CHAPTER IV
A MEDICINE PIPE CEREMONY
Toward the middle of the afternoon a wagon drove up to the store andBruce's wife, carrying a baby, came out and got in and said a few wordsto her husband. He rose and walked toward the wagon and then turned andsaid, "I'm just going over with the woman to Red Eagle's camp; thebaby's been sick and she wants to have him doctor it. He's going tounwrap his medicine pipe. Do you men want to go along? I don't know ifJack has ever seen a medicine pipe unwrapped."
"No," said Hugh, "I reckon he hasn't. What do you say, son? Do you wantto go?"
"You bet, Hugh," said Jack. "I'd be mighty glad to go. We won't be inthe way, will we, Mr. Bruce?"
"No," said Bruce, "not a bit. Come along."
It was not a long drive over to Two Medicine Lodge Creek. Red Eagle wascamped not far from the old piskun, where in old times the Blackfeetused to drive the buffalo over the cliff, where the fall from the greatheight killed or crippled many of the herd and gave the people food. Asthe wagon drove up to Red Eagle's lodge, it was surrounded by a pack ofdogs which, with furious barkings and snappings, threatened thevisitors, but when no attention was paid to them they quieted down atonce, and stood about with welcoming waggings of their tails. Mrs. Bruceclimbed out of the wagon and carrying her baby, some food and tobaccoand a large sack of dried sarvis berries, entered the old man's lodge,while the men drove the wagon off a little distance, unhitched thehorses and tied them to the wagon wheels. Returning to the lodge, Brucelooked in and said, "The old man hasn't begun to get ready yet. We mayas well stop outside until he is ready to begin."
"Let's go up to the cliff, son," said Hugh, "and see where the peopleused to kill buffalo."
The three walked over to the almost vertical bluffs which rose sixty oreighty feet above the valley. Here the ground was strewn with weatheredbones of which the soil itself seemed partly composed, for it was filledwith minute fragments of the bones and teeth of buffalo.
"Now, son," said Hugh, "this is a sacred place to the Indians. They usedto make medicine here and perform ceremonies to bring the buffalo up onthe prairie near here, so that they could lead them over the cliff. Yousee that pile of horns over there?" and he pointed to a great heap ofhorn sheaths of the buffalo, as big as a hay-cock. There must have beenmore than a thousand horn sheaths in it.
Jack looked at it in astonishment, for it was something the like ofwhich he had never seen.
"Although they have not used this place now for many years, the Indiansstill try to keep up that pile of horns, and whenever it is blown downor knocked over by the horses they heap it up again. In old times therewere arranged in certain places on the ground a lot of horns alldirected the same way, that is, with the points of the horns pointingthe way they wanted the buffalo to run. Some of the horns were those ofbulls and some of cows. That meant that they wanted bulls as well ascows to fall over the cliff. They used to lead the buffalo up to thecliff, and fix things so that they would be running fast when they gotto the edge of the cliff. The leaders might perhaps try to stop, butthey could not stop because those behind pushed them along and shovedthem over. Those that were behind could not see what was in front of theleaders and kept running until they got to the edge of the cliff andthen they went over. The fall killed some of the buffalo and crippledothers. Besides that, there was a big pen built about the place wherethe buffalo fell down; a fence made of stones and logs and brush, andwomen and children and men were hidden all about it. As soon as thebuffalo came tumbling down, these people showed themselves all aroundthe fence, frightening the buffalo, so that those that were still ableto travel, instead of trying to run on, simply ran around in a circleinside the fence. Then the men killed them with arrows, and after allwere dead the women went into the pen and skinned the buffalo and tookaway the meat, and then the skulls and most of the big bones werecarried off to a distance and the pen cleaned up for the next drive."
"Well," said Jack, "I've heard about this jumping the buffalo over thecut bank and catching them in pens, but I never supposed that I wouldsee the place where it had been done."
"Well," said Mr. Bruce, "this is sure one of the places and you don'tneed anybody to tell you so, because you can look around and see thebones of the buffalo all about you."
"Yes," said Jack, "that's so; the place speaks for itself."
