Office of Indian Affairs. 
 Bulletin 17, (1922) 
 
 / i (^C 2 < 
 
 AMERICA INDIAN LEGENDS % 
 
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 THE ORIGIN OF STONES * 
 
 hin. RrM A *°!? g time a ^° * here were no stones on the earth. The mountains 
 There 'wbtb ^ lley 1 S 1 w . ere not rou § h ™s easy to valk on the ground s«ftly. 
 
 ”° sma H trees at that time. All the hushes and trees w ere tall and 
 
 ti+ht + v, d W6re at ® qUal di6tar ' oes apart, so that man could travel through 
 without having to make a path for himself. 
 
 There was a large buffalo who roamed over this land. He had power 
 to change anything into different forms. He got this power from the water, 
 lhis power would be his as long as he drank from the water at a certain place, 
 ihere was a large mountain over which the buffalo used to roam. The buffalo 
 liked this mountain so one. day he asked if it would like to be something else 
 besides a mountain. The mountain said it would like to be turned into some¬ 
 thing that no one would went to climb over. The buffalo said, "I will change 
 you into a hard mountain which I will call a stone. You will be so hard that 
 no one will want to break you and your sides will be so smooth that no one will 
 want to climb you." 
 
 So the mountain was changed into a large stone. The buffalo told the 
 stone that it could change itself into anything so long as it remained unbroken. 
 
 In this part of the land there were no men; only buffaloes lived here. 
 The buffaloes knew that there were men on the other side of the mountain who 
 were cruel and killed animals, so they kept as far away from them as possible. 
 But one day the buffalo thought he would go on the other side of the mountain 
 and see man. He wanted to make friends with him so that he would not kill 
 buffaloes. He went over the mountain and soon came to a wigwam by a stream of 
 water, in the wigwam lived an old woman and her grandson. When the little boy 
 saw the buffalo he was very glad and told his grandmother to be good to him. 
 
 The buffalo was pleased with the old woman and her grandson, so he told them 
 he would change them into anything they would like to be. The boy said he did 
 not want to be changed into anything, but he wanted to become a 3 wift runner, 
 ihe grandmother said she wanted to be changed into something so that she could 
 be with her son wherever he went. The buffalo said he would take the woman 
 and the boy to the home of the buffalo. He would ask the buffaloes to teach 
 the boy to become a swift runner, and he would ask the v>ater to change the old 
 woman into something which w^ould enable her to be with her son always. 
 
 So the buffalo, the old woman, and the ‘boy went over the mountain 
 to the land of the buffaloes. They said they w/ould teach the boy to run swiftly 
 if he would promise to keep his people from hunting and killing them. He prom¬ 
 ised that he would do so and the buffaloes taught him how to run so swiftly 
 that not one of them could keep up with him. The water changed the old woman 
 into wind, so she could follow her boy wherever he went. 
 
he was permitteZto^rti^t *£* buffaloes tiu he S rew to he a man and then 
 of the hn^e^ K g ? 18 0wn P^P 1 ®- The boy was made the leader 
 
 to gfand^t tfZlT. W The S trt b : h ™S“ "**"«• ^ ^eA^Thi* 
 
 because they could not keep up with them + iT * SUCceeded in kll li n g buffaloes, 
 the boy that if he succeeded in^!+ + ^ ’ l T 80 swiftl y* The chief told 
 
 son and make hinn chief in hi i § \ 6 S ° me buffaloes he would adopt him as his 
 
 to become a chief so he B E ” at “- hm “ TO9 
 
 that ho left hie^om ^1? hl f followers and climbed the mountain so swiftly 
 were frightened and hfT + S ^ the buffaloes saw the hunters they 
 
 of them. g to but the boy kept up with them and killed most 
 
 .>■' , . ow xt happened that the great buffalo who got his po4* r from the 
 
 water and Vv ' bd Te returning he became so thirsty that he drank of some 
 
 hunters h riH° ther side ° f the mountain * When he came back and saw what the 
 could eat^th ° ne , he became v ©ry angry and tried to turn them into grass so he 
 to the o+ n em> bu ^ be bad lost his power because of the other water- He went 
 done Th° 6 + an asked him what he could do to punish the man for what he had 
 that %t n ■? ^ ne ”1 will ask the trees to entangle themselves together so 
 
 mvself in+ 6 difficu Tb f °r man to travel through them- Then i will break 
 runner anf? 0 ^^ pieces and scatter myself all over the land so that the swift 
 ollowers can not run over me without hurting their feet.” 
 
