THE GRAIN-OF-CORN BUNDLE. | 61 
There will be singing in the fields. Remember where the singing comes 
from. Remember that that is the sacred ear of corn. Take it from the 
stalk and take it to the old man, who will place it in the sacred 
bundle so that people will know that Mother-Corn did sing to her peo- 
ple.” The Pawnee worship Mother-Corn, because she represents 
Mother-Evening-Star. 
15, THE METEORITE PEOPLE.’ 
Many, many years ago, before the stars fell upon the earth (1833) 
there was a wonderful being in the land known as Pahokatawa 
(Knee-Prints-on-the-Banks-of-the-Water). This wonderful being had 
been killed by an enemy. He was cut up. The coyotes came and ate 
of his flesh. The birds also came and ate of his flesh. Some other 
animals came and ate of his brain. The gods in the heavens agreed 
to save this man and send him back to the people. The gods let the 
animals in the earth know that they wished this man to live again. They 
made all the animals go back to the place where the man lay and place 
the meat back where they found it. The birds were also told to do the 
same thing. When the birds and animals and insects brought back 
everything which they had taken away, they found that the brains were 
gone. They could not be found. The gods placed a soft, downy 
feather in the skull in the place where the brains had been. 
After this man had made himself known to the people, he came 
to them from the sky as a meteor and would stay with them. Many 
times when the enemy were about to attack their village he came and 
warned them that the enemy were coming. The people were put on 
their guard, so that they were able to meet the enemy and overpower 
them. While he was with the people at one time he told them that 
something wonderful was going to take place in the heavens; that they 
must not be afraid when the meteors flew through the sky; that it was 
not time for the world to come to an end. ‘*‘ When the meteors fall,’’ 
said Pahokatawa, ‘‘among them will be a large-sized one that will fall 
upon the plains. The thing will be the shape of a turtle and will have 
many colors.”” He said that the meteor would fall upon the earth and 
it would cause other meteors to light up and fly through the sky. 
Many years afterward the Indian people had their tipis in a thick- 
timbered country near the banks of the Platte River. The stars fell from 
1Told by Buffalo, an old Skidi medicine-man. The meteor people referred to 
in the tale are those under the special protection of the Morning-Star. The stone 
referred to in the tale is supposed to exist on a high, sandy hill in the western part 
of Nebraska, Lone-Chief, a Skidi, being the only one who knows of its existence; 
while the leggings worn by this Pahokatawa are still in existence among the Skidi 
and in the possession of Lone-Chief. 
