chief luther standing bear-stories of the sioux -university of nebraska press (1988)

title: Stories of the Sioux

author:Standing Bear, Luther.;Stoops, Herbert Morton.

publisher: University of Nebraska Press

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isbn10 | asin: 0803291876print isbn13: 9780803291874

ebook isbn13: 9780585313009language: English

subject

Teton Indians--Folklore,Dakota Indians--Folklore, In-dians of North America--Great Plains--Folklore.

publication date: 1988lcc: E99.T34S73 1988eb

ddc: 398.2/08997

subject:

Teton Indians--Folklore,Dakota Indians--Folklore, In-dians of North America--Great Plains--Folklore.

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Page i

Stories of the Sioux

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The Story-Teller

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Stories of the Sioux

ByChief Luther Standing Bear

With Illustrations byHerbert Morton Stoops

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Copyright 1934 by Luther Standing BearCopyright © renewed 1961 by May M. JonesAll rights reservedManufactured in the United States of America

First Bison Book printing: 1988Most recent printing indicated by the first digit below:

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Standing Bear, Luther, 1868?1939.Stories of the Sioux / by Luther Standing Bear; withillustrations by Herbert Morton Stoops.p. cm."Bison."Reprint. Originally published: Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934.ISBN 0-8032-4194-1. ISBN 0-8032-9187-6 (pbk.)1. Teton IndiansLegends. 2. Dakota IndiansLegends.3. Indians of North AmericaGreat PlainsLegends. I. Stoops,Herbert Morton. II. Title.E99.T34S73 1988398.2'08997dc 19 88-12221 CIP

Reprinted by arrangement with Dolores Miller Nyerges andAnita Miller Melbo

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Preface

The Sioux people have many stories which aretold by the older ones in the tribe to the younger.Many main events and historical happenings ofthe tribe are told as stories and in this way thehistory of the people is recorded. These storieswere not told, however, with the idea of forcingthe children to learn, but for pleasure, and theywere enjoyed by young and old alike. Some ofthese stories I have heard repeated many times.Others I have heard only once, but these I re-member just as well. Perhaps it is because an In-dian child is trained to use his ears carefully thathis memory is so reliable.

These stories were not always told by the camp-fire during the long winter evenings, but at anytime and at any place whenever and whereeverthe teller and the audience were in the mood.Sometimes it was Grandmother who sat on theground, perhaps with a small stick or drawing-pencil in her hand, drawing designs on the earth

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as she told a story that she had known ever sinceshe was a child herself. The children wouldcluster around her, either lying or squatting onthe ground listening.

Sometimes Grandfather or Great-Grandfatherwas the story-teller as he sat and smoked atnoonday. Even when on the march, if all wereenjoying an afternoon rest and someone felt inthe humor, a story would be related and en-joyed. So story-telling was in order with theSioux at any and all times.

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Contents

I. The Old Woman who Lived with the Wolves 3

II. How the Medicine-Man Found the Lost Horses 10

III. The Arrow-Thrower 14

IV. The Hunter who was Saved by Eagles 20

V. The Deer Dreamer 26

VI. The Leap of Hawk Dreamer 28

VII. Standing Bear's Horse 32

VIII. Crow Butte 37

IX. Thunder Dreamer the Medicine-Man 41

X. Buffalo Brothers 44

XI. The Snow Woman 48

XII. The Singing Colt 51

XIII. The Woman who Killed the Owl 55

XIV. Grandmother and the Bear 58

XV. The Faithful Horse 61

XVI. The Magic Tree 65

XVII. The Year of the Buffalo 68

XVIII. The Holy Dog 71

XIX. Thunder Horse 75

XX. The First Fire 77

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Illustrations

The Story-Teller Frontispiece

His Arm Rose High for a Distance Flight 18

The Eagles Spread Their Strong Young Wings 24

The Enemy Saw the White Figure of Hawk Dreamer Fly through the Air 30

There Below Him . . . Stood a Lone Buffalo 34

These Warriors Ride Wildly about On the Black Clouds 42

Not Until the Fur Hood Dropped . . . Could Big Turkey See That He Had Strucka Woman

48

The Astonishment of the Young Warrior . . . Turned to Gladness 62

The Head of This Strange Animal was Not Shaggy Like That of the Buffalo 72

These illustrations were made from notes supplied in sketch form by Yellow Bird of theOglala Sioux.

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IThe Old Woman Who Lived with theWolves.

The Sioux were a people who traveled aboutfrom place to place a great deal within the bor-ders of their own country. They did not trespassupon the territory of their neighbor Indians, butliked to make their home first here and thenthere upon their own ground, just as theypleased. It was not like moving from one strangetown to another, but wherever they settled it washome. Taking down and putting up the tipis wasnot hard for them to do.

The reasons for their moving were many. Per-haps the grass for their ponies ran short, or thewater in the creek became low. Maybe the gamehad gone elsewhere, and maybe the people justmoved the camp to a fresh green spot, for the

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Sioux loved pure water, pure air, and a cleanplace on which to put their tipis.

One day, long ago, a Sioux village was on themarch. There were many people in the party,and many children. A great number of horsescarried the tipis, and herds of racing and warhorses were being taken care of by the youngmen. In this crowd was a young woman whocarried with her a pet dog. The dog was youngand playful, just past the puppy age. The youngwoman was very fond of her pet, as she hadcared for it since it was a wee little thing witheyes still closed. She romped along with thepup, and the way seemed short because sheplayed with it and with the young folks whennot busy helping her mother with the packingand unpacking.

One evening Marpiyawin missed her dog. Shelooked and she called, but he was not to befound. Perhaps someone liked her playful petand was keeping him concealed, but after asearch she became satisfied that no one in campwas hiding him. Then she thought that perhapshe had lain down to sleep somewhere along theway and

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had been left behind. Then, lastly, she thoughtthat the wolves had enticed him to join theirpack. For oftentimes the Sioux dogs werecoaxed away and ran with the wolf-pack, alwaysreturning, however, in a few days or weeks tothe village.

So Marpiyawin, thinking the matter over, de-cided that she would go back over the way herpeople had journeyed and that somewhere shewould find her dog. She would then bring himback to camp with her. Without a word to any-one, she turned back, for she had no fear of be-coming lost. Nothing could befall her, so whyshould she fear? As she walked back, she cameto the foothills at the base of the mountainswhere her village people had spent the summer.As she slept that night, the first snowfall of theautumn came so silently that it did not awakenher. In the morning everything was white withsnow, but it was not far to the place where thevillage had been in camp and so determined wasshe to find her dog that she decided to keep go-ing. Marpiyawin now felt that her pet had goneback to the old camping-ground, as dogs oftendo, and

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was now there howling and crying to be found.

That afternoon the snow fell thicker and fasterand Marpiyawin was forced to seek shelter in acave, which was rather dark, but warm and com-fortable. She was not hungry, for in her littlerawhide bag was still some wasna.1 She wastired, however, so it was not long till she fellasleep, and while she slept she had a most won-derful vision. In her dream the wolves talked toher and she understood them, and when shetalked to them they understood her too. Theytold her that she had lost her way, but that sheshould trust them and they would not see hersuffer from cold or hunger. She replied that shewould not worry, and when she awoke it waswithout fear, even though in the cave with herwere the wolves sitting about in a friendlymanner.

The blizzard raged outside for many days, stillshe was contented, for she was neither cold norhungry. For meat the wolves supplied her withtender rabbits and at night they kept her body

1Wasna, meat pounded with chokecherries andpressed like head cheese. Very nourishing andeasily carried.

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warm with their shaggy coats of fur. As the dayswore on, she and the wolves became fastfriends.

