294 THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE CEREMONIES OR POWER. 
keeper dropped the stone, rather than have the enemy capture it. The 
keeper was killed. The stone was never found, but there were other men 
who had learned the ceremony, and to this day the ceremony is still kept 
up by the priests. Songs are still sung about Animal-Boy—about his 
wanderings and his wonderful doings. This boy died of old age and 
left many children who were taught the ceremony by their mother. 
81. THE FOSSIL GIANT MEDICINE-LODGE.’ 
In olden times when the medicine-men began to have their perform- 
ances there was a society known as Stone-Medicine-Men. They began to 
get ready to have their ceremony. These people were called Stone-Medi- 
cine-Men, for at the altar sat a large white stone, so it seemed to the 
people; but when I was taken into the lodge to be taught the mysteries 
of these medicine-men I found it different. The old man to whom I gave 
presents, so that he would teach me, told me to sit down with him in one 
of the lodges of the animals—that is, inside of the earth-lodge. He did 
this because he wanted me to hear the story which he had to tell about 
this stone which was placed at the altar. The old man told me this: 
Many, many years ago, when our people lived upon the Republican 
River, we used to go hunting in the western part of what is now Kansas. 
Upon our journey on one of these hunts we stopped near a place where 
there was a big mound known as the Swimming-Mound. Here one man 
went upon the hill and into the timber. There he wandered until he 
became tired, when he lay down upon this high mound. While asleep he 
saw a man standing near him. The man was of large stature, and spoke 
to him in his dream and said: ‘‘My son, I have come to you. Many of 
my people were drowned here in this place, and here our bonesrest. The 
people make light of our bones when they find them. I will now tell you 
that when you find some of these old bones they have curative powers. 
Upon the south side of the hill you will find a bone. That is a bone of 
one of my thighs. Take it, wrapit up, and my spirit will be with that bone 
and I will be with you and will give you great power.’’ The man awoke, 
looked around, but could see nobody. Then he went to the side of the 
hill and there sticking out he found this supposed stone. The man began 
to dig out the bone. When he got the bone out it was the thigh bone 
of a giant. Upon the bone were carvings of a woman and aman. On 
one side was the carving of a skull, at another place bow and arrows, and 
1Told by Young-Bull, Pitahauirat. This tale is of what is commonly known 
as the Stone-Medicine, owing to the fact that the fossil used on the altar was be- 
lieved by outsiders to be a large stone. By the medicine-men themselves, however, 
it was regarded as the bone of a great giant. 
