

habits of plants and animals. The careful study of plants and animals

was a considerable part of the courses of study in their system of

education, which included much more than is supposed by persons who

have not made themselves acquainted with Indian life. They were well

informed in plant and animal ecology, and in knowledge of range of

species. They took cognizance of the habits of animals in the animals'

dwelling places. An old Indian once told me how a muskrat lays up

stores of food in his house. He compared the appearance of the

musk-rat's stores to that of a grocer's goods on the shelves of his

store. Many old Indians have told me what kinds of food are stored by

different species of animals which lay up stores. They often speak of

such animals as lay up food stores as being civilized animal nations,

and of those which do not make such provision as being uncivilized.

They attribute great wisdom to certain species of animals. This

disposition results from discerning observation of the animals' works

and ways. The beaver notably is reputed to be very wise and

industrious. Indians often sought to gain the favor and learn the

wisdom of various animal species by endeavoring to place themselves en

rapport with the guardian genius of the species.

INDIANS' APPRECIATION AND LOVE OF THEIR HOMELAND

In the rituals of the various tribes may be found numerous expressions

of the love and reverence which the people had for Holy Mother Earth

in general and for their own homeland in particular. And in their

thought of their homeland they did not regard it as a possession which

they owned, but they regarded themselves as possessed by their

homeland, their country, and that they owed her love and service and

reverence. The following song is found in an ancient ritual of the

Pawnee nation which is given entire in the Twenty-second Annual Report

of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Part 2. This song plainly

reflects the topography and the scenery of the country of the Pawnee

nation, that part of the Great Plains traversed by the Solomon,

Republican, Platte, Loup, and Niobrara rivers.

SONG TO THE TREES AND STREAMS

I

Dark against the sky yonder distant line

Lies before us. Trees we see, long the line of trees,

Bending, swaying in the breeze.

II

Bright with flashing light yonder distant line

Runs before us, swiftly runs, swift the river runs,

Winding, flowing o'er the land.

III

Hark! O hark! A sound, yonder distant sound

Comes to greet us, singing comes, soft the river's song,

Rippling gently 'neath the trees.

In the foregoing song one can hear the constant murmur of the summer

south wind as it blows in that country for days, and see the broad

stretch of the great level land, gently undulating in places, with its

eastward-flowing streams bordered by zones of trees, the timbered

zones along the stream courses being the only forest land in that

country.

THRILLING ESCAPE OF A WAR PARTY OUTNUMBERED AND SURROUNDED BY THEIR

ENEMIES

_A Pawnee Story_

In the northwest part of Nebraska there is a high butte with

perpendicular sides like the walls of a great building. Because of

the shape of this butte, and because it is composed mostly of a soft

rock or hard, firm clay, it is called Court-House Rock by the white

people. Of course it has other names among the Indian tribes of that

region.

This great butte stands out boldly upon the high plain and can be seen

for many miles in all directions overlooking the Platte River. The top

is almost flat and all sides but one are almost vertical, and are bare

of vegetation, worn smooth by rain and by wind, impossible to climb.

But there is a way on one side by which a strong man can make his way

to the top.

This high lonely butte stands on the borderland between the country of

the Pawnees and the country of the Dakotas. The Dakotas and the

Pawnees were almost always at war with each other. Many years ago a

Pawnee war party was camped near this butte when they were surprised

by a war party of Dakotas stronger in numbers than their own party. In

the fight which ensued the Pawnees were unable to drive their enemies

off, but were compelled to take refuge by climbing to the top of the

butte. The Dakotas were unable to follow the Pawnees upon the butte,

for the Pawnees were able to guard the single narrow path. But neither

could the Pawnees escape again upon the open plain for the Dakotas

securely guarded the descent and could easily kill one after another

all who might attempt to come down that way. So it seemed only a

question of time before all the Pawnees must die of hunger and thirst

upon the top of the rock, or come down and give themselves up to death

at the hands of their enemies. The camps of the Dakotas surrounded the

butte, laying siege to it to starve the Pawnees out.

