104 TRUE STORIES OF THE HEAVENLY BEINGS. 
placed his tipi apart from the others and he put the downy feather upon 
a pole and set it in the ground. He then told a company of men to go 
to a certain place and call buffalo. They went, and they found the 
buffalo as he had told them they would. Once a big drove of buffalo 
was brought by Coming-Sun, and the people killed them. 
One night after he had been talking to the mysterious being in his 
tipi, a woman came into his tipi and told him that she was going to stay 
with him. While the woman was in his tipi, another young man came 
and took down the feather that he had upon the pole and carried it off. 
When he tried to call the buffalo he failed. The wonderful being came 
and told him that he was sorry that he thought more of women than 
of powers he was receiving from him, for he had made him a great 
medicine-man and a brave man. The being left Coming-Sun and went 
to other parts of the country and visited other people. Coming-Sun felt 
very sad and regretted his foolishness. In a few years he became blind 
and died. 
26. BUFFALO GAMING STICKS.’ 
After Tirawa had placed men upon earth he gave them the game of 
ring and sticks and told them how to play it; he also told them that 
they were to sing certain songs before and after playing the game. It 
was evening when the first game was played. The next morning when 
they went to play they saw marks on the gaming field, but they did not 
know what the marks were. They took out the sticks to play and one 
of the young men went to the opposite end of the field to play. There 
he met a young woman, with whom he had intercourse. After a while 
she went away, and gave birth to a buffalo calf. 
After a time a party went out on a hunt. As they traveled along 
they saw a snow bird. They shot at it with their arrows, but missed it. 
The bird flew on in front of them, and they came near to it and shot at 
it again, but could not hit it. They traveled all day, trying to kill the 
snow bird, but did not succeed. It seemed to be leading them on. 
1 Told by White-Eagle, an old Skidi and the owner of the Left-Hand bundle 
and the Skull bundle. This is a variant of the story of the origin of the buffalo 
game, other variants being found in the other bands. White-Horse, a Pitahauirat 
medicine-man, in his version claims that formerly a set of the gaming implements 
formed part of a sacred bundle and that the playing of these implements was sup- 
posed to bring the buffalo near to the village. ‘This story may be told only in the 
lodge where sacred bundles are suspended, or upon the buffalo hunt. When told 
under the latter condition it is with the hope that their hunt will be successful, as 
was the hunt an account of which is presented in the story. It was believed that 
the relating of this tale would inform the spirits of the buffalo that they were 
talking about them, so that they would come and permit themselves to be slaugh- 
tered for the benefit of the people. 