But clear days finally came and the wolvesoffered to lead her back to her people, so theyset out. They traversed many little valleys andcrossed many creeks and streams; they walkedup hills and down hills, and at last came to onefrom which she could look down upon the campof her people. Here she must say 'Good-bye' toher friends and companions the wolves. Thismade her feel very sad, though she wanted tosee her people again. Marpiyawin thanked allthe wolves for their kindness to her and askedwhat she might do for them. All they asked wasthat, when the long winter months came andfood was scarce, she bring to the top of the hillsome nice fat meat for them to eat. This shegladly promised to do and went down the hill to-ward the camp of her people.

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As Marpiyawin neared the village, she smelled avery unpleasant odor. At first it mystified her,then she realized it was the smell of human be-ings. At once the knowledge came to her thatthe smell

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of humans was very different from the smell ofanimals. This was why she now knew that anim-als so readily track human beings and why theodor of man is oftentimes so offensive to them.She had been with the wolves so long that shehad lost the odor of her people and now wasable to see that, while man often considers theanimal offensive, so do animals find manoffensive.

Marpiyawin came to the camp of her people andthey were happy to see her, for they had con-sidered her lost and thought she had been takenby an enemy tribe. But she pointed to the top ofthe hill in the distance, and there sat her friends,their forms black against the sky. In great sur-prise her people looked, not knowing what tosay. They thought she must have just escaped agreat danger. So she explained to them that shehad been lost and would have perished had notthe wolves saved her life. She asked them togive her some of their fat meat that she mightcarry it to the top of the hill. Her people were sograteful and happy that a young man was sentabout the camp telling of the safe

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return of Marpiyawin and collecting meat fromeach tipi. Marpiyawin took the meat, placed thebundle on her back, and went up the hill, whilethe village people looked on in wonder. Whenshe reached the hilltop she spread the meat onthe ground and the wolves ate it.

Ever after that, when the long winter monthscame and food was scarce and hard to find,Marpiyawin took meat to her friends the wolves.She never forgot their language and oftentimesin the winter their voices calling to her would beheard throughout the village. Then the peoplewould ask the old woman what the wolves weresaying. Their calls would be warnings that ablizzard was coming, or that the enemy waspassing close, and to send out a scout or to letthe old woman know that they were watchingher with care.

And so Marpiyawin came to be known to thetribe as 'The Old Woman Who Lived with theWolves,' or, in the Sioux language as, 'Win yanwan si k'ma nitu ompi ti.'

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IIHow the Medicine-Man Found the LostHorses

One time the Sioux had been camped for manyweeks in one place. The grass around the villagewas beginning to get scarce and each day thehorses went farther away for food. So an orderwas given that the camp must move.

White Crow's horses were among the many thatherded on the plains, so he set out with the restof the braves to bring in the animals in prepara-tion for the march. All the braves, except WhiteCrow, returned to camp that evening, bringingtheir horses. White Crow's horses could not befound. But feeling confident that they were notvery far away and that he would soon find them,he set out the following morning to renew hissearch. All day he looked, but the horses werenowhere to be found. He went far beyond therange of

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the rest of the herd, but his horses were not insight. He went still farther, and searched in allthe valleys and climbed many hills so that hecould see great distances over the prairie.Farther and farther away he went from the vil-lage until all the canyons had been searched andall the hidden valleys had been explored. ButWhite Crow's horses had disappeared as com-pletely as if an enemy had stolen them, yet noenemy had been reported. White Crow knew allthe land of the Sioux, so he grew more puzzledeach day as the search went on. At last he de-cided to return home.

When White Crow reached the village, he builta small frame lodge of willows. This he coveredwith heavy buffalo-robes. Then he covered thefloor of the room with branches of the sweet-smelling and healing sagebrush. In the centerwas left a small space, slightly hollowed out,where hot stones would be placed, for this wasto be a sweat-lodge. Outside, and not far fromthe door, White Crow prepared a fire of cotton-wood bark in which he placed smooth stones toheat.

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He then gave his daughter the sacred pipe andsent her to the tipi of the medicine-man. Themedicine-man accepted the pipe by smoking it,and at once went to the lodge which WhiteCrow had built. Disrobing, he went into thelodge, taking with him his medicine and awhistle made from a wing-bone of an eagle.White Crow took in the hot stones and pouredwater upon them, making a heavy steam thatfilled the lodge. While the medicine-man wasenduring the purifying sweat, he sang his sacredsongs and played soft tunes upon his whistle.

When he had finished, he asked that the blanketwhich covered the entrance to the sweat-lodgebe removed and the stones allowed to cool.Then he dried his body with the leaves of thesage. When he came from the lodge he wasagain handed the pipe. He performed the sacredceremony and smoked the pipe in silence. Whenthe last puff of smoke had floated away, themedicine-man said: 'White Crow, I have seenyour horses. Go north for one camping distance.Climb the hill that you will then see in front ofyou. At the

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foot of the hill on the other side is a meadow.There are your horses.'

The medicine-man then put his whistle andmedicine in his deerskin bag and went away.

White Crow started in the direction themedicine-man told him to go. He found the hilland climbed it, and there on the other side in themeadow were his five horses. He drove themhome, and one of the best he gave to themedicine-man.

IIIThe Arrow-Thrower

Turning Bear was the famous arrow-thrower ofthe Sioux. There were braves who were famousfor throwing the ball, and there were those whocould shoot the arrow farther than any otherman; but Turning Bear could throw the arrow sofar that no one had ever been able to beat him.

Turning Bear was a tall, straight fellow who hadlived all his life either riding his pony or enga-ging with the other boys of the village in thestrenuous games which Indian boys play. In thewinter time he played pte-he-ste, which is athrowing game, and his arm became strong andpowerful. As well as being a good arrow-throw-er, Turning Bear had also become a fine hunts-man, and ever since he had been twelve years ofage had always gone with the men on their buf-falo hunts.

One morning in early spring the scouts reported

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a herd of buffalo near. The supply of meat, afterthe long winter, was low, so all the warriors pre-pared for the hunt. All were eager to go, so thatwhen the party left for the chase not a man wasleft in the village. Only the women and childrenremained to make preparations for taking care ofthe meat that the men would bring home and totan the skins. So everybody in the village wasbusy too.

It was a great and successful hunt. Every warriorgot a buffalo, and some of them got more. Whenthe herd had scattered over the plain and disap-peared, then every man got busy skinning theanimals and getting the meat ready to load onthe pack-ponies for the ride home. It would belate before the hunters would get back to the vil-lage with their laden ponies, but just the sameeveryone was happy.

Turning Bear was one of the lucky huntsmen.He had skinned his buffalo and had packed themeat and hide on his pony, and was ready toturn homeward the first of all. He would reachthe village before the rest of the warriors, so hemeant

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to tell the women the good news of the hunt andto ask them to prepare a good feast.

As he hurried on his way he felt very satisfiedwith the day. There would be plenty of meat incamp for a long while, and there would be manyskins for the women to tan for moccasins andfor repairing the worn-out tipis.

Looking over his weapons as he walked along,he remembered that he had broken his bow-string early in the chase, and had restrung hisbow with the extra string which all good andcareful hunters carry. But this, too, had broken,and his bow was useless. But this caused him noworry, for there was nothing to fear, and hethought that when evening came, after a heartysupper of fresh buffalo meat he and the rest ofthe warriors would fix up broken bows, re-feath-er arrows, and make new sinew strings.

Turning Bear was happy and contented. It wasnot long before he could see the green trees ofthe stream beside which was the village. The af-ternoon had been warm, and when Turning Bearcame to the creek he let his pony walk in the

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paths that were shaded. All was so peaceful andquiet. Here and there were little green meadowswhich looked so fresh after being covered withsnow all winter, and the leaves of the cotton-wood and willow trees glistened with every littlebreeze. Turning Bear was a trained man and nota sight or sound was missed by him.

