Though the banks of the river were nice and timbered, the buffalo was facing north, so the young man could not take a shot from either side. He decided he would wait until the buffalo moved nearer the timbered banks or wandered into the hills or ravines where the young man could hide in shrubs.

By sundown, the buffalo had not moved at all, so the young man returned to camp disappointed. His night was not easy. He spent it thinking about how scarce food was among the people, and how much good he could have done if he had taken the buffalo.

Just before dawn the young man got up and went back to the place he left the buffalo to see if it was still nearby, had it moved at all. As the sun rose, from his spot on the high hill, the young man saw the buffalo was still in the same spot but now it faced the east. And so it stood again, all day.

Disappointed again, the young man spent another sleepless night wondering why the buffalo would stand so steadfastly in one spot without eating, drinking or lying down to rest.

The next day was the same, except the buffalo faced south and the next day west. Now the young man was determined to know why the buffalo acted in this way. He settled in to watch, and told himself the buffalo was behaving this way for some mysterious purpose, and that he, too now, was under the same mystery. He went home to sleep and yet again spent the entire night wondering.

The next day he rose before dawn and ran to his mysterious scene. The buffalo was gone! Where it had stood there was a small bush. The young man approached with disappointment, but also curiosity and awe. The plant was nothing familiar to him, surrounded by buffalo tracks, north to east and south to west. In the center was a single buffalo track from which this strange plant grew. No buffalo tracks led away from the plant.

He ran back to camp and told the chiefs and elders of his strange experience. They all traveled to the spot and found what he told them to be true. They saw the tracks of the buffalo at the spot, but no tracks coming or going from the site of the strange plant.

Now while all these men believed this plant had been given to the people by Wakanda for their use, they were not sure what that use might be.

Thinking it might need time to ripen like other plants they knew, they posted a guard to wait and see if more information would come. Soon a spike of flowers appeared, but they knew from other plants this was a flower and not the fruit. Soon a new growth appeared. First it appeared as if it had hair at its top, soon turning from green to brown.

They determined this growth was the fruit of the plant, and approached with caution and although they wanted to know what it would provided no one dared touch it. The young man finally spoke:

"Everyone knows how my life since childhood has been useless, that my deeds among you more evil than good. So, since no one would regret should any evil befall me, I will be first to touch the plant and taste its fruit."

The young man gave thanks and prayer and grasped the plant. He told the people it was firm and ripe and inside the husk it was red. He took a few kernels, showed them to the people and then carefully replaced the husks. When the youth suffered no ill effects, the people were then convinced the plant was given to them as food so they would never be hungry.

There once lived an old couple who wished to see their only daughter married to a rich man. When anyone arrived at their camp, the old man sent his son down to the landing to count the bone beads on the stranger's clothing, so that he could be received according to his rank.

One day the boy came running in saying that a man had come who would make a good brother-in-law, for he had a number of fine beads.
The mother went down to the riverbank and saw a richly dressed stranger whom she also thought would make a suitable husband. She noticed that the shore was wet and muddy, so she got some bark and tore it into strips for the stranger to walk upon.
She invited him to enter their tipi and seated him next to the girl.
The visitor pointed to a dog that was tied in the corner of the lodge and said,
"I can't eat while that animal is in here."
Thinking that only a very great personage would be so particular, the woman took the dog out into the forest and killed it.

The next morning as she went for wood, she noticed that the earth around the dog's body was marked with bird tracks and that its eyes had been picked out.
She returned to the camp and insisted that all the people take off their moccasins and show their feet, because she had heard that Raven could deceive people by appearing in human form.
The stranger, who was indeed Raven, took his moccasins off and slipped them on again so quickly that his scaly bird feet were not noticed.

The girl had agreed to marry Raven, and he demanded that she leave with him at once, before he could be found out. Promising that they would return in a few days, he took his bride down to his canoe.

As soon as the couple set off down the river, it began to rain. Raven was seated in front of the woman, who noticed that the rain was washing something white off his back. This made her suspicious, and she resolved to escape.
Reaching forward, she succeeded in tying the tail of Raven's coat to a crossbar of the canoe. Then she asked to be set ashore for a minute, saying that she would come right back. Her husband told her not to go far, but she started to run for home as soon as she was out of sight among the trees.

After a while Raven decided to follow her. He found that his tail was tied, and to get free he had to resume his true form. As he flew over the girl, he cried out,
"Once more I cheat you," then caw-cawed and glided away.

The girl got home safely and told her mother that her rich husband was Raven, who had come to them covered with lime, which the rain had melted.

Raven was always cheating the people, so they finally took his beak away from him.
After a time he went up the river and made a raft, which he loaded with moss. Floating down to the camps on it, he told the people that his head was sore where his beak had been torn off, and that he was lying in the moss to cool it.
Then he went back upriver and made several more rafts.
When the people saw these floating down toward them, they thought that a large group of warriors was coming to help Raven regain his beak. They held a council and decided to send a young girl to take the beak to an old woman who lived alone at some distance from the camp.

Raven, who had concealed himself among them and heard the council's plans, waited until the girl came back.
Then he went to the old woman and told her that the girl wanted her to return the beak to him.
Suspecting nothing, the old woman gave him his beak. He put it on and flew away, cawing with pleasure at his success.
The warriors who had been on the rafts proved to be nothing but the tufts of hummocks of bog moss which are commonly known as "tetes de femmes".

When the warrior awoke he took a long rope made from strips of a buffalo hide and traveled many miles on foot to the shore of the lake. He dug a hole in the sandy beach and concealed himself there. While he watched, he saw many animals come down to the lake to drink, coyotes, elk, and buffalo all came to quench their thirst.

