Part 6

At this time the whole human family dwelt in a country situated in the upper regions of the air. Everything needed for comfort and pleasure was found. The people did not know what death was, nor its attendant, sickness or disease; and their minds were free from jealousy, hatred, or revenge.

At length it happened that all of this was changed, and care and trouble came to them.

A certain youth was seen to withdraw himself from the circle of social amusements, and he wandered away alone in the groves, as his favorite resort.

Care and sorrow marked his countenance, and his body, from long abstinence from food, began to make him look to his friends like a skeleton of a man. Anxious looks could not solve the mystery of his grief; and by-and-by, weakened in body and soul, he yielded to his companions, and promised to disclose the cause of his trouble, on condition that they would dig up by the roots a certain pine-tree, lay him in his blanket by the edge of the hole, and place his wife by his side; at once all hands were ready. The fatal tree was taken up by the roots; in doing which the earth was opened, and a passage made into the abyss below. The blanket was spread by the hole; the youth lay upon it the wife also (soon to be a mother) took her seat by his side. The crowd, anxious to know the cause of such strange and unheard-of conduct, pressed close around; when, all of a sudden, to their horror and surprise, he seized upon the woman and threw her headlong into the regions of darkness below! Then, rising from the ground, he told the people that he had for some time suspected that his wife was untrue to him, and so, having got rid of the cause of his trouble, he would soon recover his health and spirits.

All those amphibious animals which now inhabit this world then roamed through the watery waste to which this woman, in her fall, was now hastening. The loon first discovered her coming, and called a council in haste to prepare for her reception,--observing that the animal which approached was a human being, and that earth was necessary for its accommodation. The first thing to be thought of was, who should support the burden?

The sea-bear first presented himself for a trial of his strength. At once the other animals gathered round and jumped upon his back; while the bear, unable to bear up such a weight, sank beneath the water, and was by all the crowd judged unequal to support the weight of the earth. Several others presented themselves, were tried, and found wanting. But last of all came the turtle, modestly tendering his broad shell as the basis of the earth now to be formed. The beasts then made a trial of his strength to bear by heaping themselves on his back, and finding by their united pressure they could not sink him below the surface, adjudged him the honor of supporting the world on his back.

Thus, a foundation being found, the next subject of thought was how to procure earth. Several of the most expert divers plunged to the bottom of the sea and came up dead; but the mink at last though he shared the same fate, brought up in his claws a small quantity of dirt. This was placed on the back of the turtle.

In the mean while the woman kept on falling, till at last she alighted on the turtle's back. The earth had already grown to the size of a man's foot where she stood, with one foot covering the other. By-and-by she had room for both feet, and was able to sit down. The earth continued to expand, and when its plain was covered with green grass, and streams ran, which poured into the ocean, she built her a house on the sea-shore. Not long after, she had a daughter, and she lived on what grew naturally, till the child was grown to be a woman. Several of the animals wanted to marry her, they being changed into the forms of young men; but the mother would not consent, until the turtle offered himself as a beau, and was accepted. After she had lain herself down to sleep, the turtle placed two arrows on her body, in the shape of a cross: one headed with flint, the other with the rough bark of a tree. By-and-by she had two sons, but died herself.

The grandmother was so angry at her death that she threw the children into the sea. Scarcely had she reached her wigwam when the children had overtaken her at the door. She then thought best to let them live; and dividing the body of her daughter in two parts, she threw them up toward the heavens, when one became the sun, the other the moon. Then day and night first began. The children soon grew up to be men, and expert with bow and arrows. The elder had the arrow of the turtle, which was pointed with flint; the younger had the arrow pointed with bark. The first was, by his temper and skill and success in hunting, a favorite of his grandmother. They lived in the midst of plenty, but would not allow the younger brother, whose arrow was insufficient to kill anything but birds, to share with their abundance.

As this young man was wandering one day along the shore, he saw a bird perched on a limb hanging over the water. He aimed to kill it, but his arrow, till this time always sure, went aside the mark, and sank into the sea.

