82 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. V. 



mentioned in the story (Nih'a"<;a°) was mean to the children and even 

 tried to starve them to death. This hatred still exists among the 

 Indians. — D. 



Told by Adopted. A similar origin of death is found among the Cheyenne (Journ. ."Vm. Folk- 

 Lore, Vol. XII, p. i6i), Blackfeet (Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales, pp. 138, 272), Navaho (Mathews, 

 Navaho Legends, p. 77). Cf., also Origin Myth, "Arapaho Sun Dance." 



42. — Nm'A'^gA'^ AND HIS Daughter,' 



Nih'a'^ga'^ had a wife and a beautiful daughter. He pretended 

 to be sick. He said : "Do not bury me in the ground, but on a tree, 

 and do not bind me up!*' Then he pretended to die, and they buried 

 him, and mourned for him. At night he descended, covered one eye 

 with clay, and went to the tent. Virgo sola dormiebat ; cui : "Mecum 

 lectum partire, mecum lectum partire," cantabat. Ilia autem lectum 

 partita est ac eum recepit. Mox dixit : "Hie homo patris mei similis est, 

 mater ; eius pars dimidia patris similis est." "Tace, pater tuus iam diu 

 mortuus est," respondit mulier. Deinde cum argilla de Nih'a°9ae oculo 

 decidisset, virgo iterum: "Pater hie vero est, mater." Cum mulier 

 scrutata esset, ipse re vera erat ; quern fuste sumpto verberavit.' — K. 



43. — One-Eyed-Sioux and his Daughter. 



A man and his wife once camped alone. They had a very hand- 

 some daughter. The father began to devise a plan whereby he might 

 have connection with her. One day he was suddenly taken very ill 

 and made it very hard for the family. The daughter thought very 

 dearly of her father, so that she would sit by his bedside day after day, 

 waiting on him. 



"My daughter, if I should die, I want you and your mother to 

 hang me on a tree, wrapped carefully with robes and clothing, bow- 

 case and quiver. Be careful not to tie me up very tight ; have my head 

 stick out. Oh, yes, daughter, wrap me up with .a knife, too! I don't 

 want to be buried under the ground ; I am afraid of it, for I might turn 

 into earthy dust. I had rather have my bones lie on the ground in 

 sight," said he. "Oh, father, I love you dearly. I do wish you would 

 not die ; you are supporting me, and mother can't live alone," said the 

 daughter. "I know that you love me, daughter, but this is my wish 

 if I should die," said the father. "And now, daughter, listen to me : 



'Informants J. 



"This tale is found also among the Gros Ventre, Ute (Journ. Am. Folk Lore, XIV, 268). Navaho 

 (Matthews, Amer. .'\ntiq., VII), Chilcotin (Farrand, Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., IV, 17, a stepdaughter 

 taking the place of the daughter), and Maidu (Dixon, Jour. Am. Folk Lore, XIII, 270). Its distribu- 

 tion, therefore, does not extend far from the great interior basin. See also Petitot, Trad. Ind., 1886, 

 219. (Hare.) 



