Section 20

The chief of the snakes, the one with the horn on his. head, told Slippery Eyes to follow him to another spring, which is located a few hundred feet east of Plenty Coups' present house. Slippery Eyes followed the snake and again saw this spring trans- formed into a beautiful tipi with all the fittings and belongings dear to the heart of an Indian inside. Again the snake chief spoke. "These are the things I give to you", meaning that with the help of his vision Slippery Eyes would be able to satisfy his wish to relieve his poor condition.
The snakes then doctored Slippery Eyes. They treated his deeply pitted face so that only a few pock marks showed.
The spring on Plenty Coups' property was, according to Slip- pery Eyes, the real home of the snakes. In after years he was frequently seen to go there, and on those occasions a snake would come to him. He would pet and fondle it for a while, talk and pray to it, and then replace it in the spring.
Soon after his return to camp Slippery Eyes made the medicine represented in this bundle. He became one of the foremost med- icine men in the tribe. The fees he collected for his treatments made him a rich man. It is even said of him that if he particularly coveted something another Indian possessed and could not obtain it by purchase, he made that Indian ill and then treated him in exchange for that particular article.
The snake chief had told SHppery Eyes that he would live to be an old man. This prophesy also came true. After the death of Slippery Eyes his medicine passed to Sharp Horn, father of
138 CROW INDIAN MEDICINE BUNDLES
Plenty Coups' wife. She inherited it from her father, and upon her death it was acquired by Breast, from whom it was obtained by the writer.
This bundle is contained in a rectangular sack of soft buffalo skin which is closed at the top with three buckskin cords. A brass bell is attached to each cord. On the front of this sack are painted two snakes in black outlines. A braid of sweetgrass is tied to the back of this sack, and the case has a buckskin carrying strap. (Fig. 59).
The contents of this bundle consist of the three snake effigies depicted in Fig. 58. The one at the bottom represents the snake chief. This effigy is of buckskin, 31" long. It is painted yellow with black eyes, mouth and stripes on its body. Two short cords strung with blue and red seed beads represent fangs, and actual rattlesnake rattles are tied to the tail of this effigy. The image is stuffed with some semi-hard material, possibly pine needles. Attached to the head of this snake is an eagle bone whistle 7" long, to which is tied a small skin packet of medicine which is decorated with green and white seed beads.
The other two snake effigies in this bundle are symbols of the servants of the snake chief. They are the ones who carried out the directions of the snake chief in doctoring patients. The smaller of these is of stuffed buckskin, 24^^" long, and painted black with black beaded eyes sewn to its head. The third effigy is made of a long strip of otter skin, 1" wide, and painted red on the skin side. To this is sewn a bulbous snakehead of stuffed buckskin with two red lines painted on the top of it. Two elk teeth and a brass bell are tied to the tail of this image. The otter skin appears in this bundle because the otter is regarded as the chief of the water animals. Water (the sacred spring) cannot be included in the bundle, so its power is represented by this otter skin. The small bell symbolizes a rattlesnake's rattle. The two elk teeth represent property to be acquired by the owner through the successful use of this medicine.
In the ceremony of doctoring with this medicine the patient was led to water, where real snakes were thought to assist in bringing the sick person back to health. While walking behind the patient Slippery Eyes blew the whistle in this bundle to call these snakes to his assistance. ^^
^3 Lowie was told that "a man bitten by a snake, but surviving the effects, would regard the snake as his medicine and would treat people who suffered from snake bites." (Lowie, 1922, p. 374).
HEALING MEDICINE BUNDLES I39
long's buffalo MEDICINE BUNDLE FIGURE 61
The buffalo also gave to some Crow Indians the power to heal. Buffalo power was particularly associated with the power to heal wounds.
An interesting bundle of this kind was obtained from Kills in 1927. This bundle (cat. no. 15/3279) was not exclusively used in doctoring, but was also used in buffalo hunting as the story of its origin, obtained from Kills at the time of its purchase, indicates :
This bundle originated in a dream of Long-Three-Year-Old- Buffalo, also called Long. Once the Sioux raided the Crow camp and killed Long's sister, many arrows penetrating her body. At the time of the attack Long was absent from the camp and the news of his sister's death was conveyed to him before his return. He deeply mourned the death of his sister and stayed away from the camp for a long time. His sister was killed in the fall of the year. During the following winter Long followed every move of the Crow camp, but he did not enter it.
Toward spring the Crows were camped close to the Crazy Mountains, and Long decided to fast on top of one of the highest peaks of that range. He carried his gun with him. Before he went very far Long saw a deer at no great distance and aimed at the animal. But before he could pull the trigger the deer vanished. In its place he saw a buffalo. He aimed at it and shot it. Long saw blood flowing from the wound his bullet made and he walked toward the animal. As he drew nearer the buffalo rose, walked a short distance and vanished.
When Long arrived at the spot where the buffalo had been shot he found some buffalo grease and a stunted horn. He picked up these articles. But instead of continuing on his intended journey to the mountains, he returned to camp.
