CONTEST BETWEEN THE MORNING-STAR AND THE MOON. 43 
lodge, cut it up, and scattered it over the ground to feed the snakes. That 
night the young man told the Snakes what the chief had said. The 
Snakes said: ‘We are held here by the witch who lives with the people. 
If you overcome her and return her to where she belongs, then we can 
scatter out over the country and get our own food.’’ The boy was glad, 
for he knew that he was now going to go back to his people. The next 
day he went out to hunt for meat for the snakes. He met the chief and 
he told the chief to go into the village and tell the men to come to a cer- 
tain hollow and he would be there to meet them. When he reached the 
hollow he remained there. When he saw the people coming he made 
motions at the foot of a hill and there came out droves of buffalo. The 
buffalo ran along the hollow and the people with their bows and arrows 
killed them. The people went home with their meat and were made 
happy. The young man took his deer, went to the den of Snakes, and 
fed them. 
The next day he turned the buffalo loose from the cave again. The 
people killed the buffalo, and they knew now that the young man was 
wonderful. On the third day when the people came to kill the buffalo 
the Witch-Woman came also. She said to the people: ‘‘Let the young 
man come. I want to challenge him.’’ The young man came and the 
woman said, ‘If the buffalo come out again I will make them return to 
the cave, for I know who you are.’”’ When the young man tried to put 
the buffalo out the woman waved her robe and threw it on the side of 
the hill. There was a picture of the morning-star on the robe. The 
woman said: ‘I know you. You are the Morning-Star.’”’ The young 
man said: “Itistrue. I know who you are.’’ The boy took his arrow 
and shot at the robe. When the arrow hit the robe the star disappeared 
and there on the robe was the picture of anew moon. The woman 
laughed and said, ‘So you know who I[am?”’ The young man shot an 
arrow and when it struck the robe the new moon disappeared and there 
was a quarter of amoon. The woman laughed again. The young man 
shot another arrow and as it struck the robe there came a three-quarter 
moon. The young man said, ‘“‘Now for the last time I will shoot my 
arrow at your robe.’’ A full moon came upon the robe. The young 
man walked up to it and shot at the moon. The full moon fell upon the 
ground and turned into a spider. The young man killed the spider with 
his bow and arrows. He put the spider on the end of his arrow and shot 
up into the heavens. He said, ‘““You must stay up in the heavens where 
you belong and not try to live with the people.”” The arrow went up 
into the heavens with the spider and the spider was left in the heavens 
asthe moon. The old woman fell down and died. 
