“He put pile of stones by deer-meat tree; cannot reach, he little. He takes short steps; he old.”
“How did you know that his gun was short?”
“He stick gun on ground against tree. Gun muzzle make mark little way from ground. Short gun.”
“Well, how did you ever know that he had a little dog like that, with a short tail?”
“Dog sit in the sand. Watch man get meat. Dog leave mark where he sit down in sand. Indian can see with two eyes.” [[28]]
MEDICINE MEN AMONG THE INDIANS
early all tribes have their medicine men. These men choose this work, frequently because of some deformity which unfits them for the warpath, and they fit themselves for it, sometimes from boyhood. They have great power over all their people. They are called into the council when the tribe goes to war. They are called upon when any one is sick. They believe and teach that sickness is caused by an evil spirit. Their medicine is to contrive some way to drive out the evil spirit of sickness.
The medicine man usually works himself into a frenzy or even into a fit, and while in this state his mutterings are taken for advice and followed. The patient must then get well. If he does not, it is because the evil spirit cannot be conquered.