"I saw you," said Fisher, "when you went into that lodge. Did you,
when you came out of the lodge, see there in the water another lodge
painted with yellow buffalo? Is it still there?"
Weasel Heart said, "I saw it; it is there. Go you into the water as
I did."
Then Fisher went up the stream as his friend had gone and entered
the water at the same place and swam down as Weasel Heart had done,
and when Weasel Heart showed him the place he dived down and
disappeared as Weasel Heart had disappeared. He entered the
yellow-painted-buffalo lodge, and his friend saw him go into it.
In the lodge were two persons, a man and his wife. The man said to
him, "You are welcome; sit there." He spoke further, saying, "My
son, you have seen this lodge of mine; I give it to you. Look
carefully at it, inside and outside, and fix up your lodge in that
way. It may be a help to you hereafter." Then Fisher went out.
Weasel Heart waited for his friend as long as Fisher had waited for
him, and when Fisher came out of the water it was at the place where
Weasel Heart had come out. Then the two friends went home to the
camp.
When the two had come to a hill near the camp they met a young man,
and by him sent word that the people should make a sweat-house for
them. After the sweat-house had been made, word was sent to them,
and they entered the camp and went into the sweat-house and took a
sweat, and all the time while they were sweating, sand was falling
from their bodies.
Some time after that the people moved camp and went out and killed
buffalo, and these two men made two lodges, and painted them just as
the lodges were painted that they had seen in the river.
These two men had strong power which came to them from the
Under-water People.
Once the people wished to cross the river, but the stream was deep
and it was always hard for them to get across. Often the dogs and
the travois were swept away and the people lost many of their
things. At this time the tribe wished to cross, and Fisher and
Weasel Heart said to each other, "The people want to cross the
river, but it is high and they cannot do so. Let us try to make a
crossing, so that it will be easier for them." So Weasel Heart alone
crossed the river and sat on the bank on the other side, and Fisher
sat opposite to him on the bank where the camp was.
Then Fisher said to the people, "Pack up your things now and get
ready to cross. I will make a place where you can cross easily."
Weasel Heart and Fisher filled their pipes and smoked, and then each
started to cross the river. As each stepped into the water, the
river began to go down and the crossing grew more and more shallow.
The people with all their dogs followed close behind Fisher, as he
had told them to do. Fisher and Weasel Heart met in the middle of
the river, and when they met they stepped to one side up the stream
and let the people pass them. Ever since that day this has been a
shallow crossing.
These lodges came from the Under-water
People--S[=u]´y[=e]-t[)u]p´p[)i]. They were those who had owned them
and who had been kind to Weasel Heart and Fisher.