They dwelt in a lodge on a very high black cliff. They were always laughing immoderately, as if they were strangers to sorrow. On pleasant evenings they stood on a hill, where they amused themselves by swinging. Should any Indian see them, when he reached home he vomited something resembling black earth, and died suddenly. These women were skillful dancers, and they used to reflect rays of light by means of their mirror, just as the young Indian men do in sport. They jumped many times and sang this song:
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| Će´-paŋ-śi | ku- wa´- ni-to´ | Tu´-wa | le´-ći | śi´-na | mi´-ćo-ze´. |
“Cousin, please come over here! Some one waves a robe over in this direction at me. Ha! ha! ha!” Then they walked about. No one knew from what quarter the Double Woman was coming, and how the two lived was a mystery. There are many tall women found now among different Indian tribes who imitate the behavior of the Double Woman.
John Bruyier and other Teton at Hampton, Va., regard this story of the Double Woman as manufactured by Bushotter. But this character figures in two Santee myths in Rev. S. R. Riggs’s collection, about to be published by the Bureau of Ethnology.[187] (See § 394.)
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY | ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. L |
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THE DOUBLE WOMAN. | |
DEER WOMEN.
§ 252. Deer women of the Teton resemble the Wolf women of the Pawnee. Both tempt unwary youths whom they encounter away from the camp in solitary places. Should a youth yield to the woman’s solicitations the result will be a sad one. As soon as he leaves her she will resume her natural shape. The youth will appear as if drunk or insane, and he will reach home with difficulty. His health will become impaired, and he will soon die. So now the hunters avoid any female that they see on the way. They hate the Deer women. The Deer women never speak, but in all other respects they resemble Indian women.
DWARFS OR ELVES.
§ 253. Dwarfs or elves are probably referred to in the following;
This [i. e. the object sought by Lewis and Clarke’s party] was a large mound in the midst of the plain, about N. 20° W. from the mouth of Whitestone River, from which it is 9 miles distant. The base of the mound is a regular parallelogram, the longest side being about 300 yards, the shorter 60 or 70; from the longest side it rises with a steep ascent from the north and south to the height of 65 or 70 feet, leaving on the top a level plain of 12 feet in breadth and 90 in length. The north and south extremities are connected by two oval borders, which serve as new bases, and divide the whole side into three steep but regular gradations from the plain. The only thing characteristic in this hill is its extreme symmetry, and this, together with its being wholly detached from the other hills, which are at the distance of 8 or 9 miles, would induce a belief that it was artificial; but as the earth and loose pebbles which compose it are arranged exactly like the steep grounds on the borders of the creek, we concluded from this similarity of texture that it might be natural. But the Indians have made it a great article of their superstition; it is called the Mountain of the Little People, or Little Spirits, and they believe that it is the abode of little devils in the human form, of about 18 inches high, and with remarkably large heads; they are armed with sharp arrows, with which they are very skillful, and are always on the watch to kill those who should have the hardihood to approach their residence. The tradition is that many have suffered from these little evil spirits, and, among others, three Maha Indians fell a sacrifice to them a few years since. This has inspired all the neighboring nations, Sioux, Mahas, and Ottoes, with such terror that no consideration could tempt them to visit the hill.[188]