region, finally arriving at the region drained by the Republican, the
Platte, and the Niobrara rivers. Corn was native in Mexico, and had
been introduced into the Plains by gradual adaptation in cultivation
along the line of migration of the Pawnee nation. These hymns express
something of the high value which the people placed upon corn as an
item of their daily sustenance. They also reflect something of the
scenery of the Plains landscape. These hymns are from an ancient
Pawnee ritual which is given entire in the Twenty-second Annual Report
of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Part 2.
MOTHER CORN
I
Mother with the life-giving power now comes,
Stepping out of far-distant days she comes,
Days wherein to our fathers gave she food;
As to them, so now unto us she gives,
Thus she will to our children faithful be.
Mother with the life-giving power now comes!
II
Mother with the life-giving power is here.
Stepping out of far distant days she comes.
Now she forward moves, leading as we walk
Toward the future, where blessings she will give,
Gifts for which we have prayed granting to us.
Mother with the life-giving power is here!
LEADERSHIP OF MOTHER CORN
I
The Mother leads and we follow on,
Her devious pathway before us lies.
She leads us as were our fathers led
Down through the ages.
II
The Mother leads and we follow on,
Her pathway straight, where a stage each day
We forward walk, as our fathers walked
Down through the ages.
The two preceding hymns reflect the fact that corn was introduced by
the Pawnee from their more ancient homeland in the faraway southwest
in remotely past time into the region of their later residence in the
plains. They also reflect the importance which corn had in the
everyday life of this people.
The following hymn to Mother Corn as Guide is expressive of the sense
of vastness and awesomeness of the great extent of the Plains, and
something of its grimness.
GUIDANCE OF MOTHER CORN
I
Looking o'er the prairie, naught our eyes discern there,
Wide the land stretches out before us;
Then we cry aloud to Mother Corn: "Doth thy pathway lie here?"
II
Heeding now our crying, while our eyes she opens,
Mother Corn moveth out before us
On the lonely prairie, where we see straight the pathway lies there!
* * * * *
The following hymn of thanks for the corn shows something of the
religious feeling of the Pawnee and their gratitude to Providence for
the gift of corn.
A HYMN OF THANKS TO MOTHER CORN
I
See! The Mother Corn comes hither, making all hearts glad!
Making all hearts glad!
Give her thanks, she brings a blessing; now, behold! she is here!
II
Yonder Mother Corn is coming, coming unto us!
Coming unto us!
Peace and plenty she is bringing; now, behold! she is here!
THE FORGOTTEN EAR OF CORN
A woman of the Arikara tribe was harvesting her crop of corn, making
ready to store it away in a safe place where she might be able to get
it for use during the long cold winter. She went along gathering the
ears and placing them in convenient heaps so that she could gather
them up to carry to the storage place she had prepared. When she had
finished her work she started to go, but she heard a voice like the
voice of a little child, crying and calling pitifully: "Oh, do not
leave me! Do not go away without me."
The woman was astonished at what she supposed was the voice of a lost
child. She said to herself: "What is this? Can it be some child has
wandered and has been lost in my cornfield? I must go and look for
it."
So she laid down her burden of gathered corn, and went back into the
field to make search. But she found no child anywhere in the field.
Then she started once more to take up her burden and leave the field.
But again she heard the plaintive little voice crying: "Oh, do not
leave me! Do not go away without me."
Then she went back into the field and searched again for a long time.
After diligent search she found one little ear of corn which had been
covered by stalks and leaves. It was the little ear of corn which had
been crying, fearing to be left to die in the field. So all Indian
women are very careful in gathering their crops so that nothing shall
be lost or wasted of the good gifts of the Great Mystery, for they are
accounted sacred and holy, and it would be wicked to treat them with
neglect or indifference.
HOW THE USEFULNESS OF WILD RICE WAS DISCOVERED
_A Chippewa Myth_
Wenibozho and his grandmother, Nokomis, lived together in a lodge by
themselves. When he approached manhood his grandmother exhorted him to
exert himself, to learn to endure hardship, loneliness, cold and
hunger and thirst, for such experience is the proper training for a
young man. A young man needs such training so that when overtaken by
misfortune he shall be brave and resourceful; so that he may be able
to take care of himself and of any who may be dependent upon him.
