Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians

INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW BISON BOOKS EDITION BY DARRELL KIPP v INTRODUCTION TO THE BISON BOOKS EDITION BY ALICE BECK KEHOE xiii INTRODUCTION BY CLARK WISSLER 5 I. TALES OF THE OLD MAN 19 1. The Making of the Earth 19 2. Languages confused on a Mountain 19 3. Order of Life and Death 19 4. Why People die Forever 21 5. The First Marriage 21 6. Old Man leads a Migration 22 7. Old Man and the Great Spirit 23 8. Old Man gambles 24 9. Old Man and the Rolling Stone 24 10. Old Man roasts Squirrels in Hot Ashes 25 11. Old Man makes a Drive, and loses Meat in a Race 27 12. Old Man sees Berries in the Water 29 13. Old Man loses his Eyes 29 14. Old Man and the Fire-Leggings 31 15. Old Man frightens a Bear 32 16. Old Man gets fast in an Elk-Skull, and loses his Hair 32 17. Old Man cooks Two Babies 33 18. Old Man's Escape 34 19. Old Man deceived by Two Women 35 20. Old Man sees Girls picking Strawberries 36 21. Old Man penem trans flumen mittit 36 22. Old Man makes Buffalo laugh 36 23. Adventures of Old Man 37 II. STAR MYTHS 40 1. The Twin-Brothers, or Stars 40 2. Blood-Clot, or Smoking-Star 53 3. The Fixed-Star 58 4. Scar-Face 61 (a) Version by a Piegan Man 61 (b) Version by a Piegan Woman 65 5. Cuts-Wood 66 6. The Seven Stars 68 7. The Bunched Stars 71 8. The Moon-Woman 72 III. RITUALISTIC ORIGINS 74 1. The Beaver-Medicine 74 (a) Northern Blackfoot Version 74 (b) Blood Version 75 (c) North Piegan Version 76 (d) Piegan Version 77 2. Otter-Woman 78 3. Tobacco-Seeds and Beaver-Medicine 79 4. Crow Indian Water-Medicine 80 5. Scabby-Round-Robe 81 6. The Elk-Woman 83 (a) Blood Version 83 (b) Piegan Version 84 7. The Buffalo-Rock 85 (a) Piegan Version 85 (b) Northern Blackfoot Version 87 8. Origin of the Medicine-Pipe 89 9. The Worm-Pipe 91 10. A Pipe from the Seven Stars 91 11. The Black-Covered Pipe 91 12. The Otter-Lodge 92 13. The Bear-Lodge 92 14. The Horse-Lodge 94 15. Black and Yellow Buffalo-Painted Lodges 94 16. The Crow-Painted Lodge 95 17. The Bear-Knife 95 18. The Smoking-Otter 98 19. The Medicine-Shields 99 20. Never-Sits-Down's Shield 102 21. The Eagle-Head Charm 103 22. The Pigeons 105 23. The Mosquitoes 105 24. The Braves 106 25. Dog-Chief 107 26. Has-Scars-All-Over 109 27. Scabby-Bull 112 28. The Horns and the Matoki 117 (a) Blood Version 117 (b) North Piegan Version 119 29. The Kit-Fox 121 30. The Catchers 121 31. The Buffalo's Adopted Child 121 IV. CULTURAL AND OTHER ORIGINS 126 1. The Whirlwind-Boy 126 2. The Bladder Story 127 3. The Water-Bull 128 4. Red-Head 129 5. The Meeting in the Cave 132 6. Why Dogs do not Talk 133 7. Why Women are able to stick the Poles into the Holes of the Ears of the Lodge after Dark 133 8. Contest between the Thunder-Bird and the Raven 134 9. The Raven Rescues People 134 10. Why Grasshoppers Spit 134 11. How Medicine-Hat got its Name 135 V. MISCELLANEOUS TALES 138 1. The Lost Children 138 2. The Woman who got Meat from the Cliff 141 3. Bear-Moccasin, the Great Medicine-Man 143 4. The Split Feather 147 5. The Treacherous Wives 148 6. The Woman who Married a Snake 150 7. The Woman who Married Filth 151 8. The Woman who Married a Horse 152 9. The Woman with a Sharpened Leg 153 10. The Woman without a Body 154 11. The Man Cut in two below the Waist 154 12. The Ghost-Woman 155 13. Fed by a Ghost 156 14. Fed by a Coyote 156 15. Riding the Buffalo 157 16. The Kutenai Black-Tail Deer-Dance 157 17. The Horned-Toad and the Frog 159 18. Turtle goes to War 160 19. The Warrior's Dilemma 160 20. A Warrior's Duty and his Love 162 21. The Wolverene-Woman 162 22. Seven-Heads 163 23. The Sand Hills 163 INDEX 165