Buffalo Field Campaign Yellowstone Bison Update from the Field July 29, 2010 ------------------------------ ------------------------------ * Update from the Field * No Vaccinating Wild Bison: Yellowstone Extends Public Comment Period! * Volunteers Needed! Woodcut Week & Summer Outreach * Bison Advocates Tour Two Livestock Grazing Allotments Critical for Wild Bison * Wild Bison 2011: Celebrate Buffalo 365 Days A Year * Last Words * Kill Tally * Useful Links ------------------------------ * Update from the Field The stillness of summer has been shaken by the Montana Department of Livestock's helicopter and horsemen. DOL hazing activities, which included participation from Yellowstone National Park and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, resumed on Friday along the southern banks of the Madison River, within the public lands of Gallatin National Forest. Since escaping the cowboy escapades that terrorized Yellowstone's western edge into mid-June, a very small mixed group of America's last wild buffalo found quiet refuge on the buffalo-friendly lands of the Galanis family. They recently continued their migration and were unfortunately discovered by DOL agents. On Friday, the DOL's helicopter was in the air, with horsemen on the ground, to haze the buffalo off of their native habitat. Agents returned again today, attempting to dislodge the buffalo from the landscape. The agencies excuse that these actions are being taken to "protect" cattle from the so-called threat of a brucellosis transmission is absolutely hollow; after June 15 there is no risk, and any risk at all is only theoretical since there's never been a documented case of wild bison transmitting the livestock disease, brucellosis, back to the cattle they got it from. Of course, actions taken against the buffalo are not based on sound science, but on the politics that defend the interests of the livestock industry. It's the politics of hoarding grass for cows at the expense of America's last continuously wild bison. These senseless hazing operations should make for a lively discussion when the Interagency Bison Management agencies come to West Yellowstone to tour some of the lands where the buffalo attempt to roam. If you live in Montana, are visiting Yellowstone, or can travel to West Yellowstone or Bozeman, please consider coming to the area for a series of important events. On August 10, the IBMP agencies will tour some of the private lands that create the major conflict zones for wild buffalo. The tour is open to the public. Later that evening, from 5:15 - 7:00 pm, the Horse Butte Neighbors of Buffalo will host a buffalo public forum in West Yellowstone that all are welcome to attend, an event organized specifically to educate local candidates. The following day, the IBMP agencies will hold a public meeting in Bozeman to further discuss bison management. People who can make it are encouraged to attend these important events. For more information about the IBMP tour and meeting, please visit http://ibmp.info/meetings.php. If you would like more information about the public forum, please contact Karrie Taggart at [email protected] If you are unable to attend these events, rest assured that we will keep you informed. Summer tabling continues in Yellowstone and the bison rut season will soon be starting. Herds will gather from all directions in a timeless tradition of a buffalo family reunion. During the rut, bulls will show their strength and challenge one another for the attention of receptive females. The roar of what could be dragons will echo through the valley. If you're lucky enough to be in Yellowstone during this time, enjoy the celebration of the buffalo rut, but please keep your distance and give the bulls a lot of space! They have just one thing on their mind this time of year and anything that's not a female buffalo might be viewed as a challenger. Stay safe, have fun, and take photos for the next wild buffalo calendar! And please share the buffalo's story with everyone you know: spread the word to save these sacred herds! ROAM FREE! ------------------------------ * No Vaccinating Wild Bison! Yellowstone Extends Public Comment Period Good news! Yellowstone National Park recently announced that they have extended the public comment period for their misguided bison vaccination proposal until September 24, 2010. It is very important that the Park hear from you about this unfortunate plan to shoot wild buffalo with a brucellosis vaccine intended for cattle, and unsafe for buffalo. The vaccine is ineffective, costly, harmful, intrusive and culturally unacceptable. Please tell the Park you do not approve of vaccinating wild buffalo, and instead, request Yellowstone to develop an alternative to buy-out cattle in the buffalo's immediate habitat areas of Yellowstone, Madison and Gallatin river valleys. Take action today! http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/update0910/062410.html?email_blast_KEY=1180721 And please spread the word to save these herds! BFC and our partners Western Watersheds Project have submitted official comments which are up at the above link for your review. Thank you for taking this action to help America's last continuously wild buffalo. ------------------------------ * Volunteers Needed! Woodcut Week & Summer Outreach BFC will be hosting our annual Woodcut Week from September 6-12, 2010 and we need your help to gather, haul, cut, and stack the firewood that will keep our volunteers warm all winter. Please make plans to join us for a week of good hard work, tasty meals, friendship, and nights around the BFC campfire. We are also in need of education and outreach volunteers to staff our tables in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks during the weeks of July 25 through August 8 and August 29 through September 5. For more information on these volunteer opportunities, please contact Mike Mease at [email protected] ------------------------------ * Bison Advocates Tour Two Livestock Grazing Allotments Critical for Wild Bison Bison have repeatedly ventured to the South Fork of the Madison River only to be shot or forced to flee an onslaught of Montana Dept. of Livestock agents, and other agencies working on their behalf. The Interagency Bison Management Plan agencies classified the South Fork as Zone 3 due to the presence of cattle. Wild bison are prohibited from occupying any habitat in Zone 3, at any time of year, despite the fact bison migrate to these habitats, which include Gallatin National Forest lands. Bryan S. Finkle and Mary E. Deyman Trustees have asked the Gallatin National Forest to renew their permits to graze cattle on the South Fork of the Madison River and Watkins Creek along Hebgen Lake. The Forest intends to release their environmental analysis in the fall 2010. Supervisor Mary C. Erickson is likely to make the final decision on whether to close or renew the permit for 10 years for 74 cow calf pairs to continue grazing habitat on the Gallatin National Forest from July 1st to September 30. Contact Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Mary C. Erickson at [email protected] or 406-587-6703 and ask her to perform a suitability analysis to close cattle grazing allotments on the South Fork of the Madison River and Watkins Creek. The Forest should manage the habitat for wild migratory bison, for grizzlies and wolves, sensitive migratory birds and amphibians, and help sustain native populations of wildlife in Hebgen basin. ------------------------------ * Celebrate Wild Buffalo 365 Days A Year! Wild Bison 2011 https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2426/t/6876/shop/item.jsp?storefront_KEY=554&t=&store_item_KEY=2899 BFC's first-ever Wild Bison calendar is proving to be a huge success! Be sure to get yours while we still have some left for yourself, friends and family, and help celebrate wild buffalo every day of the year! Our Wild Bison 2011 calendars are perfect for your home or office and also make wonderful gifts. They are a spectacular salutation to the Yellowstone area buffalo, America's last wild population, teeming with powerful and endearing photos, passionate quotes, beautiful artwork, information about buffalo, and all content was provided by BFC supporters and volunteers. If you know of any stores in your area that would like to carry them, or if you would like to distribute calendars in your community, please contact Mike Mease [email protected] for more info ------------------------------ * Last Words "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. " ~ Aldo Leopold, 1887-1948 Do you have submissions for Last Words? Send them to [email protected] Thank you all for the poems, songs and stories you have been sending; you'll see them here! ------------------------------ * Kill Tally AMERICAN BUFFALO ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S. 2009-2010 Total: 6 2009-2010 Slaughter: 0 2009-2010 Hunt: 4 2009-2010 Quarantine: 0 2009-2010 Shot by Agents: 2* 2009-2010 Highway Mortality: 0 *Two bulls that were drugged by APHIS on 5/4/10 were shot by DOL later that evening. 2008-2009 Total: 22 2007-2008 Total: 1,631 Total Since 2000: 3,708* *includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts, highway mortality ----------------------------- Media & Outreach Buffalo Field Campaign P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 [email protected] http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org BFC is the only group working in the field every day in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the U.S. KEEP BFC ON THE FRONTLINES WITH A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TODAY https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2426/t/6876/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=3647 Join Buffalo Field Campaign -- It's Free! http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2426/t/6876/signUp.jsp?key=3378 Tell-a-Friend: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2426/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=3835 Take Action! http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2426/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26453 Unsubscribe http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2426/t/7926/p/salsa/supporter/unsubscribe/public/?unsubscribe_page_KEY=42 --

Day-time Trouble - Jamaica Rabbit and Anansi Susan Watkins, Claremont, St. Ann. Brar Nansi and Brar Rabbit went for a walk one day. Brar Rabbit ask Brar Anansi to show him 'daytime trouble'. An' while dey go on, Brar Anansi saw Tiger den wid a lot of young Tiger in it. Brar Anansi took out one an' kill it an' give Rabbit a basket wid a piece of de Tiger's meat to carry for de Tiger's fader, an' took Rabbit along wid him to Tiger's house an' tol' Brar Rabbit to han' Tiger de basket. Anansi run, an' Tiger catch at Rabbit to kill him, but he get away. Brar Anansi run up a tree an' say, "Run, Brar Rabbit, run! run fe stone-hole!" Took a razor an' give it to Rabbit. An' Tiger got up a lot of men to get Rabbit out de hole an' Tiger sent for Reindeer to dig him out, as he had a long neck to put down his head an' dig him out; but Anansi tol' Rabbit when Reindeer put down his head in de hole, he mus' tak de razor an' cut it off. A lot of people gadder to see Reindeer tak Rabbit out of de hole, but instead, Reindeer head was taken off an' he drop an' was dead an' de whole crowd run away wid fright. After Rabbit come out, Brar Nansi say to him, "Brar Rabbit, so 'daytime trouble' stay. So, as long as you live, never ask anybody to show it to you again!" Rat and Anansi Moses Hendricks, Mandeville. Rat and Anansi went out one day. They came across Tiger's four children,--Anansi knew exactly where they was. He had a handbasket, Rat had one. So Anansi said, "Brer, two fe me, two fe you!" Anansi tak up one, mak the attempt as if he going to kill it but he didn't do so, put it in his basket alive. Rat t'ot Anansi kill it, an' he tak up his now an' kill it an' put it in his basket. Anansi did the same with the second one,--didn't kill it, put it in his basket. Pat took up the other one an' him kill it. So Rat had two dead ones an' Anansi had his alive. Anansi knew exactly which way Tiger would walk coming home. They met Tiger. Said, "Brer Tiger, I see yo' baby them Crying hungry, I tak them up come meet you. I carry two, Brer Rat two." Tiger lay down now to nurse them. Anansi