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020 - The Wise Man · Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty of Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park by
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  Speaker 1: James Willard Schultz. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: Section twenty The Wise Man. Here under this mountain, the
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  Speaker 1: people were encamped, and two of them were wise Man
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  Speaker 1: and his woman. He was so named because he was
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  Speaker 1: always finding out how to do useful things. Up to
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  Speaker 1: the time of this encampment, the people had had nothing
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  Speaker 1: to wear but the plainest kind of garments, shirts, leggins, gowns, moccasins,
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  Speaker 1: all made of plain tanned leather of different kinds. Wise
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  Speaker 1: Man thought long about this, and finally said to his wife,
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  Speaker 1: let us move away from camp for a time and
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  Speaker 1: go farther into the mountains. I have a plan that
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  Speaker 1: I want to try by myself. The next morning, they
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  Speaker 1: packed their dogs and moved up to the foot of
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  Speaker 1: the inside Lakes, crossed the outlet, and made camp. Wise
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  Speaker 1: Man then did some hunting, killed plenty of meat for
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  Speaker 1: his wife and the dogs, and began on his plan
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  Speaker 1: for making clothing more pleasing to the eye. He went
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  Speaker 1: up on the high ridge between the lakes and Little
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  Speaker 1: River and dug an eagle trap, that is, he dug
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  Speaker 1: a pit somewhat longer and wider than his body, and
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  Speaker 1: quite deep, and killed a deer and laid it beside
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  Speaker 1: the pit and slashed its body so that the liver protruded.
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  Speaker 1: He then got into the pit, covered the top of
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  Speaker 1: it with willow sticks and grass, and waited, hoping that
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  Speaker 1: eagles would see the deer and come to eat it.
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  Speaker 1: They did come, he could hear the heavy swish of
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  Speaker 1: their wings as they sailed down upon it, and as
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  Speaker 1: they were eating the liver, he would cautiously reach up,
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  Speaker 1: grasp them by the legs, pull them down into the pit, and,
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  Speaker 1: kneeling upon them, crush out their life. In this way,
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  Speaker 1: one at a time, he caught many eagles and took
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  Speaker 1: them home as he could caught them, and took from
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  Speaker 1: their bodies the tail feathers, the fluffy plume feathers, and
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  Speaker 1: others that he thought would answer his purpose. They had
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  Speaker 1: a very rank, unpleasant odor, these feathers, so when he
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  Speaker 1: thought that he had enough of them, he had his
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  Speaker 1: woman cover the floor of the lodge with a thick
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  Speaker 1: layer of sweet sage, upon which he carefully spread them.
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  Speaker 1: He then threw a quantity of sweet grass upon the fire,
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  Speaker 1: and running from the lodge, the two tightly closed it
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  Speaker 1: and kept the smoke inside. This last they did three
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  Speaker 1: or four times, until the feathers lost their bad odor
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  Speaker 1: and were perfumed with a pleasant odor of sweet grass
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  Speaker 1: and sweet sage, both perfumes sacred to the gods. As
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  Speaker 1: they afterward learned, winter was now come, and wise men
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  Speaker 1: began to hunt weasels, brown and common of appearance in summer,
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  Speaker 1: but white and beautiful in winter. This was more difficult
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  Speaker 1: work than trapping eagles, but by setting many snares he
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  Speaker 1: caught during the winter more than a hundred of them.
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  Speaker 1: He then made a head dress of some of the
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  Speaker 1: eagle tail feathers, and suspended from it a number of
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  Speaker 1: weasel skins, and along the seams of his shirt and leggins,
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  Speaker 1: tied a number of the weasel skins. He then put
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  Speaker 1: on the head dress and his ornamental clothes, and stood
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  Speaker 1: up and asked his woman how he appeared in them.
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  Speaker 1: You seem to have become a different man, she answered,
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  Speaker 1: you look very brave, very handsome. The clothes are beautiful.
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  Speaker 1: They are of better appearance than they were, he said,
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  Speaker 1: but I am not yet satisfied. Perhaps I can improve them,
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  Speaker 1: but first I have to do something for you. Wise
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  Speaker 1: man put away his new clothes, and in old ones
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  Speaker 1: hunted elk, taking from them their two toushes, and in
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  Speaker 1: the evening boring holes in the soft part, having collected
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  Speaker 1: to hundred, he sewed them in rows on the breast
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  Speaker 1: and the back of his woman's new gown, and both
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  Speaker 1: saw that it was then a handsome gown, said the woman. There,
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  Speaker 1: we are now complete. We have fine appearance. Let us
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  Speaker 1: go home and show the people what we have done.
