266 Fi"ELD Columbian Museum — Anthropology, Vol. V. 



years afterwards their hair turned gray. So this meat of white buffalo 

 cow is not eaten, because the hair will surely turn white or gray. 



The herd acted before the hunter as the buffalo women do to the 

 spectators during the ceremony of the Buffalo Lodge. — D. 



Told by Fire-Wood. For the significance of the telling of a war story, see "Arapaho Sun 

 Dance," p- 6q-7o. 



1 1 8. — The Eight Young Men who became Women. 



There was a party of eight young men on the war-path. All were ^ 

 very good looking. When they made a camp for the night, one of them 

 turned into a female. When the other young men were roasting beef 

 for themselves, this man, now a woman, was separate from her com- 

 panions, on account of her sex, feeling ashamed. The first camp was 

 made of light cottonv/ood trees. The rest of the young men did not 

 .know what ailed the disheartened one, but said, "If there is something 

 the matter with you, you had better return home. If you think you 

 will be comfortable there, it is to your advantage to go home." But 

 this >T)ung woman never said a single word during a period of four 

 days. 



At the end of four days she became a man again, the same as 

 at first. The party was still proceeding on a journey. A second 

 man turned into a woman, but kept it a secret, as the first one 

 had done. The first one had not told his companions why he was 

 separated from them without eating for four days, but observing that 

 this man's actions were like his own, he knew what was the trouble 

 with him. The second man having gone without food for four days, 

 became a man again. 



Thus it happened with all of the party until the last one had gone 

 through with the experience, when the first one to experience the hap- 

 pening told the rest that he knew what was the trouble with them, 

 for he was the first one to experience it. This transformation occupied 

 a period of thirty-two days. 



These young men did not want to return home, for they felt that 

 they would rather die in battle than return to the tribe half woman 

 and half man, so each made up his mind to remain on the journey and 

 take his chance, for if they died of contracted disease, it would be 

 better than to be known as half woman and half man. 



These young men contracted the change of sex while camped under 

 eight Cottonwood trees. When they returned they at once told the 