That night he had a dream in which the buffalo again appeared to him and gave him his medicine as represented in the bundle. Long was told that the privations he had endured during the winter had roused the "Without Fires'" pity for him. Therefore, they gave him this medicine without expecting him to fast."
One of the two stunted horns (Fig. 61, left of center) was to serve him when he needed meat. He then was to smear it with grease given to him, smudge it, and sleep with it. In this sleep he
140 CROW INDIAN MEDICINE BUNDLES
would be shown where to find game. If he didn't receive this information in his dream he was to carry the horn by a cord around his neck, and it would lead him to the place where he would find plenty of buffalo.
The other stunted horn was given him for use in doctoring certain diseases. Herbs were mixed with mud and water and were prepared in this horn and drunk from it by the patient. At the same time a bird head, which was stuffed inside the horn, was fastened to the patient's head and a similar bird head, to the owner's head.
The third horn (Fig. 6i, right) was used for doctoring ailments other than those for which the stunted horn was employed. In its use weasel strips were fastened to the head of the patient and the owner.
Two rattles, which once were a part of this bundle, are missing from it. One was painted black with a buffalo tail tied to it. The other was plain.
In the early years of Long's ownership of this bundle he used it exclusively for doctoring and hunting. The many fees which he collected through its successful use brought him many horses, and as an added charm he attached a strand of horsehair to the bundle. A braid of sweetgrass, used for smudging, and some deerhair were also added. The deerhair symbolized the deer he had seen and which vanished from sight on the day before his medicine dream.
The medicine objects in this bundle are contained in a cylin- drical rawhide case bearing painted geometric designs in red, green, yellow and blue. All three of the horns are rubbed with red paint. The largest of them (center) stands only 5J" high. The undeformed one (at right) has a twisted buckskin cord attached to it, presumably for suspension from the owner's neck.
BUFFALO TAIL WOUND-TREATING MEDICINES FIGURE 60
[On September 25, 1922, William Wildschut forwarded to the museum two Crow Indian medicines which were "used ex- clusively for healing wounds." Both medicines are buffalo tails. The larger of these is 36" long. It is partially wrapped in trade cloth and a hawk bell is tied to it. The smaller one is a calf tail
HEALING MEDICINE BUNDLES I4I
which is undecorated and measures only 11" in length. These are CAT. NOS. 11/5084 and 11/5071 respectively. — JCE]^*
BUFFALO CHIP MEDICINE OF BIG OX FIGURES 62 AND 63
[On July 7, 1923, William Wildschut forwarded to the museum a small medicine bundle he had purchased from Charlie Ten Bear, grandson of Big Ox. This bundle had been "used by Big Ox to stop bleeding." (cat. no. 12/698).
This medicine is held in a small, rectangular rawhide case 6 J" wide by 7" high, which is painted on the front with geometric designs in red and black (or a very dark blue) . (Fig. 62) . Inside the rawhide case, wrapped in colored cloth, is a large buffalo chip, 3J" X 3" X i" thick, with a depression in the center. In this depression is placed a small, almond-shaped pebble of reddish stone, I 1/8" in length. (Fig. 63).
Big Ox was one of the most noted Crow medicine men of the late 19th century. Curtis (Vol. IV. 1909, p. 197) wrote that he was born about 1830, and was a member of the Not-Mixed Clan of the River Crows. He led ten successful war parties. Yet he was especially remembered among the Crows for his contest with White Thigh, a private enemy in his own tribe. White Thigh's medicine first caused Bog Ox to lose all of his property. But later Big Ox received power from the thunder and caused White Thigh to lose his sight and to become very poor. Thereafter Big Ox was greatly feared by his tribesmen lest they might incur his dis- pleasure and he would use his potent medicine to harm them. Lowie (1922, pp. 344-345) tells another version of the famous
^ Curtis told the story of the Crow Indian, Hunts-to-Die, who while wounded, had a vision of a buffalo bull in which he obtained the power to cure himself and to cure others who had been shot in the body. His treat- ment consisted of singing songs, making incense, switching a buffalo tail from side to side, and telling the patient to hold it in his hands while the doctor raised him to his feet by it. (Curtis, Vol. IV. 1909, p. 56).
Pretty Shield described the actions of a Crow female, His Gun, who had buffalo power, in treating a warrior wounded in a battle with the Sioux. She employed two buffalo tails and imitated the actions of a buffalo bull in her treatment, but she could not save the severely wounded man. (Linder- man, 1932, pp. 203-207).
Lowie also remarked upon the close association between buffalo power and wound-doctoring among the Crows. (Lowie, 1922, pp. 377-379).
142 CROW INDIAN MEDICINE BUNDLES
shamanistic contest between Bix Ox and White Thigh. A portrait of Big Ox appears opposite page 90 in Curtis (1909). — JCE]
MEDICINE FOR TREATING BARREN WOMEN FIGURE 64
[On October 16, 1923, William Wildschut forwarded to the museum a medicine bundle which he briefly described in his correspondence of that date as a "medicine used by Shinbone's grandmother to cure barren woman. Only two of these medicines are said to have ever been amongst this tribe."
