i
horses neighing, women scurrying to cover, the report of guns, his mother, pretty-weasel, gashing her legs for mourning,—that was takes-the-pipe’s earliest memory. later he learned that his own father, a famous warrior of the whistling-water clan, had fallen in the fight and that his “father,” deaf-bull, was really a paternal uncle who had married the widow. no real father could have been kinder than deaf-bull. if anything, he seemed to prefer his brother’s son to his own children, always petting him and favoring him with the choicest morsels.
when pretty-weasel needed help in dressing a hide or pitching a tent, her sisters and cousins of the sore-lip clan came as visitors, often bringing moccasins and gewgaws for their little clansman, takes-the-pipe. one of the sisters stood out more clearly than the rest, a lusty wench who would pull deaf-bull by the ear and pour water on his face when he took an afternoon nap. he in turn would throw her on the ground and tickle her till she bawled for mercy. another salient figure was the grandmother, old muskrat, who used to croon the boy to sleep with a lullaby: “the dog has eaten, he is smoking. haha, huhu! haha, huhu!” whenever she came to the refrain she raised a wrinkled, mutilated hand, and snapped what remained of her fingers in the child’s face.
the people were always traveling back and forth in those days. now takes-the-pipe was throwing stones into the little bighorn, then with other boys he was chasing moths in the wolf mountains. when he caught one he rubbed it against his breast, for they said that was the way to become a swift runner. one fall, the mountain crow traveled to the mouth of the yellowstone to visit their kin of the river band. all winter was spent there. it was fun coasting down-hill on a buffalo-rib toboggan and spinning tops on the smooth ice. each 18 boy tried to upset his neighbor’s with his own, and when he succeeded he would cry, “i have knocked you out!” takes-the-pipe was a good player, but once he came home inconsolable because his fine new top was stolen, and another time a bigger lad had cheated, “knocking him out” with a stone deftly substituted for the wooden toy. his mother comforted him saying, “that boy is crazy! his father is of the bad-honors clan, that’s why he acts that way!”
takes-the-pipe was still a little fellow when deaf-bull made him a bow and arrows, and taught him to shoot. now he ran about, letting fly his darts against birds and rabbits. there was ample chance to gain skill in archery. the boys would tie together a bundle of grass and set it on a knoll, then all shot at this target, and the winner took all his competitors’ arrows. whenever takes-the-pipe brought home a sheaf of darts, his father would encourage him, saying, “you’ll be like sharp-horn, who always brings down his buffalo with the first shot.” and when his son had killed his first cottontail, deaf-bull proudly called sliding-beaver, a renowned whistling-water, feasted him royally and had him walk through camp, leading takes-the-pipe mounted on his horse and proclaiming his success in a laudatory chant.
one spring there was great excitement. the supply of meat was exhausted, yet the buffalo remained out of sight. scouts were sent to scour the country in search of game, but in vain. at last sharp-horn offered to lure the buffalo by magic. at the foot of a cliff he had the men build a corral. he summoned deaf-bull to be his assistant. “bring me an old unbroken buffalo chip,” he said. takes-the-pipe found one, and together he and his father brought it to the shaman. “someone is trying to starve us; my medicine is stronger than his; we will eat,” said sharp-horn. he smoothed the earth in his lodge and marked buffalo tracks all over. he put the chip on one of the tracks and on the chip a rock shaped like a buffalo’s head, which he wore as a neck ornament. this rock he smeared with grease. “the buffalo are coming, bid the men drive them here,” he said.
deaf-bull went out and issued the orders received from sharp-horn. on the heights above the corral, old men, women and children strung out in two diverging lines for the distance of a mile or two. the young men rode far out till they sighted the herd, got behind 19 it and chased the game between the two lines nearer and nearer to the declivity. they drove them down into the corral. some were killed in leaping, others stunned so they could be easily dispatched. that was a great day for takes-the-pipe. he rode double with his father, and deaf-bull was a person of consequence. had he not assisted sharp-horn? then, too, he was a member of the big dog society, and the big dogs were the police for that season with power to whip every man, woman or child who dared disobey sharp-horn’s orders.
