422 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 33, 1886. 



THE BOY WHO SAW AH-TEE-ASK. 



TOLD BY LA SHAROO KITTIBUTZ. 



MANY years ago the Pawnees started on their winter 

 hunt. The buffalo were scarce, and the people could 

 get hardly any meat. It was very cold and the snow lay 

 deep on the ground. The people traveled southward and 

 crossed -the Republican, but still found no buffalo. They 

 had eaten all the dried meat and all the corn that they 

 had brought with them, and now they were starving. 

 The sufferings of the people increased and the little ones 

 began to die of hunger. Now they began to eat their 

 robes and their parfleches and moccasins. 



There was in the tribe a boy about sixteen years old, 

 who was all alone and was very poor. He had no rela- 

 tives Avho could take care of him, and he lived with a 

 woman whose husband had been killed by the Sioux. 

 She had two children, a boy and a girl, and she had a 

 good heart and was sorry for the poor boy. 



In this time of famine, these people had scarcely any- 

 thing to eat, and whenever the boy got hold of any food, 

 lie gave it to the woman, who divided it among them aU. 



The tribe kept traveling southward looking for buffalo, 

 but they had to go very slowly, because they were all so 

 weak. Still they found no buffalo, and each day the 

 young men that were sent out to look for them climbed 

 the highest hills and came back at night and reported 

 that they could only see the white, snow-covered praMe, 

 All this time little ones were dying of hunger, and the 

 men and women were growing weaker every day. The 

 poor boy suffered with the rest, and at last he became so 

 weak that he could hardly Iceep up with the camp, even 

 though it moved so slowly. One morning he was hardly 

 able to help the old woman pack the lodge, and after it 

 was packed he went back to the fire and sat down beside 

 it, and watched the camp move slowly off across the val- 

 ley and up over the bluffs. He thought to himself, ' ' Wliy 

 should I go on? I can't keep up for more than a day or 

 two longer, anyhow. I may as well stay here and die." 

 So he gathered together the ends of the sticks that lay 

 by the fire and put them on the coals, and spread his 

 hands over the blaze and rubbed them together and got 

 warm, and then lay down by the fire and pretty soon he 

 went to sleep. 



"When he awoke it was about noon, and as he looked 

 toward the sky he saw two spots there between him and 

 the sun, and he wondered what they were. As he looked 

 at them they became larger and larger, and at last he 

 could see that they were birds; and by and by as they 

 came still nearer, he saw that they were two swans. The 

 Swans kept coming lower and lower, and at last they 

 alighted on the ground right by the fire and walked up to 

 where the boy lay. He was so weak he could not get up, 

 and they came to him, one on each side, and stooped 

 down and pushed then- shoulders under him, and raised 

 him up and put him on their backs and then spread 

 their broad wings and flew away upward. Then the 

 boy went to sleep again. When he awoke he was 

 lying on the ground before a very big lodge. It was 

 large and high, and on it were painted pictures of many 

 strange animals, Nahoorac, in beautiful colors. The boy 

 had never seen such a splendid lodge. The air was warm 

 here and the boy felt stronger than before. He ti'ied to 

 raise himself up, and after trying once or twice he got on 

 his feet and walked to the door of the lodge and went in. 

 Opposite the door sat Ah-tee-asJc. He w^as very large and 

 very handsome, and his face was kind and gentle. He 

 was dressed in beautiful clothes and liad a white buffalo 

 robe. Behind him, from the lodge poles, hung many 

 strange weapons. Around the lodge on each side sat 

 many chiefs and doctors and warriors, Nahoorac. They 

 all wore fine clothes of white buckskin embroidered with 

 beautifully colored quills. Their robes were all of beaver 

 skia, very beautiful. 



When the boy entered the lodge Ah-tee-ask said to him, 

 "Looah, pee-koiv, way-tns soohs-peet. Welcome, my son, 

 and sit down." And he said to one of the warriors, ' 'Give 

 him something to eat." And the warrior took do-wTi a beauti- 

 fully painted sack of parfleehe, and took his stone knife 

 from its sheath and cut off a piece of dried meat about as 

 big as one's two fingers, and a piece of fat about the same 

 size, and gave them to the boy. And the boy who was so 

 hungry thought that this was not very much to give to 

 one who was stai-ving, but he said nothing and took it, 

 began to eat, and he put the fat on the lean and cut the 

 pieces off, and ate for a long time. But after he had 

 eaten for a long time the pieces of meat remained the 

 same size, and he ate all that he wanted and then put the 

 pieces down, still the same size. 