The Pawnees were in a woeful plight. As the sun rose and traveled

across the sky they could look away for miles and perhaps see flocks

of antelopes grazing upon the plain, while their own stomachs were

pinched with hunger; and some miles to the south they could see the

flashing sunlight gleaming upon the waters of the Platte River, while

close at hand, at the foot of the butte, they could see their enemies

eating and drinking, which could but serve to aggravate their own

hunger and thirst. And at night when the scorching sun had sunk in the

west they might look away to the eastward, in which direction their

homes lay many days' march distant in the beautiful and fruitful

valley of the Loup River; and as they looked the twinkling stars

appearing one by one near the eastern horizon must have made them

think of the evening camp fires of their home people. And at night the

grim chill of the rare air of the high butte gripped their bodies in

its clutch. And all the while they must be very vigilant against their

enemies to prevent being overtaken. They all suffered severely, but

the captain of the company suffered most of all; for added to the

bodily sufferings which he endured in common with his men, he also

suffered extreme mental anguish, for he felt his responsibility on

account of his men. Because they had trusted his leadership and had

put themselves under his orders it seemed that now they must all die a

horrible death. For himself he dreaded not death so much as to be the

cause of the loss of his brave men. To him this was far more bitter

than death. In the night-time he would go away from the others and

cry out in fervent prayer to Tirawa, begging His help, begging that He

would show him some way to save his men and bring them off safe.

And while he was thus praying, he heard a voice saying, "Look

carefully and see if you can find a place where you shall be able to

climb down from this rock and save your men and yourself." So he

prayed earnestly all night, and when daylight came he went along the

edges of the butte looking carefully to see if there might be a place

where some way might be found by which to go down. At last he found a

jutting point of rock near the cliff edge, and standing above the

level. Below this point the cliff side was smooth and vertical. It

occurred to him that this point might be made a means of support from

which the men might let themselves down the face of the cliff by a

rope. When night came again, after he had posted the sentries to guard

the place of ascent from the enemy, he returned to the point of rock

and with his knife he cut away soft weathered rock at its base to make

a secure place of fastening for a rope. Then he gathered secretly all

the lariats which the company had. These he tied together and then,

tying one end securely to the rock which he had prepared, he carefully

paid out the rope and found to his joy that it reached the ground

below. He made a loop in the rope for his foot and then he let himself

slowly down to the ground, then he climbed back again. When night came

again he posted his sentries so that the enemy might see them at their

posts on the side of the butte above the path, but when darkness had

fully come they were all gradually withdrawn. Quietly calling his men

about him he explained his plan and told them how they might all save

themselves. He sent his men down by the rope, one after another,

beginning with the youngest and least important of the company, and so

on up to the men of most importance. Last of all the captain of the

company himself came down. He and all his men crept quietly in the

darkness through the Dakota lines and escaped safely. The Dakotas

directed their vigilance mainly toward the other side of the butte

where lay the only path, and that a very rugged one, between the base

and the summit.

The Pawnees never knew how long the Dakotas kept watch about the rock.

A MANDAN MONUMENT IN COMMEMORATION OF AN ACT OF HEROISM

It is a common instinct among all nations of the human race to

preserve relics and record memorials of notable persons and events.

Such monuments vary with the different means and materials at hand.

Sometimes mounds of earth, sometimes boulders, sometimes cairns of

stones, sometimes hewn stones, and various other devices have been

used according to circumstances.

There exists a monument to the memory of a Mandan hero which has never

before been described and published. The following account is from

information given by several persons of the Mandan, Hidatsa and

Arikara tribes. The location of the monument is near the site of

"Fish-hook Village" on the north side of the Missouri River some

twelve or fifteen miles east of Elbowoods, North Dakota.

During the middle part of the 19th century the three tribes, Arikara,

Hidatsa and Mandan, lived together in alliance against their common

enemies. Their chief enemies were the Dakota. So these three tribes

built their three villages adjoining, making one compound village of

three wards. The village lay upon a well-drained terrace of the

Missouri River, while their farms were laid out in the fertile

alluvial "bottom" along the river both above and below the village. To

the north of the village site lies a range of hills.