In one of the little green spots Turning Bear sawseveral horses grazing. One was his father's fa-vorite horse and a runner. Turning Bear watch-ing the splendid animal, saw him raise his headand look intently at some object which TurningBear could not see. The animal kept up his headand thrust his ears forward. The other horsesthen did likewise. Turning Bear understood'horse language.' He knew that no Sioux, noteven a woman or a child from the village, washidden in the thick willow growth. It was, ofcourse, some prowling animal, and the horseshad plainly showed that they did not like itspresence.

As Turning Bear felt for his bow, a man camefrom the thicket of willows. His face waspainted

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red, and he carried a bow and quiver full of ar-rows. An enemy! How many more were hiddenin the shadows, it was impossible to tell. Thevillage was unprotected, and not a hunter hadyet come with his meat. Turning Bear was aloneand did not even have a weapon. He felthelpless.

It was clear what the enemy was seeking. Hewas trying to rope a horse and of course had se-lected the finest. His father's horse! He must dosomething! But the enemy might number manyand he was alone and unarmed.

Turning Bear again felt of his arrows. Onlythree remained. But without more thought of theenemy that might be hidden, Turning Bear tookan arrow from his quiver and his arm rose highfor a distance flight. It sped swift and true. Itcame close to the body of the man and disap-peared in the brush. His second arrow followedso close that it might have been shot by anotherwarrior. This arrow found its mark in theshoulder of the enemy now flying for the coverof brush and willows. Still for flight, Turn-

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His arm rose high for a distance flight

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ing Bear held his third and last arrow for the foethat might now swarm from the woods.

But all was quiet and Turning Bear went on tothe village. When the warriors came in from thehunt, the scouts were sent out and came backwith the broken arrow. The blood of the enemyhad left its trail. He had been alone and had runaway, thinking, no doubt, that he had been at-tacked by the returning hunters.

That night around the camp-fire praises weresung for the bravery of Turning Bear the Arrow-Thrower.

IVThe Hunter Who Was Saved by Eagles

When I was a boy Grandfather told this story tome, and he said he knew the hunter.

Sioux hunters are very brave. They must be asbrave as a warrior, but, besides this, they mustbe wise to the ways of animals and birds.

This hunter whom my Grandfather knew wasvery wise. He could track any kind of animalwhose footprint he saw on the ground. Further-more, he could see tracks on rain-washed earthor among rocks that other hunters would not see.By these footprints he could tell whether the an-imal that made them was walking or running, orwhether it was jumping and leaping as it spedover the ground. This wise hunter could eventell what sort of enemy was pursuing the fleeinganimal. So long had he been out in the solitudes

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of nature breathing only pure air and drinkingonly pure water that he could smell the variousanimals when they came close to him just as theanimals could smell him.

When he came to a deer trail the hunter couldtell how long since the deer had traveled thepath. If the tracks were far apart, the animal hadbeen walking fast and would now be far fromhim, but if the tracks were close together, theanimal had been traveling slowly and was prob-ably not far away.

Even the tangled chokecherry thickets could notkeep things hidden from him. He could tellwhether the bears had feasted yesterday ortoday. He could tell just where they had laindown to rest or sleep and in what direction theyhad gone. All the secrets of the 'forest people'were his. The woods and the plains were like abook that he read each day and that told him ofthe travels and lives of his brothers the animals.

One day this hunter was a long way from hisvillage. He had killed a buffalo and had loadedthe meat on his pony. While traveling

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toward home, he noticed two eagles circlinghigh about a cliff. Not being in a hurry to reachhome he stopped to watch them. Finally he de-cided to climb to the top of the cliff better to ob-serve their flight. There he saw the two eagleswere keeping watch over a nest which had beenbuilt on a ledge far below the top of the cliff. Hetied his pony to a tree, and, lying down, peeredover at the nest. In it were two young eagles;they were about half-grown and fully feathered.To a hunter here was temptation. So he took themeat off his horse and got the skin which waswrapped about it. This he cut into strips for arope. The hide being fresh, he cut it into widestrips to give it the strength of a dried rope. Oneend he tied to a pine tree that grew not far fromthe edge of the cliff, and the other end he tiedaround his waist. Looping the rest of the rope inhis hand, he slowly went over the edge of thecliff. This was thrilling sport and delighted thisbrave hunter. He was thinking how fortunate he

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was to have noticed the two old eagles flying inthe sky. But his pleasant thoughts were interrup-ted, for the

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skin, being raw, stretched too thin and it cameapart, letting him drop to the ledge. He lookedup to see the end of the rope hanging beyond hisreach, while below him lay the rocky bottom ofthe cliff to which he could not leap. He expectedto see the old eagles swoop down upon him andto see the young ones attempt to fly away. Beinga wise hunter, he sat very still, glad that theyoung eagles did not fly away, for that reassuredthe old eagles which continued to circle abovehis head. Nothing happened to him, so he beganto think. Up above was his horse, which wouldstand patiently waiting for him to return. Thefine meat lying there would spoil, and he, forcedto stay on the ledge, would starve to death. Hetried to think of some means of getting away,but no thought came to him. He tried shouting atthe top of his voice, but no one heard, and hiscalls passed away into the air like smoke. Theparent eagles continued to circle close, so heknew that no one was near. Every now and then

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his mind would go back to his pony waiting forhim up on the edge of the cliff, and he thought

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how comfortable it would be were he once moreriding on its back.

At last he decided on a plan and made up hismind to carry it out, for to remain on the ledgemeant death to him anyway. So carefully andquietly he began to creep toward the youngeagles in the nest. They did not take fright, soslow and noiseless was he. He knew that if hesnatched at them roughly, they would tussle inhis grasp and perhaps he would not capturethem. But he knew the ways of eagles, so didnot frighten them. When close enough to touchboth eagles, he removed the rope from aroundhis waist. This he cut into two pieces. In a mo-ment he had secured both birds by their feet.One of them he tied to his left wrist, the other hetied to his right wrist. He stretched out his arms,and the young eagles, too perplexed to flutter,sat motionless upon his wrists. He walked to theedge of the ledge and for a moment balanced.With a prayer to the Great Mystery he leaped.The eagles spread their strong young wings and

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like an eagle himself he landed at the bottom ofthe cliff safe and sound.

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The eagles spread their strong young wings

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Reaching his horse, and with his meat loaded,the hunter started happily on his way home. Hetook the young eagles with him and fed andwatered them. Then he painted their heads andnecks red, and carried them back to the edge ofthe cliff. On a nice white deerskin he reverentlyplaced them and left them there in thankfulnessto the Great Mystery and Keeper of All Things.

VThe Deer Dreamer

There is a place famous to all the Sioux calledthe Deer Run. It was to this place that the DeerDreamer with his mysterious powers and medi-cine sent the deer when meat and skins grewscarce in camp. There the hunters could easilykill all that were needed for meat and skins.

The Deer Run was an unwooded space on thebank of a river. This bank was high and steep,and at its foot the river ran dark and deep. Nodeer would leap from this bank. A narrow pathwas cleared through the woods up to the spaceon the bank of the river. On either side of thepath the woods were thick, and the limbs andboughs had been laced and interlaced to form anunbreakable fence through which the deer couldnot go. This left but one entrance to the deer en-closure. The day before the deer were to be runinto the Deer Run, the Deer Dreamer

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purified himself in the sweat-lodge. He thenasked the Great Mystery to send the deer to thepeople, as they were in need of meat andclothing.

