Buffalo Woman, A Story of Magic
Snow Bird, the Caddo medicine man, had a handsome son. When the boy was
old enough to be given a man's name, Snow Bird called him Braveness because
of his courage as a hunter. Many of the girls in the Caddo village wanted
to win Braveness as a husband, but he paid little attention to any of them.
One morning he started out for a day of hunting, and while he was
walking along looking for wild game, he saw someone ahead of him sitting under a
small elm tree. As he approached, he was surprised to find that the
person was a young woman, and he started to turn aside.
"Come here," she called to him in a pleasant voice. Braveness went up
to her and saw that she was very young and very beautiful.
"I knew you were coming here," she said, "and so I came to meet you."
"You are not of my people," he replied. "How did you know that I was
coming this way?"
"I am Buffalo Woman," she said. "I have seen you many times before,
from afar. I want you to take me home with you and let me stay with you."
"I can take you home with me," Braveness answered her, "but you must
ask my parents if you can stay with us."
They started for his home at once, and when they arrived there Buffalo
Woman asked Braveness's parents if she could stay with them and become the
young man's wife. "If Braveness wants you for his wife, we will be pleased,"
said Snow Bird, the medicine man. "It is time that he had someone to love."
And so Braveness and Buffalo Woman were married in the custom of the
Caddo people and lived happily together for several moons. One day she asked
him, "Will you do whatever I may ask of you, Braveness?"
"Yes," he replied, "if what you ask is not unreasonable."
"I want you to go with me to visit my people."
Braveness said that he would go, and the next day they started for her
home, she leading the way. After they had walked a long distance they came to
some high hills, and all at once she turned round and looked at Braveness
and said: "You promised me that you would do anything I say."
"Yes," he answered.
"Well," she said, "my home is on the other side of this high hill. I
will tell you when we get to my mother. I know there will be many coming
there to see who you are, and some may provoke you and try to make you angry,
but do not allow yourself to become angry with any of them. Some may try to
kill you."
"Why should they do that?" asked Braveness.
"Listen to what I am about to tell you," she said. "I knew you before
you knew me. Through magic I made you come to me that first day. I said
that some will try to make you angry, and if you show anger at even one of them,
the others will join in fighting you until they have killed you. They will
be jealous of you. The reason is that I refused many who wanted me."
"But you are now my wife," Braveness said.
"I have told you what to do when we get there," Buffalo Woman
continued. “Now I want you to lie down on the ground and roll over twice."
Braveness smiled at her, but he did as she had told him to do. He
rolled over twice, and when he stood up he found himself changed into a Buffalo.
For a moment Buffalo Woman looked at him, seeing the astonishment in
his eyes. Then she rolled over twice, and she also became a Buffalo.
Without saying a word she led him to the top of the hill. In the valley off to
The west, Braveness could see hundreds and hundreds of Buffalo.
"They are my people," said Buffalo Woman. "This is my home."
When the members of the nearest herd saw Braveness and Buffalo Woman
coming, they began gathering in one place, as though waiting for them. Buffalo
Woman led the way, Braveness following her until they reached an old Buffalo
cow, and he knew that she was the mother of his beautiful wife.
For two moons they stayed with the herd. Every now and then, four or
five of the young Buffalo males would come around and annoy Braveness, trying
to arouse his anger, but he pretended not to notice hem. One night, Buffalo
Woman told him that she was ready to go back to his home, and they slipped
away over the hills.
When they reached the place where they had turned themselves into
buffalo, they rolled over twice on the ground and became a man and a woman
again.
"Promise me that you will not tell anyone of this magical
transformation," Buffalo Woman said. "If people learn about it, something bad will
happen to us."
They stayed at Braveness's home for twelve moons, and then Buffalo
Woman asked him again to go with her to visit her people. They had not been
long in the valley of the Buffalo when she told Braveness that the young males
who were jealous of him were planning to have a foot-race. "They will challenge
you to race and if you do not outrun them they will kill you," she said.
That night Braveness could not sleep. He went out to take a long walk.
It was a very dark night without moon or stars, but he could feel the presence
of the Wind spirit.
"You are young and strong," the Wind spirit whispered to him, "but you
cannot outrun the Buffalo without my help. If you lose, they will kill you. If
you win, they will never challenge you again.
"What must I do to save my life and keep my beautiful wife?" asked
Braveness.
The Wind spirit gave him two things. "One of these is a magic herb,"
said the Wind spirit. "The other is dried mud from a medicine wallow. If the
buffalo catch up with you, first throw behind you the magic herb. If they come
too close to you again, throw down the dried mud."
The next day was the day of the race. At sunrise the young Buffalo
Gathered at the starting place. When Braveness joined them, they began making
fun of him, telling him he was a man buffalo and therefore had not the power
to outrun them. Braveness ignored their jeers, and calmly lined up with them at
the starting point.
An old Buffalo started the race with a loud bellow, and at first Braveness took
the lead, running very swiftly. But soon the others began gaining on him, and
when he heard their hard breathing close upon his heels, he threw the magic herb
behind him. By this time he was growing very tired and thought he could not run
any more. He looked back and saw one Buffalo holding his head down and coming
very fast, rapidly closing the space between him and Braveness. Just as this
buffalo was about to catch up with him, Braveness threw down the dried mud from the medicine wallow.
Soon he was far ahead again, but he knew that he had used up the powers
given him by the Wind spirit. As he neared the goal set for the race, he
heard the pounding of hooves coming closer behind him. At the last moment, he
felt a strong wind on his face as it passed him to stir up dust and keep the
Buffalo from overtaking him. With the help of the Wind spirit, Braveness
crossed the goal first and won the race. After that, none of the Buffalo ever
challenged him again, and he and Buffalo Woman lived peacefully with the herd
until they were ready to return to his Caddo people.
Not long after their return to Braveness's home, Buffalo Woman gave
birth to a handsome son. They named him Buffalo Boy, and soon he was old enough
to play with the other children of the village. One day while Buffalo Woman was
cooking dinner, the boy slipped out of the lodge and went to join some other
children at play. They played several games and then decided to play
that they were Buffalo. Some of them lay on the ground to roll like Buffalo,
and Buffalo Boy also did this. When he rolled over twice, he changed into a
real buffalo calf. Frightened by this, the other children ran for their lodges.
About this time his mother came out to look for him, and when she saw
the children running in fear she knew that something must be wrong. She
went to see what had happened and found her son changed into a buffalo calf.
Taking him up in her arms, she ran down the hill, and as soon as she was out
of sight of the village she turned herself into a Buffalo and with Buffalo
Boy started off toward the west.
Late that evening when Braveness returned from hunting he could find
neither his wife nor his son in the lodge. He went out to look for them, and
Someone told him of the game the children had played and of the magic that had
changed his son into a Buffalo calf.
At first, Braveness could not believe what they told him, but after he
had followed his wife's tracks down the hill and found the place where she
had rolled he knew the story was true. For many moons, Braveness searched
for Buffalo Woman and Buffalo Boy, but he never found them again.
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The Origins of 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."
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