After a number of songs and prayers, Bull Plume took up the Medicine Pipe, which lay before him, and carried it out-of-doors. He held it up towards the Sun and prayed for all the people who were present; that none of them might be killed that year by the Thunder.
Then they had a feast of service-berry soup; and some of the tobacco from the Pipe Bundle was given to every one. To possess this consecrated tobacco and to smoke it, was believed to bring a person into the good will of the Thunder.
After the Medicine Pipe Ceremony, the wife of Running Antelope got Bull Plume to help her with another ceremony over a sacred headdress. This was necessary because of a vow she had made in behalf of her son who was so ill they thought he would die.
That afternoon I went to explore the valley about our camp. I came upon groups of North Piegan children, like wild sprites of the woods slyly peeping through the trees, curious to see the feared white man. At first they fled in terror, but their fear quickly vanished when I gave them presents of crackers and sweet chocolate, which they took without thanks and disappeared among the trees and bushes. [[195]]
I followed a well-worn trail through the woods, leading past the lodge of Brings-Down-the-Sun to a pool in the river, where he took his morning bath. It was a lovely spot—a still-water where the deep current flowed gently; the grassy banks were lined with birch and berry bushes, fragrant thickets, and leafy arches overhead. Along the trail were bright yellow flowers of gaillardia, drooping bluebells, Canada violets, and scarlet Indian paint-brush.
I saw Long Hair, daughter of the chief, come from the river with her water pails; and Nitana on the shore bathing her small daughter, Yellow Mink. A young girl was riding on a rude raft of poles, which stuck fast in midstream. I refrained from going to her assistance, because of the talk it would cause in the camp. But I took her picture with my camera. She wore white-shell ear-rings, a long necklace of blue service berries, and leggings and moccasins decorated with colored beads. Her deerskin dress was bound at the waist with a girdle of colored beads; Indian fashion, it had no sleeves, but was cut into a fringed cape across the shoulders and hung freely over her bare arms.
In the woods many birds were singing, yellow-throat, goldfinch, catbird, white-crown sparrow and many varieties of warblers. I found the spring of cold water which the chief had recommended. Around it were beds of delicious red strawberries, wild cherries, and wonderful service-berry bushes; they reached high above the ground and were covered with ripe fruit.
In the soft mud of the river bank were the marks of a family of beavers—large tracks of old beavers and the tiny footprints of their children. I saw poplars freshly cut by them, also the stumps of trees they had felled many years ago. When I told Onesta about them, he said:
“That family of beavers has lived here many years; the Indians have never disturbed them. Beaver are like people. [[196]]Some are restless and keep on the move; they are never satisfied in one place. But this beaver family is content to stay here, happy in their good home; they have a sandy beach, mud bottom, and plenty of food.”
I came upon some children of the North Piegans, playing with dolls in an open glade. They had a miniature camp with little play-tepees, men and women dolls dressed in skin costumes, with real hair, little belts, and moccasins and leggings to match the clothes. In the center of the camp, which was in the form of a circle, was a tepee for the head-chief; it had diminutive back-rests and painted rawhide cases, little tanning tools, knife sheaths and squirrel-skins for robes.