344 THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE CEREMONIES OR POWER. 
will come and eat; then put another piece of meat on and feed all the 
birds that cometo you. If they take you into their lodge, well and good; 
if you are not taken into the lodge within four days, then I shall draw 
you up and we shall go home, for then I shall know that you are not 
favored by the animal gods. I shall leave you now, shall go a long way 
off for four days, and on the fifth day I shall come back and see if you 
are still there.’”’ The chief’s boy said, ‘‘Very well, I shall do as you 
have told me.” 
The boy went to the timber, cut two dogwood sticks of good size, then 
came to where the chief’s boy sat. He trimmed down the sticks, which 
were about six inches long, and sharpened them at one end. He told 
the chief’s boy to sit down with his back toward the sun, saying that he 
wanted the sun to look upon him so that the sun would tell the Bear that, 
instead of the poor boy being there, he had put down another man in 
his place. The poor boy said: ‘‘Have courage, so that you can receive 
the powers from the animals.’’ The poor boy took hold of the skin on 
the back of the chief’s boy, first on the left side, taking it between the 
first and second fingers and the thumb, then running the stick through 
the skin, which protruded through the fingers to the backs of them; then 
he did the same on the right side of his back, running another stick 
through the skin. The boy then got up and took out another lariat 
rope that had ten soft elk hide strings at the ends. These strings he tied 
on to the sticks. He let the boy slip down the bank and hang there; 
when the boy reached the ledge where the parfleche and the stick were, 
the poor boy then tied the other end of the lariat rope to a tree. He 
looked down and saw the chief’s boy; he saw that he grasped the sharp 
stick and that he could reach the meat. The poor boy waited until 
towards evening upon the bank. The chief’s boy was crying. In the 
evening the poor boy noticed the birds coming down the stream from the 
west. He also noticed that some of the birds went to the chief’s son 
and received meat from him. The poor boy saw that his friend was 
favored by the animals, so he left him and went away and hid in the 
timber. He stayed there for several days, wondering what had become 
of the boy. On the fifth day, the poor boy went down to the place. 
The boy was gone. The poor boy was satisfied that the animals had 
taken him, so he went off. The poor boy stayed around close to the 
bank for several days. When the chief’s son had remained four or five 
days, then the poor boy commenced to sleep on the bank. 
One morning, while the poor boy was sleeping, something seemed to 
touch him. He woke up and saw that it was morning. He lay down 
again, and again some one touched him. He looked up and saw that it 
