346 THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE CEREMONIES OR POWER. 
came out and appeared again, and there he stood with his robe on, cov- 
ered with blue mud and downy feathers. The medicine-men knew by 
his appearance that he had the powers of the animals. They noticed 
also that all around the bottom of the cedar tree were downy feathers. 
The old medicine-men performed sleight-of-hand that night. The two 
boys did not do any sleight-of-hand for the first two nights. After the 
third night, the poor boy did feats which the other medicine-men could 
not do. The next night the other young man did some wonderful things, 
and after that the people acknowledged the two young men as the leaders 
of the medicine-men. The chief’s boy became the leader of the Medi- 
cine-Men’s dance. The other boy became the leader of the Bear dance. 
The chief’s boy became chief, for he was powerful. The other man was 
a brave, and they were both medicine-men, with great power. 
The poor boy told the chief’s boy that, no matter where he was or 
how healthy he was, as soon as the Bear should be killed or die from 
old age, he also was to die; so the chief’s boy knew that when the time 
came for him to die, he could not help himself. One day they were 
sitting in the lodge andthe man grunted. He tookup his robe with the 
bear’s claw on it, embraced his friend, and went out of hislodge. Then the 
people went out and they heard the screams of Bears. The poor boy 
disappeared and was never heard of again. Before he disappeared, he 
had taught many Bear songs and the ceremony to the people. The 
other man mourned for the poor boy for some time, but he knew that he 
had to die and so he stopped mourning. He kept up the Bear dance and 
the people liked him, for he was the chief and a medicine-man as well. 
He married and had many children. He taught his children the mys- 
teries of the medicine-men, and they, too, became great medicine-men. 
The father died of old age, but before he died he taught his children all 
the mysteries that were given him in the animals’ lodge; and to this day 
the same ceremony that was carried on at that time is carried on by the 
Pawnee. 
91. THE BEAR MEDICINE AND CEREMONY.‘ 
Many years ago there was a little girl among the Skidi who had mys- 
terious ways. As she grew up she did not like to have her nails trimmed, 
and one time when she had them trimmed she nearly died. Before her 
birth her father had killed a bear, and this bear’s spirit had entered the © 
child, but no one knew it. She grew up to be a woman and was married 
1Told by Medicine-Sun, Skidi. The story is interesting because it teaches that 
women might obtain medicine powers from the bears and make use of this power 
in practice of medicine. 
