One night he had a dream about his father the Bear. The Bear said to him: “My son, I [[113]]made you great and powerful among your people. The hairs of my body are falling, and soon I shall die. Then you too will die. Tell your son all the secret powers that I gave you. He shall keep the same power that you have had.”
Soon after this the old Bear must have died, for the man died. Before he died he said to his brother: “Do not mourn for me, for I shall always be near you. Take care of your people. Cure them when they are sick, and always be their chief.”
When the enemy came and attacked the people and wounded any, the chief’s son was always there and always cured them. He was a great doctor. At last he also died, but his son had the same kind of power. But these two sons never had so great powers as their fathers. [[115]]
The First Medicine Lodge
[[117]]
A great many winters ago the Piegans were camped near a small creek. Their lodges were arranged in a circle, enclosing a large open space. This was long before they had horses. They used dogs to pack with.
The head chief had a daughter. She was good and beautiful. Many young men had asked to marry her, but she had refused them all. One day she went to the stream for water. There she met a boy, well known through the camp, because of a great scar on his cheek, which made him very ugly. From this the people called him Scarface. He was very poor. His mother and father were dead, and he lived with his grandmother. His clothes were old and torn, and he wore about him part of a worn buffalo robe. Yet, though his clothes were poor and his face was ugly, his heart was good, and the [[118]]cruel taunts of his people often made him very sad.
When Scarface met the beautiful girl, he asked her if she would marry him. She looked at him in scorn and said: “Do you think I would marry such an ugly person as you? When you remove that great scar from your face, come and ask me.” Then she left him. He sat for a long time thinking over the cruel words the girl had spoken. His heart was sad. At last he went slowly to his grandmother’s lodge.
When he entered he said: “Grandmother, make me some moccasins and put some dried buffalo meat in a sack for me. I am going away and may be gone a long time.” She gave him the things he asked for, and he left the lodge and started to go to a butte not far from the camp.