Jack Among the Indians; Or, A Boy's Summer on the Buffalo Plains

by George Bird Grinnell

Jack was soon fast asleep, and it was two hours later when Hugh called him and told him to get up and eat breakfast, for the camp was ready to move. They were soon on their way and three days later reached the main camp on the Saint Mary's River without adventure.

Here they found that the ceremonies of the Medicine Lodge had for some reason been set forward and were already in progress. The Lodge had been built and consecrated by the Medicine Lodge women, the sacrifices had been hung on it, the sacred tongues had been divided among the people in the camp, presents had been given, old quarrels had been made up, old friendships strengthened. All day long in their shelter, the men, whose duty it was to keep the rain away, were dancing and whistling; and other sacred dances were going on in various parts of the camp.

After the returning party had pitched their lodges, Hugh and Jack started out to see what they could of the ceremonies that yet remained. Pushing their way through the crowd of people, who stood and sat about the Medicine Lodge, they reached the inner circle about which the men were seated.

Hugh whispered to Jack, "I am glad you are going to see this anyhow. These young men, that get up and make speeches, are counting their coups. They are telling the brave things that they have done in wars during the last year and you will notice whenever one tells of some very brave thing that he has done, the men sitting at the drums pound on them. There is Redshirt! I'll interpret to you what he says when he gets through." A young Indian rose to his feet, stepped out into the open space, spoke earnestly for three or four minutes, making many signs, and when he finished and sat down, the drummers beat their drums, and then a woman, leading two horses, made her way into the open space, and threw down the ropes.

"There," said Hugh; "Redshirt said something like this. 'In the Spring I went to war; I went down the Little river; I found a camp of Assiniboines. While I watched, a young man and a boy come riding out toward me. I think they were going to get horses. When they got close, I shot them both and counted coup and scalped them and took the horses they were riding!' You saw that woman come out and give him those two horses. She is Antelope Woman, and her uncle was killed last year by the Assiniboines. You see when Redshirt killed these two people, he wiped away her tears, and now she wants to show that she thanks him for giving her revenge on the Assiniboines."

Jack was intensely interested at all this and listened and watched, and although he could not understand what was said, he could gather from the signs and from the applause of the listeners something of the meaning of each man's speech. The counting of the coups lasted some time, but at last the intervals between the speakers grew longer. Suddenly Hugh rose to his feet and stepped forward to the open space, holding fast to Jack's arm and pulling him after him, so that in a moment they stood out there in the open, gazed at by all the people. Hugh made a short speech, pointing at Jack as he did so, and when he ended, the drummers struck their drums with a great noise and many of the people shouted. Hugh turned and was about to lead Jack back to the place where they had been sitting, when suddenly a woman's voice was heard at the edge of the crowd, and turning, Hugh saw John Monroe's wife leading a horse toward them; he waited a moment, and when she entered the open space, took the rope and, leading the horse, retired with Jack without the circle.

It had all happened so suddenly, that Jack did not know what to make of it, and when Hugh stopped and looked down at him with an amused twinkle in his eye, Jack said, "What in the world does this all mean, Hugh?"

"Why," said the old man, smiling, "I thought this was a pretty good time for you to count your first coup, and as I knew that you could not do it for yourself, because you can't talk Piegan, I had to do it for you, and John Monroe's wife, she came and gave you a horse. Pretty decent looking horse, too, it is," he said walking around the animal, "looks like it might run—"

"But say, Hugh, you don't mean to say that you told them about that Indian trying to steal our horse and said that I had killed him."