Story Of Pretty Feathered Forehead
There was once a baby boy who came into the world with a small cluster
of different colored feathers grown fast to his forehead. From this he
derived his name, "Pretty Feathered Forehead." He was a very pleasant
boy as well as handsome, and he had the respect of the whole tribe. When
he had grown up to be a young man, he never, like other young men, made
love to any of the tribe's beauties. Although they were madly in love
in the different camps, but he passed them by.
One day he said: "Father, I am going on a visit to the Buffalo nation."
The father gave his consent, and away went the son. The father and
mother suspected the object of their son's visit to the Buffalo nation,
and forthwith commenced preparing a fine reception for their intended
daughter-in-law. The mother sewed together ten buffalo hides and painted
the brave deeds of her husband on them. This she made into a commodious
tent, and had work bags and fine robes and blankets put inside. This was
to be the tent of their son and daughter-in-law. In a few weeks the son
returned, bringing with him a beautiful Buffalo girl. The parents of the
boy gave a big feast in honor of the occasion, and the son and his wife
lived very happily together.
In the course of time a son came to the young couple, and the father was
very proud of his boy. When the boy became a year old, the father said
to his wife: "I am going for a visit to the Elk nation." The mother
was very sad, as she knew her husband was going after another wife. He
returned, bringing with him a very beautiful elk girl. When the Buffalo
woman saw the elk girl she was very downcast and sad, but the husband
said: "Don't be sad; she will do all the heavy work for you."
They lived quite happily together for a long time. The Elk girl also
became the mother of a fine boy. The two boys had grown up large enough
to play around. One day the Elk woman was tanning hides outside and the
two boys were playing around near their mothers, when all at once the
buffalo boy ran across the robe, leaving his tracks on the white robe
which his step-mother had nearly completed. This provoked the elk woman
and she gave vent to her feelings by scolding the boy: "You clumsy flat
mouth, why couldn't you run around my work, instead of across it?" The
buffalo cow standing in the door, heard every word that the elk woman
had said, and when she heard her son called flat mouth it made her
very angry, although she did not say a word to any one. She hurriedly
gathered some of her belongings and, calling her son, she started off in
a westerly direction.
The husband being absent on a hunting expedition did not return until
late in the afternoon. Upon his return his oldest boy always ran out
to meet him, but this time as the boy did not put in an appearance, the
father feared that something had happened to the boy. So hurriedly going
to his tent he looked around, but failing to see the boy or his mother,
he asked his elk wife, where the boy and his mother were. The elk
wife answered: "She took her boy on her back and started off in that
direction," (pointing towards the west). "How long has she been gone?"
"Since early morning." The husband hurriedly caught a fresh horse and,
without eating anything, rode off in the direction taken by his buffalo
wife and boy. Near dark he ascended a high hill and noticed a small tent
down in the valley. It was a long distance down to the tent, so it was
very late when he arrived there. He tethered his horse and went into
the tent and found the boy and his mother fast asleep. Upon lying down
beside them the boy awoke, and upon seeing his father, motioned to him
to go outside with him.
On going outside the boy told his father that it would be useless for
him to try and coax his mother to return, as she was too highly insulted
by the elk wife to ever return. Then the boy told about what the elk
wife had said and that she had called him flat mouth. "My mother is
determined to return to her people, but if you want to follow us you
may, and perhaps, after she has visited with her relatives a little
while, you may induce her to return with you. In the morning we are
going to start very early, and as the country we will travel through
is very hard soil, I will stamp my feet hard so as to leave my tracks
imprinted in the softest places, then you will be able to follow the
direction we will take."
The two went into the tent and were soon fast asleep. The father, being
very much fatigued, slept very soundly, and when he awoke the sun was
beating down upon him. The mother and boy were nowhere to be seen. The
tent had been taken down from over him so carefully that he had not been
awakened. Getting his horse, he mounted and rode after the two who had
left him sleeping. He had no trouble in following the trail, as the boy
had stamped his feet hard and left his little tracks in the soft places.
That evening he spied the little tent again and on getting to it found
them both asleep. The boy awoke and motioned for his father to go
outside. He again told his father that the next day's travel would be
the hardest of all. "We will cross a great plain, but before we get
there we will cross a sandy hollow. When you get to the hollow, look at
my tracks; they will be deep into the sand, and in each track you will
see little pools of water. Drink as much as you can, as this is the only
chance you will get to have a drink, there being no water from there to
the big ridge, and it will be dark by the time you get to the ridge. The
relations of my mother live at that ridge and I will come and talk to
you once more, before I leave you to join my mother's people."
Next morning, as before, he awoke to find himself alone. They had left
him and proceeded on their journey. He mounted again and when he arrived
at the sandy hollow, sure enough, there, deep in the sand, were the
tracks of his son filled to the top with water. He drank and drank until
he had drained the last one. Then he arose and continued on the trail,
and near sundown he came in sight of their little tent away up on the
side of the ridge. His horse suddenly staggered and fell forward dead,
having died of thirst.