Early in the morning the Deer Dreamer sent outtwo scouts, each carrying the magic medicine.The scouts walked in a great circle and all thedeer within this circle were driven toward thepath which led to the enclosure. If a deer ap-proached the footprints made by the scout, itwould not be able to cross and get outside of thecircle on account of the magic medicine. Sosteadily and slowly the deer moved toward therun.

Soon a herd of deer would be within the enclos-ure, so the warriors would have a great hunt, andtake home much meat, and many skins to betanned for garments.

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VIThe Leap of Hawk Dreamer.

Even in the days after the Sioux had horses, theystill liked to hunt and travel on foot. They wereso strong and swift themselves that they did notdepend greatly on horses to carry them about.They could run fast over the hills and go longdistances in a day. They could climb mountainsand steep crags so that they could see far outover the country. Silently and quickly theycould creep through the dense undergrowth ofthe river-bottoms, and when ready for the buf-falo hunt could get very close by creeping in thetall grass.

When on the warpath the Sioux could hidethemselves behind rocks and trees better if noton horseback. So they were very self-reliant,and their strong arms and legs were theirweapons.

Hawk Dreamer was a very brave hunter, andcould run very fast and endure long trips. Also

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he was a famous scout. He had fasted in thesolitudes of the mountains for the purpose ofgaining magic power, and the Hawk had cometo him with many secrets, so when he awokefrom his dream he became known as HawkDreamer. Thereafter he became swift as a Hawkand feared nothing from any foe.

One day Hawk Dreamer went out to look overthe hunting-ground of the Sioux, and, should hefind the enemy on the land of his tribe, to drivethem away. With him were several scouts andwarriors. In a day or so they sighted the enemy,and Hawk Dreamer went alone to see how manywere in the party and what they were doing.When scouting, he dressed in white, and thoughvery skillful, he was discovered. He at once star-ted back for his warriors.

Hawk Dreamer leaped from rock to rock like aswift-footed deer. He went over creeks andstreams like a bird. Though he disappeared fromthe enemy over a hill, when he reached the bot-tom the enemy had followed to the top. So onthe chase went. The enemy warriors were swiftand

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strong, too, and there being many of them, theyclosed on him on both sides. Straight ahead hemust go. To the right was the enemy and to theleft was the enemy. Still he did not fear. So longas he could run he was safe. He was in the landof the Sioux and felt that the swiftness of hisfriend the Hawk was with him.

Ahead of Hawk Dreamer lay a stream, onceacross which he would be safe, no matter howmany the enemy numbered. The bed of thestream lay deep in a steep and rocky chasm. Butthere was a way down to the bottom of thestream over a rough trail like a stairway, withholes in the rocks for footholds. When hereached the edge of the stream, with the thickbrush hiding him, he would disappear down thisstairway as if he had leaped into the river.

But the enemy was closer now, and so fast didHawk Dreamer go that his white-robed bodyseemed to skim over the brush-tops. To the leftof him the enemy was now so close that theyhad begun to laugh and shout at him, hoping tounnerve him, as was the custom of the Plains

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The enemy saw the white figure of Hawk Dreamer fly through the air

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Indians. Then Hawk Dreamer realized that theenemy had blocked the stairway. He could turnneither to the right nor to the left. Straight aheadhe must go, though every minute his pursuerswere nearer. No man and no pony had evercrossed this awful space. Even his friends on theother side could not help him now.

But Hawk Dreamer had no thought of surrender.No Sioux ever surrendered! So he cried out:'Hawk, give me power! Give me power! Oh,Brother Hawk, give me the strength and swift-ness of your wings!'

He put his faith in the Hawk, and as he did sofelt his strength grow and his body becamelighter. Only his toes touched the ground.

Again he prayed: 'Brother Hawk, oh, BrotherHawk, give me of your power! I have neverkilled a hawk and I shall always spare yourlives! Help me, Brother Hawk!' Then he leaped.

When the enemy saw the white figure of HawkDreamer fly through the air like a bird and landsafely on the bare edge of the other side of theterrible space, they stood as men turned to stone.

Hawk Dreamer was saved.

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VIIStanding Bear's Horse

For a long time the enemies of the Sioux hadbeen troubling them, taking their ponies andrunning off the buffalo. At length Standing Bearthe First asked the braves to go with him to helppunish the enemy and to make them return totheir own land. Ten warriors responded, so theparty left for the warpath. All traveled on footexcept Standing Bear. He rode his horse, a beau-tiful and intelligent animal. Standing Bearthought more of this trustworthy friend than ofany of his other possessions. For days the partytraveled toward the edge of their land, the en-emy always keeping out of sight, for theywanted no open fights with the Sioux, who theyknew were the bravest of brave fighters.

At last the Sioux met the enemy and gave thempunishment they were to remember for sometime. But by this time they were at the farthestpoint

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of their homeland and it was a long journeyhome, so Standing Bear and his warriors werevery glad to turn back toward their village.

Great plains lay between them and their tipis onthe bank of Porcupine Creek. Coming awayfrom their village they had traveled over beauti-ful plains which were soft with waving grassesand plentiful with animals that fed here andthere. But on their return they discovered that afire had swept the plain and everywhere it wasblack with ashes. There was not a sign of life.The animals had fled in front of the heat andsmoke of the prairie fire. For days they traveled,but no buffalo were in sight, and even the birds,always so many, were not to be seen or heard.Fields of sunflowers lay on the ground, theirstalks dead and black. The little streams wereedged with grass and weeds trying to grow oncemore.

As the days wore on, the food that the warriorscarried ran low, and only in small spaces, farapart, could the trustful pony find a few mouth-fuls to eat. All of the travelers became hungryand weary. Day after day they hoped to find

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a stray animal, but the land was deserted of allcreatures. At night the warriors lay down ex-hausted, hoping that the next day their luckwould be better. Standing Bear's horse seemedto sense the misery of the braves, and the help-lessness of his own want and hunger. When theylay asleep at night, he acted as scout. At theslightest noise he would arouse them with asnort, and they would awake, fearing a chanceenemy or hoping for an animal at which toshoot. The horse was their most dependablefriend, and as they grew weaker they watchedhim closer for warnings.

At last, however, the warriors became so weakthey could no longer make a day's journey.Without food they would never reach their vil-lage; so they begged Standing Bear to kill hishorse that they might continue the journey.Standing Bear looked at his suffering friendswith pity. He was weak and hungry himself, yetwhen he looked at his faithful horse, his heartwas touched. It was hard to see his friendsstarving, but when he again looked at his ponystanding dejectedly

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There below him . . . stood a lone buffalo

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but submissively by, he knew it would be hardto sacrifice a friend.

Turning to his warriors, he said: 'Wait for onemore day. If tomorrow we do not find food, thenI shall kill my horse to save your lives.'

The next morning the warriors sat on theground. They could not go on without food.Standing Bear mounted his horse and rodeaway. He wanted to go away alone and pray tothe Great Mystery pray for food that his com-panions and his pony might be spared. Slowlyhe and the pony went to the top of a hill. Witheyes closed, Standing Bear prayed. When heopened them, the miracle had happened. Therebelow him in a little patch of green by a seepingspring stood a lone buffalo! The pony seemed toknow the thought of his master. He ran as fast ashe could ran as if he knew he was running tosave men's lives and his own.

Standing Bear wasted not a shot. The first oneweakened his game. The second one and hisprayer was answered. He rode back to the top ofthe hill and waved his blanket three times;

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then he began the skinning. In later years Stand-ing Bear the First showed Standing Bear the Se-cond the exact spot where the Great Mysteryhad placed the buffalo.

