96 TRADITIONS OF THE ARIKARA. 
pipe. The men stood before the boy, holding the pipe before him. 
The boy reached and took it. The people thanked the boy for taking 
it. “he boy then took his bow and four arrows of different colors. 
He put his old robe on, holding his bow and arrows in his left hand. 
He went into the lodge of the young man with the old woman upon 
his back. 
No sooner had the boy entered the lodge than the old woman on 
the man’s back became scared. She did not talk much. The boy 
walked up and said: “Woman, you did wrong. You were sent for 
a purpose, and instead of doing what you were told, you turned 
into a woman and became fast upon the young man. You came from 
the Buffalo with a message and now you are an old woman stuck 
upon the back of this young man. I shall take you off. These arrows 
are from my father, Lightning. ‘These flint points will be the ones that 
will take you off.” The boy then ran around the lodge. Taking the 
black arrow, he shot at the woman under the shoulder. The arrow 
struck the woman and split her in two, taking off a part of the boy’s 
flesh. The boy ran around again. This time he took the red arrow and 
shot the woman under the chin, taking her entirely off from the boy. 
The boy then ran around again, taking a white arrow. He placed 
the arrow upon the back of the boy. Again he ran, and this time 
the boy took the yellow arrow and placed it upon the sore place of the 
boy’s back. He ran again, and took the arrow off. He also took 
the other two arrows, and said: “People, take the old woman out- 
side and place her upon a big fire!’ The boy went out and went to 
his grandmother’s. They made a big fire, placed the old woman 
upon it, and burned her. 
The people took some gifts to the poor-boy. The next morning 
an old woman went out of the lodge and heard a woman crying at 
the entrance. It was near where the woman was burned. A voice 
was also heard to say: “Your father threw you away. He burned 
you. You must not cry.” The young man heard it, and began to 
think. He would say to himself: “I have never been with any 
woman. I do not understand this talk.” The next night the child was 
again heard crying, and towards morning the young man again heard 
the talk. The young man now felt for the ring he had, and it was 
gone. The next night the boy thought of the woman’s voice and 
lay awake. He did not hear her any more, so he went to sleep. In 
his dream he saw himself playing with the stick, and every time he 
hooked the ring he thought he was with a woman. 
