The head of the arrow projects from the bag which contains it. The delicate waved or spiral lines show that it is sacred.
White-Cow-Killer calls it “The Great-medicine-arrow-comes-in winter.”
Fig. 710.—Magic arrow.
Battiste Good’s record gives the following for the same year:
“Brought-home-the-magic-arrow winter. This arrow originally belonged to the Cheyennes, from whom the Pawnees stole it. The Dakotas captured it this winter from the Pawnees, and the Cheyennes then redeemed it for one hundred horses.” His sign for the year is shown in Fig. 710. An attempt was made to distinguish colors by the heraldic scheme, which in this cut did not succeed. The upper part of the man’s body is sable or black, the feathers on the arrow are azure or blue, and the shaft, gules or red. The remainder of the figure is of an undecided color not requiring specification.
Fig. 711.—Magic arrow.
Fig. 711.—The great medicine arrow was taken from the Pawnees by the Oglalas and Brulés, and returned to the Cheyennes to whom it rightly belonged. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1843-’44. The arrow appears to be in a case marked over with the lines meaning sacredness.
Another account of a magic arrow and illustrations of other fetichistic objects are in Chap. [IX].