VIIICrow Butte

In southeastern Dakota a long low line of hillsruns out into the prairie as if it were going tolevel out and disappear into the plain, when sud-denly it rises into a high rocky butte that can beseen for many miles around. So high andstraight is this butte that it has long been a land-mark for the Sioux. Later, when the white mancame to the country, they used it for a landmarkalso. Standing straight and alone, one is re-minded of a scout on the lookout for an enemy,or a soldier on guard.

The face of this butte is a sheer wall almost assmooth as a man's hand. Nothing grows on it.The smoothness of the stone wall is broken by asplit from bottom to top, but that is all.

Though it stands in silence, this lone mountainspeaks to the Indian, for it has watched theSioux

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tribes pass back and forth before it for centuries.

At the opposite end from its stone face the blufflowers slightly and joins the hills, but it is stillsteep and rocky, and there is only one path bywhich its top may be reached. This trail is roughand winding, and it takes a strong warrior toclimb to the little plateau at the top. It is narrow,and only one man can travel it at a time. Anarmy or a war-party would have to go up single-file. A pony could follow the trail only a shortdistance; it could never reach the top.

The level top of the bluff is covered withboulders, and a few pines grow here and there.White River runs not far from the foot of thisbluff, and in summer the Sioux often camped inthe timber which bordered the stream. Alwaysthis place, high in the air, had an attraction forthe small boys of the camp, so one day we rodeour ponies over and started up the steep path.Though the ponies were hardy and well trained,and the boys good riders, the animals were soonleft by the path and the rest of the way wasmade on foot.

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This is the story that the old folks told us young-er ones in response to our questions.

One time a band of Crows came into the land ofthe Sioux, looking for a chance to steal somehorses. As soon as the Crows were discovered,the Sioux gave chase. The Crows were unable toget away by running back the way they hadcome, and found themselves up against thebluff. With only one direction in which to run,they took to the steep path that led to the top ofthe butte. It was not a matter of choice withthem, but their only means of escape. All alongthe way they abandoned their ponies, but man-aged to save themselves. At the end of the chasethe Crows had all reached the top of the bluff,but the Sioux did not follow them, for it was latein the day. Guarding the path, the Sioux madecamp, laughing and joking at the discomfort ofthe Crows up on top of the butte. The Siouxwarriors gathered about their camp-fires enjoy-ing their meal, and went to bed feeling that theirenemy was securely imprisoned. High on top ofthe bluff, on its plateau, could be seen the glare

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of the Crow fires. All night they burned, lightingup the sky.

When morning came, no haste was made to at-tack the Crows. And not until some keen-eyedwarrior saw footprints at the foot of the bluffwere the Sioux aroused. Looking up, they saw,some fifty feet above, the end of a horsehiderope, fresh and raw, swinging loose in thebreeze. Sioux warriors climbed the path with allhaste. When they reached the top of the bluff,the story was pictured there. One horse by somemanner or means had reached the top with theCrows. It had been killed and skinned, and thehide used to lengthen the rawhide rope whichsome Crow warrior had. Around the stump of apine tree the rope was secured, and down that,one by one, the Crow warriors had slid as far asthey could go. Then they jumped and swam theriver. It was a dangerous escape, and even thebrave Sioux were amazed.

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Since that time both Indians and white men havecalled this place Crow Butte. In the name is thestory of the famous escape retained in thememory of the people.

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IXThunder Dreamer the Medicine-Man

That our medicine-men had great powers wenever doubted. But even so, sometimes they per-formed strange things that filled us with wonder.We knew that they were close to the source ofall things Mother Nature, or the Mother of AllThings Earth and that from her were learnedmany things that only medicine-men couldknow.

One day several bands of Sioux had come to-gether for feasting and dancing. There werethousands of Indians in the gathering, and theirtipis spread out into a very large village. Thebraves had decorated themselves and were eagerto dance in their fine feathers so that the maid-ens would all watch and admire them.

The sky was clear and beautiful, the breezes softand gentle, so that the smoke from the tipisfloated gently away and the feathers of thebraves

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fluttered gracefully as they walked about or rodeon their prancing ponies.

Suddenly out of the sky an angry little breezerushed through the village and stirred up thedust. Everyone was gay, however, and paid noattention to it. In a short time the Wind spokeagain, and as the Indians understand the voice ofthe Wind, they knew he was a messenger ofStorm; but still the sky was so soft and blue thatthey did not heed him. When the Wind spokethe third time, it was with a louder and angriervoice, and a black Cloud showed his facethrough the treetops. Then the village peoplelooked up and wondered why the Sky Peoplewere displeased. Hidden by the black Clouds,the noise of the Thunder Warriors riding wildlyon their horses could be heard. The Wind sweptmore strongly between the tipis and jerked atflying feathers more rudely. Then Rain came,and big drops splashed down on the paintedrobes of the girls and the finery of the braves.Women ran to their tipis and began staking them

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tight, so that the Wind would not tear themdown. Children scur-

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These warriors ride wildly about on the black Clouds

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ried to their mothers. Everyone ran to shelter.

Undisturbed by the excitement, Thunder Dream-er the medicine-man walked to the center of thecircle of tipis. He was stripped to the waist andcarried a deer-hoof rattle. His hair was without afeather or decoration, and hung straight andplain down his back. Thunder Dreamer called tothe people to gather around him and stand si-lently and with faith. Then he sang his Thundersong. As the people watched, their faith grew.Thunder Dreamer raised his face to the sky andhis voice seemed to reach beyond the Clouds.The Wind began to quiet and Rain graduallyceased. When he finished his song, he raised hisarms and gave silent command for the Clouds topart. The Clouds divided, and when the Sun wasagain shining the people went on with their pre-parations for the feast.

Such was the power of Thunder Dreamer.

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XBuffalo Brothers

At one time great fields of the golden sunflowergrew on the plains of the Sioux country. Boththe Sioux and the buffalo loved this beautifulflower. Its leaves were so bright and green, andthe yellow petals more lovely and delicate thangold.

Many little yellow birds, so many they could notbe counted, hovered over the fields of sun-flowers. They loved the sunflower, too, andtheir feathers were almost as yellow as thepetals arranged so neatly around the centers ofbrown. The birds picked at these brown seedsand talked a lot while they were about it. Nowonder, then, that we boys liked to lie aroundon pleasant days in these fields and take in allthe sights and sounds. Everything interested us.

The buffalo liked to wallow their big heads inthe sunflowers, and many times we saw them

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with long stems wound about the left horn, forthey never wore them on the right horn. Perhapsthey did this to decorate themselves, or maybethey liked the smell of the flowers. We onlyknew that they liked the sunflower.

Of course, we boys did not try to get very closeto the buffalo, but we sat on our ponies at a dis-tance and watched them. In the summer, if theflies were bad, the buffalo raised the dust withtheir horns and the dust-clouds would hide themfrom us for a while. Sometimes we saw themplay, and sometimes we saw them swim in alake with only their big black heads above thewater. From a distance it looked like a singlemoving black body on the surface of the water.

One day a great hunt took place. The braveskilled many buffalo and brought home manyhides.

The next day some of us boys rode out on theprairie. No buffalo were in sight. Everythingwas quiet except the birds in the sunflowerfields. I rode alone up a little hill, and, lookingover, saw two buffalo. I was surprised, for Ithought that they had all been killed or had beenfrightened

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away. I sat on my pony and watched. One buf-falo was on the ground, his feet under him; theother was nosing and pushing the fallen oneabout with his head and horns. I was curious,and watched for several moments before I real-ized that the buffalo on the ground was either illor wounded. The day before, no doubt, he hadbeen wounded, but had been able to escape thehunters. At this spot he had lain down weakfrom the loss of blood. With the grunted urgesof the helpful buffalo, the wounded one wouldtry to rise. Each time he tried, he got upon hisforefeet, but each time sank back again.However, this seemed to be satisfactory, for thefriendly buffalo moved on.