From there he proceeded on foot. When he got to where the tent stood he
entered, only to find it empty. "I guess my son intends to come here and
have his last talk with me," thought the father. He had eaten nothing
for three days, and was nearly famished. He lay down, but the pangs of
hunger kept sleep away. He heard footsteps outside and lay in readiness,
thinking it might be an enemy. Slowly opening the covering of the door,
his son looked in and seeing his father lying awake, drew back and ran
off up the ridge, but soon returned bringing a small parcel with him.
When he entered he gave the parcel to his father and said: "Eat, father;
I stole this food for you, so I could not get very much." The father
soon ate what his son had brought. When he had finished, the son said:
"Tomorrow morning the relatives of my mother will come over here and
take you down to the village. My mother has three sisters who have their
work bags made identically the same as mother's. Were they to mix them
up they could not each pick out her own without looking inside so as to
identify them by what they have in them. You will be asked to pick out
mother's work bag, and if you fail they will trample you to death. Next
they will tell you to pick out my mother from among her sisters, and you
will be unable to distinguish her from the other three, and if you fail
they will bury you alive. The last they will try you on, in case you
meet the first and second tests successfully, will be to require you
to pick me out from my three cousins, who are as much like me as my
reflection in the water. The bags you can tell by a little pebble I will
place on my mother's. You can pick my mother out by a small piece of
grass which I will put in her hair, and you can pick me out from my
cousins, for when we commence to dance, I will shake my head, flop my
ears and switch my tail. You must choose quickly, as they will be very
angry at your success, and if you lose any time they will make the
excuse that you did not know, that they may have an excuse to trample
you to death."
The boy then left, after admonishing his father to remember all that
he had told him. Early next morning the father heard a great rumbling
noise, and going outside, he saw the whole hillside covered with
buffalo. When he appeared they set up a loud bellowing and circled
around him. One old bull came up and giving a loud snort, passed on by,
looking back every few steps. The man, thinking he was to follow this
one, did so, and the whole herd, forming a half circle around him,
escorted him down the west side of the range out on to a large plain,
where there stood a lone tree. To this tree the old bull led him and
stopped when he reached the tree. A large rock at the foot of the tree
served as a seat for the man. As soon as he was seated there came four
female buffaloes, each bearing a large work box. They set the boxes
down in a row in front of the man, and the herd crowded around closer in
order to get a good view. The old bull came to the front and stood close
to the bags, which had been taken out of the four boxes.
The man stood up, and looking at the bags, noticed a small pebble
resting on the one next to the left end. Stepping over he pulled the bag
towards him and secretly pushed the little pebble off the bag, so that
no one would notice it. When they saw that he had selected the right
one, they set up a terrific bellow.
Then came the four sisters and stood in a line before the man. Glancing
along from the one on the right to the last one on the left, he stepped
forward and placed his hand on the one next to the right. Thanks to his
boy, if he hadn't put that little stem of grass on his mother's hair,
the father could never have picked out his wife, as the four looked
as much alike as four peas. Next came the four boy calves, and as they
advanced they commenced dancing, and his son was shaking his head and
flopping his ears and switching his tail. The father was going to pick
out his boy, when a fainting spell took him, and as he sank to the
ground the old bull sprang forward on top of him, and instantly they
rushed upon him and he was soon trampled to a jelly. The herd then moved
to other parts.
The elk wife concluded that something had happened to her husband and
determined upon going in search of him. As she was very fleet of foot it
did not take her long to arrive at the lone tree. She noticed the blood
splashed on the base of the tree, and small pieces of flesh stamped
into the earth. Looking closer, she noticed something white in the dust.
Stooping and picking it out of the dust, she drew forth the cluster
of different colored feathers which had been fastened to her husband's
forehead. She at once took the cluster of feathers, and going to the
east side of the ridge, heated stones and erected a wickieup, placed the
feathers inside, and getting water, she sprinkled the stones, and this
caused a thick vapor in the wickieup. She continued this for a long
time, when she heard something moving inside the wickieup. Then a voice
spoke up, saying: "Whoever you are, pour some more water on and I will
be all right." So the woman got more water and poured it on the rocks.
"That will do now, I want to dry off." She plucked a pile of sage and in
handing it in to him, he recognized his elk wife's hand.
They went back home and shortly after the buffalo, hearing about him
coming back to life, decided to make war on him and kill him and his
wife, she being the one who brought him back to life. The woman, hearing
of this, had posts set in the ground and a strong platform placed on
top. When the buffalo came, her husband, her son and herself, were
seated upon the bough platform, and the buffalo could not reach them.
She flouted her red blanket in their faces, which made the buffalo wild
with rage. The hunter's friends came to his rescue, and so fast were
they killing the buffalo that they took flight and rushed away, never
more to bother Pretty Feather Forehead.
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