So, one day Wenibozho told his grandmother he was going away into the
wilderness where he had never been before, so that he could be cast
upon his own resources to try his strength and courage and wit.
He was gone many days and nights, wandering through the forest and
beside streams and lakes. He subsisted upon such fruits, seeds, roots
and tubers as he was able to find, and upon the flesh of animals he
was able to shoot with his bow and arrow which he had brought with
him. One day he came to a lake in which was growing a great quantity
of beautiful, feathery wild rice, swaying over the water in the gentle
breeze. From the bark of a birch tree he fashioned a canoe in which he
rowed out upon the lake and gathered a quantity of the wild rice. He
did not know the wild rice was useful for food, for he had never seen
it before, but he admired its beauty. He took the wild rice which he
had gathered to his grandmother. He told her of the beautiful plant
which he had found in the lake and that he had brought to her some of
the seed of the plant. This seed they sowed in another lake near the
place where he lived with his grandmother, for he hoped to have the
beautiful plant growing where he might often enjoy its beauty.
Again he went away into the forest so that he might become accustomed
to endure hardships and also that he might learn wisdom from the
living creatures, not only from the moving creatures, but also from
those other living creatures, the plants of all kinds. While walking
he thought he heard a voice saying, "Sometimes they eat us." He
stopped and listened and again he heard the words "Sometimes they eat
us." This time he perceived that the words came from some bushes near
which he was passing. Finally he spoke, saying, "To whom are you
talking?" He was told that he was the one to whom the bush was
speaking, so he dug up the plant and found that it had a long root. He
tasted the root and it was pleasant to the taste, so he dug more, and
ate a great many, so many that he was made ill. He was too ill to
travel, so he lay there three days. Finally he was able to rise and
move on, but he was hungry and weak. As he passed along other plants
spoke to him, but he was now afraid to eat of them. Then, as he was
walking along a stream he saw some bunches of grass growing up out of
the water which beckoned to him and said, "Sometimes they eat us." He
was so hungry, and the graceful grass was so tempting, that he was
constrained to gather some seeds of it and eat. The taste was
pleasing, and its effect upon his hunger was so gratifying that he
said, "O, you are indeed good! What are you called?" The Grass
replied, "We are called manomin," which is the name which the Chippewa
people call this plant. Wenibozho waded out into the water and
gathered the grains by handfuls and ate it, and so continued till his
hunger was fully satisfied. From eating the manomin he suffered no ill
effects whatever, but was strengthened wonderfully. Finally he
remembered the grain which he had discovered on his former journey and
which he and his grandmother, Nokomis, had sown in the lake near their
home. When he returned and found it growing and compared it with this
grain which he had now found to be so good, he perceived that it was
the same sort. So he found that this beautiful grass which he had
growing in the lake near home was really manomin, as pleasant to the
taste and as satisfying to hunger as it was beautiful to the eyes.
Ever since that time the Chippewas have known how to value the good
gift of manomin.
A STORY OF THE SUNFLOWER
_A Story from the Dakota Nation_
Once on a time, long ago, a company of men were going upon a war
expedition. And now as they were within the country of the enemy they
were proceeding very cautiously. One morning very early they heard
what seemed to be the sound of someone singing in a tremulous voice,
coming from the direction toward which they were marching. They
stopped and stood still to listen.
As they stood thus listening it seemed to them that the singer,
whoever he might be, must be a clown, for he was singing a clown song.
There was not light enough to see the singer. But they waited silently
and anxiously peering ahead in the direction from which came the sound
of the singing. At the first glimmer of the dawn light they were able
to make out the appearance of a man walking with an awkward shuffling
gait. His robe was ragged and his leggings drooped down slouchingly in
wrinkles about his ankles as he walked. He had great circles about his
eyes painted a bright yellow and he was singing a clown song in a
husky wheezy voice.
So they stood in wonder regarding the clown who was coming toward
them. He was coming toward the sun rising and as the daylight grew
brighter they were astonished to see the man suddenly changed to a
sunflower.
And ever since that time, it is said, the sunflower is inclined to
face toward the sun.