The enemy many times made raids upon the village. They would approach

under cover of the hills to the north and then steal close upon the

village through the course of a ravine which skirted the northeast and

north sides of the village.

About sixty-six years ago such an attack was made by a war party of

Dakota. Of the defenders of the village, two young Mandans, brothers,

named Lefthand and Redleaf, had been dismounted and their retreat cut

off by the enemy. A brother of these two, Whitecrow by name, saw the

danger of Lefthand and Redleaf and rode out to their assistance.

Lefthand was killed and Redleaf was defending the body from a Dakota

who was trying to take the scalp. Redleaf shot at the Dakota and

missed him, the bullet going over the enemy's head and striking into

the ground beyond him, the enemy being crouched low at the time of the

shot. Whitecrow rode in a circuit beyond these combatants and held off

the attacking party of the enemy. He killed the Dakota who was engaged

in combat with his brother Redleaf. Then Whitecrow picked up Redleaf

upon the horse with himself and carried him safely back to the

village.

After the enemy had been driven away the Mandans went out and marked

the course in which Whitecrow had ridden to his brother's rescue, the

spot where Lefthand had been killed, the spot where Redleaf had made

his stand, the spot where the Dakota was killed, and the spot where

Redleaf's bullet fired at the Dakota, had struck the ground. The

method used for marking these places was by removal of the sod leaving

holes in the ground. To mark the course of Whitecrow's horse the sod

was removed in horse-track shaped sections consecutively from the

point of advance from the village round the place of combat and

returning to the village. The horse-track marks were made about two

feet in diameter. All these marks commemorating the entire action,

which took place about the year 1853 are still plainly evident, being

renewed whenever they tend to become obliterated by weathering and by

advancing vegetation.

THE LEGEND OF STANDING ROCK

This story of Standing Rock is a legend of the Arikara who once had

their villages along the Missouri River between the Grand River and

the Cannonball River. Afterwards, being harrassed by hostile

incursions of the Dakotas they abandoned this country to their enemies

and moved farther up the Missouri River, joining themselves in

alliance with the Mandans.

One time there was a young girl in this tribe who was beautiful and

amiable but not given to heedless, chattering, idle amusement. She

was thoughtful and earnest and conversant with the ways of all the

living creatures, the birds and the small mammals, and the trees and

shrubs and flowers of the woodlands and of the prairies. She was in

the habit of going to walk by herself to visit and commune with all

these living creatures. She understood them better than most other

people did, and they all were her friends.

When she became of marriageable age she had many suitors, for she was

beautiful and lovely in disposition. But to the young men who wooed

her she answered, "I do not find it in my heart to marry any one. I am

at home with the bird people, the four-footed people of the woods and

prairies, with the people of the flower nations and the trees. I love

to work in the cornfields in summer, and the sacred squash blossoms

are my dear companions."

Finally her grandmother reasoned with her and told her that it was her

duty to marry and to rear children to maintain the strength of the

tribe. Because of filial duty she finally said, when her grandmother

continued to urge her to marry a certain young man of estimable worth

who desired her for his wife, "Well grandmother, I will obey you, but

I tell you that good will not come of it. I am not as others are, and

Mother Nature did not intend me for marriage."

So she was married and went to the house already prepared for her by

her husband. But three days later she came back to her mother's,

house, appearing sad and downcast. She sat down without speaking.

Finally her grandmother said, "What is it, my child? Is he not kind to

you?" The girl answered, "Oh, no, he is not unkind. He treated me

well." And with that she sped away into the forest. Her grandmother

followed her after a little while, thinking that out among her beloved

trees and plants she might open her heart and tell her what was the

trouble. And this she did, explaining all the trouble to her

grandmother. And she concluded her talk with her grandmother with

these words, saying: "And so you see, grandmother, it is as I said

when you urged me to marry. I was not intended for marriage. And now

my heart is so sad. I should not have married. My spirit is not suited

to the bounds of ordinary human living, and my husband is not to be

blamed. He is honorable and kind. But I must go away and be with the

children of nature." So her grandmother left her there where she was

sitting by a clump of choke-cherries, having her sewing kit with her

and her little dog by her side.