Af ter he had finished eating, Ah-tee-ask spoke to the boy. 

 He said to him that he had seen the sufferings of his 

 people and had been sorry for them, and then he told the 

 boy what to do. So he liept the boy there for a little 

 while longer, and gave him some beautiful new clothes 

 and weapons, and then he told one of the warriors to send 

 the boy back, and the warrior led him out of the lodge to 

 where the swans were standing near the entrance, and 

 the boy got on to theii- backs. Then the warrior put his 



hand on his face and pressed his eyelids together and the 

 boy went to sleep. And by and by the boy awoke and 

 found lumself alone by the fire. The fiire had gone out, 

 but the ground was still covered with snow and it was 

 very cold. 



Now the boy felt strong and he got up and started run- 

 ning along the trail which the camp had taken. That 

 night after dark he overtook the camp, for they traveled 

 very slowly, and after walking through the village, he 

 f omid the lodge where the woman was living and entered. 

 She was surprised to see him in his new clothes, and look- 

 ing so well and strong, and told him to sit down. There 

 was a little fire in the lodge and the boy could see that 

 the woman was cutting up something into small pieces 

 with her knife. The boy said to her, "What are you 

 doing?" She answered, "I am going to boil our last 

 piece of robe. After we have eaten this there will be 

 nothing left, and we can then only die." The boy said 

 nothing, but watched her for a little while and then stood 

 up and went out of the lodge. The door had hardly^ 

 fallen beliind him when the woman heard a buffalo 

 coughing, and then the breaking of the crisp snow 

 as if a heavy weight was settling on it. In a moment 

 the boy lifted the lodge door and came in and sat 

 down by the fire, and said to the woman, "Go out and 

 bring in some meat." And the woman looked at him, for 

 she was astonished, but he said nothing, so she went out, 

 and there in the snow by the side of the lodge was a fat 

 buffalo cow, Tlien the woman's heart was very glad. 

 She skinned the cow and brought some of the meat into 

 the lodge and cooked it, and they all ate and were satis- 

 fied. The woman was good, so she sent her son to the 

 lodges of all her relations and all her fiiends, and told 

 them all to come next morning to her lodge to a feast, 

 "for," she said, "I have plenty of meat." 



So the next morning all her relations and all her 

 friends came, so many that they could not all get 

 into the lodge, but some had to stand outside, and 

 they ate with her, and she cooked the meat of the 

 cow for them, and they ate until it was all gone, 

 and they were satisfied. And after they had done 

 eating they lighted their pipes and prayed, saying, 

 ^'Ah-tee-ask, way-tus kit-tah-ive. Father, you are the 

 ruler." And while they were smoking the poor boy 

 called the woman's son to him, and pointed to a high 

 hill near the camp, and said, "Looah, sooks-kus-sis-pah 

 te-rah hah-toor. Run hard to the top of yonder hill, 

 and tell me what you see." So the boy threw 

 off his robe and smoothed back his hair and started, 

 and ran a« hard as he could over the snow to the 

 top of the hill. And when he got there he shaded his 

 eyes Avith his hand, for the sun shone bright on the snow 

 and blinded him, and he looked east, and west, and north, 

 and south, but he could see nothing but the shining white 

 snow on the prairie. And after he had looked all ways, 

 he ran back as hard as he could to the village. And when 

 he came to the lodge he went to the poor boy and said to 

 him, "I don't see anything but the snow." And the 

 poor boy said, "You don't look good. Go again," So 

 the boy started again, and ran as hard as he could 

 to the hilltop, and when he got there, panting, he 

 looked all ways, long and carefully, but still he could 

 see nothing but the snow. So he turned and ran 

 back to the village and told the poor boy again that he 

 saw nothing. Then the boy said: "You don't look good," 