After a while the wind began to blow. Waves rose on the lake and began to roll and hiss along the beach. At last a heard of large animals, unlike any the Pagan had ever seen before, suddenly

appeared before him. they were as large as elks and had small ears and long tails hanging to the ground. Some were white, some were black, and some were red and some were spotted. The young ones were smaller. When they reached the waters' edge and bent to drink, the voice, the Pagan had heard in his dream, whispered to him: "Throw your rope and catch one."

And so the warrior threw his rope and caught one of the largest of the animals. It struggled and pulled and drug the man about, and the warrior was not strong enough to hold the animal. Finally the animal pulled the rope out of the warriors' hands and the whole heard ran into to the lake and sank out of sight beneath the water.

Feeling very sad, the warrior returned to camp. He went into his lodge and prayed for help to the voice he had heard in his dream. The voice answered him: "Four times you may try to catch these animals. If in four times you do not catch them, you will never see them again."

Before he went to sleep that night the warrior asked Old Man to help him, and while he slept Old Man told him he was not strong enough to catch one of the big animals. "Try to catch one of the young animals," Old Man said, "and then you can hold it."

The next morning the warrior went back to the shores of the big lake, and again he dug a hole in the sand and lay hidden there while the deer, the coyotes, the elk and the buffalo came to drink. At last the wind began to rise and the waves rolled and hissed upon the beach. this time he caught one of the young animals and was able to hold it.

One by one he caught all the young animals and led them back to his village. After they had been there for a little while, the mares, the mothers of these colts, came trotting into the village. Soon after the mares came the stallion and the other males of the heard followed them into the village. At first the people were afraid of these new animals and would not go near them. but the warrior who caught them told everybody that the animals would not hurt them. After a while the animals

became so tame that they followed the people whenever they moved their camp from placeto place. then the people begun to put packs on them, and they called the animals Po-No-Kah- Mita, or elk dog, because they were big and shaped like an elk and could carry a pack like a dog.

that is how the Blackfoot got horses. Or so this story goes.

How The Worm Pipe Came To The Blackfoot

the man used to take his baby on his back and travel out from the camp, walking over hills crying. He kept away from the village. After some time he said to his child, "My little boy, you will have to go and live with your grandmother. I am going to try to find your mother and bring her back."

He took the baby to his mother's lodge and asked her to take care of him. Then he started off to look for his wife, not knowing where he was going nor what he was going to do.

He traveled toward the land of the dead; and after a long journey, with help from those who had spiritual powers, he reached it. the old woman who helped him get there told him how hard it was to penetrate to the ghosts country, and made him understand that the shadows would try to scare him by making fearful noises and showing him strange and terrible things. At last he reached the ghosts camp, and as he passed through it the ghosts tried to scare him by all kinds of fearful sounds and sights, but he kept up a brave heart.He reached a lodge, and the man who owned it came out and asked him where he was going. The man said, "I am looking for my dead wife. I mourn her so much that I can not rest. My little boy, too, keeps crying for his mother. They have offered to give me other wives, but I do not want them. I want only the one for whom I am searching.The ghost said to him, "it is a fearful thing that you have come here. It is very likely that you will never get away. There never was a person here before." but the ghost asked him to come into the lodge. and he entered.

Then this chief ghost said to him, "You shall stay here for four nights, and you shall see your wife; but you must be very careful or you will never go back. You will die right here."

then the chief went outside and called for a feast, inviting this man's father in law and the other relations who were in the camp, saying, "Your son in law invites you to a feast," as if to say that their son in law was dead, and he became a ghost and arrived at the ghost camp. Now when these invited people, the relation and some of the principal men of the camp, had arrived at the lodge, they did not like to go in. they called out, "There is a person here!"

it seemed that there was something about him that they could not bear the smell of. The ghost chief burned sweet pine in the fire, which took away this smell, and the people came in and sat down.

Then the host said to them: "Now pity this son in law of yours, he is seeking his wife. Neither the great distance nor fearful sights that he has seen here have weakened his heart. You can see for yourselves he is tender hearted. He not only mourns for his wife, but mourns also because his little boy is now alone, with no mother, so pity him and give back his wife."

After consultation the ghosts determined that they would give him back his wife, who should become alive again. They also gave him a sacred pipe. And at the last, after many difficulties, the man and his wife reached home.

He then gave her a magic yellow feather in one hand and a juniper branch in the other. Then he told her to close her eyes. When she opened them again, she was in the Sky-Country, standing before the lodge of Morning Star, home of his parents, the Sun and the Moon, where they were married. As it was daytime, the Sun was out doing his work, but the mother, the Moon, was at home doing chores. She immediately took a liking to the girl and gave her fine robes to wear.

Feather-woman loved her husband and his parents, and in time she gave birth to a little boy whom they named Star Boy. But Feather-woman needed to find things to do in her new home. So the Moon gave her a root-digging stick to work with, carefully instructing her not to dig up the Great Turnip that grew near the home of the Spider Man, warning that terrible ills would be unleashed if she did so.

Feather-woman was fascinated by the Great Turnip and wondered why it was feared. After all, it looked like any other turnip, only much larger. She walked closely around it, being careful not to touch it.. She took Star Boy off her back and placed him on the ground. As she was digging, two great cranes flew overhead. She asked the cranes to help her and they obliged her, singing a secret magic song that made light work of digging the Great Turnip.

When Feather-woman arrived on earth with her child, she was welcomed by her parents and the people of their village. But she was never happy. Early in the morning, she looked up at the sky to speak with Morning Star, but he didn't answer her.

After many months had passed, Morning Star finally did speak to her. "You can never return to the Sky-Country," he warned. "You committed a great sin and brought unhappiness and death into the world." Hearing this was too much for Feather-woman to bear; soon she died of her unhappiness.

