298 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



of the "in between" land now known as the earth. Matthews 

 (1877, p. 47) wrote: 



The object of their greatest reverence is, perhaps, Itsikamahidis, the First 

 Made, or First in Existence. They sometimes designate him as Itakat6tas, or 

 Old Man Immortal. Some Indians say that itsikamahidis means he who first 

 made, but such a rendering is not in accordance with the present etymology of the 

 language. They assert that he made all things, the stars, the sun, the earth, 

 and the first representatives of each species of animals and plants, but that 

 no one made him. 



The following abbreviated account provides the essential features 

 of the creation myth. My observations and analyses are given in 

 brackets. 



The land was then chiefly under water. First Creator was alone and wandering 

 about by himself. He thought that he was the only one when he met another 

 person named Lone Man. They discussed their origin. Lone Man concluded 

 that he came from the western wheat grass, for in tracing his tracks he saw blood 

 on the grass, and that his father was the Stone Buffalo, an earth-colored wingless 

 grasshopper, for he saw its tracks near where he was born. First Creator did 

 not know who his father and mother were but he thought that he had come 

 from the water. The two men undertook to learn who was the older; Lone 

 Man stuck his staff in the ground while First Creator lay down as a coyote. 

 Years later Lone Man returned to the place where coyote was lying and, seeing 

 the bones scattered about, took up the staff, whereupon First Creator came 

 back to life and was declared the older. 



First Creator and Lone Man decided to make the land inhabitable and, seeing 

 a goose, mallard, teal, and red-eyed mudhen, they asked the birds to lend assistance 

 by diving below for mud. [Note that there is no reference here to First Creator's 

 creation of these water birds. Matthews is evidently in error in ascribing the 

 creation of all life to First Creator.] Goose, mallard, and teal failed; only the 

 mudhen succeeded in bringing earth from below. Lone Man divided the earth 

 and gave half to First Creator. 



First Creator made the lands on the west side of the Missouri from the Rockies 

 to the ocean while Lone Man made the land on the other or east side, each using 

 half of the mud brought up by the mudhen. First Creator made many living 

 things later occupying the land and from the mud left over he made Heart Butte. 

 Lone Man made his side flat and with the mud left over he made Hill, a small 

 butte north of the present town of Bismarck, North Dakota. He made the 

 spotted cattle with long horns and the wolves. 



First Creator caused the people who were living below to come above, bringing 

 with them their garden produce. The people continued to come up, following a 

 vine, until one woman heavy in pregnancy broke the vine. 



When first encountered, Lone Man carried a wooden pipe but he did not know 

 what it was used for. First Creator then ordered Male Buffalo to produce tobacco 

 for Lone Man's pipe. [This act explains the use of pipes in the various ceremonies, 

 which later were introduced, and the concept of tobacco as being sacred.] 



First Creator decreed that people in seeking a living would scatter into small 

 groups all over the land and would fight. [This decree established the various 

 bands and hnguistic groups.] 



Because the spotted cattle could not stand the cold winters and the wolves 

 sometimes went mad. First Creator did not think they should be kept. So the 



