initial commit of ebook 337HEADmain

1 files changed, 8057 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/indbo10.txt b/old/indbo10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5b570f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/indbo10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8057 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Etext of Indian Boyhood, by Charles Eastman
+
+Please take a look at the important information in this header.
+We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an
+electronic path open for the next readers.  Do not remove this.
+
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*
+
+Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and
+further information is included below.  We need your donations.
+
+
+Indian Boyhood, by [OHIYESA] Charles Eastman
+
+October, 1995  [Etext #337]
+
+
+Project Gutenberg's Etext of Indian Boyhood, by Charles Eastman
+*****This file should be named indbo10.txt or indbo10.zip******
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, indbo11.txt.
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, indbo10a.txt.
+
+
+This etext was created by Judith Boss, Omaha, Nebraska.
+The equipment: an IBM-compatible 486/50, a Hewlett-Packard
+ScanJet IIc flatbed scanner, and Calera Recognition Systems'
+M/600 Series Professional OCR software and RISC accelerator board
+donated by Calera Recognition Systems.
+
+
+We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance
+of the official release dates, for time for better editing.
+
+Please note:  neither this list nor its contents are final till
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.  To be sure you have an
+up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes
+in the first week of the next month.  Since our ftp program has
+a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a
+look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a
+new copy has at least one byte more or less.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we take
+to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.  This
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If our value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $4
+million dollars per hour this year as we release some eight text
+files per month:  thus upping our productivity from $2 million.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext
+Files by the December 31, 2001.  [10,000 x 100,000,000=Trillion]
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is 10% of the expected number of computer users by the end
+of the year 2001.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/IBC", and are
+tax deductible to the extent allowable by law ("IBC" is Illinois
+Benedictine College).  (Subscriptions to our paper newsletter go
+to IBC, too)
+
+For these and other matters, please mail to:
+
+Project Gutenberg
+P. O. Box  2782
+Champaign, IL 61825
+
+When all other email fails try our Michael S. Hart, Executive
+Director:
+hart@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu (internet)   hart@uiucvmd   (bitnet)
+
+We would prefer to send you this information by email
+(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail).
+
+******
+If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please
+FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives:
+[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type]
+
+ftp mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu
+login:  anonymous
+password:  your@login
+cd etext/etext90 through /etext95
+or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more information]
+dir [to see files]
+get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]
+GET INDEX?00.GUT
+for a list of books
+and
+GET NEW GUT for general information
+and
+MGET GUT* for newsletters.
+
+**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor**
+(Three Pages)
+
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here?  You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault.  So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you.  It also tells you how
+you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement.  If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from.  If you received this etext on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-
+tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor
+Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at
+Illinois Benedictine College (the "Project").  Among other
+things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext
+under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works.  Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects".  Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this
+etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from.  If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy.  If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS".  NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors,
+officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost
+and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or
+indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause:
+[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification,
+or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     etext or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word pro-
+     cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The etext may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the etext (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the
+     net profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Illinois
+     Benedictine College" within the 60 days following each
+     date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare)
+     your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time,
+scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty
+free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution
+you can think of.  Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg
+Association / Illinois Benedictine College".
+
+*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
+
+
+
+
+INDIAN
+BOYHOOD
+BY
+OHIYESA
+(CHARLES A. EASTMAN)
+
+Contents
+
+I
+EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS
+I: Hakadah, "The Pitiful Last"
+II: Early Hardships
+III: My Indian Grandmother
+IV: In Indian Sugar Camp
+V: A Midsummer Feast
+
+II
+AN INDIAN BOY'S TRAINING
+
+III
+MY PLAYS AND PLAYMATES
+I: Games and Sports
+II:  My Playmates
+III: The Boy Hunter
+
+IV
+HAKADAH'S FIRST OFFERING
+
+V
+FAMILY TRADITIONS
+I: A Visit to Smoky Day
+II: The Stone Boy
+
+
+VI
+EVENING IN THE LODGE
+I: Evening in the Lodge
+II: Adventures of My Uncle
+
+VII
+THE END OF THE BEAR DANCE
+
+VIII
+THE MAIDENS' FEAST
+
+IX
+MORE LEGENDS
+I: A Legend of Devil's Lake
+II: Manitoshaw's Hunting
+
+X
+INDIAN LIFE AND ADVENTURE
+I: Life in the Woods
+II: A Winter Camp
+III: Wild Harvests
+IV: A Meeting on the Plains
+V: An Adventurous Journey
+
+XI
+THE LAUGHING PHILOSOPHER
+
+XII
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF CIVILIZATION
+
+
+
+I
+Earliest Recollections
+
+I: Hadakah, "The Pitiful Last"
+
+WHAT boy would not be an Indian
+for a while when he thinks of the
+freest life in the world? This life
+was mine.  Every day there was
+a real hunt.  There was real game.
+Occasionally there was a medicine
+dance away off in the woods where no one could
+disturb us, in which the boys impersonated their
+elders, Brave Bull, Standing Elk, High Hawk,
+Medicine Bear, and the rest.  They painted and
+imitated their fathers and grandfathers to the
+minutest detail, and accurately too, because they
+had seen the real thing all their lives.
+
+We were not only good mimics but we were
+close students of nature.  We studied the habits
+of animals just as you study your books.  We
+watched the men of our people and represented
+them in our play; then learned to emulate them in
+our lives.
+
+No people have a better use of their five senses
+than the children of the wilderness.  We could
+smell as well as hear and see.  We could feel and
+taste as well as we could see and hear.  Nowhere
+has the memory been more fully developed than in
+the wild life, and I can still see wherein I owe
+much to my early training.
+
+
+Of course I myself do not remember when I
+first saw the day, but my brothers have often
+recalled the event with much mirth; for it was
+a custom of the Sioux that when a boy was born
+his brother must plunge into the water, or roll in
+the snow naked if it was winter time; and if he
+was not big enough to do either of these himself,
+water was thrown on him.  If the new-born had a
+sister, she must be immersed.  The idea was that
+a warrior had come to camp, and the other chil-
+dren must display some act of hardihood.
+
+I was so unfortunate as to be the youngest of five
+children who, soon after I was born, were left
+motherless.  I had to bear the humiliating name
+"Hakadah," meaning "the pitiful last," until I
+should earn a more dignified and appropriate
+name.  I was regarded as little more than a play-
+thing by the rest of the children.
+
+My mother, who was known as the handsomest
+woman of all the Spirit Lake and Leaf Dweller
+Sioux, was dangerously ill, and one of the medi-
+cine men who attended her said: "Another
+medicine man has come into existence, but the
+mother must die.  Therefore let him bear the name
+'Mysterious Medicine.'" But one of the by-
+standers hastily interfered, saying that an uncle of
+the child already bore that name, so, for the time,
+I was only "Hakadah."
+
+My beautiful mother, sometimes called the
+"Demi-Goddess" of the Sioux, who tradition
+says had every feature of a Caucasian descent with
+the exception of her luxuriant black hair and deep
+black eyes, held me tightly to her bosom upon
+her death-bed, while she whispered a few words to
+her mother-in-law.  She said: "I give you this
+boy for your own.  I cannot trust my own
+mother with him; she will neglect him and he will
+surely die."
+
+The woman to whom these words were spoken
+was below the average in stature, remarkably ac-
+tive for her age (she was then fully sixty), and
+possessed of as much goodness as intelligence.  My
+mother's judgment concerning her own mother
+was well founded, for soon after her death that
+old lady appeared, and declared that Hakadah
+was too young to live without a mother.  She
+offered to keep me until I died, and then she
+would put me in my mother's grave.  Of course
+my other grandmother denounced the sugges-
+tion as a very wicked one, and refused to give
+me up.
+
+The babe was done up as usual in a movable
+cradle made from an oak board two and a half
+feet long and one and a half feet wide. On one
+side of it was nailed with brass-headed tacks the
+richly-embroidered sack, which was open in front
+and laced up and down with buckskin strings. 
+Over the arms of the infant was a wooden bow,
+the ends of which were firmly attached to the
+board, so that if the cradle should fall the child's
+head and face would be protected. On this bow
+were hung curious playthings--strings of artis-
+tically carved bones and hoofs of deer, which
+rattled when the little hands moved them.
+
+In this upright cradle I lived, played and slept
+the greater part of the time during the first few
+months of my life.  Whether I was made to lean
+against a lodge pole or was suspended from a
+bough of a tree, while my grandmother cut wood,
+or whether I was carried on her back, or con-
+veniently balanced by another child in a similar
+cradle hung on the opposite side of a pony, I was
+still in my oaken bed.
+
+This grandmother, who had already lived
+through sixty years of hardships, was a wonder to
+the young maidens of the tribe.  She showed no
+less enthusiasm over Hakadah than she had done
+when she held her first-born, the boy's father, in
+her arms.   Every little attention that is due to a
+loved child she performed with much skill and de-
+votion.  She made all my scanty garments and my
+tiny moccasins with a great deal of taste. It was
+said by all that I could not have had more atten-
+tion had my mother been living.
+
+Uncheedah (grandmother) was a great singer. 
+Sometimes, when Hakadah wakened too early in
+the morning, she would sing to him something like
+the following lullaby:
+
+
+Sleep, sleep, my boy, the Chippewas
+
+     Are far away--are far away.
+
+Sleep, sleep, my boy; prepare to meet
+
+     The foe by day--the foe by day!
+
+The cowards will not dare to fight
+
+     Till morning break--till morning break.
+
+Sleep, sleep, my child, while still 'tis night;
+
+     Then bravely wake--then bravely wake!
+
+
+The Dakota women were wont to cut and bring
+their fuel from the woods and, in fact, to perform
+most of the drudgery of the camp.  This of neces-
+sity fell to their lot, because the men must follow
+the game during the day.  Very often my grand-
+mother carried me with her on these excursions;
+and while she worked it was her habit to suspend
+me from a wild grape vine or a springy bough, so
+that the least breeze would swing the cradle to
+and fro.
+
+She has told me that when I had grown old
+enough to take notice, I was apparently capable of
+holding extended conversations in an unknown
+dialect with birds and red squirrels. Once I fell
+asleep in my cradle, suspended five or six feet
+from the ground, while Uncheedah was some dis-
+tance away, gathering birch bark for a canoe.  A
+squirrel had found it convenient to come upon the
+bow of my cradle and nibble his hickory nut, until
+he awoke me by dropping the crumbs of his meal. 
+My disapproval of his intrusion was so decided
+that he had to take a sudden and quick flight to
+another bough, and from there he began to pour
+out his wrath upon me, while I continued my ob-
+jections to his presence so audibly that Uncheedah
+soon came to my rescue, and compelled the bold
+intruder to go away.  It was a common thing for
+birds to alight on my cradle in the woods.
+
+My food was, at first, a troublesome question for
+my kind foster-mother.  She cooked some wild rice
+and strained it, and mixed it with broth made from
+choice venison.  She also pounded dried venison
+almost to a flour, and kept it in water till the
+nourishing juices were extracted, then mixed with
+it some pounded maize, which was browned before
+pounding.  This soup of wild rice, pounded veni-
+son and maize was my main-stay.  But soon my
+teeth came--much earlier than the white children
+usually cut theirs; and then my good nurse gave
+me a little more varied food, and I did all my own
+grinding.
+
+After I left my cradle, I almost walked away
+from it, she told me.  She then began calling my
+attention to natural objects.  Whenever I heard
+the song of a bird, she would tell me what bird it
+came from, something after this fashion:
+
+ "Hakadah, listen to Shechoka (the robin) call-
+ing his mate.  He says he has just found some-
+think good to eat." Or "Listen to Oopehanska
+(the thrush); he is singing for his little wife.  He
+will sing his best." When in the evening the
+whippoorwill started his song with vim, no further
+than a stone's throw from our tent in the woods,
+she would say to me:
+
+"Hush!  It may be an Ojibway scout!"
+
+Again, when I waked at midnight, she would
+say:
+
+"Do not cry! Hinakaga (the owl) is watch-
+ing you from the tree-top."
+
+I usually covered up my head, for I had perfect
+faith in my grandmother's admonitions, and she
+had given me a dreadful idea of this bird.  It was
+one of her legends that a little boy was once stand-
+ing just outside of the teepee (tent), crying vigor-
+ously for his mother, when Hinakaga swooped
+down in the darkness and carried the poor little
+fellow up into the trees.  It was well known that
+the hoot of the owl was commonly imitated by
+Indian scouts when on the war-path.  There had
+been dreadful massacres immediately following this
+call.  Therefore it was deemed wise to impress
+the sound early upon the mind of the child.
+
+Indian children were trained so that they hardly
+ever cried much in the night.  This was very ex-
+pedient and necessary in their exposed life.  In my
+infancy it was my grandmother's custom to put me
+to sleep, as she said, with the birds, and to waken
+me with them, until it became a habit.  She did
+this with an object in view.  An Indian must al-
+ways rise early.  In the first place, as a hunter, he
+finds his game best at daybreak.  Secondly, other
+tribes, when on the war-path, usually make their
+attack very early in the morning.  Even when our
+people are moving about leisurely, we like to rise
+before daybreak, in order to travel when the air is
+cool, and unobserved, perchance, by our enemies.
+
+As a little child, it was instilled into me to be
+silent and reticent.  This was one of the most im-
+portant traits to form in the character of the Indian. 
+As a hunter and warrior it was considered abso-
+lutely necessary to him, and was thought to lay the
+foundations of patience and self-control.  There
+are times when boisterous mirth is indulged in by
+our people, but the rule is gravity and decorum.
+
+After all, my babyhood was full of interest and
+the beginnings of life's realities.  The spirit of
+daring was already whispered into my ears.  The
+value of the eagle feather as worn by the warrior
+had caught my eye.  One day, when I was left
+alone, at scarcely two years of age, I took my
+uncle's war bonnet and plucked out all its eagle
+feathers to decorate my dog and myself. So soon
+the life that was about me had made its impress,
+and already I desired intensely to comply with all
+of its demands.
+
+II: Early Hardships
+
+ONE of the earliest recollections of
+my adventurous childhood is
+the ride I had on a pony's side.
+I was passive in the whole mat-
+ter.  A little girl cousin of mine
+was put in a bag and suspended
+from the horn of an Indian saddle; but her
+weight must be balanced or the saddle would not
+remain on the animal's back.  Accordingly, I was
+put into another sack and made to keep the
+saddle and the girl in position! I did not object
+at all, for I had a very pleasant game of peek-a-
+boo with the little girl, until we came to a big
+snow-drift, where the poor beast was stuck fast
+and began to lie down.  Then it was not so nice!
+
+This was the convenient and primitive way in
+which some mothers packed their children for
+winter journeys.  However cold the weather
+might be, the inmate of the fur-lined sack was
+usually very comfortable--at least I used to think
+so. I believe I was accustomed to all the pre-
+carious Indian conveyances, and, as a boy, I en-
+joyed the dog-travaux ride as much as any.  The
+travaux consisted of a set of rawhide strips secure-
+ly lashed to the tent-poles, which were harnessed
+to the sides of the animal as if he stood between
+shafts, while the free ends were allowed to drag on
+the ground.  Both ponies and large dogs were
+used as beasts of burden, and they carried
+in this way the smaller children as well as the
+baggage.
+
+This mode of travelling for children was possi-
+ble only in the summer, and as the dogs were some-
+times unreliable, the little ones were exposed to a
+certain amount of danger.  For instance, when-
+ever a train of dogs had been travelling for a long
+time, almost perishing with the heat and their
+heavy loads, a glimpse of water would cause
+them to forget all their responsibilities.  Some of
+them, in spite of the screams of the women, would
+swim with their burdens into the cooling stream,
+and I was thus, on more than one occasion, made
+to partake of an unwilling bath.
+
+I was a little over four years old at the time of
+the "Sioux massacre" in Minnesota.  In the
+general turmoil, we took flight into British
+Columbia, and the journey is still vividly remem-
+bered by all our family.  A yoke of oxen and a
+lumber-wagon were taken from some white farmer
+and brought home for our conveyance.
+
+How delighted I was when I learned that we
+were to ride behind those wise-looking animals
+and in that gorgeously painted wagon! It seemed
+almost like a living creature to me, this new
+vehicle with four legs, and the more so when we
+got out of axle-grease and the wheels went along
+squealing like pigs!
+
+The boys found a great deal of innocent fun in
+jumping from the high wagon while the oxen
+were leisurely moving along.  My elder brothers
+soon became experts.  At last, I mustered up
+courage enough to join them in this sport.  I was
+sure they stepped on the wheel, so I cautiously
+placed my moccasined foot upon it.  Alas! before
+I could realize what had happened, I was under
+the wheels, and had it not been for the neighbor
+immediately behind us, I might have been run
+over by the next team as well.
+
+This was my first experience with a civilized
+vehicle.   I cried out all possible reproaches on
+the white man's team and concluded that a dog-
+travaux was good enough for me.  I was really
+rejoiced that we were moving away from the
+people who made the wagon that had almost
+ended my life, and it did not occur to me that I
+alone was to blame.  I could not be persuaded to
+ride in that wagon again and was glad when we
+finally left it beside the Missouri river.
+
+The summer after the "Minnesota massacre,"
+General Sibley pursued our people across this
+river.  Now the Missouri is considered one of
+the most treacherous rivers in the world.  Even
+a good modern boat is not safe upon its uncertain
+current.  We were forced to cross in buffalo-skin
+boats--as round as tubs!
+
+The Washechu (white men) were coming in
+great numbers with their big guns, and while
+most of our men were fighting them to gain time,
+the women and the old men made and equipped
+the temporary boats, braced with ribs of willow. 
+Some of these were towed by two or three women
+or men swimming in the water and some by ponies. 
+It was not an easy matter to keep them right side
+up, with their helpless freight of little children
+and such goods as we possessed.
+
+In our flight, we little folks were strapped in
+the saddles or held in front of an older person, and
+in the long night marches to get away from the
+soldiers, we suffered from loss of sleep and insuf-
+ficient food.  Our meals were eaten hastily, and
+sometimes in the saddle.  Water was not always
+to be found.  The people carried it with them in
+bags formed of tripe or the dried pericardium of
+animals.
+
+Now we were compelled to trespass upon the
+country of hostile tribes and were harassed by them
+almost daily and nightly.  Only the strictest
+vigilance saved us.
+
+One day we met with another enemy near the
+British lines.  It was a prairie fire.  We were sur-
+rounded.  Another fire was quickly made, which
+saved our lives.
+
+One of the most thrilling experiences of the
+following winter was a blizzard, which overtook us
+in our wanderings.  Here and there, a family lay
+down in the snow, selecting a place where it was
+not likely to drift much.  For a day and a night
+we lay under the snow.  Uncle stuck a long pole
+beside us to tell us when the storm was over. 
+We had plenty of buffalo robes and the snow
+kept us warm, but we found it heavy.  After a
+time, it became packed and hollowed out around
+our bodies, so that we were as comfortable as one
+can be under those circumstances.
+
+The next day the storm ceased, and we dis-
+covered a large herd of buffaloes almost upon us. 
+We dug our way out, shot some of the buffaloes,
+made a fire and enjoyed a good dinner.
+
+I was now an exile as well as motherless; yet I
+was not unhappy.  Our wanderings from place to
+place afforded us many pleasant experiences and
+quite as many hardships and misfortunes.  There
+were times of plenty and times of scarcity, and we
+had several narrow escapes from death.  In sav-
+age life, the early spring is the most trying time
+and almost all the famines occurred at this period
+of the year.
+
+The Indians are a patient and a clannish people;
+their love for one another is stronger than that of
+any civilized people I know.  If this were not so,
+I believe there would have been tribes of cannibals
+among them.  White people have been known to
+kill and eat their companions in preference to
+starving; but Indians--never!
+
+In times of famine, the adults often denied
+themselves in order to make the food last as long
+as possible for the children, who were not able to
+bear hunger as well as the old.  As a people, they
+can live without food much longer than any other
+nation.
+
+I once passed through one of these hard springs
+when we had nothing to eat for several days.  I
+well remember the six small birds which consti-
+tuted the breakfast for six families one morning;
+and then we had no dinner or supper to follow!
+What a relief that was to me--although I had only
+a small wing of a small bird for my share! Soon
+after this, we came into a region where buffaloes
+were plenty, and hunger and scarcity were for-
+gotten.
+
+Such was the Indian's wild life! When game was
+to be had and the sun shone, they easily forgot the
+bitter experiences of the winter before.  Little
+preparation was made for the future.  They are
+children of Nature, and occasionally she whips
+them with the lashes of experience, yet they are
+forgetful and careless.  Much of their suffering
+might have been prevented by a little calculation.
+
+During the summer, when Nature is at her best,
+and provides abundantly for the savage, it seems to
+me that no life is happier than his! Food is
+free--lodging free--everything free! All were
+alike rich in the summer, and, again, all were alike
+poor in the winter and early spring.  However,
+their diseases were fewer and not so destructive as
+now, and the Indian's health was generally good. 
+The Indian boy enjoyed such a life as almost all
+boys dream of and would choose for themselves if
+they were permitted to do so.
+
+The raids made upon our people by other tribes
+were frequent, and we had to be constantly on the
+watch.  I remember at one time a night attack was
+made upon our camp and all our ponies stam-
+peded.  Only a few of them were recovered, and
+our journeys after this misfortune were effected
+mostly by means of the dog-travaux.
+
+The second winter after the massacre, my father
+and my two older brothers, with several others,
+were betrayed by a half-breed at Winnipeg to the
+United States authorities.  As I was then living
+with my uncle in another part of the country, I be-
+came separated from them for ten years.  During
+all this time we believed that they had been
+killed by the whites, and I was taught that I must
+avenge their deaths as soon as I was able to go
+upon the war-path.
+
+I must say a word in regard to the character of
+this uncle, my father's brother, who was my ad-
+viser and teacher for many years.  He was a man
+about six feet two inches in height, very erect and
+broad-shouldered.  He was known at that time
+as one of the best hunters and bravest warriors
+among the Sioux in British America, where he
+still lives, for to this day we have failed to persuade
+him to return to the United States.
+
+He is a typical Indian--not handsome, but
+truthful and brave.  He had a few simple princi-
+ples from which he hardly ever departed.  Some
+of these I shall describe when I speak of my early
+training.
+
+It is wonderful that any children grew up
+through all the exposures and hardships that we
+suffered in those days! The frail teepee pitched
+anywhere, in the winter as well as in the summer,
+was all the protection that we had against cold and
+storms.  I can recall times when we were snowed
+in and it was very difficult to get fuel.  We were
+once three days without much fire and all of this
+time it stormed violently.  There seemed to be no
+special anxiety on the part of our people; they
+rather looked upon all this as a matter of course,
+knowing that the storm would cease when the
+time came.
+
+I could once endure as much cold and hunger
+as any of them; but now if I miss one meal or
+accidentally wet my feet, I feel it as much as if I
+had never lived in the manner I have described,
+when it was a matter of course to get myself soak-
+ing wet many a time.  Even if there was plenty
+to eat, it was thought better for us to practice fast-
+ing sometimes; and hard exercise was kept up
+continually, both for the sake of health and to
+prepare the body for the extraordinary exertions
+that it might, at any moment, be required
+to undergo.  In my own remembrance, my
+uncle used often to bring home a deer on his
+shoulder.  The distance was sometimes con-
+siderable; yet he did not consider it any sort of
+a feat.
+
+The usual custom with us was to eat only two
+meals a day and these were served at each end
+of the day.  This rule was not invariable, how-
+ever, for if there should be any callers, it was
+Indian etiquette to offer either tobacco or food, or
+both.  The rule of two meals a day was more
+closely observed by the men--especially the
+younger men--than by the women and children. 
+This was when the Indians recognized that a true
+manhood, one of physical activity and endurance,
+depends upon dieting and regular exercise.  No
+such system is practised by the reservation Indians
+of to-day.
+
+III: My Indian Grandmother
+
+AS a motherless child, I always re-
+garded my good grandmother as
+the wisest of guides and the best
+of protectors. It was not long
+before I began to realize her su-
+periority to most of her contempo-
+raries.  This idea was not gained entirely from my
+own observation, but also from a knowledge of
+the high regard in which she was held by other wo-
+men.  Aside from her native talent and ingenuity,
+she was endowed with a truly wonderful memory. 
+No other midwife in her day and tribe could com-
+pete with her in skill and judgment.  Her obser-
+vations in practice were all preserved in her mind
+for reference, as systematically as if they had been
+written upon the pages of a note-book.
+
+I distinctly recall one occasion when she took
+me with her into the woods in search of certain
+medicinal roots.
+
+"Why do you not use all kinds of roots for
+medicines?" said I.
+
+"Because," she  replied, in her quick, charac-
+teristic manner, the Great Mystery does not will
+us to find things too easily.  In that case every-
+body would be a medicine-giver, and Ohiyesa
+must learn that there are many secrets which the
+Great Mystery will disclose only to the most
+worthy.  Only those who seek him fasting and
+in solitude will receive his signs."
+
+With this and many similar explanations she
+wrought in my soul wonderful and lively concep-
+tions of the "Great Mystery" and of the effects
+of prayer and solitude.  I continued my childish
+questioning.
+
+"But why did you not dig those plants that we
+saw in the woods, of the same kind that you are
+digging now?"
+
+"For the same reason that we do not like the
+berries we find in the shadow of deep woods as
+well as the ones which grow in sunny places.  The
+latter have more sweetness and flavor.  Those
+herbs which have medicinal virtues should be
+sought in a place that is neither too wet nor too
+dry, and where they have a generous amount of
+sunshine to maintain their vigor.
+
+"Some day Ohiyesa will be old enough to know
+the secrets of medicine; then I will tell him all. 
+But if you should grow up to be a bad man, I
+must withhold these treasures from you and give
+them to your brother, for a medicine man must be
+a good and wise man.  I hope Ohiyesa will be a
+great medicine man when he grows up.  To be
+a great warrior is a noble ambition; but to be
+a mighty medicine man is a nobler!"
+
+She said these things so thoughtfully and im-
+pressively that I cannot but feel and remember
+them even to this day.
+
+Our native women gathered all the wild rice,
+roots, berries and fruits which formed an impor-
+tant part of our food.  This was distinctively a
+woman's work.  Uncheedah (grandmother) under-
+stood these matters perfectly, and it became a kind
+of instinct with her to know just where to look
+for each edible variety and at what season of the
+year.  This sort of labor gave the Indian women
+every opportunity to observe and study Nature
+after their fashion; and in this Uncheedah was
+more acute than most of the men.  The abilities
+of her boys were not all inherited from their
+father; indeed, the stronger family traits came
+obviously from her.  She was a leader among the
+native women, and they came to her, not only for
+medical aid, but for advice in all their affairs.
+
+In bravery she equaled any of the men.  This
+trait, together with her ingenuity and alertness of
+mind, more than once saved her and her people
+from destruction.  Once, when we were roaming
+over a region occupied by other tribes, and on a
+day when most of the men were out upon the
+hunt, a party of hostile Indians suddenly ap-
+peared.  Although there were a few men left at
+home, they were taken by surprise at first and
+scarcely knew what to do, when this woman came
+forward and advanced alone to meet our foes. 
+She had gone some distance when some of the
+men followed her.  She met the strangers and
+offered her hand to them.  They accepted her
+friendly greeting; and as a result of her brave act
+we were left unmolested and at peace.
+
+Another story of her was related to me by my
+father.  My grandfather, who was a noted hunter,
+often wandered away from his band in search of
+game.  In this instance he had with him only his
+own family of three boys and his wife.  One
+evening,when he returned from the chase, he found
+to his surprise that she had built a stockade
+around her teepee.
+
+She had discovered the danger-sign in a single
+foot-print, which she saw at a glance was not that
+of her husband, and she was also convinced that it
+was not the foot-print of a Sioux, from the shape
+of the moccasin.  This ability to recognize foot-
+prints is general among the Indians, but more
+marked in certain individuals.
+
+This courageous woman had driven away a
+party of five Ojibway warriors.  They approached
+the lodge cautiously, but her dog gave timely
+warning, and she poured into them from behind
+her defences the contents of a double-barrelled
+gun, with such good effect that the astonished
+braves thought it wise to retreat.
+
+I was not more than five or six years old when
+the Indian soldiers came one day and destroyed our
+large buffalo-skin teepee.  It was charged that my
+uncle had hunted alone a large herd of buffaloes. 
+This was not exactly true.  He had unfortunately
+frightened a large herd while shooting a deer in
+the edge of the woods.  However, it was custom-
+ary to punish such an act severely, even though
+the offense was accidental.
+
+When we were attacked by the police, I was play-
+ing in the teepee, and the only other person at
+home was Uncheedah.  I had not noticed their
+approach, and when the war-cry was given by
+thirty or forty Indians with strong lungs, I thought
+my little world was coming to an end.  Instantly
+innumerable knives and tomahawks penetrated our
+frail home, while bullets went through the poles
+and tent-fastenings up above our heads.
+
+I hardly know what I did, but I imagine it was
+just what any other little fellow would have done
+under like circumstances.  My first clear realiza-
+tion of the situation was when Uncheedah had a
+dispute with the leader, claiming that the matter
+had not been properly investigated, and that none
+of the policemen had attained to a reputation in
+war which would justify them in touching her son's
+teepee.  But alas! our poor dwelling was already
+an unrecognizable ruin; even the poles were
+broken into splinters.
+
+The Indian women, after reaching middle age,
+are usually heavy and lack agility, but my grand-
+mother was in this also an exception.  She was
+fully sixty when I was born; and when I was
+seven years old she swam across a swift and wide
+stream, carrying me on her back, because she did
+not wish to expose me to accident in one of the
+clumsy round boats of bull-hide which were rigged
+up to cross the rivers which impeded our way,
+especially in the springtime.  Her strength and
+endurance were remarkable.  Even after she had
+attained the age of eighty-two, she one day walked
+twenty-five miles without appearing much fa-
+tigued.
+
+I marvel now at the purity and elevated senti-
+ment possessed by this woman, when I consider
+the customs and habits of her people at the time. 
+When her husband died she was still compara-
+tively a young woman--still active, clever and
+industrious.  She was descended from a haughty
+chieftain of the "Dwellers among the Leaves."
+Although women of her age and position were
+held to be eligible to re-marriage, and she had
+several persistent suitors who were men of her own
+age and chiefs, yet she preferred to cherish in
+solitude the memory of her husband.
+
+I was very small when my uncle brought home
+two Ojibway young women.  In the fight in which
+they were captured, none of the Sioux war party
+had been killed; therefore they were sympathized
+with and tenderly treated by the Sioux women. 
+They were apparently happy, although of course
+they felt deeply the losses sustained at the time of
+their capture, and they did not fail to show their
+appreciation of the kindnesses received at our
+hands.
+
+As I recall now the remarks made by one of
+them at the time of their final release, they ap-
+pear to me quite remarkable.  They lived in my
+grandmother's family for two years, and were
+then returned to their people at a great peace
+council of the two nations.  When they were
+about to leave my grandmother, the elder of the
+two sisters first embraced her, and then spoke
+somewhat as follows:
+
+"You are a brave woman and a true mother. 
+I understand now why your son so bravely con-
+quered our band, and took my sister and myself
+captive.  I hated him at first, but now I admire
+him, because he did just what my father, my
+brother or my husband would have done had
+they opportunity.  He did even more.  He
+saved us from the tomahawks of his fellow-war-
+riors, and brought us to his home to know a
+noble and a brave woman.
+
+"I shall never forget your many favors shown
+to us.  But I must go.  I belong to my tribe
+and I shall return to them.  I will endeavor to be
+a true woman also, and to teach my boys to be
+generous warriors like your son."
+
+Her sister chose to remain among the Sioux all
+her life, and she married one of our young men.
+
+"I shall make the Sioux and the Ojibways,"
+she said, "to be as brothers."
+
+There are many other instances of intermar-
+riage with captive women. The mother of the
+well-known Sioux chieftain, Wabashaw, was an
+Ojibway woman.  I once knew a woman who
+was said to be a white captive.  She was married
+to a noted warrior, and had a fine family of five
+boys.  She was well accustomed to the Indian
+ways, and as a child I should not have suspected
+that she was white.  The skins of these people be-
+came so sunburned and full of paint that it re-
+quired a keen eye to distinguish them from the
+real Indians.
+
+IV: An Indian Sugar Camp
+
+WITH the first March thaw the
+thoughts of the Indian women
+of my childhood days turned
+promptly to the annual sugar-
+making.  This industry was
+chiefly followed by the old men
+and women and the children.  The rest of the
+tribe went out upon the spring fur-hunt at this sea-
+son, leaving us at home to make the sugar.
+
+The first and most important of the necessary
+utensils were the huge iron and brass kettles for
+boiling.  Everything else could be made, but
+these must be bought, begged or borrowed.  A
+maple tree was felled and a log canoe hollowed
+out, into which the sap was to be gathered.  Little
+troughs of basswood and birchen basins were also
+made to receive the sweet drops as they trickled
+from the tree.
+
+As soon as these labors were accomplished, we all
+proceeded to the bark sugar house, which stood in
+the midst of a fine grove of maples on the bank of
+the Minnesota river.  We found this hut partially
+filled with the snows of winter and the withered
+leaves of the preceding autumn, and it must be
+cleared for our use. In the meantime a tent was
+pitched outside for a few days' occupancy.  The
+snow was still deep in the woods, with a solid crust
+upon which we could easily walk; for we usually
+moved to the sugar house before the sap had act-
+ually started, the better to complete our prepara-
+tions.
+
+My grandmother worked like a beaver in these
+days (or rather like a muskrat, as the Indians say;
+for this industrious little animal sometimes collects
+as many as six or eight bushels of edible roots for
+the winter, only to be robbed of his store by some
+of our people).  If there was prospect of a good
+sugaring season, she now made a second and even
+a third canoe to contain the sap.  These canoes
+were afterward utilized by the hunters for their
+proper purpose.
+
+During our last sugar-making in Minnesota, be-
+fore the "outbreak," my grandmother was at work
+upon a canoe with her axe, while a young aunt of
+mine stood by.  We boys were congregated with-
+in the large, oval sugar house, busily engaged in
+making arrows for the destruction of the rabbits
+and chipmunks which we knew would come in
+numbers to drink the sap. The birds also were
+beginning to return, and the cold storms of March
+would drive them to our door.  I was then too
+young to do much except look on; but I fully en-
+tered into the spirit of the occasion, and rejoiced
+to see the bigger boys industriously sharpen their
+arrows, resting them against the ends of the long
+sticks which were burning in the fire, and occasion-
+ally cutting a chip from the stick.  In their eager-
+ness they paid little attention to this circumstance,
+although they well knew that it was strictly for-
+bidden to touch a knife to a burning ember.
+
+Suddenly loud screams were heard from without
+and we all rushed out to see what was the matter. 
+It was a serious affair.  My grandmother's axe
+had slipped, and by an upward stroke nearly sev-
+ered three of the fingers of my aunt, who stood
+looking on, with her hands folded upon her waist. 