"There are lots of old-time things hidden in this ground that we arestanding on," said Bruce; "old arrow points and knives and fleshers, andmaybe other tools. Once in a while some of these things are found, butmost of them are covered up by the wash that comes down from the cliff.Old Black Coming In Sight Over The Hill, who lives right above here, hasfound lots of arrow points. A couple of years ago he showed me a doublehandful that he had picked up, and also a bone flesher made from thecannon bone of a buffalo. There are a good many other places like this.One of them is up on Sun River, and from that Louis Pambrun got a knifemade of that black rock that looks like glass, and a stone ax and a lotof stone flesher points and, oh, a whole mess of stuff."
"My," said Jack, "wouldn't I like to see some of those things that havecome from one of these places. It surely seems as if it would make thewhole business of killing buffalo in the old-time fashion mighty real toone."
"Well," said Bruce, "we'll try and look around and see if we can't gethold of something of that kind for you before you go."
After a little more examination of the bluffs, the three returned to RedEagle's lodge. The preparations for the ceremony were not yet completedand all sat down near the lodge, and while the two elder men smoked,Jack looked about him and tried to make friends with the little childrenwho were racing about playing their games. One little fellow only abouttwo years of age quite won Jack's heart by his friendly smile andevident lack of fear. His clothing consisted of several strings ofbeads, a buckskin string about his neck, to which was attached a stonecharm, and a very short shirt which came down to his lower ribs. He hadbeen playing in the stream or in some half-dried puddle, and the lowerpart of his person was covered by a thick coating of mud. The littlefellow marched up to Jack in a confident way, shook hands with him in amatter-of-fact fashion and clambered up on his knee, and after lookingat Jack's clothing and buttons and listening to the ticking of hiswatch, sat perfectly still watching the doings of his fellows. Thechildren were amusing themselves by making miserable the lives of thedogs. When they found a dog sleeping somewhere or playing near them,they would creep up to it and beat it with long twigs and pieces of wooduntil the dog ran away into the brush with melancholy howlings, whichseemed to delight the young Indians.
At length a woman's voice called from the lodge, and Bruce and Hugh roseand passed in, Jack following. A number of Indians were seated aroundthe fire, but Red Eagle, the principal personage, sat at the back of thelodge with the fire between himself and the door. At his left was anunoccupied space, to which the three newcomers were motioned. To theleft of the doorway, in the women's place, sat several women, some ofwhom had babies either on their backs or between their knees. To theright of Red Eagle was his wife and assistant, the Bear Woman.
Red Eagle was a large, fine-looking man of majestic presence. Hismassive face, kindly and benignant in expression, was framed in longgray hair which hung down over his broad shoulders. He was one of theoldest men in the tribe, and was blind.
After Hugh and the others had seated themselves, there was a littlepause, and then the Bear Woman took up a dried willow branch, which hadtwo parallel twigs close together, serving for a pair of tongs, andlifted from the fire a live coal, which she placed on the ground beforethe Bear Man, who then began to sing a low, monotonous chant in a minorkey, in which all the other Indians soon joined. While singing, the oldman interrupted himself at intervals to exclaim _ni-ai_, (my shelter orcovering), the other Indians keeping up the singing. After a few momentshe reached his hand under the robe on which he was sitting and drew outa small pouch, which he passed to the Bear Woman. She slowly untied itand took from it a pinch of the dried needle
s of the sweet pine, whichshe held over the coal. Then the Bear Man sang four times, and as themusic rose and fell the Bear Woman's hand rose and fell over the coal.At the end of the fourth song Red Eagle stretched out his hand and madea downward gesture, and the Bear Woman let fall the incense on the coal,and immediately the fragrant perfume of the burning pine needles filledthe lodge. The singing continued a little longer and then stopped. Thenboth Red Eagle and his assistant stretched out their hands over thesmoke of the burning sweet pine, rubbed them together, and then, seemingto grasp some of the smoke in their hands, rubbed it over their headsand forearms, and reaching out and grasping more of it, passed it overtheir heads, shoulders, and upper arms. They also seemed to takehandfuls of the smoke and eat it or breathe it in, the idea being thatthey were purifying themselves without and within. Then presently theBear Man turned his face toward the sun and began to pray. Some portionof what he said Jack could understand, but afterward he asked Bruce tointerpret the prayer, and this is what it was:
"Hear Above People, hear Thunder, those Animals [meaning his secrethelpers or medicine animals], hear. Pity us, pity us. Let us live, letus live. Give us full life. Let us grow to be old. Listen. Crow Arrow,let him live. In his wandering about let no danger befall him from badbeasts or dangers that are on the trail. Let his wife and his boy, thischild with the shining hair, live to be very old and let them haveplenty of everything. Let White Bull live, keep him when he istraveling, protect him from all dangers, from perils from animals, andfrom all dangers on the trail. Let his relations live and haveabundance, and White Warrior, let him live, care for him and keep himsafe from dangers, wherever he may be. All people let live. O Creator,have pity on the people so that they may live well, free from danger!"
