LATLBSeHB] Nl'-KI Wl'-GI-ES 273 



Then the people, using their sacred knife, proceeded to cut down 

 the tree, to shave the trunk to a proper size, and to shape it for a club. 

 This club they called wa-xo'-be (sacred) and consecrated it for cere- 

 monial use. The natural color of the wood did not satisfj^ the people 

 and they regarded the sacred article as incomplete. Then, as though 

 by a common understanding and consent, they hastened to gather 

 leaves and dry twigs. These they placed in a great pile, to which 

 they set fire, and the smoke and flames tingeil the darkened heavens 

 with a reddish hue — a color pleasing and satisfying to the minds of 

 the people. It resembled the color cast upon the eastern sky as it 

 rises and which the people always hailed with joy with uplifted hands. 

 It was this color they put upon the symbolic club to add to it the 

 life-giving power of the sun. 



The weapon was thus finished, and there remained nothing more 

 to do with it but to test its magical power. For this purpose the 

 people sent their official messenger to a far-off country to search for 

 some creature upon which to make the test. The messenger returned 

 in the evening of the day, weary and footsore, to report that he had 

 been to a valley where he saw nothing worthy of notice. Again he 

 went out and returned from a second valley to report that he had 

 found nothmg. He was bidden to go again, and in the evenmg of 

 that day he came home to report that he had been to a third valley, 

 where he had seen the footprints of a person (a buffalo bull). The 

 footprints showed the person's feet to be cloven, and the grasses upon 

 which he had trodden were crushed. To commemorate this event, 

 the people agreed to name their children No°-xtho°'-zhe, Crushed- 

 with-his-feet. For the fourth time the messenger was sent out, and 

 in the evening of the day he came home to report that he had been 

 to a fourth valley, where he saw the person of the footprints, whom 

 he described as a person of formidable appearance and bearmg upon 

 his head curved horns. To make this report memorable, the people 

 agreed to name their children He-thi'-shi-zhe, Curved-horns. The 

 messenger gave a graphic description of the face of the person, and 

 from this the people agreed to name their children Tse-do'-ga-i°-dse, 

 Buff alo-bull-f ace. 



Upon hearing the last report, the keeper of the new weapon picked 

 it up and caressed it with four downward strokes of his hand. At 

 each stroke he uttered a word: We'-tsi°-pi-zhi, Mysterious-weapon; 

 We'-tsi^-zhi^-ga, Little-weapon; We'-tsi°-hu-to°, Weapon-that-cries- 

 out; We'-tsi°-do°-a-tlii°, Possessor-of-a-good-weapon. These words 

 also became sacred names given to the children of the gens. 



Then speaking to the messenger, the keeper of the sacred weapon 

 said: "That is the very person for whom we have been in search. 

 Whoever he may be, we shall send him to the abode of spirits." 

 2786—21 18 