took out one alive. Rat took out one dead, got frightened. Tiger looks cross. Anansi took out the other one alive. Rat took out his dead. Tiger got into a temper an' made a spring at Rat to catch him. Rat was running. The track was along the side of a wall. Anansi call, "Brer Pat, 'member stone-hole!" Tiger say, "What you say, Brer Nansi?" Anansi say, "Tell you mus' min', him go into dat stone-hole now!" Rat hear now, get into de stone-hole. Tiger wheel roun' to revenge himself on Anansi. Anansi get under de dry trash. That is the reason why rat so fond of stone-hole, an' Anansi, always find him under dry trash an' rubbish. Jack man dory! Goat and Anansi. Ethel Watson, Santa Cruz Mountains. Anansi and Goat was walking one day. Dey met on Tiger nest. Dey saw seven pic'ny in de nes'. Hanansi said, "Goat, you know what we do? Mak we wring de neck t'row 'way in de bag!" Dey wring de pickney neck t'row it in de bag. Dey met wid Bredder Tiger. Hanansi said, "Bredder Tiger, we get at' yo' nes' an' we tak yo' pic'ny an wring dem neck t'row 'em in de bag." Tiger say, "You mus' be kill me pic'ny!" Anansi say, "No-o-o-o-o!" Tiger say, "T'row 'em out let me see dem!" Hanansi t'row out; dey didn't dead. "Goat, t'row out yours now let me see!" Goat Crow dem out; de Goat's was dead. Tiger start after Goat. Hanansi say, "Run, Brer Tiger! run, Brer Goat!" Goat slip into a hole, Tiger begin to dig de hole. De stick get broke, Hanansi say, "Bredder Tiger, go look better stick." Bredder Tiger went. Hanansi give de Goat some salt, say, "When Tiger come, blow dis in a eye!" Tiger come back, begin to dig. Hanansi say, "Bredder Tiger, dig an peep down in a hole!" Tiger begin dig an' peep. Goat blow de salt in de Tiger eye. Tiger say, "Brer Hanansi, blow in dis fe me!" Hanansi blow, say, "Bredder Tiger, after eye-water sweet so, what t'ink upon de meat?" Hanansi an' Goat come out an' kill Tiger, den dey put Tiger in de bag wid de pic'ny, an' bot' of dem went home. NOTE: Seeing Trouble. The complete story is made up of three parts. (1) Some inexperienced animal wants to know "what trouble is". (2) The rascal gets him into difficulty; (3) and helps him out again. Compare: Zeltner, 105-107; Tremearne, FL 21:499-500; Jones, 107-109; Parsons, Sea Islands, 59-61. (1) Only Jones, Parsons and the Jamaica version (a) have the introduction, which suggests the story (Grimm 4) of the lad who did not know what fear was. (2) One of three plots is employed to teach wisdom. In Jones (see number 30c and Gerber's Great Russian Animal Tales, 12, 16) the rascal gives his victim a bull-dog in a bag and bids him let it out in an open field. In Parsons, he sets on fire the deep grass in which his victim lies sleeping. In Zeltner, Hyena and Hare catch four lion cubs; Hare pretends to kill his two, and Hyena follows his supposed example. In Tremearne, Hyena and Jerboa on a wedding journey are lodged in the goat-house and the fowl-house respectively. Jerboa proposes they have a feast, then counsels the host to count the fowls and the goats. None of his fowl are missing, but Hyena has eaten a goat. In Ferrand, Madagascar, 207, it is proposed to kill mothers. One pretends to, the other thinks it real and does it. See number 136. In Gerber's Great Russian Animal Tales, 13, the Fox, having placed some chickens under her, pretends to be tearing out and eating her own entrails. Bear tries to do the same and kills himself. (3) The escape into a hole is very common. The usual method of rescue is to throw dust, pepper or spit into the eyes of the watcher at the hole. Compare: numbers 5c, 23, 27 a, and Zeltner, 107; Nassau, 45, 46; Smith, 549; Harris, Uncle Remus, 52; Nights, 285; Fortier, 115; Jones, 108; JAFL 30:178; Parsons, Andros Island, 118 and note for references. The "sweet" eye-water suggests such a tale as Tremearne, FL 21:364, where Goat smears honey upon Hyena's sinew, with which he is doing some mending for Lion, and by giving Lion a taste of it provokes an attack upon Hyena. Jamaica Anansi Stories ,Martha Warren Beckwith, New York, Published By The American Folk-Lore Society, G. E. Stechert & Co., Agents. [1924] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Daughter of the Sun - Cherokee Many Indian legends depict the sun as a male being who impregnates mortal women. The Cherokees are one of three tribes who view the sun as female, as has been said already. In this classic tale with an Orpheus theme, the sun is an old woman with a grown daughter and human emotions. The sun lived on the other side of the sky vault, but her daughter lived in the middle of the sky, directly above the earth. Every day as the sun was climbing along the sky arch to the west, she used to stop at her daughter's house for dinner. Now, the sun hated the people of this earth, because they never looked straight at her without squinting. She said to her brother, the moon, "My grandchildren are ugly; they screw up their faces whenever they see me." But the moon said, "I like my younger brothers; I think they're handsome." This was because they always smiled pleasantly at his mild glow in the night sky. The sun was jealous of the moon's popularity and decided to kill the people. Every day when she got near her daughter's house, she sent down such a sultry heat that fever broke out and people died by the hundreds. When everyone had lost some friend and it seemed as if no one would be spared, the humans went for help to the Little Men. These men, who were friendly spirits, said that the only way the people could save themselves was to kill the sun. The Little Men made medicine to change two humans into snakes -- the spreading adder and the copperhead -- who could hide near the daughter's door and bite the old sun. The snakes went up to the sky and lay in wait until the sun arrived for dinner. But when the spreading adder was about to spring, her bright light blinded him and he could only spit out yellow slime, as he does to this day when he tries to bite. The sun called him a nasty thing and went into the house, and the copperhead was so discouraged that he crawled off without trying to do anything. The people, still dying from the terrible heat, went a second time to the Little Men for help. Again the Little Men made medicine and changed one man into the great Uktena, the water monster, and another into a rattlesnake. As before, the serpents had instructions to kill the old sun when she stopped at her daughter's house. Uktena was large and fierce, with horns on his head, and everyone thought he would be sure to succeed. But the rattlesnake was so eager that he raced ahead and coiled up just outside the house. When the sun's daughter opened the door to look for her mother, he struck and she fell dead in the doorway. Forgetting to wait for the old sun, he went back to the people, and Uktena was so angry at the rattlesnake's stupidity that he went back too. Since then we pray to the rattlesnake and don't kill him, because he wishes people well and never tries to bite if we don't disturb him. But Uktena grew angrier and more dangerous all the time. He became so venomous that if he even looked at a man, the man's whole family would die. Eventually the people held a council and decided that he was just too dangerous, so they sent him to Galun'lati, the end of the world, where he still is. When the sun found her daughter dead, she shut herself up in the house and grieved. Now the people were no longer dying from the heat, but they lived in darkness. Once more they sought help from the Little Men, who said that in order to coax the sun out, they must bring her daughter back from Tsusgina'i. This is the ghost country, which lies in Usunhi'yi, the Darkening Land in the west. The people chose seven men to make the journey. The Little Men told the seven to take a box, and told each man to carry a sourwood rod a handbreadth long. When they got to Tsusgina'i, the Little Men explained, they would find all the ghosts at a dance. They should stand outside the circle, and when the sun's daughter danced past them, they must strike her with the rods and she would fall to the ground. Then they could put her in the box and bring her back to her mother. But they must not open the box, even a crack, until they arrived home. The seven men took the rods and the box and traveled west for seven days until they came to the Darkening Land. There they found a great crowd of ghosts having a dance, just as if they were alive. The sun's daughter was in the outside circle. As she danced past them, one of the seven men struck her with his rod. As she swung around a second time, another touched her with his rod, and then another and another, until at the seventh round she fell out of the ring. The men put her into the box and closed the lid, and the other ghosts never seemed to notice what had happened. The seven took up the box and started home toward the east. In a while the girl came to life again and begged to be let out, but the party went on without answering. Soon she called again and said she was hungry, but they did not reply. When at last the group was very near home, the daughter of the sun cried out that she was smothering and begged them to raise the lid just a little. Now they were afraid that she was really dying, so they barely cracked the lid to give her air. There was a fluttering sound, and something flew past them into the bushes. Then they heard a redbird cry, "Kwish! Kwish! Kwish!" Shutting the lid, they went on again. But when they arrived at the settlements and opened the box, it was empty. So we know that the redbird is the daughter of the sun. And if the party had kept the box closed, as the Little Men told them to, they could have brought her home safely, and today we would be able to recover our friends from the Ghost Country. Because the seven opened the box, however, we can never bring back people who die. The sun had been hopeful when the party had started off for the Darkening Land, but when they came back without her daughter, she wept until her tears caused a great flood. Fearing that the world would be drowned, the people held another council and decided to send their handsomest young men and women to amuse the sun and stop her crying. This group danced before her and sang their best songs, but for a long time she kept her face bowed and paid no attention. At last when the drummer suddenly changed the song, she looked up and was so pleased at the sight of the beautiful young people that she forgot her grief and smiled. >From Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney, 1900 Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dancing Spirits Grandfather, many have tried to destroy what you have created. The Dancing Spirits have reached deep within my heart. They shall protect the Sacred Circle you have created in my heart. Your gift of such a Sacred Dance is as a precious breath of Mother Earth. The rage of her nostrils shall not harm the ground the Dancing Spirits have danced on. My Grandson, know that the beauty of this Sacred Circle, you are just a part of. Your brothers build along side of you, take this hand and increase your strength. Seek his wisdom for a river runs swift when streams become as one. You shall honor his deeds for his hand reaches for yours as the Mighty Redwoods reach for the Sacred Skies. Old One, I shall be as the Standing Bear, his strength has carried him through harshness. Your teaching of the Great Warriors that have turned into dead trees is wise. In how many seasons will they turn into stone? Those before me shall keep the Dancing Spirits buried in my heart. Young Warriors, what you have built let it stand Mighty as the Paha Sapa. We can not change the past but Father Sun shall guide our tomorrows. It is I that has granted you the Dancing Spirits. You have learned well my sons that Warriors turn into trees and then stone. Listen to the words the Great Winds Have carried to your ears. You cannot live on the empty promises of those that cause hunger to your women and children. My son, let no man break the Scared Circle of the Dancing Spirits. by Crying Wolf Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Daughter of Somebody-or-Other - Hopi Two little girls were traveling with the Hopi grandparents. One of the little girls was the beautiful child of a great Hopi wise man. The other was a daughter of somebody-or-other whose name was forgotten but this second