Then he turned his face and appeared to address the bundle hung on thelodge poles behind him containing the pipe: "Oh, tell them to have pityon us. Let the young people grow, increase their flesh. Let all men,women, and children have full life. Harden the bodies of old people sothat they may reach great age."
The prayer ended and all the people gave a long-drawn _ah-h-h-h_,meaning yes, about the equivalent of our amen.
Jack sat spellbound as he watched the old man while he prayed. Here,indeed, was a priest who really wished for what he was asking. Here wasone who threw himself on the mercy of his God and would not let Him go.He implored, he urged, he insisted, and would not be denied, and as Jacksaw the great beads of sweat stand out on the old man's brow his memorywent back to one of his Sunday-school lessons of long ago, and hethought of a struggle told of in the Bible, when at the ford Jabbock,another patriarch, wrestled through the long night with his God andprevailed.
But Jack had little time to think about this, for now the singing wasresumed; Red Eagle starting it as before, the others after a little timejoining in the plaintive refrain. Again the Bear Woman sprinkled sweetpine on the coal, and again the priest and priestess purified themselvesby passing the smoke over their arms, heads, and bodies. Then theyseemed again to take handfuls of it and to hold the smoke under thelarge package tied to the lodge poles above them. Presently, as thesinging continued, the Bear Woman rose to her knees and very slowly andreverently untied the package from the poles and placed it on the robebetween the Bear Man and herself.
Now Red Eagle began a new song, and after he and the woman had againpassed their hands through the smoke, they moved them over the bundle,raising them alternately in time to the music. At first the hands wereclosed, except the forefinger, which pointed straight out, and theup-and-down motions were quick and sharp, representing the dainty riseand fall of the feet of the antelope as it walks. Then, at a change inthe air, the fingers were all bent, but the hand not closed, and theup-and-down motions became deliberate and heavy, representing the slowtread of a walking bear. At another change the old man raised his hands,partly closed, the forefinger extended, pointing upward and slightlybent inward, to the side of his head, and moving his face this way andthat, as if looking about him, called out in a shrill voice, _Hoo_. Thehand sign meant buffalo and the motion of the head signified looking orwatching. This sign, as Bruce afterward explained to Jack, was relatedto the word _ni-ai_, so often used in the songs, meaning my shelter, mycovering, my robe; for the shelter, covering, or robe of these Indiansis made from the buffalo.
Again the air of the song changed, and the priest and his wife holdingtheir hands palm downward, all the fingers extended forward, moved themup and down, making the sign for walking, which represented going towar, and the sign for danger or watchfulness, the forefingers pointedstraight up and held at the side of the head, like a pricked ear, with astartled expression of countenance and a watchful look.
After this song was ended, Red Eagle began slowly and carefully toremove the wrappings from the package at his side, but he still sang,though the air was again changed to a slower, more monotonous chant.After the strings had been untied from the double-mouthed red cloth sackwhich formed the outer covering of the package, he drew from it a longbundle, wrapped in cloths of various colors. One by one he took offthese cloths, until, after many had been removed, the medicine pipe wasrevealed. It was a handsome pipe stem about four feet long, wrapped fora part of its length with large showy beads and profusely ornamentedwith ermine skins and tails and with the feathers of eagles and otherbirds, which hung from it in thick bunches. Near the lower or pipe endof the stem was a separate plume made of twelve tail feathers of the wareagle, each having its extremity wrapped with red or yellow horse hair,which hung down in a long tuft. The whole stem was handsome and heavy.