DAKOTA FOLKLORE OF THE SPIDERWORT
The spiderwort (=Tradescantia bracteata=) and (=Tradescantia
occidentalis=) is a beautiful native prairie flower which is known
under numerous popular names. It is called spiderwort, spider lily,
ink flower, king's crown, and various other names. It has been
proposed to add to the list another name, "flower-of-romance." This
name is proposed from the circumstance of a bit of pleasing sentiment
connected with this flower in the folklore of the Dakota nation of
Indians.
It is a charmingly beautiful and delicate flower, deep blue in color,
with a tender-bodied plant of graceful lines. There is no more
appealingly beautiful flower on the western prairies than this one
when it is sparkling with dewdrops in the first beams of the rising
sun. There is about it a suggestion of purity, freshness and
daintiness.
When a young man of the Dakota nation is in love, and walking alone on
the prairie finds this flower blooming, he stops and sings to it a
song in which he personifies it with the qualities of his sweetheart's
personality as they are called to his mind by the appearance of the
flower before him, its characteristics figuratively suggesting the
characteristics of her whose image he carries romantically in his mind
and heart. In his mind the beauties of the flower and the charms of
the girl are mutually transmuted and flow together into one image.
The words of his song, translated from the Dakota language into the
English, are something like this:
"Tiny, gladsome flower,
So winsome and modest,
Thou art dainty and sweet,
For love of thee I'd die."
Stories of the Four-Footed People
THE FAITHFUL DOG
The dog was the companion and servant of the people over all parts of
North America, and previous to the introduction of the horse into the
western hemisphere by the Spaniards, the dog was the only domestic
animal which the Indians had. After horses were introduced by the
Spaniards, they soon came into use by the Indians, and in a
comparatively short time they were widely spread over the continent.
But in former days the dog was the only beast of burden which the
Indians had. They served as watchers at night, as companions and
helpers in the chase, and as bearers of burdens in transportation
service.
Once on a time a hunting party of men of the Dakota nation were in the
buffalo grazing country in the time of the winter hunt. Scouts were
sent out each day to look for a herd and to bring back report to the
officers. One day one of the scouts discovered a herd near a certain
lake. He came into camp in the evening, as soon as he could after he
found the herd. At once he went according to the law and rendered his
report to the proper officers. After reporting he went to his lodge
and had his evening meal and then lay down to rest from the weariness
of the day's scouting.
The officers held council and made the plans for the next day's
activities of the hunting field. Then they sent the herald around the
camp to announce the orders for the next day.
At the earliest light next morning every one in camp was up and making
preparations for the day's work. It was yet early in the day when the
hunters reached the lake where the scout had discovered the buffalo
herd the previous day. Here they found the buffaloes still feeding. At
the command of the officers the hunters and their dogs were deployed
to surround the herd for the slaughter, for the meat supply of the
people had become low, and at this opportunity they must replenish
their provision.
The herd was feeding upon a strip of land which was surrounded on
three sides by a lake. The plan was to advance upon the herd from the
base of this strip of land and force them out into the lake where the
huge animals would be at a disadvantage upon the slippery ice.
The men and dogs charged upon the herd and soon the great mass of
shaggy beasts were forced out upon the treacherous ice where they were
struggling in great confusion. Many were killed before the herd
finally reached the shore of the lake and scrambled up the steep bank
and fled away over the plain.
The sun was already past the middle of the sky and the hunters were
busy with the work of skinning the carcasses and dressing the beef,
making ready to carry back to camp their prize of meat, hides, and
other useful products, when suddenly they saw and felt a great change
in the sky and in the air. The threatening signs were evident of the
swift approach of a blizzard, the dreadful and terrific winter storm
of fierce, roaring wind and driving snow and frightful cold which
frequently sweeps over the northern plains.
The hunters made haste to reach camp which had been made in the
shelter of the woods not far away. Here a certain number had been
detailed by the officers to make camp and to gather firewood, while
the others had been taking care of the meat. Now as the fearful storm
threatened, they gathered in the camp bringing in what they could
carry of the meat supply. Soon the hunters were refreshing themselves
with freshly broiled steaks which were much relished by the hungry
men, who had eaten nothing since the early morning just before they
had broken camp. The dogs too were given their share.
