THE MEDICINE BEAR SHIELD. 163 
I awoke in the morning and went home. I asked my people who 
took the shield from my father’s grave, and they told me that some one 
had taken it from the grave. I told them who had it, and my mother 
went to the lodge of the man, who said, “Yes, I took it, but I threw the 
cover away, for I intended to make a new cover for it.” The frame 
of the shield was given up by the man to me. I took it home, and I 
had my people make another cover, a cover I had seen myself upon 
my father’s grave. You see the picture of the Bear as I saw it. It 
is throwing up white-dust. The left side of the shield is a Bear’s ear. 
Inside of it are cedar berries. The right ear has pine cones in it. I 
hunted, and I killed a deer. The deer skin was tanned and these things 
were put upon the tanned buckskin—the picture of the Bear and Bear’s 
ears. On a buffalo hunt I killed a buffalo bull and made the inner 
shield. This I did by getting the whole breast hide of a bull. After 
I got it I spread it upon the ground. I took all of the meat off. I then 
dug a hole and made a big fire in it. When the fire went down and 
there were only coals and hot stones I spread the hide over the bed of 
coals and drove stakes around the hide, so that the hide when it shrunk 
pulled the stakes up. As the hide shrunk it became thick. While hot, 
I cut around the rim until I got it of the right size. Now a ceremony 
was in order. Songs were sung while the covering of the shield was 
being painted as you now see. The red, downy eagle feather was put 
there for the first lightning, which was very red. The ears were put 
“ upon the shield, so the shield would have understanding. There are 
three songs that are sung when the shield is being made. The shield 
was made, and I hung it up. In the night I took it into the lodge. Be- 
fore sunrise I would take the shield and hang it up so that it faced to- 
wards the east. 
When I saw fifteen winters I joined a war-party. After we had 
gone several days we saw a Sioux coming. We hid away in a ravine 
and as he came near where we were I jumped up, holding the shield in 
front of me. Another man in our party shot and hit the Sioux in the 
breast. I struck the Sioux with my bow and counted my first coup. 
I returned to where the Sioux fell, for I had run beyond. I jumped 
upon the Sioux and took only his scalplock. This I took to my grand- 
father, who took the scalp to the lodge of the holy bundle. The cere- 
mony of offering the scalp to the gods was performed. After this 
ceremony the chiefs had their ceremony, and I was made a chief. I was 
invited to sit among the great chiefs. An old man arose and, taking up 
a buckskin shirt, called me to him. He put the buckskin shirt upon me. 
He said: “My son, I put upon you a dress that is white; there are no 
aor 