little girl was not beautiful, and she was jealous of the wise man's child. The second child's jealousy made a hole in her chest where her heart should have been and the Master of Death used this forgotten daughter to bring Death to the wise man's child. This death was the first death among the Hopi and upon the earth's crust and the men watched the beautiful child lying there still and cold. They waited for her to awaken but the little girl slept on in Death and the Hopi wise man became angry, and cried, "Where is my daughter ?" The Hopi grandparents looked at the wise man and his child sleeping in Death and they looked at each other and the wise man stood a long time in the presence of Death. The wise man decided "I will mold a ball of my sacred cornmeal, and I will throw my corn meal ball up into the air, and when it comes down it will hit one of you on the head." The Hopi men listened, "I will know that the one that my corn meal strikes is the man whose evil magic has led my daughter into Death." So, the Hopi wise man molded a ball he made it from sacred corn meal sprinkled with yellow pollen and that wise man threw his molded ball into the air. The ball arched up into the moonlight and hung among the stars and when the sacred corn meal fell, it struck the jealous little girl in her head. Then the wise man looked into the face of the daughter of somebody-or-other and whispered to her "Have you caused this thing, my daughter's Death" The Hopi wise man looked at the little girl the daughter of somebody-or-other with his father's empty heart. He called a council of the Hopi. Those Hopi old ones believed the wise man's corn meal test and they might have killed her the daughter of somebody-or-other but she asked for their mercy and just a little time. The daughter of somebody-or-other led the wise men and the Hopi grandparents to the edge of the hole they had come from and asked them to look down into it. Look down into this hole, If you can look into it and still want to kill me, I will die." said the daughter of somebody-or-other. The wise man and the Hopi grandparents listened to this daughter of somebody-or-other and they looked down into the hole that led back into the cave world. That wise man and those Hopi grandparents saw beds of wildflowers that bloomed in everlasting summer and the wise man's daughter dancing through the flowers. The wise man's daughter was filled with the spirit of the wildflowers and didn't look back at her father and the Hopi old ones who were looking in at her. This world had nothing to offer the wise man's daughter "Do you see her," said the daughter of somebody-or-other, "this is the way that it will always be for the children of the Hopi people." The Hopi grandparents understood what the daughter of somebody-or-other had taught them "This is the way it is when we die. We will return to this world that we have come from, and we will be happy." "Where is there room for fear? Why should we anticipate Death with dread?" The Hopi men did not kill the little girl who was the daughter of somebody-or-other. The children of the second little girl became the world's searchers and finders and men and women of power and they grew in numbers. The children of the daughter of somebody-or-other are still living with us and her children still have dreadful and wonderful skills as their mother had before them. http://www.orgsites.com/fl/sons/_pgg4.php3 Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Datcwindin Xonaiswe. Gooseberry-place Brush Dance. - Hupa One time they had a Brush dance at Datcwindin. Two young women sat on the roof watching the dance. Two strange men were noticed about the place where the dance was being held. About midnight one of the two girls who were sitting on the roof said to the other, "Xunai, let us get a drink of water." "Very well," said the other. They walked along the river-shore toward the spring. The two strange men overtook them and carried them away toward the south. At Notanadin they stopped and wrapped the girls' faces in double deer-skin blankets. Leaving the river they took them up Kiyaneke creek. When they had crossed Djictanadin and Xaslindin creeks, the girls began to fear for their lives. They pulled off the fringes of their dresses and dropped them by the trail that their friends might know which way they had been taken. At Southfork they were taken across the Trinity river and conducted along Southfork creek. They cried as they went along. At the camping places the men showed them where the red obsidians were buried and the dried venison was stored. Finally they came to their journey's end where there were many houses and sweat-houses. After they had been living there some time they went down to the river shore to make acorn soup. A very old woman came down to see them. Speaking to them in the Hupa language she said, "I too was brought here many years ago when I was young. Now my children are as large as I am. These people are always stealing girls. There are Yurok women living here also. You will get used to it in time." After a while each had a child. Both were boys. Their husbands showed them where the red obsidians were buried and taught them to kill deer by magic. The deer used to come out to feed on the opposite side of the stream. When they pointed something at them the deer always fell dead. One time they said to each other, "Why wouldn't our husbands die if we did that way with them?" One evening after the children had learned to walk the men went into the sweat-house. The women standing outside did to them as they had been accustomed to do to the deer. They called to them but received no reply. Again they called but still they received no reply. They had already been dead some time. The women packed up their things quickly, taking away only the red obsidians, and started home. They camped each night at the places they had camped before. They dug up the red obsidians at these places. When they got to their home one of them went into her mother's house. The family were sitting about the fire. They had their hair cut in mourning for the lost daughter. "Mother," she said. "Eh," said the old woman, "who spoke to me in a forbidden manner? I had a daughter some years ago. They hid her away from me." "I am that daughter," the young woman said, "I have got back." She passed her child to her mother who took it. She told her people all that had happened to her since her disappearance. The boy used to imitate the call of flint's grandmother (a bird) in the wood-room at night. He did not act like a human being and always sat with his back to the fire. They took care of him the best they could. He grew to be quite a large boy. Some of the people did not like him. After a time the two boys went away. For a while they used to come back occasionally. When they became men they ceased coming back. Footnotes: Told at Hupa, July 1902, by Mary Marshall. Hupa Texts by Pliny Earle Goddard, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 1, No. 2 [1904] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dancing Spirits: Legends and Folklore of the Northern Lights - Fox The Salteaus Indians of eastern Canada and the Kwakiutl and Tlingit of Southeastern Alaska interpreted the northern lights as the dancing of human spirits. The Eskimos who lived on the lower Yukon River believed that the aurora was the dance of animal spirits, especially those of deer, seals, salmon and beluga. Folklore is from Legends of the Northern Lights, by Dorothy Jean Ray, The ALASKA SPORTSMAN, April 1958, reprinted in AURORA BOREALIS The Amazing Northern Lights, by S.I. Akasofu, Alaska Geographic, Volume 6, Number 2, 1979 Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dancing Drum - Cherokee One day long ago, when souls could still return from the Land of the Spirits, the Sun looked down upon the Earth. 'The People of the Mountain do not like me," she said to her brother, the Moon. "See how they twist up their faces when they look to the sky." "Ah. but they love me." replied the Moon. "They smile when they see me, and they make music and dance and send me songs." This did not please the Sun. for she thought she was more important than her brother, and more deserving. That night, as she always did. the Sun visited her daughter for the evening meal. ' 'How can The People love my brother and not me?'' she asked. "I will show them it is unwise to offend me!" And the next, she sent scorching heat onto the land. During this time of the angry Sun. there lived in a small Cherokee village, a boy named Dancing Drum. He saw the suffering of his people. The crops no longer flourished, the children no longer laughed, the old women no longer gossiped, and the river, Long Man, was drying up. Soon, there would be no water even for drinking. Dancing Drum went to the Shaman, and asked, "Why is Grand-mother Sun burning the land and The People? How can we make her stop?" The Shaman drank the last drop of water from her drinking gourd. "I do not know." she said.' 'But in a dream, a woodpecker came to me and told me to go to the little men in the wood. Alas. I have grown too weak to travel. You are young and strong. It is up to you to go." Honored to be chosen for such an important mission, Dancing Drum followed the Shaman's directions and soon found the little men in the wood. "How can we make Grandmother Sun stop burning The People?'' he asked them. "You must go to the Land of the Sky People and kill the Sun before she destroys us all." they said. "First, take these snake rattles and tie them onto your moccasins." As soon as he did this, Dancing Drum felt a strange tingling flow from his heels to his head. Suddenly, he could not move his arms, and when he tried to move his legs. he only heard the shaking of the rattles. He called for help. "Hsssssss!" was all he could say, for he had become a snake! "Do not worry." said the leader of the little men. "You will be yourself again when your task is complete." He pointed to a small opening in the underbrush. "Now follow this path to the house of the Sun's daughter. In the morning, when the Sun comes out, bite her quickly." Soon, Dancing Drum became used to the side winding movements of his new body. He slithered along the path into the woods, up the tallest mountain, and through the mist to the clouds themselves. At last, he came upon a large domed house made of mud and cane. It was the house of the Sun's daughter. Since it was near dawn, Dancing Drum hid behind the clay pots stacked outside the door. I'll catch the Sun as she comes out, he thought. But when the door opened, she rushed by him so quickly, he didn't even have time to strike. He would have to be more alert next time. He slept throughout the day, and as twilight approached, Dancing Drum was ready. This time, when the Sun drew near, he tensed to spring at her. But at the last instant, he turned away, blinded for a moment by her brilliance. I must try again, he vowed, and this time, I will not miss. Through the night he waited. As soon as he heard stirrings from inside the house, he slithered to the door and closed his eyes. "Forgive me. Grandmother Sun,'' he hissed. A moment later, the door opened and Dancing Drum struck. He felt his fangs sink deep into her ankle. But when he looked, he saw that it was not the Sun, but her daughter who lay dead on the ground. Just then, Dancing Drum shed his scaly skin. He was a boy once more. With the Sun's wail filling the air, he ran from the Land of the Sky People. Over the clouds he went, through the mist, and down the tallest mountain. After many days, he reached his village. There, the chief was holding counsel. "At last, we have relief from Grandmother Sun's burning heat," he said, "But, in her sadness over the death of her daughter, she no longer leaves her house." He pulled his robe tighter around his shoulders. "Now, The People are cold and in darkness." Stepping into the chief's circle, Dancing Drum announced, "I am the cause of this darkness. I stopped the heat, but out suffering grows worse. I will go to the Land of the Spirits and bring back the Daughter of the Sun. Then our grandmother will once again smile upon The People." Once more, Dancing Drum consulted the Shaman. "Take six others with you," she advisee, "and a large basket. You will find the Daughter of the Sun dancing with the ghosts in Tsugina'i. Each of you must touch her with a sourwood rod. When she falls to the ground, put her into the basket and secure the lid. Then bring her back here.' "This we shall do," answered Dancing Drum. He chose six of the swiftest stickball players in the village. They were about to leave for the Darkening-land when the Shaman cautioned, "Once you have her in the basket, do not lift the lid." For days, the runners followed the path to the Land of the Spirits. At the end of the seventh day, they heard drums and chanting, then they saw the ghosts, circling around a low fire. The Daughter of the Sun danced in the outer ring, heel-toe, heel-toe. >From their hiding place in the shrubs, Dancing Drum and his companions took turns reaching out with their sourwood rods. Each time the Daughter of the Sun passed, one of them touched her. Dancing Drum's rod was the seventh. As it brushed her. she collapsed. The ghosts seemed not to notice, so the boys hastily picked her up, put her into their basket, and secured the lid tightly. After a time, the Daughter of the Sun started moving around in the basket.' 