a6 I hid Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. IX. 



ment. No one is allowed to pass in front of them. When the tribe 

 goes to battle, each society wears its society dress. Before making 

 a general attack upon the enemy the warriors all stand in a row. 

 Before them is a row of medicine-men and chiefs, and the medicine- 

 arrow Keeper who performs the ceremony to the Great Medicine. 

 He points the sacred arrows at the enemy as taught by the 

 great Prophet, and thus insures victory to his tribesmen. The 

 Keeper of the medicine-arrow always charges in front of all, and no 

 one may charge in front of him. In ancient times the great medicine- 

 arrows were very effective. When directed towards a warring tribe 

 they rendered the enemy helpless and without power to resist. Suc- 

 cess with these arrows against their enemies, according to the old- 

 time warriors, accounts for the numerous aliens among the Cheyenne 

 tribe. 



12.— OWL-MAN'S BOW-STRING OR WOLF W T ARRIORS. 



The Bow-String warrior or Wolf Warrior society is the sixth war- 

 rior society in the tribe. It was founded by a Cheyenne warrior by the 

 name of Owl-Man. It is not included among those five societies 

 founded by the great Prophet, but has been founded since the advent 

 of the white man. This society has one head chief and seven assist- 

 tants or sub-chiefs, under whom are from one to two hundred 

 warriors. The members of the society are distinguished for their 

 gayety, their songs, their dances, and the various colors of their 

 dress. Each member dresses as he is able, and hence there is no 

 uniformity of dress. They paint their bodies and the trappings of 

 their ponies. This is the noisiest and the gayest of all the societies. 

 It may be joined by any warrior of fifteen years or more. The 

 society does not seek members to join it, but the warriors come to it 

 to ask admission. 



The following is an account of the way Owl -Man founded his so- 

 ciety : He was traveling alone, toward the north. While he traveled 

 he was overtaken by a hard rainstorm which turned into a heavy snow- 

 storm. Reaching a deep canyon he went into it with his pony for 

 shelter. The cold increased and the snow fell steadily until an 

 object could not be seen ten paces away. Owl-Man's clothing was 

 drenched with rain and frozen stiff; his pony was frozen to death. 

 He gathered bark from the trees and made a shelter for himself. His 

 buffalo robe kept him from freezing; when morning came he was 

 so hungry and cold that he was about to lie down and die. when some 

 one behind him spoke, and told him to go west until he found another 



