17. HOW BURNT-HANDS BECAME A CHIEF.
Poor boy, Burnt-Hands, lives with grandmother outside of village. Last-Child, daughter of chief, brings them food. Burnt-Hands follows trail of wounded elk and finds it dead. Chiefs Red-Bear and Black-Bear come. Red-Bear shoots boy and drops him into air-hole in ice. White-Bear’s cub takes boy to father. Father pities and adopts him as son and teaches him Bear ceremony. Burnt-Hands receives bundle of medicine and goes home. Notice given for buffalo hunt and that Red-Bear wants hide of white buffalo. Burnt-Hands goes with young men to chase. He gets white buffalo robe, as Red-Bear afraid of him. When he reaches camp he eats meat prepared for Red-Bear. Burnt-Hands takes white buffalo hide to grandmother, who gives it to Last-Child. Elk chase is made to get teeth for Red-Bear. Burnt-Hands promises grandmother elk-tooth dress and tells her in case of trouble to flee to timber. Burnt-Hands goes to chase and collects-many elk teeth and so does Red-Bear. They meet at last elk. Burnt-Hands strikes Red-Bear on head with war-club and drags him to air-hole. Burnt-Hands finds grandmother and they perform Bear ceremony. They turn into Bears and attack warriors, killing many. Others send peace-pipe by Last-Child and it is accepted. Burnt-Hands makes grandmother thirty-eight years old and himself twenty-two, and marries Last-Child. Burnt-Hands becomes chief and has Black-Bear as slave.