The orphaned Star Boy lived with his human grandparents until they died. He was a shy boy who ran as soon as he heard the approach of a stranger's footsteps. The most notable thing about him was a scar on his face, which led to his nickname, Poia, meaning "scar face." As he grew into manhood, people cruelly ridiculed him because of his scar and his pretension to be the son of the Morning star.

Thus mal treated, Poia was heartbroken by the further indignity of being rejected by the daughter of a chief. His life growing unbearable, Poia consulted with an old medicine woman. She told him that there was only one way for the scar to be removed: He would have to return to the Sky-Country and have his grandfather, the Sun, take it off.

Knowing that his mother had been banished from the Sky-Country, this was bad news to Poia. How could he return to the land of his birth? The old woman said that there was a way back to the Sky-Country, but that Poia must find it himself. Feeling sorry for the boy, she gave him some food for the journey.

Poia traveled for days and days, over mountains, through forests, through snow, and across deserts, until he reached the Great Water that the white man calls the Pacific Ocean, for this is the farthest west, where the sun goes at night. For three days, Poia fasted and prayed. On the third day, he saw rays reflecting on the Great Water, forming a path to the Sun. He followed the path and arrived at the home of his grandparents, the Sun and the Moon.

Upon finding Poia asleep on their doorstep, the Sun was at first prepared to kill the mortal, as no earth-dweller could enter the Sky-Country. But the Moon persuaded him not to do so; she recognized the scar and told the Sun that it was their grandson. Soon, Moon, Sun, and Morning Star all welcomed Poia. At the request of his grandson, the Sun removed the scar.

The Sun also taught Poia great magic and the truths of the world. Poia's grandfather explained that the people on earth were suffering as a result of Feather-woman's disobedience. The Sun had a message for the Blackfoot people: If they would honor him but once a year by doing the Sun dance, all the sick would be healed.

Poia himself learned the Sun dance quickly, and his grandfather grew to love him very much. His grandparents gave him a magic flute to charm women into falling in love with him. But, because of his mother's disobedience, Poia had to return to earth, which he did by walking down the Milky Way.

When Poia returned to the Blackfoot people, they honored him. He taught them the wisdom he had learned from the Sun and, most important, he taught them how to do the Sun dance, which indeed healed the sick. Because of Poia's great deeds, the Sun and Moon allowed him to bring his new wife, the chief's daughter who had once rejected him, to the Sky-Country, where they remained forever. Now Poia himself is a star that rises with the Morning Star.

Once a young man went out and came to a buffalo cow stuck fast in the mire. He took advantage of he situation. After a time she gave birth to a boy.

The Story Of The Buffalo Dance

When the buffalo first came to be upon the land, they were not friendly to the people.

When the hunters tried to coax them over the cliffs for the good of the villages, they were reluctant to offer themselves up. They did not relish being turned into blankets and dried flesh for winter rations. They did not want their hooves and horn to become tools and utensils nor did they welcome their sinew being used for sewing.

"No, no," they said. "We won't fall into your traps. And we will not fall for your tricks."

So when the hunters guided them towards the abyss, they would always turn aside at the very last moment. With this lack of cooperation, it seemed the villagers would be hungry and cold and ragged all winter long.

One of the hunters had a daughter who was very proud of her father's skill with the bow. During the fullness of summer, he always brought her the best of hides to dress, and she in turn would work the deerskins into the softest, whitest of garments for him to wear. Her own dresses were like the down of a snow goose, and the moccasins she made for the children and the grandmothers in the village were the most welcome of gifts.

But now with the hint of snow on the wind, and deer becoming more scarce in the willow breaks, she could see this reluctance on the part of the buffalo families could become a real problem.

Hunters Daughter decided she would do something about it.

She went to the base of the cliff and looked up. She began to sing in a low, soft voice, "Oh, buffalo family, come down and visit me. If you come down and feed my relatives in a wedding feast, I will join your family as the bride of your strongest warrior."

As she stopped and listened, she thought she heard the slight rumbling sound of thunder in the distance.

Again she sang, "Oh, buffalo family, come down and visit me. Feed my family in a wedding feast so that I may be a bride."

The thunder was much louder now. Suddenly the buffalo family began falling from the sky at her feet. One very large bull landed on top of the others, and walked across the backs of his relatives to stand before hunter's daughter.

"I am here to claim you as my bride," said Large Buffalo.

"Oh, but now I am afraid to go with you," said Hunters Daughter.

"Ah, but you must," said Large Buffalo, "For my people have come to provide your people with a wedding feast. As you can see, they have offered themselves up."

"Yes, but I must run and tell my relatives the good news," said Hunters Daughter.

"No," said Large Buffalo. No word need be sent. You are not getting away so easily."

And with that said, Large Buffalo lifted her between his horns and carried her off to his village in the rolling grass hills.

The next morning the whole village was out looking for Hunters Daughter. When they found the mound of buffalo below the cliff, the father, who was in fact a fine tracker as well as a skilled hunter, looked at his daughter's footprints in the dust.

"She's gone off with a buffalo, he said. I shall follow them and bring her back."

So Hunter walked out upon the plains, with only his bow and arrows as companions. He walked and walked a great distance until he was so tired that he had to sit down to rest beside a buffalo wallow.

Along came Magpie and sat down beside him.

Hunter spoke to Magpie in a respectful tone, "O knowledgeable bird, has my daughter been stolen from me by a buffalo? Have you seen them? Can you tell me where they have gone?"

Magpie replied with understanding, "Yes, I have seen them pass this way. They are resting just over this hill."