+As we ran out the old lady, who had already no-
+ticed and reproved our carelessness in regard to the
+burning embers, pursued us with loud reproaches
+and threats of a whipping.  This will seem mys-
+terious to my readers, but is easily explained by the
+Indian superstition, which holds that such an
+offense as we had committed is invariably punished
+by the accidental cutting of some one of the family.
+
+My grandmother did not confine herself to
+canoe-making.  She also collected a good supply
+of fuel for the fires, for she would not have much
+time to gather wood when the sap began to flow. 
+Presently the weather moderated and the snow be-
+gan to melt.  The month of April brought show-
+ers which carried most of it off into the Minnesota
+river.  Now the women began to test the trees--
+moving leisurely among them, axe in hand, and
+striking a single quick blow, to see if the sap would
+appear.  The trees, like people, have their indi-
+vidual characters; some were ready to yield up their
+life-blood, while others were more reluctant.  Now
+one of the birchen basins was set under each tree,
+and a hardwood chip driven deep into the cut
+which the axe had made.  From the corners of this
+chip--at first drop by drop, then more freely--
+the sap trickled into the little dishes.
+
+It is usual to make sugar from maples, but sev-
+eral other trees were also tapped by the Indians. 
+From the birch and ash was made a dark-colored
+sugar, with a somewhat bitter taste, which was used
+for medicinal purposes.  The box-elder yielded a
+beautiful white sugar, whose only fault was that
+there was never enough of it!
+
+A long fire was now made in the sugar house,
+and a row of brass kettles suspended over the
+blaze.  The sap was collected by the women in
+tin or birchen buckets and poured into the canoes,
+from which the kettles were kept filled.  The
+hearts of the boys beat high with pleasant antici-
+pations when they heard the welcome hissing sound
+of the boiling sap! Each boy claimed one kettle
+for his especial charge. It was his duty to see that
+the fire was kept up under it, to watch lest it boil
+over, and finally, when the sap became sirup, to
+test it upon the snow, dipping it out with a
+wooden paddle.  So frequent were these tests
+that for the first day or two we consumed nearly
+all that could be made; and it was not until the
+sweetness began to pall that my grandmother set
+herself in earnest to store up sugar for future use. 
+She made it into cakes of various forms, in birch-
+en molds, and sometimes in hollow canes or reeds,
+and the bills of ducks and geese.  Some of it was
+pulverized and packed in rawhide cases.  Being
+a prudent woman, she did not give it to us after
+the first month or so, except upon special occa-
+sions, and it was thus made to last almost the
+year around.  The smaller candies were reserved
+as an occasional treat for the little fellows, and the
+sugar was eaten at feasts with wild rice or parched
+corn, and also with pounded dried meat.  Coffee
+and tea, with their substitutes, were all unknown
+to us in those days.
+
+Every pursuit has its trials and anxieties.  My
+grandmother's special tribulations, during the
+sugaring season, were the upsetting and gnawing
+of holes in her birch-bark pans.  The transgres-
+sors were the rabbit and squirrel tribes, and we
+little boys for once became useful, in shooting
+them with our bows and arrows.  We hunted all
+over the sugar camp, until the little creatures
+were fairly driven out of the neighborhood.  Oc-
+casionally one of my older brothers brought home
+a rabbit or two, and then we had a feast.
+
+The sugaring season extended well into April,
+and the returning birds made the precincts of our
+camp joyful with their songs.  I often followed
+my older brothers into the woods, although I was
+then but four or five years old.  Upon one of
+these excursions they went so far that I ventured
+back alone.  When within sight of our hut, I saw
+a chipmunk sitting upon a log, and uttering the
+sound he makes when he calls to his mate.  How
+glorious it would be, I thought, if I could shoot
+him with my tiny bow and arrows! Stealthily
+and cautiously I approached, keeping my eyes
+upon the pretty little animal, and just as I was
+about to let fly my shaft, I heard a hissing noise
+at my feet.  There lay a horrid snake, coiled and
+ready to spring! Forgetful that I was a warrior,
+I gave a loud scream and started backward; but
+soon recollecting myself, looked down with shame,
+although no one was near.  However, I retreated
+to the inclined trunk of a fallen tree, and there, as
+I have often been told, was overheard soliloquiz-
+ing in the following words: "I wonder if a snake
+can climb a tree!"
+
+I remember on this occasion of our last sugar
+bush in Minnesota, that I stood one day outside
+of our hut and watched the approach of a visitor
+--a bent old man, his hair almost white, and
+carrying on his back a large bundle of red willow,
+or kinnikinick, which the Indians use for smoking. 
+He threw down his load at the door and thus
+saluted us: "You have indeed perfect weather for
+sugar-making."
+
+It was my great-grandfather, Cloud Man,
+whose original village was on the shores of Lakes
+Calhoun and Harriet, now in the suburbs of the
+city of Minneapolis.  He was the first Sioux chief
+to welcome the Protestant missionaries among his
+people, and a well-known character in those pio-
+neer days.  He brought us word that some of
+the peaceful sugar-makers near us on the river
+had been attacked and murdered by roving Ojib-
+ways.  This news disturbed us not a little, for we
+realized that we too might become the victims of
+an Ojibway war party.  Therefore we all felt
+some uneasiness from this time until we returned
+heavy laden to our village.
+
+V: A Midsummer Feast
+IT was midsummer. Everything
+that the Santee Sioux had under-
+taken during the year had been un-
+usually successful.  The spring
+fur-hunters had been fortunate,
+and the heavy winter had proved
+productive of much maple sugar.  The women's
+patches of maize and potatoes were already suffic-
+iently advanced to use.  The Wahpetonwan band
+of Sioux, the "Dwellers among the Leaves," were
+fully awakened to the fact that it was almost time
+for the midsummer festivities of the old, wild
+days.
+
+The invitations were bundles of tobacco, and
+acceptances were sent back from the various bands
+--the "Light Lodges", "Dwellers back from
+the River," and many others, in similar fashion. 
+Blue Earth, chief of the "Dwellers among the
+Leaves," was the host.
+
+There were to be many different kinds of ath-
+letic games; indeed, the festival was something
+like a State fair, in that there were many side
+shows and competitive events.  For instance, sup-
+posing that (Miss) White Rabbit should desire to
+give a "maidens' feast," she would employ a crier
+to go among the different bands announcing the
+fact in a sing-song manner:
+
+"Miss White Rabbit will receive her maiden
+friends to-day at noon, inside of the circular en-
+campment of the Kaposia band."
+
+Again, should (Mr.) Sleepy Eye wish to have
+his child's ears pierced publicly, he would have to
+give away a great deal of savage wealth--namely,
+otter, bear and beaver skins and ponies--or the
+child would not be considered as belonging to a
+family in good standing.
+
+But the one all-important event of the occasion
+was the lacrosse game, for which it had been cus-
+tomary to select those two bands which could
+boast the greater number of fast runners.
+
+The Wahpetonwan village on the banks of the
+Minnesota river was alive with the newly-arrived
+guests and the preparations for the coming event. 
+Meat of wild game had been put away with much
+care during the previous fall in anticipation of this
+feast.  There was wild rice and the choicest of
+dried venison that had been kept all winter, as
+well as freshly dug turnips, ripe berries and an
+abundance of fresh meat.
+
+Along the edge of the woods the teepees were
+pitched in groups or semi-circles, each band dis-
+tinct from the others.  The teepee of Mankato or
+Blue Earth was pitched in a conspicuous spot.
+Just over the entrance was painted in red and yel-
+low a picture of a pipe, and directly opposite this
+the rising sun.  The painting was symbolic of
+welcome and good will to men under the bright
+sun.
+
+A meeting was held to appoint some "medi-
+cine man" to make the balls that were to be used
+in the lacrosse contest; and presently the herald
+announced that this honor had been conferred
+upon old Chankpee-yuhah, or "Keeps the Club,"
+while every other man of his profession was dis-
+appointed.  He was a powerful man physically,
+who had apparently won the confidence of the
+people by his fine personal appearance and by
+working upon superstitious minds.
+
+Towards evening he appeared in the circle,
+leading by the hand a boy about four years old. 
+Closely the little fellow observed every motion of
+the man; nothing escaped his vigilant black eyes,
+which seemed constantly to grow brighter and
+larger, while his exuberant glossy black hair was
+plaited and wound around his head like that of
+a Celestial.  He wore a bit of swan's down in
+each ear, which formed a striking contrast with
+the child's complexion.  Further than this, the
+boy was painted according to the fashion of the
+age.  He held in his hands a miniature bow and
+arrows.
+
+The medicine man drew himself up in an ad-
+mirable attitude, and proceeded to make his short
+speech:
+
+ "Wahpetonwans, you boast that you run down
+the elk; you can outrun the Ojibways.  Before
+you all, I dedicate to you this red ball.  Kaposias,
+you claim that no one has a lighter foot than you;
+you declare that you can endure running a whole
+day without water.  To you I dedicate this black
+ball.  Either you or the Leaf-Dwellers will have
+to drop your eyes and bow your head when the
+game is over.  I wish to announce that if the
+Wahpetonwans should win, this little warrior shall
+bear the name Ohiyesa (winner) through life; but
+if the Light Lodges should win, let the name be
+given to any child appointed by them."
+
+The ground selected for the great final game
+was on a narrow strip of land between a lake and
+the river.  It was about three quarters of a mile
+long and a quarter of a mile in width.  The spec-
+tators had already ranged themselves all along the
+two sides, as well as at the two ends, which were
+somewhat higher than the middle.  The soldiers
+appointed to keep order furnished much of the
+entertainment of the day.  They painted artistically
+and tastefully, according to the Indian fashion, not
+only their bodies but also their ponies and clubs. 
+They were so strict in enforcing the laws that no
+one could venture with safety within a few feet of
+the limits of the field.
+
+Now all of the minor events and feasts, occupy-
+ing several days' time, had been observed.  Her-
+alds on ponies' backs announced that all who in-
+tended to participate in the final game were re-
+quested to repair to the ground; also that if any
+one bore a grudge against another, he was im-
+plored to forget his ill-feeling until the contest
+should be over.
+
+The most powerful men were stationed at the
+half-way ground, while the fast runners were as-
+signed to the back.  It was an impressive spectacle
+--a fine collection of agile forms, almost stripped
+of garments and painted in wild imitation of the
+rainbow and sunset sky on human canvas.  Some
+had undertaken to depict the Milky Way across
+their tawny bodies, and one or two made a bold
+attempt to reproduce the lightning.  Others con-
+tented themselves with painting the figure of some
+fleet animal or swift bird on their muscular chests.
+
+The coiffure of the Sioux lacrosse player has
+often been unconsciously imitated by the fashion-
+able hair-dressers of modern times.  Some banged
+and singed their hair; others did a little more
+by adding powder.  The Grecian knot was lo-
+cated on the wrong side of the head, being tied
+tightly over the forehead.  A great many simply
+brushed back their long locks and tied them with
+a strip of otter skin.
+
+At the middle of the ground were stationed four
+immense men, magnificently formed.  A fifth ap-
+proached this group, paused a moment, and then
+threw his head back, gazed up into the sky in the
+manner of a cock and gave a smooth, clear oper-
+atic tone.  Instantly the little black ball went up
+between the two middle rushers, in the midst of
+yells, cheers and war-whoops.  Both men en-
+deavored to catch it in the air; but alas! each in-
+terfered with the other; then the guards on each
+side rushed upon them.  For a time, a hundred
+lacrosse sticks vied with each other, and the wrig-
+gling human flesh and paint were all one could see
+through the cloud of dust.  Suddenly there shot
+swiftly through the air toward the south, toward the
+Kaposias' goal, the ball.  There was a general cheer
+from their adherents, which echoed back from the
+white cliff on the opposite side of the Minnesota.
+
+As the ball flew through the air, two adver-
+saries were ready to receive it. The Kaposia
+quickly met the ball, but failed to catch it in his
+netted bag, for the other had swung his up like a
+flash.  Thus it struck the ground, but had no op-
+portunity to bound up when a Wahpeton pounced
+upon it like a cat and slipped out of the grasp of
+his opponents.  A mighty cheer thundered through
+the air.
+
+The warrior who had undertaken to pilot the
+little sphere was risking much, for he must dodge
+a host of Kaposias before he could gain any ground. 
+He was alert and agile; now springing like a
+panther, now leaping like a deer over a stooping
+opponent who tried to seize him around the waist. 
+Every opposing player was upon his heels, while
+those of his own side did all in their power to
+clear the way for him.  But it was all in vain. 
+He only gained fifty paces.
+
+Thus the game went.  First one side, then the
+other would gain an advantage, and then it was lost,
+until the herald proclaimed that it was time to change
+the ball.  No victory was in sight for either side.
+
+After a few minutes' rest, the game was resumed. 
+The red ball was now tossed in the air in the usual
+way.  No sooner had it descended than one of the
+rushers caught it and away it went northward;
+
+again it was fortunate, for it was advanced by one
+of the same side.  The scene was now one of the
+wildest excitement and confusion.  At last, the
+northward flight of the ball was checked for a
+moment and a desperate struggle ensued.  Cheers
+and war-whoops became general, such as were
+never equaled in any concourse of savages, and
+possibly nowhere except at a college game of foot-
+ball.
+
+The ball had not been allowed to come to the
+surface since it reached this point, for there were
+more than a hundred men who scrambled for it. 
+Suddenly a warrior shot out of the throng like the
+ball itself! Then some of the players shouted:
+"Look out for Antelope! Look out for Antelope!"
+But it was too late.  The little sphere had already
+nestled into Antelope's palm and that fleetest of
+Wahpetons had thrown down his lacrosse stick and
+set a determined eye upon the northern goal.
+
+Such a speed! He had cleared almost all the
+opponents' guards--there were but two more. 
+These were exceptional runners of the Kaposias. 
+As he approached them in his almost irresistible
+speed, every savage heart thumped louder in the
+Indian's dusky bosom.  In another moment there
+would be a defeat for the Kaposias or a prolonga-
+tion of the game.  The two men, with a determined
+look approached their foe like two panthers pre-
+pared to spring; yet he neither slackened his speed
+nor deviated from his course.  A crash--a mighty
+shout!--the two Kaposias collided, and the swift
+Antelope had won the laurels!
+
+The turmoil and commotion at the victors'
+camp were indescribable.  A few beats of a drum
+were heard, after which the criers hurried along
+the lines, announcing the last act to be performed
+at the camp of the "Leaf Dwellers."
+
+The day had been a perfect one.  Every event
+had been a success; and, as a matter of course, the
+old people were happy, for they largely profited
+by these occasions.  Within the circle formed by
+the general assembly sat in a group the members
+of the common council.  Blue Earth arose, and
+in a few appropriate and courteous remarks as-
+sured his guests that it was not selfishness that led
+his braves to carry off the honors of the last event,
+but that this was a friendly contest in which each
+band must assert its prowess.  In memory of this
+victory, the boy would now receive his name.  A
+loud "Ho-o-o" of approbation reverberated from
+the edge of the forest upon the Minnesota's
+bank.
+
+Half frightened, the little fellow was now
+brought into the circle, looking very much as if he
+were about to be executed.  Cheer after cheer
+went up for the awe-stricken boy.  Chankpee-yuhah,
+the medicine man, proceeded to confer the name.
+
+"Ohiyesa (or Winner) shall be thy name hence-
+forth.  Be brave, be patient and thou shalt always
+win!  Thy name is Ohivesa."
+
+
+
+II
+An Indian Boy's Training
+
+IT is commonly supposed that there
+is no systematic education of their
+children among the aborigines of
+this country.  Nothing could be
+farther from the truth.  All the cus-
+toms of this primitive people were
+held to be divinely instituted, and those in connec-
+tion with the training of children were scrupulously
+adhered to and transmitted from one generation to
+another.
+
+The expectant parents conjointly bent all their
+efforts to the task of giving the new-comer the best
+they could gather from a long line of ancestors.  A
+pregnant Indian woman would often choose one of
+the greatest characters of her family and tribe as a
+model for her child.  This hero was daily called
+to mind.  She would gather from tradition all of
+his noted deeds and daring exploits, rehearsing them
+to herself when alone.  In order that the impres-
+sion might be more distinct, she avoided company.
+She isolated herself as much as possible, and wan-
+dered in solitude, not thoughtlessly, but with an
+eye to the impress given by grand and beautiful
+scenery.
+
+The Indians believed, also, that certain kinds of
+animals would confer peculiar gifts upon the un-
+born, while others would leave so strong an adverse
+impression that the child might become a monstros-
+ity.  A case of hare-lip was commonly attributed
+to the rabbit.  It was said that a rabbit had charmed
+the mother and given to the babe its own features. 
+Even the meat of certain animals was denied the
+pregnant woman, because it was supposed to influ-
+ence the disposition or features of the child.
+
+Scarcely was the embyro warrior ushered into the
+world, when he was met by lullabies that speak of
+wonderful exploits in hunting and war.  Those
+ideas which so fully occupied his mother's mind
+before his birth are now put into words by all about
+the child, who is as yet quite unresponsive to their
+appeals to his honor and ambition.  He is called
+the future defender of his people, whose lives may
+depend upon his courage and skill.  If the child
+is a girl, she is at once addressed as the future
+mother of a noble race.
+
+In hunting songs, the leading animals are intro-
+duced; they come to the boy to offer their bodies
+for the sustenance of his tribe.  The animals are
+regarded as his friends, and spoken of almost as
+tribes of people, or as his cousins, grandfathers and
+grandmothers.  The songs of wooing, adapted as
+lullabies, were equally imaginative, and the suitors
+were often animals personified, while pretty maid-
+ens were represented by the mink and the doe.
+
+Very early, the Indian boy assumed the task of
+preserving and transmitting the legends of his an-
+cestors and his race.  Almost every evening a
+myth, or a true story of some deed done in the
+past, was narrated by one of the parents or grand-
+parents, while the boy listened with parted lips and
+glistening eyes.  On the following evening, he was
+usually required to repeat it.  If he was not an apt
+scholar, he struggled long with his task; but, as a
+rule, the Indian boy is a good listener and has a good
+memory, so that the stories were tolerably well mas-
+tered. The household became his audience,
+by which he was alternately criticized and ap-
+plauded.
+
+This sort of teaching at once enlightens the boy's
+mind and stimulates his ambition.  His concep-
+tion of his own future career becomes a vivid and
+irresistible force.  Whatever there is for him to
+learn must be learned; whatever qualifications are
+necessary to a truly great man he must seek at any
+expense of danger and hardship.  Such was the
+feeling of the imaginative and brave young Indian. 
+It became apparent to him in early life that he
+must accustom himself to rove alone and not
+to fear or dislike the impression of solitude.
+
+It seems to be a popular idea that all the char-
+acteristic skill of the Indian is instinctive and
+hereditary.  This is a mistake.  All the stoicism
+and patience of the Indian are acquired traits, and
+continual practice alone makes him master of the art
+of wood-craft.  Physical training and dieting were not
+neglected.  I remember that I was not allowed to
+have beef soup or any warm drink.  The soup
+was for the old men.  General rules for the young
+were never to take their food very hot, nor to
+drink much water.
+
+My uncle, who educated me up to the age
+of fifteen years, was a strict disciplinarian and a
+good teacher.  When I left the teepee in the
+morning, he would say: "Hakadah, look closely
+to everything you see"; and at evening, on my re-
+turn, he used often to catechize me for an hour
+or so.
+
+"On which side of the trees is the lighter-col-
+ored bark? On which side do they have most
+regular branches?"
+
+It was his custom to let me name all the
+new birds that I had seen during the day.  I
+would name them according to the color or
+the shape of the bill or their song or the appearance
+and locality of the nest--in fact, anything about
+the bird that impressed me as characteristic.  I
+made many ridiculous errors, I must admit.  He
+then usually informed me of the correct name. 
+Occasionally I made a hit and this he would warm-
+ly commend.
+
+He went much deeper into this science when I
+was a little older, that is, about the age of eight or
+nine years.  He would say, for instance:
+
+ "How do you know that there are fish in
+yonder lake?"
+
+"Because they jump out of the water for flies
+at mid-day."
+
+He would smile at my prompt but superficial
+reply.
+
+"What do you think of the little pebbles
+grouped together under the shallow water? and
+what made the pretty curved marks in the
+sandy bottom and the little sand-banks? Where
+do you find the fish-eating birds?  Have the in-
+let and the outlet of a lake anything to do with the
+question?"
+
+He did not expect a correct reply at once to all
+the voluminous questions that he put to me on
+these occasions, but he meant to make me observ-
+ant and a good student of nature.
+
+"Hakadah," he would say to me, "you ought
+to follow the example of the shunktokecha (wolf). 
+Even when he is surprised and runs for his life, he
+will pause to take one more look at you before he
+enters his final retreat.  So you must take a sec-
+ond look at everything you see.
+
+"It is better to view animals unobserved.  I
+have been a witness to their courtships and their
+quarrels and have learned many of their secrets in
+this way.  I was once the unseen spectator of a
+thrilling battle between a pair of grizzly bears and
+three buffaloes--a rash act for the bears, for it was
+in the moon of strawberries, when the buffaloes
+sharpen and polish their horns for bloody con-
+tests among themselves.
+
+"I advise you, my boy, never to approach a
+grizzly's den from the front, but to steal up be-
+hind and throw your blanket or a stone in front of
+the hole.  He does not usually rush for it, but
+first puts his head out and listens and then comes
+out very indifferently and sits on his haunches on
+the mound in front of the hole before he makes any
+attack.  While he is exposing himself in this
+fashion, aim at his heart.  Always be as cool as the
+animal himself." Thus he armed me against the
+cunning of savage beasts by teaching me how to
+outwit them.
+
+"In hunting," he would resume, "you will be
+guided by the habits of the animal you seek.  Re-
+member that a moose stays in swampy or low land
+or between high mountains near a spring or lake,
+for thirty to sixty days at a time.  Most large game
+moves about continually, except the doe in the
+spring; it is then a very easy matter to find her
+with the fawn.  Conceal yourself in a convenient
+place as soon as you observe any signs of the
+presence of either, and then call with your birchen
+doe-caller.
+
+"Whichever one hears you first will soon appear
+in your neighborhood.  But you must be very
+watchful, or you may be made a fawn of by a large
+wild-cat.  They understand the characteristic call
+of the doe perfectly well.
+
+"When you have any difficulty with a bear or
+a wild-cat--that is, if the creature shows signs of
+attacking you--you must make him fully under-
+stand that you have seen him and are aware of his
+intentions.  If you are not well equipped for a
+pitched battle, the only way to make him retreat is
+to take a long sharp-pointed pole for a spear and
+rush toward him.  No wild beast will face this un-
+less he is cornered and already wounded, These
+fierce beasts are generally afraid of the common
+weapon of the larger animals--the horns, and if
+these are very long and sharp, they dare not risk
+an open fight.
+
+"There is one exception to this rule--the grey
+wolf will attack fiercely when very hungry.  But
+their courage depends upon their numbers; in this
+they are like white men.  One wolf or two will
+never attack a man. They will stampede a herd
+of buffaloes in order to get at the calves; they will
+rush upon a herd of antelopes, for these are help-
+less; but they are always careful about attacking
+man."
+
+Of this nature were the instructions of my
+uncle, who was widely known at that time as
+among the greatest hunters of his tribe.
+
+All boys were expected to endure hardship
+without complaint.  In savage warfare, a young
+man must, of course, be an athlete and used to
+undergoing all sorts of privations.  He must be
+able to go without food and water for two or three
+days without displaying any weakness, or to run
+for a day and a night without any rest.  He must
+be able to traverse a pathless and wild country
+without losing his way either in the day or night
+time.  He cannot refuse to do any of these things
+if he aspires to be a warrior.
+
+Sometimes my uncle would waken me very
+early in the morning and challenge me to fast
+with him all day.  I had to accept the challenge. 
+We blackened our faces with charcoal, so that
+every boy in the village would know that I was
+fasting for the day.  Then the little tempters
+would make my life a misery until the merci-
+ful sun hid behind the western hills.
+
+I can scarcely recall the time when my stern
+teacher began to give sudden war-whoops over
+my head in the morning while I was sound asleep. 
+He expected me to leap up with perfect presence
+of mind, always ready to grasp a weapon of some
+sort and to give a shrill whoop in reply.  If I
+was sleepy or startled and hardly knew what I
+was about, he would ridicule me and say that I
+need never expect to sell my scalp dear.  Often
+he would vary these tactics by shooting off his
+gun just outside of the lodge while I was yet
+asleep, at the same time giving blood-curdling
+yells.  After a time I became used to this.
+
+When Indians went upon the war-path, it was
+their custom to try the new warriors thoroughly
+before coming to an engagement.  For instance,
+when they were near a hostile camp, they would
+select the novices to go after the water and make
+them do all sorts of things to prove their cour-
+age.  In accordance with this idea, my uncle used
+to send me off after water when we camped after
+dark in a strange place.  Perhaps the country
+was full of wild beasts, and, for aught I knew,
+there might be scouts from hostile bands of In-
+dians lurking in that very neighborhood.
+
+Yet I never objected, for that would show cow-
+ardice.  I picked my way through the woods,
+dipped my pail in the water and hurried back,
+always careful to make as little noise as a cat. 
+Being only a boy, my heart would leap at every
+crackling of a dry twig or distant hooting of an
+owl, until, at last, I reached our teepee.  Then my
+uncle would perhaps say: "Ah, Hakadah, you
+are a thorough warrior," empty out the precious
+contents of the pail, and order me to go a second
+time.
+
+Imagine how I felt! But I wished to be a
+brave man as much as a white boy desires to be a
+great lawyer or even President of the United
+States.  Silently I would take the pail and en-
+deavor to retrace my footsteps in the dark.
+
+With all this, our manners and morals were
+not neglected.  I was made to respect the adults
+and especially the aged.  I was not allowed to
+join in their discussions, nor even to speak in
+their presence, unless requested to do so.  In-
+dian etiquette was very strict, and among the re-
+quirements was that of avoiding the direct address. 
+A term of relationship or some title of courtesy
+was commonly used instead of the personal name
+by those who wished to show respect.  We were
+taught generosity to the poor and reverence for the
+"Great Mystery." Religion was the basis of all
+Indian training.
+
+I recall to the present day some of the kind
+warnings and reproofs that my good grandmother
+was wont to give me.  "Be strong of heart--be
+patient!" she used to say.  She told me of a
+young chief who was noted for his uncontrollable
+temper.  While in one of his rages he attempted
+to kill a woman, for which he was slain by his
+own band and left unburied as a mark of disgrace
+--his body was simply covered with green grass. 
+If I ever lost my temper, she would say:
+
+"Hakadah, control yourself, or you will be
+like that young man I told you of, and lie under
+a green blanket!"
+
+In the old days, no young man was allowed to
+use tobacco in any form until he had become an
+acknowledged warrior and had achieved a record. 
+If a youth should seek a wife before he had
+reached the age of twenty-two or twenty-three,
+and been recognized as a brave man, he was
+sneered at and considered an ill-bred Indian.  He
+must also be a skillful hunter.  An Indian cannot
+be a good husband unless he brings home plenty
+of game.
+
+These precepts were in the line of our training
+for the wild life.
+
+
+III
+My Plays and Playmates
+
+I: Games and Sports
+
+THE Indian boy was a prince of
+the wilderness.  He had but very
+little work to do during the period
+of his boyhood.  His principal
+occupation was the practice of a
+few simple arts in warfare and the
+chase.  Aside from this, he was master of his
+time.
+
+Whatever was required of us boys was quickly
+performed: then the field was clear for our games
+and plays.  There was always keen competition
+among us.  We felt very much as our fathers
+did in hunting and war--each one strove to excel
+all the others.
+
+It is true that our savage life was a precarious
+one, and full of dreadful catastrophes; however,
+this never prevented us from enjoying our sports
+to the fullest extent.  As we left our teepees in
+the morning, we were never sure that our scalps
+would not dangle from a pole in the afternoon!
+It was an uncertain life, to be sure.  Yet we ob-
+served that the fawns skipped and played happily
+while the gray wolves might be peeping forth
+from behind the hills, ready to tear them limb
+from limb.
+
+Our sports were molded by the life and cus-
+toms of our people; indeed, we practiced only
+what we expected to do when grown.  Our games
+were feats with the bow and arrow, foot and pony
+races, wrestling, swimming and imitation of the
+customs and habits of our fathers.  We had sham
+fights with mud balls and willow wands; we played
+lacrosse, made war upon bees, shot winter arrows
+(which were used only in that season), and coasted
+upon the ribs of animals and buffalo robes.
+
+No sooner did the boys get together than, as a
+usual thing, they divided into squads and chose
+sides; then a leading arrow was shot at random
+into the air.  Before it fell to the ground a volley
+from the bows of the participants followed.  Each
+player was quick to note the direction and speed
+of the leading arrow and he tried to send his own
+at the same speed and at an equal height, so that
+when it fell it would be closer to the first than any
+of the others.
+
+It was considered out of place to shoot by first
+sighting the object aimed at.  This was usually
+impracticable in actual life, because the object was
+almost always in motion, while the hunter himself
+was often upon the back of a pony at full gallop. 
+Therefore, it was the off-hand shot that the Indian
+boy sought to master.  There was another game
+with arrows that was characterized by gambling,
+and was generally confined to the men.
+
+The races were an every-day occurrence.  At
+noon the boys were usually gathered by some
+pleasant sheet of water and as soon as the ponies
+were watered, they were allowed to graze for
+an hour or two, while the boys stripped for their
+noonday sports.  A boy might say to some other
+whom he considered his equal:
+
+"I can't run; but I will challenge you to fifty
+paces."
+
+A former hero, when beaten, would often ex-
+plain his defeat by saying: " I drank too much
+water."
+
+Boys of all ages were paired for a "spin," and
+the little red men cheered on their favorites with
+spirit.
+
+As soon as this was ended, the pony races fol-
+lowed.  All the speedy ponies were picked out
+and riders chosen.  If a boy declined to ride, there
+would be shouts of derision.
+
+Last of all came the swimming.  A little urchin
+would hang to his pony's long tail, while the lat-
+ter, with only his head above water, glided spor-
+tively along.  Finally the animals were driven in-
+to a fine field of grass and we turned our attention
+to other games.
+
+Lacrosse was an older game and was confined en-
+tirely to the Sisseton and Santee Sioux.  Shinny, such
+as is enjoyed by white boys on the ice, is still played
+on the open prairie by the western Sioux.  The
+"moccasin game," although sometimes played by
+the boys, was intended mainly for adults.
+
+The "mud-and-willow" fight was rather a
+severe and dangerous sport.  A lump of soft clay
+was stuck on the end of a limber and springy wil-
+low wand and thrown as boys throw apples from
+sticks, with considerable force.  When there were
+fifty or a hundred players on each side, the battle
+became warm; but anything to arouse the bravery
+of Indian boys seemed to them a good and whole-
+some diversion.
+
+Wrestling was largely indulged in by us all.  It
+may seem odd,, but wrestling was done by a great
+many boys at once--from ten to any number on
+a side.    It was really a battle, in which each one
+chose his opponent. The rule was that if a boy
+sat down, he was let alone, but as long as he re-
+mained standing within the field, he was open to
+an attack.  No one struck with the hand, but all
+manner of tripping with legs and feet and butting
+with the knees was allowed.  Altogether it was an
+exhausting pastime--fully equal to the American
+game of football and only the young athlete could
+really enjoy it.
+
+One of our most curious sports was a war upon
+the nests of wild bees.  We imagined ourselves
+about to make an attack upon the Ojibways or
+some tribal foe.  We all painted and stole cau-
+tiously upon the nest; then, with a rush and war-
+whoop, sprang upon the object of our attack and
+endeavored to destroy it. But it seemed that the
+bees were always on the alert and never entirely
+surprised, for they always raised quite as many
+scalps as did their bold assailants! After the on-
+slaught upon the nest was ended, we usually fol-
+lowed it by a pretended scalp dance.
+
+On the occasion of my first experience in this
+mode of warfare, there were two other little boys
+who were also novices.  One of them particularly
+was really too young to indulge in an exploit of
+that kind.  As it was the custom of our people,
+when they killed or wounded an enemy on the bat-
+tle field, to announce the act in a loud voice, we
+did the same.  My friend, Little Wound (as I will
+call him, for I do not remember his name), being
+quite small, was unable to reach the nest until it
+had been well trampled upon and broken and the
+insects had made a counter charge with such vigor
+as to repulse and scatter our numbers in every di-
+rection.  However, he evidently did not want to
+retreat without any honors; so he bravely jumped
+upon the nest and yelled:
+
+"I, the brave Little Wound, to-day kill the only
+fierce enemy!"
+
+Scarcely were the last words uttered when he
+screamed as if stabbed to the heart.  One of his
+older companions shouted:
+
+"Dive into the water! Run! Dive into the
+water!" for there was a lake near by.  This ad-
+vice he obeyed.
+
+When we had reassembled and were indulging
+in our mimic dance, Little Wound was not allowed
+to dance.  He was considered not to be in ex-
+istence--he had been killed by our enemies, the
+Bee tribe.  Poor little fellow! His swollen face
+was sad and ashamed as he sat on a fallen log and
+watched the dance.  Although he might well have
+styled himself one of the noble dead who had died
+for their country, yet he was not unmindful that
+he had screamed, and this weakness would be apt
+to recur to him many times in the future.
+
+We had some quiet plays which we alternated
+with the more severe and warlike ones.  Among
+them were throwing wands and snow-arrows.  In
+the winter we coasted much.  We had no "dou-
+ble-rippers" or toboggans, but six or seven of the
+long ribs of a buffalo, fastened together at the
+larger end, answered all practical purposes.  Some-
+times a strip of bass-wood bark, four feet long and
+about six inches wide, was used with considerable
+skill.  We stood on one end and held the other,
+using the slippery inside of the bark for the out-
+side, and thus coasting down long hills with re-
+markable speed.
+
+The spinning of tops was one of the all-ab-
+sorbing winter sports.  We made our tops heart-
+shaped of wood, horn or bone.  We whipped
+them with a long thong of buckskin.  The handle
+was a stick about a foot long and sometimes we
+whittled the stick to make it spoon-shaped at one
+end.
+
+We played games with these tops--two to fifty
+boys at one time.  Each whips his top until it
+hums; then one takes the lead and the rest fol-
+low in a sort of obstacle race.  The top must spin
+all the way through. There were bars of snow
+over which we must pilot our top in the spoon
+end of our whip; then again we would toss it in the
+air on to another open spot of ice or smooth snow-
+crust from twenty to fifty paces away.  The top
+that holds out the longest is the winner.
+
+Sometimes we played "medicine dance." This,
+to us, was almost what "playing church" is among
+white children, but our people seemed to think it
+an act of irreverence to imitate these dances,
+therefore performances of this kind were always
+enjoyed in secret.  We used to observe all the im-
+portant ceremonies and it required something of an
+actor to reproduce the dramatic features of the
+dance.  The real dances occupied a day and a
+night, and the program was long and varied, so
+that it was not easy to execute all the details
+perfectly; but the Indian children are born imi-
+tators.
