of

q

Lary SR GONE Me
sala Mindlionia tyes U Mir

When they opened the door to place the hides inside, they came
face to face with some big black eyes. They thought it was the chief.
They soon discovered it was a porcupine who was inside the lodge.
They dropped the hides and ran away as fast as they could go.

16


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



\!

lp No RR Wea

10

After the ladies had rested awhile they looked up and saw
another dead body buried in a tree just above them. The hands were
hanging down as if reaching for them. Again they began grabbing,
yelling, falling over each other, and running as fast as they could

through the bushes.


22

Many years ago there were two Indian encamp-
ments. These encampments had many lodges. They were
close together and very unusual. In one camp there were
just men and in the other camp there were just women.
They often looked toward each other’s camp. It seemed
very lonely at times and they often had difficulty in the
daily tasks they had to do. When the men tried to cut
dried meat they would cut their fingers and thumbs.
They couldn’t cut big pieces of meat. When they would
hang it up they would build a fire too large and scorch the
meat. This and other daily tasks around the lodges were
just too much for the men to handle.

On the other hand, the women were having diffi-
culty in their encampment. When they would go buffalo
hunting their prancing horses would get scared of their
dresses and buck them off. Many times they ended up
walking to camp with tired, sore and blistered feet. The
women had a hard time lifting the heavy meat onto the
back of their horses.


The Lodge Journey


g Saat
“Sn SS Sh y
= — te CS

‘gy — =
us Se nar,

ee IZ

|

33


The old ladies never bothered to go back to the burial lodge to
get hides for moccasins and leggings again. They were content to use
what they had in camp.

17


, é \ ste

of afi “ <s Py

Ne dd rf Cy,
wy BVA wt (ANON

— A
Si lltnunl

25


Napi is a legendary figure of the Blackfeet In-
dian culture. He can do anything and anything can
happen to him. There are a great number of stories
about him that have been passed from generation
to generation. He can change into different types of
figures and have many different kinds of per-
sonalities.

In this particular story, The Lone Pine Tree, we
attempted to display the humorous part of Napi
along with a moral. Our people have a good sense
of humor and are excellent story tellers. Many of
these stories are still told in our Blackfeet lan-
guage. We give many thanks to people like Joseph
Old Chief, one of our elders, who has helped us a
great deal.

Napi: a=aw — as in saw
i=ee — as in see

21


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, I and III sequences.

1.

10.

11.

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

. Snail Women at Sqa’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

. How the Summer Season Came

Assiniboine Tribe of the Fort Belknap
Reservation

. Little Weasel’s Dream

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

Fort Hall Stories
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.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

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

Napi’s Journey

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

Baskets and Canoes
Skokomish Tribe

Warrior People
Blackfeet Tribe


In RT he i, ,
DNASE sma ie ik
ee ls ES ti th in

After nothing came to harm them, they jumped up, gathered
their hides for moccasins and leggings and quickly started for their
lodges.

14


Finally, the old ladies danced toward the lodge in a sneaky way.
They were all a little afraid. They became brave and ripped the hole
down to the bottom of the lodge. They all rushed to look in. They
were stunned and shocked as they saw a ghost standing inside the
lodge.


31


28

Eagle Woman told the other women about the
incident. She also informed them of the way Napi was
dressed and told the women not to pick him. Eagle
Woman then proceeded to get all dressed up. She looked
very beautiful when she returned to where the men were.
Napi did not know she was the same woman. He kept
jumping in front of her wherever she went, but she
wouldn’t select him.


6 = Y;

Some old ladies of the camp decided to go to the chief’s burial
lodge and cut some of the fine hide from the lodge for moccasins and
leggings. They sharpened their knives and slowly proceeded toward
the burial lodge. It took them a long time to reach the burial lodge.
They traveled very slowly due to their age. They were sneaking
because they knew they were not supposed to bother a dead person’s
possessions. It is believed that the person’s spirit will come and re-
claim their possessions during the night.


Se en

hasan

Many years ago a Blackfeet Indian chief died. He was laid to
rest in a lodge some distance from the encampment for a period on
four days and four nights. Then the Indian camp would move onto
another area.


ens ge Alun wir

ane

wr ily 49 uh online ig =

That night, as they tried to sleep, their legs began to hurt and
cramp up. They thought it was the chief bothering them and want-
ing his hides back. So the old ladies decided to take the hides back to
the burial lodge. As they arrived they began to pray to the dead chief
for protection. “Please don’t bother us any more. We love you and
respect you. We are returning your hides.”

15


It was beginning to get dark. One of the grandsons happened to
ride by and saw the old ladies preparing to take some of the hide
from the lodge. He was a child who delighted in teasing his old
grandmother. A plan formed in his head. Quickly, he tied his horse
and crept into the burial lodge. He laid down by the body of the dead
chief and waited for the old ladies to finish dancing and singing.