after the hunt, the meat-racks sagged with the weight of the buffalo ribs, and the people made up for past want by gorging themselves with fat and tongues. one evening the big dogs held a feast and dance, the next evening the fox society, then the lumpwoods, and so on. there were promiscuous gatherings, too, where the valiant warriors rose to tell the assembled multitude about their exploits, while the old men exhorted the callow youths to emulate the example of their fathers and the camp re?choed the ancient warriors’ songs:—
sky and earth are everlasting,
men must die.
old age is a thing of evil,
charge and die!
on one of these occasions takes-the-pipe was proudly listening to deaf-bull’s record. he would have been a chief, had he ever wrested a gun from an enemy in a hand-to-hand encounter; in every other essential he more than passed muster. three times he had crawled into a piegan camp and stolen horses picketed to their owners’ tents; six times he had “counted coup” on enemies, touching them with his lance or bare hand; twice he had carried the pipe and returned with blackened face as leader of a victorious expedition.
while takes-the-pipe was listening spellbound to his father’s narrative, he felt a sudden pinch. he turned round to smite his tormentor only to face cherry-necklace, a boy somewhat older than himself. he was sliding-beaver’s son and that put a different complexion on the matter, for sliding-beaver, like deaf-bull, was a whistling-water, so their sons might take what liberties they chose with each other and enjoy complete immunity. at present, however, cherry-necklace had more important business than playing a trick on takes-the-pipe. “magpie,” he whispered, “they are playing 20 magpie.” off both boys dashed to a creek nearby, where some twenty lads were already assembled round a big fire. they smeared their faces with charcoal till one could hardly recognize his neighbor. “now, we’ll be magpies,” they said, “takes-the-pipe is a swift runner, he shall lead.” they scampered back to camp. the women, seeing them approach in their disguise, snatched their meat from the racks to hide it inside their tents. but takes-the-pipe had already fixed his eye on some prime ribs, pounced upon them and carried off his prize, followed by the other boys, each vanishing with what booty he could safely capture.
it was a great gathering about the fireplace by the stream. one of the lads strutted up and down as a crier and announced, “takes-the-pipe has stolen the best piece!” then he and a few others who had won like delicacies were granted their choice of the spoils, whereupon all feasted. when they had done eating, the oldest boy declared, “we’ll remain seated here. if anyone gets up, we’ll rub our hands with this grease and smear it over his body.” so they sat still for a long time. at last cherry-necklace forgot about the warning and got up. in an instant they were upon him like a pack of wolves. here was a fine chance for takes-the-pipe to get even for that pinch; he daubed cherry-necklace’s face all over with the fat. others followed suit and soon his body glistened with grease. he leaped into the creek to wash it off, but the water glided off the fat.
ii
the people were moving along the bighorn, with the long lodge poles dragging along the ground. some dozen girls with toy tents were transporting them in imitation of their mothers. takes-the-pipe was riding with the hammers, a boys’ club patterned on the men’s societies. the members treated dogs or deer as enemies and practised counting coup on them. takes-the-pipe as one of the daredevils carried one of the emblems of the organization, a long stick with a wooden hammer-head pivoted some two feet from its top. suddenly an idea struck him. “hammers,” he cried, “let us offer a seat on our horses to the girls we like!” no sooner said than done. he himself had had his eye on otter for some time, and presently the two were riding double.
in the evening when the women of the camp pitched their lodges, 21 the hammer boys’ sweethearts set up theirs a little way off. they played at married life. takes-the-pipe sneaked into his mother’s lodge, purloined some meat, brought it near otter’s tent, and bade her fetch the food, which she then cooked for him. other boys and girls did likewise. thus they played every day while on the march. once takes-the-pipe killed a young wolf and brought a lock of its hair to the young folks’ camp. he pretended that it was an enemy’s scalp and set it on a pole and all the girls had to dance the scalp dance around it. there followed a recital of deeds; the boys who had struck wolves were allowed to claim coups against the dakota, and those who had touched deer might boast of having stolen picketed horses.
it was a gay journey. but one evening when takes-the-pipe had bragged of his mock exploits, cherry-necklace suddenly appeared on the scene and taunted him before all his playmates, “you think you are a man, because you are as tall as deaf-bull,” he cried, “you are nothing but a child fit to play with little girls. have you ever been on the war-path? i went with long-horse and struck a piegan.” takes-the-pipe hung his head. it was only too true. cherry-necklace was not so much older, yet he had already distinguished himself and might recite his coup in any public assembly. takes-the-pipe had no answer for he knew nothing to fling back in his “joking-relative’s” teeth, but he resolved forthwith to join a war party at the earliest opportunity.