+
+The boys built an arbor of pine boughs in some
+out-of-the-way place and at one end of it was a
+rude lodge.  This was the medicine lodge or head-
+quarters. All the initiates were there. At the
+further end or entrance were the door-keepers or
+soldiers, as we called them.  The members of
+each lodge entered in a body, standing in single
+file and facing the headquarters.  Each stretched
+out his right hand and a prayer was offered by the
+leader, after which they took the places assigned
+to them.
+
+When the preliminaries had been completed,
+our leader sounded the big drum and we all said
+"A-ho-ho-ho!" as a sort of amen.  Then the choir
+began their song and whenever they ended a verse,
+we all said again "A-ho-ho-ho!" At last they
+struck up the chorus and we all got upon our feet
+and began to dance, by simply lifting up one foot
+and then the other, with a slight swing to the
+body.
+
+Each boy was representing or imitating some
+one of the medicine men.  We painted and decor-
+ated ourselves just as they did and carried bird
+or squirrel skins, or occasionally live birds and
+chipmunks as our medicine bags and small white
+shells or pebbles for medicine charms.
+
+Then the persons to be initiated were brought
+in and seated, with much ceremony, upon a blanket
+or buffalo robe.  Directly in front of them the
+ground was levelled smooth and here we laid an
+old pipe filled with dried leaves for tobacco. 
+Around it we placed the variously colored feathers
+of the birds we had killed, and cedar and sweet-
+grass we burned for incense.
+
+Finally those of us who had been selected to per-
+form this ceremony stretched out our arms at full
+length, holding the sacred medicine bags and aiming
+them at the new members.  After swinging them four
+times, we shot them suddenly forward, but did not
+let go.  The novices then fell forward on their
+faces as if dead.  Quickly a chorus was struck up
+and we all joined in a lively dance around the sup-
+posed bodies.  The girls covered them up with
+their blankets, thus burying the dead.  At last we
+resurrected them with our charms and led them to
+their places among the audience.  Then came the
+last general dance and the final feast.
+
+I was often selected as choir-master on these oc-
+casions, for I had happened to learn many of the
+medicine songs and was quite an apt mimic.  My
+grandmother, who was a noted medicine woman of
+the Turtle lodge, on hearing of these sacrilegious
+acts (as she called them) warned me that if any of
+the medicine men should discover them, they would
+punish me terribly by shriveling my limbs with
+slow disease.
+
+Occasionally, we also played "white man." Our
+knowledge of the pale-face was limited, but we had
+learned that he brought goods whenever he came
+and that our people exchanged furs for his mer-
+chandise.  We also knew that his complexion was
+pale, that he had short hair on his head and long
+hair on his face and that he wore coat, trousers,
+and hat, and did not patronize blankets in the day-
+time.  This was the picture we had formed of the
+white man.
+
+So we painted two or three of our number with
+white clay and put on them birchen hats which we
+sewed up for the occasion; fastened a piece of fur
+to their chins for a beard and altered their cos-
+tumes as much as lay within our power.  The
+white of the birch-bark was made to answer for
+their white shirts.  Their merchandise consisted of
+sand for sugar, wild beans for coffee, dried leaves
+for tea, pulverized earth for gun-powder, pebbles
+for bullets and clear water for the dangerous "spirit
+water." We traded for these goods with skins of
+squirrels, rabbits and small birds.
+
+When we played "hunting buffalo" we would
+send a few good runners off on the open prairie
+with a supply of meat; then start a few equally
+swift boys to chase them and capture the food. 
+Once we were engaged in this sport when a real
+hunt by the men was in progress; yet we did not
+realize that it was so near until, in the midst of our
+play, we saw an immense buffalo coming at full
+speed directly toward us.  Our mimic buffalo hunt
+turned into a very real buffalo scare.  Fortunately,
+we were near the edge of the woods and we soon
+disappeared among the leaves like a covey of young
+prairie-chickens and some hid in the bushes while
+others took refuge in tall trees.
+
+We loved to play in the water.  When we had
+no ponies, we often had swimming matches of our
+own and sometimes made rafts with which we
+crossed lakes and rivers. It was a common
+thing to "duck" a young or timid boy or to
+carry him into deep water to struggle as best
+he might.
+
+I remember a perilous ride with a companion on
+an unmanageable log, when we were both less than
+seven years old.  The older boys had put us on
+this uncertain bark and pushed us out into the
+swift current of the river. I cannot speak for my
+comrade in distress, but I can say now that I would
+rather ride on a swift bronco any day than try to
+stay on and steady a short log in a river.
+I never knew how we managed to prevent a shipwreck
+on that voyage and to reach the shore.
+
+We had many curious wild pets.  There were
+young foxes, bears, wolves, raccoons, fawns, buffalo
+calves and birds of all kinds, tamed by various
+boys.  My pets were different at different times, but
+I particularly remember one.  I once had a grizzly
+bear for a pet and so far as he and I were concerned,
+our relations were charming and very close.  But I
+hardly know whether he made more enemies for me
+or I for him.  It was his habit to treat every boy
+unmercifully who injured me.  He was despised
+for his conduct in my interest and I was hated on
+account of his interference.
+
+II: My Playmates
+
+CHATANNA was the brother with
+whom I passed much of my early
+childhood.  From the time that
+I was old enough to play with
+boys, this brother was my close
+companion.  He was a handsome
+boy, and an affectionate comrade.  We played
+together, slept together and ate together; and as
+Chatanna was three years the older, I naturally
+looked up to him as to a superior.
+
+Oesedah was a beautiful little character.  She
+was my cousin, and four years younger than my-
+self.  Perhaps none of my early playmates are
+more vividly remembered than is this little
+maiden.
+
+The name given her by a noted medicine-man
+was Makah-oesetopah-win.  It means The-four-
+corners-of-the-earth.  As she was rather small,
+the abbreviation with a diminutive termination
+was considered more appropriate, hence Oesedah
+became her common name.
+
+Although she had a very good mother, Un-
+cheedah was her efficient teacher and chaperon
+Such knowledge as my grandmother deemed suit-
+able to a maiden was duly impressed upon her
+susceptible mind.  When I was not in the woods
+with Chatanna, Oesedah was my companion at
+home; and when I returned from my play at
+evening, she would have a hundred questions
+ready for me to answer.  Some of these were
+questions concerning our every-day life, and
+others were more difficult problems which had
+suddenly dawned upon her active little mind. 
+Whatever had occurred to interest her during the
+day was immediately repeated for my benefit.
+
+There were certain questions upon which Oese-
+dah held me to be authority, and asked with the
+hope of increasing her little store of knowledge. 
+I have often heard her declare to her girl compan-
+ions: "I know it is true; Ohiyesa said so!"
+Uncheedah was partly responsible for this, for
+when any questions came up which lay within the
+sphere of man's observation, she would say:
+
+"Ohiyesa ought to know that: he is a man--
+I am not! You had better ask him."
+
+The truth was that she had herself explained to
+me many of the subjects under discussion.
+
+I was occasionally referred to little Oesedah in
+the same manner, and I always accepted her child-
+ish elucidations of any matter upon which I had
+been advised to consult her, because I knew the
+source of her wisdom.  In this simple way we
+were made to be teachers of one another.
+
+Very often we discussed some topic before our
+common instructor, or answered her questions to-
+gether, in order to show which had the readier
+mind.
+
+ "To what tribe does the lizard belong?" inquired
+Uncheedah, upon one of these occasions.
+
+"To the four-legged tribe," I shouted.
+
+Oesedah, with her usual quickness, flashed out
+the answer:
+
+"It belongs to the creeping tribe."
+
+The Indians divided all animals into four gen-
+eral classes: 1st, those that walk upon four legs;
+2nd, those that fly; 3rd, those that swim with fins;
+4th, those that creep.
+
+Of course I endeavored to support my assertion
+that the lizard belongs where I had placed it, be-.
+cause he has four distinct legs which propel him
+everywhere, on the ground or in the water.  But my
+opponent claimed that the creature under dispute
+does not walk, but creeps.  My strongest argument
+was that it had legs; but Oesedah insisted that its
+body touches the ground as it moves.  As a last
+resort, I volunteered to go find one, and demon-
+strate the point in question.
+
+The lizard having been brought, we smoothed
+off the ground and strewed ashes on it so that we
+could see the track.  Then I raised the question:
+"What constitutes creeping, and what constitutes
+walking?"
+
+Uncheedah was the judge, and she stated, with-
+out any hesitation, that an animal must stand clear
+of the ground on the support of its legs, and walk
+with the body above the legs, and not in contact
+with the ground, in order to be termed a walker;
+while a creeper is one that, regardless of its legs, if
+it has them, drags its body upon the ground.  Upon
+hearing the judge's decision, I yielded at once to
+my opponent.
+
+At another time, when I was engaged in a sim-
+ilar discussion with my brother Chatanna, Oesedah
+came to my rescue.  Our grandmother had asked
+us:
+
+ "What bird shows most judgment in caring for
+its young?"
+
+Chatanna at once exclaimed:
+
+"The eagle!" but I held my peace for a mo-
+ment, because I was confused--so many birds came
+into my mind at once.  I finally declared:
+
+"It is the oriole!"
+
+Chatanna was asked to state all the evidence that
+he had in support of the eagle's good sense in
+rearing its young.    He proceeded with an air of
+confidence:
+
+"The eagle is the wisest of all birds.  Its nest
+is made in the safest possible place, upon a high
+and inaccessible cliff.  It provides its young with
+an abundance of fresh meat.  They have the fresh-
+est of air.  They are brought up under the spell
+of the grandest scenes, and inspired with lofty
+feelings and bravery.  They see that all other be-
+ings live beneath them, and that they are the chil-
+dren of the King of Birds.  A young eagle shows
+the spirit of a warrior while still in the nest.
+
+"Being exposed to the inclemency of the weather
+the young eaglets are hardy.  They are accustomed
+to hear the mutterings of the Thunder Bird and
+the sighings of the Great Mystery.  Why, the lit-
+tle eagles cannot help being as noble as they are,
+because their parents selected for them so lofty
+and inspiring a home! How happy they must be
+when they find themselves above the clouds, and
+behold the zigzag flashes of lightning all about
+them! It must be nice to taste a piece of fresh
+meat up in their cool home, in the burning sum-
+mer-time! Then when they drop down the bones
+of the game they feed upon, wolves and vultures
+gather beneath them, feeding upon their refuse. 
+That alone would show them their chieftainship
+over all the other birds.  Isn't that so, grand-
+mother?" Thus triumphantly he concluded his
+argument.
+
+I was staggered at first by the noble speech of
+Chatannna, but I soon recovered from its effects. 
+The little Oesedah came to my aid by saying:
+"Wait until Ohiyesa tells of the loveliness of the
+beautiful Oriole's home!" This timely remark
+gave me courage and I began:
+
+"My grandmother, who was it said that a
+mother who has a gentle and sweet voice will have
+children of a good disposition? I think the oriole
+is that kind of a parent. It provides both sun-
+shine and shadow for its young. Its nest is sus-
+pended from the prettiest bough of the most grace-
+ful tree, where it is rocked by the gentle winds;
+and the one we found yesterday was beautifully
+lined with soft things, both deep and warm, so that
+the little featherless birdies cannot suffer from the
+cold and wet."
+
+Here Chatanna interrupted me to exclaim:
+"That is just like the white people--who cares for
+them? The eagle teaches its young to be ac-
+customed to hardships, like young warriors!"
+
+Ohiyesa was provoked; he reproached his
+brother and appealed to the judge, saying that he
+had not finished yet.
+
+"But you would not have lived, Chatanna, if
+you had been exposed like that when you were
+a baby! The oriole shows wisdom in providing
+for its children a good, comfortable home! A
+home upon a high rock would not be pleasant--
+it would be cold! We climbed a mountain once,
+and it was cold there; and who would care to stay
+in such a place when it storms? What wisdom is
+there in having a pile of rough sticks upon a bare
+rock, surrounded with ill-smelling bones of animals,
+for a home? Also, my uncle says that the eaglets
+seem always to be on the point of starvation.  You
+have heard that whoever lives on game killed
+by some one else is compared to an eagle.  Isn't
+that so, grandmother?
+
+"The oriole suspends its nest from the lower
+side of a horizontal bough so that no enemy can
+approach it. It enjoys peace and beauty and
+safety."
+
+Oesedah was at Ohiyesa's side during the dis-
+cussion, and occasionally whispered into his ear.
+Uncheedah decided this time in favor of Ohiyesa.
+
+We were once very short of provisions in the
+winter time.  My uncle, our only means of sup-
+port, was sick; and besides, we were separated
+from the rest of the tribe and in a region where
+there was little game of any kind.  Oesedah had
+a pet squirrel, and as soon as we began to econo-
+mize our food had given portions of her allow-
+ance to her pet.
+
+At last we were reduced very much, and the
+prospect of obtaining anything soon being gloomy,
+my grandmother reluctantly suggested that the
+squirrel should be killed for food.  Thereupon
+my little cousin cried, and said:
+
+"Why cannot we all die alike wanting? The
+squirrel's life is as dear to him as ours to us," and
+clung to it.  Fortunately, relief came in time to
+save her pet.
+
+Oesedah lived with us for a portion of the year,
+and as there were no other girls in the family she
+played much alone, and had many imaginary com-
+panions.  At one time there was a small willow
+tree which she visited regularly, holding long con-
+versations, a part of which she would afterward
+repeat to me.  She said the willow tree was her
+husband, whom some magic had compelled to
+take that form; but no grown person was ever
+allowed to share her secret.
+
+When I was about eight years old I had for a
+playmate the adopted son of a Sioux, who was a
+white captive.  This boy was quite a noted per-
+sonage, although he was then only about ten or
+eleven years of age.  When I first became ac-
+quainted with him we were on the upper Mis-
+souri river.  I learned from him that he had been
+taken on the plains, and that both of his parents
+were killed.
+
+He was at first sad and lonely, but soon found
+plenty of consolation in his new home.  The
+name of his adopted father was "Keeps-the-
+Spotted-Ponies."   He was known to have
+an unusual number of the pretty calico ponies;
+indeed, he had a passion for accumulating prop-
+erty in the shape of ponies, painted tents, dec-
+orated saddles and all sorts of finery.  He
+had lost his only son; but the little pale-face
+became the adopted brother of two handsome
+young women, his daughters.  This made him
+quite popular among the young warriors.  He
+was not slow to adopt the Indian customs, and he
+acquired the Sioux language in a short time.
+
+I well remember hearing of his first experience
+of war.  He was not more than sixteen when he
+joined a war-party against the Gros-Ventres and
+Mandans.  My uncle reported that he was very
+brave until he was wounded in the ankle; then he
+begged with tears to be taken back to a safe place. 
+Fortunately for him, his adopted father came to the
+rescue, and saved him at the risk of his own life. 
+He was called the "pale-face Indian." His hair
+grew very long and he lavished paint on his face
+and hair so that no one might suspect that he was
+a white man.
+
+One day this boy was playing a gambling game
+with one of the Sioux warriors.  He was an ex-
+pert gambler, and won everything from the Indian. 
+At a certain point a dispute arose.  The Indian
+was very angry, for he discovered that his fellow-
+player had deliberately cheated him.  The Indians
+were strictly honest in those days, even in their
+gambling.
+
+The boy declared that he had merely performed
+a trick for the benefit of his friend, but it nearly
+cost him his life.  The indignant warrior had
+already drawn his bow-string with the intention of
+shooting the captive, but a third person intervened
+and saved the boy's life.  He at once explained his
+trick; and in order to show himself an honorable
+gambler, gave back all the articles that he had won
+from his opponent.  In the midst of the confusion,
+old "Keeps-the-Spotted-Ponies" came rushing
+through the crowd in a state of great excitement. 
+He thought his pale-face son had been killed. 
+When he saw how matters stood, he gave the ag-
+grieved warrior a pony, "in order," as he said,
+"that there may be no shadow between him and
+my son."
+
+One spring my uncle took Chatanna to the
+Canadian trading-post on the Assiniboine river,
+where he went to trade off his furs for ammunition
+and other commodities.  When he came back, my
+brother was not with him!
+
+At first my fears were even worse than the re-
+ality.  The facts were these: A Canadian with
+whom my uncle had traded much had six daugh-
+ters and no son; and when he saw this handsome
+and intelligent little fellow, he at once offered to
+adopt him.
+
+"I have no boy in my family," said he, "and
+I will deal with him as with a son.  I am always
+in these regions trading; so you can see him two
+or three times in a year."
+
+He further assured my uncle that the possession
+of the boy would greatly strengthen their friend-
+ship.  The matter was finally agreed upon.  At
+first Chatanna was unwilling, but as we were taught
+to follow the advice of our parents and guardians,
+he was obliged to yield.
+
+This was a severe blow to me, and for a long
+time I could not be consoled.  Uncheedah was
+fully in sympathy with my distress.  She argued
+that the white man's education was not desirable
+for her boys; in fact, she urged her son so strongly
+to go back after Chatanna that he promised on
+his next visit to the post to bring him home
+again.
+
+But the trader was a shrewd man.  He immedi-
+ately moved to another part of the country; and I
+never saw my Chatanna, the companion of my
+childhood, again! We learned afterward that he
+grew up and was married; but one day he lost his
+way in a blizzard and was frozen to death.
+
+My little cousin and I went to school together
+in later years; but she could not endure the con-
+finement of the school-room.  Although appar-
+ently very happy, she suffered greatly from the
+change to an indoor life, as have many of our peo-
+ple, and died six months after our return to
+the United States.
+
+III: The Boy Hunter
+
+IT will be no exaggeration to say
+that the life of the Indian hunter
+was a life of fascination.  From
+the moment that he lost sight of
+his rude home in the midst of the
+forest, his untutored mind lost it-
+self in the myriad beauties and forces of nature. 
+Yet he never forgot his personal danger from some
+lurking foe or savage beast, however absorbing
+was his passion for the chase.
+   The Indian youth was a born hunter.  Every
+motion, every step expressed an inborn dignity
+and, at the same time, a depth of native caution.
+His moccasined foot fell like the velvet paw of a
+cat--noiselessly; his glittering black eyes scanned
+every object that appeared within their view.  Not
+a bird, not even a chipmunk, escaped their pierc-
+ing glance.
+
+I was scarcely over three years old when I stood
+one morning just outside our buffalo-skin teepee,
+with my little bow and arrows in my hand, and
+gazed up among the trees.  Suddenly the instinct
+to chase and kill seized me powerfully.  Just then
+a bird flew over my head and then another caught
+my eye, as it balanced itself upon a swaying
+bough.  Everything else was forgotten and in
+that moment I had taken my first step as a
+hunter.
+
+There was almost as much difference between
+the Indian boys who were brought up on the open
+prairies and those of the woods, as between city
+and country boys.  The hunting of the prairie boys
+was limited and their knowledge of natural history
+imperfect.  They were, as a rule, good riders, but
+in all-round physical development much inferior
+to the red men of the forest.
+
+Our hunting varied with the season of the year,
+and the nature of the country which was for the
+time our home.  Our chief weapon was the bow
+and arrows, and perhaps, if we were lucky, a knife
+was possessed by some one in the crowd.  In the
+olden times, knives and hatchets were made from
+bone and sharp stones.
+
+For fire we used a flint with a spongy piece of
+dry wood and a stone to strike with.  Another way
+of starting fire was for several of the boys to sit
+down in a circle and rub two pieces of dry, spongy
+wood together, one after another, until the wood
+took fire.
+
+We hunted in company a great deal, though it
+was a common thing for a boy to set out for the
+woods quite alone, and he usually enjoyed himself
+fully as much.  Our game consisted mainly of
+small birds, rabbits, squirrels and grouse.  Fish-
+ing, too, occupied much of our time.  We hardly
+ever passed a creek or a pond without searching
+for some signs of fish.  When fish were present,
+we always managed to get some.  Fish-lines were
+made of wild hemp, sinew or horse-hair.  We
+either caught fish with lines, snared or speared
+them, or shot them with bow and arrows.  In the
+fall we charmed them up to the surface by gently
+tickling them with a stick and quickly threw them
+out.  We have sometimes dammed the brooks and
+driven the larger fish into a willow basket made
+for that purpose.
+
+It was part of our hunting to find new and
+strange things in the woods.  We examined the
+slightest sign of life; and if a bird had scratched
+the leaves off the ground, or a bear dragged up a
+root for his morning meal, we stopped to specu-
+late on the time it was done.  If we saw a large
+old tree with some scratches on its bark, we con-
+cluded that a bear or some raccoons must be living
+there.  In that case we did not go any nearer than
+was necessary, but later reported the incident at
+home.  An old deer-track would at once bring on
+a warm discussion as to whether it was the track
+of a buck or a doe.  Generally, at noon, we met
+and compared our game, noting at the same time
+the peculiar characteristics of everything we had
+killed.  It was not merely a hunt, for we combined
+with it the study of animal life.  We also kept
+strict account of our game, and thus learned who
+were the best shots among the boys.
+
+I am sorry to say that we were merciless toward
+the birds.  We often took their eggs and their
+young ones.  My brother Chatanna and I once
+had a disagreeable adventure while bird-hunting. 
+We were accustomed to catch in our hands young
+ducks and geese during the summer, and while do-
+ing this we happened to find a crane's nest.  Of
+course, we were delighted with our good luck. 
+But, as it was already midsummer, the young
+cranes--two in number--were rather large and
+they were a little way from the nest; we also ob-
+served that the two old cranes were in a swampy
+place near by; but, as it was moulting-time, we
+did not suppose that they would venture on dry
+land.  So we proceeded to chase the young birds;
+but they were fleet runners and it took us some
+time to come up with them.
+
+Meanwhile, the parent birds had heard the cries
+of their little ones and come to their rescue.  They
+were chasing us, while we followed the birds.  It
+was really a perilous encounter! Our strong
+bows finally gained the victory in a hand-to-hand
+struggle with the angry cranes; but after that we
+hardly ever hunted a crane's nest.  Almost all birds
+make some resistance when their eggs or young
+are taken, but they will seldom attack man fear-
+lessly.
+
+We used to climb large trees for birds of all
+kinds; but we never undertook to get young owls
+unless they were on the ground.  The hooting
+owl especially is a dangerous bird to attack under
+these circumstances.
+I was once trying to catch a yellow-winged wood-
+pecker in its nest when my arm became twisted
+and lodged in the deep hole so that I could not
+get it out without the aid of a knife; but we were
+a long way from home and my only companion
+was a deaf mute cousin of mine.  I was about fifty
+feet up in the tree, in a very uncomfortable posi-
+tion, but I had to wait there for more than an hour
+before he brought me the knife with which I fin-
+ally released myself.
+
+Our devices for trapping small animals were
+rude, but they were often successful.  For instance,
+we used to gather up a peck or so of large, sharp-
+pointed burrs and scatter them in the rabbit's fur-
+row-like path.  In the morning, we would find
+the little fellow sitting quietly in his tracks, unable
+to move, for the burrs stuck to his feet.
+
+Another way of snaring rabbits and grouse was
+the following: We made nooses of twisted horse-
+hair, which we tied very firmly to the top of a
+limber young tree, then bent the latter down to
+the track and fastened the whole with a slip-knot,
+after adjusting the noose.  When the rabbit runs
+his head through the noose, he pulls the slip-knot
+and is quickly carried up by the spring of the
+young tree.  This is a good plan, for the rabbit
+is out of harm's way as he swings high in the air.
+
+Perhaps the most enjoyable of all was the chip-
+munk hunt.  We killed these animals at any time
+of year, but the special time to hunt them was in
+March.  After the first thaw, the chipmunks bur-
+row a hole through the snow crust and make
+their first appearance for the season.  Sometimes
+as many as fifty will come together and hold a
+social reunion.  These gatherings occur early in
+the morning, from daybreak to about nine o'clock.
+
+We boys learned this, among other secrets of
+nature, and got our blunt-headed arrows together
+in good season for the chipmunk expedition.
+
+We generally went in groups of six to a dozen
+or fifteen, to see which would get the most.  On
+the evening before, we selected several boys who
+could imitate the chipmunk's call with wild oat-
+straws and each of these provided himself with a
+supply of straws.
+
+The crust will hold the boys nicely at this time
+of the year. Bright and early, they all come to-
+gether at the appointed place, from which each
+group starts out in a different direction, agreeing
+to meet somewhere at a given position of the sun.
+
+My first experience of this kind is still well re-
+membered. It was a fine crisp March morning,
+and the sun had not yet shown himself among the
+distant tree-tops as we hurried along through the
+ghostly wood.  Presently we arrived at a place
+where there were many signs of the animals.  Then
+each of us selected a tree and took up his position
+behind it.  The chipmunk caller sat upon a log
+as motionless as he could, and began to call.
+
+Soon we heard the patter of little feet on the
+hard snow; then we saw the chipmunks approach-
+ing from all directions.  Some stopped and ran
+experimentally up a tree or a log, as if uncertain of
+the exact direction of the call; others chased one
+another about.
+
+In a few minutes, the chipmunk-caller was be-
+sieged with them.  Some ran all over his person,
+others under him and still others ran up the tree
+against which he was sitting.  Each boy remained
+immovable until their leader gave the signal; then
+a great shout arose, and the chipmunks in their
+flight all ran up the different trees.
+
+Now the shooting-match began. The little
+creatures seemed to realize their hopeless posi-
+tion; they would try again and again to come
+down the trees and flee away from the deadly aim
+of the youthful hunters.  But they were shot down
+very fast; and whenever several of them rushed
+toward the ground, the little red-skin hugged the
+tree and yelled frantically to scare them up again.
+
+Each boy shoots always against the trunk of the
+tree, so that the arrow may bound back to him every
+time; otherwise, when he had shot away all of
+them, he would be helpless, and another, who had
+cleared his own tree, would come and take away
+his game, so there was warm competition.  Some-
+times a desperate chipmunk would jump from the
+top of the tree in order to escape, which was con-
+sidered a joke on the boy who lost it and a triumph
+for the brave little animal.  At last all were killed
+or gone, and then we went on to another place,
+keeping up the sport until the sun came out and
+the chipmunks refused to answer the call.
+
+When we went out on the prairies we had a dif-
+ferent and less lively kind of sport.  We used to
+snare with horse-hair and bow-strings all the small
+ground animals, including the prairie-dog.  We
+both snared and shot them.  Once a little boy set
+a snare for one, and lay flat on the ground a little
+way from the hole, holding the end of the string. 
+Presently he felt something move and pulled in a
+huge rattlesnake; and to this day, his name is
+"Caught-the-Rattlesnake." Very often a boy got
+a new name in some such manner.  At another
+time, we were playing in the woods and found a
+fawn's track.  We followed and caught it while
+asleep; but in the struggle to get away, it kicked
+one boy, who is still called "Kicked-by-the-Fawn."
+
+It became a necessary part of our education to
+learn to prepare a meal while out hunting.  It is
+a fact that most Indians will eat the liver and some
+other portions of large animals raw, but they do
+not eat fish or birds uncooked.  Neither will they
+eat a frog, or an eel.  On our boyish hunts, we
+often went on until we found ourselves a long way
+from our camp, when we would kindle a fire and
+roast a part of our game.
+
+Generally we broiled our meat over the coals on
+a stick.  We roasted some of it over the open fire. 
+But the best way to cook fish and birds is in the
+ashes, under a big fire.  We take the fish fresh from
+the creek or lake, have a good fire on the sand, dig
+in the sandy ashes and bury it deep.  The same
+thing is done in case of a bird, only we wet the
+feathers first.  When it is done, the scales or feath-
+ers and skin are stripped off whole, and the deli-
+cious meat retains all its juices and flavor.  We
+pulled it off as we ate, leaving the bones undis-
+turbed.
+
+Our people had also a method of boiling with-
+out pots or kettles.  A large piece of tripe was
+thoroughly washed and the ends tied, then sus-
+pended between four stakes driven into the ground
+and filled with cold water.  The meat was then placed
+in this novel receptacle and boiled by means of the
+addition of red-hot stones.
+
+Chatanna was a good hunter.  He called the doe
+and fawn beautifully by using a thin leaf of birch-
+bark between two flattened sticks.  One morning
+we found the tracks of a doe and fawn who had
+passed within the hour, for the light dew was
+brushed from the grass.
+
+"What shall we do?" I asked.  "Shall we go
+back to the teepee and tell uncle to bring his
+gun?"
+
+"No, no!" exclaimed Chatanna.  "Did not our
+people kill deer and buffalo long ago without guns?
+We will entice her into this open space, and, while
+she stands bewildered, I can throw my lasso line
+over her head."
+
+He had called only a few seconds when the fawn
+emerged from the thick woods and stood before us,
+prettier than a picture.  Then I uttered the call,
+and she threw her tobacco-leaf-like ears toward me,
+while Chatanna threw his lasso.  She gave one
+scream and launched forth into the air, almost
+throwing the boy hunter to the ground.  Again
+and again she flung herself desperately into the air,
+but at last we led her to the nearest tree and tied
+her securely.
+
+"Now," said he, "go and get our pets and see
+what they will do."
+
+At that time he had a good-sized black bear
+partly tamed, while I had a young red fox and my
+faithful Ohitika or Brave.  I untied Chagoo, the
+bear, and Wanahon, the fox, while Ohitika got up
+and welcomed me by wagging his tail in a dig-
+nified way.
+
+"Come," I said,  "all three of you.  I think we
+have something you would all like to see."
+
+They seemed to understand me, for Chagoo be-
+gan to pull his rope with both paws, while Wana-
+hon undertook the task of digging up by the roots
+the sapling to which I had tied him.
+
+Before we got to the open spot, we already heard
+Ohitika's joyous bark, and the two wild pets be-
+gan to run, and pulled me along through the un-
+derbrush.  Chagoo soon assumed the utmost pre-
+caution and walked as if he had splinters in his
+soles, while Wanahon kept his nose down low and
+sneaked through the trees.
+
+Out into the open glade we came, and there, be-
+fore the three rogues, stood the little innocent fawn. 
+She visibly trembled at the sight of the motley
+group.  The two human rogues looked to her, I
+presume, just as bad as the other three.  Chagoo
+regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and  defi-
+ance, while Wanahon stood as if rooted to the
+ground, evidently planning how to get at her.  But
+Ohitika (Brave), generous Ohitika, his occasional
+barking was only in jest.  He did not care to
+touch the helpless thing.
+
+Suddenly the fawn sprang high into the air and
+then dropped her pretty head on the ground.
+
+"Ohiyesa, the fawn is dead," cried Chatanna.
+"I wanted to keep her."
+
+"It is a shame;" I chimed in.
+
+We five guilty ones came and stood around her
+helpless form.  We all looked very sorry; even
+Chagoo's eyes showed repentance and regret.  As
+for Ohitika, he gave two great sighs and then be-
+took himself to a respectful distance.  Chatanna
+had two big tears gradually swamping his long,
+black eye-lashes; and I thought it was time to
+hide my face, for I did not want him to look at
+me.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+Hakadah's First Offering
+
+"HAKADAH, coowah!" was the sonorous call that came from a
+large teepee in the midst of the Indian encampment.  In answer
+to the summons there emerged from the woods, which were
+only a few steps away, a boy, accompanied by a
+splendid black dog.  There was little in the ap-
+pearance of the little fellow to distinguish him
+from the other Sioux boys.
+
+He hastened to the tent from which he had
+been summoned, carrying in his hands a bow and
+arrows gorgeously painted, while the small birds
+and squirrels that he had killed with these weap-
+ons dangled from his belt.
+
+Within the tent sat two old women, one on
+each side of the fire.  Uncheedah was the boy's
+grandmother, who had brought up the mother-
+less child.  Wahchewin was only a caller, but she
+had been invited to remain and assist in the first
+personal offering of Hakadah to the "Great Mys-
+tery."
+
+This was a matter which had, for several days,
+pretty much monopolized Uncheedah's mind.  It
+was her custom to see to this when each of her
+children attained the age of eight summers.  They
+had all been celebrated as warriors and hunters
+among their tribe, and she had not hesitated to
+claim for herself a good share of the honors they
+had achieved, because she had brought them early
+to the notice of the "Great Mystery."
+
+She believed that her influence had helped to
+regulate and develop the characters of her sons to
+the height of savage nobility and strength of man-
+hood.
+
+It had been whispered through the teepee vil-
+lage that Uncheedah intended to give a feast in
+honor of her grandchild's first sacrificial offering. 
+This was mere speculation, however, for the clear-
+sighted old woman had determined to keep this
+part of the matter secret until the offering should
+be completed, believing that the "Great Myste-
+ry" should be met in silence and dignity.
+
+The boy came rushing into the lodge, followed
+by his dog Ohitika who was wagging his tail pro-
+miscuously, as if to say: "Master and I are really
+hunters!"
+
+Hakadah breathlessly gave a descriptive narra-
+tive of the killing of each bird and squirrel as he
+pulled them off his belt and threw them before
+his grandmother.
+
+"This blunt-headed arrow," said he, "actually
+had eyes this morning.  Before the squirrel can
+dodge around the tree it strikes him in the head,
+and, as he falls to the ground, my Ohitika is upon
+him."
+
+He knelt upon one knee as he talked, his black
+eyes shining like evening stars.
+
+"Sit down here," said Uncheedah to the boy;
+"I have something to say to you.  You see that
+you are now almost a man.  Observe the game
+you have brought me! It will not be long be-
+fore you will leave me, for a warrior must seek
+opportunities to make him great among his people.
+
+"You must endeavor to equal your father. and
+grandfather," she went on.  "They were warriors
+and feast-makers.  But it is not the poor hunter
+who makes many feasts.  Do you not remember
+the 'Legend of the Feast-Maker,' who gave
+forty feasts in twelve moons? And have you for-
+gotten the story of the warrior who sought the
+will of the Great Mystery? To-day you will
+make your first offering to him."
+
+The concluding sentence fairly dilated the eyes
+of the young hunter, for he felt that a great event
+was about to occur, in which he would be the
+principal actor.  But Uncheedah resumed her
+speech.
+
+"You must give up one of your belongings--
+whichever is dearest to you--for this is to be a
+sacrificial offering."
+
+This somewhat confused the boy; not that he
+was selfish, but rather uncertain as to what would
+be the most appropriate thing to give.  Then,
+too, he supposed that his grandmother referred
+to his ornaments and playthings only.  So he
+volunteered:
+
+"I can give up my best bow and arrows, and
+all the paints I have, and--and my bear's claws
+necklace, grandmother!"
+
+"Are these the things dearest to you?" she
+demanded.
+
+"Not the bow and arrows, but the paints will
+be very hard to get, for there are no white people
+near; and the necklace--it is not easy to get
+one like it again.  I will also give up my otter-
+skin head-dress, if you think that is not
+enough."
+
+"But think, my boy, you have not yet men-
+tioned the thing that will be a pleasant offering to
+the Great Mystery."
