“Ai! A sad story! A story to give one bad dreams! Let us have one of more cheerful nature before we go to bed,” said Stabs-by-Mistake.
“An Old Man story, then,” said Two Guns. “All are laughable.”
“Elder brother, tell us the story of Old Man and the woman,” said Black Bull to Tail-Feathers-Coming-over-the-Hill.
BLACK BULL AND STABS-BY-MISTAKE (right) NEAR LOWER END OF CUTBANK CAÑON
“Ai! That I will,” the chief answered.
But before I set down the story, I must explain Old Man.
Old Man (Näp′-i) was the god who created the world, and all life upon it, and he was the god of the Blackfeet until, some centuries back, they got from some southern tribe another religion, of which the sun is the principal god. However, they still pray to Old Man, as well as to the gods of the later religion, although in time a great many stories have grown up about Old Man that make him appear to be more of a buffoon than a god. An interesting point about the word näp′-i is, that, while it is the term for an old man, its real meaning is dawn, or the first faint, white light that gives birth to the day. And so, in common with the ancient Mexicans, various tribes of the plains, the Aryans and other ancient races of the Old World, the original religion of the Blackfeet was the worship of light personified.