"Well," said Hunter, would you kindly take my daughter a message for me? Will you tell her I am here just over the hill?"

So Magpie flew to where Large Buffalo lay asleep amidst his relatives in the dry prairie grass. He hopped over to where Hunters Daughter was quilling moccasins, as she sat dutifully beside her sleeping husband. "Your father is waiting for you on the other side of the hill," whispered Magpie to the maiden.

"Oh, this is very dangerous," she told him. These buffalo are not friendly to us and they might try to hurt my father if he should come this way. Please tell him to wait for me and I will try to slip away to see him."

Just then her husband, Large Buffalo, awoke and took off his horn. "Go bring me a drink from the wallow just over this hill," said her husband.

So she took the horn in her hand and walked very casually over the hill.

Her father motioned silently for her to come with him, as he bent into a low crouch in the grass. "No," she whispered. The buffalo are angry with our people who have killed their people. They will run after us and trample us into the dirt. I will go back and see what I can do to soothe their feelings."

And so Hunters daughter took the horn of water back to her husband who gave a loud snort when he took a drink. The snort turned into a bellow and all of the buffalo got up in alarm. They all put their tails in the air and danced a buffalo dance over the hill, trampling the hunter to pieces.

His daughter sat down on the edge of the wallow and broke into tears.

"Why are you crying?" said her buffalo husband.

"You have killed my father and I am a prisoner, besides," she sobbed.

"Well, what of my people?" her husband replied. We have given our children, our parents and some of our wives up to your relatives in exchange for your presence among us. A deal is a deal."

But after some consideration of her feelings, Large Buffalo knelt down beside her and said to her, "If you can bring your father back to life again, we will let him take you back home to your people."

So Hunters Daughter started to sing a little song. "Magpie, Magpie help me find some piece of my father which I can mend back whole again."

Magpie appeared and sat down in front of her with his head cocked to the side.

"Magpie, Magpie, please see what you can find," she sang softly to the wind which bent the grasses slightly apart. Magpie cocked his head to the side and looked carefully within the layered folds of the grasses as the wind sighed again.

Quickly he picked out a piece of her father that had been hidden there, a little bit of bone.

"That will be enough to do the trick," said Hunters Daughter, as she put the bone on the ground and covered it with her blanket.

And then she started to sing a reviving song that had the power to bring injured people back to the land of the living. Quietly she sang the song that her grandmother had taught her. After a few melodious passages, there was a lump under the blanket.

She and Magpie looked under the blanket and could see a man, but the man was not breathing. He lay cold as stone. So Hunters Daughter continued to sing, a little softer, and a little softer, so as not to startle her father as he began to move. When he stood up, alive and strong, the buffalo people were amazed.

They said to Hunters Daughter, "Will you sing this song for us after every hunt? We will teach your people the buffalo dance, so that whenever you dance before the hunt, you will be assured a good result. Then you will sing this song for us, and we will all come back to live again."

Old Man was very glade to do so.

One day the meat was all one and the Sun said, "kyi! Old Man, what say you, we go and kill some deer?"

"You speak well." replied Old Man. "I like deer meat."

The Sun took down a bag and took out a beautiful pair of leggings. They were embroidered with porcupine

quills and bright feathers. "These," said the Sun, "are my hunting leggings. they are great medicine. All I have

to do is put them on and walk around a patch of bush, and the leggings set it on fire and drive the deer out so I can shoot them.

"Hai-yah!" exclaimed Old Man. "How wonderful!" He made up his mind he would have those leggings, even if he had to steal them.

They went out to hunt, and the first patch of bush they came to, the Sun set on fire with his leggings. A lot of white tail deer ran out, and they each shot one. That night, when they went to bed, The Sun pulled off his leggings and placed the to one side.

Old Man saw where he put them, and in the middle of the night, when everyone else was asleep. he stole them and went off. He traveled a long time, until he had gone far and was very tried and then making a pillow of the leggings,

lay down and slept.

In the morning, he heard someone talking. The Sun was saying, "Old Man, why are my leggings under your head?"

Old Man looked around and saw he was still in Sun's lodge. and thought he must have wandered around and got

lost, and returned there. Again Sun spoke, and said. "What are you doing with my leggings?"

"Oh," replied Old Man, "I couldn't find anything for a pillow, so I just put these under my head."

Night came again, and again Old Man stole the leggings and ran off. This time he did not walk at all. he just kept

running until pretty near morning, and then lay down and slept.

You see what a fool he was. he did not realize that the whole world is Sun's lodge, that no matter how far he ran, he could not get out of Sun's sight.

When morning came, he found himself still in Sun's lodge. But this time the Sun said "Old Man, since you like my leggings so much, I will give them to you. " Then Old Man was very glade and went away.

One day Old Man's food was all gone, so he put on the leggings and set fire to a bush. He was just going to kill one deer that was running out when he saw that the fire was getting close to him. He ran away as fast as he could but the fire gained on him and begun to burn his legs. His leggings were on fire.

he came to a river and jumped in, and pulled the leggings off as soon as he could. They were burned to pieces.

Perhaps the Sun did this to him because he tried to steal the leggings.

When the World was Young
Let us decide how things will be," Old Man Coyote Said.

The chiefs held a council to determine what to do. One man rose and said he thought it would be a good plan to have people die and be gone for a little while, and then return.

As soon as the man sat down, Coyote jumped up and said he thought people should die forever. He pointed out that this little world was not large enough to hold all the people. and that if the people who died came back there would not be enough food for all.

All the other men objected. They said that they did not want their friends and relatives to die and be gone forever, for then they would grieve and worry and there would be no happiness in the world.