+
+The boy looked into the woman's face with a
+puzzled expression.
+
+"I have nothing else as good as those things I
+have named, grandmother, unless it is my spotted
+pony; and I am sure that the Great Mystery will
+not require a little boy to make him so large a
+gift.  Besides, my uncle gave three otter-skins
+and five eagle-feathers for him and I promised to
+keep him a long while, if the Blackfeet or the
+Crows do not steal him."
+
+Uncheedah was not fully satisfied with the boy's
+free offerings.  Perhaps it had not occurred to him
+what she really wanted.  But Uncheedah knew
+where his affection was vested.  His faithful dog,
+his pet and companion--Hakadah was almost in-
+separable from the loving beast.
+
+She was sure that it would be difficult to obtain
+his consent to sacrifice the animal, but she ven-
+tured upon a final appeal.
+
+"You must remember," she said, "that in  this
+offering you will call upon him who looks at you
+from every creation.  In the wind you hear him
+whisper to you.  He gives his war-whoop in the
+thunder.  He watches you by day with his eye,
+the sun; at night, he gazes upon your sleeping
+countenance through the moon.  In short, it is
+the Mystery of Mysteries, who controls all things.
+to whom you will make your first offering.  By
+this act, you will ask him to grant to you what he
+has granted to few men.  I know you wish to be
+a great warrior and hunter. I am not prepared to
+see my Hakadah show any cowardice, for the love
+of possessions is a woman's trait and not a brave's."
+
+During this speech, the boy had been complete-
+ly aroused to the spirit of manliness, and in his
+excitement was willing to give up anything he had
+--even his pony! But he was unmindful of his
+friend and companion, Ohitika, the dog! So,
+scarcely had Uncheedah finished speaking, when
+he almost shouted:
+
+"Grandmother, I will give up any of my pos-
+sessions for the offering to the Great Mystery!
+You may select what you think will be most pleas-
+ing to him."
+
+There were two silent spectators of this little
+dialogue.  One was Wahchewin; the other was
+Ohitika.  The woman had been invited to stay,
+although only a neighbor.  The dog, by force of
+habit, had taken up his usual position by the side
+of his master when they entered the teepee.  With-
+out moving a muscle, save those of his eyes, he
+had been a very close observer of what passed.
+
+Had the dog but moved once to attract the at-
+tention of his little friend, he might have been
+dissuaded from that impetuous exclamation:
+"Grandmother, I will give up any of my posses-
+sions!"
+
+It was hard for Uncheedah to tell the boy that
+he must part with his dog, but she was equal to
+the situation.
+
+ "Hakadah," she proceeded cautiously, "you
+are a young brave.  I know, though young, your
+heart is strong and your courage is great.  You
+will be pleased to give up the dearest thing you
+have for your first offering.  You must give up
+Ohitika.  He is brave; and you, too, are brave. 
+He will not fear death; you will bear his loss brave-
+ly. Come--here are four bundles of paints and
+a filled pipe--let us go to the place."
+
+When the last words were uttered, Hakadah did
+not seem to hear them.  He was simply unable to
+speak.  To a civilized eye, he would have ap-
+peared at that moment like a little copper statue.
+His bright black eyes were fast melting in floods
+of tears, when he caught his grandmother's eye
+and recollected her oft-repeated adage: "Tears
+for woman and the war-whoop for man to drown
+sorrow!"
+
+He swallowed two or three big mouthfuls of
+heart-ache and the little warrior was master of the
+situation.
+
+ "Grandmother, my Brave will have to die! Let
+me tie together two of the prettiest tails of the
+squirrels that he and I killed this morning, to show
+to the Great Mystery what a hunter he has been. 
+Let me paint him myself."
+
+This request Uncheedah could not refuse
+and she left the pair alone for a few minutes,
+while she went to ask Wacoota to execute Ohi-
+tika.
+
+Every Indian boy knows that, when a warrior
+is about to meet death, he must sing a death dirge. 
+Hakadah thought of his Ohitika as a person who
+would meet his death without a struggle, so he began
+to sing a dirge for him, at the same time hugging
+him tight to himself.  As if he were a human be-
+ing, he whispered in his ear:
+
+"Be brave, my Ohitika! I shall remember
+you the first time I am upon the war-path in the
+Ojibway country."
+
+At last he heard Uncheedah talking with a man
+outside the teepee, so he quickly took up his
+paints.  Ohitika was a jet-black dog, with a silver
+tip on the end of his tail and on his nose, beside
+one white paw and a white star upon a protuber-
+ance between his ears.  Hakadah knew that a man
+who prepares for death usually paints with red and
+black.  Nature had partially provided Ohitika in
+this respect, so that only red was required and this
+Hakadah supplied generously.
+
+Then he took off a piece of red cloth and tied it
+around the dog's neck; to this he fastened two of
+the squirrels' tails and a wing from the oriole they
+had killed that morning.
+
+Just then it occurred to him that good warriors
+always mourn for their departed friends and
+the usual mourning was black paint.  He loosened
+his black braided locks, ground a dead coal, mixed
+it with bear's oil and rubbed it on his entire face.
+
+During this time every hole in the tent was oc-
+cupied with an eye.  Among the lookers-on was
+his grandmother.  She was very near relenting. 
+Had she not feared the wrath of the Great Mys-
+tery, she would have been happy to call out to the
+boy: "Keep your dear dog, my child!"
+
+As it was, Hakadah came out of the teepee with
+his face looking like an eclipsed moon, leading his
+beautiful dog, who was even handsomer than ever
+with the red touches on his specks of white.
+
+It was now Uncheedah's turn to struggle with
+the storm and burden in her soul.  But the boy
+was emboldened by the people's admiration of his
+bravery, and did not shed a tear.  As soon as she
+was able to speak, the loving grandmother said:
+
+"No, my young brave, not so! You must not
+mourn for your first offering.  Wash your face
+and then we will go."
+
+The boy obeyed, submitted Ohitika to Wacoota
+with a smile, and walked off with his grandmother
+and Wahchewin.
+
+They followed a well-beaten foot-path leading
+along the bank of the Assiniboine river, through
+a beautiful grove of oak, and finally around and
+under a very high cliff.  The murmuring of the
+river came up from just below.  On the opposite
+side was a perpendicular white cliff, from which ex-
+tended back a gradual slope of land, clothed with
+the majestic mountain oak.  The scene was im-
+pressive and wild.
+
+Wahchewin had paused without a word when
+the little party reached the edge of the cliff. It
+had been arranged between her and Uncheedah
+that she should wait there for Wacoota, who was
+to bring as far as that the portion of the offering
+with which he had been entrusted.
+
+The boy and his grandmother descended the
+bank, following a tortuous foot-path until they
+reached the water's edge.  Then they proceeded
+to the mouth of an immense cave, some fifty feet
+above the river, under the cliff.  A little stream
+of limpid water trickled down from a spring with-
+in the cave.  The little watercourse served as a
+sort of natural staircase for the visitors.  A cool,
+pleasant atmosphere exhaled from the mouth of
+the cavern.  Really it was a shrine of nature and
+it is not strange that it was so regarded by the
+tribe.
+
+A feeling of awe and reverence came to the boy. 
+"It is the home of the Great Mystery," he
+thought to himself; and the impressiveness of
+his surroundings made him forget his sorrow.
+
+Very soon Wahchewin came with some diffi-
+culty to the steps.  She placed the body of Ohi-
+tika upon the ground in a life-like position and
+again left the two alone.
+
+As soon as she disappeared from view, Unchee-
+dah, with all solemnity and reverence, unfast-
+ened the leather strings that held the four small
+bundles of paints and one of tobacco, while the
+filled pipe was laid beside the dead Ohitika.
+
+She scattered paints and tobacco all about. 
+Again they stood a few moments silently; then she
+drew a deep breath and began her prayer to the
+Great Mystery:
+
+"0, Great Mystery, we hear thy voice in the
+rushing waters below us!  We hear thy whisper
+in the great oaks above! Our spirits are refreshed
+with thy breath from within this cave. 0, hear
+our prayer!  Behold this little boy and bless him!
+Make him a warrior and a hunter as great as thou
+didst make his father and grandfather."
+
+And with this prayer the little warrior had com-
+pleted his first offering.
+
+
+V
+Family Traditions
+
+I: A Visit to Smoky Day
+
+SMOKY DAY was widely known
+among us as a preserver of history
+and legend.  He was a living
+book of the traditions and his-
+tory of his people.  Among his ef-
+fects were bundles of small sticks,
+notched and painted.  One bundle contained the
+number of his own years.  Another was composed
+of sticks representing the important events of his-
+tory, each of which was marked with the number
+of years since that particular event occurred.  For
+instance, there was the year when so many stars
+fell from the sky, with the number of years since
+it happened cut into the wood.  Another recorded
+the appearance of a comet; and from these
+heavenly wonders the great national catastrophes
+and victories were reckoned.
+
+But I will try to repeat some of his favorite
+narratives as I heard them from his own lips.  I
+went to him one day with a piece of tobacco and
+an eagle-feather; not to buy his MSS., but
+hoping for the privilege of hearing him tell of
+some of the brave deeds of our people in remote
+times.
+
+The tall and large old man greeted me with his
+usual courtesy and thanked me for my present. 
+As I recall the meeting, I well remember his un-
+usual stature, his slow speech and gracious man-
+ner.
+
+"Ah, Ohiyesa!" said he, "my young warrior
+--for such you will be some day! I know this
+by your seeking to hear of the great deeds of your
+ancestors.  That is a good sign, and I love to re-
+peat these stories to one who is destined to be a
+brave man.  I do not wish to lull you to sleep with
+sweet words; but I know the conduct of your pa-
+ternal ancestors.  They have been and are still
+among the bravest of our tribe. To prove this, I
+will relate what happened in your paternal grand-
+father's family, twenty years ago.
+
+"Two of his brothers were murdered by a jeal-
+ous young man of their own band.  The deed
+was committed without just cause; therefore all
+the braves were agreed to punish the murderer
+with death.  When your grandfather was ap-
+proached with this suggestion, he replied that he
+and the remaining brothers could not condescend
+to spill the blood of such a wretch, but that the
+others might do whatever they thought just with
+the young man.  These men were foremost among
+the warriors of the Sioux, and no one questioned
+their courage; yet when this calamity was brought
+upon them by a villain, they refused to touch him!
+This, my boy, is a test of true bravery.  Self-pos-
+session and self-control at such a moment is proof
+of a strong heart.
+
+"You have heard of Jingling Thunder the
+elder, whose brave deeds are well known to the
+Villagers of the Lakes.  He sought honor 'in the
+gates of the enemy,' as we often say.  The Great
+Mystery was especially kind to him, because he
+was obedient.
+
+"Many winters ago there was a great battle, in
+which Jingling Thunder won his first honors.  It
+was forty winters before the falling of many stars,
+which event occurred twenty winters after the
+coming of the black-robed white priest; and that
+was fourteen winters before the annihilation by
+our people of thirty lodges of the Sac and Fox
+Indians. I well remember the latter event--it
+was just fifty winters ago.  However, I will count
+my sticks again."
+
+So saying, Smoky Day produced his bundle of
+variously colored sticks, about five inches long.
+He counted and gave them to me to verify his
+calculation.
+
+"But you," he resumed, "do not care to re-
+member the winters that have passed.  You are
+young, and care only for the event and the
+deed.  It was very many years ago that this
+thing happened that I am about to tell you,
+and yet our people speak of it with as much
+enthusiasm as if it were only yesterday.  Our
+heroes are always kept alive in the minds of the
+nation.
+
+"Our people lived then on the east bank of the
+Mississippi, a little south of where Imnejah-skah,
+or White Cliff (St. Paul, Minnesota), now stands. 
+After they left Mille Lacs they founded several
+villages, but finally settled in this spot, whence
+the tribes have gradually dispersed.  Here a
+battle occurred which surpassed all others in
+history.  It lasted one whole day--the Sacs
+and Foxes and the Dakotas against the Ojib-
+ways.
+
+"An invitation in the usual form of a filled pipe
+was brought to the Sioux by a brave of the Sac
+and Fox tribe, to make a general attack upon their
+common enemy.  The Dakota braves quickly
+signified their willingness in the same manner, and
+it having been agreed to meet upon the St. Croix
+river, preparations were immediately begun to
+despatch a large war-party.
+
+"Among our people there were many tried war-
+riors whose names were known, and every youth of
+a suitable age was desirous of emulating them.  As
+these young novices issued from every camp and
+almost every teepee, their mothers, sisters, grand-
+fathers and grandmothers were singing for them
+the 'strong-heart' songs.  An old woman, liv-
+ing with her only grandchild, the remnant of a
+once large band who had all been killed at
+three different times by different parties of
+the Ojibways, was conspicuous among the singers.
+
+"Everyone who heard, cast toward her a sym-
+pathetic glance, for it was well known that she and
+her grandson constituted the remnant of a band
+of Sioux, and that her song indicated that her pre-
+cious child had attained the age of a warrior, and
+was now about to join the war-party, and to seek
+a just revenge for the annihilation of his family. 
+This was Jingling Thunder, also familiarly known
+as 'The Little Last.' He was seen to carry with
+him some family relics in the shape of war-clubs
+and lances.
+
+"The aged woman's song was something like this:
+
+     "Go, my brave Jingling Thunder!
+     Upon the silvery path
+     Behold that glittering track--
+
+     "And yet, my child, remember
+     How pitiful to live
+     Survivor of the young!
+     'Stablish our name and kin!"
+
+
+"The Sacs and Foxes were very daring and
+confident upon this occasion.  They proposed to
+the Sioux that they should engage alone with the
+enemy at first, and let us see how their braves can
+fight! To this our people assented, and they as-
+sembled upon the hills to watch the struggle be-
+tween their allies and the Ojibways.  It seemed to
+be an equal fight, and for a time no one could tell
+how the contest would end.  Young Jingling
+Thunder was an impatient spectator, and it was
+
+
+*The Milky Way--believed by the Dakotas to be the road
+travelled by the spirits of departed braves.
+hard to keep him from rushing forward to meet
+his foes.
+
+"At last a great shout went up, and the Sacs
+and Foxes were seen to be retreating with heavy
+loss.  Then the Sioux took the field, and were fast
+winning the day, when fresh reinforcements came
+from the north for the Ojibways.  Up to this time
+Jingling Thunder had been among the foremost
+in the battle, and had engaged in several close en-
+counters. But this fresh attack of the Ojibways
+was unexpected, and the Sioux were somewhat
+tired.  Besides, they had told the Sacs and Foxes
+to sit upon the hills and rest their weary limbs
+and take lessons from their friends the Sioux;
+therefore no aid was looked for from any quarter.
+
+"A great Ojibway chief made a fierce onslaught
+on the Dakotas.  This man Jingling Thunder
+now rushed forward to meet. The Ojibway
+boastfully shouted to his warriors that he had met
+a tender fawn and would reserve to himself the
+honor of destroying it.  Jingling Thunder, on his
+side, exclaimed that he had met the aged bear of
+whom he had heard so much, but that he would
+need no assistance to overcome him.
+
+"The powerful man flashed his tomahawk
+in the air over the youthful warrior's head, but
+the brave sprang aside as quick as lightning,
+and in the same instant speared his enemy to the
+heart. As the Ojibway chief gave a gasping yell
+and fell in death, his people lost courage; while
+the success of the brave Jingling Thunder
+strengthened the hearts of the Sioux, for they im-
+mediately followed up their advantage and drove
+the enemy out of their territory.
+
+"This was the beginning of Jingling Thunder's
+career as a warrior.  He afterwards performed even
+greater acts of valor.  He became the ancestor
+of a famous band of the Sioux, of whom your own
+father, Ohiyesa, was a member.  You have doubt-
+less heard his name in connection with many great
+events.  Yet he was a patient man, and was never
+known to quarrel with one of his own nation."
+
+That night I lay awake a long time commit-
+ting to memory the tradition I had heard, and the
+next day I boasted to my playmate, Little Rain-
+bow, about my first lesson from the old story-
+teller.  To this he replied:
+
+"I would rather have Weyuhah for my teacher. 
+I think he remembers more than any of the others. 
+When Weyuhah tells about a battle you can see it
+yourself; you can even hear the war-whoop," he
+went on with much enthusiasm.
+
+"That is what his friends say of him; but those
+who are not his friends say that he brings many
+warriors into the battle who were not there," I an-
+swered indignantly, for I could not admit that old
+Smoky Day could have a rival.
+
+Before I went to him again Uncheedah had
+thoughtfully prepared a nice venison roast for
+the teacher, and I was proud to take him some-
+thing good to eat before beginning his story.
+
+"How," was his greeting, "so you have begun
+already, Ohiyesa? Your family were ever feast-
+makers as well as warriors."
+
+Having done justice to the tender meat, he
+wiped his knife by sticking it into the ground
+several times, and put it away in its sheath, after
+which he cheerfully recommenced:
+
+"It came to pass not many winters ago that
+Wakinyan-tonka, the great medicine man, had a
+vision; whereupon a war-party set out for the
+Ojibway country.  There were three brothers of
+your family among them, all of whom were noted
+for valor and the chase.
+
+"Seven battles were fought in succession before
+they turned to come back.  They had secured a
+number of the enemy's birch canoes, and the whole
+party came floating down the Mississippi, joyous
+and happy because of their success.
+
+"But one night the war-chief announced that
+there was misfortune at hand.  The next day no
+one was willing to lead the fleet.  The youngest
+of the three brothers finally declared that he did
+not fear death, for it comes when least expected
+and he volunteered to take the lead.
+
+"It happened that this young man had left a
+pretty maiden behind him, whose choice needle-
+work adorned his quiver.  He was very hand-
+some as well as brave.
+
+"At daybreak the canoes were again launched
+upon the bosom of the great river.  All was quiet
+--a few birds beginning to sing.  Just as the sun
+peeped through the eastern tree-tops a great war-
+cry came forth from the near shores, and there
+was a rain of arrows.  The birchen canoes were
+pierced, and in the excitement many were cap-
+sized.
+
+"The Sioux were at a disadvantage.  There was
+no shelter.  Their bow-strings and the feathers
+on their arrows were wet.  The bold Ojibways
+saw their advantage and pressed closer and closer;
+but our men fought desperately, half in and half
+out of the water, until the enemy was forced at
+last to retreat.   Nevertheless that was a sad day
+for the Wahpeton Sioux; but saddest of all was
+Winona's fate!
+
+"Morning Star, her lover, who led the canoe
+fleet that morning, was among the slain.  For two
+days the Sioux braves searched in the water for
+their dead, but his body was not recovered.
+
+"At home, meanwhile, the people had been
+alarmed by ill omens.  Winona, eldest daughter of
+the great chief, one day entered her birch canoe
+alone and paddled up the Mississippi, gazing now
+into the,water around her, now into the blue sky
+above.  She thought she heard some young men
+giving courtship calls in the distance, just as they
+do at night when approaching the teepee of the
+beloved; and she knew the voice of Morning
+Star well! Surely she could distinguish his call
+among the others! Therefore she listened yet
+more intently, and looked skyward as her light
+canoe glided gently up stream.
+
+"Ah, poor Winona! She saw only six sand-
+hill cranes, looking no larger than mosquitoes, as
+they flew in circles high up in the sky, going east
+where all spirits go. Something said to her:
+'Those are the spirits of some of the Sioux braves,
+and Morning Star is among them!' Her eye
+followed the birds as they traveled in a chain of
+circles.
+
+"Suddenly she glanced downward.  'What is
+this?' she screamed in despair.  It was Morn-
+ing Star's body, floating down the river; his
+quiver, worked by her own hands and now
+dyed with his blood, lay upon the surface of
+the water.
+
+"'Ah, Great Mystery! why do you punish a
+poor girl so? Let me go with the spirit of Morn-
+ing Star!'
+
+"It was evening.  The pale moon arose in the
+east and the stars were bright.  At this very hour
+the news of the disaster was brought home by a
+returning scout, and the village was plunged in
+grief, but Winona's spirit had flown away.  No
+one ever saw her again.
+
+"This is enough for to-day, my boy.  You
+may come again to-morrow."
+
+II: The Stone Boy
+
+"Ho, mita koda!" (welcome, friend!)
+was Smoky Day's greeting, as I
+entered his lodge on the third
+day.  "I hope you did not dream
+of a watery combat with the Ojib-
+ways, after the history I repeated
+to you yesterday," the old sage continued, with a
+complaisant smile playing upon his face.
+
+"No," I said, meekly, "but, on the other hand,
+I have wished that the sun might travel a little
+faster, so that I could come for another story."
+
+"Well, this time I will tell you one of the kind
+we call myths or fairy stories.  They are about men
+and women who do wonderful things--things that
+ordinary people cannot do at all.  Sometimes they
+are not exactly human beings, for they partake of
+the nature of men and beasts, or of men and gods. 
+I tell you this beforehand, so that you may not ask
+any questions, or be puzzled by the inconsistency
+of the actors in these old stories.
+
+"Once there were ten brothers who lived with
+their only sister, a young maiden of sixteen sum-
+mers.  She was very skilful at her embroidery, and
+her brothers all had beautifully worked quivers and
+bows embossed with porcupine quills.  They loved
+and were kind to her, and the maiden in her turn
+loved her brothers dearly, and was content with
+her position as their housekeeper.  They were
+great hunters, and scarcely ever remained at
+home during the day, but when they returned
+at evening they would relate to her all their
+adventures.
+
+"One night they came home one by one with
+their game, as usual, all but the eldest, who did not
+return.  It was supposed by the other brothers that
+he had pursued a deer too far from the lodge, or
+perhaps shot more game than he could well carry;
+but the sister had a presentiment that something
+dreadful had befallen him.  She was partially con-
+soled by the second brother, who offered to find
+the lost one in the morning.
+
+"Accordingly, he went in search of him, while
+the rest set out on the hunt as usual.  Toward
+evening all had returned safely, save the brother
+who went in search of the absent.  Again, the next
+older brother went to look for the others, and he
+too returned no more.  All the young men disap-
+peared one by one in this manner, leaving their
+sister alone.
+
+"The maiden's sorrow was very great.  She wan-
+dered everywhere, weeping and looking for her
+brothers, but found no trace of them.  One day she
+was walking beside a beautiful little stream, whose
+clear waters went laughing and singing on their way. 
+She could see the gleaming pebbles at the bottom,
+and one in particular seemed so lovely to her
+tear-bedimmed eyes, that she stooped and picked
+it up, dropping it within her skin garment
+into her bosom. For the first time since her
+misfortunes she had forgotten herself and her
+sorrow.
+
+"At last she went home, much happier than
+she had been, though she could not have told the
+reason why.  On the following day she sought again
+the place where she had found the pebble, and this
+time she fell asleep on the banks of the stream,
+When she awoke, there lay a beautiful babe in her
+bosom.
+
+"She took it up and kissed it many times.  And
+the child was a boy, but it was heavy like a stone,
+so she called him a 'Little Stone Boy.' The maiden
+cried no more, for she was very happy with her
+baby.  The child was unusually knowing, and
+walked almost from its birth.
+
+"One day Stone Boy discovered the bow and
+arrows of one of his uncles, and desired to have
+them; but his mother cried, and said:
+
+"'Wait, my son, until you are a young man.'
+"She made him some little ones, and with these
+he soon learned to hunt, and killed small game
+enough to support them both.  When he had
+grown to be a big boy, he insisted upon knowing
+whose were the ten bows that still hung upon the
+walls of his mother's lodge.
+
+"At last she was obliged to tell him the sad
+story of her loss.
+
+"'Mother, I shall go in search of my uncles,'
+exclaimed the Stone Boy.
+
+"'But you will be lost like them,' she replied,
+'and then I shall die of grief.'
+
+"'No, I shall not be lost.  I shall bring your
+ten brothers back to you.  Look, I will give you
+a sign.  I will take a pillow, and place it upon end.
+Watch this, for as long as I am living the
+pillow will stay as I put it.  Mother, give me
+some food and some moccasins with which to
+travel!'
+
+"Taking the bow of one of his uncles, with its
+quiver full of arrows, the Stone Boy departed.  As
+he journeyed through the forest he spoke to every
+animal he met, asking for news of his lost uncles. 
+Sometimes he called to them at the top of his
+voice.  Once he thought he heard an answer, so
+he walked in the direction of the sound.  But it
+was only a great grizzly bear who had wantonly
+mimicked the boy's call.  Then Stone Boy was
+greatly provoked.
+
+"'Was it you who answered my call, you long-
+face?' he exclaimed.
+
+"Upon this the latter growled and said:
+
+"'You had better be careful how you address
+me, or you may be sorry for what you say!'
+
+"'Who cares for you, you red-eyes, you ugly
+thing!' the boy replied; whereupon the grizzly
+immediately set upon him.
+
+"But the boy's flesh became as hard as stone,
+and the bear's great teeth and claws made no im-
+pression upon it.  Then he was so dreadfully
+heavy; and he kept laughing all the time as if he
+were being tickled, which greatly aggravated the
+bear.  Finally Stone Boy pushed him aside and
+sent an arrow to his heart.
+
+"He walked on for some distance until he
+came to a huge fallen pine tree, which had evi-
+dently been killed by lightning.  The ground
+near by bore marks of a struggle, and Stone Boy
+picked up several arrows exactly like those of his
+uncles, which he himself carried.
+
+"While he was examining these things, he
+heard a sound like that of a whirlwind, far up in
+the heavens.  He looked up and saw a black
+speck which grew rapidly larger until it became a
+dense cloud.  Out of it came a flash and then a
+thunderbolt.  The boy was obliged to wink; and
+when he opened his eyes, behold! a stately man
+stood before him and challenged him to single
+combat.
+
+"Stone Boy accepted the challenge and they
+grappled with one another.  The man from the
+clouds was gigantic in stature and very powerful. 
+But Stone Boy was both strong and unnaturally
+heavy and hard to hold.  The great warrior from
+the sky sweated from his exertions, and there
+came a heavy shower.  Again and again the
+lightnings flashed about them as the two strug-
+gled there.  At last Stone Boy threw his oppo-
+nent, who lay  motionless. There was a murmur-
+ing sound throughout the heavens and the clouds
+rolled swiftly away.
+
+"'Now,' thought the hero, 'this man must have
+slain all my uncles.  I shall go to his home and find
+out what has become of them.' With this he un-
+fastened from the dead man's scalp-lock a beauti-
+ful bit of scarlet down.  He breathed gently upon
+it, and as it floated upward he followed into the
+blue heavens.
+
+"Away went Stone Boy to the country of the
+Thunder Birds.  It was a beautiful land, with
+lakes, rivers, plains and mountains.  The young
+adventurer found himself looking down from the
+top of a high mountain, and the country appeared
+to be very populous, for he saw lodges all about
+him as far as the eye could reach.  He particu-
+larly noticed a majestic tree which towered above
+all the others, and in its bushy top bore an enor-
+mous nest.  Stone Boy descended from the moun-
+tain and soon arrived at the foot of the tree; but
+there were no limbs except those at the top and it
+was so tall that he did not attempt to climb it. 
+He simply took out his bit of down, breathed upon
+it and floated gently upward.
+
+"When he was able to look into the nest he saw
+there innumerable eggs of various sizes, and all of
+a remarkable red color.  He was nothing but a
+boy after all, and had all a boy's curiosity and reck-
+lessness.  As he was handling the eggs carelessly,
+his notice was attracted to a sudden confusion in
+the little village below.  All of the people seemed
+to be running toward the tree.  He mischievously
+threw an egg at them, and in the instant that it
+broke he saw one of the men drop dead.  Then
+all began to cry out pitifully, 'Give me my heart!'
+
+"'Ah,' exclaimed Stone Boy, exulting,' so these
+are the hearts of the people who destroyed my
+uncles! I shall break them all!'
+
+"And he really did break all of the eggs but
+four small ones which he took in his hand.  Then
+he descended the tree, and wandered among the
+silent and deserted lodges in search of some trace
+of his lost uncles.  He found four little boys, the
+sole survivors of their race, and these he com-
+manded to tell him where their bones were laid.
+
+"They showed him the spot where a heap of
+bones was bleaching on the ground.  Then he
+bade one of the boys bring wood, a second water,
+a third stones, and the fourth he sent to cut willow
+wands for the sweat lodge.  They obeyed, and
+Stone Boy built the lodge, made a fire, heated the
+stones and collected within the lodge all the bones
+of his ten uncles.
+
+"As he poured the water upon the hot stones
+faint sounds could be heard from within the magic
+bath.  These changed to the murmuring of voices,
+and finally to the singing of medicine songs. 
+Stone Boy opened the door and his ten uncles came
+forth in the flesh, thanking him and blessing him
+for restoring them to life.  Only the little finger
+of the youngest uncle was missing.  Stone Boy
+now heartlessly broke the four remaining eggs, and
+took the little finger of the largest boy to supply
+the missing bone.
+
+"They all returned to earth again and Stone
+Boy conducted his uncles to his mother's lodge. 
+She had never slept during his entire absence, but
+watched incessantly the pillow upon which her boy
+was wont to rest his head, and by which she was
+to know of his safety.  Going a little in advance
+of the others, he suddenly rushed forward into her
+teepee, exclaiming: 'Mother, your ten brothers
+are coming--prepare a feast!'
+
+"For some time after this they all lived happily
+together.  Stone Boy occupied himself with soli-
+tary hunting.  He was particularly fond of hunt-
+ing the fiercer wild animals.  He killed them wan-
+tonly and brought home only the ears, teeth and
+claws as his spoil, and with these he played as he
+laughingly recounted his exploits.  His mother and
+uncles protested, and begged him at least to spare
+the lives of those animals held sacred by the Da-
+kotas, but Stone Boy relied upon his supernatural
+powers to protect him from harm.
+
+"One evening, however, he was noticeably silent
+and upon being pressed to give the reason, replied
+as follows:
+
+"'For some days past I have heard the animals
+talking of a conspiracy against us.  I was going
+west the other morning when I heard a crier an-
+nouncing a general war upon Stone Boy and his
+people.  The crier was a Buffalo, going at full
+speed from west to east.  Again, I heard the Beaver
+conversing with the Musk-rat, and both said that
+their services were already promised to overflow
+the lakes and rivers and cause a destructive flood. 
+I heard, also, the little Swallow holding a secret
+council with all the birds of the air.  He said that
+he had been appointed a messenger to the Thunder
+Birds, and that at a certain signal the doors of the
+sky would be opened and rains descend to drown
+Stone Boy.  Old Badger and the Grizzly Bear
+are appointed to burrow underneath our fortifica-
+tions.
+
+"'However, I am not at all afraid for myself,
+but I am anxious for you, Mother, and for my
+uncles.'
+
+"'Ugh!' grunted all the uncles, 'we told you
+that you would get into trouble by killing so
+many of our sacred animals for your own amuse-
+ment.
+
+"'But,' continued Stone Boy, 'I shall make a
+good resistance, and I expect you all to help me.'
+
+"Accordingly they all worked under his direc-
+tion in preparing for the defence.  First of all, he
+threw a pebble into the air, and behold a great
+rocky wall around their teepee.  A second, third,
+fourth and fifth pebble became other walls with-
+out the first.  From the sixth and seventh were
+formed two stone lodges, one upon the other. 
+The uncles. meantime, made numbers of bows and
+quivers full of arrows, which were ranged at con-
+venient distances along the tops of the walls.  His
+mother prepared great quantities of food and made
+many moccasins for her boy, who declared that
+he would defend the fortress alone.
+
+"At last they saw the army of beasts advancing,
+each tribe by itself and commanded by a leader of
+extraordinary size.  The onset was terrific.  They
+flung themselves against the high walls with sav-
+age cries, while the badgers and other burrowing
+animals ceaselessly worked to undermine them. 
+Stone Boy aimed his sharp arrows with such
+deadly effect that his enemies fell by thousands. 
+So great was their loss that the dead bodies of the
+animals formed a barrier higher than the first, and
+the armies retired in confusion.
+
+"But reinforcements were at hand.  The rain
+fell in torrents; the beavers had dammed all the
+rivers and there was a great flood.  The besieged
+all retreated into the innermost lodge, but the
+water poured in through the burrows made by the
+badgers and gophers, and rose until Stone Boy's
+mother and his ten uncles were all drowned. 
+Stone Boy himself could not be entirely destroyed,
+but he was overcome by his enemies and left
+half buried in the earth, condemned never to
+walk again, and there we find him to this day.
+
+"This was because he abused his strength, and
+destroyed for mere amusement the lives of the
+creatures given him for use only."
+
+
+VI
+Evening in the Lodge
+
+I:  Evening in the Lodge
+
+I HAD been skating on that part
+of the lake where there was an
+overflow, and came home some-
+what cold.  I cannot say just
+how cold it was, but it must have
+been intensely so, for the trees
+were cracking all about me like pistol shots.  I
+did not mind, because I was wrapped up in my
+buffalo robe with the hair inside, and a wide
+leather belt held it about my loins.  My skates
+were nothing more than strips of basswood bark
+bound upon my feet.
+
+I had taken off my frozen moccasins and put on
+dry ones in their places.
+
+"Where have you been and what have you
+been doing?" Uncheedah asked as she placed
+before me some roast venison in a wooden bowl.
+"Did you see any tracks of moose or bear ?"
+
+"No, grandmother, I have only been playing
+at the lower end of the lake.  I have something to
+ask you," I said, eating my dinner and supper to-
+gether with all the relish of a hungry boy who has
+been skating in the cold for half a day.
+
+"I found this feather, grandmother, and I
+could not make out what tribe wear feathers
+in that shape."
+
+"Ugh, I am not a man; you had better ask
+your uncle.  Besides, you should know it yourself
+by this time. You are now old enough to think
+about eagle feathers."
+
+I felt mortified by this reminder of my ignor-
+ance.  It seemed a reflection on me that I was not
+ambitious enough to have found all such matters
+out before.
+
+"Uncle, you will tell me, won't you?" I said,
+in an appealing tone.
+
+"I am surprised, my boy, that you should fail
+to recognize this feather.  It is a Cree medicine
+feather, and not a warrior's."
+
+"Then," I said, with much embarrassment,
+you had better tell me again, uncle, the lan-
+guage of the feathers.  I have really forgotten it all."
+
+The day was now gone; the moon had risen;
+but the cold had not lessened, for the trunks
+of the trees were still snapping all around our tee-
+pee, which was lighted and warmed by the im-
+mense logs which Uncheedah's industry had pro-
+vided.  My uncle, White Foot-print, now under-
+took to explain to me the significance of the
+eagle's feather.
+
+"The eagle is the most war-like bird," he be-
+gan, "and the most kingly of all birds; besides,
+his feathers are unlike any others, and these are
+the reasons why they are used by our people to
+signify deeds of bravery.
+
+"It is not true that when a man wears a feather
+bonnet, each one of the feathers represents the kill-
+ing of a foe or even a coup.  When a man wears
+an eagle feather upright upon his head, he is sup-
+posed to have counted one of four coups upon his
+enemy."
+
+"Well, then, a coup does not mean the killing
+of an enemy?"