After the covering had been removed, the old man bent for a moment insilence over the pipe, and then raised it slowly and tenderly to hisface, making a soft, cooing, caressing sound. He pressed it to his lipsand whispered to it, while he raised his sightless eyes toward the sun,as if he could look through their veil and through the lodge coveringand see some being invisible to others. After a few moments' silence heagain spoke to the pipe in a low voice, and passed it over his arms,shoulders, and both sides of his head. Then he began the song again,shaking the pipe in time to the music. When he had finished he againprayed, and said, "O Sun, O Moon and Stars, pity us, pity us. Lookdown." Then followed again the substance of the first prayer, and heended with the petition for men who were now away on the warpath,saying, "Little Plume, let him survive. Tearing Lodge and Double Rider,let them survive and return, bringing the heads." Then turning, hepassed the pipe to Hugh, who held it before his face and bent his head.Then it went to Jack, who imitated Hugh. Then Bruce took it and made aprayer, and from him it passed to an old blind warrior, who prayed longand fervently, and so it went around the circle, each one who receivedit making a prayer. Jack listened hard to try to hear what thedifferent people said, but they spoke in low tones, and only now andthen could he catch a word: _K[)i]m'-o-k[)i]t_ (have pity); _n[=a]'pi_(old man), or _na-t[=o]s'_ (sun). When the pipe went back around thecircle to the other side of the lodge, where were the women and theirlittle babies, the women prayed as they took it and then passed the pipestem over the bodies and heads of their little ones, believing that thesacred influence would benefit the children.
Meanwhile, Red Eagle had taken up a medicine rattle and again began tosing, shaking the rattle in time to the music. When at length the pipereturned to him he put down his rattle, took the stem and repeatedrapidly a number of times the words, "Pity us, pity us, pity us." Then,putting the stem on the robe between himself and his wife, he rose,began a new song and began to dance, first to the east, and then turningabout toward the west. The people sitting in the lodge accompanied himin a melodious but plaintive minor chant. Presently he stopped dancing,faced about, and, sitting down, prayed again, concluding with thesewords, "Let the Sun shine upon us and our lives be without shadows."Then he made a sign that the ceremony was over, and all rose and filedout of the lodge.
Jack was mightily impressed by the ceremony that he had just witnessed,yet, though he was anxious to ask many questions, he hardly felt like
doing so of Bruce, especially in the presence of his wife, whose faithin the religion of which the old man was the priest he supposed to bestrong. It was not until after they had got back to the Agency,therefore, that he said very much about it.
Before supper, however, he had an opportunity to speak to Hugh, and toask him some questions about the religion of these Indians.
"That is one of the most solemn things I ever saw, Hugh," he said, "andI want to ask some questions about it. I don't know if I ever told youhow I felt that time when Last Bull gave me my name and prayed over me.Of course that was two or three years ago, and I was a good deal youngerthen than I am now; but I never before had had anything make me feel assolemn as that prayer did, and that's just the way I felt to-day whenRed Eagle was praying. It seems to me that when these Indians pray, theypray as if they meant what they were saying. They seem to be in earnestabout it. Now, when I hear a white man praying,--that is, most whitemen, I don't mean to say it's the same with all,--they don't seem to bein earnest; they seem to be going through a sort of form. Did you noticehow the sweat stood out on that old man's face when he was making hisprayer; how solemn he was, and how he acted just as if he were beggingsomebody for something?"
"Yes," said Hugh, "I noticed that, and it's so that when these Indianspray they are surely in earnest. They are not getting off something thatthey've learned by heart and just saying it because they have to; theymean all that they say and they are really asking favors. People saythat they're nothing but poor savages and that they're pagans, and allthat, but I tell you when they're talking to their God they could givepoints to a whole lot of white folks."
"Well," said Jack, "I've seen some Indians pray, and I've been presentat some ceremonies, like the medicine lodge and like opening the beaverbundle, but I never saw anything that seemed to me as real as this thatwe've seen to-day."
"Well," said Hugh, "I am right glad we went, and I'm glad that you sawit. These Indians and all the other Indians that I know anything aboutare changing mighty fast. They're losing their old ways and picking upnew ones that are not half so good. They're changing all the time, andbefore you are many years older you won't be able to see any of theseold-time ways. There are three or four railroads now running acrossthrough the country that used to belong all to the Indians, and now thatthe buffalo are about gone they've got to come on to their reservationsand learn to work to earn a living, and just as soon as they do thatyou'll see all the old customs go, and when they once go they'll verysoon be forgotten."
