First Beartooth told of how he had run away and how he had been chased to the top of the rock formation by the bear and, in trying to avoid him, had fallen. The two boys told how they had followed Beartooth to bring him back and of their coming upon the bear and their narrow escape.
When they reached the warmth and security of their village again, Naltan and Ceysoda went with Beartooth to his wigwam and there assured him that they had no desire to punish him in any way for his trickery of that morning. “What you did was wrong, but what has happened to you today we firmly believe is punishment enough. Let us forget the incidents of this day. We are still friends and friends we must remain, for only through unity and friendship will we grow into strong good Oneida warriors.”
Beartooth smiled and thanked his two friends, and he continued to smile as Naltan and Ceysoda walked off arm in arm toward their homes and large suppers that awaited the returning heroes.
LITTLE THUNDERBIRD TELLS THE TRUTH
The Blackfoot tribe was on the move. The buffalo had begun to search for new pasture. So the tribe had packed all its tepees on the travois and were moving to follow the herd. Their lives depended upon these prairie beasts, and they did not dare to be too far from them. For two days the herd moved until it found enough grass and water, and then it milled around and started to graze. How long or how short a time they would stay in this new place, no one knew; but here the tribe must make its camp until the buffalo forced them to move again.
As soon as his family’s tepee was set up, Little Thunderbird wandered off in search of some excitement. He was a Blackfoot lad who seemed to be able to get into trouble no matter where he was—like the day he cut the string on his father’s bow, or the day he burned a hole in his mother’s new dress. These are only samples of the kinds of mischief Thunderbird got himself into. So today he planned to stay far from his home until mealtime and in that way keep out of trouble.
Skipping through the village, he saw some of his friends throwing stones to see who could throw the farthest, and he ran up to them to ask if he could play. His friends told him to get in line and wait his turn. Soon he was throwing stones along with the other children. After they had played this game for a while, the children decided to play Follow the Leader. There was a great deal of talk about who would be leader for the game. Finally, one of the older boys was chosen, and he led off by dodging through a rack of drying buffalo meat.
After everyone had run through the rack, the leader headed for the strings of ponies which were picketed out on the edge of the village. Here he ducked under the lines of many ponies that reared and whinnied from fright as the shouting youths leaped past them one after another. This kept on until one of the braves who was guarding the ponies chased the boys back into the village. The leader ran over boulders, danced between tepees, and did many other stunts which each boy repeated until finally the leader sat down, tired out. All the other boys admitted they were tired, too, and the group sat around talking about their fathers’ great deeds.
Soon it was Little Thunderbird’s turn and he stood and walked to the center of the circle, the way the big braves did in council. Then he raised his hands for silence from the group.
“My father is the greatest of Blackfoot warriors,” Thunderbird began. “One day, while he was out on a hunt with some other braves of the tribe, he spotted a mountain lion. They were high in the hills and they had been looking for some ponies that had strayed from the herd. When my father saw the mountain lion, he spoke with the other braves and they decided to kill the beast. As you know, the mountain lion preys upon our pony herds. By killing this one, that would be one less lion to worry about. My father looked around the circle of braves and asked who would go with him to kill the lion. The braves talked a great deal and at last two of them stepped forward and said that they would go.