Traditions of the Arikara

by George A. Dorsey

No sooner had the boy entered the lodge than the old woman on the man’s back became scared. She did not talk much. The boy walked up and said: “Woman, you did wrong. You were sent for a purpose, and instead of doing what you were told, you turned into a woman and became fast upon the young man. You came from the Buffalo with a message and now you are an old woman stuck upon the back of this young man. I shall take you off. These arrows are from my father, Lightning. These flint points will be the ones that will take you off.” The boy then ran around the lodge. Taking the black arrow, he shot at the woman under the shoulder. The arrow struck the woman and split her in two, taking off a part of the boy’s flesh. The boy ran around again. This time he took the red arrow and shot the woman under the chin, taking her entirely off from the boy. The boy then ran around again, taking a white arrow. He placed the arrow upon the back of the boy. Again he ran, and this time the boy took the yellow arrow and placed it upon the sore place of the boy’s back. He ran again, and took the arrow off. He also took the other two arrows, and said: “People, take the old woman outside and place her upon a big fire!” The boy went out and went to his grandmother’s. They made a big fire, placed the old woman upon it, and burned her.

The people took some gifts to the poor boy. The next morning an old woman went out of the lodge and heard a woman crying at the entrance. It was near where the woman was burned. A voice was also heard to say: “Your father threw you away. He burned you. You must not cry.” The young man heard it, and began to think. He would say to himself: “I have never been with any woman. I do not understand this talk.” The next night the child was again heard crying, and towards morning the young man again heard the talk. The young man now felt for the ring he had, and it was gone. The next night the boy thought of the woman’s voice and lay awake. He did not hear her any more, so he went to sleep. In his dream he saw himself playing with the stick, and every time he hooked the ring he thought he was with a woman.

Some one went out of the lodge, and there, where the ashes were, was a new white tipi, and inside was a woman with a child upon her lap, talking to it. In the evening, the people went out to see the tipi, but there was no tipi. The young man was now well. He made up his mind to go out and see the tipi. When the child began to cry, the young man went out to see the tipi, and as he went out a woman with a new buffalo robe passed by him, leading a child. The young man went into the lodge and gathered up many eagle feathers and made a bundle of them. This he put upon his back, and went out of the lodge, following the woman and the child. The woman had made the young man follow her. By daylight the young man could see footprints of the woman and the child. He now saw the woman and the child walking up the hill. The young man ran to catch up with them, but as he got to the top of the hill he saw the woman and child walking, but this time they were Buffalo. The young man ran after them. Once in a while the young calf would run back, hop around the man, then return to his mother. When the calf would catch up with his mother he would say: “Mother, let us go slow. Father is tired.” The Buffalo cow would say: “No, my son, you must not run to that man; he put us into the fire.” In the night, the man saw a tipi near a river. He went to it. The calf came out and said, “Father, my mother said you were to lie down outside.” The young man lay down outside and went to sleep. When he awoke the next morning the tipi was gone. So he got up and followed the Buffalo. Every time the cow came to a stream of water she would rush in and lay a covering of dust over it, so that the water was hidden. The dust layer would be about two inches deep, so that the man could walk over it. The calf came to the man and said, “Father, do you want to drink?” The man said, “I am dying, for my throat is dry.” The calf told the man that he would stick his foot through the crust of dust, so that he could drink when he came to the little hole; that when he was through he must cover up the hole. The man found the hole and drank. He also washed his face and head. He first thought: “What a little hole. Can I get enough to drink?” But he was soon filled, and thought it wonderful that a little hole like that should hold so much water. The man felt refreshed and ran on after the Buffalo. In the night the man again saw the tipi, and he knew that it was the Buffalo tipi. He went to it, and the calf came out, and said, “Father, my mother says you are to come into the tipi and lie down by the entrance.” So the man went into the tipi and lay down by the entrance. When he woke up, the tipi was gone. He went on west and saw the Buffalo cow going with the calf. The calf went back and met the man, and said, “My father, are you hungry?” The man said, “Yes, I am starving.” The calf said: “Watch me. I will drop something and you are to pick it up and eat it. When you have eaten enough put it away and eat it when you are hungry.” The calf ran, and all at once he stopped. His tail went up and he dropped a chip. The man picked up the chip when he came to it, and to his surprise it was pemmican. It was not a very large piece. It seemed to have more fat in it than meat. As the man took a bite he thought the piece was too small to satisfy his hunger, but as he ate, it seemed to grow larger. It was made from a whole buffalo. That evening the man went into the tipi. He was told by the boy Buffalo that his mother had said his father was to sit by her. So the man walked up where the woman sat and sat down by her. In the night they slept together. The boy was very happy. Next morning the boy got up and played with his father. When the woman got up she shook her robe and wrapped herself in it, and there she stood, a Buffalo. The tipi disappeared. The boy was a Buffalo calf. The three now walked on, and the woman spoke to the man, and said, “On yonder hill sits this boy’s grandfather, who is waiting for us.”

