72 TRUE STORIES OF THE HEAVENLY BEINGS. 
18. THE CANNIBAL WITCH AND THE BOY WHO CONQUERED THE BUFFALO.’ 
There was a lonely tipi upon a prairie, and in it there lived an old 
woman who was known asthe Witch-Woman. There lived with her a poor 
boy who had great powers. They had four powerful dogs. One of the 
dogs, which was large and bob-tailed, was named Afraid-of-Nothing. 
The woman wore a black skirt which was made from black buffalo-hide, 
and black moccasins. About her waist she wore a piece of black buffalo- 
hide. The boy wore black moccasins and buckskin leggings. The hair 
of the buckskin was not scraped off, so that the leggings had hair 
on the outside. He had no shirt, but always wore a buffalo-robe that 
was painted yellow. The boy had a black bow with white bowstring. 
The bow had only four arrows, and they were all black. The boy was 
a great hunter. He killed many deer and buffalo. Once in a while the 
Buffalo came close to their tipi, then would run away. The old woman 
often said: ‘‘Grandson, go and kill a man for me; I can not eat the kind 
of meat you eat, for it is very tough; I am hungry and want to eat some- 
thing tender; the human meat is so much like liver that I likeit.’’ The 
boy would go far into another country, and when he came to a village of 
people he would hide and wait. When a man came his way the boy 
would kill the man, throw him upon his back, and then would run. The 
people often pursued the boy, and when they had nearly overtaken him 
he would take one of his arrows and shoot. As the arrow flew, the boy 
and his load would disappear, for he sat upon the point of the arrow, so 
that the arrow carried him and his load. The people would turn back 
and the boy would safely reach the tipi of the old Witch-Woman, and 
she would eat the human flesh. 
The Buffalo were aware that the old woman was eating human flesh 
and they became angry. They held a council and the chief of the 
bulls, who had a white spot on his forehead, said: ‘‘Let us bring the 
young man here and kill him, so that the old woman will have to stop 
1Told by Curly-Hair, Kitkehahki. The story recounts the deeds of a wonder- 
ful boy who lived with Witch-Woman and overcame the buffalo, whereby man 
thereafter lived upon buffalo and corn and the buffalo no longer ate human beings. 
The story is supposed to be true. It also explains the origin of the Pawnee, 
an agricultural people, on the one hand, and other tribes, such as the Cheyenne, 
Arapaho, etc., the nomadic buffalo-hunting, warlike tribes, on the other. The 
story is frequently told by grandmothers to their grandchildren, both boys and 
girls, during the winter nights. It secures their interest in wonderful events, and 
inspires the hope in them that they too may some day roam over the prairie and learn 
the wonderful powers of some animal, and ultimately become great medicine-men. 
The Chaui have a version of this tale not represented in this collection, in which the 
four dogs of this tale are represented by the wild-cat, bear, mountain-lion, and 
wolf, which it may be noted are the warriors of the Morning-Star and the representa- 
tives of the gods of the four world quarters. 