+
+"No, it is the after-stroke or touching of the
+body after he falls. It is so ordered, because often-
+times the touching of an enemy is much more dif-
+ficult to accomplish than the shooting of one from
+a distance.  It requires a strong heart to face the
+whole body of the enemy, in order to count the
+coup on the fallen one, who lies under cover of his
+kinsmen's fire.  Many a brave man has been lost
+in the attempt.
+
+"When a warrior approaches his foe, dead
+or alive, he calls upon the other warriors to wit-
+ness by saying: 'I, Fearless Bear, your brave,
+again perform the brave deed of counting the
+first (or second or third or fourth) coup upon the
+body of the bravest of your enemies.' Naturally,
+those who are present will see the act and be able
+to testify to it.  When they return, the heralds,
+as you know, announce publicly all such deeds of
+valor, which then become a part of the man's war
+record.  Any brave who would wear the eagle's
+feather must give proof of his right to do so.
+
+"When a brave is wounded in the same battle
+where he counted his coup, he wears the feather
+hanging downward.  When he is wounded, but
+makes no count, he trims his feather and in that
+case, it need not be an eagle feather.  All other
+feathers are merely ornaments.  When a warrior
+wears a feather with a round mark, it means that
+he slew his enemy.  When the mark is cut into
+the feather and painted red, it means that he took
+the scalp.
+
+"A brave who has been successful in ten bat-
+tles is entitled to a war-bonnet; and if he is a rec-
+ognized leader, he is permitted to wear one with
+long, trailing plumes.  Also those who have
+counted many coups may tip the ends of the feath-
+ers with bits of white or colored down.  Some-
+times the eagle feather is tipped with a strip of
+weasel skin; that means the wearer had the honor
+of killing, scalping and counting the first coup upon
+the enemy all at the same time.
+
+"This feather you have found was worn by a
+Cree--it is indiscriminately painted.  All other
+feathers worn by the common Indians mean noth-
+ing," he added.
+
+"Tell me, uncle, whether it would be proper
+for me to wear any feathers at all if I have never
+gone upon the war-path."
+
+"You could wear any other kind of feathers,
+but not an eagle's," replied my uncle, "although
+sometimes one is worn on great occasions by the
+child of a noted man, to indicate the father's dig-
+nity and position."
+
+The fire had gone down somewhat, so I pushed
+the embers together and wrapped my robe more
+closely about me.  Now and then the ice on the
+lake would burst with a loud report like thunder. 
+Uncheedah was busy re-stringing one of uncle's
+old snow-shoes.  There were two different kinds
+that he wore; one with a straight toe and long;
+the other shorter and with an upturned toe.  She
+had one of the shoes fastened toe down, between
+sticks driven into the ground, while she put in
+some new strings and tightened the others.  Aunt
+Four Stars was beading a new pair of moccasins.
+
+Wabeda, the dog, the companion of my boy-
+hood days, was in trouble because he insisted upon
+bringing his extra bone into the teepee, while
+Uncheedah was determined that he should not. 
+I sympathized with him, because I saw the matter
+as he did.  If he should bury it in the snow out-
+side, I knew Shunktokecha (the coyote) would
+surely steal it.  I knew just how anxious Wabeda
+was about his bone.  It was a fat bone--I mean
+a bone of a fat deer; and all Indians know how
+much better they are than the other kind.
+
+Wabeda always hated to see a good thing go to
+waste.  His eyes spoke words to me, for he and I
+had been friends for a long time.  When I was
+afraid of anything in the woods, he would get in
+front of me at once and gently wag his tail.  He
+always made it a point to look directly in my face. 
+His kind, large eyes gave me a thousand assur-
+ances.  When I was perplexed, he would hang
+about me until he understood the situation. 
+Many times I believed he saved my life by utter-
+ing the dog word in time.
+
+Most animals, even the dangerous grizzly, do not
+care to be seen when the two-legged kind and his
+dog are about.  When I feared a surprise by a bear
+or a grey wolf, I would say to Wabeda: "Now,
+my dog, give your war-whoop:" and immediately
+he would sit up on his haunches and bark "to beat
+the band" as you white boys say.  When a bear
+or wolf heard the noise, he would be apt to
+retreat.
+
+Sometimes I helped Wabeda and gave a war-
+whoop of my own.  This drove the deer away
+as well, but it relieved my mind.
+
+When he appealed to me on this occasion, there-
+fore, I said: "Come, my dog, let us bury your
+bone so that no Shunktokecha will take it."
+
+He appeared satisfied with my suggestion, so we
+went out together.
+
+We dug in the snow and buried our bone
+wrapped up in a piece of old blanket, partly
+burned; then we covered it up again with snow. 
+We knew that the coyote would not touch any-
+thing burnt.  I did not put it up a tree because
+Wabeda always objected to that, and I made it a
+point to consult his wishes whenever I could.
+
+I came in and Wabeda followed me with two
+short rib bones in his mouth.  Apparently he did
+not care to risk those delicacies.
+
+"There," exclaimed Uncheedah, "you still in-
+sist upon bringing in some sort of bone!" but I
+begged her to let him gnaw them inside because it
+was so cold.  Having been granted this privilege,
+he settled himself at my back and I became ab-
+sorbed in some specially nice arrows that uncle was
+making.
+
+"O, uncle, you must put on three feathers to
+all of them so that they can fly straight," I sug-
+gested.
+
+"Yes, but if there are only two feathers, they
+will fly faster," he answered.
+
+"Woow!" Wabeda uttered his suspicions.
+
+"Woow!" he said again, and rushed for the
+entrance of the teepee.  He kicked me over as he
+went and scattered the burning embers.
+
+"En na he na!" Uncheedah exclaimed, but he
+was already outside.
+
+"Wow, wow, wow! Wow, Wow, wow!"
+
+A deep guttural voice answered him.
+
+Out I rushed with my bow and arrows in my
+hand.
+
+"Come, uncle, come! A big cinnamon bear!" I
+shouted as I emerged from the teepee.
+
+Uncle sprang out and in a moment he had sent
+a swift arrow through the bear's heart.  The ani-
+mal fell dead.  He had just begun to dig up
+Wabeda's bone, when the dog's quick ear had
+heard the sound.
+
+"Ah, uncle, Wabeda and I ought to have at
+least a little eaglet's feather for this.  I too sent my
+small arrow into the bear before he fell," I ex-
+claimed.  "But I thought all bears ought to be in
+their lodges in the winter time.  What was this one
+doing at this time of the year and night?"
+
+"Well," said my uncle, "I will tell you.  Among
+the tribes, some are naturally lazy.  The cinnamon
+bear is the lazy one of his tribe.  He alone sleeps
+out of doors in the winter and because he has not
+a warm bed, he is soon hungry.  Sometimes he
+lives in the hollow trunk of a tree, where he has
+made a bed of dry grass; but when the night is
+very cold, like to-night, he has to move about to
+keep himself from freezing and as he prowls
+around, he gets hungry."
+
+We dragged the huge carcass within our lodge.
+"O, what nice claws he has, uncle!" I exclaimed
+eagerly.  "Can I have them for my necklace?"
+
+"It is only the old medicine men who wear
+them regularly.  The son of a great warrior who
+has killed a grizzly may wear them upon a pub-
+lic occasion," he explained.
+
+"And you are just like my father and are con-
+sidered the best hunter among the Santees and Sis-
+setons.  You have killed many grizzlies so that
+no one can object to my bear's-claws necklace," I
+said appealingly.
+
+White Foot-print smiled. "My boy, you
+shall have them," he said, "but it is always bet-
+ter to earn them yourself."  He cut the claws off
+carefully for my use.
+
+"Tell me, uncle, whether you could wear these
+claws all the time?" I asked.
+
+"Yes,I am entitled to wear them, but they are
+so heavy and uncomfortable," he replied, with a
+superior air.
+
+At last the bear had been skinned and dressed
+and we all resumed our usual places.  Uncheedah
+was particularly pleased to have some more fat
+for her cooking.
+
+"Now, grandmother, tell me the story of the
+bear's fat.  I shall be so happy if you will," I
+begged.
+
+"It is a good story and it is true.  You should
+know it by heart and gain a lesson from it," she
+replied.  "It was in the forests of Minnesota, in
+the country that now belongs to the Ojibways. 
+From the Bedawakanton Sioux village a young
+married couple went into the woods to get fresh
+venison.  The snow was deep; the ice was thick. 
+Far away in the woods they pitched their lonely
+teepee.  The young man was a well-known hunter
+and his wife a good maiden of the village.
+
+"He hunted entirely on snow-shoes, because
+the snow was very deep.  His wife had to wear
+snow-shoes too, to get to the spot where they
+pitched their tent. It was thawing the day they
+went out, so their path was distinct after the freeze
+came again.
+
+"The young man killed many deer and bears. 
+His wife was very busy curing the meat and try-
+ing out the fat while he was away hunting each
+day.  In the evenings she kept on trying the fat. 
+He sat on one side of the teepee and she on the
+other.
+
+"One evening, she had just lowered a kettle of
+fat to cool, and as she looked into the hot fat she
+saw the face of an Ojibway scout looking down at
+them through the smoke-hole.  She said nothing,
+nor did she betray herself in any way.
+
+"After a little she said to her husband in a nat-
+ural voice: 'Marpeetopah, some one is looking
+at us through the smoke hole, and I think it is an
+enemy's scout.'
+
+"Then Marpeetopah (Four-skies) took up his
+bow and arrows and began to straighten and dry
+them for the next day's hunt, talking and laugh-
+ing meanwhile.  Suddenly he turned and sent an
+arrow upward, killing the Ojibway, who fell dead
+at their door.
+
+"'Quick, Wadutah!' he exclaimed; 'you
+must hurry home upon our trail.  I will stay
+here.  When this scout does not return, the war-
+party may come in a body or send another scout. 
+If only one comes, I can soon dispatch him and
+then I will follow you.  If I do not do that, they
+will overtake us in our flight.'
+
+"Wadutah (Scarlet) protested and begged to be
+allowed to stay with her husband, but at last she
+came away to get reinforcements.
+
+"Then Marpeetopah (Four-skies) put more
+sticks on the fire so that the teepee might be bright-
+ly lit and show him the way.  He then took the
+scalp of the enemy and proceeded on his track,
+until he came to the upturned root of a great tree. 
+There he spread out his arrows and laid out his
+tomahawk.
+
+"Soon two more scouts were sent by the Ojib-
+way war-party to see what was the trouble and
+why the first one failed to come back.  He heard
+them as they approached. They were on snow-
+shoes.  When they came close to him, he shot an
+arrow into the foremost.  As for the other, in his
+effort to turn quickly his snow-shoes stuck in the
+deep snow and detained him, so Marpeetopah
+killed them both.
+
+"Quickly he took the scalps and followed Wa-
+dutah.  He ran hard.  But the Ojibways sus-
+pected something wrong and came to the lonely
+teepee, to find all their scouts had been killed.
+They followed the path of Marpeetopah and Wa-
+dutah to the main village, and there a great battle
+was fought on the ice.  Many were killed on both
+sides.   It was after this that the Sioux moved to
+the Mississippi river."
+
+I was sleepy by this time and I rolled myself
+up in my buffalo robe and fell asleep.
+
+II: Adventures of My Uncle
+
+IT was a beautiful fall day--'a
+gopher's last look back,' as we
+used to say of the last warm
+days of the late autumn.  We
+were encamped beside a wild rice
+lake, where two months before
+we had harvested our watery fields of grain, and
+where we had now returned for the duck-hunting. 
+All was well with us.  Ducks were killed in count-
+less numbers, and in the evenings the men hunted
+deer in canoes by torchlight along the shores of the
+lake.  But alas! life is made up of good times
+and bad times, and it is when we are perfectly
+happy that we should expect some overwhelming
+misfortune.
+
+"So it was that upon this peaceful and still morn-
+ing, all of a sudden a harsh and terrible war-cry
+was heard! Your father was then quite a young
+man, and a very ambitious warrior, so that I was
+always frightened on his account whenever there
+was a chance of fighting.  But I did not think of
+your uncle, Mysterious Medicine, for he was not
+over fifteen at the time; besides, he had never
+shown any taste for the field.
+
+"Our camp was thrown into great excitement;
+and as the warriors advanced to meet the enemy,
+I was almost overcome by the sight of your uncle
+among them! It was of no use for me to call
+him back--I think I prayed in that moment to
+the Great Mystery to bring my boy safely home.
+
+"I shall never forget, as long as I live, the events
+of that day.  Many brave men were killed;
+among them two of your uncle's intimate friends. 
+But when the battle was over, my boy came back;
+only his face was blackened in mourning for his
+friends, and he bore several wounds in his body. 
+I knew that he had proved himself a true warrior.
+
+"This was the beginning of your uncle's career,
+He has surpassed your father and your grand-
+father; yes, all his ancestors except Jingling Thun-
+der, in daring and skill."
+
+Such was my grandmother's account of the
+maiden battle of her third son, Mysterious Med-
+icine.  He achieved many other names; among
+them Big Hunter, Long Rifle and White Foot-
+print.  He had a favorite Kentucky rifle which
+he carried for many years.  The stock was several
+times broken, but he always made another.  With
+this gun he excelled most of his contemporaries in
+accuracy of aim.  He used to call the weapon
+Ishtahbopopa--a literal translation would be
+"Pops-the-eye."
+
+My uncle, who was a father to me for ten
+years of my life, was almost a giant in his propor-
+tions, very symmetrical and "straight as an arrow."
+His face was not at all handsome.  He had very
+quiet and reserved manners and was a man of
+action rather than of unnecessary words. Behind
+the veil of Indian reticence he had an inexhausti-
+ble fund of wit and humor; but this part of his
+character only appeared before his family and very
+intimate friends.  Few men know nature more
+thoroughly than he.  Nothing irritated him more
+than to hear some natural fact misrepresented.  I
+have often thought that with education he might
+have made a Darwin or an Agassiz.
+
+He was always modest and unconscious of self
+in relating his adventures.  "I have often been
+forced to realize my danger," he used to say, "but
+not in such a way as to overwhelm me.  Only
+twice in my life have I been really frightened, and
+for an instant lost my presence of mind.
+
+"Once I was in full pursuit of a large buck deer
+that I had wounded. It was winter, and there
+was a very heavy fall of fresh snow upon the
+ground.  All at once I came upon the body of
+the deer lying dead on the snow.  I began to
+make a hasty examination, but before I had made
+any discoveries, I spied the tips of two ears peep-
+ing just above the surface of the snow about
+twenty feet from me.  I made a feint of not see-
+ing anything at all, but moved quickly in the
+direction of my gun, which was leaning against a
+tree.  Feeling, somehow, that I was about to be
+taken advantage of, I snatched at the same mo-
+ment my knife from my belt.
+
+"The panther (for such it was) made a sudden
+and desperate spring. I tried to dodge, but he
+was too quick for me.  He caught me by the
+shoulder with his great paw, and threw me down. 
+Somehow, he did not retain his hold, but made an-
+other leap and again concealed himself in the snow. 
+Evidently he was preparing to make a fresh attack.
+
+"I was partially stunned and greatly confused
+by the blow; therefore I should have been an easy
+prey for him at the moment.  But when he left
+me, I came to my senses; and I had been thrown
+near my gun! I arose and aimed between the tips
+of his ears--all that was visible of him--and
+fired.  I saw the fresh snow fly from the spot.  The
+panther leaped about six feet straight up into the
+air, and fell motionless.  I gave two good war-
+whoops, because I had conquered a very formid-
+able enemy.  I sat down on the dead body to rest,
+and my heart beat as if it would knock out all my
+ribs.  I had not been expecting any danger, and
+that was why I was so taken by surprise.
+
+"The other time was on the plains, in summer. 
+I was accustomed to hunting in the woods, and
+never before had hunted buffalo on horseback.  Be-
+ing a young man, of course I was eager to do what-
+ever other men did.  Therefore I saddled my pony
+for the hunt.  I had a swift pony and a good gun,
+but on this occasion I preferred a bow and arrows.
+
+"It was the time of year when the buffalo go
+in large herds and the bulls are vicious.  But this
+did not trouble me at all; indeed, I thought of
+nothing but the excitement and honor of the
+chase.
+
+"A vast plain near the Souris river was literally
+covered with an immense herd.  The day was fair,
+and we came up with them very easily.  I had a
+quiver full of arrows, with a sinew-backed bow.
+
+"My pony carried me in far ahead of all the oth-
+ers.  I found myself in the midst of the bulls first,
+for they are slow.  They threw toward me vicious
+glances, so I hastened my pony on to the cows. 
+Soon I was enveloped in a thick cloud of dust, and
+completely surrounded by the herd, who were by
+this time in the act of fleeing, their hoofs making
+a noise like thunder.
+
+"I could not think of anything but my own sit-
+uation, which confused me for the moment.  It
+seemed to me to be a desperate one.  If my pony,
+which was going at full speed, should step into a
+badger hole, I should be thrown to the ground
+and trampled under foot in an instant.  If I were
+to stop, they would knock me over, pony and all. 
+Again, it seemed as if my horse must fall from
+sheer exhaustion; and then what would become
+of me?
+
+"At last I awoke to a calm realization of my own
+power.  I uttered a yell and began to shoot right
+and left.  Very soon there were only a few old bulls
+who remained near me.  The herd had scattered,
+and I was miles away from my companions.
+
+"It is when we think of our personal danger that
+we are apt to be at a loss to do the best thing un-
+der the circumstances.  One should be unconscious
+of self in order to do his duty.  We are very apt
+to think ourselves brave, when we are most timid. 
+I have discovered that half our young men give
+the war-whoop when they are frightened, because
+they fear lest their silence may betray their state of
+mind.  I think we are really bravest when most
+calm and slow to action."
+
+I urged my uncle to tell me more of his adven-
+tures.
+
+"Once," said he, "I had a somewhat peculiar
+experience, which I think I never related to you
+before.  It was at the time of the fall hunt.  One
+afternoon when I was alone I discovered that I was
+too far away to reach the camp before dark, so I
+looked about for a good place to spend the night. 
+This was on the Upper Missouri, before there were
+any white people there, and when we were in con-
+stant danger from wild beasts as well as from hos-
+tile Indians.  It was necessary to use every pre-
+caution and the utmost vigilance.
+
+"I selected a spot which appeared to be well
+adapted to defense.  I had killed two deer, and
+I hung up pieces of the meat at certain distances
+in various directions.  I knew that any wolf would
+stop for the meat, A grizzly bear would some-
+times stop, but not a mountain lion or a panther. 
+Therefore I made a fire. Such an animal would
+be apt to attack a solitary fire.  There was a full
+moon that night, which was much in my favor.
+
+"Having cooked and eaten some of the venison,
+I rolled myself in my blanket and lay down by the
+fire, taking my Ishtahbopopa for a bed fellow.  I
+hugged it very closely, for I felt that I should
+need it during the night.  I had scarcely settled
+myself when I heard what seemed to be ten or
+twelve coyotes set up such a howling that I was
+quite sure of a visit from them.  Immediately after-.
+ward I heard another sound, which was like the
+screaming of a small child.  This was a porcupine,
+which had doubtless smelled the meat.
+
+"I watched until a coyote appeared upon a flat
+rock fifty yards away.  He sniffed the air in every
+direction; then, sitting partly upon his haunches,
+swung round in a circle with his hind legs sawing
+the air, and howled and barked in many different
+keys.  It was a great feat! I could not help won-
+dering whether I should be able to imitate him. 
+What had seemed to be the voices of many coy-
+otes was in reality only one animal.  His mate soon
+appeared and then they both seemed satisfied, and
+showed no signs of a wish to invite another to
+join them.  Presently they both suddenly and
+quietly disappeared.
+
+"At this moment a slight noise attracted my at-
+tention, and I saw that the porcupine had arrived. 
+He had climbed up to the piece of meat nearest
+me, and was helping himself without any cere-
+mony. I thought it was fortunate that he came,
+for he would make a good watch dog for me. 
+Very soon, in fact, he interrupted his meal, and
+caused all his quills to stand out in defiance.  I
+glanced about me and saw the two coyotes slyly
+approaching my open camp from two different di-
+rections.
+
+"I took the part of the porcupine! I rose in a
+sitting posture, and sent a swift arrow to each of
+my unwelcome visitors.  They both ran away with
+howls of surprise and pain.
+
+"The porcupine saw the whole from his perch,
+but his meal was not at all disturbed, for he began
+eating again with apparent relish.  Indeed, I was
+soon furnished with another of these unconscious
+protectors.  This one came from the opposite di-
+rection to a point where I had hung a splendid
+ham of venison.  He cared to go no further, but
+seated himself at once on a convenient branch and
+began his supper.
+
+"The canon above me was full of rocks and trees. 
+From this direction came a startling noise, which
+caused me more concern than anything I had thus
+far heard.  It sounded much like a huge animal
+stretching himself, and giving a great yawn which
+ended in a scream.  I knew this for the voice of a
+mountain lion, and it decided me to perch upon a
+limb for the rest of the night.
+
+"I got up and climbed into the nearest large tree,
+taking my weapons with me; but first I rolled a
+short log of wood in my blanket and laid it in my
+place by the fire.
+
+"As I got up, the two porcupines began to de-
+scend, but I paid no attention to them, and they
+soon returned to their former positions.  Very
+soon I heard a hissing sound from one of them,
+and knew that an intruder was near.  Two grey
+wolves appeared.
+
+"I had hung the hams by the ham strings, and
+they were fully eight feet from the ground.  At
+first the wolves came boldly forward, but the warn-
+ing of the porcupines caused them to stop, and
+hesitate to jump for the meat.  However, they were
+hungry, and began to leap savagely for the hams,
+although evidently they proved good targets for
+the quills of the prickly ones, for occasionally
+one of them would squeal and rub his nose des-
+perately against the tree.
+
+"At last one of the wolves buried his teeth too
+deeply in a tough portion of the flesh, and having
+jumped to reach it, his own weight made it im-
+possible for him to loosen his upper jaw.  There
+the grey wolf dangled, kicking and yelping, until
+the tendon of the ham gave way, and both fell
+heavily to the ground.  From my hiding-place I
+sent two arrows into his body, which ended his
+life. The other one ran away to a little distance
+and remained there a long time, as if waiting
+for her mate.
+
+"I was now very weary, but I had seen many
+grizzly bears' tracks in the vicinity, and besides, I
+had not forgotten the dreadful scream of the
+mountain lion.  I determined to continue my
+watch.
+
+"As I had half expected, there came presently a
+sudden heavy fall, and at the same time the burn-
+ing embers were scattered about and the fire almost
+extinguished.  My blanket with the log in it was
+rolled over several times, amid snarls and growls. 
+Then the assailant of my camp--a panther--leaped
+back into the thick underbrush, but not before
+my arrow had penetrated his side.  He snarled
+and tried to bite off the shaft, but after a time be-
+came exhausted and lay still.
+
+"I could now distinguish the grey dawn in the
+east. I was exceedingly drowsy, so I fastened
+myself by a rope of raw-hide to the trunk of the
+tree against which I leaned. I was seated on a
+large limb, and soon fell asleep.
+
+"I was rudely awakened by the report of a gun
+directly under me.  At the same time, I thought
+some one was trying to shake me off the tree,
+Instantly I reached for my gun.  Alas! it was
+gone ! At the first shake of the tree by my visi-
+tor, a grizzly bear, the gun had fallen, and as it
+was cocked, it went off.
+
+"The bear picked up the weapon and threw it
+violently away; then he again shook the tree with
+all his strength.  I shouted:
+
+"'I have still a bow and a quiver full of arrows;
+you had better let me alone.'
+
+"He replied to this with a rough growl.  I sent
+an arrow into his side, and he groaned like a man
+as he tried hard to pull it out. I had to give him
+several more before he went a short distance away,
+and died. It was now daylight, so I came down
+from my perch.  I was stiff, and scarcely able to
+walk.  I found that the bear had killed both of
+my little friends, the porcupines, and eaten most
+of the meat.
+
+"Perhaps you wonder, Ohiyesa, why I did not
+use my gun in the beginning; but I had learned
+that if I once missed my aim with it, I had no
+second chance.  I have told of this particular ad-
+venture, because it was an unusual experience to
+see so many different animals in one night.  I
+have often been in similar places, and killed one or
+two.  Once a common black bear stole a whole
+deer from me without waking me.  But all this
+life is fast disappearing, and the world is becoming
+different."
+
+
+VII
+The End of the Bear Dance
+
+IT was one of the superstitions of
+the Santee Sioux to treat disease
+from the standpoint of some ani-
+mal or inanimate thing.  That
+person who, according to their
+belief, had been commissioned to
+become a medicine man or a war chief, must not
+disobey the bear or other creature or thing which
+gave him his commission. If he ever ventured
+to do so, the offender must pay for his insubor-
+dination with his life, or that of his own child or
+dearest friend. It was supposed to be necessary
+that the supernatural orders be carried into effect
+at a particular age and a certain season of the
+year.  Occasionally a very young man, who ex-
+cused himself on the ground of youth and mod-
+esty, might be forgiven.
+
+One of my intimate friends had been a sufferer
+from what, I suppose, must have been consump-
+tion.  He, like myself, had a grandmother in
+whom he had unlimited faith.  But she was a very
+ambitious and pretentious woman.  Among her
+many claims was that of being a great "medicine
+woman," and many were deceived by it; but really
+she was a fraud, for she did not give any medicine,
+but "conjured" the sick exclusively.
+
+At this time my little friend was fast losing
+ground, in spite of his grandmother's great preten-
+sions.  At last I hinted to him that my grand-
+mother was a herbalist, and a skilful one.  But he
+hinted back to me that 'most any old woman who
+could dig roots could be a herbalist, and that with-
+out a supernatural commission there was no power
+that could cope with disease.  I defended my ideal
+on the ground that there are supernatural powers
+in the herbs themselves; hence those who under-
+stand them have these powers at their command.
+
+"But," insisted my friend, "one must get his
+knowledge from the Great Mystery!"
+
+This completely silenced my argument, but
+did not shake my faith in my grandmother's
+ability.
+
+Redhorn was a good boy, and I loved him.  I
+visited him often, and found him growing weaker
+day by day.
+
+"Ohiyesa," he said to me one day, "my grand-
+mother has discovered the cause of my sickness."
+
+I eagerly interrupted him by shouting: "And
+can she cure you now, Redhorn?"
+
+"Of course," he replied, "she cannot until I
+have fulfilled the commandment.  I have confessed
+to her that two years ago I received my commis-
+sion, and I should have made a Bear Dance
+and proclaimed myself a medicine man last spring,
+when I had seen thirteen winters.  You see, I was
+ashamed to proclaim myself a medicine man, being
+so young; and for this I am punished.  However,
+my grandmother says it is not yet too late.  But,
+Ohiyesa, I am as weak now as a rheumatic old man. 
+I can scarcely stand up.  They say that I can ap-
+point some one else to act for me.  He will be the
+active bear--I shall have to remain in the hole. 
+Would you, Ohiyesa, be willing to act the bear for
+me? You know he has to chase the dancers
+away from his den."
+
+"Redhorn," I replied with much embarrass-
+ment," I should be happy to do anything that I
+could for you, but I cannot be a bear.  I feel that
+I am not fit.  I am not large enough; I am not
+strong enough; and I don't understand the habits
+of the animal well enough.  I do not think you
+would be pleased with me as your substitute."
+
+Redhorn finally decided that he would engage a
+larger boy to perform for him.  A few days later,
+it was  announced by the herald that my friend
+would give a Bear Dance, at which he was to be
+publicly proclaimed a medicine man.  It would be
+the great event of his short existence, for the dis-
+ease had already exhausted his strength and vital-
+ity.  Of course, we all understood that there would
+be an active youth to exhibit the ferocious nature
+of the beast after which the dance is named.
+
+The Bear Dance was an entertainment, a relig-
+ious rite, a method of treating disease--all in one. 
+A strange thing about it was that no woman was
+allowed to participate in the orgies, unless she was
+herself the bear.
+
+The den was usually dug about two hundred
+yards from the camp, on some conspicuous plain. 
+It was about two feet deep and six feet square and
+over it was constructed an arbor of boughs with
+four openings.  When the bear man sang, all the
+men and boys would gather and dance about the
+den; and when he came out and pursued them
+there was a hasty retreat. It was supposed that
+whoever touched the bear without being touched
+by him would overcome a foe in the field.  If one
+was touched, the reverse was to be expected.  The
+thing which caused most anxiety among the dancers
+was the superstition that if one of them should
+accidentally trip and fall while pursued by the
+bear, a sudden death would visit him or his nearest
+relative.
+
+Boys of my age were disposed to run some risk
+in this dance; they would take every opportunity
+to strike at the bear man with a short switch, while
+the older men shot him with powder.  It may as
+well be admitted that one reason for my declining
+the honor offered me by my friend Redhorn was
+that I was afraid of powder, and I much preferred
+to be one of the dancers and take my chances of
+touching the bear man without being touched.
+
+It was a beautiful summer's day.  The forest
+behind our camp was sweet with the breath of
+blossoming flowers.  The teepees faced a large lake,
+which we called Bedatanka.  Its gentle waves
+cooled the atmosphere.  The water-fowl disported
+themselves over its surface, and the birds of pass-
+age overhead noisily expressed their surprise at
+the excitement and confusion in our midst.
+
+The herald, with his brassy voice, again went
+the rounds, announcing the day's event and the
+tardy fulfillment of the boy's commission.  Then
+came the bustle of preparation.  The out-door
+toilet of the people was performed with care.  I
+cannot describe just how I was attired or painted,
+but I am under the impression that there was but
+little of my brown skin that was not uncovered.
+The others were similarly dressed in feathers, paint
+and tinkling ornaments.
+
+I soon heard the tom-tom's doleful sound from
+the direction of the bear's den, and a few war-
+whoops from the throats of the youthful warriors. 
+As I joined the motley assembly, I noticed that the
+bear man's drum was going in earnest, and soon
+after he began to sing.  This was the invitation to
+the dance.
+
+An old warrior gave the signal and we all started
+for the den, very much like a group of dogs at-
+tacking a stranger.  Frantically we yelled and
+whooped, running around the sheltering arbor in
+a hop, skip and jump fashion.  In spite of the
+apparent confusion, however, every participant
+was on the alert for the slightest movement of the
+bear man.
+
+All of a sudden, a brave gave the warning, and
+we scattered in an instant over the little plain be-
+tween the den and our village.  Everybody seemed
+to be running for dear life, and I soon found my-
+self some yards behind the rest.  I had gone in
+boldly, partly because of conversations with cer-
+tain boys who proposed to participate, and whom
+I usually outdistanced in foot races.  But it seemed
+that they had not carried out their intentions and
+I was left alone.  I looked back once or twice, al-
+though I was pretty busy with my legs, and I im-
+agined that my pursuer, the bear man, looked
+twice as fearful as a real bear.  He was dressed
+and painted up with a view to terrify the crowd. 
+I did not want the others to guess that I was at
+all dismayed, so I tried to give the war-whoop;
+but my throat was so dry at the moment that I
+am sure I must have given it very poorly.
+
+Just as it seemed that I was about to be over-
+taken, the dancers who had deserted me suddenly
+slackened their speed, and entered upon the
+amusement of tormenting the bear man with gun-
+powder and switches, with which they touched him
+far from gently upon his naked body.  They now
+chased him in turn, and he again retreated to his den.
+
+We rested until we heard the tom-tom and the
+song once more, and then we rushed forth with
+fresh eagerness to the mimic attack.  This time I
+observed all necessary precautions for my own
+safety.  I started in my flight even before the
+warning was given, for I saw the bear man gather-
+ing himself up to spring upon the dancers.  Thus
+I had plenty of leeway to observe what occurred. 
+The bear man again pursued the yelling and re-
+treating mob, and was dealt with unmercifully by
+the swift-footed.  He became much excited as
+he desperately chased a middle-aged man, who
+occasionally turned and fired off his gun, but was
+suddenly tripped by an ant-hill and fell to the
+ground, with the other on top of him.  The ex-
+citement was intense.  The bear man returned to
+his companion, and the dancers gathered in little
+knots to exchange whispers.
+
+"Is it not a misfortune?" "The most sure-
+footed of us all!" "Will he die?" "Must his
+beautiful daughter be sacrificed?"
+
+The man who was the subject of all this com-
+ment did not speak a word.  His head hung
+down.  Finally he raised it and said in a resolute
+voice:
+
+"We all have our time to go, and when the
+Great Mystery calls us we must answer as cheer-
+fully as at the call of one of our own war-chiefs
+here on earth.  I am not sad for myself, but my
+heart is not willing that my Winona (first-born
+daughter) should be called."
+
+No one replied.  Presently the last tom-tom
+was heard and the dancers rallied once more. 
+The man who had fallen did not join them, but
+turned to the council lodge, where the wise old
+men were leisurely enjoying the calumet.  They
+beheld him enter with some surprise; but he
+threw himself upon a buffalo robe, and resting his
+head upon his right hand, related what had hap-
+pened to him.  Thereupon the aged men ex-
+claimed as with one voice: "It never fails!"
+After this, he spoke no more.
+
+Meanwhile, we were hilariously engaged in
+our last dance, and when the bear man finally re-
+tired, we gathered about the arbor to congratulate
+the sick bear man.  But, to our surprise, his com-
+panion did not re-enter the den.  "He is dead!
+Redhorn, the bear man, is dead!" We all rushed
+to the spot.  My poor friend, Redhorn, lay dead
+in the den.
+
+At this instant there was another commotion in
+the camp.  Everybody was running toward the
+council lodge.  A well-known medicine man was
+loudly summoned thither.  But, alas! the man
+who fell in the dance had suddenly dropped dead.
+
+To the people, another Indian superstition had
+been verified.
+
+
+VIII
+The Maidens' Feast
+
+THERE were many peculiar cus-
+toms among the Indians of an
+earlier period, some of which
+tended to strengthen the charac-
+ter of the people and preserve
+their purity.  Perhaps the most
+unique of these was the annual "feast of maidens."
+The casual observer would scarcely understand
+the full force and meaning of this ceremony.
+
+The last one that I ever witnessed was given at
+Fort Ellis, Manitoba, about the year 1871.  Upon
+the table land just back of the old trading post
+and fully a thousand feet above the Assiniboine
+river, surrounded by groves, there was a natural
+amphitheatre.  At one end stood the old fort
+where since 1830 the northern tribes had come to
+replenish their powder horns and lead sacks and
+to dispose of their pelts.
+
+In this spot there was a reunion of all the rene-
+gade Sioux on the one hand and of the Assini-
+boines and Crees, the Canadian tribes, on the
+other.  They were friendly.  The matter was not
+formally arranged, but it was usual for all the
+tribes to meet here in the month of July.
+
+The Hudson Bay Company always had a good
+supply of red, blue, green and white blankets, also
+cloth of brilliant dye, so that when their summer
+festival occurred the Indians did not lack gayly
+colored garments.  Paints were bought by them
+at pleasure.  Short sleeves were the fashion in
+their buckskin dresses, and beads and porcupine
+quills were the principal decorations.