The next day my curiosity brought me back tothe place, but I came alone. The wounded buf-falo still sat on the ground. After I had waitedfor an hour or so, I saw the other buffalo com-ing. When he got to the wounded one, there wasa greeting with horns and head. The well buffaloencouraged the sick one with rubbing and pok-ing, and pushing him with his head. The poorfellow

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rose to his feet and stood for a moment, but sankback to the ground again. The second time hegot to his feet he walked for a few steps andagain lay down. But he was in a clean place andthere was some green grass close by. In a littlewhile the visiting buffalo went back to his herdsomewhere in the distance and out of sight.

I could not now help going back to see what wasto happen, so the next day I was looking onagain. The unfailing friend came as before, andthe stricken buffalo must have revived consider-ably, for after some coaxing he arose onweakened legs, but followed his friend away at aslow but steady pace.

I saw them disappear, and I went home feelingthat I had been made better by this lesson inkindness.

XIThe Snow Woman.

Sometimes the Sioux villages were far apart, yetit is necessary for them to communicate withone another. Important messages must some-times be taken from one band to the other. In thesummer-time traveling was pleasant, but inwinter, when the paths and trails were blockedwith snow and the animals became hungry, ittook a brave man to be a news carrier.

The news carrier was usually a brave who wasboth young and strong, and did not mind thesnow and cold. He was sure to be welcomed inevery village, and was feasted, entertained, andanxiously listened to as he told the storiesgathered on his journey from village to village.He was often given so much dried meat that hecould not eat it all, so he carried a long pointedstick on which he strung the dried meat that hadbeen presented to him. Sometimes he arrivedhome with two or three long sticks of driedmeat.

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Not until the fur hood dropped . . . could Big Turkey see that he had struck a woman

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One time, at the end of a long winter day, BigTurkey, a news carrier, stopped for an eveningmeal. He staked out his pony and cleared a placefor a fire. Everything was snow-covered, but hetook a stick and struck the logs which lay on theground, and the snow fell off; he then rolledthem to the fire. Sitting near the blaze he driedhis moccasins and ate the dried meat and wasnawhich he carried in his deerskin bag. He waspleased with his journey, for he had had a goodtime. There had been singing and feasting forhim, and he had been asked to tell over and overagain the happenings of his travels and the newsfrom other villages. He had enjoyed all this andhad gathered more news to carry on to the nextvillage.

The evening grew darker, and Big Turkeylooked about for some more logs to keep the firegoing throughout the night. One log looked as ifa good size to roll to the fire, so he struck it asharp blow with the stick. Big Turkey was abrave man, but when the log which he strucksprang up with a piercing scream, he was tooscared to move. The snow spattered in all direc-

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tions as the log bounded up and a human beingwrapped in a buffalo-robe rose before him.Filled with fright, the two people looked at eachother. Not until the fur hood dropped from thehead of the figure could Big Turkey see that hehad struck a woman. In the darkness they stoodand looked each other over. Then the womanlaughed; it was Star Woman.

When Big Turkey and Star Woman sat by thefire they told each other why they were there.Star Woman had run away from her village. Herbrother had made arrangements for her marriageto a man whom she did not love. The man hadbrought many horses to her brother, and he hadbeen tempted with the sight of riches; so he toldStar Woman to prepare for marriage. This shewould not do, so she had run away. She hadwalked many miles and had lain down to rest.Her buffalo blanket had kept her warm as thesnow gently fell and covered her.

Big Turkey took her with him to the next vil-lage, and there the marriage feast of Big Turkeyand Star Woman was celebrated.

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XIIThe Singing Colt

The camp of the Sioux had moved from theplace where they had spent the winter to a newplace where the grass was green and plentiful.The women were putting up the tipis and bring-ing in firewood. The children were helping theirmothers, and the men were taking care of theponies.

White Feather, the Horse Dreamer, was search-ing for his otter-skin quiver. Of all his belong-ings his otter-skin quiver was the one he prizedthe most. Whenever he wore it at the big feastsand ceremonies, he was envied by all the otheryoung braves. But somewhere along the trail ithad been lost, so he must go back and find it.

Now, the horse was the guiding friend and spiritof the Horse Dreamer, and stood ready at alltimes to give of his strength and goodness

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whenever the Dreamer was in need of help.White Feather, being a Horse Dreamer, neverrode a horse, but always traveled on foot.

He had arrived at a place about midway betweenthe old camping-place and the new one. Thetrail ran close to the banks of a river. He couldnot see very far ahead, for the trees and theblackberry and wild-rose bushes grew thickalong the way. Walking along and wonderingwhere he would find his lovely quiver, WhiteFeather was surprised to hear a voice singing. Itwas not a song of gladness, but of sadness. Asobbing voice sang: 'I am all alone. I have lostmy mother and the way is hard for me.' WhiteFeather's heart was touched, so he hastened hissteps to help the person in distress. The voicecame near, and here in the path coming towardhim was a poor little tired pony, his headhanging low in sorrow. It was a pretty little fel-low with white spots on his forehead and twodainty white forefeet. White Feather could nothelp liking the helpless little colt, and, seeingthat he was grief-stricken, talked kindly to him.

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The Sioux some weeks before had captured aband of wild horses. Among them was the moth-er of Singing Colt. She had been brought in, tiedto the neck of a tame horse, with Singing Coltfollowing at her heels. But for some reason shehad become sick and died, leaving Singing Coltalone. When the camp moved, the colt had triedto follow, but, growing tired, stopped by the trailto rest. He had fallen asleep, and when he awokethe camp was gone. So he was traveling alone,where, he did not know.

White Feather prepared to take Singing Coltback with him to camp where he would haveplenty of food and would grow strong. As theyturned to go, there in the path lay his beautifulotter-skin quiver. The journey back to camp wasa happy one for both White Feather and SingingColt.

As the friendship between White Feather andSinging Colt grew, so the colt grew. His longlegs became swift, and he held his head veryhigh and proudly. He raced with the otherponies and became swift as the wind. When hismane

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flew back in the wind he was a beautiful sight.In time he became famous as the winner of allraces, and White Feather loved him for hisbeauty and pride.

XIIIThe Woman Who Killed the Owl

No people ever loved their country or enjoyed itmore than the Sioux. They loved the beautifulstreams by which they camped, and the treesthat shaded them and their tipis. They loved thegreen stretches of plains with its gardens hereand there of golden sunflowers over whichhovered and played myriads of yellow-wingedbirds. Moving day was just like traveling fromone nice home to another.

One evening a hunting party of several familieshad camped and were enjoying an evening meal.The buffalo had been plentiful. Much meat hadbeen hung up to dry and the women were tan-ning the hides for winter garments. Between twostones a fire burned with the coal-like glow ofcottonwood bark. Across these stones lay a largebuffalo bone, the meat on which cooked slowly.Every

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few minutes a woman would turn it over so thatit would cook evenly and thoroughly. When itwas done, they would crack the bone and eat themarrow, which was brown and tasty.

Soon the meal was done and all gathered aboutto eat and talk over the adventures of the day.Darkness followed dusk, and the thick-branchedtrees made it all the darker around the tipi. Theair was sweet with fragrance from the wild-rosethickets.

Some owl near-by made his presence known bya hoot every minute or so. He was joined by an-other, when the hoots came oftener and closer.The Sioux never considered the owl a bird ofevil omen, but were fond of the feathers andused them to decorate head-dresses. So no oneminded the hooting until it came close to thetipi.

