I02 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. V. 



pick. Leave the babies here and I will watch them." They all went. 

 Then he cut all the babies' heads off. He put the heads back into the 

 cradles ; the bodies he put into a large kettle and cooked. When the 

 bear-women came back, he said to them : "Have you never been to that 

 hill here? There were many young wolves there." "In tha^t little hill 

 here?" they asked. "Yes. While you were gone I dug the young 

 wolves out and cooked them." Then they were all pleased. They sat 

 down and began to eat. One of the children said : "This tastes like 

 • my little sister." "Hush !" said her mother, "don't say that." Nih'a^ga" 

 became uneasy. "It is too hot here," he said, and took some plums and 

 went off a little distance; there he sat down and ate. When he had 

 finished, he shouted : "Ho! Ho! bear-women, you have eaten your own 

 children." All the bears ran to their cradles and found only the heads 

 of the children. At once they pursued him. They began to come near 

 him. Nih'a'^qa'^ said : "I wish there were a hole that I could hide in." 

 When they had nearly caught him he came to a hole and threw himself 

 intQ it. The hole extended through the hill, and he came out on the 

 other side while the bear-women were still standing before the en- 

 trance. He painted himself with white paint to look like a different 

 person, took a willow stick, put feathers on it, and laid it across his'arm. 

 Then he went to the women. "What are you crying about?" he asked 

 them. They told him.^ He said : "I will go into the hole for you," 

 and crawled in. Soon he cried as if hurt, and scratched his shoulders. 

 Then he came out, saying: "Nih'a"9a" is too strong for me. .Go into 

 the hole yourselves ; he is not very far in." They all went in, but soon 

 came out again and said: "We cannot find him." Nih'a"(;a'^ entered 

 once more, scratched himself bloody, bit himself, and cried out. He 

 said : "He has long finger nails with which he scratches me. I cannot 

 drag him out. But he is at the end of the hole. He cannot go back 

 farther. If you go in, you can drag him out. He is only a little 

 farther than you went last time." They all went into the hole. 

 Nib'^'^qa*" got brush and grass and made a fire at the entrance. "That 

 sounds like flint striking," said one of the women. "The flint birds are 

 flying," Nih'a"ga° said. "That sounds like fire," said another woman. 

 "The fire birds are flymg about ; tliey will scon be gone by." "That is 

 just like smoke," called a woman. "The smoke birds are passing. Go 

 on, he is only a little farther, you will catch him soon," said Nih'a"Qa°. 

 Then the heat followed the smoke into the hole. The bear- women 

 began to shout. "Now the heat birds are flying," said Nih'a"ga". Then 

 the bears were all killed. Nih'a"(;a*^ put out the fire and dragged them 



> In the original, the bear-women at this point retell the whole story. 



