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CHAPTER XV.

THE BUFFALO.

The Indians universally believe that the buffalo were made by the Creator especially for their use, and certainly when buffaloes were plentiful they could get along quite comfortable with very little else. When one considers the use made by them of the buffalo, both at the present day and prior to the advent of the whites, one is not surprised at the claim and belief. Of the skin they make robes, lodges, lariats, ropes, trunks or par-fleche sacks, saddles, saddlecovers, shields, frames for war-bonnets, gloves, moccasins, leggins, shirts, hats, gun-covers, whips, quivers, knifescabbards, cradles, saddle-bags, saddle-blankets, decorations for saddles, beds, bridles, boots and a kind of sled for hauling the meat over the snow. From the thick part of the skin of the neck a glue is made by boiling and skimming. Ropes and lariats are made from the scalp-lock, or long tuft on the forehead, and pillows from their hair. From the horns are made spoons, cups, dishes, powder-horns, arrowheads, and bows by splitting the longer horns, and the tips are fastened to tender poles which are used in certain games.

From the fascia (thin tendinous covering which supports the muscles, and by the interpreters called sinew) found under the shoulder-plates, the abdominal fascia, the two strips on each side over the hump, and the strip on each side of the back, they make thread, bowstrings, ropes for softening robes by rubbing, fasten feather-guides to arrows, and stiffen and making bows more elastic by placing on back. From the thick ligament of the upper portion of nape of neck is made a pipe. An instrument used to straighten arrows is fashioned from the centre bone of the hump by cutting a hole in it, and from some of the smaller bones arrow-heads are made, and an instrument for "flushing flushing" or scraping the meat from hides. From

the shoulder-blades they make axes, knives, arrow-pointed instruments for dressing robes and smoothing down porcupine work. The trachea is used as a sack for paints, etc. The rough papillae of the tongue is used for hair brushes. The brain, liver and fat are utilized for tanning skins. Instruments for shaping bows and small dog sleds are constructed from the ribs. From the paunch they prepare water-pipes or sacks, in which meat and blood are sometimes cooked by boiling with heated stones, the latter being dropped into the sacks.

From the thigh bones, traps are made similar to our deadfalls. From the tail they make knives, scabbards, handles to war clubs, and medicine rattles. The udder dried became stiff and hard and is used for dishes, tobacco bags, medicine-rattles, etc. The pericardium is shaped for sacks. The gall is sometimes used as a drink, and produces intoxication; there is occasionally found in the gall a hard yellow substance, and this is highly valued as a paint for the face.

The anniotic fluid, in which the foetus floats, is used by them to quench thirst when water cannot be obtained, and is also generally used to cook or boil the fœtus in, the latter being especially prized as a dainty and delicate morsel of food. The marrow is eaten both raw and cooked, being roasted in the larger bones by laying them on the coals. The teeth are used for necklaces and are also put in medicine-rattles.

They consider the contents of the paunch an excellent remedy for diseases, and in case of frost-bite, if the afflicted member is thrust into the pouch of a freshly killed buffalo, relief obtains without evil after-effects. A very little buffalo fat is sometimes mixed with the tobacco or red-willow bark for smoking. The liver is often eaten raw and while still warm with animal heat, the gall-juice being sprinkled over it as a sauce. The kidneys are eaten both raw and cooked. The meat, fat, and most of the intestines are staple articles of food, and are kept for months by being simply dried in the sun; the hump is considered particularly fine for drying. The contents of the paunch

furnish food for the ponies, and the liquid in the same, cleared by the gall, prized for drinking, is cool and tasteless; i. e., devoid of any unpleasant taste.

The "buffalo chips "are used for fuel, and before the days of flint and steel and matches, were particularly good for making a fire by the friction of wood. These "chips pounded fine and kept dry, are used to keep the small children warm, they being partially buried in the powdered material. The value of these chips can scarcely be appreciated by those who have not suffered for the want of fuel on our treeless prairies. The tanned buffalo skin without the hair furnishes the best material for tepees.

There are many stories told in regard to the buffalo, and prominent among them, from its wide circulation in the North and the general confidence in it, is that of a buffalo cow killed near Slim Buttes, north of the Black Hills, some twenty-five years ago. On cutting her open to take out the foetus, an old woman, wrinkled and gray, was found. All the bands of the Sioux, and some of adjacent tribes, were called to the spot to see the phenomenon.

