THE THUNDER-BIRD CEREMONY. 317 
went up to his wife and told her to stop crying, that the boy had come 
back. She stopped crying and they went to the boy. The boy told his 
mother that she must not touch him. They went to their tipi, and the 
boy told his parents not to let other people know he had come back. The 
next day the people saw the boy with his parents and wondered about 
him. People from the next camp came into their tipi and tried to find 
out where he had been, but the boy would say nothing. When the people 
found buffalo, the boy told his father to kill many, so that they could 
have plenty of the dried meat. The man knew that the boy wanted dried 
meat to take to the medicine-man’s lodge. He told his relatives what 
the boy wanted, and they killed many buffalo and dried the meat. They 
suspected that in time the boy would work wonders. When the people 
had killed many buffalo and all their families had plenty of dried meat, 
they turned back to their village. 
After they had arrived and the people had settled down, the medicine- 
men began to prepare for their wonderful ceremonies. When they were 
all ready the boy unwrapped his little bundle and said: ‘‘ Father, I must 
go into the medicine-lodge. I want to perform sleight-of-hand tricks.”’ 
The father went out and told his relatives what the boy had said. They 
came into the boy’s lodge and brought many presents that were to be 
presented to the medicine-men. The boy arose with his buffalo robe 
wrapped around him and his face daubed with blue mud. He put his 
little bundle upon his left arm and started for the medicine-lodge. His 
relatives followed him with goods, buffalo robes, blankets, and dried buffalo 
meat. The boy went into the lodge and stood in the center, while the 
man who carried the goods and meat stopped. The young man spoke to 
the medicine-men and said: ‘‘Medicine-men, I am a youngman. I have 
come into your lodge that you may give mea seat among you. I want 
to perform, and have brought my friends with me who have with them 
goods and meat.’”’ All of the medicine-men said, ‘‘Nawa.’’ The lead- 
ing medicine-man gave him a seat in the south. The goods were then 
placed near the altar, and the meat was placed near the entrance. The 
boy did many wonderful tricks, so that the people wondered, for his 
people were not medicine-men. Towards the last of the ceremony the boy 
turned the downy feather into a large thunder-bird. He also made a 
skull, which was placed in the east, while the thunder-bird stood in the 
west. He then made a crane, a bird that stands by the ponds and lakes 
and looks at the sun. This was placed at the south with three things in 
the lodge that the boy had made. At last he made them disappear. 
Then he stood up before all of the medicine-men and said: ‘‘Medicine- 
men, my tricks are ended. You have seen me perform. I have a cere- 
