Now I will tell the story of how a Holy Man, the greatest in the tribe, made mystery-power in days of old.
The people were encamped in a circle with the opening towards the east. In the middle of the circle they set up a great tipi made of several tipis put together. On one side of the tipi sat the women, on the other side the men. And they made ready a great feast. Beyond the central fire, opposite the doorway, the Holy Man made mystery. With a stick like an arrow he made a line of holes in the ground a finger's length deep. Then he touched the ground in front of all the people and came back to the doorway and sat down. And he bade the people hasten to prepare the mystery. So they took the clay and filled the holes with it and covered the holes with earth. When they had done this the Holy Man touched ground. Then he came back to the doorway and was about to sing. And the people watched the ground where the clay was buried and, behold, young plants began to sprout.
Then, before he sang, the Holy Man said:

Far to the west,
Far by the sky
Stands a blue Elk.
That Elk standing
watches over all the females
On the earth.
Far to the east,
Far by the sky
Stands a blue Elk.
That Elk standing
watches over all the females
On the earth.

Thus he spoke. And then he said, "Now I will sing," on the drum he sang a holy song. When he had sung he bade the people pull up the sprouts, and they did so; one by one they pulled them up. And behold, roots were holy mystery-power. And the people took the mystery-power and laid it on sprigs of sage, for sage is holy because it heals. This mystery would protect the warriors in war. No arrow could pierce them, no arrow could strike them, unharmed would they pass through every danger.
So have I told of how a Holy Man made mystery to help the people.

The Comming of the Earth

 Water came they say. The waters completely joined everywhere. There was no land or mountain or rocks, but only water. Trees and grass were not. There were no fish, or land animals, or birds.
Human beings and animals alike had been washed away. The wind did not then blow through the portals of the world, nor was there snow, nor frost, nor rain. It did not thunder nor did it lighten. Since there were no trees to be struck, it did not thunder. There were neither clouds nor fog, nor was there a sun. It was very dark.
Then it was that this earth with its great, long horns got up and walked down this way from the north. As it walked along through the deep places the water rose up to its shoulders. When it came up into the shallower places, it looked up. There is a ridge in the north upon which the waves break. when it came to the middle of the world, in the east under the rising of the sun, it looked up again There where it looked up will be a large land near the coast. Far away to the south it continued looking up. It walked under the ground.
Having come from the north it traveled far south and lay down. Nagaitcho, standing on earth's head, had been carried to the south. where earth lay down Nagaitcho placed its head as it should be and spread gray clay between its eyes and on each horn. Upon the clay he placed a layer of reeds and then another layer of clay. In this he placed upright blue grass, brush, and trees.
"I have finished," he said. "Let there be mountain peaks here on its head. Let the waves of the sea break against them." The mountains became and brush sprang up on them. The small stones he had placed on its head became large. Its head was buried from sight.
"I am fixing it," he said. "I will go North. I will fix things along the shore." He started back to the far north. "I will go around it," he said. "Far above I will fix it." He fixed the world above. "I have made it good," he said.
When he went back far south he stood stones on end. He made trees and brush spring up. He placed the mountains and caused the ground to stand in front of the ocean.

Story of the Bird's Nest

  One day a man whose mind was open to the teaching of the powers wandered on the prairie. As he walked, his eyes upon the ground, he spied a bird's nest hidden in the grass, and arrested his feet just in time to prevent stepping on it. He paused to look at the little nest tucked away so snug and warm, and noted that it held six eggs and that a peeping sound came from some of them. While he watched, one moved and soon a tiny bill pushed through the shell, uttering a shrill cry. At once the parent birds answered and he looked up to see where they were. They were not far off; they were flying about in search of food, chirping the while to each other and now and then calling to the little one in the nest.
The homely scene stirred the heart and the thoughts of the man as he stood there under the clear sky, glancing upward toward the old birds and then down to the helpless young in the nest at his feet. As he looked he thought of his people, who were so often careless and thoughtless of their children's needs, and his mind brooded over the matter. After many days he desired to see the nest again. So he went to the place where he had found it, and there it was as safe as when he had left it. But a change had taken place. It was now full to overflowing with little birds, who were stretching their wings, balancing on their little legs and making ready to fly, while the parents with encouraging calls were coaxing the fledglings to venture forth.
"Ah!" said the man, "if my people would only learn of the birds, and, like them, care for their young and provide for their future, homes would be full and happy, and our tribe be strong and prosperous.
When this man became a priest, he told the story of the bird's nest and sang its song; and so it has come down to us from the days of our fathers.

Medicine Song

  Ho! Aged One, ecka,
At a time when there were gathered together seven persons,
You sat in the seventh place, it is said,
And of the Seven you alone possessed knowledge of all things,
Aged One, ecka.
\\/hen in their longing for protection and guidance,
The people sought in their minds for a way,
They beheld you sitting with assured permanency and endurance
In the center where converged the paths,
There, exposed to the violence of the four winds you sat,
Possessed with power to receive supplications,
Aged One, ecka.
\\7here is his mouth, by which there may be utterance of speech?
Where is his heart, to which there may come
knowledge and understanding?
Where are his feet, whereby he may move from place
to place?
We question in wonder,
Yet verily it is said that you alone haye the power to
receive supplications,
Aged One, ecka
I have desired to go yet firther in the path of life with
my little ones,
Without pain, without sickness,
Beyond the second, third, and fourth period of life's
pathway,
Aged One, ecka.
O hear! This is my prayer,
Although uttered in words poorly put together,
Agd One, ecka.

