Oct., 1903. Arapaho Traditions — Dorsey and Kroeber. 283 



One day the husband, having his good outfit of bow and arrows, 

 told his wife to watch for a buffalo. "When you see it coming toward 

 us, or know that it is going to pass by at a short distance, I want you 

 to take me out and we will head it off. We want to lie down in a deep 

 ravine to get within good range of the buffalo. Be sure and look for 

 a fat buffalo. The fattest ones are those that have a curly bunch of 

 hair about the center of their backs, called the 'black bird.' When it 

 is passing by us, place my bow and arrow in position, and have the 

 arrow pointed toward the animal's heart, and let me know when to 

 shoot," said Blind-Man. 



It happened that early one morning the wife went out and saw a 

 herd of buffalo coming, just about to pass by their tipi. ^'Say, husband, 

 the buffalo are coming ! Had we net better prepare for your attack ?" 

 "Well, certainly ! That is what I am expecting now, for we can't starve 

 to death," said the husband. So he took out his bow and some arrows 

 and started out to head off the buffalo. They came to a deep ravine and 

 lay down to wait for the animals to pass. Finally the herd was slowly 

 passing. The wife placed the bow with one arrow in position. When 

 she saw the fat buffalo with the "black bird" on its back, aiming the 

 arrow for him, she told her husband to shoot. He shot at the animal, 

 and by its noise, as the arrow pierced the body, the man concluded that 

 he had killed it. At the same time he heard distinctly the vomiting 

 of blood and staggering of the buffalo. "Oh, pshaw ! You missed the 

 vital spot ! You struck the hind thigh, you ghost marksman !" said 

 the wife. "Well, I declare that couldn't be! Impossible, for I heard 

 the arrow strike into the flesh of. the animal ; besides, the animal was 

 vomiting severely !" said Blind-Man. " Oh, no ! You shot at his thigh, 

 and the rest of the herd are now too far away to shoot at. How could 

 you tell whether or not you hit the animal in the vital spot?" said the 

 wife. "Let us be going back to our tipi, for it is getting too late to 

 hunt any further," said she. She even took hold of him. "I don't think 

 that you are telling the truth, for I can tell that I have killed the ani- 

 mal," said Blind-Man. "Well, no! You are my only husband, and 

 how ever could I treat you in such a way, being in such a pitiful condi- 

 tion, with no one to depend upon ?" said she. This blind man yielded 

 and started off to the tipi with his wife. 



In the morning the wife told her husband that she was going out 

 to gather more tomatoes, these being their food nearly every day. The 

 husband consented. So she secretly took up the whetstone and knife 

 and went to the dead buffalo. When she got there, after getting in 

 proper position, she began skinning it. Then she took the meat all 