 And he took his bow in his hand and put his quiver on 

 his back and drew his robe up under his arm so that he 

 could run well, and started and ran as hard as he could 

 to the top of the hill, and when he got there he looked 

 off to the south, and there, as far as he could see, the plain 

 was black with buffalo struggling in the deep snow. And 

 he turned to the tillage, and signalled them with his robe 

 that buffalo were in sight. And in a few moments all the 

 Pawnees had seized their bows and arrows and were nm- 

 ning toward him, and the women fixed the travois and 

 took their knives and followed. And the boy waited on the 

 hilltop until the warriors came up, and then they went 

 down to the buffalo, running on the snow. And the buf- 

 falo could not get away on account of the deep snow, and 

 the Pawnees made a great killing, Plenty of fat meat 

 they got, enough to last them imtil the summer hunt, and 

 plenty of warm winter robes. 



And they did not have to move any further, but staid 

 right here, killing meat and di-ying it until they were all 

 fat and sti'ong again. 



And the poor boy became a great doctor in the tribe 

 and got rich. 



Before this the Pawnees had always had a woman chief, 

 but when the woman who was chief at this time died, 

 she named the poor boy as her successor, and the people 

 made him head chief of the tribe. G. B. G. 



NOTES. 



Ah-tee-ask. The •word Ah-tee-aek means Father. A child ad- 

 dresses its f atlier by this Dame, and a young man an elder whom 

 he respects. Ah-tee-ask tee-ra-wat means the Spirit Father, or 

 God, the chief person and ruler of the Pawnee religion. There 

 are other minor spiritual beings t o whom reference will be made 

 below. 



Winter hunt. In the days of the buffalo the Pawnees made each 

 yeai" two hunts for the purpose of obtaining dried meat and robes. 

 Each of these hunts lasted from one to tJii-ee months, according 

 to circumstances, and was taken part in lyy all the able-bodied 



members of the nation. Only the old men, cripples and sick re- 

 mained behind in the permanent vDlage. The start for the winter 

 hunt was made in Jamiary, when the robes were at their best, 

 and the summer hunt began in Jiily. These hunts were carried 

 on under certain fixed rules, and were under the direction of a 

 body of twenty-four governors. No large bodies of buffalo were 

 ever disturbed except by the authority af these men. Tliey ap- 

 pointed a number of young men to act as scouts, who each day 

 rode far ahead of the marching village and of any outlying hunt- 

 ers, and from the tops of the highest hills examined the country 

 for buffalo. Should any large bands be discovered, intelligence 

 was at once conveyed to the chiefs, who, with the twenty-four 

 "police," determined the plan of action by which the game should 

 be secured. In the latter days of the buffalo, after the Pawnees 

 obtained horses, the meat was always secured by "ninning," but 

 in earlier times all hunting was necessarily done on foot. While 

 enoiigh buffalo were killed for actual use, the destruction was of 

 course mach less than after the advent of the horse on the plains. 

 On the other hand, buffalo in early days were enormously abun- 

 dant and, so, proportionately easier to kill. 



Went to sleep in this connection means rather, became uncon- 

 scious. 



Parfleehe. A piece of rawhide from which the hair has been Re- 

 moved, cut somewhat in the shape of an envelope and laced up 

 with rawhide strings where the envelope would be gummed. A 

 parfleehe is the Indian trunk or satchel, and in it are packed all 

 sorts of small articles and utensils. 



Was very poor. As used here and often in the Pawnee tongue, 

 poor means unfortunate, hnt not necessarily lacking possessions. 