not long after this shinbone let it be known that he was setting out on a horse-raid against the dakota. now takes-the-pipe had his chance. well provided with moccasins by his clanswomen, he joined a dozen young men starting afoot on the perilous adventure,—perilous because, though shinbone was a brave man, this was his first attempt at leading a party and it remained to be seen whether “his medicine was good.” they walked for four days. as takes-the-pipe was the youngest of the company, he had to fetch water and firewood, and one morning when he slept too late they poured water all over him.
warily the party advanced. on the fourth evening shinbone ordered them to halt on a little knoll. “yonder are the dakota lodges,” he said, “early to-morrow morning we will go there.” he took his sacred bundle, unwrapping a weasel skin stuffed with deer hair, and 22 pointed it toward the camp. “the dakota are tired,” he said, “they will sleep late.” before dawn he roused the party. he appointed two young men as scouts. they came back. “well,” he asked, “how is it?”
“where you pointed, there are the dakota lodges,” they replied.
“it is well,” he said. he chose four others to drive all the loose horses out of the camp. they left. they had not gone far when they were overtaken by takes-the-pipe. “what are you doing? go back. he did not send you.”
“i am going to the camp to cut a horse or strike a coup.”
“you are crazy! we are older than you and are still without honors. we are here to steal horses, not to score deeds. the one who is carrying our pipe is a new leader, he may not be very powerful and you will spoil his luck. go back!”
but though they threatened to beat him, takes-the-pipe would not return and so all five approached the camp. there were the lodges ranged in a circle. the inmates seemed plunged in sleep. near the edge a herd of horses were peacefully grazing. the scouts quietly stole up to them and began to drive them off toward the rest of their party. in the meantime takes-the-pipe was getting his bearings in the strange encampment. he cast about for a picketed horse, but there was none to be seen. then of a sudden, chance favored him. out of a little tent on the outskirts of the circle a wizened old man came hobbling on a staff. takes-the-pipe stole up behind him and dealt him a stunning blow. “hēha!” he cried, counting coup on the prostrate foe. then he dashed towards his friends, who had watched him from a little distance. as yet there was no alarm, but no time was to be lost. they mounted and drove the horses before them. when they reached shinbone, the rest of the party got on horseback. “now we will run!” said the captain.
they had come and gone to the dakota afoot and slowly enough; now they were mounted, and traveled at top speed, for they knew that before long the enemy would be in their wake. they rode on and on till they got to the brink of a rapid stream. here, some of their stolen horses turned back, but the greatest number they saved, driving them through the ice-cold water, where they themselves felt as though they must die from the cold. they traveled that day and all through the night without stopping to eat. on the following morning they 23 reached the crow camp, sore and worn out, but with sixty head of horses. by rights they all belonged to shinbone, but after the fashion of a good leader, he was generous to his followers and let them have nearly half of the herd. takes-the-pipe won three horses.
his parents rejoiced when they heard of his coup and his booty. his mother and her sisters at once prepared a magnificent feast, to which all the sore-lip women contributed. on such occasions it behooved a young man to give lavish entertainment to his father’s kin, so that he might live to be an old man. so deaf-bull invited all the eminent whistling-water men, and takes-the-pipe selected sliding-beaver from among them, presenting him with a fine bay horse. then sliding-beaver trudged through camp, leading takes-the-pipe’s horse and singing the young man’s praises.
iii
he was rolling a hoop and another youth was hurling a dart at it when shinbone clutched him by the arm. “come, i’ll make a man of you. you shall take the place of your elder brother.” takes-the-pipe knew what he meant: a cousin of his belonging to the fox society had fallen in a skirmish with the dakota, and his fellow-members had been casting about for a clubbable kinsman.
now a new sort of life began for takes-the-pipe. he no longer roamed about aimlessly or consorted with random companions. his fellow-members were now his constant associates. spare time was whiled away in the lodges of eminent foxes, beating the drum and singing the songs of the organization. now and then the younger members took jaunts to the hills with their sweethearts. again there was a philandering when the foxes and their girls went berrying or up to the mountains to drag lodge poles to camp. often enough a wealthy member had a herald invite all the foxes to his lodges, where they were feasted, and held a dance. there, too, valiant men rose to expatiate on their prowess. the foxes had done well that year. shinbone had struck the first coup of the season, thus making his club take precedence of the rival lumpwood society. by the rules of the game the lumpwoods had lost the right to sing their own songs, and when they danced they were obliged to borrow those of the big dogs, exposing themselves to the mockery of the foxes. that year takes-the-pipe joined a number of war parties 24 and succeeded in capturing an enemy’s gun. now he, too, would rise and tell about his martial experiences.