+
+When circumstances are favorable, the Indians
+are the happiest people in the world.  There were
+entertainments every single day, which everybody
+had the fullest opportunity to see and enjoy. If
+anything, the poorest profited the most by these
+occasions, because a feature in each case was the
+giving away of savage wealth to the needy in
+honor of the event.  At any public affair, involv-
+ing the pride and honor of a prominent family,
+there must always be a distribution of valuable
+presents.
+
+One bright summer morning, while we were
+still at our meal of jerked buffalo meat, we heard
+the herald of the Wahpeton band upon his calico
+pony as he rode around our circle.
+
+
+"White Eagle's daughter, the maiden Red Star,
+invites all the maidens of all the tribes to come and
+partake of her feast.  It will be in the Wahpeton
+camp, before the sun reaches the middle of the
+sky.  All pure maidens are invited.  Red Star
+also invites the young men to be present, to see
+that no unworthy maiden should join in the feast."
+
+The herald soon completed the rounds of the
+different camps, and it was not long before the
+girls began to gather in great numbers.  The fort
+was fully alive to the interest of these savage en-
+tertainments.  This particular feast was looked
+upon as a semi-sacred affair.  It would be dese-
+cration for any to attend who was not perfectly
+virtuous.  Hence it was regarded as an opportune
+time for the young men to satisfy themselves as to
+who were the virtuous maids of the tribe.
+
+There were apt to be surprises before the end
+of the day.  Any young man was permitted to
+challenge any maiden whom he knew to be un-
+worthy.  But woe to him who could not prove his
+case.  It meant little short of death to the man who
+endeavored to disgrace a woman without cause.
+
+The youths had a similar feast of their own, in
+which the eligibles were those who had never
+spoken to a girl in the way of courtship.  It was
+considered ridiculous so to do before attaining
+some honor as a warrior, and the novices prided
+themselves greatly upon their self control.
+
+From the various camps the girls came singly
+or in groups, dressed in bright-colored calicoes or
+in heavily fringed and beaded buckskin. Their
+smooth cheeks and the central part of their glossy
+hair was touched with vermilion.  All brought
+with them wooden basins to eat from.  Some who
+came from a considerable distance were mounted
+upon ponies; a few, for company or novelty's sake,
+rode double.
+
+The maidens' circle was formed about a cone-
+shaped rock which stood upon its base.  This was
+painted red.  Beside it two new arrows were lightly
+stuck into the ground.  This is a sort of altar, to
+which each maiden comes before taking her as-
+signed place in the circle, and lightly touches first
+the stone and then the arrows.  By this oath she
+declares her purity.  Whenever a girl approaches
+the altar there is a stir among the spectators, and
+sometimes a rude youth would call out:
+
+"Take care! You will overturn the rock, or
+pull out the arrows!"
+
+Such a remark makes the girls nervous, and es-
+pecially one who is not sure of her composure.
+
+Immediately behind the maidens' circle is the
+old women's or chaperons' circle.  This second
+circle is almost as interesting to look at as the in-
+ner one.  The old women watched every move-
+ment of their respective charges with the utmost
+concern, having previously instructed them how
+they should conduct themselves in any event.
+
+There was never a more gorgeous assembly of
+the kind than this one.  The day was perfect.  The
+Crees, displaying their characteristic horseman-
+ship, came in groups; the Assiniboines, with their
+curious pompadour well covered with red paint.
+The various bands of Sioux all carefully observed
+the traditional peculiarities of dress and behavior.
+The attaches of the fort were fully represented at
+the entertainment, and it was not unusual to see a
+pale-face maiden take part in the feast.
+
+The whole population of the region had assem-
+bled, and the maidens came shyly into the circle.
+The simple ceremonies observed prior to the serv-
+ing of the food were in progress, when among a
+group of Wahpeton Sioux young men there was a
+stir of excitement.  All the maidens glanced ner-
+vously toward the scene of the disturbance.  Soon
+a tall youth emerged from the throng of spectators
+and advanced toward the circle.  Every one of the
+chaperons glared at him as if to deter him from
+his purpose.  But with a steady step he passed
+them by and approached the maidens' circle.
+
+At last he stopped behind a pretty Assiniboine
+maiden of good family and said:
+
+"I am sorry, but, according to custom, you
+should not be here."
+
+The girl arose in confusion, but she soon recov-
+ered her self-control.
+
+"What do you mean?" she demanded, indig-
+nantly.  "Three times you have come to court
+me, but each time I have refused to listen to you. 
+I turned my back upon you.  Twice I was with
+Mashtinna.  She can tell the people that this is
+true.  The third time I had gone for water when
+you intercepted me and begged me to stop and
+listen. I refused because I did not know you. 
+My chaperon, Makatopawee, knows that I was
+gone but a few minutes.  I never saw you any-
+where else."
+
+The young man was unable to answer this un-
+mistakable statement of facts, and it became ap-
+parent that he had sought to revenge himself for
+her repulse.
+
+"Woo! woo! Carry him out!" was the order
+of the chief of the Indian police, and the audacious
+youth was hurried away into the nearest ravine to
+be chastised.
+
+The young woman who had thus established
+her good name returned to the circle, and the feast
+was served.  The "maidens' song" was sung, and
+four times they danced in a ring around the altar. 
+Each maid as she departed once more took her
+oath to remain pure until she should meet her
+husband.
+
+
+IX
+More Legends
+
+I: A Legend of Devil's Lake
+
+AFTER the death of Smoky Day,
+old Weyuha was regarded as the
+greatest story-teller among the
+Wahpeton Sioux.
+
+"Tell me, good Weyuha, a le-
+gend of your father's country," I
+said to him one evening, for I knew the country
+which is now known as North Dakota and South-
+ern Manitoba was their ancient hunting-ground. 
+I was prompted by Uncheedah to make this re-
+quest, after the old man had eaten in our lodge.
+
+"Many years ago," he began, as he passed the
+pipe to uncle, "we traveled from the Otter-tail to
+Minnewakan (Devil's Lake).  At that time the
+mound was very distinct where Chotanka lies
+buried.  The people of his immediate band had
+taken care to preserve it.
+
+"This mound under which lies the great medi-
+cine man is upon the summit of Minnewakan
+Chantay, the highest hill in all that region.  It is
+shaped like an animal's heart placed on its base,
+with the apex upward.
+
+"The reason why this hill is called Minnewa-
+kan Chantay, or the Heart of the Mysterious
+Land, I will now tell you.  It has been handed
+down from generation to generation, far beyond
+the memory of our great-grandparents.  It was
+in Chotanka's line of descent that these legends
+were originally kept, but when he died the stories
+became everybody's, and then no one believed in
+them.  It was told in this way."
+
+I sat facing him, wholly wrapped in the words
+of the story-teller, and now I took a deep breath
+and settled myself so that I might not disturb him
+by the slightest movement while he was reciting
+his tale.  We were taught this courtesy to our
+elders, but I was impulsive and sometimes forgot.
+
+"A long time ago," resumed Weyuha, "the
+red people were many in number, and they inhabi-
+ted all the land from the coldest place to the re-
+gion of perpetual summer time.  It seemed that
+they were all of one tongue, and all were friends.
+
+"All the animals were considered people in those
+days.  The buffalo, the elk, the antelope, were
+tribes of considerable importance.  The bears were
+a smaller band, but they obeyed the mandates of
+the Great Mystery and were his favorites, and for
+this reason they have always known more about
+the secrets of medicine.  So they were held in
+much honor.  The wolves, too, were highly re-
+garded at one time.  But the buffalo, elk, moose,
+deer and antelope were the ruling people.
+
+"These soon became conceited and considered
+themselves very important, and thought no one
+could withstand them.  The buffalo made war up-
+on the smaller tribes, and destroyed many.  So one
+day the Great Mystery thought it best to change
+the people in form and in language.
+
+"He made a great tent and kept it dark for ten
+days. Into this tent he invited the different bands,
+and when they came out they were greatly changed,
+and some could not talk at all after that.  How-
+ever, there is a sign language given to all the ani-
+mals that no man knows except some medicine
+men, and they are under a heavy penalty if they
+should tell it.
+
+"The buffalo came out of the darkened tent
+the clumsiest of all the animals.  The elk and
+moose were burdened with their heavy and many-
+branched horns, while the antelope and deer were
+made the most defenseless of animals, only that
+they are fleet of foot.  The bear and the wolf
+were made to prey upon all the others.
+
+"Man was alone then.  When the change
+came, the Great Mystery allowed him to keep his
+own shape and language.  He was king over all
+the animals, but they did not obey him.  From
+that day, man's spirit may live with the beasts be-
+fore he is born a man.  He will then know the
+animal language but he cannot tell it in human
+speech.  He always retains his sympathy with
+them, and can converse with them in dreams.
+
+"I must not forget to tell you that the Great
+Mystery pitched his tent in this very region. 
+Some legends say that the Minnewakan Chantay
+was the tent itself, which afterward became earth
+and stones.  Many of the animals were washed
+and changed in this lake, the Minnewakan, or
+Mysterious Water.  It is the only inland water
+we know that is salt.  No animal has ever swum
+in this lake and lived."
+
+"Tell me," I eagerly asked, "is it dangerous
+to man also?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, "we think so; and no In-
+dian has ever ventured in that lake to my know-
+ledge.  That is why the lake is called Mysterious,"
+he repeated.
+
+"I shall now tell you of Chotanka.  He was
+the greatest of medicine men. He declared that
+he was a grizzly bear before he was born in human
+form." Weyuha seemed to become very earnest
+when he reached this point in his story. "Listen
+to Chotanka's life as a grizzly bear."
+
+"'As a bear,' he used to say, 'my home was
+in sight of the Minnewakan Chantay.  I lived
+with my mother only one winter, and I only saw
+my father when I was a baby.  Then we lived a
+little way from the Chantay to the north, among
+scattered oak upon a hillside overlooking the
+Minnewakan.
+
+"'When I first remember anything, I was
+playing outside of our home with a buffalo skull
+that I had found near by.  I saw something that
+looked strange.  It walked upon two legs, and it
+carried a crooked stick, and some red willows with
+feathers tied to them.  It threw one of the wil-
+lows at me, and I showed my teeth and retreated
+within our den.
+
+"'Just then my father and mother came home
+with a buffalo calf.  They threw down the dead
+calf, and ran after the queer thing.  He had long
+hair upon a round head.  His face was round, too. 
+He ran and climbed up into a small oak tree.
+
+"'My father and mother shook him down, but
+not before he had shot some of his red willows
+into their sides.   Mother was very sick, but she
+dug some roots and ate them and she was well
+again.' It was thus that Chotanka was first taught
+the use of certain roots for curing wounds and
+sickness," Weyuha added.
+
+"'One day'"--he resumed the grizzly's story
+--"'when I was out hunting with my mother--
+my father had gone away and never came back
+--we found a buffalo cow with her calf in a
+ravine.  She advised me to follow her closely,
+and we crawled along on our knees.  All at once
+mother crouched down under the grass, and I did
+the same.  We saw some of those queer beings
+that we called "two legs," riding upon big-tail
+deer (ponies).  They yelled as they rode toward us. 
+Mother growled terribly and rushed upon them. 
+She caught one, but many more came with their
+dogs and drove us into a thicket.  They sent the
+red willows singing after us, and two of them stuck
+in mother's side.  When we got away at last she
+tried to pull them out, but they hurt her terribly. 
+She pulled them both out at last, but soon after
+she lay down and died.
+
+"'I stayed in the woods alone for two days
+then I went around the Minnewakan Chantay on
+the south side and there made my lonely den. 
+There I found plenty of hazel nuts, acorns and
+wild plums.  Upon the plains the teepsinna were
+abundant, and I saw nothing of my enemies.
+
+"'One day I found a footprint not unlike my
+own.  I followed it to see who the stranger might
+be. Upon the bluffs among the oak groves I dis-
+covered a beautiful young female gathering acorns. 
+She was of a different band from mine, for she
+wore a jet black dress.
+
+"'At first she was disposed to resent my intru-
+sion; but when I told her of my lonely life she
+agreed to share it with me.  We came back to my
+home on the south side of the hill.  There we
+lived happy for a whole year.  When the autumn
+came again Woshepee, for this was her name, said
+that she must make a warm nest for the winter,
+and I was left alone again.'
+
+"Now," said Weyuha, "I have come to a part
+of my story that few people understand.  All the
+long winter Chotanka slept in his den, and with
+the early spring there came a great thunder storm. 
+He was aroused by a frightful crash that seemed
+to shake the hills; and lo! a handsome young
+man stood at his door.  He looked, but was not
+afraid, for he saw that the stranger carried none of
+those red willows with feathered tips.  He was
+unarmed and smiling.
+
+"'I come,' said he, 'with a challenge to run a
+race.  Whoever wins will be the hero of his kind,
+and the defeated must do as the winner says there-
+after.  This is a rare honor that I have brought
+you.  The whole world will see the race.  The
+animal world will shout for you, and the spirits
+will cheer me on.  You are not a coward, and
+therefore you will not refuse my challenge.'
+
+"'No,' replied Chotanka, after a short hesita-
+tion. The young man was fine-looking, but
+lightly built.
+
+"'We shall start from the Chantay, and that will
+be our goal.  Come, let us go, for the universe is
+waiting!' impatiently exclaimed the stranger.
+
+"He passed on in advance, and just then an
+old, old wrinkled man came to Chotanka's door. 
+He leaned forward upon his staff.
+
+"'My son,' he said to him, 'I don't want to
+make you a coward, but this young man is the
+greatest gambler of the universe. He has pow-
+erful medicine.  He gambles for life; be careful!
+My brothers and I are the only ones who have
+ever beaten him.  But he is safe, for if he is
+killed he can resurrect himself--I tell you he is
+great medicine.
+
+"'However, I think that I can save you--lis-
+ten! He will run behind you all the way until
+you are within a short distance of the goal.  Then
+he will pass you by in a flash, for his name is Zig-
+Zag Fire! (lightning).  Here is my medicine.' So
+speaking, he gave me a rabbit skin and the gum
+of a certain plant.  'When you come near the
+goal, rub yourself with the gum, and throw the
+rabbit skin between you.  He cannot pass you.'
+
+"'And who are you, grandfather?' Chotanka
+inquired.
+
+"'I am the medicine turtle,' the old man re-
+plied.  'The gambler is a spirit from heaven, and
+those whom he outruns must shortly die.  You
+have heard, no doubt, that all animals know be-
+forehand when they are to be killed; and any man
+who understands these mysteries may also know
+when he is to die.'
+
+The race was announced to the world.  The
+buffalo, elk, wolves and all the animals came to
+look on.  All the spirits of the air came also to
+cheer for their comrade. In the sky the trumpet
+was sounded--the great medicine drum was struck. 
+It was the signal for a start.  The course was
+around the Minnewakan. (That means around
+the earth or the ocean.) Everywhere the multi-
+tude cheered as the two sped by.
+
+"The young man kept behind Chotanka all the
+time until they came once more in sight of the
+Chantay.  Then he felt a slight shock and he threw
+his rabbit skin back.  The stranger tripped and fell. 
+Chotanka rubbed himself with the gum, and ran on
+until he reached the goal.  There was a great shout
+that echoed over the earth, but in the heavens there
+was muttering and grumbling.  The referee de-
+clared that the winner would live to a good old age,
+and Zig-Zag Fire promised to come at his call.  He
+was indeed great medicine," Weyuha concluded.
+
+"But you have not told me how Chotanka be-
+came a man," I said.
+
+"One night a beautiful woman came to him in
+his sleep.  She enticed him into her white teepee
+to see what she had there.  Then she shut the
+door of the teepee and Chotanka could not get
+out.  But the woman was kind and petted him so
+that he loved to stay in the white teepee.  Then
+it was that he became a human born.  This is a
+long story, but I think, Ohiyesa, that you will re-
+member it," said Weyuha, and so I did.
+
+II: Manitoshaw's Hunting
+
+IT was in the winter, in the Moon
+of Difficulty (January).  We had
+eaten our venison roast for sup-
+per, and the embers were burn-
+ing brightly.  Our teepee was es-
+pecially cheerful.  Uncheedah sat
+near the entrance, my uncle and his wife upon
+the opposite side, while I with my pets occupied
+the remaining space.
+
+Wabeda, the dog, lay near the fire in a half doze,
+watching out of the corners of his eyes the tame
+raccoon, which snuggled back against the walls of
+the teepee, his shrewd brain, doubtless, concocting
+some mischief for the hours of darkness.  I had
+already recited a legend of our people.  All agreed
+that I had done well.  Having been generously
+praised, I was eager to earn some more compli-
+ments by learning a new one, so I begged my uncle
+to tell me a story.  Musingly he replied:
+
+"I can give you a Sioux-Cree tradition," and
+immediately began:
+
+"Many winters ago, there were six teepees stand-
+ing on the southern slope of Moose mountain in
+the Moon of Wild Cherries (September).  The
+men to whom these teepees belonged had been at-
+tacked by the Sioux while hunting buffalo, and
+nearly all killed.  Two or three who managed to
+get home to tell their sad story were mortally
+wounded, and died soon afterward.  There was only
+one old man and several small boys left to hunt
+and provide for this unfortunate little band of
+women and children.
+
+"They lived upon teepsinna (wild turnips) and
+berries for many days.  They were almost famished
+for meat.  The old man was too feeble to hunt
+successfully.  One day in this desolate camp a
+young Cree maiden--for such they were--declared
+that she could no longer sit still and see her peo-
+ple suffer.  She took down her dead father's second
+bow and quiver full of arrows, and begged her old
+grandmother to accompany her to Lake Wana-
+giska, where she knew that moose had oftentimes
+been found.  I forgot to tell you that her name
+was Manitoshaw.
+
+This Manitoshaw and her old grandmother,
+Nawakewee, took each a pony and went far up into
+the woods on the side of the mountain.  They
+pitched their wigwam just out of sight of the lake,
+and hobbled their ponies.  Then the old woman
+said to Manitoshaw:
+
+"'Go, my granddaughter, to the outlet of the
+Wanagiska, and see if there are any moose tracks
+there.  When I was a young woman, I came here
+with your father's father, and we pitched our tent
+near this spot. In the night there came three dif-
+ferent moose.  Bring me leaves of the birch and
+cedar twigs; I will make medicine for moose,' she
+added.
+
+Manitoshaw obediently disappeared in the
+woods.  It was a grove of birch and willow, with
+two good springs.  Down below was a marshy place. 
+Nawakewee had bidden the maiden look for nib-
+bled birch and willow twigs, for the moose loves
+to eat them, and to have her arrow ready
+upon the bow-string. I have seen this very
+place many a time," added my uncle, and this
+simple remark gave to the story an air of real-
+ity.
+
+"The Cree maiden went first to the spring, and
+there found fresh tracks of the animal she sought. 
+She gathered some cedar berries and chewed them,
+and rubbed some of them on her garments so that
+the moose might not scent her.  The sun was al-
+ready set, and she felt she must return to Na-
+wakewee.
+
+"Just then Hinhankaga, the hooting owl, gave
+his doleful night call.  The girl stopped and lis-
+tened attentively.
+
+"'I thought it was a lover's call,' she whispered
+to herself.  A singular challenge pealed across the
+lake.  She recognized the alarm call of the loon,
+and fancied that the bird might have caught a
+glimpse of her game.
+
+"Soon she was within a few paces of the tem-
+porary lodge of pine boughs and ferns which the
+grandmother had constructed.  The old woman
+met her on the trail.
+
+"'Ah, my child, you have returned none too
+soon.  I feared you had ventured too far away;
+for the Sioux often come to this place to hunt.
+You must not expose yourself carelessly on the
+shore.'
+
+"As the two women lay down to sleep they
+could hear the ponies munch the rich grass in an
+open spot near by.  Through the smoke hole of
+the pine-bough wigwam Manitoshaw gazed up
+into the starry sky, and dreamed of what she would
+do on the morrow when she should surprise the
+wily moose.  Her grandmother was already sleep-
+ing so noisily that it was enough to scare away the
+game.  At last the maiden, too, lost herself in
+sleep.
+
+"Old Nawakewee awoke early.  First of all
+she made a fire and burned cedar and birch
+so that the moose might not detect the human
+smell.  Then she quickly prepared a meal of wild
+turnips and berries, and awoke the maiden, who
+was surprised to see that the sun was already up. 
+She ran down to the spring and hastily splashed
+handsful of the cold water in her face; then she
+looked for a moment in its mirror-like surface. 
+There was the reflection of two moose by the open
+shore and beyond them Manitoshaw seemed to
+see a young man standing.  In another moment
+all three had disappeared.
+
+"'What is the matter with my eyes? I am
+not fully awake yet, and I imagine things.  Ugh,
+it is all in my eyes,' the maiden repeated to her-
+self.  She hastened back to Nawakewee.  The
+vision was so unexpected and so startling that she
+could not believe in its truth, and she said noth-
+ing to the old woman.
+
+"Breakfast eaten, Manitoshaw threw off her
+robe and appeared in her scantily cut gown of
+buckskin with long fringes, and moccasins and
+leggings trimmed with quills of the porcupine. 
+Her father's bow and quiver were thrown over
+one shoulder, and the knife dangled from her belt
+in its handsome sheath. She ran breathlessly
+along the shore toward the outlet.
+
+"Way off near the island Medoza the loon swam
+with his mate, occasionally uttering a cry of joy. 
+Here and there the playful Hogan, the trout,
+sprang gracefully out of the water, in a shower of
+falling dew.  As the maiden hastened along she
+scared up Wadawasee, the kingfisher, who screamed
+loudly.
+
+"'Stop, Wadawasee, stop--you will frighten
+my game!'
+
+"At last she had reached the outlet.  She saw
+at once that the moose had been there during the
+night.  They had torn up the ground and broken
+birch and willow twigs in a most disorderly
+way."
+
+"Ah!" I exclaimed, "I wish I had been with
+Manitoshaw then!"
+
+"Hush, my boy; never interrupt a story-
+teller."
+
+I took a stick and began to level off the ashes
+in front of me, and to draw a map of the lake, the
+outlet, the moose and Manitoshaw.  Away off to
+one side was the solitary wigwam, Nawakewee and
+the ponies.
+
+"Manitoshaw's heart was beating so loud that
+she could not hear anything," resumed my uncle. 
+"She took some leaves of the wintergreen and
+chewed them to calm herself.  She did not forget
+to throw in passing a pinch of pulverized tobacco
+and paint into the spring for Manitou, the spirit.
+
+"Among the twinkling leaves of the birch her
+eye was caught by a moving form, and then an-
+other.  She stood motionless, grasping her heavy
+bow.  The moose, not suspecting any danger,
+walked leisurely toward the spring.  One was a
+large female moose; the other a yearling.
+
+As they passed Manitoshaw, moving so nat-
+urally and looking so harmless, she almost forgot
+to let fly an arrow.  The mother moose seemed to
+look in her direction, but did not see her.  They
+had fairly passed her hiding-place when she stepped
+forth and sent a swift arrow into the side of the
+larger moose.  Both dashed into the thick woods,
+but it was too late.  The Cree maiden had already
+loosened her second arrow.  Both fell dead before
+reaching the shore."
+
+"Uncle, she must have had a splendid aim, for
+in the woods the many little twigs make an arrow
+bound off to one side," I interrupted in great ex-
+citement.
+
+"Yes, but you must remember she was very
+near the moose."
+
+"It seems to me, then, uncle, that they must
+have scented her, for you have told me that they
+possess the keenest nose of any animal," I per-
+sisted.
+
+"Doubtless the wind was blowing the other
+way.  But, nephew, you must let me finish my
+story.
+
+"Ovedoyed by her success, the maiden has-
+tened back to Nawakawee, but she was gone!
+The ponies were gone, too, and the wigwam of
+branches had been demolished.  While Manito-
+shaw stood there, frightened and undecided what
+to do, a soft voice came from behind a neighbor-
+ing thicket:
+
+"'Manitoshaw! Manitoshaw! I am here!'
+
+She at once recognized, the voice and found
+it to be Nawakeewee, who told a strange story.
+That morning a canoe had crossed the Wanagiska
+carrying two men.  They were Sioux.  The old
+grandmother had seen them coming, and to de-
+ceive them she at once pulled down her temporary
+wigwam, and drove the ponies off toward home. 
+Then she hid herself in the bushes near by,
+for she knew that Manitoshaw must return
+there.
+
+"'Come, my granddaughter, we must hasten
+home by another way,' cried the old woman.
+
+"But the maiden said, 'No, let us go first to
+my two moose that I killed this morning and take
+some meat with us.'
+
+"'No, no, my child; the Sioux are cruel. 
+They have killed many of our people.  If we
+stay here they will find us.  I fear, I fear them,
+Manitoshaw!'
+
+"At last the brave maid convinced her grand-
+mother, and the more easily as she too was hun-
+gry for meat.  They went to where the big game
+lay among the bushes, and began to dress the
+moose."
+
+"I think, if I were they, I would hide all day. 
+I would wait until the Sioux had gone; then I
+would go back to my moose," I interrupted for
+the third time.
+
+"I will finish the story first; then you may tell
+us what you would do," said my uncle reprov-
+ingly.
+
+"The two Sioux were father and son.  They
+too had come to the lake for moose; but as the
+game usually retreated to the island, Chatansapa
+had landed his son Kangiska to hunt them on the
+shore while he returned in his canoe to intercept
+their flight. The young man sped along the
+sandy beach and soon discovered their tracks.  He
+followed them up and found blood on the trail. 
+This astonished him.  Cautiously he followed on
+until he found them both lying dead.  He exam-
+ined them and found that in each moose there
+was a single Cree arrow.  Wishing to surprise
+the hunter if possible, Kangiska lay hidden in the
+bushes.
+
+"After a little while the two women returned to
+the spot.  They passed him as close as the moose
+had passed the maiden in the morning.  He saw
+at once that the maiden had arrows in her quiver
+like those that had slain the big moose.  He lay
+still.
+
+"Kangiska looked upon the beautiful Cree
+maiden and loved her.  Finally he forgot himself
+and made a slight motion.  Manitoshaw's quick
+eye caught the little stir among the bushes, but
+she immediately looked the other way and Kan-
+giska believed that she had not seen anything,
+At last her eyes met his, and something told both
+that all was well.  Then the maiden smiled, and
+the young man could not remain still any longer. 
+He arose suddenly and the old woman nearly
+fainted from fright.  But Manitoshaw said:
+
+"'Fear not, grandmother; we are two and he is
+only one.'
+
+"While the two women continued to cut up
+the meat, Kangiska made a fire by rubbing cedar
+chips together, and they all ate of the moose
+meat.  Then the old woman finished her work,
+while the young people sat down upon a log in
+the shade, and told each other all their minds.
+
+"Kangiska declared by signs that he would go
+home with Manitoshaw to the Cree camp, for he
+loved her.  They went home, and the young
+man hunted for the unfortunate Cree band during
+the rest of his life.
+
+"His father waited a long time on the island
+and afterward searched the shore, but never saw
+him again.  He supposed that those footprints he
+saw were made by Crees who had killed his son."
+
+"Is that story true, uncle?" I asked eagerly.
+
+"'Yes, the facts are well known.  There are
+some Sioux mixed bloods among the Crees to this
+day who are descendants of Kangiska."
+
+
+
+
+X
+Indian Life and Adventure
+
+I: Life in the Woods
+
+THE month of September recalls
+to every Indian's mind the season
+of the fall hunt.  I remember one
+such expedition which is typical
+of many.  Our party appeared on
+the northwestern side of Turtle
+mountain; for we had been hunting buffaloes all
+summer, in the region of the Mouse river, between
+that mountain and the upper Missouri.
+
+As our cone-shaped teepees rose in clusters
+along the outskirts of the heavy forest that clothes
+the sloping side of the mountain, the scene below
+was gratifying to a savage eye.  The rolling yellow
+plains were checkered with herds of buffaloes. 
+Along the banks of the streams that ran down from
+the mountains were also many elk, which usually
+appear at morning and evening, and disappear into
+the forest during the warmer part of the day. 
+Deer, too, were plenty, and the brooks were alive
+with trout.  Here and there the streams were
+dammed by the industrious beaver.
+
+In the interior of the forest there were lakes with
+many islands, where moose, elk, deer and bears
+were abundant.  The water-fowl were wont to
+gather here in great numbers, among them the
+crane, the swan, the loon, and many of the smaller
+kinds.  The forest also was filled with a great va-
+riety of birds.  Here the partridge drummed his
+loudest, while the whippoorwill sang with spirit,
+and the hooting owl reigned in the night.
+
+To me, as a boy, this wilderness was a paradise.  It
+was a land of plenty.  To be sure, we did not have
+any of the luxuries of civilization, but we had every
+convenience and opportunity and luxury of
+Nature.  We had also the gift of enjoying
+our good fortune, whatever dangers might lurk
+about us; and the truth is that we lived in
+blessed ignorance of any life that was better than
+our own.
+
+As soon as hunting in the woods began, the
+customs regulating it were established.  The coun-
+cil teepee no longer existed.  A hunting bonfire
+was kindled every morning at day-break, at which
+each brave must appear and report.  The man who
+failed to do this before the party set out on the
+day's hunt was harassed by ridicule.  As a rule,
+the hunters started before sunrise, and the brave
+who was announced throughout the camp as the
+first one to return with a deer on his back, was a
+man to be envied.
+
+The legend-teller, old Smoky Day, was chosen
+herald of the camp, and it was he who made the
+announcements.  After supper was ended, we heard
+his powerful voice resound among the teepees in
+the forest.  He would then name a man to kindle
+the bonfire the next morning.  His suit of fringed
+buckskin set off his splendid physique to advan-
+tage.
+
+Scarcely had the men disappeared in the woods
+each morning than all the boys sallied forth, ap-
+parently engrossed in their games and sports, but
+in reality competing actively with one another in
+quickness of observation.  As the day advanced,
+they all kept the sharpest possible lookout.  Sud-
+denly there would come the shrill "Woo-coo-
+hoo!" at the top of a boy's voice, announcing the
+bringing in of a deer.  Immediately all the other
+boys took up the cry, each one bent on getting
+ahead of the rest.  Now we all saw the brave Wa-
+coota fairly bent over by his burden, a large deer
+which he carried on his shoulders.  His fringed
+buckskin shirt was besprinkled with blood.  He
+threw down the deer at the door of his wife's
+mother's home, according to custom, and then
+walked proudly to his own.  At the door of his
+father's teepee he stood for a moment straight as a
+pine-tree, and then entered.
+
+When a bear was brought in, a hundred or
+more of these urchins were wont to make the woods
+resound with their voices: "Wah! wah! wah!
+Wah! wah! wah! The brave White Rabbit
+brings a bear! Wah! wah ! wah!"
+
+All day these sing-song cheers were kept up, as
+the game was brought in.  At last, toward the close
+of the afternoon, all the hunters had returned, and
+happiness and contentment reigned absolute, in a
+fashion which I have never observed among the
+white people, even in the best of circumstances. 
+The men were lounging and smoking; the women
+actively engaged in the preparation of the evening
+meal, and the care of the meat.  The choicest of
+the game was cooked and offered to the Great
+Mystery, with all the accompanying ceremonies. 
+This we called the "medicine feast." Even the
+women, as they lowered the boiling pot, or the
+fragrant roast of venison ready to serve, would first
+whisper: "Great Mystery, do thou partake of this
+venison, and still be gracious!"  This was the
+commonly said "grace."
+
+Everything went smoothly with us,  on this oc-
+casion, when we first entered the woods.  Noth-
+ing was wanting to our old way of living.  The
+killing of deer and elk and moose had to be
+stopped for a time, since meat was so abundant
+that we had no use for them any longer.  Only
+the hunting for pelts, such as those of the bear,
+beaver, marten, and otter was continued.  But
+whenever we lived in blessed abundance, our
+braves were wont to turn their thoughts to other
+occupations--especially the hot-blooded youths
+whose ambition it was to do something note-
+worthy.
+
+At just such moments as this there are always a
+number of priests in readiness, whose vocation it
+is to see into the future, and each of whom con-
+sults his particular interpreter of the Great Mys-
+tery. (This ceremony is called by the white people
+"making medicine.") To the priests the youth-
+ful braves hint their impatience for the war-path. 
+Soon comes the desired dream or prophecy or
+vision to favor their departure.
+
+Our young men presently received their sign,
+and for a few days all was hurry and excitement. 
+On the appointed morning we heard the songs of
+the warriors and the wailing of the women, by which
+they bade adieu to each other, and the eligible
+braves, headed by an experienced man--old Ho-
+tanka or Loud-Voiced Raven--set out for the
+Gros Ventre country.
+
+Our older heads, to be sure, had expressed some
+disapproval of the undertaking, for the country in
+which we were roaming was not our own, and we
+were likely at any time to be taken to task by its
+rightful owners.  The plain truth of the matter
+was that we were intruders.  Hence the more
+thoughtful among us preferred to be at home, and
+to achieve what renown they could get by defend-
+ing their homes and families.  The young men,
+however, were so eager for action and excitement
+that they must needs go off in search of it.
+
+From the early morning when these braves left
+us, led by the old war-priest, Loud-Voiced Raven,
+the anxious mothers, sisters and sweethearts
+counted the days.  Old Smoky Day would occa-
+sionally get up early in the morning, and sing a
+"strong-heart" song for his absent grandson.  I
+still seem to hear the hoarse, cracked voice of the
+ancient singer as it resounded among the woods. 
+For a long time our roving community enjoyed
+unbroken peace, and we were spared any trouble or
+disturbance.  Our hunters often brought in a deer
+or elk or bear for fresh meat.  The beautiful
+lakes furnished us with fish and wild-fowl for
+variety.  Their placid waters, as the autumn ad-
+vanced, reflected the variegated colors of the
+changing foliage.
+
+It is my recollection that we were at this time
+encamped in the vicinity of the "Turtle Moun-
+tain's Heart." It is to the highest cone-shaped
+peak that the Indians aptly give this appellation. 
+Our camping-ground for two months was within a
+short distance of the peak, and the men made it a
+point to often send one of their number to the
+top.  It was understood between them and the
+war party that we were to remain near this spot;
+and on their return trip the latter were to give the
+"smoke sign," which we would answer from the
+top of the hill.
+
+One day, as we were camping on the shore of a
+large lake with several islands, signs of moose
+were discovered, and the men went off to them on
+rafts, carrying their flint-lock guns in anticipation
+of finding two or three of the animals.  We little
+fellows, as usual, were playing down by the sandy
+shore, when we spied what seemed like the root
+of a great tree floating toward us.   But on a closer
+scrutiny we discovered our error.  It was the head
+of a huge moose, swimming for his life! Fortun-
+ately for him, none of the men had remained at
+home.
+
+According to our habit, we little urchins disap-
+peared in an instant, like young prairie chickens,
+in the long grass.  I was not more than eight
+years old, yet I tested the strength of my bow-
+string and adjusted my sharpest and best arrow for
+immediate service.  My heart leaped violently as
+the homely but imposing animal neared the shore. 