The storm was now upon them in its fury; and all about was a
smothering, dizzying swirl of whiteness as impenetrable as the
blackness of night. The gale of wind roared unceasingly; the myriad
millions of tiny snow particles ground upon each other in the swirl of
the storm, each infinitesimal impact adding to the aggregate of
reverberation of sound, while the skin tents hummed like enormous
drums.
From time to time those who were already in camp shouted to guide the
later comers who gave answering shouts and came one after another
staggering into camp exhausted by the buffeting of the storm. At last
only one was missing. The herd scout, who had found and reported the
herd the day before; he and his faithful dog had not yet come in. The
fury of the storm throughout the night and the next day prevented the
possibility of going to look for the missing man.
Toward morning following the second night of the storm its fury
abated. As is usual, at the end of a blizzard, it was followed by an
extraordinary calm. The drifted plain lay as still and white as
marble. The stars glistened coldly like ice crystals in the sky. The
air was so clear that the least sound made by any moving creature was
magnified in the stillness.
The hunting camp awoke. Suddenly the game call of the great gray wolf
was heard. And soon the hunters saw a great number of these gaunt gray
creatures out upon the ice of the lake and on the plain, digging out
the white mounds which were the snowdrifts about the carcasses of the
buffaloes which the hunters had been obliged to leave when the storm
came upon them.
And now among the wolf cries another sound was heard,--the defiant
barking of a dog! It was the scout's dog. The men hurried toward the
slaughter field to kill or drive away the wolves. Some wolves were
dragging away a buffalo carcass, and from among the snarling howling
pack about this carcass the hunters could distinctly hear the hoarse
barking of their missing friend's dog, and occasionally they could
hear a strangely muffled shout of a man sounding as though it came
from under the ice.
The hunters finally reached the place to which the carcass had been
dragged by the wolves. As the men came near the wolves ran away and
the men saw the dog standing by the carcass for a moment before he
fell dead as they reached the place. The men with their knives cut
open the abdominal cavity of the carcass and found the missing scout
inside wrapped in his robe in a bed of grass and buffalo hair.
When the storm had come upon him at his work he had seen that he could
not reach the camp so he had opened two of the carcasses and removed
the internal organs. In one he had made a bed for his dog, and in the
other for himself for protection from the fury of the storm. The dog
had kept an opening to his shelter, but the man had closed the
entrance of his own after he was in, and the hide had frozen solid,
making him a prisoner. When the wolves came the dog was able to free
himself and tried to defend his imprisoned master, regardless of his
own safety. He had been mortally wounded before the hunters could save
him.
As soon as the scout was released he inquired for the dog, his friend
and defender. When he saw that his loyal friend was dead, having given
up his life in defense of his master, the scout was deeply moved with
grief. He knelt down and stroked the head of the dead dog, and said,
"Ah, my friend; you were courageous and faithful unto death. And you
died like a brave warrior. You shall have the funeral of a dead
warrior."
So with all due ceremony the scout carried the body of the dog to the
top of a hill overlooking the lake where he had given up his life in
doing his duty. There the scout laid the body. Over it he built up a
tomb of boulders which he gathered from the hills. Then he laid upon
it offerings of red paint and of food according to the funeral custom
of his people, and they sang the farewell song for the dead.
Ever since that time this hill has been known to the Dakotas as the
Grave of the Dog.
HOW COYOTE CHIEF WAS PUNISHED
_A Mandan Story_
Coyote Chief was out hunting one day, and he came upon a buffalo bull
grazing. "Brother," he said, "you have nothing to do just now. Let us
run a race to see which of us is the swifter." "All right," said the
buffalo, "let us run."
"I shall first go and prepare a place for the race," Coyote Chief
said, "then I shall come back for you."
So Coyote Chief found a high steep bank and placed on the very edge of
it a small heap of stones. Then he returned to the buffalo and said,
"Everything is now ready. Let us race over to yonder heap of stones
which I have set up for a goal. When we are almost to the goal let us
shut our eyes and run as hard as we can." And so they ran toward the
heap of stones and the buffalo ran over the bank and was killed by
falling, just as Coyote Chief had planned.
