May, 1903. The Arapaho Sun Dance — Dorsey. 223 



Moon, stooping down to see the course of the sinew lariat. To his 

 surprise, he saw his wife and their little son suspended just a little 

 way from the earth. "Well, there is only one way to do it. She 

 wanted to get away from me, and therefore ran a risk of meeting with 

 an accident. I shall have to make her return to me," ' said Moon, in 

 manly way. So, reaching out from the hole he procured a round, flat 

 stone called "heated stone." Spitting five times on the stone, he said 

 to it, full of faith and desire: "For the benefit of my boy, I want you 

 to light on top of her head, though remember you are not to fall on 

 my boy's head, but on hers. Please do this for me," and as he said 

 this he dropped the stone, which lighted on top of her head, breaking 

 her off from the suspended lariat and killing her instantly. This 

 woman landed with her boy on the south side of the river, at a short 

 distance on a small elevation of ground. This was Eagle River that 

 runs from west to east. 



The little boy was so young that he did not know that his mother 

 was dead. For some time he lived from his mother's breast, until she 

 was fully decomposed. By this time the little boy, not satisfied with 

 his mother's milk, was entirely exhausted. He went down to the 

 river to quench his thirst. This trail was a small ravine leading to 

 the small bank of the river. Just as the little boy reached the bank, 

 an old woman (Old-VVoman-Night), had come up to the spot on the 

 other side. "Well, well! dear grandchild, I am so glad to see you. 

 Where are you going to?" said Old-Woman-Night, with reverence. 

 "I came over to quench my thirst," said the little boy, hastily. 

 "Where did you come from, dear little boy?" said the old woman. 

 "I came down from above," said the little boy. "Well, well! Are you 

 Little-Star (or Lone-Star)? I am so happy to meet you. This is the 

 central spot where everybody comes to. It is the terminus of all the 

 trails from all directions. I have a little tipi down on the north side 

 of the river, and I want you to come with me. It is only a short dis- 

 tance from here. Come on, grandchild, Little-Star," said Old- Woman- 

 Night, taking him by the hand and leading him toward the tipi 

 mentioned. As they followed the winding course of the stream they 

 finally came to a big thicket along the bend, and just a few paces from 

 the edge of the woods was a well-smoked tipi, the outskirts of which 

 were well trodden. "This is my abiding-place, grandchild. See the 

 dense forest and my surroundings," said Old-Woman-Night, smiling 

 as they slowly approached the tipi. 



Entering the tipi, Old-Woman-Night had a bed on the south side 

 of the fire. It had a willow lean-back and many articles strung along 



' This remark of Moon's shows us that there is another place for dead people. 