The meal continued until nothing was left of theroast but the bone. Bolder and bolder becamethe owl. At last the woman, becoming annoyedat the boldness of the owl, picked up the boneand threw it in the direction of the noise. She

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threw it hard and swift, and all became quiet. Nomore hooting disturbed the night.

The next morning the hunters were up brightand early. One of them searching for the feath-ers of the owl was surprised to find the body ofan enemy Crow, his temple pierced with thesharp point of the bone. He had imitated the cryof the owl so exactly that he had deceived theSioux. But he had paid with his life for his rash-ness in venturing too close to the tipi of theSioux woman.

XIVGrandmother and the Bear

It was August. The wild turnips were growingon the hillsides and the chokecherries were ripein the thickets along the river.

Grandmother was then a young woman. Oneday she and some of the girls of the villagegathered a number of children and all went upthe hillsides to dig for wild turnips, of which theSioux were very fond. The girls carried long,sharp sticks to pry the turnips from the ground.Grandmother, however, carried an iron rod, forin her day white people were among the Siouxand had brought iron things that the Indians hadnever before owned.

When a bunch of four or five turnips had beengathered, the long white roots were braided to-gether in order that they could be more easilycarried while others were being gathered. When

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they were taken home they were hung in the sunto dry, then put away in rawhide bags wherethey would last for a long time. In the winter thedried turnips were put in the meat soup andcooked.

The afternoon became very warm and theturnip-gatherers looked toward the shade of theriver at the foot of the hills. So down the hillsthey started, each carrying her bunches ofturnips. Little ones and big ones all carried whatthey could, according to their size. When theycame to the river they drank and rested in theshade of the cottonwoods. Then they wanderedthrough the cherry bushes, eating what theywanted.

Suddenly everyone was startled by some of thechildren running toward Grandmother and thelarger girls, screaming and shouting in terror. 'Abear! A bear!' they screamed. Grandmothercalled to all the children to run as fast as pos-sible for home. The bear could now be plainlyheard growling and crashing in the undergrowth.When the children had all started for home,Grandmother ran too. But the bear gained on

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her. Still shouting to the children not to stoprunning, she turned around and saw that the bearwas very close to her. She ran as fast as shecould, but soon realized that she could neveroutrun the animal. She must do something.Turning suddenly, she pointed the long iron barstraight at the bear, as a hunter would point agun. To her surprise the bear stopped, though hestill growled. Grandmother, seeing the bear'sfright, held the bar aimed at him, and to hergreat relief he turned around in the path and fledout of sight, running as fast as before, only inthe opposite direction.

Possibly this bear had once been wounded withthe white man's gun, or perhaps he disliked theflash of fire and the smell of powder, or even theroar of the shot.

Whatever it might be, Grandmother was aheroine, and like other heroines was praised forher bravery. Grandmother still lives in thememory of the Sioux people.

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XVThe Faithful Horse

The Sioux had returned victorious from a warexcursion, and the village was preparing a feastand victory dance for them. Everyone washappy and excited. There was no enemy withinmany miles, and the territory of the Sioux wasfree from any who might steal their horses orchase away the buffalo.

The women were busy cooking for the feast andthe men were putting on their beautiful featherhead-dresses. Those who had received woundsin battle painted themselves red to mark theplace of injury. There was much display ofpainted quivers, lances decorated with strips ofotter-skin, fans and banners. Everywhere feath-ers fluttered in the air. Even the horses whichhad returned with the men from war were beingcombed and sweetgrass wreaths placed abouttheir necks. Their tails were braided anddecorated

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with waving fluffs of eagle feathers. They alsowere painted red if they had been wounded inbattle. Every man was proud and fond of thehorse that had been with him through battle, andit seemed as if the horses were aware of the un-usual attention that was being given them, forthey danced and pranced to the sound of thetomtom and the songs of the warriors.

The girls were pretty in soft deerskin dressesand in moccasins and leggings as white as snow.Their long, black, shiny braids were tied withornaments made from dyed porcupine-quillsstrung on dyed deerskin strings. At the end ofthese hair strings there were tassels of bright-colored feathers. Some of them wore the head-dress and robes of the warriors and danced andsang for the brave ones.

In all this gladness one young man was sad.While other young men rode about proudly ontheir war horses, he was thinking of his ownhorse which he had left lying dead on the battle-field. The fight had been a heavy one. His horsehad fallen under him and he had been left afoot

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The astonishment of the young warrior . . . turned to gladness

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and in a dangerous position, but a friend hadrescued him. His friend's pony had carried themboth home to safety. So the young brave's mindwas on the faithful companion that he had lastseen lying on the battlefield. Praises would besung for his faithful horse, but for all that hecould not help feeling sad.

The feasting and dancing lasted for several days,or until all the warriors had been praised. Thenone by one the visiting bands had packed theirtipis and gone back to their own villages.

Once again all was quiet and the warriors werefeeling proud of the honors that had been giventhem. Evening was coming and everybody waspeacefully enjoying the close of a pleasant day.All at once, coming slowly toward the village,was seen the gaunt figure of a horse. He walkedslowly but steadily. His head drooped, but hewalked straight through the village. Everyonewatched, but no one spoke. Across the circle oftipis the pony walked until he reached the onefarthest from the side of the circle where he hadentered. There he stopped. The astonish-

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ment of the young warrior standing by the tipidoor turned to gladness, for this thin, tired ponywas the one he had been mourning for dead onthe battlefield. He stroked the faithful animal'shead, patted his back, and touched gently theterrible wound that still gaped red in his side.

As friends gathered about, the wonderful storywas again told of the battle and the return of thefaithful horse.

XVIThe Magic Tree.

A Party of Sioux were once on the way to joinanother band. In the evening camp was made bythe edge of a river which ran through a greatopen grassy plain.

Preparations were made for spending a restfulnight. One of the mares was staked out and theother animals stayed close by eating the grasswhich grew in abundance. The moon came up,and the night was nearly as light as day. Objectscould be seen almost as if the sun were shining,for the great plain was treeless.

During the night the party was aroused fromdeep sleep by a crashing and breaking of limbsas if giant trees were being tossed about. Theroar was terrifying, and the horses stamped andtrembled with fear while the tethered one ranround and round the stake, winding itself close.

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The poor beasts strained their eyes to see, andtheir ears stood forward as they tried to compre-hend the awful sounds.

The braves leaped up and grasped their weaponsready to mount their horses. Looking over theplain they were amazed to see an immense cot-tonwood tree bounding over the ground as ifdriven by a strong wind, though not even agentle breeze blew. From the north of the plainit went with crashing and breaking limbs towardthe south and out of sight. The braves lookedwith speechless astonishment as the tree turnedover and over in its mad flight. It filled themwith wonder, even though they knew that allthings are possible to the Great Mystery, whichlives and works through all things.

The next morning, as the braves continued theirjourney, they came upon the path of the tree.Straight across the plain its course was markedwith branches and leaves scattered along theway. The Sioux followed the path, which led toa creek, and there they found the tree. It stoodstraight and leafless, with broken limbs

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hanging from its trunk. But its roots had alreadygrasped at the soil. The braves knew that thetree had journeyed a long way in order that itmight be here among other trees of its own kind.Now it was contented.

The strong roots of the cottonwood went deepinto the earth and the branches began to mend.The limbs became covered with green and sil-very buds. Soon it was a beautiful green tree,with leaves that trembled in the breeze andglistened in the sun.

XVIIThe Year of the Buffalo

One time the Sioux were camped on the banksof Big Water River. The camp was a very largeone, stretching from the bank of the river to thefoothills. It was winter-time, and snow coveredeverything in sight. The cottonwoods werewithout leaves, and many of them had been cutdown so that the ponies could eat of their bark.This kept the ponies alive through the winter.They were fond of this food.

