10

That night one of the men, whose name was Chief Mountain,
had a dream. He dreamed the owner of the lone lodge came to him and
said, “I am sorry that you did not come to visit me. I will pity you and
give you power and you will be great. If you are killed and want to
return to life, have your friends paint your body yellow with black
dots from the waist up. They must also point your head to the west and
cover you with a buffalo robe. This robe should be one that has the
head attached. They will place a black pipe on your chest, with the
stem pointing in the same direction as your head. Then your friends
must sing a certain song four times. After each song they will say,
“Chief Mountain, it is time for you to get up and smoke.” Even if you
are badly cut up, this will bring you to life.


Dedicated to Raymond T. Gone, Sr.


Booklets available in the Level IV sequence are listed below. Numbers refer to the Planned Sequence of use
in the Teacher’s Manual. Materials developed by these tribes and others in the Northwest are included in
the Levels I, II and III sequences.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Warm Springs Animal Stories
The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon

Snail Women at Sq*a’le

The Suquamish Tribe of the Port Madison
Reservation

Blue Jay — Star Child/Basket Woman
Muckleshoot Tribe

Assiniboine Woman Making Grease
Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Peck Reservation
Coyote

The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon

6. How the Summer Season Came

7.

Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Belknap
Reservation
Little Weasel’s Dream

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

8. Fort Hall Stories

9.

10.

ll.

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall
Reservation

The Bear Tepee

Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Sioux Stories and Legends

Sioux Tribe of the Fort Peck Reservation
Kootenai Stories

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

12.

13.

14,

15.

16.

Chief Mountain’s Medicine
Gros Ventre Tribe from the Fort Belknap
Reservation

Coyote the Trickster
Burns Paiute Reservation

Running Free
Shoalwater Bay

Salish Coyote Stories
Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

Coyote and the Cowboys
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall
Reservation

17. Napi’s Journey

18.

19.

Blackfeet Tribe

Warm Springs Stories

The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon

Tepee Making

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

20. Baskets and Canoes

21.

Skokomish Tribe

Warrior People
Blackfeet Tribe


14

When He-Flys-Alone was a boy, Chief Mountain took him on a
walk along a river. He-Flys-Alone led the way. On the trail was a dry,
bare, cottonwood log and when Chief Mountain stepped over this log,
he died. To step over such a log was the only thing that he was not
supposed to do. He-Flys-Alone did not know about this.


The men entered the cave walking as fast as they could, feeling
their way with their ramrods. Some of them stumbled over piles of
buffalo chips that covered the ground. After traveling a long way
through the cave, they saw daylight and stopped. Not knowing what
to do, and after a short talk, they decided to go on. Soon they came out
in the daylight.




Long ago when He-Flys-Alone’s Grandfather was alive, the
Gros Ventre were living in Canada. One day seven men decided to go
on a war trail in search of enemies. They left the camp on foot and
after a time came to the Sweet Grass Hills. Here, they saw much dust in
the air and soon saw big herds of buffalo coming to the hills. Soon all
the buffalo disappeared into a hole in the side of one of the hills.


Two of Chief Mountain’s sons wanted to try his medicine again,
but the third son did not wish to. He thought this because Chief
Mountain was so old. His face was wrinkled, he could not see very
well, and most of his teeth were gone. So they did not try. Many people
wondered if he would come back to life again.

15




CHIEF MOUNTAIN’S MEDICINE

The Indian Reading Series


There were many buffalo trails leading in different directions.
The men saw a river, trees and a lone lodge. In another direction, they
saw a big camp of many lodges. This was beautiful country! One of the
men wanted to visit the lone lodge but the rest were unwilling be-
cause they did not have their guns with them. They turned back and
went into the cave and ran all the way back to the entrance. When
they got out into the sunlight, they noticed that the sun was about
half way between rising and noon. The sun was in the same place
as when they had first entered the cave! They continued on their
war trail.




The men went to investigate and found the hole that the buffalo
had gone into. One man said, “Friends, we have been gone a long time
and our people will think we have been killed. Let us look into this
place where the buffalo went.” All the men agreed. They took off their
clothing and tied themselves together with rawhide rope. They left
their guns with their clothes but took the ramrods to feel their way in
the dark.


i) THE INDIAN READING SERIES:
% Stories and Legends of the Northwest



This work has not as yet been published and is afforded all
protections under the U.S. Copyright Law (PL. 94-553) effective
January 1, 1978.

Copyright in the published edition will be held by and in the name of the
Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation.

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transcribed, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written
permission of the author agency identified below.

The project presented or reported herein was performed
pursuant to a grant from the National Institute of Education,
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. However, the
opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the
position or policy of the National Institute of Education,

and no official endorsement by the National Institute of
Education should be inferred.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
710 S.W. Second Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204


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The sons did exactly as the dream instructed. After the last
song, Chief Mountain stretched and made a sound as one who is just
waking up. He sat up, took the pipe and lit it and was recovered. Chief
Mountain lived to be an old man.

13


THE INDIAN READING SERIES
Stories and Legends of the Northwest

Chief Mountain’s Medicine
Series IV

By members of the Gros Ventre Elders Board
from the Fort Belknap Reservation

Preston Stiffarm, Coordinator
Raymond T. Gone, Sr.

Theresa Lame Bull

Vernie Perry

Mae Stiffarm

George Birdtail

George Shields, Jr., I/Justrator

Narrated by Raymond T. Gone, Sr.
Illustrated by George Shields, Jr.

Joseph Coburn, Director
Pacific Northwest Indian Program
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory



THE INDIAN READING SERIES: Stories and Legends of the
Northwest is a collection of authentic material cooperatively devel-
oped by Indian people from twelve reservations. Development ac-
tivities are guided by a Policy Board which represents the Indian
community of the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest Indian
Reading and Language Development Program Policy Board mem-
bers are:

* Warren Clements — Warm Springs
Chairman

+ Clement Azure — Devils Lake Sioux

+ Walter Moffett — Nez Perce

+ Emmett Oliver — Quinault

+ Bob Parsley — Chippewa

+ Lloyd Smith — Warm Springs

+ Max Snow

+ Jeanne Thomas — Yakima


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All the Gros Ventre knew about this dream.

Once, Chief Mountain was in a fight and was riddled with
bullets and arrows. He was killed and his friends used him as a shield
to hide behind. Two of his sons were present at this fight. After the
fight was over, they decided to try out his power.

12