'Let me out!'' she called to the runners.' 'I must eat!'' At first, the seven ignored her. Then she called, "Let me out! I must have water!" Again, her plea went unanswered. When they were almost to the village, the basket started to shake. "Let me out," called the Daughter of the Sun. This time, her voice sounded strangled "I cannot breathe!" she croaked. Dancing Drum was afraid she might die again, so he opened the lid a tiny crack. Suddenly, a flapping sound came from inside the basket, and a flash of red flew past, followed by the "Kwish. kwish. kwish!" cry of a redbird. Not sure what had happened. Dancing Drum quickly refastened the led and hurried with his companions back to the village. Once there, the Shaman opened the basket. It was empty! The Daughter of the Sun had been transformed into the redbird. "You disobeyed," the Shaman said to Dancing Drum. "For this, souls can no longer be returned from the Land of the Spirits." Dancing Drum hung his head, and Grandmother Sun, watching from the Sky World, began to weep. She cried so hard, her tears filled Long Man to overflowing, threatening a great flood over the land. "What shall we do?" The People cried. "We shall sing!" declared Dancing Drum. So The People put on their most beautiful clothes of embroidered buckskins. They wore necklaces of deer and panther teeth, and painted their faces white. They lifted their faces to the sky and chanted for Grandmother Sun. They drummed, and kept rhythm with their groud rattles. But still Grandmother Sun grieved. Finally. Dancing Drum left the singing and went to his lodge for his own drum. It had been a special gift from his grandfather. He filled the hollow log with water and dampened the groundhog skin. At last he was ready. Returning to the group of singers, he sat and began playing his own song. >From the Land of the Sky People, Grandmother Sun heard the new music. She stopped crying and looked down to see her beautiful people smiling up at her. She saw them offering their special dances, and she heard their special song. Dancing Drum lifted his face to the sky as he played from his heart for his ancestors, for his people, and for his land. And as he played, Grandmother Sun came out of her house to once again smile down on her Children of the Mountain. Adapted by Terri Cohlene Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dance to Heal the Earth by Dee Smith Whenever you dance, wherever you dance, dance to heal the earth! Dancing is power. Dancing is prayer. Some say that all is dance. Maybe. Now there's a big dance coming, a dance to heal the earth. If you're reading this, you're probably part of it. You take part whenever you do whatever you do to help heal the earth. When you recycle. When you choose to show love, to fight for justice, to bring healing, to bring out what is good in others. When you avoid cruelty and dishonesty and waste. When you are outraged. When you speak out. When you give. When you consider the generations to come. When you protest to the oppressors and encourage those who feel the cutting edge of injustice. And, of course, when you dance. There is a tree that all the prophets see, and whenever you let your love show, you make the flowers grow. Soon this dance will be done in a big way, in the old way, on sacred ground. All living things will take part. If you want to, you can take part. No one is twisting your arm. You can stop any time you need to, and start up again whenever you're ready. If you've read this far, you probably know what I'm talking about. You've probably been doing it in one way or another for a good while. Soon will be the time to make no bones about it! Cut loose! Anytime you dance, anywhere, whether at a party or in church, dance to heal the earth! Let your feet beat a healing rhythm into the earth. Let your feet beat a strengthening rhythm for those who struggle the hardest. Let your feet beat a life-giving rhythm for all peoples, regardless of race or national boundary, regardless of whether we're human or whether we're the trees, the air, the fish, the birds, the buffalo, the bear, the crow. We come out of hiding, we come back from the dead, and we dance, and our dance is a prayer, and our songs and our rhythms and our breath give life. Is the music they're playing some mindless jingle? Never mind, as long as it's not bad music, and you can dance to the beat! Make your own words, and make the words a prayer. A prayer for the end of exploitation, a prayer for the end of lies, a prayer for healing, for justice, for life. Remember your prayer-song, feed it and let it get strong and pass it along. Dance and pray, whenever you dance, dance to heal the earth. Have you seen anything? Wear it out! Make it so that all can see what you see! Take a white T-shirt and mark it with your dreams. Is there anything you'd like to tell the world? Take your shirt and mark it with your song! This is the way it has been done, so you can do it too. Use any color except black (there are reasons for that that will become clearer later), and you'll probably find that a loose, pure cotton T is most comfortable for dancing in. Cos this is an actual dance, you dance hard, you sing and breathe hard and sweat. Wear it when you plan to go out dancing, to dance to heal the earth. Some people do this dance while fasting, and dance for several days straight. But even a few minutes of dancing helps, and joins with all the other dancing going on, everywhere on Earth. Not everyone can fast these days. Besides, you never know when you're gonna dance, and you have to eat sometimes! But if you plan to dance, hold off eating till later, or just have a little. It's easier to dance if you don't have a hotdog weighing you down. Some people say, do not do sacred things where people are drinking and partying. But all the universe is a sacred place. It really doesn't matter what others are doing, you can make a place sacred wherever you are, with your intention and your prayers. Some people use smoke to make a place sacred; a cigarette or incense stick will do fine. You can dance to heal the earth anywhere, even a party or a bar! The earth is everywhere, so you can dance anywhere to heal her. Only one thing. Please hold off drinking or using any other intoxicants till you're done. It works better that way. The Lie has gone far enough. It spreads and makes everyone sick. Now is the time for this dance to begin. It, too, will spread, and it will bring healing to all. In the beginning, they say, God put a rainbow in the sky, to let us know that Spirit never forgets. Now is the time for us to put a rainbow across the earth, to let God know that we, too, remember. Dance to heal the earth. Not just when you're dancing, but always. Live the dance, whenever you move, in all you do, dance to heal the earth. http://www.indigenouspeople.net/dance.htm Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dance In A Buffalo Skull - Lakota IT was night upon the prairie. Overhead the stars were twinkling bright their red and yellow lights. The moon was young. A silvery thread among the stars, it soon drifted low beneath the horizon. Upon the ground the land was pitchy black. There are night people on the plain who love the dark. Amid the black level land they meet to frolic under the stars. Then when their sharp ears hear any strange footfalls nigh they scamper away into the deep shadows of night. There they are safely hid from all dangers, they think. Thus it was that one very black night, afar off from the edge of the level land, out of the wooded river bottom glided forth two balls of fire. They came farther and farther into the level land. They grew larger and brighter. The dark hid the body of the creature with those fiery eyes. They came on and on, just over the tops of the prairie grass. It might have been a wildcat prowling low on soft, stealthy feet. Slowly but surely the terrible eyes drew nearer and nearer to the heart of the level land. There in a huge old buffalo skull was a gay feast and dance! Tiny little field mice were singing and dancing in a circle to the boom-boom of a wee, wee drum. They were laughing and talking among themselves while their chosen singers sang loud a merry tune. They built a small open fire within the center of their queer dance house. The light streamed out of the buffalo skull through all the curious sockets and holes. A light on the plain in the middle of the night was an unusual thing. But so merry were the mice they did not hear the "king, king" of sleepy birds, disturbed by the unaccustomed fire. A pack of wolves, fearing to come nigh this night fire, stood together a little distance away, and, turning their pointed noses to the stars, howled and yelped most dismally. Even the cry of the wolves was unheeded by the mice within the lighted buffalo skull. They were feasting and dancing; they were singing and laughing -- those funny little furry fellows. All the while across the dark from out the low river bottom came that pair of fiery eyes. Now closer and more swift, now fiercer and glaring, the eyes moved toward the buffalo skull. All unconscious of those fearful eyes, the happy mice nibbled dried roots and venison. The singers had started another song. The drummers beat the time, turning their heads from side to side in rhythm. In a ring around the fire hopped the mice, each bouncing hard on his two hind feet. Some carried their tails over their arms, while others trailed them proudly along. Ah, very near are those round yellow eyes! Very low to the ground they seem to creep -- creep toward the buffalo skull. All of a sudden they slide into the eye- sockets of the old skull. "Spirit of the buffalo!" squeaked a frightened mouse as he jumped out from a hole in the back part of the skull. "A cat! a cat!" cried other mice as they scrambled out of holes both large and snug. Noiseless they ran away into the dark. Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Sa [1901] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dâ'p!abê (Leader) - Kwakiutl Tradition of the Koskimo. The ancestors of the Koskimo lived at Cut-Beach, and they had for their chief Leader, and Leader had for his wife Sitting-in-Canoe, the princess of Going-Straight-on, the chief of the ancestors of the North people. Leader was always happy while he was hollowing out canoes. He was making a canoe, and he had not finished working on it when he went home. In vain his wife tried to feed him. He said that he was not hungry. He just lay down on his face. In the morning, when daylight came, he remained in the house in the same way. Then Sitting-in-Canoe tried to give him some breakfast, but he only said that he was not hungry. For four days he staid thus in the house. Then the tribe began to talk about what he was doing in the house. Therefore his tribe called every one to go into his house. They tried to discover why their chief was sitting in the house in this way, but Leader never noticed those who had him for their chief. Therefore those who had him for their chief guessed that he did not feel right. Then one among the wise men spoke, and said, "O chief! go on, and you shall see (the world) when we look all round our world for a wife for you, chief." Thus he said. Immediately Leader answered him, and said, "O tribe! that is what I wished for, that you should talk about, for I wish that you go and woo the princesses of the chiefs on both sides of this our tribe, that we may add to our crests." Thus he said. Immediately many of the Koskimo who are now dead got ready. They lifted their canoes from the beach, and burned the bottoms; and as soon as the bottoms of the canoes were burned, they launched them. Then they went towards Wind Island. There Leader wooed Copper-Box-Woman, the princess of Property, chief of the Tribe-staying-in-the-Right-Place. As soon as they arrived at Wind Island, the wise men sang the wooing-songs; and after they had done so, they paddled, and stopped in front of the village. There they sang some more songs, and then Leader married Copper-Box-Woman. Then he obtained a (new) name, and also masks. Then they started again. They came to the south side of Crossing-Point, and arrived at Red-Sand-Beach. That was the village of the ancestors of the Ocean people, and their chief was Getting-Rich; and Leader said that he did not wish to go ashore at that place. The sand on the beach of the village of Getting-Rich called Leader ashore to go and woo the princess of Getting-Rich; but Leader did not wish to go ashore at Red-Sand-Beach. Leader went past, and went to Open-Bay, the village of the ancestors of the Nâ'k!wax*da?xu. Their chief was Potlatch- Dancer, and the princess of Potlatch-Dancer was Cloud-making-Woman. She was wanted by Leader for his wife. As soon as Leader and his other canoes came in sight at the point of Open-Bay, the ancestors of the Koskimo began to sing their wooing-songs. This is the way the ancestors of the Koskimo did when they went wooing. As soon as they arrived at the beach of the village, an attendant of Leader began to speak, and woo the princess of Potlatch-Dancer. Then he--namely, Leader--also got a (new) name. Then he had the name Potlatch-Dancer, and he also obtained the feast-dishes. For four days he staid at Open-Bay. Then he got ready and started. Now they were going to the Northern people, who lived at Whale-Beach. They had for their chief Great-River; and he had a princess whose name was Potlatch-giving-Woman; and she was obtained in marriage [wooed] by Leader, for how could anything be ineffective that the ancestors said? Then Leader obtained the princess of Great-River; and Leader had the name Great-River, and he obtained in marriage this name, and he obtained the cannibal dance, and he had the cannibal name Pushing-down-the-Throat; and his cannibal's assistant had the name Pressing-down, and he obtained the feast-dish representing the seal, the killer-whale, the wolf, and the double-headed serpent. After they had staid four days, the ancestors of the Koskimo got ready and launched their canoes, and were going to the Back tribe. Leader had been told by the North people that the Back tribe had for their chief Death-Owner, and that he had had for his princess Warrior Woman; and therefore Leader asked his tribe to go to Grass Island, for that was the village of the ancestors of the Back tribe. The ancestors of the Koskimo desired (to obtain) the names of the chief of the tribes, therefore they went right to Having-a-River. As soon as they arrived at the upper end of Having-a-River, they saw the houses of the ancestors of the Back tribe at Grass Island. Immediately the ancestors of the Koskimo began to sing their wooing-songs. Then they arrived at the beach of the houses. Immediately an attendant of Leader arose in the canoe and began to speak, and he wooed the princess of Death-Owner. Death-Owner at once consented. Then Leader presented him with his canoe, and with (the gift of) another canoe he called [1] Warrior-Woman, the princess of Death-Owner. As soon as the attendant of Leader stopped speaking, the attendant of Death-Owner came and stood in front of the house of Death-Owner. He spoke, and said, "O chief! just take care, for Rising-Woman,--namely, Warrior-Woman,--the princess of this Death-Owner, is constantly rising (in rank)." Immediately Leader picked out some of the best men among his tribe, although they were chiefs of the ancestors of the Koskimo, to lift Warrior-Woman from the floor of the house. Then she had the name Rising-Woman. As soon as the chiefs of the Koskimo had gone to lift her, Rising-Woman was carried out of the house of her father, sitting on a board. She was taken aboard the canoe of Leader; and the covered box was also taken aboard the canoe. In it were all the masks and all the names. As soon as Rising-Woman and her property were all aboard the canoe, Leader went on paddling. He was going on to Hê'gEms, the village of the ancestors of the Gwâ'waênoxu; and the chief of the Gwâ'waênoxu was Place-of-obtaining-Coppers, and he had for his princess Warrior-Woman. As soon as they arrived at the point of Hê'gEms, the ancestors of the Koskimo began to sing their wooing-songs and when they arrived at the beach of the house of Place-of-obtaining-Coppers, the Koskimo stopped singing. Then one of the attendants of Chief Leader arose, and began to speak in the way in which the attendants speak when they praise the one from whom they want to get a wife. As soon as he stopped speaking, Place-of-obtaining-Coppers came out of the house and thanked him for his words. Then he called Chief Leader to come out of the canoe, and Place-of obtaining-Coppers called Leader his son-in-law. Then he called him out of the canoe to go and warm himself in his house; and in this way Leader had Warrior-Woman for his wife. Then the Koskimo unloaded their canoe, and Place-of-obtaining-Coppers fed his son-in-law, and he gave his name to Leader; and thus Leader had the name Place-of-obtaining-Coppers, and he also had the winter dance implements and the names. He staid there for four days, and then Leader got ready and started. He was going to Nô'xudEm, the village of the Ma'malêleqa. Their chief was Paddled-to, and the princess of Paddled-to had the name Mâ'laqêlayugwa. Immediately Leader said that he would go to Nô'xudEm, for he wanted to woo the princess of Paddled-to. Then he turned the bow of his canoe towards Nô'xudEm. They arrived at the passage of Nô'xudEm, and again the Koskimo sang their wooing-songs They only stopped when they were in front of the beach of the village of the ancestors of the Ma'malêleqa. Then one of the attendants of Leader arose in the canoe, and he began to speak in the way in which the Koskimo speak when they go a-wooing, and he praised Paddled-to. Paddled-to just came out and stood in front of his house, and called them to come up from the beach, and to warm themselves in his house; and he named Leader Son-in-Law, for he was really thankful for what Leader had said to his princess. Immediately the Koskimo unloaded their cargo. As soon as all the cargo was unloaded, they were fed. Then Mâ'laqêlayugwa was called to come and sit down with Leader in the rear of the house of her father; and then they shouted that the princess had Leader for her husband. He was given as marriage presents the house and the dances and the names. After they had staid for four days at Nô'xudEm, they got ready and went home. Immediately they made a new house to invite in the ancestors of the North tribe, of the Ocean tribe, and of the Divided tribe. They were invited by Leader. Then he showed the winter-dance implements and his names. In this way he came to be the only real chief among the ancestors of the Koskimo. Then he had children from his wives the princesses of the chiefs of the tribes. Therefore all the tribes have some Koskimo among them, because Leader had gone and done this way in his house; namely, when he lay down on his back, trying to make the canoe, in the beginning of this tradition; and that is what he thought about in the house, to woo these princesses all around our world, and thus he obtained his wish. That is the end. Footnotes: [1] See F. Boas, Social Organization and Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians. Annual Report of the U. S. National Museum for 18951 p. 361. Kwakiutl Tales, by Franz Boas; (Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, Volume II) New York: Columbia University Press; [1910] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. 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Dakota Tribe History - Dakota Dakota ('allies'). The largest division of the Siouan family, known commonly as Sioux, according to Hewitt a French Canadian abbreviation of the Chippewa Nadowe-is-iw, a diminutive of nadowe, 'an adder,' hence 'an enemy.' Nadoweisiw-eg is the diminutive plural. The diminutive singular and plural were applied by the Chippewa to the Dakota, and to the Huron to distinguish them from the Iroquois proper, the true 'adders' or 'enemies.' According to Chippewa tradition the name was first applied to a body of Indians living on an island somewhere east of Detroit (W. Jones). Dakota, Nakota, Lakota are the names used by themselves, in the Santee, Yankton, and Teton dialects respectively. J. O. Dorsey, in his classification of the Siouan languages, divides the Dakota group into 4 dialects: Santee, Yankton Assiniboin, and Teton. The Assiniboin, however, constitute a separate tribe. The close linguistic relation of the divisions the differences being largely dialectic indicates that they are branches of an original group, the development probably being augmented by incorporations. At the time of Long's expedition (1825), when the bands were still near their respective localities, the country inhabited by the group was, according to him, bounded by a curved line extending east of north from Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, so as to include all the east tributaries of the Mississippi, to the first branch of Chippewa river; thence by a line running west of north to Spirit lake; thence west wardly to Crow Wing river, Minn., and up that stream to its head; thence west wardly to Red river, and down that stream to Pembina; thence south west wardly to the east bank of the Missouri near the Mandan villages; thence down the Missouri to a point probably not far from Soldiers river; thence east of north to Prairie du Chien, Wis. This tract includes the territory between lat. 42° to 49°, and long. 90° 30' to 99° 30', but omits entirely the vast region occupied by the various bands of the Teton Sioux west of the Missouri from the Yellowstone southward to the Platte. The first positive historical mention of this people is found in the Jesuit Relation for 1640, where it is said that in the vicinity of the "Nation des Puans" (Winnebago) are the "Nadvesiv" (Nadowessioux), "Assinipour" (Assiniboin), etc. In the Jesuit Relation for 1642 it is stated that the Nadouessis are situated some 18 days' journey northwest or west of Sault Ste Marie, "18 days farther away." According to their tradition, the Chippewa first encountered the Dakota at Sault Ste Marie. Dr Thomas S. Williamson, who spent several years among the Dakota of the Mississippi, says (Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 1, 247, 1851) that they claimed to have resided near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. for several generations; that before they came to the Mississippi they lived at Mille lac, which they call Isantamde, 'knife lake,' from which is probably derived the name Isanyati, 'dwelling at the knife, by which the Dakota of the Missouri call those who lived on Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. Rev. A. L. Riggs asserts that Isanyati, from which Santee is derived, was properly applied only to the Mdewakanton, which would seem to identify this tribe with Hennepin's Issati. He also remarks that most of these Indians with whom he conversed could trace their history no further back than to Mille lac, but that some could tell of wars they had with the Chippewa before they went thither and trace their history back to Lake of the Woods. He adds that all their traditions show that they came from the northeast and have been moving toward the southwest, which would imply that they came from some point north of the lakes. DuLuth (1678) and Hennepin (1680) found some of the Dakota at and in the region of Mille lac, named by the latter in his text Lake Issati, and in his autograph map Lake Buade. These included the Mdewakanton, part of the Sisseton, part if not all of the Wahpeton, and probably the Wahpekute. Hennepin's map places the Issati (Mdewakanton) close to Lake Buade, the Ofia de Battons (Wahpeton) a little