 o th D ° S ^ olle broke itself into many pieces and• scattered itself all •. 
 
 ver the land, so that when the swift runner and his followers tried to run over 
 
 e mountain the stone cut their feet and the bushes scratched and bruised 
 
 sir o ies. This is the Indian 1 's story of how there came to be so many stones 
 
 all over the earth. 
 
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 THE FOX AND THE LOBSTER, 
 
 , , Once there was a lobster on the river bank sunning himself, when sud- 
 
 e y a ox came along* The f ox sa ic[ -to the lobster;"You think you are big 
 ecause you have a pair of pinchers, but I can outrun you.” It happened to be 
 jus one mile to the road. The lobster said, ,T I will give you your length start 
 of me." 
 
 S° the fox started of. As he did so the lobster caught hold of his 
 ail and held tight until they reached the road, when the fox turned around- As 
 he did not see the lobster he. began to laugh, but then the lobster said "What are 
 ,X oa laughing about? I have been here waiting for you a long time/” The fox saw 
 1 • he was beaten, so he went on very sad for letting the lobster fool him so 
 badly- 
 
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 HOW LONELINESS CRE aJIEEUP RAI RIE DOGS , 
 
 Many, many summers ago before the white men came there used to be a 
 good man; the people did not know where he came from. He was always hunting 
 and fishing, and liked to be alone* 
 
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Ore day while he was a long ways from home, a little bear started out 
 of the brush ir. front of him* He chased the bear for a long time, finally 
 
 “ ~ irto a cave by a spring*, The man whose name was Loneliness followed it, 
 
 Ut just as he passed the spring a huge monster caught him and pulled him into 
 the spring. He stayed there a long time* After the people had mourned him as 
 dead, and had forgotten him, he came into camp and told them what had happened 
 to him. The people only laughed at him and called him a liar, and said they; 
 
 You are telling too much to believe*' 1 After they had done him this way, he 
 told them he would pay them back sometime, not with wickedness but goodness* 
 
 k He then went away and was not seen again. He was in the monster*s 
 
 control and so he had to go back to the spring and go and study magic. 
 
 (_J '. ! :f Many summers afterwards a great famine came* There was nothing to;' 
 
 ' The Indians began to die off and fade for the want of food* 
 
 This man saw this and he wondered how he could save the people he 
 loved. He thought he would ask the monster, who was a magician, if he would 
 help him* He at least made up his mind that he would steal the magician’s 
 rolls of bark and find out how his friends could be saved* 
 
 At night,when the magician was sound asleep, the Indian crept out of 
 his lodge and into the magician’s camp. When he got there he took some roots 
 and laid it across the magician’s mouth which would make it impossible for him to 
 wake up. 
 
 The Indian then got the rolls of bark and began to study* At last he 
 found out that the magician had planned out all of this and that it was he whom 
 he had to outwit in saving his friends* He looked closer and found in the corner 
 of a small piece of bark some writing which said; "In my belt there is an arrow 
 which when you shoot it into the air will bring a lot 'of little animals." The 
 Indian then laid some more roots over the magician's mouth and then took off his 
 belt. He found a little arrow about a foot long* He seized this and ran out 
 into the world. 
 
 He shot this arrow a good many times, then broke it in little pieces 
 so that another spell could not be laid over him* 
 
 He then killed plenty of the little animals which he called the 
 prairie dogs, because they sounded like real dogs* He took the dogs to the dying 
 Indians and so saved them. After the Indian men had got stronger, he took them 
 to the place where the prairie dogs were and showed them how to kill them an 
 keep them from going into the holes in the ground. 
 
 So the men killed plenty for there were many, many of them. When they 
 got home the man, Loneliness, told them his history* The Indians all were glad 
 and begged forgiveness for the wickedness they had done him. 
 
 So the Indians now have the prairie dogs to eat and are not in much 
 danger of starving. The Indians still remember that Loneliness created the 
 prairie dogs* 
 
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 -3- 
 
FI-FI-BO-SH®. 
 
