American Big-Game Hunting 
at short intervals, or bushes were stuck in 
the ground, forming the wings of a V-shaped 
chute, which would guide any animals run- 
ning down the chute to its angle above the 
piskun. When a herd of buffalo were feed- 
ing near at hand, the people prepared for the 
hunt, in which almost the whole camp took 
part. It is commonly stated that the buffalo 
were driven into the piskun by mounted 
men, but this was not the case. They were 
not driven, but led, and they were led by 
an appeal to their curiosity. The man who 
brought them was usually the possessor of 
a “buffalo rock,” a talisman which was be- 
lieved to give him greater power to call 
the buffalo than was had by others. The 
previous night was spent by this man in 
praying for success in the enterprise of the 
morrow. The help of the Sun, Vagz, and 
all Above People was asked for, and sweet- 
grass was burned to them. Early in the 
morning, without eating or drinking, the 
man started away from the camp and went 
up on the prairie. Before he left the lodge, 
he told his wives that they must not go 
out, or even look out, of the lodge during his 
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