Native American Legends
|
The Buffalo Dance
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
| When the buffalo first came to be upon
the land, they were not friendly to the people. When the hunters tried to
coax them over the cliffs for the good of the villages, they were reluctant
to offer themselves up. They did not relish being turned into blankets and
dried flesh for winter rations. They did not want their hooves and horn to
become tools and utinsels nor did they welcome their sinew being used for
sewing. "No, no," they said. We won't fall into your traps. And we will not
fall for your tricks." So when the hunters guided them towards the abyss,
they would always turn aside at the very last moment. With this lack of
cooperation, it seemed the villagers would be hungry and cold and ragged
all winter long. |
|
| Now one of the hunters' had a daughter
who was very proud of her father's skill with the bow. During the fullness
of summer, he always brought her the best of hides to dress, and she in turn
would work the deerskins into the softest, whitest of garments for him to
wear. Her own dresses were like the down of a snow goose, and the moccasins
she made for the children and the grandmothers in the village were the most
welcome of gifts. |
|
| But now with the hint of snow on the
wind, and deer becoming more scarce in the willow breaks, she could see this
reluctance on the part of the buffalo families could become a real
problem. |
|
| Hunter's Daughter decided she would
do something about it. |
|
| She went to the base of the cliff and
looked up. She began to sing in a low, soft voice, "Oh, buffalo family, come
down and visit me. If you come down and feed my relatives in a wedding feast,
I will join your family as the bride of your strongest
warrior." |
|
| She stopped and listened. She thought
she heard the slight rumbling sound of thunder in the
distance. |
|
| Again she sang, "Oh, buffalo family,
come down and visit me. Feed my family in a wedding feast so that I may be
a bride." |
|
| The thunder was much louder now. Suddenly
the buffalo family began falling from the sky at her feet. |
|
| One very large bull landed on top of
the others, and walked across the backs of his relatives to stand before
Hunter's Daughter. |
|
| "I am here to claim you as my bride,"
said Large Buffalo. |
|
| "Oh, but now I am afraid to go with
you," said Hunter's Daughter. |
|
| "Ah, but you must," said Large Buffalo,
"For my people have come to provide your people with a wedding feast. As
you can see, they have offered themselves up." |
|
| "Yes, but I must run and tell my relatives
the good news," said Hunter's Daughter. "No," said Large Buffalo. No word
need be sent. You are not getting away so easily." |
|
| And with that said, Large Buffalo lifted
her between his horns and carried her off to his village in the rolling grass
hills. |
|
| The next morning the whole village
was out looking for Hunter's Daughter. When they found the mound of buffalo
below the cliff, the father, who was in fact a fine tracker as well as a
skilled hunter, looked at his daughter's footprints in the
dust. |
|
| "She's gone off with a buffalo, he
said. I shall follow them and bring her back." |
|
| So Hunter walked out upon the plains,
with only his bow and arrows as companions. He walked and walked a great
distance until he was so tired that he had to sit down to rest beside a buffalo
wallow. |
|
| Along came Magpie and sat down beside
him. |
|
| Hunter spoke to Magpie in a respectful
tone, "O knowledgeable bird, has my daughter been stolen from me by a buffalo?
Have you seen them? Can you tell me where they have gone?" |
|
| Magpie replied with understanding,
"Yes, I have seen them pass this way. They are resting just over this
hill." |
|
| "Well," said Hunter, would you kindly
take my daughter a message for me? Will you tell her I am here just over
the hill?" |
|
| So Magpie flew to where Large Buffalo
lay asleep amidst his relatives in the dry prairie grass. He hopped over
to where Hunter's Daughter was quilling moccasins, as she sat dutifully beside
her sleeping husband. "Your father is waiting for you on the other side of
the hill," whispered Magpie to the maiden. |
|
| "Oh, this is very dangerous," she told
him. These buffalo are not friendly to us and they might try to hurt my father
if he should come this way. Please tell him to wait for me and I will try
to slip away to see him." |
|
| Just then her husband, Large Buffalo,
awoke and took off his horn. "Go bring me a drink from the wallow just over
this hill," said her husband. |
|
| So she took the horn in her hand and
walked very casually over the hill. |
|
| Her father motioned silently for her
to come with him, as he bent into a low crouch in the grass. "No," she whispered.
The buffalo are angry with our people who have killed their people. They
will run after us and trample us into the dirt. I will go back and see what
I can do to soothe their feelings." |
|
| And so Hunter's daughter took the horn
of water back to her husband who gave a loud snort when he took a drink.
The snort turned into a bellow and all of the buffalo got up in alarm. They
all put their tails in the air and danced a buffalo dance over the hill,
trampling the poor man to pieces who was still waiting for his daughter near
the buffalo wallow. |
|
| His daughter sat down on the edge of
the wallow and broke into tears. |
| "Why are you crying?" said her buffalo
husband. |
|
| "You have killed my father and I am a prisoner, besides," she sobbed. |
|
| "Well, what of my people?" her husband
replied. We have given our children, our parents and some of our wives up
to your relatives in exchange for your presence among us. A deal is a
deal." |
|
| But after some consideration of her
feelings, Large Buffalo knelt down beside her and said to her, "If you can
bring your father back to life again, we will let him take you back home
to your people." |
|
| So Hunter's Daughter started to sing
a little song. "Magpie, Magpie help me find some piece of my father which
I can mend back whole again." |
|
| Magpie appeared and sat down in front
of her with his head cocked to the side. |
|
| "Magpie, Magpie, please see what you
can find," she sang softly to the wind which bent the grasses slightly apart.
Magpie cocked his head to the side and looked carefully within the layered
folds of the grasses as the wind sighed again. Quickly he picked out a piece
of her father that had been hidden there, a little bit of
bone. |
|
| "That will be enough to do the trick,"
said Hunter's Daughter, as she put the bone on the ground and covered it
with her blanket. |
|
| And then she started to sing a reviving
song that had the power to bring injured people back to the land of the living.
Quietly she sang the song that her grandmother had taught her. After a few
melodious passages, there was a lump under the blanket. She and Magpie looked
under the blanket and could see a man, but the man was not breathing. He
lay cold as stone. So Hunter's Daughter continued to sing, a little softer,
and a little softer, so as not to startle her father as he began to move.
When he stood up, alive and strong, the buffalo people were amazed. They
said to Hunter's Daughter, "Will you sing this song for us after every hunt?
We will teach your people the buffalo dance, so that whenever you dance before
the hunt, you will be assured a good result. Then you will sing this song
for us, and we will all come back to live again." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some graphics were created by
Moon Starz Web
Design. |
Others were borrowed from the following talented
artists... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