the following spring there were great doings. the foxes were electing new officers in place of the last year’s standard-bearers. three or four of the elders had had a council and now they came to the club lodge where all the members were gathered. two of the emblems of the society were straight staffs, two were hooked and wrapped with otter-skin. each was pointed at the bottom, for in sight of the enemy the bearer was obliged to plant it into the earth, and stand his ground regardless of danger or death, without budging an inch unless a companion plucked out the fatal lance. that was why the officers were called “men doomed to die.” if they escaped unscathed by the end of the year, they retired with all the honors of distinguished service; if they died in battle, they were solemnly mourned by their fellow-members and other tribesmen; but if they failed in duty, they became the pariahs of the camp.
there were not many young men eager to undertake so arduous an office. the electors were passing round the circle, offering a pipe to likely candidates, for to smoke it meant acceptance. some of the faint-hearted ones crouched behind others to escape notice and even some, who were forward enough on other occasions, shrank back. first the elders went to the tried warriors. no trouble was expected with shinbone, and as a matter of fact he readily consented. next they came to lone-pine, sliding-beaver’s eldest son. he, too, smoked without sign of reluctance. but now the electors were beginning to cast about among the younger fellow-members, for they were coming towards cherry-necklace. cherry-necklace was no coward; he had shown his mettle in more than one encounter. yet he was very fond of having a good time. would he willingly accept appointment? no, he was squirming uneasily and refused the pipe. rather, he would have refused it, but lone-pine, his brother, seized him by the bang of his hair and forcibly made his lips touch the pipestem. thus cherry-necklace too was “doomed to die.” and now the elders passed round once more in search of the last officer. takes-the-pipe’s heart began to beat. what if they asked him? it would be an honor for one so young, but did he wish to die? they were coming straight toward him. he seemed to hear the old song:
25
sky and earth are everlasting,
men must die.
yes, if he died, what mattered it? he would yield without coaxing and shame cherry-necklace. he eagerly clutched the pipe and became one of the bearers of a hooked-staff.
while the foxes were holding their annual election, the lumpwoods were going through a like procedure. a day or two later, a defiant call was heard from their lodge. they were ready for the annual indulgence in licensed wife-stealing. only the foxes and the lumpwoods took part in this pastime, the other societies being mere spectators. if a fox had ever had for his sweetheart a lumpwood’s wife, he was now privileged to kidnap her from her rightful husband, who would only make himself a laughing-stock if he interposed objections, let alone violence. takes-the-pipe remembered that otter was now married to a lumpwood named drags-the-wolf, so he went to the lodge and called her. drags-the-wolf was game. he had the reputation of being very fond of his pretty, young wife, but he knew the proper way for a crow to act. instead of restraining her, he himself said, “he is calling you. go!” takes-the-pipe brought her to his parents’ lodge. his mother and sisters gave her a beautiful elk-tooth dress and other sore-lip women from all over the camp brought her moccasins and beaded pouches. then the foxes selected from their number an old man who had once rescued a wounded tribesman from certain death by dashing into the thick of the fray, and carrying him off on his horse. this man, for none other might venture, rode double with the kidnapped bride, all the other foxes parading jubilantly behind and twitting their rivals with the capture of so handsome a lumpwood woman.
iv
shinbone had come home from a war party with blackened face and taken the rank of chief. no wonder, the people were saying. had not the thunder-bird adopted him when as a young man he prayed and thirsted for a revelation? men must undergo suffering if they wanted supernatural blessing so that they could become great men among their people. of all the crow chiefs, only drags-the-wolf had been in luck: him the moon visited as he was peacefully slumbering 26 in his tent and granted him invulnerability and coups. the other distinguished warriors had had to mortify their flesh in order to gain favor.
