Wigwam Evenings: Sioux folk tales (set III)

Charles A. Eastman and Elaine Goodale Eastman

The Little Boy Man

"I shall now tell you of the First Man, and how he came upon earth as an infant, yet without father or mother. Listen well, my children, for you should never forget this story."

THE LITTLE BOY MAN

At the beginning of things, He-who-was-first-Created found himself living alone. The earth was here before him, clothed in green grass and thick forests, and peopled with the animal tribes. Then all these spoke one language, and the Lonely One was heralded by them everywhere as he roamed to and fro over the world, both upon dry land and in the depths of the sea.

One day, when he returned to his teepee from a long wandering, he felt a pain in his left foot, and lo! a splinter in the great toe! Drawing out the splinter, he tossed it upward through the smoke-hole of the lodge. He could hear it roll and rattle down over the birch-bark covering, and in the instant that it touched the ground, there arose the cry of a new-born child!

He-who-was-first-Created at once came forth and took up the infant, who was the Boy Man, the father of the human race here upon earth.

Now the little Boy Man grew and flourished, and was perfectly happy under the wise guidance of his friend and Elder Brother. Although he had neither father nor mother, and only animals for playmates, it is said that no child born of human parents has ever led so free and happy a life as he. In those days, there was peace between the animals and the Boy Man. Sometimes they challenged him to friendly contests, whereupon He-who-was-first-Created taught his little brother how to outwit them by clever tricks and devices. This he was often able to do; but not always; for sometimes the animals by their greater strength finally overcame him.

One morning the Boy Man went out from his lodge as usual to the day's occupations, but did not return at night nor for many nights afterward. He-who-was-first-Created mourned and wailed long for the lost one. At last he became angry, and set out to look for the bones of his brother.

He travelled from east to west across the world, but found no trace of the one he sought, and all of the land creatures whom he questioned declared that they had not seen him pass by.

Next he followed the rivers, and the shores of the Great Lakes, and there one day he heard an old woman singing as she cut down a tree at the edge of the water. The traveller came closer to hear the words of the song; and lo! it was a song of the scalp-dance, and in it she spoke the name of the lost Boy Man.

He-who-was-first-Created now turned himself into a King-fisher, and so approached unsuspected and talked with the old Beaver-woman. From her he learned that his younger brother had been enticed into the Great Water and destroyed by the monster of the deep, Unk-tay-hee. Thereupon he went down to the shore and changed himself into a tall pine overlooking the lake.

For many moons He-who-was-first-Created remained thus, until at last he beheld two huge forms rising up in the midst of the waves. The monsters glided gradually toward the shore and lay basking in the sun at his feet, rocking gently with the motion of the quiet water. It was old Unk-tay-hee and his mate.

"Husband!" exclaimed the wife of Unk-tay-hee, "for ages this has been our resting-place, and yet I have never seen this tree before!"

"Woman, the tree has always been there!" returned the water monster.

"But I am sure it was not here before," she insisted.

Then Unk-tay-hee wound his immense scaly tail about the giant pine and tried to pull it out by the roots. The water foamed and boiled with his struggles, but He-who-was-first-Created stood firm, and at last the monster gave up the attempt.

"There," he declared, "I told you it had always been there!" His wife appeared satisfied, and presently the gentle waves rocked them both to sleep.

Then He-who-was-first-Created returned to his own shape, and with his long spear he stabbed each of the monsters, so that with groans of pain they dove down to their homes at the bottom of the great lake, and the waters boiled above them, and the foam was red with their blood.

The Return of the Little Boy Man

Grandfather has scarcely taken up his long pipe to-night before the children begin to gather, impatient for the end of the story. Chatanna has been begging his father to tell him whether the Little Boy Man was ever found, but he has been obliged to wait for the old man to go on with his tale.

THE RETURN OF THE LITTLE BOY MAN

He-who-was-first-Created now took the form of a swallow, and flew down from the high cliffs, skimming over the surface of the water. Within a sheltered cove among the pines, the water-birds were holding a least. Some were singing, some dancing, and that great medicine-man, the Loon, was among them, blowing his sacred whistle.