Nahoorac. In its primary signification this word means an 

 animal or animals. It is, however, as often used to signify the 

 spirits or secret helpers which are the medium of communication 

 between man and Ah-tee-ask. These spirits or Nahoorac corres- 

 pond fairly well to the angels of the Old Testament system. They 

 have supernatural powers, and often exercise a giiardianship over 

 men. Each warrior of importance has at least one secret helper 

 who always appears to him— usually in a visiou or dream— in the 

 same form, and aids him by its counsel and otherwise. The 

 Nahoorac have the power of taking any form they please, and can 

 at will become beast, bird, fish, stone or blade of grass. Some- 

 times they take the shape of tiny men. The chiefs, doctors and 

 warriors in the lodge of Ah-tce^ask were Nahoorac, as were also 

 the two swans. The name Nahoorac is no doubt given them be- 

 cause usually, when they manifest themselves to man, they take 

 the shape of some animaL 



White huffalo rohe. Albino buffalo were of course extremely 

 rare. Among the Pawnees a white robe was a most sacred thing 

 and was jealously guarded from the sight of the profane. They 

 have now one at least such robe, which has for many years been 

 in the custody of one family, its existence being known only to the 

 members of that family, and to the chiefs and doctors. Among 

 the Blackfeet the white robe was sacred to tlie Sun and was always 

 hung up in the "medicine" lodge. 



SUme knife. Before the landing of the white men, stone took 

 the place of metal with the Indians, Knives, arrowheads and cut- 

 ting instruments generally were of stone. Iron and steel have 

 now taken the place of these old-time implements and it is unusual 

 to find any tool of stone, except sometimes maiils and hammers, 

 in use at present. The Pawnees have none of these ancient Imple- 

 ments, nor have the Blackfeet, and among both nations they are 

 now regarded as "medicine." It seems quite natural that the 

 spirit warrior should use one of these ancient knives. 



Pieces of meat remained the samesize. Compare Biblical account 

 of the multiplying of the widow's handful of meal and cruse of 

 oil by Elijah, the Tishbite.— I. Kings xvii., 10-lT. Also in Scandi- 

 navian mythology the hog Shrimuer on which tlae gods feed each 

 day, the dish never decreasing In quantity. 



Heard a Imffalo conQhing. When a buffalo is shot through the 

 lungs, the blood flows up through the air passages into the throat 

 and chokes it. The effort to clear the throat sounds like cough- 

 ing. 



The woman ivas good, i. e., generous. Under the circumstances 

 this generosity was sufficiently noteworthy to be especially men- 

 tioned by the narrator. It would have been natural enough for 

 the woman to have reserved the meat for the support of her own 

 family. 



Lighted their pipes and prayed, saying '•''Ah-tee-ask." The Paw- 

 nees when they light their pipes blow a puff of smoke toward tbe 

 sky and pray, saying, 'Ali-tcc-ask, you are the rxiler." They ask 

 the Father to give them the right kind of a mind, and that they 

 may be fortunate. A Skeedeo of prominence, La-tah Kats-tahka 

 (WTiite Eagle), once said to me, "That means that we ask him to 

 give us plenty to eat and that we may become chiefs and head 

 men, and have all those things that people everywhere desire." 

 When they take the second puff from the pipe they blow it toward 

 the eartn, saying, "Father of the dead, you see us." "This means 

 tliat this is the Father's ground. It belongs to him and we ask 

 him that he will let us walk upon it, and that when we die he will 

 let us be buried in it." 



A MOOSE. 



AND HAST THOU SLAIN THE JABBERWOCK? 



ON the 18th of September, 1884, my cousm— Capt. A. 

 A. Clay — and I were camped on a beautiful little 

 pond or lake, which, for the want of a known or better 

 name we called Beaver Tooth Pond. We were looking 

 for moose, and had come over from Wandering Beax Lake 

 the day before in the morning, arranged our camp by the 

 middle of the afternoon, and although it was raining and 

 disagreeable, had cruised about the foot of the pond in 

 the evening without hearing or seeing anything, except 

 that a beaver slapped his tail twice. Rain fell in showers 

 off and on all night, but the morning of the 18th broke 

 clear and windy. The Captain and I went looking after 

 moose signs and visited another pond, while our Indian, 

 Aleck, one of those I had with me the year before, went 

 after our lantern, left on the last portage. In the after- 

 noon I took photographs, and after tea, but before sim- 

 down, we went to the head of the pond and watched for 

 moose until after dark, when we paddled back to camp. 

 The night was clear and still, no wind, but a heavy frost. 

 While taking a quiet smoke before turning in for the 

 night, the Captain was attacked by one of his grumbling 

 fits and pitched into me, although he must have known 

 from the experience of many years what the effect would 

 be, 



"I don't see why we should use up so natich time and 



