DANCE OF BEAVER, TURTLE, AND WITCH-WOMAN. 105 
wild animals, because they had dug the hole and placed his son there 
to die. The old man told the story of the taking off of the young 
man’s clothing, and of the girls’ promise to take the boy out of the 
hole if he would do certain things which he had refused to do, and of 
their leaving the boy in the hole to die. 
When the people heard the story they were angry at the girls, so 
that the relatives of the girls did not offer to save them, as the girls 
had done wrong. 
The next day the people broke camp and went away from the 
place. This young man became a great warrior and a brave, and finally 
became a chief. He married and started a dance among the Arikara 
that is known as the “Wolf dance.’ This was a young man’s dance, 
but the people do not dance it any more. 
31. THE MEDICINE DANCE OF THE BEAVER, TURTLE, AND 
WITCH-WOMAN.* 
In olden times the animals met in a lodge to have sleight-of-hand 
performances. All the medicine-animals and all the birds who had 
magic power went to this lodge. The animals decided that only the 
leading animals should perform—the Beaver, the soft-shell Turtle, and 
the old Witch-Woman. 
First, the crowd arose where sat the Medicine-Beaver. ‘The Beaver 
arose and began to sing, telling his followers to sing. Then the Beaver 
went to the first post, which was supporting the lodge at the southeast, 
and began to gnaw it. The post was gnawed until only a small piece 
of it remained. The Beavers still sang. The Beaver then went to the 
next post and gnawed away at the base. He gnawed until just a little 
was left. The Beavers still sang and the Beaver went to the next post 
and gnawed until he had nearly gnawed through. 
The people began to get scared. The animals also became scared, 
so they called upon the errand man to ask the Beaver not to gnaw the 
post through, for the lodge was about to fall. The errand man arose 
and begged the Medicine-Beaver to stop. The Beaver stopped, and 
then ran around the lodge, repaired all the posts again, and said: 
“This was only sleight-of-hand. It is not real.” The animals and 
lookers-on rejoiced to see the trick, for now the lodge stood solid as 
usual. 
*Told by White-Bear. 