She did not return home that night, so the next morning young men were

sent to search for her. At last she was found sitting upon a hill out

upon the prairie, and she was turned to stone from her feet to her

waist. The young men hastened back to the village and reported to the

officers who had sent them out.

Then the people were summoned by the herald and they all went out to

the place where the young woman was. Now they found she had become

stone as far up as her breasts.

Then the priests opened the sacred bundle and took the sacred pipe

which they filled and lighted and presented it to her lips so that

thus she and they in turn smoking from the same pipe might be put in

communion and accord with the spirit. But she refused the pipe, and

said, "Though I refuse the pipe it is not from disloyalty or because

of unwillingness to be at one with my people; but I am different by

nature. And you shall know my good will towards my people and my love

and remembrance of them always, for whoever in summer time places by

this stone a wild flower or a twig of a living tree in winter time or

any such token of living, wonderful Nature at any time, shall be glad

in his heart, and shall have his desire to be in communion with the

heart of Nature." And as she said these words she turned completely

into stone, and her little dog, sitting at her feet and leaning close

against her was also turned into stone with her. And this stone is

still to be seen, and is revered by the people. It is from this stone

that the country around Fort Yates, North Dakota, is called Standing

Rock.

THE HOLY HILL PAHUK

Each of the nations and tribes of Indians had certain places within

its own domain which they regarded as sacred, and to which they

accordingly paid becoming reverence. These places were sometimes

watersprings, sometimes peculiar hills, sometimes caves, sometimes

rocky precipices, sometimes dark, wooded bluffs. Within the ancient

domain of the Pawnee nation in Nebraska and northwest Kansas there is

a cycle of five such sacred places. The chief one of these five mystic

places is called Pahuk by the Pawnee. From its nature it is unique,

being distinctly different from any other hill in all the Pawnee

country. Pahuk stands in a bend of the Platte River where the stream

flows from the west in a sweep abruptly turning toward the southeast.

The head of the hill juts out into the course of the river like a

promontory or headland, which is the literal meaning of the Pawnee

word "pahuk." The north face of the bluff from the water's edge to the

summit is heavily wooded. Among the timber are many cedar trees, so

that in winter, when the deciduous trees are bare, the bluff is dark

with the mass of evergreen cedar. The cedar is a sacred tree, so its

presence adds mystery to the place. The Pawnee sometimes also speak of

this hill as Nahura Waruksti, which means Sacred or Mysterious

Animals. This allusion to the Sacred or Mysterious Animals has

reference to the myth which pertains to this place.

All the other tribes throughout the Great Plains region also knew of

the veneration in which this hill is held by the Pawnee, so they, too,

pay it great respect, and many individuals of the other tribes have

personally made pilgrimages to this holy place. The people of the

Dakota nation call it Paha Wakan, "the Holy Hill."

The Pawnee speak of the animal world collectively as Nahurak. It was

believed that the interrelations of all living beings, plants, animals

and human beings, are essentially harmonious, and that all species

take a wholesome interest in each other's welfare. It was believed

also that under certain conditions ability was given to different

orders of living creatures to communicate with men for man's good.

The before-mentioned five sacred places of the Pawnee country were

Nahurak lodges. Within these mystic secret places the animals,

Nahurak, held council. According to one version the names of the five

Nahurak lodges are Pahuk, Nakiskat, Tsuraspako, Kitsawitsak, and

Pahua. Pahuk is a bluff on the south side of the Platte River, a few

miles west of the city of Fremont, Nebraska; Nakiskat, (Black trees)

is an island in the Platte River near Central City, Nebraska, dark

with cedar trees; Tsuraspako (Girl Hill) is a hill on the south side

of the Platte River opposite Grand Island, Nebraska. It is called Girl

Hill because it was customary when a buffalo surround was made in its

vicinity for the young girls to stay upon this hill during the

surround. The hill is said to be in the form of an earth-lodge, even

to the extended vestibule. Kitsawitsak, which white people call

Wakonda Springs, is not far from the Solomon River near Beloit,

Kansas. The name Kitsawitsak means "Water on the bank." Pahua is said

to be a spring near the Republican River in Nebraska. Of these five

places Pahuk was chief, and the Nahurak councils of the other lodges

acknowledged the superior authority of the council at Pahuk.

