FOOTNOTES:
[43] Told by Hawk.
43. THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE ARIKARA AND THE SNAKES.[44]
One summer the Arikara went out to hunt buffalo, deer, and antelope. On their way they saw by the path a pretty little snake. Some of the old people told the others to give presents to the snake, such as deer meat and moccasins. There were two foolish boys in the rear of the crowd, coming along on foot. When the foolish boys saw the pile of presents they wondered what it was for. They looked all around the pile, but could see nothing; but after a while they saw the little snake on top of the presents. The boys were mad, and said: “We are poor. We are living with these people and they do not give us anything, although they know that we need help, and here they have given these things to this little snake.” “Let us kill it,” said one of the boys. The other one said, “All right.” So they killed the snake. The boys told the people that they had killed the snake. The people turned back from their hunt and went to their village, and they began to climb upon high arbors for refuge. From the top of the arbors they saw something coming down both sides of the Missouri River. Soon they discovered that what they saw were all kinds of snakes. They were ready to meet the snakes, for they knew what they had done, and they were ready to die. They took their clubs and killed the snakes, although the snakes killed many of the Arikara. By and by the snakes killed one of the foolish boys. They bit the other boy all over, but he killed many of them. After a while they went away, but they had killed many people, and all because the foolish boys had killed the young snake.