that spring the herald proclaimed that red-eye was going to hold a sun dance. he had lost a brother and was hungering for revenge. what surer way to attain it than to fast and dance before the sacred doll till it became alive and showed him a scalped dakota in earnest of victory and vengeance? but red-eye’s announcement was a signal for all the ambitious youths to plan for a public mortification of their flesh at the same time in the hope of winning supernatural favor. so, while the pledger of the ceremony was dancing up and down with his gaze riveted on the holy image in the rear of the lodge, a dozen young men were undergoing torture for their own ends. some were dragging through camp two buffalo skulls fastened to a stick thrust through holes cut in their backs. others—and takes-the-pipe among them—decided to swing from the lodge poles. so he begged sharp-horn to pierce the flesh above his breasts, run skewers through the openings, and tie the rods to ropes hung from a pole. thus attached he ran back and forth till he had torn out the skewers. yet when he had fallen to the ground faint and bloodstained no vision came for all his pains.
he wanted to become a chief like shinbone, so he went on a mountain peak to fast. without clothes save his gee-string and a buffalo robe, he slept there overnight. he awoke early, the sun had just risen. he took a piece of wood and put on it his left forefinger. “sun,” he cried, “i am miserable. i am giving you this. make me a chief!” with a huge knife he hacked off the first joint. the blood began to flow. he lost consciousness. when he came to, it was evening. his finger ached. he tried to sleep, but the pain and cold kept him awake. of a sudden he heard a man clearing his throat and a horse’s neighing came closer and closer. a voice behind him said, “the one whom you wanted to come has arrived.” he turned about. he saw a man on a bay horse; his face was painted red and he wore a shirt with many discs cut out from its body, yet hanging from it as though by a thread. from the back of his head rose a chicken-hawk feather. the rider said, “you are miserable. i have been looking for you for a long time but could never quite reach you. i will adopt you as my child. look! i am 27 going to run.” he began to gallop; the dust flew to the sky. then the trees and shrubs all about turned into piegans began shooting at the horseman. arrows came whizzing by him and bullets flew round him and the enemies were yelling after him, but he wheeled round unscathed. with his spear he knocked down one warrior and counted coup on him. he rode up to takes-the-pipe: “though you fight all the people of the world, dress as i do and you need have no fear of death before you are a chief. that man i struck is a piegan; you have seen his country, go there, i give him to you. as i am, so shall you be; arrows will not hurt you, bullets you can laugh at. you shall be like a rock. but one thing you must not do: never eat of any animal’s kidneys.”
when takes-the-pipe got back to his people, he was very glad. two things remained to be done before he might call himself chief: one was to lead a victorious war party, the other to cut a picketed horse. his vision enabled him forthwith to play a captain’s part. he shot a chicken-hawk and took one of its feathers to be worn at the back of his head on his expeditions. he prepared a shirt like the one he had seen and a spear that resembled exactly that borne by his patron. then he gathered his war party. his sisters and other sore-lip women made moccasins galore for him. he set out in the dead of night. for several days they traveled north and west. on the missouri they ran into a few piegans in a hunting-lodge. they killed them all and took their scalps. thus they could return with blackened faces. one of the enemies had a thumbless hand, so the year was known ever after as “the winter when they killed the thumbless man.”
v
he had been wounded in the knee. he could not understand it. he had been promised that his body would be like stone. he had worn his feather at the back of his head, as in every fight since the time of his vision, yet his kneecap had been shattered in a skirmish with the dakota. and it was an ugly injury. red-eye had salved it with bear root, but the cure-all had failed. bullsnake, foremost of doctors, blessed by the buffalo, had waded into the river to wash his knee, but all in vain; he remained crippled. then he knew that he had unwittingly broken his guardian spirit’s rule; there had 28 been a feast before the fatal battle and then he must have eaten of the forbidden food.
soon there came surety. in a dream appeared the man on the bay horse and said: “i told you not to eat kidney, you have eaten it. you shall never be chief.” takes-the-pipe had now struck many coups and captured guns and carried the captain’s pipe. his record surpassed that of any man of his age, but he lacked the honor of cutting a picketed horse. how could he ever gain it now? horse-raiders started on foot, and he could only painfully limp across the camp.
young women, drawn by his fame, often visited him in his tent, but their attentions soon palled on him. his mother tried to console him. “of all the young men you are the best-off; you have struck more coups than the rest and own plenty of horses; the young women are crazy about you. you ought to be the happiest man in camp.” but he would watch the bustle of preparations for new raids that he could not join; he would ride about of an evening and chance upon the foot-soldiers setting out from their trysting-place, and would look after them, wistful and envious and sick at heart.