There are many stories of the wonderful powers resident in these

sacred places. One of these tells of the restoration to life of a boy

who had been killed. The story is that a certain man of the Skidi

tribe of the Pawnee nation desired to gain the favour of Tirawa

(Pawnee name of God). He thought that if he sacrificed something which

he valued most highly that Tirawa might grant him some wonderful gift.

There were so many things in the world which he did not understand,

and which he wished very much to know. He hoped that Tirawa might

grant him revelations, that he might know and understand many things

which were hidden from the people. He strongly desired knowledge, and

he thought that if he sacrificed his young son, who was dear to him,

and the pride of his heart, that Tirawa might take pity on him and

grant him his desire. He felt very sad to think of killing his son,

and he meditated a long time upon the matter. Finally he was convinced

in his own mind that Tirawa would be pleased with his sacrifice, and

that then the good gifts he desired would be given to him, and that

many things now dark to his understanding would be made clear, and

that he should have ability given him to do many things which were now

beyond his power.

One day this man took his boy with him and walked out from the village

as though on some errand. They walked to the Platte River. After they

had gone a long distance from the village, as they were walking by the

riverside, no other persons being near, the man drew out his knife and

stabbed the boy so that he was quickly dead. The man then dropped the

body of the dead boy over the bank. After a time he returned to the

village, and went into his own lodge and sat down. After a while he

asked his wife "Where is the boy?" She said "Why, he went out with

you." The man said "I was out of the village, but the boy was not with

me."

He went out and inquired of his neighbors, and then all through the

village, but of course the boy could not be found. Then for some days

a general search was made for the boy, but no trace of him was found.

After this the family mourned for the lost boy. It was now time for

the summer buffalo hunt, so in a few days the people set out for the

buffalo grounds, and the father and mother of the boy also went.

After the boy's body was dropped into the river it was carried away

down-stream by the current, sometimes being rolled along in shallow

water at the edge of sandbars and again it would be turned over and

over in the whirlpool of some deep hole in the channel, for the Platte

River is a peculiar stream, having a swift current but a wide course

with deep holes and many sandbars.

After a time the body floated down nearly to Pahuk. Two buzzards were

sitting on the edge of a bluff, gazing over the water. So, sitting

there, one of the buzzards stretched out his neck and looked up the

river. He thought he saw something in the water floating down-stream.

He stretched his neck again and looked, and turned to the other

buzzard and said "I see a body." Then they both looked towards the

object in the water, stretching out their necks and gazing intently.

They saw that the object was the body of the boy. The first one said

"What shall we do about this?" The second one said "Let us carry the

body down to Pahuk, to the hill where Nahurak Waruksti is." So they

both flew down to the floating body and got under it and lifted it

upon their backs and carried it to the top of the bluff called Pahuk,

over the secret cave of the Nahurak Waruksti, and there they placed it

upon the ground. Then the two buzzards stood quietly gazing upon the

body of the boy where they had laid it down upon the ground.

This cave far under the hill was the council lodge of the animals.

There sat the councilmen of all kinds of animals and birds, great and

small, which were native to that country. There were the buffalo, the

beaver, elk, deer, antelope, otter, muskrat, wolf, bear, fox, wildcat,

badger, bean mice, and many other kinds of animals. And there were the

swan, the loon, goose, duck, wild turkey, prairie chicken, quail,

heron, bittern, crane, plover, kildeer, meadowlark, blackbird, owls,

hawks, swallows, crow, chickadee, woodpeckers, grackle, purple martin,

and many other kinds of birds. There were also snakes, turtles, toads

and frogs. These were the Nahurak people, the Nahurak Waruksti, the

Sacred Animals. And the kingfisher was a messenger and errand man for

the Nahurak council.

