34 Field Columbian Museum— Anthropology, Vol. V. 



front of her and told her to close her eyes. She did as he directed her, 

 and when she looked up to him she saw a young-looking steer three 

 years old, well formed in body, which had horns shining brightly and 

 which were very well pointed. She did not say anything, for she was 

 eloping with him. This young man (buffalo) walked away and the 

 wife followed peaceably. They both traveled briskly and finally 

 reached an immense herd of buffalo, as far as the eye could see. On the 

 way, she saw tipi spots of the buffalo (from the circular spots near by 

 them; they have been so considered by the people to this day). After 

 they had pitched their tipi, they scraped the inside and had thrown the 

 waste at the door, or taken it outside and placed it in front of the tipi. 

 They traveled farther and then reached a regular camp-circle of 

 buffalo. This woman was surprised by the change, but kept silent. 

 The steer and wife went directly to his parents, and went in feeling 

 proud. The buffalo used to eat the people. 



When this steer had brought the woman into, the buffalo camp- 

 circle, the old people (parents of the steer) asked him what she ate. 

 At the front of the tipi there were two calves, a male and a female, at 

 the kettle, dipping their food into the soup. "What must we do to 

 please our daughter-in-law?" said the folks. "Just take that calf 

 (male) and kill it for her." So they caught him and clubbed him to 

 death. This woman then ate the calf. The old people were much 

 pleased with their sons luck and courage. 



The rest of the people (buffalo) heard about the woman, and the 

 young bulls began to come to see her, but when this young steer heard 

 them coming, he would go out and tell them to go away. He was very 

 jealous and didn't allow her to go out by herself (as some people do). 

 When there happened to be some steers (bulls) passing by, in front of 

 the door, this woman would look up to see them. "What do you look 

 at? You must not be attracted by some other young man (buffalo)," 

 said the husband. So this woman had to remain inside most of the 

 time. "Oh ! I have to look around sometimes," said the wife, feeling 

 quite tired of her bondage. This steer would take her out when neces- 

 sary, and bring her inside again. One day she got very tired of being 

 inside so much. 



The mother of the runaway girl got tired of waiting for the water 

 and went to see what was the matter with her, and found the vessel 

 of water at the river and the young girl gone. When this young girl 

 had gone after some water, her own husband had gone after some 

 ponies and therefore didn't know what had occurred at home. The 

 mother returned to her tipi with her vessel of water, wondering what 



