Fig. 118—Winter 1855—56—Big-head kills an Ä´lähó.
´daltoñ-édal, "Big-head," the brother of Gyaí`koaóñte, who had been killed by the Ä´lähó (? see ante) in the preceding winter, after having cried all summer, went this winter for revenge, met an Ä´lähó (or an Osage?) hunting buffalo, and killed him.
The figure with a bow above the winter mark represents A´daltoñ-édal, indicated by the head above the head of the figure, while in front of him is the Osage (?), with the arrow in his breast and the blood pouring from his mouth. The headdress is like that hitherto used to indicate a Pawnee, both tribes wearing the head shaved, leaving a crest. During this winter also a war party went into Chihuahua and brought back a large number of horses, but lost one man, "Going-on-the-road."
SUMMER 1856
Séñ-äló K`ádó, "Prickly-pear sun dance." The prickly-pears or tunas (Opuntia tortispina ?) are shown above the medicine lodge. This dance was held at a place where there was an abundance of prickly-pears, at the mouth of a small creek, probably Caddo or Rate creek, entering Arkansas river about 10 miles below Bent's fort, in Colorado. It was held late in the fall, when the prickly-pears were ripe, instead of in midsummer, as usual, and the women gathered a large quantity. This circumstance has given the distinctive name to the k`ádó. The sweet fruit of the tuna is much prized by the Indians, who eat it raw, while the fleshy leaves are used as a mordant in their painting upon buckskin.
Fig. 119—Summer 1856—Prickly-pear sun dance.
WINTER 1856—57
Dó-gyäkódal-de Sai, "Winter that they left their tipis behind." The two tipis above the winter mark are intended to convey the idea.
