General Crook and the Fighting Apaches / Treating Also of the Part Borne by Jimmie Dunn in the days, 1871-1886, When With Soldiers and Pack-trains and Indian Scouts, but Employing the Stronger Weapons of Kindness, Firmness and Honesty, the Gray Fox Worked Hard to the End That the White Men and the Red Men in the Southwest as in the Northwest Might Better Understand One Another

by Edwin L. Sabin

“You must never speak of the bear or the mule or the snake or the lightning unless you say Ostin Shosh (Old Man Bear), or Ostin Mule or Ostin Snake or Ostin lightning. It is not well to talk about them or the owl. They are medicine.”

And——

“After you are married you must not look upon the face of your wife’s mother. You must avoid meeting her or speaking to her. You must hide your face or turn your back, or you will be disrespectful.”

And——

“You must not eat fish meat, or the meat of the pig. They are bad.”

And——

“When anyone dies we give away everything of his that we don’t burn. If that was not done, then there might be persons of bad hearts who would wish a relative to die so that they would get his property.”

And——

“When I go on the trail as a warrior, for the first four times I must not touch my lips to water. I must drink through a hollow reed, or I will spoil the luck of the whole party. And I must not scratch my head with my fingers. I must use a scratch stick.”