﻿fletcher-la 
  flesche] 
  ENVIRONMENT; 
  RESULTANT 
  INFLUENCES 
  71 
  

  

  fire 
  and 
  ate 
  their 
  meat 
  roasted; 
  but 
  they 
  tired 
  of 
  roast 
  meat, 
  and 
  the 
  people 
  thought, 
  

   How 
  shall 
  we 
  have 
  our 
  meat 
  cooked 
  differently? 
  A 
  man 
  found 
  a 
  bunch 
  of 
  clay 
  that 
  

   stuck 
  well 
  together; 
  then 
  he 
  brought 
  sand 
  to 
  mix 
  with 
  it; 
  then 
  he 
  molded 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  vessel. 
  

   Then 
  he 
  gathered 
  grass 
  and 
  made 
  a 
  heap; 
  he 
  put 
  the 
  clay 
  vessel 
  into 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  the 
  

   grass, 
  set 
  it 
  on 
  fire, 
  and 
  made 
  the 
  clay 
  vessel 
  hard. 
  Then, 
  after 
  a 
  time, 
  he 
  put 
  water 
  

   into 
  the 
  vessel 
  and 
  it 
  held 
  water. 
  This 
  was 
  good. 
  So 
  he 
  put? 
  water 
  into 
  the 
  vessel 
  

   and 
  then 
  meat 
  into 
  it 
  and 
  put 
  the 
  vessel 
  over 
  the 
  fire 
  and 
  the 
  people 
  had 
  boiled 
  meat 
  

   to 
  eat. 
  

  

  Their 
  grass 
  coverings 
  would 
  fuzz 
  and 
  drop 
  off. 
  It 
  was 
  difficult 
  to 
  gather 
  and 
  keep 
  

   these 
  coverings. 
  The 
  people 
  were 
  dissatisfied 
  and 
  again 
  the 
  people 
  thought, 
  "What 
  

   can 
  we 
  do 
  to 
  have 
  something 
  different 
  to 
  wear? 
  Heretofore 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  throwing 
  

   away 
  the 
  hides 
  they 
  had 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  game. 
  So 
  they 
  took 
  their 
  stone 
  knives 
  to 
  

   scrape 
  down 
  the 
  hides 
  and 
  make 
  them 
  thin; 
  they 
  rubbed 
  the 
  hides 
  with 
  grass 
  and 
  with 
  

   their 
  hands 
  to 
  make 
  them 
  soft 
  and 
  then 
  used 
  the 
  hides 
  for 
  clothing. 
  Now 
  they 
  had 
  

   clothing 
  and 
  were 
  comfortable. 
  

  

  The 
  women 
  had 
  to 
  break 
  the 
  dry 
  wood 
  to 
  keep 
  up 
  the 
  fires; 
  the 
  men 
  had 
  some 
  con- 
  

   sideration 
  for 
  the 
  women 
  and 
  sought 
  plans 
  for 
  their 
  relief. 
  So 
  they 
  made 
  the 
  stone 
  

   ax 
  with 
  a 
  groove, 
  and 
  put 
  a 
  handle 
  on 
  the 
  ax 
  and 
  fastened 
  it 
  with 
  rawhide. 
  This 
  

   was 
  used. 
  But 
  they 
  wanted 
  something 
  better 
  for 
  breaking 
  the 
  wood. 
  So 
  they 
  made 
  

   wedges 
  of 
  stone. 
  [These 
  were 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  shape 
  as 
  the 
  iron 
  wedges 
  used 
  for 
  splitting 
  

   logs, 
  explained 
  the 
  old 
  narrator] 
  

  

  The 
  grass 
  shelter 
  became 
  unsatisfactory 
  and 
  the 
  people 
  thought, 
  How 
  shall 
  we 
  bet- 
  

   ter 
  ourselves? 
  So 
  they 
  substituted 
  bark 
  for 
  grass 
  as 
  a 
  covering 
  for 
  their 
  dwellings. 
  

  

  The 
  comfort 
  derived 
  from 
  their 
  skin 
  clothing 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  sug- 
  

   gested 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  trying 
  the 
  experiment 
  of 
  covering 
  their 
  dwellings 
  

   with 
  skins, 
  for 
  the 
  Legend 
  says: 
  

  

  The 
  people 
  determined 
  to 
  put 
  skins 
  on 
  the 
  poles 
  of 
  their 
  dwellings. 
  They 
  tried 
  the 
  

   deerskins, 
  but 
  they 
  were 
  too 
  small. 
  They 
  tried 
  the 
  elk, 
  but 
  both 
  deer 
  and 
  elk 
  skins 
  

   became 
  hard 
  and 
  unmanageable 
  under 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  -and 
  rain. 
  So 
  they 
  

   abandoned 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  skins 
  and 
  returned 
  to 
  bark 
  as 
  a 
  covering 
  for 
  their 
  houses. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  no 
  mention 
  made 
  in 
  this 
  Legend, 
  or 
  in 
  any 
  known 
  tradi- 
  

   tion, 
  as 
  to 
  when 
  or 
  where 
  the 
  people 
  met 
  the 
  buffalo 
  ; 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  

   indirect 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  animal 
  in 
  this 
  Legend 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  would 
  

   seem 
  that 
  the 
  meeting 
  with 
  the 
  buffalo 
  must 
  have 
  taken 
  place 
  after 
  

   they 
  had 
  left 
  the 
  wooded 
  region 
  where 
  they 
  could 
  obtain 
  elm 
  bark 
  

   for 
  the 
  covering 
  of 
  their 
  houses, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  need 
  of 
  a 
  portable 
  

   shelter 
  started 
  the 
  idea 
  among 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  experimenting 
  again 
  

   with 
  a 
  skin 
  covering 
  for 
  their 
  tents, 
  for 
  the 
  Legend 
  says: 
  

  

  Until 
  they 
  had 
  the 
  buffalo 
  the 
  people 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  good 
  tents. 
  They 
  took 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  leg 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  deer, 
  splintered 
  it, 
  and 
  made 
  it 
  sharp 
  for 
  an 
  awl 
  and 
  with 
  sinew 
  

   sewed 
  the 
  buffalo 
  skin 
  and 
  made 
  comfortable 
  tent 
  covers. 
  (PI. 
  17.) 
  

  

  From 
  this 
  Legend 
  and 
  other 
  traditions 
  both 
  the 
  buffalo 
  and 
  the 
  

   maize 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  come 
  into 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  while 
  they 
  were 
  

   still 
  in 
  their 
  eastern 
  habitat. 
  The 
  story 
  of 
  finding 
  the 
  maize 
  is 
  told 
  

   as 
  follows 
  in 
  this 
  Legend 
  : 
  

  

  Then 
  a 
  man 
  in 
  wandering 
  about 
  found 
  some 
  kernels, 
  blue, 
  red, 
  and 
  white. 
  He 
  

   thought 
  he 
  had 
  secured 
  something 
  of 
  great 
  value, 
  so 
  he 
  concealed 
  them 
  in 
  a 
  mound. 
  

   One 
  day 
  he 
  thought 
  he 
  would 
  go 
  to 
  see 
  if 
  they 
  were 
  safe. 
  When 
  he 
  came 
  to 
  the 
  mound 
  

  

  