Native American Legends
How a Piegan Warrior found the first Horses
A Blackfoot Legend
A long time ago a warrior of the Piegan Blackfoot dreamed about
a lake far away where some large animals lived. A voice in the dream
told him the animals were harmless, and that he could use them for
dragging travois and carrying packs in the same way the Indians
then used dogs. "Go to this lake," the dream voice told
him, "and take a rope with you so that you can catch these
animals."
When the Piegan awoke he took a long rope made from strips of a
bull buffalo's hide and travelled many miles on foot to the shore
of the lake. He dug a hole in the sandy beach and concealed himself
there. While he watched, he saw many animals come down to the lake
to drink. Deer, coyotes, elk and buffalo all came to quench their
thirsts.
After a while the wind began to blow. Waves rose upon the lake
and began to roll and hiss along the beach. At last a herd of large
animals, unlike any the Piegan had ever seen before, suddenly appeared
before him. They were as large as elks, and had small ears and long
tails hanging to the ground. Some were white, and some black, and
some red and spotted. The young ones were smaller. When they reached
the water's edge and bent their heads to drink, the voice the man
had heard in his dream whispered to him: "Throw your rope and
catch one."
And so the Piegan threw his rope and caught one of the largest
of the animals. It struggled and pulled and dragged the man about,
and he was not strong enough to hold the animal. Finally it pulled
the rope out of his hands, and the whole herd ran into the lake
and sank out of sight beneath the water.
Feeling very sad, the Piegan returned to camp. He went into his
lodge and prayed for help to the voice he had heard in his dream.
The voice answered him: "Four times you may try to catch these
animals. If in four times trying you do not catch them, you will
never see them again."
Before he went to sleep that night the Piegan asked Old Man to
help him, and while he slept Old Man told him that he was not strong
enough to catch one of the big animals. "Try to catch one of
the young animals," Old Man said, "and then you can hold
it."
Next morning the Piegan went again to the shores of the big lake,
and again he dug a hole in the sand and lay hidden there while the
deer, the coyotes, the elk and the buffalo came to drink. At last
the wind began to rise and the waves rolled and hissed upon the
beach. Then came the herd of strange animals to drink at the lake,
and again the man threw his rope. This time he caught one of the
young animals and was able to hold it.
One by one he caught all the young animals out of the herd and
led them back to the Piegan camp. After they had been there a little
while, the mares--the mothers of these colts--came trotting into
the camp. Their udders were filled with milk for the colts to drink.
Soon after the mares came, the stallions of the herd followed them
into the camp.
At first the Piegans were afraid of these new animals and would
not go near them, but the warrior who had caught them told everybody
that they would not harm them. After a while the animals became
so tame that they followed the people whenever they moved their
camp from place to place. Then the Piegans began to put packs on
them, and they called this animal po-no-kah- mita, or elk dog, because
they were big and shaped like an elk and could carry a pack like
a dog.
That is how the Piegan Blackfoot got their horses.
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