 Onee "when Ni*.ni— bo—she was roaming in the woods he met a deer -whs 
 had a bow and arrow. Said Ni-ri~>bo~shu, *Let me see your fine bow and arrow* 11 
 e deer hesitated at first, but finally let Fi«ni~bo-sho take the bow and 
 arrow* After looking at them for a few minutes he asked the deer where was the 
 so est part in his head. "My forehead of course,'* said the deer. In another 
 instant the deer lay at Ni.ni*bo~sho f s feet. 
 
 Fi-ni-bo-sho built fire and cooked his deer. When he began to eat, 
 a ree near by screamed so loud that Fi-ni«*bo»sho got so angry that he told the 
 ‘tree to keep still while he ate. But the tree kept it up and finally Ni-ni-bo- 
 sho got up to hit the tree, but the tree held his hand fast to the bough the 
 moment he laid it there. While he was hanging on the bough some hungry wolves 
 ran close by and Fi-ni-bo~sho shouted to them and said, "My brothers, don't go 
 that way," while pointing towards where the deer lay. 
 
 "When the tree had given some advice to Fi«>ni~bo-shf» he let him go but 
 told him to be careful lest he should fall into trouble again. 
 
 "When Fi-ni-bo-sho returned he found his meat all gone (his brothers 
 had eaten it all up). Orly a few bones lay here and there* Looking on he soon 
 found the head, but that as well as the bones could not be eaten. After much 
 trouble he found that the wolves had not eaten the brain, but how he was to 
 get it he knew not* When he thought it over he changed himself into a little 
 snake and crawled through a hole into the head. But when he tried to come out 
 he found that he had grown larger while he was eating* 
 
 What was he to doj He called aloud for help but none came. 
 
 By and’ by he raised himself up and found that the head was very light. 
 So he ran and ran and after a while he ran against a tree, "Who are you?" asked 
 Fi-ni-bo-sho, "I am Pine," said the tree, "and grow in the thick woods," About 
 five minutes later he ran against another tree* "Who are you?" asked he again, 
 
 "I am Ash," the tree said "and grow near the water." A-ha ^thought Fi-ni-bo-sho* 
 "I’m near water," and no sooner had he said it than he felt himself swinging in 
 the air and was soon getting wet* He had fallen from a high and steep cliff and 
 so he could not get on dry land again* On and on he swam. 
 
 Some Indians were out hunting when they saw something that looked more 
 like a deer than anything else* "Deer IDeer IDeer £ they all shouted and 
 towards the deer they steered their birch-bark canoes. 
 
 On and on swam Fi-ni~bo-sho and so hard was he swimsaing that when he 
 swam against a rock the head he was in broke and fell to pieces. Fi-ri«bo-sho 
 changed himself back ifcto his own form and laughed at the Indians for their 
 blindness. 
 
 "Let’s go back," saic they, "it was only Fi-ni-bo-sho." 
 
 
 * 4 - 
 
THE FOX AND TFFE BEAR. 
 
 The two chiefs, the fox and the bear, were camping together with thedir 
 companies. Each had a company under his rule. 
 
 They were having good times while camping together; after a while 
 tho food began to get scarce. They couldn't kill any game because they -were 
 animals themselves* They lived on roots and fruits. Fox was a wise chief end 
 the bear was lazy and didn't do any work; just made announcements to his company 
 telling them to look for food. Fox had three wives* They were different races 
 or tribes. One of them was a duck, another was a frog, and the one he loved 
 best was a cricket and had a beautiful voice. Chief Bear had but one wife and 
 he had two children, or daughters. One early morning Chief Fox went out hunting 
 for food, but he couldn't find anything. 
 
 One day chief Bear made an announcement to all the different kinds of 
 animals* He said this; "Tomorrow* morning I want you young fellows to go hunting 
 for deer. The first fellow who brings me a deer can have my daughters for his 
 wives." Chief Fox heard this* In the evening he went out hunting for deer for 
 the next morning so he could just come and get it and be the first fellow to 
 bring a deer to the Chief. Re killed one and put it in a certain place. When 
 the next morning came he was anxious. He went right straight to that place where 
 he had that deer. When he came to this place he could not find it for a long 
 time, until sunrise, then he found it* He took it home, then went right to the 
 Chief’s place. He passed his place* He wouldn’t notice his three wives. When 
 he came to the Chief's someone had brought a deer already, and he took his back 
 to his wives. So they say "Cheatirg won’t work*” 
 
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 A BLACKFOOT INDIAN STORY. 
 