+I was undecided for a moment whether I would
+not leave my hiding-place and give a war-whoop
+as soon as he touched the sand.  Then I thought
+I would keep still and let him have my boy weap-
+on; and the only regret that I had was that he
+would, in all probability, take it with him, and I
+should be minus one good arrow.
+
+"Still," I thought, "I shall claim to be the
+smallest boy whose arrow was ever carried away
+by a moose." That was enough.  I gathered
+myself into a bunch, all ready to spring.  As the
+long-legged beast pulled himself dripping out of
+the water, and shook off the drops from his long
+hair, I sprang to my feet.  I felt some of the
+water in my face! I gave him my sharpest arrow
+with all the force I could master, right among
+the floating ribs.    Then I uttered my war-
+whoop.
+
+The moose did not seem to mind the miniature
+weapon, but he was very much frightened by our
+shrill yelling.  He took to his long legs, and in a
+minute was out of sight.
+
+The leaves had now begun to fall, and the heavy
+frosts made the nights very cold.  We were forced
+to realize that the short summer of that region
+had said adieu! Still we were gay and light-
+hearted, for we had plenty of provisions, and
+no misfortune had yet overtaken us in our
+wanderings over the country for nearly three
+months.
+
+One day old Smoky Day returned from the
+daily hunt with an alarm.  He had seen a sign--
+a "smoke sign." This had not appeared in the
+quarter that they were anxiously watching--it
+came from the east.  After a long consultation
+among the men, it was concluded from the nature
+and duration of the smoke that it proceeded from
+an accidental fire. It was further surmised that
+the fire was not made by Sioux, since it was out
+of their country, but by a war-party of Ojibways,
+who were accustomed to use matches when lighting
+their pipes, and to throw them carelessly away. 
+It was thought that a little time had been spent in
+an attempt to put it out.
+
+The council decreed that a strict look-out should
+be established in behalf of our party.  Every day
+a scout was appointed to reconnoitre in the direc-
+tion of the smoke.  It was agreed that no gun
+should be fired for twelve days.  All our signals
+were freshly rehearsed among the men.  The
+women and old men went so far as to dig little
+convenient holes around their lodges, for defense
+in case of a sudden attack.  And yet an Ojibway
+scout would not have suspected, from the ordinary
+appearance of the camp, that the Sioux had be-
+come aware of their neighborhood! Scouts were
+stationed just outside of the village at night. They
+had been so trained as to rival an owl or a cat in
+their ability to see in the dark.
+
+The twelve days passed by, however, without
+bringing any evidence of the nearness of the sup-
+posed Ojibway war-party, and the "lookout"
+established for purposes of protection was aband-
+oned.  Soon after this, one morning at dawn, we
+were aroused by the sound of the unwelcome war-
+whoop.  Although only a child, I sprang up and
+was about to rush out, as I had been taught to
+do; but my good grandmother pulled me down,
+and gave me a sign to lay flat on the ground.  I
+sharpened my ears and lay still.
+
+All was quiet in camp, but at some little distance
+from us there was a lively encounter.  I could
+distinctly hear the old herald, shouting and yell-
+ing in exasperation.  "Whoo! whoo!" was the
+signal of distress, and I could almost hear the
+pulse of my own blood-vessels.
+
+Closer and closer the struggle came, and still
+the women appeared to grow more and more calm. 
+At last a tremendous charge by the Sioux put the
+enemy to flight; there was a burst of yelling;
+alas! my friend and teacher, old Smoky Day, was
+silent.  He had been pierced to the heart by an
+arrow from the Ojibways.
+
+Although successful, we had lost two of our
+men, Smoky Day and White Crane, and this inci-
+dent, although hardly unexpected, darkened our
+peaceful sky.  The camp was filled with songs of
+victory, mingled with the wailing of the relatives
+of the slain.  The mothers of the youths who
+were absent on the war-path could no longer con-
+ceal their anxiety.
+
+One frosty morning--for it was then near the
+end of October--the weird song of a solitary brave
+was heard.  In an instant the camp was thrown
+into indescribable confusion. The meaning of
+this was clear as day to everybody--all of our
+war-party were killed, save the one whose mourn-
+ful song announced the fate of his companions. 
+The lonely warrior was Bald Eagle.
+
+The village was convulsed with grief; for in
+sorrow, as in joy, every Indian shares with all the
+others.  The old women stood still, wherever
+they might be, and wailed dismally, at intervals
+chanting the praises of the departed warriors.  The
+wives went a little way from their teepees and
+there audibly mourned; but the young maidens
+wandered further away from the camp, where
+no one could witness their grief.  The old men
+joined in the crying and singing.  To all ap-
+pearances the most unmoved of all were the war-
+riors, whose tears must be poured forth in the
+country of the enemy to embitter their venge-
+ance.  These sat silently within their lodges,
+and strove to conceal their feelings behind a
+stoical countenance; but they would probably
+have failed had not the soothing weed come to
+their relief.
+
+The first sad shock over, then came the change
+of habiliments.  In savage usage, the outward
+expression of mourning surpasses that of civiliza-
+tion.  The Indian mourner gives up all his good
+clothing, and contents himself with scanty and
+miserable garments.  Blankets are cut in two, and
+the hair is cropped short.  Often a devoted
+mother would scarify her arms or legs; a sister or
+a young wife would cut off all her beautiful hair
+and disfigure herself by undergoing hardships. 
+Fathers and brothers blackened their faces, and
+wore only the shabbiest garments.  Such was the
+spectacle that our people presented when the
+bright autumn was gone and the cold shadow of
+winter and misfortune had fallen upon us.  "We
+must suffer," said they--"the Great Mystery is
+offended."
+
+II: A Winter Camp
+
+WHEN I was about twelve years
+old we wintered upon the Mouse
+river, west of Turtle mountain.
+It was one of the coldest win-
+ters I ever knew, and was so re-
+garded by the old men of the tribe. 
+The summer before there had been plenty of
+buffalo upon that side of the Missouri, and our
+people had made many packs of dried buffalo
+meat and cached them in different places, so that
+they could get them in case of need.  There were
+many black-tailed deer and elk along the river,
+and grizzlies were to be found in the open coun-
+try.  Apparently there was no danger of starva-
+tion, so our people thought to winter there; but
+it proved to be a hard winter.
+
+There was a great snow-fall, and the cold was
+intense.  The snow was too deep for hunting, and
+the main body of the buffalo had crossed the
+Missouri, where it was too far to go after them.
+But there were some smaller herds of the animals
+scattered about in our vicinity, therefore there was
+still fresh meat to be had, but it was not secured
+without a great deal of difficulty.
+
+No ponies could be used.  The men hunted
+on snow-shoes until after the Moon of Sore Eyes
+(March), when after a heavy thaw a crust was
+formed on the snow which would scarcely hold a
+man.  It was then that our people hunted buffalo
+with dogs--an unusual expedient.
+
+Sleds were made of buffalo ribs and hickory
+saplings, the runners bound with rawhide with
+the hair side down.  These slipped smoothly over
+the icy crust.  Only small men rode on the sleds. 
+When buffalo were reported by the hunting-
+scouts, everybody had his dog team ready.  All
+went under orders from the police, and approached
+the herd under cover until they came within
+charging distance.
+
+The men had their bows and arrows, and a few
+had guns.  The huge animals could not run fast
+in the deep snow.  They all followed a leader,
+trampling out a narrow path.  The dogs with
+their drivers soon caught up with them on each
+side, and the hunters brought many of them
+down.
+
+I remember when the party returned, late in
+the night.  The men came in single file, well
+loaded, and each dog following his master with
+an equally heavy load.  Both men and animals
+were white with frost.
+
+We boys had waited impatiently for their arri-
+val.  As soon as we spied them coming a buffalo
+hunting whistle was started, and every urchin in
+the village added his voice to the weird sound,
+while the dogs who had been left at home joined
+with us in the chorus.  The men, wearing their
+buffalo moccasins with the hair inside and robes
+of the same, came home hungry and exhausted.
+
+It is often supposed that the dog in the Indian
+camp is a useless member of society, but it is not
+so in the wild life.  We found him one of the
+most useful of domestic animals, especially in an
+emergency.
+
+While at this camp a ludicrous incident occurred
+that is still told about the camp-fires of the Sioux. 
+One day the men were hunting on snow-shoes,
+and contrived to get within a short distance of the
+buffalo before they made the attack.  It was im-
+possible to run fast, but the huge animals were
+equally unable to get away.  Many were killed.
+Just as the herd reached an open plain one of the
+buffaloes stopped and finally lay down.  Three of
+the men who were pursuing him shortly came up. 
+The animal was severely wounded, but not dead.
+
+"I shall crawl up to him from behind and stab
+him," said Wamedee; "we cannot wait here for
+him to die." The others agreed.  Wamedee was
+not considered especially brave; but he took out
+his knife and held it between his teeth.  He then
+approached the buffalo from behind and suddenly
+jumped astride his back.
+
+The animal was dreadfully frightened and strug-
+gled to his feet.  Wamedee's knife fell to the
+ground, but he held on by the long shaggy hair. 
+He had a bad seat, for he was upon the buffalo's
+hump.  There was no chance to jump off; he had
+to stay on as well as he could.
+
+"Hurry! hurry! shoot! shoot!" he screamed,
+as the creature plunged and kicked madly in the
+deep snow.  Wamedee's face looked deathly, they
+said; but his two friends could not help laughing. 
+He was still calling upon them to shoot, but when
+the others took aim he would cry: "Don't shoot!
+don't shoot! you will kill me!" At last the ani-
+mal fell down with him; but Wamedee's two friends
+also fell down exhausted with laughter.  He was
+ridiculed as a coward thereafter.
+
+It was on this very hunt that the chief Mato
+was killed by a buffalo. It happened in this way. 
+He had wounded the animal, but not fatally; so
+he shot two more arrows at him from a distance. 
+Then the buffalo became desperate and charged
+upon him. In his flight Mato was tripped by
+sticking one of his snow-shoes into a snowdrift,
+from which he could not extricate himself in time. 
+The bull gored him to death.  The creek upon
+which this happened is now called Mato creek.
+
+A little way from our camp there was a log village
+of French Canadian half-breeds, but the two vil-
+lages did not intermingle. About the Moon of
+Difficulty (January) we were initiated into some
+of the peculiar customs of our neighbors.  In the
+middle of the night there was a firing of guns
+throughout their village.  Some of the people
+thought they had been attacked, and went over to
+assist them, but to their surprise they were told
+that this was the celebration of the birth of the new
+year!
+
+Our men were treated to minnewakan or
+"spirit water," and they came home crazy and
+foolish.  They talked loud and sang all the rest of
+the night.  Finally our head chief ordered his
+young men to tie these men up and put them in a
+lodge by themselves.  He gave orders to untie
+them "when the evil spirit had gone away."
+
+During the next day all our people were invited
+to attend the half-breeds' dance. I never knew
+before that a new year begins in mid-winter. We
+had always counted that the year ends when the
+winter ends, and a new year begins with the new
+life in the springtime.
+
+I was now taken for the first time to a white
+man's dance in a log house.  I thought it was the
+dizziest thing I ever saw.  One man sat in a cor-
+ner, sawing away at a stringed board, and all the
+while he was stamping the floor with his foot and
+giving an occasional shout.  When he called out,
+the dancers seemed to move faster.
+
+The men danced with women--something that
+we Indians never do--and when the man in the
+corner shouted they would swing the women
+around.  It looked very rude to me, as I stood
+outside with the other boys and peeped through
+the chinks in the logs.  At one time a young man
+and woman facing each other danced in the mid-
+dle of the floor.  I thought they would surely
+wear their moccasins out against the rough boards;
+but after a few minutes they were relieved by an-
+other couple.
+
+Then an old man with long curly hair and a
+fox-skin cap danced alone in the middle of the
+room, slapping the floor with his moccasined foot
+in a lightning fashion that I have never seen
+equalled.  He seemed to be a leader among them. 
+When he had finished, the old man invited our
+principal chief into the middle of the floor, and
+
+after the Indian had given a great whoop, the two
+drank in company.  After this, there was so much
+drinking and loud talking among the men, that it
+was thought best to send us children back to the
+camp.
+
+It was at this place that we found many sand
+boulders like a big "white man's house." There
+were holes in them like rooms, and we played in
+these cave-like holes.  One day, in the midst of
+our game, we found the skeleton of a great bear. 
+Evidently he had been wounded and came there
+to die, for there were several arrows on the floor
+of the cave.
+
+The most exciting event of this year was the
+attack that the Gros Ventres made upon us just
+as we moved our camp upon the table land back of
+the river in the spring.  We had plenty of meat
+then and everybody was happy.  The grass was
+beginning to appear and the ponies to grow fat.
+
+One night there was a war dance.  A few of
+our young men had planned to invade the Gros
+Ventres country, but it seemed that they too had
+been thinking of us.  Everybody was interested
+in the proposed war party.
+
+"Uncle, are you going too?" I eagerly asked
+him.
+
+"No," he replied, with a long sigh. "It is the
+worst time of year to go on the war-path.  We
+shall have plenty of fighting this summer, as we
+are going to trench upon their territory in our
+hunts," he added.
+
+The night was clear and pleasant.  The war
+drum was answered by the howls of coyotes on
+the opposite side of the Mouse river.  I was in
+the throng, watching the braves who were about
+to go out in search of glory.  "I wish I were old
+enough; I would surely go with this party," I
+thought.  My friend Tatanka was to go.  He
+was several years older than I, and a hero in my
+eyes.  I watched him as he danced with the rest
+until nearly midnight.  Then I came back to our
+teepee and rolled myself in my buffalo robe and
+was soon lost in sleep.
+
+Suddenly I was aroused by loud war cries. 
+"'Woo! woo! hay-ay! hay-ay! U we do! U we
+do!'" I jumped upon my feet, snatched my bow
+and arrows and rushed out of the teepee, franti-
+cally yelling as I went.
+
+"Stop! stop!" screamed Uncheedah, and caught
+me by my long hair.
+
+By this time the Gros Ventres had encircled our
+camp, sending volleys of arrows and bullets into
+our midst.  The women were digging ditches in
+which to put their children.
+
+My uncle was foremost in the battle.  The
+Sioux bravely withstood the assault, although
+several of our men had already fallen.  Many
+of the enemy were killed in the field around our
+teepees.  The Sioux at last got their ponies and
+made a counter charge, led by Oyemakasan (my
+uncle).  They cut the Gros Ventre party in two,
+and drove them off.
+
+My friend Tatanka was killed.  I took one of
+his eagle feathers, thinking I would wear it the
+first time that I ever went upon the war-path.  I
+thought I would give anything for the oppor-
+tunity to go against the Gros Ventres, because
+they killed my friend.  The war songs, the wail-
+ing for the dead, the howling of the dogs was
+intolerable to me.  Soon after this we broke up
+our camp and departed for new scenes.
+
+III: Wild Harvests
+
+WHEN our people lived in Min-
+nesota, a good part of their natur-
+al subsistence was furnished by
+the wild rice, which grew abun-
+dantly in all of that region.
+Around the shores and all over
+some of the innumerable lakes of the "Land of
+Sky-blue Water" was this wild cereal found.  In-
+deed, some of the watery fields in those days
+might be compared in extent and fruitfulness with
+the fields of wheat on Minnesota's magnificent
+farms to-day.
+
+The wild rice harvesters came in groups of fif-
+teen to twenty families to a lake, depending upon
+the size of the harvest.  Some of the Indians
+hunted buffalo upon the prairie at this season, but
+there were more who preferred to go to the lakes
+to gather wild rice, fish, gather berries and hunt the
+deer.  There was an abundance of water-fowls
+among the grain; and really no season of the year
+was happier than this.
+
+The camping-ground was usually an attractive
+spot, with shade and cool breezes off the water. 
+The people, while they pitched their teepees upon
+the heights, if possible, for the sake of a good out-
+look, actually lived in their canoes upon the placid
+waters.  The happiest of all, perhaps, were the
+young maidens, who were all day long in their
+canoes, in twos or threes, and when tired of gather-
+ing the wild cereal, would sit in the boats doing
+their needle-work.
+
+These maidens learned to imitate the calls of
+the different water-fowls as a sort of signal to the
+members of a group.  Even the old women and
+the boys adopted signals, so that while the popu-
+lation of the village was lost to sight in a thick
+field of wild rice, a meeting could be arranged
+without calling any one by his or her own name. 
+It was a great convenience for those young men
+who sought opportunity to meet certain maidens,
+for there were many canoe paths through the rice.
+
+August is the harvest month.  There were
+many preliminary feasts of fish, ducks and veni-
+son, and offerings in honor of the "Water Chief,"
+so that there might not be any drowning accident
+during the harvest. The preparation consisted
+of a series of feasts and offerings for many days,
+while women and men were making birch canoes,
+for nearly every member of the family must be
+provided with one for this occasion.  The blue-
+berry and huckleberry-picking also preceded the
+rice-gathering.
+
+There were social events which enlivened the
+camp of the harvesters; such as maidens' feasts,
+dances and a canoe regatta or two, in which not
+only the men were participants, but women and
+young girls as well.
+
+On the appointed day all the canoes were
+carried to the shore and placed upon the water
+with prayer and propitiatory offerings. Each
+family took possession of the allotted field, and
+tied all the grain in bundles of convenient size, al-
+lowing it to stand for a few days.  Then they
+again entered the lake, assigning two persons to
+each canoe.  One manipulated the paddle, while
+the foremost one gently drew the heads of each
+bundle toward him and gave it a few strokes with a
+light rod.  This caused the rice to fall into the
+bottom of the craft.  The field was traversed in
+this manner back and forth until finished.
+
+This was the pleasantest and easiest part of the
+harvest toil.  The real work was when they pre-
+pared the rice for use.  First of all, it must be
+made perfectly dry.  They would spread it upon
+buffalo robes and mats, and sometimes upon lay-
+ers of coarse swamp grass, and dry it in the sun. 
+If the time was short, they would make a scaffold
+and spread upon it a certain thickness of the green
+grass and afterward the rice.  Under this a fire
+was made, taking care that the grass did not catch
+fire.
+
+When all the rice is gathered and dried, the
+hulling begins.  A round hole is dug about two
+feet deep and the same in diameter.  Then the
+rice is heated over a fire-place, and emptied into
+the hole while it is hot.  A young man, having
+washed his feet and put on a new pair of mocca-
+sins, treads upon it until all is hulled.  The women
+then pour it upon a robe and begin to shake it so
+that the chaff will be separated by the wind.  Some
+of the rice is browned before being hulled.
+
+During the hulling time there were prizes of-
+fered to the young men who can hull quickest and
+best.  There were sometimes from twenty to fifty
+youths dancing with their feet in these holes.
+
+Pretty moccasins were brought by shy maidens
+to the youths of their choice, asking them to hull
+rice.  There were daily entertainments which de-
+served some such name as "hulling bee"--at any
+rate, we all enjoyed them hugely.  The girls
+brought with them plenty of good things to eat.
+
+When all the rice was prepared for the table,
+the matter of storing it must be determined. 
+Caches were dug by each family in a concealed
+spot, and carefully lined with dry grass and bark. 
+Here they left their surplus stores for a time of
+need.  Our people were very ingenious in cover-
+ing up all traces of the hidden food.  A common
+trick was to build a fire on top of the mound.  As
+much of the rice as could be carried conveniently
+was packed in par-fleches, or cases made of raw-
+hide, and brought back with us to our village.
+
+After all, the wild Indians could not be justly
+termed improvident, when their manner of life is
+taken into consideration.  They let nothing go to
+waste, and labored incessantly during the summer
+and fall to lay up provision for the inclement sea-
+son. Berries of all kinds were industriously
+gathered, and dried in the sun.  Even the wild
+cherries were pounded up, stones and all, made
+into small cakes and dried for use in soups and for
+mixing with the pounded jerked meat and fat to
+form a much-prized Indian delicacy.
+
+Out on the prairie in July and August the wo-
+men were wont to dig teepsinna with sharpened
+sticks, and many a bag full was dried and put
+away.  This teepsinna is the root of a certain plant
+growing mostly upon high sandy soil.  It is starchy
+but solid, with a sweetish taste, and is very fatten-
+ing.  The fully grown teepsinna is two or three
+inches long, and has a dark-brown bark not unlike
+the bark of a young tree.  It can be eaten raw or
+stewed, and is always kept in a dried state, except
+when it is first dug.
+
+There was another root that our people gath-
+ered in small quantities.  It is a wild sweet potato,
+found in bottom lands or river beds.
+
+The primitive housekeeper exerted herself much
+to secure a variety of appetizing dishes; she even
+robbed the field mouse and the muskrat to accom-
+plish her end.  The tiny mouse gathers for her
+winter use several excellent kinds of food.  Among
+these is a wild bean which equals in flavor any do-
+mestic bean that I have ever tasted.  Her storehouse
+is usually under a peculiar mound, which the un-
+trained eye would be unable to distinguish from
+an ant-hill.  There are many pockets underneath,
+into which she industriously gathers the harvest
+of the summer.
+
+She is fortunate if the quick eye of a native
+woman does not detect her hiding-place.  About
+the month of September, while traveling over the
+prairie, a woman is occasionally observed to halt
+suddenly and waltz around a suspected mound. 
+Finally the pressure of her heel causes a place to
+give way, and she settles contentedly down to rob
+the poor mouse of the fruits of her labor.
+
+The different kinds of beans are put away in
+different pockets, but it is the oomenechah she
+wants.  The field mouse loves this savory veget-
+able, for she always gathers it more than any other. 
+There is also some of the white star-like manak-
+cahkcah, the root of the wild lily.  This is a good
+medicine and good to eat.
+
+When our people were gathering the wild rice,
+they always watched for another plant that grows
+in the muddy bottom of lakes and ponds.  It is a
+white bulb about the size of an ordinary onion. 
+This is stored away by the muskrats in their houses
+by the waterside, and there is often a bushel or
+more of the psinchinchah to be found within.  It
+seemed as if everybody was good to the wild Indian;
+at least we thought so then.
+
+I have referred to the opportunities for courting
+upon the wild rice fields.  Indian courtship is very
+peculiar in many respects; but when you study
+their daily life you will see the philosophy of their
+etiquette of love-making.  There was no parlor
+courtship; the life was largely out-of-doors, which
+was very favorable to the young men
+
+In a nomadic life where the female members of
+the family have entire control of domestic affairs,
+the work is divided among them all.  Very often
+the bringing of the wood and water devolves upon
+the young maids, and the spring or the woods
+become the battle-ground of love's warfare.  The
+nearest water may be some distance from the camp,
+which is all the better.  Sometimes, too, there is
+no wood to be had; and in that case, one would
+see the young women scattered all over the prairie,
+gathering buffalo chips for fuel.
+
+This is the way the red men go about to induce
+the aboriginal maids to listen to their suit.  As soon
+as the youth has returned from the war-path or the
+chase, he puts on his porcupine-quill embroidered
+moccasins and leggings, and folds his best robe
+about him.  He brushes his long, glossy hair with
+a brush made from the tail of the porcupine, per-
+fumes it with scented grass or leaves, then arranges
+it in two plaits with an otter skin or some other or-
+nament.  If he is a warrior, he adds an eagle
+feather or two.
+
+If he chooses to ride, he takes his best pony. 
+He jumps upon its bare back, simply throwing a
+part of his robe under him to serve as a saddle,
+and holding the end of a lariat tied about the
+animal's neck.  He guides him altogether by the
+motions of his body.  These wily ponies seem to
+enter into the spirit of the occasion, and very often
+capture the eyes of the maid by their graceful
+movements, in perfect obedience to their master.
+
+The general custom is for the young men to pull
+their robes over their heads, leaving only a slit to
+look through.  Sometimes the same is done by the
+maiden--especially in public courtship.
+
+He approaches the girl while she is coming from
+the spring.  He takes up his position directly in
+her path.  If she is in a hurry or does not care to
+stop, she goes around him; but if she is willing to
+stop and listen she puts down on the ground the
+vessel of water she is carrying.
+
+Very often at the first meeting the maiden does
+not know who her lover is.  He does not introduce
+himself immediately, but waits until a second
+meeting.  Sometimes she does not see his face at
+all; and then she will try to find out who he is
+and what he looks like before they meet again.  If
+he is not a desirable suitor, she will go with her
+chaperon and end the affair there.
+
+There are times when maidens go in twos, and
+then there must be two young men to meet them.
+
+There is some courtship in the night time; either
+in the early part of the evening, on the outskirts
+of dances and other public affairs, or after every-
+body is supposed to be asleep.  This is the secret
+courtship.  The youth may pull up the tentpins
+just back of his sweetheart and speak with her
+during the night.  He must be a smart young man
+to do that undetected, for the grandmother, her
+chaperon, is usually "all ears."
+
+Elopements are common.  There are many
+reasons for a girl or a youth to defer their wedding. 
+It may be from personal pride of one or both.  The
+well-born are married publicly, and many things
+are given away in their honor.  The maiden may
+desire to attend a certain number of maidens' feasts
+before marrying.  The youth may be poor, or he
+may wish to achieve another honor before surren-
+dering to a woman.
+
+Sometimes a youth is so infatuated with a maid-
+en that he will follow her to any part of the country,
+
+even after their respective bands have separated for
+the season.  I knew of one such case.  Patah
+Tankah had courted a distant relative of my uncle
+for a long time.  There seemed to be some objec-
+tion to him on the part of the girl's parents, al-
+though the girl herself was willing.
+
+The large camp had been broken up for the fall
+hunt, and my uncle's band went one way, while
+the young man's family went in the other direction. 
+After three days' travelling, we came to a good
+hunting-ground, and made camp.  One evening
+somebody saw the young man.  He had been fol-
+lowing his sweetheart and sleeping out-of-doors
+all that time, although the nights were already
+frosty and cold. He met her every day in secret
+and she brought him food, but he would not come
+near the teepee.  Finally her people yielded, and
+she went back with him to his band.
+
+When we lived our natural life, there was much
+singing of war songs, medicine, hunting and love
+songs.  Sometimes there were few words or none,
+but everything was understood by the inflection. 
+From this I have often thought that there must
+be a language of dumb beasts.
+
+The crude musical instrument of the Sioux, the
+flute, was made to appeal to the susceptible ears of
+the maidens late into the night.  There comes to
+me now the picture of two young men with their
+robes over their heads, and only a portion of the
+hand-made and carved chotanka, the flute, protrud-
+ing from its folds.  I can see all the maidens slyly
+turn their heads to listen.  Now I hear one of
+the youths begin to sing a plaintive serenade as in
+days gone by:
+
+
+     "Hay-ay-ay! Hay-ay-ay! a-ahay-ay!" (This
+     "Listen! you will hear of him--
+     Maiden, you will hear of him--
+     Listen!  he will shortly go
+
+Wasula feels that she must come out, but she
+has no good excuse, so she stirs up the embers of
+the fire and causes an unnecessary smoke in the
+teepee.  Then she has an excuse to come out and
+fix up the tent flaps.  She takes a long time to ad-
+just these pointed ears of the teepee, with their
+long poles, for the wind seems to be unsettled.
+
+Finally Chotanka ceases to be heard. In a
+moment a young man appears ghost-like at the
+maiden's side.
+
+"So it is you, is it?" she asks.
+
+"Is your grandmother in?" he inquires.
+
+"What a brave man you are, to fear an old wo-
+man! We are free; the country is wide.  We
+can go away, and come back when the storm is
+over."
+
+"Ho," he replies. "It is not that I fear her,
+or the consequences of an elopement.  I fear noth-
+ing except that we may be separated!"
+
+The girl goes into the lodge for a moment, then
+slips out once more.  "Now," she exclaims, "to
+the wood or the prairie! I am yours!"  They dis-
+appear in the darkness.
+
+IV: A Meeting on the Plains
+
+WE were encamped at one time on
+the Souris or Mouse river, a tribu-
+tary of the Assiniboine.  The
+buffaloes were still plenty; hence
+we were living on the "fat of the
+land."  One afternoon a scout
+came in with the announcement that a body of
+United States troops was approaching! This re-
+port, of course, caused much uneasiness among
+our people.
+
+A council was held immediately, in the course
+of which the scout was put through a rigid exam-
+ination.  Before a decision had been reached, an-
+other scout came in from the field.  He declared
+that the moving train reported as a body of troops
+was in reality a train of Canadian carts.
+
+The two reports differed so widely that it was
+deemed wise to send out more runners to observe
+this moving body closely, and ascertain definitely
+its character.  These soon returned with the pos-
+itive information that the Canadians were at hand,
+"for," said they, "there are no bright metals in
+the moving train to send forth flashes of light. 
+The separate bodies are short, like carts with ponies,
+and not like the long, four-wheeled wagon drawn
+by four or six mules, that the soldiers use.  They
+are not buffaloes, and they cannot be mounted
+troops, with pack-mules, because the individual
+bodies are too long for that.  Besides, the soldiers
+usually have their chief, with his guards, leading
+the train; and the little chiefs are also separated
+from the main body and ride at one side!"
+
+From these observations it was concluded that
+we were soon to meet with the bois brules, as the
+French call their mixed-bloods, presumably from
+the color of their complexions.  Some say that
+they are named from the "burned forests" which,
+as wood-cutters, they are accustomed to leave be-
+hind them.  Two or three hours later, at about
+sunset, our ears began to distinguish the peculiar
+music that always accompanied a moving train of
+their carts. It is like the grunting and squealing
+of many animals, and is due to the fact that the
+wheels and all other parts of these vehicles are
+made of wood.  Our dogs gleefully augmented the
+volume of inharmonious sound.
+
+They stopped a little way from our camp, upon
+a grassy plain, and the ponies were made to wheel
+their clumsy burdens into a perfect circle, the
+shafts being turned inward.  Thus was formed a
+sort of barricade--quite a usual and necessary pre-
+caution in their nomadic and adventurous life.
+Within this circle the tents were pitched, and many
+cheerful fires were soon kindled.  The garcons
+were hurriedly driving the ponies to water, with
+much cracking of whips and outbursting of im-
+patient oaths.
+
+Our chief and his principal warriors briefly con-
+ferred with the strangers, and it was understood
+by both parties that no thought of hostilities lurked
+in the minds of either.
+
+After having observed the exchange of presents
+that always follows a "peace council," there were
+friendly and hospitable feasts in both camps.  The
+bois brules had been long away from any fort or
+trading-post, and it so happened that their inevi-
+table whiskey keg was almost empty.  They had
+diluted the few gills remaining with several large
+kettles full of water.  In order to have any sort of
+offensive taste, it was necessary to add cayenne
+pepper and a little gentian.
+
+Our men were treated to this concoction; and
+seeing that two or three of the half-breeds pre-
+tended to become intoxicated, our braves followed
+their example.  They made night intolerable with
+their shouts and singing until past midnight, when
+gradually all disturbance ceased, and both camps
+appeared to be wrapped in deep slumber.
+
+Suddenly the loud report of a gun stirred the
+sleepers.  Many more reports were heard in quick
+succession, all coming from the camp of the bois
+brules.  Every man among the Sioux sprang to his
+feet, weapon in hand, and many ran towards their
+ponies.  But there was one significant point about
+the untimely firing of the guns--they were all di-
+rected heavenward!  One of our old men, who
+understood better than any one else the manners
+of the half-breeds, thus proclaimed at the top of
+his voice:
+
+"Let the people sleep! This that we have
+heard is the announcement of a boy's advent into
+the world! It is their custom to introduce with
+gunpowder a new-born boy!"
+
+Again quiet was restored in the neighboring
+camps, and for a time the night reigned undis-
+turbed. But scarcely had we fallen into a sound
+sleep when we were for the second time rudely
+aroused by the firing of guns and the yelling of
+warriors.  This time it was discovered that almost
+all the ponies, including those of our neighbors,
+had been stealthily driven off by horse-thieves of
+another tribe.
+
+These miscreants were adepts in their profes-
+sion, for they had accomplished their purpose
+with much skill, almost under the very eyes of
+the foe, and had it not been for the invincible
+superstition of Slow Dog, they would have met
+with complete success.  As it was, they caused us
+no little trouble and anxiety, but after a hot pur-
+suit of a whole day, with the assistance of the half-
+breeds our horses were recaptured.
+
+Slow Dog was one of those Indians who are filled
+with conceit, and boasting loudly their pretensions
+as medicine men, without any success, only bring
+upon themselves an unnecessary amount of em-
+barrassment and ridicule.  Yet there is one quali-
+ty always possessed by such persons, among a
+savage people as elsewhere--namely, great perse-
+verance and tenacity in their self-assertion. So
+the blessing of ignorance kept Slow Dog always
+cheerful; and he seemed, if anything, to derive
+some pleasure from the endless insinuations and
+ridicule of the people!
+
+Now Slow Dog had loudly proclaimed, on the
+night before this event, that he had received the
+warning of a bad dream, in which he had seen all
+the ponies belonging to the tribe stampeded and
+driven westward.
+
+"But who cares for Slow Dog's dream?" said
+everybody; "none of the really great medicine men
+have had any such visions!"
+
+Therefore our little community, given as they
+were to superstition, anticipated no special danger. 
+It is true that when the first scout reported the
+approach of troops some of the people had weak-
+ened, and said to one another:
+
+"After all, perhaps poor Slow Dog may be right;
+but we are always too ready to laugh at him! "
+
+However, this feeling quickly passed away when
+the jovial Canadians arrived, and the old man was
+left alone to brood upon his warning.
+
+He was faithful to his dream.  During all the
+hilarity of the feast and the drinking of the mock
+whiskey, be acted as self-constituted sentinel. 
+Finally, when everybody else had succumbed to
+sleep, he gathered together several broken and
+discarded lariats of various materials--leather,
+buffalo's hair and horse's hair.  Having length-
+ened this variegated rope with innumerable knots,
+he fastened one end of it around the neck of his
+old war-horse, and tied the other to his wrist.  In-
+stead of sleeping inside the tent as usual, he rolled
+himself in a buffalo robe and lay down in its
+shadow.  From this place he watched until the
+moon had disappeared behind the western hori-
+zon; and just as the grey dawn began to appear
+in the east his eyes were attracted to what seemed
+to be a dog moving among the picketed ponies. 
+Upon a closer scrutiny, he saw that its actions
+were unnatural.
+
+"Toka abe do! toka abe do!" (the enemy! the
+enemy!) exclaimed Slow Dog.  With a war-
+whoop he sprang toward the intruder, who rose
+up and leaped upon the back of Slow Dog's war-
+steed.  He had cut the hobble, as well as the de-
+vice of the old medicine man.
+
+The Sioux now bent his bow to shoot, but it
+was too late.  The other quickly dodged behind
+the animal, and from under its chest he sent a
+deadly arrow to Slow Dog's bosom.  Then he re-
+mounted the pony and set off at full speed after
+his comrades, who had already started.