The supply of meat had begun to run low, andfor many weeks the scouts had looked for buf-falo, but none could be found. At last the meatwas entirely gone, so the scouts went to theBuffalo medicine-man and asked him to bringthe buffalo. The Buffalo medicine-man knew allthe secrets of the buffalo and talked with themin his visions.

The medicine-man prepared a tipi with an altar,and on it placed a buffalo skull. Then he told

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all the people in the village to wear their buffaloblankets and to gather about his tipi. Every man,woman, and child put on his blanket and stoodin front of the medicine tipi. They looked like agreat herd of buffalo. There all stood in silence,and soon there could be heard the roar of thebuffalo coming from the tipi.

Then a girl came out carrying the sacred pipe.She walked around the circle and passed thedoor of every tipi in the village. Then theBuffalo medicine-man came out, rushing androaring like a buffalo, and wearing the head-dress and robe of the Buffalo Dreamer. Hedanced here and there among the crowd, bellow-ing like the buffalo. As he ran, the people partedto let him pass and to avoid being hit with thehorns on his head, which he tossed about like anangry buffalo.

The girl walked slowly around the village andthe crowd followed while the medicine-mandanced. When all had returned to the tipi fromwhich they had started, the medicine-manentered and the rest of the villagers went home.

The next morning, just as the medicine-man

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had prophesied, the buffalo came. The Siouxpeople have never forgotten this event, and tothis day that year is known to them as 'The Yearof the Buffalo.'

XVIIIThe Holy Dog

In olden days the Sioux did not have horses.They had never even heard of one. Their travoiswere dragged along by large dogs, and when thecamp was moved these big dogs served as pack-animals carrying tipis and household goods, anddragging the travois. Dogs were indispensable tothe Sioux, and they had great numbers of them.

The Sioux dogs were big shaggy fellows, strongand intelligent. They had lived with the Sioux inthis country and had been his companion, for along, long time.

In those days the Indians lived peaceably withall animals. Even the buffalo would oftenwander into the camp of the Sioux and eat thegrass that grew within the circle of the village.They would usually come during the night, andwhen

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the Sioux awoke in the morning there would bethe buffalo feeding on the green grass. When thesmoke began to rise from the tipis and thepeople began to stir about, the buffalo wouldmove away. It was as if the Great Mystery sentthe buffalo, so that if meat were needed it wouldbe there at hand. In fact, many times if there wasneed for meat, a buffalo could be had for themorning meal. Those were the days of plenty forthe Sioux.

One morning the Sioux came out of their tipisand there were the buffalo close by feeding asusual. Soon they moved away, but still feedingaround was a strange-looking object such as hadnever before been seen. It seemed very gentle,not heeding the people, who stared at it curi-ously. No one ventured near at first, for the an-imal was too strange, and no one knew itshabits. They did not know whether it would biteor kick or run. Everyone stared, but still the an-imal fed on, scarcely lifting its head to look atthose who began to walk closer for a betterview. The head of this strange animal

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The head of this strange animal was not shaggy like that of the buffalo

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was not shaggy like that of the buffalo. Its eyeswere large and soft-looking, like those of thedeer, and its legs were slender and graceful. Amane flowed from its neck, and its tail reachednearly to the ground. The beauties of thisstrange animal were greatly praised by first oneand then another.

Then some hunter got a rawhide rope. Maybethis animal would permit being tied, for itseemed so gentle. The rope was thrown, but theanimal escaped, for it raised its head on its longslender neck and raced around a short distance,not in fright nor in anger, but as if annoyed.How handsome this animal was when it ran! Itdid not resemble the buffalo, nor deer, nor wolf,but was more beautiful than any of these.

The rope was thrown again and again, and atlast it was on the neck of the animal. It seemedonly more kind and gentle, and stood tamelywhile some dared to stroke it gently. Now andthen it nibbled at the grass as if aware it wasamong friends. Admiration for the lovely animalgrew. All wanted to stroke its neck and

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forehead, and the creature seemed at once to en-joy this extra attention. Finally a warrior grewbrave enough to mount upon its back. Then alllaughed and shouted with joy. What a wonderfulcreature! It must have come straight from theGreat Mystery!

The people did not know that in later years thisanimal was to come to them in great numbersand was to become as great a friend to them asthe dog. Both the hunter and the warrior came intime to think of it as an inseparable companionin peace and in war, for it faithfully shared thework of the long-time friend of the Sioux thedog.

The Sioux loved their dogs their daily compan-ions in camp or on the trail. And liking thestrange lovely animal so well, they could thinkof no better name to call it than the Holy Dog.

So to this day the horse to the Sioux is SunkeWakan 'Holy Dog.'

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XIXThunder Horse

The Thunder Dreamer knows that in the skydwell the warriors of Thunder and Lightning,for he has seen and spoken to them in his vision.

These warriors ride wildly about on the blackclouds astride their handsome horses, holding intheir hands the lightning-sticks which flash dur-ing a thunderstorm. Everyone has seen themflash as the warriors dash about in the stormysky. Whenever the hoofs of the horses boom,the lightning-sticks flash blindingly.

One day the Sioux were all in their tipis waitingfor a thunderstorm to pass. The Thunder andLightning warriors were dashing back and forthacross the sky. Their horses ran madly, for thenoise from their feet was deafening. Mingledwith the noise of trampling hoofs were the fre-quent flashes from the lightning-sticks. Greatdrops of rain fell and ran off the sides of the

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tipis. The women threw cedar leaves on the fire,and everyone huddled closer.

Suddenly the noise increased to one awful roar.Two lightning-sticks came together, for therewas a blinding flash of white light. The tipisshook and the people were fear-stricken.

Two warriors had rushed together, and theirhorses, losing their balance, fell to earth, wherethey struggled for an instant, then dashed backto the sky. When the storm had cleared, on agreat rock close by the village was plainly to beseen the hoofprint of a great horse. It is there tothis day for all to see.

XXThe First Fire

A Sioux scout, tired and weary from a long jour-ney, sat down on the plain to rest. Beside himlay a fallen yucca plant with its long bodystretched upon the ground. The scout aimlesslypicked up a small stick that lay near-by, and,rubbing it between his hands upon the yucca,noticed a thin blue vapor arising.

This vapor smelled very pleasant as it rose in theair and disappeared. The scout thought that,since it went up and out of sight, it must go tothe land of the Sky People. And going up so farit would, no doubt, carry a message to thosewho lived in the sky.

So the scout played on, enjoying the blue cloudsof smoke as they ascended and disappeared inthe air. After a while a small red and orangeflame burst from the tip of the stick.

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It was beautiful, and the heat that came with itwas very agreeable. Interested now beyond allcare to continue his journey, the scout watchedthe stick and yucca plant change into this lovelyflame that sprang up, looking like a beautifulplume, only to fade away and form into anotherjust as beautiful. How strange and yet how beau-tiful it is, thought the scout. He never wanted tolose this beautiful being, whatever it was.

So he fed the flame with more yucca, and itlived and grew. He could not leave it here toperish, and yet he was forced to go home at last.So he carried a burning wand back to the villagewith him, and in the center, where all could see,he made it grow with more yucca. All thepeople of the village came and sat about, mar-veling at the wonder of it all.

This gorgeous red flame was warming to thehands and body, but could hurt severely if onegot too close. It looked soft and caressing, butstung the fingers if one tried to catch and holdthe lovely curling feathers of fire. The wood

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chief luther standing bear-stories of the sioux -university of nebraska press (1988)

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