Among some of the tribes the first buffalo killed by a young man was the occasion for special religious ceremony and feast. Mr. Dunbar describes this among the Pawnees:

"The entire animal was carried to the lodge of some prominent person, who thus became master of the feast. He invited in a dozen or more old men to feast with him and assist in the observance of the occasion, and other special guests; they began at sunset; the meat was cut in small pieces and set over the fire to boil, except the heart and tongue, which were carried without the lodge and burned as a sacrifice. While the meat was boiling and the sacrifice burning, the medicine-bundle was taken from its place, opened, its contents inspected and placed out in due order, various ceremonies were performed over them,puffing smoke over them,stroking them with the hand, talking or praying to them, etc., by members of the company; speeches were then made by certain of the old men, the burden of whose remarks was laudation of the slayer of the buffalo, the master

of the feast, etc., and finally a prayer was offered. The meat having thoroughly cooked meanwhile, was apportioned among all present, each of whom had opportunity to gorge himself to the utmost. After the eating, the sacred things were gathered together, replaced in the bundle, and suspended again in its place."

Marquette, descending the Mississippi in 1673, saw these animals, and in his journal says:

"We call them wild cattle, because they are like our domestic cattle; they are not longer, but almost as big again, and more corpulent; our men having killed one, three of us had considerable trouble in moving it. The head is very large, the forehead flat, and a foot and a half broad between the horns, which are exactly like our cattle except that they are black and much larger. Under the neck there is a kind of large crop hanging down and on the back a pretty high hump. The whole head, the neck and part of the shoulders, are covered with a great main like a horse's; it is at least a foot long, which renders them hideous, and falling over their eyes, prevents their seeing before them. The rest of the body is covered with a coarse, curly hair like the wool of our sheep, but much stronger and thicker. It falls in summer and the skin is then as soft as velvet. At this time the Indians employ the skin to make beautiful robes, which they paint with various colors."

Father De Smet, in a letter dated Cincinnati, St. Xavier College, August 3d, 1854, and addressed to the editor of the Précis Historiques, Brussels, Belgium, gives an interesting account of the buffalo hunt and says:

"To be a good hunter and a good warrior are the two qualities par excellence that constitute a great man among all the nomadic tribes of North America. The chase absorbs the whole attention of the savage. The knowledge that he has acquired, by long experience, of the nature and instincts of animals, is truly marvelous. He is occupied with it from his tender infancy. As soon as a child is capable of managing a little bow, it is the first

instrument his father puts into his hands, to teach him to

hunt little birds and animals. The young Indians are initiated in all their stratagems. They are taught with as much care how to approach and kill the animal, as in civilized society a youth is instructed in reading, writing and arithmetic.

"An expert hunter is acquainted minutely with the habits and instincts of all the quadrupeds which form the object of the chase. He knows their favorite haunts. It is essential for him to know what kind of food an animal first seeks, and the most favorable moment of quitting his lair for nourishment. The hunter must be familiar with all the precautions that are necessary to elude the attentive and watchful instincts of his intended victims; he must appreciate the footstep that has passed him, the time that has elapsed since it passed and the direction it has pursued. The atmosphere, the winds, the rain, snow, ice, forest and the water are the books which the Indian reads, consults and examines on leaving his tent in pursuit of game. The tribes of the desert find their subsistence in the chase; the flesh of animals affords them food, and the skins clothing.

"Before the arrival of the whites, the method of killing the different species of animals was very simple, consisting ordinarily of stratagems and snares. They still have recourse to the primitive method in the hunt. for large animals, when they have no horses capable of pursuing them, and powder and ball for killing them are wanting. The trap prepared for the bison (buffalo) is an inclosure or pen, and is one of the more early ways, and perhaps the most remarkable in its execution; it demands skill, and gives a high idea of the sagacity, activity and boldness of the Indian. As on all other occasions of moment the medicine-men are consulted, and the hunt is preceded by a great variety of superstitious practices. I witnessed one of these hunts at the base of the Rocky Mountains, and of this I will endeavor to give a faithful detail. The bison roams the prairie in herds of several hundreds, and often of several thousands. On many of my travels I have seen

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