 Once upon a time the old man was walking along a river. It was very 
 hot and all he had was a buffalo robe. So he said he didn’t need this buffalo 
 blanket any more because it was too hot to wear and too heavy o carry* o 
 gave it to a big rock. He covered the rock with this buffalo robe and went away. 
 By ard by he saw the clouds getting black and that it was going to storm. All 
 that he had for a friend was a fox. He told this fox: "Run over and get my 
 blanket. It is on that big rock where we were along the river." So the fox ran 
 over and told the rock that he came after the blanket. "WHo warts the blanket? 
 said the rock* The fox said, "The old man." The rock told the fox Anything that 
 was given me shall not be taken, back again." 
 
 The fox told the old man what the rock said* The old man got mad and 
 said- "I need that robe; it is going to rain; the rock doesn't needany blanket." 
 So he went and got it. After he got about two miles he heard a curious noise and 
 looked back. He saw the rock rolling after him. He ran up a high hill. The 
 rock went up the hill. Then he ran dorm and the rock came down alter him. He 
 told the fox to man in a hole and the fox did. Then the old man saw a big hole 
 just his size and he crawled in .and the big rock came and blocked the hole. The 
 old man stayed in the hole for three days till the fox dug a hole big enough for 
 the old man to crawl through. So he was safe at last, then he went up the river. 
 As he came rear the stream he saw in the water some red berries. He was hungrj, 
 
THE. SEVER MIMTERS. 
 
 lived ab ° Ut S€Ven Indl0n hunters '‘ta our ancestors 
 
 li red in the State of Indiana. Every winter th«.y used t,o g C down the 
 
 Mississippi River and down to the Southern States. 
 
 n There were- seven Indian hunters who loaded a conoe with bows, arrows, 
 xiour, clothing, tents, axes, and such things as they might heed for the four 
 or live months tha.t they were to be gone. 
 
 They .got in their canoes and paddled for the Southern States. 
 
 ' hen the Y to the place where they were going they pitched their 
 tenos oh a rise of ground. One or two men were cooks at the camps for a week 
 or Cw ° 4 ihen other two men took their places while the others hunted. The 
 men that were hunting were supposed to kill all the game, skin it and dry all 
 the meat, which was cut into long strips. 
 
 One day the hunters went out to hunt again. They saw a large turtle by 
 the^lake.. They thought they would have a little ride, so all got on the 
 turtle s oa.Gw., Their feet stuck to the turtle so that when they tried to pull 
 loose they could not. The turtle crawled into the water and’ the men were 
 drowned. 
 
 In the evening the cook had their supper prepared, but the hunters did 
 not come. The cooks thought maybe their game was too heavy to carry, so they- 
 w exited ^ or T-v/o or three days and yet the hunters did not return. The cooks 
 
 took a canoe and sailed'back to their homes and told the people that the men 
 
 .were missing. 
 
 There was an old man who had power over the water and when they told 
 him he said he would find out. They cook a canoe and went to the southern 
 land where they had camped. The old man 'went to the water's edge end called 
 up a fish. He cut a piece of its flesh off and burnt it. He put the fish 
 back into the water and said to it, "You are not the one that Killed the 
 
 hunters." Tnen he. called up the eel and cut a piece off its flesn. He 
 
 burned it and said, "You did not kill the hunters," so he let it go. He 
 called the snake, lie heard the waters roar and saw a large snake coming. 
 
 He cut a piece of flesh off and burned it, and said, "You can go, you are not 
 the one." Then he called up the turtle, which was guilty. It would not have 
 come but it had to as the man had power over the waters'. So he cut a piece 
 off its flesh and burned it. He said, "You are the one that killed the 
 hunters, 1 Then he burned the turtle up and saved all the ashes from the 
 animals he had burned. 
 
