408 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



in front of the buffalo skull. He held up the sacred bundles and said "You 

 women who respect your 'grandfather' and will obey his rules, come to me. If 

 your are not sure of yourself, I will not sing it." 



My wife stood up and said, "Sing the holy song." 



Then Red Basket's wife. Skunk Woman, said, "Sing the holy song." 



He sang the song and said to the women and the sacred bundles, "Now these 

 are your granddaughters and they expect to look after you. They want long 

 lives. Hold out your hands. I am going to give you a grandfather." 



They held the bundles up for a while. Then he picked up the bufifalo skull 

 and incensed it a little, saying to Coyote Woman, "If you are going to respect 

 this grandfather, rub the skull against your breast. Promise that you are not 

 going to think of any other man no matter how good looking he is. Then your 

 grandfather, the Buffalo Skull, will look to your benefit." 



There was a certain man who always painted the buffalo skull for my father. 

 Afterwards my father always had good luck. So I wanted Small Ankles to paint 

 the skull for me but I had to pay him extra. I thought I might use the skull some 

 day when I was attacking my enemies. At this time I took the red paint and left 

 it by the buffalo skull and said, "My father, I would like to own the right to 

 paint the buffalo skull. I want you to show me so that I will know." 



He stepped forward and said, "I see that my son wants to own the painted 

 skull but of course he spoke to me before. I want all you older people to hear 

 what I say. I used to pray to the skull, cut myself, and go out to hunt my 

 enemies; I used to paint the skull on the tipis and it was easy then for me to get 

 my enemy. My father, Buffalo, I want to show my son how to paint you. I 

 want to turn you over to him and I wish that you would give him strength and a 

 long life." 



I was sitting behind him all that time ; he had water to mix with the red paint. 

 He said, "If I mention any words in the song, you should pick up the skull and 

 scratch the ground with it as hard as you can." 



During the first song he was singing, I was painting the skull and was ready 

 but in the first song there were no words so I finished the painting. In the 

 second one there were words and I scratched the ground. The older men were 

 happy and shouted, "aho! aho!" 



After we finished he said, "Up-in-the-Sky-Holy- Woman, you taught me the 

 things you taught in the very early days. You taught us to use the skull and 

 I am teaching its use now. When I owned this skull, I kept it in good order and 

 now I am giving it to my own son here." Then he said to me, "In the future you 

 might attack the enemy or come to a tipi where there are many buffalo skulls on 

 the ground protecting its owner. You will then know how I sing the songs. You 

 sing the song, pick up one of the skulls, and lay it back on the ground. Then 

 you can call your men and attack the tipi for they will get the best of your 

 enemy." 



Then he said to me, "You have already learned how to do it from me and it is 

 the same now except that you will own the buffalo skull. Distribute what is left 

 to these Holy Men for some of them came from the big timber and far away. 

 They represent the Holy-Women-of-the-Timber around here and the woods to the 

 north." 



Meanwliile our mother was in her lodge preparing for us to invite in the Holy 

 Women so I took my bundle and the buffalo skull to my father's lodge where I 

 put them with my father's bundles. The Holy Women had a leader named 

 Cherry Necklace who was already there. He was dressed with a mink hide, I 