to the northeast of the lake, the Hanctons (Yankton or Yanktonai) some distance to the north, and the Tinthonha or Gens des Prairies (Teton) to the west, on the upper Mississippi. If this may be considered even approximately correct, it indicates that parts at least of some of the western tribes still lingered in the region of the upper Mississippi, and indeed it is well known that very few of the Sioux crossed the Missouri before 1750. Mallery's winter count (10th Rep. B. A. E., 266, 1894) places their entrance into the Black Hills, from which they dispossessed the Cheyenne and the Kiowa, at about 1765. Referring to their location in the latter part of the 17th century, Hennepin (Descr. La., Shea trans., 201, 1880) says: " Eight leagues above St. Anthony of Padua's falls on the right, you find the river of the Issati or Nadoussion [Rum river], with a very narrow mouth, which you can ascend to the north for about 70 leagues to Lake Buade [Mille lac] or of the Issati where it rises. In the neighborhood of Lake Buade are many other lakes, whence issue several rivers, on the banks of which live the Issati, Nadouessans, Tinthonha (which means 'prairiemen'), Ouadebathon River People, Chongaskethon Dog, or Wolf tribe (for chonga among these nations means dog or wolf), and other tribes, all which we comprise under the name Nadonessiou." Here the Issati are distinguished from the Tinthonha (Teton), Ouadebathon (Wahpeton), Chongaskethon (Sisseton), and Nadouessans (perhaps the Wahpekute). From the time of Le Sueur's visit (1700) the Dakota became an important factor in the history of the northwest. Their gradual movement westward was due chiefly to tile persistent attacks of the Chippewa, who received firearms from the French, while they themselves were forced to rely almost wholly on bows and arrows. Lieut. Gorrell, an English officer, mentions their condition in this respect as late as 1763 (Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1, 36,1855): " This day, 12 warriors of the Sous came here [Green Bay, Wis.]. It is certainly the greatest nation of Indians ever yet found. Not above 2,000 of them were ever armed with fire-arms, the rest depending entirely on bows and arrows and darts, which they use with more skill than any other Indian nation in North America. They can shoot the wildest and largest beasts in the woods at 70 or 100 yards distance. They are remarkable for their dancing; the other nations take the fashion from them." He mentions that they were always at war with the Chippewa. On the fall of the French dominion the Dakota at once entered into friendly relations with the English. It is probable that the erection of trading posts on Lake Pepin enticed them from their old residence on Rum river and Mille lac, for it was in this section that Carver (1766) found those of the eastern group. He says (Travels, 37, 1796): "Near the river St. Croix reside three bands of the Naudowessie Indians, called the River bands. This nation is composed, at present, of 11 bands. They were originally 12, but the Assinipoils [Assiniboin] some years ago, revolting, and separating themselves from the others, there remain only at this, time 11. Those I met here are termed the River bands, because they chiefly dwell near the banks of this river: the other 8 are generally distinguished by the title, Naudowessies of the Plains, and inhabit a country that lies more to the westward. The names of the former are Nehogatawonahs, the Mawtawbauntowahs, and Shahsweentowahs." During an investigation by Congress in 1824 of the claim by Carver's heirs to a supposed grant of land, including the site of St Paul, made to Carver by the Sioux, Gen. Leavenworth stated that the Dakota informed him that the Sioux of the Plains never owned any land east of the Mississippi. During the Revolution and the War of 1812 the Dakota adhered to the English. There was, however, one chief who sided with the United States in 1812; this was Tohami, known to the English as Rising Moose, a chief of the Mdewakanton who joined the Americans at St Louis, where he was commissioned by Gen. Clark. By the treaty of July, 1815, peace between the Dakota and the United States was established, and by that of Aug., 1825, the boundary lines between them and the United States and between them and the various tribes in the northwest were defined. The boundaries of the Sioux and other northwestern tribes were again defined by the treaty of Sept. 17, 1851. Their most serious outbreak against the whites occurred in Minnesota under Little Crow in 1862, when about 700 white settlers and 100 soldiers lost their lives and some of the most horrible cruelties known to history were committed by the Indiana; but the entire Dakota group never participated unitedly in any of the modern wars or outbreaks. The hands engaged in the uprising mentioned were the Mdewakanton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton, and Sisseton. Although this revolt was quelled and the Sioux were compelled for a time to submit tot he terms offered them, a spirit of unrest continued to prevail. By the treaty of 1867 they agreed to relinquish to the United States all their territory south of Niobrara river, west of long. 104°, and north of lat. 46°, and promised to retire to a large reservation in southwest Dakota before Jan. 1, 1876. On the discovery of gold in the Black Hills the rush of miners thither became the occasion of another outbreak. This war was participated in by such well known chiefs as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Spotted Tail, Rain-in-the-face, Red Cloud, American Horse, Gall, and Crow King, and was rendered famous by the cutting off of Maj. Gen. George A. Custer and five companies of cavalry on the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876. A final rising during the Ghost dance excitement of 1890-91 was subdued by Gen N. A. Miles. The Dakota are universally conceded to be of the highest type, physically, mentally, and probably morally, of any of the western tribes. Their bravery has never been questioned by white or Indian, and they conquered or drove out every rival except the Chippewa. They are educated in their own language, and through the agency of missionaries of the type of Riggs, Williamson, Cleveland, and Cook, many books in the Dakota language have been printed, and papers in Dakota are issued regularly. (See Pilling, Bibliog. Siouan Lang., Bull. B. A. E., 1887.) Socially, the Dakota originally consisted of a large number of local groups or bands, and, although there was a certain tendency to encourage marriage outside the band, these divisions were not true gentes, remembered blood relationship, according to Clark, being the only bar to marriage. Personal fitness and popularity determined cieftainship more than heredity, but were decent played any part it was usually from father to son. The tipi might belong to either parent and was obtained by that parent through some ancestor who had had its character revealed in a dream or who had captured it in war. The authority of the chief was limited by the band council, without whose approbation little or nothing could be accomplished. War parties were recruited by individuals who had acquired reputation as successful leaders, while the shamans formulated ceremonial dances and farewells for them. Polygamy Was common, the wives occupying different sides of the tipi. Remains of the dead were usually, though not invariably, placed on scaffolds. In 1904 the Dakota were distributed among the following agencies and school superintendencies: Cheyenne River ( Miniconjou, Sans Arcs, and Two Kettle), 2,477; Crow Creek (Lower Yanktonai), 1,025; Ft Totten school (Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Pabaksa), 1,013; Riggs Institute (Santee), 279; Ft Peck (Yankton), 1,116; Lower Brutes (Lower Brgle), 470; Pine Ridge (Oglala), 6,690; Rosebud (Brulé, Waglukhe, Lower Brulé, Northern, Two Kettle, and Wazhazha), 4,977; Santee (Santee), 1,075; Sisseton (Sisseton and Wahpeton), 1,908; Standing Rock (Sihasapa, Hunkpapa, and Yanktonai), 3,514; Yankton (Yankton), 1,702; under no agency (Mdewakanton in Minnesota), 929; total, 26,175. Including the Assiniboin the total for those speaking the Dakota languages 28,780. A comparison of these figures with those taken in previous years indicates a gradual decline in numbers, but not so rapid a decrease as among most North American tribes. Handbook of American Indians, 1906 Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Daily Prayer of the Priest at the Jumping Dance - Hupa [1] It will be pleasant weather everywhere in the world. The clouds which used to be, will be no more. Everything will be as it should be. The good food will come again; it will grow again. By means of it the people will live happily. This sickness which the people used to have they will have no more. This that the people used to be sick with, blow out to sea with you, O, wind. Footnotes: [1] Told at Hupa, November 1901, by Senaxon. This prayer is uttered by the priest each day as he sits before the dancers during the Jumping Dance. Hupa Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard; (University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 1:2); [1904] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dahteste - (pronounced ta-DOT-say) - Apache / Mescalero The Apache is another nation of Natives who teach their boys and girls the same skills, leaving the choice of lifestyle to follow an individual decision. Girls who choose the warriors' path are not ridiculed; neither are boys who choose a gentler life - they receive equal praise if they excel in their chosen path. Dahteste is described as a very beautiful woman who took great pride in her appearance and, even though she married and had children, she chose the life of the warrior. No one challenged Dahteste lightly for it was widely known that she could out-ride, out-shoot, out-hunt, out-run, and out-fight her peers, male and female, and she did so with grace. She was credited as being courageous, daring and skillful, and she took part in battles and raiding parties alongside her husband, and a good friend of her family, Geronimo. Fluent in English, Dahteste became a trusted scout, messenger and mediator between her people and the U.S. Cavalry. Along with another woman Apache warrior named Lozen, Dahteste was instrumental in the final surrender of Geronimo to the U.S. Government and, as thanks for her efforts in their behalf, she was imprisoned with Geronimo and shipped to prison with his remaining followers. Dahteste was as strong in her personal spirit as her warrior spirit, and she survived both tuberculosis and pneumonia while imprisoned. Both diseases killed untold thousands of Natives across the land, but not Dahteste. After 8 years in the Florida prison, Dahteste was shipped to the military prison at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. After 19 years at Ft. Sill, she was finally given permission to return to her homeland. She lived the balance of her life on the Mescalero Apache Reservation until she died there of old age. Source: BuffalosRoam Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Dagwanoenyent (Whirlwind) - Seneca [1] TWO brothers, one a young man, the other a small boy were one day out in the woods together. They heard a great noise overhead and looking up saw a DAGWANOEnYENT, an enormous head, flying above them. The elder brother called out "Gówe! gówe!" The DAGWANOEnYENT said, "Thank you. Thank you. You should always sing in that way when you are going to fight. If you do, I will be on your side and kill your enemies for you." Taking three hairs from his head the DAGWANOEnYENT gave them to the brothers, saying, "When you want to escape from danger, get water and draw these hairs along in it. When you take them out, drops of water will hang to them and those drops will bring rain." Then the DAGWANOEnYENT went on, leaving the two brothers. By those hairs the brothers often escaped from their enemies. Whenever they wanted rain, they had only to draw the hairs through water and then shake off the drops; right away heavy rain fell. The hairs were long kept by the Senecas. The narrator thinks there is one hair yet. It is owned by a man who lives on the Alleghany Reservation. Footnotes: [1] Always represented as a head without a body. Seneca Indian Myths, by Jeremiah Curtin; New York; E.P. Dutton & Company [1922] and is now in the public domain. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Cycle of the Seasons - Cherokee This graphic represents the Four Seasons within the Four Directions. In Cherokee Mythology each season was a time for specific rituals and ceremonies. Winter=go-la Winter belongs to the North. The color for North is Blue which represents sadness, defeat. It is a season of survival and waiting.The Cherokee word for North means "cold" u-yv-tlv. Spring=gi-la-go-ge The color for East is Red which represents victory, power. Spring is the re-awakening after a long sleep - victory over winter; the power of new life. The Cherokee word for East is ka-lv-gv Summer=go-ga The color for South is White which represents peace, happiness, serenity. Summer is a time of plenty. The Cherokee word for South means "warm" u-ga-no-wa. Autumn=u-la-go-hv-s-di The color for West is Black which represents death. Autumn is the final harvest; the end of Life's Cycle. The Cherokee word for West is wu-de-li-gv. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Cuts-Wood - Blackfoot Once there was a very poor boy who was an orphan, and he went down to the side of a stream, where he sat and cried. He was very lonesome, and mourned over his hard lot. As his sister was now married, he had no relations in the world. Now Morning Star took pity upon him, and, changing himself into a boy, came down. Morning Star came up, and said, "What are you crying for?" The poor boy said, "I am feeling very badly because I have no relatives. I am poor and hungry." " Well," said Morning Star, "I will show you a way to get food. Finally you will become the leader of the camp. I will get another boy, then there will be three of us to play together." Morning Star went away, and soon returned with another poor boy. Then all went into the brush, where they began to play. Morning Star made a little sweat-house of one hundred willows. Then he made a medicine-woman's lodge. Then he went to the other side, and made a small sun-lodge. When this was complete, he dug a hole for the fire, and made the booth for the weather-dancers. Then, all being complete, they sang the medicine-lodge dance-songs. Then they went out to kill some birds. and squirrels, and put them on top of the centre pole as offerings to the sun. Now the two poor boys did not know that their companion was the Morning Star. After they had played a while, he said, "I will go home and get some food for you." So he went into the brush, and came out with food. After this they played here every day, and the strange boy brought food for them. They did not know who it was. The boys learned the play, and spent most of their time at it. One day, as the brother-in-law of the orphan was sitting in his lodge, he said to his wife, "I wonder how it is with that little brother of yours. We never see him eat anything, and he is out from the camp the whole day. We must watch him. There is something mysterious here." So the next day the brother-in-law went to the top of a hill overlooking the camp to watch the orphan. He noticed that he had a companion, and that they went into the brush at a certain place. Then he stole quietly to the place and saw that there were three boys. He heard them singing, and saw the small medicine-lodge. Then he went quietly home and meditated. After a while he invited some of the head men into his lodge, told them what he had seen, and suggested that they all go out at night to look at the place where the boys played. They all saw it, and wondered much. However, they said nothing about it, for it appeared to be medicine. One day after the orphan-boy had grown up, his sister and his uncle advised him to make up that play; but the young man said, "It is powerful and medicine. I cannot make up a big one." They kept on talking to him, however, until he said, "Well, I will make it up; but my sister must be the woman to take a place in it, and she must make a confession." Then his sister asked him what kind of a confession she must make. He explained that in the first place she must have led a good life, not guilty of stealing, etc., and that if any man not her husband had accosted her to invite her to commit adultery with him, she must tell all of the details in the presence of the people; but if at any time she had been so accosted, and yielded to the temptation, she could neither make the confession, nor take part in the ceremony. His sister said that she had never made a mistake or done any great wrong in her life, and that she could make the confession. Then the orphan-boy promised her that she could go ahead and give the medicine- lodge, after which everybody would live long and be happy. Also the sun and moon would heed her prayers. Now at this time the Indians of the camp had a buffalo-drive, and collected a hundred and fifty tongues. The orphan requested an old woman to get these tongues, and invite all the young married women to come to her lodge, but that only those should accept the invitation who had been true to their marriage-vows. When all these women were assembled, the orphan told them that they must confess, and that if they kept anything back their relations would die off. He told them that they had been invited there to slice all the buffalo-tongues, and that if, in slicing them, any one should cut a hole in a slice, or cut her fingers, it was a sign that she had made a mistake in her life, and had lied in making the confession. Then he painted one tongue black, and gave it to his sister. She sliced it. She did not cut it or her fingers. Then the other women sliced the remaining tongues and everyone had good luck. After this they put up the centre pole in the sun- lodge and did everything as they do now. After the sun-dance was over, the orphan went on the war-path. Now the next season, another woman in the camp wanted to make the medicine-lodge. So she got the tongues and did everything as before; and after the sun-dance was over, the orphan went on the war-path again. Every time he went on the war-path, he cut a stick and painted it black. He left these with his sister, asking her to watch these counting-sticks. (This is the way he got the name of Cuts-Wood.) One time after the sun-dance, while Cuts-Wood was out on the war-path, his sister noticed that one of the sticks was missing. Then she knew that something was wrong. So she went over to the lodge of the woman who gave the last sun-dance and said to her, "You must be a bad woman, because one of the sticks is gone." The sister laid the blame on this woman. After a while a war-party came to the top of the hill. The people watching saw them throw a robe away. Then the sister began to cry, and when the war-party came in, the people heard that Cuts-Wood had been killed. Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History, Vol. II, 1908 Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Cyclone Woman - Alsea Once there lived an old woman with five children. All were boys, and only one was a girl. They kept on growing, and when they attained adolescence they told their mother, "We are going to travel all over the world" "What are you going to do?" asked the old woman. "Oh, we will do all sorts of things" "I think," said the old woman, "you won't be able to do anything when you go. What do you imagine you can do?" "Oh, we can play shinny; we can also play the guessing game, and we can dance a great deal" Finally the old woman said, "Very well, you may go. But you must take your younger sister with you." The boys eagerly agreed to this. Then the old woman spoke to her daughter, "You will accompany your older brothers and watch over them carefully, so that no one harms them anywhere. Here, take this stick along. You will use it as a powerful magic." The old woman repeatedly told her daughter this. Finally they started out. They soon came to a river, and were inhabitant spoke to them in the following manner, "Do you want to play shinny?" "Certainly," they answered. "If you like it, we will begin to play at once." All agreed quickly to this. So the people placed their bets, and the travelers placed their sister as their bet. Soon all were playing shinny and the brothers were staking their sister. They had not played for very long when the brothers began to win every point. Finally the shinny game came to an end. The next day they started out on their journey again. Before they set out, they left behind the women whom they had won in the game. These women became pregnant as soon as the boys left them. Then they came to another river. The same thing happened as before: they began to play shinny with the people. As they had done before, they bet their sister again, putting her up as their stake. However, this time the shinny game lasted a little longer, and at night, after they stopped playing, they began to dance again. During the dance, their sister constantly stood behind them, but at a distance. When the night was almost gone, the girl suddenly began to suspect something. So she said to her brothers, "I fear we will meet with some foul play." This she told her brothers several times until they stopped dancing. The next morning they did the same thing as they had done before: they left the women they had won and said, "We will return for them on our homeward journey." So they started out again. Once more they came to a river where people were living in even greater numbers. "Where are you going?," they were asked. "Oh, we are challenging people to shinny playing." "Very well," they were told, "we will play a game of shinny against you." So then all the people assembled on the bank of the river where the shinny game was to be played, and began to bet with one another. At first, only dentalia shells were place as bets. But the travelers again put up their sister as their bet, whereupon similar bets were made by the people from the other side of the river. And after everything had been agreed to they began to play shinny. For a long time the game was a tie. But finally the brothers succeeded in winning enough points to win the game. Then all stopped playing; and after all were through eating, they began to dance, at night. They had not danced for long when again their sister began to suspect something. So she spoke to her brothers about it, and they stopped dancing. Next morning they were again ready to leave. "We are going to leave our winnings here." "All right." "On our way back we will stop for them." So they started out again. They had not traveled far when they came to another river. They were ferried across. "Where are you going?," they were asked after they had arrived on the other side. "Oh, we are challenging people." "What kind of games do you like most?" "Oh, any kind." "All right, let us play shinny." They eagerly agreed to it, and the people began to bet one another. Once again the travelers offered to put up their sister as their stake. Then everybody joined the shinny game. The game was a tie for a long time, and the brothers could barely win enough points. In fact, it was almost nighttime when they at last began to win consistently. So everybody stopped, and when night came they began to dance again. While they were dancing the house seemed to give off a cracking sound like metal. The night was almost completely gone when their sister began to realize the danger they were in. So she told them, "I came close to not watching over you as I was asked." So they stopped dancing. When they came outside, the walls of the house appeared to be made only of ice. In the morning they did the same thing as before; they left their winnings, that is, the women. So they started out again. They had not traveled very far when they came again to a village. Once more they were ferried across. "Hello, are you the boys who, we're told, travel about beating people at various games?" "Yes, we're the ones." "Very well, we'll play you today." "All right! Let's play shinny." Then all the people of the village assembled on the river-bank where the shinny game was to take place. And all began to place their bets. The boys did the same thing as before: they bet their sister. Then the game was started. The game was tied for a long time. The sun gradually set, but still the game remained tied. Nighttime was fast approaching when the boys at last succeeded in winning enough points, and everybody stopped playing. "We should