Sioux

 All living creatures and all plants derive their life from the sun. If it were not for the sun, there would be darkness and nothing could grow - the earth would be without life. Yet the sun must have the help of the earth. If the sun alone were to act upon animals and plants, the heat would be so great that they would die, but there are clouds that bring rain, and the action of the sun and the earth together supply the moisture that is needed for life. The roots of a plant go down, and the deeper they go the more moisture they find. This is according to the laws of nature and is one of the evidences of the wisdom of Wakan Tanka. Plants are sent by Wakan Tanka and come from the ground at his command, the part to be affected by ,the sun and rain appearing above the ground and the roots pressing downward to find the moisture which is supplied for them. Animals and plants are taught by Wakan Tanka what they are to do. Wakan Tanka teaches the birds to make nests, yet the nests of all birds are not alike. Wakan Tanka gives them merely the outline. Some make better nests than others. In the same way some animals are satisfied with very rough dwellings, while others make attractive places in which to live. Some animals also take better care of their young than others. The forest is the home of many birds and other animals, and the water is the home of fish and reptiles. All birds, even those of the same species, are not alike, and it is the same with animals and with human beings. The reason Wakan Tanka does not make two birds, or animals, or human beings exactly alike is because each is placed here by Wakan Tanka to be an independent individuality and to rely on itself.

Moon Story

 Kanak, on fleeing from mankind, felt himself lifted up from the ground and following the way of the dead. At length, he lost consciousness and, on awakening, found himself in front of the house where the spirit of the moon lived. The spirit of the moon helped him inside, a perilous undertaking, for the entrance was very large and guarded by a terrible dog. The moon spirit then breathed upon Kanak to ease the pain that racked his limbs, and, having restored him to health, said, "No man has ever returned by the way you came. This is the way you must take." And he opened a door and showed him a hole in the floor, from which he could see the surface of the earth and the dwelling places of man. He then gave him food, brought in and served by a woman whose back was that of a skeleton. Kanak became afraid, but the moon spirit said, "The old woman will appear who takes out the entrails of all she can tempt to laugh. If you cannnot hold hack vour smiles. scratch your leg with the nail of your littlest finger." Soon, the old hag began to dance and whirl, licking her own back absurdly, but when Kanak scratched his leg, she gasped and the moon spirit opened the door and threw her down the hole. Then a voice said, "She has left her knife and platter, and if she does not get both she will overthrow the pillars of heaven." The moon spirit opened the door and threw down the knife and platter. Then he once again opened the door and, blowing through a great pipe, showed Kanak how he made it snow upon the earth. At last the moon spirit said, "Now it is time to leave me, but do not be afraid or you will never regain life." He then pushed Kanak down the hole. Kanak fainted but then heard the voice of his grandmother, whose spirit had followed him and taken care of him, and he finally reached the earth's surface. He returned to his home and became a celebrated angakok or wise man.

 

The Song of the Wren

A priest went forth in the early dawn. The sky was clear. The grass and wild flowers waved in the breeze that rose as the sun threw its first beams over the earth. Birds of all kinds vied with one another as they sang their joy on that beautiful morning. The priest stood listening. Suddenly, off on one side, he heard a trill that rose higher and clearer than all the rest. He moved toward the place whence the song came that he might see what manner of bird it was that could send farther than all the others its happy, laughing notes. As he came near he beheld a tiny brown bird with open bill, the feathers on its throat rippling with the fervor of its song. It was the wren, the smallest, the least powerful of birds, that seemed to be most glad and to pour out in ringing melody to the rising sun its delight in life.
As the priest looked he thought: "Here is a teaching for my people. Everyone can be happy; even the most insignificant can have his song of thanks." So he made the story of the wren and it has been handed down from that day, a day so long ago that no man can remember the time.

 Song of the Pebble Society

  Toward the coming of the sun
There were people of every kind gathered,
And great animals of every kind,
All gathered together, as well as people.
Insects too of every description
All gathered there together,
By what means or manner we know not.
Truly one alone of these was the greatest,
Inspiring to all minds,
The great white rock,
Standing and reaching as high as the heavens,
wrapped in mist,
Truly as high as the heavens.
Thus my little ones shall speak of me,
As long as they travel life's path, thus they shall
speak of me.
Such were the words, it has been said.
Then next in rank
You, male of the crane, stood with your long beak
And your neck, none like to it in length.
There with your beak did you strike the earth.
This shall be the legend
Of all the people of old, the red people,
Thus my little ones shall speak of me.
Then next in rank stood the male gray wolf, whose cry
Though uttered without effort, made the earth to tremble,
even the stable earth to tremble.
Such shall be the legend of the people.
Then next in rank stood Hega, the buzzard,
with his red neck.
Calmly he stood, his great wings spread, letting the
heat of the sun straighten his feathers.
Slowly he flapped his wings,
Then floated away, as though without effort.
Thus displaying a gift of Wako'da often to be
spoken of by the old men in their teachings.

Rain Song

  White floating clouds. Clouds like the plains come and water the earth. Sun embrace the earth that she may be fruitful. Moon, lion of the north, bear of the west, badger of the south, wolf of the east, eagle of the heavens, shrew of the earth, elder war hero, younger war hero, warriors of the six mountains of the world, intercede with the cloud people for us, that they may water the earth. Medicine bowl, cloud bowl, and water vase give us your hearts, that the earth be watered. I make the ancient road of meal, that my song may pass straight over it the ancient road. oad.White shell bead woman who lives where the sun goes down, mother whirlwind, father Sus si stinnako, mother Yaya, creator of good thoughts, yellow woman of the north, blue woman of the west, red woman of the south, white woman of the east, slightly yellow woman of the zenith, and dark of the nadir, I ask your intercession with the cloud people.