+
+As the Sioux braves responded to the alarm,
+and passed by the daring old warrior in pursuit of
+their enemies, who had stampeded most of the
+loose ponies, the old man cried out:
+
+"I, brave Slow Dog, who have so often made
+a path for you on the field of battle, am now
+about to make one to the land of spirits!"
+
+So speaking, the old man died.  The Sioux
+were joined in the chase by the friendly mixed-
+bloods, and in the end the Blackfeet were com-
+pelled to pay dearly for the blood of the poor old
+man.
+
+On that beautiful morning all Nature seemed
+brilliant and smiling, but the Sioux were mourn-
+ing and wailing for the death of one who had been
+an object of ridicule during most of his life.  They
+appreciated the part that Slow Dog had played in
+this last event, and his memory was honored by all
+the tribe.
+
+V: An Adventurous Journey
+
+IT must now be about thirty years
+since our long journey in search
+of new hunting-grounds, from the
+Assiniboine river to the Upper
+Missouri.  The buffalo, formerly
+so abundant between the two
+rivers, had begun to shun their usual haunts, on
+account of the great numbers of Canadian half-
+breeds in that part of the country.  There was
+also the first influx of English sportsmen, whose
+wholesale methods of destruction wrought such
+havoc with the herds.  These seemingly intelli-
+gent animals correctly prophesied to the natives
+the approach of the pale-face.
+
+As we had anticipated, we found game very
+scarce as we travelled slowly across the vast plains. 
+There were only herds of antelope and sometimes
+flocks of waterfowl, with here and there a lonely
+bull straggling aimlessly along.  At first our party
+was small, but as we proceeded on our way we fell
+in with some of the western bands of Sioux and
+Assiniboines, who are close connections.
+
+Each day the camp was raised and marched
+from ten to twenty miles.  One might wonder
+how such a cavalcade would look in motion.  The
+only vehicles were the primitive travaux drawn by
+ponies and large Esquimaux dogs.  These are
+merely a pair of shafts fastened on either side of
+the animal, and trailing on the ground behind.  A
+large basket suspended between the poles, just
+above the ground, supplied a place for goods and
+a safe nest for the babies, or an occasional helpless
+old woman.  Most of our effects were carried by
+pack ponies; and an Indian packer excels all oth-
+ers in quickness and dexterity.
+
+The train was nearly a mile long, headed by a
+number of old warriors on foot, who carried the
+filled pipe, and decided when and where to stop. 
+A very warm day made much trouble for the
+women who had charge of the moving household. 
+The pack dogs were especially unmanageable. 
+They would become very thirsty and run into the
+water with their loads.  The scolding of the women,
+the singing of the old men and the yelps of the
+Indian dudes made our progress a noisy one, and
+like that of a town in motion rather than an ord-
+inary company of travelers.
+
+This journey of ours was not without its excit-
+ing episodes.  My uncle had left the main body
+and gone off to the south with a small party, as
+he was accustomed to do every summer, to seek
+revenge of some sort on the whites for all the in-
+juries that they had inflicted upon our family. 
+This time he met with a company of soldiers be-
+tween Fort Totten and Fort Berthold, in North
+Dakota.  Somehow, these seven Indians surprised
+the troopers in broad daylight, while eating their
+dinner, and captured the whole outfit, including
+nearly all their mules and one white horse, with
+such of their provisions as they cared to carry back
+with them.  No doubt these soldiers reported at
+the fort that they had been attacked by a large
+party of Indians, and I dare say some promo-
+tions rewarded their tale of a brave defense!
+However, the facts are just as I have stated them. 
+My uncle brought home the white horse, and the
+fine Spanish mules were taken by the others. 
+Among the things they brought back with them
+were several loaves of raised bread, the first I had
+ever seen, and a great curiosity.  We called it
+aguyape tachangu, or lung bread, from its spongy
+consistency.
+
+Although when a successful war-party returns
+with so many trophies, there is usually much
+dancing and hilarity, there was almost nothing of
+the kind on this occasion.  The reason was that
+the enemy made little resistance; and then there
+was our old tradition with regard to the whites
+that there is no honor in conquering them, as
+they fight only under compulsion. Had there
+really been a battle, and some of our men been
+killed, there would have been some enthusiasm.
+
+It was upon this journey that a hunter per-
+formed the feat of shooting an arrow through
+three antelopes.  This statement may perhaps be
+doubted, yet I can vouch for its authenticity.  He
+was not alone at the time, and those who were
+with him are reliable witnesses.  The animals were
+driven upon a marshy peninsula, where they were
+crowded together and almost helpless.  Many
+were despatched with knives and arrows; and a
+man by the name of Grey-foot, who was large and
+tall and an extraordinarily fine hunter, actually
+sent his arrow through three of them. This feat
+was not accomplished by mere strength, for it re-
+quires a great deal of skill as well.
+
+A misfortune occurred near the river which de-
+prived us of one of our best young men.  There
+was no other man, except my own uncle, for whom
+I had at that time so great an admiration.  Very
+strangely, as it appeared to me, he bore a Chris-
+tian name.  He was commonly called Jacob.  I
+did not discover how he came by such a curious
+and apparently meaningless name until after I had
+returned to the United States.  His father had
+been converted by one of the early missionaries,
+before the Minnesota massacre in 1862, and the
+boy had been baptized Jacob.  He was an ideal
+woodsman and hunter and really a hero in my
+eyes.  He was one of the party of seven who had
+attacked and put to rout the white soldiers.
+
+The trouble arose thus.  Jacob had taken from
+the soldiers two good mules, and soon afterward
+we fell in with some Canadian half-breeds who
+were desirous of trading for them.  However, the
+young man would not trade; he was not at all dis-
+posed to part with his fine mules.  A certain one
+of the mixed-bloods was intent upon getting pos-
+session of these animals by fair or unfair means. 
+He invited Jacob to dinner, and treated him to
+whiskey; but the Indian youth declined the liquor. 
+The half-breed pretended to take this refusal to
+drink as an insult.  He seized his gun and shot
+his guest dead.
+
+In a few minutes the scene was one of almost
+unprecedented excitement.  Every adult Indian,
+female as well as male, was bent upon invading
+the camp of the bois brules, to destroy the mur-
+derer.  The confusion was made yet more intol-
+erable by the wailing of the women and the sing-
+ing of death-songs.
+
+Our number was now ten to one of the half-
+breeds.  Within the circle formed by their carts
+they prepared for a desperate resistance.  The hills
+about their little encampment were covered with
+warriors, ready to pounce upon them at the sig-
+nal of their chief.
+
+The older men, however, were discussing in
+council  what should be demanded of the half-
+breeds. It was determined that the murderer
+must be given up to us, to be punished accord-
+ing to the laws of the plains.  If, however, they
+should refuse to give him up, the mode of attack
+decided upon was to build a fire around the offen-
+ders and thus stampede their horses, or at the least
+divide their attention.  Meanwhile, the braves
+were to make a sudden onset.
+
+Just then a piece of white, newly-tanned deer-
+skin was hoisted up in the center of the bois brule
+encampment.  It was a flag of truce.  One of
+their number approached the council lodge, un-
+armed and making the sign for a peaceful com-
+munication.  He was admitted to the council,
+which was still in session, and offered to give up
+the murderer.  It was also proposed, as an alter-
+native, that he be compelled to give everything
+he had to the parents of the murdered man.
+
+The parents were allowed no voice whatever in
+the discussion which followed, for they were re-
+garded as incompetent judges, under the circum-
+stances.  It was finally decreed by the council
+that the man's life should be spared, but that he
+must be exposed to the indignity of a public whip-
+ping, and resign all his earthly possessions to the
+parents of his victim.  This sentence was carried
+into effect.
+
+In our nomadic life there were a few unwritten
+laws by which our people were governed.  There
+was a council, a police force, and an executive offi-
+cer, who was not always the chief, but a member
+of the tribe appointed to this position for a given
+number of days.  There were also the wise old
+men who were constantly in attendance at the
+council lodge, and acted as judges in the rare event
+of the commission of a crime.
+
+This simple government of ours was supported
+by the issue of little sticks about five inches long. 
+There were a hundred or so of these, and they
+were distributed every few days by the police or
+soldiers, who kept account of them.  Whoever
+received one of these sticks must return it within
+five or ten days, with a load of provisions.  If one
+was held beyond the stipulated time the police
+would call the delinquent warrior to account. In
+case he did not respond, they could come and de-
+stroy his tent or take away his weapons.  When
+all the sticks had been returned, they were re-
+issued to other men; and so the council lodge was
+supported.
+
+It was the custom that no man who had not
+distinguished himself upon the war-path could
+destroy the home of another.  This was a neces-
+sary qualification for the office of an Indian police-
+man.  These policemen must also oversee the hunt,
+lest some individuals should be well provided
+with food while others were in want.  No man
+might hunt independently.  The game must be
+carefully watched by the game scouts, and the dis-
+covery of a herd reported at once to the council,
+after which the time and manner of the hunt were
+publicly announced.
+
+I well recall how the herald announced the near
+approach of buffaloes.  It was supposed that if the
+little boys could trip up the old man while going
+his rounds, the success of the hunt was assured. 
+The oftener he was tripped, the more successful it
+would be!  The signal or call for buffaloes was
+a peculiar whistle.  As soon as the herald appeared,
+all the boys would give the whistle and follow in
+crowds after the poor old man.  Of course he tried
+to avoid them, but they were generally too quick
+for him.
+
+There were two kinds of scouts, for hunting and
+for war. In one sense every Indian was a scout;
+but there were some especially appointed to serve
+for a certain length of time.  An Indian might
+hunt every day, besides the regularly organized
+hunt; but he was liable to punishment at any time. 
+If he could kill a solitary buffalo or deer without
+disturbing the herd, it was allowed.  He might
+also hunt small game.
+
+In the movable town under such a government
+as this, there was apt to be inconvenience and ac-
+tual suffering, since a great body of people were
+supported only by the daily hunt.  Hence there
+was a constant disposition to break up into smaller
+parties, in order to obtain food more easily and
+freely.  Yet the wise men of the Dakotas would
+occasionally form large bands of from two to five
+thousand people, who camped and moved about
+together for a period of some months. It is ap-
+parent that so large a body could not be easily sup-
+plied with the necessaries of life; but, on the other
+hand, our enemies respected such a gathering! Of
+course the nomadic government would do its ut-
+most to hold together as long as possible. The
+police did all they could to keep in check those
+parties who were intent upon stealing away.
+
+There were many times, however, when individ-
+ual bands and even families were justified in seek-
+ing to separate themselves from the rest, in order
+to gain a better support.  It was chiefly by reason
+of this food question that the Indians never estab-
+lished permanent towns or organized themselves
+into a more formidable nation.
+
+There was a sad misfortune which, although it
+happened many generations ago, was familiarly
+quoted among us.  A certain band became very
+independent and unruly; they went so far as to
+wilfully disobey the orders of the general govern-
+ment.  The police were directed to punish the
+leader severely; whereupon the rest defended
+him and resisted the police.  But the latter were
+competent to enforce their authority, and as a re-
+sult the entire band was annihilated.
+
+One day, as we were following along the bank
+of the Upper Missouri, there appeared to be a
+great disturbance at the head of the cavalcade--so
+much so that we thought our people had been
+attacked by a war-party of the Crows or some of
+the hostile tribes of that region.  In spite of the
+danger, even the women and children hurried for-
+ward to join the men--that is to say, as many as
+were not upon the hunt.  Most of the warriors
+were out, as usual, and only the large boys and the
+old men were travelling with the women and their
+domestic effects and little ones.
+
+As we approached the scene of action, we heard
+loud shouts and the report of fire-arms; but our
+party was scattered along for a considerable dis-
+tance, and all was over before we could reach the
+spot. It was a great grizzly bear who had been
+bold enough to oppose, single-handed, the progress
+of several hundred Indians.  The council-men,
+who usually walked a little in advance of the train,
+were the first to meet the bear, and he was prob-
+ably deceived by the sight of this advance body,
+and thus audaciously defied them.
+
+Among these council-men--all retired chiefs
+and warriors whose ardent zeal for the display of
+courage had long been cooled, and whose present
+duties were those of calm deliberation for their
+people's welfare--there were two old, distinguished
+war-chiefs. Each of these men still carried his
+war-lance, wrapped up in decorated buckskin.  As
+the bear advanced boldly toward them, the two old
+men promptly threw off their robes--an evidence
+that there still lurked within their breasts the spirit
+of chivalry and ready courage. Spear in hand,
+they both sprang forward to combat with the fe-
+rocious animal, taking up their positions about ten
+feet apart.
+
+As they had expected, the fearful beast, after
+getting up on his haunches and growling savagely,
+came forward with widely opened jaws.  He fixed
+his eyes upon the left-hand man, who was ready
+to meet him with uplifted spear, but with one
+stroke of his powerful paw the weapon was sent to
+the ground.  At the same moment the right-hand
+man dealt him a stab that penetrated the grizzly's
+side.
+
+The bear uttered a groan not unlike that of a
+man, and seized the spear so violently that its
+owner was thrown to the ground.  As the animal
+drew the lance from its body, the first man, having
+recovered his own, stabbed him with it on the
+other side.  Upon this, he turned and knocked
+the old man down, and again endeavored to extract
+the spear.
+
+By this time all the dogs and men were at hand. 
+Many arrows and balls were sent into the tough
+hide of the bear.  Yet he would probably have
+killed both his assailants, had it not been for the
+active small dogs who were constantly upon his
+heels and annoying him.  A deadly rifle shot at
+last brought him down.
+
+The old men were badly bruised and torn, but
+both of them recovered, to bear from that day the
+high-sounding titles of "Fought-the-Bear" and
+"Conquered-the-Grizzly."
+
+
+
+XI
+The Laughing Philosopher
+
+THERE is scarcely anything so
+exasperating to me as the idea
+that the natives of this country
+have no sense of humor and no
+faculty for mirth.  This phase
+of their character is well under-
+stood by those whose fortune or misfortune it has
+been to live among them day in and day out at
+their homes.  I don't believe I ever heard a real
+hearty laugh away from the Indians' fireside.  I
+have often spent an entire evening in laughing with
+them until I could laugh no more.  There are
+evenings when the recognized wit or story-teller
+of the village gives a free entertainment which
+keeps the rest of the community in a convulsive
+state until he leaves them.  However, Indian
+humor consists as much in the gestures and in-
+flections of the voice as in words, and is really un-
+translatable.
+
+Matogee (Yellow Bear) was a natural humorous
+speaker, and a very diffident man at other times.
+He usually said little, but when he was in the
+mood he could keep a large company in a roar. 
+This was especially the case whenever he met his
+brother-in-law, Tamedokah.
+
+It was a custom with us Indians to joke more
+particularly with our brothers- and sisters-in-law. 
+But no one ever complained, or resented any of
+these jokes, however personal they might be. 
+That would be an unpardonable breach of eti-
+quette.
+
+"Tamedokah, I heard that you tried to capture
+a buck by holding on to his tail," said Matogee,
+laughing.  "I believe that feat cannot be per-
+formed any more; at least, it never has been since
+the pale-face brought us the knife, the 'mysterious
+iron,' and the pulverized coal that makes bullets
+fly.  Since our ancestors hunted with stone knives
+and hatchets, I say, that has never been done."
+
+The fact was that Tamedokah had stunned a
+buck that day while hunting, and as he was about
+to dress him the animal got up and attempted to
+run, whereupon the Indian launched forth to se-
+cure his game.  He only succeeded in grasping the
+tail of the deer, and was pulled about all over the
+meadows and the adjacent woods until the tail
+came off in his hands.  Matogee thought this
+too good a joke to be lost.
+
+I sat near the door of the tent, and thoroughly
+enjoyed the story of the comical accident.
+
+"Yes," Tamedokah quietly replied, "I thought
+I would do something to beat the story of the
+man who rode a young elk, and yelled frantically
+for help, crying like a woman."
+
+"Ugh! that was only a legend," retorted Ma-
+togee, for it was he who was the hero of this tale
+in his younger days.  "But this is a fresh feat of
+to-day.  Chankpayuhah said he could not tell
+which was the most scared, the buck or you," he
+continued.  "He said the deer's eyes were bulg-
+ing out of their sockets, while Tamedokah's
+mouth was constantly enlarging toward his ears,
+and his hair floated on the wind, shaking among
+the branches of the trees.  That will go down
+with the traditions of our fathers," he concluded
+with an air of satisfaction.
+
+"It was a singular mishap," admitted Tame-
+dokah.
+
+The pipe had been filled by Matogee and passed
+to Tamedokah good-naturedly, still with a broad
+smile on his face.  "It must be acknowledged,"
+he resumed, "that you have the strongest kind of
+a grip, for no one else could hold on as long as you
+did, and secure such a trophy besides.  That tail
+will do for an eagle feather holder."
+
+By this time the teepee was packed to over-
+flowing. Loud laughter had been heard is-
+suing from the lodge of Matogee, and every-
+body suspected that he had something good, so
+many had come to listen.
+
+"I think we should hear the whole matter,"
+said one of the late comers.
+
+The teepee was brightly lit by the burning em-
+bers, and all the men were sitting with their knees
+up against their chests, held in that position by
+wrapping their robes tightly around loins and
+knees.  This fixed them something in the fashion
+of a rocking-chair.
+
+"Well, no one saw him except Chankpayu-
+hah," Matogee remarked.
+
+"Yes, yes, he must tell us about it," exclaimed
+a chorus of voices.
+
+"This is what I saw," the witness began.  "I
+was tracking a buck and a doe.  As I approached
+a small opening at the creek side 'boom !' came
+a report of the mysterious iron. I remained in
+a stooping position, hoping to see a deer cross the
+opening.  In this I was not disappointed, for im-
+mediately after the report a fine buck dashed forth
+with Tamedokah close behind him.  The latter
+was holding on to the deer's tail with both hands
+and his knife was in his mouth, but it soon dropped
+out.  'Tamedokah,' I shouted, 'haven't you got
+hold of the wrong animal?' but as I spoke they
+disappeared into the woods.
+
+"In a minute they bothappeared again, and
+then it was that I began to laugh. I could not
+stop.  It almost killed me.  The deer jumped the
+longest jumps I ever saw.  Tamedokah walked
+the longest paces and was very swift. His hair
+was whipping the trees as they went by. Water
+poured down his face. I stood bent forward be-
+cause I could not straighten my back-bone, and
+was ready to fall when they again disappeared.
+
+"When they came out for the third time it
+seemed as if the woods and the meadow were mov-
+ing too.  Tamedokah skipped across the opening
+as if he were a grasshopper learning to hop.  I
+fell down.
+
+"When I came to he was putting water on my
+face and head, but when I looked at him I fell
+again, and did not know anything until the sun
+had passed the mid-sky.
+
+The company was kept roaring all the way
+through this account, while Tamedokah himself
+heartily joined in the mirth.
+
+"Ho, ho, ho!" they said; "he has made his
+name famous in our annals.  This will be told of
+him henceforth."
+
+"It reminds me of Chadozee's bear story," said
+one.
+
+"His was more thrilling, because it was really
+dangerous," interposed another.
+
+"You can tell it to us, Bobdoo," remarked a
+third.
+
+The man thus addressed made no immediate
+reply.  He was smoking contentedly.  At last he
+silently returned the pipe to Matogee, with whom
+it had begun its rounds.  Deliberately he tight-
+ened his robe around him, saying as he did
+so:
+
+"Ho (Yes).  I was with him.  It was by a
+very little that he saved his life. I will tell you
+how it happened.
+
+"I was hunting with these two men, Nageedah
+and Chadozee.  We came to some wild cherry
+bushes. I began to eat of the fruit when I saw a
+large silver-tip crawling toward us. 'Look out!
+there is a grizzly here,' I shouted, and I ran my
+pony out on to the prairie; but the others had
+already dismounted.
+
+"Nageedah had just time to jump upon his
+pony and get out of the way, but the bear seized
+hold of his robe and pulled it off.  Chado-
+zee stood upon the verge of a steep bank, below
+which there ran a deep and swift-flowing stream.
+The bear rushed upon him so suddenly that when
+he took a step backward, they both fell into the
+creek together.  It was a fall of about twice the
+height of a man."
+
+"Did they go out of sight?" some one in-
+quired.
+
+"Yes, both fell headlong.  In his excitement
+Chadozee laid hold of the bear in the water, and I
+never saw a bear try so hard to get away from a
+man as this one did."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha! ha, ha, ha!" they all laughed.
+
+"When they came to the surface again they
+were both so eager to get to the shore that each
+let go, and they swam as quickly as they could to
+opposite sides.  Chadozee could not get any further,
+so he clung to a stray root, still keeping a close
+watch of the bear, who was forced to do the same. 
+There they both hung, regarding each other with
+looks of contempt and defiance."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha! ha, ha, ha!" they all laughed
+again.
+
+"At last the bear swam along the edge to a
+lower place, and we pulled Chadozee up by means
+of our lariats.  All this time he had been groan-
+ing so loud that we supposed he was badly torn;
+but when I looked for his wounds I found a mere
+scratch."
+
+Again the chorus of appreciation from his
+hearers.
+
+"The strangest thing about this affair of mine,"
+spoke up Tamedokah, "is that I dreamed the
+whole thing the night before."
+
+"There are some dreams come true, and I am
+a believer in dreams," one remarked.
+
+"Yes, certainly, so are we all.  You know
+Hachah almost lost his life by believing in
+dreams," commented Matogee.
+
+"Let us hear that story," was the general re-
+quest.
+
+"You have all heard of Hachah, the great
+medicine man, who did many wonderful things. 
+He once dreamed four nights in succession of fly-
+ing from a high cliff over the Minnesota river. 
+He recollected every particular of the scene, and
+it made a great impression upon his mind.
+
+"The next day after he had dreamed it for the
+fourth time, he proposed to his wife that they go
+down to the river to swim, but his real purpose
+was to see the place of his dream.
+
+"He did find the place, and it seemed to Ha-
+chah exactly like.  A crooked tree grew out of
+the top of the cliff, and the water below was very
+deep."
+
+"Did he really fly?" I called impatiently from
+the doorway, where I had been listening and laugh-
+ing with the rest.
+
+"Ugh, that is what I shall tell you.  He was
+swimming about with his wife, who was a fine
+swimmer; but all at once Hachah disappeared. 
+Presently he stood upon the very tree that he had
+seen in his dream, and gazed out over the water. 
+The tree was very springy, and Hachah felt sure
+that he could fly; so before long he launched
+bravely forth from the cliff.  He kicked out vigor-
+ously and swung both arms as he did so, but
+nevertheless he came down to the bottom of the
+water like a crow that had been shot on the wing."
+
+"Ho, ho, ho! Ho, ho, ho!" and the whole
+company laughed unreservedly.
+
+"His wife screamed loudly as Hachah whirled
+downward and went out of sight like a blue heron
+after a fish.  Then she feared he might be stunned,
+so she swam to him and dragged him to the
+shore.  He could not speak, but the woman over-
+whelmed him with reproaches.
+
+"'What are you trying to do, you old idiot?
+Do you want to kill yourself?' she screamed
+again and again.
+
+"'Woman, be silent,' he replied, and he said
+nothing more.  He did not tell his dream for
+many years afterward.  Not until he was a very
+old man and about to die, did Hachah tell any one
+how he thought he could fly."
+
+And at this they all laughed louder than ever.
+
+
+XII
+First Impressions of Civilization
+
+I WAS scarcely old enough to know
+anything definite about the "Big
+Knives," as we called the white
+men, when the terrible Minnesota
+massacre broke up our home and
+I was carried into exile. I have al-
+ready told how I was adopted into the family of
+my father's younger brother, when my father was
+betrayed and imprisoned.  We all supposed that
+he had shared the fate of those who were executed
+at Mankato, Minnesota.
+
+Now the savage philosophers looked upon ven-
+geance in the field of battle as a lofty virtue.  To
+avenge the death of a relative or of a dear friend
+was considered a great deed. My uncle, accord-
+ingly, had spared no pains to instill into my young
+mind the obligation to avenge the death of my
+father and my older brothers.  Already I looked
+eagerly forward to the day when I should find an
+opportunity to carry out his teachings.  Mean-
+while, he himself went upon the war-path and re-
+turned with scalps every summer.  So it may be
+imagined how I felt toward the Big Knives!
+
+On the other hand, I had heard marvelous things
+of this people.  In some things we despised them;
+in others we regarded them as wakan (mysterious),
+a race whose power bordered upon the superna-
+tural.  I learned that they had made a "fire-
+boat."  I could not understand how they could
+unite two elements which cannot exist together.  I
+thought the water would put out the fire, and the
+fire would consume the boat if it had the shadow of
+a chance.  This was to me a preposterous thing!
+But when I was told that the Big Knives had cre-
+ated a "fire-boat-walks-on-mountains" (a loco-
+motive) it was too much to believe.
+
+"Why," declared my informant, "those who
+saw this monster move said that it flew from moun-
+tain to mountain when it seemed to be excited. 
+They said also that they believed it carried a
+thunder-bird, for they frequently heard his usual
+war-whoop as the creature sped along!"
+
+Several warriors had observed from a distance
+one of the first trains on the Northern Pacific, and
+had gained an exaggerated impression of the won-
+ders of the pale-face.  They had seen it go over a
+bridge that spanned a deep ravine and it seemed
+
+First Impressions of Civilization      281
+
+to them that it jumped from one bank to the other. 
+I confess that the story almost quenched my ardor
+and bravery.
+
+Two or three young men were talking together
+about this fearful invention.
+
+"However," said one, "I understand that this
+fire-boat-walks-on-mountains cannot move except
+on the track made for it."
+
+Although a boy is not expected to join in the con-
+versation of his elders, I ventured to ask: "Then
+it cannot chase us into any rough country?"
+
+"No, it cannot do that," was the reply, which
+I heard with a great deal of relief.
+
+I had seen guns and various other things
+brought to us by the French Canadians, so that I
+had already some notion of the supernatural gifts
+of the white man; but I had never before heard
+such tales as I listened to that morning. It was
+said that they had bridged the Missouri and Miss-
+issippi rivers, and that they made immense houses
+of stone and brick, piled on top of one another
+until they were as high as high hills.  My brain
+was puzzled with these things for many a day. 
+Finally I asked my uncle why the Great Mystery
+gave such power to the Washechu (the rich)--
+sometimes we called them by this name--and not
+to us Dakotas.
+
+For the same reason," he answered, "that he
+gave to Duta the skill to make fine bows and ar-
+rows, and to Wachesne no skill to make anything."
+
+"And why do the Big Knives increase so much
+more in number than the Dakotas?" I continued.
+
+"It has been said, and I think it must be true,
+that they have larger families than we do. I went
+into the house of an Eashecha (a German), and I
+counted no less than nine children.  The eldest
+of them could not have been over fifteen.  When
+my grandfather first visited them, down at the
+mouth of the Mississippi, they were comparative-
+ly few; later my father visited their Great Father
+at Washington, and they had already spread over
+the whole country."
+
+"Certainly they are a heartless nation.  They
+have made some of their people servants--yes,
+slaves! We have never believed in keeping
+slaves, but it seems that these Washechu do! It
+is our belief that they painted their servants black
+a long time ago, to tell them from the rest, and
+now the slaves have children born to them of the
+same color!
+
+"The greatest object of their lives seems to be
+to acquire possessions--to be rich. They desire
+to possess the whole world. For thirty years
+they were trying to entice us to sell them our
+
+First Impressions of Civilization  283
+
+land. Finally the outbreak gave them all, and
+we have been driven away from our beautiful
+country.
+
+"They are a wonderful people.  They have
+divided the day into hours, like the moons of the
+year.  In fact, they measure everything.  Not
+one of them would let so much as a turnip go
+from his field unless he received full value for it. 
+I understand that their great men make a feast
+and invite many, but when the feast is over the
+guests are required to pay for what they have
+eaten before leaving the house.  I myself saw at
+White Cliff (the name given to St. Paul, Minne-
+sota) a man who kept a brass drum and a bell to
+call people to his table; but when he got them in
+he would make them pay for the food!
+
+"I am also informed," said my uncle, "but this
+I hardly believe, that their Great Chief (President)
+compels every man to pay him for the land he
+lives upon and all his personal goods--even for
+his own existence--every year!" (This was his
+idea of taxation.)  "I am sure we could not live
+under such a law.
+
+"When the outbreak occurred, we thought
+that our opportunity had come, for we had
+learned that the Big Knives were fighting among
+themselves, on account of a dispute over their
+slaves.  It was said that the Great Chief had al-
+lowed slaves in one part of the country and not in
+another, so there was jealousy, and they had to
+fight it out.  We don't know how true this was.
+
+"There were some praying-men who came to
+us some time before the trouble arose.  They ob-
+served every seventh day as a holy day. On
+that day they met in a house that they had built
+for that purpose, to sing, pray, and speak of their
+Great Mystery.  I was never in one of these
+meetings.  I understand that they had a large
+book from which they read.  By all accounts
+they were very different from all other white men
+we have known, for these never observed any
+such day, and we never knew them to pray, neither
+did they ever tell us of their Great Mystery.
+
+"In war they have leaders and war-chiefs of
+different grades.  The common warriors are driv-
+en forward like a herd of antelopes to face the foe. 
+It is on account of this manner of fighting--from
+compulsion and not from personal bravery--that
+we count no coup on them.  A lone warrior can
+do much harm to a large army of them in a bad
+country."
+
+It was this talk with my uncle that gave me my
+first clear idea of the white man.
+
+I was almost fifteen years old when my uncle
+
+
+  First Impressions of  Civilization  285
+
+presented me with a flint-lock gun.  The posses-
+sion of the "mysterious iron," and the explosive
+dirt, or "pulverized coal," as it is called, filled me
+with new thoughts.  All the war-songs that I had
+ever heard from childhood came back to me with
+their heroes.  It seemed as if I were an entirely
+new being--the boy had become a man!
+
+"I am now old enough," said I to myself, "and
+I must beg my uncle to take me with him on his
+next war-path.  I shall soon be able to go among
+the whites whenever I wish, and to avenge the
+blood of my father and my brothers."
+
+I had already begun to invoke the blessing of
+the Great Mystery.  Scarcely a day passed that I
+did not offer up some of my game, so that he
+might not be displeased with me.  My people saw
+very little of me during the day, for in solitude I
+found the strength I needed.  I groped about in
+the wilderness, and determined to assume my po-
+sition as a man.  My boyish ways were depart-
+ing, and a sullen dignity and composure was taking
+their place.
+
+The thought of love did not hinder my ambi-
+tions.  I had a vague dream of some day courting
+a pretty maiden, after I had made my reputation,
+and won the eagle feathers.
+
+One day, when I was away on the daily hunt,
+two strangers from the United States visited our
+camp.  They had boldly ventured across the
+northern border.  They were Indians, but clad in
+the white man's garments.  It was as well that I
+was absent with my gun.
+
+My father, accompanied by an Indian guide,
+after many days' searching had found us at last. 
+He had been imprisoned at Davenport, Iowa, with
+those who took part in the massacre or in the bat-
+tles following, and he was taught in prison and
+converted by the pioneer missionaries, Drs. Wil-
+liamson and Riggs.  He was under sentence of
+death, but was among the number against whom
+no direct evidence was found, and who were finally
+pardoned by President Lincoln.
+
+When he was released, and returned to the new
+reservation upon the Missouri river, he soon be-
+came convinced that life on a government reserva-
+tion meant physical and moral degradation.  There-
+fore he determined, with several others, to try the
+white man's way of gaining a livelihood.  They ac-
+cordingly left the agency against the persuasions of
+the agent, renounced all government assistance,
+and took land under the United States Homestead
+law, on the Big Sioux river.  After he had made
+his home there, he desired to seek his lost child. 
+It was then a dangerous undertaking to cross the
+
+First Impressions of Civilization   287
+
+line, but his Christian love prompted him to do it. 
+He secured a good guide, and found his way in
+time through the vast wilderness.
+
+As for me, I little dreamed of anything un-
+usual to happen on my return.  As I approached
+our camp with my game on my shoulder, I had
+not the slightest premonition that I was suddenly
+to be hurled from my savage life into a life un-
+known to me hitherto.
+
+When I appeared in sight my father, who had
+patiently listened to my uncle's long account of
+my early life and training, became very much ex-
+cited.  He was eager to embrace the child who,
+as he had just been informed, made it already the
+object of his life to avenge his father's blood. 
+The loving father could not remain in the teepee
+and watch the boy coming, so he started to meet
+him.  My uncle arose to go with his brother to
+insure his safety.
+
+My face burned with the unusual excitement
+caused by the sight of a man wearing the Big
+Knives' clothing and coming toward me with my
+uncle.
+
+"What does this mean, uncle?"
+
+"My boy, this is your father, my brother,
+whom we mourned as dead.  He has come for
+you."
+
+My father added: "I am glad that my son is
+strong and brave.  Your brothers have adopted
+the white man's way; I came for you to learn
+this new way, too; and I want you to grow up a
+good man."
+
+He had brought me some civilized clothing,
+At first, I disliked very much to wear garments
+made by the people I had hated so bitterly.  But
+the thought that, after all, they had not killed my
+father and brothers, reconciled me, and I put on
+the clothes.
+
+In a few days we started for the States. I felt
+as if I were dead and traveling to the Spirit Land;
+for now all my old ideas were to give place to new
+ones, and my life was to be entirely different from
+that of the past.
+
+Still, I was eager to see some of the wonderful
+inventions of the white people.  When we
+reached Fort Totten, I gazed about me with live-
+ly interest and a quick imagination.
+
+My father had forgotten to tell me that the
+fire-boat-walks-on-mountains had its track at James-
+town, and might appear at any moment.  As
+I was watering the ponies, a peculiar shrilling
+noise pealed forth from just beyond the hills. 
+The ponies threw back their heads and listened;
+then they ran snorting over the prairie.  Mean-
+
+First Impressions of Civilization  289
+
+while, I too had taken alarm.  I leaped on the
+back of one of the ponies, and dashed off at
+full speed.  It was a clear day; I could not imagine
+what had caused such an unearthly noise.  It
+seemed as if the world were about to burst in two!
+
+I got upon a hill as the train appeared. "O!"
+I said to myself, "that is the fire-boat-walks-
+on-mountains that I have heard about!" Then
+I drove back the ponies.
+
+My father was accustomed every morning to
+read from his Bible, and sing a stanza of a hymn. 
+I was about very early with my gun for several
+mornings; but at last he stopped me as I was
+preparing to go out, and bade me wait.
+
+I listened with much astonishment.  The hymn
+contained the word Jesus.  I did not comprehend
+what this meant; and my father then told me that
+Jesus was the Son of God who came on earth to
+save sinners, and that it was because of him that
+he had sought me. This conversation made a
+deep impression upon my mind.
+
+Late in the fall we reached the citizen settle-
+ment at Flandreau, South Dakota, where my
+father and some others dwelt among the whites. 
+Here my wild life came to an end, and my school
+days began.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Indian Boyhood, by Charles Eastman
+