like to see you dance to-night." "Very well, we'll dance." So when night came they began to dance. The boys paid little attention to what was going on around them. Toward dawn those who had been watching suddenly disappeared. The girl looked around everywhere, but the house had simply turned into a rock! So she looked up and saw a tiny hole. So she quickly fastened her cane to the ceiling, climbed her cane quickly and made her escape through that small hole. However, she did not know what she could do for her brothers. So she went around the house several times and saw that it was made only of rock. Nowhere was there even a tiny opening in the stone. She could do nothing, so she started home. She was ferried across the river, and when she arrived at the other side, she began her journey home. Pretty soon she began to cry. Every time she came to a place, where her brothers had previously stopped, she would begin to cry. Whenever she came to a village, she would be asked, "Where are your brothers ?" "Alas! we were tricked." Then she would again be ferried across. And as she continued her journey home, she was constantly laughed at; she was always asked the same questions whenever she stopped at a place. Finally, on the fifth day, she arrived home. "Well?" said the old woman, "where are your brothers?" "Alas! The house suddenly closed over them! The house turned into a rock! I barely got out myself!" "I told you to watch over your brothers constantly; that was why I sent you." "Yes, but I couldn't do anything by myself alone, I was overpowered." So the old woman prepared to go and the two started out. At first nothing was said to them. But, in fact, as they kept on going the old woman was constantly laughed at. However, she didn't seem to mind it. On the fifth day they finally arrived there. Then the old woman began to try her own magic several times. She would touch the ground gently with her stick, and the ground would at once split in two. "Look!" exclaimed the youngest of her boys' captors, "what on earth is the old woman doing?" Then she gradually increased the speed of her motions and arrived right where the rock had closed on her children. She walked around the house several times and sang. She put her stick quickly against the southern wall; but the house did not move even a little. Again she put her stick on the northern wall; still it did not move even a little. "Look, the old woman is getting angry!" said the youngest of her boys' captors. Then she touched the house again with her magic cane. It did not shake even a little. At that point the old woman shouted impatiently, "What manner of people are those who brought harm upon my children?" Then she began to dance and again touched the house with her magic cane. Finally, on her fifth try, she touched the top of the rock with her magic cane and said: "I am Cyclone!" As soon as she placed her cane there the rock split open. Her children were standing in exactly the same position as they were in when they were dancing. She told them to leave the house, and after they came out they all started homeward. Whenever they stopped at a village where they had played shinny, they took with them the women they had previously won. But at each village she came to the old woman would touch the ground with her cane and the place would turn over quickly and all the inhabitants would be buried underneath. Then they would start home again. Once more they would come to a river and would stop again for the women whom they had previously won. And the old woman would do the same thing as before: she would suddenly upturn the ground on the inhabitants, whereupon they would start out again. Now, whenever they would arrive at a village, the old woman would do this to the inhabitants, until, finally, they arrived home. "We will now fix ourselves differently," the old woman said. "You will turn into winds." And so it happened. "I myself will travel in the ocean and Cyclone will be my name. If anyone ever dreams of me, he will have the same power as I have." And, having said this, she went into the middle of the ocean. Here the story ends. Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Cut-Out-Of-Belly Boy - Nez Perce The land people [wu' lawtalikin- four-footed people] and the denizens of the air [rviyi''wtalikin - flying people] engaged in war. One old woman's daughter was on the side of the land people, and she was killed. The old woman knew that she was with child. So she cut open her daughter's belly and brought forth a boy, Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy [itsat'v' xtshatswal] The boy grew, and grew, and grew. One day Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy said to his grandmother, "Where did I come from? Where are my mother and father?" His grandmother wept and said to him, "Long ago there were many people and they engaged in war. They killed your father and mother. I cut open your mother, took you out, and raised you here. That is how you came to be, grandson." "Yes," Cut,-0ut-of-Belly Boy replied, "it is well that you tell me." Now then he purified himself.1 He bathed every day, every day, every day. "Now I seek vengeance. Now I prepare to go. I will go forth to attack them." One morning he said to his grandmother, "I am leaving you now." His grandmother wept and said to him, "You are doing a foolish thing; you defy dangerous ones. Your wish to avenge yourself all alone is hopeless. They are many, and they vanquished all the people." The old woman only wept. He said to her, "I am leaving you now." He traveled along. The denizens of the air were holding many land people in slavery, Coyote among them. All these who had been conquered were being held in pitiful subjection. Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy knew where many people of the air were living. As he went along he heard the drumming ["t'l' pipip, t'l' pipip"} and words of Pheasant of the blackbrush [waswasno' na]. "Do they say Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy is greatly to be feared? Thus I am going to do to him." And he drummed viciously ["t'l' pipip, t'l' pipip]. Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy went over in that direction, and he seized the Pheasant suddenly. "This one made a waif of mel" He plucked out all the wing feathers and threw them all into the bush. "This pompous one tries to make himself fearsome." He went on from there again. He heard shouting as he went along and heard boys again, "Get him from the other side for the terrible one! Get him from the other side for the terrible one!" He thought, "For what terrible one are they doing this?" He came upon them suddenly and said to them, "What are you doing, boys?" "It is for Owl, the terrible one [saxlata' mono.]. He is holding us, and he makes us go hunting for rabbits. Then even if we bring in some rabbits he, alone, eats and tells us, 'If you ever take any, I will kill you.' " They had sores all over their bodies. They were burnt and beaten, very pitifully so. Coyote was among them. Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy said to them, "Pick up wood!" Now he built a fire. "Now give me rabbits!" Then he prepared food for them and anointed their chapped skins. They were frightened. "Owl will kill us; he is very terrible." "I will follow you later. Hurry, eat!" he assured them. He made them eat heartily all of that which they had caught. "Now go home empty-handed." He followed them. "Now go inside." He waited and listened outside. Owl had a conical lodge. He sat there and with such large eyes glared at them. "So you ate your own kill! So you ate your own kill! Ate your own kill! Then eat your own kill! Then eat your own kill!" he chanted to them. They stood agape with fright. Owl had a dried mouse filled with pebbles. Its mouth was pried open. This he rattled and rattled ["sa' yayay, sa' yayay"] to frighten them. Outside, Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy thought that they had been frightened enough. He entered gently, went inside. Then Owl glared. "Oh, so it was you then who caused them to eat! Caused them to eat! Then cause them to eat! Then cause them to eat!" He held his dried mouse up to Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy's face and rattled it and rattled it ["sa' yayay, sa' yayay"]. Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy moved his face from one side to the other. "Aside with it! You might strike my eyes. Aside with it, Owl!" Now Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy seized him. Then in the same manner as he had done to Pheasant before, he plucked the feathers from Owl's wings. "This one talks himself into fearsomeness! This one made a waif of me!" He threw Owl out through the smoke-hole to fall into the brush, to hang there and moan ["han-, han-, han-"]. "Only a short time away the human race is coming. People will say, 'Already it is this time of the year for the moaner is moaning,' " Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy addressed him. Turning to the boys he said to them, "Inform me!" "Many people of the air live over there, in that direction." Then they all went from there and followed Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy. Coyote placed himself in front to inform him that this and that was the situation. They arrived. Oh, there were so many lodges, all laid out in a great circle. When he arrived there, the people knew already that Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy was greatly to be feared. He had two arrows. He shot one arrow in that direction and demolished all; he shot the other arrow in this direction and demolished all; he exterminated them all. When they had learned that Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy was coming, the denizens of the air had lined up in a formation of two files thinking that from such a position they could charge best. But, instead, he shot all the men because they were grouped in exactly the right way for him. Now all those who had been conquered before rushed to the scene of action and went into the lodges to capture the women who were left unprotected. Meanwhile, Coyote charmed himself, "Become a man, handsome and big." So a great many of the air people's women became his wives. Thus it was that Cut-Out-of-Belly Boy avenged himself. Taken from Tales of the Nez Perce by Donald M. Hines, Ye Galleon Press; Fairfield, Washington, 1999 [gathered from other source books dated between 1912 and 1949] Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]

Curse On People That Wish One Ill - Yana S*uwa'! S*ê'galt!imaya! [1] May ye speak to make me happy! May you suddenly experience that wherewith you curse me! May you suddenly drop dead without being sick! May you drop dead, you who drink my blood! May you suddenly all perish! Drink my blood! [2] Would that I might be happy! May I not be sick in any way! Footnotes: [1] It has not been found possible to get at the significance of this apparently formulaic word. It would seem to be a term of address to the supernatural powers concerned in man's happiness or woe. For s*uwa', see note 310. [2] Either to be interpreted as s*i'? dji watdu'w "drink (imper.) my blood!" or contracted from s*i'dj dji watdu'w "drink-me my blood!" As Betty Brown expressed it, "You folks are always mixing up my blood with your coffee," i.e., "curse me and wish my death." [Obtained in July and August, 1907, a few miles to the north of the hamlet of Round Mountain (or Buzzard's Roost), Shasta county. The informant was Betty Brown (Indian name Ts!i'daimiya), since dead. There are now not more than seven or eight Indians that are able to speak the dialect. In some respects Betty was an inferior source of text material to Sam Bat'wi, as evidenced by the very small number of myths it was found possible to procure from her. Her method of narrative was peculiar in that she had a very marked tendency to omit anything, even the names of the characters involved, that was not conversation; this has necessitated the liberal use in the English translation of parentheses in which the attempt is made to arrive at a somewhat smoother narrative.] Yana Texts, by Edward Sapir. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1-235 [1910] and is now in the public domain Come visit us at. "Keeper of Stories". http://www.newkeeperofstories.com/ or Come visit us. "Native Village" [email protected]