The Lonely One in the form of a swallow dipped down to the water's edge and addressed the Loon respectfully, asking for some of the secrets of his medicine. The Loon was very kind. He taught him several mystery songs, and showed him how to treat the sick.

"Now," said the Swallow, "if you will permit me to take your form for a short time, I will go down into the deep and try to cure Unk-tay-hee and his wife of their dreadful wounds!"

The Loon made no objection, so the new-made conjurer balanced himself upon the crest of a wave and gave his loudest call before he dove down, down into the blue water! There in the watery world the people saw him as it were sailing down from the sky. His path led now through a great forest of sea weeds, now upon the broad plains, and finally he came into a deep valley of the under-world, where he found everybody anxiously waiting for him. He was met by the old Turtle, who begged him to make haste, for the chief and his wife were in great agony.

"Let all the people retire, for I must be alone in order to work a cure," declared the supposed medicine-man, as he entered the teepee of the water monster.

All went away unwillingly—the Turtle last of all. He told the others that he had heard the great conjurer whisper as his hand touched the door-flap; "Ah, my poor brother!" Now this door-flap was made from the skin of the little Boy Man.

He-who-was-first-Created, when he was inside the lodge, paid no attention to the dreadful groans of the monsters, but at once took down the skin of his brother, and as he did so, he saw the little Water-snake spying at him from behind the doorway. The others, who were suspicious, had sent him as a scout to see what the medicine-man was doing.

He called the Snake inside, and compelled him to tell where he should find the bones of his brother. Then for a reward he painted the Snake green, and declared that as he had served both sides, he should crawl upon his belly forever after.

He-who-was-first-Created gathered up all the bones and took them with him to dry land. There he immediately built a fire and heated stones for the first sweat lodge. He also picked a bunch of sage-brush, and fetched water in a large shell.

Having carefully wrapped the bones with the dry skin of his brother and built over them a low shelter of willow withes, he covered the lodge tightly with green boughs and then thrust in his right arm and began to sprinkle water with the bunch of sage upon the heated stones.

The steam arose and filled the lodge, and with the steam there came a faint sighing sound.

A second time he sprinkled water, and there were rustlings within as if the dry bones were gathering themselves together.

When he put in his hand for the third time he could hear a sound like far-off singing. Immediately after the Little Boy Man spoke in his own voice, begging to be let out of the lodge.

The Girl Who Married the Star

"Ah, here is our little Humming-bird, always the first to raise the door-flap!" is the old teacher's pleasant greeting.

"That is because I do not want to lose one word of your good stories, Grandfather," murmurs the little maiden, with her pretty, upward glance and bashful smile.

"I have one for you to-night that ought to please you," he answers thoughtfully. "You know the shining Star people in the heavens above us—you have gazed upon them and doubtless dreamed that you were among them. We believe them to be a higher race than ours. Listen, then, to my story."

THE GIRL WHO MARRIED THE STAR

There were once two sisters who lived alone in an uninhabited place. This was a long time ago, when the tribes upon earth were few, and the animal people were friendly to man. The name of one of the girls was Earth, and the other was called Water.

All their food was brought to them by their animal friends. The Bears supplied them with nuts, berries and wild turnips, and the Bees brought combs dripping with honey. They ate no flesh, for that would be to take life. They dwelt in a lodge made of birch-bark, and their beds were mats woven of rushes.

One clear, summer night the girls lay awake upon their beds, looking up through the smoke-hole of their wigwam and telling one another all their thoughts.

"Sister," said the Earth, "I have seen a handsome young man in my dreams, and it seemed to me that he came from up yonder!"

"I too have seen a man in my dreams," replied her sister, "and he was a great brave."

"Do you not think these bright stars above us are the sky men of whom we have dreamed?" suggested the Earth.

"If that is true, sister, and it may be true," said the Water, "I choose that brightest Star for my husband!"

"And I," declared her sister, "choose for my husband that little twinkling Star!"

By and by the sisters slept; and when they awoke, they found themselves in the sky! The husband of the elder sister who had chosen the bright star was an old warrior with a shining name, but the husband of the younger girl was a fine-looking young man, who had as yet no great reputation.

