Old Indian trails

by Walter McClintock

Then I went to White Grass, the medicine man, who was shrewd and more resourceful. He was not willing to paint the otter design, but found a way out of the difficulty. He proposed my using the Pine Tree, saying he could paint that design, because he had dreamed it himself while sleeping under a pine tree in the mountains.

So White Grass painted my lodge and made it into the Pine Tree Tepee. It had a black top for the night sky, the Morning Star in blue, also the constellations of the Great Bear and the Pleiades on both sides. At the bottom was a red band for the earth, on which were white discs for fallen stars, triangular projections for mountains and a yellow pine-cone at the back to symbolize the Pine Tree.

I also had a small traveling-lodge, which my friend Big Eyes gave me because I was kind to his children. It was decorated with pictures of both war and hunting—events which had happened in his own career. There were figures of men and animals and Indian camps in colors, red, yellow, and black, an attack by a band of hostile Sioux, a hand-to-hand conflict of Big Eyes with the chief of the Sioux, also battles with Cree Indians and with the Crows, and an attack they made on a settlement of white men. [[262]]

On the north side of my traveling-lodge was the picture of a fight, which Big Eyes had with a band of five grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains—a mother bear with two large cubs and two other grizzlies. In one of the scenes he was plunging his knife into the breast of the mother grizzly, and in another she was tearing him with her teeth and claws; and then she left him for dead to attack his horse.

Two of the most prominent tepees on the inner circle were the Yellow Buffalo and Black Buffalo—the oldest of all the Painted Tepees; and they were believed to have the greatest supernatural power; their bundles and the secrets of their ceremonies had been handed down through many years. Their founders were two warriors, who once looked down into a river and saw two lodges with decorations. Both had black tops, on which were white discs for stars, and a black band round the bottom with fallen stars; each had a pair of buffaloes painted about the center, using yellow for one tepee and black for the other, and the skins of buffalo calves for door-flaps. Their rituals were associated with power to call the buffalo in time of need or starvation. There were taboos against allowing dogs to come inside, the fire must not die out, the door must not be allowed to stand open, nor should any one strike the side of the tepee.

The founder of the Snow Tepee was caught on the open plains in a bad winter blizzard. He lay for days under a deep drift, and had a dream in which the Maker of Storms and Blizzards gave him the decorations and ceremony. The Snow Tepee was not often pitched in summer camps. It was a bad-weather-lodge and was believed to have power to bring storms and cold weather. It had a yellow top, like the color of the sky at sunrise, with a cluster of seven stars for the constellation of the Great Bear on the north side, the direction blizzards come from, and Pleiades on the other. At [[263]]the back was a red disc for the sun, with a buffalo tail attached. Under the yellow top, and at the four sides where stood the four main lodge-poles, were four claws to represent the Thunder Bird. At the bottom was a yellow band for the earth, with green discs, the ice color. On both sides of the door were horse tails for good luck; and bunches of crow feathers, with small bells attached to tinkle in the wind, were fastened to the tops of the ear-poles. Inside no drumming was allowed, the fire must not go out, nor moccasins hung up; dogs were not allowed to enter, nor the tepee cover to be raised.

Medicine Owl was the owner of a large Snake Tepee, with black top for the night sky and the Morning Star and constellations of stars on both sides. Two large serpents were painted round the middle, with the male serpent on the south side and the female on the north. Above the snakes were four red bands for their trails and their den at the back of the tepee. No bones should be broken inside, lest the owner’s horses go lame.

The Crow Tepee had a broad red band around its center, with a procession of crows holding pieces of meat in their bills. A buffalo head was painted over the door; at the back was a row of buffalo tails; and at the top a cross for the Moth, the Sleep Bringer—a symbol that the tepee had come to the owner in a dream. In the legend of its origin, the founder slept one night in the Rocky Mountains, where great flocks of crows came to roost. In his dream the crows gave their supernatural power which went with the tepee.

There was another Crow Tepee, which had a strip of fringed buckskin round the center part for a trail. A row of crows were walking in single file towards the front of the lodge, holding pieces of red flannel in their bills for meat. Under the top of this tepee were red and yellow bands, to represent the color of clouds at sunrise. [[264]]

The Thunder Tepee was believed to bring fair weather. Its ceremony gave protection from storms and had power to clear the sky. Near the ground and at the back was painted a large yellow disc; the north half dotted with small blue spots for hail, the south half with yellow spots for rain. Near the top of this disc the Thunder Bird was represented with outstretched wings and flashes of lightning coming from its beak. At the time of the first thunder in the spring, a ceremony and feast were given.