sharp-horn, the aged sage, advised him to go for another vision; possibly the guardian spirit would relent. so takes-the-pipe started out on horseback and rode far away towards the mountain where he had prayed before. at the foot he hobbled his horse and painfully climbed to the summit. he lay down, with outstretched arms, facing the sky. “father,” he wailed, “i am miserable, take pity on me.” he lay there during the night but at the first glimmer of dawn there was still no message from the mysterious powers. all day he stayed about the jagged bowlders without drink or a morsel to eat.
long after nightfall a muffled tread became audible and as it came closer it was the tramp of a buffalo. then a bull was standing over him, scenting his breath and caressing his naked breast with shaggy fur. at last he spoke in crow. “i will adopt you my son. i have seen you suffering from afar. what other indians have prayed for shall be yours. look at the inside of my mouth.” he looked and there was not a tooth to be seen. “so long as you have teeth, my son, you shall not die. you shall marry a fine, chaste, young woman and beget children and see your grandchildren about you. when 29 you die you shall be so old that your skin will crack as you move from one corner of the lodge to another.”
but takes-the-pipe shook his head and said, “father, it is not because i crave old age that i am thirsting; i want to be a chief like shinbone.”
“my son, what you ask is difficult. as i hurried to you from my home, i overtook another person traveling towards you; perhaps you will still be able to get what you desire.” takes-the-pipe sat up to ask further counsel, but the bull was gone and nothing but a bleached buffalo skull was gaping at him in the gloaming.
all next day he fasted and prayed on his peak, addressing now the sun, then the thunder, then again the morningstar. his throat was parched when he lay down at dark in his old resting place. he did not know how, but of a sudden the darkness was lifted and the hilltop shone with a gentle radiance. an old woman was standing at his feet, resting on a digging-stick; she wore a splendid robe with horsetracks marked on it in porcupine-quill embroidery. “my child,” she said, “you have not called me, nevertheless i am here. i heard your groans and started towards you but another person passed me on the road. i am the moon. when children fall sick, doctor them with this root; their parents will give you horses. i will make you the wealthiest of all the crows.”
but takes-the-pipe shook his head and answered, “grandmother, i am not suffering to gain wealth, i want to become a chief like shinbone.”
“my dear child, you are asking for something great. as i came hither, i saw another person starting to come here. perhaps he has more power than i, and can grant your wish.” he was eager to ask her more, but her form faded into nothing and only the sheen of the waning crescent remained visible.
another day he fasted and drank no water. he was now very weak, so that he dragged himself about with the aid of a cane. was there no power to help him in his distress? night came as he lay wailing and peering into the darkness, when a handsome young man stood before him. “i was sleeping far away, you have roused me with your lamentations,” he said. “i have come to help you. you shall be my son. do you recognize me? i am the tobacco your30 old people plant every year. so long as they harvest me, the crow shall be a great tribe. they have forgotten the way to prepare the seed, their crops will be poor. i will show you how to mix it before planting. then you will make your tribe great and teach others and receive all sorts of property in payment.”
and takes-the-pipe answered; “father, i am not suffering in order to plant tobacco and gain property, i want to be a chief like shinbone.”
then the man replied, “my son, everything else in the universe is easy for me, only what you ask for is hard. that one who used to be your father is very strong. ‘don’t eat kidney,’ he said. you have eaten it. i cannot make you chief. listen, my son. all things in the world go by fours. three of us have come to help you. we have been powerless. a fourth one is coming, perhaps he can do it.”
the next day takes-the-pipe could hardly crawl on all fours. his head swam. he seized his knife and chopped off another finger joint on his left hand. then holding aloft the bleeding stump he cried, “fathers, i am giving you this. make me a chief!”
suddenly a huge figure came panting toward him, shaking a rattle and singing a song. “i am the last,” said a big bear; “though i am heavy and slow, i have arrived.”
takes-the-pipe called out to him joyfully, “father, i knew you were coming. cure my knee so that i can go out to cut a picketed horse and become a chief.”
“my son, the one who used to be your father is very strong. he does not want you to be a chief. well, i too am strong. if you are a man, i can help you. if you are faint-hearted, i am powerless.”
“father,” said takes-the-pipe, “make me great; make me greater than other men, and if i die what matters it?”
