Traditions of the Arikara

by George A. Dorsey

The Thunderbirds now came and flew around the boy, screaming with joy. The two birds flew away to where all kinds of birds dwell. The birds all flew up where the boy and the nest were, and the mother Thunderbird said: “My son, to-day you are chief of all birds. You shall have power as I have. Lightning shall be in your breath and eyes. I give you a stick that shall have lightning, so that you can kill anything you strike. These birds shall follow you wherever you go. They will bring you news of bad animals. They will give you their power. Let us now go down where the serpent is.” The boy and the birds all went down to where the serpent was. It was broken in two. The birds all took hold of one side and turned the serpent over. When the serpent fell, the flint rock upon it had fallen off and scattered. The boy cut the serpent open and the birds feasted upon the serpent. As each bird was filled it spoke to the boy and gave him power. The power given to the boy was in the nature of objects, and he swallowed them.

The lake grew smooth after the serpent was taken out. The boy was now chief of all birds, and wherever he went the birds followed him. Wherever there was a bad animal the birds told the boy and the boy went and killed the animal. The boy made it his aim to kill all bad animals. He never went to his people, but roamed over the land as chief of all birds, but still kept the name “Antelope-Carrier.”

While this young man was roaming about, two young boys from the village went to shoot birds. They were joined together with rawhide. When they had gone far away from the village they came to a bottom land. Here they found an object that looked like a mushroom. It was white. It was moving up and down. One of the boys said, “Let me shoot at this thing.” The other boy said, “No, it is wonderful.” But the first boy shot at the object and as soon as the arrow hit the object a strong wind came up and took both boys up, carrying them far away, and they were left on an island out in the great waters near where the sun comes up.

When the boys were landed they cried. All this time they were still joined by the rawhide string. The boy who shot began to make fun of the other, because he cried the most. So the boy who cried the most tried to shoot the other with his bow and arrow, claiming that it was through him that they were now far away from home. The other boy said, “No, do not kill me, for we will go back home. We will first go to the setting of the sun, for that is where our home is. If we do not reach home then we must go east, where the sun rises.” So they went west. As they neared the big water they saw a patch of corn and squash. They went on and saw an earth-lodge. They stood outside, and after a while an old woman came out and called them “grandsons” and asked them to enter her lodge.

They went in and she fed them. They stayed with the old woman one moon. Then the old woman said: “My grandchildren, you are far away from home. You were brought here by a strong wind, because one of you shot it with your arrow. I will help you so that you can go back to your people. I will pound much corn and I will make dried mush for you. I will make five large cakes. You must do as I tell you. It takes four days to cross the big water. Four of these cakes will be for your grandfather, who will take you across; one cake will be for you boys.” She made the cakes and gave them to the boys, and said: “Go to the bank, and both of you must say, ‘Grandfather, my grandmother says that you are to take us across.’ A large serpent will come first, and you must say to it, ‘My grandmother says you are not the one.’ It will go away. Then call for another one. The second one will come. Send it away. The third one will come. Send it away. The fourth one will come. It is your grandfather, for he carries land upon his head, with trees growing upon it. Get on the serpent’s head and give the serpent one cake. Your grandfather has lice. Take one off of his head and give it to your grandfather; he likes to eat them.” These lice were soft-shell turtles.

The fourth serpent came, and the boys got upon it with their cakes of mush. The boys took one cake and told their grandfather to open his mouth. When he opened it the boys put one of the cakes into it. Their grandmother came and told the boys to get the big serpent a louse and to throw it into its mouth. This the boys did. The boys’ grandmother told them not to jump when the serpent was within three or four feet of the bank, but to stay on it until it was up to the bank. One of the boys now said to his grandfather: “Grandmother says that you are to start for the other side of this big water.” So the serpent started and went all day. At noon of the next day the serpent stopped, and said, “I want something to eat.” So the boys gave it another cake, and also one soft-shell turtle. Then the serpent started again. The next day the serpent stopped and the boys gave it another cake and turtle. The serpent started again, and the third day it stopped and the boys fed it with another cake and turtle. The fourth day, the boys saw land. The wild boy jumped before the serpent came to the bank, and was swallowed by the serpent. The other boy waited until it landed, then got off, and said, “Grandfather, grandmother said you were to stop here and rest.” When the boys had got on the serpent they untied themselves, and this is why only one of them was swallowed.

Now the boy on dry land said: “Grandfather, I am about to leave you. Grandmother said that I was to feed you with your own lice” (turtles). The boy took turtles from the monster and gave them to him. “O, grandfather, open your mouth. I must see your teeth. Grandmother said I could see your teeth.” So the serpent opened its mouth, and there the other boy was, sitting inside the serpent. The boy asked the serpent to open its mouth wide, so he could see how long his teeth were. He then reached in the serpent’s mouth and dragged out the other boy.

The two boys thanked the serpent and went west, hunting their home. They traveled many days, until at last they came to the Missouri River bottom. This river they followed up until they came to some lakes close to the river. Here they wandered until they came to drift wood, and there was a good large-sized log among the drift. Here they made a big fire. The large log was among the burning. The boys noticed drops of grease falling from the log. The wild boy noticed and reached up to the log and he found that the log was a serpent. The foolish boy then took his knife out and cut a chunk of meat and ate it. He tried to get the other boy to eat some of the meat, but the boy would not eat it.

The boys now went on, and in the night lay down. The next morning the boy who ate the serpent woke and saw that his feet had turned red, blue, and white. The wild boy was glad to see the colors upon his feet. The next night, the boy’s legs became colored. Another night passed, and the boy’s body was colored. The next morning the boy’s legs were joined together and were like a serpent. The other boy talked to the part-serpent boy, and said, “I will stay with you.” The serpent boy then said: “My brother, carry me to the Wonderful (Missouri) River and put me in the water. I am now wonderful. You must come down to the river, so that I can speak to you, and I will give you powers.” The fourth morning the boy was a Serpent. The other boy packed the Serpent boy to the river and turned him loose in the river.

The boy went home. Antelope-Carrier was informed of the Serpent and learned that it was wonderful. Antelope-Carrier came and told all the birds to hunt up and down the river, so that they might find the Serpent. The Serpent knew that Antelope-Carrier was coming, and became scared. The Serpent had his brother dig a hole in the sand for it. He went into the hole and was all hidden but the head, which was covered with willows. Antelope-Carrier with all his birds hunted the Serpent. At last he saw the place where he thought the Serpent was. While examining the place the Serpent used its power and carried Antelope-Carrier into the water and into its den. There Antelope-Carrier was put into the sweat-lodge and was made to vomit up all his powers which he possessed except the lightning in his eyes. “Now,” said the Serpent, “your powers are all gone. You are no longer wonderful. Go now to our people and live with them.” Antelope-Carrier went home. He had to wear something over his eyes all that time, for they were like lightning. He lived with the people, but never showed to them any powers that he had possessed. The Serpent remained in the river and would sometimes swim around in the waters. It gave its powers to the people and gave them songs and the Medicine-men’s ceremony.