Everyone except Coyote decided to have people die and be gone for a little while, and then come back to life again, The medicine men built a large grass house facing east. When they had completed it, they called the men of the tribe together and told them that the people who died would be restored to life in the medicine house, The chief medicine man explained that they would sing a song calling the spirit of the dead to the grass house, When the spirit came, they would restore it to life.

All the people were glade, because they were anxious for the dead to come and live with them again.

When the first man died, the medicine men assembled in the grass house and sang.

In ten days a whirlwind blew from the west and circled about the grass house. Coyote saw it, and as the whirlwind was about to enter the house, he closed the door. the spirit of the whirlwind, finding the door closed, whirled by.

In this way Coyote made death eternal, and from that time on, people grieved over their dead and were unhappy.

Now whenever anyone hears a whirlwind or hears the wind whistle, he says, "Someone is wandering about." Ever since Coyote closed the door, the spirits of the dead have wandered over the earth trying to find some place to go, until at last they discovered the road to the spirit land.

Coyote ran away and never came back, for when he saw what he had done, he was afraid. Ever after that he has run from place to place. always looking back over one shoulder and then over the other to see if anyone is pursuing him. And since then he has been starving, for no one will give him anything to eat.

The Voice, The Flood, And The Turtle

Once there was a chief whose wife, to the fear and wonder of the people, gave birth to four little monsters.
The elders said: "These strange children will bring great misfortune. It would be better to kill them right now, for the sake of the tribe."
"No way will we kill them," said their mother. "These children will turn out alright, by and by."
But they didn't turn out all right.

Arrow Boy

.

Case Of The Severed Head

"That is a pretty star. I like that one," said First Girl.
"I like that one best of all--over there," Second Girl pointed.

First Girl pointed to the brightest star in the sky and said,
"I like the brightest one best of all. That is the one I want to marry."

That evening they agreed to go out the next day to gather wood.

Next morning they started for the timbered area. On their way they saw a porcupine climb a tree.
"I'll climb the tree and pull him down," said First Girl. She climbed but could not reach the porcupine.
Every time she stretched her hand for him, the porcupine climbed a little higher. Then the tree started growing taller.
Second Girl below called to her friend,
"Please come down, the tree is growing taller!"
"No," said First Girl as the porcupine climbed higher and the tree grew taller.

Second Girl could see what was happening, so she ran back to the camp and told her people. They rushed to the tree, but First Girl had completely disappeared!

The tree continued to grow higher and higher. Finally, First Girl reached another land. She stepped off the tree branch and walked upon the sky!
Before long she met a kindly looking middle-aged man who spoke to her. First Girl began to cry.
"Whatever is the matter? Only last night I heard you wish that you could marry me. I am the Brightest-Star," he said.

First Girl was pleased to meet Brightest-Star and became happy again when she got her wish and married him. He told her that she could dig roots with the other star-women, but to beware of a certain kind of white turnip with a great green top. This kind she must never dig. To do so was "against the medicine"--against the rules of the Sky-Chief.

Every day First Girl dug roots. Her curiosity about the strange white turnip became so intense that she decided to dig up one of them. It took her a long, long time.
When she finally pulled out the root, a huge hole was left. She looked into the hole and far, far below she saw the camp of her own people.

Everything and everyone was very small, but she could see lodges and people walking. Instantly she became homesick to see her own people again. How could she ever get down from the sky?
She realized it was a long, long way down to earth. Then her eyes fell upon the long tough grass growing near her. Could she braid it into a long rope? She decided to try, every day pulling more long grass and braiding more rope.

One time her husband Brightest-Star asked, "What is it that keeps you outdoors so much of the time?"
"I walk a great distance and that makes me tired. I need to sit down and rest before I can start back home."

At last she finished making her strong rope, thinking by now it must be long enough. She tied one end of the rope to a log that she rolled across the top of the hole as an anchor. She let down the rope. It looked as though it touched the ground.
She lowered herself into the hole, holding onto the braided rope. It seemed to take a long time as she slowly lowered herself until she came to the end of the rope. But it did not touch the earth!
For a long while she hung on dangling in midair and calling uselessly for help. When she could hold on no longer, she fell to the ground and broke into many pieces.
Although she died, her unborn son did not die, because he was made of star-stone and did not break.
A meadowlark saw what happened and took the falling-star baby to her nest. There the lark kept him with her own baby birds.

When they were older, Falling-Star crept out of the nest with the little birds. The stronger the birds grew, the stronger grew Falling-Star. Soon all of them could crawl and run. The young birds practiced their flying while Falling-Star ran after them.
Then the young birds could fly anywhere they wished, while Falling-Star ran faster and faster to keep up with them.
"Son, you had better go home to your own people," said Mother Meadowlark. "It is time for us to fly south for the winter. Before long, the weather here will be very cold."
"Mother Meadowlark," asked Falling-Star. "Why do you want me to leave you? want to go with you."
"No, Son," she replied. "You must go home now."
"I will go if Father Meadowlark will make me a bow and some arrows."

Father Meadowlark made a bow and pulled some of his own quills to feather the arrows. He made four arrows and a bow for Falling-Star. Then he started Falling-Star in the right direction toward his home, downstream.

Falling-Star traveled a long time before he reached the camp of his people. He went into the nearest lodge owned by an old grandmother.
"Grandmother," he said. "I need a drink of water."
"My grandson," she said to him, "only the young men who are the fastest runners can go for water. There is a water-monster who sucks up any people who go too close to it."
"Grandmother, if you will give me your buffalo-pouch and your buffalo-horn ladle, I will bring you water."
"Grandson, I warn you that many of our finest young men have been destroyed by the water-monster. I fear that you will be killed too."