When they arrived at the hill he saw the Buffalo bull sitting upon the hill. When the Buffalo bull saw them coming he stood up, stretched, and said: “So you people have come at last. I have been waiting here for you.” The man then took two eagle feathers and tied them upon the horns of the Buffalo bull. He shook his head and jumped around to see the feathers wave. “Go,” said the Buffalo bull. “This is what we want. You will see two bulls sitting on yonder hill. Give them presents and they will be glad to get them.” So they went on, and when they got to the hill they saw the two bulls. The young man went up to the bulls and put his feathers upon their shaggy heads. They also ran and jumped about, shaking their heads. “Go,” they said. “On yonder hill sit three bulls who are waiting for you. Make them glad by giving them presents.” So they went on again. They came to the hill and the three bulls sat there. The young man put feathers upon their shaggy heads. They also jumped around and were thankful. “Go,” they said. “On yonder hill sit four Buffalo bulls, who are chiefs of the Buffalo camp.” The young man took his feathers and put them upon the heads of the Buffalo. The Buffalo jumped around and shook their shaggy heads, each looking at the other’s feathers, until they finally locked horns.

The man, the Buffalo cow, and the boy were told to go and enter the village of the Buffalo. They went and entered and drove off Buffalo, but as the man did not have enough feathers to go around, the Buffalo became mad. Some said, “We can not kill him, for he has not enough.” But others said, “We must kill him, for he burned our messenger.” Some said, “We can not kill him, for the messenger did wrong by turning to an old woman and sticking onto the young man.” The Buffalo were angry. They told the woman to tell the man to sit upon the hill until it was decided what should be done with him. The young man went upon the hill, took from his buffalo belt a flint stone knife and stuck it in the ground. As he did so he called upon the gods in the ground to form stone around where he sat. The young man seemed to know what was coming.

The calf soon came and told the man that the Buffalo intended to kill him, for the people had burned his mother. The calf told him that there were Buffalo who took his part, but as they were few in number they could do nothing; that the woman had done wrong by turning into an old woman and causing him trouble, but this story was of no avail, for the Buffalo were determined to kill the young man. The man took his seat upon the hill as he was requested. The calf said: “Father, I am to run a race with three other calves. I have a friend here who says that he will help me.” The man looked at Yellow-Calf standing by his son. He knew Yellow-Calf was a wonderful calf, that was liked and loved by all of the Buffalo. So the man knew that the calf was safe. The calves went far away, and ran. The two calves beat the others. The Buffalo were furious, hooking the ground here and there. Again the Buffalo gathered in council and it was decided that the man should hunt his wife. There were four other Buffalo cows placed with the boy’s mother, who looked like them all. The boy placed a burr upon his mother’s head, so that his father would know her. The man passing the Buffalo knew the woman cow and picked her out.

The Buffalo bulls decided to kill the man by rushing upon him where he sat and stamping him to death. If not, then they were to hook him. The boy went to his father and told him what was to happen. He took a downy feather and placed it in his father’s hair. The Buffalo came and stamped about the man, around whose head waved the downy feather. Four times the Buffalo rushed upon the man, but when they scattered he was always found sitting upon the hill. The Buffalo became furious. They ran to hook him, but every time the Buffalo hooked the ground their horns were knocked off. The ground around the boy had spread and formed flint rocks, for the boy had stuck his flint stone into the ground and formed flint rock. Four times the Buffalo attacked the man, but they could not reach him. At last they gave up, and returned to their places in the herd.

The Buffalo now again sat in council. They decided to send the man, Buffalo cow, and calf to the Indian village for presents, such as eagle feathers, and native tobacco. The Buffalo said to the man: “Your people are hungry. You must go home and we will follow you. When the presents have been brought to us, then we will send to your people a bunch of buffalo so that they may kill and have meat to eat.” The man was glad, and started on his homeward journey; but a Buffalo bull got in his way. It had also been decided to turn the man into a Buffalo, and the bull was the one to turn him into a Buffalo. The bull attacked the man, but the man stood his ground and met the Buffalo, so that the man was run over by the Buffalo. The next thing he knew he was locking horns with the other Buffalo and to his surprise he found that he was now a Buffalo.

After the man had become a Buffalo he and his wife and the son started for their country, the main herd of Buffalo following. After several nights’ travel the man told the Buffalo that he and his wife and child would start for their country at once. The Buffalo were glad. The three, as Buffalo, started on ahead, the rest following slowly. They traveled very fast, until at last they came in sight of the village. The Buffalo rested in a hollow and the next morning turned themselves into human beings and walked on into the village. The man found his lodge. People flocked into the lodge to see them, for they were fine-looking beings. Their robes were all new. The man told the people to keep their distance, for they (the people) smelled very badly. The man told of his errand and the people began to come in with eagle feathers and native tobacco. The man took all the things, and with his wife and son went out. People watched them, and as the three went over a hill they became Buffalo again. The three ran until the Buffalo came up, and the man gave many presents. Those who received presents were willing to go with the first bunch to be slaughtered by the people. So the three ran back to the village, and got there in the night. A big fire was made in the Buffalo man’s lodge, chiefs were sent for, and the man told them to be ready to go out the next morning; that the people would find a bunch of Buffalo on the other side of the hills. The people went out and found the Buffalo. They surrounded them and killed all of them. Again the young man told them to go out and kill Buffalo. Four times they killed. The whole drove came to the village.