3 = (tut May

ee ee thy“ m Leb ei

1p

NK,

Hy

Many other incidents happened that softened their
hearts toward the men. One day Napi told the men, “I am
getting very tired of doing all this work around the camp.
I know you are getting tired of it too. I will go over to the
women’s camp. They are living very good. I want to talk
to them.”

Napi was wearing a fur cap made of coyote paws.
He groomed himself all up.

WA cay PAW Waly
Crfrnrannriene—

23



The Lone Pine
Tree

The Indian Reading Series

Fy, 4) yy
PY 3 WM
Level V Book 5


Ces

Waly ul Ue Nf
aN NY,

~ <

Wy, : "

= —_ ee
wile a i Wi WA Walla, Whale ANALG Gi ra i

ANN Hatton, Nae

Ofacrearnens——

The group was crawling, grabbing onto each other, pushing,
yelling, and attempting to regain their balance in order to get away
from the ghost. They forgot about being old and sneaky.


The old ladies were so frightened by this strange sight that
they turned at the same time and tried to run away. As they turned,
they ran into each other and knocked one another down.


30

Eagle Woman walked over to Medicine Horse and
asked, “Will you be my husband?” “Yes.” said Medicine
Horse.

One by one the other men were chosen but no one
chose Napi for being so rude and only looking for beauty.

Napi became so angry because no one would choose
him for a husband that he ran over to the edge of the hill
stomping his feet, kicking, and throwing his arms up in
the air. He was full of rage.


»

F/
T/
we Wary y

MN NA Matte a dl we. aed

= Y)

ANG AM ALs Weyl
O tancearnens

29


* egal!”
Ma, | \
C7 L f -

eS
" We Tain We ¢ Aa
tau
IWR /ACITIA NW
Wreawes. sa MN,

A Parresrnaea—

It was customary to sing and dance toward the lodge four
times. They sang the appropriate song and danced toward the lodge
for the first time. One of the old ladies pierced the lodge with her
sharp knife. Then they backed away singing, “We are going to get
some hides for our leggings and moccasins.” They rested awhile.
Each time they danced close to the lodge one of the old ladies would
cut the hole bigger. They danced back singing.


The Lone Pine Tree

19


26

“I will pick first since I am the head woman.”
Dressed in her work clothes, she looked awful.She thought
to herself, “I will pick Napi.” “I am not going to get dressed
up,” she told the women. “That way whoever I pick will
not be my husband just because I am pretty.”

The men lined up on the edge of the hill. Old Napi
was right in line. Medicine Horse told the head woman,
“Napi is the Chief. You should pick him, Eagle Woman,
since you are the head woman.”

Eagle Woman walked over to Napi and picked him.
Napi started twisting his hands. Napi said, “I do not
want you for my wife because you look funny.” “That is
fine.” said Eagle Woman. She walked away and went
back to camp.


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 editior will be held by and in the name of
the Blackfeet Tribe.

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


Zs

( ya atu,

The old ladies came to a bunch of magpies that were making a
lot of noise. In fact these birds seemed to be laughing at them as they
ran away. The ladies didn’t stop. The group continued stumbling on,
trying to get away from the burial grounds.

11


13


THE INDIAN READING SERIES:
Stories and Legends of the Northwest

The Lodge Journey
The Lone Pine Tree

Level V Book:

Developed by the Blackfeet Indians
Written by:

Carmen Marceau

Doris Old Person

June Tatsey

Patricia Tatsey Bachaun

Illustrated by Melvin Tailfeathers

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



24

Napi went to the head woman of the woman’s camp
and started telling her how hard a time the men were
having. He said, “These men are really having a hard
time. I want to ask if the men and women can live to-
gether in one camp.”

The head woman thought for awhile. “The women
are getting tired of getting wood and trying to hunt to get
meat for their camp. Yes, we agree, but first you
must go and tell the men to sit up there on the edge of the
hill. We will get ready and go over there to each pick a
man that we want for a husband.” Napi went back to the
men’s camp. The head woman told the women to get
ready. They were going to pick a husband.


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


32

He finally turned into a pine tree. The tree still
stands by itself on the edge of the hill. Now, as you travel
you can still see Napi standing there all by himself look-
ing very lonely.

Remember, you can’t always judge a person by
their outward appearance. The qualities of kindness and
warmth toward others are very important. They keep
one from becoming lonely.


BEG Cae
NURS te nN
VW ill? , ye

t= AY Wer

27


/

re ae ey,

Eventually, the old ladies reached a thick bunch of bushes.
They hurried in as fast as possible talking to each other in breath.
less and supposed soft voices. They were still frightened and hoped
no one saw them. The group hurried on and finally stopped to listen
and regain their breath.


At last the old ladies reached the main camp. There, they
learned it was the grandson who was in the lodge and not a ghost.
They decided to go back again. This time not only did they do short
dances but also sang very short songs. As the old ladies crept and
opened the rip in the lodge a big black crow flew out. They were so
frightened that they just fell down and started to cry and pray for
help.