But she gave him the things he asked for. He went upstream and dipped water, at the same time keeping watch for the monster.

At the very moment Falling-Star filled his bucket, the Water- monster raised its head above the water. His mouth was enormous. He sucked in his breath and drew in Falling-Star, the bucket, water, and the ladle.
When Falling-Star found himself inside the monster's stomach, he saw all the other people who had ever been swallowed. With his Star-stone, he cut a hole in the animal's side. Out crawled all the people, and Falling-Star rescued his pouch and ladle for his grandmother, taking her some cool, fresh water.

"My grandson, who are you?" she asked, marveling at his survival.
"Grandmother, I am Falling-Star. I killed the monster who has caused our people much suffering, and I rescued all the people who had been swallowed."

The old woman told the village crier to spread the good news that the monster was dead. Now that Falling-Star had saved the camp people there, he asked the grandmother,
"Are there other camps of our people nearby?"
"Yes, there is one farther downstream," she said.

Falling-Star took his bow and arrows and left camp. The fall of the year had now arrived.

After traveling many days, he reached the other camp. Again he went into an old woman's lodge where she sat near her fire.
"Grandmother, I am very hungry," he said.
"My son, my son, we have no food. We cannot get any buffalo meat. Whenever our hunters go out for buffalo, a great white crow warns the buffalo, which drives them away.
"How sad," he said. "I will try to help. Go out and look for a worn-out buffalo robe with little hair. Tell your chief to choose two of his fastest runners and send them to me."

Later, the old woman returned with the robe and the two swift runners. Falling-Star told them his plan.
"I will go to a certain place and wait for the buffalo. When the herd runs, I will follow, disguised as a buffalo in the worn-out robe. You two runners chase me and the buffalo for a long distance. When you overtake me, you must shoot at me. I will pretend to be dead. You pretend to cut me open and leave me there on the ground."

When the real buffalo arrived, the white crow flew over them screaming,
"They are coming! They are after you! Run, run!"
The buffalo herd ran, followed by a shabby-looking bull. The two swift runners chased the old bull according to plan. All kinds of birds, wolves, and coyotes came toward the carcass from all directions. Among them was the white crow. As he flew over Falling-Star in disguise, he called out shrilly,
"I wonder if this is Falling-Star?"

Time after time the crow flew over the carcass, still calling,
"I wonder if this is Falling-Star?"

He came closer and closer with each pass. When he was close enough, Falling-Star sprang and grabbed the legs of the white crow. All of the other birds and animals scattered in every direction.

When Falling-Star brought the captive white crow home to the grandmother, she sent word for the chief.
"I will take the white crow to my lodge. I will tie him to the smoke hole and smoke him dead," said the chief.

From that moment on, the good Cheyennes were able to kill many buffalo and they had plenty of buffalo meat for all their needs.

The people in gratitude gave Falling-Star a lovely lodge-home and a pretty Indian maiden waiting there to become his wife. They remained all of their lives with the Northern Cheyenne Indian tribe.

When Wihio stepped into the lodge he saw that there was plenty of food there, dried meat and back fat and tongues. Every time the man went out he killed an elk, and when he did so he took the tongue out and saved it, so there were tongues hung all about his lodge. Wihio longed for the tongues but the man did not offer him any; he just gave him some dried meat. As Wihio was returning to his lodge, he saw a Coyote not far off, and called to him asking him to come in.

When the Coyote had sat down, Wihio told him about what he had seen in the man's lodge, and he asked the Coyote to go there with him again, so they might eat there.

The Coyote thought the man would not let im in, because everyone knows that coyotes always steal meat.

"Well," said Wihio, "let us arrange some kind of plan by which you can come, What can we do? How can we get in?" The Coyote said, " You dress up like a woman, and tie me up like a baby, and carry me there. Give me good things to eat when you get the meat."

"Ah," said Wihio, "it is good, I will give you part of everything that is given to me." Then he began to tie up the Coyote like a baby, so that he could carry him. After he had done so, he took up the Coyote like a baby and went back to the lodge dressed like a woman, and said to the man, "my child is crying for food. "Wihio whispered to the Coyote to cry for tongue, and he did so. The man asked Wihio what the baby wanted, and Wihio said, "He is crying for tongue." The man took a tongue and put it in water and boiled it.

After the tongue was cooked the man gave it to Wihio, who began to eat, and gave the Coyote only just a taste of it. Wihio ate all he could for he was hungry. The Coyote kept whispering to him, "Give me some too, I am hungry," but Wihio continued to eat, and just dipped his fingers in the soup and let the Coyote lick them. At last the Coyote grew angry and said, "I'm going to tell him about you, that you have dressed me up like a baby in order to get some tongue."

Wihio kept eating very fast, and gave the Coyote none of the tongue, and at last went out of the lodge, carrying the baby. He went to the river, and said to the Coyote, "You were going to tell about me, were you? You ought to keep quiet when I'm eating; you trouble me too much." Then he threw the Coyote, all tied up into the river. and the Coyote floated down the stream.

Chuckling Veeho said to himself, "Now I can work many miracles and be the world's greatest hunter.

Toward evening he was tired of running fast and hard. "Sun can't catch up with me now," he decided. rolling up the magic leggings and placing them under his head for a pillow, he lay down to sleep, He slept well. but in the morning he found himself back in Sun's tipi. Veeho is so stupid, that he didn't know that all the world is Sun's lodge. But though he was surprised to wake up there after having run so hard, fast and far, he is hard to embarrass.

Sun smiled and said, "What are you doing with my leggings?"
Veeho may be stupid, but he is never at a loss for an answer. he said, "I put my head on them to sleep, I knew you wouldn't mind."