This bundle (cat. no. 12/3 114), consists of an old, much discolored, cylindrical rawhide case i6|^" long, containing the articles illustrated in Fig. 64. There is a miniature cradle board 8J" high, decorated with bands of red, blue, yellow and white seed beads, and containing a yellow-painted buckskin doll. Tied to the front of the cradle pouch is a small, beaded skin packet of medicine. The item in the center of Fig. 64 is a long, braided scalplock pendant from a disc 1^" diameter of red flannel having a border of Hght blue, dark blue and yellow seed beads, with buckskin tie-strings attached to the top of the disc. A small braid of sweetgrass, probably used in making the ceremonial smudge when this bundle was employed by its owner, completes the contents. — JCE]^^
MEDICINE FOR TREATING WOMEN'S DISEASES FIGURE 65
[A bundle described in Wildschut's correspondence as "Fish- duck medicine from Bird Above, used for the healing of women's diseases", was forwarded to the museum by Mr. Wildschut on September 25, 1922. (cat. no. 11/6485).
Contained in a cylindrical rawhide case 20 J" long, and wrapped in three pieces of trade cloth, this medicine consists of the entire skin of a "fishduck", and a flat, spatula-shaped, wooden imple-
^^ Linderman (1930, pp. 81-82) was told of a sacred pool of water near Plenty Coups' home which was thought to have the power to tell expectant Crow mothers the sex of their unborn children. The woman left a little bow and four arrows and a hoop and stick beside this pool for four nights and days. If, when she returned, the bow and arrows were gone, she knew her child would be a boy; but if it would be a girl the hoop and stick would be missing.
HEALING MEDICINE BUNDLES I43
ment i6J" long, 2^" wide and f" thick. This piece was un- doubtedly shaped with a knife. Its specific use is not mentioned. — JCE]
BIG FOREHEAD S WOLF MEDICINE NOT ILLUSTRATED
In the origin story of Big Forehead's medicine supra, is told how wolves gave this Indian powers to doctor the wounded, to set broken bones and to heal them instantly.
Old Coyote told the writer that at one time while he was acting as a scout for the U. S. Army he was severely wounded by the Sioux. Army doctors gave his case up as hopeless, but Big Forehead took him back to the Crow village, used his wolf medicine in doctoring him, and brought Old Coyote back to health.^^
DREAM ORIGINS OF HERB MEDICINES
All Crows agree that even the use of certain herbs for treat- ing various diseases were originally revealed to them in their dreams. Two stories of the origins of these medicines were told to the writer:
Magpie-on-Earth, wife of Cold Wind, was a famous doctor among the Crows many years ago. Shortly after the death of her first husband she was traveling between Pryor and the Big Horn deeply mourning her loss. While camping in that region she re- ceived a vision of ghosts. They surrounded her and showed her many different herbs with which to doctor the sick. They showed her how to prepare these herbs and which ones were to be used in the treatment of different diseases. She became a noted doctor and successfully treated many serious cases.
The Crows once went on the warpath against the Sioux, who were camped on Powder River. When in sight of the enemy the Crow pipe-holder announced, "Everyone for himself. "This meant that instead of dividing the number of captured enemy horses
*^ There is some evidence, also, of the use of bear power among the Crow in doctoring. Lowie (1922, pp. 351-352) told of Plenty Fingers, who was credited with the employment of bear power in treating illnesses, in pro- phesying the future, and as a war medicine.
144 CROW INDIAN MEDICINE BUNDLES
equally among the members of the party, each warrior would be entitled to keep those horses he himself took.
After the raid it was found that everyone in the war party had obtained one or more horses except Keeps-the-Feather. He was so disappointed that he decided to stay behind and make another attempt to capture horses on his own. That night, however, he found himself suddenly surrounded by a number of people. At first the thought these were enemies who had discovered him. But soon he realized that these were not enemies but super- naturals. They were ghosts. Keeps-the-Feather heard the ghosts say, "He is poor. Let us take him home."
It would have taken Keeps-the-Enemy many days to have traveled from that Sioux camp back to his home camp near the Crazy Mountains. But, traveling with his ghost patrons, he reached his camp before dawn the same night. Then his com- panions said, "He is hungry. Let us eat." They all sat down and immediately plenty of meat appeared in front of them. Everyone, even the ghosts, ate it. While they were having their meal they discussed among themselves what kind of medicine they would give their child — ^war medicine or doctor's medicine. They finally decided on a doctor's medicine because it would last longer. Then they showed Keeps-the-Feather different herbs, told him how to prepare them and the ceremonies required in using them to treat different illnesses successfully.
Keeps-the-Feather then returned to the Crow camp. He be- came a very well-known doctor, having as his medicine thereafter the ghosts."