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Myths and Legends of the Great Plains

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[Pg 55] <h2>THE BUFFALO BEING</h2> Teton Once upon a time, a Buffalo Being attacked a party of Indians. He killed one of them, but the others ran away and climbed a tree. The Buffalo Being followed them and rushed at the tree. He rushed many times, knocking off piece after piece of the tree, until very little was left. Then the frightened Indians lighted some tinder, and threw it far off into the tall grass. The fire scorched the Buffalo Being’s eyes, and injured his horns. The hard part of the horn slipped off, leaving only the softer part, so that he could no longer injure any one. But the Buffalo Being was still dangerous. At last one of the Indians slipped down the tree, with his bow and arrow. He killed the Buffalo Being. Then all the men came down the tree and skinned the animal and cut up the flesh. Into the buffalo-skin robe they placed the body of the dead Indian. But suddenly another Buffalo Being appeared. The Indians again climbed the tree. But this Being only walked four times around the dead Indian. Then he said, “Arise to your feet.” [Pg 56] At once the dead man came to life. The Buffalo Being said to him, “Hereafter you shall be mysterious. The sun, the moons, the four winds, day and night shall be your slaves.” Then it was so. The Indian could take the form of a fine plume, which was blown against a tree. It would stick to the tree and wave many times in the breeze. <hr style="width: 45%;" /> <h3>GERMAN KNIGHTS AND INDIAN WARRIORS</h3> The German knights are from a sketch in a Ms., dated 1220, in the University of Leipzig. The sketch was copied from Rudolph Cronau’s “Geschichte der Solinger Klingenindustrie.” They are Knights of the 13th century. The Indian warriors were drawn by an Apache Indian at Anadarko, in 1884, though the insignia is really that of the Cheyenne Indians. The comparison and contrast are made by the Bureau of Ethnology. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/mlgp08th.jpg" width-obs="314" height-obs="400" alt="" /></div> Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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