"I don't mind," said Sun. "You can use them as a pillow if you want to." Sun knew very well that Veeho was lying as usual, and meant to steal the magic leggings. But Sun only said, "Well I must go walk my daily path."

"Don't hurry back," said Veeho. "I'll keep an eye on your lodge."

Once he could no longer see Sun, Veeho ran off with the leggings again, this time he ran twice as fast and far. Again he went to sleep and again he woke to find himself back inside Sun's tipi.

Sun laughed and said if your that fond of my leggings, you may have them.

Veeho was overjoyed. "I never meant to steal these beautiful leggings, friend Sun. You know me... I'm always up to some trick; I was only fooling. But now that you have given them to me of your own free will, I glady accept."

Veeho could hardly wait to get away from Sun's lodge and put on the leggings. Wearing them, he ran over the prairie and ignited the grass to drive the buffalo toward him. But Veeho did not have Sun's power, he couldn't handle such a big fire. and it scorched his soles and blistered his feet.

"Friend Sun, come and help me!" he cried. "Help your poor friend! Where are you Sun? Come put the fire out!"

but Sun pretended not to hear, and soon Veeho's leggings were on fire. Crying from pain, he plunged into the nearest stream. By then it was to late; the leggings were ruined and Veeho's legs blistered.

When Veeho begged the Sun to make him a new pair of leggings, Sun said, "Even I can't make magic leggings but once. I'm sorry friend. Be more careful in the future."

Sun could have easily made another pair of course. but then Veeho wouldn't have learned a lesson.

The Girl Who Married A Dog

the next day she told her father to call all the young men to a dance in front of his tent. They all came. and the whole village turned out to see them. She watched all that came, looking for the red marks she had made. As she turned about, she caught sight of one of her father's dogs with red marks on his back. This made her so unhappy and she went straight into her tent. this stopped the dance.

The next day she went into the woods near the camp, taking the dog on a string. She hit him. He finally broke loose. She was very unhappy,and several months later she bore seven pups. She told her mother to kill them, but her mother was kind to them and built them a little shelter. They began to grow, and sometimes at night the old dog came to them. After a time, the woman began to take an interest in them and sometimes played with them. When they were big enough to run, the old dog came and took them away.

When the woman went to see them in the morning they were gone. She saw the large dog's tracks and several little ones, and followed them at a distance. She was sad and cried. She returned to her mother and said, "Mother, make me seven pairs of moccasins. I am going to search for the little ones." her mother made seven pairs of moccasins, and the woman started out, tracking them all the way. Finally, in the distance, she saw a tent. the youngest one came to her and said, "Mother, Father wants you to go back. We are going home. You can not come." She said, "No! Wherever you go. I go." She took the little one and carried him to the tent. She entered and saw a young man, who took no notice of her. He gave her a little meat and drink, which did not grow less no matter how much she ate. She tied the little pup to her belt with a string. Next morning, she was left alone and the tent had vanished. She followed the tracks and again came upon them. Four times this happened in the same way. but the fourth time the tracks stopped.

She looked up in the sky. There she saw her seven pups. They had become seven stars, the Pleiades.

One bright day some men were playing the game of ring and javelin in the center of the camp circle. They used a red and black hoop and four long sticks, two red and two black, which they threw at the hoop as it rolled along.
In order to win, a player had to throw his stick through the hoop while it was still moving.
A large audience had already gathered when a young man came from the south side of the camp circle to join them. He wore a buffalo robe with the hair turned outward. His body was painted yellow, and a yellow-painted eagle breach-feather was fastened to his head.
Soon another young man dressed exactly like the first came from the north side of the circle to watch the game. They were unacquainted, but when the two caught sight of each other they moved through the crowd to talk.

"My friend," said the man from the south side, "you're imitating my dress. Why are you doing it?"
The other man said,
"It's you who are imitating me. Why?"
In their explanations, both men told the same story.

They had entered the spring that flowed out from the hillside, and there they had been instructed how to dress.
By now the crowd had stopped watching the game and gathered around to listen, and the young men told the people that they would go into the spring again and come out soon.

As the crowd watched, the two approached the spring. The man from the south covered his head with his buffalo robe and entered. The other did the same. The young men splashed through the water and soon found themselves in a large cave.
Near the entrance sat an old woman cooking some buffalo meat and corn in two separate earthen pots. She welcomed them:
"Grandchildren, you have come. Here, sit beside me."

They sat down, one on each side of her, and told her that the people were hungry and that they had come to her for food.
She gave them corn from one pot and meat from the other. They ate until they had had enough, and when they were through the pots were still full.
Then she told them to look toward the south, and they saw that the land in that direction was covered with buffalo.
She told them to look toward the west, and they saw all kinds of animals, large and small, including ponies, though they knew nothing of ponies in those days.
She told them to look toward the north, and they saw corn growing everywhere.
The old woman said to them,
"All this that you have seen shall be yours in the future. Tonight I cause the buffalo to be restored to you. When you leave this place, the buffalo will follow, and your people will see them coming before sunset. Take this un cooked corn in your robes, and plant it every spring in low, moist ground. After it matures, you can feed upon it."
"Take also this meat and corn that I have cooked," she said, "and when you have returned to your people, ask them to sit down to eat in the following order:
- first, all males, from the youngest to the oldest, with the exception of one orphan boy;
- second, all females, from the oldest to the youngest, with the exception of one orphan girl.
When all are through eating, the rest of the food in the pots is to be eaten by the orphan boy and the orphan girl."

The two men obeyed the old woman. When they passed out of the spring, they saw that their entire bodies were painted red, and the yellow breach- feathers on their heads had turned red.
They went to their people, who ate as directed of the corn and meat. There was enough for all, and the contents of the pots remained full until they were passed to the two orphan children, who ate all the rest of the food.

