258 THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE CEREMONIES OR POWER. 
swim; then the woman would go back to the lodge and the Loons would 
follow. 
One night while they were lying together the Loons spoke and said: 
‘‘Father, you are now our father. This woman is our mother. She 
can not have any children during her lifetime, but we will give you and her 
power so that you can doctor the sick and make them well. They will 
give you many presents for doctoring them. We want you to follow us 
down into the pond. Let our mother stay here and you go with us.” 
The woman remained in bed, while the man followed the Loons to the 
pond. The Loons struck the pond and made a great noise. The man, 
standing upon the bank, saw in the center of the pond something like 
sparks of fire coming up from the water. Then he heard a great noise. 
After a while he saw two kinds of water fowl swimming around in a circle 
and the two young Loons were in the lead. As they swam around the 
pond there were two big swans on each side of them, and they were flap- 
ping their wings on the top of the water, making a drumming sound. As 
the birds circled around, two little Ducks swam to the center of the pond 
and there they began to form a downy feather. First one of the Ducks 
placed a little downy feather in the center, and then the other one placed 
a downy feather upon it, and then they swam around the downy feather 
in the center and all at once it seemed to grow, and it began to change 
in appearance until it looked like an earth-lodge upon the pond. All 
at once the other fowls went to it and each took a piece of the downy 
feather. When everyone had taken a piece the downy feather was gone. 
Then all at once the noise of the fowls ceased and the fire died down. 
After a little while the young Loons came up and they said, ‘‘ Father, let 
us now go home.’’ They went to their grass-lodge and lay down. In 
the early morning the little Loons went down to the pond and swam 
around the pond until the woman went down, and then they followed 
her home. 
For several years they lived at this place. The young man killed all 
kinds of game, so that they had plenty to eat. One day the Loons asked 
the woman, ‘‘ Where are our people; where do they live; where do we 
come from?’’ The woman told the Loons that their home was far away. 
The Loons then said, ‘‘We wish to go to our people, for we want to be 
with them always. My father has been taught the mysteries of the 
water fowls, and so he shall start a medicine dance among his people.” 
One of the Loons then told the man that he should go and try to capture 
ponies from the enemy. The man said that he would go. His wife made 
several pairs of moccasins for him, and then he started. Every day 
while he was gone the Loons would fly up in the sky to spy around, and 
