I40 Field Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. V. 



to it for its good will and treatment. The presents were of eagle 

 feathers, calico, and other valuable articles — jewelry, etc. 



There were two women going after some water, and upon reaching 

 the place, they saw the monster in the water just at the surface. It 

 frightened the women into fits (medicine). One of them died, and 

 those who carried her out are living yet, except one. In course of time 

 this one disappeared, and it is thought that the animal returned to the 

 water. — D. 



Told by Adopted. ' 



73. — The Woman who gave birth to a Water Monster. 



There was a party of women out in search of "black threads" 

 along the bank of the river. These fibers grow just at the edge of the 

 water and are of dark appearance. They are used in porcupine-quill 

 work, as marks for certain symbols. After the women had gathered a 

 sufficient supply of the fiber, all returned home except three of them. 

 These three women wanted to get more, so they went farther and found 

 a place where there were plenty of fibers. So they had plenty for their 

 friends as well as for themselves. These three women went and started 

 for home. 



To their surprise they came to a spring of good running water. It 

 was too wide to jump over, excepting close to the mouth of the spring; 

 so the women leaped across it at that point. The first two leaped across 

 the stream without any trouble or sign. The last woman was very 

 timid, but finally made a leap and she passed over it. She felt a heat 

 underneath her dress. The intense heat struck her privates and went 

 against the sides of her "legs and entered her whole system. Time went 

 on, and at the close of the month menstruation did not begin. So she 

 began to be suspicious of the spring. The woman knew that her child 

 was to be of a different being. Every month her stomach got bigger 

 all the time, and she knew that there would be a strange happening 

 later on. She did not mention the thing to anybody. This young 

 woman went to an old woman by the name of Hairy-Face, who had 

 been a medicine-woman, and wept before her for mercy. Hairy-Face 

 knew something of a monster ("Hi-ni-chab-bi-ti"'), and was known by 

 the Arapaho tribe. "Have mercy on me, old woman, when the time 

 comes for my delivery ! I know that you are the only one whom I 

 can depend upon, and I shall be thankful for your aid, as you know that 

 some strange being is being formed within me, and that it will be an 

 impossibility for me to give birth unless you are present. Please accept 

 my favor, that I may be saved and a proper way pointed out to me 