Toward sunset the people went to their lodges and began watching the spring closely, and in a short time they saw a buffalo leap out. The creature jumped and played and rolled, then returned to the spring.
In a little while another buffalo jumped out, then another and another, and finally they came so fast that the Cheyenne were no longer able to count them.
The buffalo continued to emerge all night, and the following day the whole country out in the distance was covered with buffalo. The buffalo scented the great camp.

The next day the Cheyenne surrounded them, for though the men hunted on foot, they ran very fast. For a time the people had an abundance of buffalo meat.

In the spring they moved their camp to low, swampy land, where they planted the corn they had received from the medicine stream. It grew rapidly, and every grain they planted brought forth strong stalks bearing two to four ears of corn. The people planted corn every year after this.

One spring after planting corn, the Cheyenne went on a buffalo hunt.
When they had enough meat to last for a long time, they returned to their fields. To their surprise, they found that the corn had been stolen by some neighboring tribe. Nothing but stalks remained - not even a kernel for seed.
Though the theft had occurred about a moon before, the Cheyenne trailed the enemies' footprints for several days. They even fought with two or three tribes, but never succeeded in tracing the robbers or recovering the stolen crop. It was a long time before the Cheyenne planted any more corn.

The Origin Of The Buffalo

because of the great need for a new food supply for his people, the chief called a council meeting.

"We should explore the large cave," he told his people. "How many brave hunters will offer to go on the venture? Of course it may be dangerous, but we have brave hunters." No one responded to the chief's request.

Finally, one young brave painted himself for hunting and stepped forward, replying to the chief, "I will go and sacrifice myself for our people." He arrived at the cave, and to his surprise, First Brave found two other Cheyenne hunters near the opening , where the stream rushed underground.

"Are they her to taunt me?" First Brave wondered, "Will they only pretend to jump when I do?"

But the other two braves assured him they would go. "No you are mistaken about us, We really do want to enter the cave with you." they said.First Brave then joined hands with them and they jumped into the huge opening of the cave together. because of the darkness, it took some time for their eyes to adjust. They then discovered what looked like a door, First Brave knocked, but there was no response, he knocked again, louder.

"What do you want my brave ones?" asked an old Indian grandmother as she opened the door.

"grandmother, we search for a new food supply for our tribe, " First Brave replied. "Our people never seem to have enough food to eat."

"Are you hungry now?" she asked.

"oh yes, kind Grandmother, we are very hungry," all three braves answered.

the old Grandmother opened her door wide, inviting the young braves to enter.

"Look out there!" she pointed for them to look through her window.

A beautiful wide prairie stretched before their eyes. Great herds of buffalo were grazing contentedly. the young hunters could hardly believe what they saw!

The old Grandmother brought them each a stone pan full of buffalo meat. How good it tasted, as they ate and ate until they were full. to their surprise, more buffalo meat remained in their stone pans!

"I want you to take your stone pans of buffalo meat back to your people," she said. "Tell them that soon I will send some live buffalo."

"Thank you, thank you, kind Grandmother," said the three young Cheyenne braves.

When the young braves returned to their tribe with the gift of buffalo meat, their people rejoiced over the new good food. Their entire tribe ate heartily from the old Grandmother's three magic pans, and were grateful.

When the Cheyennes woke at dawn the next day, herds of buffalo had mysteriously appeared,

surrounding their village! They were truly thankful to the old Indian Grandmother and to the Sky Spirits for their good fortune.

Ghost of White Deer

The Stretching Tree

When the young man failed to appear that night, the old man said he wished to move camp and that the women should go with him. They started out the next morning. Now one of the women liked the old man, but the other one who had a baby, disliked him, and when they camped for the night, She would take her baby and make a fire for herself away from the old man. So they went on for several days.All this time the young man was stuck up in the tree. and it was cold he took his hair which was very long and wove feathers in it and so made a blanket for himself to protect against the cold.
The little birds who make their homes in the sticks of the hawks' nest tried their best to carry him down to the ground, but they could not lift him.

One day he saw and Old woman bent over with a stick in each hand coming. She came to the bottom of the tree where the young man was. and began to climb until she reached the young man. Then she turned into a Spider. The Spider then spun a web for him, and out of the web the young man made a rope. and climbed down to the ground.

When he got back to his camp, he found it deserted, but discovered the trail of the others and started to follow. He trailed them a long time, and finally saw them in the distance. Now the woman who did not like the old man was following behind with her little boy, and the child , looking back saw his father and cried out, "Why, there is my father!" But the mother replied, "What do you mean? Your father has been dead a long time." But looking back herself, she saw her husband and waited for him to come up, and they stopped together.

Creation Story

Chinook oral legend has it that the first MEN of the tribe came from the sky because they were the offspring of Thunderbird. The men then found and plucked women (who were in various stages of development) from the valley floor. This was the first Chinook tribe.

Also, the rock where the first Chinook woman was plucked still exists. It has a hole all the way through it where her arms passed right through the middle of the rock. I've never seen it but have been told how to get there and where it is. Very few people know about this place (until now), and I'm not at liberty to tell of its whereabouts.

The Chinook creation story centers in Oregon, on Saddle Mountain. That's where Thunderbird laid its eggs. Thunderbird was part man, part spirit being. An Ogress rolled five of Thunder bird's eggs down Saddle Mountain, and five men, each of different color, were born. They found their women growing in various states of development in the valley below. The chief man plucked his wife from a rock. Her arms went through the rock, as if she was hugging it. There is a rock with this feature in the Pacific Northwest.

This group formed the first tribe split up as they kept moving further and further along the Columbia River.