"But what a pity it is, Hugh," said Jack, "that they've got to change!Why can't they be left out here to live their life in the old way?"
"Why, son," said Hugh, "you are talking now without thinking, talkingjust as I have felt a great many times; but you know and I know fromwhat we've both seen that before very long these people are all going tobe crowded out of the most of this country by the white folks. Don't youremember a couple of years ago when we came back from the coast, how thelittle towns were springing up all along the new railroad that they werebuilding, and now that the railroad has been finished, all along it,east and west, there are growing up settlements of people that will soonbe towns. The white people are coming in crowds, and as soon as they'vetaken all the best locations along the railroad they'll begin to spreadout and take up other locations, and I believe that I'll live longenough to see this Montana Territory full of people. It'll be here justas I've seen it happen in the South. First the cattle will come into thecountry, lots of them, and for a while it will be all cows and cowboys;and then, little by little, the ranchers will come in, and they'llsettle first on one creek bottom and then on another, and then maybemines will be found in the mountains, and new railroads will be built,and at last there won't be room in the country for anybody but whitefolks that are working hard to make money out of the prairie and theriver bottoms, and even out of the mountains. A few years ago I wouldn'thave believed it, but I have seen it happen now in lots of differentparts of the country, and I reckon it will happen here, just as it hasin so many other places."
"Well, Hugh," said Jack, "I suppose that's so. I remember, as you say,the way the settlements were springing up along the new railroad when wecame back from British Columbia, and this time, coming out, I could seethe little towns starting all along the Northern Pacific, back inMinnesota and west of there, but it does seem awfully rough that theseIndians should all be driven from their own land and should have to bepenned up on a little reservation. And I don't see what in the worldthey're going to do to live unless the Government feeds them."
"Well," said Hugh, "I don't either. I suppose maybe some time they'llhave to turn into cattlemen. I always had an idea they'd make good cowhands, if they could be taught to look after cattle. Certainly theIndians used to take awful good care of their ponies, and if they couldbe taught to take good care of cows, they could make a good living justas long as they've got the range that most any reservation will furnish.You know the Navahoes down South and some others of those SouthernIndians have big herds of sheep and take pretty good care of them, butof course sheep and cattle are different things."
That evening in the store Hugh asked Bruce what he thought of theprobability of the Indians taking to cattle-raising.
"Why," said Bruce, "they could make good cowmen if they'd look after thestock. This is one of the greatest cattle ranges in the whole country,and the few cattle that I own have done mighty well. I have had twoIndians, my brothers-in-law, looking after the stock, and they aregetting to understand how to handle cattle well. But the trouble is thatthe average Indian hasn't much feeling of responsibility, and instead ofspending the day on his horse looking after the cattle, he's likely toget off and lie down in the sun and sleep for half a day and let thestock get away from him. They haven't yet got any idea of the importanceof staying with a job. They'll work hard until they get tired of it, andthen they'll stop, and you can't start them up again. You see, they'venever been used to working steadily. They'd work as long as they feltlike it, and then stop. That's what they've got to learn before they canaccomplish anything toward making a living. They've got to learn thelesson of steady, continued effort, and it's going to be mighty hard toteach them that."
Late in the evening Hugh said to Jack, "Well, son, we've seen about allwe need to around here, haven't we? What do you say to our starting outto the mountains to make our trip?"
"Why," said Jack, "I'm ready, and I don't see why we can't go off rightaway."
"Well," said Hugh, "the sooner we get off the better it will suit me,and if you feel like it, we'll get hold of Joe to-morrow and pack up ourstuff and start. I reckon we can have a good time up at the lakeshunting around there. You see, nobody's ever been up to the heads of anyof those rivers, and I'd like to go up there and see what there is, andI reckon you would, too."
"Sure, I would," said Jack.
"All right," said Hugh, "let's get hold of Joe to-morrow, and maybewe'll start the next day. I don't think there's anything to keep ushere."
Jack the Young Explorer: A Boy's Experiances in the Unknown Northwest Page 7