“my son, there are many chiefs in camp; of your kind there shall be but one. tell me, have you ever seen the whole world?” without waiting for an answer, the bear lifted him up. mountains and streams and prairies and camps came into his vision. the berries were ripe and the crow camp loomed in sight and the tobacco society were harvesting the precious seed. far away were hostile lodges. then the leaves were turning yellow and the enemy were setting out to raid crow horses. one crow all alone was riding31 towards them. “my son, do you see that horseman with trailing sashes? they were trying to hold him back, he has broken loose. he could not be a chief; he wants to die. he is a crazy dog. he speaks ‘backward’; he cares little for the rules of the camp. where there is danger, he is the foremost. dress like him, act like him, and you shall be great. the people will speak of you so long as there are crows living on this earth. this i will give you if your heart is strong.”
“thanks, father, thanks! what you have shown me is great; i will do it. i wanted to live and be a chief. it cannot be. there is no way for me to live; i shall die as a crazy dog.”
then the bear vanished.
vi
the people were gathered near the mouth of the bighorn. there was merriment in camp after a successful hunt. suddenly was heard the beating of a drum and the chanting of a strange song. all ran out of their lodges to see what was going on. who is that man on the richly fitted-out horse? he approaches the center of the circle, shaking a rattle. two sashes of deerskin, slipped over his head, descend to the ground. sliding-beaver is leading the horse, halting from time to time, and beating a drum. at the fourth stop he cried aloud: “young women, if you would be this man’s sweethearts, you must hasten, he is about to die!” then he beat his drum and addressed the rider: “remain on horseback, do not dance!”
forthwith takes-the-pipe dismounted and danced in position. then because he did the opposite of what he was told everyone knew him for a crazy dog pledged to court death. straightway pretty-weasel began to lament: “i begged him not to do it; he has done it!” but the other women cheered lustily, and sliding-beaver sang his praises aloud as he slowly led him outside of the camp circle.
then for a while he appeared every evening, dancing and shaking his rattle. he would ride through camp like a madman. when a few were gathered eating some meat, he would walk his horse into their very midst as if to run over them. then they would cry out, “trample on us.” and the crazy dog would turn aside and let them eat in peace. at night the best-looking young women paid32 him visits; even married women went there and their husbands did not mind it. sometimes two or three would come of a single night. famous whistling-waters came to tell him what a great thing he was doing. all the eminent warriors in camp, drags-the-wolf, red-eye, and shinbone, were looking on him with envy.
the cherries had ripened and one day a woman offered him some. he said, “when i decided to do this, the grass was sprouting. i did not expect to live so long, yet to-day i am eating cherries. well, i will see whether i can achieve what i wish.” when they went hunting the next time, he got some buffalo blood and mixed it with badger blood and water. in the mixture he saw his image with blood streaming down his face. “yes,” he cried, “i have seen it. what i am longing for is coming true!”
the leaves were turning yellow when a tribesman caught sight of some dakota raiders. the young men drove them off and the enemy took refuge in the dry bed of a stream. there, the crow warriors were going to attack them. they were getting ready when pretty-weasel rushed into their midst, crying, “bind my son! don’t let him go!” they looked for him. he was not to be found. all alone he was dashing toward the enemy. they galloped after him. he was close to the coulée, shaking his rattle and singing his song:—
sky and earth are everlasting,
men must die.
old age is a thing of evil,
charge and die!
he rode straight up to the enemies’ hiding-place. at the edge he dismounted. several dakotas were peeping out. “there is no way for me to live,” he cried, “i must die!” he shot one foe and struck him with his rattle. then another dakota shot him in the left temple, and takes-the-pipe fell dead.
the crow warriors caught up, and killed every man in the raiding party. pretty-weasel reached the spot and wiped the blood from her son’s forehead. the men put him on a horse and brought him to camp. wailing, they went home. there the sore-lip women clipped their hair and gashed their legs. the whistling-water men rode up and down singing the praises of the dead crazy dog. his fellow-foxes propped up the corpse against a backrest, knelt before it and wailed. their officers ran arrows through their flesh and33 jabbed their foreheads till the blood flowed in streams. then they set up a scaffold on four posts, wrapped the body in a robe, and placed it on top. beside the stage they planted a pole. from it was hung his drum, and his sashes swept down as streamers blowing in the wind. his rattle they put into his hand. then the camp moved.
robert h. lowie