 Then they sailed back to their homes, linen they got back the people 
 were very glad to see them. He called a meeting of the people and put the 
 ashes in small bags and gave a bag to each person. Before he gave•the bags to 
 them, ne told them they could be- whatever they -.ranted to.be .Some said they 
 wanted to be rich. Some said they wanted to be good-loo.:ing. Some said they 
 wanted to be brave warriors. One man said he wanted to rest. 
 
 after he had given all the bags away they went home. They became what 
 they wanted to be. This man that wanted to rest went to the camp and rested. 
 
 - 7 - 
 
The people soon became tired of him, so about two years after planned to take 
 him to an island and leave him there. One man went after him; he came, and 
 tnese men told him they were going*, out camping and wanted him to go along* 
 
 ..hen ’these men got to the island they went out hunting, but this lazy 
 man stayed and slept all the time. The other two men got in their canoe and 
 left him. When he awoke he saw nobody. Then a strange person appeared to 
 him and told him that these men had left him and said: "Tomorrow I will come 
 after you in my own form. You must not get scared. 51 
 
 The next day this lazy man heard the waters roar. He went to the water 
 and saw a large snake coming with horns like the largest trees. He said to 
 the lazy man, "Get on the highest tops of my horns and I will take you home. 
 You Trill become smart and you cun kill any game you wish. " He got on and 
 the snake took him home, when he cot home the people 'were very surprised to 
 see him. He became the greatest hunter and 'warrior of his tribe. The people 
 liked him after that. Finally he became chief of the tribe. 
 
 THL -HIT xhJD THE. BRAE. 
 
 Once upon a time the ant and the bear had a quarrel. The bear said 
 he wished it would be night and day for six months every year. He 'wished 
 this because he stays in his house all winter, they say, and comes out in 
 summer. The ant said she wished it. would be night and day all the time, 
 like it is now. 
 
 So they made up their minds to race and see which one of them would 
 win their wish. 
 
 So they started, and the big bear would say, ”Night and day every six 
 months ’ night and day every six months. 1 " And the ant would say, "Night and 
 day. 1 night and day all the time* 11 They said the one who would say his wish 
 the most for a week would win* The ant would jump up and down all the time 
 and say her wish. The bear would say nis wish for a while, then go and eat. 
 But the ant wouldn’t go and eat, so she was getting: very thin and small. The 
 bear was afraid now, so he quit, and she won the wish. 
 
 It. is said that the ant was as big as the bear till they got in this 
 quarrel, and sire got small. It is said the bear will always eat the ants 
 when they come across any. It is because the ant beat the bear and so it is 
 today, night and day. 
 
 HHY TUT. HAVE CYCLONES. 
 
 Once there were some Indians who wanted something to cool them off, so 
 they discussed what to do. Finally the Indians began to come together and 
 they camped in a place where they could have more room. One day an old Indian 
 said; "I will tell you what we can do. Keep close to me and watch me what I 
 will do. Go, some one, and get me some mud from she river." So some women 
 
is 
 
 went and got some red mud from the river." "Everybody look now and see what 
 ~ I am doing. First thing is the red mud I have in my hand. We will make it 
 in a shape like this/' and he made a very ugly animal, the head first, then 
 put on four legs and a long tail, "Now watch and see what I made, I will 
 blow and after that all of you people blow. Now, look, everybody. Use 
 your muscles when 1 say *Be big now* and do what you can," Then the old man 
 said: "Red mud show us,please, what you can do on this earth. We are so hot 
 and smothered* Now, go." 
 
 Up and up in the air he flew like a bird. People began to cry and 
 everybody was running about. They said: "Please, good cyclone, stay, 1 Stop on 
 the earth." 
 
 He flew like a 'wild, fierce horse. He jumped up and down oyex:,again 
 and said u Ah-haI old man, see what you have done*" "See what you have done; 
 yyuull&t the ugly thing go," said those on earth* So the old man called the 
 ugly thing and said: "People are crying and you tear down trees, you blow too 
 much, Please come to me* I will make you over again." So the ugly thing 
 came down and the clouds became as black as a crow. 
 
 "It is too windy on this earth," cry again the people. "You are 
 ugly; you are crazy and wild. We will make you better than this," said the 
 old man. Sc he made the- clay in the shape of a wild horse, then said: "Now, 
 cyclone, again you go and let us see you," He went up in the air. "Now we 
 can be cool hereafter," said the old Indian. 
 
