THE MAN WHO MARRIED A COYOTE. qi, 
36. THE NOTCHED STICK AND THE OLD WOMAN OF THE ISLAND.* 
When my people held the medicine-men’s ceremonies, the lead- 
ing medicine-man, who sat in the west of the lodge, had a roll of 
dried buffalo hide and a long stick with notches upon it. The leaders 
of the medicine-men’s lodge had sticks that they rubbed on this 
notched stick so that the dried buffalo hide made a noise sounding 
something like that of a drum. When this noise was begun they be- 
gan to rattle the gourds. At the end of the ceremony of the medicine- 
men the lodges inside of the big lodge were taken down to the river, 
and the notched stick and the dried buffalo hide were taken and placed 
upon an island. We were told not to go to the island; but knowing 
the place, one man went, and he saw in place of the hide and stick 
an old woman sitting there. He saw her plainly. Her ears hung down 
with great, big cuts in them. She had a very long face. When he 
took a look at her she turned her nose up. He was scared and ran 
away towards the village. He met some other boys and told them 
about the old woman. They would not believe him, so they went 
back, and when they came to the island, sure enough, it was no 
longer the old woman, but the hide and stick. 
When the man went home he told his father all about it, and he 
said: ‘True, my son; that is the reason that they put the objects upon 
the island, because really they are an old woman.” Other boys also 
visited the island, and they saw the same old woman. When several 
went to the island another time, it was again a stick. 
3¢. THE MAN WHO MARRIED A COYOTE.+ 
A long time ago there was a war-party that started out from the 
Arikara country toward the south. They were found by the enemy 
and attacked. One man was killed and the others all returned home. 
After many years this man who was killed rose from where he was 
lying, for he had not really been killed, but was simply stunned by 
falling onto hard ground. He had not been scalped. After this man 
came to, he wandered over the prairies and fell in with the Coyotes. 
He finally married a Coyote, and lived with her for several years. 
One day some men went hunting, and they saw a mysterious 
being crossing the Missouri River. The warriors went down and 
*Told by White-Owl. 
TTold by Many-Fox. 
