440 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



for com. The magpies went to a valley where the buffaloes were grazing and 

 told how an old couple was starving because their son-in-law refused to help them. 

 The buffalo bulls came together in council and decided to help this couple, select- 

 ing one of their number to be with the Hidatsa forever and to help them whenever 

 they needed buffalo meat. 



One day Grey-Old-Man walked to the river bank where he saw a buffalo 

 standing. When the buffalo went on, he found a clot of blood where the animal 

 had been standing. He pulled sandgrass and put the clot on it, wrapped the 

 clot in more grass, and took it to his lodge. When he unwrapped the bundle, 

 he found a baby boy with dark hair and strong muscles and bones. The baby 

 asked Grey-Old-Man to name him and he was given the name Blood Man. 



Grey-Old- Man performed rites over the baby four times and the child grew from 

 a baby to a mature young man. Then he remembered that he had been sent 

 to hve with the people to prevent them from starving. Blood Man produced 

 a fat buffalo by magical means and the old people ate without divulging their 

 secret to the daughter and son-in-law. Next day when the son-in-law left to 

 hunt. Blood Man informed White-Corn-Woman that he was sent to kill her 

 husband. She agreed that it was the correct thing to do. 



Blood Man went out to where the son-in-law had wounded an elk and killed 

 the young man. When the old people learned that Blood Man had killed their 

 son-in-law, they approved his action, for they saw that the young man's bad 

 behavior was due to the fact that he was an orphan and had no people to teach 

 him respect for the elderly. 



Blood Man married White-Corn- Woman and went out each day hunting for 

 the old people. The Holy Women came to Blood Man and volunteered to 

 help him when he brought the buffalo herds to the village, saying, "When one 

 person undertakes to do something, he should have help. We will come to help 

 you and bring the other gods with us. Instruct your wife and her people to 

 take wood and ice into the lodge, enough to last 4 days. During the time that 

 the buffaloes are coming to the village, they must not come outside." 



The Holy Women brought the meat from the buffaloes and a mysterious woman 

 named Buffalo Woman looked after it, seeing that it was properly arranged on 

 the corn scaffolds. When the old people went out, they found the scaffolds 

 loaded with meat and a white buffalo robe on their own scaffold. 



The winter camp being without meat, scouts returned to get produce from 

 the cache pits, saw the scaffolds loaded with meat, and were invited by Grey- 

 Old-Man to eat in his lodge. He invited the people to return from the winter 

 camp and soon the various families began to arrive from upstream. Even after 

 all the people had reached the village, there were many buffaloes near. From 

 that time there was no end to the buffaloes because Buffalo-Blood-Man was a 

 buffalo in spirit. 



Several years later Blood Man said, "We should have a ceremony to the oldest 

 buffalo bull, one who is so old that the body seems small in proportion to the size 

 of the head. When you kill one, save the hide." 



Before planting the gardens, someone who did not belong to the village was 

 invited to wear the hide. Evergreen was put on his back, wrists, and ankles 

 for the dances. He represented old age and the dance was called "imitating the 

 buffalo." Everyone was asked to make pemmican to give to the dancers. Blood 

 Man called the person dancing in imitation of the old buffalo his father and 

 Blood Man's wife stood when the man danced and she moved as he moved. 

 The old men cried and praised Blood Man. When a young man went to the 

 dancer with a robe, he received a bowl of pemmican to give to his sweetheart. 