 The people still crying/dialled out: "Please, please, cyclone, you can 
 go now and do not ever come again; stay up in the sky." 
 
 "All right," said the cyclone. '"1*11 do what you tell me." So up 
 he flew. That is the reason we see in the clouds the head of a horse with a 
 tail like a snake. To this day you will see him in the sky just the way they 
 made him. When the Indians see him coming they run out and cry: "Please jump 
 over us and don ! t blow us away with your breath*" So to this day Indians are 
 not afraid of cyclones like the white people. 
 
 ~™0 - 
 
 legend of the buffalo and THE CeyotBE • 
 
 Once upon a time there was an old coyote who could not get anything 
 to eat. So he went to a buffalo that was feeding on the grass near by. Now 
 this buffalo had magic power; he could change himself into any form he wanted 
 to be. The coyote told him how hard it was for him to get food and he wished 
 he could live like him so that he would not have to hunt for food and the 
 coyote said: "I sometimes have to eat what you would not come close to," The 
 buffalo promised he would help him if he would promise not to do the same thing 
 to some of his kind. The coyote was very glad so he promised. The first thing 
 the buffalo did was to dig a deep ditch with his horns, then he told the coyote 
 to stand at one end while he stood at the other end and he said to him, "I will 
 run as hard as I can. When you see me coming do not move. . When I toss you 
 in the air as soon as you touch the ground you will be a buffalo." The coyote 
 stood still and when he was tossed into the air he was changed into a fine 
 buffalo. 
 
 -9- 
 
The buffalo watched him for a long time* so that he would not break 
 
 his promise* But one day when they were feeding the buffalo went into a 
 wallow and -lay dorm. Soon he was fast asleep, while the other one was feeding 
 there chanced to pass that way a large coyote, 'when the buffalo-coyote saw 
 him* he said to him: '’"Don't you want to be like mef- • See how easy I get my food? 
 1 do not have to hunt for it." The coyote said he would like to be a buffalo, 
 but nobody would help him. So the buffalo that was once a coyote said to him, 
 ,: "1 will help you." So he dug a deep ditch and told the coyote to stand on the 
 end, then he said to him: "When, you see me coming toward you do not be .fright¬ 
 ened; I will not hurt you." 
 
 But the real buffalo happened to wake and he saw what was going on, 
 but he acted like he was asleep, and he said to himself, "When you both touch 
 -"the ground you will be coyotes again. n They both went into the ail, but w en 
 they touched the ground they were both coyotes again. The coyote was so as ame 
 of himself that he did not know what to do. He ran in the tall grass and hi . 
 
 •O' 
 
 (The above stories were told by the Indian children 
 at Haskell Institute, as they had been told by the 
 old men and women of their tribes.) 
 
 (4689) 
 
 -10- 
 
The buffalo watched him for a long time* so that he wqu!& not break 
 his promise* But one day when they were feeding the buffalo went into a 
 wallow and -lay down. Soon he was fast aslepp* while the other one was feeding 
 there chanced to pass that way a large coyote* when the buffalo-coyote s$w 
 him* he said to him: "Qon’t you want to be like me^- See how easy 1 get my fbodt 
 
 1 do not have to hunt for it.” The coyote said he would like to be a buffalo, 
 
 bijt nobody would help him. So the buffalo that was once ‘a coyote said to him* 
 nM I will help you." So he dug a deep ditch and told the coyote to stand on the 
 
 end, then he said to him: "When. you see me coming toward you do not be fright¬ 
 
 ened.; I will not. hurt you."' 
 
 But the real buffalo happened to wake and he saw what was going on* 
 but he acted like he was asleep, and he said to himself, "When you both touch 
 the ground you will be coyotes again. n They both went into the ail , bu w en 
 they touched the ground they were both coyotes again* The coyote was so as ame 
 of himself that he did not know what to do. He ran in the tall gr^ss and hid. 
 
 •o- 
 
 (The above stories were told by the Indian children 
 at Haskell Institute, as they had been told by the 
 old men and women of their tribes.) 
 
 (4689) 
 
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