But Coyote Chief had nothing with which to skin the buffalo and cut
up and prepare the meat. So he walked along a little way and came to a
small clump of timber. As he approached the timber he called out,
"Brothers, give me a knife." And they gave him a knife. Then he went
on to another clump of timber. Here he called out, "Brothers, give me
an earthen pot." And they gave him an earthen pot. He went on again to
another clump of timber, where he called out, "Brothers, give me a
horn spoon." And they gave him a horn spoon.
Then Coyote Chief went back to the place where the buffalo had fallen,
and there he built a hunter's lodge of leafy branches of trees. Then
he skinned the buffalo and pegged out the skin upon the ground and
scraped it. Next he cut up the meat, and some of it he cut into strips
and hung it up to dry.
Coyote Chief had Fox for a servant, to run errands and to work about
the house. And he treated Fox badly and did not give him enough to
eat. Fox was hungry, as usual, and tried to help himself to some of
the buffalo meat, but Coyote Chief saw him and was angry. He seized a
brand from the fire and thrust it into Fox's face, burning him
thereby. Fox was hurt so badly that he decided to run away, but he
wished first to be revenged upon Coyote Chief. So he went around to
all the other animals and told them how badly he had been used by
Coyote Chief. The animals were sorry for him and seemed willing to
help him to punish Coyote Chief. So they held a meeting and talked
over the matter to decide upon the best way to do this. The decision
of the council was that they should all go over to his house that
night and eat up all his meat while he was asleep.
Coyote Chief had worked hard all day to take care of his meat, and had
not taken time to eat much. Being tired after his day's work he went
to bed early. But he was anxious lest some one might come and take his
meat while he slept, so before going to sleep he said, "Now my
members, you must watch for me while I sleep. My eyes, if anyone peeps
in you must stare hard at him. My ears, if you hear a sound, you must
wiggle. My arms, if anyone comes in you must thrash around. My legs,
if any one comes near, you must kick." Then he went to sleep.
That night all the animals gathered at Coyote Chief's house, but they
were afraid to touch anything till they were sure he was sound asleep.
So they sent Magpie first to peep in at the door. Magpie went and
peeped in and saw Coyote Chief's eyes staring hard at him, and he went
back and said, "He is not asleep, for his eyes stared at me."
After a time Crow was sent to find if Coyote Chief was not asleep.
Crow flew up and perched by the smoke-hole. When he looked in Coyote
Chief's ears began to wiggle. Crow went back and told the animals that
Coyote Chief could not be asleep, for as soon as he looked in Coyote
Chief's ears began to wiggle.
A little later Jack Rabbit was sent to look. Jack Rabbit pushed in a
little at the door, and Coyote Chief's arms began to move up and down.
So Jack Rabbit went back and reported that Coyote Chief must still be
awake.
The animals again waited, and then sent Fox. Fox went inside, and
then Coyote Chief's legs began to kick, so he ran out and told the
others that Coyote Chief was still awake.
Now, after waiting quite a long time, the animals sent Mouse. Mouse
went in and saw that Coyote Chief seemed to be sound asleep. He went
up and ran over his legs and there was no motion; then he ran over his
chest and still Coyote Chief was not disturbed. At last he ran over
his face, and Coyote Chief did not stir. So Mouse went and told the
others that Coyote Chief was surely asleep. Then they came in and ate
up all the meat except a few scraps which dropped while they were
eating. When they had finished eating they went away without having
wakened Coyote Chief.
The next morning when Coyote Chief awoke, he was very hungry because
he had eaten little the day before, and had worked hard; but he found
his meat was all gone, and he said to himself, "Oh, why did I not eat
the meat yesterday instead of waiting!" Then, because he was so
hungry, he searched about on the ground and found some scraps of meat
and some small bits of fat. All these he gathered up on a robe. He put
fresh wood upon the fire, and then sat down by the fireplace with the
robe over his knees to eat the little he had. But just then a spark
shot out from the fire and lighted on his hand, which hurt him so that
he jumped up suddenly, spilling into the fire all the shreds of meat
and fat which he had so carefully gathered.
So Coyote Chief got none of his meat, and was punished for the bad way
he had treated Fox.
THE SKUNK AND THE BEAR
_A Mandan Story_