Now it happened when the buzzards brought the body of the young man

and laid it down on the top of Pahuk, the kingfisher, who was flying

about over the river on business for the Nahurak, was flying by. He

stopped and looked at the body. He already knew all that had happened,

and he was moved with compassion for the boy. So he flew down at once

to the water at the foot of Pahuk and dived in at the entrance of the

Nahurak lodge. He spoke to the assembly of the Nahurak and told them

all that had happened and said in conclusion, "And the poor boy is up

there on the hill. I hope you will have pity on him and will do what

you can for him. I wish you would bring him to life again." When the

kingfisher, the messenger, had finished speaking the Nahurak held

serious council on the matter to decide what they should do. But after

they had meditated long on the question, and each had spoken, they

still could not decide the matter. The kingfisher urged the matter,

asking for a favourable decision, saying, "Come, do take pity on him

and restore him to life." But they could not come to a decision. At

last the chief of the council said, "No, messenger, we are unable to

decide now. You must go to the other Nahurak lodges and find out what

they have to say about it." The kingfisher said "I go," and flew

swiftly out from the lodge and up the river to Nakiskat, the Nahurak

lodge near Lone Tree. There he brought the matter before the council

and pleaded for the boy as he had done at Pahuk, and told them that he

was sent from Pahuk to ask the council at Nakiskat for their decision.

So the Nahurak here at Nakiskat talked over the matter, but at last

they said to the kingfisher "We are unable to decide. We leave it to

the council at Pahuk."

Then the kingfisher flew to the lodge at Tsuraspako, then to

Kitsawitsak, and at last to Pahua, and at each place the Nahurak

council considered the matter carefully and talked about it, but at

each place the same answer was given. They all said "It is too much

for us. We cannot decide what should be done. It is for the council at

Pahuk to decide."

After the messenger had visited all these lodges and had laid the

matter before all of them, receiving from each the same answer, he

flew as swiftly as he could back to the lodge at Pahuk and reported

what the other lodges had said. They all recognized the council at

Pahuk as the head council, and deferred the matter to them for

decision. But it had already been once considered by this council, so

the matter was now brought before the supreme council of Pahuk. This

was a council of four chiefs of the Pahuk council who sat as judges to

give final consideration and decision. These judges now reconsidered

the matter, and finally, when they had talked it over, they said to

the kingfisher, "Now, messenger, we will not decide this question, but

will leave it to you. You shall make the decision."

The kingfisher very quickly gave his decision. He said "It is my

desire that this poor boy be restored to life. I hope you will all

have pity on him and do what you can for him."

Then all the Nahurak arose and went out from the council lodge and

went up to the top of Pahuk where the body of the boy lay. They formed

in order and stood around the boy and prayed to the Higher Powers, and

at last the boy drew breath, then after a time he breathed again, then

his breath began to be regular. Finally he opened his eyes and sat up

and looked around in a confused manner. When he saw all the animals

standing around him he was puzzled and bewildered. He said to himself,

"Why, my father killed me by the riverside, but here I am in the midst

of this multitude of animals. What does it mean?"

Then the head chief of the Nahurak council spoke to him kindly and

reassured him. He was asked to rise and go with the animals into the

council lodge. When all had gone in and were seated the four judges

conferred together, then the chief of the four stood up and said, "My

people, we have restored this boy to life, but he is poor and forlorn

and needy. Let us do something for him. Let us teach him all we know,

and impart to him our mysterious powers." The Nahurak were all

pleased at this proposal and manifested their approval.

Then the Nahurak showed hospitality and kind attention to the poor boy

as their guest. He was shown a place to bathe and rest. When he had

rested, food was brought to him. So he was entertained and treated

kindly for the full season, and he was instructed by all the animals

in turn and they taught him their secret arts of healing and imparted

to him all their wonderful powers. So he remained with them at Pahuk

till autumn.

Autumn is a beautiful season at Pahuk, and in all the region of the

Platte, the Loup, the Republican, and the Solomon rivers in Nebraska

and Kansas embraced by the cycle of the five Nahurak lodges. At that

season in that country the sun casts a mellow golden light from the

sky, while the land is emblazed with the brilliance of the sunflowers

and goldenrod. And then the air is quiet and restful.