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  Speaker 1: No wise man answered, something is lacking, something that will
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  Speaker 1: make our clothes really beautiful. I have done all that
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  Speaker 1: I can without help, and now I shall ask the
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  Speaker 1: gods to show me what more to do. Perhaps it
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  Speaker 1: was the gods that directed his footsteps. The next day,
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  Speaker 1: as he was going through the timber, he came upon
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  Speaker 1: the remains of a porcupine, its quills scattered all around
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  Speaker 1: upon the ground. He sat down, took up some and
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  Speaker 1: examined them, and the thought came to him that they
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  Speaker 1: could be dyed different colors, and in some way sewed
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  Speaker 1: upon garments and make them of bright hue. He took
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  Speaker 1: all that he could find and killed several more porcupines
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  Speaker 1: and carried home all the long quills to his woman
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  Speaker 1: and told her his plan, said, she, I know that
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  Speaker 1: the yellow moss that grows on pine trees will stain
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  Speaker 1: anything a yellow that will not fade, that cannot be
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  Speaker 1: washed off. Let us seek for other colors. They sought
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  Speaker 1: a long time, finding a green color in a certain wood,
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  Speaker 1: a red in the juice of a plant, and then
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  Speaker 1: they dyed the quills the three colors. Meantime, the woman
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  Speaker 1: had been trying different ways to fasten the quills to leather,
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  Speaker 1: and now by flattening them, turning in the ends, and
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  Speaker 1: sowing them side by side with very fine sinew and
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  Speaker 1: with the finest of bone needles, she succeeded in making
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  Speaker 1: long bands of them, of different designs, in the various colors.
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  Speaker 1: She was a long long time making them, but at
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  Speaker 1: last she made enough of the bands to sow onto
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  Speaker 1: the arms of wise man's shirt and down his leggings,
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  Speaker 1: and upon the neck, front and back of her gown.
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  Speaker 1: Each was so pleased with the appearance of the other
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  Speaker 1: then that they kissed and almost cried with joy. Early
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  Speaker 1: the following morning they packed up, crossed the river and
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  Speaker 1: started for the camp. Still here at chief mountain. As
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  Speaker 1: soon as they came in sight of it, they stopped,
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  Speaker 1: put on their fine clothes, and then went on. The
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  Speaker 1: people saw them approaching, but not until they were right
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  Speaker 1: close to the camp were they recognized. Then what a
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  Speaker 1: crowd surrounded them, staring at their beautiful garments, asking questions
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  Speaker 1: without end. And as soon as they learned how this
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  Speaker 1: had all been done, they began at once to gather
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  Speaker 1: material for similar clothing. And wise Man, of course, became
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  Speaker 1: a great man in the tribe, for to him was
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  Speaker 1: due the discovery of the way to make beautiful things.
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  Speaker 1: September nine, although nothing has been said, we have not
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  Speaker 1: been so cheerful as usual for the past few days,
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  Speaker 1: for all have known that we must soon part and
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  Speaker 1: go our several ways. Tail feathers coming over the hill
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  Speaker 1: is a sick man and yellow wolf, but little better.
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  Speaker 1: So to night, we decided to break camp in the
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  Speaker 1: morning Tomorrow night. Each family will be at home on
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  Speaker 1: Cutbank Willow Creek, to medicine and badger all streams of
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  Speaker 1: the reservation, and I shall be upon my way to
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  Speaker 1: the always summer land. Well, we have had a pleasant
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  Speaker 1: time these past two months, traveling and camping along our
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  Speaker 1: old trails. And yet the evenings around the lodge fires
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  Speaker 1: have not been of unalloyed joy. All have been tinged
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  Speaker 1: with sad memories of other days, of deep regret that
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  Speaker 1: the old days, days when we had all this great
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  Speaker 1: country to our self, are gone forever. And so to night,
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  Speaker 1: after our quiet last evening meal together, we had no
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  Speaker 1: story telling, no passing of the pipe, none had the
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  Speaker 1: heart for it. And I am writing these last words
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  Speaker 1: by the light of a dying fire, true symbol of
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  Speaker 1: the passing of all things, And now by its last
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  Speaker 1: blue flicker, I write the end. End of section twenty
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  Speaker 1: end of Blackfeet Tales of Glacier National Park by James
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  Speaker 1: Willard Schultz