He determined to recover it, and made a dive for the bottom. Here, to his surprise, he found himself in a small cottage. A fine-looking old man sitting there welcomed him with a smile, and thus spoke to him: "My son, I welcome you to the home of your father! To obtain this meeting I directed all the circumstances which have combined to bring you hither. Here is your arrow, and an ear of corn. I have watched the unkindness of your brother, and now command you to take his life. When you return home, gather all the flints you can find, and hang up all the deer's horns. These are the only things which will make an impression on his body, which is made of flint."

Having received these instructions, the young Indian took his leave, and, in a quarrel with his brother, drove him to distant regions, far beyond the savannas, in the southwest, where he killed him, and left his huge flint form in the earth. (Hence the Rocky Mountains.) The great enemy to the race of the turtle being thus destroyed, they sprang from the ground in human form, and multiplied in peace.

The grandmother, roused to furious resentment at the loss of her favorite son, resolved to be revenged.

For many days she caused the rain to descend from the clouds in torrents, until the whole surface of the earth, and even the highest mountains, were covered. The inhabitants escaped by fleeing to their canoes. She then covered the earth with snow; but they betook themselves to their snow-shoes. She then gave up the hope of destroying them all at once, and has ever since employed herself in inflicting smaller evils on the world, while her younger son displays his good and benevolent feelings by showering blessings on his race.

TRIBES ON THE PLAINS.

The Indian tribes on the plains, altogether, with those of New Mexico, Texas, California, and Arizona, do not exceed 300,000, including Indians, squaws, and papooses. They are as follows:

Dakota.--Sioux (pronounced Soos), of these there are several bands, under chiefs for each band, called Yanktons, Poncas, Lower Brules, Lower Yanctonais, Two Kettle Sioux, Blackfeet, Minneconjons, Uncpapas, Ogallahs, Upper Yanctonais, Sansarc, Wahpeton Sioux, Arickarees, Gros Ventres, Mandans, Assinaboins, Sipetons, Santee.

This nation is the most numerous and warlike, numbering 31,534. They range from Kansas, on the Republican River, to Winnepeg, on the north. A treaty was made with these in 1868, between General Sherman, General Harney (an old Indian fighter), General Augur, General Sanborn, General Terry, Colonel Tappan, and Mr. Taylor, Commissioner, all of the Peace Commission, on the part of the government, at Fort Laramie, now Wyoming Territory, with Ma-za-pon-kaska, Tah-shun-ka-co-qui-pah, Heh-non-go-chat, Mah-to-non-pah, Little Chief, Makh-pi-ah-hi-tah, Co-cam-i-ya-ya, Can-te-pe-ta, Ma-wa-tan-ni-hav-ska, He-na-pin-na-ni-ca, Wah-pa-shaw, and other chiefs and headmen of different tribes of Sioux. This treaty, among other things, contained an agreement that, "If bad men among the whites should commit any wrong on the property or persons of Indians, the United States would punish them and pay for all losses.

"If bad men among the Indians shall do wrong to white men, black, or Indian, the Indians making the treaty shall deliver up the wrong-doer to the government, to be tried and punished; also agreeing about certain lands for reservations, farms, annuities of goods, etc., to be paid them instead of money, thus:

"For each male person over fourteen years of age, a suit of good substantial woolen clothing, etc.

"Each female over twelve, a flannel skirt, or goods to make it, a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards calico, and twelve yards cotton domestics, etc.

"Ten dollars in money for those who roam and hunt, twenty for those who engage in farming. For such as farm, a good American cow and one pair broken oxen.

"1. The Indians agreed to withdraw all opposition to railroads built on the plains.

"2. They will not attack any persons at home, or traveling, nor molest or disturb any wagon trains, coaches, mules, or cattle belonging to the people of the United States, or to persons friendly therewith.

"3. They will never capture or carry off from the settlements white women or children.

"4. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor attempt to do them harm. The government agrees to furnish to the Indians a physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, and ten of the best farmers shall receive five hundred dollars a year who will grow the best crops."

The names of the chiefs who signed the treaty are as follows:

Brule Sioux.