The Star men were kind to their wives, who lived very happily in their new home. One day they went out to dig wild turnips, and the old warrior said to his wife:

"When you are digging, you must not hit the ground too hard!"

The younger man also warned his wife, saying:

"Do not hit the ground too hard!"

However, the Earth forgot, and in her haste she struck the ground so hard with the sharp-pointed stick with which she dug turnips, that the floor of the sky was broken and she fell through.

Two very old people found the poor girl lying in the meadow.

They kindly made for her a little wigwam of pine boughs, and brought ferns for her bed. The old woman nursed her as well as she could, but she did nothing but wail and cry.

"Let me go to him!" she begged. "I cannot live without my husband!"

Night came, and the stars appeared in the sky as usual. Only the little twinkling Star did not appear, for he was now a widower and had painted his face quite black.

The poor wife waited for him a long time, but he did not come, because he could not. At last she slept, and dreamed she saw a tiny red Star in the sky that had not been there before.

"Ah!" said she, "that is Red Star, my son!"

In the morning she found at her side a pretty little boy, a Star Boy, who afterward grew to be a handsome young man and had many adventures. His guides by night through the pathless woods were the Star children of his mother's sister, his cousins in the sky.

North Wind and Star Boy

"Hun, hun, hay! Old man Wazeya, the North Wind, is again on the war-path! You are brave children to come out to-night! See, he shakes his downy feather robe, and the little snow-flakes fly fast and faster! He gives his war-whoop, and cowards seek the safe shelter of their own wigwams. You are no cowards, I am sure of that, so I shall tell you of the battle between Wazeya and one of our great heroes, the son of a mortal maiden and a Star."

NORTH WIND AND STAR BOY

In the very old days at the beginning of things, Star Boy went about the world as a champion, defending all feeble folk against the attacks of their enemies.

The champion was so strong that he could not bend his bow of wood without breaking it, therefore he armed himself with a bone bow, a bone knife and a stone war-club.

One day, he came to the village of the Frogs, who poured out of their lodges to meet him and set before him food, but no water. "He who goes to the water," said they, "never returns. A great warrior lies there who has swallowed many of us alive, and now we are perishing of thirst!"

Star Boy himself was so thirsty that after he had eaten, he went down to the water, and was instantly swallowed by Tamahay, the Pickerel. But with his bone knife he slashed the Pickerel in the gills and escaped; after which he warned the big fish, saying: "Be careful how you wantonly destroy this people, for some day they will be used to destroy you!"

STAR BOY ATTACKED BY HINHAN, THE OWL.

Page 215 He then went on his way, as far as another village of Little People, who complained that they had no fire-wood.

"We dare not go to the wood any more," they said, "for there a fierce warrior lives who swoops down from above and devours us!"

Star Boy at once went to the wood, where he was attacked by Hinhan, the Owl. Him he easily conquered with his stone war-club. "Because of your cruelty," he said to the Owl, "the sun shall blind you hereafter, so that you can hunt only in the dark, when the Mouse people are advised to take to their holes and hiding-places."

Now Star Boy travelled northward, until he had reached the very northernmost country, and in that far land he found a people in great distress. That was because they feared Wazeya, the North Wind, who drove away the buffalo herds so that they had no meat. "And when he points his finger at one of us," said they, "that man dies!"

"Come, let us hunt the buffalo!" said Star Boy to them; and although they were starving, they were afraid and unwilling to go. However, he made some of the men go out with him, and upon the open plain they met with North Wind, who at once challenged the champion to do battle. The two rushed upon one another with great fury, and in the first onset Star Boy broke the bow of North Wind; but in the second, Star Boy was overthrown and lay as one dead.

However, after a time he got up again, and they met for the third bout, when lo! neither could prevail against the other, so that in the midst of the fight they were obliged to sit upon a snowbank to rest. Star Boy sat upon his calf-skin and fanned himself with an eagle-wing, and immediately the snow began to melt and the North Wind was forced to retreat. Before he went away, he made a treaty of peace with Star Boy, promising to come to earth for half the year only, and to give timely warning of his approach, so that the people might prepare for his coming and lay up food against the day of scarcity. By this means the winter and summer were established among us.